#pre kagome

[hauntingblue]

"Everyone remembers your face" ... well....

#omg the bag 💀💀💀💀💀 #kagome reference #hancocks reaction to the i want to see you again ahdkahd #it never gets old it never does #sanji is back and hornier than ever #400 million berries????? #zoro cutting boats in half oof... just like mihawk.... #luffy has so many changes of clothes because of hancock... she did say she out 500 in there #talking tag #watching one piece #episode 518 #robin i will miss your pre timeskip design so much.... nami aldo... #also*

[yutaan]

Holiday sale!

Hey there, my lovelies! Once again, the end of the year is fast approaching, which means we’re all hunting around for gifts for our loved ones (or to keep for ourselves - after all, you deserve gifts too, my lovelies). And what’s a wonderful present for a fandom-savvy giftee? That’s right, it’s ART!

My INPRNT shop is back open, and all items there are 10% off for the entire month of December with the code "FZE4NF"! And below, we have a wide array of beautiful papercraft originals, pre-made, packaged, and ready to be shipped to YOU! Happy holidays, my lovelies!

(Please note that due to tumblr’s image resizing, the artworks are not necessarily displayed at an accurate size in comparison to each other.)

~

BUSTS (approx. 4″ tall)

Harrowhark (The Locked Tomb) - $70 each [BOTH SOLD]

Lady Amalthea (The Last Unicorn) - $65 [SOLD]

Edgeworth (Ace Attorney) - $65 [SOLD]

Jasmine (Aladdin) - $50

Mirabel (Encanto) - $60 [SOLD]

Meg (Hercules) - $50

Hiei (Yu Yu Hakusho) - $55 [SOLD]

Liu Qingge (SVSSS) - $70 [SOLD]

Katara (Avatar: the Last Airbender) - $70 [SOLD]

Ed (Fullmetal Alchemist) - $75 [SOLD]

Yugi & Yami Yugi (Yugioh) - 8" wide - $210

Jiang Cheng & Jin Ling (MDZS/The Untamed) - 6" tall - $200 [SOLD]

~

FULLBODIES (approx. 6″ tall)

Aerith (FFVII) - $85

Kagome (Inuyasha) - $75

Sakura (Cardcaptor Sakura) - $85 [SOLD]

Yor (Spy x Family) - $85 [SOLD]

Reigen (Mob Psycho 100) - $80 [SOLD]

L (Death Note) - $75

Vash (Trigun Stampede) - $95 [SOLD]

Howl + Calcifer (Howl's Moving Castle) - $95 each [BOTH SOLD]

Haku (Spirited Away) - $90 [SOLD]

~

MINIS (approx. 3-3.5″ tall) - $30 each, three for $80, five for $125

Jin Ling, Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen, Jiang Cheng (The Untamed/MDZS) [ALL SOLD]

Batman (DC), Anya (Spy x Family) [ALL SOLD]

2B (Nier: Automata), Chat Blanc (Miraculous Ladybug), Hunk (Voltron)

Sailor Moon, Dark Lady (Sailor Moon), Pikachu (Pokemon) [ALL SOLD]

Bakugo (BNHA)

Nezuko (Demon Slayer) [ALL SOLD]

MINI SETS - $60 each

WangXian (MDZS/The Untamed) [ALL SOLD]

Yunmeng Shuangjie (MDZS/The Untamed) [ALL SOLD]

Jin Ling & Jiujiu (MDZS/The Untamed) [ALL SOLD]

HuaLian (TGCF) [ALL SOLD]

BingQiu (SVSSS) [ALL SOLD]

Crowley & Aziraphale (Good Omens) [ALL SOLD]

~

SIMPLE PAPERCRAFT (approx. 5" tall) - $20 each

~

ZINES (5x7")

TALL ♥ small - 20 pages, handmade, personal illustrations, all-ages - $10 [SOLD OUT]

Battle Damage - 28 pages, pro-printed, multiple artists, teen and up - $15

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If you are interested in purchasing any of these artworks, please email me at [email protected] with the subject line “Holiday Sale.” In the body of the email, please include:

Which piece(s) you wish to purchase

Shipping address (please note that shipping outside the US may cost extra)

Preferred email address for Paypal invoice

If you have a tumblr username and would like to include it so I can recognize you, you can also do that! :D But it’s not a requirement.

~ 

Pieces are first-come, first-served, so be quick! (Likewise, please note that I cannot reserve a piece for you indefinitely unless you are able to pay for it or place a down payment on it at the time you contact me. Thank you for your understanding!) This post will be updated throughout the month to show which pieces have been sold.

Happy gifting, lovelies!

#holiday sale 2023 #holiday sale #papercraft #paper art #traditional art #papercutting #zines #my art

[inukag-archive]

Welcome to The InuKag Archive!

For your searching pleasure, below is a categorized, alphabetical index with links for our thematic fic rec lists, last updated in FEBRUARY 2024. 

Much love,

Pixie, Rudd, Anisa, Mama, & Lost

--

Angst / Drama / Dark / Whump

Angst With Pining

Break Up/Make Up

Cheating

Family Disapproval

Inuyasha Whump

Misunderstanding Reconciliation

Reconciliation/Cheating Inuyasha

Sick Kagome

--

Canon-Based

500 Year Gap (Canon Divergent)

Dark Canon/Canon Divergence

First Interactions (SFW Canon)

Inuyasha in the Modern Era (But Not A Modern AU)

Missing Scenes/Fill The Gaps in Canon

Modern-Era Dates (Canon Compliant)

New Moon Inuyasha (Canon)

NSFW Canon: Part One and Part Two

Post Canon

Post Canon/Canon Fluff

Post Canon NSFW

Realistic Canon

SFW Canon

SFW Canon w/ no parenting or Yashahime

Three Year Gap

--

Fluff / SFW

First Kiss

Fluff, Pre-2020

Fluff, Post-2020

--

High School / College / Teacher AUs

High School AUs: Part One and Part Two

High School/College Teachers

Office / College AUs

--

Holidays

Halloween

Japanese Holidays

--

Inuyasha and/or Kagome in Alternate Forms

Demon Inuyasha

Hanyou Kagome

Human (Demons Don’t Exist) AUs

InuKag As Kids

Inuyasha As A Dog: Part One and Part 2

--

Kikyou Involvement

Inuyasha Chooses Kikyo Misunderstanding

Kagome/Kikyou Swap Places

Sympathetic Kikyou

--

Mod Favorites

Mod Comfort Fics

Mod Favorites

Mod’s Favorite Ongoing Fics (as of mid-2022)

--

NSFW (Smut)

Dominant Kagome (NSFW)

Fluffy Smut

Friends With Benefits

NSFW Pregnancy

Online Sex Work/Relationship

Royalty/Rich NSFW

--

Parenting

Expecting First Child

New Parents (Moroha)

Raising Moroha

--

Royalty / Historical / Fairytale AUs

Arranged Marriage

Beauty and the Beast Inspired

Fairytale Inspired

Feudal AU

Feudal Era Early Marriage

--

Similar To

Epic Plot

Similar to “Secret Love, Secret Power”

--

Specific AUs

Ghost AU

Rockband AU

Soulmate AUs

Star Wars/Space AUs

Yakuza/Organized Crime

--

Specific Tropes

Age Regression

Adopt A Stray

Bead-Centric

Body Swap

Caught in Inclement Weather

Disabilities

Enemies to Lovers

Fake Dating

Inuvember 2023 Part 1 and Part 2

Jealous Inuyasha

Memory Loss

Pet Parents

Pining Inuyasha

Protective / Possessive

Published Pre-2015

Reincarnation

Role Reversal

Short Fic

#inukag archive #inuyasha fanfic #inukag fanfic

[inukag]

Hey Cynthia! This is kind of an ask but mainly a rant because I find this INCREDIBLY annoying, because it's clear these people don't understand the story AT ALL.

I don't think all KogKag shippers are annoying, but I'm surprised that there are so many fans who say that Kagome should've ended up with Koga because Inuyasha was aLWaYS going after Kikyo or that Koga would've TrEAtED her better. I feel like people who say this are just self-inserting onto Kagome. Reason number one: KogKag has little to no substance in canon, with her just humoring him every time he flirts with her. Number two: if they were paying attention, they would know WHY and WHEN Inuyasha went after Kikyo and that for him, there was only Kagome.

TLDR; Do you think people who say "Kagome should've chosen Koga because Inuyasha bad" are self-inserting? I know the anime changes are a huge factor, is that why people say this? I like your analyses so I'd like to know what you think.

Hello! First of all thank you for the love 🥺

(I know I have mutuals & followers who love Koga & Kogkag so warning: this post is very critical of both!)

I’m going to start off by saying “self-inserting” exists in a lot of ships. There’s plenty of people who love Inuyasha and self-insert into Kagome with inukag. That’s not something I have a big issue with, we all have our favorite characters and there’s nothing wrong with self-indulgence. But if we analyze the canon story, I think you definitely need make Kagome OOC in order to ship her Koga. I mean, if canon!Kagome had any interest in him she wouldn't have wasted her time with Inuyasha, lol. I've said this before but the main reason why Kagome loves Inuyasha and not men like Koga and Sesshomaru is because Inuyasha has a good heart. He might have a harsh personality (that he is improving) due to his past trauma but he has never killed & eaten innocent people the way the other two did.

Also, the racism. Kagome's defining personality trait is that she is open and welcoming with everyone. Why would she date Koga who calls people slurs unprovoked? Why would she date Sesshomaru who bullied his half-brother for being mixed? Sure these two somewhat improved their behavior over the course of the series but 1- There's no indication that Koga and his wolves changed their diet. Koga never showed any remorse for his actions and never said he wouldn't do it again. 2- Sesshomaru tolerates/respects a few people by the end of the series but he very much still sees human life as expendable (see his “Who cares?” line when he hears his action could kill everyone in Kaede’s village). That is simply not compatible with Kagome Higurashi. 

