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i've been wanting to do this for a while, so here's my mega thread on why you should love subaru akehoshi! i think he's the most misunderstood member of trkst and it really breaks my heart to see people feel "meh" abt him or even hate him, so please give this thread a chance! 
1. i think the most common misunderstanding about subaru is that he's incapable of connecting with other people emotionally and taking their feelings into account? which id like to offer my personal analysis on! based on all of the subaru stories i've read, i feel that...
...there is a distinction between empathy and sympathy, and empathy is where subaru struggles the most? while he's shown many times to sympathize with others and get angry for their sake, it's very difficult for him to actually /understand/ their emotions and relate to them.
the most obvious example that i can think of for subaru being able to identify when people are experiencing sadness/struggle and wanting to support them (sympathy) is this scene in the main story! most instances of him doing this are small and more subtle than this:
subaru struggles with understanding other people's emotions more than he does with identifying them; he can actually tell easily when something is wrong, but he gets confused on /why/ they're feeling that way and that's why he approaches their feelings the wrong way (empathy):
this constant struggle that subaru has between being able to properly empathize with others so that he doesn't wind up hurting them instead of helping them is actually what makes him such an interesting protagonist! unlike most happy-go-lucky "main character syndrome" types...
...subaru often hurts other people unintentionally and needs help learning how to express his feelings properly to them. in the earlier stories subaru often did this recklessly and couldn't understand the issue, but in tanabata, we see him make a lot of progress with mao's help!
2. tying into subaru's issues with empathy/sympathy, almost everyone knows this now but just in case: the issue of subaru using offensive language with arashi. most people slam subaru for this more-so than koga or izumi because subaru seems more blatantly "happy" about it...
...but as i just explained, the issue lies almost entirely in subaru's difficulty in understanding other people's feelings. it's especially difficult in arashi's case because she tends to cover up her hurt by acting happy and affectionate, which is something that...
...scares subaru because very passionate and affectionate people make him anxious due to the fact he can't understand where it's coming from (i.e. chiaki). subaru didn't know just how harsh/hurtful he was being to arashi until akiomi tells him why it's wrong...
...and literally, after akiomi tells subaru and he finally understands, he NEVER uses the same language with arashi again. the issue was ignorance, not intentional bigotry. subaru learned very quickly and would never intentionally want to hurt someone so kind.
any lingering "dislike" for arashi stems solely from subaru being afraid/unnerved by intense passion and affection, which again is because he can't understand why that person feels that way towards him. he doesn't insult or act cruelly to them because of it, he's just confused.
3. subaru definitely follows the typical protagonist ideal of never giving up and making friends with a lot of people, but his past explains why he feels this way very well and ties his character together really nicely! it gives us a reason to /want/ him to never give up!
subaru is terrified of being alone, to the point where his entire sunny personality will take a dip and leave him insecure and crestfallen. if you read rocket start, he sounds like a different character altogether when he's all by himself.
subaru's been left alone three distinct times (as far as we know):
1. when his father died
2. when he first enrolled in yumenosaki and couldnt make any friends because he was a "problem child" (he wanted to stand up to the stuco)
3. when trickstar disbands in the main story
1. when his father died
2. when he first enrolled in yumenosaki and couldnt make any friends because he was a "problem child" (he wanted to stand up to the stuco)
3. when trickstar disbands in the main story
each time that he's been left alone, subaru has never actually given into despair and decided to just give up. he couldn't make any friends in his first year because of what he believed in, but he never even /considered/ changing what he thought was right just to "fit in."
more than anything, subaru wants to make friends so that he won't have to be alone anymore. he's very strong in what he believes in, but that doesn't erase the fact that he really is just a lonely kid who can't fit in with anybody else. his empathy issues make it especially...
...difficult for him to make friends, bc most of the people he tries to become friends with will be driven away because he can't properly understand their feelings. he also gets excited very easily when he finds someone who may want to be his friend, which also drives people off.
rocket start is probably my favorite subaru story because it really gives us insight into just how lonely subaru was when he first came to yumenosaki. so many people hated him that it's even implied that they would purposely "pretend" to be friendly with him, when in...
...reality, they knew he wouldn't be able to understand that they were making fun of him and would get excited to be their friend, only to get laughed at instead. subaru eventually catches on, but he still can't stop himself from getting excited when someone talks to him...
...even if he knows that they're probably just messing with him and want to laugh at him...
students also were very cruel to subaru because of his natural talent. subaru is very good at being an idol, so much so that other people envy him and take it out in the form of insulting him. subaru has difficulty understanding what it's like to not be blessed with talent...
