#but also speaks to moe's 'regression' too like... the way it's lost a lot of its ability to mask and be palatable.

[moe-broey]

Another half-cooked ramble I just didn't put into words til Right Now though that's worth mentioning is like. I feel like Moe wouldn't fall into the Hayato/Ricken category of character, where they're small and heavily implied to be younger, and a good chunk of their character is trying to "prove otherwise" (aka "Don't treat me like a kid!" ect ect). I feel like Moe would fall closer into whatever category Takumi is. Not talking tsundere trope, but talking about what being the youngest (Takumi's case: 2nd youngest) sibling in a larger family does to a motherfucker. The adoration and aspiration and idolization combined with the inferiority complex and sometimes even resentment (depends on who we're talking about here) and feeling like you need to pull your weight More and Better. Acknowledging you've undeniably had it easier at the cost of your older siblings but somehow still feeling overlooked and left behind and forgotten. Or, in some cases, feeling like you got way more than you deserved, that even though you objectively got the "better" deal, it was still Unfair. Moe is just chronically the youngest of five. And don't even get me STARTED about [redacted] but let me just say The Absence of something is also A Presence. The Takumi comparison is extremely apt.