Or maybe it's just a somewhat unsubtle metaphor for her having hit puberty and whatnot.

Idk, we could also put more stock in Shiori saying "Some say that things taste the most delicious when they're rotting..." and take that as "most monsters find the scent of you all the more irresistible because you've lost the will to live". What Shiori herself finds appealing, however, might indeed have sprouted from her entering puberty as random suggested. Not entirely out of the question I think.

It's interesting, though, that her smell has been increasing even as her death wish has been making it worse. Are these two sides entirely unrelated, or would it disappear if she ever truly feels like living again, thereby also removing the reason Shiori wants to eat her?

If Hinako's enticing blood was just the result of suicidal depression, I would think a monster would recognize that, and realize giving Hinako a reaason to live, would spoil the meal. Unless you're suggesting, Shiori's ultimate motive is actually something other than eating Hinako.

I mean, the two are most likely unrelated, but as we just learned, the monsters here don't know what changed in her to cause her to develop that tasty smell either. Shiori specifically recognizes the additional rot of the death wish, but it would be quite a stretch for her to assume the two smells are related in any way, especially if it's normal for a person with the enticing smell to have it from birth. I have no doubts that Shiori's quite genuinely exactly what she says, especially since we've had glimpses into her thoughts as well, not just relying on her words.

But now that I think about it some more... No matter whether the two are related, the mere fact that her smell is something she acquired only after the accident shows that it may also be possible for her to lose it again. Maybe a goal for Miko to work towards - if she can find out what caused this change and how to reverse it before Shiori decides to eat Hinako, Hinako would be saved and Shiori would get to eat her in a different sense.

Idk, we could also put more stock in Shiori saying "Some say that things taste the most delicious when they're rotting..." and take that as "most monsters find the scent of you all the more irresistible because you've lost the will to live". What Shiori herself finds appealing, however, might indeed have sprouted from her entering puberty as random suggested. Not entirely out of the question I think.

Maybe is as simple as her desire to die being so strong it works as a sort of mating call for monsters to eat her (she wished for something cruel and kind that would kill her or let her live on a whim). That would mean she gives off the rotten whale smell under (on top of?) the delicious smell.

Which would mean that, by wanting to live, Hinako would lose both her good and bad smells, leaving Shiori very disappointed.

Hinako is pretty dum at times

"You and Miko have fundamentally opposing goals, i Hope you get along"
"Once you have eaten me, please be friends with my Friend who is trying her darndest to protect my life"

I've got a crazy theory. The real Hinako was actually possessed by a monster in the accident. The monster needs to eat other monsters, so it makes her blood irresistible to them, to lure them in

Well it's been fasting pretty religiously for like a decade, then.

That's why Hinako's blood is getting more and more enticing. The monster inside her is getting more and more desperate . In protecting Hinako, fox girl is starving the monster inside her.

So Shiori Will be ironied to Death in the end?

I've got a crazy theory. The real Hinako was actually possessed by a monster in the accident. The monster needs to eat other monsters, so it makes her blood irresistible to them, to lure them in

Well it's been fasting pretty religiously for like a decade, then.

That's why Hinako's blood is getting more and more enticing. The monster inside her is getting more and more desperate . In protecting Hinako, fox girl is starving the monster inside her.

So Shiori Will be ironied to Death in the end?

My prediction is that the monster inside Hinako will be the last monster Shiori will have to save her from. After all when the monster finally feeds Hinako will cease to exist. I invision the monster inside Hinako as dormant maybe even using Hinako like a cocoon to reach its adult form.

last edited at Jan 11, 2022 7:20PM

My prediction is that the monster inside Hinako will be the last monster Shiori will have to save her from. After all when the monster finally feeds Hinako will cease to exist. I invision the monster inside Hinako as dormant maybe even using Hinako like a cocoon to reach its adult form.

...how is that supposed to mesh with your original idea that it's an ambush predator? In this version it'd pretty much do the exact opposite and fiddle with Hina's "scent" so that she REPELS critters if anything; the last thing anything dormant in chrysalis wants is being attacked by a predator while it's in such a defenceless state.

My prediction is that the monster inside Hinako will be the last monster Shiori will have to save her from. After all when the monster finally feeds Hinako will cease to exist. I invision the monster inside Hinako as dormant maybe even using Hinako like a cocoon to reach its adult form.

