#k meta

When Yata lost his home, he was in a sad slump and blamed everyone for leaving. When Kamamoto was injured, he said Anna was kidnapped. What broke him out of it was that Anna needed him, so he had to act. 

Before, Yata assumed that everyone liked the same things. That was until he saw Anna struggle with controlling her powers. Her talk with Kusanagi made him realize he never understood what Mikoto was thinking. He realized that Anna would not run things like Mikoto does. He chooses to follow her and Honor Anna’s opinion. He grew from that self-centered mindset. 

That Yata noticed it later I think we could chalk up to his character development, that he’s getting better at reading things that aren’t said. In the Homra years I think the fact that they didn’t communicate is basically one of the main points that led to the issues between them, because Fushimi wouldn’t say anything and Yata couldn’t understand things that weren’t said. There’s something Gora mentioned once about how the two of them are like a married couple where the wife says she wants a divorce and the husband thinks ‘but we were doing well weren’t we,’ I like to bring that up in a ‘lol they are married’ way but it also illustrates the mindset they were both in at that time — to Fushimi, these issues are huge and glaring and obvious, while to Yata there isn’t any issue at all and everything is fine. 

Yata’s aware as soon as Side Red that he and Fushimi haven’t spent a lot of time together and that Fushimi’s become harder to hang out with, but the important thing here is that Yata doesn’t realize that this is problem. Like to Yata, they’re still partners, they’re still best friends. Sure, Fushimi’s being more standoffish than usual but hey, that’s just how Fushimi is, he’s not a personable guy, he’ll come around. Yata knows that they aren’t communicating as much but he also I think just figures this is something Fushimi will get over. Plus, it’s not like Fushimi is doing all the heavy lifting here — the part where Yata mentions noticing all this in Side Red is when he and Fushimi were supposed to watch Honami’s place, and Fushimi bailed on it. Here was a chance for them to hang out and communicate, and Fushimi rejected it. Similarly at the amusement park later in the novel, while other people were there it’s not like Fushimi couldn’t have stuck close to Yata to hang out even with other people around, but Fushimi went off on his own. Since Fushimi was so openly avoidant to spending time together I could easily see where Yata gets the idea that this is just Fushimi being Fushimi and there’s no need for him to ask if Fushimi’s all right because surely Fushimi would say something if he was upset (Fushimi: lol no).

By contrast we know that Munakata also has a high intellect but he seems to be insatiably curious about everything, even something as simple as surfing is interesting to Munakata simply because he’s never done it before. Munakata never gets tired of doing puzzles, never gets tired of learning new things, never gets tired of drinking his tea or trimming his bonsai, never gets tired of moving forward towards his goal. Niki is explicitly mentioned as being someone who in the process of growing up “did not experience the ‘expansion of objects of interest’” and that he was destroying things all the time, it doesn’t seem like he really had any familial ties at all. Munakata however despite being different from his family is still very attached to them and accepted all their affection even though he knew that they would never fully understand him (I was rereading Case Files a while back and I like how that novel put it, that people would say to Munakata’s parents ‘the kite has bred a hawk,’ and then the novel states ‘but the kite loved the hawk,’ that Munakata is different but his family deeply loves him anyway). It’s revealed in this chapter that Niki even went overseas for school the way Munakata did but where it seems like Munakata took the time to learn and broaden his education Niki just got bored and played around and was eventually expelled.

Is it childish of me to say that i'd change the scene where Reisi pins Mikoto to the ground at the Ashinaka Island shrine? Instead of just pinning him down, I'd like Reisi to kiss him, or maybe fuck him. but that's a fangirl fantasy. The animators were never going to give us that.

If we're being more realistic, I think I'd have liked a much stronger explanation for why Shiro couldn't help Reisi during that fight with the Grey King at Mihashihara Tower. He deflects a few bullets with his magical umbrella, but he doesn't do much else. I know he holds Anna, but he could have had Kuro or Neko take her away and help Reisi. That scene lacked any logical coherence for me and it solidified my dislike of Shiro (which isn't Shiro's fault, but the writers' fault).

