#another great expansion mr xenodile

[zeravmeta]

I always do find it super interesting and really funny that its usually the human characters who are more monstrous than the actual monsters through no great feat other than passion and dedication.

Raikou can kick ass in every concievable way but the majority of her character arc stems with how she wants to connect with others but can't. However despite her horrible lineage she still genuinely wants to connect with people, which is a very human goal to have. Another great example of this is Merlin, who has the biggeat emotional boner for Guda because he genuinely cares about Guda yet because of hid half incubus nature deludes himself onto thinking it's just entertainment value. AND EVEN SPECIFICALLY his relationship with Saber and how he distanced himself entirely from Camelot because he felt he had no place there after watching it all fall and put himself in self-imposed isolation to observe and quite literally stay out of the way of those he loved. Lots of the monster characters really do care so deeply and strive to reach the abstract goal of being human yet don't realize that they're closer than they think.

Meanwhile people like Scathch, Nightingale, Hijikata, and Ushiwakamaru for example are all completely human yet find difficulty connecting with others because they're so set in their ways and achieved unreachable peaks of total badass compared to their peers that most normal people are just "thats illegal you're a monster". Alot (and i stress the ALOT) of the rules in Nasuverse are based around the perception of people and thats part of what warps these individuals to seem more monsterlike. Nightingale for example is a driven and determined person by nature but the idea that someone could be so genuinely selfless was registered as insane by the throne and so she was GIVEN madness enhancement (her 2nd interlude reveals that she actually didnt fit into ANY servant class container and that zerker was the last resort/best fit and warped her as a result). Another good example is Scathach, who was literally retconned by the world itself to be immortal becauae she achieved so much in so few time so the world gave her retroactive immortality she needs to live out in order to feasibly have done everything shes already done and properly exist. And once again, circling back to Ushiwakamaru, shes just WAY too good at kicking ass to be able to connect with others, and that perception does warp them. They're all literally too badass to cope. They stop being human and start being Heroes

Overall, appreciate your servants theyre trying their best

#oooh spicy #theres also how compared to raikou ushi is alot more concious of her actions bc she doesnt have the craziest mimosa of a bloodline like mama #so while raikou is insane due to mad enhancement + all her lineage nonsense AND her shit family #ushi is just *like that* because shes eager to please yet also has no problem just slaughrering dor the hell of it #ushiwakamaru: i love you do you need someone killed please let me kill someone for you

@zeravmeta

I feel it bears mentioning that because Raikou has Mad Enhancement EX, it’s a case of her actually being insane rather than it being an alteration of her personality due to Servanthood.

Similar to Hijikata, Spartacus, Nightingale, and Penth, she’s not insane because she was summoned as Berskerer and given Mad Enhancement, she has Mad Enhancement EX and became a Berserker because she was already insane to begin with.  It’s why she retains her Mad Enhancement, albeit a weakened version of it, in her Summer Lancer form.  

As for Ushi, her inability to actually relate to other people comes from a very similar place as Raikou.  Raikou isn’t human, and her inability to reconcile this with her desire to be human drives her insane.  Ushi IS human, but is so hypercompetent when it comes to fighting that she might as well be inhuman.

Raikou on a fundamental level can’t relate to humans because the nature of her existence is far beyond them.  Ushi can’t relate to humans because her skill and ability are so far beyond them.  For both of them, in different ways, killing is as easy as breathing.  “People” die so easily, and struggle with things they achieve so effortlessly, they just can’t truly get along with them.

But they both desire to live with humanity and be accepted.  Raikou channeled this into motherhood and got her validation from Kintoki.  Ushi channeled it into unfailing loyalty and fixated on her older brother, who as we all know betrayed and murdered her.