#there's so many good bits in the anime alone not even considering the manga

[luesmainblog]

actually, in some circles, the word was interchangeable! can't speak on japan's behalf, but you can still find a few american queers of older generations who ID as bisexual as in genderfluid, not necessarily for who they're attracted to. this may have been reflected in the translations, or a similar phenomena could have been the case over there, i wouldn't really know.

Shout out to pre-2000s anime with completely unintentional trans rep because the writer genuinely thought that being bisexual and being genderfluid were the same thing.

[blackbackedjackal]

Soul Eater has always been a bizarre case. on one end of the spectrum there's characters like Kilik Rung, Mira Nygus, and even major manga antagonist Noah. on the other end there's the infamous bg jazz band that are straight up minstrels (they look identical in the manga. this was not studio bones' artistic liberty) and the death scythe repping Africa named Dengu Dinga who wears a mashup of "african flavoured" clothing. and then there's Sid, obviously i can't pass judgement on what's good or bad design rep but there certainly was a scene where Maka literally calls him a "mean blue gorilla"..

sorry for rambling, but Ohkubo absolutely takes inspiration from graffiti art and hip hop aesthetics in his work which makes the antiblackness even more disrespectful

Feel free to ignore that ask if the topic is bogging you down btw, I didn't see your last post if you're done engaging with the topic for now feel free to delete it. Looking forward to what you do with strawberry moon <3

Oh dude you're good. I just needed a nap before I answered more lol. I'll try and answer as many of these as I can because I'm honestly enjoying the discussion even though I have to step away from it for a bit. It's triggering to me but not in a way that I can't talk about it, just bogs down my mind ya know?

Anyway, I've never watched Soul Eater so I had no idea of the Black characters in the show! I had to look them up and I see what you're saying. Mira is a stereotype because I'd consider her a sexualized Black woman in this context. Kilik is like 100% fine to me at a glance, like he just looks like a Black guy though there may be some writing I'm missing that still makes him a stereotype.

I had no idea that he was influenced by graffiti art but I TOTALLY see it now in his shape language. Sid is by far the worst since he still has the big white teeth and a more 'gangster' aesthetic. Especially considering the time period Soul Eater was released, it's in poor taste at best and still perpetuating Black stereotypes at worse.

Anime is it's own sub-genre of racism in animation. White people LOOOOOVE to say "oh it's a different culture and they don't know" LMAO YES THEY DO DON'T PLAY stop infantilizing Asians you fucking sickos.

Colorism alone is such an issue in Asian countries. I've lived with people from China, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines. I've heard first hand accounts of people from the Philippines being treated like lesser human beings just for having a slightly darker skin-tone and don't get me started on how Chinese imperialism has impacted Taiwanese people. I'm not going to speak for disenfranchised Asian people but it's easy to find if you look it up. But my point is if colorism is that prevalent, imagine how much worse it is when your entire culture has a history of being exploited to the point that blackface is a worldwide issue.

Also the Boondocks exists and though not a perfect example, it still has some of the best depictions of Black people in an anime style. There's no excuse to draw racist stereotypes when there's literally 5 seasons worth of overall solid Black character designs that can be referenced for other series.

[grimgrazia]

Makima and Motherhood

The symbolism Fujimoto uses to connect Makima to maternity is something that really stands out to me in CSM part 1. Even without the visuals, Makima’s demeanor alone is very “parental,” (not necessarily in a good way, but she still has that presence about her.) To be clear, this analysis will focus more on the connection between Makima and motherhood, the symbolism Fujimoto uses, as well as the irony behind it. I plan on doing an entirely separate analysis for her character in general.

Before getting into the manga, I want to point out some of the imagery used in the anime. A very well known frame from the anime comes from its third ending. Makima is depicted as the Virgin Mary, floating in front of a kneeling Denji, who looks as if he’s worshipping or praying. A lot of people use this scene for bf/gf memes which I kind of find funny (and low-key Freudian). The visual is not really emphasizing Denji’s infatuation with Makima but rather her control over him, which stems from Denji’s desire for a mother figure.

One of the most misinterpreted parts of CSM is Denji and Makima’s dynamic. People often describe Makima as someone who used seduction to manipulate Denji but that’s not really the case. However, to say that she didn’t explore this tactic in the beginning of the manga would be a complete lie. Where she really becomes a mother towards Denji is, ironically, on their movie “date.” The movie theatre scene is a crucial moment for both of their characters but I’ll touch on that later.

For many people, mothers are viewed as this authoritative role model for most of their childhood. Anything she says or does must be correct because she is your mother. It’s easy to look back when you are older and call children stupid for it, but it’s natural instinct. Mothers for many are a source of security and comfort. That is what Denji saw in Makima. That is what Makima wanted Denji to see in her.

When reading CSM, it’s obvious that Makima groomed Denji but I feel like not many people acknowledge how she groomed him and why it’s so disturbing. Like I said earlier, it’s true that she explored seducing Denji but she abandons this idea once she realizes what it is Denji truly longs for, even if he doesn’t realize it himself. He wants the security and comfort only a mother and a family can offer, so she provides exactly that for him. What’s ironic about it is she’s giving Denji exactly what she wants, which probably contributes to her jealousy and hatred for him. What she’d Denji into such shock at the end of Part 1 is that on top of the people he cared about being killed, he learns that the only person he had was 1.) not really a “person” at all and 2.) hiding her animosity towards him in order to manipulate him. I can only imagine how baffling it must be for your own “mother,” who’d showered you in affection since the day you were born, to all of the sudden flip the switch in the cruelest way imaginable.

Also, it is important to understand that multiple things can be true at once. Makima was never attracted to Denji romantically, sexually, or even platonically. In fact, she makes it quite clear at the end of Part 1 that she views him as insignificant and distasteful. It’s a bit shocking considering how much attention and effort it would take to manipulate someone like that. However, this doesn’t change the fact that she groomed him.

It’s common for their to be some sense of attachment to an abuser, especially in a familial scenario like the one that plays out here. A very sad and disturbing part of all of this is how Denji, despite everything Makima has done, is extremely hurt by the fact Makima cannot even remember his scent let alone his face. That being said, I love how a huge reason Denji defeats Makima is because she only recognized Chainsawman’s scent, not Denji’s.

Although it’s sad, I do like the way Fujimoto hints at Makima only seeing Pochita, not Denji. For example, every time Makima and Denji hug, Makima puts her head on Denji’s chest, right over where his “heart,” Pochita, is. My personal favorite detail is the image of Makima reflected in the chainsaw’s blade. Even as Denji is attacking her, her eyes aren’t focused on the assailant but the weapon because it is a chainsaw. It’s a really creative way of showing that Makima’s fixation was solely on Chainsawman, not Denji. She didn’t even recognize Denji without Pochita as his heart.

As I mentioned before, Makima is depicted as the Virgin Mary a lot. Despite being such a dark character, she’s often engulfed by a warm light in these images to compliment the illusion of safety and love she creates. One of these comes from Chainsawman ending 5, where for a brief moment a painting of Denji and Makima, that is a reference to Michelangelo’s “La Pietà,” can be seen. The reference to this famous sculpture is another nod to the mother-son dynamic between Denji and Makima as well as a way of foreshadowing Makima’s intention to bring Chainsawman back, but let Denji die in the process.

**Another cool detail is how the shadow of the window pane looks like a cross. I love all the religious symbolism so much.**

Another interesting part of their dynamic is the idolization. Denji puts Makima, someone who doesn’t care about him, on a pedestal. He sees her in a divine light. Interestingly enough, Makima admires Chainsawman in a similar way. What Makima and Denji have in common here is that neither devil they look up to truly acknowledges their existence as an individual. This is just one of the many ways in which Makima and Denji parallel each other.

An iconic yet ambiguous part of the manga is Denji and Makima’s movie theatre hopping spree. (On a separate note, that actually seems like so much fun.) They culminate their movie marathon with a Soviet film called “Ballad of a Soldier.” To better understand the manga I watched this movie on my own and I can confirm, it’s sad. Makima’s emotional response to it is probably the most memorable part of the entire ordeal. She sheds tears as the mother and son embrace in the film.

A person might cry during a movie because they can sympathize with the characters or situations. It’s difficult to realize this unless you take a step back and ask why a certain scene made you cry, because it’s a lot more than “it was sad.” In Makima’s case, she is not crying out of sympathy, but out of yearning. The relationship depicted in the film is what she wants. Denji is crying beside her as well because he also wants that type of relationship. They both want a family, a stable source of security and comfort. This scene is also alluding to what Pochita tells Denji at the end of part 1. He tells Denji to give Nayuta lots of hugs, to become the family Makima didn’t have.

It’s also interesting how Denji and Makima’s roles flip in part 2. Obviously she is no longer Makima, as her new incarnation is Nayuta, but I believe this was very intentional. Denji sort of becomes a parental role model to Nayuta, much like how Denji viewed Makima. Only this time, it’s genuine. Another reason I really like Nayuta’s character is because of how different she is from Makima. It’s fun to compare and contrast their characters. I really love the parallels. Character design wise, I like how Fujimoto kept the braid. It’s symbolic of not just the control devil’s chains, but bonds.

Speaking of chains, the chains coming from Makima’s womb are also symbolic of maternity. The first time she’s shown using this power is during the infamous Gun Devil showdown. It seems the chains grant her the ability to use the powers and contracts of other devils and humans. The chains seem to connect to the navels of those she controls, acting as an umbilical cord of sorts.

Obviously the uterus to navel connection is symbolic of motherhood, but why chains? The chains are also symbolic of the dynamic between Makima and other characters. She can’t form genuine connections, so she uses her powers. The chains are representative of how people’s admiration of her isn’t a choice. She’s using her powers for her own agenda, but she also may be trying to feel less lonely. However, even she knows it doesn’t substitute a real relationship. Her power requires her to have a superiority complex, and it’s her nature as the control devil that makes it so hard to achieve her dreams. Makima does understand that all of her relationships are superficial, and it bothers her.

Despite all of these roadblocks, it is not impossible for the control devil to form a bond. Pochita knew this and Nayuta is proof of it. I believe Makima was capable of forming those bonds at one point in her life, but ultimately her upbringing destroyed any possibilities of that happening by the time Part 1 begins.

I post these on tiktok before tumblr because I write them in Pages, and it takes a while to put the pictures in on here. I gave up on my Denji and Doors analysis with the photos but I’ll try to be better about it moving forward because I do think visuals are important.

[candy8448]

Nothing like opening my eyes to a new linked universe update

Dawn pt8

My occasional source of dopamine XD

Its very satisfying seeing how all the traveling layers are put on. You can really imagine this scene animated

So a lot of important things were discussed, stuff the fandom have noticed before but its good that jojo finally mentioned them herself:

Shadow is the only this associated with the portals (pg1)

I LOVE how so many traits and experiences of the characters are shown here!!

Wild taking the blame first, he's got one heck a guilt complex (pg2)

We are just hit with everyone's emotions right off the bat and i love that!

I kinda like how blunt Time is

Wars talking about how "helping the wound isn't an option," things they must consider during war (pg3)

Legend trying to lighten the mood again like he always does (pg4)

I like to see how what they think of wolfie has changed now that they know it was twilight. Wars thinking its fine if the animal goes off alone cuz it doesnt understand but now making it clear that he doesn't like it

Secrets are getting in the way (such as wolfie) and hindering their process. Maybe it wouldn't have been so clunky if tgey knew exactly who wolfie is

WARS' SCARF IS BACK BABY! I got so excited when i saw it that page, dont worry guys, he has it back now!

Legend with his puzzle mind :))) my legend-centric brain is happy (pg5)

But his teasing almost boastfullness ("it just got lucky") but then turning in to actual contemplation, i love that he is also taking things seriously

Its actively seeking them out, Hyrule is wary that it will find them, like in his adventure (pg6)

They need to get better at teamwork

Four bringing in the joke about friendly fire. He definetly knows a lot about that (im reading the four swords manga for the first time and am near the begining sooo)

They need to use their arsenal

I just gotta say that i love this shot, very pleasing to my eye for some reason. But im so excited to see how everything goes with this! Im guessing in the near future, they will be taking these but to the extreme that it hinders them so they need to practice or something

Oof poor hyrule so tired of strong monsters, his games were HARD (pg7)

The power up on the sword! Ive seen a post about it before so its cool that they are noticing it, very important too!

I like the firmness with sky and time's ideas of the sword. Even though time says nothing about her we can see it, and the fact that she still sees him as her master (obviously!) It seems like they both need to sort out this dissagreement in order to not impact them even more (Pg8)

I love this especially because i just made a fic about exploring sky's and others' relationship with the master sword

I can't help but think that sky is thinking about more than just this quest in this update and back to his own adventure and maybe ghirahim. More bits in this update also make me think that ("he wants to fight" "yeah, 'cause he wont")

Wind being the one most eagre to fight! And Hyrule being the one most ready to go! I love that!

I was just thinking a few bays ago about what happened to those letters, i guess we get to see now! It seems like it might be one more update before we set off properly again (pg9)

Sky looking so happy about the mail at the end :)))

We really do get a piece of everyone and their personalities in this one

Im so excited for them to be on the road again!

[anime-fan-05]

Hello, can you please make sfw alphabet for Hak from Akatsuki no Yona? Thank you in advance!

