The First Thing That Popped On My Head When I Saw This Was Hoshi And His Horanghae Agenda... And Lemme

scratch that, theres barely any video essay on ANY of the female characters on aot. maybe ymir or historia. but no one else.

that fact that theres barely any video essay about mikasa should be evident enough that she didnt get the development she deserved

!!!

i ... searched up how to throw it back ... what have i become???!

is it a sign of mental illness that i have an emotional connection to my calendar?

“Takashi?”

“Yes?”

“You’ve read the latest chapter of my book, right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you, by any chance, remember anything from it?” You sniffle.

Mitsuya halts the balance wheel with a jerk of his hand, his foot freezing under the table at the same time. Did he hear that right? Did your voice quaver slightly and crack in the middle of that sentence? And did you just sniffle? He leans away from his sewing machine, the half-finished dress laying forgotten, and looks to you standing just outside of his work room as if hesitant to come in and his lips are immediately being pulled into a frown: your eyes are tinted scarlet and puffy as if you’ve just been crying, and, when he inspects closer, appear misty; your bottom lip is tucked in to stop it from quivering but Mitsuya still notices, and your fingers ruthlessly plucking the skin around your nails, a habit Mitsuya has come to know comes as naturally to you as breathing yet it seems to intensify when you’re upset or nervous, peeling a layer of skin too deep that speckles of blood pours out.

Mitsuya also scans you up and down, the messy attire you’re wearing isn’t anything new or unusual but there’s a bit of a dark spot near the hems of your shirt that wasn’t there in the morning. He’s sure because the shirt is his, and he was wearing it in the morning and he’s certain he hasn’t spilled any liquid on himself.

All of the evidence piles up to form an image in his mind that he doesn’t like.

When his steady gaze is back to your face, you cower under it, stuttering out an apology for disturbing him and taking a step to go back to your room. But Mitsuya calls for you to wait and you hesitantly do so. a foot ahead of the other.

Mitsuya stands up, swiftly crosses the room and wraps his arms around your stiffen form. “What happened?” he murmurs atop your head. “Tell me and I’ll help you. Unless you just want to vent, in that case, I’ll always listen. So, what happened?”

Silence envelops the room as he waits until you relax in his arms. It takes a while but Mitsuya is patient with you, whispered assurances falling from his lips that you can take your time and that he’ll always be here for you, and rocking you back and forth in a comforting rhythm. When he suddenly feels the bottom of his shirt being pulled, he knows it’s your desperate fingers curling into it as if to urge him closer into you. When you sag your shoulders and your body slowly melds into his and plant your face in his chest, Mitsuya tightens his hold on you.

“My laptop froze while I was writing.” You breath out against Mitsuya’s chest in a wavering voice. “I waited for it to work again and when it came back the last ten pages of my writing suddenly disappeared.”

Mitsuya purses his lips: you had worked a full one and a half month on that chapter, spent countless nights typing away at your laptop even though you had school the next day, researching whatever need be and asking questions to various people for their opinions on a topic or the chapter, including Mitsuya. You had even persevered through a writer’s block for that chapter. Mitsuya recalls a few days back when you jumped up and down in excitement because you had finished writing a particular difficult scene and could now move on to a much easier part. He knows how hard you worked for it and he hates that the universe could ever be this cruel to you.

“I’m sorry.” He whispers helplessly, breath fanning across your forehead and you let out a hiccup, burrowing deeper in his chest and concealing your face from his eyes.

He doesn’t flinch or pull away when he feels a wet patch beginning to form on his shirt, sticking against his warm skin. Nor does he squirm at the thought that he might have some snot on his shirt after this – he’s had far worse things on him. He doesn’t try anything; he simply lets it be, lets you cry your frustrations out and maffle about how unfair it is.

He wishes he could do something but he’s no expert when it comes to technology. He could barely figure out how to take a screenshot on his Samsung phone; he’d be hopeless with a malfunctioning laptop. And so, with a defeated sigh, he curses whichever god dares to pull a prank like this on you and expects to get away with it. But he can deal with that later. Right now, you need here and beside you is where he needs to be, comforting you and helping you.

