[and now loveless talk] i need a damn list for my characters and their dæmons bc somewhere i've lost track and/or lost notes. this is a placeholder until i figure out a better place to put them
his EVERYTHING is wildly unhealthy and ferreting out what are his actual opinions and whats fucking brainwashed into him and what's trauma coping mechanisms and where the lines are drawn and what does and doesnt count --
once upon a time, ages ago, back before the analysis styles even changed, i had him pegged as a slender mongoose, istj, and didnt even do the enneagram by hand but took a quiz which said he was 1 and 5 LMFAO
i refuse to sit down and put real thought into it but ritsuka would be fun solely bc his pre-amnesia daemon wouldn't be settled. and then as soon as "new" ritsuka took over his personality, his daemon settles and everyone is unnerved
also ugh ugh ugh ritsuka's insecurity abt old vs new ritsuka applying even to his daemon bc she knew the "real" ritsuka!! he's sure that she wants that ritsuka back just like mom does!!!
like i assume seimei was involved, especially since he's the only one that never seemed surprised by ritsuka's change. but we don't even know what the fuck seimei's deal is.
i really do wish everything in loveless was exactly the same but yun kouga hadn't made ritsuka A Baby. like. miss kouga it would have worked FINE if ritsuka was like 18. that's anxiety abt adulthood age!! he would still have trauma and cptsd and amnesia and an abusive household!!!!
god......... yeah......... like. i can understand that part of the Theme(tm) is about the effects of trauma and adulthood expectations and abuse on kids and that ritsuka being a kid situates him as SUCH a strong foil to soubi and visa versa. but. you know what we could've done without
like on another hand I UNDERSTAND that it relates specifically to soubi's traumas and his complete inability to actually function with other people outside of the specific contexts he was raised
i feel like ritsuka bring 18 could have still worked for the themes. especially since his mom's abuse involves treating him like a child anyway & he's so isolated. it would be interesting actually bc it would take a little longer to start seeing those problems and foils in the ritsuka + soubi dynamic
BUT YEAH. god. ritsuka as an 18 yr old would be ideal. turning 18 and freaking out abt change and adulthood while his mother tries to force him to remain a child.
an even bigger gap btwn old & new ritsuka. old ritsuka is a child! he's been dead for years! his mom doesn't just want him to return to a person he can't remember, she wants him to regress to a CHILDHOOD he can't remember
the dynamic of like..... people ritsuka's age around him are changing. some of the kids in his class have lost their ears. people are talking about university, and jobs, and plans for the future,
UGHHHH BEING MISTAKEN FOR SEIMEI...... that line he has in canon where he's just despairing over the fact that nothing belongs to him, it's all either the old ritsuka or seimei, NOW INTENSIFIED
ritsuka ending up torn himself btwn "bring the old ritsuka back" and "replace seimei bc everyone needed seimei and nobody needs ritsuka" not leaving any room in there for option 3, You're Allowed To Exist As You
seimei would verbally eviscerate soubi in front of ritsuka to make him sound like a monster so that ritsuka feels betrayed, and then once they were separated soubi would absolutely suffer for having Corrupted His Baby Brother
also u know ritsuka at any age would be a slow and steady sap in a relationship, btwn Trauma and Insecurity and Inexperience. and when it comes to Genuine Romance it's not as if soubi has any more idea what the fuck is going on than ritsuka, so that would be a mess,
ritsuka: i think that i am maybe possibly attracted to soubi and maybe i am slightly open to the possibility of doing relationship things, soubi: (approaches this in a soubi way, i.e. My Only Experiences Are Sex And Unhealthy Power Imbalances) ritsuka: I CHANGED MY MIND FORGET ABOUT IT
hjksdhgjdhg ritsuka vents abt it to yuiko and she lectures soubi like YOU HAVE TO BE ROMANTIC!!! HE'S A SENSITIVE BOY!!! YOU HAVEN'T EVEN TAKEN HIM TO DINNER YET????
you know what kills me too is that like... even in canon the entire thing starts out as soubi not knowing any other way to build a fast and strong bond
it's not "taking advantage of a child" anymore (which means soubi doesn't have to toe that line either, he can actually pursue it the way he thinks it should work) it's. toying with ritsuka's feelings in a way he didn't actually intend to do and doesn't entirely understand, and the consequences of their whole partnership being built on this
yun kouga: drops loveless and never comes back
ritsuka: turns around to see soubi standing in the corner like a bad child
soubi: (approaches this in a soubi way, i.e. My Only Experiences Are Sex And Unhealthy Power Imbalances)
ritsuka: I CHANGED MY MIND FORGET ABOUT IT