Akatsuki no Yona ~SFW alphabet~

Manga/anime: Akatsuki no Yona

Warnings: nothing

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

If you two are in public, he's basically not affectionate at all: the most affection you get from him is an arm around your waist. If you're alone, instead, he becomes much more affectionate: hugs, cuddles, sweet words... His main way of showing affection is physical gestures, and his favorite physical gesture is hugging you.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

Probably, your friendship would have started through Yona, who had introduced you to him; that's why I think at first he's considered you a bit annoying like her. However, he soon changed his mind, and so you two became best friends. As your best friend, he would be very provocative (really, he would always make fun of you, especially if you did something that had embarrassed you), but also extremely protective and sweet if he knew something bad had happened to you.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

He really likes to cuddle you, that's his way of making you feel close to him; you two don't have much time for cuddles anyhow: in fact, those only happen for a few minutes and not even every day. Typically, you two cuddle while lying down, and he's almost always the big spoon, as he wraps his arms around your waist and his legs are intertwined with yours.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

I think he wants to settle down one day, but only after helping Yona to create a prosperous kingdom for you two (and maybe also for your children!) to live in. He's definitely capable of providing for you two: he knows how to cook, find supplies (hunting and fishing), he would even be able to build a small wooden house... However, I don't know how good he can be at cleaning (we also have to remember the period in which the manga/anime is set and Hak's social class)!

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

Quick and frank. If he were to break up with you, he wouldn't mince words, but he would be very clear in letting you know he no longer loves you; in addition, his tone would be very moderate and he would apologize to you for the pain he's causing you.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

I think he plans to marry his partner if he's committed to a relationship, so he gives you all the time, love and affection he can. And, speaking of marriage, he would like to get married to you soon since he realized you're the one, but he first wants to help Yona to revive the kingdom; in fact, after having done that, he'll immediately propose to you.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Despite the many battles he fought, the many chaos and blood he saw, he's very gentle: his touches are delicate and soothing and he's never rough with you, both physically and psychologically. Furthermore, he always tries to moderate his words when he's with you for fear of hurting you emotionally, and he reassures you whenever you feel sad.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Hugs are his way of both showing affection and feeling like you're safe and sound in his arms, so he loves hugging you. His hugs feel like he's protecting you from all harm: they're tight, but also soft and sweet, and make you feel like you're wrapped in a blanket. He hugs you every time you or he feels the need, which happens very often, at least on his part: are you going to sleep? Hug. Are you feeling sad about something? Hug. You risked your life, but did you save yourself at the last minute? Funny of you not to assume he'll hold you for at least five minutes.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

He takes forever to tell you he loves you! First he wants to make sure he truly loves you, since he doesn't want to delude you, and you love him back too: indeed, he won't say it until you do first... Furthermore, his confession will be short, but still very sweet, and in private (even if Yona and the Dragons may be behind trees and bushes spying).

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they're jealous?)

He doesn't get too much jealous, since he knows you're more than capable of fending off any unwanted suitors. Furthermore, he put a lot of trust into you. Despite that, though, he isn't above the occasional side eye, or the arm around your waist and the harsh tone if someone is getting a little too buddy buddy.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

In public, he almost never kisses you and, if he does it, his kiss is so light on your lips and quick sometimes you might not even notice it. In private, his kisses are slightly more feral, but on only one occasion they're truly passionate, that's if you're in a situation where you risked dying: the anxiety of having almost lost you is reflected in the kisses, which is like it's the end of the world.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

He's well liked by the children he grew up with and considered a big brother to many, so I can assume he's pretty good with them. However, in my opinion he prefers to be with slightly older children, like four or five years old and up, so he can do many more activities with them, such as simply teaching them to fight.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Mornings spent with him are pretty rare: most of the time you two don't really get to sleep in or even spend mornings together, after all you're very busy saving the kingdom and not getting captured by the guards. If it happens you two have the morning free, he'll make the most of it: he'll stay in bed (or rather, in the subspecies of sleeping bag you create with your cloaks) for a while to hug you, and then you'll spend the whole morning together, walking through the woods and looking for twigs to light the fire or berries for breakfast.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Nights with him alone are also almost impossible as either you keep moving, or you camp, but you've guard shifts, or stop at an inn to rest but you all stay in a group. If the first possibility happens, you walk together, talking about various topics and holding your hands; if the second happens, you take your guard shift together and cuddle; if the third happens, you sleep close.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

I think his openness about his past with you depends on what he tells you: he told you quite early on about his childhood with his grandfather and friends from the Wind Tribe, but he'll take a really long time to tell you about his relationship with Yona and Soo-Won, because he wants to wait to understand if you're the one he wants to spend the rest of his days with. Once he understands that, he'll gladly tell you about his past in full.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

He's one of the most patient people: it really takes a lot to make him angry and, if that happens, you don't notice it, because the most he does is tighten his tone and speak a little more sarcastically than usual. The main ways to make him angry are to insult or hurt you or Yona.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

He's the king of remembering details you mention in passing: you may have told him just once and even in passing you like a certain thing, and years later he'll bring it up in a conversation ("Oh, by the way, do you know I saw bouquets of white camellias while I was walking in Awa? I got you one, since you told me you like them so much." "Did I tell you?" "Two and a half years ago, when your father gave you them for your birthday.").

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

His favorite memory is when you two had laid under the stars and talked about the future and living your life in the future; hearing you so passionate and optimistic, hearing your desires to live the rest of your life, get married and start a family with him gave him hope things would be okay.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

Despite knowing and trusting you can defend yourself, he's still super protective of you, one of the few people he cares about in the world, and he would give everything to see you safe and protected: it's like having a bodyguard as a boyfriend. Literally. As for keeping him protected, I think the best way to do that is to remind him not to overdo himself, since he has the bad habit of overstepping his boundaries to protect both Yona and you (and the other Dragons and Yoon too).

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

On the outside, his dates are very simple (they generally consist of you two either walking together through the forests where you camp or taking turns on guard shift together), but he puts so much effort into so may aspects of those anything bigger would lose the personal touch they've; his gifts also appear very simple, but in reality they've great sentimental value, for instance a bouquet of the same flowers he gave you on the day of your meeting.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

His main bad habits are two: the first is his tendency to overwork himself without saying anything to anyone, and that makes you worry a lot; the second is being very attached and protective towards Yona, almost as much as he's towards you (of course, you know he loves you, but sometimes you've doubts...). With time, though, he grows out of the situations and realizes it isn't selfish to want the best for himself, and he also understands he must make you more aware you're the one he loves.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

I would like to write he doesn't care at all, but I think that's not true: he's concerned with his appearance, not that much, but enough to make himself decently presentable. He doesn't do it out of vanity, though, but just because he wants to be on your level (he always thinks you're truly beautiful, even in the morning with messy hair or with dark circles under your eyes after sleepless nights).

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

It depends: he feels he needs his space, so he wouldn't feel incomplete without you if you two are apart for a short time; nevertheless, if he has to spend a long time without you, he misses you so much and is likely to desperately seek your presence.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them)

I'm pretty sure he taught you some self-defense moves: as much as he doesn't want you to go to the front lines to fight, he wishes you to know how to defend yourself at least a little, also because he knows there might be moments when he can't protect you. If one day you knock someone out with one of the moves he taught you, he'll look at you with a proud and smug face.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn't like, either in general or in a partner?)

If there's one trait he doesn't want in his partner, it's malice: he would never forgive you if you treated others badly or did some evil action. Regarding other physical or character traits, he doesn't have great demands, although perhaps he wouldn't love a too weak partner, since he wants you to be at least a little able to protect yourself.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

As I wrote previously, you can't sleep for a long time but, for what little you can, he prefers doing it with you. Generally, he sleeps on his side while one arm wraps around your waist to keep you close to him and the other acts as a pillow; instead, your legs are intertwined.

💮 Rules 💮 Masterlist 💮

[hardygalwrites]

FanFiction.Net Link

Anime/Manga: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Part 3: Stardust Crusaders)

Characters: Noriaki Kakyoin, Dio Brando, and an Original Character

Synopsis: “Shhh… Easy, Kakyoin. There is nothing to be afraid of.” Two clawed hands grasped Noriaki by the arms in a shockingly gentle hold, and Noriaki could feel a cold breath caress his ear as the man spoke into it, saying, “Let’s be friends, shall we?”

One cold night in Cairo, Noriaki Kakyoin walks into an ancient ruin and is met with one of the most terrifying men he will ever meet in his young life.

Note: A gift fic for my best friend @the-lupine-sojourner, as a tie in for her fic, "The Ace of Wands and Her User" ^-^

—

Noriaki Kakyoin was not a careless person. He was attentive in his studies, observed the world critically, and was aware of his own limits, making his decisions with care. Even though he was still in high school, both he and his parents considered him to be mature. Naoko would be teasingly quick to point out Noriaki’s more petty tendencies, but she was his twin sister, so that was kind of her job.

The point was, when Noriaki left the hotel to wander about the streets of Cairo at night, he, his parents, and even his sister considered him more than responsible enough to go out alone. He had offered Naoko a chance to come with him, but she declined, the day having left her exhausted.

“Maybe I would be willing to come with if you looked less like a tourist,” she said with a yawn and grin as flopped backwards onto her bed.

“I look good in this and you know it,” Noriaki retorted good naturedly, straightening the collar of his uniform. “And besides–”

“No, stop, don’t give me that student bullshit, especially since we aren’t even at school right now.” Naoko laughed and sat upright to give him a genuine smile. “Seriously though, just go have fun. Maybe we can do something together tomorrow night.”

Noriaki nodded, returning the smile. “All right then. See you tomorrow, sis.” He closed the door to her room behind him as he left.

...That seemed like an age ago.

Cairo was a beautiful place on its own, but tonight, with the full moon shedding its beams upon the ancient city, it was truly breathtaking. Noriaki went from place to place, landmark to landmark, sketching what he could. He made sure he knew where he was so he wouldn’t get lost, and kept an eye out for thieves or other people who might look to do him harm.

Yet all of that seemed to fade away when he found himself drawn to a particular ruin.

“Noriaki Kakyoin…”

The ruin was exposed and open. The moon shone down uninhibited from above. The walls had many open archways built into them. And yet in spite of that, it was as though his name echoed through the ruin, sending chills down Noriaki’s spine.

His spirit appeared at his side, and Noriaki turned sharply. “Who’s–?”

The challenge died in Noriaki’s throat, catching behind his hitched breaths.

Thorny vines sprawled across the ground and walls of the ruin, decorated with many dark red roses. There was a glowing aura to them that lit up the already moon bathed stones with a faint sickly pink, and they almost seemed alive , growing and crawling their way towards Noriaki bit by bit. Two bodies lay on the ground not far from where Noriaki stood now - a man and a woman it looked like, unmoving and already claimed by the thorny vines.

A tree of ice stood tall and gnarled at the end of the ruin. It was from this tree that all the vines and roses seemed to emit, and at the top of the tree, Noriaki swore he saw the shadow of some kind of bird of prey. A falcon maybe, with its wings spread wide as though in challenge.

It was like something out of a story book. A dark, twisted story book.

That was hardly the worst of it, though. Any of this might have given Noriaki a pause, made him stutter, but ultimately not lose his composure. No, it was not the scene before him that had Noriaki’s words and breaths catching in his throat.

It was the man standing at the center of it all.

If ‘man’ was the right word… There was something inherently inhuman about him. He stood shirtless, skin shining like marble beneath the moonlight. There was no wind, yet his hair flowed out in a captivating mane of pale gold. The vines and roses looked to be coming from his body . And what a body it was - bigger and taller than Noriaki could ever hope to be, every muscle from the waist upwards accentuated by the moon’s beams. Yet the way the man held himself, the very aura he gave off, spoke of a power deeper and so much more terrible than just physical.

Even through the shadows obscuring the man’s face, Noriaki could somehow still make out a pair of golden eyes, fixed solely on him .

Noriaki couldn't speak. He couldn’t even breathe . He realized, suddenly, what it must be like for a prey animal to be caught within the sights of a predator. Every part of him wanted to run, wanted to scream, but he couldn’t .

A low chuckle echoed through Noriaki’s very bones.

“What’s the matter?” the man crooned. “You look frightened enough to vomit.”

Noriaki’s guardian spirit disappeared into the depths of his soul. Noriaki took one step back. That was all he could manage.

Oh, god… Oh, god, he really was going to vomit.

Whoever, whatever this man was, whatever his intentions were with him, Noriaki knew that he himself was nowhere near powerful enough to fight back. Even his guardian spirit knew that. Noriaki could feel him in the depths of his soul, amidst the horror and terror, cowering , a reflection of Noriaki’s own desires.

He couldn’t fight. He couldn’t even run. He was completely at the mercy of this– this monster of a man.

The man approached. Noriaki fought for breath. Sharp and desperate gasps were all he could manage. They did nothing to ease his reeling mind.

Oh, god, he was getting closer.

His only other option would be to beg for his life. But Noriaki’s mouth refused to work. Even his knees refused to buckle. All he could do was watch as the man approached closer, and closer, and closer…

Was this it? Was this how it all ended? Noriaki Kakyoin, dead at seventeen. Some people flashed across his mind, three people specifically, but their images and his feelings towards them were marred and muddled by the fear that had taken hold of his very being.

“Shhh… Easy, Kakyoin.” That same baritone voice echoed through Noriaki’s body, speaking from just behind him. “There is nothing to be afraid of.”

Two clawed hands grasped Noriaki by the arms in a shockingly gentle hold, and Noriaki could feel a cold breath caress his ear as the man spoke into it, saying, “Let’s be friends, shall we?”

And just like that, Noriaki’s fear dissipated.

