Throughout Light and Dark
Throughout their journey between worlds Yoru and Vani tend to talk about the similarities and differences, between them as creatures made from darkness. Especially one from the ancient past, and the current present. This is just one of em.
Or
"The kinda smell... That smells... Smelly."
As promised! Some levity after the last few angsty snippets seen here and here.
Scent,
"I can tell you're making faces over there. If you have something to say, say it." Yoruhua says, not looking up from behind their delicious paste.
"...You smell different." Comes Vanitas' voice across from them.
Yoruhua stops mid bite, putting down their treat on oily crumpled paper. Chewing thoughtfully before responding,
"... I suppose I do, yes."
Suddenly aware of it, their thick smoky copal replaces the tasty scent of meaty, buttery puff pastries. Slightly disappointing her. But its Vanitas' own growing burnt palm sugar and rancid iron almost fully kills their appetite.
Vanitas glares at her for a second, still refusing to eat his own meal. The uneaten fluffy white rice in sharp contrast with the black beans and minced meat.
'His food is going to get cold.' Yoruhua muses.
Still, he doesn't mind, if he doesn't want to eat, then he doesn't have to.
"You're supposed to tell me why," he gruffs.
She smirks, "and you're supposed to use your words, and actually ask."
Vanitas looks likes he's about to snap, but carefully takes a deep breath and gives in. The iron fades out leaving only the bitter aftertaste of charcoal in the back of her throat, "Fine. Why do you smell like the Heartless do, but differently? It's weird."
"Well, I'm not just some Heartless, so jot that down. And, you smell too,"
He flushes and snarls, "I-I know that."
She huffs, "sure you did, but regardless- you probably just can't tell since you're not used to actively using it, so it's weakened." She says, "But, I guess it's because I kept my physical form. Unlike the rest of the Homunculi- eh, that's the other original Darknesses- I'm still me, well, not me exactly. But this... Body, you see, still remains from when I was a singular being."
At Vanitas' annoyed look and re-worsening scent, Yoruhua grimaces and tries to elaborate,
"Ah... So, the others all... Blended into one another, without a body to keep them separated. Souls and hearts grossly mixing without care just for power..."
"They aren't like you or me anymore- back then, in the Realm of Darkness, sometimes it would be so dark, that we couldn't even see one another. So we developed scents to detect, identify, and understand each other to prevent fights. Though, mine's changed a bit due to sharing a heart with Orichalchemi," she finishes.
Vanitas huffs, unsatisfied with the answer, "okay first of all; you suck at explaining stuff. Second; so what? You're saying you didn't always smell like a someone was burning s'mores with incense sticks in a graveyard?"
They quirk an eyebrow and ignore his insult, "you seem oddly fixated on the subject. Why do you care what I smell like?"
The boy frowns, looking down at his food and avoiding her own stare, "I... how do you control it...?"
A deep sigh, but a fond one. That's the most direct he's been about asking for their help. Well, their meal can wait.
Slowly, they place an extra of their pastes de tinga on his still full plate, responding cooly, "well, for starters, you can take better care of yourself. The more energy you have- the better. So eat before it gets too cold. A healthy body produces a stronger scent and makes it easier to focus."
Wordlessly he does as she says without a fight.
It's a small win.
Yoruhua smiles to himself, finishing off their own food. And watches over him fondly.
It's moments like this, where he's simply living instead of anticipating the next attack, that she enjoys most. Through she'll never get over how horrible it felt to be trapped within Void Gear, her one window into the real world was always the one silver lining.
Watching him sleep peacefully on those rare nights, or try a new skill and smile where no one else could see him when he got it right...
"What are you looking at?" Vanitas asks wearily, looking up at her.
Yoruhua shakes her head, "nothing, I..."
She looks at him, truly, and decides to just say it, "seeing how far you've come since we've started this journey... Well, I'm proud of you, I've always been."
Vanitas blushes, and glares down at his nearly finished plate, "I don't get how you can just say things like that. Putting your emotions on display like that, like one of those weak sappy Lights."
Yoruhua laughs, "hah, honestly, you call it a weakness, but it's a lot harder to admit than it looks."
"While being genuine puts your weaknesses on full display, it also makes you fully aware of them and easier to defend. You can't protect what you don't understand. Ori showed me that."
They add, "I find it... Impressive, that the Light feels so confident in such emotion, that they leave it out in the open for all to enjoy, because they know they can trust those others with it- and in their abilities to protect it when the time comes."
