#And also the danger of a world growing too reliant on said hero

[toastling]

I think if there's anything you have to give My Hero Academia credit for, it's creating a Superman archetype who 100% lives up to him in every conceivable way. I've never seen another property so perfectly encapsulate what it is that makes Superman the hero and the icon that he is. All Might is genuinely one of the greats of the superhero setting.

[aros001]

First time read through light novel vol. 4. Random thoughts.

So this is where mayonnaise came into the story. I still remember my sheer utter confusion over the mayo bath in the Memory Snow OVA, having no memory of the anime ever bringing up any of Subaru's love for the condiment. As a positive for him at least, it's cool that Emilia apparently really likes it too and that he's the one who figured out how to makes the stuff in this new world.

“The lad’s eyes interested me ever so slightly. They said he has crossed the boundary of death. Many come close to the line, stop, and draw back, but...” Wilhelm lowered his lids in thought as his words trailed off. “Those are the eyes of one who has crossed once, no...several times, and returned. I know of no such being. You might say I was compelled by curiosity.”

How would he know what the eyes of someone like that look like if he's never met anyone like that before Subaru?

“Listen and be amazed, look and be astounded! Behold, the ultimate combat technique—RoSciPer!!”

“What is that...thing?! You did not inform me such a hand was possible!”

“Shut up! I didn’t mention it, but it’s your fault you didn’t ask! That part is rock, this here’s scissors, and over there is paper! In other words, my hand’s beaten your rock!”

That is so freaking petty. But on the other hand, maybe Priscilla would respect him for it anyway? I could see her having no problem with winning however you can, even if it's by being unfair and tricking your opponent, as long as you keep your own pride.

“—But I wonder what Master Roswaal is thinking?”

She inclined her head slightly as she voiced her doubts about the instructions her master had left that morning.

“He said, ‘Do not stand in Subaru’s way no matter what Lady Emilia may say to you.’”

It was as if he’d anticipated Subaru’s actions and had instructed her accordingly. She also wondered why he was valuing Subaru’s opinion above Emilia’s.

Hmm...now that's curious.

“That’s right, bro. It’s been eighteen years since I got summoned here. I lost my arm around the same time... Right around the age you are right now.”

Just like that, Al confessed to Subaru that he’d experienced the same situation.

...Wait...WHAT?! If this was in the anime then I completely forgot about it because holy sh*t, Al is from another world too?! And according to him he arrived 18 years ago and was about the same age as Subaru is (and Subaru is roughly 17, isn't he?). No idea if he can Return By Death and if he can he might have the same penalty for trying to talk about it as Subaru does, so he obviously couldn't talk about it, but this is a huge deal. It's a great bit to add to Subaru's story, showing off what could have happened to him and what he could still eventually become. It probably deepened his obsession with Emilia a little bit too, since she's the main difference between him and Al.

“Unfortunately, Lady Emilia, this is not the time or place for you to argue. If all the facts become clear, Subaru will be staying here...for a very, veeery long time.”

Okay, Roswaal f**king knows and is planning something.

They talk about a Dragon Tablet handed down by Holy Dragon Volcanica, which has given predictions and warnings about great disasters that did actually occur. Naturally, my first thoughts are that this Holy Dragon (or whoever wrote the tablet) might have had abilities like Subaru's RBD and that he'll have his own role to play.

Felt might be a long lost princess of the royal family that was wiped out in a strangely specific plague and Subaru met both her and Emilia first in this world because she stole for her the thing that proved she was a worthy candidate for being a Dragon Maiden. It kind of feels like the Witch of Envy is like the Force from Star Wars with how well she made the destinies and chance encounters line up.

I never really liked Ferris that much, and not because he's a cat-boy trap. It's more the way he talks. I like things that are cute but I can't stand things that are cutesy.

