#Ask...Koenma?

[hellboundhimbo]

WOE MEME DUMP BE UPON YE here’s part 1 lol

ignore the fact the last one is in a completely different format than the rest of them xoxo it wasn’t planned to be part of the dump but i figured id include it.

[vraisetzen]

https://www.tumblr.com/vraisetzen/767046956775342080/historians-will-say-that-they-were-best?source=share

hi v,

i'm afraid i'm not a 'shipper,' but i'd be curious to know:

what are your top ten favourite anime ships?

Hi! Thank you for your question!

To be honest, I've left my shipping days far behind me especially since I got into writing Reader Inserts — I can't even remember the last time I rooted enthusiastically for a ship (besides Garashir and Janeway/Chakotay from Star Trek DS9 and Voyager).

(Also, I just wanna quickly clarify that I don't actually ship Mizuki and Gegero, even if I do see/understand why they're very popular when I saw the film. I was just awestruck by the official art, haha)

And I know there's currently a ton of debate surrounding shipping, to which I'd like say that I seldom have any icks or squicks when it comes to pairings. If I dislike a ship, it's probably because of a bad experience I had with their fans. However, I would add that my favourite ships are pretty vanilla and tame, and more often than not the result of my asking, "What if these two randoms were placed in a room with one bed together?" I love a niche pairing with zero fics written for them on AO3, lol.

So yeah, I'm gonna spotlight some of my niche pairings that I enjoy quite a fair bit! All of them are het and slash ships, I'm afraid, out of sheer coincidence that most of my favourite characters are male. I do love femslash/yuri ships as well, but they're generally quite popular, so I wouldn't be contributing anything new. They're not ranked in order of preference because I love them all!

Hijikata/Otae, Gin Tama: I love Otae so, so much, and I think she gets a ton of unwarranted hate from a vocal minority of the fandom on Twitter and Reddit. The GinTae vs GinTsu debate is still very real in 2024, but I think my girl deserves a man who earns a stable income and doesn't denigrate her appearance.

Koenma/Botan, Yu Yu Hakusho: The first of many niche pairings to come. Botan is such a lovely girl who is friendly with every one, but I get a kick out of imagining the two of them getting into all sorts of trouble and shenanigans whilst nagivating the bureaucratic hell that is, well, Hell, and falling in love in the process. And have you see the official art of them together? It's so cute!

Ogata/Sai, Hikaru no Go: I was so disappointed when I didn't find any content of them both! I think Ogata would have gone insane had he been the one to stumble upon Sai's Go board, before falling in love with him, and then into despair as he realised he cannot touch the one person he loved and idolised the most.

Muzan/Tamayo, Kimetsu no Yaiba: As a KnY fic writer, I feel obliged to include at least one ship from this fandom. I love all canon and fanon pairings in this work (a rare thing for me, personally), but I especially love the divorced couple dynamic between them both. The most recent season finale cemented that belief for me, and I do spend a lot of time brainrotting over their past before Muzan encountered Yoriichi.

Kusakabe/Utahime, Jujutsu Kaisen: I stumbled upon this fanart a long time ago, and thought: "Spectacular; give me 14 of them right now." He's an experienced First-Grade sorcerer who's honestly not the best teacher, she's a Second-Grade sorcerer who loves her students — they bond over their mutual irritation for Gojo and absolutely hooked up during the exchange event.

Shunsui/Ukitake, Bleach: What's there not to love about Old Men Yaoi? I've loved these two ever since I saw them, individually and a pairing, and I don't I will ever forgive Kubo for separating them in TYBW (albeit in a good way). The Hell arc was just the icing on the cake — a reverse star-crossed lovers, if you will.

Ryoga/Ranma, Ranma 1/2: I love a small-stakes rivalry, and there's something very cute about a guy who absolutely does not care about the gender of his opponent and will stop at nothing to fight them.

Shishiba/Osaragi, Sakamoto Days: Let it be known that I've clocked this couple ever since they first appeared in the manga, and I staunchly believe that they're endgame. Chapter 161 was everything — nothing can convince me otherwise that they're just mentor and mentee. Have you ever seen a mentee stroke her mentor's cheek as he laid bleeding on the ground, saying: "I'll be right back. Don't die"? Yeah, I thought so.

