Gotta run

[petronia]

lcseifhoan notes that everyone and his retainer seems to have a thing for Kagetora. Am in hurry but here's a bit of background.

Back when I was reading books 6-7 or so, the joke I had with Chrissie and Aki was that women all go for Naoe but men all go for Kagetora. Then I realised it was actually true. =_= Naoe - regardless of how wacko he can be in actuality - gives off this sense that he knows where his towel is; sexually or when it comes to Life In General or whatever. Furthermore, not only does he know where his towel is, he knows where your towel is, and will fluff it in the dryer and fold it for you and leave it on your bed with a Lindt praline on top. He's reassuring. I mean to the point where you suspect that he maxed out the "reassuring" character statistic in the hypothetical Mirage of Blaze tabletop RPG. Generals and hardened politicians come out of conversations with him convinced he's sincere and worthy of trust, usually to their eventual downfall, and the women... well. Whereas Kagetora is the diametric opposite of reassuring: he's a bipedal challenge to the limbic brain. In the books you see the primal response in the other occupants of a room when he walks in. Eventually you get the impression that whether the signal gets interpreted as Fuck, Fight or Flight when it hits the conscious mind is dependent mostly on circumstance: it starts off as all the same (and often enough it's a little bit of all three). The characters say "it's the way he looks at you" but it could just as well be pheromones for all the sense it makes. It's keyed to testosterone level, at any rate: you never really see girls go for Takaya, they find him beautiful but overwhelming, intimidating. And for the guys Fight usually wins out. XD

Then, assuming of course the fools stick around long enough, he'll show these rare flashes of vulnerability. That really reels the suckers in. =_=

Comments

[elfiepike.livejournal.com]

oh, kagetora. maybe it's because i haven't actually read the books (being, you know, only able to read kana and only able to understand the most basic of statements), but i really, really love him and want to hug him and feed him sugar cookies.

he might not like it, but that's what i'd do! oh yeah. <3

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Heh, it's astonishing how many people do want to protect and take care of him in the books, actually. XD Except he turns around and bites your hand!

[sargraf.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Thank you!

Was skimming through Vol.3~5 and kept getting that vibe, especially from guys like Kousaka and Isurugi from the manga. (Oh, and prequels? Add Irobe and Haruie the man. Some nice pictures to go with that, too! ^^) Curiously, the only one who seems unaffected is Yuzuru. After the preliminary clash in 5.5, at least. Or maybe it's just that his mind doesn't naturally follow through from the emotional to the physical...

Again, much thanks for this! ^^

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Well, Kousaka is just gay (...no, he really was, historically...), Mitsui-in-5.5.2 liked to rape people with needles which was btw a scene that disturbed me immensely, Haruie has a big starry-eyed crush, Nagahide's got a subtextually-homoerotic hated-shounen-manga-rival thing happening, Nobunaga... oh my gawd. I think if he ever managed to capture Kagetora all the leather and chains would come out of the bottom drawer. =___=

Also, people keep insulting Kagetora by insinuating that he slept his way to the top in Echigo, which just goes to show where their minds go when they see him. It's no wonder he's messed up, frankly.

Yuzuru is not a normal human, you know. He's an incarnation of the Buddha. XD

[sargraf.livejournal.com]

Nobunaga... is he the red-headed guy on the covers of some of the later novels? O_O; Posing in some interesting ways with Takaya...? Dear me.

That Mitsui needle scene was disturbing, as much because of what he did as because it felt more than a little narcissistic, given what he later tells Kasai-san. Makes me wonder just what all had happened to him in the past.

Yuzuru... What do you think of my theory? That if they ever did it, he'd be seme? ('Cause I frankly can't see Takaya as seme with anyone...)

[chrysan.livejournal.com]

Then, assuming of course the fools stick around long enough, he'll show these rare flashes of vulnerability. That really reels the suckers in. =_=

XD That is just a so RIGHT description of everything that has to do with Kagetora and his relationships. Fuck, Fight or Flight alright~ Cool. XD XD XD

[petronia.livejournal.com]

At first you think Naoe and Chiaki are crazy and paranoid to blame him for setting wildfires in the hearts and minds of his followers etc. But the more one reads the more one is inclined to agree. =___= He does it unintentionally but the cluelessness itself is kind of maddening.

[chrysan.livejournal.com]

I thought that Naoe and Chiaki were paranoid in the beginning too, a bit exaggerated...But after I read more...about Kagetora's impressive influence...yeah...I feel a bit sorry for everyone that's more or less controlled by our lovely/commanding/high-strung/influencing Tiger Lord of the Shadows. XD XD XD

wildfires in the hearts and minds of his followers etc.

Wildfires indeed...Almost everyone who follows Kagetora worships him...^^;;;

[fantasygirl49.livejournal.com]

this discussion is interesting, and i love to read more :D