not a single thought behind those eyes

you know, at this point Picture Perfect was so long ago that a lot of the events have just been widely accepted & not reflected on so much... but whenever I comb over it again, I'm kind of agog at the entirety of the arc and how it was something that really happened... I mean, er, I can say that even I wasn't expecting our title character and love interest to gaslight our protagonist. but, that's what, happened. (I'm not even someone who likes to use terms like that, but... clinically, it's what happened.)

I really dwell on the lengths Hanako went to play along in this ruse...

pooor Nene, I just never stop pitying her in this circumstance. It is genuinely alarming, confusing, disorienting... she has to spend the day feeling like she's trapped in a dream, and losing her mind...

I laud her for trying to stay on her guard and not trust things... she does the best she can to not just, ignorantly play along with everything, as if nothing's wrong... which is also why it saddens me that she cannot actually maintain this toughness. she really is successfully guilted for treating Amane with suspicion..,

SAY what you will about how concerned Hanako was for Nene's life — there's no excuse for sulking openly and making Nene feel like she ought to apologize to you...

Amane, this is excessive!! and needlessly drawn out!!!

but of course, you're not really so hurt! and then, you have the audacity, to be SMUG about it her professing that she likes you!! oh-!! I won't let people just think of you as noble in this arc, sir!!!!!! what justifies doing this all...

and Nene's reaction is so sincere... the other part that just hurts. amidst all the confusion, Nene can't erase how being asked on a date is going to make her feel!

for all of Nene's efforts... she's not a confident enough person to keep asserting that her memories are real/true. the gaslighting is, just, working, Nene is being worn down and doubting herself... IF she didn't get the grounding tether of Kou, later, this would be so unfairly stacked against her.

later, subjected to the genuine horror over Aoi and Akane being unceremoniously destroyed in front of her... after this world was supposed to be more believable/realistic than her last one.

ough this one hurts... so desperate for validation and something to soothe her that she's not losing her mind. the speech bubbles wobbling... her voice is likely strained from crying. Kou is actually less palpably shaken by this all and simply observes this reaction with concern. he's not as worn down by the circumstances so far, but Kou has the edge of being a Minamoto and well-versed enough to continue suspecting that this is kaii-related. and in general I think Nene is more fragile... has a more delicate heart.

this post isn't an academic one so I can be biased and say that Nene's feelings towards Hanako are more loaded than Kou's for Mitsuba; she has more at stake here with being very invested in his past + having romantic interest. combined with a lifetime of loneliness and desiring so badly to be in a couple, I think Nene is more vulnerable to what a proposal of 'a date' means. a date with a living, breathing Amane-kun... it's kind of unfair, how it IS something she would want...

It muddies the waters of logic/reason, to have your pining heart be proposed the idea of boy liking you and asking you out. I think a lot about the Confession Tree stuff still tbh, how much Nene was giddy and excited at the idea of her first confession... but it's like how much she's incredibly excited for her first love letter-! which, also proves to be a bust!! oh Nene-! I'm sorry you keep getting fake-outs... getting asked out in a fabricated reality, by a guy RP'ing the interaction and NOT intending to become your steady bf, is, so awful aslkfdghd he deserves to get called DV kareshi kfkdjkgh... and to think, this is BEFORE he knocks you out and throws you into a jail cell...

this has been my I Pity Yashiro Greatly post 😔

thoughts on chap 98 (major spoilers)

There isn’t much to say about this chapter. The aquarium “date” was cute and it’s nice to see Mitsuba having fun with a friend for a change.

Since, y’know, that’s how he chose to spend his last day/final moments. With Kou.

Surprisingly, Kou and Mitsuba got along pretty well this chapter. Often, their meetings start with or involve Kou trying to zap Mitsuba with his weapon, so it was nice not to have that for a change. Kou even got flustered after Mitsuba got cute and thanked him for the penguin keychain.

Guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder, huh?

On a side note, the others’ reactions to Kou going on a night out (on the town) were pretty fun.

Of course Nene immediately jumps to the conclusion that it’s a date. And she sounds so happy too!! She really does not see Kou in a romantic light at all, huh?

Meanwhile, Teru is so, well, shocked, almost miserable to hear Kou being out like this… Aidairo’s really leaning on the brocon aspect of his personality and I love it. It’s way too funny.

“Your big bro misses you uwu 🥺”

I also love how Aoi and Akane are supportive. Specially Akane. “Send pics and don’t get arrested lol”.

