big damn essay
Despite there being notes for this essay, it will probably be as disorganized as ever. So. Just a heads up. Also, possibly repetitive for other essays, Oh Well. This is most of my head canon for Mukuro.
MUKURO ON KOKUYOU
There are four people who are considered 'Kokuyou': Ken, Chikusa, Lancia and Chrome. Mukuro has, canonically, called Ken and Chikusa his 'tool's, Lancia his 'slave' and Chrome his 'other self'. These are his closest companions, whether or not it is an entirely positive relationship.
Ken and Chikusa know what Mukuro tells them, they're probably able to infer as well. But there doesn't seem to be any other sort of bond - on the same token, it is almost assumed that Mukuro's will is their will as well. In some ways Mukuro doesn't consider them individuals (not in an entirely cruel way either), they're extensions of his will and motivations for the most part. He cares for them, but they also have been a part of each other for a very long time. They are completely subordinate to him and that's how it is and they're all okay with that. It's not entirely master-servant, and not... sameness. He uses them, and they know it, but it's not without affection but isn't driven by affection either.
Lancia is… Mukuro considers Lancia his, but he's also aware that he doesn't completely own Lancia. He owns enough of him, and there's an entire huge long complex relationship here, which I'm going to skirt around. But basically, Mukuro knows he doesn't have all of Lancia, would like all of it, but wouldn't be pleased if he got all of it. Lancia remains an important person even after they… split. And, Lancia knows things without having to be told them and without inferring. Mukuro's thoughts or true intentions are more clear (possibly due to Lancia being possessed by Mukuro for so long). And while Lancia is not his 'other self', Lancia played the role of Rokudou Mukuro long enough to be his alter.
Now, Chrome is what Mukuro referred to as his 'other self' to Ken and Chikusa after their little escape from the Vendice. In personality they're almost complete opposites, and they weren't hugely close in looks until (presumably) Mukuro did some. Uh. Stylistic revisions. On the other hand, she is far closer to the personas he takes on, cute, perceived to be weak, a bit shy, not very direct. She's also not weak by any means and has that other thing he looks for - people who are disillusioned with life in some manner. In the novel he says he can use her to get close to Tsuna, something about friends, blah blah. But there seems to be genuine affection here as well. Chrome probably knows most of what he's thinking, they share headspace and he probably has little reason to hide anything from her and since Tsuna Jesus'd him there isn't a huuuge amount to hide anyway. There are things he still keeps to himself, but he probably isn't guarded about her in his mind at all, she just has the personality not to pry.
As a group… Mukuro probably avoids saying 'family' unless it's for a specific purpose, but they're pretty much a family. Chrome says it in the TYL arc battle against Glo that Kokuyouland is where Ken and Chikusa and Mukuro-sama return to. They're all tied together and while it's unclear if Mukuro would do anything for the others, it's definitely true in reverse. Mukuro's just a bit harder to read, but he'd definitely do a lot for them.
To Mukuro, Kokuyou are most of his everything, not all of it, because he never puts everything into one go. They are his most important companions and if his appearance in the TYL arc is anything to go on he's far… softer about them. It's also because he's only in the company of Chrome. The few times we have what I call 'honest faces' from Mukuro mainly come when he's with Kokuyou.
MUKURO AND SOME OF HIS… ISSUES
Mukuro has some quirks! You might call them issues.
- he doesn't like being the one to exit a conversation. He would much prefer to drive someone away, have them leave in exasperation or completely crush them (if he beats them up, verbally or physically and then leaves that's entirely different).
- he really hates being honest. Sometimes it's not a conscious hatred but he'll go through all sorts of loops and jumps to get away from being straightforward and honest.
- he likes to devalue his honest, intimate or compassionate statements
- he doesn't always refer to people by full name just to be an ass. A lot of the time that's just how he thinks of them - and part of the time it's a weird perceived distance/lack of respect thing.
- he is well aware that he's a horrible person and sees no reason to change it since he's already been horrible not being horrible isn't really going to help
- he likes to have his arms covered, and while he owns short sleeved t-shirts will never wear them just on their own.
- is incredibly self aware and totally aware of his inability to tell the truth, and most of his issues.
