#jeanne writes stuff

[kuiinncedes]

i’m READINGGGGGGG BABEL

[psychopomp-namine]

once again thinking about nejimitsukisa. as a clusterfuck trio of gender and talent and self awareness (or lack thereof — mostly neji and kisa, because mitsuki is the one who's like. maybe too self aware tbh)

[noa-de-cajou]

Day 30 : The rings / I love you's / pillow talk

Valentina and Jeanne belong to @corneille-but-not-the-author

Joël belongs to @thal-ent

Balzac belongs to @soupedepates

_______

Phew. They're done! It took me a good week to craft those, with work and the Assembly and everything going on, but they're finally done! Well, I mean, they're small and they're not exactly of the finest quality, just plain iron, the form is a little irregular too, I’m no blacksmith, but…

But I've never been more sure of myself.

She might refuse them altogether, I wouldn’t mind that much. I just want to show her that I'm serious. That my confession isn’t just empty words.

We've been doing everything in the wrong order, I'm aware of that. First we sleep together, then she’s pregnant and she wants to keep it and I agree to claim the child as mine, and then… Well, now’s the time when I finally work up the courage to confess, I guess.

“Hey there, kid! No need to ask, I know why you’re here. Come, come.”

The brothel and its employees are still as intimidating as ever, but it’s too late now to get cold feet.

“Still, it’s a shame, ya know? With that physique, you could get all the chicks you want and you choose this one…”

I bite the inside of my cheek. I’m used to hearing this kind of speech, it's no use to get angry, but Saints, I wish she'd shut her trap already, because…

“I don’t give a damn what you think.”

I said it out loud, the woman guiding me raises an eyebrow.

“Hey, chill out, it's cool-”

“No, it’s not! You're talking about the woman I want to marry here, so you better watch your mouth-”

There’s a creaking sound. The sound of a wooden crutch.

She’s here, hair falling on her shoulders, dark circles under her eyes, in an old tattered dress that probably belonged to her mother before her, not large enough to hide the pregnancy. She's beautiful. She's beautiful and she's looking at me with the widest eyes I've ever seen on her. She heard that.

My cheeks are burning. She's staring and she’s just perfect and I've never felt so embarrassed.

The prostitute has left, probably for the better, but I blew my proposal. Or… maybe I didn't. Only one way to find out.

I reach into my pocket and pull out the rings. I forget to get down on one knee but I'm doing my best so I'll hope she'll let it slide.

“Bronya, do you… will you… mar-”

She grabs me by the collar and she kisses me and she whispers “yes” against my lips and kisses me again and I think she’s crying and I hold her and I say I love her and she says it right back.

I love you too, you absolute fucking idiot, I love you so much.

If that isn't a successful proposal, I don't know what is.

____

“Hey. Pssst. Tybalt.”

A whisper in the dark. I can't sleep anyway, but I grumble on principle.

“What?”

“When are you proposing to Val?”

My eyes shoot open.

I stare blankly at Ara, who’s staring right back at me with her arms laid flat on my torso. I don't know why she likes sprawling out like that, especially since we’re four in the same bed, including a kid. The others are sleeping in Salem’s room next door. And Valentina, well, she’s fast asleep next to me.

So maybe I'm panicking a little. Just a teeny tiny bit. I sure am awake now.

“What?”

“Dude, is “what” the only word you know?”

“No, but, uh, where does that even come from?! Why would you ask that?!”

“Because I saw you buy the rings, duh.”

Shit. Technically she can't see how hard I'm blushing but it doesn't take a degree to know that.

“My oh my, seems like I hit bullseye~”

“No! I mean…”

I did buy those rings after all. They've been gathering dust in my stuff for a week.

“It's… I don’t know if I'm going to propose yet.”

“Why?”

“Well… You know, she has a lot on her mind and it’d be kind of unfair to you and-”

“Don’t give me that. You're just shitting your pants, aren't you? You’re shitting your pants like a little piss baby.”

Wow. Just because it’s true doesn’t mean she couldn't have worded that better. I must look scandalized because she snickers.

“I'm messing with you, Tyb. Take your time. And by the way, it wouldn't bother me, just so you know. And I can't lie about that.”

“... Hm. I just… don’t know if-”

I’m interrupted by an exasperated groan. From Valentina.

“Hey… Some of us are trying to sleep here. What are you even…”

“Sorry Val!” Ara cuts her off. “We’ll stop now, so you can rest~”

“Yeah, sorry.”

I think briefly about the rings.

“Hey, Valentina…?”

“Hm?”

… It’s not a good time, is it.

“Nothing. I love you.”

“... I love you too,” she mumbles before falling right back asleep.

I smile a little. Ara says nothing more. We both think the same thing.

I’m a coward.

But when things settle down, when we're finally safe, I'll ask her. I’ll ask her.

That's a promise.

_____

I almost died.

Like actually almost died, for realsies. A bandage covers my face where the blade slashed it, right before it almost plunged into my lungs. I'm lucky I wasn’t alone!

I was dumb, I was careless, I scared the shit out of everyone, and out of myself! Yay!

I wish I could say I thought about all the Glory I hadn’t gotten yet and all the people I didn't save. Maybe it'd be more noble.

Truth is, the only thing that flashed through my mind when that wuqi bandit raised his weapon was that I never got to tell Ether how I felt.

But I survived with nothing but scars and bruises, and now I'm pondering. Doesn't happen often, I always prefer to jump into everything headfirst. But with Ether? I know it’s worth thinking about it.

There's obvious signs that she likes me back. The way she flusters when I tease her but confidently teases me back, how her shoulders relax when she sees me entering the medical tent to talk, how she lets herself be touched without pushing me away. How she’s told me about her life and what happened to her arm.

Even so, there's things she doesn't tell me. Like where the notebook I've seen her read comes from, what's the history behind her necklace, or why she never lets anyone see what's in her pouch. Why every 14th of august she smiles and tries to celebrate with everybody but her eyes are far, far away, and she always leaves early and comes back with reddened eyes. She's seen things I can't even imagine, I'm sure of it, and not always good things.

That's why I never said anything. Waited for her to take the first step, waited for her to be ready.

But I don't think I can wait anymore.

“Hey, Ganzaya?”

“Wh- Khaliun, why are you up?! We all told you to rest-”

“D’you know if they sell rings around town?”

He stares at me like I'm crazy, before a slow understanding downs on his face. He, too, has someone he wants to tell important things to back home.

I’ll do things the right way. Make all the preparations possible. Come back alive.

And as soon as I'm home, I'll tell her.

I don’t want to waste any more time.

_____

This is stupid.

Even Joël’s eyes said as much when I came to visit. Balzac was enchanted, well, as enchanted as Balzac can be at least, but that's because he’s a priest of Love and he always goes on and on and on about these kind of things.

I’m an alchemist, Swan, not a jeweler.

Yet he still gave me the address of one he knew and wished me luck. And now I'm on my way back home with those stupid things in my bag and they feel heavier than all my guns as I walk away from town and down the forest path to my home. Our home.

This is stupid. My mother never got married. No one in our group got married, except for Nogaï, and it wasn't exactly the most functional marriage. And marriage includes a whole lot of things to do afterwards, like…

The mere thought of a wedding night makes me want to vomit. I know she'd never force me to do anything I don't want to and that anything we've tried, I tried willingly, but this… it feels too… Urgh.

I don’t need this. I don't need stuff like marriage or a ceremony to be happy with her.

I don’t need it, but I still got the damn rings.

The lights are on in the cottage. Sometimes I worry about leaving her alone here, in the middle of the woods, but if anyone tried to attack her they’d be food for vegetables the next day. And she’s ten times better than me at tending to living things than I am, ironically. I’m better at fixing stuff in the house. Hey, I've even become a pretty good cook, which was kind of a miracle considering how I started.

I’ve learned so much with her. So much more than the walls of Beleco taught me.

I open the door, thinking about all this, and there she is sitting at the table, looking deep in thought, and she looks up at me when she hears the door close.

“Good evening. You're home late.”

She smiles a little, so I know she’s not mad.

“Sorry. It took longer than I thought it would. Were you worried?”

“A little. But you seem alright, so not anymore. Will you sit with me?”

I raise an eyebrow. She's being overly formal, but nonetheless I take off my cloak and I obey. She picks at her nails nervously.

