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TL;CR MEME
1. Comment with your character.
2. Receive comments from others.
3. Reply to their comments with long ballads and explanations of your characters' relationship throughout the game.
4. Suffer as we have suffered over your CR.
1. Comment with your character.
2. Receive comments from others.
3. Reply to their comments with long ballads and explanations of your characters' relationship throughout the game.
4. Suffer as we have suffered over your CR.
no subject
this is exactly 1,657 characters short of the max. i'm weeping.
Anyway, in a sense, coming to the murder camp was the best thing to happen to him after coming off from the island because it gave him a chance to do something rightâto make up for everything that he did. ...not that he felt that way from the start. From the start, he expected Shinobu (and the othersâa particular other) to immediately suspect him for lying to them again about being able to go home. And no one disappointed him in that regardsânot everyone was violent but hardly anyone held a hand out towards him which was fine to him. He saw it fitting and deserved it. He resolved to never ask for forgiveness or to do anything but own the horrible things that he forced them to endure on the island. The fact that he watched Shinobu suffer because of his actions. How she died because of his actions.
...which kind of continued to be his driving force. He wanted to, so badly, do Shinobu (them) right and send them all home this time for sure. He wanted for her to be happy. He didn't care what it meant for him or what it took for him to accomplish that. He was going to uncover what was happening behind the scenes and do them all right. Of course, he didn't think to ask Shinobu to help him with any of it because he wanted to prove to her that this was something he could on his own. Or, more like, that this was something he wanted to do without her help because he didn't want it to accidentally come off as him trying to redeem himself. ...even if it was him trying to redeem himself, he didn't want her to actively think that was the only reason why he was doing when he was doing it for what became an all too personal reason.
On some level, though, Giyuu also started to wonder the X factor that was at play. What brought them here. What was keeping them here? Just...everything. He didn't know Shinobu had a role, obviously, until she outed herself to him but even if she was, it didn't change how he was going to do things. Actually, the possibility that there were roles or something foul at play didn't really bother him. If Shinobu was going to use this against him then he was find with that. He had done the same to her back on the island. Literally everything and anything terrible that she could have done to him, he would have been okay with because he had done the same to her. Funny right? If she had come up to him and asked him to die, then he would have been okay with it. Giyuu was hardly concerned about his well-being and if Shinobu wanted him to die, then he deserved it. He would have wanted to do more, but he wasn't going to fight Shinobu. He couldn't hurt Shinobu more than he already had.
Also if it got them closer to the truth of what was going on? That was fine. With the shift of Giyuu forcing himself to talk to countless numbers of people, Giyuu also started to shift in how he started to see her and things. (Also otomes. Otomes happened and I'm haunted.) People sure did start to assume things between them and Giyuu didn't share those same visions. Mainly because he wanted Shinobu to be happy and he didn't think that she would be happy with him. (At the same time, he wanted to do for her as much as she did for himâemotionally.) He had caused her so much pain and he was aware of how much he depended on her to understand emotions better. ...though he did try to find someone else (Minako) to talk to about that to learn how to talk to people better. He wanted to show her that he was able to do things on his own. He wasn't useless. He was making the effort. You know, that sort of thing.
With this growth, in a way, he started to distance himself from her because he believed that she'd be able to find happiness on her own as long as he could keep doing what he needed to do to get to the bottom of what was happening. If he could understand more... But then he got hit with the effect of seeing him kill her and others every time he closed his eyes which tore into his insecurities and self-doubt. ...though it also confused him. Rather, he knew that Shinobu (and everyone else he saw) were people who were important to him, but he didn't know understand what it meant on a deeper meaning. It hurt to see her die by his hands because of what he did on the island, obviously, but it was deeper than that. But he didn't get it...the story of my entire journey with Giyuu and his emotional revelations.
Then talked about his haori and that was strangely a good moment for him. Everyone knew it was importantâall haoris were important/symbolicâbut for her to know the burdens he wrapped himself in... They really weren't that different, were they? But, uh, then he lost his arm, memshare happened, and she got to see how crushed he was after she died. (They never talked about it.) There was so much to unpack here that I don't even know where to start and I probably won't be able to. Just know that the impact of seeing how she died and her promise with her sisters just drove in the fact that he wanted to send her homeâto make her happy. ...but it also gave him insight to how she was hiding so much more than he could ever expect from her. Also, that he still wasn't mature enough to deal with things. The matters of the heart were still beyond him. Re. âbut what does Giyuu do with this information?â Squander it.
SMASH CUT TO BOTH OF THEM DYING. ...and then slowly pan the camera towards the exact moment that Shinobu broke down in front of him and criedâbegging (in her own way) him to hate her for what she had done. But he couldn't. They were both flawed and hardly worth the title of Pillar with what they haven't been able to accomplish, but Giyuu couldn't do that to her. He wanted to comfort herâto treat her as she had. She might not have shown him the same kind of treatment after his actions from the island but it didn't mean he had to replicate his actions or the actions of so many others. All he knew, at the time, was that Shinobu couldn't wall herself off from the pain like he has practiced and trained himself to do for years. She felt her emotions fully and Giyuu had only started to allow himself to feel emotions again.