- is also incredibly good at self delusion
- he rarely writes anything down, either he'll remember it or Chikusa will.
- is fairly slow at entering combat. If he does engage in a fight it's usually because he has it mostly planned out in his head. If interrupted on a Project of his he'll usually back down unless it's Important.
- he has no real problem with failure unless it ends up with him having to reveal something or be honest.
- he's not really okay with being wrong.
STAGES OF LIFE
There are 5 sections that I've divvied his life into. Mukuro sort of… becomes more human the older he gets. Sort of.
1 - child
2 - ~ lancia
3. prekokuyou arc
4. pre variaarc
5. future/tyl
Child
As a child Mukuro is the cruelest and most quick to act out of all of his life stagesness. Ken says that he was fairly quiet as a child, and either he was plotting or something caused him to snap when he killed his family. There are no real signs of distress when we're shown him in the manga, but it's not a psychotic joy either. (There is sort of a hanging gap for the reincarnation thing, whether or not he remembers his past lives, how exactly it goes about etc etc etc). The eye, the right one, isn't his and was stuck in his head. Most likely against his will, as the Estraneo family seems to work that way. Mukuro says, in the drama cd thing, that the world created him the way he was (basically).
For child!Mukuro life consists of… life sucking. That's all there is to it, there's no joy, nothing good, no one loves, all humans lead to pain and suffering and blood and dying and horror. He says "It's not worth it" or something along those lines. Which is fairly ambiguous, but refers to either living or the world, I suspect. The only way to change life is to 'fix' it, or break it. And he sees it as rotten to the core, so he has to break it.
He's also still a kid, no older than nine. He offers to Ken and Chikusa: Shall we go together? Together. He's not entirely without want of affection but as he sees the world… the world isn't there to give any.
Mukuro doesn't understand nor get positive emotional concepts. He knows how people look and act when they're 'happy' and 'compassionate' but he doesn't understand them. He knows how people work, that you can use them, how to kill them, how to trick them. But he doesn't really know anything of the world, he knows what he likes and doesn't like but not where they come from. He wants to have companions but knows that companions will kill you, hurt you and betray you. Tools are okay, though. Tools do what you tell them and can't betray you because there's no will of their own.
This is somewhat compounded by the fact that he's well aware of his reincarnation cycle, whether or not he remembers the lives themselves. He knows that he's been reborn 6 times, and says he acquired skills from Hell. I make the assumption that whether or not he remembers the lives he does remember dying and Hell. If he remembers the lives I make the assumption that in most of them he died young or violently. Mukuro, in his mind, has already been damned, been to Hell a few times (and sometimes it felt like he went there for no reason, that there was no way to escape the sort of 'die and go to hell' cycle - which is really paying off the sins of past lives or whatnot, but he doesn't know that) and so there's no real reason to ever be good, either.
I also make the assumption that he and Ken and Chikusa chose their names here too, after killing the Estraneo family.
~ Lancia
Mukuro let himself be taken in (and found) by Lancia's family for the purpose of taking control of Lancia. He probably played the part of poor orphan incredibly well and was needy, shy, cute and at times precocious. He was also pleasantly surprised by how good it felt.
When Mukuro encounters things that he thinks 'feel good' he has two reactions, to completely own it and to destroy it. Which works well with his plan anyway, since he entered the family to take Lancia. Lancia's family doesn't fit into his world view at all, and it frustrates him that they don't. Because that would mean he was wrong. So he edits it, looks at it from a different perspective (and it's okay if he's a horrible person, he already is) and moves on with his plan. He cuts all of Lancia's ties and breaks Lancia's spirit.
He has what he wanted, but it's not the same feeling. Oh well, he still likes it.
prekokuyou arc
We're told that Mukuro is wanted by both the police and the mafia for doing horrible things. There's an assumption that he continued to whittle away at mafia families and cause other problems. If his plan, like he says in the Kokuyou arc, was to take over heads of important states and positions he was probably working on that one.
He didn't tell Lancia that he was just after him until fairly close to the Kokuyou arc. He probably tried to keep Lancia in the dark as much as possible, mixing his truth with his 'but senpai~' sort of selves together. They got caught at some point and time, and Lancia was being his alter, so Mukuro had some other alias then.
