Talk:Echidna/@comment-45046579-20200501012321/@comment-82.231.62.60-20200907034430

There's a running theme about echidna not understanding her own feelings despite displaying them, and this probably has a lot to do with this. Arc 4 interlude 2/ chapter 79.5 of the WN is a very good example of it, with other witches basically calling her out on her sadness while she's basically the least aware of even the fact that she looks sad. Her liking subaru is probably the same kind of deal.

The author already said that an "I love you" dona-style would be her monologue anyway, which makes sense since in it, she essentially "sacrifices her reputation" towards someone she cares about and one of the only people she enjoys and that can keep her company in his benefit (well, hence why subaru hates her); just reread 79.5 of the WN if you don't get it, this interlude is quite important and is forgotten way too often despite being chock-full of foreshadowing (so much that I think it may be the reason it got nuked from the LN, too many future plot points too early, because that chapter DEFINITELY wasn't "filler").

With the next arcs playing up her similarities with subaru it's clear that she has a self-sacrificing streak; and if you look both at what follows in the story and at author q&a, a very hard time understanding even her own emotions, but it's there. That's probably also why tappei specifically says "special feelings"; another question how much she liked subaru, and tappei didn't want to answer that one because it'd apparently be a spoiler. Despite the constant "she's unable to love" thing, and if there was nothing deeper about it and she just liked him in an "utilitarian" way, there is no reason talking about that would not be a spoiler. So there's something fishy going on. Possibly related to the multiple verisons of the character (that the author consider separate, so there's also the risk that an answer from the author only applies to one echidna and not to the other)