Mitsui/Yohei, Slam Dunk: I wish I could give a better explanation for why I love them so much, but really — the moment I saw Yohei beating the crap out of Mitsui with relative ease and zero effort despite being the smaller guy, I just felt the yaoi monster stirring in its sleep and shaking my bones. A former student athlete-turned-delinquent crossing paths with an actual delinquent makes for such fantastic tension, really.

Jotaro/Kira, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: I actually thought very long and hard about my favourite JJBA ship, because, like KnY, I love all of the characters and have no issue with either canon or fanon pairings. But then, I saw this fanart of JoKira/KiraJo, and it scratched such a specific itch inside my head that I have not been the same ever since.

Here it is! I had an fun time thinking about my favourite ships and choosing those that were truly obscure; some of them — HijiTae and ShunUki — are fairly popular, but I think my preference for them trumped any other rarepair I could have thought of for that fanbase.

xoxo, V ♥️

[askthepsychic]

Part 2

As the day goes by, Twilight and Nyx continue to forego sleep. When noon comes with no sign of Fluttershy, Rey at first figures she’s just running late, but as the hours pass she begins to worry. Koenma has been with her all day, but he decides to briefly return to Spirit World in order to get someone to check on Fluttershy for Rey’s peace of mind. A few moments after he rejoins her, a new face joins them.

Koenma looks at the newcomer “ah, Yuna. Rey, as Spirit Detective, Yuna here will be working with you as your assistant. While you’re going to be the primary investigator and fighter, Yuna does have some potent skills of her own. Which makes sense considering she’s descended from two powerful warriors who played essential roles in the work of a former detective. Now, that being said, I assume you have a report regarding Fluttershy’s status?”

Yuna nods “yes, sir. I regret to inform it is apparent that we can no longer count on her involvement. Apparently one of her animal friends woke up sick this morning and has remained so all day.”

Rey grimaces “Fluttershy is nothing if not devoted to her animals. Out of curiosity, which animal is ill?”

Yuna looks at Rey “a rabbit named Marigold.”

Rey scoffs “of course it would be her. That rabbit is a direct descendant of Angel Bunny, an animal who was extremely cherished by Fluttershy in her original lifetime. That love has been inherited by his descendants. Heh. There’s practically no way Fluttershy will leave Marigolds side while she’s sick. She’s probably trying to convince herself that my message to her was just a strange dream, or that Twilight or Nyx must’ve fallen asleep at some point so she wasn’t needed in the end.”

Yuna nods “precisely. And while she’s convincing herself that you ended up not actually needing her at worst, you’re here watching time tick away without getting the necessary energy for your resurrection.”

Rey nods “and the silliest part is I can’t even be mad at my one hope. I love that Fluttershy is so caring towards her animals. Hmm. I wonder. Could my presence last night be responsible for Marigolds illness? I’ve heard it said that a ghost’s presence lowers the temperature around them and I’m sort of a ghost right now, right? Could the temperature change have made Marigold sick?”

Koenma hmms, rubbing his chin “it’s logical. Unfortunately.”

Rey sighs “so all that’s left now is to wait for this chance to be spent. I don’t believe for a second that mom or Nyx will fall asleep now, and Fluttershy’s not an option anymore either. As far as Spirit World’s ability to help me is concerned I’m finished.”

Koenma sighs. Yuna looks between the two of them, then looks at the clock in Rey’s room. There’s only three hours left until this gambit ends.

As the time ticks down, the three of them keep their vigil, Rey still secretly hoping for some miraculous last ditch effort, Koenma wondering if there was more he could’ve done to help Rey, and Yuna trying to think of a solution that might have escaped them.

Two hours left.

One hour left.

At forty seven minutes to the end, Yuna gasps, then Flies off as fast as she can, leaving the other two blinking surprisedly.

Meanwhile, at Fluttershy’s cottage, the pegasus sighs, taking a cloth from Marigold’s forehead to cool it down again. As she drops the cloth into a bowl of ice cubes and water, she blinks, hearing Marigold stirring. She looks back, but finds Marigold still asleep.

Then the descendant of Angel Bunny speaks.

