Thinking About Dazai And Kyouka And How They're Both Former Mafia Members Who Managed To Escape And Join

disintegrating in your arms

(abandoned pose ref study WIP)

People talk a lot about how they hope Akutagawas vampirism will heal him of his lung disease, but I really hope it doesn't. Curing Akutagawas illness this way would feel incredibly cheap, and I'd be highly disappointed. Especially after this

This moment is not only impactful because Akutagawa confesses his illness (something he views as a weakness) it was the first time Atsushi saw humanity in Akutagawa it was also setting up stakes for Akutagawas character i feel like throwing that all away with a magical vampirism cure would be one of the worst things for his arc

Something about Zoro being one of the most misunderstood and mischaracterized characters in One Piece is funny (not haha funny, funny sad) to me because?? That’s literally how his introduction starts?? With people misunderstanding him and thinking he’s some big, monstrous demon who kills with cause and cannot be trusted or tamed.

Meanwhile the actual Zoro is a driven guy who is often both literally and figuratively directionless in life and found his goals in life through good people (first Kuina and then Luffy). He's tied up in the Marine base not due to those actual crimes he commuted (well not inherently anyway) but because he ‘disrespected’ a Captain's son and stood up for a little girl. He accepts the challenge they present to him and because Zoro himself is a guy that puts his money where his mouth is he assumes the Marines will uphold their end of the deal and let him go (note the actual shock when Koby tells him the truth)

He joins Luffy's crew but also outright says he’s not gonna let his goal take second place to Luffy or anyone else's for that matter, he bears the weight of two people's dreams, his heart isn’t going to be swayed by some pirate.

Speaking of Kuina, her impact and influence on Zoro's life isn’t talked about enough for my liking. She was Zoro's first friend, his first rival, his first goal. He looked up to her so much and his reaction to her passing cracks my heart in half every time because you can seem him just..go numb. Kuina, dead? Kuina, the strongest person he knows, gone? Kuina, who swore to him just yesterday they’d race to the top of the world together, doesn’t exist anymore. His blank face only cracking within the privacy of his sensei before he begs. He begs on his knees, tears streaming down his face please please please let me take Kuina's sword with me. Let me take our dream to a high neither of us could imagine. I won’t let her name die here.

On top of gaining the Wado Ichimonji that day Zoro also gained…fear. Not of death, well at the very least not his own, he gained his fear of not being enough. Kuina kicked his ass every way a person could and still died, what could someone like him do? So he trains…and trains…and trains some more. Overly, obsessively, constantly telling himself he’s not enough, he’s weak, he can’t protect anyone like this and everyone's death would be on him.

As for Zoro being cold and stoic that’s just…not completely true? He’s not stone, he can be excited or sad or angry just as much as most characters he just sucks at showing it canonically (Kuina thinks he hates her before their final fight after all). Sure he’s not as forthcoming about it as some of the other Strawhats but Zoro's more of an action guy anyway, he'll show his love with his protection and unwavering faith.

In conclusion, Zoro is a ridiculously stubborn, incredibly loyal, mildly emotionally constipated, do what you say/say what you mean kinda guy.

(Also that whole ‘Zoro would kill the whole crew if Luffy asked him to’ thing? Top ten stupidest things I’ve ever heard from the fandom and that’s saying a lot. He’s loyal not brainless and heartless guys if Luffy asked him to do that, he would never but I digress, Zoro would square the fuck up with him so fast. DPMO.)

Kouyou and Verlaine are so similar, no wonder they are both Chuuya's older sibling figures and Kyouka's mentors. Both are executives whose specialty is murder, and who we know have trained several assassins for the Port Mafia. They both encounter a teenager so much like themselves when they were younger that they decide to do everything to stop them from making the same mistakes they made, even if they end up hurting them in the process. They both genuinely believe that what they are doing is the best for Chuuya and Kyouka, based in their own past experiences, because they are so alike that, to them, there's no way that the outcome won't be the same. Their only interaction in Stormbringer is them fighting with each other, exactly because they disagree in what's best for Chuuya. Verlaine killed the flags to make Chuuya agree in letting the mafia, Kouyou was willing to kill Atsushi to distance Kyouka from the ada. Like, even their personalities are similar. I could totally see them being friends if they had met in a different way (but with the way they met in the cannon, I'm sure they still hold a grudge against each other. It doesn't matter that Verlaine understood the mistakes he made, and that Chuuya accepted him as his brother at the end of it all, they still don't get along and don't plan on doing so anytime soon).

more old chibis

Favourite daughter!

This truly was our Jujutsu Kaisen

It breaks my heart that if young Akutagawa met young Atsushi he would've taken him in and cared for him in the way he did the other orphans

If we consider what Vegapunk said about the origin of devil fruits to be true, it is entirely possible that both Luffy and Loki have the sun god's devil fruit, as people have very different views of Nika, with Luffy having the fruit that represents the version of Nika who is the god and warrior of liberation, and Loki the one that represents the version of god of destruction

My beautiful princess Nami I love u