Vanitas no Carte Chapter 41 Thoughts
Nov. 25th, 2019 10:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arias_hollowFirst off, I really enjoyed this chapter! It was a good mix of action and character moments, and brought us much closer to the end of the current arc (I can only imagine there being maybe one or two more chapters left? Three tops).
Roland and Olivier had only a small amount of screen time, but I enjoyed what was there. Roland continues to admire Vanitas and Noe's friendship, but also Olivier's reminder not to lose focus and Roland's cold response makes me wonder both about their history together, and especially how long Roland is going to be able/willing to play along with the Chasseurs now that he no longer fully believes in their cause. How far is he willing to go to keep up the charade? And when he can't - since I am very much assuming that things will come crashing down around him and everyone else at some point - what will be the consequences? So far his plot has been very in the background, so I wonder what event will bring it into the foreground.
We also see in this chapter Vanitas using his book in ways we hadn't seen before, and flashback once more to vamp!Vanitas's teachings. The formula change he did seemed to be far more advanced, judging by Noe's reaction and that he specifically had to use his mark of possession to power it. And boy is that a whole Thing on it's own - he referred to the mark, and possibly vamp!Vanitas herself, as Luna, and then actually used it with his powers. I've suspected he could do some kind of 'spells' or other abilities without the book due to the mark, but this is the first time we've seen such a thing directly. It does seem to be something he is hesitant to do generally speaking, so I wonder what the consequences will be for doing so - does it just exhaust him? Does it make him less human? Drain his life force or something? He clearly doesn't mind using the book, so it probably isn't that he just doesn't like using anything 'given' to him by vamp!Vanitas.
Of course, the other obvious thing that happened in this chapter was Noe's fight with Astolofo, the hand loss, and the Motivational Speech from Vanitas to Noe. I have a lot of feelings about that speech, in that I feel like this idea of using justice as a weapon vs using it as a guiding light can be applied to a lot of characters in the series (most obviously...Roland, who was listening to the whole thing as well) and will likely become one of several themes. I also think that it's interesting that this is an instance of actually seeing (presumably) what Vanitas actually thinks an ideal world would look like and it...isn't terrible. It's pretty good even, which supports my theory that Vanitas naturally has a more friendly/heroic personality, but has become so deeply jaded and pessimistic from experience that he doesn't see any value in pursuing those ideals anymore. Also notable is that he specifically says such a method would be enough for Noe at least, implying that he still doesn't think most people follow that ideal or are capable of doing so successfully (possibly more how he feels about himself???), but that Noe had it in him to make it work in practice rather than just in theory. I think the unhidden fondness of his expression when he says that as well shows that this capability is something he admires in Noe/sees as a true ideal more than Just Something To Say To Get Noe To Fight. (Only slightly related, but I did like how he was indignant/ready to argue with Roland when Roland brought up Astolofo's past again)
Re: Noe, Astolfo, and the aforementioned Hand Loss. Noe deciding that the one thing he couldn't lose sight of being his desire to save Chloe and Jean-Jacques was an epic moment, and so very Noe. I was really surprised he lost his whole hand, especially since the way it was framed was a sort of...'and then that happened' kind of deal, against a non-Primary villain, which makes me wonder if his hand will heal somehow or get replaced? Because if it couldn't, I think the framing would be far more Dramatic. Still, it was hardcore of Noe to sacrifice a limb to keep fighting, and I can't wait to see Vanitas's reaction once he finds out what happened (will he feel guilty? Relief that it was only the hand once he learns Noe would have died otherwise? Something else?).
And Astolfo's backstory. It was pretty much as excessively dark and tragic as I would have expected, I totally don't blame the guy for being as angry as he is. I do wonder if the gang of vampires who assaulted his family will ever be named/show up and become relevant again in some other way. I also hope Astolfo is able to develop and reach some kind of semi-peaceful ending, if he survives (I question the chance of survival for pretty much everyone lol).
Chloe, Jean-Jacques, and Jeanne had their conclusion of sorts this chapter too, and I really liked how Chloe chose to live instead of being saved in some simpler way. And I liked that Jeanne came to realize and accept she wanted to save Chloe most of all, and that she and Jean-Jacques both gave their all for her. I don't know what's going to happen to them after this, but I would like if they all got continue being major players in the plot for a while (Jean-Jacques still needs to be Saved as well, and if Vanitas manages that too, will that gain him and Noe some more allies?). But them finally getting to be together in a way at the end of this chapter was really sweet, so at least they were given that.
Final note, I really got a kick out of Dante this chapter as he cheered on Noe. I love that guy, he was just so into it, and it gave the scene a sort of wrestling-match vibe that amused me quite a bit. I also hope Dante gets to hang around for a long while, I feel like there's a lot more he could do. Plus? I want to see Vanitas's face when he realizes he has accidentally picked up a hoard of loyal friends (Dante genuinely cares about him, Noe of course does as well, Jeanne is getting there as their relationship slowly morphs into something a little less Blatantly Bad For Both of Them, and possibly Chloe and Jean-Jacques could get there too).
