some transparent lovelies from the art exhibition site 🍎

I aspire to Izana's level of chill. I don't think if someone, even my brother, woke me up in the middle of the night for a meeting that REALLY could have been an email my response would be "It's a tad late."

i drew the main 5 characters from ans as kids :3 THEYRE SOOOOOOOO TINY

just a simple doodle for fun, i barely used any refs for it so don't think too hard about it ksjfhksjd

i was doing everything at a guess so that's why zen is so short lol. it's kind of adorable tho :]

i really love this story and only recently had read the entire manga. i first watched the anime when i was younger and while i liked the series it didn't stick with me for long. fast foward a couple years and now im obsessed

a bit about this doodle! first, ages: shirayuki - 12; zen - 13, kiki - 14; obi - he would be 15 but he looks closer to kiki's age so let's say he's 14. maybe his 15th bday is coming up, who knows. and lastly mitsuhide - 17. so like i guess they're not really kids kids but like from young to older teens. eh i dont care about specifics with this one

shirayuki is vibing. maybe she was sent by her grandparents to run some errands in the town which is why she has the basket. she might run into some trouble... but she is determined to enjoy her little trip

zen is in his teenage rebellion phase, as that was the case when mitsuhide became his aide. i keep looking at him and shirayuki cuz they just look so smol and cute

kiki!! i absolutely love her. i don't exactly remember how long after mitsuhide joins zen do they meet kiki with this haircut. i wasn't exactly thinking about anything i just wanted to draw her cute short hair <33

we basically know nothing about obi's childhood. i'm headcanoning he has been in his previous line of work for a loooong time, probably had to in order to survive. so we have tiny obi trying to get out of a rough situation maybe. now that i think about it i could have had him use the ripped off sleeve as a bandage instead but oh well

last but not least is mitsuhide! i'm obsessed with his cute expression, he's such a softie mother-hen. he's standing straight up and has no idea how to act with the little snarky prince

i'll definitely be drawing some more stuff!! the hyperfixation is going really strong... almost a little too strong...... 💀

Some Thoughts on Mitsuhide + Aromanticism in Media and Reality

Major spoilers for Chapters 92 and onwards of the Akagami no Shirayukihime manga ahead!

When I first got into the AnS fandom, I kept hearing about some big manga!plot decision that had made some fans completely abandon the manga, so disappointed were they. I did my best to avoid spoilers so I didn't know what this event was for the longest time. Now, being caught up to that storyline and thensome, I know what that event was - and can say that I was a bit surprised when I remembered that it had upset people so badly.

Yes, Mitsuhide rejected Kiki's proposition of marriage, and she opted to marry Hisame instead. It was, apparently, clearly hinted at that Kiki and Mitsuhide were in love all this time, and it was cruel of him to reject her when she cared about him so deeply - right?

Well...maybe not.

I write this as an aro/ace person, and I'm going to be examining Mitsuhide's character through an aro/ace lens, too. I have talked plenty about how AnS has some great, positive representation in its characters, and Mitsuhide is no different. In fact, I relate to his experience quite a bit.

Mitsuhide is often teased, from the very beginning, for being "in love" with Zen. He shows no interest in anyone else other than Zen, outside of what seem like only platonic friendships, but his loyalty is solely to the Prince.

Except, it appears, for Kiki Seiran.

Their first interaction is yet another source of jokes; Mitsuhide mistakes her for a boy. And when the current story begins, the two are already always together as the Prince’s trusted aides. It's the perfect set up for a love story, even moreso when Hisame is introduced: the man initially so desperate to improve his social status and have Kiki's hand that he offers to fight her for it - and Mitsuhide steps in and saves the day. It's romantic, it's satisfying, it's...not all that it seems.

First, let me preface all this by saying that I will never go out of my way to tell others what they can and cannot "ship" or "headcanon". It is absolutely possible for this sort of plot to eventually devolve into a friends to lovers scenario.  And, had it not been for Mitsuhide's blatant "coming out" to Zen and his rejection of Kiki's proposal in Ch. 92, it might have turned into this. But to me, it would be incredibly disrespectful to Mitsuhide as a character to berate him for "not marrying Kiki" when he explictly tells Zen in Ch. 98, after chapters of soul-searching, that he is not interested in marriage - with Kiki or anyone else for that matter.