“Swan, I… I was… thinking. About something.”

“... Go on?”

“Wait, it's, um… I'd understand if you… Agh. That’s not how I should put it, shouldn’t I… Hm.”

Wow. That's the most anxious I've ever seen her. She usually doesn't beat around the bush that much. It makes me kind of agitated too, and so I blurt out,

“Hey, no need to be so nervous. It’s not like you’re not proposing to me or anything, right?”

There's a long silence.

Jeanne’s face is beet-red.

Oh. Oh, crap.

She slowly reaches into the fabric of her dress and opens her first, revealing two little golden circles.

You got to be kidding me.

I get up from my chair and rush to my bag and I pull out the small silver rings I bought.

She stares at me. I stare at her. She chuckles nervously.

“... Wait, did we-”

“H-Have the same idea? Seems so, yeah.”

There's another few seconds of silence before we both burst out laughing.

This is so stupid.

She takes my hands, flesh and metal, into hers, and beams. She’s tearing up. I think I am too.

“Yes, Swan. I’d love to be your wife.”

“A-And I'd… love to be your spouse,” I stammer like an idiot.

“Which… Which set of rings should we… um, choose?”

“I don't know… Haha, I have no idea!”

And I laugh again, and it’s so rare to hear the sound of my own laugh, and she's laughing too, and we fall into each other’s arms and I'm finally home.

I don’t need a wedding to be happy with her.

But I want one anyways.

[jeannefostergoriot]

The Realm of Butterflies

Prompt

Farfalle, they said, were changes, beauty, light. But they were delicate, frail, ephemeral. And Meterlyk knew this better than any other. Sworn knight of the sovereigns, one of the highest ranking generals, they had given up all of the delicacy given by their world to make sure none of it would’ve to fade. And they were fighting for it, with every breath, their irised hair flying around in a crown of light. They were jumping realms, making friends, building alliances and pacts, revered everywhere as some kind of heir to the throne. And they loved that, that in their hands war would become peace, darkness would become brilliance.

But they knew.

It wouldn’t last.

The Realm of Salt was not that easy to peace down.

Despite the princess being…

Meterlyk shook their head. War was raging, for the first time in centuries, between two of the six realms, and they had to find a way out. At the end of every battle, at the dusk of every day, at the very first ray of every dawn, the same calm smile was shining in their head.

So when the opposite army finally retrieved into darkness, they nodded. Yes. They would go.

They closed their eyes, retaining a sigh.

One minute later, the play of lights of their home were gone, swallowed by a darkness so deep it seemed eternal, without a beginning nor an end.

“Cloud? Cloudy, are you here?”

Meterlyk’s voice was weak, hesitating. That wasn’t the right way to fight a war, not the one they were taught to excel at.

But despite the fragility of the sound, as always, as soon as they pronounced the name, a silhouette appeared in the surrounding fog.

“Hi, Met! How are you?”

“Rmph. People are dying, Cloudy. You can’t…”

“I know. But I want to keep my joy for as long as possible, it’s one of the things they’ve sworn to protect…”

Her curly silvery hair was dancing in the wind, the eternal whiteness of the ground reflecting the dim light on her perpetual smile.

Cloudy, daughter of Salt and Mist, heir of the now-enemy kingdom. The most joyful person Meterlyk had ever seen. She was a daughter of darkness but she was a light.

And they, Meterlyk, were a kid of light but couldn’t feel it and kept their mind in shadows.

This paradox was probably what had brought them so close. And now…

“Hey, Met? Are you ok? Big losses or is that your usual melancholy?”

“Cloudy… Cloud, please, talk to your parents… Make this stop… it’s madness and fury…”

“I…”

“Please, Cloudy.”, they begged, reaching for the dark flowers in her hair, purple and green., “please. At least try.”

“Cause you think I didn’t try???? Meterlyk, you know… I did try. So hard. They don’t hear me… not on this. And I don’t know how to prove to them that we don’t have to be enemies, we could be friends instead of foes, but… I cried, I cried so much, every day of this war, thinking… I’m so happy to see you!! I can’t be sad anymore, you’re here!”, she exclaimed with a smile twice as big as usual, reaching for the blue and orange flowers in Met’s hair, re-arranging them., “I promise I will try again, for you my dear, but I don’t know what to do…”

“Cloud.”, they raised her chin delicately and looked straight into her eyes., “Cloud. I’d do anything for you. I’d marry you to prove we can be friends. But please. Please, I beg you, don’t look so distressed… It’s going to be better, I promise.”

“You… Did you just said what I heard?”

“Yes. I’d marry you, Cloud.”

“But you said… you hate the wedding idea so much…”

“Cause they’d think it’s romantic. We both know it’s not. It’s our friendship bigger than theirs. But I…”

Cloudy looked away. There was a pressure on her heart, a suffering so deep her joyful mind could not comprehend it.

She wanted to say yes. She truly, truly wanted to say it.

But…

“We can’t be friends, Met. We’re…”

“Why can’t we try?”, they whispered, the sadness of the entire universe and all its realms trapped in their eyes as the dagger of light appeared in their hands.

Of all things.

They were ready now, and she had always been.

But suddenly the roles were switched.

And they didn’t know how to deal with it, and the dagger was flying around their face, not threatening, almost re-assuring, a blink away from their bronzed skin, not controlled by their hands, doted of its own will.

“Met???? Met, what are you doing?????”

“I can’t cry, Cloud, not when we’re at war. Tears are salt, they belong to your realm. I could not cry any of our loss. But if we can’t be friends, if truly we are destined to be enemies… I’d want the suffering to roll on my face one last time…”

“NO. I refuse to break your heart this deep. Listen to me carefully. Meterlyk from the Butterflies Realm, heir to the Farfalle, I, Cloudy from the Salt and Mist Realm, heir to the Mistycs, want you for spouse and companion through all my life, through the highs and lows, for our friendship, for our bond, for our memories, for our shared joy and common force. Do you accept?”

Met’s eyes suddenly lit up from happiness and hope, from relief.

There was never need for any kind of officiant for weddings between magical folks. The presence of a witness was preferred, but the wedding was as valid without it.

And that question… that type of sentence.

Their heart was beating in their chest, thinking of the peace, of all the days to come, of her joy next to their sad.

“Cloudy from the Salt and Mist Realm, heir to the Mistycs, I, Meterlyk from the Butterflies Realm, heir to the Farfalle, accept your proposal, and would be glad to become your spouse and companion through all my life, through the highs and lows, for our friendship, for our bond, for our memories, for our shared joy and common force.”

The last words were merely spoken that a giant light rose from the ground, illuminating the two friends, reflecting on the salt under their feet, lightning up the dark sky as only tempests usually did.

One second later, golden bands were shimmering around Meterlyk’s and Cloudy’s hands, sealing the pact of their wedding.

And in their hearts, immediately, the two knew that the war had stopped.

Peace was restored.

They were friends, way closer than the average, half of each other’s souls, but never romantic, and they knew hit.

Smiling wider than ever before, Meterlyk raised their right hand open and bit back a laugh when Cloudy topped in with her fist, as she always did.

Everything was fine, finally

[virikako]

Can we hear about your baddies Kako?

you're not allowed to ask this! You know of a whole blog full of em!

[archaeren]

Also you can write them differently in every fic you write if you want to!! They don't even all have to be your concrete interpretation or your headcanon, they can just be "this is how I want to write this character for this story." To illustrate this point, here's how I characterized my favorite character in every fic I've posted about him thus far.

The first one on the list is the only one where I truly attempted something resembling canon, but people still like the other interpretations! I still like the other interpretations! They're fun to write and they're all valid c:

I have a lot of feelings about the rise of he would not fucking say that attitudes in fandom spaces and the paralysing effect it can have on creators. As a writer i think it’s important to just write what feels true to you and not what you think others will “approve” of. Like even as a reader i have enjoyed a variety of different characterisations that all work because the writer makes them work for a particular story. And a fic that’s written out of character to some will be in character to others. Writing fic is not your job you’re not being paid it’s your hobby please. Make them as close to canon as possible. Make them completely different. Who cares! Have fun! Have so much fun! There is an audience for every kind of fic and every kind of character interpretation i promise

[bunnieswithknives]

Did I ever mention my Lyle conspiracy theory/hc that he was transformed even before the Visitor arrived?

