thinking about alhaitham going from recently orphaned to meeting kaveh and kaveh becoming the one person who knows him through and through, who he recognises as his mirror, as integral to his development as a scholar, and as essential to his happiness as an individual. knowing that their respective approaches to life are direct oppositions, but that this isn't a negative and instead is beneficial to the both of them - aligning their viewpoints can help the other grow due to considering new speculations and perspectives.
and then being rejected by kaveh due to kaveh's rejection of himself - his conforming to the collective, when his talents and abilities offer potential for more than he denies himself. kaveh rejects alhaitham as his best friend, his mirror, and he seeks to cement his ideals in his life, to realise them in full as opposed to being solely based on the guilt borne from his perceived involvement in his father's passing. alhaitham doesn't pursue kaveh because this is kaveh's decision - he said that he regretted ever befriending alhaitham, and it would be futile to impose upon this
alhaitham goes from having an essential figure in his life, to a void twice, the first time being the loss of his grandmother, and then kaveh's rejection of him. but he pursues the peaceful life his grandmother wanted for him, and when he meets kaveh again, he instantly sees through the façade kaveh fronts for other people, and recognises that something is deeply wrong. when kaveh moves in with him, he is held in contempt and through a critical lens, and kaveh believes him to be prideful and spiteful, believing that his egoism has triumphed over kaveh's altruism.
kaveh continues to reject alhaitham through this, but alhaitham desires kaveh's company regardless because he knows that kaveh is essential to him - no one else can provide what kaveh fulfils, both in company and in mind. regardless of the strained rapport between them, alhaitham enjoys kaveh. he smiles when kaveh has a quick-witted comeback, he smiles while teasing kaveh, and he goes out of his way to have interactions with kaveh, regardless of the outcome.
alhaitham knows that he and kaveh can ultimately benefit each other if they can overcome this barricade - a perception of 'correctness' between them. firsthand, alhaitham knows that being thought of as 'correct' is ultimately meaningless if it means you forfeit something you truly care about. the issue that stands between him and kaveh is not correctness, it is the unspoken, the miscommunication and misconception that drives them apart. alhaitham truly wants the best for kaveh, but kaveh cannot see this due to his perception of alhaitham. but this perception is challenged when alhaitham reveals that he looked into sachin for kaveh's sake, for a chance of closure, during a parade of providence
so going from this uncertainty as to how kaveh will interpret alhaitham's actions in a parade of providence to how kaveh and alhaitham are in cyno's story quest is so so fulfilling. it's cathartic to see alhaitham comfortable in his interactions with kaveh, rather than having to be underhanded of his comments about kaveh's misconceptions. alhaitham can openly enjoy kaveh's company because kaveh genuinely wants to spend time with him. alhaitham encourages kaveh to tell him about his day because he knows he will not be misinterpreted. their banter is completely without any kind of tension as an understanding seems to have been gained between them. it must be so liberating to be truly seen once again by kaveh, and not have every word, every action, ever intention scrutinised. kaveh accepts him, fully, through and through, and because of this, kaveh sees alhaitham as a mirror - and finally accepts it.
they work in tandem, their thoughts seem synchronised, and there is no issue in the two joining efforts to research together once more. alhaitham is openly expressive about his contentment in working with kaveh, discussing the case in their shared living room, watching kaveh sketch the emblem, smiling as he unveils a discovery, and smiling as kaveh shows interest, travelling together to inform the traveller of their findings, heading to the house of daena together, and having kaveh understand his silent request for help without even having to voice it, being asked for and freely giving obtained akademiya information to kaveh, consenting and smiling when being paired together in looking after the house of daena and researching into the temple of silence. kaveh seeks to find coffee for the both of them when alhaitham mentions it which establishes a domesticity which extends outside of the home. when alhaitham excuses himself at the gathering, kaveh knows that it doesn't include him, and he actively suggests their next activities, before heading 'home' together. alhaitham understands kaveh's notion of home (talked about here), and alhaitham assents to this, and the two leave together
to finally have their status as equals be recognised by kaveh is a huge development, and alhaitham seems so much more content now that this understanding exists between them - that their care is reciprocal. to see kaveh at ease within himself, to be more embracing and forgiving towards himself, must be so fulfilling for alhaitham, who wants nothing but kaveh's happiness. in kaveh accepting alhaitham, these past concerns of guilt and forgiveness can finally be addressed. and alhaitham will be there every step of the way, as he has chosen to do, and he knows, now, that kaveh will continue to choose him too
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I made a mile long twt thread about okuyasu that I'll just paste here too because I have many thoughts about him <333 anyways heres my messy rambles about this specific line because AUUGH
do u ever think about this one line and how perfectly it encapsulates his entire character and how it fits into diu. Like first Okuyasu is NOT a traditionally kind person, he's no saint, he's quick to violence and anger and frustration, he's close-minded and is very clear about his lack of regard for others.
