[Icon ID: Reborn, from the manga Katekyo Hitman Reborn. He's in his cursed form, dressed in a kimono, eating noodles. He says, "Ciaossu ~." His hair is blond. /End ID] | [Header ID: A bush of yellow flowers against the blue sky. /End ID] | French black woman | She/her | 20+ | Multifandoms but a KHR-centric blog | Find me on ao3 and ffnet | Read About Me | Read About my WIPs | Drop me an ask about anything whenever!
Imagine, for a moment, that your internet just stopped loading images one day. Your dash might look pretty different (and less usable), but at least you can still make posts — whether about your internet situation, or about completely unrelated topics.
Now, imagine that one or more of your posts blew up, to the tune of hundreds if not thousands of notes. Imagine people started adding images to your posts.
Imagine your post circulating almost entirely in the form with four or five images attached, and with everyone in the notes laughing about those images — except you, who started the post in the first place, who can't even see those images because you're trapped in Tumblr's loading gradient hellscape.
You're excluded from any further conversations on your own post, because someone added a mystery image with the caption "don't leave this in the tags," but you have no idea which set of tags it is, and can't tell if it's one of the good takes from the tags or one of the horrible takes from the tags. You're excluded from the Tumblr users playing with JPEGs like dolls. You can try to guess the contents of the images based on people's reactions, but it's hard. And no one adding images even seems to notice the irony.
This is, of course, a real problem plaguing Tumblr users with regularly slow internet. And it's also a huge, insidious problem plaguing blind and low vision people who rely on either screen readers, or image descriptions in combination with enlarged text on their device.
People with disabilities around comprehending images, people who have images (or gifs) disabled due to photosensitivity, and many others are also affected.
If you add an image to a post without either alt text, an in-post image description, or even both for maximal inclusivity, you don't know if OP — or the person whose tags you're peer reviewing, or whose reply you're screenshotting — will actually be able to see it. From their perspective, you might just be shoving a mystery rectangle in their face, expecting them to be able to guess — or responding to them without them being able to know.
Imagine being on the receiving end of that expectation constantly. Imagine how isolating that must feel.
We need, collectively, to stop making assumptions that everyone we interact with online will be able to access, physically see, and mentally process images. The assumption that disabled people are vanishingly rare and statistically shouldn't really need to be considered is an assumption of structural and/or implicit ableism.
Write image descriptions. Write image descriptions for every image you post, if you're able — but if you have limited energy, or you're still learning, you should at least start trying your absolute best to describe images you add to other people's posts. If you're starting a conversation, even an online conversation, you should make your best effort to be accessible.
So: Write IDs, especially if they're as simple as just text, like screenshotted tags (link to guide). Write IDs even if you think the best ID you can write is too short, or too incomplete (link to post explaining why even "bad" IDs help).
Write IDs in general (link to a huge compilation of guides). Challenge ableist assumptions and inaccessibility.
So, I'll confess, I found out about Daemon long before I actually got to his introduction in the anime and I was fully prepared to dislike him. From what I'd seen, he was an evil, evil man and hated everything that Primo represented. But that's not what I saw when I watched him in the anime. Yes, he hates the ideal that Primo fought for... is what he *wants* you to think. But he doesn't truly. You can see it in the way he looks at Tsuna when Tsuna reveals himself to be similar to Primo. He loves him, he loves the Sky that he betrayed and I think that's why he did it. Daemon saw how the world was changing around them and, more importantly, how it *wasn't*. Primo, for all of his good intentions, wasn't changing everything, wasn't able to save everyone, so Daemon, whose job as the Mist is to cloud the enemy's vision of the Family, took it upon himself to protect the Vongola that he loved so much. Now, before someone says something about Daemon's comments of Primo "disappointing" him, yeah, Primo *did* because Primo couldn't see what Daemon thought was the only solution to the issue: make the Vongola feared so that no one would dare to hurt him, to hurt *Primo*. So yes, Daemon betrayed him, but it wasn't out of hatred for Primo, it was out of a love from a man that felt he was the *only one* who feared for the future where Primo's legacy would be lost. At least if the Vongola were feared, all would remember what they started as.