Mitsuhide turns Kiki down the first time by saying that he wants to wait till Zen himself is married and living his own path, and that as Kiki is so close to the Prince and is so trusted a friend, it would be impossible and downright strange for him to consider wedding her. It doesn't help that since Kiki is on a deadline to marry, Mitsuhide is put in a position where he must immediately choose the path he wishes to take. I definitely feel here for Kiki, who has by her own admission harboured feelings for Mitsuhide for years now (feelings he never caught onto - #justacethings!), only to be told in no uncertain terms that he cannot reciprocate them.

I empathized a great deal, as an aspec person, with Mitsuhide's first confession here. Growing up aroace in a world dominated by amatonormativity, I was told indirectly or otherwise that there was something "wrong" with me, and that my priorities - work, friendships, family, hobbies - would one day come second to an important intimate relationship. Since that never happened for me, I just assumed, as Mitsuhide did, that I was waiting for something in my life to settle down before I dated: till I was done school, for instance. Or, when my teenage relationships inevitably failed, they just "weren't the one" or it was a situation of me being "not ready". Never did it enter my mind that I could tell someone (or even myself) that I would never date or marry at all, and I wonder if this concern ever crossed Mitsuhide's mind, too, when he withheld some details from Kiki in his first conversation with her about the matter.

When Hisame and Mitsuhide speak about what transpired with Kiki in that discussion, Hisame senses that Mitsuhide was not completely honest with her about his true feelings. Although Mitsuhide is understandably angry by this accusation, he nevertheless does not deny it - and eventually speaks to Kiki again to clarify that it is not just her he is rejecting, but everyone and anyone else who may propose to him in the future. This he says in no uncertain terms; his oath is to protect and serve Prince Zen, and this he holds above all else, marriage included. At last, he is able to put his feelings on the table and be honest with others and himself: he does not want to marry, he wants to remain at Zen's side.

Those on the aromantic and/or asexual spectrum are often told, through popular media or directly by family and friends, that an intimate romantic relationship should be prioritized above all else. Relationships are all about compromise, about changing your immediate desires when it means letting your partner be happy, so that everyone "wins". This is a very amatormative way of viewing things. What happens when your priorities and values do not work when a relationship is involved?

For me, my priorities are my hobbies, my dog, volunteering, my close friends, and maintaining my health. I can think of nothing worse than having to change any of those values or even alter them to allow for another person in my life - one with whom I'd be expected to intimately share my space and time with, at that. It seems this is what Mitsuhide feels, too: marriage would interfere with his sworn duty to protect Prince Zen, and this for him is his highest priority. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that! He seems perfectly content with doing so...until, of course, he confides all this in Zen.

There is quite a humourous post on Mitsuhide's "coming out as aroace" to Zen here on Tumblr already, but on a more solemn note, this is a similar reaction (at least, the core themes) as I got when I first came out to close family. I was just "not ready to be with someone" and "hadn’t met the right person". I needed to "grow up and try harder", and "one day I would want to find someone to marry".

Although Zen’s motive for scolding Mitsuhide is rooted moreso in not wanting him to give up his life and wellbeing for Zen's own sake, there is a genuine confusion and shock in the Prince’s words to his aide: what will Mitsuhide do if he gets other proposals? Is he just waiting to see if he'll change his mind? It is very difficult at first for Zen to understand the gravity and finality of what Mitsuhide is saying, and this is often the case with many aroace people: the "you will change your mind one day" line.

But so what if I don't?

I found Zen's emotional response, and Mitsuhide's equally emotional reaction, quite moving as the two grew to understand each other's thoughts and feelings on the issue. It certainly did not help that Mitsuhide was still reeling from the trauma of the Bergatt affair, and I sense that Zen suspected Mitsuhide's reasoning and fierce desire to protect him was based on that experience. And, to some degree, it might be! But again, the idea that trauma is at the heart of someone's "choice" to be aro/ace is not an uncommon one, but it is a hurtful one, and one that undermines the feelings and values of the person who is coming out. I am not aroace because I was traumatized, I am aroace because that is who I am. Mitsuhide might be more inclined to protect Prince Zen because of his fear of being unable to do so, but that is a separate matter from his desire to never marry.