While Crusch's idea for the future of the kingdom is nothing that should be rushed, and most certainly should be done with care as not to piss off the dragon, I get where she's coming from, that they are too reliant on the dragon's blessings and not doing enough for themselves. It's a classic argument I've seen plenty in superhero stories. There's no denying the heroes have done a lot of good but when the people become too dependent on them and if/when the heroes can't help anymore, what's going to happen then? It's one of my favorite plot points in My Hero Academia, where common citizens thinking "It's fine, a hero will show up and take care of it." and not helping where they should have eventually gave rise to one of their world's most dangerous and infamous supervillains.

“A-and now you make threats. These words and this show of force convey, ‘Do as I say or you shall be an icicle.’ If this is not blackmail, what is...?!”

Then, Emilia wholeheartedly affirmed his suspicions.

“—Yes, I am threatening you.” She continued, “I shall make my case to the esteemed members of the Council of Elders once more. My name is Emilia. I spent a long time in the Great Forest of Elioor, the World of Eternal Frost, and am served by Puck, the Great Spirit that governs fire mana. I am a silver-haired half-elf. The people of the nearby villages called me...”

Emilia paused, surveying the faces of the Council of Elders on the dais.

“...the Freezing Witch, born in the Frozen Forest.”

Holy sh*t, I am way more into Emilia's character here than I was in the anime! That was awesome! Her whole speech after too and her finally being given some respect. It's not like she didn't have any personality or agency in the anime. It's not like she could have just been replaced by a sexy lamp and nothing would be different like you could with the heroines of other series. But she definitely feels like she has more here, like there's more fire to her. Like hot damn, even I want to see her become queen now!

...And then Subaru opens his mouth again...and promptly inserts his foot.

Yeah, I suppose Subaru white knighting for Emilia in front of all the actual white knights is probably one of the more infamous scenes of the series, huh? It's one of those weird things where you feel you know what Subaru should have done but at the same time, if he hadn't snuck into the castle, we wouldn't have gained his relationships with Priscilla and Al or have seen as much of the meeting as we did. It's good for the story and eventually it's good for character development but it's hard not to wince a little at everything Subaru does in this part, especially because he himself reflects and feels guilty at a few points about how badly he could have messed everything up for Emilia and Roswaal.

I've thought a lot more about Subaru's white knighting ever since I watched the anime, mostly because of characters like Motoyasu from Rising of the Shield Hero and Mitsurugi from Konosuba; two LN series I read before this one. Chivalry isn't a bad thing. Trying to stand up and fight for someone you care about isn't a bad thing. But like Emilia points out, she never asked Subaru to do any of that for her. She didn't want him to do any of that for her. In fact, he deliberately went against what she did ask of him to go and do all of that. With these three characters, the problem with their white knighting is that they're doing it with no regard to what the person they're white knighting for actually wants. In many cases, like Emilia also points out, Subaru wasn't really doing it for her. He was doing it for himself. To make himself feel better. To place himself closer to her. And she's not exactly wrong that their relationship seems to be entirely just two people repaying their debts to each other, even though she has no idea what debt Subaru feels he owes her.

The ironic thing is, if Subaru wanted to get closer to Emilia and have value to her, he already found a way to do that in one of his previous lives. On his second or third loop in the mansion arc, Puck told him that Emilia doesn't have a lot of experience with friends and really wants some. During that loop, Subaru and Emilia are just hanging out, enjoying each other's company, laughing. It's made clear she does genuinely like having him around. Just being her friend was enough for her and there's still plenty of ways her friend could have helped her through such a trying time, without embarrassing her in front of everyone in the castle or making her think it's her fault he keeps getting hurt.

