okay, you know what? Running away shouldn’t be a crime. It shouldn’t be dangerous, either. Any kid should be able to leave their parents if they want, for any reason. No I’m not kidding.
“But Rue, where will these kids stay? Do you want them on the streets?”
of course not. In an ideal world, a kids would have multiple adults other than their parents they could look to for care, but I recognize that that will never be a reality for every single child. So: youth shelters, if they have nowhere else to go. There should be clean, warm shelters where anyone under 18 can stay for as long as they need, no questions asked. (And of course shelters that aren’t just for kids, but we’re talking about youth rights right now)
“But Rue,” I hear you say, “what if some moody teenager runs away after an argument?”
First of all, I’d rather a thousand moody teenagers run away than one abused child be trapped. Second, so what if one does? A kid needs time away from their parents, so they leave. The vast majority of them will get some time to cool down and then go back home, and if they don’t want to go back, period? Then nine times out of ten, they have a good reason. (Because yes, as hard as it is for you to believe, kids are humans who have common sense.)
“Okay, but what about the one time out of ten the kid doesn’t have a good reason?”
Then the kid doesn’t have a good reason. It doesn’t change anything. If someone wants to break up with their partner because of something stupid, you wouldn’t say they legally shouldn’t be able to. (And if you would, then you’re just a bad person.) No one should have to be in a relationship, romantic or otherwise, that they don’t want to be in.
I hate how much people baby enabler parents. Regardless of what led them up to that point, the fact that they sit and do nothing when their child is getting abused is beyond pathetic. It is a parents role to protect their young, and to make no move to do at least something for their child's safety shows that they do not care enough about their them. "Oh but they're scared of confrontation" and how do you think the kid that is actively getting abused and can't reach for any form of safety feels??? Way more scared than the grown ass adult who have the power to fight back I assure you.
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. Kind of a theory, but not really? My hcs of MC's role in the story based on the wedding motif/theme of MC's artifact. I spend the first half of the post attempting to establish facts, but end up letting my imagination go wild and making things up that only loosely or barely align with canon LOL. LET ME COOK !!! Feel free to fact-check me and critique in comments. It's been a hot minute since I read the season 1 finale. Sorry in advance for mistakes and stuff, this is rlly a word vomit post.
TKDB MC as Sacrificial Bride
TLDR;
MC is the prophesized champion or will choose/make one of the ghouls the champion. She and the champion she chooses will defeat/overcome the "profound tragedy" mentioned in the prophecy by using her stigma-enhancing ability granted by the Sage's Ring. I believe the profound tragedy is the opening of the Rinfone. MC was not coincidentally cursed by the kyklos and brought to Darkwick, but is part of a larger plot to seize power. MC had to get cursed to keep her at Darkwick and to be chosen by the ring. Whoever has control of her has control of the ring and therefore controls who becomes the champion and/or gets enhanced powers.
What we know in canon:
MC gets cursed by a Kyklos (wrong place, wrong time, or as part of sinister plot?)
MC is coerced/forced to stay at Darkwick bc they're her best chance for a cure and bc she's now considered a threat to the general public (may eventually become a kyklos)
MC (coincidentally?) gets the Sage's Ring artifact, which she is physically unable to remove from her ring finger
The Sage's Ring was initially disguised as Hera's Snakes - a black veil
The Ring gives her the ability to enhance the stigmas of ghouls through physical contact
There is a prophecy about (a) champion(s) whose presence at the academy will "keep the world sheltered/safe", and it is a commonly accepted in-game theory that the champion(s) refers to the/a ghoul(s)
The Prophecy:
"The whisper of the new moon shall lead the champion to the Academy in the solitary isle. So long as the champion resides there, the world shall be sheltered from profound tragedy ..."
What we know in mythology:
In Greek mythology, Hera is the goddess of marriage, women, family, and childbirth, reigning as the Queen of the Gods alongside her husband Zeus, the King of the Gods
"Hera's Snakes" is most likely a reference to the time Hera sent snakes to kill infant Hercules (Zeus' child from cheating on Hera)
The wedding/marriage/bride motifs:
The ring's initial disguise as a veil, commonly worn by brides
Mention of Hera - goddess of marriage
The ring binding to MC's ring finger
How I think this all ties together:
In many cultures, marriage is a sacred/divine "pact" of lifelong commitment between two people
Whichever ghoul MC chooses/is closest to enters a pact with her, much like how they entered pacts with demons to gain their stigma
A pact (wedding/marriage; literal and/or symbolic) with MC will permanently enhance the champion's (chosen ghoul's) stigma without requiring constant physical contact and/or removing or decreasing the debuff that comes from overusing their stigma
Maybe there is something innate about MC that attracts anomalies to her, such as the kyklos, and this quality is also why the ring chooses her, empowering her to choose which anomalies (including ghouls) can get close to her
MC is set up by shadowy forces (the traitor(s)) to be a "sacrificial bride" / lamb to slaughter, symbolically or literally wedded/entered into a pact for "a greater purpose"
Sacrificial brides are a common trope across myth, folklore, and horror
The role of the sacrificial bride is to appease, seal, or redirect the power and/or calamity of whomever she is bound to
This is probably the side effect of using his stigma, right? It messes up his head. I'm guessing Taiga's memory problems isn't entirely because he doesn't bother to remember things.
