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bemused-writer · 2 years

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I posted 8,262 times in 2021

226 posts created (3%)

8036 posts reblogged (97%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 35.6 posts.

I added 5,741 tags in 2021

#art - 1072 posts

#vnc - 1049 posts

#humor - 982 posts

#vanitas no carte - 768 posts

#case study of vanitas - 636 posts

#cosmere - 279 posts

#shaman king - 262 posts

#dragon age - 246 posts

#stormlight archive - 238 posts

#witch hat atelier - 209 posts

Longest Tag: 131 characters

#also i feel the need to point out that there are actually quite a few other sites that don't have ads and they don't take your data

My Top Posts in 2021

Vanitas’s Philosophy

I noticed an interesting parallel in Vanitas’s philosophy. The first two panels are from volume one and the last is from chapter 50.

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105 notes • Posted 2021-04-27 23:19:47 GMT

VNC Chapter 52 Analysis

Going from the newly aired first anime episode to our latest chapter is some kind of whiplash, let me tell you. XD I meant to get this posted much sooner, but you know how it is.

There is nothing but spoilers from this point onwards, so anime-only viewers in particular will want to read with care.

A couple of you have already pointed out that this version of the scene isn't actually how it happened! Visually everything is much rosier: there are sparkles, bubbles, Vanitas looks extra beautiful, and Noé seems more elegant as well. I was taken aback because Vanitas in particular looks quite different from how he normally does. Meanwhile, the actual scene is this one:

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121 notes • Posted 2021-07-05 20:59:25 GMT

Mémoire 51 Analysis

And things continue to escalate! They escalate a whole lot. But before I talk about any of the events of the actual chapter, I want to talk about the awesome color page we got this month because there's quite a lot of symbolism happening there. I've labelled the pictures to make this a little easier.

1) This is a scribbled out image of Vanitas most likely. We see he's dressed as a chasseur showing this is the path he didn't follow and yet we also know he's acting more like a chasseur this arc than he ever has before. Perhaps this past of his isn't as buried as he likes to think.

2) Most of these images are flashbacks and this particular one is when Vanitas first met Luna. Vanitas is reaching for the photo. This entire arc revolves around Vanitas's past with Luna and Misha, so that makes sense, but it also shows that this is what he hasn't moved on from. Whatever happened with Luna haunts him and is all-consuming; he can't let her go. We've had inklings of that throughout the series--his pursuit of revenge is because of her--but this is a neat representation of how strong this memory is.

3) This is when Noé and Vanitas first met on La Baleine and also their first fight where Noé tries to protect Amelia. Relatively straightforward, though it is interesting that they were each fighting to protect a woman back then and they're fighting over the fate of a woman now.

4) An image of La Baleine itself.

5) A photo of Noé facing the audience with Dominique and Louis both facing the opposite direction. This one is pretty eerie, I'll be honest. Noé looks cheerful as he holds his book and the impression I get is that he's looking at Teacher. He admires him, after all. Notably, Dominique and Louis aren't facing the same direction; they're distant, far away. Louis is, quite literally, no longer of this world, and Dominique is currently out of sorts and in danger of dying. I'm not quite ready to say this photo is implying Dominique is going to die, but I do think there's a certain emotional distance between Noé and Dominique all the same. Noé curses himself for not understanding Louis, but he doesn't understand Dominique either. He's blissfully unaware of what either of them are really going through. Perhaps that's why this image is so disturbing. His happiness is based on a lack of understanding.

6) Pretty sure this is some tarte tatin. Noé's favorite food! It seems he and Vanitas also went out to eat sometimes, so there's that, too.

7) This is the scene right at the end of the catacombs arc with Noé and Vanitas resting against each other back-to-back.

8) The moment Vanitas saved Noé in the Gévaudan arc and clasped his hand.

9) The end of the Gévaudan arc where we see astérisque flowers, a result of the world formula being manipulated. There's also Chloé's alteration device.

10) I really thought this was a dragon at first, but most likely it's supposed to be Jean-Jacques. XD

11) The moment Noé tells Vanitas he's glad he's the person he is now on the roof. Notably, while Vanitas is most focused on the photo of Luna, this is the photo that has Noé's full attention. I'd say we could take that as what their focus is for this arc: Vanitas is only concerned with Luna and Misha; nothing else matters to him right now. But Noé expressed that he saw Vanitas as a friend recently and therefore views current events as a great betrayal. He told Vanitas he was glad he wasn't a chasseur and yet now he's behaving like one.

12) I think this is just the merry-go-round that Misha was on earlier.

