/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46606292
Since we've hit bump, I'll take a moment longer to try and describe the demon I sense within this woman.

Just look at her, she wouldn't so much as hurt a fly without a very good reason, and she'd do it hesitantly at that, right?
You wouldn't believe it, but that's actually the most dangerous and mistaken assumption you could fall prey to.
Once you've been lured in by her outward charms, feminine and general, there's simply no coming back. You've already forgotten she's a six foot tall youkai martial artist, who gets by by being simply too terrifying to face in actual physical combat. You may have heard the phrase, "It's not how big it is, it's how you use it", well Meiling has strength coming out of her ears and the most perfect form in her moves you'll ever have the misfortune to witness should you be on the receiving end of such an attack, there is quite simply no defence against it other than trying not to engage in hand-to-hand in the first place.

This should be the first red flag that not is all as it seems with the dragon gatekeeper. Why would such a terrifyingly competant opponent be content with simply guarding the gate to some brat's mansion? The answer is simple. Lack of motivation.
We all know Meiling is far from perfect in her duties, but in today's Gensokyo she hardly needs to be. There's only one real intruder, and abiding by spellcard rules she has no chance at stopping her anyway, so she instead chooses to take it easy and deal with the heat from doing so later. This is a major clue as to her internal proccesses. Meiling... Is very lazy.
However; she is also so amazingly good at her job she can afford to be.

Hypothesise then, of a scenario where she is actually motivated to do more than the bare minimum. What would the limits of Meiling's power look like?
Some say she'd hit the peak performance of a veritable sage in kung-fu or whatever it is she specifically practises. Others say she would unlock a new form, and attain the characteristics of the dragon she so styles herself after.
I say otherwise still; that she'd have to be madly in love for this to happen, and all that motivation would go nowhere productive in terms of actual work. Such is the way of Hong.
Think about it for a second. What has she to gain from more power, better technique, greater strength? This isn't Yuuka we are talking about, she doesn't chase after these things like it's the only thing that matters in the world.
Rather, I forsee her much taken with the ideals of the nuclear family, perhaps something she dearly misses so far from her homeland, possibly both physically and temporally.
Therefore, she throws herself into the complex spider's web of love fully, knowing full well she's not guaranteed a desireable outcome just by having done so, yet so she has done. She has her man, she has the time, she has all she could ask for, and by god is she going to put more effort into looking wifeable than she's going to let show.

I can only say one thing for the lucky bastard that the cosmic dice determined would have a shot at being the Hongsband:
Godspeed, and invest in pelvis reinforcements from Eientei. You're going to need it sooner or later.