I think Subaru's big problem, and what he needs to grow out of, isn't that he's an idiot (though he can certainly do dumb things) but rather that he's immature. Not immature like he's a child (though sometimes...) but immature in that he hasn't developed enough to properly react to certain situations. He was a shut-in who constantly skipped school. He doesn't have a lot of experience with other real people and doesn't know how to properly interact with them, defaulting too often to what he's seen in fantasy stories. I think that's a problem both he and Rem share to an extent. They don't know what it means to be in love. That's not to say that Subaru's love for Emilia isn't real or that Rem's love for Subaru isn't real. Rather that they don't know what to do with it. They don't know how they should act towards the person they're in love with or how to show their love, so too often they default to either obsession or devotion or both. And so if they want to have a healthy, happy relationship with the person they love, they have to acknowledge and address their own immaturity and basically grow up a bit.

Nice little detail that Julius beat on Subaru to keep any other knights from going after and possibly killing him...and because he was at least a little annoyed by Subaru's words. He's a good guy...but still human.

And again with Roswaal working things behind the scenes. He gave orders for Subaru (or at least a servant bearing his family crest like Subaru would be) to be allowed to pass into the castle. I imagine he did have a back-up plan for if Subaru never showed up but the man definitely knows or suspects something about Subaru and/or what's going on with him. I mean, benefit of the doubt, if he doesn't know about RBD, from the outside it does look like Subaru has some kind of prophetic abilities, as twice now he's known about future events that would have destroyed everything Roswaal's been working towards and used that knowledge to prevent them. Making things easier for Subaru to act just in case he had another "vision" would have been in Roswaal's best interest. He might be thinking Subaru is like the Holy Dragon, thus Roswaal has his own personal Dragon Tablet. But I can't help but feel things go deeper than that. At the very least I'm glad Subaru's outburst and Roswaal trying to smite him with fire was apparently part of the plan. 1, Roswaal is just a really fun character and I don't want to lose that, but 2, he definitely seems like a guy you don't want to have against you.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Re_Zero/comments/gontd5/novels_first_time_read_through_light_novel_vol_4/

[neshabeingchildish]

07. Feeding the Monster

Well, I’ma be real with y’all. I haven’t made any new white friends in ages, lost many of the associates that I once had in recent years and honestly have like 2-4 in my life that I’m comfortable with on a genuine friendship level. But. a lot of young people tell me about how disappointed they wind up when they first recognize that their friends don’t get their identities. Growing up in SETX, in a city surrounded by hick towns with active Klan my entire lifetime, none of the “racial climate” of America is new to me or mine. But, I do realize that in some places, people somehow never witness or experience a racially motivated situation early in life. I don’t know if that’s a blessing or a curse. To be honest, it’s so normal where I’m from, I don’t know what the attitude might be for people who have only managed to get dosages of it in “Trump’s America.” Regardless... I wanted to do this sort of Charlotte-centric racial piece and ultimately decided that A Chasper Fic was where I would put it. Though, it could easily be a standalone with Chasper shipping. Anywho, TW for racial discrimination, harassment and racial isolation. I know that affects a lot of folk and don’t want too much heartache.

Feeding the Monster

Most people don't know Charlotte. That's one of the world's greatest gags, in her opinion. She was always straightforward. She's never been dishonest or fake. She may not always speak her mind, as she didn't always find that necessary and some people simply weren't worth her energy. But, even being as genuine and authentic as she had always been… people didn't really know her. People thought that they knew her. She was often a subject of conversation. Whether she was thought of as a booksmart nerd with no friends, or a pretty girl who probably was stuck up and that's why she had no friends..  Charlotte was aware of the mystery surrounding her.

Even her two best friends didn't get all of what there was there. They knew her habits and hobbies, but neither of them ever really knew her hardships. They never noticed and they never asked. It didn't surprise her. Neither was observant and that wound up being her role in their lives a lot of the time. But, she strongly believed that if she sometimes shared her issues, they would most likely have her back. Why trouble anybody with anything they'd never really have to deal with, though?

That gave her hardships too much power. She didn't ignore her problems. But, she liked to handle them in her own way and time, if it was worth either. Sometimes… things didn't go as planned, though.

.