“Fluttershy, you have to hurry. Time is running out. Remember your dream from last night. It was more than that. She needs you. You can get another animal to watch Marigold while you’re away. Please!”

Fluttershy blinks, stunned for a brief second, then turning to look towards the palace of friendship. She whispers one word “Rey” then she’s off like a rocket, pushing herself to achieve greater speed than she ever has before as she tries desperately to beat the clock.

As the clock approaches midnight, Rey blinks, not quite understanding what she just saw. The colors matched Fluttershy, but she’s never seen her move that fast.

Yuna comes up saying “she may not be known for it, but that pony can really move when she’s desperate. Marigold was asleep, so I temporarily possessed her to urge Fluttershy to act.”

Rey blinks “of course! One of the two criteria that are necessary for spiritual possession! I’m going in to get into position.”

The two Spirit World entities nod as Rey heads into her current bedchamber.

Five minutes left

Twilight and Nyx are startled by a commotion from the hallway, accompanied by what sounds like Fluttershy shouting out in desperation for Rey.

Four minutes left

Rey blinks, then flies through the door into the hallway, finding Fluttershy opening doors on each side of the hall.

Three minutes left

“FLUTTERSHY, IN HERE!”

“Rey? REY!”

Two minutes left

Fluttershy charges down the hall, stopping outside Rey’s door.

One minute left

Fluttershy throws the door open, her eyes falling on Twilight and Nyx laying on either side of Rey’s body, the glow starting to fade as the clock begins to announce the passing of the hour.

One chime

Fluttershy begins moving towards Rey, ignoring the questions Twilight and Nyx are asking.

Two chimes

Three chimes

Four chimes

Five chimes

Six chimes

Tears fall in Fluttershy’s wake as she continues desperately trying to reach Rey before time runs out.

Seven chimes

Eight chimes

Nine chimes

Fluttershy reaches Rey’s bedside and jumps up to her side, leaning down over her.

Ten chimes

An inch apart

Eleven chimes

Twelve chimes

The clock goes silent

Fluttershy slowly parts her lips from Rey’s, praying to see some movement from the pokemon. She looks over Rey’s body, looking for any sign that she made it, but at first it seems she failed. Her ears finally register the sounds of Twilight and Nyx’s voices as her body begins to shake with sobs.

She spends the next moment filling the two alicorns in on her dream, Twilight soon embracing her in shared grief. However, the two are startled out of their tears by Nyx speaking.

“I don’t think you failed.”

Fluttershy blinks, looking over at Nyx.

The lunar alicorn looks back at her “mother may be a divine, but she’s not the right type of divine to perceive spiritual things. So she is taking you at your word because she missed the blue glow that passed up your throat and into Rey. The life energy you were so desperately trying to deliver to her. But I saw it. The transference was completed.”

Fluttershy blinks, then looks at Rey again. And… there. An expansion of her chest. The sound of an inhalation.

Her eyes open. She rises and turns to look at the three of them. “I’m sorry I scared you, Fluttershy. Getting back into my body wasn’t as straightforward as I was expecting.”

Fluttershy leaps out of Twilight’s embrace, giving Rey one of her own. Twilight and Nyx aren’t far behind, embracing both of them together as the relief washes over all of them. Rey knows she won’t have long to relax. A threat greater than any she has yet faced is on the horizon. She will have to resume her training in two days at the latest. And pray that what she can hopefully now learn will be enough to tip the scales against Grogar.

[thuganomxcs]

Granted THIS STILL FELT SURREAL. Looking down because he’s just a bit higher than her..well more than usual. Though feeling her hand upon his chest, he figured she was trying to get a feel for him a feel of his core pulsing within him, then came her question.  ❝   𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲.   ❞  Taking the time to actually feel the sensations..yes, he does feel great, a bit more energized and the power coursing through him..Yusuke hasn’t even felt a sample of this since…Oh, that got him to pause for a moment..Botan’s question of whether he activated his transformation during his sleep warranted the search.

