#* inumura mikito. / development.

[yeonban]

Instead of making a lengthy post for each of them explaining how they feel about everyone we've met so far, I made a tierlist to make things easier and placed every character in rows in order of most to least from Soma's / Naotora's / Mikito's / Aijiro's points of view (i.e: the first character at "most cherished" is THE most cherished; the first at "disliked" is THE most disliked; the last at "tense" is kind of tense kind of indifferent etc)

#muse: date soma. #muse: takeda naotora. #muse: inumura mikito. #muse: inue aijiro. #* date soma. / development. #* takeda naotora. / development. #* inumura mikito. / development. #* inue aijiro. / development. #Aijiro made me laugh bc he decided he does Not need a 'most cherished' row. He doesn't care that much about anyone #If you guys want to do one too eventually or for fun I linked it in the post so you can just click on the word 'tierlist'!

[yeonban]

Once you're stripped clean, what's at your core?

SOMA: animal intuition.

loyalty is the saint you pray to. if you ever were stabbed in the back by your beloved, you'd probably apologize. to your enemies, you're fierce. to your allies, even fiercer. you cultivate a thick inner circle built on promises and devotion, fit only for the best of the best. it's impossible for most to even begin to dissect the type of person you are, owing to your unbreakable emotional walls and confusing philosophies. dream careers? body guard, movie star, unwitting pawn. don't let people get the best of that loyalty.

NAOTORA: cauterizing rage.

the house has burned around you, and you’re the only one left standing. is it gratifying to be the survivor? fear and anger are weapons in your capable hands, used only to serve your agenda of fighting back when deemed necessary. you're a powerful person, built from the ashes of your despair and your family's mistakes. with time, you'll bloom into someone softer, like the full blossoms that grow each spring and wither away with the leaves in fall. they won't disappear if you take your eyes off of them. you're enough.

MIKITO: acerbic wit.

you're a mentor — an old scarred wolf, an injured soldier, a disgraced paladin. your teachings read as shamelessly pretentious, speaking in rhymes and biting down hard into anyone stupid enough to make the wrong move. this isn't your first life, nor your second, nor your sixth — you'll make the most of your time shackled to this world, no matter how many loops it takes to get it right. with every defeat, you reincarnate; a little smarter, a little quicker, crueler and nastier. will you choose to be brutal, equalizing, that final strike in the face of your enemies? will you go soft, become tender and domesticated? the choice is yours. it's not like i can stop you.

AIJIRO: spun gossamer.

the easiest thing to do is stay quiet when something’s up. you’re not bothered, and you know what? you shouldn’t be! it’s none of your business, even when it’s entirely your business. it’s difficult (read: impossible) to tell if your cheery demeanor is a cover-up for something sadder, or if it’s simply your natural state of mind. you see a lot of things: people coming through town, people leaving the house and never coming back, lies and deceit of the highest degree. what happened to you? will you ever be that kid again? your presence smells like cotton candy, and your fingertips sparkle like stars. whatever white rabbit you’re chasing isn’t going to lead you to wonderland if you don’t start reaching out when you’re not feeling okay.

#muse: date soma. #* date soma. / development. #muse: takeda naotora. #* takeda naotora. / development. #muse: inumura mikito. #* inumura mikito. / development. #muse: inue aijiro. #* inue aijiro. / development. #'If you ever were stabbed in the back by your beloved you'd probably apologize' STOP? WHY DID THAT COME FOR MY JUGULAR OUT OF NOWHERE #Me; staring at Seiroku's secret and then at Soma: #Literally nothing else in that result says anything about it again they just put that 1 line in there to mess w me </3 #AND THE REST OF THEM TOO??? #This quiz had NO right to be this spot on I was doing it for fun and came out depRESSED

[yeonban]

WHAT TYPE OF VILLAIN ARE YOU?

TOBIAS: No Moral Compass.

You are cold, analytical, and you strive to be as objective as a person of flesh and blood can be. Either don't understand the concepts of good and evil, or you understand it perfectly and think it's a load of bull. Some may call you selfish, some may call you unfeeling, but you're just doing what you believe will yield the best results, plain and simple. Why bother with petty ideals of right or wrong when you can do what will actively help those you give a fuck about? Your goals may be selfish or noble or anything in between, but you will not let anyone make you feel like garbage for going after them. You couldn't care less about what people brand you as. You just care about getting shit done by any means necessary.