We have had so much fun with Strains on this blog, I swear. I think Mikoto would be the more fun one to turn into a dog because please drop what you're doing and imagine a fire-wielding dog. It's too good to be left alone, right?

What kind of dog do you think Mikoto would be, though? Something huge, paradoxically lazy but muscled, and gorgeous - maybe a greyhound then? Or maybe something that seems scarier, like a pit bull? [Reisi would be a chatty chihuahua, if anyone wants to know. Don't @ me on this one. I'm not taking other opinions.] I think maybe he's a pit bull, but an especially lazy one.

His clan knows it's him because he gets hit in the middle of a battle with a bunch of random thugs on their turf. Izumo sees him get hit, and a few second later, there's a speckled white and grey pit bull with golden eyes sitting on top of Mikoto's clothes. Izumo finds this hilarious, frankly.

All of Homra are amused, except for Yata, who keeps wanting Kusanagi-san and Totsuka-san to stop cracking up at the sight of the Red King. Even Anna smiles a little as she jumps up on the couch to pet him.

Mikoto's not bothered, really. The only drawback is that he can't smoke. But he can still nap. And he was about to do just that when Izumo insisted they go to S4 and have them analyze the Strain's powers. (The Strain got away because Homra's top members were distracted by pit bull Mikoto.) Maybe S4 can help them.

Mikoto can't talk, exactly. But he can growl. So he does, making it inescapably clear what he thinks of this plan. Homra doesn't really need an interpreter for Mikoto's disgruntled growls, but if they did, they'd have Anna, who finds she can easily read the fire-engine loud "Hell no!!!!" Mikoto's putting out.

They show up to S4, and the first person they run into is Seri, who's pissed because how dare you brutes bring a dog into S4 headquarters? She's insisting they get out, but Izumo explains and she stops mid-sentence to peer at the Red King.

Do dogs look bored? Because she swears this one does. In any case, the golden eyes give it away.

Reluctantly, she leads Izumo, Anna, and dog Mikoto into Munakata's office. (They left Yata at Homra because things are touchy enough without him fighting everyone at S4. Totsuka's responsible for babysitting the bar.)

Munakata is never surprised, we know. But he lifts a brow when Izumo explains what happened. His eyes take on a mischievous glint when he looks at Mikoto and says, "Are you housebroken, Mikoto?"

Mikoto is tempted - oh soooooo tempted - to piss on the tatami in Munakata's precious office. But he knows Reisi will make him suffer from sex withdrawal if he does. So he holds himself back. Barely.

Reisi kneels in front of him and scratches him under the chin. Typically, animals are terrified of Reisi (this is canon), but Mikoto's never been afraid and he won't be now. He continues scratching under Mikoto's chin, utterly delighted by the way Mikoto's tail wags. "Cute," he says. "I'd might enjoy keeping you like this."

There's a silence, because like so many of Munakata's jokes, this one wasn't funny.

Anna pipes up. "Mikoto says, "If you keep it up, when I get back to normal, I'll push you into that couch and show you the meaning of doggystyle"."

There's another silence. Mikoto's all thinking, "I probably shouldn't have said that." Izumo's thinking, "Maybe I shouldn't have brought Anna, but we needed an interpreter." Reisi is thinking, "I truly hope Kushina Anna has no idea what Mikoto means." And Seri is thinking, "Homra is no place to raise a child."

Anna only answers Seri. "It is," she says quietly.

Reisi stands and sighs. "I hoped you'd be trainable in your current form, but I suppose I was mistaken."

Anna replies, "Mikoto says, "I'm going to kill you"."

Given that Mikoto's in no state to fight him seriously, Reisi continues being an ass. "Sit, sit," he says, making a sitting motion with his hand. "Now stay. I need to call the infirmary and see if they can scan you." He picks up the phone, dials a few numbers, and waits for the line to connect. He can't help himself, so he teases, "Who's a good boy, hmm?"

All the dog jokes stop immediately when Mikoto hurls a fireball through the bamboo poles that mark off the tea room in Reisi's office.