Mukuro probably could have escaped whenever he wanted, judging from how he and prisons just don't mix. It is somewhat unknown the length of time that they were in jail, but he was setting things in motion again. Then they escaped with Birds, the twins and MM. … it's unknown/uncertain if Mukuro was actually in jail as well. Considering that the jail picture is Ken, Chikusa and Lancia. He probably wasn't, but off doing something else.
→ then we have the incident at Kokuyou where Mukuro takes the alias Kabane and fucks around with Hitsuji-san. He doesn't have to. Lancia says it, if he wanted to Mukuro could take over the school easily. Instead he sets Hitsuji-san up for the fall and plays the fool and takes great pleasure in it. He's completely and utterly horrible, uses, abuses and pays little heed to Ken or Chikusa and torments Lancia. It's wicked fun and also a side of Mukuro that will never appear again, because next comes the Kokuyou arc and he gets his ass handed to him and his 'dark aura is purified'.
It's worth mentioning because otherwise I'll forget, but Mukuro never needs his personas. He uses them because they amuse him, but never has to pretend to be nice. The TYL thing with Leo Lippi is a bit different, but as far as facades go… he's not a huge fan of them. Obvious lies are easier to take apart and he'd like to keep people guessing. He uses his obvious facades because they're fun, or when there is a very specific point, but as soon as he's obtained his goal he drops them because they're useless.
prevaria arc
OBVIOUS CHANGE lol. Chikusa mentions it to him in the drama CD, that he seems different. And Mukuro is like LOL AWESOME this is the VONGOLA POWER now I wanna take it even more. Sigh.
He knows he's different, and I think that at this time he's pretty much given up on the whole, destroying the world bit. Not entirely, and he still thinks the world is crap and people suck and the mafia is the worst, but he's more willing to look at it with a bit of a broader scope.
Then there's Chrome, who heard him and they met in dreamtime and Mukuro and Dreamtime are… a bit different than Mukuro in regularitme. He thinks he can use her because what Tsuna values and what is close to him are friends. But he also knows he can't be a false friend and get what he wants, what he needs is a true friend to infiltrate. Chrome is ideal.
BUT Mukuro, in the novel, after trying to get Tsuna's body says.. "… oh well." which is kind of bizarre.
THE FUTURE
He's the mist guardian lolol. And is going to great lengths to bring down Byakuran and while he's still I WILL TAKE TSUNA'S BODY really, it's been almost ten years and he hasn't done it. While Mukuro has patience, he's not that patient and it was a statement said to Byakuran.
We also get Mukuro's thoughts, which we get a bit of in the Kokuyou arc, but it's interesting. He's not nearly as bitter seeming and definitely on the Caring side as well.
There are a lot of assumptions to be made about the future - but he never did get out of the Vendice place. He's still in a jar, he has some Plot, but hasn't brought down the mafia, nor clearly, ended the world. Chrome is very precious to him and he says to her, "This is what you still believe in as well." when they make the combined illusion against Glo. True belief can fuel their illusion spells. So. Definite change from earlier Mukuro.
ICONS
OF ALL OF HIS FACES
this is the one which is most indicative of his current mentality. Which is, right after the Kokuyou Arc, preVaria Arc. He's at a crossroads and the beginnings of change but hasn't made a move towards it yet, but the door is open.
is an expression he'll give if he's been somewhat backed into telling the truth.
is usually a thinking/thoughtful sort of icon. Not contemplative though.
another honesty face.
THIS IS ACTUALLY A VAGUELY POSITIVE ICON it's sort of hard to describe. Part of it carries a bit of :? and part of it is … somewhat unreadable but. Somewhat. Honest but not in that :| way or. Yes.
LOVE LOL
In a word: No
In more words: Yes.
He wants to hold onto things, and he does like feeling good and when he feels good he wants to keep that feeling around. He's not very good at it, really. Once he has absolute ownership of something it no longer engages him in the same way. It'll never leave him, but he doesn't feel like he has to have it. On the other hand, if he knows it's going to leave him he doesn't want to care about it. Also, the feeling of wanting something like that means that it's an honest feeling and so expressing it would just be. Difficult.