The second anon brought up some good points about the misogyny in the fandom, and how male characters like Koga are praised while Kikyo is villainized for less. I constantly see Koga fans criticizing Inuyasha for “being nice to Kikyo despite what she’s done to Kagome” yet these people seemingly have no problems with Kagome being nice to Koga despite what he has done to Inuyasha. I think both Koga and Kikyo have poorly written “redemption arcs”, I think the inukag fandom just talk more about Kikyo/Inukik because Inuyasha did have feelings for Kikyo while Kagome never had any for Koga, so usually it isn’t worth talking about. 

As for Koga being "nicer" to her, I think a lot of it is definitely anime-only. There's that one filler episode where Inuyasha insults Kagome and Koga brings her flowers later (if I remember correctly) which is obviously meant to make Koga look like the better choice. I’ve talked about this a LOT on my blog but Sunrise went out of their way to make sure Inuyasha would almost never be kind and honest with Kagome compared to the manga, and they added a bunch of scenes where he insults her. Honestly with all the things that Sunrise changed I don’t blame anime-only fans for having issues with anime!inukag. Kagome has self-esteem issues because of Inuyasha’s ex (who is her pre-incarnation) and on top of that the boy she loves insults her himself? I know a lot of inukag shippers just see it as a joke, but since Kagome’s self-worth is a real issue in the series I don’t find it particularly funny. But if we’re focusing on the manga, Inuyasha is not mean to her, he’s only rude when he’s angry (calls her ‘bakaa’ or uses ‘temee’). 

Also, what does Koga even do for Kagome beyond giving her superficial compliments? He saved her a few times, which is what Inuyasha does on a daily basis. Koga said Kagome is “pretty” and “has guts”, which in my opinion pales in comparison to what Inuyasha said about Kagome: 

Inuyasha genuinely KNOWS Kagome. She’s his friend. He spends all his time with her. He has seen the best and worst of her. Koga is just a guy who tries to woo her when he bumps into her once in a while. Inuyasha doesn’t compliment her all the time to score points, he says these things when he can tell Kagome is feeling down and truly needs to hear it. 

Koga really is just putting on a front to look good in front of Kagome. The things he says to her are not necessarily true, as Ginta and Hakkaku point out. 

If he did manage to win over Kagome, who’s to say he would keep up this act? Would they work out in a long-term relationship? What does Koga and Kagome have in common? Like I said, he barely knows Kagome. Unlike Inuyasha, who share Kagome’s values, and share a group of friends with her. Inuyasha knows Kagome’s world, her modern friends and her family (and they love him!). Inuyasha has a demon slaying business with Miroku and lives in a human village where Kagome can thrive as a miko. Koga rarely shows respect for what Kagome wants (he claimed her as his mate and spent the entire series touching her & calling her his “mutual lover” without her consent). Even when Kagome was crying in Inuyasha’s arms after he almost died, Koga still said he “refused to give up on her”. Like the second anon said, the guy really just can’t take a hint (until the very end), and as someone who dealt with men like this in real life I think it’s a pretty big red flag.

Inuyasha literally said he owes everything he has in his life to Kagome. That he was born for her. He continuously chose to live with her instead of dying with Kikyo, risked his life to protect her by giving her the fire rat robe, ditched Tessaiga to save her, jumped into the well every 3 days ready to abandon his world for her. The fact that some people think he’s not the biggest Kagome simp out there and think he’s not “worthy” of Kagome is insane to me. 

Inuyasha learned to give Kagome space when she needs to be alone so she can study. He respects her desire to finish school, respects the fact that she loves her world and didn’t pressure her to choose him over it. 

Also people argue that Koga’s redeeming quality is that he cares about his pack and getting revenge for the ones that Naraku killed. Well, funny how he completely gave up on that once he lost his shikon jewel shards uh? Koga is a FULL yokai and he abandoned his vow to avenge his friends as soon as he lost his power boost, meanwhile my boy Inuyasha stays true to his promise to protect Kagome even in his WEAKEST form! 

Rip to Koga but Inuyasha is simply built different 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, the last point is Inuyasha and his feelings for Kikyo. At this point I’m convinced some people watched/read a completely different series than I did. I mean, the other day I saw a Tik Tok that was like “When Inuyasha runs off to kiss Kikyo for the 100th time” like... what? Inuyasha initiated like 3 romantic interactions with Kikyo in the entire time he has known her. One hug when she was first revived to calm her down, one hug when he told her she could call him when she’s in danger, and the final kiss goodbye to put her soul at peace. Inuyasha is NOT a “two-timer” who “keeps going back to his ex”. He’s a 15 years old boy whose first love got brutally murdered, he started to move on and fall in love with someone else then his “ex” was revived as a vengeful revenant and guilt tripped him into thinking he should die with her. He cares for her and refused to let her get killed by her murderer again, but his real desire was to LIVE and move on and be with KAGOME. At this point anyone who doesn’t understand that probably doesn’t have the emotional maturity to understand the story. I’m not saying that Inuyasha handled the situation perfectly, because of course not, the situation is insane and the boy has no social skills from being ostracized his whole life, but the way some people think he’s a bad person for loving more than one person in his life is insane to me. And you know what sucks? Inuyasha can’t win. If he didn’t care about what happens to Kikyo because he has a new girlfriend, people would call him heartless and would criticize him for treating women like objects that can easily be replaced. And that is one of the main reasons why comparing Inuyasha to other men like Koga, Sesshomaru or even Hojo annoys me a lot: Inuyasha did NOT choose to be in the situation he’s in. He did not intend to be with both at the same time (the anime line “why can’t have a both” is NOT canon). 

I think one other issue is people projecting their personal romantic fantasies on the situation. So many people dream of being someone’s “one and only”, of having their partner tell them that they’ve “never felt like this before”, and the fact that Kagome is not the only women Inuyasha ever loved somehow makes his feelings for her less “pure” or less “intense” to them. Which never made any sense to me because 1- Why would you be less “pure” for loving many people in your life? The fact that Inuyasha fell in love & stayed with Kagome despite the fact that his “ex” was revived and wanted him should actually be proof of how much he loves Kagome 2- Kagome IS Inuyasha’s “first” in SO many ways! The first person to make him happy, the first to cry for him and to make him cry, the first to give him a home, the first person he will be intimate with, the first (and only) person he MARRIES. His past feelings for Kikyo does not take away from that. I think the worst is when people argue that Inuyasha “still thinks about Kikyo after her death” like yeah, he’s still fighting Kikyo’s murderer until the last chapter/episode and his guilt got progressively worse as he repeatedly failed to protect Kikyo, remembering her does not mean he’s still in love with her. He can’t exactly wipe out his memories. Some people even argue that he ”shows sign that he loves her” in the bonus epilogue chapter?? Never mind the fact that the epilogue chapter just kind of sucks, Inuyasha didn’t have any reaction when Kikyo was mentioned, he said he didn’t care and he was only worried that Kikyo being mentioned would hurt Kagome’s feelings. 

When both Kagome and Kikyo were gone from his life, who did he miss? Did he go to Kikyo’s grave every 3 days wishing she hadn’t died? Did Inuyasha ever think about using the shikon jewel or Tenseiga to bring her back properly so he could be with her? No he never did, because Kagome is the one he was born for and the one he wanted to spend his life with, not Kikyo. 

Tl;dr: From what I’ve seen the popularity of kogkag seems to be from people who just like Koga better than Inuyasha and are willing to ignore (or they don’t remember) all the atrocities he committed because they find him hotter and more “charming”, which is fine to me until people actually claim that Kagome should have been with Koga in canon. People who say that are usually just mad about the love triangle because 1- they only watched the anime and haven’t read the manga (and they also misremember the anime) 2- they idealize this idea of being someone’s “first and only love” and they think Inuyasha’s feelings for Kikyo “tarnish” that and 3- they usually lack the emotional maturity to understand the situation Inuyasha was forced in and don’t realize that Inuyasha did the best he could. Inuyasha is a hanyo who was alone all his life and is just starting to open up and trust others while Koga is a full yokai who never had to struggle in his life, and despite that Inuyasha consistently proved that he is a better person. Just because Koga is loud and straight forward with his advances doesn’t make him more loving than Inuyasha, who actually knows Kagome and is romantic and kind to her when it matters the most. 

#ask #Anon #koga-critical #kogkag-critical #wow that sure is an essay lmao #sesshomaru-critical #sesskag-critical #i didn't know i had so many things to say about the topic lmao #i don't even hate koga or kogkag but when shippers have to drag inukag/kagome/inuyasha to talk about their faves... #it definitely makes me bitter #especially when what they say is just so incredibly wrong

[mrfeenysmustache]

Kiss and Makeup

Chapter 9

Summary: Kagome needs help- fast. The only person she can think to turn to is a beautiful, wonderful, soul stopping- and unavailable- friend who comes through for her better than she could have hoped. But he’s not done surpassing her wildest dreams.

Read on: AO3

——————————Preview——————————

“Sesshomaru… is everything okay?”

Kagome stepped carefully into the bathroom, keeping her voice soft and gentle and doing her best to not let her alarm sharpen her tone.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Sesshomaru asked, not even looking away from his reflection in the mirror.

His hands worked fast, claws flashing in the harsh vanity lights as he tore fistfuls of long, silver hair from his head.

“I just… you’re ripping your hair out…”

He paused and his eyes went wide before finally meeting hers in the reflection.

“I am pre-shedding.”

#sesskag #sesskag fanfiction #sesskag fanfic #sesskag fic #sesshomaru/kagome

[bittertomato]

A lil late but happy new year!