AIJIRO: The Betrayer.

You like to do things up close and personal. As personal as you can get. You are an excellent actor, and you do adore putting on a smile knowing your worst enemy, the one you hate the most, doesn't suspect a thing when they tell you their deepest secrets. Your only motivation is revenge, and revenge you shall get. Perhaps you loved them once, long ago, but any fondness for your target you once felt has long since warped and twisted into perverse obsession, laced with malice and venom and seething hatred. Good or evil does not matter to you. All that matters is they get what they deserve.

MIKITO: Duality.

You have a constant inner struggle between right and wrong. There is a side of you that does not want to be doing what you are doing in the slightest, but once you've tasted the forbidden fruit and done something wrong, you're hungry for more. Perhaps this evil side of you takes shape as simply talking to yourself, a sort of Jekyll and Hyde split, or perhaps its voice is backed up by a demon within you, a parasite that whispers temptations, or a monster that your body reshapes itself into when your own desires become too great. Whatever the case, you take great care to keep the evil within a closely guarded secret. Nobody can know, lest the monster you are take complete control.

SHALNARK: Pure Evil.

You are unapologetically evil, you are likely just here for the drama and the theater of it all. You are selfish and cruel because you want to be, not because you had no other choice, but because you revel in the opportunity to do what is wrong. That's not to say you will commit every unspeakable act, perhaps you have standards and your own moral code, but by no means are you the good guy in your own mind. Those who have wronged you, no matter how trivial or petty the slight against you, will be treated without mercy and you will be cackling the entire time without a hint of remorse. You enjoy the most painful and twisted approach to getting your revenge. Above all else, you like to cause problems on purpose.

#muse: tobias. #muse: inue aijiro. #muse: inumura mikito. #muse: shalnark kurta. #* tobias. / development. #* inue aijiro. / development. #* inumura mikito. / development. #* shalnark kurta. / development. #Yea. HOW DO THEY /ALL/ FIT SO WELL... also I love the range here <3 not even One repeated answer

[yeonban]

AT THE MOMENT, YOU WANT...

SOMA: to be loved.

it's lonely, despite people constantly reassuring you. platonic or romantic, you crave to feel warm, to feel held, to feel worthwhile and to feel cared for. you yearn for that feeling, like a spot of sun hitting your skin on a breezy day. you want validation, love, from those who surround you. you aren't sure how to ask, or if you can. there's fear there, you can't figure out if they care, if this is love, if they're sincere. perhaps your shoes were muddied, during a long walk in the rain, and you fell, and you were muddied as well. you got home, finally, and washed off, but part of you still feels muddied. your past is not the present. someone loves you. reach out, and express that you need that love, and surely, someone will reciprocate.

NAOTORA: to realize.

it's been hazy for a while, the fog only thickening. sometimes, it feels as though nothing has ever made sense. you're stuck, and often, you can't figure out yourself. you hope to understand yourself, but yourself feels out of reach, behind a locked door. maybe, this locked door has already been opened, and you've yet to process the contents. or maybe, you're still figuring out how to unlock it. perhaps the key is buried deep beneath the dirt of the earth, far in your skin, deep in your brain and your heart. surely, you can feel it if you try. don't whisk away this feeling, the need to realize. let yourself discover, let yourself come to a realization. it's a step forward, think of it as so. are you aware?

AIJIRO / NOBUTAKA: to restart.

it all feels the same. it always has. the same few things, over and over. no variety, no progress. you feel like you've messed up somewhere, and can't figure out where. you've been walking down this road for so long, it feels like years. it also feels like a few hours, maybe only a day. it was supposed to lead somewhere, someday. it was supposed to be promising, but all you've reached is a dead end. you wonder if you took a wrong turn along the way. you sit down, wishing to restart, and maybe not take this path at all. this has happened yesterday, it's happened today, it's happened tomorrow. it feels neverending. instead, maybe retracing your steps will help. this isn't the end for you, there's still many roads to go down, it's just that this particular one wasn't the one for you. you want to restart with a blank slate, but would that really be the best idea? who would you be without the mistakes, and progress you've made so far?