This wasn’t the end. The man was willing to show mercy. He still had a chance to live…!

Like a child being reassured by their parents that they weren’t in trouble, relief filled every fiber of his being that had been left vacant by the fear that had filled him mere moments before. Noriaki gasped, an audible sign of his relief, and collapsed.

The man caught him as he fell, easing him down to his knees, hands still grasping Noriaki’s arms gently. “There we are…”

One hand left his arm, and Noriaki felt an ice cold finger brush up his face. “Relaxed now?”

Noriaki sighed and nodded slightly.

“Good,” the man hummed.

Good, good, the man was pleased. He still had a chance to get out of this. It was all going to be all right.

“Now, Kakyoin…” The finger pulled and tucked a bit of hair behind Noriaki’s ear. “Why don’t you bring your lovely sister here to see me sometime? I’m certain we will all be good friends.”

His sister?

His sister…!

Naoko!

“No…!” Noriaki gasped before he could even think to stop himself.

That sick fear was back in full force, but this time it was split in two. Noriaki still feared the man holding him in this sickeningly comforting hold, god did he still fear him. But the thought of bringing his sister into this dizzying nightmare, the thought of his sister being held by this inhuman being like he himself was now–

“Oh?” the man said, and the soft monosyllable was enough to make Noriaki want to vomit again. “You won’t bring her to me? Even after we have become such good friends…”

The hand on his ear caressed downward until it was around Noriaki’s neck, a gesture that held no threat to it, and yet sent chills down Noriaki’s spine.

“No, please, no,” Noriaki whispered.

Whatever this man wanted with him, whatever this man meant to do with him…

“Please don’t involve her in this, please, I’m begging you.”

The man gave no response.

“I’m- I’m enough. Surely I’m enough...! Whatever you want, I’ll do it, I swear, I’m all that you need, just please don’t bring my sister into it, p-please, I beg you–”

He was rambling now, grasping at anything to satiate the man. Noriaki would have already been pressing his forehead against the ground, groveling, if it didn’t mean pulling himself from the man’s hold.

“You ask for your sister to be left uninvolved,” the man stated, the fingers around Noriaki’s neck idly tracing the contours of his throat.

“Yes, yes, please,” Noriaki gasped. “Please, I’ll do anything…”

“Hmmm.” He was smiling, the man was smiling, Noraki could tell. “Very well. For as much as I can, I will allow you to ensure that she remains uninvolved in our little schemes. Will that be all for you, Kakyoin?”

Those words, crooned into his ear, were enough to bring back that overwhelming sense of relief and reassurance.

Noriaki let out another breath and nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”

“Anything for a friend. Now relax…”

He did. Even as the vines and roses that had been acting as the twisted backdrop to this twisted exchange disappeared in favour of unfamiliar tentacles, even as the tentacles descended on him, driving something wrong and sick and invasive into his skull, Noriaki relaxed.

[alchemiclee]

I watched the live action atla series and, looks like a very unpopular opinion in the sea of people whining and complaining about it, but I enjoyed it. I think they did a pretty good job with what they had and their limitations. the actors all did a good job and you can tell they enjoyed what they were doing and have a big respect for the show and their characters.

i'll let you in on the secret if how to enjoying something:

it's not setting high expectations or prejudging things. i'm a master of having low expectations and keeping an open mind so that I can enjoy things in life better. I went into this knowing for a fact that it would not match with the animated series. I knew there was no comparison at all. yes, there were some small bits I thought here and there that they shouldn't have cut out and could have fit if they tried,or things they could have done differently, which is natural to think when watching anything really, but I knew there's no point letting those overshadow the entire thing. if you care so much about little things, go produce your own series and make it perfect!

I went into it thinking of it as it's own thing. I asked myself is this enjoyable if I started watching without having seen the animation? without having the knowledge I do have? turns out it was enjoyable enough on its own. yes, seeing the animation helps fill in some of those gaps they skipped, and I understand why people are upset about things nit being added, but overall, it's a good stand alone if you dont sit and compare and nitpick the whole time.

if you don't go into it thinking "this is going to suck! i'm going to find every flaw! live actions always ruin things I love! I want it to match the animation 1:1! etc" then you'll be able to enjoy it. but if you insist on watching it with that mindset, then of course you will hate it. having an open mind and separating the two like I did makes it more enjoyable! I was pleasantly surprised by it.

I knew this mindset helped, because I did it with another series that had a remake. if you know eureka seven, you'll know that there are a few too many spinoffs. what us fans want is a proper remake and/or a continuation with the characters we know and love. instead we got several movies that retell the story in less appealing ways, the manga that has a few major differences, and a spin off series that's supposed to act as a sequel apparently, but it was kinda awful. because I loved eureka seven so much, I highly judged all these spinoffs and hated them all.

but when hi-evolution came out, I was really in the mood for new eureka seven. the first movie was mostly reused footage from the series. but they added some new stuff. I decided to start watching those as if they are their own stand-alone instead of trying to compare and fit them together. i think these spinoffs are supposed to be different universes that don't compare to the original, and I overly judged them because it's not what I wanted it expected as a kid. I watched hi-evolution with this more open mindset, and guess what? I enjoyed it! I thought it was actually a pretty good stand alone! if I never saw the anime series, I would have enjoyed these movies. I separated them in my mind and enjoyed them as their own thing! this is an extremely unpopular opinion and I haven't seen any eureka seven fans say they liked them. they got the sawn treatment as all the other releases. everyone just wants new content related to the original anime, so that's what they insist of judging by.

back to atla, it may also help that it's been several years since i've seen the animation. BUT it is one i've seen multiple times and have pretty good memory of it, I think, even if it's not so fresh in my mind anymore. I consider myself a pretty big fan as well. it's my second favorite series after fullmetal alchemist. nothing has compared to fullmetal alchemist for me, but atla is pretty damn close. you could say nothing has compared to atla either. solid second place and has never wavered. eureka seven being solidly 3rd. orphan black is 4th.....and I saw something about a new spinoff with all new different characters coming soon...so i'll have to try to apply this same technique to that as well.

conclusion: if you go into something being judgemental, nitpicky, comparing every little thing to something else, and overall having extremely high expectations, of course you're setting it up to fail you. you're basically purposely making yourself dislike it. you decided ahead of time you were going to hate it, so you do. if you have an open mind, low expectations, and let it be it's own thing separate from the original, it may not be your favorite thing ever, but you can at least get some enjoyment or entertainment out of it! appreciate it for what it is, rather than judge it for what it's not. this is for most things in life, not just a series on netflix.

[pikahlua]

I love the way you write about this story and these characters, it's just so wonderful.

Other than your own meta, who else do you recommend? Any fanfics? What about video essays? I trust your opinions 🙇

There is no one who will agree with me 100% on everything, and no one will write or talk about something in the exact same way as another person. I'm sure you realize that.

I see eye-to-eye with @siflshonen on most everything in MHA, and I enjoy the different ways we often approach expressing similar opinions. @makeste has been on break from the manga as of late, but I vibe with her old metas.

@greenhappyseed @class1akids @transhawks write often about sections of the MHA story I am less inclined to examine as closely, and I regularly consider or even defer to their opinions in those areas (All Might-, Todoroki family-, and Hawks/LoV-focused perspectives).

On YouTube, Semblance of Sanity have the takes I agree the most with or find the most interesting. Next would be A Goodwin TV's takes. Blind Wave (reactions on their website) and K&K Anime have reactions and some discussions that I enjoy as well. I'm not really into any video essayists at the moment, though I think there is a lot of potential in the medium itself for good discussion. It's just harder to produce a video in a reasonable amount of time when writing and screenshots get the job done just as well, and most of the essayists I've seen have a more...power-scaling focus that I rarely agree with. (Yes, I have power-scaling opinions based in meta, and they're correct.)

Fanfics are a different beast. A lot of writers lean heavily on western perspectives, which I think is entirely valid to do for whatever type of story you're trying to write. For me personally, a lot of western-based tropes I often see in fanfic just don't mesh as well with canon-focused MHA stories, and many characters end up either out-of-character or at best something like their anime-only filler episode selves. Fanfic is often an avenue of self-exploration, and that means many good stories will reflect the writer's personal experiences more than anything. Those are enjoyable to read, but they don't scratch my itch for more content that explores the canon characterization even in shipping fics. And yes, I guess this is me being a half-hearted snob. There are just some things no one will bat an eye at that I will cringe reading merely because I know Japanese social mores a tiny bit better than most westerners (for example, I very much doubt canon Katsuki would ever get a tattoo, let alone Izuku). I never expect writers to know these things, but I can't help but raise an eyebrow whenever they come up.

I Want What I Don't Deserve (hi sifl, I'm plugging you again!) actually scratches the itch for me. Even in the moments where the author may be inserting their personal experiences or adding more depth to characters that isn't present in the manga, all these author additions make sense with the characters as they present in canon. I whole-heartedly recommend this story to Bakugou fans, Todoroki family fans, and even BakuDeku fans (there is a poetically tragic element to their relationship--though it is not the primary "ship" in the fic--and I think the fandom could use more of this specific take to spice up the ship). Plus Katsuki's opportunities for narration strike the perfect balance of self-deprecation, arrogance, teenage flippancy, and hilarity to keep me entertained for literal months now. (Fuck, just read everything by sifl, because their works reflect the care and craft they jam-pack into everything they write. Do it!)

I don't have many fics I'm currently reading or following. I feel like there was a period a few years ago when I really enjoyed the MHA fanfic world, but lately it's been hard to find anything that grabs me. I could probably use more recommendations myself.

This got way longer than I expected. Oops.

[hunting-songs]

A little Headcanon change- Senritsus Birthday is now put on the twelfth December (so the 12.12.1975, if we would go after the actual Manga timeline that stumbles 20 years behind our time). Which would make Senritsu: A Figtree: Fig Tree (the Sensibility) -- very strong minded, a bit self willed, honest, loyal, independent, hates contradiction or arguments, loves life and friends, enjoys children and animals, a social butterfly, great sense of humor, likes idleness and laziness after long demanding hours at work, has artistic talent and great intelligence.   Birthgem: Opaque Turquoise --- The turquoise is said to stand for perseverance, assertiveness and a quick grasp, as well as wisdom, calm, protection and is said to bring good luck. Historically, the gemstone was believed to have strong protective qualities, particularly for travel and warding off evil spirits. The ancient Greeks and Egyptians considered it a protective stone against accidents and evil influences. Hildegard von Bingen also discovered its healing properties and included it among her twelve main stones. The birthstone of December is also thought to enhance intuition. Turquoise is also said to assist creative problem solving and calming the nerves when speaking in public, as well as being a promoter of self-realisation.Physically, turquoise is said to be an excellent stone for exhaustion, depression and panic attacks. It is thought to enhance the physical and physic immune systems, regenerate tissue, support the assimilation of nutrients, alleviate pollution and viral infections and heal the whole body. A Sagittarius: The Misunderstood Healer --- Guided by the centaurs and the story of Chiron, Sagittarius is the sign of teaching and healing. They are always ready to lend a helping hand and are natural benefactors, but their selflessness is often misunderstood by the common people. Pain is often hidden behind their smile, and they would willingly give everything they have to help others heal, and seek a life free from pain. Despite being blessed with many incredible things, Sagittarius individuals may still feel like something is missing to make their life complete. Sagittariuses have an independent streak like no other sign. Independence and the freedom to pursue what they want when they want is of the utmost importance to a Sagittarius. They are travelers, and risk-takers. Sagittariuses aren't afraid to blaze their own trails, even if that means going it alone. Perhaps related to their ability to intuitively understand issues larger than themselves is the Sagittarius characteristic for being deeply, soulfully compassionate. Because of their openness to new experiences and lack of strictures, Sagittariuses get along very well with diverse groups of people and are always willing to empathize with another person's experience. Their warm, generous willingness to set people at ease comes from a genuine concern for other peoples' experiences and well-being. All this independence can sometimes translate to behavior that seems spontaneous to the point of random and a tendency to get bored easily. They can also rebel against those in authority, which can cause conflicts at work. Additionally, A Sagiattarius's constant quest for new experiences translates to a reluctance to commit. This can be a good thing if you're, say, an Aries or Gemini, who likewise are likely to want to drift toward the new and get easily bored with the old. However, if you like a safe routine and predictability, the Sagittarius might be more of a challenge to find love with.

[dobercorgis]

Okay now that I got 5 hours of sleep I think I’m ready to talk abt the final ep

I think it did the good parts really well like the whole fukufuku scene and fukuchi’s death. The way they managed to convey the depth and weight of their relationship was amazing, and the scenery was very pretty. I still think fukuchi’s plan was silly and unrealistic and a bit too idealistic but it made sense. That’s just the guy he is lol. Also going back a little bit, I think their fight was well animated, both in the choreography and emotional sense. And yeah it makes sense why they put so much effort in to the old man yaoi scenes now.

The tears in teruko’s eyes when she ended up being the one to stab fukuchi made me want to scream. I really didn’t like teruko until this moment (I suppose I did grow an appreciation for her bc of her voice acting a few eps ago) but this just completely flipped my opinion of her. And the way she told atsushi to leave them alone to give them their moment was also great.

I’m really interested to see where fukuzawa will go from here because he just got all of these burdens he never wanted placed on him in a matter of seconds. Suddenly he’s credited with killing fukuchi and then the one order which he wants to destroy but he can’t because that would invalidate fukuchi’s death and his purpose in life.

