#Buckling Analysis

[ajayexplore]

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[fumifooms]

The Nakamoto household - facts & theories masterpost

Table of contents:

the hierarchy & general situation

The parents

The Maizuru situation

The siblings

The other retainers

Izutsumi

Toshiro

Conclusion

I also made tldr summary charts here. This post is about collecting facts about the setting and characters, but it’s gonna be a lot of analysis on what it means through the lens of Toshiro as well, his relationship and place in everything etc etc. They have entangled drama the scale of Daltian Clan. Things are so interwoven it’s hard to keep topics neatly in their own section, because of this pictures may be relevant at several point of this but I mostly won’t be putting them in twice, you might have to do some scrolling up while reading if you want the visual proof to accompany statements. Unlike with Chilchuck’s family there’s less ambiguousness and more intricate details and implications so it’s less theorizing & headcanoning and more stringing together all the crumbs canon gave us. I also dig into some cultural parallels, especially since characters from Wa are the most culturally coded in the series. Also disclaimer that I’ll be calling Shuro Toshiro through this whole thing because that’s his actual name & Shuro isn’t even a nickname he’s shown to like, for accuracy’s sake. The servant girls have real names but are always called by their code names so I’ll call them as such, except for Izutsumi who was named Asebi which I won’t be using.

The general situation

To start off, what’s the situation in canon? All three kids of the head of the house, the three sons (Toshiro and his two younger brothers), are sent out on a vague mission to find something interesting for his father to pick the heir. Each son is thus on their own journey, out with their own group of retainers for an unsure length of time, during canon it’s been 2 years that Toshiro left the house for this mission, and they seemingly all drifted towards dungeons. It’s important to remember that this state of things is the exception and not the rule, and before this the sons lived at home and had different uses of their time, and the retainers had other jobs than care after them. See the next paragraph.

The household offers ninja services, no exaggeration or misuse of the term, mostly spyint but also "covert maneuvers" which could include anything including assassination of people high up. That’s the job of their servants/retainers at least, the heads themselves are more like managers probably, possibly samurais themselves though especially since as we see with the heirs (besides the samurai armor) they also got trained in fighting as their skills showcase. I need to dig into the history of samurais more before I can draw the parallel confidently though. The Nakamoto household is noble/wealthy, distinguished as the Adventurer’s Bible puts it, but it works for and puts its service at use for "their local lord". It buys servants, but also has families who have served it for generations like with Hien. The comic shows that there aren’t only women servants, it’s just the ones we see all happen to be because Toshiro’s retainers are only a small team of all of Nakamoto’s servants.

Above, in a page showcasing characters’ relationships with their party leader: 父親の部下を借りている状態なので、 距離がある。Doubtlessly there must be a translation of this already somewhere but I’m lazy and impatient so I turned to machine translation instead, this translates into: "Since he is borrowing his father's subordinates, there is a distance between him and them". Calling the servants retainers is what most of the fandom does and it’s accurate so I’ll be calling them this.

Hien and Toshiro were childhood friends which means the servants do have some degree of contact not even just together but with the heirs too, or maybe just specifically Hien, since both their parents were ninjas for the Nakamotos she ended up getting raised there and they let her play with him as an exception? They did end up drifting away as adults as their relationship got more professional, so it’s possible. The servants eat and sleep in shared spaces, separate from the masters, though Maizuru has her own bedroom, if the room configuration at the in is to be believed + it’d make sense since she’s governess/head servant. I’m hesitant wether to say it’s implied that this group of 4 retainers was always a bit of a team or it wasn’t and got formed for Toshiro specifically. We know that Benichidori had little contact with Toshiro before they were sent out together for example, but we do see all three girls with Izutsumi in Inutade’s extra when they were younger, and them eating in the same japanese styled room etc. The inn they stay at on The Island is western styled though they do have futons rather than beds (there’s only one bed in their shared room and Hien has it because of her rank).

From Izutsumi’s Adventurer’s Bible profile: "Maizuru, who was also Shuro's governess, is the one thing Izutsumi fears. After Izutsumi was taken in by the Nakamoto family, Maizuru forced her through a harsh training regimen of speech, common sense, and fighting skills. Since Izutsumi refused to listen to her, Maizuru set a curse on her that would activate if Maizuru didn't touch her within a set time frame: "Ninja Art: Babysitter." "

Maizuru, called a governess, is the one training the girls, at least some of them, we know for a fact she was the one to train Izutsumi for example, and in general she’s the one in charge of the ninja girls we see. She was a ninja herself but retired from frontline missions, but has a central role managing the servants instead. Inutade for example is strong but not stealthy, and it’s said that it’s Maizuru’s job to choose how to train her and what role to give her in consequence. Her training includes manners but fighting as well, notably kunais and martial arts. Hien is shown to use bombs and Benichidori is implied to be good at disguises, Inutade uses a bold weapon like a club but it’s implied with "ogres and clubs just go together" and Maizuru not knowing where to put her to use that it’s uncommon for Nakamoto servants to use those. Their board game artworks also show their specialties neatly. When brought into the household, the servants are given new names and their whole lives become devotion to the house and their duties. The names might be intended to act as code names due to them being ninjas? It’s implied that they never use their non-code names anymore once they start serving the household. Maizuru’s training also contains language and "common sense"… Critical thinking? As well as implied etiquette. This isn’t surprising, as she was the one put in charge of raising not only Toshiro but his brothers as well.

Oh yes I want to mention that all the retainers’ "first deaths" are in the dungeon during canon, considering our main cast we’re used to death being permissible because dungeons make resurrections possible, but it’s relevant to remember that these people never died before. Never. These girls are professionals, ninjas with a sometimes very dangerous job. Messing up means death, permanently.

From what we see and with who we see, the hierarchy is:

Father (head of house, his word goes)

Mother (has status which puts her wishes above others’ and give her some control over the house, it’s unsure how much though, but hierarchy wise she’s very much above the rest but below the father)

Maizuru (governess, in charge of (at least some) servants and raising Toshiro. Two dots)

Hien (leader of their squad, trained servant from a family devoted to the Nakamotos. Two dots)

Benichidori (trained bought servant. Two dots)

Inutade and Izutsumi (bought servants. Power wise from their rank it’s unsure just how much the difference between Inutade (who has one dot), Izutsumi (who has none) and Benichidori (who has two) is, since Hien is team leader between the four servants at least that’s measurable. Inutade gets some janitor duties, and Izutsumi has a curse put on her so she doesn’t run away I suppose. Power wise it’s unsure, but socially/role wise Inutade and especially Asebi are treated worse.)

I didn’t add the sons because I’m talking more generally about the power structure and it’d depend on each sibling, like Toshiro’s wants and directives during canon trump Maizuru’s, but Maizuru is also his nanny and manages the girls so she has a lot of importance and sway even on the final decisions.

The parents

I am so pissed I forgot that we know Toshiro’s father’s name, Toshitsugu, from these panels showing the progression of the family tree. I am so pissed I’m adding this halfway into writing this whole thing, I am not gonna go back and replace every "the father" by his name atm.

The father is the part of this puzzle most important yet most shrouded in mystery, or rather a lack of details. What we do know paints a pretty full and vivid portrait: impulsive and cares mainly about his own entertainment. Maizuru calls him a fool, his sons are exasperated and go "This again?" when he summons them saying that they’re boring/dull, everyone knows he’s having an affair and he often has undignified demeanor, but what he says goes so yes Maizuru will take Izutsumi under her wing, yes the sons will be going out right away into the world to find you the 8th world wonder, yes whatever you want lord. He seems to have little care for how his action affects others, like crashing into Maizuru’s room at night and asking she take care of a catgirl, or sending out his sons suddenly with kicks to the butts. He does what he wants hen he wants and others have to comply.

Like we see with Izutsumi and Inutade, he tends to take a liking to slaves here and there and buy them on the spot, usually at entertainment places, like sumo wrestling matches for Inutade and a freakshow for Izutsumi. The Adventurer’s Bible states him acquiring Inutade as "By coincidence, Shuro's father came to see her first match; he liked her and bought her for the Nakamoto family." and Izutsumi as "She was on display as a "cat-girl" in a sideshow when Shuro's father took an interest in her and bought her." In Maizuru’s extra, he calls Izutsumi a "souvenir" he got for her, and he’s drunk so it could well be assumed that buying Izutsumi was a drunken whim, and that he mitht be alcoholic. You can’t really say that he picks them out because he sees potential in them to be a ninja or would be useful, since with Izutsumi she had no fighting training and Inutade doesn’t fit the skills they seek like stealth and she has trouble fitting in. You could assign noble goals to him like maybe wanting to help or relating to the misfits, but I think with what we see of him it’s more likely that he likes to pick up "oddities", like a catgirl at a freakshow or an ogre, especially since one of the only things we know of him is he wants his sons to bring back interesting trophies from their travels. Toshiro, about his father buying Inutade, says: "People in power desire ogre as servants, and ogres are chosen as opponents in tests of strengths or military exploits. My father bought her for similar reasons."

