indexmessagerssmy shows blabberings Once as a child he had sat upon a yellow dune by the sea in the middle of the blue and hot summer day, trying to fill a sieve with sand, because some cruel cousin had said, “Fill this sieve with sand, and you’ll get a dime!” And the faster he poured, the faster it sifted through with a hot whispering. His hands were tired, the sand was boiling, the sieve empty. Seated there in the midst of July, without a sound, he felt the tears move down his cheeks.
So I wanted to address this for a long while now, because I’ve seen one too many posts talking about Yor like she’s just an aloof assassin who doesn’t care about things outside her direct environment, which is why sometimes she says dense things.
I’m well aware that she’s a fan favorite so people don’t mean her harm, yet I think the whole story actually hints at way more than her being dense, especially considering her background and who she still works for.
In other words, since Yor was trained but also half raised by Garden’s leader, the Shopkeeper, it’s likely that, considering how they operate and what they’re about, they instilled in her a conditioned dependency since childhood or teenage years that would make her unable to learn things on her own without asking for their opinion, making it very hard for her to turn against them ever.
Want a striking example? Her encounter with Melinda Desmond.
Not only did she not know who Melinda was (but I mean, that at least could be understandable)…
…but she also didn’t know what a First Lady is.
Sure, it’s funny on first glance, but after thinking about it, what does it betray? That Garden probably made sure over years Yor would never get the slightest basic info and understanding on what politics of this country are all about. Because if their strong soldiers start to get opinions of their own, then they could start disagreeing with Garden and turning on them. So, “let’s prohibit people having free thinking, so that they can remain good little pawns” as we “fight for peace in our country”.
To be honest, that’s a scary ass thought process to envision, when Yor’s an independent working lady well into her 20s, but this shows how deep Garden’s indoctrination runs in Yor, since they got hold of her as a child/young teen.
Another striking example is the way she always describes her job, in an almost childish way. Her nickname “thorn princess” aside, I always found it interesting that Yor’s aware she’s an assassin but she isn’t morally anguished at all about killing people and never mentions or distinguishes any grey area in her missions. In fact…
… it’s all in black and white and she clearly thinks that the people she kills are all evildoers (which as we saw in the recent arc with the Red Circus isn’t always the case and begs the rhetorical question “why does Garden get to decide who’s evil?”), therefore “she’s not doing anything wrong”, which also pretty much betrays how she was pushed into it.
Long ago, Garden probably baited Yor with Yuri’s protection and told her that, since they’re “about peace”, Yor’s work would just help them to “fight against evil”. As a child, she wasn’t mentally fit to understand the deeper implications and then she was mentally conditioned to always do and think like Garden tells her to, which promotes this systematic childish description of her assassin’s job.
Finally, please take notice of the Shopkeeper’s reaction the first time she tries to argue about her work, in the ship arc:
Enough said, Garden’s awful. I’m sure there are more examples throughout the story, but I now want to talk about future character development.
After all, since the story obviously calls for Yor to ditch Garden, to protect what’s actually important to her (Yuri, Loid and Anya), we actually do see her changing little by little so far, thanks to her living with Loid and Anya. Her coworkers quickly mentioned that she’s more lively ever since she got married and the ship arc overall emphasizes that her family is starting to become more important to her than her job, so there is high hope for Yor. :D
Additionally, while she’s still far away from noticing that Garden mentally drove her into a corner, she now openly voices her concerns that “she’s not normal” but that she wants to understand why in order to learn how to change.
To be fair, fighting against indoctrination is tough and takes time so I’m very proud of her for slowly realizing that she ought to decide for herself from now on. :D
TL;DR Yor is not dense. She was indoctrinated as a child by Garden and can only (for now) see the world through the filters they taught her.
Ironically enough, the only character who knows about her real job and could, thus, notice that Yor isn’t being critical about Garden…… actually can’t because she’s a four year old who is too young to understand that Mama’s job is wrong. Well done, Endo-sensei!
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Swordsmith Village- World Tour coming in 2023 with premiere event in Los Angeles on February 18th and theatrical release in the U.S. and Canada on March 3rd!
okay, to get things straight (hehe), in this au i imagine they’re like fwb except utahime can’t stand shoko sometimes (a 180 from canon) and they’ve been doing this for a long time, but they got to a point where the romantic tension is unbearable, so it’s a bus stop romance. it’s late at night, utahime’s been waiting for shoko’s short break after a day of cafe singing, but shoko gets to their agreed-meeting-point late, so hime’s a little pissed. they know each other well enough to push each other’s buttons is the right ways, okay??? needed to clarify bc this is my most viewed tiktok, and some comments thought that this was harassment, but that’s on me bc i posted this w no context :<
Summary: "Parenthood chooses you,“ her mother used to tell her, but Utahime never understood that saying more than the moment she realized she was pregnant with Gojo Satoru’s child. They were never meant to be something serious - never meant to be more than they were - and yet they both suddenly find themselves in a world that doesn’t care about their desires - and that brings them closer in a way that no one else can understand. It won’t be easy and it won’t be kind to either of them, but it appears as if the universe has other plans for them.
Chapter 19: Gojo and Utahime introduce their newborn son to the others and have a quiet moment alone together before they’re forced to face the world.
[id: the first image is a digital illustration of ieiri shoko. she has eyebrow and ear piercings, and she wears a watch around one of her wrists. she’s wearing white pants with matching unbuttoned suit with nothing underneath, exposing the inner part of her chest and her stomach. she’s leaning back, tugging at the waistband of her pants with a hand, some of her hair cascades down her shoulders.
the second image is a doodle of iori utahime. one of her ears is mostly torn, on the side where her scar starts. she’s standing still, frozen in shock with her eyes and mouth wide in reaction to shoko’s new fit, the bag in her hand is forgotten. the background is a close-up of her face, distorted to exaggerate her reaction. /end id]
