Some Rando: Why Does A Person Like You Follow Someone Like Sawada?

Some rando: Why does a person like you follow someone like Sawada?

Hibari, casually: Sawada is physically capable of destroying all life on planet earth in a matter of seconds.

The rando:...

Hibari: Fortunately for the human species, he is not psychologically capable of doing so.

Hibari: I'm working on it. He'll get there someday.

The rando: ... wait what

tsuna and gokudera’s dynamic is “no one’s ever found me worth standing by my side no matter what to the very end” and “no one’s ever found me worth accepting me just the way i am, and as i am now in spite of my many flaws and shortcomings”

tsuna and yamamoto’s dynamic is “everyone always makes me pay the price for every single one of my mistake, no matter how little and insignificant” and “everyone always expects me to be perfect at being who they want me to be, and i’m afraid they’ll find me worthless if i mess up even once”

tsuna and lambo’s dynamic is “no one ever cares that i’m just a child” and “everyone always punishes and rejects me for acting like the child i am”

tsuna and ryohei’s dynamic is “no one’s ever found me worth taking under their wing, looking after, paving the way for me and making sure it’s safe for me to follow after them” and “as the one who needs to be relied on, as the protector, the example, the older one, no one’s ever looked after me and took care of me on the same grounds as i do for them”

tsuna and hibari’s dynamic is “i’ve never had anything to put my faith in, knowing that it wouldn’t so much as shake and would never fail me even in the face of the end of the world” and “i’ve never had to learn that even my strength can fail me, but there can be strength in weakness too, in letting others help me make up for that weakness, and i can grow even stronger for it”

tsuna and mukuro’s dynamic is “no one’s ever thought me worth allowing me my childhood and made me grow up too soon” and “no one ever cared that i was never allowed to be a child, and i’ll never stand for that fate to be allowed to go on unpunished any longer”

tsuna and chrome’s dynamic is “i’ve always been less than what people want me to be, have always been not enough to meet their expectations of me” and “i’ve always been so worthless in everyone’s eyes, no one’s ever expected anything of me”

(tsuna and reborn’s dynamic is “no one’s ever put faith in what i can become, in what i can be right now, and in me in spite of my many flaws and shortcomings” and “i’m never going to let anyone inside my heart ever again, and no one will bother trying to get inside anyway being the way i am now”)

do you get it?

was thinking about takeshi and how he's my favorite brand of unconditional devotion btw. the utter and absolute and all-consuming kind that runs so deep to the very core and is so intrinsic and fundamental to it, it can only express itself in the most casual and natural and certain way. without second thoughts, without any room for doubts or for any moral dilemma to be had over it, because of course he ought to always be breathing and living for his chosen person first and foremost. of course he ought to hang on their every word and make them true no matter what, no matter what he has to do to make it happen, no matter what he has to do to other people to make it happen, and no matter what it might turn him into in the process. because it's obviously the way the world should be for his chosen person. at their feet, ready to bend over backwards and break and build itself again to better answer to all their needs even if they don't ask it for it. it's the only right way it should be for them, and of course takeshi's going to do his utmost at all times to make it a reality as much as possible.

and his devotion comes out as naturally as breathing, comes out lighthearted and nonchalant like he might as well be talking about the weather, but it's not unaware of itself. it's not that takeshi doesn't know it's unhealthy and wrong and that he's willing to go entirely too far in its name for anyone's good. it's not that he wouldn't hear you out if you were to sit him down and explain to him just why he needs to tone it down a little (a lot). logically, he'd agree with you and know you're right. and then he'd tell you he's still not going to do anything whatsoever about it. that he's not bothered by it and doesn't feel the need to change anything to his attitude. makes it a point to never let anyone or anything sway him even an inch in the stand he took when it comes to that, no matter how many thousand of times you might go over the subject with him.

because the morality of his devotion isn't the point at all. is entirely irrelevant to it and doesn't affect the way he expresses it all. it's not the metric with which he draws a line in the sand to hold it accountable to. because the thing is, takeshi's entire world revolves around tsuna--tsuna is his entire world altogether, and it's just a matter of fact, that simple. to him it's a truth as unchanging as the sky being blue, and so being the way he is according to that truth is the only way he can imagine being that'd feel right to him. and so the actual and only metric that matters here is "would tsuna be happier if i were to do this?" and/or "is this something tsuna needs me to do?"