Mitsuya softly calls your name. When you don’t respond, he lets you indulge in the embrace a few moments before gently pulling away. Your head remains down-casted, hands coming up to hastily erase any evidence of your breakdown, apologizing again for taking too much of his time just for a mess like you.

He frowns. Your name rolls off his tongue with a light yet stern tinge in his tone. “Don’t say that.” He is quick to halt your wrist and stop yourself before you potentially poke your eye. His other hand comes to swipe some hair pasted to your cheek behind your ear, then his palm gently cradles your face. “It’s okay if you take my time. It’s okay if you’re a mess. I don’t mind, I genuinely don’t. And if you need help, I’m more than happy to assist you. Do you understand?”

Your eyes widen for a second, a glazed disbelief reflecting back at Mitsuya but then it’s gone, vanished. And in its place, a brightness shines through in those eyes, the same one that Mitsuya took note of the first time you met and thought were beautiful and one that never fails to calm his heart every time he sinks into the depths of them. There’s a small bob of your head and Mitsuya knows he’s gained your trust and silently vows to never break it.

“Thanks, Takashi.” Your voice is hoarse but it sounds sweet to him anyway. When the corner of your lips curve upwards, a shy tilt, Mitsuya has to stop himself from leaning in and stealing them for a couple of minutes.

Instead, he shows you a tender smile. “Come on, let’s get your laptop checked and buy ice-cream. Then we can slowly re-write those ten pages, okay? I suppose I can also allow you to stay up late tonight – only a lit bit.” He hurriedly adds when your eyes gleamed dangerously. “I’m dragging you to bed when the clock strikes one. You need your sleep.”

And he needs your cuddles.

You pout and are about to protest when Mitsuya leans down and captures your lips into a gentle kiss. Your lips are soft albeit cold but Mitsuya doesn’t mind; he can feel the previous wet trails of your tears on his cheek but Mitsuya doesn’t mind; he can taste the saltiness of your tears in his mouth but Mitsuya doesn’t mind. The only thing on his mind is the feel of your lips against his, how long he’s wanted it and how much longer he wants to have it on him. His hand is still on your cheek and when you both pull apart, heaving, you lean into his touch, sighing.

“Okay.” You huff out. “I’ll sleep at one.”

Mitsuya grins and leans down again, but this time, his forehead meets yours. “Good.” He whispers the word, staring into your eyes as deeply as possible. “I’m sorry I can’t do anything about it.”

“It’s okay.” You whisper back.

“And I’ll always be there for you, okay? We’ll go through life together.”

You sprout a tired but sincere smile when he presses his warm lips to your forehead. And in that little two second kiss which should have lasted one second, Mitsuya decides to pour in all of his promises that no words could truly emphasize into existence: to always make times for you; to always be there for you; to always lend you an ear, a shoulder, his chest, literally any part of his body for you comfort and assistance; to always help you when you need him; to always guide you when you seem lost; to protect you from the cruel gods above and the equally cruel humans below; to always make all of your needs and wants his first priority and lastly, to love and take care of you until his body fatigues and is unable to handle more and his lungs shrivel up like a deflated balloon and his arms are sore and the soles of his feet are pulsing.

Mitsuya promises to love and take care of you eternally because he drinks a lot of milk so he has strong bones. He won’t ever tire.

That’s also a promise.

aiku ... baby, i was rooting for you

also i have a feeling hes gonna name his kids after mikey

somehow

idk how

mikey 2.0???

mikey but spelled differently like the name mikey gives him???

pls he's such a softie. this just speaks to how sweet he rlly is, he couldve easily ignored the kids but he didnt. he tried to help them calm down and stop crying. he views himself as useless even though the steps he took would say otherwise. sure he might not have been successful in trying to get the kids to stop crying but the thing that matters is he tried to make the situation better.

thats better than just standing around and witnessing a kid getting lost from their parents.

he's naturally this kind and caring.

(he'd make a good father too. hina rlly did bag the most kind-hearted man.)

i really love this cover (is it called a cover??? art???)

its just so cooool!

draken's stance just asserts power. yet somehow its also amazing nonchalant he makes it seem. the look on his face is so sure, like he's so confident and self-assured. so fierce!!!!!! and that flag!!! i might be reading too much into this but the fact that it's draken who holds the flag reflects how much he really loves his gang. his family.

even in later chapters, in the future when toman had disbanded, he expresses how much he cared for it and perhaps would even continue or start a new one of given the chance.

