#This was basically an essay lol

[ladylovelylemons]

Re Zero Arc 6: Who are you?

I haven’t really done any long analysis posts yet (or even re:zero posts) but I just finished arc 6 and I have so much to say. This is by far my favorite arc. There were so many amazing chapters. I keep thinking it can’t get any better, and then it does.

Theme: Memories

Fitting for an arc titled “the corridor of memories”, the central theme of this arc is memories. Many of its characters have either lost memories (Subaru, Ram, Echidna/Anastasia) or have been forgotten (Rem, Julius, and later Emilia)

There’s also a broad theme of identity. Memories is tied to identity, and a lot of characters are struggling to find out, exactly, who they are.

I decided to go down each character and talk about how the theme relates to them

Ram

Ram’s issue here is that she’s forgotten about Rem, her little sister and an important part of her life. Even though she doesn’t remember Rem, she’s still important to her, and she often gets angry about her.

We learn more about Ram’s past, about how she was believed to be the reincarnation of the oni god. However, that fact never mattered to her— all that mattered to her was that she was Rem’s sister. That’s where she finds her identity.

Ram uses her clairvoyance to connect with Rem and defeat one of the gluttony siblings. She never cared about her horn, but she uses her power to protect Rem. Even though she doesn’t remember her, Ram is connected to her twin sister.

Meili

Meili is presented throughout as being a kid who doesn’t really understand what she’s doing. That’s why Subaru forgives her so easily— she’s just a child who doesn’t know much better.

Meili is still a ruthless assassin who resorts to murder to solve her problems. Her identity has been as an assassin for all of her life, so she doesn’t know much else. Subaru and Emilia reach out to her so she can form a new identity.

Echidna/Anastasia

For a good chunk of arc 6, Echidna is wearing a mask of Anastasia and pretending to be her. She fakes a lot of innocence to seem non-threatening, but is actually pretty ruthless.

Echidna is established as being non-trusting. She doesn’t reveal her true identity to Julius until he finds out by accident. However, she later somewhat regrets that she didn’t try to form a bond with him.

Despite her non-trusting nature, Echidna apologizes to Subaru as she’s dying in one loop. This is pretty significant, as she has a lot of reasons to doubt Subaru, but she forgives him instead.

On Anastasia’s side, she’s asleep inside of Echidna for most of the arc. It’s later revealed the reason why was because she knew that if she woke up, then she would forget about Julius. In the end, Anastasia does wake up and forget about him, but is able to reforge her bond with him.

Emilia

Out of all the characters, Emilia is the one with the least issues this arc.

Emilia’s kindness is something that’s pretty influential this arc. Her kindness towards the amnesiac Subaru is what kicks off his character development and wanting to save everyone instead of only wanting to save himself. And her wish for “everyone to get along” saves the day thanks to Volcanica.

Late in this arc, Emilia has her name eaten by Gluttony and no one remembers her. However, she isn’t too upset about this, as “the person [she] wanted to remember the most l” (Subaru) did remember her. She keeps fighting nonetheless.

Julius

The main problem that Julius has is the fact that no one remembers him. The bonds that he had made are all gone, except for Subaru, and eventually that’s gone too.

Julius is full of doubts because he has no footing to stand on. Because everyone’s memories of him are gone, his identity is gone. Deep down, he feels like he’s no longer a knight. This is pointed out during his fights with Reid many times.

After his second fight with Reid, Subaru is there to lend a beaten-up Julius his shoulder. Julius refuses it, however, trying to stand on his own. Subaru forcefully helps him anyway. Subaru thinks how Julius is in a similar position to how he was after Julius beat him up in front of a crowd. Remembering how lonely he felt, he makes sure he will not let Julius be alone in this moment.

The identity of Julius is heavily tied to being a knight. His entire personality is built around being knightly. However, Julius thinks of himself as a fake knight, even calling himself a “paper tiger”. He wasn’t even a noble to begin with, and only became so after his parents died. Still, he decides to cling to this role he chose for himself.

Julius is able to fight Reid after reaffirming his identity not as a nameless knight, but as Julius Juukulius. He reforges his bonds with both Anastasia and his quasi-spirits (which become actual spirits). He decides he won’t just wait around for everyone’s memories of him to return, but that he’ll reforge the bonds that were forcefully broken. It is at this point that he can really call himself “the Greatest Knight”.

The Tower Keepers: Reid, Shaula, and Volcanica

Reid and Shaula are both keepers of the tower. Although Shaula’s an ally, and Reid is not.

Reid is built off of memories. He is based off of a point of the first sword saint’s life. He’s pretty confident in himself, and really doesn’t care about most things.

Shaula has been waiting in the tower for 400 years for her “master”, who she mistakes as Subaru, to appear. She is the keeper of the tower, and nothing else.

In the end, Shaula turns into a giant scorpion, her true self lost. When defeated, she breaks apart, leaving nothing but a small scorpion that isn’t even her. However, Shaula is able to confess her love in her last moments in her true form, not as a giant scorpion. And the tiny scorpion left is red, the color of love— Shaula’s feelings still getting through.

Volcanica is a dragon who has lost his memories. He can only repeat the same words. He mistakes Emilia for Satella. He’s compared to an old man with Alzheimer’s. Volcanica‘s self is very shaky and weak, as well as his perception.

Gluttony Trio

For one thing, Louis has never left Old Lagna and instead takes over the bodies of her brothers (and also the place of Subaru). Basically, she takes the identities of others because she doesn’t like her own.

Roy and Ley eat the names and memories of others. Basically, they take away identities.

Louis’s wish is for a new life, a new identity. She wants to find the perfect one. She thinks she’s found it in Subaru, but she’s greatly mistaken. Ironically enough, she does get a new identity, just in a different way

Louis takes and Subaru’s place and basically uses a clone of herself with Subaru’s body and memories prior to transporting. She creates a brand new identity for herself, but the identity still isn’t hers—even if it’s Louis inside, the identity is still Subaru.

After living as Subaru, Louis is left a mess. Her mantra of “want to become happy” is changed to “don’t want to die”. She does have a new identity, but not in the way she wanted

Subaru

Decided to save the best for last

Subaru loses all of his memories prior to transporting. His identity is changed, as now he’s as he was before. This actually shows just how much Subaru has changed, with how different the amnesiac Subaru is.

The amnesiac Subaru has a huge case of imposter syndrome. He treats the original Subaru as someone different from himself. At one point, he even thinks his original self is a murderer. Subaru thinks so lowly of himself, he can’t comprehend this version of himself that everyone speaks so highly of.

Subaru goes nuts and at one point considers killing everyone. This is in part because he read Meili’s Book of the Dead. Meili is basically infecting him, her thoughts constantly overlapping with his own.

Subaru starts to believe in himself when others believe in him. During one loop, Julius, Echidna, Beatrice, and Emilia help Subaru snap out of his anger and paranoia. Emilia asks him for his name, and he answers “Natsuki Subaru”—the one whom Julius entrusted, Beatrice believed in, Echidna forgave, and Emilia wished for. That is his new foundation of self.

Subaru goes through quite the dilemma when he finally meets Louis. He is given the choice of either returning to his original self, and therefore letting his current self disappear, or never get his memories back. He can’t stand “dying” and losing the bonds he made with the people he had grown to love. Yet at this moment, Rem tells him to stand up, because he’s her hero. Subaru decides to fight Louis and her brothers, losing neither his current or old self.

Subaru goes through many, many loops to find the correct way to save everyone. Nothing seems to work. After looping many times, he finds his own Book of the Dead. Then, he relives those deaths and memories of Subaru when he first landed in the new world. After reading, the old Subaru appears—because both Subarus now have the same memories, and have reached the same peak.