Lyle one of the few lucid characters you cant directly ask if he looked outside, which is interesting because you can ask a lot of characters who its dead obvious did.

We know its possible to have mutated before the Visitor fully showed up because of what happened to Fredrick. The painting of the sky revealed something not visible to the naked eye, and if it worked for a painting why not a photograph? We know digital methods don't keep images of the Visitor well which would be a natural limit on ppl getting exposed beforehand, but polaroids specifically do capture it and surely if the sky was so alluring both artists would be drawn to it.

We don't have a strict timeline on Fredrick's exposure, but some kinds of paint take weeks or months to fully dry, and considering how many wet paintings he has laying around its safe to say he uses the slow drying stuff.

There's also Lyles other photographs, the soul stealing ones. You can meet Lyle as early as the first day, but if you chose to attack him he's already acquired quite the collection. You could write that off as game design of course, but more intriguing is the contrast of his reaction to his transformation to Jeanne's right across the hall. That being basically no reaction at all. He's obviously not fine with it per-say, but he certainly seems a lot more settled in. And if Sam caught sight of Lyle before the apocalypse hiding himself with his cloak, it might explain why Sam's stupid ass doesn't immediately clock him as inhuman. It would be slightly more reasonable to assume Lyle's just shy like that if there's precedent, and he doesn't have the context of Fredrick existing yet.

Is this an intended implication? Probably not but I like to think about it, and now you can too!!

[yanderefairyangel]

Little ranting ( I know for a change) but

(warning : discussion of vanijeanne if you dislike this ship don't read)

Vanijeanne is that sort of ship you know is a real media literarcy test for people

And to clarify

I don't mean "people who dislike it because of how it's a toxic realtionship" that is perfectly valid

I mean the people who say stuff such as "it completely ruined Jeanne's character, she used to be cool and badass and now she is all blushy mushy" or "Jeanne is a girlboss she doesn't need a love interest especially one that cheapens her character to "cute uwu blushing waifu" or "vanijeanne is just shoujo trash and it ruins Jeanne's writing from a cool woman to just a "love interest", in short mainly critics of how it affected Jeanne's character and how she went from a "cool girlboss" to "cute uwu anime girl"

I am going to be harsh but someone needs to say it : Jeanne was never a "cool badass girlboss" and if you still think she is, I beg you to re-read the manga with close attention with the Gévaudan arc in mind

Jeanne as she appears at the begining of the story is a traumatized broken girl who bears a mask because she is told to by people

I think the Gévaudan arc made it very clear that Jeanne used to be closer to how she came to evolve then she ever was in chapter 1, look at little Jeanne

She was an energetic, lively kid honest with her emotions. To those who read PH, you might remember how Oz expressed admirations to the sincerity with which Alice expressed her emotions because he himself is unable to be as sincere with himself

Jeanne used to be Alice. She used to express herself with authenticity and you might be thinking it's to be expected, she is a kid, but she radicaly changes after her parents died executed in front of her very eyes

Her whole life is completely shaken by this whole event, this doesn't just mark the begining of a traumatic new life with a haunting traumatic memory but a life of objectification

The main chapter exploring what happened to Jeanne after her parents died and she is about to become a bourreau is called "POUPEE FISUREE - the essence of the witch", it literaly means "the essence of the witch is broken/cracked doll".

There are thousands of explanation you can theorize about what is Jeanne's exact nature but one thing is for sure is that she existed for the sole purpose of being used as a tool, she is objectified down to her very core

The dialogue is explicit enough but the fact the first "You are a doll" is a black speech bubble conveys the tone of the scene, you don't even see Jeanne's face, only elements meant to convey the fragementary aspect of this memory

It all began long before Jeanne was found and adopted by her parents, how exactly it happened isn't the point here, rather it's because she was with them she could live as an average child when she was not meant to

The transition between how Jeanne used to be and how she is after her parents are killed is brutal but here is the interesting bit, the parallel between this page and the following

"You are a bourreau, a tool" is presented in the exact same manner as "You are a doll"

Jeanne's reminiscene upon hearing this is enough to understand that "you are a bourreau" = "you are a doll" = because "you are a tool"

Jeanne immediately prooceeds to believe that what happened was a punishement because she did the contrary of "what she was told"

If what she was told was "don't think, don't want, don't wish" it's easy to understand that back then, when she used to be a all happy child she did think, want, wish and the fact that she expresses herself with sincerity was meant to reflect that, she didn't felt the pressure of her fate yet but now that her parents are dead and because she believes its a punishement for her disobeying, she now has a pressure put unto her shoulder to accept being objectified

The bottom of the page specfically, with a dead looking Jeanne, the text, and the image of bodies piles is enough to understand that Jeanne's lack of expression comes from the fact that she is broken, that she musn't disobey this time and that she embraced her condition as a tool and the meeting with Chloé is essential to understand the extent of her condition

When Chloé faces Jeanne, this is how the scene looks like from Chloé's pov

There is a clear contrast between Chloé's memories of Jeanne and the Jeanne that stand before her, it's not just a matter of growing up, the change of expression from an innocent smile to a bloody expression, the light colors used in the flashbacks vs the reality where Jeanne is cloacked in black, the use of screentoones making the scene shine vs the other scene being darken by screentones

From Chloé's pov, it's like the Jeanne of the past is gone and got replaced by someone completely different, even thought the similar hairstyle proves otherwise

As for Jeanne, from her pov the scene plays like this

She is conflicted between her new nature as a bourreau and her frienship for Chloé, she don't want to kill her but "she can't want anything", she doesn't have the right to, and while from Jeanne's pov this is just a flux of contradictory thoughts

This is HOW her internal conflict looks like to an outsider

Even though we thought the old Jeanne gone, she is still there, she is simply supressing herself due to the trauma, her survivor guilt enticing her to repress herself, her emotions, her true despire but she can't

This is one of the time where she let the mask slips, she can't go on, even if Chloé encourages her, she can't bring herself to kill someone she'd much rather protect than go on, she is completely tore apart between her feelings and her new condition that forbids it, this is specfically why Chloé let herself fall from the cliff, to spare Jeanne from having to live with the pain of having to kill her, but that was still too much for Jeanne

I hope I don't need to point out how deshumanizing of bourreau the way these vampires talk is, the words they use in regards to Jeanne just kin her to a doll, if you gave this page out of context to someone who doesn't know any better about VNC, it's likely they'll think the characters are talking about a literal doll ! She stopped "being useful", they want to "throw her away" because "she broke", this is like a kid talking about getting bored of his toys !

Jeanne's hair is very imporant to understand the difference between past and present jeanne in a visual language, her long hair showcases which Jeanne is talking but that's how Jeanne feels inside, much like how little domi is how presetn Domi felt inside

She has been used way too much as slaughtering doll to view any solution to the problem as other than killing, she has been told naught but that and the situation in Gevaudan is making all of it resurface

So knowing that Jeanne when we first meet her in vol 1 is a girl that has been objectificed all the rest of her life (not even mentionning that Jeanne is like.... centuries old), had to deal with survivor guilt over her parent's death, unability to do anything when facing Chloé and that now, apointed as a chevalier she is having constant anxiety over her condition as a curse bearer and constant fear to harm Lucas because she had to face losing all the people that mattered to her

Are you still going to call Jeanne a "girlboss" ? Are you still going to insist the story used to present her as a "strong female badass, cool and emotioneless" ???

It might come off that way when you read the story for the first time when no one knew anything more about Jeanne, but in retrospective it is obvious that in reality it was just a mask that Jeanne bore because of her being told she is just an object !

"she is the hellfire witch she is meant to be strong she doesn't need a man !" I hear, and I have to remind that Jeanne NEVER CLAIMED this title for herself, it was IMPOSED on her by people, this contributing to her objectification, not a way to sound cool. Jeanne would much rather be something else than the Hell fire witch and this is part of the reason why her relationship with Lucas is important, it gives her something to protect when she was a mindless killing doll after she had lost the people that mattered to her. Lucas himself state that jeanne doesn't need to kill anymore because even he can sense she doesn't enjoy her role as the "hellfire witch", all it entails and Jeanne's continuing on insiting to kill even almost to a reflex level reflect the extent to which she has been objectified to the point she just can't see another way

In these early chapters, she isn't strong, she is simply bearing a facade, a mask. A motif re-used later in the ball masque arc to indicate all characters hide their truth self behind a mask. So you'll excuse me for thinking that there is NO ground to call someone putting a facade due to her contasnt objectification at the ends of powerful vampires exploiting her survival guilt a "girlboss"

And no, her falling for Vanitas does not make her weak !