Quickly he removed his pajama top to hurriedly inspect his body, aside from the slightly larger physique everything remained the same, that same bullet scar on his chest, the tattoo on his back but NO MAZUKO MARK in sight. It got him to sigh in relief. “Nope I’m still me..me. But ya know, I haven’t felt this strong since that day the old man possessed me. I mean..I’m not EVEN THERE yet, not by a long shot but I’d never forget the feeling of that rush.” This seemed rather serious but whatever tension had arisen had quickly dispersed by his chuckle. Taller, but the same old Yusuke in there. Just giddy over getting a little stronger.

“This is GREAT. If you’re sayin’ this isn’t a spell..then what the hell did I have another growth spurt or somethin’?” He kept a hand at his side turning to her with questions in his mind. “Is this..NORMAL FOR YOKAI?” He asked, the real answer would be ‘no’ however, he himself was still partially human, whilst he could only suspect Kurama was a yokai wearing a human meat suit..so there’s no way he could ask him about this. “OH well, no skin off our bones, are ya hungry?”

BOTAN STANDS STILL FOR A MINUTE, trying to figure things out. No, she definitely didn't do this. Right? No-- definitely not, her clothes still fit. And she can't feel any weird spell effects on either of them. Her confusion was not helped by the fact that Yusuke was thinking less than usual, kissing her and thanking her.

She snaps out of her thoughts, reaches up and puts her hands on his cheeks -- reaches up??? She angles him to look into her eyes, trying to somehow instill that she was serious.

"Yusuke... I love you, I'm glad you're happy but I did not do this. Why would I shrink-- don't answer that, I don't want to know," she says slowly. "Hold on," Botan puts her hand to his chest, over his core and narrows her vision in on his aura. His core has always reminded her of the sun, bright and burning, intensely warm. And it's still there, surging inside of him, but there's something different, like the pool of his energy has become deeper. It's less frenzied, still strong but more stable. And most of all, there's no traces of magic anywhere inside of him.

Furrowing her brow, she lets go, tongue between her teeth. "I don't know... Do you feel any different, otherwise? I don't see any spell traces... Did you maybe activate your Mazoku transformation in your sleep?"

[anime-fan-05]

love your writing. youre awesome. you don't have to but if if you could could you make yuyu hakusho characters x reader who's into cute dresses, make up, skin and haircare routines, stuffed animals collections and girly things. would they be accepting of her, find her annoying, join her or what do you think? plz

Yu Yu Hakusho ~With a very feminine reader~

Manga/anime: Yu Yu Hakusho

Warnings: nothing

(Y/N): your name

Thank you very much for the compliment! I personally didn't know which characters you meant exactly, so I created the headcanon with the main 4 and Koenma. If you also want someone else, write to me privately and I'll include them.

U. Yusuke

He thinks you're very adorable, but he'll never join you in hair and skin care

However, he really enjoys putting on your makeup, even if he often messes up your face

When you come back from the hairdresser with your hair cut or from the beautician with your nails done, he's always playing dumb that doesn't notice anything; however, after seeing you were offended, he compliments you ("I noticed it, (Y/N). You look great.")

Whenever he can, he buys you cute stuffed animals or accessories, such as necklaces and bracelets or rubber bands and hair clips

He also gives you nice clothes if he can buy them for you, and, if you wear them, he'll blush deeply and turn his head away so you can't see his huge blush

K. Kazuma

He's probably the person who accepts you the most

Are you wearing a nice outfit? "You're so cute, (Y/N)!" Have you groomed or cut your hair? "You look great, darling!" Did you wear makeup? "You're so gorgeous! You look great without makeup, but you're beautiful even like that!"

He goes to the game room a lot of times to win stuffed animals for you; when he wins nothing, he sulks all day ("Sorry, I won nothing..." "Kazuma, you don't have to give me a stuffed animal a day, don't worry!")

You two often do skin care together, but don't tell Yusuke this or he'll make fun of Kazuma for life

To give you gifts, he often asks Keiko for advice, as he considers his sister to be one of the least feminine women in existence (Shizuru always gets angry when he points this out to her)

Kurama

He finds it very cute you always get dressed up, but he often tells you you're beautiful, even without accessories or luxurious clothes

He always, always notices when you do something different to your hair, nails or face ("Have you done anything to your hair/nails/face? You're very beautiful, (Y/N).")

