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sobdasha · 4 years

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What do you think would happen to the Sohmas if Ren ever managed to kill Akito? Who would become the next Head assuming this is either before Shiki was born or when he was still little?

Wayback when I got this I saw this question going around with a fewdifferent iterations and I remember going, “Ah-hah! I think Iunderstand what anon is really asking for!”

Butboy if I didn’t completely forget what that was and also thisisn’t even really an answer this is just a convenient place to drop atangent while patting myself on the back for getting something out ofmy inbox before it turns like 10 years old haha.

((Seriousanswer: The Souma would just appoint whoever the heck they want asInterim Head/Head Regent until Shiki was old enough?? I’m sure theSouma place enough value on bloodlines that Ren would never inheritthe position of Head despite being Akira’s wife–besides which, herfaction isn’t big enough and she married into the family and shedidn’t have the decency to make it a sneaky murder you could cover upthe scandal of. Ren is never an option. I think there might have beena suggestion of “would it go to Shigure” in the otheriterations but why would he want it????? He’d have even less reasonto want it with Akito murdered. He might take out Ren on his way outtho, you never know. I don’t think he’d play regent for Shiki, Ithink he’d just take his kid and leave the family, I mean, the cursedidn’t even do shit to bind him so what reason has he got to be loyalnow. Presumably the family would appoint as head some traditionalistperson who would do the right amount of oppressing of the right sortof people, keep the gears grinding along, and save the family’spublic face.))

AnywayI just got my hands on FBA 3 now and, while it was not as prevalentas I thought upon rereading (I thought Shiki got told this too but Iguess it was just Sawa ETA oh dur I found it now I missed it because it was during the aquarium), the way that Sawa gets told “hey evenif it’s your family, if people try to take your life from you you canand should just run the fuck away and never look back” and ETA Mutsuki and Hinata are like “Shiki could just leave the Souma if that’s better for him, heck Akito probably wants that tbh”, makes methink that Shiki might not actually ever become Head of the Soumaafter all.

Hemight just take Sawa’s last name and leave the family forever,probably with his parents’ blessing.

Andwhen Akito dies, the family can just effing deal.

Myimpression is that Akito takes up the Head of the Family role at theend of Fruits Basket as a kind of atonement. She’s got as muchreason as everyone else involved in the curse to run away and neverlook back. But she’s also keenly, guiltily aware that a significantnumber of them are minors and don’t have the option to runaway, the option of living in the woods in a tent which you bought onclearance being not actually a real option. So she stays onand starts taking her role seriously to protect their freedom, as shesays.

AndAkito’s got this idea that she can fix the family. Akito needed Tohruto believe in her and understand her, Akito needed Tohru to hold outher hand, etc, and now Akito wants to change. So Akito doesn’t kickRen out of the family after all. Akito keeps on all the staff whowere part of the pro-Ren faction, who still hate Akito obvs, and allthe staff who were part of the anti-Ren faction, who now alsohate Akito because she’s upending tradition, giving children rightsinstead of beating filial piety into them, and shamed the entire clanby coming out publicly as a woman.

Unfortunatelythe family, or at least the older generations of it, doesn’t change.And they make Shiki a target of their toxicity, and they bully himand they mess him up so that he gets that Tohru sort of attitudewhere “I have a loving mom and dad and my cousins look out forme so I can’t be ungrateful or a burden and clearly my unhappyfeelings re: getting treated like shit are invalid because there aregood things in my life.”

Possiblythe family will eventually change. You could make a case that as theoldest generation dies off the Souma stock will be improved, andShiki could find himself the head of a manageable family. And sinceAkito isn’t going to die young like Akira, Shiki will be given thattime. Plus Shiki’s a responsible and serious kid, I’m sure he feelsthat it is his responsibility to take on the role of family head oneday. That he’s being depended upon and he doesn’t want to let peopledown.

ButI personally would like to see Shiki walk out that door, while hisparents–who want him to be happy and not trapped forever in a toxicfamily environment–applaud and tell him to remember to call themregularly. They can come visit him. Both FB and FBA make a big pointof that–you don’t have to live with someone, or near someone, tolove them or not be lonely. If you want to see someone who is movingfar away, then just go see them. You don’t all have to live in thesame housing complex until the day you die, that’s a curse. Sothere’d be no reason that Shiki shouldn’t just leave the estate andpossibly also Tokyo in general.