In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if the real reason why Sensei had Vanitas approach her in such a disturbing way was to make him come off as also objectifying her to better reverse this idea rather than "making a shoujotrash plot point" (do I need to point the misogynistic implications of calling this "shoujotrash" or)

By this point in the story we know nothing of Jeanne and Lucas doesn't seem to be using her, he cares about her, so when Vanitas forces a kiss on Jeanne because he got "zoku zoku" over witnessing Jeanne letting the mask slips for the first time when she believes Lucs is in danger, we are compelled to think that Vanitas is a jerk because he is being a creep to a woman without thinking upon whether or not other people did worse to Jeanne

But as the story progresses it becomes increasingly obvious Vanitas was not the only one nor the first person to do things without any consideration of Jeanne's personal feelings, in fact it's the opposite !! It's specifically because few people treat Jeanne right that she is so easily swayed away by any act of kindness !!

This is portrayed comically because we are from Domi's pov who has no real idea of what Jeanne had to go through (as seen per pondering on who in Jeanne's family committed a crime)

But the point is that Jeanne's weakness to kindness stems from 1) she is being hated and feared as the "Hellfire witch", another form of objectifcation 2) she has been reduced to a tool and goes along with it because of her survivor guilt 3) Jeanne is someone who is deeply kind hearted and caring, a "maiden at heart" and this isn't here just for gap moe's sake, it's there to show the extent of her situation

It is absolutely twisted that someone who is fundamentally innocent and naive about many things shows a face that compleltey contradicts these notions for the only reason being "she has to bear a mask, she has to force herself into not wanting anything"

Because she internalized the orders given to her to her core, she is not used to receive any act of kindness nor to enjoy herself or just live like a normal person, she doesn't have the right to according to her superiors

That's not even mentioning she doesn't have a lot of people around her and isn't used to healy relationship

We all already know she lost her parents and her frienship with Chloé ended tragically to the point it haunts her still, but who else is in contact with ?

Ruthven : he is her teacher and he spared her a dreadful fate but it's very obvious Ruthven keeps a lot of secret from her, he made her swore an oath and shee cannot even talk about her condition due to it

I think the way she pictures Ruthven in this scene says enough about their relationship not being the epitome of healthiness. Ruthven's feelings regarding Jeanne are very complicated no doubt, but this is still an unhealthy relationship where Ruthven has control over her in ways Jeanne herself doesn't necessarily realizes

Luca : while Luca treasures her (and has a puppy crush on her) and Jeanne wants to protect him at all costs, Jeanne is also haunted by the fear she might hurt him

Dominique :

She originally approached Jeanne to tease Noé and immediately starts to feel guilty upon realizing Jeanne is a "good girl" because of Jeanne telling her... basics facts. Like, you have to understand that this scene right here just confirms that Jeanne doesn't have many friends and that she even worry about people getting close to her either 1) because they might be in danger if she doesn't behave 2) because she might be a danger to them 3) because her bad reputation and status as a tool can put them in a pitch

I don't have the domijeanne mini comic, but Jeanne is aslo swayed by Domi's acting kind towards her and that's how they befriend but you have to keep in mind that Domi wasn't in the best place mentally either when she approached Jeanne

Ultimately while not "toxic" Jeanne can't exactly confide in fully because 1) She views Luca as someone she has to protect so they cannot be equals 2) Domi views Jeanne as a reflection of her weak self, thus as someone needing to be protected thus they cannot be equals

This doesn't exist with Vanitas, he can be approached as an equal. Yes, you heard that right. Yes, Vanitas approached her in the creppiest way possible and should have been put in a jail a second time, yes Vanitas was being terrible to her many times, yes be blacmailed her, yes there are endless jokes about how jeanne just dances in the plams of his hands and yes their relationship isn't by any stretch of the imagination a heathly relationship

That's the point and Jun sensei's owns it

Vanitas clearly approached her in such manner because he was still thinking about how much he isn't worthy of love and he can safely love Jeanne because with how he treats her, he can be sure she will never reciprocate any feelings he can have towards her

And because he approached her that way, Jeanne can more easily let the original fear she expresses (for example when Domi invites her to dancing) aside, this is how he progressively becomes someone Jeanne can relies on and thus, despite it looking like there is a power imbalance in favor of Vanitas, he is in reality able to be on equal terms

Most if not all of the Vanijeanne moment in the manga serves to flesh out Jeanne as a character which might be why detractors of the ship refuses to look past what it actually says about Jeanne's character in favor of a narrative where the "cool badass girlboss" has been ruined by the tiny rat doctor

However, they allow us to see past the "hellfire witch" facade and approach little by little to Jeanne's real core, but because she is still fundamentally conflicted and torn appart by her condition, she isn't able to reveal herself fully, not to mention she is still warry of vanitas but because she is wary of Vanitas she can talk to him without feeling inferior or unworthy of it

Vanitas quickly becomes the one person she relies on the most, not just for blood and yes this is very likely what Vani truly meant when he told her to drink only his blood, especially given how the second condition is "call me by name. Even if he purposefully acts unlikeable, Vanitas is still Vanitas, he sensed Jeanne needed help and he investigates it, Vanitas deep down is someone who is kind and selfless after all, even if he would rather cut his tongue than admit it

Vanitas doesn't really take off his mask in front of her unlike how he does with Noé because Noé constantly confronts Vanitas, Jeanne is very passive in contrast, the one time she begins to see through the cracks is during the cabin scene where her getting angry isn't amusing Vanitas (because he likes to see her emote instead of her putting the poker face) because she is trying to make him think of his own safety for once, you know ? Self care, the thing Vanitas hate because he hate himself so much he think himself underserving of love

That is ultimately why Jeanne ends up falling for him

Vanitas is the first person ever to tell her she has the right to want things, that she is more than a doll, to explicetely tell her to her face she can wish for something

Even if Luca and others treat Jeanne kindly, they didn't necessarily told her outright "you can desire things" and yes, this is largely because Noé's influence on him is showing but given how the previous intereactions with Jeanne didn't got him to blame Noé for him saying certains things and making certains promises, it's fair to assume that prior to these, the moment where he was being considerate where just... Vanitas being Vanitas. He might have kept his mask on, he is still like this

Ultimately Vanitas keep his promise and that's what enable Jeanne to move on from her internal conflict : because now, she has seen one of the people she cares about being saved. It didn't ended like her parents, it didn't ended like it used to in Gévaudan and it doesn't implicate any of the fears she has towards Luca (largely fed by these two bad ending to her past relationships), her friend is safe and she just let her happiness explode with no restrictions

By helping Chloé, Vanitas also helped Jeanne finally come to term with one of the biggest issue she had so far : think of herself as someone who has the right to live (you know, like Chloé)

This is what finally allows Jeanne to reconnect with how she used to be in the past and deliver a big bright unrestricted smile with later on appearances confirming that Jeannes expresses herself more sincerely and without any complex, Domi commenting on her shinning or her contribution to the Attraction park arc

Falling in love with vanitas didn't made her weak, it did the opposite : it helped her finally break free from a doll of the senate, to be herself again

Jeanne never wanted to be a "cool girlboos badass" and when she appears as the Hellfire witch, it's not what she was, she was a girl whose innocence was broken, who was objectified and taken advatange of for her survivor guilt and forced herself unto a mask, to stop thinking, wanting, desiring, living in short, a simple killing machine

She fell in love with vanitas not just because he was kind to her but because he helped her overcome a situation that could have easily put her in her past situation again, making her go through the same internal conflict as she did, because he told her she has the right to live as an individual and not a tool

And that's what allows her to finally overcome this, to finally be able to be true to herself

How exactly is any of this weak ?

