Sofie’s Reviews > The Case Study of Vanitas, Vol. 9 > Status Update

oh my god so he really went into the forest and hid there and LEFT THE PICTURE BOOK WHERE THEY COULD FIND IT so they'd go out looking for him and be all worried???? he wanted assurance that they would actually care and not just give up like the boy's family in the story did?????? and then he immediately regrets it when he sees noé and domi sobbing akjsdakdhka that's SO preteen oh my god louis too fucking real

that quote could also relate to vanitas and luna, right? vanitas was definitely more wary of luna, but it seems like he really came to love them. so maybe when they marked him out of a deep need to keep him alive, he saw it only as the ultimate betrayal? idk i still think there was more to vanitas killing luna than that

"the more you worship someone as a perfect being, the more even a single deviation strikes you as a betrayal" WOAH OKAY this seems extra pointed after this volume in particular. astolfo latched onto roland the same way that mikhail latched onto vanitas, and they both ended up feeling betrayed and alone when roland and vanitas messed up in some way

vanitas trying to downplay how much time he and noé spend together mmhmmm as if he didn't just do a ted talk on noé's exact habits and tendencies when he's wandering around town

dante clocking vanitas' very obvious affection for noé is HILARIOUS every single time and i do in fact need more of it

oh so we're gonna go from complete and utter devastation to noé in a corset and slicked back hair right right right this isn't bad for my heart at all

we've seen noé hesitate before with astolfo, and vanitas recognized that weakness and immediately switched their tactic bc of it. but now that they're fighting EACH OTHER, vanitas can use that knowledge against him. bc johann is absolutely right. vanitas is much more willing to fight to the death, even if it destroys himself in the process, bc he knows what it is to be completely powerless and he can NEVER go back

vanitas being the one to give luna their name is really devastating the more i theorize that they had the same existential dread and confusion and disgust that vanitas feels about his own identity

i NEED all of the luna backstory right fucking now cause wdym they tried to figure out what they are and then deeply regretted it???????? were they also searching for the answer to "what is salvation" and found something they wished they could un-know? were they also deeply disgusted with themselves and their very existence like vanitas is?

"kill them without fail" as a wretched parallel to "i will save you without fail": the latter being the mantra that vanitas repeats to others as a way to bolster his arrogant vampire doctor persona, the former being the mantra that he repeats to himself as a desperate attempt at survival due to trauma that may or may not stem directly from luna's last words
also reverting back to calling noé "that vampire" is EVIL