I mean like...we don't have a ton of backstory off of them but we've got a lot more in that regard than it's obvious.
They've got sort of shrine-robes, something restrained and modest that's been deliberately twisted to be the antithesis of everything it used to be and, like, generally when people take something that's clearly super important to them and go "I'm going to fuck this up until it's unrecognizable" it's not because they're coming from a great place. Like not to psychoanalyze but it does read as a mix of spiting others and spiting themselves y'know? Fucking up shit you used to love hurts and that hurt is kind of the point, 'cause you're trying to prove how much you don't really need it, how you've grown out of it, even while it's transparently obvious that you do still care 'cause if you didn't you could just move on like a normal person. I mean yeah it's plausible that the clothes don't mean anything, they're just something Takara picked up, but they've got enough of an overlap with Tamamo and there's enough detail dedicated to them that that seems really unlikely. And overall there's definitely a harder edge to them than the other love interests, and while they were playing with kid gloves in the cave they probably could've killed Belial and Jun-ho if they were actually angling for it.
I guess what I'm getting at is that calling it a Freudian excuse feels pretty uncharitable, Takara's had some shitty behavior but they're a long way from actively malevolent and they're pretty clearly working through some Stuff. For all that they flippantly talk about improving their love life the way a lot of their stuff is super sexualized it's kinda- it does smack a little of trying too hard? Not quite Makram's style of "notice me" but a pretty clear strain of leaning into it to the point of comedy. I mean sure some of that's just for the humor value but there's still a difference between, say, someone like Makram or Belial both who are pretty much nearly naked All The Time and aren't super shy about it (although Belial is now and then as a character thing). And Takara who is super over the top and thirsty as hell.
Honestly Takara is...really really sympathetic tbh, and I can't rightly see Eldingar staying mad at them once they actually talk. Because if there's anyone who's going to get it it's him. That kind of "I'm such a fractal fuckup I ruined everything and now I just kinda want to lay in the mess I made and not have to try anymore but hey, gotta keep going right?" You can draw pretty easy parallels between Takara in the field as they get the joke and Eldingar's reaction to melting his hoard on accident.
Mm, you picked up some stuff that I missed but that was sort of the point I was trying to make. I didn't exactly mean to play it all down by calling Takara's issues a Freudian excuse, it's just that I spend to much time on TV Tropes. Anyway, I'm beginning to see why Takara's on the Husbando map, despite being awful. However, there are two big obstacles in the way of that Husbando(?) status.
The first is that, currently, Eldingar has none of the hints that we do, so to him, Takara is just a thief that manipulated him and backstabbed him. He probably won't want to hear an apology or explanation, even if Takara offers either. Takara is actually pretty lucky that Eldingar is so bad at being a dragon though. If he were a typical dragon, there would be absolutely no chance of forgiveness or understanding, instead of just very little chance. Although, I guess if Eldingar were a typical dragon, he wouldn't be a suitable love interest for Takara and probably would deserve getting his map stolen. Huh.
Anyway, the other issue is a pretty classic one. "The first step to fix your problem, is admitting you have a problem." Now, we saw a little bit of that when Takara realized that they messed up by stealing the map. However, immediately after that they seem to have doubled down on their issues by deciding to steal Eldingar's potential boyfriends instead of admit they messed up and try to fix their mistake. Convincing Takara that they need to change will be difficult, especially compared to the others, who seem to just fall into Eldingar's metaphorical lap.
Huh. I've just realized that I've made several multi-paragraph posts about Takara now, while barely saying anything about the others and that last point is probably why. Takara is, weirdly enough,
interesting. They're a challenge, in more ways than one. They others are cute or adorable or awesome and they clearly have their own stories but I'm not analyzing or focusing on them the way I am with Takara.
God, what does it say about me, that in what's basically a dating simulator, I can't help but choose the route with the annoying, possibly traumatized one that I hate.