The amnesiac Subaru tells the original Subaru that he’s a great person. In this way, Subaru has actually learned to love and value himself. The old Subaru takes on the new Subaru’s memories, and they become one.

Through all of his tumultuous experiences, the bonds he made with others, as well as reading his own Book of the Dead, the amnesiac Subaru was able to reach the same point as his current self. This was how they were able to basically fuse. The amnesiac Subaru was the same Subaru as before, but at the same time, different. How he reached his own growth was different, yet also very similar, to the original Subaru

In conclusion, Subaru lost his identity and was able to find himself.

[quinn-pop]

let’s do some autistic meta knight headcanons!! over explaining my interpretation of meta knight yet again wooooo

this orb has NO idea how to talk to people!!! outside of work anyway. a lot of this is partially due to upbringing (suppressing his emotions all the time) but he does not know how to express emotions, like…at all.

this goes into a few things

1. yeah talking is hard. even after figuring out what he wants to communicate he will struggle. conversation can be so overwhelming, especially under pressure. he will need time lol

2. because of that, forming connections is hard. i really don’t think meta is much for shallow relationships, and certainly not early in the timeline. which also means he has very little experience with friendship. so a lot of the relationships he did have went kinda neglected, and issues that probably could’ve been worked on by talking became…*cough romk* escalated.

3. honestly i wouldn’t be surprised if meta convinced himself he couldn’t feel emotion (anymore) until like. katam-ish. he tried very hard lol

vulnerability is terrifying. (though this gesture here is also just comforting, like his little cape cocoon thing he does.)

unmasking—yeah im taking the mask thing very literally here—is a big deal and a very slow process for mk. i’m sure he has a lot of feelings on that lol. it served as a way to ensure no one could ever, y’know, see him.

i can’t say i think he’d ever fully ditch it—there’s always gonna be some days that are more stressful than others and if having it could help him get through it, it just makes sense. mainly when working.

it really is about vulnerability. granted, i don’t think he has the most expressive face (in my head every astral just tends to stare at things) but i doubt he has much control over it. can’t fake a smile but also can’t hide it. probably blushes easy because yeah, astrals; just look at kirby’s face.

just the idea that someone might be able to read his expression and know what he’s feeling before he’s ready for them to (or even understands it himself…) yeah he doesn’t want that

but emotional turmoil aside, i think his mask also hides a lot of his stims

remember that whole “suppressing your feelings” thing? yeah turns out that ignoring half your instincts isn’t a good idea. so in true meta knight style, he tries to stim as subtly as possible

1. he has the least control over his wings, so they will flick and twitch on their own. they’re usually a good indicator of how he’s feeling, not unlike the body language usually seen in cat ears and tails lol. flapping is also an extension of this of course, though he probably suppresses it more.

2. this also effects when he takes his wings out. pretty much every time he’s excited or nervous it just happens. kinda makes me wonder if his wing cape ordeal might also go into the suppression thing… (i’d say yes, but using a cape is also very comforting so it’s not necessarily a bad thing)

3. going back to the mask thing; he stims a lot underneath it. think like biting or pursing your lips. he bites his tongue and clicks his mouth. that sort of thing. his mask also makes it harder to notice that he is constantly sighing, humming, grumbling…all that

one nice thing about the mask though is that it helps a little bit with lights!!! woo

(look at him and his magically floating glasses)

sensory stuff—i think he’s mostly bothered by light and sound. maybe a bit of texture. he’s pretty sensory avoidant and perfectly happy standing off to the side not touching anything.

the one exception to this is physical affection, which is, despite all of this, most of how he shows affection. it’s a lot easier to hug someone than to try to explain your feelings for them, after all.

i think he would like pressure though. so that’s probably part of it. and i’m pretty sure there’s some connection in here to fighting (dang, is that the only way he knows how to get his energy out?)

anyway, pretty much all of this is in contrast to kirby, who i would gladly nominate as the champion of Doing Whatever He Wants. he might pick up a few bad habits, but he will never mask the way meta knight does. he might not understand how he feels, but he’s in tune enough to express it…usually.

this is a very good thing for meta because it helps him to do the same thing. kirby’s so energetic, it’s hard to not want to stim with him. it reminds meta to be kinder to himself and explore his own emotions. he can also help kirby understand themselves, so this connection is very important.

yeah, at the end of the day, everything kinda just boils down to kirby and mk as parallels

this is the conclusion i promise

to me, meta’s arc is about growing stronger by growing kinder, and this is mostly by learning to be kind to himself. letting himself be a person again, loving and understanding other people, and eventually, letting go of all the expectations placed on him and doing the things he’s always wanted to do…

autism headcanons are fun for me because it’s cathartic to write, but at the same time, it just makes sense in this sort of narrative. meta is, to me, inseparable from these things. and so is kirby! that’s a dynamic that’s a lot of fun to play with, and it’s at the heart of my kirby interpretation.

if you actually read all this WOW thank you

[shannonsketches]

[maxdibert]

Friendly reminder that hating on Sansa Stark is misogyny and hating on Severus Snape is classism and I'm not gonna elaborate on this.

[t4tails]

the thing with batman and the joker is that the joker absolutely is homosexually obsessed with bruce and i mean that 100% seriously with canon backing. but i dont "ship" them. i just have eyes and a brain

[randomnameless]

A Master’s Thesis for a university no less

-----

Yep, I’ve seen that!

at least that people got some dedication, I nearly died when I wrote mine but it wasn’t for shitposting so maybe that made it even more tedious lol

But I’d say, how can you even write a Thesis about something as empty as Fodlan? I think the writer mentionned how Supreme Leader didn’t attack civilians but... while we don’t see her do it, Ashe mentions they’re starving, Baldo’n’Waldi must come from somewhere (the experiments started in Remire, before the War, but obviously to be used for said war in, basically, Supreme Leader’s maternal territories!) and I guess the religious people fleeing the Empire or not bothering to send letters to their friends who don’t hear about them anymore since the war started must have been busy Zumba’ing with Rhea in the 5 stars Enbarr resort.

As someone from SPE (!) mentionned, the Fodlan games take explicit care not to have anyone seriously challenge her beliefs of criticise her, or give spotlight to her main, self-perceived, nemesis who... well, is either fridged, exists off-screen or gives infodumps before dying.

Which makes any discussion about a “Just War” completely moot - Watsonian wise, especially if you take Fodlan as this entity functionning under the Crust System - same, Doylist wise, with any comparisons with real world Conventions (iirc OP mentionned that one of they juries asked if taking a dragon prisoner could be considered a war crime or something like that lol) because, hey, it’s a video game basically centered around a gameplay mechanic of depleting a red unit’s HP bar by hitting them with a weapon.

This is basically a really good shitpost which shows a lot of dedication - and that’s the kind of stuff fandom thrives for (remember zigludo chan sama senpai’s wiki page?) !

but as a serious/discourse/meta piece...

It’s basically the same redshit 10k words, with a bit more formatting and no word limit.

I mean, I used the search engine for “nabatean” and found nothing, and I think you can’t valably discuss Supreme Leader’s motives, ignoring this 

“You are a child of the goddess. You must not be allowed power over the people!“

part of her reasoning to fight against the Church.

Not wanting to give that chamber pot any credit, but if they sprout heinous arguments to support their fave, imo, it’s basically because even the members of that hellpit noticed Supreme Leader’s, uh, fondness for Nabateans as a species, and since she can’t do anything BaD or be wrong, it means the species are BaD.