Maybesomeone else will get appointed family head. Maybe Akito willdissolve the Souma clan to make it a moot point. Maybe she’ll belike, “Okay, we are transferring over to a universe where theydo have family registers, each branch is getting one and we’lldivide the estate and go our own ways and stop abusing yourchildren for fuck’s sake.”

FBis like “everyone is getting out of terrible situations”while FBA is like “you’ve found kind people who can support youbut unfortunately you are still going to be in the terrible situationfor years to come; actually a couple of people like Akito and Machistill haven’t gotten out yet after all” so I guess that’swhy I want to hope that in the future both Sawa and Shiki can getout. Hopefully together.

#sobdasha fic adjacent #fruits basket #fruits basket another #Anonymous

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papers4me · 3 years

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Who are ur top 3 characters in Furuba?

Hi! I like most characters in furuba. & I try not to choose top characters of unfinished shows as it backfires, eg: tohru. Tohru was my ultimate fave among all female characters in anime in Se01 after ep5, but thro Se02, she was reduced to yuki’s mother figure & curse breaker, with extreme minimum spotlight even thro symbolism in anything that makes her stand alone as an individual character with unique issues that are hers alone & not related to “ helping” others. lots of fans reassured me that She’ll be her own character in Se03. I’ll reserve any judgement until I see how her own unique issues are handled within the anime. I still love tohru lots tho! such an endearing character.

So rather than doing top 3 characters in this unfinished show, I’ll do top most interesting & anticipating things I look forward to in Se03!

Akito!! No amazing story is told without a well-written villain! duno if she’s well-written tho. But it is abt time the show’s source of on-screen abuse gets her perspective explored! & I can’t wait to see how the writer presents her.

Shigure!! is a can of worms. duno if the writer will let him lose his cool. But I can’t wait for angry shigure. He is the scariest character when he’s mad. He doesn’t throw fits. NO. He plans & schemes.

kyo!! If there is a character that stole Se02 for me it is kyo & with ONE ep!! I love the pattern of ugly discoveries, tragic choices, & wrong decisions that is so apparently wrapped in his story! This is Not a story of future achievement! this is a story of the chains of the past, of a fighter finally giving up! of a mixture of fate, coincidence, sins, innocence & regrets! above all it is a story of self-forgiveness or lack off!!! All tied with furuba’s best mom kyoko!! I never anticipated him to be this complex at all!!! As an adult, the themes in kyo’s story are my struggle.

off course this doesn’t mean that those three are the top or the only ones I like. I also love yuki & his self discovery journey so much!!, momiji & his strength in retaining his kindness in cruel family, Arisa’s back story & character before meeting kureno, hana’s sense of humor, rin’s past & equal friendship with tohru, haru the most underrated character, mayko‘s story of unrequited love from an adult woman’s perspective, kureno’s lack of ability to defend himself despite being a free adult or toxic kindness is so uniquely criticized within the show! All these & more are amazing!

Characters I want to see individually: machi. Man~ she is so written to be yuki’s love that everything we knew abt her must be either through yuki or kakeru through lots of exposition & narrating her background quickly. I’m happy the show, broke their habit of narrating, & gave her excellent symbolism using the shattered glass & the walking among ppl scene in ep, 24. You see, minor visual symbolism can substitute lots of lines powerfully! hopefully her own backstory is done in similar artistic manner.

characters I liked but I think have served their purpose completely: kisa & hero, ristu & editor-san (sadly), hatori (found love again), Aya (achieved his goal of fixing his bond with his bro) kakeru ( I pray he doesn’t get more involved in machi’s story simply cuz he’s a powerful character that steals the scene, let machi do her thing by herself, but I doubt it, as he parallels ayame, so he’ll actively fix his bond with his sister just like ayame).

Characters I don’t care abt at all: Yuki’s fanclub & motoko. Thank God their usage as comic relief is over & yuki has 10001 characters around him way more interesting than these delusional bullies. The story has moved to more dangerous bullies: family members.

Character I wish we could know more abt but I doubt cuz not much need for that: (1) Kyo’s mom. I know it will just be painful. But I wish the writer would touch on her. What led her to do what she did. I mean we could obviously infer it’s cuz of the burden of kyo’s curse on her as she was realistically & tragically scared of him. (2) tohru’s dad! a lot is said abt kyoko, but the dad is absent, he doesn’t even have a face!! odd! XD

so yeah~ I love shows with lots of characters. they don’t have to be in every ep for me to like them. As long as their issues are realistic or their mentality is tragically but realistically flawed or that they serve a unique purpose or convey a strong theme or they are even a light comic relief it is cool! as long as it is shown more than said. Last thing I want is hear an audio book with slightly moving animation. Let the picture speak through facial expressions & symbolism.