...but he finds his own talent worthless to him if he can't make friends and have fun with them. this is why he sometimes refers to his talent as "extra intestines" that make him different, but that he doesn't /want/ to have if it means everyone will hate him for it.
a lot of characters look down upon him for wishing he wasn't as talented, because to them, he comes off as ungrateful. but because it's the main thing that has made people hate him he just really, really wishes he could have friends like everyone else.
natsume describes really well the way that students made subaru come to hate himself for being "naturally talented," and even reveals that subaru was so desperate to have friends that he let himself be used by people to feel loved, very similar to what mao does:
subaru tries so hard to be careful so that he won't get tricked and laughed at again, but the moment natsume brings up being his friend, subaru caves and immediately gets excited all over again. natsume was serious, but if he wasn't, subaru still would've fallen for it easily...
subaru comes off as a genius who can't understand others, but rocket start really shows how the only thing subaru really wants is to have friends and to not have to be alone anymore. he loves people and their happiness and never stops trying to be friends with people, even...
...if they just kick him away or spit in his face. he's like a puppy really, he's so willing to love everyone and just gets so excited at the prospect of being loved...even if people beat him down, he always gets back up again because he wants more than anything to make friends:
hokuto also explains subaru's inability to make friends really well:
and subahokke's first meeting is actually so sweet...subaru wishes upon a star that a prince will show up and rescue him from his loneliness, and guess who actually shows up instead!! ; __ ;
all of this is why trickstar is so important to subaru, why he's so bubbly and wants to make friends so badly, and why he's ultimately so devastated when trickstar leaves him during the main story...subaru really is such a sweet boy who just doesn't want to be alone anymore...
4. a little add-on to the last point, subaru's solo is all about never giving up, but instead of a more generic "never give up" directed to the listener, it's a song to himself!! subaru's been through so much, and his solo is like a letter to himself to tell him that...
...even if it seems hopeless and even if he feels lonely, if he keeps living as himself, then he'll be able to find his real "shine!" after reading stories like rocket start, it really hits different... ; __ ;
5. subaru is actually SO bad at holding grudges! like...seriously. he gets angry very quickly when he feels that someone is hurting his friends, but he is Literally incapable of holding grudges for long periods of time...
the only three characters who subaru ever holds a "grudge" on for a little while are eichi, izumi, and nagisa, i believe? and. well. let's just see how long all three of these grudges lasted
eichi: I DONT EVEN THINK I CAN CALL THIS A GRUDGE LMAO subaru really saw right through eichi and wanted to be his friend instead of his enemy because eichi seemed lonely...he's the first member of trickstar to reach out to eichi, starting at the end of the DDD after beating fine:
UGHHH IM SO SORRY I CANT FIND THE STORY BUT. at one point eichi found subaru practicing after school and subaru realized how late it was and literally invites eichi. to his house. for DINNER WITH HIS MOTHER BC HE WANTS TO BE HIS FRIEND and eichi is so confused it's so cute
LOOK AT THE WAY THEY TALK IN SHINSENGUMI THEY'RE LITERALLY BESTIES!!!!! and at repayfes....... ; __ ; they got so close........
izumi: subaru still doesnt like izumi but he doesnt really HATE him or hold a grudge against him for DDD anymore? he's actually the first to realize that maybe there's something between him and makoto that they just cant understand? he can be really perceptive at times!!
he's still not on the best terms with izumi but it's less bitterness and more of him just making fun of izumi? less bite and more bark? i just see it as more playful now than it was in the past; izumi takes much longer in the timeline to develop/change than subaru does!
also seaweed atama and orenji atama is so fucking funny. i feel like they both just playfully bite at each other now it's so amusing 
nagisa: very brief because like. it's from autumn to SS but subaru starts off very angry and critical of him for hurting mao, but then they end up singing together at SS and really coming to understand each other/be friends!
overall subaru doesn't like to be angry and forgives people very easily! he just wants to be friends and he wants people to grow and be happy together!
yes this gets its own number. he's fcking mofumofu
7. ill wrap up this thread with some more silly subaru caps that i really love! the more serious and complex aspects of his character inside, subaru is just so amusing and lovable!!
when subaru can't figure out how to convey his feelings through words he conveys them through onomatopoeia..... ; __ ;
someone: (ignores subaru for more than 5 seconds)
subaru: (barking like a dog) IM LONELY!!!!!!!!!!! PET ME!!!!!!!!!!! >:(
subaru: (barking like a dog) IM LONELY!!!!!!!!!!! PET ME!!!!!!!!!!! >:(
no comment
how incredibly excited he gets at the prospect of having a sleepover with his classmates 
he's hopeless at speaking formally!
there's plenty more but ill leave it at subaru introducing his classmates one-by-one to the audience...he loves his friends so much 
aaand that's all for my subaru megathread! thank you so much for reading and getting to know him a little better! i really hope this thread helped some people see the more lovable parts of subaru and why he's actually a very complex and interesting character!
P.S. STAN TRICKSTAR!! the other members are also so wonderful and interesting on their own!! 