Mukuro doesn't love Ken and Chikusa because they're just… important, but more a part of him than an individual. Platonic Kokuyorgy, yo.
Mukuro loves Chrome because she is his other self and other. Things. But never in a romantic way because she's Chrome. Not like, she's unappealing, but because they share that headspace and the issues he has with honesty, expression and etc. He'd rather her be romantic with someone else and he can ruin their moments because it would be funny.
Mukuro loves Lancia because he can never have everything and it used to be the best feeling in the world. In… partly romantic, sometimes. Part of it was familial, but Mukuro wanted something else too. But it can never really be, because of the way that he broke it himself. So he can never have it which really just adds to it, because he's fairly close to having it.
Mukuro … will probably love Tsuna. Probably not romantically, but there is always something different about Tsuna. Tsuna totally and utterly contradicts his world view and is nice and brought about that nice feeling the second time. Again, he can't take that feeling for himself, either.
DREAMTIME
Right. So. Dreamtime/dreaming/illusionary walks etc is Mukuro's official canon hobby. Beyond that he does it because he likes it, he can make the world as he wants, and as we saw in the manga - it's really nice. A field, a tree, some wind. He's barefoot. He prefers this place, it's not noisy, it's away from all the blood and stink of the real world. It's pure and calm and wonderful and his and he owns it completely but it engages and is nice and makes him happier.
In dreams he's more likely to be honest, unless he's being an ass and Proving a Point, but in general his default is more relaxed and happier.
CAMP
lol and you thought I was talking about stuff related to camp didn't you? SUCKERS.
Mukuro is not entirely convinced that Camp has any impact on anything ever. There's no proof that it does and he's under the belief that once they leave it is inconsequential. The people here are inconsequential and his actions have little or no repercussions on his timeline back home. He has been surprised several times and finds himself forming relationships/thoughts/being impacted without really meaning to, which is a bit irksome but doesn't change his "so what?" about Camp.
As far as random viruses goes… none of them really bother him except the deaging virus. He's fine with being in different bodies, or whatever other random diseases there are. However, deaging reveals things to other people that he doesn't want revealed. He has no control over the truths they take from him when he's that young, or the assumptions they make. If he ever catches a 'must tell the truth' virus he'll hate it even more.
Camp relationships that stick out/are important, I AM SURE I AM FORGETTING SOME I have the memory of a sieve. But, Rhode, Zexion and Luke. Two out of three have mafia ties here, but have completely different reactions. Zexions is element X in the equation. Mukuro has NO IDEA what Zexion has up his sleeve and if I ever finish the fight thread (I SUCK I AM SO SORRY) he'll be even more cautious. Zexion tops him. All the damn time. Zexion is smart! Zexion has abilities. Zexion tops him. Zexion is also on friendly terms with the Vongola. Mukuro does not like. But he has no particular feeling of dislike for Zexion himself, just the role and what part he's playing. In general he finds Zexion pleasant to talk to.
Rhode is his devil friend. She enforces his world view, is nice to talk to, etc. She is his special dreamtime friend and he can't shake her out of his dreams, which is worth noting. But he also doesn't want to. She's cool! He enjoys her company, she doesn’t do any of those dumb Jesus-y BUT DESTROYING THE WORLD IS BAAAD things, but also isn’t boring.
Luke. Hooooboooyyyy. (the temptation to just not write anything here is great). Luke is basically in the same category as Tsuna, except Mukuro feels he has a certain amount of freedom here because of his opinion of camp (lalalalalala so what it doesn't matter etc). But he often just. Oversteps or gets painted into a corner without really paying too much attention to it. I am so not saying any more on this subject.
TIMELINE
This is probably the only thing inherent to camp which he really dislikes. He is the furthest back of the cast members and it drives him a bit crazy. They ask him where the girl is, he's never met the girl in his life. Luke said that Future Yamamoto said that he was around - which he disliked immensely. He changes a lot too, between Kokuyou to Varia to the TYL arc, so there's just a major difference in how he sees the world. Right now he's still able to go back to how he was, but he'll move further from that the more forward in time he goes. Unless Amano clotheslines me.
