#do I tag as metaposting I dont like how this is structured...

[not-too-many-eyes]

I've slept and eaten so now I can coherently think about the 13 Sentinels Ending and I think it runs into the problem 13s has throughout it's entirety. Which is that every time it tackles a cishet relationship the quality of the writing goes down dramatically.

It wants to evoke this sort of "We broke the endless cycle of destruction and now we can rebuild the world" feeling to it. Breaking away from the hatred and pain the adults/their past lives couldn't break away from, and establishing their own identities as their Own People (Shu Amuguchi is Not Tetsuya Ida and all.) but leans a bit heavy on the idea that everything is all fine now! We don't even need to consider the emotional ramifications of finding out your entire life was a simulation. We can even bring all the virtual people as real humans. No one has to lose anyone!

It's a bit hollow, and I already wouldn't be satisfied with it if that was my only problem with it. But even regarding it on a pure fan service level, it shoots itself in the foot a bit in a few ways I think? I think a lot of my issues reside in Tetsuya Ida's ending.

My hatred of Tetsuya Ida aside, Miyuki and Ida's relationship when they were last seen was Ida forcibly shutting her up after Miyuki was telling Ida that she doesn't want any of this, but realizing that she can't do anything to stop him, he's not the man she fell in love with all those years ago anymore.

Miyuki: This is a mistake. Ida: I’m afraid you’re the one who’s mistaken. It’s too late. This place will be gone soon enough, anyway. Or do you have some other option to share? Miyuki: …… Even if I did… You wouldn’t listen to me. Not the way you are now.

Shu makes an accurate observation of the situation. Ida doesn't want Miyuki, he wants the version of Miyuki that he finds the most palatable to him.

However when we see them in the ending Miyuki suddenly is completely fine with him and always loved him actually this entire time. Which feels strange and a bit sinister considering what Shu's observation of Ida was. Miyuki's opinion of Ida was trending negative and yet right at the end the game takes a hard right turn to them actually being tragic lovers who are now reunited and can be happy forever.

That feeling of a relationship that, at best, doesn't really have any substance, and at worst, feels antithetical to what their relationship is actually like, is the same problem 13 Sentinels ran into when it came to Juro and Megumi, and Yuki and Shu, and really most of the het relationships.

This game cannot conceive of a world where a romantic heterosexual relationship is bad, despite It's narrative centering around complex interpersonal relationships with conflicting feelings and emotions. The group of 2188 broke apart and killed each other due to their worst impulses, almost dooming the entire human race to extinction due to their various flaws and shortcomings. Their clones proceeded to have complex interpersonal relationships and manipulate the younger versions of themselves to be who they want them to be or exploit them for their own personal agendas. Ida is Ida and fucks everything up again because he's a terrible person-

This all applies to the current cast as well (Again, Juro and Megumi) but as seen with Juro and Megumi, the game refuses to even think of any of the heterosexual romantic relationships it establishes between these people as anything but a self-evident positive, when one breaks apart they're pulled back together again at the end. It's the Shu-Yuki scene where despite everything, Yuki is encouraged to go back to Shu and make up with him.

The only real exception is Ryoko and Ida, and for that, in one iteration Ryoko almost destroys the human race out of despair due to Ida's actions. And in the other, Ryoko is a 16 year old being groomed by her teacher, and even then Ryoko's affection towards Ida is one of the few things she remembers when all of her memories are gone.

It's not the only issue I think, for one they just- never address the Japenese imperialism in Miura and Hijiyama's mindsets...ever. But this part of the game is just really bothersome to me, not game ruining cause the rest of the game is just really good. But definitely leaves a bit of a poor taste in my mouth...

[megabuild]

dear megabuild is there like. required ethubs reading out there. posts that are good for ethubs understanding that come to mind maybe. i dont think I could handle a full ethubs phase but my hand is itching for the pencil regardless so I figured I’d ask

so this has been sitting in my inbox for about a week as i try to structure the best recommendations i can but truly the only thing i can come up with is that to understand ethubs you literally just have to watch them. it's hard to explain just how reliant ethubs metaposting and analysis is on an understanding not just of their current dynamic but the dynamic they've shared over 10 years- which is a lot of content and can sound incredibly daunting, but literally.

having said that:

— videowise, obviously the full life series from either perspective but specifically last life. if you don't have the time or don't want to watch a full series, morry's ll ethubs megacut is a lifesaver. i also made a short post with some key ethubs clips a while ago.

— recommending fic here may seem against the spirit of analysis but believe me: wind back the clock and do it again on ao3 as beat by beat dissections of their relationship, though i can't speak to how easy either are to follow without an understanding of the context.

— peter bellshazes our ethubs lord who art in heaven has made a *ton* of posts about them so i would advise checking out their tag for the general life series. for personal recs id say this recent post on their current sl dynamic

— a few misc ones i like- on dead weight, alternating, avoidance, comparing ethubs to homewreckers

— technically not ethubs but i'm going to go ahead and link my required reading tag anyway which only includes like two posts but provide a good context and framework to analysis of the life series as a whole.

basically any of the posts i've linked come from blogs i would trust as Professional Ethubs Analysers so if you go through their tags you'll probably find a ton more. and if anyone has specific episodes or posts that they feel are important or summarise their dynamic please feel free to reblog and link them :) happy ethubsing!