He was only Toast

Wylan's red curls. The same ones as Marya.

Hey everyone, here’s the latest chapter! This month’s chapter had little dialogue, thus I was able to manage it with the help of of lovely @ryota-kunstranslations​ who made the translation quick while I handled the rest. This chapter was awesome because we got to see Mahiru and Kuro using a new power and there’s still more that we need to find out about Touma! Also, new reference that I have written a little about. Enjoy!

Pandora opened the box twice. The first time, she did it out of curiosity and accidentally unleashed human evil into the world. She did close it before hope could escape. After she realized her mistake, she cried and her husband came to ask her what happened. Pandora opened the box again to show him that it was empty. That was when hope was released into the world.

The myth of Pandora’s box teaches you not to be curious. There’s also a lesson there about opening up to someone else who supports you after you fucked up (because that’s when hope entered the world.)

“Some may say, a medicine has been planted to make long-suffering mortals forget their troubles, to save their lives.” -From Nonnus Dionysiaca, where “medicine is hope”

Mahiru is now that hope at the bottom of the locked box that is Touma’s heart.

I also want to talk about Elpis herself. She’s the spirit of hope and she’s associated with Pistis (trust), Sophrosyne (restraint) and the Kharites (grace, beauty, etc). While the other “Spirits of Good” flew back to Olympus when the box was opened, Elpis was the only spirit that stayed behind to comfort humans left behind in misery. I always interpreted that Elpis did this because she could sympathize with the humans after being in the box. 

Mahiru, my kind sunshine son, always finds a way to sympathize with other characters (Kuro, Tsurugi, etc). That’s why he’s always reaching out to others and helping them.

“When the lid was put back on the jar, Elpis was kept inside. That is why Elpis alone is still found among the people, promising that she will bestow on each of us the good things that have gone away.” -From Aesop’s Fables

Elpis is also said to be the counterpoint to Moros (the spirit of doom) much like how the Eves act as the “Truth”/opposite of their Servamp’s sin. It is important to note that the Seven Deadly Sins or Heavenly Virtues does not appear in Greek Mythology so that’s not the best parallel.

Was rereading some of the stuff from Parallel Summer event (which you can find a translation of the full event here! Please give Ryota’s hard work some love and appreciation💕)

And Kuro’s route kills me because… How much does Kuro love Mahiru, you ask? (spoilers for Kuro’s route under the cut!)

This appears after he finishes using Elpis (Proof of Hope) on Touma

QED, Quad Erat Demonstrandum

“Used at the end of a mathematical or logical proof, it means ‘what was to be shown’

another way to write it that makes it more obvious what’s trying to be said is “thus it is proven”

The “proof” in “proof of hope” stands for both literal proof that hope exists inside the target, and for a mathematical proof (which are a pain in the ass, my god)

But why that? Why give that to Mahiru? Easy. The same reason Sakuya’s favorite subject is math.

It’s simple. There is only ever one logical, correct answer. And for Mahiru? The only correct answer is that hope, invariably, without a doubt, exists.

Sometimes I remember that there are people out there who think Mahiru is boring, annoying, etc, and… I get so confused, because are we reading the same series? Watching the same show? Mahiru’s not boring at all! Like every single other character in the series, on the surface level he appears to be a one dimensional amalgamation of tropes and cliches, but then you dig a little deeper, look a bit more closely at how he acts, and it’s obvious he’s so much more

He’s a kid who’s terrified of being abandoned, so he makes himself as useful to the people around him as possible so they’ll always need him. He’s lonely, and even in the very beginning, he never wanted to show his negative feelings to his friends because he was scared that they’d get tired of him. Even now, he can’t bring himself to cry in front of others, instead hiding away or waiting until he thinks he’s alone to let his tears fall, such as when Kuro was stuck in the ball or at Gear and Youtarou’s flat.

He’s a perfect foil to Tsubaki because instead of letting his melancholy emotions consume him and shutting everyone out under the assumption, the fabricated falsehood, that no one will ever understand the pain he is feeling, he overcame and transformed them, accepting those feelings for what they are and moving forward even when it’s hard, using the sorrow he has felt to relate to and help others because even if it’s impossible to completely understand, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.

But, the thing that makes him such an important character not just in the series, but to me, personally… Is that he doesn’t just want to be that “someone” who helps others when they have nowhere else to turn, he is that someone. He doesn’t just stand around waiting for someone else, someone else, oh won’t someone else do something.

His nagging isn’t nagging, it’s care, because have you seen this cast? Nothing would ever get done without him around to keep everyone on task!