Thank you for the ask & I’m sorry I turned it into a 5 chapters book! T_T.. I’m lonely & I like talking abt anime..

#Fruits Basket #ask #Anime Only #anonymous friends #responding paper #lonely paper #>_<

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papers4me · 4 years

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Fruits Basket SE02, Ep15

The anticipated” teacher conference”. While this ep is focused on yuki successfully overcoming his frightening “mother’s ghost”, I think it does a brilliant job amplifying the real “mother ghost” in the story.

A Mother’s Ghost:

Tohru is haunted by her mom’s ghost. Everything must stay as her mom wished:continue high school/find job. No selfish desires for herself. Nothing personal to pursue. past plans were made for two: a mother & daughter. Now she’s all alone. Future Status: In stagnation.

Kyo is haunted by two ghosts (his mom & kyoko). Literally two ghosts of two dead mothers. both deaths are supposedly caused by him. "you aren’t forgiven/won’t forgive you” are uttered by so many adults now, his father, Akito, the sohma’s & kyoko herself. Now he believes it, too. He must mend his mistakes by making sure the only two ppl he loves are safe. from him. Accuse a child of hideous things for too long, soon it becomes his reality. Future Status: Nonexistent.

Yuki is haunted by his mom’s ghost. tho his is alive & denying him affection, love & care. The old yuki would’ve got asthma attack & fainted. The new yuki is different. He isn’t alone. far more ppl have reached out to him. Tohru, Haru, kakeru & Aya. He had discovered warmth. The ghost isn’t scary as it used to be. It’s actually small & panicky. He’s stronger. Future status: hopeful & bright.

Real Mother vs Unknowing Mother Figure:

Yuki continues his plot line of moving forward & altho I suspected that he’ll receive help to overcome setbacks, I totally forgot abt Aya! XD. I thought tohru might’ve had a more active role in defending him as usual. But I’m glad she didn’t have any physical part in the conference scene cuz it helps the theme of yuki moving away from tohru & learning to lean on others until he can stand tall. Also, the writer excellently accelerated yuki’s growth using Ayame cuz (a) it helps strengthen their brotherly bond. (b) Yuki accepted his brother completely, thanked & defended him in front of his scary mom, adding to (c) Aya’s subplot of being rewarded for his many attempts to atone for neglecting yuki. (d) Teaching yuki that his scary mom can be rendered helpless in front of a confident person. (e) Yuki taking all that in & using it to stand up for himself by the end of the scene & articulate that His future is HIS. (f) yuki discovering that he doesn't need tohru’s help as much as before. (g) yuki realizing what he sought in tohru (motherly emotional nurture). Finally (h) tohru letting go of yuki!! She saw he doesn't need her as much anymore. While tohru obviously doesn’t look for a child/baby in yuki, she most genuinely cared for him as a friend but she also indulged in his issues to escape hers. the more the sohma’s get strong & don’t require much of her help, the more she’ll be forced to face her mom’s ghost..What will you do tohru if tomorrow the curse broke?.if all you have left is you & your mom’s picture..

Eating somen & its double meaning. a.k.a ( brilliant writing)!!!:

SE02, Ep.2, was the introduction to future planning. Kyo, troubled by his future, decided to eat comfort food & cooked somen. Tohru, troubled by her furure, couldn’t seep, joined in & cooked/eaten with him. Later Shigure & yuki joined. That day tohru felt so much better. Why? cuz she ate somen with friends? NO. Cuz she opened her heart & cried for herself. kyo made her,unwillingly, peek into her fears. Had she not talked & broke into tears, shigure wouldn’t have suggested the laundry analogy & enjoying the already cooked food together. The somen would’ve become just a normal late dinner in shigure’s house. The difference is kyo pushed tohru to acknowledge her tears. She resisted first “don’t kyo, don’t force me to look deeper”. Her tears turned into excitements by the end of the night, they all shared teasing & jokes.

Tohru wants that relieved feeling again. Except she wants it without opening her heart. She refuses to peek inside & cry over herself & her fears. She associated the feeling of relief with “eating somen with friends” NOT “facing your fears & opening up, accepting help”. She knows everybody is worried abt their future. so they must go home together & share somen. How did that work out? Laughing & teasing happened. but what abt the feeling of relief ? kyo is still worried abt hurting tohru, painfully gazing at her (not relieved), tohru still wears the happy mask, pretending all is fine (not relieved). Yuki calling his mom in dark corridor & fearing her (not relieved) Brilliant writing indeed! The only one who changed positively afterwards is yuki cuz he opened his lid in next scene, peeked inside & faced it by accepting help.