Since when strong is when no emotions, cool, etc ??? You know what that is ? It's just pushing toxic masculinity standards unto women, which is what has been happening in the whole subgenre of the "girlboss" protagonist making these characters unsufferable

You don't have to like Vanijeanne, you have the right to dislike it because it's not a healthy couple, because it makes you uncomfortable, because you prefer others ships heck if you think that's so bad it prevents you from enjoying moments in VNC that is fine

but don't call a victim of severe objectification forced to hide her feelings because of her survivor guilt a "strong cool badass girlboss", dont use her name of Hellfire witch like it's something she claims and is proud of when it's been put on her by people as another mean of objectification and don't call her finally recovering from it "weak" or "cute uwu blushing anime waifu shoujo trash slop" or any of the nonsense I have seen

It's one thing to dislike a ship, it's another to completely miss the point of what Sensei is trying to accomplish in the first place

[kuiinncedes]

starting a darker shade of magic >:0

[couldbebetterforsure]

I don’t usually reblog these kind of posts again but I’m actually super happy and proud of this fic! ☺️

I’d love to hear people’s thoughts about it! Seeing people read it is super nice but I would love to hear what they thought about it, both as a writer and as a suzukisa lover!

Alright, I did it!!!! I finally posted my suzukisa fic!!!! Anyways, what’s the final word account, according to Microsoft Word?

22,222 words….Yeah…..

Anyways if you love Kisa, Suzu, suzukisa, or you just wanna figure out what the fuck is wrong with me writing a 22k+ long oneshot, I hope you’ll check out this fic. And please let me know what you thought about it! Writing romance isn’t my strong point, but I did my best ✌️

[selamander]

So what if I got really really into Look Outside recently?? Enough to actually… write something for it?

Jeanne is such a fascinating mystery to me. A gal who is clearly going through it, both physically and later mentally given how her body turns quickly against her. She doesn’t want to hurt people or at least, doesn’t want to kill and eat them, but there’s just such a void in regards of how she is normally. What is her life like? Why does she get one of the nicer apartments in the game? Why did she use the dryers if she’s got a hanging line for clothes on her balcony? And WHY does she also have the sickest outfit you can snag in the game that makes it look like she’s a BIKER CHICK???

As much as I love Sam, it got me curious - what if she didn’t have someone like Sam she could send to grab her stuff? What if she didn’t wait for things to go from bad to worse? What if she was our protagonist and how far would she be willing to go to keep that newfound independence?

What if instead of becoming the Hydra, she killed it her own damn self?

(Updates for this may be sporadic depending on how folks like it/my own up and down interest but we’ll see where this AU idea takes me! Also I am gonna be working off a LOT of headcanons and speculations since this is a character without much development so if she seems ooc, it’s an AU, let’s all have fun here gang. I am also open to ideas about how this different take might go if ya’ll got any!)

(p.s.s., Rodrick is the name I’m giving the Rowdy Biker monster pre-visitor, tho I’ll only tag him if folks get interested, but I am going to tag @beefy-the-stronk for coming up with an awesome design for him AND for Jeanne that I’m probably going to base her look on for descriptions in this fic)

[ririya-translates]

Jack Jeanne March/April 2025 News

Apologies if someone has already done a big news roundup post but I figured I'd write one for covering the fourth anniversary stuff and new book and manga releases.

This year's anniversary art took a very different direction from the formal styles from last year's with a more streetwear look. Official website here.

We got a livestream too with Yuka Terasaki (Kisa), Masumu Ono (Kasai), and Taichi Kusano (Mare) where they read some fan mail about things people like about JJ and which class they'd be in. The stream didn't reveal a lot of new news, although it does sound like Ishida and Towada are working on the sequel pretty much every day. Towada also posted this cute art before the stream on Bluesky.

On another stream Kisa's VA did with Gakuto Kajiwara (Shirota) she mentioned that she's only met with Ishida twice so far (and that he reminds her of Kenshi Yonezu??) so it sounds like probably a lot is going on in the planning and writing stage, but they're not at the recording stage yet. Also please watch this adorable clip of them singing Faded Color together.

As far as anniversary news, a lot of it was the expected things (mostly stuff that's hard to access outside of Japan) like Joysound karaoke collab, Gratte cafe collab, popup shops in Shibuya and Umeda with a little digital stamp collection game. I'm expecting merch to be sold online on Broccoli's store after the shops close at the end of March (requires a JP address so you will likely need a proxy shipping service outside of Japan). In addition to the acrylic stands and pins, there was a cute Tummy coffee tumbler and a sorta itabag-style tote with a window in it for showing off merch. They also announced a new drama CD coming out based on Towada's birthday stories (currently untranslated to my knowledge).

But the most exciting thing is that we're getting some new content! The first is a novel by Towada called 玉坂の光跡 or "Tamasaka's Trail of Light" which includes both the first anniversary novel "Happy Anniversary" (which used to be free but has sadly been cut to just a sample) and a new episode of 30k characters. It's a bit over 300 pages long which makes it slightly longer than the summer novel and Seven Winds. There's also some pre-order bonuses (art from Stella Worth and a visual board with a short story from Animate)

The second is a manga collection titled ジャックジャンヌ FOLIAGE ～アンバー・オニキス～ (Jack Jeanne FOLIAGE - Amber & Onyx) which has both Puppet and Parsley manga with some new art. If you want to check out the JP versions, I suggest trying to do so before April 17th as I'm unsure if they'll continue to be available for free after the commercial release.

But perhaps one of the most exciting things is that just today Ishida announced a new two-part manga one-shot published in Ultra Jump on April 18th. It's called "Duckweed" and will be focused on Minorikawa's first year after being picked to the be class lead's assistant and his challenges in managing all the Rhodonite girlies. Unlike the others, I do not expect this one to be posted officially online for free since it's being published.

For those who were maybe hoping for more sequel news, I do think the biggest thing we can take away from all this between the note at the end of Parsley, Kasai and Mare on the anniversary stream, and now a Minorikawa manga is that I get the strong sense the sequel will take place in the following year with Kisa as a second-year. I'm not sure how they will make this work with the graduated students, but that seems to be the direction all signs are indicating.

[elieowlsclownery]

A Slightly Warm Take on Neji and his Issues

So I kinda went into into it ealier on the jj brainrot discord because some of the folks didn't see what I was seeing in regards to some stuff about Weekend Lesson and Neji. I was in The Pain and a little delirious so I'm not sure if I made any sense, but after a few hours of stewing over it I still feel like I want to talk about it. Note I haven't replayed Neji's route or Fumi's route in awhile so this is mainly based off common route stuff and what I remember from their routes. Once I work on their dedicated analysis I'll be bringing this stuff up with more thought and detail. Or maybe I'll replay the route and I'll have a completely different conclusion. It's happened before.

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR NEJI'S ROUTE AND SOME LESS MAJOR BUT KINDA STILL IMPORTANT SPOILERS FOR FUMI'S ROUTE

So first of all let me put this out there. I love Neji. I think his plays are pretty solid. I do not think Neji hates woman. That's not the conclusion I'm getting to when I say "hey isn't the way Neji writes female characters a little weird" or "hey whenever Neji's plays more feminine Jeanne characters they're more cartoonish than the less feminine ones." This is NOT a Neji Cancellation post!!!

So with that disclaimer out of the way here's some of the takes I have.

Neji has Issues with Women

I stated it before and I'll say it again, I don't think Neji hates women. In fact I don't even think he even dislikes women. Dare I say, he might even respect women, which is better than a lot of high school boys! The issue here isn't him disliking women, it's his fear of engaging with women seriously. It's the imagined woman who his dad had an affair with in the back of his mind that prevents him from taking his roles as feminine Jeannes seriously.

That's not to say he doesn't know how to write Jeannes...but Jeannes are not just female characters in a vacuum. They're female roles meant to be played by boys. Neji has written these characters with the intention that they're all played by boys, from Fumi to Kisa* to Mitsuki. And some of his best Jeannes are great because of the great boys* surrounding him that inspires these characters. He takes no input from girls for these roles, and this isn't an accident. He went to Univeil partially because it's a boys only school, where he can both avoid engaging with girls and still write both male and female roles. Like, I feel like he said this in the 3rd event, but I was told this wasn't it? Again think of this as a draft version rather than a peer-reviewed product.