[Plain text: "The Thing About Daemon Spade" /End PT]
oh, hm, hello there zegsgd? 👀 i'm assuming you wouldn't mind if i were to add my two cents haha, so let me see if i can add some more food for thoughts!
it's been a minute since i reread the shimon arc tho, and i'm also not that big (or at all) on daemon/the first gen, but as much as i agree with what you said overall, imo the whole thing about daemon stems from his love for elena and from her ensuing death much more than his feelings for primo. so i feel like it's a... disservice? maybe even misguiding so to speak to remove her from the picture entirely.
now of course, primo and the relationship he had with him is also very important to understand daemon's motives! for me, the chain of events that led to daemon being who he became when we meet him during the shimon arc goes something like this: "as vongola grows stronger, so does the number of their enemies > where primo does not want to become like them in the process of guarding and protecting themselves from them, daemon wants them to assert themselves as the most powerful and most fearsome so no one would even dare to think to go against them > he allows primo to do it his way, and loses elena soon after at the hands of the enemies he'd advised primo they should get rid of while they still could > he blames primo for it as a way to cope, because if he'd have just listened to him, maybe elena would still be alive > (he blames himself for it because if he'd have just made vongola stronger, even if it meant going against primo's wishes, maybe elena would still be alive)". and so because the same vongola elena loved failed to save her, and for him to deal with the guilt and grief he felt about it, he started on his quest to make vongola the strongest, straying it away from what all three of them, elena, daemon and primo alike, loved about vongola.
because that's the thing, right? the... tragedy? that might be a too strong word for it, but you get what i mean. all three of them had the belief the weak and innocents should be protected and have the right to not be trampled upon by the strong just because they lacked the power the strong have. and all three of them put in the work to turn that belief into reality. that's what vongola was created to do and the very foundation it was built upon for a time, until daemon twisted it into something else.
which i think is interesting too, the way daemon and primo did share the same belief, but inevitably ended up with diverging ones when it came to how to turn that belief into reality in a long-standing manner. as in, it's good they managed to rise vongola to a more and more powerful position from where they could do more and more of a difference, but it also means figuring out how to guard themselves from the other powers in place that might want to use them or turn them into something else or get rid of them. and looking at their respective backgrounds, imo it couldn't be helped they thought differently as to how to do that.
primo, who came from nothing, left to fend for himself and those he cared about on his own, only wanted as much power as needed to keep doing just that. if they already had enough strength to keep themselves safe and win against the enemies coming their way, that was enough. he couldn't trust they wouldn't just become more of the same kind of powerful people disregarding the weak and innocents to secure and preserve that power. not when, regardless of how good those wielding that power may have been, all he knew from when he lived all the way down at the bottom of the social ladder, is that those living there are left no choice but to become sacrifices to the ripples of that power when put to use. does it matter then if it was put to use for a good cause or a good reason or by a good person? he just couldn't risk vongola to lose its way and stray away from the very reason it was created for, were he to allow it to strive for power for the sake of power.
but daemon, on the other hand, came from a place of privilege, was born into it. of course, as we saw and know, that didn't stop him from realizing that privilege shouldn't be built upon the suffering of those who lack it and how wrong it is that it's the case anyway, but that's the thing, isn't it? because he grew up to have his heart in the right place anyway, to be good and care for those below him and how he could help them and better their lives from the more privileged place he was born into, (and knew others in the same position as him were able to do so too, like elena,) he doesn't believe the problem is power in and of itself. where primo experienced that power comes with the inherent suffering of those it looks down upon, daemon believes it's only a matter of making sure the right people are the ones wielding that power. and so if they were the ones to wield it and to wield the most powerful of that power too, they could simply get rid of the bad people also wielding power and using it in the wrong ways.
would they have been able to find a compromise if elena didn't die in the circumstances she did soon after it was time to decide on the matter? i don't know, but i know i can see where both of them were coming from, and even if primo was the one who was proven right in the end looking at what vongola turned into at the hands of daemon, i still don't think either of them were wrong either. because how do you even protect yourself or others without power? let alone against those who do have power of their own? or power greater than your own? just look at what happened to elena.