...how is that supposed to mesh with your original idea that it's an ambush predator? In this version it'd pretty much do the exact opposite and fiddle with Hina's "scent" so that she REPELS critters if anything; the last thing anything dormant in chrysalis wants is being attacked by a predator while it's in such a defenceless state.

It hides in a human host, until it's developed then lures a monster in. It then takes over the host and makes the monster it's first meal.

My prediction is that the monster inside Hinako will be the last monster Shiori will have to save her from. After all when the monster finally feeds Hinako will cease to exist. I invision the monster inside Hinako as dormant maybe even using Hinako like a cocoon to reach its adult form.

...how is that supposed to mesh with your original idea that it's an ambush predator? In this version it'd pretty much do the exact opposite and fiddle with Hina's "scent" so that she REPELS critters if anything; the last thing anything dormant in chrysalis wants is being attacked by a predator while it's in such a defenceless state.

It hides in a human host, until it's developed then lures a monster in. It then takes over the host and makes the monster it's first meal.

What if whatever "possesses" Hinako is not a monster but something more... benevolent? What if, rather than being possessed in the sinking car, Hinako "ascended", so to speak, e.g. to become a local (sea) god? So her "suicidal" ideation comes not from a lost will to live but from a profound alienation from humanity, as deep down she understands she is not one of them anymore. That would explain why she only gets along with monsters/other local gods, as well as why all the monsters want to snack on her.

It hides in a human host, until it's developed then lures a monster in. It then takes over the host and makes the monster it's first meal.

And it would be luring monsters now while it's still gestating because of why again...?

My prediction is that the monster inside Hinako will be the last monster Shiori will have to save her from. After all when the monster finally feeds Hinako will cease to exist. I invision the monster inside Hinako as dormant maybe even using Hinako like a cocoon to reach its adult form.

...how is that supposed to mesh with your original idea that it's an ambush predator? In this version it'd pretty much do the exact opposite and fiddle with Hina's "scent" so that she REPELS critters if anything; the last thing anything dormant in chrysalis wants is being attacked by a predator while it's in such a defenceless state.

It hides in a human host, until it's developed then lures a monster in. It then takes over the host and makes the monster it's first meal.

What if whatever "possesses" Hinako is not a monster but something more... benevolent? What if, rather than being possessed in the sinking car, Hinako "ascended", so to speak, e.g. to become a local (sea) god? So her "suicidal" ideation comes not from a lost will to live but from a profound alienation from humanity, as deep down she understands she is not one of them anymore. That would explain why she only gets along with monsters/other local gods, as well as why all the monsters want to snack on her.

So you're saying that she is unconsciously trying to shed her mortal coil so she can assend to a higher state of being? How Star Trekian.

It hides in a human host, until it's developed then lures a monster in. It then takes over the host and makes the monster it's first meal.

And it would be luring monsters now while it's still gestating because of why again...?

Obviously the monster has been ready to emerge for quite a while. Fox girl has been fighting off all potential victims, keeping the monster in hiding.

It hides in a human host, until it's developed then lures a monster in. It then takes over the host and makes the monster it's first meal.

And it would be luring monsters now while it's still gestating because of why again...?

Obviously the monster has been ready to emerge for quite a while. Fox girl has been fighting off all potential victims, keeping the monster in hiding.

And Miko and Shiori won't do as well as any other because of why now. Not to mention Hina's had a number of pretty darn close critter encounters that oughta have brought out The Ravenous Beast Inside before either of the two intervened...

It hides in a human host, until it's developed then lures a monster in. It then takes over the host and makes the monster it's first meal.

And it would be luring monsters now while it's still gestating because of why again...?

Obviously the monster has been ready to emerge for quite a while. Fox girl has been fighting off all potential victims, keeping the monster in hiding.

And Miko and Shiori won't do as well as any other because of why now. Not to mention Hina's had a number of pretty darn close critter encounters that oughta have brought out The Ravenous Beast Inside before either of the two intervened...

It's because no monster has gotten close enough to actually eat her yet. Sheeze, I bet you just love poking holes in movie logic. Don't you. LoL.