That all being said, I’m not really satisfied with how the prison arc ended. I thought that the prison arc would end up being one of my favorite arcs once it ended (it felt like it was dragging a bit even more bc of monthly releases) but I felt like it all ended a bit too simply?

Chuuya was never a vampire and skk made up their plan on the spot which does show how well they work with each other and how dazai’s different from fyodor, but it did kind of feel like a cheap cop out. Like all that build up and the resolution just kinda… fell flat. I’m not too hung over on it tho it still made sense and serves its purpose.

I honestly expected more with fyodor. Maybe it was bc dazai had this whole convoluted way of contacting the outside so I expected fyodor’s to be over the top as well but his answer was just vampires (again it all makes sense, it was just much simpler than what I expected). I don’t believe that he’s dead there’s no way that man died from a helicopter crash, but even that “death” seemed a bit mundane for someone like him. Nikolai’s reaction and voice acting to fyodor’s death was amazing tho. The way his voice lost its cheerfulness and him debating whether he actually wanted fyodor’s death… very nice.

Also why did dazai just leave sigma in the prison? I don’t think he was joking when he said that he’d make sure sigma would make it out alive. But he started walking away from the prison like sir no go back. His og plan genuinely might’ve been to use sigma to figure out fyodor’s plans that changed when chuuya got here, but I still don’t think he would leave sigma like that.

I don’t think the manga and anime will diverge imo? Iirc asagiri said that he had the prison arc story done like last year, so it’d be weirder if bones went nah we’ll make our own ending. I just hope that the manga will take it at a slower pace and show more moments in between bc the anime felt rushed and felt like it was trying its best to put a ribbon on things. Maybe it feels even more like that bc lbr the manga was going at a snail’s pace for a long time and we were stuck in those 30 minutes for how long now? And all of a sudden it’s like boom time passes.

Also there’s just so many unanswered questions like what about the other half of the page? Is the ada still considered terrorists? Who’s getting transferred to the pm? Where is yosano? Don’t tell me they just forgot to include her. What’s fyodor’s ability and his plans? What the actual fuck is going to happen to sigma? What happened to Margaret actually? How are the pm vampires? Also might be just me but the two hours later scene felt a bit unnecessary. Maybe it was to hype up the manga readers for what’s going to happen and the anime only’s for whenever s6 is going to come out (in several years maybe) but to add that when there’s so many loose threads… I suppose we got to see akutagawa in a new fit tho. I’m praying that these unanswered questions are intentional and they’ll be answered in the manga since the anime tends to gloss over a lot of details or in the beginning of s6 and they just didn’t explain everything for *intrigue.*

This definitely felt like the flimsiest finale we got so far, but we’re finally out of fukuchi and prison hell (although apparently he comes back like 2 hours later).

[quickdeaths]

SLEEP MEME

Type of bed: Rio has whatever bed is available at the HPA dorms - I assume it's decently sized, maybe a Japanese double (a bit bigger than an American full) or a Japanese queen (narrower than an American queen, but not too much smaller). At her parents' house in Sapporo, she has a double. When she was really little, she shared a bedroom with her middle brother, Kazuya. When her oldest brother, Noriaki, moved out, Kazuya took his room, leaving the other room for Rio alone, until she left for HPA.

Number of blankets: Many, many blankets, although she doesn't necessarily use them all. Rio is about maximum coziness, so in addition to her top sheet and comforter, she probably has like, a knitted blanket, and some thin (mostly-useless) one that's official anime goods. Depending on how deeply she's sleeping, she might have wrapped herself up in all of the blankets and sheets in a powerful cocoon.

Number of pillows: At least one big, comfy pillow, and two smaller fuzzy ones for cuddling with, or just sort of as decoration. She has considered getting a dakimakura but is a little embarrassed, even if she probably wouldn't get a lewd one. Maybe someday.

Type of clothing: Given the choice, a loose, comfy sweater or a sleep shirt, plus some pajama pants (probably branded with some kind of character or media property, not unlike what's referenced here. However, Rio is the kind of person to not get enough sleep, or overwork herself, which means she's extremely likely to fall asleep in the middle of the day, or just crawl into bed in her regular clothes and take a nap.

Does it matter where they sleep? Nope. Obviously, she prefers a bed, but if Rio is sleepy enough (and she often is), she can sleep anywhere. She has pretty regularly fallen asleep at her work desk in her lab, or at her desk in her dorm room, next to (or on top of) her laptop.

What do they do if they cannot fall asleep? This isn't a problem for Rio basically ever. Rather than 'can't fall asleep,' it's more often the case that Rio loses track of time, or puts off sleep, and in those cases, it's usually because she's reading manga or light novels, playing her Switch, or at her computer playing Genshin Impact, Critically Acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, or any of the hundreds of game in her Steam backlog.

Frequent dreams / nightmares: Rio doesn't necessarily remember the specifics of the car accident that took the lives of her parents, but it's her most common nightmare, easily. Others are embarrassing herself at a scientific conference or presentation, falling, or all her teeth falling out, a lot of the common nightmares. When it comes to positive dreams, they're usually things like dreaming about dates or otherwise spending time with her partner, climate change and environmental problems being Solved Forever so she can become a hikikomori and never have to work again, or flying with a bunch of birds.

Deep slumber or naps? Rio is truly dead to the world when she is sleeping. If she is sleeping, it is deep, whether that's at a normal hour, or at a random afternoon hour. She does nap a lot, because her poor time management skills and general problem with staying up too late means she loses the opportunity for unbroken nighttime sleep, and has to just catch up where she can.

When do they sleep? Ehhhhhh it's hard to say specifically. Even on good nights, she stays up until 2-3 playing games or reading, and often sleeps until around 11, or even noon if she doesn't have anything super pressing to do. Otherwise, her sleeping is "whenever she's able to do so."

What could wake them up? Almost nothing. This is not an invitation to try, but if she's asleep, she can sleep through almost anything. Violently shaking her will eventually wake her up, as will like, loud, sustained alarms like a fire alarm, but anything short of that? She's staying out, sorry.

Tagged by: @mechatiqe (thanks!)

Tagging: @paenseo @monburan @legacychosen @oshiai @ultsoldier

[bluesylveon2]

Aladdin

Summary: Eren finds a mysterious lamp after making a deal with a mysterious man. Now he is a prince trying to woo Princess Mikasa and has a genie named Levi, who grants him three wishes. What will Eren wish for?

Disclaimer: Aladdin is an American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and Walt Disney Pictures.  Attack on Titan is a manga/anime series written by Hajime Isayama and published by Kondasha. 

A/N: Oh look, another series! This one will be updated at the same time as my Frozen fic, so check out the masterlist if you want to read it! I hope yall enjoy the chapter!

Masterlist: Here

Chapter 1:

It was a normal day at the Hizuru marketplace. Many vendors from all over were trying to sell their products and make a profit. Of course, that did not stop one foreign woman from coming into the local hotspot. The woman considered herself lucky to get a stall, but there were rumors that thieves (better known as street rats by the royal guards) often steal at any given opportunity. The woman blew it off, considering it as a bluff and a marketing tactic to scare her off, and focused on her stall.

The bespeckled woman was meticulously placing her cabbage in neat rows when her first customer came by. 

Perfect! The woman thought as she stopped to greet the man. Time to make some money! She gave the man a big smile and scanned him. The man had short blonde hair and innocent blue eyes. He also gave off an air that screamed, “I have money,” by the way he was dressed. Thieves my ass, the woman scoffed internally. This guy seemed at least to be middle class. 

“Hello, Miss. I could not help but notice how big your cabbages were, and I wanted to buy some.”

“Of course!” The woman exclaimed. “I have the best selection in the country! I even grew them on foreign soil.” 

The man smiled. “Well, they look delicious. Can you tell me more about them?”

“Certainly! I actually got the seeds from the country of Marley and planted them around summertime. I had to make sure the temperature and soil were right enough for them to grow. Let me show you just how my hard work has paid off up close.” The woman made a move to turn around but was stopped by the man quickly grabbing her wrist. 

“There’s no need for that!” He said hastily. “I can see it all from here.” 

The woman gave him a puzzled look. “Are you sure? I can-” She was interrupted by a crash and a man cursing to himself. “What the- MY CABBAGES!!” she yelled out in horror. What was supposed to be a perfect stall was ruined by the top caving in and some cabbages on the ground. The woman immediately turned to find a man running off, followed by a blonde man who looked familiar.

Wait a minute. The rumors began to play back in her head.

“Thieves!!!”

--- 

"We are never doing anything risky like that again." The blonde huffed and playfully punched his friend in the shoulder. "I almost had it if you didn't fall."

The two had managed to outrun the guards by climbing up towers, hiding inside buildings, and running through a few crowds. Things like that have become daily for them, and getting the guards off their tails was not hard. 

His brunette friend laughed in response. "Look at the bright side, Armin. We at least got the cabbages."

Armin rolled his eyes. His friend was not wrong, but obtaining it almost cost them an arm and a leg. "Sure, Eren. Did you get anything else?" Eren grinned before pulling a small sack out of his pockets. He opened it a bit to reveal a small melon and some loaves of bread. "We will be eating good tonight!" Armin exclaimed and increased his walking speed. His mind was focused on the food.

Eren chuckled and followed his friend. They entered an alley where a boy and girl hid from the afternoon sun. The girl looked up at Eren, then at the sack, and looked away as if she was afraid to talk to him. Eren empathized with the girl. Eren was alone at first until he met Armin. He was in the same situation once, too, a poor orphan with nowhere to go and no one there to help. Now the two were considered street rats by the people of Hizuru. 

Eren stopped and dug inside his sack for a bread loaf. He gave the girl a small smile and handed the bread to her. She did not respond but furrowed her eyebrows. 

"I promise it is fresh. I know you need this more than I do."

The girl eyed the bread one more time before slowly taking it. She broke it in half and handed it to her brother.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Eren smiled and ran to catch up to Armin. The two continued walking until Armin suddenly stopped and looked over the corner they were in. "What's wrong?"

"Him." Armin pointed to a man riding through the streets in a white stallion. The man, with a face that matched his horse, looked rich based on his ridiculous outfit with too many designs and jewels to be considered normal. "I've heard rumors about this guy, Prince Jean, coming to visit the princess."

Eren peeked at the man with slight interest. "Really? This must be the tenth guy to visit the poor girl. I hear she rejects them all."

Armin shrugged. "Probably. He should leave when he gets the chance. I mean, look at the guy!" He said and pointed at the prince. "He has a horse face!" He laughed, and Eren joined in too. The two were about to head back home when they heard the prince yell and a child scream. 

"He even sounds like a horse," Eren muttered, running with Armin to the source. The two stopped when they saw Prince Jean yelling at the two siblings from earlier. The boy was down on the ground while his sister stood protectively before him. 

"You street rats deserve the worse punishment!" the prince yelled and began to raise his hand up to slap the girl.

"Tsk. It's people like you who disgust me." Eren frowned while holding the prince's wrist to stop him. Meanwhile, Armin quickly went to the kids and brought them out to safety. 

"What did you say?" The prince said, glaring at Eren. 

"I said you disgust me. At least if I was as rich as you, I could afford some manners." 

The prince saw red. "Oh, I will teach you manners," The prince yelled, pushing Eren towards a mud pile. 

"Eren!" Armin exclaimed and went to help his friend. The onlookers around them only laughed. The prince smirked victoriously and made his way past the castle gate.

Eren knew he needed the last laugh. "Hey, look at that, Armin. It's not every day you see a horse with two rear ends."

The prince stopped and glared at Eren. "You are nothing but a street rat. You were born as one, and you will die as one. There will be no one around to mourn you except for your fleas."

The prince's words angered Eren even more. He knew it was a losing battle. "Why you-" He yelled and ran after the prince, but the tall doors slammed shut in his face. "I'm not worthless, and I don't have fleas," he muttered, bowing his head in defeat. 

Armin sighed and grabbed Eren's arm. "C'mon, Eren. Let's go home."

©: This is where I insert all rights reserved stuff. This story belongs to me. Do not modify or republish.

A/N: What did yall think?? I was actually hoping to post this later this year, but I played Twisted Wonderland and there was event based off of Aladdin...yeah that was my inspiration lol. I hope to see yall at the next chapter! I am excited to write genie Levi soon lol 😂

[inhonoredglory]

another character based question - how do you feel about mikasa? a lot of fans dont like her, im curious about how you feel! - armin anon

Hellooooo Armin Anon. OMG it’s been forever since I had the time to sit down and do a proper meta, and I apologize.

First off, I finished the manga!!! (So, spoilers ahead for anyone else reading this.) I had to lie down after reading 139. It’s a tremendous story and I’m still taking it all in. The set pieces and personal/emotional stakes of everything that happens is just astounding. If it’s one thing Isayama does good, it’s the gut-wrenching personal anguish that underlies the action. I’m absolutely floored. My favorite bit was probably the timey-wimey stuff in Paths and Eren. That blew my freaking mind. But onto Mikasa!!

A Cruel Yet Beautiful World

I remember way back when I started the anime that I started liking Mikasa first out of the group. I liked how sullenly silent and no-nonsense she was, and I liked her loyalty to Eren. Her emotion, especially when Eren died in Trost, was palpable and terrifyingly beautiful. Her grief was incredibly realistic––rushing off with a death wish that even she couldn’t succumb to in the end, because of the drive to fight that she got from Eren. In a world like SNK, her relentlessness breaking through her grief was incredibly moving. And her philosophy is basically the driving theme of SNK: “This is a cruel world, and yet so beautiful.”