but i'd still like to believe they could have managed to find a compromise and make it work, because i also do believe daemon loved primo and the rest of the guardians too. which is why he allowed primo to keep doing it his way. but elena did die, and we know how things went from there.
so, did he do it all for primo's legacy? well, idk if i'd personally say that. not all of it anyway, not when elena is right there and plays a much bigger part than primo when it comes to daemon's motives. but did he do all he did out of love? yeah!!! i definitely agree with that. out of love for primo too, whose shared beliefs with him and elena allowed all three of them to meet. out of love for the vongola he created and which kept all three of them together, and possibly ended up the only thing he was left of both him and elena, as well as the other guardians. but mostly and first and foremost, out of love for elena.
imo it just all comes down to her. daemon did all he did out of love for her. out of love for the vongola she loved and the one that failed to keep her safe. out of love for how she loved him for wanting to fight for and protect the weak and innocents, and how he failed to keep her, out of all people, safe anyway. out of love for her memory so it would never disappear, no matter what he had to do to preserve it. all he did was repentance and atonement and retribution. it was grief and guilt and pain and loss.
Crazy that tsuna has been saying no to the whole mafia thing from day one, and because they kept forcing it on him anyway, he ended up having to kill someone for the first time at only 14 years old. And everything leading to that took such a toll on him, he even wanted to kill him, wanted byakuran gone because allowing him to live any longer would have been a heavier burden to bear.
Speaking of which, crazy that nono got the memories of that hellish future tsuna had to fight against at the cost of even more of himself and his childhood, and the first thing he thought to say to him was "i think we should make you vongola decimo even sooner than planned. 😊 Also can i please see the ring primo gave you? 🥺👉🏽👈🏽" Like. What about asking him how he felt about killing someone for the first time?? What about fucking apologizing for the fact he had to go through that ordeal because of the title he's making him carry against his will???
"Most moderate vongola boss kind old grandpa nono" don't piss me off. And i knowwww he IS actually, genuinely kind and has his heart in the right place as much as possible for a mafia don and whatnot (that's my personal understanding of his character anyway), but come ON!!!!! He may be a good man and a good mafia don, but he's not good to tsuna. He's certainly not acting or making decisions in his best interest either, regardless of the good that comes out of it (for tsuna, that is) in some aspects and at times (< were it not for him choosing tsuna to become vongola decimo and sending reborn to him, tsuna wouldn't have met or grown close to most of his friends, is namely what i mean). Both things can be true at once. And no, making sure he'll have the skills and strength to survive the mafia and keep himself safe from it through reborn does not count as him acting in tsuna's best interest. That, too, is about ensuring vongola's survival and legacy above all else.
"But he said he'd respect tsuna's decision should he refuse to become vongola decimo during the shimon arc" yeah, he did. And then conveniently did NOT bring it up again after everything was resolved, did he?? "Most moderate vongola boss kind old grandpa nono" and you know what else he fucking said??? "Go capture mukuro or i'll kill you" or whatever the exact threat was. Yeah, that's right, i still fucking remember that and won't let it go. I WILL show this one instance some leniency because reborn was the one reading the letter and we know how much he loves to mess with tsuna, but you know what else nono said? "Go test gokudera's loyalty towards tsuna and kill him should he fail" fuck OFFFF!!!!! Nono i'll fucking kill you in your sleep-- ("the manga was still a gag manga at the time--" okay but that's the DOYLIST reason. But what are we supposed to make of it watsonian-wise???)
Nono nobody could ever make me like you or sympathize with you idc. You ARE!!! ✋🏽 A complex and nuanced and layered character, and yes i do believe you also care about tsuna and want to do right by him as much as you can from your position (same for xanxus, let's throw him in this too while i'm at it lol). ALL THE SAME. I support all of xanxus' wrongs and especially the ones he did against you. 😌 He should have done WORSE even. <3 (< okay, i'm just exaggerating here, i don't actually think that zhdksks. But. I still said what i said. <3)
[ID: A full-color digital fanart of Colonnello, from the manga and anime Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
He's drawn from the back in his adult form. He looks at us over his shoulder, sticking his tongue out. He rests one hand on his hip, the other raised in front of him, with Falco perched on his wrist, facing us. Lal's drawn in a smaller size in the bottom right corner, her arms crossed over her chest, looking to be sulking.
