#bc for this arc bro needs to look gaunt

[elderwisp]

today in ts4: everyone is getting subtle tweaks

[nadekofannumber1]

need to know what you thought of Nadeko Around

Honestly I blasted through the book pretty quick and I’m gonna prolly take a reread and put out more thoughts later. However, what I think of it now is that it’s a good Nadeko finale in a sense. I’d of course love to see more Nadeko but she really got her shit together in this one so a lot of character growth isn’t really something I see in the future. I’d like to see the confidant kinda mean Nadeko thrive!

More info below

I feel like it kind of went through all the major tennants of Nadeko:

Learning to want to live and feel alive

As a member of the “nadeko detested living to the degree she doesn’t want to live” believer club, I’m proud to announce that Nadeko is learning to feel alive and let go of inhibitions. Nadeko goes from feeling guilty for being “so spoiled” because she didn’t know shit about island survival scenarios, to being actively proud and happy when she wins to dropping her guard living ungracefully and actively going feral. Nadeko experiences the joys of it all and it’s wonderful.

The love of creation

Nadeko draws, Nadeko draws a lot it’s the whole thing she creates and she does things that are special. Nadeko becomes a wizard and that’s so awesome. The thesis of this book is the love of creation and how it drives people to truly live.

Society, roles, clothes, and appearance

Nadeko in this story abandons a lot of what society finds pure with her appearance, being gaunt, tanned, covered in wounds with calloused hands, building light muscle, having short hair. A ton of traits that make certain types scream and throw up in hatred for “not being pure”. While Nadeko does wear the uniform it’s a complex thing where it’s comfortable and there’s identity in it but Nadeko feels as if she’d prefer to wear other things even changing for the final confrontation. Honestly it makes me wonder about how they’d adapt it into an anime outside the obvious bc Nadeko acquires a ruggedness I think some would find hard to market unless simplified aesthetically. My final wonder is what outfit Tsukihi put her in as nademono had threads of the concept of Nadeko reconnecting with concepts of femininity and repairing that relationship but putting Nadeko in a cute outfit feels wrong. Personally I’d prefer perhaps something gnc or masculine and maybe trendy but also I’d take something mature aesthetic wise. I just feel that doubling down on the tomboyness (and also other potential read’s of Nadeko’s character with gender) would actually suit Nadeko well as one that forges their own path and doesn’t necessarily need to conform to tradition (being something entirely self made, for the love of creation).

Recognizing and self actualizing one’s own circumstance

Nadeko though this arc looks at her past and decides that it is the past and she was done wrong in said past. This includes Nadeko acknowledging that her parents did see her like the stuffed toys they bought her, Nadeko is self aware and understanding “I was sheltered but shit is fucked” and “I also get what my parents meant but I’m not changing carrier paths.”

Getting meaner on purpose

Nadeko’s arc involves her getting less cute and more mean on purpose. Urako tries to get under her skin but Nadeko is just like “whatever bro, don’t care, gonna save you btw.” Nadeko being allowed to be mean and falling from that grace can be also analyzed via parallels with hanekawa and shinobu but I think that’s a big post topic. TLDR Nadeko becoming more open and rude and honest is a break from society and tradition and Nadeko doesn’t need that. Nadeko needs to be free to go off and live her atypical life even if others don’t get her. Even if Nadeko works in the “real world” she doesn’t become normal and take normal paths set for her and I’m proud of her for that. Nadeko can work with others but doesn’t have to pretend.

Kind of the autism power fantasy jk(unless…..)

That current of homoeroticism that isn’t stated but definitely came to something

Nadeko got her “first kiss” (mouth to mouth with Yotsugi) and she spent so much time on that island thinking about drawing naked women and women’s bodies, and then the urako moment happened, and of course the beloved mention of Tsukihi in a pure positive light. Even with believing these characters are just friends nisio sure does love ramping up undertones as much as he possibly can. That it kinda becomes a cope to look away from their importance to Nadeko.

Even in a straight Nadeko scenario the image invokes a concept of experimenting with one’s self and identity which is integral to the coming of age aspects of Nadeko’s character arc (i also think that what Nadeko did with araragi was trying to experiment safely to test waters and limits, and that can still even apply in the straight Nadeko scenario.)

Nadeko’s family doesn’t want to talk to her much even though she’s successful and is forging her own path. Mangakaphobic, they really did hate her for coming out (as a mangaka) to them, they thought they had a normal daughter who wanted to be a bride and put it on forms of what she wanted to be when she grew up. Pay no mind to the fact Nadeko is masking her true self and picking what she’s supposed to. Nadeko a cute innocent girl but she came out (as a mangaka) and they hated that, Nadeko always had a secret she kept in the closet that she felt her parents disapproved of and yet in that closet was her real self (mangaka), the wanted the image of her to remain pure so even when Nadeko came back home and cut her hair short they hoped Nadeko would choose to go back on the path they wanted for her (not a mangaka), and yet that ended up with her homeless and taking odd jobs, years later Nadeko tries contact but won’t give up on being who she is it’s a them problem that they won’t accept her at this point, Nadeko will never stop being who she is and won’t closet herself in this society (from openly being a mangaka)

Nadeko valuing relationships with others

Nadeko’s aquisition of friends is more emphasized in Nadeko draw by presence but here it’s emphasized by silence how much Nadeko values her relationships with others. Yearning pining and surviving!

Nadeko not really thinking about Koyomi

A fun one! When you see a lot of character’s internality you can kind of see those opinions, and progressively through arcs Nadeko truly realizes those feelings were kind of misplaced and generally doesn’t think about the guy almost at all compared to a lot of other characters in subsequent arcs, Nadeko doesn’t really even bring up the guy herself until she’s about to die from that snake, there is reflection in urako of course but it’s a beautiful metaphor of scale peeling and “shedding one’s skin”

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Even after this there’s a lot of fun implications with urako making the snake charms and kaiki dealing out fake ones that accidentally ended up activating. Real fascinating enriching chewable concept.

I got more I suppose but that’s all for now, expect other Nadeko brainrot posts in the future (and maybe something about shinomono 1 if I find motivation)

Nadeko’s autism truly has evolved into evil autism (congratulatory)