This is the same moral message she gives Eren when he can’t find the strength in him to fight Annie––and gives him that warm, understanding, inscrutable smile that allows him to finally accept his own monsters, fight Annie, and save her and Armin. (One of my favorite panels of her from the manga, actually.) Mikasa is basically the first character we meet who embodies this contradictory morality, which grows to engulf SNK and other characters as well (Levi, Reiner, and Armin especially come to mind). Which could be why I was drawn to her at the start, since the complex moral outlook of SNK was the primary reason I fell hard for this story.

(And gosh, it’s tragic to realize that it’s teaching moments like the scene above that made Eren into the person who could influence his own child self to murder, the person who could wipe out so much of humanity, the person who could take Ymir’s challenge to free her by destroying the love of the person who cared the most about him. I’m still processing yo.)

Acker-parallels

I started really analyzing Mikasa when I had to defend her from a friend of mine who accused her of resenting Levi (for beating up Eren) and that’s why she attacked him so violently in the RTS serumbowl. Because of my research into rebutting that, a lot of my affection for Mikasa now comes in seeing the little ways in which she cares and trusts other people, including Armin, Levi, Gabi, and Jean. And her quiet sensibility that goes beyond her love and protectiveness of Eren.

With Levi in particular, I find a lot I like about her. Because you can definitely see her annoyance at him, but she also trusts him more than anyone else in the Corps outside of Armin. After Levi’s violent encounter with Historia, she was the only one who implicitly trusted Levi’s judgement, backing up Armin’s more reasoned logic. She sees beyond her own emotions and even moral feelings and realizes the world is cruel enough that sometimes people have to do dark things to help others and survive.

This is very much the same statement Levi made to the 104th when he had asked them to follow Erwin’s orders when the commander’s plans were questionable on the surface: “Do you trust him? Those dumb enough to say yes… come with me.” These two understand each other on a moral level, and they ask for their comrades’ loyalty without demanding it, because they each know that everyone’s conscience is their own.

There’s a clear parallel between Mikasa and Levi, not only because of their Ackerman heritage and sensibilities (loyal to a fault to their chosen person, impossibly strong, quiet and grim), but their frustration when they cannot protect the people they are responsible for. They both know they are the strongest around, and if they cannot fulfill on that power, a lot of people will die.

There are many moments in which Mikasa puts aside her personal feelings to do her soldierly duty, from leaving Eren to help with the evacuation of Trost to leaving Eren and Armin to fight the Colossal Titan alone in Shigonshina.

And then there’s the fact that Levi’s the one who could break past Mikasa’s headspace and distraction so that she can do the right thing. He understands her strong emotion, he respects it, but he also knows when that has to be put aside for the greater good. But he doesn’t put her down for having those emotions, either.

Strength from Eren, Humanity from Armin

Mikasa’s love and loyalty to Eren challenges her tremendously after the timeskip and her sorrow at Eren’s change is what really stands out to me about her character in the Marley arc. The absolute grief in her eyes when she tells Eren what he’s done is devastating, and it shows just how much goodness and compassion she does have.

And yet she longs to understand Eren, to trust him, to believe there can be something redeeming, and not merely jaded and tired, in what he taught her so many years ago––to fight, to win, to live.

There’s such a difference between these same words said here by Mikasa, so many years later, after so much heartbreak, to the anger and flame that were in them when she first heard them, back when she realized that this was the way of the world. That death and killing happens in the natural world everyday and that’s how you survive. That the world is both cruel and beautiful.

And yet as the years wore on, as Mikasa grew closer to others, found purpose in protecting others, sought a life with Eren… as she wandered further into the forest of life and society and relationships, she lost some of that simple injunction... to live is to fight, to fight is to win. She, like so many of the 104th and the others on this journey, found that it’s not enough to just fight and live and be satisfied. We really want it all to mean something, to have our actions be redemptive. To allow ourselves to believe that we do what we’re doing because we’re not just saving ourselves, but saving others, “saving the world” like Yelena points out (in the forest therapy session pfff). And it’s that drive for something bigger in our actions that grieves her so much with Eren, because as she wants her own actions to be fundamentally good and selfless, she wants his actions to be moral as well.

So while Eren is the person that frustrates Mikasa and motivates her to become stronger and braver than she ever was, Armin is the person who humanizes Mikasa and allows her the space to be gentle and vulnerable. She comforts Armin, confides in him, puts her faith in him, and puts her life in his hands.

She trusts Armin with Eren, and she values Armin’s intellect and compassion, qualities she doesn’t have in nearly as much quantities as he does: “There are only so many lives I can value. And… I decided who those people were six years ago. So... you shouldn’t try to ask for my pity. Because right now, I don’t have time to spare or room in my heart.”

This bit from her confrontation with Ymir and Historia was a defining moment for me with Mikasa. It’s honest and realistic in a way that few of us care to admit about ourselves, and it’s just super chilling and badass coming from her, too. It also shows how much she fights for Armin and Eren both. They are the two people she loves the most in the world, and she never gave up on saving either of them––from death or from themselves.

I’m looking back on Trost now and finding so much irony with the ending to SNK. In Trost, she was the one to give up on Eren, telling Armin that it was hopeless to try to extract Eren’s personality from his Titan form. And yet, like in the end, it’s always been between Armin and Mikasa to try to salvage Eren’s humanity. In Trost, Armin tells Mikasa to leave––to go do what she’s good at (saving lives)––and to entrust Eren to him.

It’s a huge expression of both Mikasa’s trust in Armin, and her belief in Armin’s abilities and friendship for Eren. And in the end, it’s the two of them again debating on if there’s any humanity left in Eren. The bond they share is intimate and deep. With all the military doubting Eren and scheming to take away his Titan (with even Jean and Connie unavailable to them emotionally), it’s only Armin and Mikasa against the world––the only two people who can truly consider Eren’s actions and hold off on judging him. And you can feel their love for him even as they doubt him.

And like back then, it has always been Armin who understands Eren most, the one who recognizes his own evil and Eren’s and finds a redemption in having others stop you, because you cannot stop yourself.

And that’s the thing I really take away from SNK and from Mikasa’s journey, that we all have devils inside us, and yet there is still beauty to be found, within us and in the world––from the natural wonders that Armin dreams of, to the comfort of purpose and companionship that Mikasa has in Eren. Love and wonder is what redeems us of our devils. And yet love itself is complicated, and can turn ugly in its obsession. That giving up that love is what makes the love selfless and beautiful, what absolves us of the selfishness within us. That’s what Mikasa learned. And in the end, she was able to release that love for the good of the world.

So I guess to sum up, I really love Mikasa. I can see why her dogged loyalty to Eren might annoy some fans, but I think there’s a lot more to her than simply that, and in fact, her journey and growth is heart-rending and one of the most symbolic arcs of SNK and fundamental to its entire theme. She’s a badass with a lot of emotion and depth behind her cold mask.

[violettelueur]

— JUJUTSU KAISEN EPISODE TWENTY TWO || THE ORIGIN OF BLIND OBEDIENCE

↳ featuring : itadori yuji + fushiguro megumi + kugisaki nobara + nitta akari from jujutsu kaisen

↳ warnings : mention of violence + mention of suicide + mention of dangerous acts + mention of killing + EXTREME grammar issues

↳ form : story

↳ published : 04 may

↳ pronouns : she/her

↳ word count : 7.2k

↳ synopsis : within the jujutsu world, there were three famous clans to be aware of, the Kamo clan, Zenin clan and the Gojo clan. However, unknown to many sorcerers there was one last family that was known to be apart of the three, only for them to disappear after the golden era leading some to speculate that they had died in battle after the sealing of ryomen sukuna, but....

↳ previous episode : jamais vu

↳ next episode : the origin of blind obedience 2 

↳ barista’s notes : let me admit...this ain’t my best piece of work, but i hope you all enjoy this episode of the series and good night everyone ʕ •ᴥ•ʔゝ☆

BEFORE READING, I NEED YOU TO BE AWARE OF THIS:

1. the whole story belongs to Gege Akutami and the credits go to them and them only.

2. the spell curses used belong to Tite Kubo due to them being the ‘Kidos’ being used on the manga and anime ‘Bleach’.

there was one going to be mention but...let’s keep that a secret for now...

2.5. for the ‘cursed spells’/kidos (bleach) i will link this video here and tell you the time stamp to check out what i am intending to show - remember i add a few twist here and there by adding the katana to link with Y/N’s cursed technique : hopefully this video is slightly better...

3. if you are confused on anything, please don’t hesitate to message me since i know this whole thing is so confusing.

“Kanada Taichi in Morioka, in June. Shimada Osamu in Yokohama, in August. Yamato Hiroshi in Nagoya, in September. These three died in similar circumstances. They were stabbed to death by a cursed spirit at the entrances to their apartments and all of them had filed the same complaint with the property managers several weeks before dying. They claimed their auto-locking doors were left wide open. None of the other residents have any idea what could have happened,” Nitta (your current driver) explained, causing you to open your eyes slowly, letting your drowsiness fade away slowly.

Currently, at this moment in time, you and your classmates were being driven to your desired destination to your current mission that all four of you were set causing you to wonder how much longer the drive was going to be, but also how you were going to cope with dealing with the whole ordeal since it had been a while since you had gone on a mission dealing with the unknown - last time was over two months ago at the detention centre where you had to face Sukuna (a special grade curse).

“None of the dates or locations match, though. Could the same cursed spirit have killed them all?” Fushiguro questioned as he stared down at the Ipad he had in his hands while trying to read all the information that was provided.

‘There is one location they all have in common though’ you thought, as you turned your head to stare out of the window, recalling the time where you had read the same information on your phone during breakfast with your adoptive father, Gojo Satoru.

“Hey, could the cursed spirit be responsible for the doors? Do sensors like those pick up cursed spirits? They don’t show up on camera and stuff, right?” Itadori began to ask an abundance of questions causing you to internally giggle as some of the questions he asked were basic knowledge for jujutsu sorcerers, but it was adorable for him to try to find a solution.

“Apparently, the cursed spirit made the door operators go crazy, not the sensors,” Nitta answered, leading you to give a side-eye to indicate that you were listening to her before going back to peer at the window to figure out a solution of your own about the current situation.

“Oh...Operators?” Itadori muttered in confusion as he tilted his head slightly to the side.

“And as for whether or not the same cursed spirit was behind this...Well, we couldn’t be certain from just the residuals. After all, a lot of time had already passed. So we tried to track down any connections between the three, we found that all three attended the same middle school for two years,” Nitta mentioned causing you to stiffen up slightly on the information given to you.

“Meaning all three received the same curse, and it activated after time had passed?” Kugisaki suggested with a thinking gesture causing Itadori to make a noise of impressiveness before leaning forward to view the female sorcerer.

“Precisely. That’s highly likely. So we’re going to that middle school now to question someone the three victims all knew, and I want you four to see what you can find as sorcerers,” Nitta answered leading you to sigh (to which she slyly notices) before you processed to close your eyes as if you were going to nap for a bit.

“Way to go, Kugisaki!” Itadori mentioned in astonishment leading the mentioned sorcerer to flick her hair back.

“Heh. What’d you expect?” Kugisaki questioned smugly.

However, without the attention of all three of you, Fushiguro seemed to be annoyed as he leaned his head back onto the chair seats before letting out a sigh of his own, wondering how he was going to handle this situation now.

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“A funeral?” Itadori questioned, as you processed to exit out of the car leading you to see a few people wearing all black, entering into a building before shutting the door quietly to not disturb the mourners that were attending the disheartening event.

“Is this the home of that acquaintance?” Kugisaki asked as she was also looking at the darkening event that was happening.

“Yes, it is…” NItta answered in a stutter leading everyone to get back in the car since there was no possible way, all of you could even interview someone properly during this time since it would be considered extremely rude.

                                               ꕥ

“Well, this sucks. He dies the same way the other three did. He lived with his family, so there was no auto-locking door, but he was killed in front of the entrance. Previously, upon returning home alone, he reported, “The door was unlocked, but it wouldn’t open,” to his family members,” Nitta explained, as you processed to scan through all the documents through your phone trying to obtain some sort of connection between all the victims rather than the middle school that they attended to.

‘Date of birth 1983-1984...that means they were in middle school at around 1995-1998...Yasohachi Bridge was popular back then, right?’

Suddenly, the car had come to a sudden halt causing you to look up from your phone, only to discover that you had arrived at the location that Nitta had discussed to everyone at the beginning leading you to look up that the building from the side of your window before slowly letting out a breath as you processed to open the car door to go and investigate with the others.

“I asked his parents, too, but they said they didn’t know what relationship he had with the other three. Man, there goes our only lead!” Nitta whined loudly, as everyone began to enter the school premises causing you to halt for a second before you continued to stroll behind them, trying to make sure your classmates didn’t notice your fidgeting behaviour.

“Don’t worry! There has to be something at this middle school!” Itadori reassured Nitta as she looked disappointed with her head hanging low.

“I sure hope so. For now, I’ve secured an appointment with a teacher, so I’m counting on you,” Nitta replied with a disheartened tone.

“Roger,” Itadori replied with a determined smile.

Suddenly, Kugisaki (who had her hands behind her head in the beginning) unexpectedly had a mischievous smile painted on her face before quickly running off to the side causing you to look at her with a raised eyebrow as you wondered what she was planning on doing.

“There’s some obvious punks, let’s beat’em up and set’em straight!” Kugisaki suggested causing you to walk up to her with your hand raised since she was going completely off-topic with what everyone was supposed to do currently.

“Why?” Itadori asked in a confused tone.