"Colonnello"'s written in white and outlined in blue all over the background. /End ID]
[ID: A full-color digital fanart of Sawada Tsunayoshi, from the manga and anime Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
He's in Hyper Dying Will mode, wearing his X-Gloves Version Vongola Gear. He sits on the floor slightly sideways, leaning against the wall behind him. He looks to the side, with bandages on his face and his shirt riding a little over his hips.
The artist's signature is written in the bottom right corner, with "DO NOT REPOST" written below it. /End ID]
[Video description: Part 3 of 3 of the Tsuna versus Xanxus fight from the anime Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I put the clips together along with their dialogues to each other. It starts by showing Xanxus with his hands frozen, and ends with him fully frozen by Tsuna, with his half of the Sky Vongola ring in his possession. /End VD]
part 1, part 2
Yeah, part 3 is only 3min long lol. I thought of cutting bits of part 2 to make it fit the tumblr 10min long limit, but this took so long to put together, i didn't have the heart for it. I also could have added the whole drama of xanxus being freed from the ice only to lose again (lmao 😂), but i couldn't find it in me to spend more time on this.
Anyway, like i mentioned, i found myself laughing at his crash out here. I know it's a serious scene and all, and it's not really that i don't take it seriously, but it just makes me laugh. "x means ten and i have two x's in my name" he says to the 14yo middle schooler he's having beef with and who also doesn't give a single shit about it. 😭 Maybe it's time to pack it up to spare some of your dignity, king. 💔
On the other hand, you have the coolest AND most impressive AND the most visually pleasing fight of the whole anime, so who's really losing here?? Like, I think it's all the flying that gets me, it's just choreographed in such a fun way to look at. Plus xanxus' guns he shoots flames out of. Hard to go wrong and not pull it off with that combination if you ask me. 🤷🏽♀️ Anyway. If we get a remake of the anime and they don't make their fight at least as good and dynamic as it is here, then what's even the point. (I'll blow up the entire planet if it happens.)
[Video description: Part 2 of 3 of the Tsuna versus Xanxus fight from the anime Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I put the clips together along with their dialogues to each other and some of the commentary from the other characters. It starts with Tsuna getting back up from Xanxus' attack, having succeeded with the Zero Point Breakthrough, although still hurt, and ends as they're clashing head-on, light emanating from their locked hands. /End VD]
part 1, part 3
Although i found myself laughing at some of xanxus' crash outs (sorry 😂), most of the time he was legitimately so scary, like here once his scars cover his face and body. An absolute threat all around. If tsuna didn't get to fight him only a month or so after he was freed from the ice, so still suffering from the side-effects of it for sure, i wouldn't have been surprised at all if he lost. In fact, i'd even argue that it'd be the only believable outcome of their fight.
(Which is the only angle under which i'm personally willing to consider the "xanxus (and the varia in general) wasn't fighting at his best/lost on purpose during the varia arc" btw. Because, i mean. Just look at the video? My guy is clearly at his full power and showing the full extent of his abilities, doing all he can to come out on top. That tsuna has an advantage here because of how freshly out of the ice xanxus is (and how long he was stuck in it to begin with), doesn't take away from his victory. Especially when it's not like it was handed to him by any means. Were it not for the cheat codes of sealing xanxus' flames and making them his as much as possible before that, like i said, i do believe xanxus would have totally kicked his ass lol. But of course, that's just my own personal take on it.)