Of course, Teru has his own reasons besides being clingy. He knows kaii tend to pop out at night, it’s been repeatedly shown that he often works at this hour.

And speaking of them, I love how the “aquarium” itself is almost like a anglerfish.

How it’s bright and that’s how it attracted Mistuba’s attention. The little thing resembling an esca at the top of the entrance. The fact that it’s free (lol).

Also, I really love Aida’s artstyle and I don’t often comment on it, but the scenes at the aquarium were so pretty and so fun to look at; the fishes, and the seal, and the little penguins.

And, of course, anglerfish-like kaii. Great designs!!

Kinda interesting that they seem to feed on ghosts, tho, and not humans, which is what we’re used to. At least, that’s the impression I got.

Considering Mistuba’s comment from earlier that he wasn’t okay, but brushed it off, plus the fact that he quite literally started falling apart at the end of the chapter and never turned into his “No. 3 form” (something he always did immediately whenever he felt threatened), I can only assume he no longer has his seat among the Seven Mysteries.

So… how did it happen? Did someone destroy his yorishiro? Did Mitsuba destroy it himself (either for personal reasons or because he was forced/coerced to)? Did he get motion sickness from the Severance and vomited the Tengu/Yatagarasu/Whatever bird-like yokai the original No. 3 is supposed to be?

...This makes how many times Mitsuba has 'died'/almost 'died' now? Three? Four?

Who knows. Boy's a phoenix.

Gotta admit, this chapter was way less disturbing than I was expecting. And, you know… I was kinda mad at Kou at the beginning of chapter when he was all, “You’re okay!! I was so worried!!”

Bitch, you were all smiles at the thought of exorcising kaii not 2 seconds ago, don’t you pull that card now!!

Still, this was the nicest he’s been so far to Mitsuba, he actually took him out to have fun, and he didn’t zap him once, so… that’s cool, I guess. Hopefully, we'll get some interesting development for Kou, Mitsuba and their relationship next chapter.

Goodness knows that Kou desperately needs it.

On speculations… do these anglerfish kaii have anything to do with that mermaid kaii? But then again, maybe not. After all, there were a lot of fish-like kaii in chapter 70, and they didn't seem to have anything to do with the mermaid.

Also...

Kou is dead. Long live "Cringe-Ass Chuunibyou Scaredy-Cat Goody Two Shoes Earring Boy". Jr.

Art done by the wonderful!!! @kaii-latte  Website @taiyuu-high-oct Name: (LN): Fujinuma (FN) Ozen

Background: During a field trip with her class a nearby villain attack caused the building the class was in to collapse on top of them almost crushing them if not for young Ozen’s Quirk that allowed her to act as a pillar. The young girl was able to buy enough time for heroes to find and rescue them. Afterwards, her quirk and therefore by relation Ozen herself were praised as prime future hero material.

           Before entering middle school Ozen had a physical altercation with one of her teachers that should have landed her in major trouble. However, the school administration swept it aside, actually dropping the teacher, citing that they were most likely jealous of her quirk and the school didn’t want to hurt Ozen’s chances of becoming a hero, one that would put their tiny school on the map. It was this event that, much to her parents chagrin, made Ozen realize how much importance society placed on the outcome of a genetic lottery. It was clear to her that society deemed it her destiny to become a hero, like those with power do, taking her place on a societal mount Olympus.

           Ozen became cold towards her family, having an especially strained relationship with her sister who she saw as weak and pathetic with her constant attempts at wanting to hangout or just generally be around her older sister who she used to look up to. See to Ozen, her sister had a weak quirk and yet still deigned herself a mutual, at least those leeches at school knew their place below her. Her parents made sure to treat their daughters equally, not shying away from scolding their eldest constantly till Ozen just stopped acknowledging her sister altogether.

           Her last year of middle school, after months of stunted progress with her training, Ozen and her family sought out a quirk specialist for insight, during which they found out her quirk was misdiagnosed and was actually a special case of emitter and not any form of physical augmentation. The solution to her developmental plateau was simple, train with her quirk off via a quirk suppressing bracelet. In their home training room, supervised by her parents and with her sister as audience, the suppressor was turned on. Suddenly everything was too much, bringing Ozen to her knees in tears with the tidal wave of emotions and sensory feelings that her quirk as a side effect all this time numbed. Ozen experienced a total and utter sensory overload that brought to shore realizations of how fragile she truly was and how horrible she has been treating everyone especially her sister who she saw as fragile. In that moment she’s sobbing she’s sorry she’s so very deeply sorry, the bracelet being ripped off and the numbness returning can’t even hold back the overwhelming guilt and regret she felt. She knew she had to change because becoming a hero wasn’t her destiny as someone with power anymore but instead, a duty.

