#gaitiem

[himemeiya]

Before I get into all my yapping, I wanna start by saying I am kind of using this post as a way to parse through my feelings on the Black Rose Arc so if there's things that don't make sense or that are directly contradicted somewhere please let me know! These ideas are in no way rigid and my opinions on this Arc have varied a lot over time. Really I just love having discourse and discussions lolol. RGU is absolutely one of those shows where there's no one solid answer to anything!! 🌹

@rabarbarzcukrem

For point 1, I'll clarify first that I dont think there is an objective correct truth for how time works at Ohtori, whether it's manipulated by people's perceptions or is changed literally in some way, either kind of take works. I just think this one is a interesting way to view the Black Rose Arc specifically. Honestly maybe calling it a lens works better than calling it a headcanon because I vary on how I interpret time based on what kind of analysis I'm doing.

All that being said, if you think of RGU as falling within a straightforward timeline, this means a lot of the weird "illusions" you see, like Akio seeming to change in his age at random times, are not literal but are rather a reflection of how a character perceives their reality. A type of cognitive dissonance. So what kind of "illusions" do we see when it comes to Nemuro Hall? The first is that it was burned down sometime in the past, but no specific time frame is given. All Miki says is that is happened "before the student council existed" but the council only exists because of Akio gathering duelists after the experiment with Namuro Hall failed. To me, that means it's just as likely that Nemuro Hall could have burned down just a few years prior and not ages ago and Miki is speaking about it like any school student talks about "urban legends" at their school. Another obvious illusion is Tokiko. She seems similar in age to Mikage in his flashback but when she appears later, she has clearly aged. But Tokiko was never actually as young as Mikage. She was always an adult. She works for the school board and was there to monitor the project. I think the way she looks in Mikage's memory is not a literal representation but was just how he saw her because of his feelings for her. Similar to how Akio seems to vary in age depending on how Utena or Anthy view him at the time. He doesn't recognize her later, not just because she grew her hair but because she moved on from that project and no longer had that drive to search for eternity that Mikage latched onto. As if the issue wasn't that she was unrecognizable, but that Mikage would be so disillusioned from the idea of Tokiko moving on and living a "normal" life that he would not even be able to admit it was her.

The premise of it happening 4 years ago primarily revolves around the fact that the real Mamiya looks around 10 (like Mitsuru) and Anthy during the events of RGU is 14. Anthy would have easily subbed in when she was the same age. This also means that she appears to never age as "Mamiya" not because she can magically change her age, but because Mikage's perception of their relationship and their ages in relation to one another has not changed from the moment Mamiya died. This idea still lends reasoning that not even the upperclassmen like Kanae remembered Nemuro Hall, because they were not in that class of students. It also offers a nice bow onto Mikage, who, if he was the same age as the student council members during his flashback, would now be at the age he ought to be graduating school and that may be why he needed to be used up and forced out by Akio. 🌹

@dawnilith

Tokiko is an adult in a position of power over Mikage who comes into his life and, whether through intention or willful ignorance, manipulates him into achieving "eternity" for her. While she's not blatantly evil, she displays a lot of selfishness all while getting to remain "above" the consequences of what happened because the real victims of that cycle were Mamiya and Mikage. Tokiko dangled the idea that Mikage was the most specialest smartest boy, the only one capable of saving Mamiya, then dipped out as soon as he failed and crashed and literally burned over it. I'm being kind of blunt about it of course, admittedly for effect, but I do genuinely believe Tokiko is kind of a bad person. Understandable and complex? Yes. Same as all of the characters. But still. She is a part of the cycle of adults preying on students at Ohtori and it's not often brought up because of how confusing Mikage's perception of time is. 🌹

@gaitiem Lol honestly valid. On one hand, if it made too much sense it wouldn't be RGU amiright aha (dumb joke) but also I very well may be saying nonsense and that's okay too. I'm just spitballin ideas here. I'd love to hear your thoughts too! 🌹

3 of my Nemuro Hall headcanons/hot takes:

☞ I don't believe Mikage was literally "frozen in time" in fact, I think the events at Nemuro Hall happened around 4 years prior to the series.