Tohru’s tight shit lid:

I had previously compared kyo’s feelings/ trauma with fire that spreads fast, burn him & hurt others. His trauma is tied strongly with death (kyoko) & suicide(his mom physically & him metaphorically thro confinement). How can you put out the fire without killing it? His trauma must be dealt/healed in a way that doesn’t kill the fire. Keep the light & warmth in it by igniting kyo’s desire to live. (I can’t figure out how & it’s driving me crazy!!!). Yuki’s feelings/trauma is a kin to a flowing river, calm in the surface but can flood dangerously & destroy. How can you fix it without rendering the river into a lifeless pond? by insuring it runs/flows regularly & reaches its destination!! Always changing & moving forward (already happening).

but what abt tohru? tohru’s feelings/trauma is a kin to a tiny flower. tender & fragile, it needs warmth, light & water to grow. This flower isn’t particularly prettier than the others nor rare. But it’s precious & provides joy. One might not notice that this flower is sick from the inside until it withers & dies silently.

Tohru’s closed box has more than her mom now. It has kyo. But why is kyo, who is a source of comfort to tohtu, is now paired with her mom’s saddest flashback?? Why can’t tohru accept loving kyo? altho tohru didn’t say it, we saw her shaken reaction to kyo’s confinement the day Akito told her & how she sought kazuma. Tohru might not have realized that kyo is her most loved one yet, but we as viewers don’t doubt it as the writer has amazingly led us thro their most normal & gradual relationship. Still it doesn’t explain why is kyo put away in tohru’s box along with kyoko’s haunting flashback & falling deep into the dark ocean of tohru’s darkest hidden thoughts?. Tohru hides pain.. why is loving kyo a pain to tohru?? why is she refusing to face her growing attachment to him?? she’s tragically lonely but she refuses to acknowledge her feelings of belonging to kyo?? could it be cuz she’s denying herself selfish desires? she doesn’t see herself worthy for him? tohru has often looked down on herself. Could it be thoru is scared of loving kyo? scared of being abandoned?? scared of changing herself? Weird!!!!!!I need More tohru!!!!

Side Notes:

Tohru’s story keeps getting more complicated emotionally in ways I haven't anticipated & I love it!! altho I don’t really get the part of fearing to love kyo?? it’s a bit weird since tohru has a loving nature. but hope to learn why soon.

kyo asks hana if she can read his heart with her waves. Also kyo openly stares fondly at tohru right in front of hana & co. boy is so preciously lovesick! XD.

Shigure is right. tohru isn’t his responsibility. Him providing support for her is already enough from a non-relative. I love his brash honesty.

Shigure/Mayu scene is the best comedy. I love their dynamics.

Kazuma’s “Its fine if you take as long as the others” is such inspiring line. It spoke to my heart! finding your future isn’t a competition!! It reinforces furuba’s brilliant message of everybody having their own pace. just cuz yuki is moving fast & healthy towards his future, doesn’t mean the others are less worthy for fearing a future or not finding the way to begin with. Everybody moves in different speed cuz they’re different ppl with different character traits, trauma. Also, foreshadowing!. Kyo’s lid will be opened last. Bring it on kyoko!

Is Aya the first sohma to get his happy ending/full redemption/achieved goal? YUP! fitting for Mr. Most-Confident!

Yuki’s conference scene is one of the well-directed, gives me hopes for tohru’s future dark story, but also it could mean the director is saving their craziest dramatic animation/adventures/experiments for her.. yikes!!!! plz NO.

Kyoko being a dotting mom, role model, gang member, cool friend & a chilling haunting ghost is brilliant story-telling!

tohru literally drawn in the sky after yuki saying ” you’re like the sky” is too much. lol.. but I’ll let it pass, it’s minor.

#Fruits Basket #Anime Only #excited paper #SE02

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sobdasha · 5 years

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I know tomorrow’s ep is gonna ruin me

so I might as well start a ~thoughtful post~ about it ahead of time.

Specifically, the thing I anticipate wrecking me the most is that Tohru's "let's go home" speech to Kyou isn't a love-and-acceptance speech.

It's a fuck-you speech.