Also from this we can infer that he goes out to events often, like circus and sumo wrestling, again mostly for entertainment from what we see. I like to think it’s implied that he used to travell maybe still does, due to his own liking for it as a test and because he visits various places like the sideshow, plus his forearm scars in Toshiro’s extra… But him being a samurai in service of a lord could definitely explain that.

This all paints an interesting picture doesn’t it… The Nakamoto’s lifestyle is super encased in rules and social propriety, duty and hierarchy. Old noble man who’s been surrounded by propriety all his life and just wants some spark of interesting stuff happening amongst the humdrum of his lavish cushioned life at home, and is shitty to people around him in consequence and due to his privilege allowing him to. He’s despicable, but from his 3 appearances he becomes an interesting well-fleshed character, at least proportionally to the screentime he gets…

We also know that the affair with Maizuru is well known at least inside the household, so there’s no genuine secrecy around the topic. Makes sense that the wife would hate her guts.

Ahh yes the mother. Little is known about the mother, except that from Maizuru’s profile "Shuro’s mother can’t stand the sight of her, to the point where there are areas on the property Maizuru is forbidden to enter. Maizuru, however, is impressed by his wife’s strength of character." From this I glean that she does have enough power/respect in the house that she can make rules like where Maizuru is allowed to go. Also the implication that otherwise Mazuru would have access to EVERYWHERE in the house despite being only a (high-ranking) servant is a bit interesting. Wether the mother’s "strength of character" is overt and hot-headed or understated and cool-headed is unsure, but I imagine the latter more. I could see Maizuru’s angle in many ways, from being able to tolerate "that fool" aka the father both just in general and with knowing that he’s cheating on her, to knowing how hard it is to be respected as a woman and admiring her putting up with it all and still being able to have sway in the household. This is I think the only mention of the mother anywhere. Doesn’t seem like she is an important figure to Toshiro at all: in fact we hear about her on Maizuru’s profile, and seeing all of this we can see the importance of her in Maizuru’s backstory and life, moreso than Toshiro’s. I imagine she’s a bit of a recluse, which is part of why Maizuru not being allowed to roam the full house is important, because them running into each other at the house is high.

It’s unsure how much contact the parents have with their kids. What we know is that they left the principal tasks of raising the kids, or at least Toshiro, to servants. Toshiro’s profile says that he’s more attached to Maizuru than his parents, and that’s the phrasing. From the comic where their father summons the sons, it does seem like they’re more or less used to interacting, with the sons’ "This again?". So it’s not that they’ve only interacted with them few times enough to count on fingers, but how meaningful were those interactions? From Toshiro’s profile we know he has a complex where he thinks he’ll never get recognition from his father or be able to measure up to him… But is that more born out of secondhand gossip and expectations, or from direct interactions with him that made him feel that way? Likely a mix of both, especially since the father does seem to be very dismissive, uncaring and insulting with his sons. Oh, but it’s definitely notable that in the Hag monster tidbit (below in Maizuru’s section) six years old Toshiro runs to his father scared shitless for help against the shikigami, and his father casually helps him without batting an eye. Toshitsugu knows how to deal with Maizuru’s shikigamis, and he does so efficiently and without any sense of worry or urgency. Although the event traumatized Toshiro and he was very scared, it doesn’t seem like his father offered any comfort, beyond just helping getting rid of it and letting him cower behind him without comment. Toshitsugu gives hungover vibes in that one imo haha. It’s shown he was already training as a ninja, perhaps this event only reinforced Toshiro’s complex, seeing his father, the samurai the achieved man who has expectations for him, so unfazed and uncaring like that.

The Maizuru situation

Let’s establish a timeline first. It’s left vague how much time she’s served the Nakamoto family for, or how she came to be in their service. The central point is that "She was put in charge of raising their children at a young age". If straight from his birth, Maizuru started taking care of Toshiro when she was 15 years old. If from toddler age, then 16. It’s uncertain if when she stopped getting front-line espionage missions, but we know it’s late rather than early despite having kid raising duties. But well, since she’s also in charge of the ninjas she’s definitely has a multitasking role even now.

The dad prob has around 5-10 years more than Maizuru, I’d say. We only see half of his face and only a good few years in the past, around ~3 years ago probably with the shuro quest and a good 7 years with Izutsumi as a kid, but visually those are the vibes I’m getting. From Toshiro’s birth, it’s possible that the father was 15 when the baby was born too? But conception would have been closer to 14 years old then, and yeah I don’t think they marry and have kids that young. Toshiro is 26 years old in canon and is unmarried, and the heir hasn’t been officially picked, so marriage and kids don’t seem to be in the family’s priorities. Even if Maizuru do say that the father would love if Toshiro brought back a wife.

Now the elephant in the room: she has an on-and-off affair with the father and it has been si for many many years, at LEAST 7 years since that’s when we see that comic of him going into her chambers about Izutsumi, and in the comic above, Hien in that panel has an ambiguous age. Regardless it’s definitely implied that it’s a long, long-standing thing. Hien’s phrasing above makes it sound as if it’s not purely physical, as if feelings are involved, "he’s head over heels for his confidante", and who knows if this relationship is part of why Maizuru was chosen to be the governess, or even hired at all.

It’s in the feud with his father that we learn about maizuru’s affair and how after learning it he started shutting her out emotionally. It’s left vague when Toshiro learned about it, Hien made it sound as if everybody always more or less knew but I don’t think Toshiro started shutting her out when he was still pretty young. Regardless, the two are implied to be linked, his dislike of his father/complex and how he stopped getting along well with Maizuru/being emotionally open with her. Is it that he now feels as though Maizuru is actually on his father’s side and not his own, that after all if she had to choose she’d pick him over Toshiro too? Or is it that, because his father’s known to be a self-centered frivolous jerk, that knowing she lets it happen, "can’t seem to shake it", he respects her less? He has an irresponsible reputation and she does give off the vibe of needing to clean up his messes, so that wouldn’t be unplausible either.

On the flipside from her perspective, since he learned she was his dad’s mistress he emotionally shut her out, which can partly explain why she’s SO fussy with him and happy at the slightest hint of happiness or compliance, like when he listens to her and eats, or maybe even being happy that he lets her help him dress and keep tidy (imo this is supported by how they interact in the page showing him interacting with all his party members). She wants to regain that closeness they once had and for her baby chick to be alright as he’s slipping through her fingers. Man so sad to think about him rejecting her when he’s the only thing in her life. She’s raised him for 26 years, no wonder she’s so attached to him, the only thing in her life she feels true unconditional attachment for. Maizuru says that she thinks Toshiro’ll be a better head of the house than the father, too. The respect and care is somewhat onesided, given freely from her side but repressed from his end. When she cares for Toshiro is when her demeanor immediately and drastically softens. She gets easily carried away when it comes to him, rambling enthusiastically or smiling widely or tearing up. Her tendency to ramble or tell anecdotes about Toshiro is shown making Hien and Benichidori go "Here she goes again…" twice through canon.

With Izutsumi’s timeline we see Izutsumi was taken into the Nakamoto household at 10 yo, and since in the comic with Maizuru and the dad she’s shown as stinky and all I imagine she arrived there the same day, so Maizuru was in charge of her since she was first here. In fact if we assumed that it’s the same day as when he bought her at the circus show, then we could assume that buying her was a drunken whim like mentioned.

Since Izutsumi was taken in at 10 and she’s 17, this would mean that Maizuru is 34 years old here. She looks younger without makeup, but lower than that is mathematically impossible besides maybe 33 if Maizuru and Izutsumi’s birthdays line up just right.

Time for the second elephant in the room!!

Maizuru’s magic

Maizuru is the only person in the Nakamoto household, anyone from Wa really, who we see using magic, I doubt she’d be the only one who can use magic in the household but as the governess it wouldn’t be unplausible I suppose. From what we see, the magic is estimated by Marcille to be an "appropriation of gnomic magic" with an eastern script. For my analysis of written magic (though with only a brief glance over Maizuru’s magic), see this post.