[thelonelyshore-if]

Hey ! sorry if you've already answered that but do you know how many chapters you think the lonely shore will be ? Hows the writing going btw ? Love your work and how active you are with the community, makes it very fun !

Howdy!!

My outline puts us at around 13 chapters, though with the amount I shift things around we'll see if it remains that way! Could end up being slightly more, could end up being slightly less.

Writing has...had its ups and downs, in all honestly. I've mentioned it before but I've been dealing with some pretty severe writer's block; mostly out of dissatisfaction with the chapter, I think?

Not that I haven't been writing. I think I have close to 30k written for this chapter in total...but we'll see how much of that I can salvage. It's much less than I would have wanted to have at this point.

Sorry to be a bit of a downer 😭 The good news is, with my recent plot switch I've found a lot of motivation. On top of that, I've made it a personal goal to start writing every day again, with or without said motivation.

So far I'm 3 days in and have written over 1k each time! Idk if that sounds like a lot, but compared to this slump I've been in it has felt fantastic.

All that to say, thank you for your kind words! I really appreciate them.

Y'all make the community fun to engage with! I can't exactly work on the story when I'm at work, but I can answer an ask or two, and it always helps keep my brain rolling about tls!!

I'm very grateful for everyone who's been following the story--you're all amazing, and y'alls enthusiasm helps remind me that I love this story, too, even when it feels impossible <3

[musicalmoritz]

I am hopeful about how the anime will adapt TeruAoi

Hear me out, one of the most common complaints about the writing of the manga is that Teru’s crush on Aoi doesn’t make any sense. There’s still the possibility he could like Akane instead (or the even less likely possibility he could like both), but right now it’s strongly looking like his crush is Aoi. I know, I wanted gay people too, but this is what we’re working with. There are hints throughout the manga that he likes her, but most of those come in the form of jokes where he’s trying to get a rise out of Akane. That actually provides more evidence towards him liking Akane than Aoi, since in those scenes he’s focused on how Akane is feeling rather than Aoi herself. So if AidaIro intend on us to pick up on TeruAoi, they’ve done a very poor job. I’d argue that the ship thrives off of heteronormativity, most straight readers (and even many queer ones) will automatically assume Teru likes Aoi and not Akane simply because he’s a boy and she’s a girl. It’s a reasonable assumption, queer rep still isn’t common enough to be the default. But it’s not a great basis for building an actual relationship, even a one-sided one

Look at Kou and Nene, that’s a one-sided relationship that was written well while still making it clear who we’re supposed to be rooting for. TBHK isn’t a love triangle like Twilight, we’re not meant to have equal fuel for both sides because AidaIro ultimately care that we support HanaNene. Kou and Nene have had numerous scenes building their friendship and, by extension, Kou’s feelings for her. However, most of these scenes are intercepted by HanaNene and Mitsukou moments. Their most notable ship moment, the donut scene, was used so that Nene could cheer Hanako up. This method gives Kounene plenty of buildup to where Kou’s feelings for her make sense without disrupting either of the main pairings. It’s also remedied by the fact that Kou gets another love interest fairly early on, so he’s not stuck in the role of the “second choice” for long. That was never really part of his arc but I digress

A lot of my points here are up for interpretation or preference, some fans don’t have a problem with how TeruAoi has been built up. It’s not going to be engame, so some might even say it doesn’t matter. But with Teru’s feelings for her being such a consistent thing throughout the manga, I’d say it’s fairly important that they’re set up well. It’s central to the dynamic of the Sunflower Troupe too, which is even more important. Teru’s feelings for Aoi play into the Terukane rivalry that is so integral to their dynamic, and towards motivating Teru during the Red House arc. Keep in mind, if TeruAoi were well-written, the fandom wouldn’t be so divided on whether or not Aoi is Teru’s crush

There is still the chance that it’s been kept vague for a reason and Teru is actually gay. Please AidaIro it’s not too late-

Despite the negative tone of everything you just read, I love TeruAoi. I’m content with it being canon, although I would rather have Terukane if I’m being honest. I’m a multishipper though, so I want to make it clear that I am by no means a TeruAoi hater. On the contrary, I think they have a lot of potential, and I hope the anime doesn’t waste the opportunity to explore that. So onto the actual point of this rant

THIS CHAPTER. The one that somewhat salvaged TeruAoi’s lazy writing. The chapter that brought TeruAoi shippers rain after a drought. We’re going to see it animated in October. And I am going insane over that

The anime is known for being a poor adaptation of the manga, but in my opinion it has its benefits and its drawbacks. One of the biggest drawbacks is Teru, they completely cut out the arc that delves into his childhood and dynamic with Kou. We lost a lot of his characterization and he essentially became a background character. My boy deserves better than that. But the two new trailers showed a lot of Teru from what I remember (it’s impossible for me to miss my king), and I’m taking that as a sign that they’ve realized his potential as a character. We might get the Young Exorcist arc in season 2, since it’s incredibly important to Kou and Teru’s development both as characters and as a sibling dynamic. This might be wishful thinking but now that they realize people like this series and want to see more of it, maybe they’ll start doing the side characters justice

One of the good points, and this is going to be very controversial, is AoiAoi. The number one complaint I’ve seen about the anime (besides the exclusion of the Young Exorcist arc), is that they nerfed Akane. I disagree. Yes, anime Akane is nothing but a goofy looking nerd who simps for Aoi, but that’s essentially what his character was in the first few arcs of the manga. They adapted him accurately for what they covered. You could just as well complain that Aoi is nothing but Nene’s popular best friend in the anime. That’s true, but only because they haven’t gotten to the Grim Reaper arc yet. The anime notoriously didn’t get to the Clock Keepers arc, but since we’re getting that in season 2, we’ll be seeing a lot more of anime Akane soon. And I don’t think he’s going to disappoint

“But how did they do AoiAoi well if they didn’t adapt much?” I’m so glad you asked. Not many people have pointed this out, but the anime clearly favored AoiAoi in comparison to the other side characters. They added in a lot of scenes that weren’t in the manga, such as their interaction in the garden and the “I’d cut off my own head” scene. I can’t remember them adding in many other scenes, besides Yako’s backstory, so they must have wanted some fan service. The anime really leans into the romance element (for better or worse), which is where I think they could do right by TeruAoi

We’ll be getting the iconic convenience store chapter in October, before season 2 of the anime comes out. This means we’ll get a meaningful TeruAoi moment animated before any meaningful AoiAoi moments have been animated, though AoiAoi has already been setup through the first seasons of TBHK and ASHK. So anime-onlys already know Akane and Aoi have feelings for each other, but before that gets explored in a serious manner, they’ll learn that Teru also potentially has feelings for Aoi. This is good, this will put the idea in viewers heads that Teru likes Aoi before he even jokes about liking her in the main series. The first time his feelings were mentioned in the manga was during the exam chapter, and that won’t get animated until season 3 or 4. So until then, they’ll already have the concept of TeruAoi. And they’ll be introduced to that concept through a serious episode rather than a gag scene of Teru threatening Akane

This will set up the group dynamic well while still upholding AoiAoi as the one we’re supposed to root for. They were established first, and we’ll get more insight into Akane’s feelings during the Clock Keepers arc. It won’t come at the expense of AoiAoi, but we’ll be shown a more serious TeruAoi scene to build them up as competition. That will balance out the two dynamics