And for Kiki, who so openly admitted her true feelings and desire to be with Mitsuhide only to be turned down? As I wrote earlier, I truly feel for her; it was by no means easy for her to be rejected not once but twice, regardless of the reasons. But as hard as it may be to accept, she is not owed Mitsuhide's romantic attraction or his hand in marriage; she is owed his honesty and respect, yes, but he cannot simply "change" and fall in love with her. It cannot and does not work that way in reality.

Mitsuhide's rejection of her romantic proposal also presents a rarely-explored (and rarely well portrayed) concept: a purely platonic friendship between a man and a woman, built on love and mutual respect. Friendship of any gender is usually pushed aside in favour of romance; to see a strong, solid friendship prioritized over a forced relationship is both pleasantly surprising and deeply admirable. Everything Mitsuhide tells Kiki sounds as what one might tell a platonic friend of the same gender in any other amatormative media piece - I love you, I respect you, I enjoy working with you, but I am not in love with you.

I have always had deep respect for the way love has been portrayed in AnS, and I was so excited to see aromanticism and asexuality depicted, too. Having a character reject a relationship in favour of remaining single for its own sake and to say true to his values is almost unheard of in popular media; asexuality is typically portrayed as a condition in need of treating, or one that the "right person" can "fix". Mitsuhide, mercifully, is not portrayed in this way. Zen's initial reaction is, of course, quite heated - his shock is understandable if it is not justifiable, and even if it hurt to read, it is a fairly accurate depiction of some common misconceptions about aromanticism/asexuality.

And in the end, after all, Zen (and Kiki, and Shirayuki, and Obi) come to understand and respect Mitshuide the way he is - as it should be.

-

Amatonormativity: the assumption that everyone desires and strives for a romantic relationship.

Cooking With Zen Event!

In August, we will be hosting a new type of event. Zen has went without knowing how to cook too long in his life, so his closest friends that know how to cook are seeking to remedy that!  Cooking With Zen will be a five week long event (or a little longer, if you want to start earlier or run later, since August is not a perfect five week month and our announcement is a little late). And as always, late submissions are perfectly okay no matter how late.  Please tag the blog, so we do not miss a single submission and also we will be following the tags, Cooking With Zen, Cooking With Zen Event, Cooking With Zen 2023, and Cooking With Zen Event 2023. You can either use one or all of the tags, if you would like. Each week, a different character is the one teaching Zen to cook, until we get to the end. Submissions do not need to just be lessons in cooking, but can also include just cooking together with Zen. If you want to submit a recipe or a headcanon for what someone may teach Zen to cook, that is also a wonderful submission and a really cool way to engage with the event. Or even an additional recipe alongside a submission is wonderful as well, whether it is for clarity’s sake, or just for fun.  The prompts or characters are listed in chronological order as to when Zen met them, and thus, if you wanted to create a string of related submissions within canonverse, you can go chronologically through events of canon. Though AUs are always welcome as well.  If you wanted to fiddle around with Week Five and make it a whole friend group in the kitchen cooking together that is also fine. And can be a lot of fun!  You can do one submission a week or even multiple a week, depending on what you want to do and what works for you. The submissions can be platonic or romantic, whatever you would like.  The prompts/characters are listed down below: Week One: Mitsuhide Week Two: Kiki Week Three: Shirayuki Week Four: Obi Week Five: Zen cooks for his friends

MitsuKiki Weekend 2024

Day 1: Nap | Massage

Day 2: Break | Drink

Day 3: Story | Game Night

______________

Hello, everyone! Welcome to this year's event! Instead of MitsuKiki Week, which I was originally going to do, in light of the declining interest in MitsuKiki, and the upcoming ANS events that are happening this year, I have decided to change this to a Weekend event instead. So hopefully, this'll be easier for any of the participants who wish to join this event.

The theme for this event is "Relaxation". Perfect for a weekend event! 😁

Feel free to write MitsuKiki romantically, platonically, professionally, etc. I'll leave it up to you.