I wanted to do a meta post about this because while this is a very powerful moment and gives me very powerful feels, I've also always kind of not got it? Like what makes this moment with Tohru special? Because she's scared? Other people were scared too, the fact that they tried to deny it kind of proves how scared they were. And Kyou said she didn't have to love everything and she kind of basically said "too bad I love everything anyway" so how was that a compelling argument? Everyone else here (Kazuma, Kagura) has behaved selfishly so why does Tohru's selfishness fix the problem?

Like with that Hiro post, I figure if I just keep pondering and typing eventually I'll figure it out and go "oh snap Takaya's brilliant"

Anyway.

I've always been tempted to read Tohru's "let's go home" speech to Kyou as a love-and-acceptance speech. Which is a waste of a good resource, and a huge disservice, because thinking that way tends to reduce Tohru to the Mary Sue stereotype that Hiro accuses her of being--all Tohru has to do is stand there and say a few nice things and suddenly everyone's problems melt away? Seriously?

((Doing more skimming research later in this post, it turns out I'd completely forgotten that Akito and Kyou literally have a whole conversation about this, where Akito's like "wow St. Tohru is unreal" and Kyou's like "you literally missed the point tho." My bias for Yuki as favorite character instead of Best Boy Kyou is unfortunately strong, guys.))

Which is probably why I find the True Form arc to be a bit forgettable when I don't have it open in front of me. And also why I've always found it a little illogical. While I love the end results, why is this particular love-and-acceptance speech, at this specific time, actually effective for Kyou?

Kyou's received a lot of love-and-acceptance speeches in his life, and to be quite honest he doesn't believe them. He has no faith in them. And he's got logic here.

Kyou's mother always told him she loved him, she loves her son, she's proud of her son, you're not a monster you're just...under an evil spell temporarily, and I'm not scared at all. She talked the talk, but Kyou was always sensitive to the fact that her actions didn't necessarily match her words (she was always, always scared, I think. Maybe a bit of Kyou, but mostly of her husband). And when it became too much and she gave up on herself and her future and took her own life, well. Kyou knew exactly how empty "love and acceptance" was.

Kagura was the first one to play with Kyou when they were kids, and she's devoted her life to telling Kyou that she loves him, she loves everything about him. But when she saw Kyou's True Form she ran away, kept her distance for a while, and then came back and pretended nothing had ever happened and restarted her dating campaign with a vengeance. It's not clear to me whether Kyou ever realized that Kagura started paying attention to him out of pity, but I suspect it's something he's pretty good at picking up on.

Kazuma adopts Kyou out of a mix of pity and an attempt to atone for his past behavior, like Kagura, and honestly I'd forgotten that Kyou literally says a couple of times that he suspects pity was a factor. But their relationship grows beyond that pity, even Kyou is sensitive to that, and it's not something he holds against Kazuma. So I'm sure Kazuma gives Kyou plenty of earnest love-and-acceptance speeches, given that he loves and accepts his son. But even so it's complicated for Kyou, and those speeches can't make Kyou love and accept himself.

Tohru, of course, gives all the Soumas plenty of love-and-accepting speeches, and Kyou is no exception, Kyou you have a plum on your back. This doesn't serve to make Kyou like himself so much as it serves to make Kyou like her.

This time, though. This time that's not the kind of speech Tohru gives Kyou. Look at Tohru's face, right as she turns around. She's determined and she's pissed.

This is a good character development for Tohru! I think this is her first real, stubborn attempt to be selfish without someone having pushed her towards it first.

Kyou has just hurt Tohru, physically and emotionally. Get the fuck away, he tells her. I can't stand you, he tells her. I don't ever want to see you again, he tells her, and if I do I'll take my claws to your face next time.

And Tohru starts to go. This whole thing is overwhelming and it's only been like 10 minutes and she hasn't processed at all yet. She's hurt, she's really hurt, but most of all she doesn't want to be a bother, she doesn't want to be a burden, she doesn't want to be hated, Kyou has clearly expressed his feelings and she should respect that.

And then Tohru stops and draws herself up and makes that face.

And runs back.

And grabs Kyou and tells him, fuck you, what about my feelings, come home. I literally don't understand what the fuck is going on, I'm sick and I'm scared and come home. I don't want you to give up on yourself, but you don't get to give up on me before you've even given me a chance to process this and decide if I'm okay keeping you in my life. And guess what, fucker, I still want you in my life so come home because I don't want to live in a house that doesn't have you in it. You told me to tell you that so listen. You have to return the favor and tell me when you're upset and let me care about you so just come home.

