Hi @do-everything-with-meraki
I hope you don’t mind if I sort of bullet point reply? You’ve written a lot to respond to lol.
“The snow/rain scene isn’t paralleled based on Juri and Yuki sitting at a table… They both associate something in nature to a time which involved someone they cherish.”
See, I understand what you’re saying, it’s more about the link between weather and memories rather than sitting in the same position, but I could provide multiple examples within the manga where Yuuki associates snow with Kaname. Which is also a link between weather and memories.
So why is that less of a parallel than when Yuuki thinks of Zero?
If I were to compare the two examples, Yuuki’s ‘snow memories’ of Kaname have the more positive nature of Juri’s ‘rain memories’, whilst Yuuki’s ‘snow memories’ of Zero only have her sitting in the same position. Both examples have the weather/memory link, and yet Z*kis seem to place more value on on the Zero scene just because Yuuki and Juri are sitting down.
I mean, I apologise for going in circles, I’m back to the sitting down thing, but I just struggle to see how Yuuki associating snow with Zero is more of a parallel to Juri & Haruka than Yuuki’s association of snow with Kaname? Especially when you literally have a whole chapter dedicated to Yuuki’s memories of snow (weather) and Kaname. (Chapter 11: Memories of Snow, Blood and Tenderness)
“Yuki admired [Kaname] for that moment… after four years with Zero, during that desk scene is hinted to be what I will describe as scandalous”
I don’t really have an issue with the emotions fuelling the moments or memories… Whether it’s “admiration” for Kaname, “scandalous” feelings for Zero, either way, snow is heavily linked to Kaname, and I’ve personally never denied Yuuki’s feelings for Zero. So I’m not quite sure what your argument is there…? My issue is the excessive value placed on the ‘Zero scene’, when similar (perhaps more comparable) scenes with Kaname are overlooked.
“The Yuki/Juri shoulder glance scene is, as you said, comical; however, it also represents another aspect of their relationship with Zero/Haruka that is the same… Yuki has always wanted to end up experiencing what her parents had,”
Once again, this is an example of a Zero scene receiving far more value than a similar Kaname scene.
There is so much emphasis placed on this one ‘head turn’ scene because, as you said, it resembles an aspect of Haruka & Juri’s relationship, and yet the comic nature of Kaname & Yuuki’s relationship is completely overlooked. I’m not saying that Kaname & Yuuki are a huge comic duo, but the pervert jokes are thrown around, and Hino even highlights this ‘similarity’ between Haruka and Kaname herself.
Juri: “What a degenerate, isn’t he, Haruka? Our child turned out to be so depraved!”
Haruka: “It’s no wonder, Juri. He turned out like me.”
So the comic elements of Kaname & Yuuki’s relationship are there, and in some ways they’re more of a parallel to Haruka & Juri than Yuuki and Zero are, because Hino makes the comic similarities between Haruka and Kaname all the more apparent.
So going back to the ‘head turn’ scene, so much value is placed on it because it supposedly mirrors Haruka & Juri, but Yume also mirrors them in the same way, perhaps more even more directly?
“The happiness parallel is justified because Juri and Haruka both found happiness in their relationship.”
Ah, I hope this makes sense but, my issue with the happiness parallel isn’t the fact that they were happy… It’s the way happiness as a farewell message is presented as a solely Haruka&Juri / Z*ki thing. As if only Zero is comparable to Haruka, even though Kaname also speaks about happiness before his death.
I suppose if I were to summarise everything that I’ve said above, my issue with these parallels is the double standard. Whatever parallel that exists for Z*ki, I’ve explained a similar parallel for Yume. And yet, the Z*ki parallels are paraded around as the ultimate validation for the ship, even though Yume has the same parallels and evidence.
So like I said in my original post, this is why I find parallels as an argument to be quite annoying because, in my opinion, they don’t really offer much in terms of original and substantial evidence, they just tend to be quite amusing.
I hope you can understand where I’m coming from~