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? WTF ARE YOU SMOKINGS?
MUKURO ON KOKUYOU
There are four people who are considered 'Kokuyou': Ken, Chikusa, Lancia and Chrome. Mukuro has, canonically, called Ken and Chikusa his 'tool's, Lancia his 'slave' and Chrome his 'other self'. These are his closest companions, whether or not it is an entirely positive relationship.
Ken and Chikusa know what Mukuro tells them, they're probably able to infer as well. But there doesn't seem to be any other sort of bond - on the same token, it is almost assumed that Mukuro's will is their will as well. In some ways Mukuro doesn't consider them individuals (not in an entirely cruel way either), they're extensions of his will and motivations for the most part. He cares for them, but they also have been a part of each other for a very long time. They are completely subordinate to him and that's how it is and they're all okay with that. It's not entirely master-servant, and not... sameness. He uses them, and they know it, but it's not without affection but isn't driven by affection either.
Lancia is… Mukuro considers Lancia his, but he's also aware that he doesn't completely own Lancia. He owns enough of him, and there's an entire huge long complex relationship here, which I'm going to skirt around. But basically, Mukuro knows he doesn't have all of Lancia, would like all of it, but wouldn't be pleased if he got all of it. Lancia remains an important person even after they… split. And, Lancia knows things without having to be told them and without inferring. Mukuro's thoughts or true intentions are more clear (possibly due to Lancia being possessed by Mukuro for so long). And while Lancia is not his 'other self', Lancia played the role of Rokudou Mukuro long enough to be his alter.
Now, Chrome is what Mukuro referred to as his 'other self' to Ken and Chikusa after their little escape from the Vendice. In personality they're almost complete opposites, and they weren't hugely close in looks until (presumably) Mukuro did some. Uh. Stylistic revisions. On the other hand, she is far closer to the personas he takes on, cute, perceived to be weak, a bit shy, not very direct. She's also not weak by any means and has that other thing he looks for - people who are disillusioned with life in some manner. In the novel he says he can use her to get close to Tsuna, something about friends, blah blah. But there seems to be genuine affection here as well. Chrome probably knows most of what he's thinking, they share headspace and he probably has little reason to hide anything from her and since Tsuna Jesus'd him there isn't a huuuge amount to hide anyway. There are things he still keeps to himself, but he probably isn't guarded about her in his mind at all, she just has the personality not to pry.
As a group… Mukuro probably avoids saying 'family' unless it's for a specific purpose, but they're pretty much a family. Chrome says it in the TYL arc battle against Glo that Kokuyouland is where Ken and Chikusa and Mukuro-sama return to. They're all tied together and while it's unclear if Mukuro would do anything for the others, it's definitely true in reverse. Mukuro's just a bit harder to read, but he'd definitely do a lot for them.
To Mukuro, Kokuyou are most of his everything, not all of it, because he never puts everything into one go. They are his most important companions and if his appearance in the TYL arc is anything to go on he's far… softer about them. It's also because he's only in the company of Chrome. The few times we have what I call 'honest faces' from Mukuro mainly come when he's with Kokuyou.
MUKURO AND SOME OF HIS… ISSUES
Mukuro has some quirks! You might call them issues.
- he doesn't like being the one to exit a conversation. He would much prefer to drive someone away, have them leave in exasperation or completely crush them (if he beats them up, verbally or physically and then leaves that's entirely different).
- he really hates being honest. Sometimes it's not a conscious hatred but he'll go through all sorts of loops and jumps to get away from being straightforward and honest.
- he likes to devalue his honest, intimate or compassionate statements
- he doesn't always refer to people by full name just to be an ass. A lot of the time that's just how he thinks of them - and part of the time it's a weird perceived distance/lack of respect thing.
- he is well aware that he's a horrible person and sees no reason to change it since he's already been horrible not being horrible isn't really going to help
- he likes to have his arms covered, and while he owns short sleeved t-shirts will never wear them just on their own.
- is incredibly self aware and totally aware of his inability to tell the truth, and most of his issues.
- is also incredibly good at self delusion
- he rarely writes anything down, either he'll remember it or Chikusa will.
