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"You still wear the hairpin I gave you?"

"Of course, it's my treasure, Subaru."

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Squirtle (2024) - Genetic Apex (Pikachu Pack) Illustrator: Taira Akitsu

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#Love him

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a big MEGA hug

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i'm currently playing pkmn sv and I fell in love with a certain girl and her gremlin daughter

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Model references for Orchid's Evening Gown (Ningguang) - Genshin Impact

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Izuocha moments being animated for season 8

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cant believe they made a mega catered to melia antiqua specfically

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They're all ears.

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dragalia lost

↳ lockscreens ⬩ f2u

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they weren’t in the direct because they’re still waiting at the DMV to get their licenses…

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I Love You.

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LMAOOOOO ICHI HAS NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON HERE AT ALL

ALL HE KNOWS IS THAT KUMUGI IS STANDING UP FOR HERSELF AND HE'S JUST STAYING OUT OF IT UNTIL SPICA BRINGS HIM BACK IN

NONE OF THIS IS REGISTERING TO HIM

There is not a THOUGHT behind those eyes, he's got absolutely no clue what Spica is on about. But he does know that she suddenly grabbed his hand and squeezed it

And then he realizes that - oh. She's touching me. Wait. Hold on. She's touching me and I want her to go away. Desscaras taught me something exactly for this.

The pieces slowly fall into place until all that's left in his head is a singular braincell that dings as he responds with an automatic -

HAHAHAHA

Ichi has no CLUE what this means

Desscaras taught it to him bc she thought it'd be funny, but she also knows that Ichi is fucking clueless and a handsome kid. She's gonna teach him some polite form of stranger danger to keep her newest, younger family member safe in this required party setting, so full of young girls who never get to meet men during work and are probably eager to romance Ichi

Ichi is so proud of himself here LOL

He doesn't understand what happened at all, no idea how deeply he just stabbed Spica in her pride, her most precious thing, he's just so happy that the thing he was taught actually worked and she left

Kumugi knows exactly how prideful her sister is (faking her eye injury after it's been fixed, just because it makes her look cool, which- i saw that theory bouncing around but never expected it to be immediately confirmed LOL), and knows the full extent of the devastating blow Ichi gave her, and thinks this whole thing is fucking hilarious

And - i will point out - these panels are about Ichi saying how Dess told him a "magic chant" to keep others away if they touch him or get too close

In the same panel where Kumugi is now in his personal space, casually touching his shoulder and getting physically close, which he's showing no issues with, and is the first time in the series where she's initiated any sort of casual contact with him like this.

Like - i think these are the only two moments where they actually touch each other and Ichi initiated both. one was because she got scared so he tried to help (and the panel and framing make it hard to tell if they're even holding hands here), and the second was indirect, with Ichi pulling a blanket onto her while she was asleep, so Kumugi wasn't even aware of it

But Kumugi casually reaching out and leaning on his shoulder?

Ichi actually goes from just proud of himself, to proud and blushing/bashful as soon as she makes contact. He doesn't understand why she thinks this situation is so funny ("Huh?") but he does know that it got her to laugh

And - in addition to all of this - i think it's important to remember that most, if not all the times Ichi initiates contact with others is when he's hunting them or in a fight. He's been alone most of his life, and tends to keep his hands to himself and keep distance - he's a hunter, so it makes sense. And every time others initiate contact with him is when they're fighting him or man handling him (Desscaras, Gokuraku)

And even then, we can break it down even more. Dess has shown Ichi several affectionate gestures - the head pat when their contract bond was formed, her putting a hand on his shoulder after Bakugami is defeated, etc. but Dess is also an authority figure for Ichi, someone who he views closer to an older sister or parent. Ichi doesn't know how to show affection towards her in that way yet, so he buys her a gift instead

Gokuraku is different. Since they met, Gokuraku has casually man handled Ichi- similar to Desscaras - but the biggest difference is that Ichi and Gokuraku are closer in age. They're friends, not a parent and her charge. Gokuraku and Ichi are equals in their relationship. There was no holding back on either side, they were very upfront from the start about themselves and that was that

So Ichi has an easier time initiating affectionate gestures with him. it's just been them bumping fists (3 times now, iirc), but that's the most direct affectionate act he's shown to anyone so far, especially in the short amount of time he and Gokuraku knew each other. Gokuraku has already, through his actions, given Ichi permission to share these sorts of acts with him

Which means that, while Ichi is new to things like showing others physical affection or affectionate acts, he still wants to do them. He still craves them. Just because he's been alone, doesn't mean he wants to stay that way. His bond with Desscaras proves that. His desire to understand family and friendship proves that.