Slowly, the two punks that Kugisaki mentioned began to straightening up with menacing looks on their face, leading Itadori to lean forward to observe the two, only for them to suddenly straighten up more in sudden fear, causing you to be somewhat confused on why there was a sudden change in expression, only for your eyes to follow what they were looking at.

“I-It’s good to see you!” the pucks shouted while processing to bow 90 degrees with their heads lowered causing you to turn back to them with widened eyes at what was going on.

“Heh, look at that. You actually get it,” Kugisaki stated with a smug look on her face causing you to give her a fed-up look towards her direction while trying to figure out why Itadori was joining in her shenanigans.

“An aura just pours out, even if you try to hide it,” Itadori mentioned as he pushed his hair back leading you to ignore both of your classmates and you processed to look around the school trying to find some clues while noticing slight hints of cursed energy roaming around the premises.

“We haven’t seen you since graduation, Fushiguro-san!” one of the punks mentioned, causing the two smug sorcerers to drop their act before quickly turning around to see Fushiguro, who was now looking to the side in embarrassment.

“I...went here...for middle school,” Fushiguro announced before turning his back to face behind him to avoid his classmates, only for them to violently grab his face as they tried to make his turn to face them.

“That’s a surprise, too, but that’s not the point! Look at me!” Kugisaki angrily demanded, as she forcibly turned Fushiguro’s face to look at her with a struggle as Itadori had a hold of the shikigami sorcerer’s head to make it face him.

“What’d you do?! What did you do in middle school?! No, it would be quicker to ask them!” Itadori mentioned in a panic, as he was desperate to find an answer.

“Hey, Idiot A and Idiot B! What did this guy do to you?” Kugisaki yelled out her question, while still having a hold on Fushiguro’s face.

“We...Or rather, every delinquent, gang member, and so on in this area got beaten up by Fushiguro-san,” one of the punks answered, as both of them lifted their heads leading both Itadori and Kugisaki to let go of their friend’s face in shock before turning back to face him in confusion, looking for answers.

“I beat them up,” Fushiguro muttered as he turned his head back with his now messed up hair, leading Itadori and Kugisaki to grab his face again in complete surprise.

“Why do you keep talking so stiffly?! Look at me!” Kugisaki angrily asked as she painfully turned Fushiguro’s face to look at her.

“What are you doing?! Hey! What are you doing?!” Itadori asked in a panic, once again, as he now turned Fushiguro’s head to face him.

“Wow~ you beat up people Fushiguro, what a drag~” you commented with a hand over your mouth leading the erratic-haired sorcerer to look to you for help only for you to turn away to observe the school’s premises again, trying to gain something for the mission at hand.

“Hey!” someone shouted, causing both of the sorcerers to let go of Fushiguro’s face which led his hair to bounce a bit. Turning around to face the front, you noticed an old man with glasses running up towards you guys leading your eyes to widen once you had gotten a good look at who was coming towards everyone.

“Who are you? Students from other schools aren’t allowed in here!” the old man stated with a loud tone.

“And who the hell are you?!” Kugisaki yelled back in anger, causing you to smack the back of her head as if to tell her to ‘shut up’ which caused her to look up at you with a pout as she held her head to soothe the pain away.

“He’s clearly a staff member. Why are you so combative?” Itadori questioned in a low tone as he began to slouch.

“We have permission to be here,’ Nitta informed the staff member while processing to show the pass that she was carrying leading the old man to adjust his glasses as he peered at the pass she was currently holding.

“Oh, you’re the ones? You’re all young, you need to hang your pass around your neck,” the old man mentioned as began to observe the group of students behind her before his eyes widened once they handed on a certain someone. 

“Fushiguro-kun?” 

“Hello,” Fushiguro greeted, as he looked to the side with a small blush beginning to appear on his face.

“He remembers you!” Itadori and Kugisaki mentioned in a teasing tone as they looked at their classmate with an amused look.

“So this man’s been here a long time?” NItta asked with a cheerful tone, leading you to conclude that she probably had gained hope for a new lead on the mission that was happening right now.

“Probably, Takeda-san’s a permanent employee,” Fushiguro answered in a monotone voice.

“Then I leave the rest to you!” Nitta concluded, to which she held a thumbs up as if it was some sort of encouragement.

‘Abandoning her duty....’ Fushiguro thought, before shifting his eyes towards you as he realised that you had become quiet again, only to discover that you were looking at Takeda with some sort of fondness in your eyes as a small but noticeable smile appeared on your face.

‘It’s been a while, hasn’t it Takeda-san? How are you? You’ve been okay? I wish I could ask you this..but...it’s for the best that I didn’t at all huh?’ you thought before turning your head to look at the windows beside you, only to realise that the same hint of cursed energy was still lingering around.

‘I’m surprised it remains here…’ you mentioned internally before turning back to look at the staff member in front of you.

                                              ꕥ

“Kanada, Shimada, Yamato...and Morishita, huh? I was shocked by their passing, but I guess it’s been nearly twenty years since they graduated, I remember it like it was yesterday. They were problem children in their own right, though not as bad as you. What do you want to know?” Takeda mentioned with a soft smile causing you to scoff a bit at his comment as you covered your mouth to hold your laugh but to Fushiguro’s annoyance.

“Strange rumours, dark rumours, connections to bad adults…” Fushiguro listed as he raised his arm, leading you to look at him weirdly since it wasn’t the arm towards your side he had lifted.

“Hey, problem child!” Itadori and Kugisaki chanted in a teasing tone.

“...and anything of ill omen,” Fushiguro concluded before closing his hand into a fist as he proceeded to swing it down to punch the top of Itadori’s head.

“Dark rumours? They may have been problem children, but they never went beyond average middle school stuff. But wait...ill omen?” Takeda muttered as he began to think.

“Do you mean that tale? About the Yasohachi Bridge bungee jumping?” one of the punks questioned, causing you to look to the side in interest since you had an idea about the bridge before you had arrived at the middle school.

“You’re still here, A and B?” Kugisaki asked since she was surprised that they remained where they were.

“Yasohachi Bridge?” Itadori questioned.

“A notorious suicide spot, it’s well known in this area as a haunted location,” you answered in a casual tone before explaining why it was such an important detail to note for your pink-haired classmate.

“Oh, that’s right! Back then, it was all the rage among delinquents to bungee jump off Yasohachi Bridge late at night, it was one of those tests of courage,” Takeda explained, once he remembered what he was trying to think of.

“What a weird tribe,” Kugisaki muttered in annoyance.

“What a drag,” you mentioned in a fed-up tone.

“I’m surprised there are people dumber than me!” Itadori stated.

“What do you use for a cord?” Fushiguro questioned as he was trying to wonder how the people bungee jumped in the first place.

“We don’t do it, I just heard some students from our parents’ generation talking about it,” the punk mentioned causing you to nod your head slowly, conveying that you understood what he meant.

“One day, Kanada and the other three were absent without permission. That wasn’t all that usual by itself, but when we contacted their families, we learned that those four hadn’t come home the day before. It caused a pretty big stir, then they were found unconscious under the bridge. They got chewed out good, but all four swore up and down they didn’t remember a thing,” Takeda explained, causing all the first years to come to the same conclusion in their heads.

                                               ꕥ

“I think that’s it,” Nitta suggested as she looked at all four of you.

“I’ve been to Yasohachi Bridge, too,” Fushiguro mentioned in a serious tone.

“To bungee jump?” Itadori asked comedically, leading Fushiguro to swiftly smash a fist on the top of his head in annoyance causing Itadori to wince in pain as he held his head with a pout.

“It’s easy for curses to take root in haunted locations, just like in schools, so people from Jujutsu High regularly patrol it,” Fushiguro explained causing you to recall the times where you would walk around the area late at night while trying to hide from the sorcerers that came from time to time back a few years ago.

“There wasn’t anything unusual at the time, though. It might be a bit famous, but it’s still used as a normal bridge,” Fushiguro mentioned.

“We still have to go check it out, though,” Kugisaki suggested, causing you to agree with her since it was the best for all the four of you to survey the bridge yourselves.

“Fushiguro-kun?” someone called out, causing everyone to turn to find Takeda coming towards everyone’s way.

“Sorry, I was curious about something,” Takeda mentioned causing Fushiguro to fully turn around to face the old man.

“What is it?” Fushiguro asked.

“Tsukimi-kun took awfully good care of you when you were in school. Is she doing well?” the old man asked, causing you to stiffen up slightly before shifting your eyes to the side since you were getting nervous at the fact the staff member was remembering everyone little by little.

“Yes,” Fushiguro answered with a deadpan expression.

“Who’s Tsumiki?” Itadori asked the shikigami user in curiosity.

“My older sister,” Fushiguro answered in a low tone, leading Kugisaki to grab his shoulder in surprise once again.

“What?! You tell us too little about yourself!” Kugisaki mentioned in an annoyed tone leading Itadori to agree with her, leading the old man to tilt his head slightly to the side - to avoid the blockage of Itadori’s body - to discover you making your way to the side of the car, where you were sitting before.

“Excuse me, I also wanted to ask you something if you don’t mind,” Takeda asked in a kind tone, causing you to halt your movements before looking up to find the old man gifting you with a sweet smile that you remembered so much causing you to turn back and make your way towards the staff-member with lessening the tension that you had before walking away.

“Yeah, it’s fine, what is it you want to ask me?” you questioned with a light tone, trying to sound polite to the man, causing him to smile at you.

“Do I remember you from anywhere, you seem quite familiar to me?” Takeda asked, causing your eyes to widen in fear before quickly blinking away the sudden change in emotion you were surprisingly expressing so easily.

“I never been to Saitama Urami East Junior High before, I’m sorry but I don’t think I’m the person you are trying to recall,” you answered with a sad soft smile leading the man to sigh before fixing his glasses.

“Is that so? I’m sorry, the minute I saw you, I began to recall a student that would always help me around from time to time and she was always on top of her work, but she left around the second year before I got to thank her,” the old man began to reminisce, not noticing the stiffness of your body as well as the panic rising within your heart leading it to beat faster than it should.

‘He’s remembering too much, but didn’t I put enough cursed energy into that spell? It should have wiped everything from his memory’

“Sorry, but could you look at my left eye for a second? I think I got an eyelash stuck there,” you quickly asked, causing the old man to agree to help you as he adjusted his glasses once again before taking a good look at your eye.

‘It could cast it now, but the others are here...I could just not use the spell to its full potential and that couldn’t cause him to faint, maybe that will work,’ you quickly thought as you were slowly transferring a small amount of your cursed energy to your left eye.

“Haku-” you muttered under your breath before coming to a sudden halt, causing your cursed energy to waver slightly as it began to slowly move away from your eye leading you to conclude that you didn’t even have the guts to commit to the action that you were planning to go on with like you did two years ago, to which caused your heart to become extremely heavy with guilt as you knew once he entered back into the school, the lingering cursed energy that you had left in the school would cause his memory to fade away, processing you to let go of your sudden plan as the staff-member mentioned that there was nothing to worry about.

‘Nothing to worry about huh?’

“Thank you so much,” you softly said with gratitude before giving the old man a final wave goodbye before entering the car with the rest of your classmates, wondering if it was still for the best that you let him free with his memory gradually coming back to life.

                                              ꕥ

“We’re here. Koi no Kuchi Canyon, Yasohachi Bridge. Once you confirm a cursed spirit’s here, I’ll lower a veil,” Nitta explained as all of the first years processed to get out of the sleek black vehicle before stepping to the side of the bridge to be away from the road.

“Roger!” Itadori started with a confident smile presented on his face as he tugged at the vinyl cord he was holding.

Slowly, you began to walk away from the group while Nitta got back in her car before driving away and steadily grabbed onto the metal poles the were in front of you - probably built to prevent any more suicidal people from jumping over - and with much effort, began to pull yourself up to reach to the top before grabbing in the metal bar as you pulled yourself up even further.

“GOJO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Kugisaki screamed in horror, as she finally turned around to discover you pulled your body up to sit on top of the fence as you peered down to check how far you had to jump down in order to find what you were looking for in this mission.

“SHE’S NOT LISTENING!” Kugisaki yelled (once again) as she pointed at you in anger, causing the boys to turn around to see what the fuss was about before seeing the drastic measures you had taken to find the cursed spirit.

“Woah, Gojo, there’s no need for that! We have the vinyl cord for a reason!” Itadori mentioned, which seemed to be a way of getting you to come down from where you were right now as you turned to look at him before turning back at the ground below you.

“SHE’S NOT LISTENING AGAIN!” Itadori cried out in fear, as if he hadn’t done more stupid and extremes things than what you were doing right now.

“Gojo!” Fushiguro shouted before jumping up to reach the back of your school jacket, leading you to grab onto the sides of the metal bar that you were sitting on right now for support before turning back to peer at the shikigami user, ready to yell at him for disturbing your train of thought only for him to give you a pair of surprised eyes as if he remembered something.

“Get down, please,” Fushiguro quietly commanded, leading you to give him a deadpan expression before turning back to prepare to jump off since you couldn’t find another way to get down there, only for Fushiguro to pull you from your jacket once again leading your body to start to fall backwards - much to your surprise - to which caused the boys to immediately get behind you, ready to catch you so you didn’t hit the ground at all. 

“You drag!” you screamed at Fushiguro before letting your body fall towards the safe side of the metal barrier, processing to land on top of Itadori and Fushiguro as a result.

                                              ꕥ

Letting out a yawn, Itadori couldn’t help but emphasise how tired and bored he was as he remained seated on the metal railings that all four of you were sitting on right now.

