⩥ @nothinglikegod || unresolved feelings [ask response]
The past week has been hectic, to say the least. From arguments with Wolfwood that felt like months ago, to Livio, to the Orphanage, to, currently, Ship-03, there was simply too much to process. Vash had only recently been able to get on his feet again after being laid out for several days. He'd used too much of himself to help the steamer's Plant come to a stop before hitting the Orphanage, and wound up falling unconscious. Next thing he knew, he was in a familiar room aboard Home—it wasn't a dream; all of his friends were there.
Friends.
That includes Wolfwood. After all of that, how could it not?
He's not at 100% yet. The outlaw's footsteps are heavy with fatigue and clumsy with sleep, but for the most part he can get where he wants to. This is his first excursion out of his room since being here, and perhaps the most important.
... Vash can't say that he expected to find Nicholas crying, however. It felt like too private a moment, like he shouldn't interrupt, but...
Does he truly have no one to turn to?
It's not like they encountered him with friends. Vash is aware—though others are not—that he arrived to the team with an employer and a weapon that can only be explained with relation to one party in particular. Is it a good idea to trust him? Logically, no.
But Nicholas D. Wolfwood is a good person. Vash knew from the moment he met him. He doesn't know what his objective is, he doesn't know what he's gone through, but he does know he deserves better.
Vash stays a good distance away, allowing Wolfwood his space.
"You'll always have me."
Wolfwood has taught him a lot, and Vash likes to think that he's taught him a lot in turn. As much as he hated to admit it, 'An empty promise is a lie,' lingered in his mind more than he'd like it to.
This is not an empty promise. Not in the least.
The visceral reaction doesn't surprise him, but he couldn't stay silent and let the man wither away in solitude.
He fully enters the room and allows the door to shut with a mechanical whir. Vash keeps silent as he pores over the things he can say.
"I know, and I'll leave you alone soon," his words are soft, gentle, but solid, "There's a lot I need to process too, starting with you."
Admittedly, Vash isn't used to confronting anyone about conflict or emotions—he wanders without company for good reason.
"Before... everything happened," the blond knows that Wolfwood will understand what he means, "We weren't exactly on the best terms. This might just be a job to you, I don't know exactly what your story is, and I don't think I should know, but I want you to know that to me you're a valuable friend. A partner. And, well, if you ever think that you're alone out there..."
The words are harder to say than he'd like.
"Well, I'm there for you. As long as I can be, I'll be there for you."
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OnK Chapter 149
I know it doesn’t mean much coming from me because I’m always complaining about Aka’s writing, but…
And I mean it when I say that I expect nothing 😭 This was literally my first ever OnK-related reblog and its tags are more relevant than ever lmao
These, too:
#honestly I didn’t think too hard about any of this during my first read #because the romantic endgame seems so obvious that it kind of discourages guessing lmao #but re-reading these chapters has made me appreciate Aqua’s side of his bond with Akane a lot more
Back when I first got into OnK, I mentioned that Akane was the entire reason I kept reading the manga. I didn’t care about the romantic subplot, found Aqua/Kana extremely obvious and predictable, and Aqua plain boring.
It’s only during my second read that I paid close attention to Akane’s interactions with Aqua and I ended up playing myself into both, caring about Aqua and shipping him with Akane lol
This chapter has made me realize that despite everything, I'm not emotionally invested in whether they end up together or not. I’d prefer it, obviously, because Aqua truly is at his most interesting whenever he’s around Akane, and their dynamic has the best development in the manga (so far).