Obviously Tohru phrases it differently but I feel like that's the accurate gist of the hysterics lol.

Tohru doesn't say "oh it's okay I love you it's not...it's not that scary! Trust me!", which is a thing Kyou has learned not to trust.

Tohru says "I know this sucks but bitch what about me" which is, honestly, one of the things Kyou feels in regards to his mom that he's yet to unpack, so this really resonates with him. This is real.

(It's real and it's raw and Laura Bailey is going to destroy me and I can't wait to actually be debilitated by the True Form arc.)

I don't have a good transition but now I wanna talk about Kyou's relationship with pity

Pity in regards to Kyou is something that comes up a lot throughout the series. Kagura befriends Kyou out of pity so that she can feel good about herself. Kazuma pities Kyou after seeing the shit the Cat has to go through and takes him in. Kazuma worries that Tohru might only be with Kyou out of pity, like his grandmother towards his grandfather. I believe Shigure tells Tohru at one point "seriously did you really think we don't all know about Kyou and we aren't all pitying him and saying 'thank god it's not me, I'm getting off great compared to the Cat' to ourselves in secret?" And of course, Kyou himself says that he doesn't want or need Tohru's pity during the True Form confrontation.

Pity can be condescension and looking down on someone. Pity is something unequal, compared to compassion, something that might imply insult, something that's embarrassing to receive because it implies you can't get compassion on your own merits or your own level. And pity is something forced.

Thinking about this, I think Kyou can actually really relate to Rin (which might be part of why he was so jealous that she might take Shishou from him when Kazuma got concerned about her welfare, that similarity, in addition to the obvious fact that Kyou has just got a good thing and it's his good thing and don't take it from him). Rin's parents, presumably out of some combo of pride and pity and status, decided to force themselves to make a good show of being a happy family. And because they forced themselves to "love" Rin, it went to hell in a bullet train when it broke.

Kyou's mom went a similar-enough way. She tried to put on a show of normalcy, tried to force herself to be okay and say all the right, loving things to Kyou while her husband kept telling her that she'd shamed him, bad enough to have a cursed child but of all the Zodiac you gave birth to the cat monster, you should have died rather than have that child, we'd all be better off if you'd do us a favor and just die. And when the pressure got to be too much, she did just that.

So I think it's not unreasonable that Kyou might have separately come to the same conclusion that Rin does. Pity--forced love--breaks people. People who feel compelled to love you will get burnout and possibly explode and definitely have their lives ruined. (This is why Rin doesn't want to rely on Haru, doesn't want Yuki to rely on Haru, doesn't want anyone to rely on Tohru.)

This is, I think, half of why Kyou distances himself from people. Half of it is to protect himself, because obviously he doesn't like getting hurt. But half of it is to protect other people, because he doesn't want them getting hurt.

He does it with Tohru, trying not to get close to her (he already killed her mom, the least he could do is just never get involved with her again), trying to run her off during the True Form arc by hurting her so badly that she won't regret having nothing to do with him again. He does it to Kazuma, yelling "He's not my dad!" so people will stop saying the shit they associate with Kyou to Kazuma as well (directly after the True Form, Kyou levels up his character development and tells Kazuma that one day he'll be worthy of calling Shishou his dad in public, which is good, although the fact that Kyou still thinks he is currently not someone Kazuma can claim as a son without shame is a development Kyou will have to work on later).

And, ohhh shit, I'm pretty sure Kyou does this with Kagura too. Kagura says that Kyou is the first one to pull back after their own True Form incident (she later admits to herself that no, actually, the first one to pull away was her because she never invested herself in their friendship in the first place because pity). And that is probably, again, partly because Kagura freaked out and ran off and just left Kyou there, and Kyou doesn't want any further rejection from her. Partly because it probably got around, and Kyou's dad made sure Kyou's mom heard about it, and Kyou's mom tried to make peace by keeping a tighter rein on Kyou.

But before the incident, Kyou and Kagura are really good friends, and Kyou really enjoys being with her. After the incident, after they mutually avoid each other, after Kagura comes back around and pretends that nothing happened, after Kagura reaffirms that she loves Kyou no matter what, that's when Kyou starts pushing back for her to leave him alone.

Maybe it's just Kyou's usual touchiness and I'm reading too much into it. It's not terribly long after the incident that Kyou's mother ends her life, and Kyou's being blamed for it instead of being allowed to grieve, and he blames himself, and after that he's a different kid and he's really prickly and quick to anger around everyone except Shishou.