“Hey, we didn’t find hide nor hair of any cursed spirit,” Kugisaki whined in annoyance as her posture slouch in disappointment, leaving Fushiguro to slouch in boredom while you had your eyes closed as if you were sleeping while sitting up straight when in reality, you were concentrating on sensing any lingering cursed energy around the area you were in right now.

Suddenly, you felt something pressed gently on the side of your head before it pushed you down to the side slowly, causing the movement to halt the second you felt someone’s shoulder being used as a pillow for your head leading a sense of confusion to rise within your stomach before you heard a few teasing sounds from Kugisaki.

“Oh~ what a gentleman Fushiguro~” Kugisaki teased, leading you to realise that your head was now resting on Fushiguro’s shoulder since it did seem like you had fallen asleep while sitting up.

“I’m surprised she can sleep while sitting up,” Itadori commented, as she leaned forward to see you in what seemed to be in a state of rest since you made the decision to keep your eyes closed.

“You should have seen her while we were training, she was asleep for so long every day,” Kugisaki mentioned as she began to recall all the times you had taken a nap during your daily training sessions with the second-years as preparation for the Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event.

                                              ꕥ

As time went by, after you had ‘woken up’ from your nap when in reality, you had given up on trying to trace a single amount of cursed energy from the distance you were away from the ground below - which was where you were trying to go from the beginning if Fushiguro didn’t pull you down - you were now in front of a small convenience store while sipping on a small carton of orange juice that you had managed to purchase as a breakfast substitute since you were surprisingly not feeling hungry at all currently.

“We didn’t sense any presences or residuals,” Fushiguro informed Nitta, who had come to pick you three up after not hearing a single thing from everything, except for all of you being hungry. 

“I see, which means this ain’t it, Guess it’s back to square one,” Nitta replied with a slight tone of disappointment as the most promising lead has been for nothing.

‘It wouldn’t be square one if you just let me jump down to the bottom to investigate…’

“Gojo, is there something wrong?” Kugisaki asked as she noticed you looking to the side with a somewhat annoyed expression planted on your face.

“It’s nothing,” you replied before taking another sip from the carton you were holding.

“But isn’t it bad if we take too long?” Itadori asked in a light serious tone.

“Why?” Kugisaki questioned, wondering why they needed to be in a hurry to finish the mission as soon as possible.

“Well, it’s a famous haunted location, right? There might still be plenty of others who got cursed and right now, the death rates at 100%. We don’t want to see others die, right?” Itadori explained as he answered Kugisaki’s previous question.

“True,” Kugisaki muttered, once she took Itadori’s theory into consideration.

“Ding-Ding! Bungee jumping was all the rage then, right? So maybe the act of jumping off is the key?” Nitta asked as she seemed excited to think of another clue on how to find the curses that were the curse for all these deaths that have been happening.

“Did she say “ding-ding”? Did she really say that?” Itadori asked as he stared at his senior in adoration.

“She did! She did!” Kugisaki replied in the same high tone with the same look at adoration at how cute Nitta was right now.

“Itadori already tried that,” Fushiguro mentioned causing the bungee jump idea to come to a halt.

“Huh?..... What?! You mean you jumped with that vinyl cord?!” Nitta screamed in shock as she began to imagine how you, Fushiguro, and Kugisaki would wrap Itadori in the cord, only for the shikigami user to fly kick him over the metal bar with you and Kugisaki holding onto the end of the cord.

“Hey, there you are!” someone shouted, causing you to look towards the direction in where the sound was coming from, only to discover one of the punks from yesterday to be on a bike with someone behind him with her arms wrapped around his waist.

“Fushiguro-san!” the punk shouted to gain the shikigami user’s attention.

“Who’s that again?” Kugisaki asked as she stared at the punk with a confused expression only for Itadori to answer her question by mentioning the people were Fushiguro’s upperclassman from his middle school and how she was ready to pick a fight with them causing her to suddenly remember who the person was.

“You were talking about Yasohachi Bridge, so...I’m really glad I found you here!” the puck mentioned with a smile on his face with slight sweat from the swift bike riding as well as a hint of fear of Fushiguro.

‘Fujinuma?...If I recall, she was a student as well…’ you thought, as you watched the girl get off of the bike she was on before walking towards the group as her eyes widened at you for a second before turning into complete confusion, leading your body to complete tense for a second.

“Fujinuma?” Fushiguro muttered causing Nitta to look at him with a perplexed expression before he clarified that she was an old classmate of his.

“My older sister,” the punk introduced the girl leading her to bow as a greeting.

“I’m glad you remember me,” Fujinuma stated in a soft-toned voice before straightening back up to face everyone within the group.

“I was talking to my sister about you yesterday, and..” the punk stated before his sister took the reins.

“Um, Morishita-san had a funeral in the neighbourhood...Then I heard from my brother that you were looking into that man and Tasohachi Bridge, so I started to wonder if they were related…” Fujinuma began to explain, leading Nitta from behind both of the people to shake her head as they needed to hide the real reason on why everyone was here right now to which Fushiguro noticed.

“If what’s related?” Fushiguro queried as if he didn’t understand what was going on.

“Morishita-san’s death and the bridge…” Fujinuma replied in a smaller tone.

“They’re not related, we just-” Fushiguro quickly countered back.

“I...I went there. In eighth grade...I went to Yasohachi Bridge at night,” Fujinuma stated as her face contorted in fear as she began to tilt her head down, causing Kugisaki to give a look as she began to wonder how many people had been to that bridge.

“Has anything odd happened at home recently? Any strange feelings that only affect you and no one else?” Nitta asked as she leaned down to face the fearful girl, only for Fujinuma to look up once again.

“My family runs a local branch shop...and the shop’s automatic door is wide open only when I come home. Mom and Dad both say it’s just a coincidence, but there’s definitely something there. It scared me. That’s when I heard about you and remembered the Yasohachi Bridge,” the girl replied as she began to shiver in fear while trying to recall all the same incidents happening to her.

“When did the issue with your automatic door start?” Nitta queried, trying to get enough information as sly as possible.

“It’s happened about every other day for exactly one week now,” Fujinuma replied in a shaky tone.

‘There’s at least two weeks between when the four victims noticed something and their deaths,’ Fushiguro thought.

‘We still have some time,’ Itadori thought, encouraged by the fact that there was some amount of time left to save someone from the cycle that was happening right now.

“You didn’t go to Yasohachi Bridge by yourself at the time, did you? Do you remember who you went with?” Kugisaki asked, trying to make sure there weren't any other victims that you all were missing at this current moment in time.

“Um, so this really does have something to do with…” Fujinuma mentioned in a stutter, scared that her life might now be at risk.

“Just with your automatic door. But it has nothing to do with Morishita-sans’s death. Fushiguro-kun and the others are helping me with my college report: Electromagnetic Waves from Haunted Locations and their Effects on Electronics, it’s a huge pain in my gut!” Nitta responded quickly, before suddenly linking arms with you causing you to put on a realistic fake smile to hold the lie in place.

“But I want to hear from all kinds of people, so I’d love to hear who you went with,” Nitta continued, trying to make the girl calm herself down while reminding her the fact that they now have to save her life before something could happen to her.

“I went on a test of courage with two others from my club. That’s right. Fushiguro-kun, Tsumiki-san was with us then, too,” Fujinuma announced, causing you to halt for a second while Itadori and Kugisaki were shocked at the fact that Fushiguro’s sister was involved in this too.

“I see. Then I’ll try asking Tsumiki, too,” Fushiguro replied calmly.

“There was also another person there at the bottom of the bridge, but I don’t remember really clearly of her at all...she was wearing our uniform thought, sort of reminds me of her,” Fujinuma stated as she pointed off to somewhere, leading your whole body to become suddenly numb at the fact that her finger was directing pointing at you causing your classmates to turn to you in fear at what might happening to you if her statement was true.

“Sorry, but I never been here at all, maybe you have the wrong person?” you unconcernedly suggested, trying to change you from being the topic of the conversation leading the girl to look confused again before gasping on how silly she was being before mentioning that she had never even met you and that she apologised for scaring you.

“Okay, then I’ll escort these two home. Please keep working on the report,” Nitta mentioned to the four of you with a smile on her face.

“Something’s up, isn’t it?” Fujinuma’s brother asked leading Nitta to form another excuse on how she could let them ride a bike back after making them petal all the way here, causing you to turn around and take a deep breath the second they began walking away.

“Fushiguro,” Itadori called out in worry before repeating his name again louder as he proceeded to grab onto his friend’s shoulder, only to see the look of unknown fear painted across Fushiguro’s face.

“Fushiguro, snap out of it, make sure she’s safe first,” Itadori muttered in reassurance, as he turned his body to face his friend to help him calm down.

“I’m fine,” Fushiguro muttered in a low tone, once he was able to snap out of his fear daze but apologising to his friend as he needed to take a step back for a second before reaching into his pocket to grab his phone to make a call leaving Kugisaki to come to your side and ask a few questions for you to answer.

“What was she talking about? Were you really a part of that school? Were you really at Yasohachi bridge back then? Answer me, Gojo!” Kugisaki asked in a panic, as you just stared at her with a blank look on your face before letting out a sigh.

“I’ve never been there before until yesterday, I have never been here at all, to begin with. There is no way I could be at that bridge,” you answered, trying to convert the conversation into something different, only for Itadori to turn his body to face you directly as he questioned you again about your ‘involvement’ in everything that's happening right now.

“Why are random people saying if they remember you then, does your cursed technique allow you to manipulate someone’s mind or anything?” Itadori asked as he needed to understand why a few people mentioned about you when you had said you have never been here at this location ever in your life.

“I don’t have a technique that does that, they have been talking about a girl that looks like me,” you answered while proceeding to cross your arms to stay as persuasive as you could while trying to hide a piece of your past that you had already somewhat erased out of everyone’s minds.

‘If they are somehow recalling some bits here and there...what about Fushiguro?’ you thought as you closed your eyes to lessen the headache that was gradually coming from the back of your head.

‘There isn’t enough time to think about it at all...these three need to get out of here before I go investigate the whole thing myself...that is...if my theory is correct like last time’

Suddenly, you reached into the pocket of your skirt before taking out your phone to swiftly call Nitta to pick everyone up from where she had left all of you causing Itadori and Kugisaki to look at you in complete confusion.

                                              ꕥ

“Just get in the car,” you commanded in a low and threatening tone, causing the three first-years to look at you in shock before all three were pushing down into the back seats of the car.

“Us three? What about you Gojo?” Itadori asked in a panic, as he wasn’t sure why you were pushing everyone into the car that Nitta was pulled in - to which she understood why you were doing this at this moment in time.

“The mission has gone into a higher rank than what it was previously predicted, I’ll come back once I’m done with the whole thing,” you stated in a serious manner as you processed to push Itadori further into the car causing Fushiguro and Kugisaki to be squashed behind him before slamming the car door shut before anyone could escape out of the vehicle leaving you alone once the car had driven off with all three of your classmates inside of it.

                                              ꕥ

‘If I remember, you go down here’ you thought, as you began to slide down to the bottom of the ground before walking forward out of the wood, to only find yourself in the same spot you were two years ago in a different sort of uniform.

Taking your katana out of the shoulder bag you were carrying, you hooked it on your lower back before taking the familiar blue metal pole out of the same back before hooking it on to the side of your belt causing it to dangle once it was secured onto your side.

‘If my theory was right along, there should be an incomplete domain lingering around here...meaning there is a possibility that Sukuna’s finger is within a finger bearer if I enter it…’

“What a drag,” you muttered under your breath before sliding your katana out of its wooden sheath as you swift swang it behind you, causing the tip of the blade to be an inch away from Itadori’s neck to which lead the sorcerer to lean his head back in shock as your sudden speed.

“Why are you all here? Didn’t I tell you all to go home and I would deal with this?” you rhetorically asked as you pulled your katana back from Itadori leading him to relax as he let out a breath of relief.

“Fushiguro told us everything and that's what led us to help you out,” Kugisaki mentioned causing your eyes to shift from her to the shikigami user.

“We don’t want you to do this alone, you don’t have to tell us everything you are hiding Gojo, just let us help you,” Itadori pleaded with you as his hands were pressed together in a way to convey a ‘please��� to you.

“I...I can’t tell you anything...I’m sorry,” you muttered, as you slide your katana back into its black wooden casing, causing the trio to look at you with worry in their eyes as they were anxious that the secret you were keeping was something that was going to eat you inside as they were already cautious about your wellbeing if the cursed spirit was now going to target you due to Fujinuma sudden assumption.

                                              ꕥ

After the sudden intrusion of your classmates (much to your dismay), everyone started to walk towards the area where everyone believed the domain was going to be.

Crossing a river or other border - acts that symbolise crossing into the afterlife - carry important meaning in sorcery.

Confidently, everyone took one step forward causing a reaction of electricity to conduct as your foot hit the ground causing it to erupt as the domain suddenly enclosed everyone that had taken a step within its territory.

“There it is,” Itadori stated as he stared up at the curse, leading everyone to prepare themselves with their weapons of choice.

“This one will be rewarding to exorcise,” Kugisaki commented, as she confidently smiled at the scene in front of her.

Suddenly, you had sensed something coming from behind causing you to turn your head to the side to find a disgusting looking creature coming towards you leading everyone to move away slightly as the creature spun in the air before landing in front of all of you.

“What’s this? Someone beat me here?” the creature asked in a weird voice.