If you scroll up and read the little section on Maizuru’s profile, Ninja art: babysitter: "One of the curses put on Izutsumi is Ninja Art: Babysitter, which manifests as a terrifying hag shikigami. Unless Maizuru touches the victim within a set time frame, this terrible curse makes a hag appear and chase them around with a carving knife. Maizuru originally created it in an attempt to keep Shuro from getting lost, but it ended up traumatizing him…"

From Izutsumi’s profile: "Maizuru, who was Shuro’s governess, is the one thing Izutsumi fears. […] Since Izutsumi refused to listen to her, Maizuru set a curse on her that would activate if Maizuru didn’t touch her within a set time frame: "Ninja Art: Babysitter." It was put on her when she was 12. Since Toshiro had it as a kid, presumably the curse can be lifted off rather easily, Marcille was confident on reverse engineering it as well. It’s unsaid what the time frame is, it’s kept vague everywhere and Izutsumi herself says "who knows" how long it is. Izutsumi ran away despite the very real risk of it killing her. Essentially, Maizuru can put people in a timebomb collar

… MAIZURU WHAT THE HELL

As we might have expected, Maizuru being given the task of rasing a child at 15 did not go perfectly. This, a babysitting technique??! This comic happens when Toshiro was 6 and so Maizuru was 21. Interesting to note that Toshiro didn’t even know it was Maizuru’s doing before this conversation during canon, and he doesn’t know how to bring it up or deal with it how it affected him. Maizuru seems surprisingly uncaring of Toshiro’s feelings on the matter here, oblivious to his conflict her and fondly recalling it all.

This curse is a shikigami. From her profile: "A shikigami user, Maizuru has a variety of shikigami that have been sealed in paper as her servants. Her favorite seems to be Gyuki, a bull ogre." Now don’t ask me when Gyuki appears, I do not remember it. But before we go into the cultural/historical basis for this practice, let’s take a second to recognize the parallel that Maizuru has servants she keeps sealed unless useful in the moment, even despite having enough "attachment" to have a favorite. She’s the governess in charge of the other servants, and she has shikigamis, which she has used on the heir and the runt at the bottom of the hierarchy alike.

Shikigami, in traditional japanese folklore, are conjured to exercise risky orders for their masters, such as spying, stealing and enemy tracking. Shikigami are said to be invisible most of the time, but they can be made visible by binding them into small, folded and artfully cut paper manikins.

Shikigamis are from onmyodo, onmyoji is a profession-legal title historically but it’s what you call a practitioner of onmyodo, and so I feel content in saying that Maizuru is an onmyoji, or based on it. Her outfit reminds me of a shinto priest. It’s interestingly closer to a shinto priest outfit than a miko/shrine maiden’s (in picture below, 2 instead of 5), and I feel like red being chosen for the inner sleeve is a very charged decision since the white & red color combo is the shinto clothes color combo. Especially white clothes with red inner sleeve. Shinto priests can be women nowadays but they’re rare, and onmyojis can be considered shinto priests though it’s a more complex than that. Image below as example, source. Now I don’t think Maizuru has the role or prestige of a priest at all- But the association with onmyodo and spirituality is definitely meant to be made I think. Onmyojis are usually clothed similarly to this.

The babysitter ninja art seems to be based off of the hannya yokai. "They were once human women who were consumed by jealousy and transformed into demonesses", twisted by anger and resentment. Interesting considering her being a mistress to a man whose wife hates her. Hannyas are associated with wisdom because of its name, but there is nothing positive about them. At its highest level of "demonic corruption" if I can call it that, their body tend to become serpentine, fun link to make with her name being from the snakeberry plant.

Other cultural ties or symbolism on Maizuru’s character could be found in the motif of cranes due to her sleeves, in the tales of the crane wife, origami cranes (called orizuru, from deformation of 鶴 "tsuru" aka "crane". All names are written in katakanas in Dungeon Meshi, but thus if we had had the kanjis it’s possible her name would have been written with the kanji for crane), tennyos, and japanese crane symbolism in general. I thought cranes might have been associated with motherhood, but seemingly not in japanese culture at least, I was thinking of storks haha.

Ok speaking of her name. Maizuru is the name of an existing japanese city (舞鶴), meaning "dancing crane". From @room-surprise’s work in progress research paper on Dungeon Meshi characters’ names: "Maizuru is her ninja code name, and comes from “maizurusou”, which is maianthemum dilatatum, the snakeberry plant/two-leaved Solomon's seal/false lily of the valley. Lily of the Valley is a plant associated with motherhood and virtue… So Maizuru being a false Lily of the Valley implies that she is a false, replacement mother, and also hints at the way that Toshiro became cold towards her when he realized she was his father’s mistress, and not a pure, virtuous mother-like figure that he thought she was. Also, lilies are toxic to cats, which makes sense since Maizuru and Izutsumi have an extremely bad relationship." For more details I’ll leave it up to Room when the paper is ready to be released. Edit: It’s out!! Click here! Incredible meta that goes into a ton of details not only about Maizuru.

So some big themes of her character are: (false) motherhood, spirituality/magic, control, cranes, woman’s jealousy.

The siblings

Alriight so besides Toshiro the eldest at 26 years old, there is Toshiyuki (Toshitsuge in one fantranslation) the middle son and Toshizane the youngest (Toshikage in one fantranslation). They were all said to be raised by Maizuru. "A strange level of distance" is interesting. Why strange? I feel like this implies they do interact regularly, and that they’re all rather civil wirh each other, but they still have little bond to speak of. That wouldn’t surprise me, especially since even inside the family etiquette and propriety and rules are enforced, the summoning by his father feels very formal and they all listen to him standing in silence despite having snappy inner thoughts. It’s unsure if they were largely raised together or apart, but since Maizuru was their (at least main) caretaker/governess it implies that they were imo. They were put in competition with each other for the title of heir to the house, though it’s unsure to what degree. It’s examplified by their family all having names that start with "Toshi" that the legacy is very important and thrust upon them, cogs in a machine almost. They all think the same thing when their father summons them and has a spiel, so they’re used to the same sort of treatment and they are indeed brothers for being on similar wavelengths haha.

Toshiyuki, as seen in the comic about his retainers, the poor soul sent into Darkest Dungeon, is brattish. Rude, selfish and rather lecherous, does not hesitate to be mean to his retainers and complain he wasn’t given women retainers. Visually he looks what, 14 years old top. I wonder if Maizuru stopped using her babysitter ninja art on the heirs after it traumatized Toshiro, and if so maybe that explains why Toshiyuki Knows No Fear In His Heart™️ and that’s why he can spout off stuff like that.

The retainers for the youngest brother, Toshizane, don’t seem to be as clad in ninja gear as the other two, seems like the priority is to take care of the very young young master there? Rather than truly go adventuring and dungeoneering, perhaps. Not that it’s ever said by anyone that their quest is to go into dungeons specifically, only to find something "interesting" to bring back, but both Toshiro and Toshiyuki are shown to have ended up drifting into dungeons. Toshizane looks young, I’d clock him 8 years old personally. He’s drawn looking rather innocent, especially the headshot doodle above and in the Toshitsuge complaining about his retainers comic. ALTHOUGH on the latter, interestingly as we see with Toshiro having a smug smirk in that same panel (or alternatively a smug indifferent/uncomfortable "i don’t care about this, even though you want it so much" look which at the very least is very exaggerated from how he emotes in reality), it’s Toshiyuki’s unreliable/exaggerated vision of his brothers and it doesn’t necessaeily reflect reality, though it’s still interesting to note that that’s the vision Toshiyuki has of his brothers/the impression Toshizane gives off. That can imply juicy dynamics for the brothers, for example if Toshiyuki feels as though he’s in competition with his brothers, feels superior to them, that instead of pushing the shitty family dynamic angst onto his father he puts the blame for it all onto Toshiro. Toshizane seems maybe too young to notice the tensions and seriousness around him, maybe more coddled… IS WHAT I WOULD SAY BUT in the comic where their father send them away he’s as well-behaved and serious as the others, so clearly he has a grasp on his role.

When talking about which retainers go with who, it’s said it was the father’s choice. I’d like to assume it wasn’t an airheaded/random choice. Maybe he knew that Toshiyuki would be weird about having women in his team of retainers? And wants to forge their character or protect them in the way they need. Though how Toshiro’s party only has women isn’t only pointed out and commented on by the comic with Toshitsuge but also in the main Dungeon Meshi story, both Marcille and Chilchuck going "his party is fully made up of women", one more loudly than the other haha. So it does feel like a somewhat pointed/purposeful decision, if not that the 4 girls were already a team like I mentioned.