Probably, you two do hair care together: you're the only person wh's allowed to care for his hair

When you wear cute clothes, he blushes slightly and looks at you affectionately and meanwhile Youko stirs inside him

He sometimes lets you find cute stuffed animals or accessories on your bed, and then he pretends he didn't put them there ("That? No, I didn't give it to you.")

Hiei

He doesn't understand you: he can't understand why you care yourself so much, and he refuses to join you if you ask him this

Despite this, one day, after seeing his sister getting her hair done by Kazuma (Hiei wanted to kill him), he decided he would do the same to you: so, he combs your hair every morning

For a while, he never gave you accessories or stuffed animals, since he thought they were useless; however, everything changed when, one day, he gave you a hair clip he had found during a mission, and he saw your happiness born from that small gesture

"I found it lying around and I thought only a person like you could wear that horror."

This is what he says every time he gives you something to wear, but it's clear he does it because he loves seeing you smile and seeing you with what he steals buys

Koenma

Like Kazuma, he also compliments you when you change your appearance, changing your hairstyle or wearing different and nice clothes every time

You two do skin treatment together: he always claims your hands have the power to make his skin soft ("Only (Y/N) can touch my face! Only she has magic hands!")

He gives you everything you want: have you seen a nice hairpin? You'll find it in your room. Have you expressed your desire for a dress? It'll be yours immediately

He forces his subordinates to have their hair or make-up done whenever you want poor Jorge

When he can (once a day), he gives you a stuffed animal

💮 Rules 💮 Masterlist 💮

[ask-sota-urameshi]

Yo @ask-kuronue @ask-koenma @flame-master-hiei @yoko-kurama-blog @askshura @askmukuro I'm having a birthday party this tuesday and all y'all are invited!

[yyh4ever]

BOING BOING 🖐️

A funny scene from the 1994 "Yu Yu Hakusho Gaiden" game for mega drive, an original story that takes place two days before the Dark Tournament.

Demons are popping up all over town, so Koenma sends the guys off to investigate and get to the root of the problem. Reminded me of Maji Battle a little bit.

My favorite part of the game intro is when Botan is looking for the guys to inform that Koenma wants to have a word with them. Hiei's line, "who's disturbing my nap", is the best 😂

The first part of the game is divided into 4 chapters: Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama. Each one takes to the streets to investigate, and eliminate demons.

Yusuke's Chapter

Yusuke is so upset about Toguro being so much stronger than him that he forgets about the mission. He asks this seemingly strong old guy, who saved Keiko from a gang, to teach him his technique. But ... he's trouble.

Gladly, Master Genkai comes to his aid.

Kuwabara's Chapter

All delinquents in town are acting strange. They have suddenly become just and been refusing to fight (isn't that a good thing? lol).

Apparently, they are all attending this strange place called the "Touzai Seminar". Kuwabara sneaks in to investigate, and fights a pumpkin-demon.

The power of love is invincible XD

Guess everything went back to normal.

Hiei's Chapter

Hiei comes across this little girl, but he doesn't have time to play with kids. It's cute that she calls Hiei "onii-chan". Hiei also mentions he's not good dealing with children XD.

Later, she goes missing.

He senses a nostalgic youki in town, and suspects the mastermind behind it is Kuroneko (dark cat), a cat demon who was Hiei's partner during his bandit days.

Kurama's Chapter

It's basically a story about Kurama's mother being kidnapped. Kurama fights some demons and rescues his mother in the museum.

I like this illustration included in the game manual. Kurama is in the museum fighting the dinosaur fossil youkai.

That blue-haired girl is also interesting, looks like Botan a little. She's looking for her dog, Pochi, but Kurama didn't see it. Then, she re-appears as a youma, and Kurama defeats it.

My Red Rose Prince ♡

After investigating and eliminating random demons, they gather at Yusuke's place. They found out that the source of the problem is in a place called Gokumon Island. It's time to go to the Demon World.

After you clear the first part, the familiar eye-catch from the anime shows up.

The second part of the game is on Gokumon Island - Makai.

The imaginary illustration of the island is beautiful (taken from the manual). I think it was inspired by the Maze Castle in Demon City.

Well, Gokumon Chapter is kinda boring. They basically walk around the island, fight demons, help human souls, and defeat the final boss in his tower, a youkai called Choujou (超嬲).