But it’s just like I said before: If they don’t end up together, that’s just Aka’s loss, not mine. I’m just here for Akane 😂
And as an Akane fan, I feel like the best thing for me to do right now is to just take a step back and watch things unfold, because Aka will do whatever he wants regardless of how any of us interpret his manga lol
So instead of posting the long post I originally wrote about this chapter when the leaks came out, I'll just share a a clown gif because in hindsight it was silly of me to expect Kana out of all people to have any sort of meaningful insight into Aqua 🤡
And a couple of things that caught my eye because I can't help myself:
Kana didn't even see Aqua and Akane have any sort of meaningful moment, just those two standing in each other's vicinity was enough to make her throw herself a pity party. How many more times is she going to pity herself and give up? How has Aka not tired of writing her this way? Where did her development from the Scandal arc go? 🤡
So Chapter 147 featured Kamiki thinking Ai doesn't love him and Kana thinking Aqua likes her. It even had a helpful "Cut 139: Misunderstanding" panel and everything. Will this mean something? Who knows!
Kana used guilt-trip! It was super effective!
Oh the irony! Poor Akane looks like she's been hard at work convincing herself that she's over Aqua. And you know what? I cheer for her and respect her energy 100%. I'd rather see her doing her mightiest to help him without any ulterior motives than to have her crying for him and hoping to get back with him every other chapter lol
Akane calling Kana out for her pity-party and for being cowardly was so cathartic that if I didn't already stan her, I'd have become a fan right now 😭 It also means that Aka is 100% aware of the way he writes Kana, so when will she finally be allowed to grow?
Kana's praise to Akane made me so sad though because yes, Akane is pretty and she's talented and she's kind. That's sweet of her to say. But that's not what made Akane someone special to Aqua: it was the way she understood him. The worst part is that Kana ends her praise by saying that Akane is a "goody-two-shoes" but... that's the opposite of how Akane views herself. She sees herself as someone who's not decent and not normal. So it's no wonder that while she gets flustered (it's her dear kana-chan praising her), she seems to get a bit sad/frustrated afterward. After all, for Akane it's probably the opposite. Men would prefer a decent, normal, bright girl like Kana - Aqua included.
I wish someone would tell Akane that she is too ignorant of her own charms and that she doesn't have to act like an adult all the time. Truly the pot calling the kettle black! Sadly, unlike Kana, Akane seems to have no one in her corner in this manga. Aqua was the only one there and the poor guy is barely even a character anymore lol
Overprotective mother or controlling ex-girlfriend? Take your pick!
The English translation left something pretty important out in these panels. Akane doesn't just say "if you have a girlfriend", she says "if you have a precious/important girlfriend". This distinction is very important because it goes to show that... as expected, Akane doesn't think she was an important girlfriend to Aqua. It's like she didn't count and Kana would be the real deal. Oh, Akane...
Which takes me to her very silly, very convoluted yet very predictable plan (in true Aka fashion).
When Akane thinks “I know exactly what you hate”, I imagine she means that Aqua hates hurting and endangering those he cares for. So I'm guessing Akane thinks that if she plays matchmaker and quite literally throws Kana at him, someone he has a soft spot, then Aqua won't be able to go through with his revenge because that would mean breaking Kana's very fragile heart.
In other words, it looks like Akane is going to try and use Aqua's guilt-complex against him and her weapon of choice is love. But not her love, obviously, because as far as she's concerned, her romantic love already failed to save him.
Granted, using Kana's romantic feelings to her advantage is kind of... well, wrong. To quote Akane herself, [Kana] is neither her pet nor her property, but a person. But I'm guessing that Akane may be falling victim to the same loophole she got caught in in Chapters 96 - 98. She thinks she knows what's best, so she's putting her own beliefs aside for the time being.
Kind of like Aqua, actually.
And, ironically, it's Aqua himself who first realized how easy Kana is to use.