Her parents didn't discuss it, unless of course it couldn't be avoided, but Charlotte knew early on that there was a difference between herself and most of the Swellview kids.

They didn't seem to have the haircare concerns that she did. Their skincare routines seemed vastly different. Whenever they watched TV and movies - they saw themselves in the characters and in public personas. Whenever she watched the same programs, she saw her surroundings, not her reflection.

It wasn't an issue that she was necessarily conscious of. She simply knew. She knew that different spaces held different volumes of viewable types. For instance, at a family gathering she knew she'd see perhaps sixty similar viewable types. But, at a school gathering she knew that she would probably only see six. That was simply a thing that she knew, like the sky is blue and 2+2.

As she got older, more tech savvy and reliant on the Internet; the differences became clearer. Not in the way that she felt some type of way about being different and her reflection being a minority… but she noticed that many of those souls in her surroundings felt a way about it.

Now, her two friends - they didn't really see it. She had been friends with both of them long enough to gather that much. They couldn't hear the dog whistle terminology or feel the aura when some bias was directed towards her. She would be annoyed by it at times, but mostly, she tried not to let the ignorance of others interfere with her day.

Whenever the ignorance triggered hatred, she'd sometimes gain an enemy. They might start a battle and she would feel like the one with the power to pick and choose those. She wasn't used to anyone else joining her, especially when she wasn't choosing to battle…

"It was dangerous. For all you know, the man is a psychopath and capable of killing you!" She fussed at Jasper, pulling him into the Man Cave by the elbow and carrying both of their bags. Henry looked up at the sound of her fussing, expecting to see Jasper with egg on his face or something. Instead, he saw blood.

"Whoa! What is happening? Who did that to Jasper? Tell me it was a wild animal!" He said, with his hand at the ready to grab his tube of gumballs.

"He fought like a wild animal, but trust me - the other guys were in way worse shape." She sat Jasper down, dropped their things and went to the auto snacker, "Three bags of ice." Henry fished for more details as she retrieved the first aid kit.

"Okay. I know I made you mad once and you socked me with a slab of meat, but THIS is way different. What the butt happened?"

"Some dude attacked Charlotte!" Jasper said while she was putting ice on his busted fists.

"WHAT?" Henry did have his tube of gum now and was pouring one into his hand.

Charlotte offered, "Trust me, for now the crisis has come to a halt."

Jasper went on, "He was following her and screaming obscenities when I walked up, and I heard him call her the worst thing that I've ever actually heard in my entire life."

"What did he say?" Henry asked, with the gumball at his lips. 

Charlotte snatched it away from him and resumed tending to a cut above Jasper's left eye, "I don't need two of you busted up. That fight could have easily been avoided. The guy was probably not gonna touch me and I was recording him with my phone, in case it escalated beyond the yelling and I would have just pressed charges. But Jasper comes along and immediately takes a swing at the guy, and nearly got murked by he and his friend!” She addressed his jaw next, with trembling hands. "Somebody like that is just looking for a fight. You don't GIVE it to them. You let them do their thing, then you either make them famous on the Internet, or if you’re me, you show them they're irrelevant by not feeding the monster." She was shaken up as she placed a bag of ice on his jaw. "What if they had weapons? You could have been seriously hurt. I could've seen my friend killed over a few slurs." 

"I'm sorry, but I didn't think about that when I heard him. That's revolting. Who says things like that to someone?" 

She stroked his hair and shrugged her shoulders. "It happens."

He leaned into her touch, "I know, but it shouldn't and you shouldn't have had to have it happen to you. Weren't you upset or angry or something?" Henry felt like he was witnessing some intimate moment, but was too concerned to dismiss himself.

Charlotte admitted, "I was furious and terrified. I usually am. But, I pick my battles and some bulky guy with a friend is not someone I felt like I should engage. You should’ve followed my lead."

Jasper pulled the ice from his face and said, "You usually are? How often has this happened to you?" He was horrified by the thought of it happening even once!