The other retainers

Already made an analysis of Hien and Benichidori’s relationship (+ moment compilation) here. Honestly my juices are exhausted so quick rundown:

Hien’s parents both serve the Nakamotos, so she grew up with the family and was even a childhood friend of Toshiro. She assumed he and her might end up in a Maizuru-Toshitsugu situation ‘just because that’s how things are’/‘it’d be a natural development’ if we’re to believe Hien, ahh what growing up at the Nakamotos’ with those role models will make you believe is normal hah, and was surprised when it ended up not in that way at all. They grew more distant with time, in good part because of the professional nature of their roles in relation to each other (truly a reversal of the Maizuru-Toshitsugu situation). She’s the leader of their lil squad, under Maizuru, she’s very confident and she gets the perks, like getting the bedframe in the shared inn room. For all the details just read her page. She has two dots, showing her rank as a full fledged ninja. I made a more in depth more speculative reading of her in this post.

Benichidori was bought, by "the Nakamotos" so we don’t know who made the final decision. She’s perceptive and submissive, her specialty is implied to be disguise. She never had much contact with Toshiro before she became part of his party. She has facial dysmorphia where she fears the judgement of others if she doesn’t wear makeup and highly values beauty, in her extra her anxiety really shows and she ends up angrily snapping at Hien. Benichidori ends up taking a big liking to Hien and from there on they’re implied to be inseparable. She has two dots, showing her rank as a full fledged ninja.

Inutade is said to worship Toshitsugu because he "saved her" from her horrible life conditions, buying her personally from the sumo matches, she’s extremely grateful to the family and is happy to do any work they give her and is highly satisfied with her current living conditions. She seems to find Toshiro intimidating, though. She was separated from her parents from before she can remember and raised as a sumo wrestler in inhumane betting matches, where her front tooth broke. It seems she has very littke ambitions and dreams besides obeying orders day to day, but after Izutsumi fled away she was happy for her and mused that she’d love to go out and find her one day. They’re so besties Izutsumi gave her a dream of her own I’m sobbing… </3 She has one dot, showing she still has to be attributed her role and earn her stripes.

Their approval rating of their leader. The highest total score from all the parties.

Izutsumi

Sighh where to even begin. Her timeline was put in Maizuru’s section of this post but the rundown is "taken away from parents and turned into a beastkin" at 6 yo (the human half of her soul), "sent to a sideshow on the island of Wa" at 7 yo and bought by Toshitsugu at 10 yo when he took an interest in her when he visited the sideshow. Maizuru put the curse on Izutsumi at age 12, so from then on she always had to not stray much far from Maizuru or risk death, it’s unsure if Inutade’s extra is from before that time, before she was 12, so she could still attempt many many tries to run away. If that’s the case, then Maizuru’s curse was very much treated as a last resort, honestly beyond everything else I can see it being a pain that Maizuru would need to touch her every so often on Maizuru’s schedule as well. The alternative is that, not unlike Kabru who had no regrets dying in a dungeon rather than staying with Milsiril, she’d risk her life to get a taste of freedom. Besides, you know, being a slave and having a timebomb collar with Maizuru’s curse, her frustrations with her life with the Nakamotos is most concisely put in the comic just up above, Inutade’s extra.

She has no dot tattoo, meaning she’s at rock bottom of the hierarchy. It makes sense, since unlike Inutade she’s rebellious and needs threats to obey orders, and even then might try shifty business.

This last part where Izutsumi tries sleeping with Toshiro is most interesting to me. So she’s sought out contact with Toshiro before, she considers him "the stuck-up guy" but she doesn’t exactly hate him. I wonder if this comic is set in the inn on The Island or back at the Nakamoto household, because if that’s the latter it implies that she could get access to his room if she’s sneaky.

Oh oh also, this is fanon but since Toshiro’s weapon is one used usually on horseback, and with the steadfast and upright character of horses I associate Toshiro with horses a bit, though this is wild fanon. What’s interesting is that the plant Asebi was named after is a plant infamous for being toxic to horses. Hehe hehehe he wears a ponytail… Hm now that I think of it hairdos have importance for samurais, should look into that.

Toshiro

God. Ok. Everything was leading up to this guy. Need to split open his head like a geode and vibecheck his brain crystals. Let’s get some interesting details out of the way first.

His weapon is a tachi, not a katana. The wikipedia on tachis is more in depth if you want, but I consider the article I linked to be in deoth and digestible. Tachis are heavier and longer blades than katanas, and make for better horseback weapons than close combat. The way Toshiro uses one instead of a katakana shows that he’s extra strong… And does make sense, since most monsters won’t fight in as close quarters as human fighters. If katanas aren’t a thing in the world yet could make a difference, since tachis were invented first, and once the katana was invented and spread tachis became something more common in higher-ranking samurais. In the monster tidbit of the Hag, it’s shown that even at 6 years old Toshiro was training and learning ninja skills, his first instinct to the shikigami besides running being to fight.

Toshiro knew that Izutsumi wanted to leave, for sure. He may have been sympathetic, if his cryptic look back at her in the ‘Toshiro interacting with his party members’ page means anything. As seen below though, him being sympathetic doesn’t necessarily mean that much. Also, Toshiro had to have known about the curse on Izutsumi, where if Maizuru doesn’t touch her once in a while she’d die. "Asebi must have ran away, leave her" can be seen as subtle support for her to gain her freedom, but it could just as easily be seen as him leaving her behind to die. Because the outcome options are 1) she gets killed by Maizuru's curse, 2) she finds a way to break the spell, 3) she finds a way back to them.

He’s very conflict averse. Wether it be in relationships like with Laios or the status quo. Will not stand up for 99% things including himself. He obeys his father quietly despite his anger and dislike. This is the same guy who can't even get himself to speak up to correct the butchering of his name, the slippery slope that got him tangled in the Laios party seemingly without resistance. It’s very japanese etiquette from even nowadays, never saying a direct no to not be rude. ALSO THAT PANEL, has Toshiro beaten an ogre before?? Is that a brother of his?? Does seem in character for Toshiyuki the most, unless Toshiro was desperate to earn his father’s attention with feats. On the right I’d say the ones in the foreground are two of the brothers, maybe the third being the one to gesture to the ogre. It’s worth noting that inheritance laws during the Edo period often made the heir the son with "the most merit".

When with a goal that’s important to him he’s fine with even starving for it. Although what we see him be like that about in canon is Falin, aka self-admittedly in the post-canon proposal comic "the first person he has liked this much", which for him I feel is like admitting she’s one of the first things he has truly wanted for himself and fought for, soo… It’s more like an exceptional freaking out moment than something that would be recurring, most likely. How disheveled he got is a testament to how much he would forego propriety and rules for people of his status for the person he cares about most. Maizuru says the first personal request he’s (ever?) made was for them to help him rescue Falin.

Which ahh yes, his crush on Falin. I do think idealization plays into it, he doesn’t know Falin that well for sure, but it’s more complex than that too. Falin is pretty and can have an ethereal energy to her, she’s caring and gentle kinda motherly which Toshiro would find soothing I imagine, BUT MOST OF ALL. She’s weird!! She’s just weird enough to allow and be charmed by!! Shuro was fully shaped by his upbringing and environment of nobility, social etiquette and whatnot. Yeah she’s weird and quirky, but still quiet and sweet-mannered enough that he’s like "Yes, she wouldn’t bring shame on my family name". And why would he be charmed by her weirdness? Because all he’s ever known is rules!! Conformity, fitting in!! Unlike the others he knows, she is weird without being overbearing as well. "Woah she’s so different… She’s kind and soft and doesn’t care about fitting in… She is out of this world, she’s free, she shows me a world where tenderness and authenticity is possible…" She’s like his comfort character. MOREOVERRR I had totally forgotten about it, but Toshiro was shown watching a snail behind a bush and losing sight of everything else (like Maizuru calling him) as a kid in the Hag monster tidbit, the moment he fell in love with Falin it was when she looked enthralled at a caterpillar and he mentions how "most girls would have screamed or recoiled in disgust", and in the beach chibis page he’s crouching and collecting shells thinking about Falin… He likes bugs and crawly critters guys, he wishes he could be cottagecore too… It’s a genuine shared interest… . Someone pointed out that Toshiro & Falin’s relationship probaboy references this japanese folk tale, and I think that’s very interesting to note.

And Maizuru is like his mom but it’s a Thistle situation where they can’t just be a normal family and normal affectionate either- and when he learns about his father having a thing with her he feels weirded out. And like. Who knows how much he even got out of the mansion. He got homeschooled. He’s distant with his brothers. The family is in shambles

Shuro’s issue is that he was taught to be perfect and have the upmost respectable behavior, so if something annoys him he has to be righteous about it and that it’s the annoying thing’s fault or moral failing. Bro just let yourself be petty sometimes it’s healthier. With the feud with his father it’s explicitly stated that the pressure and expectations of the family name weigh on him a lot.