All right, that covers the photos themselves. You'll notice that to the far right we can see the beginning of a frame but no actual image, and I figure this is to represent Vanitas's past. It's present, but we don't know it yet.

Vanitas's and Noé's postures are interesting, too. I already mentioned that Vanitas is reaching out for Luna. It feels a bit like mourning, but he's obscured heavily by the coat, so it's difficult to say anything else about his posture. Noé is posed as if he's about to defend himself. He usually attacks with his right side and that's the arm that's partially raised. Alternatively, we could see it as him reaching out for Vanitas.

Interestingly, Noé is more heavily shrouded in shadow than Vanitas is. Perhaps this is indicative of how it will impact them later? Noé might take it harder? Or perhaps this event will set Noé down a more difficult path than Vanitas.

Unfortunately, I don't have much to say about the flowers in the background because I can't recognize them. (^^)" I have no doubt they are symbolic, however. I don't think they're the queen of the night (used previously in VNC for symbolism). It looks like it's some kind of tree. If anyone has any guesses, I'd love to hear them!

With that out of the way, let's talk about the actual chapter. XD

We learn that Luna isn't male or female this chapter, which finally answers some of the pronoun confusion that's happened throughout this manga. To be honest, I'm kind of not sure what pronouns we're supposed to use in English. In Japanese, it's very easy to never bother using any, but it looks like Misha and Vanitas have both maintained their own impression of Luna even after learning this. That is to say, Vanitas sees Luna as "feminine" while Misha sees Luna as "masculine." Maybe Luna doesn't have any real pronoun preference? She never objected to being called "Father" after all.

For the moment I'm going to stick with using "she/her" since that's what I was doing before and the translation still seems to be using it as well I think, but if the manga gives us a better idea of Luna's preferences I'll switch to that.

Getting back to it, it's also implied that there may be more to her statement than mere gender preference, however. Vanitas asks her what she is, to which she says:

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144 notes • Posted 2021-04-26 04:17:11 GMT

VNC Chapter 53 Analysis

So, this chapter has quickly become one of my favorite chapters of the series because it really has everything I could have hoped for. Mochizuki you've done it again. It might be harder waiting for the next chapter than it was waiting for this one, though. XD I guess that's the cost of being in the middle of a particularly interesting arc! Let's take a look at what's happened.

The very first thing I want to remark on is that Dominique lives! This was my initial impression of this arc, but I began to have doubts. I'm very glad she has survived because I truly believe this would not have been a good arc for her to die. I know some of our main characters will likely die by the end of the series, but this ending for Dominique would have had a bad flow in my opinion. She wouldn't have gotten a chance to resolve things or even come out with the anger and trauma she's been living with ever since Louis's death.

Needless to say, I was very glad to see Jeanne swoop in and save the day. Before I get to Jeanne though, I want to talk about Dominique's inner angel and devil, so to speak. We see younger Dominique again, but we also see another representative.

My first guess was that this was Louis, but their hand placement is tactically positioned to hide where his mole would be, making it unclear whether this is Louis giving her advice or another representation of herself. Does it make any difference? A little bit. Louis is often seen dishing out harsh truths to Noé and Dominique (although mostly Noé). Things like "you can't save anyone" for example. Noé often reflects on this. It would make sense for Dominique to have a similar view of her brother: harsh, but accurate about the situation.

Louis (I'm just going to call this representation "Louis" for the moment) is also positioned very similarly to our ram head from Charlatan.

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150 notes • Posted 2021-07-27 19:46:04 GMT

VNC Mémoire 50 Analysis

This chapter went down very differently from how I'd envisioned. XD My main error was that I forgot that introducing Vanitas into a situation doesn't necessarily improve it and this chapter really drove that home. I got used to "Gévaudan Vanitas" but what we're dealing with is "Bal Masqué Vanitas," someone who is more unhinged than he wants to let on. I mean, I think it's safe to say Vanitas efficiently steered things into a ditch this chapter. Let's take a look as to a possible why and how.

The first thing I want to address is how the transition from Vanitas's attitude in chapter 46 compared to chapter 50 is pretty severe in terms of how he's acting towards Noé and at first seems, uh, completely insane but it's actually pretty consistent with how Vanitas has been in general.

Vanitas: Noé, stop! Don't go near him. Mikhail is--!

His reaction towards Misha actually is pretty consistent all things considered. The very mention of Misha filled him with fear in the catacombs arc and it does so here as well. We also see Vanitas demonstrate he is afraid of what might happen to Noé should he encounter him. And that thread is continued at the very start of this chapter.

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185 notes • Posted 2021-03-23 04:39:18 GMT

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