Characters under the cut, plus some fun facts

Tomato's faves for each month of 2023

January: Diana Cavendish (Little With Academia)

February: Diana Cavendish (Little Witch Academia)

March: True Rider — Hippolyta (Fate/Strange Fake)

April: Psyche Callista (Your Throne)

May: Misaka Mikoto (A Certain Scientific Railgun)

June: Misaka Mikoto (A Certain Scientific Railgun)

July: Morgan (Fate/Grand Order)

August: Morgan (Fate/Grand Order)

September: Morgan (Fate/Grand Order)

October: Morgan (Fate/Grand Order)

November: Morgan (Fate/Grand Order)

December: Morgan (Fate/Grand Order)

Brainrot of the Year 2023: Morgan (Fate/Grand Order)

Hall of Fame (aka brainrots of years past)

2023: Morgan (Fate/Grand Order)

2022: Tsuruhime Yachiyo (Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight: ReLive)

2021: Tsuruhime Yachiyo and Yumeoji Shiori (Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight: ReLive)

2020: Yumeoji Shiori (Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight: ReLive)

2019: Tendou Maya (Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight: ReLive)

2017 & 2018: Diana Cavendish (Little Witch Academia)

2016: Carmilla Karnstein (Carmilla the Webseries), Elsa (Frozen), Tohsaka Rin (Fate/stay night), and Misaka Mikoto (A Certain Scientific Railgun)

2015: Carmilla Karnstein + Laura Hollis aka Hollstein (Carmilla the Webseries) aka my gay awakening

2014: Elsa (Frozen)

2012 & 2013: Higurashi Kagome (Inuyasha), Kuchiki Rukia (Bleach), Mouri Ran (Detective Conan), and Chiba Mamoru (Sailor Moon)

2011: Chiba Mamoru (Sailor Moon)

2009 & 2010: Kuchiki Rukia (Bleach)

Pre-2009: Who knows? My memory sure doesn't!

And I promised fun facts, so...

The early days...

The reason I can date my first fave to Rukia in 2009 is because that was when I made a Fanfiction.net account and posted my first fanfic. Don't read it I was young and foolish.

Bleach, Inuyasha, and Sailor Moon were my first animes. The first two I definitely watched on Adult Swim back when I still watched cable.

I used to be pretty skilled at self defense and even have a first degree black belt. One of the reasons why Ran from Detective Conan really left an impression on me.

There's a few unnamed faves that I also had from more obscure anime that were from so long ago that I can't pinpoint the exact years. A special shoutout to Asuka from Ask Dr. Rin! This show is in no way affiliated with Tohsaka Rin lol.

And yes, I do have male faves besides Mamoru! I love Hak and his constipated repressed feelings for Yona (Akatsuki no Yona) and my in-game name in FGO is inspired by Kurogane (Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles). And for whatever reason, Fred is my favorite from Scooby Doo.

Honestly, I have to give Elsa some credit. I think she started the trend of my faves being "blonde/light haired "regal" rich/well off BAMF ladies who seem cold and distant on the surface but are actually dorks over-burdened and forced to grow up too fast, with a dash (or a ton) of family angst dumped on them." I mean, do you see any of my past faves being blonde? xD

The college days...

I was in denial about being queer and swore I was straight until I somehow found Carmilla the Webseries (I don't even know how) during the summer of 2015 and had a multi-step process of acceptance that went something like "Oh the actress for Laura Hollis is hot. Oh the actress for Carmilla is cute, pretty, and a huge dork. Oh everyone is pretty attractive. Wait mostly just the girls. Wait is that why I don't give a shit about men?"

Little Witch Academia is not only the first series where I published fanfic on AO3, but it's also the series that got me to write AND finish longer stories. So congrats, Diana! I really wanted to angst you :D It's also the fandom where I found my closer Discord friends. Love y'all, mwah.

I think Revue Starlight might be the series that squeezed the most faves out of me. It holds a special place in my heart for numerous reasons, but the main one might be the collab fic I worked on with Quill, who is now my partner 😊So thanks, ReLive even if your gacha game is somehow even worse than FGO.

That said, the series I seem to always go back to seem to be the To aru and Fate franchises. Maybe it's because they're still ongoing.

Those two are also the reason I started messaging Quill back in the day, so they hold an extra special place in my heart. Even with all their flaws.

And then Lostbelt 6 hit FGO and blew everything out of the water. I rave about Morgan a lot but that chapter of the game truly had a stellar cast. Nasu wanted us to remember that he can cook lol.

Where is my Lostbelt 6 anime, Aniplex?

#tomato rambles #why is the riyo april fools art #the only canon derp pic of her #this woman really does only have one expression #and it's :| #oh geez the fun facts got long #this truly was a ramble for once #not tagging all the characters since this is a personal post

[drvcxrys]

hello friends! this time i'm also going to do a post event starter call. i'm going to still reply event convos and even some pre event convos but if you want to drop them or start something new, we can def do that. now, for my sanity, i'm going to cap all of my characters at 5 and 4 per mun.

HOWEVER, if you see a cap being fulled or closed but you still want a starter from that character, don't be afraid to reach out and i will def put you there still because i can't say no to more plots haha

alice cullen NEWLY UNAWARE (1/5) benjamin anna of arendelle (0/5) annabeth chase NEWLY UNAWARE (1/5) - blair waldorf annie cresta (0/5) betty cooper (0/5) beverly marsh (1/5) - peter bianca di angelo NEWLY UNAWARE (1/5) - nico bree tanner (1/5) - rosalie hale brittany s. pierce (1/5) - mercedes buffy summers (1/5) - anya choi nam ra (1/5) - jongwoo claudia (0/5) daenerys targaryen (2/5) - jorah, drogon dani clayton (0/5) daphne bridgerton (0/5) elizabeth midford (0/5) emma swan (1/5) - elliot alderson han yuri (0/5) heidi volturi (0/5) hermione granger (2/5) - hagrid, dumbledore hope mikaelson (0/5) intouch chatpokin (0/5) isabelle lightwood (1/5) - max jean grey (1/5) - sabrina jessica riley (2/5) - josh washington, emily jill roberts NEWLY UNAWARE (2/5) - quinn bailey, randy meeks, tatum kagome higurashi (0/5) katara (0/5) lila pitts (0/5) lissa dragomir (0/5) malia tate (2/5) - derek hale, lydia martin manaow (0/5) mary stuart (1/5) - lola may parker (1/5) - matthew murdock misa amane (1/5) - homura myrcella baratheon (0/5) nancy wheeler (0/5) nanno (5/5) - kiki, dean, elliot, jongwoo, satana narcissa black (1/5) - rabastan rory gilmore (0/5) samantha carpenter (0/5) sara lance NEWLY AWARE (0/5) sharon carter (0/5) spencer hastings (5/5) - robin buckley, mona, noel, patrick, josh usagi tsukino (0/5) victoire weasley (2/5) - lily luna, albus potter wednesday addams (3/5) ahkmenrah, enid, veronica yelena belova NEWLY UNAWARE (0/5)

#hw; starter call

[kawaiichan67]

inukag wedding?

inukag

modern AU

bonded by birth rough draft/wip

for @blairex thank you! I hope its ok 🫣🤞. I’ll try to have the finished version up this weekend.

Miroku stood in front of the goshinboku, his purple robes making him look halfway-legitimate as a Buddhist. Inu Yasha nodded and then stared excitedly, his ears twitching, as he watched his beloved honey walk towards him. Sango stood as a witness, half confused and half excited, her grin mischievous.

Kagome was dressed head to toe in a traditional wedding kimono, three layers deep, and her pure white furisode exquisite against her dark hair. 

“Dear friends,” Miroku began, as serious as a 5th grader could be, “let us join in asking the kami to bless this union between Inu Yasha-kun and Kagome-chan.”

With a serious face, he turned to Inu Yasha, who could not take his eyes off Kagome. “Inu Yasha, do you promise to take this Kagome, to love and hold her, to snuggle her every night, and give her lots of puppies?”

“Yes—wait,” he whispered, “I didn’t say anything about puppies.”

Miroku’s smile was wise and worldly. “Shes already happy. Take the win,” the hentai whispered back. 

“And do you, Kagome-chan, promise to love Inu Yasha-kun, snuggle him every day and—Inu, I cant say this.”

“What? You added puppies to my vows!”  

“Well, yes, but…you know, these aren’t really all that Buddhist.”

“Just finish, bouzo, or I’ll tell Sango what really happened to her—“

“Yes!” the small hentai squeaked in agreement.

“Yes, me too! Yashi-kun, I promise lots of snuggles and ear rubs. Every day,” Kagome finished solemnly. 

“Great!” Miroku agreed, happy that his friend was happy. “You may now kiss the bri-I think you are too young…”

But Inu and Kagome were already rubbing noses, and she gave her puppy a kiss on the cheek. 

“They’re so sweet,” Sango sighed, as Miroku trued to put his arm around her waist.

“Can we start our pre-honeymoon, honey?” Kagome asked, only to be enthusiastically swept off her feet by an overjoyed inu hanyou, bristling with energy. 

“First, we’ll get some clothes and snacks.” 

“Oh, Inu! Can we go back to the ryokan, please? We had such a nice time!”

#fanfic request #inukag fanfic #modern au #bonded by birth

[lostinfantasyworlds]

Make It Till Midnight, a New Year's Eve one shot set in the Under the Northern Lights universe, is now live on AO3!

Hello everyone, I'm back!!!😁

Although I planned to take a little break after finishing UTNL, I never meant to take an entire year off 😫. I could ramble forever about all the reasons, but it basically boils down to needing to work through my personal issues with perfectionism and self-doubt, wanting to read more and improve my writing skills, and then just good-old-fashioned writer’s block. Even though I still wrote throughout the year, I was in that annoying headspace where I pretty much hated everything I wrote and just didn't feel good about it, so I decided to wait for inspiration to return naturally.

And now I'm finally here to share the story that I've been teasing for over a year! I meant to post this on New Year's Eve, but of course wasn't ready in time so here we are 😂

P.S. This is the filthiest smut I've ever written...consider yourself warned😏🤣

Rating: E

Summary:  Set in the Under the Northern Lights universe (contains spoilers for the final chapters).

Inuyasha is having a rough night.

After missing Kagome for a whole week, he finally welcomes her home from a work assignment, discovering in the process that she smells even better than usual. A lot better. Strangely erotic in nature, her intoxicating scent takes over until it’s all he can think about. But thanks to a delayed flight and pre-made plans, he soon finds himself at Yugen’s New Year’s Eve party, rather than inside his wife. To make matters worse, Kagome seems hell-bent on torturing him, flaunting her body and teasing him until he can barely stand it. At least he’s prepared to give it right back to her, leaving them both anxious to get home.

Will they be able to make it till midnight?

Read Make It Till Midnight on AO3

Taglist under the cut!