At that he stays silent but eventually the tension in his shoulders dissipate, "so you... Trust me? Even after all I did to you as Void Gear?"
Yoruhua nods, "of course I do, besides, you didn't hurt me- I was only trapped inside. I got to see tons of interesting things with you. You even freed me." A mischievous smirk creeps on his face as he reaches over to ruffle his hair.
"H-Hey! Knock it off!" He whines.
They laugh, "sorry, I couldn't help myself. You're sweet, even if you are a punk most of the time."
He light heartedly pushes her hand away, "yeah whatever, you deserve it for dragging me behind you everywhere, it's only fair."
"dragging you? We're bonding! This is like... Those family roadtrip Lights take all the time! I'm building your character!"
"You kidnapped me!"
"Same thing!"
While the two bickered, neither of them noticed the sweeter scent shift in the air, incense mixing with palm oil to create a more neutral, delicate sandalwood.
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I feel so very frustrated when I am asked what job I want, because how do I explain that my dream job doesn't exist yet, and at the rate our planet is dying, may never exist at all. How do I explain that I want to explore the cosmos, but that we cannot go that far? That I want, to quote Star Trek, "To boldly go where no man has gone before", but I can't, and will never be able to, because I have a faulty heart, and poor vision, and the human race does not have the technology to correct that or to go farther than a planet away.
My dream job would be to explore the universe, but that's not realistic so I'll settle for some office job that will drain me of my desire for learning and curiosity, while watching my planet wither away in the hands of those who do not care for anything other than numbers that only have value due to them saying so. When the planet is dead, all the money in the world won't save you. I want to reach for the stars, and see the vast emptiness of the void of space, and be able to ponder my existence while looking out into the nothingness.
But that is locked behind money, and the people hoarding it away, just to cause more war and strife, rather than using it to create equal ground for everyone and reach up and out together. So I will sit here, and twiddle my thumbs, and go to my barely above minimum wage job, and work almost every day, and I will look up at the stars every time I can, and wonder, "What would it be like to be among them?"
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TV Shows
Another big year for that show that hasn't aired since 2020.
Good Omens +20
The Owl House
Stranger Things -2
The Last of Us
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles +15
Our Flag Means Death -3
Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir -1
Succession +2
Adventure Time +72
Supernatural -2
Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake
Ted Lasso +48
Shadow and Bone +35
The Mandalorian +15
Doctor Who
The Eurovision Song Contest +16
Interview with the Vampire +11
Danny Phantom +12
House of the Dragon -14
Heartstopper -7
The Witcher -12
Wednesday
What We Do in the Shadows -16
Warrior Nun
9-1-1 -7
Hannibal -1
Yellowjackets
Merlin +18
The Sandman -17
Ahsoka
Young Royals +33
Avatar: The Last Airbender -1
Sonic Prime
One Piece
Loki -2
South Park +11
Teen Wolf +20
Lego Monkie Kid +31
The Dragon Prince
Percy Jackson and the Olympians -16
Steven Universe +3
Andor +28
Don't Hug Me I'm Scared
The Bad Batch
Bridgerton -18
Abbott Elementary +50
Ninjago +8
Arcane -44
Obi-Wan Kenobi -33
Breaking Bad -7
My Adventures with Superman
Riverdale +4
The Legend of Vox Machina -2
9-1-1: Lone Star +8
Star Wars: The Clone Wars -14
KinnPorsche -39
Gravity Falls -31
The Untamed -19
The Winchesters
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine +4
The Rookie
House MD
Castlevania
Golden Globes
Game of Thrones -21
Criminal Minds +5
The Academy Awards -14
The Muppets
Outer Banks
Ghosts +18
Daisy Jones & The Six
Star Wars Rebels
The Simpsons +13
Amphibia -61
The Bear
Lockwood & Co.
Willow
Star Trek: The Original Series +1
Love in the Air +11
Inside Job
Community +3
Velma
Better Call Saul -34
Only Friends
Columbo +12
The Grammy Awards
Buffy the Vampire Slayer -17
Gotham -16
The Screen Actors Guild Awards
Phineas and Ferb
My School President
Clone High
Supergirl -56
Moon Knight -84
The Walking Dead
The Sanremo Music Festival
Moonlight Chicken
Black Sails -22
Invader Zim -14
The number in italics indicates how many spots a title moved up or down from the previous year. Bolded titles weren’t on the list last year.
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