- is fairly slow at entering combat. If he does engage in a fight it's usually because he has it mostly planned out in his head. If interrupted on a Project of his he'll usually back down unless it's Important.
- he has no real problem with failure unless it ends up with him having to reveal something or be honest.
- he's not really okay with being wrong.
STAGES OF LIFE
There are 5 sections that I've divvied his life into. Mukuro sort of… becomes more human the older he gets. Sort of.
1 - child
2 - ~ lancia
3. prekokuyou arc
4. pre variaarc
5. future/tyl
Child
As a child Mukuro is the cruelest and most quick to act out of all of his life stagesness. Ken says that he was fairly quiet as a child, and either he was plotting or something caused him to snap when he killed his family. There are no real signs of distress when we're shown him in the manga, but it's not a psychotic joy either. (There is sort of a hanging gap for the reincarnation thing, whether or not he remembers his past lives, how exactly it goes about etc etc etc). The eye, the right one, isn't his and was stuck in his head. Most likely against his will, as the Estraneo family seems to work that way. Mukuro says, in the drama cd thing, that the world created him the way he was (basically).
For child!Mukuro life consists of… life sucking. That's all there is to it, there's no joy, nothing good, no one loves, all humans lead to pain and suffering and blood and dying and horror. He says "It's not worth it" or something along those lines. Which is fairly ambiguous, but refers to either living or the world, I suspect. The only way to change life is to 'fix' it, or break it. And he sees it as rotten to the core, so he has to break it.
He's also still a kid, no older than nine. He offers to Ken and Chikusa: Shall we go together? Together. He's not entirely without want of affection but as he sees the world… the world isn't there to give any.
Mukuro doesn't understand nor get positive emotional concepts. He knows how people look and act when they're 'happy' and 'compassionate' but he doesn't understand them. He knows how people work, that you can use them, how to kill them, how to trick them. But he doesn't really know anything of the world, he knows what he likes and doesn't like but not where they come from. He wants to have companions but knows that companions will kill you, hurt you and betray you. Tools are okay, though. Tools do what you tell them and can't betray you because there's no will of their own.
This is somewhat compounded by the fact that he's well aware of his reincarnation cycle, whether or not he remembers the lives themselves. He knows that he's been reborn 6 times, and says he acquired skills from Hell. I make the assumption that whether or not he remembers the lives he does remember dying and Hell. If he remembers the lives I make the assumption that in most of them he died young or violently. Mukuro, in his mind, has already been damned, been to Hell a few times (and sometimes it felt like he went there for no reason, that there was no way to escape the sort of 'die and go to hell' cycle - which is really paying off the sins of past lives or whatnot, but he doesn't know that) and so there's no real reason to ever be good, either.
I also make the assumption that he and Ken and Chikusa chose their names here too, after killing the Estraneo family.
~ Lancia
Mukuro let himself be taken in (and found) by Lancia's family for the purpose of taking control of Lancia. He probably played the part of poor orphan incredibly well and was needy, shy, cute and at times precocious. He was also pleasantly surprised by how good it felt.
When Mukuro encounters things that he thinks 'feel good' he has two reactions, to completely own it and to destroy it. Which works well with his plan anyway, since he entered the family to take Lancia. Lancia's family doesn't fit into his world view at all, and it frustrates him that they don't. Because that would mean he was wrong. So he edits it, looks at it from a different perspective (and it's okay if he's a horrible person, he already is) and moves on with his plan. He cuts all of Lancia's ties and breaks Lancia's spirit.
He has what he wanted, but it's not the same feeling. Oh well, he still likes it.
prekokuyou arc
We're told that Mukuro is wanted by both the police and the mafia for doing horrible things. There's an assumption that he continued to whittle away at mafia families and cause other problems. If his plan, like he says in the Kokuyou arc, was to take over heads of important states and positions he was probably working on that one.
He didn't tell Lancia that he was just after him until fairly close to the Kokuyou arc. He probably tried to keep Lancia in the dark as much as possible, mixing his truth with his 'but senpai~' sort of selves together. They got caught at some point and time, and Lancia was being his alter, so Mukuro had some other alias then.