The event will begin on May 3 — May 5. Less than 2 months to work on your entries. Which should give you plenty of time. As usual, there is no need for you to do all of the prompts unless you want to. Also, if you can't take part in this event due to your schedule, you're free to post late submissions whenever you wish.

Remember to tag us and add #mitsukiki-festival and #mitsukiki weekend 2024 tags to your posts.

Thank you very much for reading, and I hope you'll take part in the event. I'm very excited. 😁

Sincerely,

— MitsuKiki Festival Mod Team

Mitsuhide, smiles: Thank you for being my trustworthy comrade.

Kiki, deadpans and slightly smiles into her cup: Thank you for being my meat shield and the butt of many jokes.

Mitsuhide, shocked: K-Kiki!!

...

(Mitsuhide really brings out the sadist in both characters and fans alike, doesn't he? lol 🤣💀)

Post for #thanksgiving

Relieving Some Stress And Strain

@mitsukiki-festival I wrote a late fill for MitsuKiki Weekend 2024! I hope you enjoy; it is for Day One!

LaLa January 2013 Issue Calendar

AnS Witcher!AU - some couples and their age differences~

Shirayuki is a bruxa, and as such is next to immortal. Not actually even close, but centuries? No biggie. Obi’s got at least the longevity mutation working, as does Mitsuhide. Their x-rays would prooooobably disagree. A witcher’s true age shows in their bodies’ degeneration, enhanced mutations aside.

Ironically, Haki is a youngling among her people, not even a century old. Idk in the entire lineup, only Izana is truly mortal; Kiki is mortal only so long as her curse doesn’t relapse.

AnS (c) Akizuki Sorata

Art: Me

Hearts and Minds

Mitsukiki Week 2023 Playlist for Day 3: Longing by @mitsukiki-festival

This one started out as Mitsuhid-ace playlist but then I used the day’s prompt and “Head vs. Heart” themed songs to find lyrics that fit from Kiki’s point of view too. Both Mitsuhide and Kiki work through their feelings for each other throughout (with plenty of waiting...), but it all works out for the best as they remain friends and knight partners.

Hearts and Minds

Tried To Fall In Love (My Head Got In The Way)- Kevin Devine Friend Hospital- Nada Surf Capital Karma- Manchester Orchestra Art Talk- Fialta For Me This Is Heaven- Jimmy Eat World No One Says You Have To- Kevin Devine

Summary lyrics are cited after the cut:

Tried To Fall In Love (My Head Got In The Way)- Kevin Devine

Tried to watch the band but my head got in the way

Who was the stranger Moving around inside my life? Could he account for The blankness that blanketed my eyes?

What was the answer? Where was the pin to pick the lock? Why was I waiting? When would I finally wake up?

I tried to fall in love but I couldn’t get past my pain I tried to fall in love but my head got in the way

Friend Hospital- Nada Surf

We are traveling daily by the hour Moods clouding mountains ideas like towers Choosing sides, digging in, then changing Hearts and minds are chafing from all the rearranging

So much better that we're not together Cause I will not lose you Or be the blues to you Friend hospital Wild sadness knew weakness

Capital Karma- Manchester Orchestra

I defended your drama I'm a heart, you're a brain All I wanna do is wait for you

Now you're craving your karma Where'd it go? And what'd it say?

Am I losing my patience? I feel it I'm afraid that you know, you can see it Let me stand by the door, let me breathe in I forgave myself, so forgive yourself

I'm not trying to stand in the way I'm in love with whoever you are Nothing here is gonna take that away It is you and it's been from the start

Art Talk- Fialta

Two kids, stuck in this city Blonde hair always stuck in our eyes

Try as we might, we could not predict the outcome Though we tried Plotting is a gift we both deny

We stood in line still both of us pretending And we left confused at why they changed the ending But I guess it’s fair

And then one day, you said that you were leaving And you said to wait, I waited for a season But you never came, I guess it’s fair

For Me This Is Heaven- Jimmy Eat World

The first star I see may not be a star We can't do a thing but wait So let's wait for one more

And the time's such clumsy time In deciding if it's time I'm careful but not sure how it goes You can lose yourself in your courage

When the time we have now ends When the big hand goes round again Can you still feel the butterflies? Can you still hear the last goodnight?