But coupling that with this line from Keicho (sometimes it's translated as "only when I hit him does he listen to me) and its like damn. Their entire lives have been shaped by violence, the only way they've made ANY progress is through death and hurt.
Keicho's power in the family comes from discipline, violence over his father and violence caused by the arrow. The one thing standing between him and a "normal" life is the literal death of his father. It doesn't matter how many lives he ruins in the process, all that matters is getting that second chance. His life has been on an uncontrollable downward spiral, but with the arrow and his own family at his heel, he has power. He can make decisions. He can unshackle himself from the past 10 years and finally start his life.
And of course Okuyasu would absorb all this, because Keicho was all he had, and his own father always responded to that violence. And if you follow the interpretation that the brothers gained their stands from the arrow, that's another instance of them gaining power through suffering. Becoming "better".
And it's so interesting that keicho treats his father and Okuyasu as deadweights "holding him back" when in reality, it was Keicho that was sinking down into tar, refusing to get out because a happier life could be just on the other side.
Okuyasu wanted to save his father the moment that possibility was established, but Keicho held onto the arrow, his sinking fate, his suffering, until the very end. He believed he crossed his moral event horizon and he was destined on this set path. No matter how much power he could scrounge for himself, death ruled his entire life, whether that of his father or the lives of the arrow's victims.
And all this makes Okuyasu's relationships with Josuke and Koichi so much better because. Okuyasu did NOT care for their safety. He was, at least on the surface, on board with Koichi or even Josuke dying. Maybe not all that passionate, but he's seen death, probably participated in it, and believes that it's the Number 1 Nijimura Way. So then Josuke healing him is completely antithetical to his entire damn life.
He was ready to die, ready to "learn his lesson", ready to be discarded because he failed, just like how all those people died to the arrow because they failed to handle a stand. But Josuke's very lukewarm "i jus dont want ppl dying??" belief is so groundbreaking because death was so necessary for any and all progress.
Okuyasu's own stand is inherently destructive and erases things permanently. Maybe a deep-seated desire to actually make lasting impacts on his surroundings erupting as a power beyond death. To cause total oblivion. I know we all love to think that Keicho didn't want to force Okuyasu to kill his own father, but Keicho wanted a normal death. Because at least a normal death can happen to a normal family. And completely erasing someone's atoms isn't a mortal death.
Then here comes Josuke's healing schtick which WORKS, and Josuke is fully prepared to sacrifice an arm and leg just to save Koichi. In like 15 minutes, one guy completely overwrote the past 15 years of Okuyasus life. He helps Josuke heal koichi (extra layer of fucked because all those arrow victims never HAD to die), gets called a great guy, and starts his character arc of. Making decisions in the absence of violence. Choosing to heal and rebuild instead of destroying and moving onto the next victim. Of continuing the cycle of beating life lessons into people's heads.
And Koichi, dude he choked out with a gate, becomes his close friend too. Koichi who gets repeatedly harassed thru diu but still has it in him to forgive and befriend others. He's far from naive, gets fed up with shit, but he's another opposite to Okuyasu. His stand evolves through pain, maybe, but it's from a desire to protect himself or others. There's a chance Koichi was never supposed to survive, but he did (part 4's theme about fate is a different story oooboy) and his active ability to see the best in people compliments Josuke's more aloof demeanor and Okuyasu's short temper. Koichi is like. The embodiment of growth in that way.
and ik its eoh dialogue but this interaction was always neat to me because of how it highlighted Okuyasu's disinterest in improvement, at least when it comes to character. For him, as long as someone "gets" the lesson at a surface level or is good enough at it, there's no reason to dive deeper. To fully wrap your head around it and Feel it. Its the same utility-first philosophy Keicho held, the same idea that all that matters is the end goal, not the means or the people along the way. + how Okuyasu still bickered and talked back to Keicho, but understood well enough that Keicho was the one in control.
"bare minimum" is how okuyasu lived his entire life; his house, how keicho treated him, his response to Josuke and Koichi's kindness, his entire relationship with his father.
He desperately wants, yeah, but its for more material things. Money and power, things either robbed from him or held over his head. And YEAH he's supposed to be hypocritical here, but like. Why does he lose his morals and sense ESPECIALLY when those two things are involved. Why does he "regress" in character growth back to tunnel-visioned violence and discipline about them.
