Shots Fired

We like to use the terms to describe Yuuki’s love for either men but why not reverse it? I’m willing to bet Hino’s inside meta joke, her true intention of naming the girls those terms was not to indicate YUUKI’s romantic feelings for either men but THEIR romantic feelings for HER.

However! Only when you put both names together to be “ren’ai” is when it’s in context to YUUKI’S affections for both men. Since the term “ren’ai” is the complete package word usage for romantic love that is equal—requited. It’s a sickening twist to tell the readers, “haha, she loves them both equally—suck it.” Since it’s so much easier to hide behind such a term when you put both names of the girls together to encompass Yuuki’s feelings. It’s always the evasion to answer the question, “who she loves more?” Cause she doesn’t have to answer that question when you put the names together—she loves them equally, mutually.

Though, lemme break this down through the male love interests.

Zero IS in love with Yuuki, there is no familiar attachment for him—thus, Koi—this type of love is only used for romantic partners exclusively. Koi is used in words for unrequited love, too—which is how Zero’s love for Yuuki was since the beginning. Koi is a wanting, selfish love, of first, young love, of falling in love, it’s used for infatuation, of the start of being in love. Zero and Yuuki’s relationship is kind of selfish since they went against social norms to be together—at least because they were not meant to be since they were on opposite sides of societal social standings. However, despite all odds, Zero wanted to be with her.

While Kaname’s love for Yuuki is the term, Ai—it has the nuance of admiration, familiar love but also romantic interest. Ai isn’t a mutually exclusive term like Koi is when it comes to romantic love since it can be used to describe love between family and friends, too. It’s all mixed up for Kanaki since they’re family—descendants—they grew up first as siblings when Yuuki was born, but also promised fiancées. Ai is a giving type of love, it can develop deeper in context of romance. In Hino’s eyes, her ending narrative of Kaname made him out to be “always living for someone else” thus Hino’s use of a “giving” type of love. In general, it’s definitely got a double entendre that leads some credence to how brazen Hino used it for them.

When you see Ai in context of other phrases or terms, it doesn’t necessarily mean equally or mutually received in return, though.

It’s only when you put Koi and Ai—Ren’ai, that it means two people equally, mutually are in love. Hilarious, really.

I like how Hino casually forgot what Zero was wearing that night Ichiru died 46 chapters later.

We’re forgetting our roots. The ancient texts. The foregone ways of old.

His neck is too thin. His face, despite the perspective, is too short in length. There’s barely a chin to the mouth ratio/proportion. Why is one eye closed? Also, his eye level is too low. That one parting hairline is irking me so badly. Why is his hair remotely wavy? His hair is too short. His fingers aren’t shaped right when holding that rose. His arms are weirdly disproportionate. There is no tattoo, no earrings (or is there? It’s unclear). The most insulting thing I could say is it looks as bad as something AI could slop out.

All in all:

Hi, anon!

I mean, you’re right, Ichiru wasn’t a great brother, but I guess I like to believe the fragment version of him that’s become one with Zero is more.. amiable? Slightly, of course, he’s still a snarky little shit, but deep down he still loved Zero despite it turning into a twisted rivalry when he was alive.

Hahaha, I almost think he’d berate Zero more than be that kind about him making mistakes lol. He never held back his punches once he revealed his “true” face. Though, I’d like to imagine he’d like his niece, too. ^^

Speaking of, though, Yuuki was able to see Ichiru in Zero’s mind/blood (however this nonsense works) but this damn mangaka didn’t have Ren know about Ichiru when she drank from her father during her vamp puberty? Like… Sorry to go off-topic but like.. nitpick there. Still gets me how Ren knows barely anything about her father. Writing = terrible, that’s all I’ll say.

As for Ichiru being supportive to the pb propaganda—idk, he wasn’t a fan of Yuuki (valid). I do think he’d at least have some choice words about how Zero treated himself throughout memories. Idk, I feel like someone needed to remind him that he shouldn’t play the martyr to his own feelings and wellbeing. Aidou and Yori did try, they do get credit, but in the end.. it just be the way it was and I’ll always be sad for Zero when the narrative didn’t want to give him much.

Oh, I know, I saw something floating around a while ago that our reservoir only has like 13 years worth of fresh water left.

I get how AI can be a tool but it doesn’t need to do all the work for you. Any program is considered a tool to edit and draw but you’re taking away your creative liberties by not putting in any effort into making the product yourself. That’s when I find it wrong. Letting a program polish up the finer tunings of what you already had created and made is fine, we’ve done that for ages but allowing it to just do everything… I’ll always be against that because there are so many artists and writers putting in the work and you’re just using their work to reconstruct a two second slop.

And when it comes to research purposes.. if you’re letting a program do it for you… what’s the point of developing your own critical thinking skills? It doesn’t aid you in the long run to take the shortcut.. call me old school for that.

Silly n' Coot Chibi Zero Expressions, cont.

Hello, sweet anon!

Oh! I absolutely love this! How exciting! Yes, I do know I talk about Zero a lot LOL So I’ll bypass any thoughts on him. ^^

So, after our beloved hunter, my next favorite character in the series would actually be Sayori! ^^ I’ve loved her since the beginning.

I love the gentle snark she has at the start of the series. She’s just that fun character trope of being the smart girl that lightly pokes fun at her best friend over things and especially her friend’s love life (since this is a romance manga) it makes for great tension in the story when utilized correctly to have such a character challenge the heroine’s feelings for the other male leads. (This is how you start the character and later develop her into something more and flesh her out.)

Aside from that, I really love her silent elegance, you know? She’s also the most sane aside from Zero—which I mean, in a world full of crazies, they’re both pragmatic and intelligent with sound logic. (Granted, she went to great lengths to reach pb Yuuki which seems more emotional based than a logic based plan but I found her resilience and dedication to see her friend to be so sweet. ^^) She’s also very emotionally intelligent and I fk with that heavily. We love a character that can analyze other people, their intentions, but also within themselves.

I also love how studious she is and so I headcanon her to have such intricate notes. Color-coded with fancy pens, markers—the works! She’s got all the office supplies and everything is neatly organized. But, let’s take it a step further! Scrap booking as a pastime! I could even see her crocheting—really, some kind of craft that’ll make her relax and not just reading books but something creative! She’s such a sweet and soft girl but also is grounded and down to earth. Ugh, I loved Sayori. (I once shipped her with Zero when I got fed up with Yuuki—one of my eras lol Oh, and it was before Aidori was a thing ofc.)

She seems to be an herbal or floral tea enjoyer in my head. Additionally, I’ve always associated her with Autumn and lavender. Possibly her signature type of scents. That Autumn woodsy lavender kinda smell. ^^ (And we know Hanabusa likes lavender since he needed his sheets to smell like it LOLOLOL).

Anyways, I don’t have too many headcanons. I mostly headcanon for worldbuilding so I hope I provided enough to get the general idea of how I see Sayori! ;)

Hello (again?), anon!

That’s a solid theory on the subject of her timeline, I will say.