He is a representation of everyone that has ever held a hand out to those who are hurting, a normal, everyday person with his normal, everyday fears and hurts. A normal, everyday hero.

Saint Alban was a Roman patrician who lived in Roman Britain in approximately the 300s. A Christian priest by the name of Amphibalus took refuge in his home and inspired him to convert to Christianity. When the authorities came for Amphibalus, Alban offered to be executed in his place. Servamp begins with Mahiru giving shelter to a stranger, a stranger that gets him involved in a very different way of life. Mahiru’s whole schtick is taking on things because no one else will do it up until dying for it. After speaking with Gear, Mahiru thought that he could save Kuro and everyone else by dying. 

Another connection between Kuro and Amphibalus is that the root of Amphibalus’ name is the word for “cloak”. Human Kuro wore a cloak on the day of his death. When Mahiru enters Kuro’s mindscape or uses Elpis, he wears the cloak Kuro wore to his execution.

The story goes that Saint Alban crossed the River Thames on the way to his execution. Before hearing that he needed to die to save everyone, Mahiru fell into a river after being transported from Japan by the Tsukimitsu siblings. Which river was that again?

More name connections: Saint Alban was killed in a field covered in wildflowers and as a patrician he was probably some kind of aristocrat. Mahiru’s surname Shirota means “castle in a field”.

One more thing: The town where Saint Alban lived and died was called Verulamium, which was probably from the Brittonic Uerulamion meaning “tribe of the broad hand”.  

one of the main narrative involving sloth pair is pointing out that both of them have a habit of uselessly sacrificing themselves

starting with kuro who took the blame for the other villagers to save them, only for those villagers to be sacrificed to revive him. then he volunteered to take on the responsibility to kill st germain even though he hates killing, which ended up making his relationships and mental health fell apart and in the end theres still a chance for st germain to be revived

with mahiru you already mentioned that he took on jobs nobody else wanted to do, which stems from his fear of being alone. if he’s useful nobody will leave him behind right? except him overworking himself has never been the prerequisite for him to not be alone. because he’s loved for the person that he is, not what he can do

The fact that Mahiru is crying here is actually an important character detail.

Mahiru is the type of person who does not cry where people can see him UNLESS he is so physically and emotionally overwhelmed he can't contain it

He shed tears when Tooru was stabbed

He cried in YouGear's shower, when he was alone

He cried when Licht magically induced it

And he cried over Kuro being stuck in a ball... Because he thought Kuro couldn't see him--

Which i find interesting because as a child he was a MUCH bigger cry baby, as shown during a flashback panel when his mom came home and Tooru was in the middle of comforting him. personally I think it's less he "grew up" and more he ended up like. Thinking his tears were a burden post his mother's death and that if he were a happy child, people would love him

Which dovetails very nicely into another aspect of Sakuya and Mahiru's relationship.

This scene from Misono's route during Parallel Summer

And this scene from the 10th anniversary Drama CD's 6th track (which was basically just the SakuMahi show DHFGDJ. Like Mahiru talking to Sakuya like a dog and Sakuya being into it, hello?? i'd pay good money for mahi to do the thing where you hold your hand out and your pet is supposed to put their chin in your palm, except Sakuya is the pet. squish he face, thank you)

aNYWAY, those two scenes!!

Mahiru has spent so much time trying not to be a burden to people, giving away pieces of himself, his time, his everything, to others so that he won't be lonely

But Sakuya? He lets himself be selfish and demanding with him in a way that benefits himself, first and foremost

And it's... Special. For a person like Mahiru to be comfortable enough to say "I want that. Get it for me."

Mahiru tries so hard to be self sufficient and do everything for everyone. He doesn't ask for help--

But he'll ask Sakuya for something as mundane as winning him a prize, which, when you're averse to ANYONE thinking that you're annoying or not worth the time... Small things are HUGE

And man, i Cannot get over Mahiru getting annoyed with Mikuni and telling Sakuya to just fucking get his ass because yes it's crack but like... Servamp's silly drama tracks are crack rooted within canon characterization. Nothing happens that would be out of character, the way the 4koma are technically crack but also canon.

like those two pains are repeated, consistently, throughout character relationships and arcs.

Iduna and Shuuhei

Yumikage, Jun, and Tsurugi

Mahiru and Kuro

Lawless and Ophelia

Kuro and Gear

Lily and Misono

Tooru and Touma

Sakuya and Mahiru

On and on and on and on, we see these characters put forward their best efforts and later be confronted with "oh. i was wrong. oh. i was hurting you. What you needed and what I thought you needed were different. What you needed and what I wanted you to need made me hurt you. Getting close hurts. Staying away hurts. So what do we do?"