#BUT EVERYONE TALKS ABOUT WHEN MIROKU PROPOSED TO KOHARU AS A LITTLE KID TO GET HER TO STOP CRYING

[quitepossiblybamboozled]

man...I keep thinking about this awful article I read called, "Ten Reasons Inuyasha Doesn't Deserve Kagome's Love" or something like that, and it just made me so angry. most of the points were like. "Kikyo!" and "he's cheating on her and he's mad about Koga?! Talk about hypocrisy!" and "he calls her stupid all the time!" and I'm just.

Inuyasha was shot by the love of his life and woke up the next day to find out that it had been 50 years and that the woman of his dreams was dead. It has been maybe a few months for him by the time he and Kagome start to open up and discuss their mutual feelings. he's got some baggage, understandably.

He and Kagome are very open with each other about their feelings (for the most part). they have an understanding that they both care deeply for each other, but that a relationship at this stage would be doomed to fail and would do far more harm than good to each of them. They aren't together.

The difference between the situation with Kikyo and the one with Koga is that Koga and Kagome have zero history. The very first thing Koga does upon meeting Kagome is kidnap her and bring her to a den full of demons who love the taste of human flesh. She’s alone (aside from Shippo), and as strong as her spiritual powers may be, she hasn’t been trained to be capable of effectively defending herself if Koga's favor shifted. Koga does all of this completely unprovoked.

When Kikyo is resurrected and sees Inuyasha, it’s like she’s been dropped right back into that fight for the jewel, for her life. She's dropped back into that trauma because it is inherently tied to Inuyasha. Her attempt to purify him is a direct response to that pain. Inuyasha cares deeply for Kikyo and always will, and as someone who has spent most of his life managing trauma responses, he probably feels uniquely qualified to "save" Kikyo from herself. Inuyasha and Kikyo have done this song and dance before (granted, she wasn't trying to hurt him the first time, but still).  He knows how to escape if he needs to (not that he particularly wants to).  there’s not the same power dynamic as a damsel and her kidnapper.

The difference between Kagome being upset about Kikyo and Inuyasha being upset about Koga is all about the context of the relationships with the two outside parties. Inuyasha and Kikyo view each other as equals (though Kikyo does spout some racist bullshit against Inuyasha to upset him on occasion, she is well aware of his abilities), where Koga sees Kagome as an asset to be acquired. He spends the entire series trying to change her mind or convince her that she can grow to love him. He doesn't take "no" for an answer, and while it is a bit endearing at times, it also shows that he doesn't respect Kagome's feelings. Not really.

Inuyasha being upset about Koga isn't "HoW dArE yOu! WiTh AnOtHeR mAn?!" Inuyasha is upset about Koga because he is aware of how deeply Kagome cares about people, how much of a bleeding heart she is, and he is also aware of the fact that Koga will 100% try to take advantage of that. He's not mad because "bUT YOU'RE MINE!"

he's mad because "Kagome, this guy is going to hurt you if you're not careful, and you’re going to let it happen and then forgive him so he can do it again."

Inuyasha knows, at least to some degree, that Kagome feels similarly about Kikyo to how he feels about Koga, but the difference here is that Kagome recognizes that Inuyasha and Kikyo seem to want the same thing: to be together.  Even if that’s not what Kagome wants for Inuyasha--even if she thinks he deserves better and that Kikyo is only trying to hurt him to get revenge for a decades-old grudge that wasn’t even Inuyasha’s fault, she can recognize that this is Inuyasha’s choice and he’s not being manipulated or coaxed into it.

With Koga, though...like I said, Koga tries very hard to win Kagome over, and has even said that he’ll just kill Inuyasha to get him out of the way so Kagome can just get over him.  Kagome’s feelings aren’t important to Koga--not as important as his own, anyway.  Kagome also views her own feelings as less important than the feelings of those around her following her run-in with Kikyo where her Jewel shard gets stolen.  To Inuyasha, Koga is some asshole who doesn’t give a shit about what Kagome wants, and Kagome is the sweetest, purest thing in the world who would give anything and everything to make someone happy.

Inuyasha is mad about Koga because he feels Kagome is at risk of being taken advantage of.  Kikyo isn’t taking advantage of him.

and then also about the “He calls her stupid!” thing from that article bro have you ever had a best friend?  “you’re such an idiot” is a preeeetty common insult between them, so I’m gonna guess probably not.  Inuyasha is well aware of her intelligence, just like she knows how smart Inuyasha is.  so he’s not allowed to insult her, but she can call him stupid whenever she wants?  Yeah, okay.