*The irony obviously being that one of them is actually a girl disguised as a boy, which unintentionally changes some of the characters he's written in compelling ways. Biggest example being Chicchi, a mysterious, talented and desired woman who he wrote to be played and is inspired by a mysterious, talented and desired boy. He's shocked at the transformation because he didn't realize Kisa was a lot more connected to Chicchi, giving her even more depth than either directed or written. It was a real "oh shit" moment for him, and even in the routes that aren't his I think this moment shaped how he then wrote Sissia, someone who also has a secret but still fights for their dream tooth and nail. It's interesting how for all his trouble-making the worst things he does are not out of maliciousness or even really intending to, but simple lack of knowledge. The parts where I want to shake him the most are less because of him and more because he doesn't knooooooooow....!!!

Neji Takes Inspiration From His Friends

As stated above a lot of the great Jeannes he writes are due to inspiration from his classmates. In fact that goes for all* of the roles he's written. He might be a genius, but I'd argue the real reason his stories are so compelling is because of the people he likes and is inspired by. That's why even when he "lost" his talent he was able to overcome it because of the class he constantly loves and is inspired by, and who in turn support and love him with or without his talent. Sappy as it sounds it wasn't the Genius Gene he inherited from his dad that makes his plays great, it's love. That also goes for his earnest and adorable junior Chui, when he made "I am Death" specifically for him, and even after leaving Amber he continues to want to give him things to succeed...except for Kisa, Kisa stays. That was another "oopsie" moment when he made someone for Chui who was meant to be impossible to find only to turn out they exist.

*The exception to this is...well...the roles he plays himself.

Neji Has Issues With Himself

Now to reiterate again, Neji doesn't hate women. In fact I think Neji is very aware he has Issues with women. He knows it's bad and that it interferes with how he writes and plays women. But do you know what would help with this? Neji looking inward. Looking himself in the mirror. Actually figuring out what's going on in him that makes him this way. But no! That's scary! So he ignores it.

Neji doesn't dislike women, but you know the one person he does dislike? Himself. He wants to engage with himself even less than he does with girls.

Neji and Value

This is the part I intentionally skipped in the part of my analysis about Objectification and Value, because it's a major spoiler to Neji's character. And that's the reason for him claiming this:

But people are given value just like objects sometimes. Especially in this world…People who aren’t seen to have value are in fact the ones that are ended up treated like objects. That’s why I think giving people a high value and making others desire Tachibana is quite an honorable thing.

And yeah, if you haven't guessed, part of the reason why he believes this is because of how he views himself! Neji believes the only valuable thing about himself is his talent. He thinks to be valued is good because he doesn't know how else to be loved other than for his talent. And if he loses his talent he'll lose his value, and then he'll be treated like an object to be thrown away. It's one of the reasons he's so afraid of losing said talent.

This bleeds into how he shows care for his friends. It's why he writes a story where Kanna sets up the competition to be her best friend's dance partner, because yeah its objectifying but isn't it also romantic to be fought over? And that's also part of why Neji set up the competition for Kisa's place in school. Because yeah it's objectifying but also isn't it giving his talented junior a high reputation? Isn't it good to be desired? Don't you want to be valued, even if it comes with being objectified and put on a pedestal?

If he spoke to girls seriously before this he might have understood why this could be problematic to some...

It's Neji Disliking Himself and Not Engaging with Woman Combined That Leads to...

Employee A and Domina before Mikki chewed him out. In the most "mature" stories, one about a company in the big city with grown-up problems, the other about a city shrouded in sin with adult themes, these two stand out as cartoony. Like, more cartoony than his roles in newcomers' and fall with less feminine characteristics.

For Employee A I ask you to look at this image of Employee A & B side by side. Both have goofy outfits, glasses and hairstyles, but do you notice something about Employee A that B doesn't have?

...

Look again and be real with yourself.

...

The bobs. It's the bobs! A's body is used as a joke in a way B's clearly isn't. There is an unequal amount of silly between these two. The joke is a woman's body in a way the man's isn't.

And if Neji didn't redevelop Domina into a more complex character her body would've been part of the joke too! It's thanks to Mitsuki, who for the first time accepted his role wholeheartedly instead of only focusing on the singing, being up to chewing Neji out for not putting the same amount of effort in his role. Domina still has her rocking bod, but thanks to Neji finally taken a glimpse inwards and realizing a new perspective from a girl for once (disguised as a boy who he doesn't know is a girl but shhhhh) Domina became a real star in her own right beyond the silly. You only have to watch the Intense Confession at the Confessional music video to see why Neji got silver that season. She went from a cartoonish shallow villain to being another character I'm going to scream and cry and vom over when I get to the winter analysis.

And no I don't think The Fortune Teller being a Jeanne disproves this fact, because it didn't matter whether The Fortune Teller was a Jack or Jeanne. What mattered was their sick crystal mask that could change color. Femininity wasn't even in the equation, it was all in the crystals and apricots! Plus as it was newcomers' Neji's focus was giving the freshman the spotlight, which probably made him tone himself down slightly.

It did surprise me that the Fortune Teller was a Jeanne though. Quickly had to correct my newcomers' post for that one.

And before you say it we'll get to Takihime in sec!!!!

To Be Fair It's Not Just Neji

There's other factors to the issues with female characters here. One kind of copout answer is, you know,

S o c i e t y .

Without engaging with girls seriously and directly he's left with the boys around him, research, literature and plays to give him the secondhand material needed to write Jeannes. Can you tell me a famous scriptwriter or author that didn't have a complicated relationship with women? Because I can't think of any. There's so many ways women's bodies have been used comedically that men's bodies just...haven't. And the ways they are is probably going to be deemed inappropriate by high school standards the hypocrites. And for these writers the audience or reader is often assumed to be men too. And this is set in a school for boys only, regardless of the fact that some of them play female roles. It's a wonder this place is so progressive, in part because of its unique structure. You would not have a Jeanne acting like Employee A in Rhodolite that's for sure.

The other factor is the other Jeannes in his plays. Because Neji's not the only one with Issues that effect their roles in Weekend Lesson.

There's Souchan as Kanna. In the script Kanna was still a troublemaker who spoke without thinking and dragged her friend into being competed over, but she was also fun! If Neji had the capability to both take his roles seriously and specifically take his female roles seriously I'm certain he would have been better as Kanna. But I think he gave Souchan the role in order to help his career. Which as stated in my analysis...didn't work!

Sou is clearly uncomfortable. He can't move right. And part of the reason is his lack of confidence, which translates directly to the discomfort he feels in a way that's visible to the audience. It was the same with Kisa. She became so uncomfortable in her own skin because she wasn't confident as a Jack, and kept comparing her body to her taller classmates. Sou was going through the same thing! Not just with Fumi, but with Kisa too, because he knows she's a girl! He'll never have a body like Kisa, and he'll never have a body like Suzu either, nor the talent like Fumi...he was really struggling on all sides here!

There's also...another reason, but I'm already spoiling Neji and Fumi's route in this one so let's set that reason aside for now shhhhh....

And unlike Kisa who overcame her uncertainty, Sou wasn't able to. And unlike Neji he doesn't have the obvious talent nor the eccentricity to hide behind. Because of this Kanna as a character suffered, becoming a shallower version of what she could have been. So when Sou discovers a newfound will to continue his dream in fall and practiced as Kanna afterwards, he was finally able to give her role justice.

Then there's Mitsuki. While he doesn't have the same self-loathing issues to impede his acting like Sou and Neji do, he doesn't need those issues to not do his best. Because at this moment he just doesn't care about his role as a Jeanne or even as an actor beyond his singing. The slow increase in his involvement with the class hasn't yet translated to how he engages with theater. Which is to only do the minimum of what's required of him so he can focus on singing.

In fact he was more passionate as the Cook in newcomers' than he was as Shiroma! But that was because of Kisa who willingly sought out his help and put it into motion, just like the Maiden showed gratitude to the Cook, connecting something that kinda sorta maybe made him feel something. In Weekend Lesson though most of his scenes...he doesn't even say the few lines Shiroma actually has! She was completely silent during the scene when the competition was set. Most of the time during the play she's just standing around...like a decoration. It's sad, especially after reading the script and seeing the few scenes that would've humanized her character being skipped completely.