(I really need to update this and probably will make a new list soon, but for now just let me know if you want on or off!): @aelianadawn-deactivated20210806 @alisanangel @anisaanisa @alysssa-inukag @bluehawaiicat @born-for-eachother  @deactivated2431545484 @fawn-eyed-girl @goshinote @gruviyasharuto @inussunflower @kawaiichan67 @kazeinori @keks-creations @ladyaerilla @littlepumkinseed @littleredwritinghat @liz8080 @malditamigs @neutronstarchild @purplemys @redflamesofpassion @redwingedangel002​ @rocioanime4 @sailorlolo @sangoslays @sunsetskys @superpixie42 @theinuyashareader @themusicalshoo @zukkosbaby

#inukag #inuyasha fanfiction #smut #in case there wasn't enough smut in the original story already #here's more🤣 #I don't love the summary but oh well fuck it #I need to nap for like a week🤣

[kd-heart]

tagged by @yszarin

Rules: Go to your published works on AO3 and list the first fic you ever published there, the last fic you published, any fic that you wrote for a fandom/ship only once, your favorite fic you wrote in the fandom/ship that has the most works, the fic you wish more people read, the fic you agonized over the most, the fic that sprang fully formed from your mind without any effort, and a work you are proud of—for whatever reason.

First fic published on Ao3: I'm not actually sure. I have a bunch of fics I crossposted from ffn and a few backdated ones I only recently decided to share. Tho it started on an anime forum in 2007, I'm pretty sure I finished Cinnamon and Mistletoe on AO3 after xposting from ffn. It's a Inuyasha x Yuyu Hakusho xover, Kagome/Kurama fluff about them being childhood friends separated by the stuff going on in their respective parents' lives, and now reuniting because their mothers are having a class reunion and everyone's bringing their kids along.

Last fic published: Splash of Red, a Kingmaker Histories drabble character study of one of the secondary characters.

Fandom/ship I only wrote once: There's currently 25 fandoms I've only written one fic for and I'm not going to count the ships. But one I'm particularly fond of is Picking up the pieces - post-canon fic for season 1 of Mirror Mirror, about Jo's mum having to deal with Nick being stuck in the present in the mundane ways that magic time traveling mirrors do not care about. (It's very short and doesn't go into much detail)

Favorite fic in most popular fandom/ship: The one with the disembodied penis - Supernatural crack fic crossed with 19th century Romanian literature. Team Free Will finds a semi-sentient, disembodied dick in a cursebox in the Men of Letter's bunker. Gabriel is somehow responsible for its existence. My most prolific fandom:

Fic I wish more people read: Stolen - pre-canon The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest fic about Arnaud, the vampire hunter, and his history with the vampire he's hunting. I think it mostly works without knowing the canon.

Fic I agonized over: Tales of Atlantis aka the SGA fic that never ends. We're two stories from the end of the series. I started writing this with a friend in 2010. A lot has happened in 13 years, but we will eventually finish that beast. It started as a forum RP and it grew out of control.

Fic that popped out fully-formed: Frozen - RQG fic I wrote on my way home from work after ep 174. Zoscar hurt/comfort, bc I really needed Wilde to be fine

Fic I'm proud of: In your hands, my first Kane and Feels fic, about Kane binding himself to Hana so he could safely fight off an entity that attacked his partner's subconscious.

Tagging @theothersarshi, @thriceandonce, @flammenkobold, @kristsune with no pressure and anyone who feels like doing it.

#fandom meme #kd writes

[uissuteffu]

In/Cohesion Chapter 3: Acquiescence

Daiyōkai typically viewed their beasts as an inner-voice, a sort of conscience that was a mere extension of themselves. To Sesshōmaru, though, his beast was a separate entity. Two minds housed within the same body, dominance dictated by their form but nevertheless, both minds always active, always present, equally vocal and opinionated. The form only changed which mind was able to make the final decision, but that had never been an issue. Their final decision had never been locked in a stalemate, both minds always finding compromise or agreement. Nine centuries it remained that way. It took less than half of a decade for it all to fall apart. Sesshōmaru's beast wanted the miko. When he watched her fall into the meido after Naraku's death, the daiyōkai's resistance to go after her would result in a power struggle for dominance over their body... one which Sesshōmaru would lose.

*Story Info - May Contain Spoilers*

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⊱⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

Universe: Pre-Episode 193 (Sunrise) Canon Compliant

Major Divergences:

After wishing away the Shikon no Tama, the well has trapped Kagome in the past instead of the future. 

(Sunrise) Canon timeline duration altered to take place over the course of 3 yrs instead of 1 yr.

Kagome recently graduated from high school instead of middle school. 

Kagome is 18 years old instead of 15 years old.

Setting: Canon Era, 16th Century Japan, 3 days Post-Episode 192

Tone/Genre: Angst, Humor, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Porn with Plot, Romance, Smut

Tropes: Sesshōmaru is Rin’s Parent, Aging Up, Alpha Sesshōmaru, Fast Burn, Fated Mates, Kagome is Shippō’s Parent, Knotting Mating Bites, Mating Bonds, Pack Dynamics, Pining, Mating Cycle/Rut/Heat, Sesshōmaru’s Beast

Trigger Warnings: Blood

Fandom Warnings: Inuyasha/Kagome Canon Relationship Breakup

Published January 25, 2023

Chapter Three Word Count: 5,259

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⊱⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

#sesskag #sessxkag #sesshomaru #kagome #higurashi kagome #kagome higurashi #inuyasha #inuyasha fanart #inuyasha fanfiction #fanfiction #fanart

[voxvulpina]

What really hurts me as a SessKagu shipper is that how sinners like to belittle Kagura.

Yes, RT said that Kikyo was Sesshomaru's type.

Yes, SesshKag is the second biggest fanon ship after InuKag.

Yes, SessKagu has the lowest number of shippers compare to other ships.

But, it's HER that RT decides Sesshomaru to have a feeling akin to romantic. Sinners, and some people, totally forgot about that and keep trashing about Kagura as if she's the worst character in Inuyasha.

Inuyasha is currently trending on Twitter and sadly Pedomaru is all over it.

If I'm not mistaken, RT said Sesshomaru's type would be "someone elegant and clever/wise like Kikyo". I never took it as a statement in support of SessKik specifically (not with Kikyo being the pre-incarnation of Kagome and in love with Inuyasha) , just as RT pointing out that it would take an outstanding woman such as her to capture his attention.

It's true, SessKagu has less supporters than SessKag (mostly due to the anime slaughtering their dynamic and removing key scenes and moments), but like you said, it's Kagura that RT chose. Kagura who is both elegant and clever, thus fulfilling RT's initial prediction of Sesshomaru's type! And here's the best part - RT herself said that Kagura and Sesshomaru's storylines came together spontaneously. She didn't plan on it, they became "entangled" as she wrote. Which means she, the author, happened to notice that they fit remarkably well together, even though she had not been writing them with that specific purpose in mind! I love that for us. And I love seeing the lolicons trash Kagura - firstly, because she's an amazing character that they will never succeed in tearing down. "Sesshomaru never cared for her!" Anyone with eyes can see that he did. "Kagura never touched his heart!" Bring out the manga panels of Totosai stating that something NEW was born in Sesshomaru's heart that hadn't been there previously. ROTFL

Secondly, because their seething rage and hatred for Kagura specifically is unquestionably proof that, deep down, they know where Sesshomaru's canon interest lay ✨✨♥️

#anti sessrin #anti yashahime

[yutaan]

Holiday Sale 2022!

Hey there, my lovelies! Once again, the end of the year is racing toward us, which means we’re all hunting around for gifts for our loved ones (or to keep for ourselves - after all, you deserve gifts too, my lovelies). And what’s a wonderful present for your fandom-savvy giftee? That’s right, it’s ART!

Prints in my INPRNT shop have a 15% discount for the entire month of December with the code “KNCMY5J”. And below, we have a wide array of beautiful papercraft originals, pre-made, packaged, and ready to be shipped to YOU! Happy holidays, my lovelies!

(Please note that due to tumblr’s image resizing, the artworks are not necessarily displayed at an accurate size in comparison to each other.)

~

BUSTS (approx. 4″ tall)

Utena (Revolutionary Girl Utena) - $65  [SOLD]

Jasmine (Aladdin) - $50

Elsa (Frozen) - $55

Meg (Hercules) - $50

2B (Nier Automata) - $60  [SOLD]

Mitsuki (Full Moon O Sagashite) - $35  [SOLD]

Bulma (Dragon Ball Z) - $40  [SOLD]

Harrowhark (The Locked Tomb) - $65 [SOLD]

Hiei (Yu Yu Hakusho) - $50  [SOLD]

Todoroki (My Hero Academia) - $50  [SOLD]

Jiang Cheng & Jin Ling (MDZS/The Untamed) - 6″ tall - $185  [SOLD]

Lan Wangji & Lan Xichen (MDZS/The Untamed) - 6″ tall - $160 [SOLD]

Yunmeng Shuangjie shadowbox (MDZS/The Untamed) - 6″ tall - $205 [SOLD]

~

FULLBODIES (approx. 6″ tall)

Kagome (Inuyasha) - $70

Howl (How’s Moving Castle) - $75 [SOLD]

Yuna (Final Fantasy 10) - $80  [SOLD]

Anthy (Revolutionary Girl Utena) - $80  [SOLD]

Sakura (Cardcaptor Sakura) - $75 [SOLD]

Konata (Lucky Star) - $25

Kiki (Kiki’s Delivery Service) - $70  [SOLD]

Yor (Spy x Family) - $75  [SOLD]

~

MINIS (approx. 3-3.5″ tall) - $25 each, three for $65, five for $100

Pikachu (Pokemon)

Kirby (Super Smash Bros.)

Sailor Mars (Sailor Moon) [SOLD]

Aang, Korra (Avatar)  [ALL SOLD]

Anya (Spy x Family)

Chat Blanc (Miraculous Ladybug)

Jiang Cheng, Wen Qing (MDZS/The Untamed)  [ALL SOLD]

Shen Qingqiu, Luo Binghe, Liu Qingge (SVSSS)  [ALL SOLD]

MINI SETS - $50 each

Wangxian + hearts (MDZS/The Untamed)  [ALL SOLD]

ChengQing + golden core (MDZS/The Untamed)  [SOLD]

Ladynoir (Miraculous Ladybug)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If you are interested in purchasing any papercraft artworks, please email me at [email protected] with the subject line “Holiday Sale.” In the body of the email, please include:

Which piece(s) you wish to purchase

Shipping address (please note that shipping outside the US may cost extra)

Preferred email address for Paypal invoice

If you have a tumblr username and would like to include it, you can also do that! But it’s not a requirement.

