NG++++++

happy pride and HAPPY BIRTHDAY AKECHI !!!

Haru, more than anyone, would understand WHY akira loves akechi despite everything. She still loves her father after all the awful shit he did. Its not something you can control, and she knows this!

And I feel like haru would never stop true love because she was almost forced into an arranged marriage. The freedom to love whoever you want no matter what people may say is haru's THING. so no she wouldn't stop talking to akira over him still loving akechi.

aftermath:

the long awaited sequel

bonus:

thanks sm :> always happy to share the brainrot lmao

additional headcanons under the cut:

Akechi comes in with the idea of maybe flirting with this teenager in attempts to gain information but is immediately blindsided by how affectionate Ren is. It starts with small touches—on the shoulder, on the small of the back, on the waist, through the hair—but quickly evolves to the point of smooches and held hands and cuddles. He doesn’t even do this with the other thieves, only Akechi.

It becomes sort of impossible for Akechi to understand if this is a platonic or a romantic thing because Ren never bothers explaining, despite protestations. They’re never sexual, exactly, never exploitative feeling, but just friendly in a way Akechi cannot comprehend. He loves it, and that pisses him off.

Bonus:

Akechi eventually reciprocates and even kisses Ren on the lips. This, for some reason, causes Ren to devolve into a flustered, embarrassed mess.

Akechi: Why the hell are YOU embarrassed? You’re the one who’s usually all over me.

Ren: I didn’t— I wasn’t— if I had known we were being romantic, I would’ve been more of a gentleman!

Akechi, realizing and then standing to flee: You— you weren’t… then I just… oh god damn it.

Ren, grabbing his arm: NO! No, I was being romantic. I promise.

Akechi: You were?

Ren, putting on a brave face: Y-yes

Akechi: Prove it.

Ren: I... Akechi! Will you go on a date with me?

Akechi: Oh my god.

Teammates!? Friends!? To hell with that! Why am I inferior to you!? I was extremely particular about my life, my grades, my public image! So someone would want me around! I am an ace detective! A celebrity! But you... You're just some criminal trash living in an attic!! So how!? How does someone like you have things I don't!? How can such a worthless piece of trash be more special than me!? This argument is MEANINGLESS!!

This speech is easy enough to remember—I have most of it memorized—but what's less easy to remember is what happens before it. The Thieves (notably minus Joker) are desperately pleading with Akechi to turn against Shido. This culminates with Morgana saying (transcript taken from this website):

Follow your true feelings...! Even if you think people hate you or don’t want you around, that’s--

The "true feelings" Morgana is referencing here is Akechi's """"friendship"""" with Joker, but more specifically Akechi's desire to do good or to be a normal kid. Some of the pleading that the Thieves have been doing is Joker themed (talking about the smile they shared before the first part of the fight), but the majority of it is about trying to get Akechi to see past his self-worth issues and to recognize that he can be wanted.

Anyway, all of this is to say that I find it hilarious that he chooses to respond like this:

Why am I inferior to you!?

But you... You're just some criminal trash living in an attic!!

How does someone like you have things I don't!?

Joker hasn't spoken since before the beginning of the fight. He seemingly has no interest in joining the Thieves in talking Akechi down from evil, probably because he knows that this is not the way to do it. And yet, despite this, Akechi's is only talking to and about Joker in his speech.

You could maybe read the first "you" as referring to the Thieves in general, but he makes sure you can't read it that way for long, clearly referring to Joker with the lines about criminal trash. It's really quite beautiful, and somewhat hilarious, how Joker is really the only person he deems worthy of his attention and his loathing (and his loving). He snaps in response to the Thieves' prodding, but when he does snap it's literally entirely Joker-themed. In a way, Joker is the only conduit through which Akechi can feel his own emotions and snap out of the major dissociation that plagues his life.

Life is beautiful!

(OG image under the cut)

not for lack of a bed

I see it occasionally as a theme throughout shuake works, and it never makes sense to me.

Akechi’s entire story is about agency, the ways he’s been stripped of it, and the ways he copes with that. To steal is heart is to reinforce the idea that his agency doesn’t matter.

Stealing hearts is a form of ego-death. The person before having their heart stolen and then afterwards are not the same. And so, in choosing to steal his heart, we deny him the chance to ever realize that he is good enough on his own, without having to be a different person. This isn’t to say he doesn’t have to change—he should certainly stop murdering people at the last—but we have to acknowledge that the capacity for good is inside him and wants to be brought to the forefront.

This isn’t even to say I disagree with stealing hearts entirely—I think it’s a stand in for violent resistance which I do agree with in some cases—but with Akechi it’s a pretty clear no go.

I think of the line, “why couldn’t we have met a few years earlier?” It’s a very honest line because it is a recognition of regret. As little as he allows himself to admit it, he does regret where things are. He does have the capacity for good.

Akechi’s entire life has been a series of difficult choices, milestones he holds onto as proof of his agency. His choice to kill, his choice to team up with Shido, his choice to shoot Ren. But in reality, these are not markers of agency. He didn’t choose to kill, not really. He was manipulated, first by a system that wanted him dead and then by a man who wanted him as a weapon. He never had agency.

To steal Akechi’s heart is to say “I don’t believe you have the ability to change, and I refuse to give you the agency to prove otherwise.” It is wrong, and it is a misreading of his character, in my opinion.