[Video description: Clips of the Tsuna versus Xanxus fight I put together from the anime Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I kept their dialogues to each other and some of the commentary from the other characters on top of the fight scenes in and of themselves. This is part 1 of 3 of their fight, which ends when Tsuna first appears to have failed to do the Zero Point Breakthrough and suffered the full force of Xanxus' attack. /End VD]
part 2, part 3
I'm thinking of doing a xanxus-focused amv next, and doing my last amv reminded me of how much i love this fight (literally my favorite from both the anime and manga), so i figured i might put all the clips of it together in one video for all our enjoyment. I didn't think it'd take so long to do tho. Definitely longer than the one or two hours i thought it'd take zegfgf. 😭
Everyone was just yapping left and right, xanxus very much included. So good at trash talking he could make it his full-time job lmao. "throw them your gloves" is still the funniest and my favorite thing he says in the whole manga, not even kidding in the slightest. 😂 (Tho when it comes to this fight, tsuna going "do i look like the person i was last night?" was very hot and cool of him. Like, damn king. 😳)
Anyway, i had to cut the video in 3 parts because tumblr doesn't allow videos longer than 10min (as i discovered trying to post it all in one video the first time, and then freaked out when my laptop went into a seizure over it 😭😂). I will post part 2 and 3 in a minute if you want to wait for me to add the links before reblogging the post!
"tsuna's kind" and you want to remain deserving of his kindness
"He won't do that" but he could ☝🏽 first of all, and also very much will should it come to that
"He's understanding" right until he decides it's your turn to be understanding, even if he has to make you understand for it to stick
"He's forgiving" uh-huh, he IS. Unless ☝🏽 he decides to go "a little murder" about it instead, so you know. Let's not take it too much for granted
Which is all to say, the only reason vongola gets away with making tsuna vongola decimo against his will is, in my humble opinion, because he's still only 14 years old. A literal kid, still so young and easily impressionable, easily made to doubt himself in the face of how much bigger than him the world can be, easily made to bear weights that aren't his to carry, like the inevitable collateral damage that'd come out of him fighting for his freedom and happiness.
But a grown-up tsuna? A tsuna who's had the time to grow into who he is, who already knows exactly the kind of fuckery he won't let slide? A tsuna who already knows how much of a natural he is at making people find out after they thought they could fuck around with him? Who already knows he's so good at it, they never even think to fuck around with him again? Lol. Lmao even.
Reborn takes one look at him and almost laughs right in front of him. Of course, he still goes on to tutor him to become vongola decimo. He couldn't possibly pass up the honor of being the one to finely tune the ticking time bomb of a boss vongola's demanding to have
[ID : Screenshot of a tweet from "charlie (@chunkbardey)". It reads, "everyone is on their own journey??? that is horrible maybe let's get into groups of 3-5". /End ID]
[Gifs description expanded upon alt text: gifs of Colonnello from the anime Katekyo Hitman Reborn, alternating with him in his cursed and adult form, and starting with him in his cursed form.
1: He flies in the sky thanks to Falco, shooting Rain flames out of his rifle. The shot’s shown from the side and the back.
2: He shoots bullets out of a rifle, with the sky and mountains behind him.
3: He flies in the sky thanks to Falco, saying something as he gathers Rain flames in his rifle, pointing it upwards. “RAIN ARCOBALENO / COLONNELLO”’s written in blue and all caps at the center of the gif, with “Colonnello” being written in a bigger size.
4: He straightens himself against a blue background, slightly on his profile, looking ahead of himself with a serious look on his face. “COLONNELLO / THE SUPER SOLDIER”’s written in blue and all caps at the center of the gif, with “Colonnello” being written in a bigger size.
5: He’s in mid-air with Lal, who’s also in her cursed form, exchanging blows in hand-to-hand combat, both of them on their profiles. The sky can be seen behind them.
6: He blocks the punch of a soldier while punching him in the stomach, then ducks under the punch of another soldier before throwing him above his head. The sky and mountains can be seen behind him.
The sky’s blue in the gifs where he’s in his cursed form, the same color his name and title are, while it’s light blue in the gifs where he’s in his adult form, the same color his name and title are. /End GD]
Tsuna yelling at Mukuro for letting his friend die when all Mukuro has ever wanted is to stop letting his friends die by killing everyone whos like the ppl that hurt them but she rejected his help and he respects her enough to not make her organs for her but it’s also making her die.