But then, that makes his beef with Laios so understandable doesn’t it. Not justified, but explained certainly.

Laios & Shuro and the whole mess coming to a head

I’ve made an analysis of the Laios-Shuro fight from Laios’ pov before, here. This is the Shuro pov analysis. Yes yes in The Fight, Shuro is dehydrated sleep-deprived and underate, he’s majorly off his rocker, BUT his frustration and the underlying issues are still things he felt on any day and it’s interesting to note.

Toshiro has been raised from his birth with the priority of propriety, nobility, etiquette, rules, conforming elegantly, appareances and reputation are everything. He’s modest, humble, quiet, stays in his lane and bottles all his feelings up. Wait who is this loud guy coming up to me being inconsiderate and loud af?? Does he not see me blinking in morse code that I’m not enjoying this and want him to leave?? Was he raised in a barn?? He’s overbearing and rude and way too friendly- He’s weird wtf! Not conforming to basic etiquette is illegal??! And people just… Let him do whateve he wants?? He lives well, no one stops him or kills him?? What the fuck, I’ve followed rules and etiquette thoroughly all my life, and it’s thankless work I get no recognition for, meanwhile he gets to be oblivious af and do whatever he wants without getting clapped?? Resentment, frustration, dislike, anger anger anger, jealousy.

Laios might even remind Toshuro of his dad in a way, because he SEEMS impulsive and like he does whatever he wants without a care to people around him, without thinking of how it might affect them. Doing things without thinking through the Implications. And interestingly this is a bit paralleled to to how Shuro is serious, strict, and big on the duties that come with having a leader role and the family dynamic it brings, like Laios’ own father, who Laios also dislikes… Dealing with his anger towards Laios, especially knowing that Laios doesn’t mean anything bad by it like Toshiro admits, is probably very healing to him. He stops repressing and thinks through his issues a bit, realizes what parts of his life he’s unhappy with and where all the negative feelings come from. I do think he bottles up his dislike for his father a bit, he has to at least for appearances. His beef with Laios is repackaged internalized anger for his father, but it’s ALSO repackaged frustration from his etiquette-bound lifestyle. He says it himself, when Laios is like "You never told Falin how you feel…? Alright, when I can I’ll tell her for you buddy!!", "that’s the part of you that I envy". Laios’ ability to just come out and say what he wants to, what he means. He wishes he could be free of all the rules more, that he had te courage to speak out, like with Inutade, or talking things out with Maizuru, or nit having to act like he’s not angry with his father. This narrative point of Toshiro envying Laios’ ability to say things freely and being frustrated by not being able to himself is ESPECIALLY examplified by their first interactions, the basis of their relationship: Laios enthusiastically befriending him, giving him a bad nickname and roping him into joining his party, with Toshiro never turning it all down despite wanting to, too hesitant to act possibly rude.

And now is time for the laishuro addendum… Because of personal experiences it’s a bit of a sensitive spot to me so while I see timelines in which I enjoy it I’m very picky… This is all further theorizing from me btw I’m not pushing my view here onto ppl as facts, but I think there’s more interesting bits and scenarios to bite into here. Laishuro has very cute and sweet potential. I personally don’t see the "Oh wait Laios is just girl Falin… 😳" angle because to me if anything that’d just make Shuro disillusioned with Falin lol, but like yes make Shuro learn that it’s ok to be weird with Laios 🥺 They DO have differences first of all, important ones, especially from Toshiro’s perspective. Laios is overwhelming, whereas Falin is soothing. Laios is loud and asks things of him where Falin is a calm, quiet presence. Laios pushes himself onto Toshiro, whereas Falin is content on just doing her own thing in her corner alone.

Hot take but the ultimate laishuro timeline is the one where he DOESN’T bring Laios back home, because he knows he’ll be seen as an oddity and clown by his father, and he doesn’t want Laios to be treated like the tapdancing monkey there to please and entertain his father the way he himself has always kind of been. Wouldn’t inflict that onto someone he loves. He can recognize when people are taken advantage of (mostly) like Inutade, and it doesn’t settle right with him. He might be especially sensitive to it in Inutade’s case because it’s about seeing his dad in a better light than he deserves, though. His father is his weak spot, THE weak spot.

It gets me so emotional thinking about it actually because seeing Laios played like a fiddle by his father, Laios so happy to find someone who’s enthusiastically listening to him ramble and engaging, would destroy Shuro emotionally I think. Like. On one hand being like "Oh of course my dad would find Laios fun, unlike me his boring son", super angry as coping mechanism for his intense sadness of not having positive parental attention, and then on the other he’d see Laios being treated as a clown and identify with it and that would remind him of how he gets treated similarly which he’s in denial about (more or less, but since he puts up with the family rules and follows along he hasn’t given up on getting recognition. He wants his father’s approval, and he couldn’t blame Laios for being happy with it despite how hurtful that attention truly is without Laios’ knowledge), which would be such an overwhelming conflicted mess of emotions and his worldview would shatter a bit because he has to repress it all even now, and he’d have a breakdown.

And similar deal but if he brought Falin home… Bc ok yes he idealizes her and doesn’t even know her all that well, but like I said imo what he sees in her is that "Woah she’s so different… She’s kind and soft and doesn’t care about fitting in… She is out of this world, she’s free, she shows me a world where tenderness and authenticity is possible…" So meanwhile with Laios he’d have mixed feelings on him getting treated like a clown and identify with it, bringing Falin home and having her be demeaned would be like having his perfect comfort character dunked on and he gets reminded that the world can’t have anything good actually. With both Toudens it’d make his resentment towards his father even worse, he might snap. I’m not the biggest on gendered analysis tbh but Kui evidently does like to do it to some degree, with the genderbending changing their life considerably and different fantasy cultures having different gender roles and all, but Shuro idealizing the Touden sister as something perfect he cannot attain while being jealous and frustrated at Laios for being something he cannot attain is like. So compelling actually. With Maizuru’s hannya of female rage weaponized there could be a theme of pushing the blame and responsibilities of things onto women too, the responsibility to raise and to manage and to dish out the work and to clean after mens’ reckless decisions. Anyways just a tangent.

Shuro on a bad family angst day is everything I love in a blorbo… He can be a lil shitty as a treat to make his healing arc more fulfilling. Toshiro snapping after he sees how they treat Laios/Falin and he gives up the family headship to LEAVE. Maizuru arc where she has to choose between loyalty to the clan and loyalty to Toshiro, will she stay with the boy she raised or go home… To me Maizuru is much less sympathetic than Shuro, but she is pretty tragic and her selfless love for Shuro is her one redeeming quality. Babygirl take no shit no more, but also better yourself and turn your life around please and thank you… She is so evidently taken advantage of but like. What else does she have? So she just takes care of and loves the boy she raised like her own kid and goes about her daily life in servitude and doesn’t think too much about it all.

Shuro is awful a nickname but also, I think Shiro would be a good nickname for Toshiro, because it gets rid of that ‘Toshi’ first part of his name that all the male members of his family share. It severes the link to his father and the tied pressure from his family.

Laishuro brotp turning slow burn romance would be so lovely. I think college au for laishuro would be peak actually… Shuro so is the repressed "I am so normal" guy who has a furry liberation identity crisis arc… I also quite like the potential he’d have with Namari, as both work-oriented misfit foreigners cast out of their homes, and she’s also bolder so it’d be good for him, and he could bring her stability… That’s a topic for another day tho. Even he and falin are sweet tbh, they could have traveled around together even if just as friends… Bc yeah she does value him as a friend at least somewhat, she says she’ll visit him~! Mostly I want Izutsumi-Toshiro brotp fancontent.

Conclusion

The household is very hierarchy oriented, and honestly the system doesn’t seem to make anyone happy, or at least not healthily so. Sighh feudalism.

Obviously their situation are very different, but still Toshiro and Izutsumi react to the same conflict in opposite ways: when a hierarchy and lifestyle of rules and duty is thrust upon them, Toshiro obeys and believes that it’s how things simply are, always having it been drilled into him since being a baby and being privileged enough to live ok with things as they are, meanwhile Izutsumi rages and eventually breaks free and never wants to submit herself to rules or hierarchy ever again, even if that perceived hierarchy is a mutually beneficial professional party dynamic or having a role inside a well-meaning team, like Laios’ party. WHICH IS WHY THEY SHOULD HANG OUT AND HAVE AN ARC TOGETHER. LET HER INFLUENCE HIM TO GET WILDER AND THINK OF HIMSELF MORE. FUCK INHERITING THE HEADSHIP. THE SIBLINGS NARRATIVE.