I’m also hoping they add in a few scenes of TeruAoi the way they did with AoiAoi. The two aren’t really friends until the Grim Reaper arc, but they could throw in a few gag scenes of Teru sucking up to Aoi the way he’s mentioned to do in the manga. A scene of him being overly friendly to her in the hallway, offering to help her carry her bag, etc. And she could still shut him down in a polite way so they don’t lose the dynamic they have in the manga. I wouldn’t want them to do too much or give more confirmation of Teru’s feelings than we get at that point in the manga, but a few filler scenes could really help to build their relationship. At the very least, it would help Teru’s feelings make sense. But I’m already very optimistic since the TeruAoi episode of ASHK is already going to give Teru’s feelings more grounding. Releasing it before the two of them interact/mention each other in the main anime is honestly the best decision they could have made. It will be pleasantly unexpected to anime-onlys who haven’t seen the characters interact before and don’t know what their relationship is in the manga

Anyways, I know a lot of people are freaking out about the anime getting a season 2 (and I understand why), but I’m trying to stay hopeful. The first season was bad, but it’s a good introduction to the series. It was how I got into tbhk, and I felt it was a good start. It was enough to get me hyperfixated after just a few episodes so it’s not THAT bad (okay, it’s kinda bad). But they still have time to fix the major mistakes they made in season 2, as long as we get the Young Exorcist arc. And either way, ASHK is going to be delightful

[mustardyellowsunshine]

In today's episode of Shut Up Robin, Nobody Cares:

I finished Maison Ikkoku back in February, and I had a lot of feelings about the series. (It's good, do yourself a favor and go read it if you haven't.) As I read through it, I couldn't shake the thought: this is the caliber of romantic development Rumiko Takahashi can bring to the table?? We could've had this kind of relationship development in InuYasha??? 😭😭

The other thought I couldn't shake: InuYasha fans who still question the sincerity and depth of InuYasha's feelings for Kagome might benefit from reading Maison Ikkoku all the way to the end. They should read the final chapters of Maison Ikkoku, think for awhile about the blatant parallel themes found in InuYasha, and then try reevaluating InuKag's dynamic.

Now, I should clarify: I think the InuYasha series already makes it abundantly self-evident that the Inu/Kag/Kik "triangle" (🙄) is a complex situation that puts InuYasha in an extremely difficult position. (Well, it puts all of them in a difficult position, but you get the idea.) You just have to read the series with your brain on to see that. To review: teenage boy is tricked and terrorized by a demonic murderer; that demon successfully murders the boy's ex while masquerading as him; later his ex is revived from the dead against her will, wanders the earth as a vengeful spirit for awhile (who wouldn't be pissed about being brought back into that bullshit?), and is actively stalked by the demon who already murdered her once; teenage boy is falling in love with someone else when this happens, but he still wants to save his ex from being re-victimized by the demon who already brutally murdered her once. Anyone who sees that situation and describes it with a straight face as "InuYasha needs to make up his mind already" is probably never going to reconsider their assessment of InuYasha's character. They've already formed an opinion in defiance of the evidence. That ship done sailed.

But for some folks, I think experiencing the way Maison Ikkoku explores the same relationship themes—and particularly how it resolves those themes in the final chapters—could help them re-evaluate the emotional nuances in InuKag's relationship, and maybe help to re-contextualize the Inu/Kag/Kik conflict.

The parallels between Godai/Kyoko and InuYasha/Kagome are pretty obvious—Rumiko Takahashi consistently revisits this relationship dynamic in her work (it's present in Mao to a lesser extent). But I think Maison Ikkoku more directly confronts the emotional complexity of that dynamic. You can feel the difference in how RT more directly explores the messiness, complications, and pain of a) grieving a former relationship even while falling in love with someone else, and b) loving someone who is still tangled up in grieving their past. The InuYasha series obviously deals with those themes too, but Maison Ikkoku brings more focus and resolution to its exploration.

This may be for two reasons: 1) Maison Ikkoku had an older audience, as it was published in a seinen magazine geared for adult men between 18 - 40 years old, and 2) the relationship tension between Godai/Kyoko pretty much constitutes the main story of Maison Ikkoku; in InuYasha, the plot (such as it is) revolves around a vengeance quest and the monster of the week, and the relationship tensions between InuKag are second to that. Maybe that's why RT was more willing to get into the weeds with Godai/Kyoko and to more directly resolve the tension.

InuYasha does have some standout chapters where it explicitly deals with the tension of InuKag's situation (e.g., chapter 78, chapter 124, chapter 176, chapter 286, chapter 458, etc.), but there's this distinct hesitance in the narrative to resolve that tension in a substantive way. That's one of my beefs with the InuYasha series: it gives us moments of standout, concrete relationship development which then doesn't impact the future narrative all that much. The same relationship conflicts play out over and over again, well past their narrative expiration dates. See: Miroku flirting with women right in front of Sango after they've acknowledged feelings for each other; also the entire Kaō arc, which just... I do not understand the narrative purpose of that arc when it just exacerbates tensions that already existed and resolves none of them. Anyway. I digress.

You could argue this hesitance to permanently resolve relationship conflict comes from the episodic nature of InuYasha's storytelling. There's some truth to that, but that's not a satisfying explanation for why the main couple's relational status quo remains inert for the latter half of the series. Maison Ikkoku also does this to an extent—the "will they, won't they?" tension is strung along for as long as possible—but in general Maison Ikkoku does a better job of allowing relationship development to actually affect the narrative. Moments of emotional revelation and growth do change the relational status quo between Godai and Kyoko. They don't stay in quite the same relationship limbo that InuYasha and Kagome get stuck in for the latter half of the series. (It probably also helps that Maison Ikkoku is significantly shorter than InuYasha.)

All that to say: I think Godai/Kyoko is actually a useful mirror for examining InuKag, because they share the same themes and relationship dynamics without sharing the same narrative failings.

Okay, so: big time major spoilers ahead for Maison Ikkoku. Stop here if you don't want to see the conclusion of that series.

I want to look at how Maison Ikkoku's conclusion simultaneously revisits and resolves the main conflict between Godai/Kyoko.

Ahhhhhh my feelings!!! Man I love this series.

Okay, let's review the major takeaways from this scene:

• Notice how the tension between Godai and Kyoko—Godai's struggle with insecurity and Kyoko's feelings for her deceased husband—mirrors the tension between InuKag. And notice that the reader is encouraged to sympathize with both Godai and Kyoko. Godai is not "at fault" for struggling with insecurity and feelings of jealousy. That's a natural human feeling to have, especially in a relationship that hasn't been anywhere near secure until very recently. And despite whatever jealousy or inadequacy he may be feeling, Godai tries to see things from Kyoko's perspective. Part of Godai's struggle—the heartache of it—is his understanding that Kyoko is also not at fault. It's not her fault that she married before she ever met Godai, it's not her fault her husband died, and it's not her fault that she's struggling with the grief of that tragedy. She's trying to reorient herself to her new life after loss; she's falling in love with Godai, but she's also scared of betraying her husband's memory. (Let's hold that mirror up to InuYasha now, shall we? SHALL WE?) Moving on from Soichiro emotionally represents to Kyoko a breach of duty to a loved one.

• To reiterate: neither Godai nor Kyoko are "at fault" in this situation. That's precisely why it's a tragedy. They both have to process painful, messy feelings; both their feelings are valid and understandable. (Hold that mirror up to InuKag, girl. HOLD IT UP.)

