Anth-onii

Fierce mafia-aligned warrior who was exiled from her family due to botching her orders on an incredibly important assassination, with an injured eye, known and feared for her incredible martial prowess, characterized for being absolutely unbreakable and mentally unstable, but who does intentionally play up said mental instability for strategic reasons and is in fact quite introspective and frighteningly analytical, who treasures freedom above everything and hates being controlled by others.

That's Lappland. That's Majima if Majima was a wolf woman.

However, Texas isn't Lappland's Kiryu, Texas is far more important: Texas is Lappland's Nishitani.

Texas rebelling against everything that was her famiglia life, setting fire to quite literally all she was, and then parting the lifestyle on her own terms made Lappland, who saw this, extremely angry and extremely happy. This anger wasn't directed at Texas, mind you, it was directed at herself: Lappland hated the famiglia life, Lappland hated being in the mafia, adhering to their rules, being a mere weapon and tool raised by her garbage father for the exclusive purpose of Continuing The Saluzzo Family As Per His Vision, without any regard as to what Lappland herself wanted to do. It broke her.

It brings to mind the story about the child elephant that was shackled to a wooden stake on the ground, and even after it became a massive adult elephant, it never moved from its spot, because it was shackled. Someone then told the elephant, hey, you are so big and strong, that stake is not at all stopping you. The elephant was shocked when its slightest movement removed the stake, and it was free. It never tried, because when it was little, it couldn't overcome the stake, and then it never tried again because it just assumed it couldn't be done.

That's Lappland. She hated hated hated the life. She had given up. Then, she witnessed Texas simply pull out the stake as if it was nothing. You can do that? You straight up can do that? Furious. Lappland knew anger that day. At herself, because it took someone else to realize something she simply could've done herself ages ago.

And that's when her very first defiance, her first tug at the stake, came: She was ordered to kill Texas, as that would mean the very last Texas was dead and the Saluzzos could seize all their assets. Lappland threw the duel on purpose, letting Texas walk out alive and dealing a massive blow to the reputation of the Saluzzo family, effectively getting back at her garbage father.

It was that simple all along. Lappland realized you can just walk out. You can hit the bricks. You can simply not do the thing.

And she hit the bricks.

It finally contextualized Lappland's obsession with Texas: It's because Texas dared to do what she didn't even dare to think was possible. Remember, Lappland's ability to "Silence" is a representation of her incredible analytical ability to see an opponent's skills and counter them perfectly, shutting them down. Lappland wanted to know absolutely everything about Texas because Texas had that dog in her that Lappland envied and admired. Be it by antagonizing her, fighting her, observing her, Lappland decided Texas was exceptional and that she wanted that dog in her, too.

And, eventually, much later, after the conclusion of Portatore dei Velluti, after Lappland, the closest to a protagonist in the event, managed to abso-posi-you-better-believe-it fuck the entire shit out of the famiglias and her garbage father's plans, thus dealing a massive crippling blow to the famiglia agenda and basically taming Zaaro and the other beast lords into becoming her funnels, effectively living up to her own personal philosophies whilst crushing that which she hates the most in the world, and getting the climatic showdown she wanted with Texas on her own terms and her own terms alone... She's kind of done with Texas.

Her Files show how after Velluti... They sort of just are acquaintances. They shared a drink, made water cooler talk, aight bro stay safe good luck, they went on their ways.

Because now Lappland finally had that dog in her -- and around her, as attack drones -- and had successfully utilized that dog to undermine and demolish that which she truly hated. Mission complete. Lappland won't shackle herself ever again, not even to an obsession. And you know Texas' blood pressure was much better after that day, too, given that she finally kinda understood what Lappland's whole deal was at long last, because man, it prooooobably was stressful to know you are in the sights of the Living Shitdozer 9000 and all you can guess is that she wants revenge for that duel years ago. How was Texas supposed to know Lappland was on her own fucked up and huge bildungsroman that happened to have her as the Wise Master character from whom she learned how to have that dog in her?

i got this photo with gus from breaking bad and the conversation went like this