~ 

Pieces are first-come, first-served, so be quick! (Likewise, please note that I cannot reserve a piece for you indefinitely unless you are able to pay for it or place a down payment on it at the time you contact me. Thank you for your understanding!) This post will be updated throughout the month to show which pieces have been sold.

Happy gifting, lovelies!

#holiday sale #holiday sale 2022 #papercraft #papercutting #paper art #my art #long post

[niennawept]

get to know me

tagged by my lovely friend @dwarveslikeshinythings <3; Sorry for the delay - I'm still catching up on my tag games.

PART ONE

are you named after anyone? Yes. I am named after a character in movie, but not because my parents liked either the character or the actress (they hated both). I'm named after this character because they wanted to be like her parents. Needless to say, I am not fond of my name.

when was the last time you cried?: genuinely don't remember, but it was probably either a) writing because sometimes I get overwhelmed by character's emotions or b) something reminded me fiercely of my late father and I just lost it for a minute.

do you have kids?:  Not unless you count dogs. I have two shelter pups.

do you use sarcasm a lot?: Mostly when asked to do something very simple. I will sarcastically refuse whilst doing the thing.

what’s the first thing you notice about people?: Vibes. I have a very vibes-based nervous system (thanks trauma).

what’s your eye colour?: This is complicated. I have central heterochromia, which means my eyes are two different colors within the same iris. So brown on the inside, mossy green on the outside, but you can't tell unless you get close so I say hazel even though it's not technically correct.

scary movies or happy endings?: Scary movies. I typically fall asleep with one on. After you've seen it a hundred times, even the sounds of screaming can become their own kind of comforting because it's always the same.

any special talents?: I don't know what to put here. I have a lot of hobbies, but I'm not sure I'd say I'm particularly talented at any of them. I can tie a cherry stem into a knot inside my mouth? Does that count as a talent?

where were you born?: The United States.

what are your hobbies?: Oh geez, uh. Sewing, cosplay, writing, baking, drawing, reading, singing, playing the ukulele, video games, DnD and other tabletop games, mead making, crocheting, gardening, painting, ... I think that's it. But I'm thinking of picking up book binding and tambour embroidery for elf reasons.

have any pets?: see above answer about kids. 

what sports do you play/have played?: Played basketball for years, not because I was good, but because I was tall for my age, but I stopped once the other kids caught up in height. I really loved track in Middle School, and I was a pretty strong sprinter, but I gave it up in HS to focus on my schoolwork.

how tall are you?: Five foot seven. I'm actually the shortest of all my cousins, lol.

favourite subject in school?: It changed a lot depending on my interest in what we were learning about. I have an abiding love of science and history. I'm also partial to poetry, despite being beyond awful at making it.

dream job?: living in the Star Trek future with a universal basic income, lol. People in Star Trek just do what they want to do for work and it all seems to work out fine.

PART TWO

first ship: I've mentioned this before and I'll mention it again probably but Kagome x Sesshomaru from Inuyasha (SessKag). Can't help it, my 14 year old brain latched on REALLY hard.

three ships: Been reading some Bagginshield lately and that's growing on me. Adar x Palariel (my OFC, super normal about this one, lol). Been thinking some Galadriel x Luthien (pre-Beren) thoughts lately - might heck around and write a one-shot someday. Can you tell I'm only thinking about Tolkien things these days?

last (current) song: "The Devil is a Gentleman" by Merci Raines.

last movie: House on Haunted Hill (1958) with Vincent Price. Featuring my favorite line from any movie: "Darling, the only ghoul in the house is you."

currently reading: I am listening to "Oathbringer" by Brandon Sanderson in audiobook form, reading "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson, "The Fall of Numenor" and "The Fall of Gondolin" (thanks people who voted in the poll) in physical form, and reading an epic-length Bagginshield fanfic digitally.

currently watching: uh... I'm partway through season two of Succession. And I watched the first episode of Picard, season three. I'm very bad at watching television lately. It requires too much energy.

currently consuming: orange spice tea, no sugar.

currently craving: I don't really have cravings very often. So nothing?

tagging: @somebirdortheother, @lady-of-imladris, @coraleethroughthelookingglass and anyone to whom this looks fun!

#tag game #thank you friend

[inukag]

Hello. I wanted to ask one thing. Why is everyone, including Rumiko, saying that Inuyasha and Kikyo dated? Maybe I'm just TOO stupid and blind, because I only read the manga and didn't watch the anime, but I didn't see anything hint that they were dating... Eh, they hardly even knew each other. How long had they known each other before Naraku's trap? Or the moment where Kikyo asks him to become a human is date? I don’t understand, where is the love and trust that everyone constantly talks about? I saw something like affection for each other, but love...

Honestly when I first read the manga I thought Inuyasha and Kikyo were labeled as “exes” because it was the simplest way to explain their situation, even if it’s hard for me to see them as such since they had so few interactions pre-betrayal. I mean, even during their last conversation when Kikyo dies the only "happy memory" they have of their time "together" is still just them sitting 5ft apart while Kikyo talks about the jewel, which makes it pretty clear to me that they never really had the chance to start a romantic relationship. I think we’re supposed to feel bad that Naraku “prevented them from being happy together” but that falls flat to me when we learn that the jewel is the real villain and Kikyo’s plan to make Inuyasha human most likely would have gotten them both killed.

In the story itself tho, I think it makes sense for most characters (Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Koga, Kagome, etc) to assume Inuyasha and Kikyo were "dating" before the betrayal. They weren't there to see it and Inuyasha never explained anything to them, so they can only guess what his relationship with Kikyo was really like. Also Kagome not knowing anything about Inuyasha and Kikyo’s past is 90% of what drives the “love triangle”. Like in the Mt Azusa arc when she says “Inuyasha has a past with Kikyo that I can’t make him forget, I understand that!” she has no idea what this “past” is, and it’s one of the main sources of her insecurities. If she knew that Kikyo is jealous of how she healed Inuyasha’s heart, and how Inuyasha wasn’t open with Kikyo like he is with her, Kagome would be a lot less insecure and Rumiko wouldn’t have been able to drag out the love triangle drama for as long as she did. 

There might be some cultural differences to consider as well. If you remove Miroku groping Sango and his “bear my children” schtick, him and Sango did not have that many genuine romantic interactions before he proposed to her. From what I’ve heard romance is a lot more “subtle” in Japan, especially in that time period. 

And finally If you haven't seen the anime anon, there's a 1 hour long special episode that adds a lot of nonsensical "backstory" to Inuyasha and Kikyo that makes it seems like they had this long, hyper-romanticized relationship. Inuyasha gives her his mother's rouge and Kikyo decides not to put the subjugation beads on him, which makes a lot of anime-only fans believe that they did trust each other and would have lived happily ever after if it weren't for Naraku (which also isn't true as I said before, since Kikyo’s plan to make Inuyasha use the jewel is the real reason why their relationship failed).  I mean, personally I’m not in the “Inuyasha didn’t actually love Kikyo he was just confused” camp, I think Inuyasha is someone who cares deeply and quickly about people who show him kindness and Kikyo was that for him so I do believe he loved her. I don’t believe Kikyo truly loved Inuyasha tho, but that’s a discussion for another day. 

#ask #Anon #inukik-critical

[purplemys]

Inuyasha Rant/Rambling

I think it would have been cool to see Izayoi outside of being sad, dead or a damsel in distress. She could have been given much better substance.

I would have loved to see what her and Inuyasha's lives were like pre-death. Wiki says she died of natural causes. It can't possibly be old age because discounting the 3rd movie, Inuyasha ages like any human would. (If anyone says otherwise, that would make him way older than not only Kagome, but Kikyou too.) He was 9 - 10 years old when she died. Then this would mean sickness? Would have been nice to see Inuyasha's last days with her or how her family treats her... Ya know...to make me care more...

Some alternative deaths I have in the back of my mind,

a) getting killed by a rival demon of Toga's to show that yes, she was always in danger by mere association, let alone having the child of a Demon General/King. At that point, getting murdered by a demon might as well be a natural cause of death at the feudal era.

b) The house/estate got stormed by a hate mob because she's "impure" or a major target by other demons. She was either disowned or her family legit just fell into ruins. Either way, nobody would protect her. Wouldn't it be so tragic if it was humans who killed Inuyasha's mom instead of just demons? There's so many ways to make all this (TogaxIzayoi story, InuKik,Inuyasha learning to trust humans again) so much more heartwrenching. Inuyasha rarely mentions her in both the manga and the anime. At least in the anime, he mentioned her to Kikyou once which was nice but that's about it. In the manga, she didn't even have a name or a face.

I think it would have been cool to see Kikyou outside of being sad, undead or a damsel in distress.

No, but seriously, there could have been better ways to write Kikyou's character than what we have been given. For all the shit I say about the characters I hate (like Kikyou and Hawks), at the end of the day, I appreciate the concept/attempt. They're like stylized bottles with little canon substance in them.

Kikyou, self-insert or not, she's integral to the plot- to Inuyasha's life. Now how would I rather the story have gone when it comes to Kikyou?

A) They should have written her relationship with Inuyasha way better.

or

B) She should have remained a major antagonist.

or

C) Let the characters (who always call one another out on their bullshits mind you) call her out on her shitty actions during her redemption.

or

Better yet, A + B (since her being an antagonist, getting called out should be a given) or we keep the plot as is but with a bonus C!

With Option A, it should fix the major issues I have with InuKik: a)Their dynamic and how it's inherently in Kikyou's favor. b)Their mutual distrust of each other. c)The lack of intimacy outside of being romantic/sexual partners.

a)Their dynamic and how it's inherently in Kikyou's favor.