• Notice how Godai explicitly acknowledges that loving Kyoko means loving the Kyoko who once loved Soichiro. "On the day I met Kyoko, you were already within her. That's the Kyoko I fell in love with." It's impossible to divorce Kyoko from her feelings for her former husband: that part of her life significantly shaped her into who she is. And I just love that Godai is hashing out his feelings at Soichiro's grave: it shows a sort of respect for Soichiro's memory, but more importantly it also shows that Godai knows his negative feelings can't ultimately be "fixed" by Kyoko. If she could fix them, he'd be having this conversation with her. (And by this point in the series they have had this conversation.) But Godai knows he's the only one who can truly work through/resolve his insecurity—especially now, when Kyoko has already assured him that she loves him—and I love how the scene's setting subtly demonstrates that. Soichiro's ghost is haunting Godai's feelings, not Kyoko's, and Godai is trying to work through that with Soichiro himself. There's no love triangle to resolve here: what needs resolving is Godai's own feelings of inadequacy which no amount of assurance from Kyoko can ultimately "fix." This is his ghost to fight. (We get an echo of this kind of inner conflict in chapter 458 of InuYasha: Kagome directly wrestles with the "ghost" of Kikyo and struggles toward some resolution of her own insecurities.... Only for the Kaō arc to come along later and materially damage that resolution and character growth for no clear reason, BUT I DIGRESS.) And this scene shows that Godai wins that fight: he comes to understand that loving Kyoko has to include accepting her past. Kagome reaches a very similar understanding in chapters 175 and 176 of InuYasha.

• To reiterate: Maison Ikkoku's conclusion is not the resolution of a "love triangle." It's the resolution of a series-long conflict, which is completely different. In order for love triangles to work—to actually function as love triangles—two competing love interests have to be viable options. This is quite evidently not the case in Maison Ikkoku: Soichiro is dead at the start of the series. It's literally impossible for Kyoko to choose him in any meaningful way. RT blatantly acknowledges this early in the series when Kyoko's father-in-law tells her she has to live her life. I cannot stress enough how self-consciously the series is not about a love triangle between Godai/Kyoko/Soichiro. (Mitaka is another matter entirely, for a different post.) Rather, the series is about the damaging power of grief in our lives, the rocky and painfully non-linear journey to healing from that grief, and how messy, fraught, and ultimately profoundly beautiful it is to love another person for exactly who they are — past pain/trauma and all. (Please for the love of heaven hold that mirror up to InuKag.)

• No, you know what? I'm not leaving that at a parenthetical. I'm just gonna say it: exactly as Maison Ikkoku is not about a love triangle, InuYasha isn't either. For the same reasons as stated above, the Inu/Kag/Kik dynamic is not ultimately a love triangle because Kikyo is dead at the start of the series. And while her spirit is magically revived—in an altered/diminished form—she is still not truly alive. The story conspicuously communicates this: her body is literally created from decomposing bones and cannot sustain itself (she needs to consume souls—other deceased spirits—to remain animated), symbolically suggesting she is of the dead even as she walks among the living. This is a facsimile of life. RT is not subtle about this. Kikyo is a tragic and complex character whose arc can be interpreted in many ways, but I think it's fair to say that the series self-consciously represents her as a past which can't be recovered. The damage has been done. She is dead, time continues to move forward, and there's no reversing that. (That's, again, why it's a tragedy.) Even her resurrected body symbolically represents this reality via death imagery. Ergo, from the very start of the series—just as we see in Maison Ikkoku—Kikyo is not a truly viable option for InuYasha. He can't choose her in any meaningful way. To "choose" her would be to essentially choose death—abandonment of life—just as Kyoko choosing Soichiro would make her "a wife who hadn't died yet." Kikyo represents an irrecoverable past just as Soichiro does. And the main thematic trajectory of each series does not suggest that Kyoko/InuYasha should give up on life by choosing death — it suggests they should choose life. Godai and Kagome conspicuously represent life, the possibility of living into the future. (Kagome is literally from the future, that's how unsubtle RT is about this.)

(A quick aside while we're here: no, Kikyo's not being a viable option does nothing to diminish the sincerity of InuYasha's feelings for Kagome. Kagome is not a "second choice," for the love of God the series blatantly addresses that very thing many, many times—like it's right there y'all—and I have already written a long ass post about why Kagome's insecurity over InuYasha's feelings for her shouldn't be taken as gospel truth.)

So, rather than being an actual love triangle, I think the Inu/Kag/Kik dynamic is a complicated emotional landscape that explores the same themes Maison Ikkoku does: how grief and trauma affect our lives, how painful and messy it can be to heal from that grief, and that loving someone—choosing to take that mutual risk with them—means trusting that they mean it when they tell/show us they love us, and choosing to trust them more than our own insecurities.

It's just that Maison Ikkoku explores those themes a little better. 😅 Which is why I think it makes a good mirror for re-examining InuKag: all the same themes without all the narrative failings and missed opportunities. ✌🏼

[forever-eternal]

Physical Headcanons of Dragon Slayers

Dragon Slayer Magic, and slayer magic in general, changes the User’s physiology in ways other magic types do not– though the element they correspond with does play a major factor in what changes occur, there are some that affect all Dragon Slayers: (Hiro and Tsuki are OC’s who only sort of exist in the same universe, but are both Dragon Slayers)

Indent Text = Mainpoint

Bullet = Subpoint

Number = Subpoint of Subpoint

All Dragon Slayers have enhanced senses, more so than their God and Devil Slayer counterparts– where only one or two of their senses are heightened

Their senses are nearly triple that of a normal humans, and often leads to sensory overloads (Hiro and Erik having stronger hearing than most dragon slayers, Erik due to the nature of his magic- able to hear thoughts and movements of the body- and Hiro due to her magic and a genetic defect- able to hear all the way to Fiore’s farthest border with her mufflers turned up to 10 [10 is the strongest setting on mufflers, allowing the most sound to come through, but still blocking most of it]. Without her mufflers, she can hear all of Ishgar)

Their sense of taste is also increased. To protect their nervous system and body from damage caused by certain flavors, dragon slayers have a thicker, viscous saliva that covers their mouth as a shield, which ends up blocking a lot of flavor

This means they can eat the hottest peppers in Fiore with little fanfare, fire dragons in particular are prone to such snacking habits.

It also means their food will have more spices than most humans can handle, because they want to taste it

Their magic forms a thin barrier around their vital organs, though the actual purpose is unknown, it is believed that it’s to guard against internal attacks – poison, illness, etc.

The thickness of the barrier depends on age and element, with Wendy having thicker barriers than someone like Erik (who is immune to toxins), but not as thick as Gajeels.

Natsu and Tsuki’s magic burns through toxins, though Natsu is still vulnerable to a few. Tsuki’s internal temperature, being a White Fire Dragon Slayer, is far to high for normal toxins.

This means that, if Tsuki gets sick, the bacteria has evolved to survive her body temperature long enough to effect her. She will be under quarantine, as some bacteria would die with the body temp lower than they evolved to handle, while others will spread even further.

Dragon Slayers are able to roar, though their age, gender, and element do play a part in what it sounds like:

Tsuki and Natsu’s pitch shifts and changes with their mood, but it’s always extremely loud

Tsuki’s is, by far, the loudest naturally– she’s had plenty practice– and it often causes the ground to shake (There have been a few fallen buildings as a result, she doesn’t roar often)

Tsuki sounds most like a dragon, as she’s the only one who really remembers being taught how to roar like a dragon and not a slayer. Hiro would have been similar if she were old enough to learn it.

Wendy and Hiro are able to twist their vocal cords to create such a high pitch, that it can’t be heard–but still bursts eardrums

Due to their age, they have to force louder volumes, and usually need several minutes to let their voices rest afterwards

Hiro’s is more draconic simply because of the nature of Storm Dragon Slayers.