Mukuro probably could have escaped whenever he wanted, judging from how he and prisons just don't mix. It is somewhat unknown the length of time that they were in jail, but he was setting things in motion again. Then they escaped with Birds, the twins and MM. … it's unknown/uncertain if Mukuro was actually in jail as well. Considering that the jail picture is Ken, Chikusa and Lancia. He probably wasn't, but off doing something else.
→ then we have the incident at Kokuyou where Mukuro takes the alias Kabane and fucks around with Hitsuji-san. He doesn't have to. Lancia says it, if he wanted to Mukuro could take over the school easily. Instead he sets Hitsuji-san up for the fall and plays the fool and takes great pleasure in it. He's completely and utterly horrible, uses, abuses and pays little heed to Ken or Chikusa and torments Lancia. It's wicked fun and also a side of Mukuro that will never appear again, because next comes the Kokuyou arc and he gets his ass handed to him and his 'dark aura is purified'.
It's worth mentioning because otherwise I'll forget, but Mukuro never needs his personas. He uses them because they amuse him, but never has to pretend to be nice. The TYL thing with Leo Lippi is a bit different, but as far as facades go… he's not a huge fan of them. Obvious lies are easier to take apart and he'd like to keep people guessing. He uses his obvious facades because they're fun, or when there is a very specific point, but as soon as he's obtained his goal he drops them because they're useless.
prevaria arc
OBVIOUS CHANGE lol. Chikusa mentions it to him in the drama CD, that he seems different. And Mukuro is like LOL AWESOME this is the VONGOLA POWER now I wanna take it even more. Sigh.
He knows he's different, and I think that at this time he's pretty much given up on the whole, destroying the world bit. Not entirely, and he still thinks the world is crap and people suck and the mafia is the worst, but he's more willing to look at it with a bit of a broader scope.
Then there's Chrome, who heard him and they met in dreamtime and Mukuro and Dreamtime are… a bit different than Mukuro in regularitme. He thinks he can use her because what Tsuna values and what is close to him are friends. But he also knows he can't be a false friend and get what he wants, what he needs is a true friend to infiltrate. Chrome is ideal.
BUT Mukuro, in the novel, after trying to get Tsuna's body says.. "… oh well." which is kind of bizarre.
THE FUTURE
He's the mist guardian lolol. And is going to great lengths to bring down Byakuran and while he's still I WILL TAKE TSUNA'S BODY really, it's been almost ten years and he hasn't done it. While Mukuro has patience, he's not that patient and it was a statement said to Byakuran.
We also get Mukuro's thoughts, which we get a bit of in the Kokuyou arc, but it's interesting. He's not nearly as bitter seeming and definitely on the Caring side as well.
There are a lot of assumptions to be made about the future - but he never did get out of the Vendice place. He's still in a jar, he has some Plot, but hasn't brought down the mafia, nor clearly, ended the world. Chrome is very precious to him and he says to her, "This is what you still believe in as well." when they make the combined illusion against Glo. True belief can fuel their illusion spells. So. Definite change from earlier Mukuro.
ICONS
OF ALL OF HIS FACES
this is the one which is most indicative of his current mentality. Which is, right after the Kokuyou Arc, preVaria Arc. He's at a crossroads and the beginnings of change but hasn't made a move towards it yet, but the door is open.
is an expression he'll give if he's been somewhat backed into telling the truth.
is usually a thinking/thoughtful sort of icon. Not contemplative though.
another honesty face.
THIS IS ACTUALLY A VAGUELY POSITIVE ICON it's sort of hard to describe. Part of it carries a bit of :? and part of it is … somewhat unreadable but. Somewhat. Honest but not in that :| way or. Yes.
LOVE LOL
In a word: No
In more words: Yes.
He wants to hold onto things, and he does like feeling good and when he feels good he wants to keep that feeling around. He's not very good at it, really. Once he has absolute ownership of something it no longer engages him in the same way. It'll never leave him, but he doesn't feel like he has to have it. On the other hand, if he knows it's going to leave him he doesn't want to care about it. Also, the feeling of wanting something like that means that it's an honest feeling and so expressing it would just be. Difficult.