However. Kumugi never touches him, never man handles him, never gets too close unnecessarily. That's all been Ichi so far. Unlike with every other relationship he has right now, where the other person initiates casual contact with very little hesitation, Kumugi doesn't.

This chapter was full of a lot of firsts for Ichi- his first time seeing Kumugi angry, seeing her get stubborn, seeing her stand up for herself, seeing her laugh this hard, first time seeing her this unrestrained in both her emotions, words, and actions, and the first time she feels comfortable enough to make physical contact with him

I think a wall finally broke down between these two tbh.

Like, they've had a positive view of each other since day 1, but Kumugi was always careful to keep distance between them and held herself back bc of the lingering affects of the guilt she had towards Spica, and Spica's actions towards her after

She had no sense of self confidence, and avoided making friends bc Spica told her not to. so while Kumugi was friendly, she kept a polite distance between herself and Ichi. Even up to chapter 44, with their shopping trip, she had fun, but never pushed too hard or reached out to Ichi. She only ever responded when Ichi reached out to her, and not just regarding the question about his money.

He's always been the one reaching out to her first, making an effort to talk to her, saying how smart she is, asking her to teach him more, asking her to be closer to him like Desscaras, asking if she's okay, noticing when she's upset, offering her comfort when she was scared by the mushroom, being confident that she can keep him in line without any hesitation, etc

Now that Kumugi seems to have let those feelings of fear, guilt, and self deprecation off her shoulders, she's free to express herself in more ways than before

Like have a fight with her sister for the first time in years. Or laughing so hard she can barely keep it together. Or using Ichi as a wall to stabilize herself as she's laughing herself silly

Ichi has always been Kumugi's number 1 hype man, has liked her since the day they met, but I'm sure he sensed her hesitation to get any closer and respected it. But his constant cheering her on and wanting her to be his family - not understanding what that means exactly, except that they'd be closer-

Ichi has always wanted to get closer to her.

If Kumugi starts letting herself be more open with him now, without holding herself back due to her own self doubt, then i think Ichi is going to return that behavior tenfold

I think from this point on, we're gonna see much more of Ichi carefully testing the boundaries with her

Back to the chapter -

Ichi continues having no context for any of what just happened, bc as Kumugi laughs at the situation this wonderful boy just put her sister in-

The only words Ichi hears her say are "That was so cold, I can't -"

And he immediately thinks that he messed up and that she wants to leave, which makes him sad to think about (which he wasn't before, when Spica was the one speaking for Kumugi. This is Kumugi speaking for herself)

But Kumugi clears it up and it's fine LOL this was a fantastic chapter

Bonus:

We always knew Shirabedonna had reasons for assigning Kumugi to the team without ever even asking her or asking the others. And now it's made clear -

She knew from day 1 that Kumugi was perfect for the job, bc she's the analytics witch who's always right. Kumugi just needed to come out of her shell first, and now she has. She's starting to reach her full potential in a job that's perfect for her. Kumugi doesn't need to be especially powerful to fit in with the team, her skill set is exactly what they need.

Anyway uhhh loved the chapter, i didn't mean to write an essay about Ichi's relationship with physical affection in the middle of this but there we go lol

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dess is the mvp even in a chapter where she has no dialogue. no one does it like her

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it's been a while since I posted about this manga, but not to worry, I've been up to date the entire time. anyway this page is one of my favorites in the recent chapters. it says so much about kumugi's character.

we see a few pages before this that she decided to pick the most boring/bland/tedious job in the part of the organization she belongs to, a job that is essentially just taking minutes and writing paperwork all day. "I got to spend all day sitting at a desk, bothering no one" is how she describes it.

but now she's in the thick of things. she's a vital part of team desscaras! and it'd be easy, I think, to have her decide to reject writing records. it's a duty that seems to be tiresome after all. but she's so excited to catalogue everything. she's part of this group, and she wants to show off their achievements and her analysis of their behavior. she's exhausted, but she's finally invigorated as well. it's great. this story rules

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The squad in traditional Indonesian clothing