Laxus’ is loud, and incredibly deep, sounding like ongoing thunder with an echoing higher pitch– and is the second naturally loudest overall

Hiro, due to being a storm dragon slayer, also has a bit of this effect– like rolling thunder and lighting aftershocks. It’s a lot quieter than Laxus’.

Gajeel’s sounds like grating, creaking metal; it’s very deep, and has a medium volume- though it does cause slight vibrations in a thirty meter radius

Sting and Rogue have a medium volume, and no one really knows what their actual roar sounds like

They mimic each other and others, like light reflections and shadows

Erik doesn’t really roar, it’s more of a loud, ominous hissing sound

The sound causes a primal sort of fear in all who hear it, though dragon slayers are more immune than average humans. It does not affect Tsuki, who was raised and trained around many slayers, and Hiro, who lives to spite her body and instincts

Dragon Slayers also purr, much like cats do, though the same factors apply

Tsuki purrs the second most, and does it especially when around those she considers hers

Her’s in specific has a soothing, and calming effect. It tells you everything will be alright, and that she’ll take care of it. It comes with being the oldest and most intune with her instincts

Natus also purrs quite a bit, usually while eating or sleeping

Since he’s still young, it’s more of the effect of a kitten on Tsuki, though non-dragon slayers don’t really notice the difference

Wendy and Hiro purr like it’s second nature, though Wendy only really does so to calm Hiro. Hiro purrs the most out of all of them

They are very noticeably kitten purrs, giving the urge to protect and nurture to the older dragon slayers that hear it

Laxus has deep rumbling purrs, and he doesn’t purr often

So far, Tsuki, Erik, Wendy, Hiro, and his kids are the only ones who have ever heard him purr

Though, it’s more like they feel him purr

Gajeel also has deep purrs, though rather quiet

Again, it’s more of something you feel than hear, his entire body shakes with the force

This is all according to Tsuki and Hiro, though some believe Wendy and Levy have heard them– neither will reveal anything

Sting and Rogue are much like Natsu, though they have more control over it– due to the trauma inflicted by Jiemma

With Tsuki, Laxus, and Erik, they are near constantly purring

They do purr around Hiro as well, its almost infectious

Erik is more similar to a snake than a cat, and his draconic sounds reflect that! So, while he doesn’t exactly purr, he also kind of does.

It sounds more like a quiet, content hissing though, but is described as more of a churr

Purrs are very infectious, if one purrs, they all purr, even if they’re doing so for different reasons

Stick em in a room with Tsuki and/or Hiro purring, and soon they’ll all be doing it without realizing

It’s a form of nonverbal communication for dragons, usually meaning happiness or contentedness

Dragon slayers have sharp claws, though their length depends entirely on the individual slayer

Some keep them filed down as not to accidentally scratch anything, but it does cause a strange, burning-itch in their fingers

The claws grow faster than an average human’s nails

Tsuki doesn’t cut hers beyond a certain point, cutting them down to the same length of the average nail is what causes the itching, almost like declawing a cat, very uncomfortable and not the usual

Natsu and Hiro don’t cut theirs down either, and it’s up to Tsuki to make sure they actually take care of them– though Hiro is generally very good at keeping them short enough to be able to do things, but long enough to defend herself if she can’t access magic

Gajeel also keeps his a certain length, and so does Erik, but Gajeel does it for max Bad Boy Effect and Erik does it because the tips can excrete poison if he wants them too, and if he cuts them too close it gets into his bloodstream and it’s really annoying

Laxus keeps his claws short because long nails make him uncomfortable, and the electricity in his body already causes itchiness. What's a little bit more?

Wendy keeps her short, but not super short, and also files them into more a square shape

Wendy likes to paint all their nails and once she and Hiro use the Puppy Eyes, no one can decline, it’s against the law

All kinds of Slayers have two magical cores, where their magic energy is stored, while other Wizards only have one.

No one knows entirely why, but it is believed that the first Slayers evolved the second core to manage their magic easier, as it is a very volatile magic genre

Dragon Slayers are hypoglycemic, mostly because of the volatile nature of their magic eating up at any sort of energy their body has– including their blood sugars.

Tsuki is the only one who is aware of this, but thinks the others are aware even if they’re not.

They know their body feels weird and they get tired, and that Tsuki makes sure they all eat after every fight and will shove food in their mouth whenever they feel that Weird Discomfort in their bones, but they don’t know why and don’t really care. That’s it.

It’s very annoying to deal with

They suck at taking care of themselves, all in different ways and all for different reasons.

[midnightdemonhunter]

11, 12 anddd 45 for the ud asks? :)

11. What character or characters do you find most compelling?

MATT. IT'S MATT. I really really love a character who is so nice and forgiving and appeasing to the point where you're like. heyy buddy it looks like you're actively harming yourself with that attitude. i love how much he's willing to suppress in order to keep the peace, how the game makes sure you know he's alwayssss conflicted about listening to em and keeping quiet, but that he can fully commit to em and suppress his own opinions completely and it KILLS HIM.

he's protective he's worried, he's underestimated and dismissed by so much of the cast. his relationships with jess and em are almost the exact same importance in his relationship chart?? he gets along with all the girls more than the guys... he can ditch em and jess in their worst moments..... he can put mike in a headlock....he can kill a dear out of fear and die for it!!!

Also i feel like everytime i get pulled back into UD after a week or two of chilling its cause of Josh. so shout out to josh. hes such a good character. I'm just crazy for matt.

12. Which character dynamics did you like best? Which did you not care for?

all the canon ships (jess/mike, matt/em, chris/ash) have a LOT of fun fucked up stuff going on and i can easily feel insane about all of them. (if you couldn't tell from the art lol) HANNAH AND MIKE FASCINATE ME.... Also any variations on the chris ash mike matt dynamics (YOU KNOW WHY.)

uhhh i'm not usually a mike/sam or josh/sam person, though there have been occasional exceptions (The Almosts DOES slay it and i do love Our Take on Mike/sam Ruler of My Heart/Sick to Death Of Aliceness vibes) i can feel insane about honestly any ud duo if i try though wheeee

45. What scene stuck with you the most?

THE SAW TRAPS ARE REALLY FUN. (<--- words of a huge Saw Movies and chris fan) i love the choices. and i definitely remember agonizing over them both times lol.

ALSO this is a weird one but i spent all of chapter 9 SO TENSE cause i didnt know its impossible to kill mike. i played it all in go and i left the sanatorium section with my full body trembling. so strong strong fear still tied to that! ALSO CHRIS DEATH. I WAS SO CLOSE TO THE DOOR......

[summertimemusician]

Linktober Shadow Day 8

Majora('s Mask)

*throws bouquet of roses* For the Time lovers.

Also my bias is probably coming through really strongly right now, but I'm not well rested enough to care plus I've been playing Majora's Mask a lot again this month, it's as important to me as Twilight Princess so this is kind of my love letter to it and Time and my excuse to explore the concept of Majora and the Fierce Deity and divinity in LoZ, though that's an essay for another day lol (/j)

As always can be read as romantic or platonic depending on your preferences, Reader is gender neutral and this is definitely self indulgent so it can be read in or outside of an LU context, most of the references to the LU names are for simplicity and to give a rough idea of why Reader has some stuff they do. Makes it easier to clarify lol, though as I've been hit by yet another storm the Linktober prompt will be for tomorrow, I'm basically picking a god and praying this actually posts X_X

TW(?):

Don't think there's any warnings besides MJM's typical body horror really, and very graphic descriptions and Majora in general.