Quirk: Juggernaut

Once thought to be a mutant class super strength/body enhancing physical quirk with odd limitations, new insight has found that Juggernaut is actually an emitter quirk in disguise. Juggernaut allows Ozen to transfer any forces applied on her, to the source of another force on her (Ex: she theoretically could transfer a force of a punch on her to someone holding her.) Having trained most of her life under the original physical quirk assumption, actually accomplishing this is very difficult within the time frame. Since her quirk first manifested she has unknowingly been transferring forces applied to her, to the earth since it is applying a constant long range force on her at all times. Through this application Ozen is able to negate any extreme force or stress placed on her. The ability to hold up entire buildings that fall on her is where the super strength hypothesis originated from, while yes she could hold it up since it fell on her she couldn’t pick it up herself. Having been activated so long has left its toll on Ozen, seeking out the quirk specialist came only after a long time of plateaued training with no sign of improvement. It’s hard to exercise when your body doesn’t feel any of it, growing up as if she lived in space even her bone density matching that of returning astronauts and is the cause of her increased height. This application of her quirk has been going on for so long that she does not know how to turn it off without the assistance of a quirk suppressor. Heavy gauntlets and armor of her hero outfit that would be impractical and exhausting for others, is negated by Juggernaut, allowing Ozen to make up for her lack of offensive ability by adding much more mass to her strikes.

+ “enhanced” stamina which stems from no physical forces affecting her

+ Increased pain threshold

+ Extremely tanky, being almost a direct counter to those only relying on brute physical force. Heavy armor provides resistance to the elements and other forms of attack but nowhere near her physical resistance.

- Only affects physical forces, combined with her quirk’s numbing side effect makes her generally oblivious of other things affecting her. Ex: She is banned from helping in the kitchen at home after taking out a pan of cookies with her bare hands, severely burning them.

-Without her gauntlets her offensive power is severely limited, a punch from her akin to that of an untrained middle school first year. This is the true representation of how much her quirk has been limiting her physical acquisition.

-Diet and exercise is heavily moderated to combat her body’s reaction to growing up with no resistance, stalling her growth and improvement as a hero hopeful.

Stats:

Power: 6/5 Speed: 3/5 Technique: 3/5 Intelligence: 4/5 Cooperativeness: 1/5 (She is actively trying to improve this, even if the progress is slow.)

Personality:

+ While she seems like a quiet introverted person, she is accustomed to being around a lot of energy growing up with her family, especially her sister. She takes everything in solemn strides and provides a calm approach to situations.

+ Firm believer of the always helping if you can mentality. She’s not a push over and has boundaries but will lend a hand carrying things or helping with math and physics homework.

+ After getting over her distorted view that “those with power naturally rose to become heros” she sees it now as her intrinsic duty as someone with power to become a hero, believing “if you have the ability to do something, make sure that you do it for the good of others.” If you can stop something bad from happening, do it.

-Her quirk induced numbness, some say gives her “resting bitch face”

- While she got over looking down on others for being “weak” shes now in this in-between phase where she still sees others as weak because they are fragile and it’s her duty to protect them, hampering actual cooperativeness.

-She doesn’t mind others wanting to be heroes for selfish reasons as long as it doesn’t hamper their work and safety of others, and she looks down heavily on those that do, whether for selfish reasons or because of being afraid, let it get in the way of saving others and lose any respect Ozen held towards you.

☆ obligatory Senya post ☆

Arajin is better than me i would’ve gone crazy

ANOTHER SILLY FOR THE COLLECTION

he’s so :3

finally started bucchigiri he’s such a loser <3

okay so what should their shipname be :3?

I think I might have already chosen a favorite character for this anime 🫶

CATBOY JUMPSCARE

Arajin appreciation post bc I genuinely like him <3

I JUST NOTICED THEY WERE PLAYING BASEBALL WITH A FUCKING BASKET BALL

OF COURSE THEY WERE A TEENAGE DELINQUENTS 😭😭😭

MaJin moment from this episode~