“Huh?” Kugisaki yelled out in annoyance.

“Fushiguro, this one’s a different case, right?” Itadori asked as he faced the new cursed spirit that decided to make an appearance.

“Yeah,” Fushiguro confirmed, leading Itadori to close his hands into a fist as they suddenly became consumed with his cursed energy.

“Then you three focus on that other one, I’ll exorcise this one,” Itadori stated as he raised his hands.

“What? You’re going to play with me? I wanted the older sister to,” the curse asked, causing you to shiver as you came to the sudden realisation that this curse was most likely with the others that were at the Kyoto Exchange event.

However, before even one could even move you rapidly unsheath your katana from your wooden casing as you spun around to block the sudden sneak attack that was behind you before utilising your cursed energy to your legs to give you the strength to halt your movement as the sudden intruder in front of you widened their eyes in shock at your sudden speed.

“That isn’t going to work on me again, you drag,” you muttered in a menacing tone causing your new opponent to laugh as they snapped out of their shock.

“Please, call me your mother again,” the woman stated as she smirked at you, leading a wave of anger and excitement to consume your body.

“Please, I….can’t wait to kill you,” you replied back with a crazed smile.

© violettelueur 2021 : written and published by violettelueur - do not steal or repost

[alexiethymia]

A Case Study on Vanitas’ Character: On Vanitas’ Two Conditions

Since they’re animating the What is Love? episode next (episode 7), I couldn’t help but want to talk about that chapter. [spoilers for anime-only watchers!]

Vanitas has two conditions for Jeanne: 

1) She mustn’t drink blood from anyone else but him.

I admit that like Jeanne, it’s easy for me to fall into the trap of thinking Vanitas is a better guy than he is because of certain biases. Let’s admit it, this part was plain blackmail, and yet for some reason, with what we know of Vanitas now, there are also different ways of seeing this scene. 

Vanitas is ‘blackmailing’ Jeanne, but at the same time that blackmail is actually him also offering a solution to Jeanne’s problem. AND YET, HE DOES IT IN SUCH A WAY SO THAT JEANNE NEVER HAS TO FEEL LIKE SHE OWES HIM. More to the point, he does it in such a way to ensure that Jeanne continues hating him. In other words he, in his own twisted way, is doing a nice thing for Jeanne, while ensuring that she never likes him for it. Now I’m not saying it’s a purely altruistic thing, but I still think that Vanitas is drawn to Jeanne because she reminds him of himself back then. If so he knows precisely how to get her to receive help albeit through manipulative means. 

It’s not a purely altruistic thing. He states it so himself, what he gets out of it is the ‘divine feeling’ Jeanne sucking his blood gives to him again purposefully painting himself as a pervert so that Jeanne wouldn’t like him for helping her. But if we are to believe some theories that it’s not actually as enjoyable as he himself paints it out to be (I digress, but I think he’s being honest here. He strikes me as having a bit of a masochistic streak in him) (I digress from my digression, but theory time, what’s his bases of comparison?? Who besides Luna and Jeanne have drunk from him??), then there’s another dimension to his condition of ‘you must drink blood, only from me���. If he’s just in this for the feeling it gives him, then why word the condition that way? He’s never stricken me as possessive of Jeanne despite his words of ‘I want to possess all of you’, and as he’s stated, he doesn’t want Jeanne to love him back. I think this is just another case of his ‘use me’ mindset rearing its head again. He’s said it to Count Orlock, and we know that it started since his time with Dr. Moreau. It is definitely, definitely, unhealthy, and I believe it’s also coupled with his slight suicidal tendencies. If worst comes to worst and Jeanne ends up going out of control and killing him, he seems not to care. 

Going off tangent here, but another one of his contradictions is how ruthless he is at surviving and yet how careless he is with his life, especially when it comes to people caring for him. He’d rather be left in the snow than have Jeanne take care of him as repayment for him protecting her, or when he got angry at Noe for protecting him from Ruthven.

But at his core and as Luna stated, Vanitas is a kind child. It’s developed in an unhealthy way, but he’s quite self-sacrificial. It’s fine for Jeanne to use him so that Jeanne has a focus or outlet. At least when the craving for blood gets to be too much, Jeanne knows there’s someone she can drink from, which helps her so that she doesn’t lose control and lash out against Luca for example. And on Vanitas’ side, it seems like it’s fine for him to be put at risk so other people don’t have to be, and on Jeanne’s part too, it also helps her from further hating herself if she ends up hurting other people. 

In other words, his condition is both a selfish and selfless one, yet he paints it to be blackmail. It’s not an entirely good thing for him to do, because there’s definitely power play involved, but it’s also not as scummy as it is initially presented out to be with what we now know of his past. 

2) For Jeanne to call him by ‘name’. 

There are so many things going on here that I just can’t help but ramble about it. Firstly, I’m really interested in how this’ll be translated in the anime. Did Vanitas say call me by ‘Vanitas’, or call me by ‘my name’? Because if it’s the latter, then couldn’t Vanitas also mean (although not fully consciously) that he wants someone to call him by his true name like Luna did before he inherited the name ‘Vanitas’? (And I will just die if in a future chapter, Jeanne and Noe do end up getting to call him by his original name).  

Second, there are slight parallels and contrasts with this arrangement he has with Jeanne and with the one he had back then with Moreau. Obviously Moreau is trash and took full advantage of ‘No. 69′. He exercised all the power. In this case, Jeanne is hesitant about hurting Vanitas despite how aggravating he is towards her. She doesn’t want to drink his blood at all. Moreau was a human. Jeanne is a vampire, and despite physically being superior towards Vanitas she changes her demand into a plea or request for Vanitas to keep her secret. (And whelp that’s when she sealed her fate, because she apparently triggered Vanitas. Don’t worry though Jeanne, you’ll get your payback soon enough). Vanitas was completely without power before, so faced with a similar situation this time around, I think part of him let the power get to his head, causing him to partly take advantage of Jeanne (he’s a complete sadist AND a masochist). He has complete agency this time around. Sure he’s once again offering himself with the expectation of pain and at the risk of his life, and he’s also doing this for another person, like with Misha, but unlike with Dr. Moreau, the power is on his side this time around. 

Going off tangent, that’s one thing that Vanitas and Jeanne have to work on. Balancing power and agency. I get where Vanitas is coming from, surrounded by vampires as he is, and with his past too, but he has to realize that caring about and loving someone isn’t a matter of power. You don’t lose when you love and care. You don’t surrender power. You don’t have to take away someone’s agency or exercise your own power for you to manage to do good things for the people you care about. He has to manage that balance - likewise with Jeanne, Noe, and Domi as well. 

Going back. Since he has full agency in this case, it’s his decision to offer himself to Jeanne in this way, he doesn’t want to be dehumanized while doing so. He’s had enough trauma about that already. Despite how he words it, it’s actually a somewhat equivalent exchange between Vanitas and Jeanne. He offers her blood as a way for her to keep her sanity, but she can’t be removed from it, she has to look at him properly and consider him a person with full agency and choices, and not just as ‘that human’. 

And looking at their faces - Jeanne’s is an incredulous one as if to say, ‘that’s it?’ It’s both an easy and difficult thing for her to do. Meanwhile, for Vanitas, I’d expected him to look goading, but he just looks patient and soft. At least in this instance, I don’t see it as him forcing Jeanne to do something she doesn’t want to do - just an unexpected moment of wanting to be known and treated as himself. 

LISTEN HE IS FULL OF CONTRADICTIONS OK. We’re led to believe that all of his interactions with Jeanne until the moment he realized he fell in love with her was just him teasing her, but I believe he was already in the process of falling in love with her slowly. I’ll go so far as to say that he was the one who fell in love first, but he just interpreted it as his being ‘excited’ by her. In other words, the words he said (’I love you’) which we thought was a lie was actually the truth, albeit a truth he didn’t realize much later. 

Why do I think so? It’s because he revealed certain moments of vulnerability or sincerity with her or about her without any of the teasing, as represented by the italicized dialogue. It’s the same case for when he said he didn’t want to trod on her foot with Noe, or when he happily grinned and he said forthright Jeanne was the side of her he liked best (or when he promised he’d kill her). 

This is just an example of his contradiction. He never wanted or expected Jeanne to fall in love with him, and sure this could just be his wanting to push boundaries or test limits, being the chaotic person that he is, and yet, wanting to be called by name is a desire to form a genuine connection. 

He could have just remained as ‘that human’ to Jeanne while interacting with her. After all, what could stop him? He also had the first condition in place to make sure they’d continue to interact. And yet, he refused (like how Noe refuses to be ‘that vampire’ to him). 

Like Luna said, as long as he didn’t close his heart, he wouldn’t be alone. Even if Vanitas thinks it burdensome or wants to be ‘free’, it seems that he still does long for connection - romantic, platonic, or otherwise. 

And this is why I ship them, even in this instance so early on in the manga when arguably the dynamic wasn’t at its healthiest. It’s because of their background that draws them to each other and allows them an understanding of one another. It’s because of that desire to know more about each other. It’s because of that genuine care and wanting to form a connection with each other, despite part of them rejecting it because of their issues.

Do I think they’re good for each other? Yes. Admittedly, they have so much to work on, but I believe that they push (Vanitas with regards to Jeanne’s blood addiction, and Jeanne with Vanitas in his moment of vulnerability) because the both of them tend to be self-destructive if left to their own devices. It’s just that their version of care for each other is aggressive. They’ll have to find that balance though eventually. On Vanitas’ part he also has to be inspired by Noe that the kind of salvation a person wants may not be the best possible outcome, especially for those left behind. I’m not sure what Mochizuki sensei’s end message is suppose to be, but death I don’t believe is salvation.   

tldr: Vanitas is a self-sacrificial idiot who longs for connections under layers of self-loathing (but he’s still an asshole), and VaniJeanne is a good ship which had the foundations laid down from the beginning. 

[hecalledme-jagi]

TOT Boy’s Favorite Media

TOT is pretty good about giving us a lot of info about what these boys like, but I had more headcanons.

This turned out a lot longer than I thought, so each boy will get their own post.

Artem, Vyn, Marius

Luke Pearce

It’s obvious that he loves the Sherlock Holmes mystery novels, and I’d say it’s highly likely that he’s seen the shows and movies made off the books, though he definitely prefers the books. To add, it’s been made known that he and Rosa used to watch anime and read manga together, so with that in mind, take my head-canons!

Movie:

- Murder on the Orient Express(2017)

He loves this movie more so because of the memory attached to it, rather than because of its story or mystery style.

Taking into consideration it’s 2030, he didn’t see the movie in theaters, instead he rented it as a reward to both him and yourself after a long week of nonstop work.

You guys watched it at his place and decided to take a hands on approach, discovering the mystery along with the detective of the movie.

You guys took notes and would frequently pause to discuss new clues, and how they matched up with preexisting ones.

What was originally going to be a simple dinner and movie hang out, turned into a five hour long mystery adventure, but it was totally worth it.

Before the murder was revealed in the film, the both of you had reached the same conclusion as the detective in the movie, and were shocked by the outcome(won’t spoil the end for those who wish to watch the movie themselves).

Afterwards Luke watched the original film from 1974 and even read the book in his free time, but the excitement of figuring out the mystery with you, can’t be matched.

Anime:

- Death Note

Major Spoilers ahead, tread carefully.

He watched the show many times over, and you gifted him the manga set for Christmas one year.

The Death Note set sits right beside his First Addition Sherlock Holmes collection.

Unlike the Murder on the Orient Express, where he mostly has an attachment to it bc he enjoyed the experience, he absolutely loves the cat and mouse aspect of Death Note.

As someone that wanted to become a person that helps and protects others, he eventually sided with L and the police. Although, that was only after having a bit of a dilemma over Light’s morally gray character.

L was his favorite character and it would be an understatement to say he was upset over L’s death.

Game:

- Portal

Disclaimer: I’ve never played Portal, but I did some research to give homage to the game, considering its a classic.

While Luke prefers multiplayer games, so he can play with you, Portal spoke to him and he was hooked from then on.

You would sit and watch him play this game, trying to figure out the puzzles with him, piecing together the story as you went.

The both of you have always loved riddles and puzzles, so this game couldn’t hide forever.

Once Luke found out that there was Portal 2 and it had multiplayer, there’s no doubt you two finished it in a day and it was a blast.

You used to have matching Companion Cube key chains, but unfortunately you lost them once life came alone(stupid life (｀_´)ゞ).

After the eight years of separation, the first gift to commemorate the two of you reuniting was new Companion Cube key chains.

Music:

Luke will listen to pretty much anything, especially if you recommend him some songs, but he does have artists that he prefers more then others.

- Porter Robinson(EDM)

He isn’t a die hard for EDM or anything like that, but he enjoys Porter Robinson’s work. He usually listens to it when he just wants to zone out and work on some new gadgets for you, or when he’s doing antique repairs.

- Jack Staubor(Indie Rock/Indie Pop)

Luke doesn’t really seem like the type to like too much indie, but Jack Staubor intrigues him. The music is on the strange side, yet pleasing to the ear and the same goes for the vocals. The weirdness captured his attention and he’ll listen occasionally.

This one is just for my sake, but he’s totally labeled Wouldn’t It Be Nice by The Beach Boy’s as “your song” and no one can change my mind on this.(This is a reference to the card, “Inner Sanctum”)

˚✧₊⁎𝒥𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑎⁎⁺˳✧༚

Artem, Vyn, Marius

I do not own any characters, all ownership goes to Mihoyo. Thanks for reading!