Even after so, so long, so much so it feels like a lifetime ago, Termina still stuck with you and Time.

The thing about being in a timeloop that went on for who knows how long and whose failure to reset it would be total destruction to so many good different people, is that you quickly learn some habits to try and maximize as many successes as possible, how Time (Mask, then, after the living nightmare of Termina, during the War of Ages, still Link though) quickly learned the location of each enemy he could, how you learned to call out the best way to quickly assess and take down an enemy as quickly as possible, how you both learned to watch each other’s backs and to care for the people and Termina to the point Link went from just a warrior to a healer, granted the trust of holding the crystalization of the hopes and dreams of the people of Termina that, even if they couldn’t remember it, wanted the cycle to end, wanted to hunt the threat to reality itself and purge it from the world. To bite down onto it’s neck and feel the thrill and glee and cutting down such an opponent.

Most importantly, after bleeding, crying, sweating and toiling against the unrelenting flow of time and insanity all brought upon by a lonely child being left alone and manipulated to commit heinous acts as ‘pranks’. It taught you and Time the importance of contingency plans, and about always, always being prepared for any and all situations, unlikely as they could be. Of taking through note of even the smallest detail that caught your eyes at a glance.

‘To defeat an abomination, you need one of two things: A deity, or a monster.’, you think cynically to yourself, stepping over Time’s fallen form as Warriors bolted over with blizzard forged fury in his cold, calculated movements to defend him in your stead as you called Hyrule over, the young man quickly starting to heal your Hero as you glare down at the disgusting stain on reality engaging Twilight and Wild all at once, gleeful at having watched the person you adored the most fall, bringing out the ultimate contingency from your cloak, you hadn’t even told him about it, because you prayed you’d never need to resort to this, ‘… Forgive me, Link. The first option isn’t doable here.’

Time was your everything, you knew how his story ended, with so much grief until he finally met Twilight again. You tried, you really did, to not allow yourself to love him but it was impossible because he was Link, the man who longed for adventure ever since he was young, embodying the freedom of the forest of life and death that made up the whole of Faron Woods and the Lost Woods and as steady as it’s moors, voice quiet and calm like a stream in the woods and with and with a smile to rival the warm sun and so, so heartbreakingly kind. Who protected and saved and healed people while slowly healing his own soul and who attempted to soothe his descendant’s pain the second he could even from beyond the grave.

And you’d be darned if you allowed anything to take him from you or the boys before his time without a fight. You couldn’t care less if he would eventually die as he was destined to in every timeline, it didn’t matter if it was futile, because he mattered, you loved him, and you’d keep him safe and happy for as long as you could.

It didn’t matter if one day tragedy will catch up to him, it mattered that he was loved while alive.

Even if you had to step on fire to make sure of it.

“Twilight, Wild. Step away.”, the edges of the spikes of the purple and crimson mask that haunted your nightmares as much as it did Time’s, it leered at you with it’s arsenic and pus eyes, picking apart at your weaknesses as it’s spikes dug into your hand as you tightened your grip to keep if from shaking. Tone falsely confident as you called to the Hero of Twilight and Wild to retreat.

(‘To defeat an abomination, you need a deity or a monster.’

The definition is awfully interchangeable, if you look at it.

You had found it, abandoned and in a dungeon Wind’s Era, not quite awake, but not asleep either. The eldritch hunger almost chocking you with it’s voracity, the darkness assessing, stalking, prowling and starving, it prodded at you but didn’t dig yet. It knew how to play the long game in it’s quest to stop feeling empty.

Funny thing is, so did you. You were a lot harder to break than the Skull Kid, would not break.

Majora wanted to cease, like how it had ceased before the Terminan Tribe ripped it from it’s slumber, taught it hunger, taught it cruelty, taught it how to manipulate and take amusement in consuming the wishes of mortals and their very souls only to never be satisfied. Had fueled it with wrath from being ripped from a lovely, endless dream of beautiful songs and a kind soul. To be torn from it’s fantasy and then left to rot.

You offered to grant it a proper rest. And so a deal was struck. Your one contingency if the situation was truly dire, in case you couldn’t get the Fierce Deity Mask instead -because you knew how Link was, he’d burn himself out until there was naught but ash. You refused to let it ever come to that, after his excruciating screams of pain had clawed an aching, hurtful place into your very soul-, and Majora was starving and desperate, a dangerous combination for any being but something you could use.

So be it, if to protect divinity you needed to become a monstrosity, a monster was what you’d be.

You’d keep him safe. And you knew that if the Fierce Deity put him down once, he could do it again in case you slipped. Between him and Sky you weren’t afraid at all of the risk.

Even if Time never forgave you for taking it.)

You smile bitterly, tearing up in spite of yourself as you see the second Time spots you and the cursed artifact in hand, eye wide, voice ripping from his throat in desperation, “I’m quite selfish, I’m sorry.”

His haunted expression cuts you deeper than any knife, as you knew it was an image that featured in many of your nightmares and his own. But you’re insatiable for his happiness, so you take the plunge.

“NO NO NO NO DON’T-“

You put on the mask, and you scream.

It’s like stepping on fire, a twisted, desperate tune, a note of discord, a belt of harmony and fury and most importantly, the mighty need to consume the one who had tried to take the one you loved away from you.

Defy death, defy entropy, defy chaos, defy flame and voracity.

You cling to your self control with a snarl, howling in defiance. Sinking your nails into the abyss’ throat and biting, tearing, holding, tasting rot and withered flowers and the writhing of shadows and the blood of distorted gluttonousdivinity on your tongue with savagery equal to the way the demon sinks it's spikes onto you. Chew on it’s tender, rotting flesh, quaff down the lukewarm pus of it’s heart and the rust of blood as it bites off your skin, stripping your mind into chunks as it nests into your ribs like the spikes of wild, dead roses when it finds your mind tougher to break and you BURN YOU ARE LIFE YOU ARE CHAOS AND YOU ARE DROWNING AND YOU ARE FLAME-

You move, and Majora’s laugh sounds like a scream and a song as reality howls.

Your bones, sinew, muscles, nerves, veins and teeth are reformed, the being pounces, dancing, swerving, whipping, cleaving, ripping and feeding into the monsters with putrid, revolting gusto. Whenever it’s attention even tries to waver towards the Heroes you sink your hold in harder, stubborn, you’re sure there’s blood dripping from your mouth beneath the mask, your eyes, your ears, as it reaches a crescendo of glee and pain. A human body isn’t meant to hold so much divinity at once, much less as wretched and horrific as Majora’s, but you don’t care, can’t care, when you’re holding onto yourself like a vice, refusing to give it even a single inch.

It doesn’t kill Dark Link, the bastard (the one who’d hurt Time, the one who would have finished him off if not for you and Warriors). But the screech the Shadow releases as it gets ripped to shreds and the ripple of it’s retreating form is enough to make you partially agree with Majora’s vicious, amused glee that it was satisfying. Even if the feeling of you allowing it to utilize your skin temporarily felt revolting and disgusting in a way it made you wish you were actually on fire, not just in so much pain in a metaphysical level that it sure rivaled being set on fire, frost burned and lightning struck all in one go.

All is still now, all is silent.

Now comes the difficult part.

'Are you quite sure?', whispers Majora, crooning like nails on chalkboards, and it’s spikes sink into you tighter when you grip the sides of it, teeth gritted as you start prying it out of your face, amused by your defiance, but no longer as hungry. You did allow it quite the meal, you bet nothing like fellow divinity tastes better to the being, like the taste of a forbidden fruit you were going to be unfortunately acquainted given you’re sure Dark Link’s blood is on your teeth.