“That’s just your idea of me” BECAUSE EVERYONE HAS ALWAYS READ HIM WRONG but he never corrects them
[ID: 1: The meme reaction of a person yelling with their hands into fists, looking to be very emotional.
2: A page from the manga Katekyo Hitman Reborn from the Rainbow arc. It shows Tsuna and Mukuro talking to each other.
Tsuna's angry, saying, "Now that you're out of prison that shouldn't be difficult for you!! Mukuro!! Are you listening!?"
"What an annoying outsider. Don't interfere."
"Gh.." Tsuna grabs him by his shirt, even angrier. "Are you gonna abandon Chrome!? Wasn't she your friend!? Mukuro!!" he keeps shouting, but Mukuro stays unfazed. "I didn't think you'd be like this."
"That's just your idea of me," he says in response. /End ID]
[ID: Full-color digital fanart of Chrome Dokuro and Rokudo Mukuro, from the manga and anime Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
They're drawn slightly sideways, both holding onto the trident. They seem to be midair, as if they just jumped or are flying, with white feathers fluttering around them. Mukuro holds onto the trident with one hand, his other arm behind Chrome, reaching for the trident over her shoulder. He's smiling while Chrome looks a little more surprised.
They're drawn against a warm yellow rectangle, which almost takes over the overall white background. /End ID]
Haru's really smart btw. She goes to midori middle school, which yams said is one of the hardest elite all-girls schools to get into. Her dad also teaches maths at a university, so that must have helped her too growing up. She also said she has tutoring from five to six. She does gymnastics and is at least good enough to participate in school's competitions, so you know she's athletic. She has that balance and agility and flexibility and core strength going on for her. She's so crafty and good with her hands. The disguises and costumes she's able to make? Girlie could disappear herself and keep living in namimori just fine. She'll butt heads with you to stick up for herself and her opinions. She'll stand by her principles and what she thinks is right no questions asked, even if it means resorting to violence, which she isn't afraid of and will also do without a second thought lmao. She'll wait for you to get out of prison and write you a lot of letters should you ever kill someone. She'll come with you whenever you have to get rid of an enemy family but will pretend she doesn't see any of it for your peace of mind (which was so funny of her actually zjeksjsk 😭😂). She'll test you to make sure you're still a good person worthy of her liking you and confront you about it if it fails. She'll make sure you're a good person full stop if she thinks you're up to no good even if you've never met before. She'll try to kidnap you to keep you safe when the students at your school are targeted and attacked. She'll put on a brave front for you so you can worry less about her and focus on the things you have to do. She's impulsive and reckless and prone to jump to conclusions. But she's also kind and brave and helpful and resourceful and driven and strong-willed and always well-meaning. She's girly and quirky and friendly and hardworking and energetic and fun and always ready to encourage you and cheer you up.
Anyways. I didn't plan to write all that and turn this into crying over what haru's character could have been hours, but here we are. Also i'm not necessarily saying amano should have just made her mafia too and given her a gun or something lol. I do personally think it wouldn't have gone against her character and i'd have enjoyed watching that happen, but i don't mind that she remained a civilian throughout the manga at all. I don't think it makes her uninteresting either, for sure. I'm just saying that not only she had potential, but there was also actual room within the story to make her a well-fleshed out supportive character. Like, my girl has all of this going on for her and what did we get?? Yeah, that's right. 😔
the thing about haru is that she’s everything at once and she’s allowed to be contradictory. she can be a sweetheart & a certified menace at the same time. she’s clever, creative, and full of whimsy but also fully capable of german suplexing someone if they cross a line. she’ll hold your hand through a crisis, give you handmade gifts, and make you laugh with her crazy costumes. she’d help an old lady cross the street and help you hide a body in the same afternoon (and it’s not because she’s morally bankrupt but because she’s loyal enough to ask questions later). every time you think you’ve got her figured out, she immediately proves you wrong.
whenever i remember what amano could’ve done with her character, i gain a new grievance.