MIKITO / KAZUCHIKA: to be seen.

it is so, so loud. everyone around you is talking, crowded together. despite how loud it is, you cannot hear them, even when they talk to you. you try to talk to them, but you can't hear their responses. you take this as no response at all. it feels lonely, and dark, despite you all sitting in the sun together, and everyone's having a great time except you. you keep trying to get their attention, and when you do, it never feels like enough. you can't keep doing more. it's tiring. you see yourself floating in space, it's cold, and dark. they're still down on earth, laughing, so loud. you desire to be seen right now. you feel unappreciated, you feel left out.

#muse: date soma. #muse: takeda naotora. #muse: inue aijiro. #muse: inumura mikito. #* date soma. / development. #* takeda naotora. / development. #* inue aijiro. / development. #* inumura mikito. / development. #Ah... this quiz read them so well that they're all sat here in awkward silence #For Aijiro & Mikito... it's moreso as their previous selves (Nobutaka & Kazuchika) but they work for their current selves too #Aijiro's is basically what led to him accepting his role as an Obsidian Eight member much easier than the rest #and Mikito's is ''the reason I'm pointing this sword at you.. it must mean somewhere deep down I've never been satisfied'' @ Jisai #Granted in Mikito's case he's so far gone now that he can no longer hear the people around him; just himself and voices in his head

[yeonban]

What is your love style?

SOMA.

You agreed equally with statements pointing to bestfriends and unselfish relationship styles.

BEST FRIENDS. You tend to take your time to realize you are in love, because when your relationship style is best friends, caring and working together over time is what helps builds the bonds in your relationship. Your relationships are marked by feelings of deep affection.

UNSELFISH. When you are in a relationship, you tend to be a giver. That means that your needs often come second to your partner’s, and you tend to assume the best of them and their actions. Your relationships are marked by nurturing, kindness and sacrifice.

NAOTORA.

You agreed most often with statements pointing to a best friends relationship style. You tend to take your time to realize you are in love, because when your relationship style is best friends, caring and working together over time is what helps builds the bonds in your relationship. Your relationships are marked by feelings of deep affection.

After that, your opinions most strongly suggest a unselfish relationship style. When you are in a relationship, you tend to be a giver. That means that your needs often come second to your partner’s, and you tend to assume the best of them and their actions. Your relationships are marked by nurturing, kindness and sacrifice.

MIKITO

You agreed most often with statements pointing to a possessive relationship style. When you’re in a relationship you tend to feel anxious when your partner isn’t near. You may have trouble concentrating or worry that your partner doesn’t feel as strongly towards you. Your relationships are marked by jealousy or obsession.

After that, your opinions most strongly suggest a unselfish relationship style. When you are in a relationship, you tend to be a giver. That means that your needs often come second to your partner’s, and you tend to assume the best of them and their actions. Your relationships are marked by nurturing, kindness and sacrifice.

AIJIRO

You agreed most often with statements pointing to a playful relationship style. You don’t mind playing a few games in your relationships, whether that means flirting a bit, dating several people at once or hiding your Agree feelings about someone. You love the excitement of challenging your partner.

After that, your opinions most strongly suggest a best friends relationship style. You tend to take your time to realize you are in love, because when your relationship style is best friends, caring and working together over time is what helps builds the bonds in your relationship. Your relationships are marked by feelings of deep affection.

#muse: date soma. #muse: takeda naotora. #muse: inumura mikito. #muse: inue aijiro. #* date soma. / development. #* takeda naotora. / development. #* inumura mikito. / development. #* inue aijiro. / development. #To no one's surprise Soma and Naotora are basically angels #Mikito being possessive AND obsessive but having unselfish/selfless tendencies bc of Kazuchika... man. #And Aijiro just being irritating all around; very on brand of him <3 #The other 3: Unselfish #Aijiro; not even willing to consider being unselfish: Lol

[yeonban]

Mikito's abilities: Brainwashing, cloning & shapeshifting.

I. BRAINWASHING

This is Mikito's primary form of offense and defense. It comes at little to no cost to himself and his energy as it's a yellow-blade technique, and it's a tried and tested method of getting exactly what he wants with as little effort needed as possible. Since he "steals" soldiers from the enemy lines, not only do their numbers whittle, but the enemy is either forced to be killed by a person dear to them who's under Mikito's control, or forced to be their loved one's murderer. Most people refuse to harm someone they hold dear, and thus this is typically enough for small-fry missions or missions in which he's feeling particularly sadistic. No matter how strong they are otherwise, if someone is chained by Mikito, they can't do anything to protect themselves or retaliate anymore.