But I don't think it's unreasonable to put forward that Kyou still liked Kagura as a friend, and he saw how Kagura reacted, and pretending nothing was wrong was part of what killed his mom, and if he still likes Kagura as a friend then the best thing Kyou can do for her is to shove her forcefully away from him, over and over, until she stops associating with him and getting hurt because of it. Before she gets hurt badly.

Like I put somewhere in an earlier post, Kyou doesn't like Kagura romantically. He certainly doesn't like having his space violated and his feelings ignored. But he (grudgingly) lets her get a way with a lot that speaks to a certain tenderness towards her. Especially later, during Kagura's confession--he's not warm and he's not close and open to her, but he also listens to Kagura, he forgives her, he says thank you, and when she runs to him he lets her cry into his shirt until she's through. You aren't that accommodating to someone you don't care about.

(On the flip side, it occurs to me that--for all that Kagura is a jealous rival of Tohru for Kyou's love--Kagura doesn't come around and act like it much. As Tohru points out, Kagura's really been holding back. I think that Kagura's being honest when she adds at the end of her confession that she really did come to love Kyou after all. It's unrequited, and she's always known that, and she's been struggling with it since Tohru came into the picture. But I think deep down she does like Kyou enough to want him to be happy, and she's realizing that he might be able to be happy with Tohru in a way he can't be with Kagura, and it's super embarrassing and painful to have to admit that to herself, but she's been working on letting go even though she herself doesn't want to be doomed to a life of unloved loneliness, which is what she believes will happen if she lets go of Kyou. Kagura, like Hiro, has character development struggles that are mostly internal.)

Things I only just realized about Kyouru

I have talked before about the fact that Kyou and Tohru's relationship works because they can get to the heart of each other and really see each other and connect on the same level in a way no one else does with them. What I did not really think of, at the time, is that Kyou and Tohru are actually very similar. They actually have a very similar problem.

Which just goes to show my intense Yuki bias, because Kyou has flat-out said over and over again that he believes himself to be a burden and I guess I didn't notice??

And I've just spend so much time saying that this is Tohru's biggest anxiety.

They differ a bit in the execution. Tohru considers herself as starting off at a net zero, basically: she doesn't exactly think her existence is problematic, but she doesn't feel that she offers any worth or value to compensate for the efforts she takes from other people, so she's terrified of being a burden and thus causing people to resent and hate and reject her.

Kyou considers himself as starting off at a negative: he has nothing of any worth to offer to people around him, and he believes that just being around him is actively detrimental to other people, so he just assumes people naturally hate him and avoids everyone and pushes away people who try to get close to him, especially people he loves. (He makes some exceptions when he really really loves, like keeping Shishou at arm's length in some regards but basking in his dad the rest of the time, and giving into his fondness for Tohru even though he knows it's going to go bad.)

Tohru's had her worldview reinforced by being abandoned by a young and grieving Kyouko. Kyou's had his worldview enforced by being told that people who are kind to him die of it.

Kyou's mom loved him more than anyone; Kyou's mom died for him/died because it's his fault. Kyouko was nice to Kyou; Kyou's secret is safe at the cost of Kyouko dying from that car. The beads that keep sealed the Cat's true form are made from the bones and blood of a priest; the way people retell the story implies that Kyou straight-up murdered this guy ages ago, or at least that Kyou's taking advantage of a sacrifice that was forced and not willing. (I mean honestly it could go either way, but lately I've been thinking that it seems unlikely you'd go murder some holy guy to make some beads to seal up a cat monster that you hate when you could just murder the cat monster, don't tell me olden days Souma wouldn't just find that simpler; it seems to me like the sort of effort you'd go through for someone you actually cared minimally about, and that the priest probably devoted himself to holiness for just such a reason, probably offered to have a holy death and create a protective relic. Not that that would make Kyou feel any better.)

This probably ties back into the whole pity thing...Kyou doesn't want people to feel compelled to love him, to force themselves to love him, because not only do they not get any benefit but he has actively negative worth and it hurts people to be around him. Kyou, like Tohru, finds it hard to accept that people might not see it as a burden or a harm to be kind to him. That they might want to be kind to him and enjoy his presence. These children can't just let themselves take the damn donuts.