Socially: Inuyasha was an outcast from having no family (they're either dead or hate him), being homeless, and worst of all, being a half-demon. In contrast, we have Kikyo, who is a priestess of high status, she is loved, she is legendary, she is powerful (if she killed him upon their first meeting, no one would care).

Mentally: Kikyo in canon, is not only regarded as older, she is meant to be wiser. She was educated, trained, and was (supposed to be) smart. Inuyasha by contrast was very likely homeschooled, sheltered and never had any of the social interactions Kikyo would have had. Inuyasha is said to be physically 15, if said to be 200 years old. Okay. Based on what I said about his actual aging in canon, he is 15 years old. Kikyo should have known this, yes? She met this young social outcast who was hated by both man and demon and thought "Yeah, ask him to be human. That solves both our problems and we can be happy!" But would it have worked?

But before all that, why would Kikyou specifically want the jewel gone?

"She wants to be a normal woman." Okay, but what even is normal in a world full of demons, witches, and other supernatural entities? "She doesn't want to be the guardian of a jewel that grants immeasurable power, that puts her life at stake more than usual." Fair enough, but I raise you this, her life was already at stake all the time anyway simply by being a powerful priestess (Midoriko for example). Inuyasha was even helping her guard the jewel which was barely kept safe.... at a shrine in the middle of the village... why was it just placed on an altar. I don't know. I won't touch it.

Now, Kikyo has been robbed of a regular childhood just by being born a priestess. I'll giver her that. She's way too young, even by their standards, to be burdened by a life-threatening job. Which begs the question, why does Inuyasha have to bear the consequences of that? He was already helping her, protecting her and her village. She proposed the idea of him being human, leaving himself vulnerable, leaving something he was born with, just to conform with society- and what changes with her? She already admitted she's just going to live as a priestess without the threat of the jewel. That's something so heavy to leave on him -

(I had to check what she actually said and it was just "I will be an ordinary woman." See earlier point. Wishing him to be human doesn't suddenly rid her of her powers, she'd still be a priestess regardless lest they elope which was never stated or implied. I mean, she could have dropped her position as priestess ? But it was never stated or implied what she meant. Honestly that proposal between her and Inuyasha didn't feel like a proper conversation between lovers who planned to eventually marry.)

Which now leads to my next point, it wouldn't have worked.

(Disregarding the possible implications of the jewel being destroyed had they just burned the jewel inside Midoriko's mummified corpse, or if not, just sealed the entire cave with Kikyo's powers that came next to Midoriko's.)

The jewel, at least in the anime, was finally gone due to "the right wish" - Kagome's selfless wish. The Shikon Jewel got tainted by any sort of impure, selfish desire, yes? The mere inkling of jealousy, hate, and envy was enough to taint the jewel. While I think Kikyou just wanted that jewel gone and never to see Inuyasha again. I'll entertain the idea for the sake of my argument. Kikyou's supposed wishes on the jewel were (in the first case, was going to wish)

1) "For Inuyasha to be human." - The main motivations for this wish aren't inherently awful but it's still questionable at best. Inuyasha clearly hesitated and she insisted that this wish will lead to them living normal lives. Inuyasha clearly dislikes being human - being weak, vulnerable, and essentially unreliable during an attack lest he trains to be a soldier afterwards, and even then that's not going to stop demons who just know what he looks/smells like-he'd be dead. To end this point, this clearly benefits her more than it does him. That's clearly still selfish.

(Even if Inuyasha was fully into it, that wish is still by all technicality, self-serving, - a wish tainted by possible feelings of resentment and loneliness, only to be somehow "fixed" by conforming to a world that clearly hates him.)

2) Supposedly, "Kikyo wished to see Inuyasha again" and that somehow manifested into Kagome being born with the jewel. I'll lightly entertain the idea that that wish is what caused the jewel to be recreated and brought back to the feudal era. That wish is still very much self-serving. It is what she wants, after she "killed" or sealed her supposed loved one. You really can't ask for someone back after you did that to them. (This is ignoring the fact that the narrative wasn't even sure what happened back there. She aimed to kill. Then he was sealed because "she didn't want to kill him." Then the story says "she followed him to death." Which. Was. It.

This leads me to my next point, relating to her wish. Kikyo clearly had a basis of what the right wish could have been. She wouldn't have suggested that wish to Inuyasha if she didn't know what constituted as a wrong wish, right? "She wasn't sure actually, cut her some slack!" Then why would she want to test her idea out on Inuyasha, who she supposedly cared about. She knew the jewel was dangerous and likely twisted any wish the user had based on any sign of impurity.

Why use it on Inuyasha?

What, because he was desperate enough to let her.

b) Their mutual distrust of each other.

Inuyasha didn't trust her enough to know that she wouldn't just suddenly fire arrows at him the exact day they promised to seal their fate together. He didn't even bother checking her scent- very important, mind you. It's actually evident post-resurrection that he didn't even put it past her to keep hurting him. With Kagome, he always doubted if she could ever actually hate him. I think it is also note-worthy to point out that after thinking Kikyou betrayed him with those warning arrows, he never bothered to sought her out, hurt her, confront her or anything, just snatch the jewel, sack the place then run.

Kikyou didn't even bother checking the aura of the person who she thought was Inuyasha. This man fought for you, helped protect you and your people, always made the effort to get closer to you, even agreed with your questionable plan, ready to abandon half of his identity to be with you, and you didn't once think "Hey. Something ain't right."

"They were fooled! Naraku was cunning! The disguises looked real!" Naraku can't hide scent and aura! These two "lovers" lived in an era where shapeshifting demons who want them both dead were a thing and they never thought it could happen? This lack of acknowledgement ties into another point I have.

c)The lack of intimacy outside of being romantic/sexual partners.

So they didn't trust each other enough and it was barely given proper acknowledgement and introspection. What did they have going for them outside of the kissing and being social outcasts "together"?

Well, they went out on a boat ride together. Sat nearby each other whenever they were barely talking. Didn't talk about much and it was about loneliness and about the jewel. (minus the one time they had brief mention of Inuyasha's parents and Kikyou even apologized for damaging his robe.) She asked him to bathe with her once. Don't know the rest.

They could have literally talked about anything else of substance. Inuyasha's Mom, Kikyo's parents, Kaede, the villagers, places they've been,Favorite Food, people they've faced, Onigumo, The looming threat of being ambushed by shapeshifters, nasty bandits, their hobbies outside of what they do, their education, the topic of how their marriage would be, what their life would be like, where would they go- literally anything else?

"That's the point! It's tragic and sad and they didn't have enough time! It was cut short because of Naraku-"

Tragic implies inevitability of the awful thing that will happen. e.g. A forbidden relationship being found out, put to the test and despite doing their damndest, one or both of them die.

Kikyou for some fucking reason, never bothered to tell Inuyasha of this Onigumo (who lusts for her mind you). Inuyasha never bothered to be more open about not liking being human. The both of them not even bothering to try giving the other benefit of the doubt.

"That's the point! They're immature! They were desperate and needed each other's company!" That's not love. That's infatuation at best and unhealthy at worst. I wouldn't mind you know, if they (the narrative and characters) just treated it as such. Say so, they were lonely and just needed someone and it happened to be each other. Now why would you want to marry someone you're not emotionally intimate with, let alone you barely trust?

How Can All These Be Fixed:

1) Have Inuyasha and Kikyou have simple scenes of bonding outside of being angsty teenagers. Kikyou was capable of playing with kids, so she's probably somewhat fun. Apply that to Inuyasha then. Yeah, "but that's childish!" Let the young people have fun- eat together, play board games, stargaze, talk gossip, literally anything lighthearted, please. The atmosphere around Inuyasha and Kikyou always felt so heavy. Not even in a somber, melancholic way. More of "Do these people even really enjoy each other's company?"

So there was one scene that wasn't shown enough of and when I read it, I really like it: The origin of the subjugation beads. Kikyou decided not to kill him after finding out he was after the jewel. Made the beads and was about to trick him to wear them as a present but decided not to give them to him when he suddenly gave her his late mother's shell of rouge, which she likely felt touched by. Questionable, even she admitted it. If she gave it, she should have confessed to it and never use it- kept it as a necklace gift. Either way, that, that kind of moment is honestly cute. Plus, the mention of his parents I stated earlier. :)

Should have had them courting each other with presents and late night talks instead of whatever the anime gave us.

2) Have Kikyou try any other way of making Inuyasha welcome in society instead aiming for what honestly should have been a final, desperate attempt.

Inuyasha did not like being human. Simple. Kikyou should have known this, yes? Nope. Because Inuyasha never showed himself to her as a human. Never told her about. He was never around long enough for her to even come close to seeing him human. Because he didn't like being vulnerable around her or anyone for that matter. Come to think of it, their "relationship" properly "developed" because Inuyasha for once felt compassion towards her. Kikyou started the entire meeting thing because she felt confident, arrogant even, that's he's just a half demon she doesn't need to kill. Alright, fine. Standard "They didn't like each other at first because of obvious reasons." Then she felt some sympathy when she found out that Inuyasha's parents were interracial and both deceased. Okay, nice development. Then it ends there. That's the best they could do with them. Basic remorse and sympathy. For all the months that Inuyasha stayed at that village, Kikyou didn't even invite him to stay inside with her and Kaede. The attempt. The mere offer would have been nice. Kikyou should have at least made more of an effort to integrate Inuyasha into the villages (she had influence over them). Inuyasha only seemed to matter to the villagers when he's needed for a fight or when he's feared.

I would understand if Kikyou and Inuyasha wanted to be rid of their respective powers if they actually tried to be normal and the villagers just did not like them being together. But no, Kikyou tried being normal for a day, playing with kids which for some reason, she only started doing when Inuyasha was around because "she felt more human with him" or something. Yeah but why though? What's the difference with Inuyasha around and him gone, in regards to her duties at the village? Fine, say Kikyou did feel softer and kinder when Inuyasha came because it's the first time she had to actually feel sympathy for someone who isn't human. Why hammer in that Kikyou pre-Inuyasha was kind, caring, and loved by all? Wouldn't it have made sense to write her being colder to everyone except Kaede, at the beginning, feared even but she started changing with Inuyasha which could lead to the people being more accepting of half demons?