and like. i don't think takeshi ever stops being a kind person capable of compassion and understanding and mercy and forgiveness even ten years later once they became mafia through and through. and i don't think either he grows up to be feared and called a monster per se despite the things they inevitably had to do during those ten years (and the things they'll inevitably keep having to do as long as they keep being mafia), at least not in the way, for example, they'll never stop fearing and calling mukuro one. but i do think that among the tenth gen, he ends up being the one with the most ruthless, merciless and horrific blood on his hands of that particular and distinct loving kind. you know the one i mean, right? he comes to be the one most expected and the one first expected to be willing and to take it upon himself to go through with it when the need arises. and to think little of it after, if anything at all. all in the name of making tsuna's reign as easy on him as possible.

and it's to the point where it's the kind of blood that makes even mukuro pause at times. or, when takeshi is the one coming up with solutions himself during meetings, makes even reborn blink. not because it's unjustified or wouldn't be safe or efficient or anything of the sort, but because it is unwarrantedly thorough in its retaliation. and sometimes, at times like this, he's the one tsuna needs to step in for the most, because he's the only one who can reason with him that "yes, this would work in getting rid of our problem" but "no, please, don't do that takeshi". because if tsuna is the only thing that infers on just how much and in what ways he'll let himself be devoted to him, then of course, he's also the only one takeshi's willing to reign himself in for without second thoughts. because he'd hate to ever do something tsuna would disapprove of or wouldn't want him to do. or do something that'd make tsuna see him differently or love him back less even in the slightest.

and it's also like. his devotion isn't an undisciplined one. it's not one he doesn't have control over, the very opposite. it's a very purposeful and conscious choice he chooses to keep making over and over again every step of the way, and he taught himself to have control over it, to know when it's needed and/or wanted, and how much and in which ways it is when it happens, and to keep it down otherwise. and, yes, to also reign it back in at tsuna's request at times when it still slips past his control. because it's all about making tsuna's happiness easier and secure and long-lasting, and never about burdening him with just how committed he is to do that.

so it comes down to this: takeshi willing to go above and beyond and more for tsuna unless tsuna explicitly asks him not to. and to tsuna needing to ask him not to every now and then. and to other people pointing out to him how too many times tsuna's already needed to stop him, and that maybe there's a hint for him to take there. and to takeshi seeing the hint, looking it straight in the eye and recognizing it for what it is and just. deciding it doesn't apply to him because it's all perfectly normal behavior to him. because it's the only kind of behavior that makes sense to him and feels right.

and so—to circle back to my first point—he can only express his devotion as naturally as breathing, so casually, almost like it's something inconsequential and not worth talking about despite how unmistakably it couldn't be further away from being the truth. it's the only way he could have always known how to express it, because, after all, who has ever taken time to ponder about the details and the hows of the way they breathe?

and i, for one, absolutely eat that shit up every time, thanks for coming to my ted talk <3

Oh god

I’m imagining Dazai being reborn as Tsuna and-

Imagine

You spent your entire childhood in the mafia until the one person who truly showed you what living and life meant dies and you leave

You leave and join the side of good like he asked and learn that you like it, you like helping people, you like the people who love you, not as the demon prodigy but as Dazai Osamu

And you love your life and eventually die and your happy

Only to wake up again

Now your Sawada Tsunayoshi with two not so great parents but what’s new

You grow up again, poking at the feral bird who flitters around the town because why not and try to have a normal, happy life, because that’s what your friends (family) would want for you

And this tiny little thing shows up at your door claiming to be the worlds greatest hitman and tells you, you’re going to be a mafia don

(Reborn is very confused as to why his bew student immediately throws himself out a window the second he says mafia but he’s gonna figure it out)

This has to end up with Daz-suna deciding that if he can't get out of this he's going to make Reborn's life a living hell, eventually take over Vongola, and then immediately use it to recreate the ADA.

Every interaction between Daz-suna and Reborn ends up being a Troll Off because Reborn might be a funko pop from hell but Dazai was a Troll King.

#i tried reading it at one point #found it boring #i never considered it like that #might give it another try #the art of war #sun tzu

Sun Tzu is so fucking funny to me because for his time he was legitimately a brilliant tactician but a bunch of his insight is shit like "if you think you might lose, avoid doing that", "being outnumbered is bad generally", and "consider lying."