#anyway. ruby is the real villain of oshi no ko you heard it here first folks

[mayushiis]

i think another big thing about the current aquaruby dynamic that oshi no ko fans Do Not See is the fact that aqua doesn’t HAVE any power over ruby anymore. obviously when he was visiting her hospital room as a doctor he held a position of authority over her. he was taking on the role of doctor and guardian for her in a way, and he clearly felt responsible for her and wanted to be there for her in the absence of her parents.

but the last several chapters have made it abundantly clear that the power dynamics between them have shifted to ruby, who as aqua’s twin sibling is now his equal, rather than his charge. now that they stand on equal footing, she’s used manipulation tactics to force him into submission and thereby take a position of power over him. by projecting ai onto gorou, she’s made it impossible for aqua to shed his past self and move on without hurting her. and, she’s taken gross advantage of both abiko and yoriko’s directorial tactics to ensure that she gets to kiss aqua on-screen, thereby sealing him into a relationship with her. aqua has no power here. his own sister and the directors are working against him to lock him into The Bad End (incest route).

which, ignoring my previous tags about the parallels between aqua and ai, also feels disturbingly similar to how hikaru was abused by airi…