(but like, boy, are you not cold?)

then we have mikey. the boss.

he's squinting his eyes like he's judging the entire city below him. idk if its just me but his posture seems kinda guarded, closed off. his shoulders look stiff. but aside from that, his little gloved hand is so cute!

and his outfit looks so cool!!!

our mc, takemitchi, paying tribute to erwin.

SHINZO SASAGEYO!!!

anyway... his face!! the determined furrow of his brows, the hardened look of his eyes, fixed lips and jaw - everything screams revenge about him. he really looks like he could kill someone. his face easily stands out to me more than the others just because of those concentrated, prominent features. absolutely powerful.

MY BABYBOY CHIFUYU!!!!

his pose is so cute!!! its kinda sly and gives him this air of mystery and yet it also makes him kinda timid and shy. but those eyes! oh my god. and he's staring straight at us!!

but aside from that, he's the only one sitting down and i wonder if thats purposeful or if he just wanted to pose that way. honestly he might've seen some character in his shojo manga pose like this and decided that he wanna do it too to be "as cool as the main character who is loved by the entire female population but is completely unaware of it and only has eyes for one girl whom he would do anything for." - his words.

shameless rant about tokrev!!!

i wish the female characters in tokrev got to display their fighting abilities more, it would rlly add some more depth to their characterization and i dont mean like they dont have backstories or anything

like some of these girls are real badasses

senju is said to be as powerful as mikey and yet we never see her fight properly??? what was the point??? several characters have commented on her strength, namely wakasa and benkei so then why is she being treated like a fragile little thing. maybe im missing smt but i genuinely dont get why wakasa would tell takemichi to take care of brahman's princess when he himself knows how much strength she possesses. also takemichi cant fight for shit hows he gonne take care of her?

emma is said to have been taught how to fight by her siblings. yet we never see her skills. its a different case if she deliberately chose not to involve herself with gang affairs but what about that battle in the parking lot?? she had the skills to protect herself. even if she does not alter the aftermath of the fight, we wouldve seen her being able to fling two attackers with her umbrella.

yuzuha is the most competent female character i feel like cuz we do actually get to see her fight but idk if its just my memory but i dont actually remember how the fight went. did she beat whoever she was fighting? also i would like to see her more. wish hakkai had invited her to the toman 2.0 so in that way we'd get to see more of her.

hina honestly has such wasted potential. i mean this girl went up to mikey - a person who can knock anyone with just one kick AND whos the leader of a gang - and slapped him in the early episodes! GIRLBOSS BEHAVIOR!!! and then she;s just ... there ... even her promise to protect Takemichi seems weak. i get that shes like the emotional support for takemichi but i wish we got to see her full on blasting guys. imagine ppl just underestimating her cuz shes short and fragile-looking and a GIRL. then she goes and knocks up everyone who charges at her, dislocating their jaw, breaking teeth, three punch to the chest, four to the sides and one special to the groin and she has five guys kneeling at her feet. i feel like she would also like to do some emotional damage while grabbing a guys arm and twisting it like 'damn, you must not be very strong if a mere 5 ft girl can just snap u like a twig'

i would also like to see a female gang like pls wakui-sensei make it happen plz

tokrev has little female characters as it is but to have the ones we do get to be just on the sidelines and only appearing when our mc needs a boost is wasted potential. we couldve had some rlly entertaining stuff like the toman members teaching the girls how to fight or the girls getting together for a trip when they get harassed and boom! the harassers are crying for their moms with blood running down their nose.

im hoping the battle between kantou and toman 2.0 will have senju bring out the monster in her. i wanna see the senju ppl compare to mikey. the one wakasa and benkei praised. the one who was the leader of a gang she formed herself, a gang which was infamous in tokyo and which was one of the three deities.

plz

have senju go wild

im begging here

Writer culture is having no energy or time to write during the day so u gotta wait till like 3 am for that random energy burst™

.

its 2: 23 am, everyones asleep, and here i am, on my bed, crying my eyes out cuz yuugo and lucas sacrificed themselves for emma and the others fuck