And rahhhhhh is it lackluster writing or is it interesting that Okuyasu's pretty stagnant for the entirety of diu. It's like he's passively absorbing things about befriending former enemies through kindness, inspiring loyalty through passion not pain.
He calls Mikitaka weird and dismisses him (remnants of Keicho's utility stuff?), gets ghost tricked, acts like a big brother a few times. But it's when he meets Keicho face-to-face that it all crashes down around him. The same way Nijimura father had shackled him, Keicho had also been weighing on Okuyasu.
Its like. Keichos death made Okuyasu rebound onto Josuke and get consumed by vengeance against Otoishi, and Okuyasu didn't know how to properly grieve Shigechi either. His entire life, when someone died, violence was the answer. Hide the body, kill the father, don't ever think about what you've done.
But its Keicho, the one that spearheaded the power-and-suffering-over-all thing, who steps in and requests that Okuyasu thinks it over. The Keicho that said he stopped regarding oku as his brother, was willing to kill him to prove a point, who quite possibly shot the arrow at him. Who taught him that only violence yields the answer. Self-inflicted or not.
He says to just think about it. And Okuyasu thinks long enough for Josuke and Hayato to lose their damn minds and for him to actually understand it, fully wrap his mind around it. The fact that he has a "second" life, the life Keicho pursued for so long and died for. And he has it because of the love and compassion from his friends, how they see past the failures and transgressions of others.
How they just dont want people to die. And Okuyasu doesnt have to either. He doesnt have to stay sinking for his brother, doesnt have to lose everything for a mistake, doesnt have to destroy to make a difference. and so he chooses to live. Really, fully live. For himself.
And he comes back, now able to recognize and separate himself from Keicho's teachings. THERES A REASON STRAY HAS BEEN MY PFP FOR FOREVER BECAUSE Okuyasu comes back and saves Stray. The little creature that literally EXPLODED him.
And it means so much that it wasn't a "this creature is good and I will rescue it" moment, because Okuyasu was never a saviour hero-type. He didn't even mean to "save" the cat. He just removed Stray from Kira's grasp, and THEN realized oh I think it's just a little guy. Alright cool I guess the fucker stays with me.
He's growing his own way, beginning his new life by first and foremost helping others. He brings stray home BEFORE it takes a liking to his father. It's just. The first independent, weighted decision he makes is giving a stressed, unfortunate cat a second chance at life. It was struck by an arrow, revived due to forces outside it's comprehension, and was fuelled by instincts to lash out and attack. And because it was destructive and able to follow orders, it was weaponized. Before finally being removed from the situation and calmed down. Sound familiar?
And now Okuyasu has a semblance of a domestic family. The Nijimura family is all about growth from death and it's so interesting. Nijimura father becoming cruelest after his wife's death, him mutating after DIO's death, Keicho believing his life begins after his father's death, Okuyasu's life actually beginning after Keicho's demise, Stray being reborn as a plant (symbol of growth), and Okuyasu reviving too (also due to Keicho's death).
+ shit about nijimura father unable to die and Okuyasu constantly being pulled from death by Josuke ADDING MORE FUNNY LAYERS TO LOOK AT + the name nijimura literally meaning rainbow village. Both the physical irl place and the idea that rainbows = rebirth and hope and new beginnings + stray being reincarnated under one + Okuyasu reviving after the rain passed. Death doesn't rule them, but is also inescapable??? Idk anyways
ALL THIS IS WHAT I MEAN BY okuyasu is a flawed character surrounded by violence and bad decisions, he's not a pure soul and does fucked shit and is NOT a 2014 tumblr era cinnamon roll PLEASE. He can be an ass and it makes the hopeful buds of his new life that more beautiful cuz like. Morioh is the best place for him to settle and grow, reteach himself everything because it's a community of equally if not more dubious weirdos.
Oku's far far from perfect, he's still got a lot of anger and shortsightedness but he's with people that love him, willing to help him when he makes mistakes, doesn't hold him back. His relationships with Josuke and Koichi and others aren't like. Super poetic or cosmic or "I will find you in every universe"esque and it suits him. He's just a teen guy who went thru everything and missed out on everything. He's suffered, caused suffering, but he's leaving that cycle.
Judging by the book (semi-canon), it's going as messy as expected, but he loves his friends so so much. He's still putting himself in harm's way and being reckless and an asshole, but he has something more to fight for. And he cares a lot. Is willing to go beyond for it, maybe even improve. And that's enough for him (in the best way).
Idk how to end the thread anyways he's my son my baby perfect angel also he sucks bad BUT HE'S PERFECT ‼️‼️ this is how I feel about him every given day it just depends on the celestial alignment of the planets and stars
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