Unlike Seiroku's threads though, the people under Mikito's chains don't have a mind of their own anymore. They don't feel guilt, fear nor pain, and therefore work perfectly well as meat shields, hurrying on their own to shield Mikito in case he can't avoid an incoming attack.

As a person who has mastered the yellow blade to perfection, Mikito has no limit for how many people he can take under his control at the same time. He canonly tells Shishikado that he will take his entire band, which easily numbers a good few hundred soldiers, and he has been shown to not bat an eye after already having taken a hundred of them in one go.

With a typical bushi, techniques of this large a scale can only last for a small period of time, but with Mikito's obsidian heart fueling him and his blade energy, he can keep it up for at least an hour instead of what'd normally end in five minutes.

II. CLONING

Mikito's most used technique. Its foundation lies in Mikito's perfect understanding of biology, as everything he understands, he can clone.

While brainwashing works just fine for certain missions, if his goal is to swiftly wipe out an entire band at once, his enemy is a powerful bushi he can't take down through indirect means like that, or if he finds himself in a situation where the battle becomes an 1-v-1 with no one else around to control, Mikito resorts to cloning.

The core condition for this ability to work is to eat a part of whatever he wants to clone, whether that's himself, a fellow human being, an animal, a bug or even an oni. In his own words, the above condition allows him to "read the (being's) organic structure" and it's a step that cannot be skipped.

Since under normal circumstances he cannot simply lunge and take a bite out of the enemy, most of the time he opts to clone himself, and it's this habit that steadily got Mikito rid of his original body. Over the years, he's eaten so much of himself that there is nothing left of who he used to be, besides the bits of flesh around his heart that he cannot access. Still, the technique has many merits, and they're the reason why he hasn't stopped using it despite its consequences.

For one, he can make as many clones as he wants after taking just one bite of his flesh. They can act as soldiers and as shields, and in that regard they're very similar to the bushi he brainwashes. Secondly, although the base of their bodies is the same as his, since he controls them through blade energy, he can shape them however he wants. He can make them as small as an ant, as tall as a human or as big as a giant. Each size has its own advantage, with the smaller ones being capable of infiltrating places, and the larger ones being capable of squashing their enemies without breaking a sweat.

Thirdly, considering his mimicry, which I'll get into next, he is able to change their shape into anything he's seen before, including something monstrous that can drive fear into the bushi he's targeting more efficiently, even though he tends not to resort to this. And lastly, after inflicting this sort of pain on himself for decades without stopping, he's grown numb to pain. Fists, bites, cuts, holes, no matter what the enemy's attack is, Mikito won't be stopped by the pain their attack brings. As such, they need to be able to kill him in one swift motion (like Shishikado's white soul attack), or he'll simply walk the injury off as if it never happened.

As hinted above, Mikito can clone anything he understands (eats) and this canonly goes for both oni and bushi. In his introduction chapter, he cloned two giant oni, and each time afterwards he cloned human beings, with Katsumi being the most important example. Again, the only requirements for this technique are to have the materials (living body or corpse to bite into) and the flesh to mold into their shape (generally coming from his own body).

The clones are perfect copies, from their looks to their smell and down to their personality. In his fight with Shishikado, Mikito used a clone of himself to take the brunt of Shishikado's white soul attack and come out of it unscathed, even though no one (not even us readers) could tell the difference between the real/main body who escaped and the copy who got killed.

When it comes to copies made from living beings' bodies, they tend to have the personality he knows or thinks their real body has. It's why Seigen's copy from Mikito's flashback is downright perfect (he's personally known Seigen since childhood) and why Katsumi's copies tend to stutter and act as if they're forced into action, because that's how Mikito views Katsumi. The only contact he's had with the real Katsumi was beating him to a pulp and still receiving "no" as an answer to joining them, and this shines true through the copies. Although not insisted on, Mikito's copies can, possibly, also use kitetsuto, a feat which not even Yataro's homunculi could until he created Michiru.