Fine- if you don't like that option and that Kikyou had always been an open-minded, kind, smart person, why not use that influence to make Inuyasha an equal. A hero. "Oh she didn't trust him enough for that." or "The society will never like Inuyasha even if she said anything."

Currently, Inuyasha's respected in the world by doing what he does best and it was helping people, slaying demons and protecting the weak. Something he was already doing pre-seal anyways. It's baffling that there wasn't even an attempt to take him everywhere as her bodyguard and to spread that positive message to all the villages that not all demons were evil.

Could they have thought she was bewitched? Probably. But it seems Kikyou's word was gospel to the lot of them. The attempt would have been good.

3) Kikyou should have died any other way, caused by Naraku.

The only way this whole ordeal felt "tragic" was because of the curse Tsubaki placed on Kikyou (weird plot-convenient curse she had there). What was her fucking plan really? Just hope that Kikyou was gonna eventually fall in love? What if she didn't? What then? Kill her? Why not do that to begin with? Kikyou knew all this actually and just vowed to never fall in love but later in the anime she managed to deflect a curse and turn it on Tsubaki? Is there no way to counter the initial curse? She's much more powerful! But the reason why this was never properly dealt with was because it would be convenient for the plot for Kikyou to just die because of Inuyasha. And he didn't even know about all this until later on , if I recall correctly.

If we took that whole thing with Tsubaki out, we would have been left with Naraku's scheme. (Which is what I grew up knowing about, I only knew of the curse now. I was just told her power would diminish when she fell in love, which is bullshit because Kagome never had that problem and Kikyo's powers didn't weaken by that much. So apparently ist was a curse. Huh.)

"But Naraku's whole M.O is manipulating and tricking people!" It's one of them sure, but Naraku is also ruthless when it came to his attacks. Should have went with that route instead of them falling for an obvious trap that pretty much proved how shallow their "love" for each other was.

In this new version, since Inuyasha and Kikyou are an actual couple, they wouldn't have been fooled by obvious trickery and Inuyasha would have known about Onigumo- this leaves the options of possession/puppetry, trapping them both in an illusion, and or just straight up killing Kikyou while Inuyasha was lured elsewhere. But if we insist that she had to have been killed while he was transformed as Inuyasha, just to fuck with her, then at least have her know that it wasn't him but someone she isn't sure of (condition being she's not aware Onigumo has a thing for her) , wishing that Inuyasha would avenge her. Inuyasha, upon finding out that he's been lured to somewhere else (something that can happen, like with Mt. Hakurei) or tricked, and Kikyou had been killed, yeah, he's out for vengeance. The way he could be sealed was if Naraku then uses Kikyou as a disguise to attack him then get Tsubaki to do the seal. With the first one, since Inuyasha knows Kikyou is well, dead, it leaves who could possibly be out for the both of them (not immediately thinking it's Onigumo since last he checked, the man was a critically injured human who has no relationship connection to either of them). With the second, Tsubaki gets to fuck with them both because she's always hated Kikyou and wanted to one-up her. There, you have your tragic lovers who deserve to be together and get revenge for what happened to them.

Option A + B

This is the one where Kikyou doesn't get redeemed. Fast forward to Kikyou being resurrected because the hag thought she could do something with that. She's bones, gravel, spite and hatred incarnate. And she should have stayed that way. I adore the idea that had Kikyou been written to be good and then upon being dug up, turned into this awful husk of a person who just resented the living.

You can't have both the likeable, kind, sympathetic Kikyou while she goes around hurting people, stealing souls, scaring kids, helping Naraku, killing someone with her powers-an innocent human at that.

She goes on resenting Kagome, who is an unwilling participant in this love triangle, a 15 y.o who actively helps Kikyou and Inuyasha. (The manga is littered with Kikyou pointing out that Inuyasha was hers to heal and keep. I'm not against the idea of Kikyou coming back as this vindictive spirit but they should have acknowledged that. Not even her sister acknowledged it. Kikyou legit went "Inuyasha's gentler now. When he wasn't with me. She's healing his heart. I should have been the one to do that." and Kaede just went "Kagome is a strange child." Maybe tell her to not be so possessive? Yeah I know she looks a tiny bit like Kikyou but damn, she was willing to murder a child.) She goes around hurting the people she used to care about (Kaede, Inuyasha), hurting the people Inuyasha cares about (Kagome, the gang) and this creates heavy impactful angst! Because if they were an actually happy couple and this happened with Kikyou, then it comes down to Inuyasha's "She's no longer the woman I loved. She's a danger to the people around her and herself. Her soul needs to be put to rest." And then you have her die once, at the end to finally give her closure with Naraku and Inuyasha. I would have cried if that was the case.

and Option C, the one where she gets redemption.

I hate the love triangle because of how convoluted it is. Inuyasha looks like a fickle cheater at times, Kikyou clearly hates Kagome, and Kagome is just in it, trying to be the bigger person for the both of them and not fucking die.

If we kept the entire story as is, the least they could have done was acknowledged how awful Kikyou was to Kagome, Kohaku, Kaede, and a lot more people.

Her bullshit plan using the jewels to give Naraku a new body and then destroying him, along with the jewel was so ridiculous, not even counting the lives ruined in the process.

Would that arc have been solved if the characters just acknowledged that she was being shitty? No. Because that also needs to be coupled with her owning up to her mistakes.

She never owned or admitted to trying to kill Kagome, Inuyasha, and Kohaku. She never took accountability for being such a liability in during battle. She never owned up to the fact that she was absolute trash to her boyfriend, trying to drag him to hell, making him for guilty for even finding happiness with another woman, nevermind not even sure if they were dating, just chalking her up to "her replacement". She always had to be right and pitied on and that was so infuriating.

I think I'm getting a headache. Lets move on.

Now to fix the redemption, with Writing A + a bit of B.

Rewind back to Kikyou being resurrected, she's spiteful and bitter and the resentment is now personal, focused on Inuyasha, Kaede and most of all, Kagome, who she views as her replacement.

Since in this version, Kikyou knew Inuyasha didn't murder her, the hurt now comes from the fact that it seems like he moved on, with her reincarnation, and he hasn't avenged her yet. Of course she would be upset, she has every single right to be. To be a memory. To be stuck in the past. I'm gonna tear up just thinking about it.

Now where does Kagome come in all this. Nothing changes. She already actively helped Kikyou and Inuyasha in canon. She had always been understanding, the only condition being Inuyasha tells her beforehand that they will meet.

Kikyou and Kagome's relationship wasn't always just about their romance with Inuyasha. There were other things to be petty and or insecure of, like their roles as priestess, rivals of Midoriko's legacy, all that.

So here we know that Kikyou lost everything, not just her life, her beloved, she lost her position, her life's hard work, and all that went to a woman from a different time period- clearly she didn't belong here.

So there, we have the angst and drama on both sides. Kagome's insecurities trying to measure up to an amazing priestess and person, and Kikyou's insecurity of being replaced by "another her".

"But that's already canon! Kagome is an extension of Kikyou! She's her reincarnation! Wouldn't that make them the same person!"

No. I hate it when people disregard the message said and told by the narrative that Kikyou and Kagome were never and will never be interchangeable. Kagome is not Kikyou's 2nd Chance to be with Inuyasha. She's Inuyasha's 2nd Chance at Happiness. Kikyou is not Kagome from the Feudal Era. Kagome and Kikyou are two very different people.

You can make Kikyou and Kagome opposites without making the other ridiculously unlikable. (With Kikyou being so unkind and unsympathetic and Kagome being "bratty and spoiled" -according to InuKik shippers.) I don't have to put Kikyou down to prop Kagome up. The writing did that all on its own.

I'm trying to put them on an equal bar while trying to keep them with their individual personality and quirks.

Pre-Death Kikyou can be the calm, collected, intelligent, fearless one. She was mature for her age, probably overworked and never got to experience all the joys of being a teenager. (One might even add some level of paranoia that adds in to Inuyasha's protectiveness towards her and why he's so special to her. )

Kagome is the impulsive, temperamental, resourceful, brave one. She's emotional, sassy, and all around a social buttefly that got all the experience Inuyasha and Kikyou never had.

There. Complete opposites without the other being so unbearable.

Now how would Kikyou and Kagome's relationship go?

Well, only in the anime, I appreciate the attempt to make Kikyou respect Kagome. The episode was called "Kikyou and Kagome Alone in a Cave."

I would have liked this more if this wasn't one episode among multiple episodes with attempts on Kagome's life, Inuyasha's life, Kohaku's... Ugh.

For this version, she can probably try killing Kagome once because she was newly resurrected and "there can only be one of us." Kagome immediately tells Inuyasha this and this obviously angers Inuyasha which Kikyou then accuses him of actually replacing her. This drama causes a rift between the two that has nothing to do with Naraku or them being gullible or selfish because that was absolutely infuriating. Kikyou then keeps looking for ways to send Kagome back to her time (which she did in the first movie, she quoted "You don't belong here. Never return." )

Kagome clearly bottling up resentment at this point, because this undead woman whose name she has to live up to hates her, wants her boyfriend back, and just sent her back to her time. We have that scene of her realizing she loves Inuyasha but wanting to be supportive. The same goes as follows until Kagome finds her again, injured and filled with miasma after her last encounter with Naraku.

Kikyou, still bitter at this point, wandering around, stealing souls to stay "alive", looking for Naraku, just sees this girl and gets defensive. Kagome, having decided to be the bigger person and be sympathetic, offers to help Kikyou. Kikyou obviously taken aback, begrudgingly accepts this.

Kagome leaves the situation with more pity and sympathy for this woman she barely knows, and maybe some perspective. Kikyou isn't immune to mistakes and getting injured. It's okay to not live up to her right away. Kikyou leaves the situation with newfound respect because if it was the other way around, would she have helped? Would she have set aside her resentment to help someone again? If she didn't, what would that make her? Was she always this vindictive beneath the surface? Without the expectations of being the mature older sister/priestess, would she be selfish? Kikyou should have pondered stuff like that in that state.

Because Kikyou is supposed to be smart and self-aware.

Maybe have Kikyou want to get to know Kagome personally-? Maybe earn her trust back?