So! All in all, I'm here for Mastermind!Akane but I hope that Aka will actually make it worth our while. Will Kana realize that she's about to be used as a chess piece in this Proxy War? Who knows, characters in this manga seem to walk in circles, only being allowed to grow when it fits the plot 😂
Last week we wondered whether Aka would subvert expectations or go the predictable route, and down the predictable route he went. His way of making it less predictable is by including a twist in the form of Akane's ulterior motives, but will this be enough to allow this ol' used trope to lead us someplace new? I guess we'll have to keep reading to find out, but given the quality of the writing lately, I'm not expecting much lol
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Do you feel like Ashton and Orym are avoiding speaking to each other? I've seen a few others mention it and it feels like they have plenty of opportunities to talk but don't
OH YEAH ABSOLUTELY.
i feel like ever since their talk in ep 40 there's been smth off between them versus before. extremely long rambling under the cut i am so sorry these two change my brain chemistry
personally i think on orym's side he doesn't like someone who's able to read him this well. i think it's esp interesting cause ashton in ep 40 said "i know you're not okay." rather than asking if orym was okay, feel like that makes orym uncomfortable. someone not evening giving him a chance to continuing putting on his strong exterior. probably last person able to read past his bullshit was well...will, derrig or his mother.
ashton i think seems afraid of how easily they open up to orym. just like ashton sees through orym's, orym sees through ashton's bullshit. they've almost started to say things to orym & just abruptly cut off (and it's killing me!!! ashton i am shaking you by the shoulders what were you gonna say!!!). they want to be ready to talk to him but they aren't cause once they start i don't think they'll be able to keep everything in. knowing how much this group is players who embody their character nearly 24/7 (i do it too agfgh), i was esp sad seeing ashton after the battle. look like they were holding back fuckin tears man (orym too).
both of them are feeling small and lost and i think once they do talk? it'll be big for them internally because they read eachother so well and are a lot more similar than they originally thought. ESP seeing even slivers of how orym copes with things this awful. seems like ash & him cope more similarly than i would've figured. also makes me worried for those 6 years orym was lost for....girl what happened...
in general i think their talk in ep 40 made all their similairties and abilities to just see straight through eachother more apparent to them both. and that's sorta scary for both of them, hence why they're just avoiding it. easier to ignore it than sit down and talk to someone who you know will see a very vulnerable version of you whether you like it or not.
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Feeling sentimental over Sasuke tonight.
I can't stand when I see him portrayed as just a dramatic little boy, because fuck , his grief and his anger and all his sorrow and bitterness came from a love so soo big it made the world dark, his heart exploded over the sky and tainted it gloomy red.
What was love and friendship to him in a world boiling with corruption, with greed? And what's a flower in a battlefield? Can it bloom? What is the song of a lover over the roar of an earthquake? Would you let a bird go if you know it'd kill it or would you keep it caged? Or would you go out and kill whatever is waiting for the little bird?
Sasuke got so lost wondering how could he live a fiction, 'cause dreams alone can't save the world. Who would descend to hell and purge the devils in there? What's Orochimaru alive if not for that job? What was Danzo there for? What was Itachi there for? Why is that people only worship what shines? Why is that the kages can decide to start a war for nothing but greed? Why is that the heroes' sins are never counted? Why is that some of the last survivors of the clans that founded Konoha were roaming the world searching for justice in themselves, not in the place that was supposed to be their home?
Obito. Itachi. Sasuke. Tsunade. Naruto. Karin.
Uchihas. Senjus. Uzumakis. Outcasts of Konoha.
But then when Sasuke talks, they only listen to the "hatred" and not the truth behind?
That "hatred" came from a wound no one had the right to expect to know. It came from devotion, from the love of a little brother, the same way it came from Itachi. It came without a warning at such young age; their bones ached all at once and aged years in a minute. It teared holes in their eyes, black signs, dark omens, patterns of stars and silent mathematical equations to alter the world around them, to alter their fate.
And isn't it the tragedy of the Uchihas? To be able to slow down the world and copy what they see, to be able to travel to other dimensions and to be able to web nightmares and dreams. But even if they can make you live your entire life in a illusion or could help the dead came back from life, they can't erase what was, they can't make the pain go away, they can't forget. What's s dead was dead, what's done was done.
“ I can fix it. I can save them. I can fix the world. ”
But once it's over and they have tried (and failed in some degree), who is going to fix their empty chests? For all they poured and all they gave and all the flesh they use to carry the burden of the world, where can they rest without the constant reminder of what they've lost?
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