As always if I find more stuff to add i’ll edit it in. Rn I’m thinking that I’ll look into ninja & samurai feudal history and try to find specific terms that might fit their roles and situations more. I should reread try to cover Izutsumi’s end of the Toshiro-Izu dynamic as well.

I greatly recommend this paper for more excellent meta on all named Dunmeshi characters and their culture!

Ah yes yes, I forgot to talk about it but we don’t know what Toshiro’s retainers have been doing with their time on The Island, especially while he was dungeon diving with Laios and co. Although in the anime’s ed in this shot we see them "stealthily" follow him around, so presumably when he’s not in dungeons they’re tailing his moves.

Afterword here, it has summary charts about the power structure & relationships and complementary pages and artworks, couldn’t put them in here because SIGH 30 pictures per post limit.

[clqiredunphy]

oh my god

[sniped-hugger]

happy 4/13 have my hot takes /silly

[painom]

Enneagram for Character Analysis

Before I start, let me warn you. This will be a long post and a lot of reading, but I'll do my best to simplify things as much as possible in a way that will make sense to most people. 

The Basics

At its core, enneagram follows this basic principal. When you were a young child, you were basically, in one way or another, told something that had a profound effect on your psyche. From this unconscious childhood message, you developed a core fear and a core desire. In attempting to resist your core fear and achieve your core desire, you become a self-fulfilling prophecy that makes your core fear come true. These unconscious childhood messages, core fears, and core desires are below. 

The Triads

Though there are many ways to separate the enneagram, the three main ways are the main triads. These triads represent the three main things each subgroup of the enneagram are concerned with. When it comes to typing characters or people, this is what you want to start off with. 

There are three triads: the instinctive (gut) triad, the thinking (head) triad, and the feeling (heart) triad. Each triad is associated with a core emotion: rage (instinctive/gut), fear (thinking/head), and shame (feeling/heart). Each triad is concerned with different things: control (instinctive, gut), support/guidance (thinking/head), and self-identity (feeling/heart). Three types belong to each triad. And these types will deal with their core emotion and desires in three different ways. They will focus outward, focus inward, or do both. 

I will go into each main triad and the types associated with each, but for a general overview, you can read the box below. 

The Instinctive (Gut) Triad

The Instinctive Triad includes types 8, 9, and 1. They seek to instill their will upon the world without being affected by it. These types will attempt to put up a wall between themselves and the outer world, so as to say, "this is self, and this is not self." When things threaten to cross this line, aka their boundaries, this results in rage. Now let's go into the types. 

Enneagram 8 - The attention of 8s are focused outward. 8s try to protect themselves from the influences of the outside world so that nothing can get too close and hurt them. As a result, their mentality is, as one reference puts it, "Nothing's going to get the upperhand on me. No one is going to get through my defenses and hurt me. I'm going to keep my guard up." However, because 8s are focused outward, so is their rage. They WILL fight anything that ever comes too close to hurting them. They are not afraid of raising their voices, their not afraid of displaying their anger. They will attempt to scare and fight off anything that comes too close. Realistically speaking, you see most type 8s having abusive childhood upbringings. Being an 8 is a rare type and most people will not be that type. I may be wrong about this, but I think the only 8 is Wanderer.

Enneagram 1 - The attention of 1s are focused inward. 1s refuse to be affected by the influences of their internal world. Their rage is focused inward at themselves. They constantly are holding back from their internal impulses so as to say, "I don't want that feeling! I don't want to have that reaction or that impulse!" Because of this, they have the reputation of being perfectionists, holding themselves and others to high standards. They repress their inner desires and are rule-bound. It makes sense why they fear corruption. Some examples of type 1s are Diluc, Eula, and Cyno. 

Enneagram 9 - The attention of 9s are focused both outward and inward, in other words, they try not to be affected by influences of both the outer and inner world. In a way, one can say that they ignore their rage, completely under the delusion that it doesn't exist. 9s are primarily concerned with being at peace no matter what the cost, even if this means ignoring the world around them or giving up their wants and desires. Examples of 9s include Kazuha and Alhaitham.

There are easy ways to point out an Instinctive Triad type. Typically speaking, they are not the most emotional of people. They don't get affected by things emotionally as most people do. In my experience, they give off 'leave me tf alone' vibes. Not in the loner sense. But they dislike being obligated/manipulated to feel a specific way or act in a specific manner. They desire to have full control over themselves. There's always a wall between themselves and the outer world. 

The Feeling (Heart) Triad

The Feeling Triad includes types 2, 3, and 4. The Feeling Triad is primarily concerned with the development of a self-image. Because they don't know who they truly are, they don't feel they are worthy of love. They feel they are worthless, which results in their core feeling of shame. The Feeling Triad essentially feels that there is something missing from their core. And once they are able to find it, they will come to have self-worth and love. 

Enneagram 2 - The attention of 2s are focused outward. 2s look outside to others for validation and a sense of identity. They want to be wanted, so they act in ways which attempt to make this possible. They try to be helpful, friendly, and good to others. However, because they're so focused outside, they often do not know how they are feeling themselves. They often feel underappreciated and have feelings of resentment because of it. Mom friend types are almost always 2s. I am unsure of which characters would be a 2. Maybe Amber? Possibly Yoimiya?

Enneagram 4 - The attention of 4s are focused inward. They try to make a self-image based upon their feelings, fantasies and stories of the past. Namely, they try to create an image on what separates themselves from others, aka what makes them different, but because of this, they often feel estranged from others. They are often moody and have victim complexes, assuming they are the way they are because of the way they were treated in the past. An example of a 4 would be Fischl. 

Enneagram 3 - The attention of 3s are focused both outward and inward. Like 2s, 3s need the positive feedback and affirmation of others. They do this by striving for success and accomplishment. By creating an accomplished successful image, they feel they thus become valuable. However, they are like 4s because they need a lot of internal self-talk, attempting to create and sustain a consistent internal picture of themselves. An example of a 3 includes Lyney.

The Feeling Triad are hands down the easiest to type. These people are typically the most depressed and the most insecure. They always have some self-proclaimed self-image they are trying to project, and if you do not validate their false self-image, they can and will get mad at you before getting depressed once more. LOL Long story short, they are a pain in the butt. Are they of the most annoying types? Surprisingly, no. But they are damn easy to point out in a crowd. 

The Thinking (Head) Triad

The Thinking Triad includes types 5, 6, and 7. This triad is primarily concerned with finding an inner sense of guidance and support. They focus on the future, wondering "What's going to happen to me? How am I going to survive? How can I prepare myself to keep bad things from happening? How do I move forward in life? How do I cope?" Their minds are constantly active, and their core emotion is anxiety and fear, fear that they do not have the resources to ensure their future. Let's go into the types.

Enneagram 7 - The attention of 7s is focused outward. They charge into the world, adventurous and seemingly not afraid of anything. Where their fear is, however, not of the outside world, but the internal. They fear they do not have the resources to navigate their internal world. They fear being trapped in emotional pain, grief, and especially feelings of anxiety. So what do they do? They focus so much on the outside world that they ignore their internal. If they keep active, their anxieties will not surface. Examples of 7s are Itto and Gaming (I think). 

Enneagram 5 - The attention of 5s are focused inward. I'm going to take this straight from a book that "Fives believe that they are too frail and insubstantial to safely survive in the world. The only safe place is in their minds,so they stockpile whatever they believe will help them survive until they are ready to rejoin the world." The anxiety of 5s is what keeps them from external action. 5s are most commonly stereotyped for being bookworms. Although I am not completely sure about this, I would guess and say that examples include Kokomi, maybe Kuki Shinobu, and maybe Mika.

Enneagram 6 - The attention of 6s are focused both outward and inward. As one book says, "Sixes feel anxious inside, and so launch into external action and anticipation of the future like Sevens. But having done so, they eventually become afraid that they will make mistakes and be punished or overwhelmed by demands on them, so like Fives, they 'jump back inside.'" Then they continue doing this in a pingpong action-like manner. I also may be wrong about this, but I feel that an example would be Collei. 

The easiest way to point out the Thinking Triad types is that they are all avoidant in one way or another. There is always something they're trying to avoid. Now, DO NOT MISTAKEN ANXIETY DISORDERS WITH THE THINKING TRIAD. While there is correlation, they do not generally do not experience anxiety in the same way people with mental disorders do. 5s fear action, 6s fear trusting their support, and 7s fear their internal world. 

