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
Not necessarily a shipping post, just an analysis of how good a pairing Lyca x MC is. Also, MC might be a little OOC because I'm self-inserting/projecting a bit on how I would think/feel/act in MC's shoes. Might write a fic about these two some day. Their dynamic has the potential to be incredibly tender and perfect for hurt-comfort fics.
Lyca x MC: Learning to Belong
Lyca and MC are both "outsiders" at Darkwick:
Lyca is enrolled as a student in Darkwick after years of confinement stunted his social development, facing prejudice upon release for being a werewolf.
MC, by contrast, enters as a new student, cursed to become an anomaly without prior knowledge on the existence of the supernatural, and surrounded by people who already understand the world she's just been dropped into.
Both of them come from different circumstances, but the resulting trials they face are the same: they are marginalized for being "dangerous" anomalies, and need to learn the rules, culture, and expectations of Darkwick as it is crucial to their survival. Any misstep could land Lyca in confinement again and finalise a death sentence for MC (that is, if she isn't kept as a live experiment once she transforms, which I think is a fate worse than death).
Lyca and MC are on more equal footing than any of the other ghoul and MC pairings because they are both learning to fit into a new "normal" at the same time and are enrolled with little context on what Darkwick does and how it operates.
Their shared status as (potentially) "dangerous" individuals means they cannot rely on the institutional stability Darkwick provides to its general students (none of the ghouls can really rely on/use DA save for a few exceptions, such as Jin, who is literally the son of DA's president). This positions them to rely on each other for stability.
Lyca's lack of embarrassment, which stems from his lack of social awareness on what others consider shameful, makes him unusually earnest and straightforward. MC's open-minded, non-judgemental nature meets that earnestness without ridicule or discomfort, enabling them both to be honest and vulnerable with each other about their respective circumstances.
Side tangent: MC's openness is also a form of resilience. Few people could "fight back" in her circumstances. Some may view her "going along with the flow" as passivity (ie. She's being swept along by circumstances beyond her control). In my opinion, it demonstrates her adaptability. She assesses what she can influence/realistically accomplish and works with what she's got. Her acceptance of her circumstances is a pragmatic coping mechanism for the very destabilizing experience she's going through.
Overall, their relationship feels balanced. Lyca learns social cues through MC's patience, and MC gains confidence by having a peer who is also adjusting to life at Darkwick. Their shared uncertainty becomes a point of connection rather than a weakness.
Not a fic. Not really a polished analysis. Just a rambling on some of my favourite tropes and the parallels between Rui and Zenji's characters.
Rui, Zenji, and Death
I love the "Death's Garden" trope/motif, and more narrowly, the "Don't Fear the Reaper" trope. Death is not destruction. Death is maintenance. Death is part of the cycle necessary to make room for new life.
Rui is cursed to kill anything he touches, yet he devotes himself to cultivating life. He tends to anomalous plants with a gentleness that his curse denies him in human contact.
In TKDB, death is not finality. Ghosts exist. Therefore, there is an afterlife or a different kind of "life" beyond death. Death transforms. It lingers, sometimes gently, sometimes grotesquely (as in the case of ghosts, vampires, zombies, and other anomalies).
Rui's curse makes him kind of a living ghost. Although he is visible and tangible, unlike Zenji, he and Zenji are both untouchable. Both of them are stuck in a weird limbo space where they are isolated among the living.
What must it be like for them both to be so close to life but not quite living life for themselves? Both are forced to witness the warmth of human connection just beyond reach. Both have been forced to watch their friends risk their lives but were unable to intervene.
Their suffering isn't limited to death itself (dying or killing). Their suffering is caused by their proximity to life while being unable to (fully) participate.
Welcome to my blog! I just go by my username on here, "Mish," for short.
This blog is dedicated to my latest interest: Tokyo Debunker. I make fanart and post fics from time to time. I don't take any fic or art requests currently, but I enjoy theorizing and discussing Tokyo Debunker so feel free to use the inbox anyway!
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Misc. About Me:
Top 3 fav ghouls: Haru, Jiro, Lyca
Fav house: Jabberwock (in theory, but I'm such an indoor person IRL, I'd hate dealing with the icky outdoors regardless of how cute the anomalies are)
I like ghoul ships, MC ships, OC ships, & yumeships