And that's probably the why of why Kyou, specifically, and not Yuki, is so good at noticing Tohru's issues and actively pushing her to be selfish. It's hard to help yourself, but it can be easier to see yourself in others and give them the advice that you yourself won't take. Let yourself be selfish and live a life that makes you happy. Complain when you need to. Let yourself have some donuts when donuts are being handed out, even if you don't think you deserve them/some jerks have told you you don't deserve them and you're a fake for taking a donut.

(I'm not sure Kyou's ever actually heard this bit, and I don't have time to unpack it right now, but uggghhh I just remembered that Tohru low-key blames herself for her mother's death as well. If she'd been more grateful...if she'd had her priorities straight and her mother was the most important thing in her life, more important than trying her best in school...if she'd just managed to say "Come home safe", then her mom wouldn't have died, and because she was an ungrateful daughter and didn't say it that one time she lost her mom. Nnnn my heart.)

Again I don't have a good transition, but as I think about all this I think I get why Kyou is able to accept Tohru's fuck-you speech as being a real and sincere thing he can depend on instead of instantly assuming it's pity. He's probably not thinking straight enough to realize that Tohru's just taken a level in character development and is being remarkably selfish and open about what she wants from him, not just yet.

But looking at Kyou's past experience with True Form reveals…

Kyou's mom tries to reassure Kyou that everything is fine and normal. She smiles and says all the right things and pretends not to be perturbed. Tohru, as Kyou notes, is clearly not fine about things, she's overwhelmed and sick and scared and clinging to him while shaking and crying. "Can't you see?! Smell?!" Kyou demands when Tohru doesn't instantly run off, but it's pretty clear she does because Tohru isn't smiling, isn't trying to pretend this doesn't bother her. She's undeterred, yes, but she's very bothered.

Kagura's scared too, when she sees, and Kagura runs away. Tohru's scared and she runs toward. Again, Tohru's not hiding her fear even if she's not letting her fear stop her, Tohru's not smiling her serene smile, Tohru clearly would rather run away and go "what the fuck?!?!?!" for a while before dealing with the fallout. Tohru's not a saint, Tohru's just slightly more scared that she'll never see Kyou again after this if she leaves now than she is of Kyou's true form. She's kind of almost passed through the other side of terror into desperation.

Tohru's biggest anxiety is that she'll be abandoned for being a burden, true, but Tohru also is terrified of being preemptively abandoned because the other person has decided they're a burden for Tohru. That's exactly what Hana tried to do in middle school. Hana tried to give up on Uo and Tohru.

"Give up on" isn't a phrase used in the True Form arc, but it comes up plenty elsewhere. Momiji says much later that he's done giving up on the Cat. More specifically, when Kyou's unpacking his complicated feelings about his mom and her death, he says at one point that he wishes she hadn't given up on herself and had stayed together with him. And since mom plays into the True Form arc (as does the "being together" sentiment), I feel it's valid to drag the "giving up on" idea into it as well.

Kyou tries to give up on Tohru--decides for himself that she'll reject him, so he rejects her first and pushes her away so she won't force herself to take pity on him and keep forcing herself to love him--and Tohru probably realizes that he's doing it, since she saw it before with Hana. She's determined to go back to Kyou because she's prioritizing her own wants, but I think probably the reason she also looks pissed is because she's realized Kyou's given up on her and she's not gonna let him get away with it.

I think Kyou wishes that he could cling to people, could have clung to his mom and told her not to give up, the way Tohru is clinging to him there. That he could admit that things suck and are scary and painful, but that he wants to keep clinging on regardless and staying together without anyone giving up, the way Tohru is doing right now. Instead of, like everyone else, pretending that shit is fine even though it sucks and it's scary and it's painful and then giving up on the people around him and keeping a distance.

Kyou recognizes what Tohru feels--and that what Tohru feels is sincere--because it's the same feelings he has about his mom. Which is why, even though it sounds a bit like a Saint Mary Sue love-and-acceptance speech, it's a fuck-you that hits Kyou right in the heart and makes Kyou feel accepted and understood for the first time in his life. Not because Tohru is perfect, but because Tohru is flawed and broken and a terrified mess.

#sobdasha fic adjacent #fruits basket #i didn't outline this out to the best effect #or really proofread thoroughly #so hopefully it makes sense #but i spent hours investing myself into this lol and having too many feelings #i stayed up too late to finish this because i know i won't be coherent enough to put anything like this together after tomorrow's episode #this is how good the reboot is though #no longer am i reevaluating my interpretations with each new episode #i'm managing to re-engage with the source material even before new episodes air to give me a new perspective #also the sheer amount of things i've missed that are right there in the manual are...embarrassing

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