Let's sit here a while.

I'm not really super into the revenge fantasy animanga genre so I'm unfamiliar with common tropes or conventions in it. I'm actually kinda surprised Redo dug as deep as it did into my brain. I think Keyaru is supposed to be super pitiful in the start to justify his later actions. I don't. . .really think it does, but it may for others. Not me though haha. But he was pitiful enough for me to want to give him a little bit of good. Hence the fic. Partially.

Glad you enjoyed the prose and story!

I have not looked at the comments on ao3 recently because kinda. . .hiding. . .bc have not updated it. . .but I think you're the first to point the past memory thing out! Granted I believe I only did it clearly during the first meeting and the rest mingle a little with the sort of disorientation I think should occur after memory tampering in the present timeline.

The boy be in a mess, truly. The only reason he gets cleaned at all is because of public appearances because being covered in your own fluid is unappealing to most. The maid has her work cut out for her, especially since she doesn't think the other people who have shifts with him are really doing their job.

His brain when with the Maid is actually no thoughts head empty ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡ for a long time. Affection and relief that this person won't hurt him though none of that is really verbalized. She's a little like the drug to him actually:

"he misses the absolute oblivion in that pink poison"

vs

"A terrible habit, you've set in him, of letting his head go blissfully blank when you appear."

He doesn't have to think about anything or self-preservation. He initially gets hooked on that feeling.

The craziest stuff would probably be his guilt spiral when he remembers the last timeline and the his thoughts during night of the festival. Here is someone who was kind to him, and in that timeline, she wasn't even assigned to tend to him to the degree she is in this timeline. She was even more of a stranger then, yet she helped him. Then he just let her just die in front of him without a care in the world. Logically, clearly, to him, it's reasonable to be abused again if it means she won't die. Not crazy so much as sad imo but when he is being assaulted that night in the present timeline, he's disassociating by imagining some sappy mundane meet cute love story between himself and the maid.

The wiping her memory thing very spur-of-the moment. He probably does delight in them both being accomplices in a murder though.

Thank you again for contacting me! I was a little nervous about putting one at all but I've been happy to see the asks that come in now and then.

I'm very bad at being active and responding promptly, but if you're willing to share your fic, I'd love to chat with you about it!

Scenes (copying ur bullets so I don't get lost replying haha)

• I wondered if I wanted to put that scene because I thought it was a little gross. But then I remembered the source material so I figured this was practically nothing. Even though the maid's ignored all his propositions and never made advances towards him, I think her doing it by accident and being pretty blasé about it helped cement her presence as being a safe one to him. Keyaru has a kind of mind reading bc based on canon, he heals by experiencing everything someone has udnergone up to that point of being healed, so by healing someone he can retroactively see their sentiments before then. But actions speak louder than words and he didn't heal her between the first hand healing and the end of ch 9, so her not caring when having the perfect opportunitt to probably does something.

I think he's usually too busy dissociating to pander to anyone using him. Other than Flare. He need to keep her guard down. This does mean he is trying to be sweet/gentlemanly with the maid sometimes though, for whatever that's worth.

• I laughed at the give him nothing lol. Do Not Feed The Guy says her brain. (She then proceeds to feed the guy.).There's something to be said about Alban being known for apples and some pun about there being an apple in the maid's chest. When she gives it to him it's a mangled scrap of tart, leftovers after she shared it with people she actually is friendly with at times. But I think the fact she gives him anything (that she had no obligation to) at all means something.

• Separate bullet just bc I'm glad you mentioned the apathy and bystander effect! I named the fic apathy adoring partially bc the maid prefers to stay apathetic, and partially because of how Keyaru responds to her efforts at not caring.

• Besides how easily Keyaru's personhood is erased, Ariam is the one the maid is actually attached to. It's painful to see because this same person who helped her when she was sick, who looks out for her like a big sister, is capable of doing terrible things. There's a horror in thinking someone so kind to you could be a monster.

• No idea how it works in canon we are all speculating how the healing works. I just prefer attempts be made besides "it's magic".

• Cool to hear I made his targets hatable enough for catharsis to hit! I wanted him to have revenge but wanted it to be like, more tasteful? To me? Which still necessitated the previous harm. Only the payback on Flare was really in detail bc the guard captain impersonating thing was still aligned with canon. Not sure how I jumped from sa to saw self-sacrifice torture games but I'm glad people thought it worked.

• I like font effects! I think they help with immersion and impact. Helps tie stuff together! Also wheezing the corn the cheese I could not live i a world where I have to call out my own attacks.

• Her response being vestiges of the canon timeline is a fascinating idea! In my case I was really just having her be terrified given her present experiences. I used her canon inferiority complex against Norn and her own pride and ego as her motivation to treat Keyaru as she does.