Of course this is flipped on its head in winter. While Neji accepted Mikki's lack of enthusiasm in summer, he forced him into the spotlight in winter. Because of this the minimum effort Mitsuki was comfortable with before won't cut it, and he actually had to do some soul-searching. Skipping to the end though he did it! And part of the reason he succeeded is that he accepted Rukiora as his own role, rather than one he's only playing temporarily so he can focus on singing. He put his whole heart on the stage for the first time, something Neji never could, not even all the way in winter. He put part of his heart there, but I don't thing Neji went all the way until his own route, where when he lost his talent all that's really left is his heart.

Then There's Fumi

With three of the four Jeannes during Weekend Lessons not at their best, the only one left to take the mantle is Fumi. It good then that Fumi is the best Al Jeanne in the entire school, even stronger than Tsukasa in Rhodolite, and has the talent to stand toe-to-toe with even Chui.

You only have to look at Ando to see the sheer confidence, elegance and beauty Fumi carries with him both on stage and off. And this is a somewhat gentle role, before he really goes all out as Mary Jane. Because unlike basically all the other cast, Fumi has always been comfortable in his own skin. He knows who he is and where he stands. In fact it's not just self-assuredness, it's an unwavering determination. His body is the weapon he's sharpened since childhood, towards goals he set for himself. He has to be confident.

Plus in stark contrast to Neji, Fumi doesn't hide from himself. He knows what he wants and what he's going to do. He might act fine when he's not for the sake of others, but he doesn't lie to himself. And this transfers into his acting, putting his all and then some into every role he does. During winter he's the only one who didn't need a push from Mitsuki or direction from Neji, because he was already aware of what he was missing and actively searched for it.

Fumi's like, really cool. It's unfair how cool he is. Every time I think about him I think it's unfair how cool he is.

And this also goes for his events in his route. When he realized he liked Kisa he immediately accepted it. There was zero hesitation there. He was like "Wait I like you? Yeah...Yeah! I like you!" Zero struggle or doubt, no trying to sugarcoat it. He realized he liked Kisa and didn't fight it, and was even happy to realize it. Imagine that! Being happy to discover things about yourself.

Compare that to Neji who because of only liking himself in terms of his talent can't fully understand his feelings toward Kisa during the 4th event. Like he knows he feels something, but can't put it into the necessary words. Oh he knows! It must be love...of her talent! That's right, her talent! So he kind of love bombs her...talent to try to show his feelings. After all Kisa should value herself her talent just as he values himself? his talent! Just...completely misses the mark there because of his own lack of self-worth and inability to be honest with himself.

Not to say Fumi doesn't have Issues. He does, and is aware of them. In fact one of them relates to what Neji said about being valued. During that scene it should be noted that he never corrected Neji...he only said he should be more considerate of Soshi and Kisa's feelings. He has his own complicated relationship with being valued...but this is already too long and I haven't even gotten to Takihime!

Okay Let's Talk Takihime

Takihime was Neji's best role before this year. "But you just said he has Issues with Jeannes!" Yeah, I did, and I think Takihime is also an example of that!

Now I'm going to say firstly I loooooooove Takihime. I do support women's wrongs, especially in the version we see that matched Neji's vision the most in the game. But before we get to why Takihime succeeded while his other Jeanne haven't until Domina, let's talk about how she relate to his Issues

Takihime is a vicious, venomous woman who leaves a mountain of corpses in her wake for the sake of her goals. She used the love of a man for the sake of those goals and in the end it kills them both.

Sound...sound a little familiar?

Like the idea of a terrifying alluring woman who "temps" a man into an affair and "steals" his talent and leaves him nothing that a certain someone imagined?

The idea that a woman could cause such destruction to a country? Or a family? Isn't there a line in Sissia in Neji's route that directly compares country to family?

...

...And also the bobs if you've seen the oneshots? Yeah he has a pattern when it comes to the bobs.

So how did Takihime work? Well there's what I stated earlier: She was created for his cute junior Chui. Made especially to make him shine. So despite placing his Issues into her, he had to take the role seriously for Chui's sake. And in the process he unintentional gave part of himself into the role. It's not a coincidence that Takihime's goal is vengeance for her father.

But then it goes back to his other Issues. He was able to handle Takihime seriously...but not for long. Because the thing that made his Takihime good was also the thing he fears: parts of his heart leaking out that he was not ready to face yet. Not to mention what Chui desired out of Takihime was a vessel, someone dedicated completely to theater and himself alone. Someone who would put their entire heart on the stage. And Neji just wasn't able to do that, refused to do that. He could neither pour his open heart onto the stage nor earnestly place his heart in another's hands. So he left Takihime behind.

And the ironic thing is the Takihime that matched his vision, that was able to complete what he couldn't, was not a vessel. He poured his heart on the stage in a way Neji couldn't yes, but also he didn't do it for Chui. He did it for himself. He became a flower. He gave his role autonomy in his selfishness, gave Takihime autonomy. Takihime didn't do what she did for the Gashadoro, nor her father. She did it for herself.

I'm just so proud of this horrible brat I'm not biased I SWEAR-

So Yeah...

I think I've stated what I wanted to say. Did it make any sense? No idea, I'm still in The Pain and this is incomplete because I haven't replayed Neji's route recently enough. But as it stands this is how I feel. Neji has Issues and I think there's good reason to believe that. If you disagree tell me why! Give me the screenshots, the essays! In fact the essays are not optional, hand them over!

Of course, at the end, some of these Issues are resolved. There's Sissia. Takihime was a woman who's hatred destroyed an old country. In his route Sissia was a woman who's love created a new country. There was death, sure, and it won't be the same. The old world shattered, and new things are scary. But still. It'll be exciting.

...

Okay now here's a bad joke I can't get out of my head since I started writing this.

Me: Hey I think Neji should engage with girls seriously. Neji: Okay! Neji: *Gets engaged to a girl* Me: NOT WHAT I MEANT!

[icantthinkyandere]

Hello! Can I request some Yandere Jeanne D'arc Alter and Okita Souji x Master! Reader, who is really a apathic person, where the Master is receiving a lot of attetion and being persuade by other servants who have romantinc interest on them, like how they would deal with the jealosy and the all the situation?

I was thinking recently about making an AO3 account for my stuff, mainly just to archive it if I'm dumb and do something to the blog. But also now because I saw one post about tumblr dying. So, I'm probably going to do that.

Okita has quickly become one of my favorites to write.

{Jeanne D'Arc Alter}

At the start of her stay at Chaldea, she's in hate with the master. Everything about them is annoying and awful to her—especially their apathetic personality.

She could not understand why anyone was actively trying to get into a relationship with them. They are so overwhelmingly unpleasant, and that's why everyone should stay away from them so she can bully them for their awful attitude.

By complete accident, she bullies anyone who even shows a passing like to the master in front of her to death. She states that it's pointless not just because you're talking at a wall but because they're servants. This won't last; it'll end in heartbreak.

Don't try to thank her for stopping any unwanted advances. She'll just insult you for not rejecting them hard enough!

Playing nice is getting them nowhere. They just keep coming, and you have to put your foot down. This is why she will never respect them.

Unlucky for her, when London comes around and Tamamo joins Chaldea, Jalter meets someone just as sassy and confrontational as her.

Now, every insult she throws is reflected at her. Now she's called jealous, insecure, bitter, and she wishes she could find love but can't because of her ugly attitude.

Which isn't true because she's just being realistic about their situation and how undesirable the master is. So, she starts pulling back because she's annoying to argue with, not because she's right or anything.

Once she pulls away and is "forced" to watch Tamamo and now many others who have taken the opportunity to try again without her to bully them.

It stirs something inside her. She chooses to believe it's disgust, but the feeling only starts when someone is getting or shouting their affection for the master. She'll think it's from her and the master both not being interested in romance before she believes it could be a crush.

Jeanne (Ruler) points it out much more kindly than Tamamo's mocking way. Even with a much more serious and nicer sit down to talk about it. She'll only slightly accept it more.

She's so used to being mean and hating everyone that it's weird for her to consider she likes someone so much it makes her want to keep them from everyone else.

She'll keep being mean and a tsundere, but with more and more servants joining Chaldea, she'll explain away her behavior with some poor excuse.

There's a good chance she'll never express her feelings and be her usual self in game. But everyone and the master will believe she has a soft spot for them and only them.