'Yes.' comes your faint response, as your sanity frays in fragile threads, you think someone calls your name, but you are drowning, you are burning, and you know that if you don’t focus it will break you. And you’d be fully dead before you let that happen. If you’re going to die you’re going to die as a human.

'Tou are so, so cold… So cruel.' It drawls, the demon’s voice like the gnawing of rats, like maggots under you skin, you convulse, falling to your knees with a wounded keen and pull harder, you barely noticed someone falling by your side, frantically calling your name, but the mask’s eyes dim to an outsider’s perspective, resigned as it hums dreamily, 'I suppose that’s why The Divine Hunter cares for you so, why it’s vessel’s claim is so strong.'

Good, you were banking on it being sleepy, after gorging yourself on the enemy of your boys, Hylia’s gash and Din’s assets your mouth is going to taste putrid for months isn’t it?

Majora hisses, growls, howls and screeches, a brush against your essence as it retreats. Unwinding from every single cell of your body, distorting your atoms back to their proper shape. It still hurts, buy it’s more bearable, although you quickly notice you’re chocking on a different form of Divinity, more possessive, more wild but just as old and ferocious as it snaps at the retreating heels of the twisted, chaotic thorns. Making reality remember your own shape quicker at the cost of filling every crack consumed by the demon.

You swear that thing is smiling smugly at something else, teeth bared and very entertained, taking the suffering of the people of Termina and the cold revulsion in your veins with it as it retreats with it's cacaphony of voices to the shade, 'A shame. Feasting more would be delightful, but very well. We trust that though you hurt today, tomorrow you’ll make sure we head on our way.'

You don’t have the mind or heart to say anything else to it, for it grows silent as the spikes rip from the sides of your face, you bite of a tortured yell as the spikes rip off chunks of skin and flesh, clawing at the ground with, thankfully, soothing, perfectly regular fingers and nails, albeit cracked, you feel someone take their hand in yours, and you crack open an eye, carefully aware of the blood dripping down your face from the half removal of the heart shaped mask and the thrum of thunder replacing the cold in your veins with boiling, protective warmth.

Time.

“You shouldn’t be up already.”, you rasp, looking over his wounded form, healed by Hyrule, you shakily take your left hand to keep prying at the Majora’s Mask, only for him to take it gently in yours, you taste blood, the petrichor of the Lost Woods mist and pine on the back of your mouth, chasing the rot of Majora away.

“It’s nothing, we both know I’ve had worse.” He says, firmly shaking his head. His scarred eye is open, ivory like bone, the markings more vibrant and prominent with the ferocity of a god, he looks tired, and you attempt to speak, to apologize, to voice your worry because you knew channeling the deity without a conduit was a bad idea, before coughing, shaking from the aftermath of your reckless, reckless plan.

(You unfortunately can’t say you regret it much, though, when you silently bear the combined brunt of Time and Fierce Deity’s care once you reach camp and the protective way they act towards you. Even though Majora is long gone much to your resigned exasperation, and the rest of your boys amusement, but that is for much, much later.)

Time gently hums, it rings through you like thunder as he holds you close, tapping your neck in a rhythm you could recognize in your sleep for when he was about to pull arrows, blades or shrapnel from your skin, or was ready to have it done to himself, you immediately loosen yourself as much as possible, gripping his hand tightly as he rips the rest of the Majora’s Mask off, inert and lifeless as when you’ve both woke up from a new day, he holds you close as you try to breathe, reassuring himself you’re still here, “Don’t you ever scare me like that again. Please.” He pleads, begs, prays. He can't lose you too.

And you can’t help it, you smile as you cry crimson and russet tones from your eyes, holding him back as close as you dare to. He doesn’t hate you, you’re sure you’re going to soon participate in the argument of a lifetime. But Link doesn’t hate you, doesn’t see you as a monster any more than you could ever see him as anything but the kind companion you always knew.

So you let yourself nod, helpless to say no to him for anything really. And allow yourself to breathe, you’re both going to be alright.

[bittersweetbeet]

So I'm working on a victim analysis essay on whether or not victim is gonna get redeemed but now I'm curious what others have to say and their thoughts on the topic. I've seen some mixed opinions BUT I wanna try and open a sort of discussion!

[loafbud]

I SUBMITTED TWO QUIZZES AT THE LAST POSSIBLE MINUTE BEFORE THE DUE DATE ENDED

[icewindandboringhorror]

Everytime I face a new character limit on a website that didn't have them before/used to have really long ones... AUGHHhhh the modern social media world was not made for people like me (lovers of details, rambling, elaboration, thorough explanation, and nuance)

[randomnameless]

Now maybe I’m not one to talk since I did write a college paper on video game characters, but that essay feels so… empty? It reminds me of someone in another fandom who diagnosed a character they didn’t like with hisitrionic personality disorder.

(For the record, my paper was about character design and use of contrasting colour. Mario & Luigi we’re big ones, as was Dante & Vergil, and Superman’s brighter colour-scheme compared to Batman’s more muted one, but I also made use of the Christmas Cavs archetype)

Ooh, your paper sounds interesting, I never really thought about the contrast in colours, but now that you mentioned it, there are reasons why characters have a certain palet in a media and why, idk, "red" doesn't universaly means "enemy unit" but in some media is the color of the hero!

Back to the Supreme Essay...

Well, it's an essay about a game where the devs forgot to hire a continuity guy, and the commonly accepted reason as for why Thales didn't nuke Supreme Leader, Rhea and all of the Nabateans during the Gronder mock battle is because the Agarthans are crap cartoon vilains.

Discussing this game seriously will obviously lead to emptiness, or 60k words of projection but that's basically a fanfic at this point lol.

A redshit post or a redshit essay is still a redshit form of wank, and sometimes you just see behind the tiny veil of "I'm just a normal fan who loves this game/thing so much" that the 10k words using "big" words 75% of the readers don't understand like "feudalism" (special mention to an admirer who felt like they had to tell me, under a shitpost, that feudalism was BaD. Hope you're doing okay !) or "caste system" are just a pretense to give some sort of aura of authority to that fan.

"XYZ wrote 10k words about that topic, that means they thought a lot about it and if they managed to develop their argument that well, I don't need to read it to know they have a point."

"ABC wrote an essay about why PZM is true? Well, it's an essay, it's a serious work, so they must be right!"

I am not saying this is why the person who wrote the Supreme essay did it or anything of the sort - however, after seeing certain patters in this fandom from people who pretend to be BNF and spending a certain time on redshit, I can draw some conclusions.

Nonsensical and shiposting redshits are the most welcoming ones where you're just here to have a quick fun and maybe laugh at a meme or two.

iamverysmart and the other redshits were people take themselves very seriously and exchange in 10k words essay form are a pain to navigate, and from what I could see, the atmosphere there is either toxic, or subdued because you have BNF and their doxa (and armies of downvoters I guess?) and you can't really argue against the flow.

Now, I'm not saying you can't write 10k words essays, for fandom!, about characters, hell I made this blog to rant and nerd about my favorite characters nearly 10 years ago, and sometimes the ranting goes a bit overboard!

But Redshit isn't the place to exchange in 10k words essay form and writing in an essay form doesn't make the thesis supported or the argument or the fan who wrote it themselves "better" than the one who is receiving it/disagrees with it.

I mean, in 5 words or in 15k words, a headcanon is a headcanon lol

But in an era of discourse - especially since redshit encourages and welcomes those kinds of interactions with the karma counter - empty essays are sadly not that uncommon.