It's because no monster has gotten close enough to actually eat her yet. Sheeze, I bet you just love poking holes in movie logic. Don't you. LoL.

As a matter of fact I do. But I like picking apart internally incoherent fanwanks even more. ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯

It wanted weaker monsters than Miko and Shiori? So it's hungry but scared right now?

It wanted weaker monsters than Miko and Shiori? So it's hungry but scared right now?

Everything we've seen so far says the monsters don't have any kind of built-in Scouter to assess relative strength beyond simply eyeballing stuff like raw physical qualities - Hell they have real trouble even identifying each other through disguises, eg. Shiori didn't clue in on Miko until the latter essentially revealed herself. And never mind the merely animalistic small fries, even the intelligent ones are consistently cocky as fuck and seem to never have the slightest doubt about their ability to take on the other. The beach-woman in the fist chapter was like that and Shiori and Miko consistently talk and behave like they could slaughter the other any time they wanted, too. See also: the former being ready to immediately start a deathmatch when she was out of her element on dry land and didn't even have the slightest clue how strong or even what the other critter might be... (Which sort of thing kinda makes sense in terms of real animal behaviour - these things are roughly the equivalent of solitary apex-predator hypercarnivores which generally tend towards what in humans would be described as "overconfidence" simply because there isn't very much they normally need to fear.)

And then you have scenes like this which should have made any such hypothetical ambush-predator stowaway lash out in plain knee-jerk self-preservation panic...

It's because no monster has gotten close enough to actually eat her yet. Sheeze, I bet you just love poking holes in movie logic. Don't you. LoL.

As a matter of fact I do. But I like picking apart internally incoherent fanwanks even more. ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯

I understand that's a pastime you enjoy, but can you maybe ... stop? It was interesting to entertain the theory for a while, but this is supposed to be a discussion thread on the actual story in front of us, and you're really filling the pages with unnecessary stuff.

It's because no monster has gotten close enough to actually eat her yet. Sheeze, I bet you just love poking holes in movie logic. Don't you. LoL.

As a matter of fact I do. But I like picking apart internally incoherent fanwanks even more. ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯

I understand that's a pastime you enjoy, but can you maybe ... stop? It was interesting to entertain the theory for a while, but this is supposed to be a discussion thread on the actual story in front of us, and you're really filling the pages with unnecessary stuff.

Eh, we've had worse...
Still, I agree that the theory's bunk. Doesn't seem likely and there were some good arguments raised against it.

last edited at Jan 12, 2022 7:45PM

What I want to know is what this expression means.

What I want to know is what this expression means.

Probably just amazed and maybe even a little shocked how oblivious Hina is.

Well. Just read through what we've got so far. I think the most likely reason for her scent is that her family is spiritually important/powerful in some way, and the inheritance passed to her when her parents (specifically, probably her mother) died. After all, "scent" is basically a metaphor here--only spirit beings can "smell" it; what they're "smelling" is spiritual potency of some sort, that can "feed" them in a way random meat cannot.

Her family probably have historically had some important protective role, and had enemies wanting that to stop, who were responsible for that car "accident". I mean, nobody really thinks that the car spontaneously exploding was really by accident, right?

I have a hunch it was because of that power that her mother managed to say, or convey to her, those last words when any normal human would already have been dead and wouldn't exactly have been audible from under water anyway. Probably also used power to eject her safely from the car.

It's been strengthening since--you can call it puberty, you can call it coming of age, coming into her power, whatever. Maybe if she was able to find out just what that's about and gain control over it, she would be able to camouflage it, as her mother or parents presumably did.

Likely the fox spirit doesn't exactly know about any of that--maybe her monk told her back in the day to keep a special eye on that family, but, holy men tending to be cryptic, never said why.

Well. Just read through what we've got so far. I think the most likely reason for her scent is that her family is spiritually important/powerful in some way, and the inheritance passed to her when her parents (specifically, probably her mother) died. After all, "scent" is basically a metaphor here--only spirit beings can "smell" it; what they're "smelling" is spiritual potency of some sort, that can "feed" them in a way random meat cannot.

That's... actually the most logical hypothesis I have read here so far, especially the "power passing from parents to child when they die" part.

The surest sign that Hinako's poor brain is broken is her belief that Shiori and Miko have any reason to be friendly with each other other than herself.