After she finally calms down, much like with Okita, you just get scary dog privileges. She won't keep more aggressively romantic servants forever, but it's much easier to believe she's just bad at being friends than having romantic feelings.

Over time, she'll be able to become your closest friend if you don't look too deeply into her awkward behavior. Just seeing the small kind things she does, along with her being protective on a mission, as her way of making friends.

{Okita Souji}

I would say it depends on the servant who's flirting with the master. But since the most romantic are Tamamo and Kiyohime, along with being the first servants to show romantic interest, she sees them in every other servant with a crush. No matter who they are.

She's not a jealous person, or she believes she isn't. She's not jealous that others realize how excellent the master is. She's just protective of them. She just wants their safety and happiness.

Because of those two, she 100% believes no one cares about the master. At least not like she does.

Unlike the other servants, Okita's love isn't seen as romantic or even close to her courting anyone. She looks like an overly loyal servant, which no one is surprised about. She's one of the Shinsengumi in a dire situation; of course she'll want to be close to the master. No one realizes she feels more than just master-servant loyalty.

Because of the selfish and cruel actions of Tamamo and Kiyohime, every servant who isn't in Okita's personal circle of friends is ruined. They are not kind people and only want to use her master to live out their marriage fantasies. The master deserves to live a happy life doing what they want and having to walk on glass to make sure their ideal is not broken.

If she were the master's wife, she would be more than happy to live the life they wanted. Whether that's her staying home as their housewife or allowing them to stay home and making her the breadwinner.

But that's not what this is about. Love rivals second, enemies who want to take away the master's free will and life first.

She goes to the master first, of course; she must make sure she does what they want first, unlike some servants. She is very much taken aback at being told that it's okay and she shouldn't bother.

Begrudgingly, she agrees not to harm them, but she will closely monitor them. Since they're not the most peaceful servants. She understands they're apathetic about people being interested. It's not like they're encouraging being chased after. They're doing the opposite.

But things get worse; they keep getting bolder, and more servants seek to take advantage of the master under the guise of being in love. Yes, the master is great and loveable. But they are uninterested, so stop bothering them.

Most servants back off because she explains why the master isn't interested in them when, in reality, they're primarily threats, or they become uninterested.

Tamamo or Nero are servants who don't take her seriously, so they don't stop and are the first to find out that her feelings are more than servant loyalty—accusing her of also having feelings for the master, wanting them for herself, and being a hypocrite.

In her frustration, she admits that she is, but she doesn't care. She's putting them first, not her. She knows she'll be rejected and might not ever have a chance. She's happy enough to be allowed to be by their side in the first place. And if they don't start knowing the same, she might take action into her own hands if they ignore the master's options.

[lycoryves]

things i will get on my hands and knees and beg for in jj2 (under cut, non-exhaustive and written while huffing 12 liters of pure copium and oops! all side characters)

-tanakamigi extended bad end from the one in the first game or epilogue-ish side route where he and kisa start really hitting it off after quartz beats amber in her ending

-minorikawa side route. for no other reason than i think he's a loser and i need to see more of him immediately (bonus points if they imply he used to have a little thing for tsukasa. just for me)

-kasai side route because he likes kisa so much please just give him a chance with her HE'S SO SERIOUS ABOUT HER

-since sugachi's va retired (even though he said he'd reprise the role and already has lol), sugachi is always out of town visiting kaido on the weekends to reduce the amount of voice lines. this is never elaborated on.

-momonashi and kamiya events. not even necessarily side stories or mini-routes like the first game just where kisa can run into them at the coffee shop or whatever.

-full otori route where everyone gives him shit for denying his feelings. HE WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE ONE. CMON.

-unexplained eita/kamiya. they're dating now

-mare is revealed to be a STEM-inclined chess genius who used to breeze through university-level math classes and that's why he's got a more laid-back attitude. minorikawa knows this through tsukasa which is why they clash so much. minorikawa has to put his nose to the grindstone to still go ignored and mare feels called out by his pressure but they work it out on the remix and start seeing eye to eye and rhodonite becomes EXTREMELY competitive at the festivals again. tsukasa visits and he's SO happy with how they're doing he cries

-quartz script adapter!sou. he doesn't have neji's talent for writing (...yet) but he DOES have a knack for taking existing stories and picking them apart

-kisa doing her hair in her second year like mukai and ao trying not to have a crisis because "oh no my friend is so gallant and charming and talented." think susahao from dgs

-tanakamigi and amber doing something other than i am death. still weird stuff, but new. EVERY class experimenting and trying new stuff because clearly it worked for quartz (rhodonite taking a page out of onyx's book and doing a broadway show like wicked PLEASE,,, they'd love the double al jeanne setup and fiyero would be such a challenge for minorikawa but he'd eat down)

-TSUKI + TACHIBANA LORE. i don't need them to tell us what actually happened. i just want more information on the stuff that's implied about tsuki having to raise kisa and the fact the game starts with kisa hoping the knock on her door isn't a debt collector

-second year performance ft. sou, kamiya, yuki, and dante. sou's allowed to try his hand at writing the full script since it's a short show and it goes about as well as you'd expect with those three over his shoulder.

-jack ace!otori and jeanne!suzu because both of them would grow SO much from it

-live subtitles for the rhythm bits. please

-toichi nagayama cries at a romcom and we see his eyes open for the first time and he looks like this 🥺

[onlywhenthemoonshines]

Hello, Moon

I saw that you have Bayonetta in your masterlist (I miss her) and I thought why not write you a request for her?

What do you think of Lumen Sage! reader who was banished hundreds of years ago (during the witch hunts) and in present days is a friend of Bayonetta and Jeanne?

In short, what do you think of the reader as a Cereza's romantic interest headcanons and when they're together in battle with angels, when the reader has an overly serious personality and Cereza is the opposite? They're cute together though! :D

I'll be very grateful to you if you accept this request and I will wait as long as necessary!

Hello! I'm glad to see a fellow Bayonetta fan:). This is certainly a very interesting idea. And I can't help but agree with you.

Ceraza/Bayonetta x gn!lumen sage! Reader.

Tw: Angels, violence, guns and weapons.

- it as a big surprise when cereza befriended you

- Given your differences In personality

- Not to mention that your a lumen sage

- Jeanne can already see that you two are going to be a thing.

- Ceraza teases you soooo often

- Making little flirty remarks trying to see if you react

- Poor Jeanne, she always feels like the third wheel. Give the poor woman a break

- You share your knowledge of angels and she shares her knowledge of demons. It's a win win.

The three of you, (cereza/Bayonetta, Jeanne and you) were walking around Japan. The girls were shopping while you and Enzo were stuck carrying their bags. (Mostly Enzo tho lol )

You felt a familiar feeling suddenly. The feeling that the angels were out to attack yet again. The girls looked back at you, knowing you felt it too. “It looks like we have visitors, and here I thought today was my day off,” Ceraza said. “Let's see how long they stay,” Jeanne replied. “The sooner they leave the better.” You noted in your usual tone. “Oh no, no no no! You're not leaving me here with all your shit!” Enzo cried, not happy at all with the fact that he might yet again be carrying all of their stuff alone. By the time he peeked from behind the tall stack of boxes the three of you were gone.

“Come, let me show you the door,” Cereza teases as she draws her guns. Jeanne does the same as you summon your spear. With that the angels start their attack.

Bullets fly and weapons clash as the battle begins. The two of you fight side by side in perfect harmony. Summoning demons and Angels to aid in your battle. To the point where you two were dancing. A deadly dance to be exact. Jeanne catches a look as she shoots two angels in the head, sighing as Cereza makes more teasing remarks and touches.

The battle ground was your dance floor. The two of you almost got lost in it, but the Angels made sure that didn't happen.

By the time it was over you two were about to kiss when a very unamused Jeanne cleared her throat and walked over, her heels clicking on the floor as she walked. You two look over with slightly wide eyes and faces growing red from a mix of embarrassment and love.

“If you had told me this would be a date I would have dressed better. I almost had to have a dance partner with an angel.”

She remarked as she put her hand on her hip, looking at the two of you with a raised eyebrow.” you blushed even brighter. “Well I can't complain about a surprise party~.” Cereza teases. Oh boy were you never going to live this down.