Conclusion

There are other aspects of enneagram to go into that give color to the types. These include wings and instinctual variants, but I won't go into that. One important thing about Enneagram is that the theory does not exist to make you feel good. It's the "this is why you're pathetic" personality theory. You will see the most of enneagram when someone is immature. When someone is grown and actualized, you will not see a lot of their core fear or core emotion. This is doubly so when the character in question would not exist in real life (think Luffy or Naruto). Take everything with a grain of salt, but it will help you to get a better view into characters. 

[funkylilworm]

Why I think that killing off Adam was the biggest mistake Viv could make

TW: ranting and spoilers

This entire blog is just gonna be me going on a rant about my opinion on why I think Adam shouldn't of been killed off and why he shouldn't be killed off so early and shit , not only did I not see it as unnecessary for the plot, but there's so much Vivienne could of done for his character other than just throwing the whole character away in just one season , I'll be listing things for what they could of done for Adam's character

1. Plotholes

I'm just gonna say it right here and right now, Adam was killed off waaay too early and not only would we be left with many many plot holes like, where is both of his sons (Caine and Abel), the potential they could of used for his character, and ect.

2. Character potential

^^this fucking scene^^ , because the thought of when Adam first pulling up and being like "Hello, Adam here!!" Is just so fucking funny to me (just less plagiarized, and more unique)

and maybe his arrival leads to his words "Hell is forever" ,his own song gets used against him sense not only did he have the audacity to go to the hotel to get back into heaven but he has said it himself, how redemption isn't possible

But references aside ,Adam can have some potential for his character, like maybe he not only comes to the hotel not only for the intention of going back to Heaven because he hates being down in hell but also for the intention of plotting some revenge for what the hotel residents all did to him

,but the longer he stays there the less and less he tries to plot his revenge , the more and more he realized how flawed heaven and heaven's people are most of the time, and ect.

And ect. and he's so indenial of it at first and doesn't want to believe it but no matter how much he tries there's no denying it , deep down he knows it's true but he doesn't want to believe it

3. Character potential (again)

Like maybe Adam has become fallen in the first place because not only did him sinning in Heaven eventually catch up to him, but maybe also because after finding out the exterminations were unnecessary after Sir Pentious entered the heavens gates, it was finally time for Adam to take his fall

They can also actually start touching on Adam's trauma and how it affects him, his trauma being : being forced into a relationship the moment he was created (Lilith and Eve) , having to be the father and/or decendant of all of the human race , having been kicked out of the garden after Lucifer has second handedly invented evil into the world , and said evil causing his son to kill his other son(which is his and God's fault also)

Like maybe sense Vivziepop is putting a slight different spin to things to Hazbin hotel, she doesn't really having to follow the entire list (sense it's her show) , she can still do something with some of it and still find a way to bring it up and with that it could be the reason behind how he behaves , his personality as a whole, and why he wears that narcissistic mask (while it doesn't necessarily excuse his actions)

4. Character design

If Adam was to somehow end up coming back as a fallen angel, as a sinner. Viv can find a way to go crazy with his fallen design, like any other cartoonist in this world, I know that those cartoonist has seen fanart and fan creations of their shows, movies, and characters

I've seen my fair share of seeing really really good fallen designs for Adam and I'm fucking here for it , they're all so good

,it just needs to happen

5. Character development & redemption arc

Like mentioned in Character potential 2 , Adam can have some potential for his character, like maybe he not only comes to the hotel not only for the intention of going back to Heaven because he hates being down in hell but also for the intention of plotting some revenge for what the hotel residents all did to him

but the longer he stays there the less and less he tries to plot his revenge , the more and more he realized how flawed heaven and heaven's people are most of the time, and ect.

And ect. and he's so indenial of it at first and doesn't want to believe it but no matter how much he tries there's no denying it , deep down he knows it's true but he doesn't want to believe it . Like maybe Adam just still acts the same but without him realizing it or acknowledging it he's just becoming a better person and maybe even comedically he just thinks that the misfits gave him a disease /illness when that's not the case

Maybe in the next seasons he could even become a better father to his sons, Caine and Abel but similar to Lucifer, let them do their own thing sense those two are basically adults now and hey, Adam could be more like a cool dad

I feel like Adam has more cool dad energy

6. The relationships he'll end up making

Just imagine the relationships Adam slowly but gradually builds during his redemption arc, like maybe him and Charlie ending having like an fun uncle and niece kind of relationship or something, maybe slowly but gradually he becomes like another friend of Angel Dust's, and ect.

As he processes through his redemption arc he can end up making friends and building relationships down in hell , possibly in the near future Charlie, Vaggie, Angeldust, Alastor, Cherri bomb, Husk, Nifty, Razzle, and Lucifer doesn't fight against him but with him if another threat were to come

7. There could be another antagonists that's worse or maybe even a bigger threat than Adam

Maybe another antagonists could be made that's more of a mystery and even a bigger threat than Adam , that's just like Adam (or not) but amp up the bad traits he has, maybe this time Adam could be the one helping the others fight and rebel against this guy in his own way

8. Another musical number

Another musical number with them singing badly about heaven in song in the near future but this time with Charlie ,Vaggie, Angeldust, Alastor, Cherri bomb, Husk, Nifty, Razzle, Lucifer, and most of all Adam but the reprise has a metal spin to it and this time Adam joins in and does it with his guitar

9. Another reason she shouldn't of killed off Adam is because she'd be killing off fat /plus size representation

Another reason I feel like Viv shouldn't of killed off Adam is because she'd be killing of fat character representation and I wouldn't want a chubby character like Adam to be killed off

,of course we have Mimzy now but she doesn't count sense she's just one character and only just one character and as much as I love Mimzy I feel like the show needs more than just one or two fat characters

And for the people that think "He isn't chubby" , try again and look at him again , how he sits , lays down (like how he was laying after her got shanked in his arm by Charlie), and ect.

10. I just want some vulnerable moments with Adam

Whether that be Adam bawling his eyes out, having a panic attack, having a mental/emotional breakdown, or ect. I just want to see a vulnerable side of Adam, Adam angst if you will

Okay I'm done ranting, bye <3 <3

[tempestandwhirlwinds]

Spoilers for the Percy Jackson TV show and books:

I have actually loved all the little changes and additions they've been adding to the story omg. Since Rick is actually heavily involved with everything, it feels like he's editing the story he wrote over a decade ago, and as the author that must be SO satisfying. He's leaning so much harder into the narrative parallel between Percy and Luke. Granted, it has been a while since I've read (and reread) the series, but it seems like Percy is much angrier at his dad for abandoning him (and his mother, especially). The whole scene where Percy says in his prayer to his mom "I'm gonna make him come down here and see me, and to see us"? I feel like we didn't get kind of anger from Percy until later in the series, and damn it feels good it see! Like yeah, Percy, you should be fucking mad! Also, emphasizing the connection to his mom (I'm Sally Jackson's son!) and refusing to go on the quest for a father that never did jack shit for him, even at the cost of the world? this perfectly shows how much of a problem and a threat the gods consider Percy later down the line. This kid is rebellious, stubborn, and will not be pushed around by the gods - the way he was being yelled at my Dionysus to take the quest and that little 12 yr old boy just yelled right back at him??? King shit. Percy is motivated by love, not power, not glory, and the gods can't help but feel threatened by that. He'll save the world, but not for the gods or even the rest of humanity, but on the off chance that he'll see his mother again. God I love this series.

[suchine-toki]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/50003938/chapters/171611020

Chapter 11: Learning to stay is the hardest and most beautiful choice

Takasugi confesses his romantic feelings through a kiss, leaving Gintoki confused and struggling with his own emotions about their relationship. He initially tries to avoid the conversation, but eventually opens up about his deep-seated fear of abandonment stemming from his childhood and his belief that he doesn’t deserve to be loved. Despite his insecurities, Gintoki ultimately chooses to stop running from his feelings and admits that he loves Takasugi and doesn’t want to lose him again, leading to them finally acknowledging their romantic connection.

Word count: ~8400

[baeshijima]

guys i swear im cooking with the jiyan analysis i just got distracted and yapped and then had a shower and started yapping again pls believe me

i also got a calcharo fic idea where ur like a herbalist and frequently venture out to gather herbs and flowers to study their medicinal properties, but are somehow a td magnet and would have been six feet under by now if calcharo didnt keep stumbling into u almost getting ambushed like every other day (that is a lie, u would have survived bc of sheer dumb luck). after so many run-ins he has somehow become ur bodyguard during ur errands, eventually finding u and ur herb rants very endearing. somehow.