Other thing that intrigues me: what kind of occurrence(s) would make Taiga deemed a timeline as a "failed run"?
I need to talk about the unexpected question Taiga asked MC (Analysis)
When Taiga asked MC, “You got a man?”, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was trying to gauge whether she was romantically available. Maybe it was an early sign that he was interested in her himself. Before getting emotionally invested or making a move, perhaps he wanted to know if someone else was already in her life.
If his only goal had been to distract or calm MC down because she was under pressure, he could’ve asked literally anything else. But instead, he asked: “You got a man?” (Or another meaning: “A boyfriend?” or “Experience with… you-know-what?” 🛏️)
That doesn’t feel like random teasing to me. His expression also stands out. He isn’t smiling or joking around: He looks serious and focused, which makes the question feel more genuine than playful.
I like how Taiga reacts when MC asks what’s gotten into him if you choose the 3rd option, he actually seems caught off guard before laughing at how flustered she is. Though, he brushes it off with, “Well, it doesn’t matter. Everything’s screwed anyway.”
I interpreted that as: “There’s no point dwelling on relationships when we might not make it out of this.”
And that made me think… if Taiga believes they’re all doomed, why bother letting yourself love someone if you’re just going to lose them? Maybe he avoids getting attached because losing someone would hurt too much. That’s why I loved seeing Taiga slowly open up to MC. It shows how much he trusts her. Elias even said that maybe he’s been waiting for someone to believe him, and I can’t help but feel like MC is the one person willing to do that when no one else will.
Which makes his Affinity 25 voice line hit harder: “You’re not getting away from me, kitten. You’re here till death do us part, whether you like it or not.”
JP ver: "I'm not letting you go, kitten. It's already decided that you'll be here with me until death do us part."
That’s literally a wedding vow.
To me, it feels like his mindset changes. Instead of “What’s the point of loving someone if the world is fcked?” it becomes: “Even if the world is fcked, I still have you. You’re staying with me until death do us part.”
If anything, once Taiga falls for MC, he seems to realize that love isn’t meaningless because death is inevitable, it’s because life is uncertain that he chooses to hold onto the person he loves. Like he seems to believe that love is something worth holding onto even if death is inevitable.
——————
I guess being delulu is my only solulu but it’s just my thought. No need to take seriously if you don’t agree with me 🥀
some answers to lots of questions/behaviours about Taiga
1. Taiga & his relationship with Romeo:
It immediately caught my eye this Taiga's conversation with the MC!
The italic font
"Italic fonts" are a different styling of the same font but slightly inclined
This method is mostly used in order to highlight specific piece of information & to show the reader a character's internal thoughts without using quotation marks.
This makes us understand that this delivered line was actually Taiga talking to himself and NOT the MC as if he is trying to "ease" his own pain or "deny" a certain fact.
Another interesting note is that this line was actually mentioned previously in one of VL (Taiga's lvl 23 affinity )
It's as if his line in the ep answered his VL
"what did he tell Romeo" part
With it now meaning
"I told Romeo about my stigma that allows me to see the future.. I warned him about the world ending & his "probable" death"
But what was Romeo's reaction?
He didn't believe Taiga
I honestly thought at the start that what Romeo didn't believe was the fact the world will end
But in reality, it's the latter
What he didn't believe is: Taiga's stigma and its ability to see "his" future/doom
2. Taiga's Stigma side effects
it's almost canon now :]
After he activates it
Taiga mentioned his head becoming "messed up"
This leads us to the idea: the futher/longer he sees into the future, the worse his body & memory get affected
This honestly breaks my heart because this means that the Taiga we have now with his screwed up memory. Reached this point after attempting to activate it over and over again
3. Taiga actually needs to say his stigma's incantation
This proves why Taiga behaves oddly in some ep by saying "it changed" at some of the missions
This means that even if we, the players, don't see him saying it loudly,
