1. Where Is He?

vanoe, sherliam, and rooftops <3

1. Where is he?

the similar desperation to find their respective partners....yeah :')

however, one thing that catches my eye : noe is more innocent in the way he looks for vanitas, presumably because he thinks vanitas left to be alone as opposed to thinking he straight up ran away. while sherlock is downright anxious, thinking that either liam left to "finish the job" as was the plan, or something bad happened to him.

2. Ah, there he is.

once again, pretty similar right? except vanoe seems a bit anticlimactic, the way they're shown together as mere silhouettes without expressions, still under the same sky and on the same roof despite whatever went down between them. on the other hand you have this gorgeous moment of sherlock with an expression of awe staring at william whose face is deliberately not shown, but his presence is still so impactful as the sheets billow in the breeze.

3. Face to face, side by side.

the way noe and sherlock completely flip their roles from when they were looking for their respective partners. noe sees vanitas, and is immediately struck by the realisation that he really is here, he really is alive, but he's injured and he's looking at me and what do i even say now? sherlock, having confirmed liam is safe, is pretty content to sit beside him with a smile on his face, even as liam avoids looking at him for the time being, because he knows liam has so much on his mind.

4. Where do we stand?

noe is pretty much walking on eggshells here, he asks random questions as opposed to actually addressing the heart of the matter, he backpedals and apologizes when vanitas doesn't say anything, and the second he gets cold (clutching at his clothes) the first thing he does is tell vanitas to come inside, offering to leave because he's assumed he's lost the right to stay near his partner.....</3

compared to sherlock, who's still smiling and knows exactly what he wants to say. and yet, he's still caught off guard by the fact that william is returning the same sentiment to him.

and i'll tell you why this difference exists : time. sherlock has had months to figure out exactly what he wants to say to liam because he woke up first, while noe came face to face with vanitas immediately after regaining consciousness.

5. Ouch.

i actually hate it here, one scene is vanitas himself cementing noe's miserable future and the other is cementing sherlock's win against what was supposed to be liam's future.....ough my heart. and the parallels in the expressions, vanitas and liam having the same determination, but then you have noe absolutely shaken while sherlock smiles softly.

6. The future.

beginning of the end vs beginning after the end.

vanitas will carry on the work he deems important, and noe knows he needs to accept that if he wants to stay near vanitas. but, still, noe is noe, so he won't change either, he'll never be just a vampire or just a tool, he'll challenge vanitas every step of the way. liam, though, has no idea what to do (or more specifically, no idea how to go about doing the things he knows he must do) but sherlock reassures him, tells him there's nothing better than a blank canvas :)

even though vanitas and liam here have expressed completely opposite sentiments, what remains the same is the warm acceptance of their respective partners, because whatever they choose to do, noe and sherlock ain't going nowhere.

7. I trust you, wherever you go.

the extra reassurance on sherlock's side because he knows right now, he's more grounded than liam is, and he also knows that he'll keep holding onto liam as long as it's required, before they inevitably stand shoulder to shoulder again. meanwhile noe, who has been the one to accept vanitas' decision, simply says "let's go".

also, the fact that vanitas is still surprised when noe reaches out, as if he was expecting noe to reject him. i mean, entrusting someone with the task of killing him and refusing to change anything despite their clash (plus you know, the notion of "how could anyone love someone like me?") does make for one insecure vanitas.

extra ramble because i look into this stuff way too much : the difference in positioning is so so fascinating to me because sherliam sit without touching each other at the bench, as sherlock is content to coexist till liam manages to collect his thoughts. but noe deposits himself right behind vanitas, back-to-back, because he needs (?) that physical contact right now.

and then, here, when sherlock is speaking to liam, they're both sitting (in fact, sherlock is even lower on the floor compared to liam) because right now they don't have anywhere to be, it's just a quietly hopeful beginning. on the other hand, vanitas is sitting awkwardly and noe is standing above him, holding out a hand, because even if vanitas is the one making decisions, noe is the one who'll take them towards the end (by eventually killing vanitas).

8. Just look at them.

noe 🤝 sherlock = being perfect to the point of being unattainable in vanitas' and liam's pov. almost like they're the brightest sun you'll ever come across.

vanitas 🤝 liam = being beautiful with their imperfections (shown in the form of injuries) in noe's and sherlock's pov. almost like they're the moon (spots included!) that needs the sun to shine.

<33