Seeing her like that, though, reminded him a bit of what it felt like to learn that he had lived instead of someone far more valuable to him. And, for the first time, he realized just how small Shinobu was and how much she carried with her. Probably, some part of Giyuu started to realize that his actions to return Shinobu to her family and to want to protect her from everything that would kill her again was not just because of a sense of duty and to make things right, but something more personal. So, yeah, Giyuu might have had a doki at that moment that he actually understood...not that Giyuu has the emotional maturity to know what to do with that. SEE ARA I GAVE YOU THE DOKIS..!!! Anyway, all he knew at that time was that he couldn't leave her alone. He wouldn't leave her alone. If Shinobu ended up being hated and shunned like him, then he would pick her side even if other saw it wrong. Fortunately that wasn't what happened and instead she was treated in a much kinder light than him.
Around this time, it's when he started to really want to see Shinobu's more honest emotions. Rather, he had gotten a taste of them before but this time he could really start to tell that there was something behind her smiles that she kept hiding but, at the same time, it'd be weird for him to say it right? He wasn't sure; he wasn't even sure if he was allowed to ask. But she had told him so many times about how he should use his words and also that he shouldn't assume things. So he started to tell her to be more honest with her feelings because he wanted to see herâlike, the same Shinobu who cried in front of him and let herself be out in the open. He didn't want her to be like that to everyone, but he didn't want to think she had to behave that way around him. ...not that he knew the right words to say. Also he was certain that if he did say something like that, she'd call him out on it for being an idiot and question the validity of him being the person to say this. After all, it's not like he was good at expressing himself, right?
But he really did want to get better at expressing himself. He wanted to do it for Shinobu and to show her that her words had meant somethingâthat she would really live on inside of him after they parted ways. Her memory, her lessons... everything. She might have died and they might have not known one another as well as they do now back how things were before they were both dragged from the island and to this camp, but he was going to wear her mark on him as he wears his sister's and Sabito's kimonos as his haori. He listened to what she was saying and he was going to live. Tanjiro was the first strike against the ice around his heart, but Shinobu became a gentle flame that kept warming it encouraged more and more of the ice to come falling off around it. He was tender-footed in how he approached people but it would be steps in the right direction.
His biggest regret was, honestly, always been a step too late and a few days behind in understanding what was happening to the relationship between them. Rather, was there even a change in their relationship? The fact that he never put words in trying to understand what they were because he didn't want to overstep the tenuous state of whatever was built between them. Whatever they had was fine. ...I say this just before I touch on the double smooch because I had to frame it like this. BECAUSE Giyuu was just drunk enough to let his walls fully crumble long enough to take a risk he wouldn't have otherwise done. (also because I wanted to shitpost.) So, sure, Sanji might have been the first person to have kissed him but then he was told he needed to kiss someone he wanted to. Truth be told he didn't have anyone he âwantedâ to kiss but there were two people who have become so important to him so that was the same thing, right? (No.)
HONESTLY. He had to kiss Dimitri after kissing Shinobu because it gave him clarityâan understanding of what was going on. So much was happening both internally and externally from the game itself and that brief moment things started to click into place. The reason why seeing Shinobu's real smiles mattered to him. Why he hated to see her forcing herself. Why he had wanted to do so much for her. Etc etc... AKA Giyuu (very belatedly) realized that he had a doki. He had a very real doki for Shinobu because kissing Dimitri wasn't the same as kissing Shinobu. AGAIN THOUGH... what does Giyuu do with the these things?? NOTHING. He does nothing with them and just holds them close to his heart because they needed to âfightâ the snake the next day and regardless of whatever was going to happen, Shinobu and he weren't going to be anymore than whatever they already were. He wasn't going to even come close to wanting anything else. The most he could do is live for her (everyone).
The three of them promised to find their happiness, right? If there was some happiness he found in Shinobu then he would just find a way to carry it with him. (He always carried her with him. Her lessons for himâthe time they spent together...)
Learning that Shinobu was going to be staying with Dimitri through him for a loop but he was glad, honestly. He had thought that going back to her family was what she wantedâwhat would make her the most happyâbut if she wanted to explore the alternative then it's fine. As long as she was safe and happy then that's all that Giyuu could care for. Besides, he trusts Dimitri and knows that he wouldn't do anything to intentionally hurt her after all of this. ...and if there was maybe something between her and Dimitri that he doesn't know then that was fine, too. He wanted Dimitri to be happy as well. Either way, he's supportive of it. The only thing that he was left wanting was more time with the both of them before they had to close the chapter of this. He still doesn't know that he survives till the end because his plot armor is stupid thicc, but whatever. Dimitri doesn't end up faring any better but no one knows any of this. Oh the dramatic irony.
TL;DR â Giyuu did nearly everything for Shinobu and had three whole fucking dokis (I can't remember where the first one is, but it happened pre-death.) for her but I refused to tell anyone because, much like Shinobu(?), Giyuu knew that it wasn't going to matter in the long run. He regrets not getting to know her as they have now, but there's nothing to do about the past. As long as Shinobu was a part of him in some manner then he could keep her with him. (THOUGH I GUESS HE STILL HAS THE BUTTERFLY HAIR THING SHE GAVE HIM...) His love for his sister, Sabito, his friend(s), and deep affection for her will be keep him going until the end.
...all of this making the ending of canon more bittersweet when I look at it through these glasses and I hate it. It's terrible. THOUGH THEY ALSO GO ON A CUTE VACATION IN MINAKO'S WORLD SO IDEFK. I've come clean of my sins and now I'm sitting here afraid. I'll have to go do nu's now after this since they're like. Two halves of a single whole. THERE'S PROBABLY MORE THAT I'M FORGETTING BUT I'M LEAVING IT HERE. I'm tired. Giyuu's tired. I didn't swerve from the ship (kind of) but I didn't make it wildly known either. In some alternate world maybe the execution ot3 happened because of....gestures at Dimitri's side.