II. SHAPESHIFTING

Each member of the Toda clan, or at least those with the highest amounts of Obsidian Goddess blood flowing through their veins, has an innate technique. While Seigen's (and now Kojiro's) is the eye, Kazuchika's, and thus later on Mikito's, is mimicry. He can take on any shape he wishes, no matter how human or monstrous, and no matter how different the desired form is in comparison to his original body. While he can't create a disguise based on rumors alone (aka heard/written characteristics), he can disguise himself as anyone he's seen before.

That said, the technique yields much better results if he's first taken a bite out of that person. If he were to disguise himself based solely on what he's seen of them, the transformation will miss certain details (for example, any birthmarks/scars/etc that aren't visible at first glance because they're covered by clothes). However, if he were to disguise himself after taking a piece of the intended target's body, he will shapeshift into them down to the smallest detail, birthmarks/scars/so on and so forth included.

These days, since Mikito has eaten himself over and over again for the cloning side of his abilities, he no longer relies on mimicry unless truly necessary or specifically asked of him for a particular mission's success (although he can still use it if he really wants to fuck with someone's head, he just heavily prefers not to). Maintaining a proper form, such as his original "Kazuchika" body, takes far more energy out of him than he would like it to now that he only has a small bit of his original body left to work with, which is why nowadays he prefers a smaller form, the one most people know "Mikito" as.

#muse: inumura mikito. #* inumura mikito. / development. #body horror / #This man is so gross and even he agrees. flashbacks to him saying 'my flesh is so gross...' in his fight against Musashi like yea obvIOUSLY

[yeonban]

HOW DO YOU BEST LIKE TO BE LOVED?

SOMA: touch me with tender truth.

you crave being known and held. you just want the warmth and pressure of another body against your own. sometimes, late at night when you're alone in your bed, your skin aches with the lack of touch. you've tried touching yourself, and it isn't the same. one time someone gripped your shoulder and squeezed it in passing, and you thought about it for weeks after - the ghost pressure of their hand lingering. don't you deserve it? consistent physical love and caring? i think so, i think you do. but i also have to ask - do you fear it even as you want? after all, if you get it then it might also be taken away. i hope that if you fear it, you push through past that fear. that you ask for the touch you desire and deserve. i hope that you get touched with love and kindness, wrapped up in warm arms and rocked from side to side until the tension and pain falls away layer by layer and only you are left.

NAOTORA: write me your words of wonder.

you want to be thought of with intent, for someone to sit down and want to share their thoughts with you specifically. and their thoughts about you, even more. for someone to Know you, or at least desire the knowledge. for them to write it out in a way that you can read as quickly or slowly as you desire. that you can reread again and again, or lock in a box and never read after that first quick consumption. you crave that tangibility. and the small moments that lead up to the letter being in your hand. to be told, 'it's in the mail' and then to have the simple joy of checking the mailbox to see if it has come today. to hold the envelope and feel the love within. there is a purpose of intent within physically written words, and it patches the parts of you that feel like you aren't worth thinking about. my darling, know that you are. you are worth intentional thought and cursive letters and an envelope sealed with a kiss.

MIKITO: laugh with me long and loving.

jokes are simple and easy to comprehend, and laughter helps with all that tension in your belly. you just want a break from the other stuff, and if someone makes you laugh, then that means that they care, in some way, about your happiness. especially, if, after making you laugh the once, they try and do it again. if laughter is the greatest medicine, then you can share it and no one has to be sick. it is contagious, and free to give and receive. there is never too much of it. there is never too much of you. i hope when you laugh you speak it from your belly. that you use your muscles and let it fill the room. that you know the sound rings like a bell and is lovely. i hope that when you smile you show your teeth.

TAGGED BY: @deathfavor Tysm Britt!

#muse: date soma. #muse: takeda naotora. #muse: inumura mikito. #* date soma. / development. #* takeda naotora. / development. #* inumura mikito. / development. #That “All I ever wanted from you was to know that I was wanted by you. That would have changed everything.” was so foul for Soma #Overall kind of accurate for all of them?? Soma's is VERY on the spot #Naotora's... well I agree that he wants to know he's thought about and loved; but it's fine no matter if it's written spoken or shown #And Mikito... I don't think he's truly capable of love as we know it anymore; not as Mikito; so this result is probably the best one for hi #He wouldn't care much about being told or shown that he's loved; but he Would answer positively to sb making him /laugh/