So that's that for this chapter, I'm really looking forward to the next one!
Roland and Olivier had only a small amount of screen time, but I enjoyed what was there. Roland continues to admire Vanitas and Noe's friendship, but also Olivier's reminder not to lose focus and Roland's cold response makes me wonder both about their history together, and especially how long Roland is going to be able/willing to play along with the Chasseurs now that he no longer fully believes in their cause. How far is he willing to go to keep up the charade? And when he can't - since I am very much assuming that things will come crashing down around him and everyone else at some point - what will be the consequences? So far his plot has been very in the background, so I wonder what event will bring it into the foreground.
We also see in this chapter Vanitas using his book in ways we hadn't seen before, and flashback once more to vamp!Vanitas's teachings. The formula change he did seemed to be far more advanced, judging by Noe's reaction and that he specifically had to use his mark of possession to power it. And boy is that a whole Thing on it's own - he referred to the mark, and possibly vamp!Vanitas herself, as Luna, and then actually used it with his powers. I've suspected he could do some kind of 'spells' or other abilities without the book due to the mark, but this is the first time we've seen such a thing directly. It does seem to be something he is hesitant to do generally speaking, so I wonder what the consequences will be for doing so - does it just exhaust him? Does it make him less human? Drain his life force or something? He clearly doesn't mind using the book, so it probably isn't that he just doesn't like using anything 'given' to him by vamp!Vanitas.
Of course, the other obvious thing that happened in this chapter was Noe's fight with Astolofo, the hand loss, and the Motivational Speech from Vanitas to Noe. I have a lot of feelings about that speech, in that I feel like this idea of using justice as a weapon vs using it as a guiding light can be applied to a lot of characters in the series (most obviously...Roland, who was listening to the whole thing as well) and will likely become one of several themes. I also think that it's interesting that this is an instance of actually seeing (presumably) what Vanitas actually thinks an ideal world would look like and it...isn't terrible. It's pretty good even, which supports my theory that Vanitas naturally has a more friendly/heroic personality, but has become so deeply jaded and pessimistic from experience that he doesn't see any value in pursuing those ideals anymore. Also notable is that he specifically says such a method would be enough for Noe at least, implying that he still doesn't think most people follow that ideal or are capable of doing so successfully (possibly more how he feels about himself???), but that Noe had it in him to make it work in practice rather than just in theory. I think the unhidden fondness of his expression when he says that as well shows that this capability is something he admires in Noe/sees as a true ideal more than Just Something To Say To Get Noe To Fight. (Only slightly related, but I did like how he was indignant/ready to argue with Roland when Roland brought up Astolofo's past again)
Re: Noe, Astolfo, and the aforementioned Hand Loss. Noe deciding that the one thing he couldn't lose sight of being his desire to save Chloe and Jean-Jacques was an epic moment, and so very Noe. I was really surprised he lost his whole hand, especially since the way it was framed was a sort of...'and then that happened' kind of deal, against a non-Primary villain, which makes me wonder if his hand will heal somehow or get replaced? Because if it couldn't, I think the framing would be far more Dramatic. Still, it was hardcore of Noe to sacrifice a limb to keep fighting, and I can't wait to see Vanitas's reaction once he finds out what happened (will he feel guilty? Relief that it was only the hand once he learns Noe would have died otherwise? Something else?).
And Astolfo's backstory. It was pretty much as excessively dark and tragic as I would have expected, I totally don't blame the guy for being as angry as he is. I do wonder if the gang of vampires who assaulted his family will ever be named/show up and become relevant again in some other way. I also hope Astolfo is able to develop and reach some kind of semi-peaceful ending, if he survives (I question the chance of survival for pretty much everyone lol).
Chloe, Jean-Jacques, and Jeanne had their conclusion of sorts this chapter too, and I really liked how Chloe chose to live instead of being saved in some simpler way. And I liked that Jeanne came to realize and accept she wanted to save Chloe most of all, and that she and Jean-Jacques both gave their all for her. I don't know what's going to happen to them after this, but I would like if they all got continue being major players in the plot for a while (Jean-Jacques still needs to be Saved as well, and if Vanitas manages that too, will that gain him and Noe some more allies?). But them finally getting to be together in a way at the end of this chapter was really sweet, so at least they were given that.
Final note, I really got a kick out of Dante this chapter as he cheered on Noe. I love that guy, he was just so into it, and it gave the scene a sort of wrestling-match vibe that amused me quite a bit. I also hope Dante gets to hang around for a long while, I feel like there's a lot more he could do. Plus? I want to see Vanitas's face when he realizes he has accidentally picked up a hoard of loyal friends (Dante genuinely cares about him, Noe of course does as well, Jeanne is getting there as their relationship slowly morphs into something a little less Blatantly Bad For Both of Them, and possibly Chloe and Jean-Jacques could get there too).
So that's that for this chapter, I'm really looking forward to the next one!
