Talk:Othinus/@comment-76.180.83.104-20190724012659

It's a testament to how weird this series can get that someone who essentially tortured a dude for near eternity (psychologically and physically) using near omnipotent power can be shipped with the guy she tortured. (then again, accelerator x mikoto fans exist... so... maybe this is a trend). I mean, Index and Mikoto are bad enough about physically abusing their love interest, but this is really a whole new level of messed up. (plus, she's still violent towards him after being turned tiny). Hell, the reason those two 'understand' each other is because Othinus essentially inflicted her own angst onto the guy. Also, I get that Othinus would react very poorly to Touma dying in front of him and vice versa, but it seems like Touma would also react just as badly if any of his friends died in front of him (The author even outright stated that Aureolus is essentially what Touma would have turned into if he failed to save Index). I know redemption of villains is a big theme in the series, but this is a bit creepy.

She also has a lot of overlapping characteristics that prevents her from really standing out. She's now completely helpless without Touma, freeloads in his house, and acts as a magic advisor. This is essentially the same thing as Index (at least she has spell intercept, but still). And like basically every other love interest, she's someone who Touma saved while going against ludicrous odds, and assaults him when embarassed. She's isn't someone he feels he must protect/the very first person he saved (index), she's not someone who can fight by his side (Mikoto), she's not a tragic figure who can never be with him (Misaki), she doesn't represent the calm/normal life (Himegami, Fukiyose) that he wishes for.

Most importantly, did she actually repent for her actions? She realized that what she wanted all along was someone to understand her, rather than her old world. She cedes the world back to Touma not because she realizes what grave injustice she has done to him and everyone in the world, but because she wants to keep that one fragment of humanity capable of understanding her around. Then she angsts up a storm about how she doesn't deserve to be saved and even tries to kill herself. But to me, it seems more like she's giving up and taking the easy way out rather than actually regretting her actions and living with her guilt. The fact that she sometimes assaults Touma after she turns small makes me think she doesn't really regret hurting Touma (seriously, if you're sorry about how you hurt someone, the very first step is to not hurt them again) (even if he's okay with it, Othinus should not be okay with such actions if she's truly remorseful (or if she does it in a fit of rage, feel completely mortified and disgusted)).