She shrugged her shoulders, but tears were trying to come out of her face. "You know, the first time I heard that word , I was 7, and by the time I stopped counting the times, I was 14 and had been referred to as something like that about a dozen times. The past few years, it's increased and people are more vicious about it. Like that guy… That's the 3rd time something like that happened this year."

"WHAT???" Jasper cried out. 

She shook her head and said, "Google it or something. I don't want to talk about it." She left to go pull herself together and Jasper put the ice back on his face.

"She's not upset that you fought him. She's embarrassed that you saw her go through something that sounds terrible. She doesn't like to look weak and stuff." Henry said and sat down. "So.. that dude. He said..  you know THE word. N word?"

"An N one followed by a B one," Jasper said, clenching his fist.

"Anybody would have punched him in the face."

"No. Not if it happens a lot and we didn't even know. We would have heard that someone punched somebody in the face for that, right?"

"Maybe. We're just now hearing how often it happens to her."

"I feel sick. How does this happen and she just… I don't know… Deals with it?"

"Same way you deal with your personal things," she said, coming back and forcing him to put the ice back on his jaw. "Speaking of.. your mom is gonna lose it when she sees this." She sighed, dreading the thought of what she might say to him about it. "Tell her you were defending Henry. She likes him."

Jasper put the ice aside and pulled her to himself to give her a hug. "I'm sorry that this is… frequent for you. And I'm sorry in advance… because if I'm ever there and that happens, I'm always gonna fight for you."

"I also will be fighting over this," Henry said, lifting a finger in the air. 

She pulled away from Jasper's hug with an escaped tear and a chuckle. "Well, you're both idiots," she said and walked off. But, there was something soothing about their declaration. It was almost like they finally got everything that there was there with her.

"Dude. I don't want to be the guy who flip flops on issues, but I'm relatively sure that you just bagged your girl," Henry said.

"You're joking. She's furious with me."

"She's furious that you got hurt over something that she's (sadly) gotten used to living with. I don't know anybody alive that's not turned on by someone else jumping in front of danger for them. I say this from experience of being a hero. You are in there, Jasp."

Jasper fought off a smile. It hurt his jaw. "I didn't do it for that. It was just a reflex. I'm not gonna use this as my plot to get her. That seems gauche. I just… really want her to feel like we're here for her when she gets treated like that." Jasper was thinking about what she'd said earlier. Him dealing with his mom was vastly different from having strangers accost you on the sidewalk just for existing. 

Ray came in and shook his head, "Who'd you tick off this time, Jasper?"

"Char says he won the fight," Henry told him.

Ray smiled, "Oh yeah? Against who? Some kid?"

"Dude was trying to hurt Charlotte…" 

Ray reached for his gumball tube, "Oh, really? She get a piece of him too?"

Henry shook his head. "She seemed really scared, Dude. Apparently people say racist stuff to her a lot?"

"WHAT?" Ray said, throwing gum into his mouth.

"She doesn't want us to go after him… But, Jasper, if we happen to see him or his friend somewhere, just signal and it's on."

"If I see him, I'm actually going to dropkick him in the chest, both feet, on sight." Jasper said.

"That'll be the signal then," Henry said and fist bumped him. 

Jasper winced, shook his fist and put it back into the ice. "You… really think this will make Charlotte see me differently?"

Henry quickly said, "Dude, you got your jaw rocked. We all see you differently right now."

Ray followed up with, "I see you differently, Jasper. Respect." He raised his fist and Jasper bumped it and powered through the pain. It was worth it. 

Charlotte returned and changed Jasper ice out, then looked at all of them suspiciously. "What are you three up to?"

"Male bonding." 

She rolled her eyes and said, "Well, take it easy on this one. He's had enough adventure for a while." Then, she strummed Jasper's hair again and gave him a smile before heading back to the store. All three of them waited until she was on the elevator to respond happily to that little gesture.