Now what happens to their relationship with Inuyasha involved? Kikyou now having more respect for her reincarnation, should actually stick around to see her and Inuyasha in action, maybe even try to help out, see what their dynamic is like, maybe kinda see if Kagome's better than her or not. This drama is better than the constant Inuyasha running off to see Kikyou and Kagome being jealous even though Kagome stated outright that them seeing each other was not the issue, it was them going behind her back.

Okay, so I love Kagome and InuKag but this needs to be stated, they were all did dirty. Kagome and Kikyou's potentially complex relationship was boiled down to relationship drama.

How Do We Fix The Love Triangle?

Easy. It ceases to exist. Let Inuyasha, Kikyou, and Kagome have a proper friendship and talk about their situation. The common argument neutral parties have about the love triangle is that "Inuyasha cares about them both equally!" I'd believe you if it didn't feel like InuKag + Kikyou attempting to homewreck an already good relationship.

"The Love Triangle was integral to the plot!"

It was a fucking parasite is what it was.

"But what is the drama of these three if not the romance?"

Insecurities, Duties, Mortality, Regrets, Expectations, Trauma, Loss, and Competition, among other things. The feudal era is a goldmine of drama and angst and you want to settle for this weird trite?

Inuyasha's main conflict in the series was avenging Kikyou and getting a happy ending for himself and Kagome. Great. Cool. But that damn love triangle made it seem like it was a 'who did he love more' then proceeded to show that Kikyou was awful and Kagome really just was the better choice.

Now, with this version, what is the main conflict, if he and Kikyou were indeed happy and Kagome is there, the new girlfriend... well, it is letting go of the past and moving forward.

Kikyou is quite literally dead. Kaede, Inuyasha, her village mourned her 50 years ago. Next thing she knew, she was conscious- made from clay and bones. The world move on without her and that, she never had a say or fault in any of what happened- to her, it was like days ago (since Inuyasha did not age) You can't even fault Inuyasha for this if they were happy. The tragedy lies now in what they never got to and never will finish.

Kikyou's clay body maintains itself from souls of dead women. Wether she takes them or her body's just a magnet for them, up for debate. Either way that is not sustainable and she's taking souls from strangers, not letting their souls to move on and rest.

"But the relationship was supposed to be flawed and exploitable and that's tragic!"

You're asking people to care about two people who barely care about each other beyond the bare minimum.

If the goal was to make them flawed but believable why did they have to crank up the problems to 20?! If Inuyasha and Kikyou were meant to be individuals with serious deep-seated issues, why not bring that up, lets talk about that. Address it. But nah, the story kept flip-flopping between calling it an undying tragic romance and a betrayal that somehow stemed from a lack of trust. Feeling betrayed ≠ Not having any trust in that person.

"It's like enemies to lovers where they don't trust each other completely!"

First off, there's no ideology/authority that makes a human dating a demon illegal. The exception is priests and monks because they're spiritual heads who are tasked to killing demons so yeah it would be highly questionable. For the demons, having intercourse with a human isn't really unheard of because they already see humans as lesser, be it entertainment or ya know, food. They raise eyebrows when the demon in question falls in love and makes an offspring. The point I'm trying to make is that they were never actual enemies and the story never painted them as such. Their description in canon is "tragic lovers". Also, the proper taboo here is it being interracial.

Inuyasha himself has no personal grudge against Kikyou at the start because why would he? He never had the intention of hurting or killing her because Inuyasha never harmed humans out of fun or spite. Kikyou, it's just business. Her job was to protect the jewel. She did so.

End of this segment, just brought it up in case someone tries to justify why two "lovers" didn't trust each other to not get attacked by the other.

Now for my final thoughts, there was a point in time that I was a fan of Kikyou's design, her aura, all that. I even drew her nonstop at that period. Same goes for Hawks actually. But why inflate what actually happened in canon? For all the fun what-ifs, could-bes, this is what we have. This is what is shown and told to us. I'm more of a show and tell person and but if I had to choose, it should be Show. Kikyou's pretty design doesn't really mask the fact that she's underdeveloped and written like scribbles on cardboard.

Miscellaneous things to mention before someone brings it up:

1) Kagome's final wish on the jewel was selfless because of her very personal motivations at the beginning and at the end of the story. Kagome stayed to help collect the shikon shards because she felt personally resposible for it shattering. Kagome didn't have to, really. She didn't know these people, even worse, they were 500 years ago. They'd still be long gone when she returns home to her normal life. But no, she selflessly stayed to help fix the mess she accidentally made trying to fulfill Kikyou's shoes. Now, at the middle of the story, friends and all. What did Kagome specifically have to lose if she walked away from the fight, with Kikyou back to do her job? Her pride? Her job of filling in for Kikyou? Inuyasha? Yeah, true. But those are still things she started without. What did Kagome have at the start of the story that she never would have lost if she walked away- her family, and her life at the modern era. She personally had nothing to lose at the end of the day by wishing for the jewel to disappear. (The wish was anime only. The manga states Kagome will fight in Midoriko's place eventually which yikes...)

"Kagome wished for the jewel so she could stop fighting because the jewel hurt her friends and so many more people!"

Yeah. Other people. Not her, specifically. She chose to fight. She didn't have to. She had no obligation to. "She didn't belong in that era." Kagome had nothing to gain from the jewel's power- no personal vengeance, no lifelong grudge to speak of. The wish benefited everyone else the most. Which is why it was the right wish to make and why Kagome was the right one to make it.

2) InuKik would not be cute or romantically tragic if Inuyasha was a girl and Kikyou was a man- it would be way too obvious it's unhealthy at best and abusive at worse.

See my points about the disparity between social status and maturity. Side tangent: Now the rich person x poor person is a common trope and the implications of abuse of power is usually sidestepped by having the poor person secretly being rich, becoming rich or the rich person losing those riches and power to be with the other. Now Kikyou and Inuyasha don't have a class problem but it's more of a position/status in society issue. Kikyou is a priestess, someone with the authority and "pass", if you will, to exterminate demons people deem dangerous. No one would care if she killed Inuyasha on first sight because who would protect this man's right to live? He had no support system, no family, friends, nothing. That itself isn't the main issue because she spared him for vague reasons. The issue now lies with her attempt to ask him to use the dangerous jewel to make a wish. If something goes array and he hurt her or anyone else, she'd have "good reason" to hurt/kill him in self-defense. Just a thought.

Kikyou has been really nasty towards Inuyasha despite him always being the one to get closer despite getting hurt. She was possessive, making him feel guilty for her death, asking him to die for her, to abandon the happiness he got from Kagome and his friends.

Now all the issues I've mentioned here and paragraphs beforehand and then genderbend that. You'd call him controlling, manipulative, selfish, abusive, yes? Because that's what she was like.

"You're reading too much into it!"

And why shouldn't I? If their relationship was so important, why shouldn't we look at it and scrutinize it?

"You're overreacting. She did reassure him that it was all Naraku's fault! He tricked them!"

- By exploiting an already weak relationship.

"InuKik was supposed to be endgame but the author of the manga was pressured to make it InuKag."

You as the author, have the power to make your story any way you want. If you're gonna upset a bunch of fans for a pairing you've written well for, better back it up with an equally well-written pairing. Leave no room to argue. No one will give you shit if it was done right. If you can somehow make a good way to write Kikyou back in and give Kagome a satisfying ending then yeah, it would be fine. Not happy for everyobe but it would have been serviceable. I'd say, if you're gonna piss the fandom off, at least do it well.

3) I'm not a mysogynist. I'm a girl and I would like to not see someone go "Ew. You're too hard on Kikyou but give Inuyasha a pass. You're just pitting two women against each other!"

I just said how Inuyasha's character was tainted by the love triangle, along with how we can have two powerful likable women and not reduce them to romantic rivals Inuyasha just had to choose from. I appreciate the "what Kagome and Kikyou offered him if he chose them" but I can totally understand how that would come off as unfair to the other party.

4) I have enjoyed fanfics with Kikyou before.

The first one. Can't remember the title but it was a ficlet about Kikyou being a narcissist. She kissed Kagome in that one because she was so entranced about Kagome being pretty. It was so weird because I don't think it was meant to be romantic. Kikyou was supposed to be self-absorbed and unsettling. This was the same woman who thought so highly to herself and told the 15 y.o stranger that she was an extension of her. Damn.

The second. It was what I suggested, maybe have Kikyou actually want to get to know Kagome. In this fic, Kikyou, after having been saved, wanted to befriend Kagome, earn her trust back. Kagome, already nice to her by default agreed to hang out and they even had friendship necklaces! :D It was a cute ending when they finally set aside the thing with Inuyasha and just talked about being girls, school, teen stuff- because Kikyou never had that so Kagome brought her presents from the modern era and I should stop rambling omg.

The third. Kikyou post-resurrection, having been rid of her duties and mortality decided that she should be more chill and carefree. The fic was half serious, half Kikyou just flirting with guys, sleeping with everyone who wasn't taken, ugly, or a minor. The fic was just fun, because it wasn't weighed by the characters not talking about the very suffocating relationship drama. Inuyasha, Kagome and Kikyou talked, remained friends, and she was over all being friendly now that yeah, she doesn't have to be crushed by the weight of responsibilities and it wasn't like she was leaving Kagome to do the work since she decided to stay with them to help out. Also, SessKik. It was just interesting.

5) The easier and more dramatic way Inuyasha could have betrayed Kikyou was to take the jewel when she handed it to him and he secretly wishes to become a full demon and then mauling her (still fulfilling thay violent death curse Tsubaki set on her). Just a thought.

6) KagKik is so fucking odd to me because Kikyou first thought Kagome to be an extension of her and then she flat out hates her. The the story thinks Kagome was Kikyou's second chance to be with Inuyasha. I don't need to tell you why it's a tad bit weird. I swear.

7) A polycule is a weird way to solve this. That takes out the tragic part of Kikyou being dead. To each their own I suppose but this should come with the condition of Kikyou being a well-written partner to begin with and Kagome being somehow okay with a three-way with her boyfriend and his undead ex girlfriend. ' - '

#salt #rant #anti kikyou #anti inukik #inukag