(yes, u have made him a flower crown more than once and yes he does his best to preserve it and yes he keeps that photo u took of u both together with him at all times and no he does not like u and ur stupidly lovable herb rants while he tries to fight off the 9th td hoard of the last hour while u pick flowers.)

(tldr: calcharo is putting his life on the line in the background while u yap about medicine.)

[crispycreambacon]

A Personal Reflection on Malevolent's Episode 19

tw // suicidal thoughts, self-harm, depression + mental health, personal life musings

-

There's something about John asking what it's like to be overcome with joy that really stuck with me. Then when he said that him fucking up and clawing his way out to become a better person made him human... that hit a lot more than I expected.

I've gone through many periods in my life where I didn't really care for anything. I was apathetic and didn't really connect with the emotions my friends felt. They all felt so foreign to me. I didn't feel genuine joy, and it was so obvious that my mom pointed it out. Maybe it was depression. It likely is.

And I wish I could go back in time to see my past self who questioned whether it was worth growing up. They questioned whether they would ever feel joy again, and I want to tell them it's a resounding yes. I wish I can go back, hug them, and tell them they will feel joy again. They will learn to love life again, and they will be grateful they didn't listen to the thoughts that told them to walk in front of a car or the thoughts that made them consider jumping off the bridge of the school.

And I wish I can tell them they're not a horrible person. I wish I can stop them from hitting themselves in the face and tell them their friends will forgive them for hurting them. Their friends – my friends, or rather, our friends – genuinely see us as a good person despite everything. They understand that we lash out because we didn't know how to handle our emotions. They understand that we're genuinely doing our best to change because we love them.. and we love us.

We'll be okay. I don't just promise that. I know that.

[apieinvestavimapaprastai]

The Buckle Inc.: Financial Insights and Future Growth Prospects

Discover The Buckle Inc stock price trends, and investment insights. Learn why this established retailer could be a valuable addition to your #Stockpriceforecast #Buckle #BKE #Investmentinsights #Dividendpolicy #Marketanalysis #Investmentopportunities

The Buckle Inc. is a mid-to-high range price class retailer of seasonal clothing, footwear, and accessories, targeting young men and women aspiring for fashion. Until January 28, 2023, it operated in 441 retail stores under the names Buckle and Buckle Youth across 42 states. Continue reading The Buckle Inc.: Financial Insights and Future Growth Prospects

[3d-labs-blog]

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[fumifooms]

No need to reply to this one. Just wanted to let you know that you can take all the time you need to answer and thanks so much for answering my asks. I love your posts! And I've read what I could of them without spoiling myself too much (so I might have missed some things). You're awesome!♡

Thank youuu that’s so sweet 😭<3 I do need to get better at getting back to asks in a timely manner so don’t worry my want to be speedy is self-inflicted haha~ Looking forward to hearing about your thoughts once you finish your read! :]

I know that sometimes I get reblog tags that are like ‘what introduced me to dungeon meshi’ and I’m both flattered and panicked because no omg what were you doing here- ALL THOSE SPOILERS…!!! 😱 But also I get it I willingly spoil myself pretty often so I can’t judge haha, anytime I can drag anyone into Dungeon Meshi and appreciating my faves and my ships is a success 💥 Speaking of, in the new Daydream Hour artbook that dropped today we got more of both Izutsumi & Chilchuck and Izutsumi & Marcille having cute interactions!! Very happy about that ☺️

[qvert]

Oh you’re brilliant thank you!

And I know that she gives up the seat in the end and I love that for her

But I really think there’s this fundamental shift in her character the moment she lets jinx and her mindless revenge go and sets her sights on what’s actually important to her - I had to tie that moment to Cassandra somehow

It also has this weird note of ‘I’m not sure if you’d be proud of me mum but here I am’

(smth about fighting to protect what she cares for - in the way she always wanted but was never supposed to)

There was a whole bunch of deep thoughts about this one but it’s late and I just want it off my pile so I don’t keep adding more contrast to the gold bits

I’ll elaborate tomorrow - speculation in the meantime is encouraged :*

[queen-mabs-revenge]

i wish there were an xkit rewritten setting that would allow me to toggle the filtered term placeholder visiblity by filtered term instead of all or nothing.

like, some terms i've filtered bc if i'm in a tag i know it's gonna be trash (e.g.: literally the word 'reader'; if it's on my dash i know it'll be interesting crit/meta, if it's in a tag it's gonna be a y/n fic). but some terms i really do not need the temptation to click into a pointless fury.

this option is just too brute force

[enanamikaze]

nerd!Kei Tsukishima x bff!fem reader ¦ ONESHOT AU.

___

She had known Kei Tsukishima for years.

Not the casual kind of knowing. Not just classmates or neighbors. No—she’d seen him at his best and worst: angry from a lost game, distracted with a new playlist obsession, mumbling theories in a half-whisper during movie marathons, pacing with excitement over dinosaur documentaries, ranting about bad coffee, and groaning every time she stole his fries without asking.

They were best friends.

She’d seen the way he rolled his eyes when teachers mispronounced scientific terms and how he pushed his glasses up his nose with that same middle finger that made her want to punch him and hold his hand in the same breath.

Kei was hot.

God help her—he was hot in the most infuriating, stupid, smartass way.

And she couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like if he kissed her.

Not a polite peck. Not some first-date awkward one. No—really kissed her.

Glasses-off, eyes-half-lidded, mouth-hot-and-persistent kind of kiss. The kind that made you dizzy. The kind that turned you into something boneless.

It had been eating at her lately.

He was sitting next to her now, sprawled on her bed like he owned the place, in his usual hoodie, fingers lazily flipping through some manga. He looked half-bored, half-aware of her staring.

“You’ve been fidgety all day,” he muttered, not looking up.

“Have not.”

“Have too.”

She rolled her eyes, but her heart wasn’t in it. It was in her throat. Say it. Ask. Tease him. Something inside her itched to poke the line again.

“Do you ever think about it?” she blurted.

He turned to her slowly, one brow raised behind his glasses. “Think about what?”

“Kissing.”

A pause.

Then he spoke, “That’s vague.”

She tried to keep her tone nonchalant, picking at a thread on her sleeve. “Like... I wonder how someone like you kisses.”

He blinked. Then laughed, soft and slow and condescending. “Someone like me? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“You know,” she gestured lazily at his face, “tall. Smart. Glasses. Kind of a know-it-all. Hot in a shut-up-and-study way. Feels like you’d kiss with analysis first, execution after.”

He stared.

“Execution?” he echoed, tone flat.

“Yeah,” she said, grin widening to mask the way her chest was starting to tighten. “Like, you’d pull out a chart on lip pressure ratios and—”

Kei dropped the manga.

He sat up.

“Take them off,” she teased, leaning closer, voice softer now. “The glasses. That’s what’d really mess me up. If you were kissing someone and took them off mid-kiss? Legs gone. Just. Gone.”

“Y/N.”

“Yeah?”

She expected him to scoff. Maybe roll his eyes and say she was being ridiculous again.

But he didn't.

Instead, Kei Tsukishima reached up slowly, fingers sliding to the bridge of his nose—and removed his glasses.

Carefully.

Deliberately.

And tossed them to the other side of the bed.

Her breath caught.

He was still looking at her. Golden eyes unfiltered. Raw. He moved closer, voice low and rough now, like he’d swallowed whatever smartass comeback he had planned.

“You want to find out?” he asked.

Her brain short-circuited.

“What?”

“You said you were wondering. So—find out.”

He leaned in.

No warning. No teasing. Just lips crashing onto hers with the kind of heat that made her gasp into him. Kei kissed her like he’d been waiting. Like the sarcasm was gone, and this—this—was what he’d been holding back all this time.

His mouth was hot, slow at first—then not slow at all.

His hand gripped her jaw, tilting her face just how he wanted, thumb brushing over her cheek like he needed her closer, like he was mapping out the tremble in her breath.

And then—halfway through that kiss—he broke away, just an inch, enough to speak “This is how someone like me kisses.” And he kissed her again, deeper this time. Messier. Needier.

Her knees didn’t buckle. They fucking gave out entirely.

She was falling back against the bed, and he followed, half over her, hand slipping to her waist, fingers splayed and claiming. Every kiss from him was more than just mouth-on-mouth—it was pressure, want, proof.

She moaned against him, hands finding his hair, tugging like she’d lose him if she didn’t hold on.

His lips trailed to her jaw, her throat, teeth grazing that soft spot that made her whole body jolt. He pulled back just enough to see her wrecked expression and smirked—Glasses still off. Eyes heavy. Voice smug.

“Guess that answered your question.”