And the mindless comfort grows When I'm alone with my big plans And this is what she said gets her through it If I don't let myself be happy now, then when?

No One Says You Have To- Kevin Devine

It gets so lonely inside my mind I'm surrounded in love all the time I get stuck in simple phrases Complicate straight lines If there's a knot that don't need tying It gets distorted inside my mind Isolation, disconnection Another person's life

I say, "I can't race forever. Can't raise the rock so high." She says, "No one says you have to. Let go and take your time."

Mitsuhide's rejection: were there signs?

I recently finished rereading Akagami Volume 19 and 20, since the official English translations just came out. These volumes contained Mitsuhide's rejection of Kiki's proposal and the immediate aftermath. I had a lot of thoughts!

I know that a number of fans were upset with Sorata-sensei when MitsuKiki didn't happen, and also thought that she'd tricked them into believing it was a for sure thing. But sensei is a really good storyteller, and personally, I feel like she left hints on how Mitsuhide stood on things. There was definitely foreshadowing.

Exhibit A: Mitsuhide isn't comfortable with physical intimacy with Kiki.

Panels from Ch 44

In Chapter 44, when Mitsuhide and Kiki fight about Kiki not telling him about her deadline to leave the castle, there's a scene where Kiki naps on Mitsuhide. This is before Kiki announced to her dad she would propose when the time comes, and before she told Zen she was going to eventually propose to Mitsu. From Kiki's side, you see a hint of something beyond friendship. Clearly she's trying to initiate something here. But Mitsuhide's face isn't one that has romantic feelings for Kiki at this moment. He is a person that wears his heart on his sleeve, so it's not like he's hiding it or anything like that. If someone I liked was leaning against me like this, this is not the face I would wear. He seems uncomfortable and out of his depth.

It's not that Mitsuhide shies away from physical affection in general - we've seen him initiate hugs with Zen plenty of times. But with Kiki he'll only do it in a group (i.e. group hugging Zen and Kiki or Obi and Kiki).

We see how physically guarded he is with Kiki in the special Sereg chapter too. Hisame pulls a prank which forces Kiki and Mitsuhide to share a room. Instead of using it as an opportunity to get closer, Mitsuhide ultimately is so uncomfortable, he makes Hisame switch out with Kiki.

Panels from Ch 65.1

Mitsuhide is so conscious of trying to maintain his boundaries with Kiki, not wanting to treat her differently because she's a female knight, that he would rather share a room with Hisame, who at this point in canon Mitsuhide studiously tries to avoid. Mitsuhide not only suggests they call him, he actually looks relieved when Hisame shows up.

Exhibit B: He can be uncomfortable with emotional intimacy around Kiki as well.

Panels from Ch 26

It's not just about being physically guarded around her though, as we saw in Ch 44 and the Sereg special chapter. He can also be closed off emotionally. Here in this scene, Kiki is being sincere and thanking him for his concern, but he doesn't properly acknowledge her sincerity or her feelings at first. He did this with Kiki's proposal too in Ch 92. Hisame scolded him and then he had that other more candid convo with Kiki only after, where he properly explains to her why he turned her down.

Panels from Ch 93

Exhibit C: Mitsuhide's main priority has always been Zen

Mitsuhide has repeatedly told Kiki how his first priority is Zen. In fact, when Kiki and Mitsuhide had their fight in Chapter 44 about Kiki leaving the castle, Mitsuhide's first concern wasn't the fact that Kiki would eventually leave his side, but rather that she could no longer be by Zen's side.

Panels from Ch 31

Panels from Ch 44

I think this is what ultimately makes Kiki and Mitsuhide incompatible. Kiki has her own duties and dreams she wants to pursue in Seiran; serving Zen is part of that journey to become a better countess. She can't stay at Zen's side forever and her time to depart is getting closer and closer. While both Kiki and Zen are incredibly important to Mitsuhide and he loves them both, if he had to pick one of them, he would pick Zen. He does pick Zen, in the end.