Mukuro doesn't love Ken and Chikusa because they're just… important, but more a part of him than an individual. Platonic Kokuyorgy, yo.
Mukuro loves Chrome because she is his other self and other. Things. But never in a romantic way because she's Chrome. Not like, she's unappealing, but because they share that headspace and the issues he has with honesty, expression and etc. He'd rather her be romantic with someone else and he can ruin their moments because it would be funny.
Mukuro loves Lancia because he can never have everything and it used to be the best feeling in the world. In… partly romantic, sometimes. Part of it was familial, but Mukuro wanted something else too. But it can never really be, because of the way that he broke it himself. So he can never have it which really just adds to it, because he's fairly close to having it.
Mukuro … will probably love Tsuna. Probably not romantically, but there is always something different about Tsuna. Tsuna totally and utterly contradicts his world view and is nice and brought about that nice feeling the second time. Again, he can't take that feeling for himself, either.
DREAMTIME
Right. So. Dreamtime/dreaming/illusionary walks etc is Mukuro's official canon hobby. Beyond that he does it because he likes it, he can make the world as he wants, and as we saw in the manga - it's really nice. A field, a tree, some wind. He's barefoot. He prefers this place, it's not noisy, it's away from all the blood and stink of the real world. It's pure and calm and wonderful and his and he owns it completely but it engages and is nice and makes him happier.
In dreams he's more likely to be honest, unless he's being an ass and Proving a Point, but in general his default is more relaxed and happier.
CAMP
lol and you thought I was talking about stuff related to camp didn't you? SUCKERS.
Mukuro is not entirely convinced that Camp has any impact on anything ever. There's no proof that it does and he's under the belief that once they leave it is inconsequential. The people here are inconsequential and his actions have little or no repercussions on his timeline back home. He has been surprised several times and finds himself forming relationships/thoughts/being impacted without really meaning to, which is a bit irksome but doesn't change his "so what?" about Camp.
As far as random viruses goes… none of them really bother him except the deaging virus. He's fine with being in different bodies, or whatever other random diseases there are. However, deaging reveals things to other people that he doesn't want revealed. He has no control over the truths they take from him when he's that young, or the assumptions they make. If he ever catches a 'must tell the truth' virus he'll hate it even more.
Camp relationships that stick out/are important, I AM SURE I AM FORGETTING SOME I have the memory of a sieve. But, Rhode, Zexion and Luke. Two out of three have mafia ties here, but have completely different reactions. Zexions is element X in the equation. Mukuro has NO IDEA what Zexion has up his sleeve and if I ever finish the fight thread (I SUCK I AM SO SORRY) he'll be even more cautious. Zexion tops him. All the damn time. Zexion is smart! Zexion has abilities. Zexion tops him. Zexion is also on friendly terms with the Vongola. Mukuro does not like. But he has no particular feeling of dislike for Zexion himself, just the role and what part he's playing. In general he finds Zexion pleasant to talk to.
Rhode is his devil friend. She enforces his world view, is nice to talk to, etc. She is his special dreamtime friend and he can't shake her out of his dreams, which is worth noting. But he also doesn't want to. She's cool! He enjoys her company, she doesn’t do any of those dumb Jesus-y BUT DESTROYING THE WORLD IS BAAAD things, but also isn’t boring.
Luke. Hooooboooyyyy. (the temptation to just not write anything here is great). Luke is basically in the same category as Tsuna, except Mukuro feels he has a certain amount of freedom here because of his opinion of camp (lalalalalala so what it doesn't matter etc). But he often just. Oversteps or gets painted into a corner without really paying too much attention to it. I am so not saying any more on this subject.
TIMELINE
This is probably the only thing inherent to camp which he really dislikes. He is the furthest back of the cast members and it drives him a bit crazy. They ask him where the girl is, he's never met the girl in his life. Luke said that Future Yamamoto said that he was around - which he disliked immensely. He changes a lot too, between Kokuyou to Varia to the TYL arc, so there's just a major difference in how he sees the world. Right now he's still able to go back to how he was, but he'll move further from that the more forward in time he goes. Unless Amano clotheslines me.
QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? WTF ARE YOU SMOKINGS?