☞ Tokiko and Mikage's relationship parallels Akio and Utena's and yes I mean that in the most insulting way towards Tokiko. If Tokiko Chida has no haters, I am dead.

☞ I'm not convinced that the 100 boys literally died, I think they just graduated or in some other way "gave up" making their memories eternal, which Mikage views as death because of Mamiya.

[aqours]

Happy Birthtime 🎉

it's!!! birthtime!!! i must go now to be born!

[ineedtotalkaboutshadamyrightnow]

The Whole Love got me thinking about that one scene at the end of Shadow '05.

So many conflicted feelings about that line.

Because she does kind of say it out of admiration, but at the same time, it kinda makes her seem like she doesn't care, whereas Rouge is the only one actually worried. The sub is even worse than the dub, she's just like "come on, he's immortal."

But I think it says more about Amy's character if she does care, but doesn't worry. She's a fortune teller with a hopeful outlook, always thinking about happily ever after. Before this, she never even got a chance to be surprised that Shadow survived sacrificing himself in SA2 (partly for her sake, btw) in the first place, and you could chalk that up to Heroes being so weirdly lopsided story-wise, but she might have also just, like, known. She might have never mourned him because she knew the whole time he'd come back and be fine. Which is consistent with how she treats Sonic; she always believes in him, and she's always right to. Which is exactly what makes her influence on Shadow so crucially good for him, starting with their big important chat in SA2.

What we get of Shadow interacting with Amy in 05 is him telling her and Cream to stay away from Eggman for their own safety, literally the opposite side of the coin, worrying instead of assuming she'll be fine. Shadow's life experiences have taught him to expect the worst, and you know, he's not all wrong either. Sometimes hope is blinding, sometimes things don't turn out for the best, sometimes you need to take care of yourself and stay out of trouble, sometimes you need to give up on things that aren't actually working out for you (cough Sonic cough). And sometimes you need to keep fighting anyways when all hope is lost. It's more than opposites attracting, it's like they're able to see the world and themselves more clearly when they share their perspectives, where they're both susceptible to tunnel vision otherwise. Idk if I harped on it too much, but it just hits me how subtly perfect they've always been for each other in canon and how excited I am to have finally smushed them together in TWL.

[ineedtotalkaboutshadamyrightnow]

"The Whole Love" is on hiatus for at least a month while I work on new chapters, so now's your chance to get caught up (it's almost a novel already, lol).

It's about Shadamy teaming up and using each of their unique talents to help overcome a sinister threat (also bonding, encouraging each other, maybe falling in love or something, idk).

People have had a lot of nice things to say about it:

[gaitiem]

I am gaitiem, God of my mind and my life

I am Arran, god of the most important thing

EDIT: if y'all don’t wanna use your name use your username

[dykeyote]

no tumblr user gaitiem . this is not too outside the context . this is wise and the most thought provoking and beautiful response i have gotten on this post . speak your truth

weird lesbian tweenagers these days will never know the dark times where when u wanted weirdgirl x meangirl romance this carride is what u had to content urself with . lumity has spoiled the youth of today

[ineedtotalkaboutshadamyrightnow]

I've been posting another fic in the meantime. It's about Sonic, not Shadamy, though. You can find that here if you're interested:

It's about Sonic's postmortem adventures as a restless spirit in a mysterious otherworld with deceased characters like Tikal the Echidna and Maria Robotnik.

I just posted the chapter where Maria's introduced, so in honor of that I might start Maria-posting a little bit soon, just a heads up.

"The Whole Love" is on hiatus for at least a month while I work on new chapters, so now's your chance to get caught up (it's almost a novel already, lol).

It's about Shadamy teaming up and using each of their unique talents to help overcome a sinister threat (also bonding, encouraging each other, maybe falling in love or something, idk).

People have had a lot of nice things to say about it: