Status Updates From ヴァニタスの手記 8

crying

"sink your fangs into that pale skin, noé. reveal the blood of vanitas." now why did he say it like that? did it have to be so sensual, both in words and visuals??? that last page?????? vanitas' mouth slightly open, eyes closed, eyelashes long as fuck, neck potentially bared but hidden by the text bubble?????? the temptation is NOT just for blood and i keep being proven right in that!!!!

love how mikhail playfully covers the bottom half of his face with the book during his grand reveal, while vanitas has always held it out in front of him during his. something about hiding behind the power vs thrusting it outwards, holding it like a keepsake vs holding it like a tool

this is the second time (at least) that vanitas has dropped absolutely everything bc he suspects that noé is in danger!!! i love how the text bubbles of vanitas telling noé to stop are overlaid on top of the action of noé continuing to fight bc VANITAS ISNT ACTUALLY THERE TO TELL HIM. he's just praying that his words somehow make it to noé as he runs like hell to find him

i'm choosing to believe that mikhail is referring to noé as "brother" here in the sense of "brother-in-law" (cause married vanoé) rather than "we're all brothers"

OH SHUT THE FUCK UP IS DANTE BLUSHING CAUSE HE JUST GOT CAUGHT HAVING DINNER WITH VANITAS AKSJDHNALJDHALD he's such a bitch i love him

okay as if i needed another reason to dislike dominoé!!! mikhail calling noé her "prince" is the last fucking straw!!!!!! (i get that he's an emotionally stunted and deeply traumatized child so of course he sees their dynamic as something so black and white, but i know better than that shit)

domi starting to assume the identity of louis because of her survivor's guilt and low self-worth REALLY just has me wishing for ANYTHING other than a dominoé endgame for her. bc even though her crush on noé was born from a very genuine place, i feel like it was irreversibly corrupted by the death of louis and noé mistaking her for him and veronica's cruel words about how she isn't good enough for the family

god. that was fucking gut wrenching. noé waking up and embracing domi as if she's louis is the icing on the cake in terms of tragic storytelling bc it's RIGHT AFTER domi is told about the twin thing and victoria taunts her for not living up to expectations. and then sweet lovely noé unknowingly makes that very same taunt by looking right at her face and seeing louis instead. the twin he desperately wants to see

this page makes me feel like i've just been kicked in the chest repeatedly. love it

WAIT "he said there was something he wanted to try" HUH????????? he definitely didn't have noé yet but maybe he was in the middle of trying to track him down and he wanted to try to see if an archiviste could cure a curse-bearer or something??????? maybe he even made louis a curse-bearer in the first place?????? this man is such an enigma i've got NOTHING

teacher saying that killing louis would've been "wasteful" is SO icky what the FUCK is his game what is his goal i need to know!!!!!!!! he didn't say it was cruel or even messy, but WASTEFUL. like a life is a piece on a chess board that he's not ready to lose quite yet cause it'll make the game less fun for him

so it really was random??? they didn't even know he was a curse-bearer???? i guess it'd be rare for someone to show signs so young but DAMN. so that DEFINITELY fuels domi's mindset of "it should've been me because it so easily COULD'VE been". and also "my family doesn't actually give a shit about me cause i'm one half of a bad omen and it's pure chance that i was the one who survived"

jeez domi really only thought of noé in those early days after louis huh. and she loved him so much that she wished she had been the one to die because she KNEW he loved louis in a different way. she was the odd one out but simultaneously the golden daughter. she was the odd one out BECAUSE she was chosen over louis, by their family and fate itself. she was doomed to love those boys more than herself from the START

the backstory chapters in this manga continue to be the most well written parts (and that's saying a lot cause the overall writing quality is top notch already) but this intro??????? THE best one so far. it evokes such a perfect feeling of horror and hopelessness and foreboding, it's like we're sinking into the despair of the memory alongside domi

these two pages are absolutely stunning i can't get over it!!!! the way noé is looking up at vanitas (as if he's the blue moon in the sky), the stars and steam swirling around them, it's just all absolutely stunning. what a beautiful moment of noé getting through to vanitas in the way that only he can do. telling him that he is worthy of love without saying those exact words cause he knows they'd scare him away

okay so this is more romantic than anything between jeanne and vanitas in this volume IM SORRYYYY but it's the intimacy of being known that's really on display here. noé knew to give vanitas some space and the higher ground, he knew to give the disclaimer that he still doesn't actually like vanitas, and he knew that vanitas needed to hear that he's GOOD but would never ask for it or even admit to the need at all

noé immediately stepping out onto the roof with vanitas and dumping a blanket on top of him mmmhmmm it's the little things that really show how effortlessly they care for each other now

HUH?? domi is implying that noé is interested in jeanne bc he looked at her after asking vanitas about love???? it was strange that he looked at her then but i chalked it up to him still being confused/jealous about vanitas' "love" for her and trying to suss it out. but of course, deeply insecure domi reads it differently. like noé is seemingly interested in everyone but her

i really want more of this trio!!!! the jeanne protection squad has my heart and i love how horrified they are at this turn of events ajxnsmmxksksksks also domi bringing up noé being the superior option but making sure to mention that she doesn’t want jeanne having a crush on him either (i know you can read that either way but obviously i’m taking it to be sapphic as fuck)

yknow what i think these chapters have really bolstered my reading that vanijeanne is a case of first crushes from two people who have never allowed themselves to love/be loved. it’s a stepping stone for them on their journeys of self-acceptance and growth but it’s not the destination for either of them. but firsts are still important nonetheless!!!!!!

DAMN okay so jeanne officially trusts vanitas, that’s a huge step for them. i wonder if we’ll get a scene of her calling out his facade like noé does…..idk so far i still think it’s more one-sided but we’ll see

oh luca my love i fear you need to let go of this crush asap

roland and olivier are such a fantastic duo WOW i love a secondary yaoi
roland not getting attached to people is an interesting character trait cause i would’ve expected the opposite based on how he’s interacted with vanitas and noé….but he does have this aloof air about him too so that makes sense
olivier is so gorgeous and that is all

wow every person who crosses paths with vanitas ends up hopelessly attached to and deeply interested in him huh. he’d call it a curse but it’s really a superpower

vanitas scuttling out of there screaming “moron” at the top of his lungs at roland is insane he’s such a loser oh my god
and roland spotting noé and immediately softening and telling him to go after vanitas?????? cause he knows noé will be able to get through to him better than anyone else????????? he’s the best character i swear

vanitas' expression here is SO beautifully tragic my heart is aching looking at it
so much of his turmoil has been pretty comedic up until this point, but this is where it gets REAL. he looks so lost, like a scared child. and to some extent, that's exactly what he is. when it comes to vulnerable emotions like these, ones he's suppressed for so long, he's no more experienced than he was when he was a kid

vanitas describing falling in love as being rewritten from the inside out is so telling. he's already LITERALLY being rewritten by the book, and so anything else that makes him feel less in control of himself is bound to give him that same level of disgust. especially when it involves bodily reactions like this....i'll be remembering this when he's unable to kill noé despite his hypnosis

ROLANDDDDDDD THE ICON THE LEGEND god i love how smoothly he lies about vanitas' identity to protect him in front of olivier. AND he's a famously good drinker?????? he only gets more and more incredible