The manual illustration of the final boss castle with Kurama and Yusuke is more exciting.

Btw, even though she's not the real Keiko, it's a cute scene ❤

After defeating the final boss, Gokumon Island disappears. Mission complete! Now, it's time to go to the Dark Tournament.

But, before that, Yusuke meets the real Keiko boss XD. The game ends with the classic boob scene. Yusuke wants to check her reaction, because he was deceived by a fake Keiko last time.

IT'S THE REAL KEIKO!!!!

In the end, the guys lose the shuffle boat to Hanging Neck Island (Dark Tournament) 😂

Poor Hiei and Kurama...

The credits show monochrome images of the Dark Tournament. I like that Atsuko Urameshi appears with the girls instead of Jorge Saotome. Just like the manga!

Sorry for the lame summary, I just shared my fav parts 😅

You can find full walkthroughs of this game on YouTube.

Lastly, some love for my boy Kuwabara ♥ (illustration from the game manual)

[hlkproductions]

roleswap! after being buffered and polished with the help of my loving spouse i started to daydream about the potential. so here's the base synopsis! (warning, lots of text below!)

ivy, punch enthusiast and foreign girl living in japan, becomes spirit detective after the entity within her revives her & draws the attention of Rekai. koenma, the reaper who was meant to collect her soul upon her untimely death, and botan, the ruler in charge of dishing out ordeals for these strange events, agree to the girl's terms that in exchange for her services as their errand runner they will give her the answers and resources she & her parasite need to jog his lost memories of what he is and where he comes from.

along the way she meets and recruits a number of odd characters; yukina, the exiled koorime who utilizes her cold calculations and frigid beauty to disarm her opponents & obtained the surgery needed for the Jagan Eye in order to keep tabs on her twin brother, Hiei, who remained behind in their homeland safe and sound so long as she stays away.

youko kurama, a kitsune who fled to Ningenkai after being mortally wounded and was discovered by a young mother-to-be with a veterinary degree. her nurturing heart & patience with the demon canine she brought into her home led the demon, now knocked down several ranks in power, to pledge to protect her and her baby from harm. years later when she falls sick, he's approached by a cunning ice maiden who asks him to join her heist on Reikai's artifact vaults to save the life of the human he's indebted to. tomoe higurashi who, up until recently has been minding her own business as a middle-schooler, is ivy's adopted sister and unaware spiritual radar of the group. with a father who has extraordinary awareness of the paranormal and a mother without a scrap of it, tomoe's taste for mysteries has ended her up in hot water on a number of occasions until her big sister reluctantly took her on as a sidekick. she's got an attitude on her, but cares a lot about the team and looks up to each of them as role models (though ivy insists she REALLY do not look up to the demons of the group because despite what they insist, murder is not ok)

and last but not least is yusuke! a seemingly ordinary boy who's doing his damndest to get through mundane life without causing too much of a stir, he stumbles his way into the supernatural world that his classmate ivy lives in one day when he happens upon her during a case, the demon she's pursuing stopping dead in it's tracks before going into a frenzy. as it turns out, yusuke is the descendant of a war god, and his blood triggers a flight or fight response in the apparitions he meets. so, naturally, ivy takes him under her wing and shows him the ropes of how to survive in a world where you're constantly being threatened.

[koalatysleep]

Large ripples from small stones, or Why my Yusuke is different from yours - the HUGE difference that translations & cultural context make to YYH canon!

I recently became aware of how much different dubs/translations of YYH changed the original Japanese dialogue/meaning when I stumbled across a great post by another fan who watched the anime in both the original Japanese dialogue and the American English dub, and that post highlighted some of the dialogue/meaning that the American English dub changed so that the characters / dialogue fit the American cultural expectations / way of speaking better, and that actually changes interpersonal dynamics between characters as well as the characters themselves, thus changing how we interpret them! I can't find that tumblr post now, so if anyone knows the tumblr post I'm referring to, please comment with the link! (It used Hiei and Kuwabara's interactions as its example).

That post lit a lightbulb in my head - because it explains just how different "canon" can be depending on which language & culture you consumed canon in, and why some headcanons / interpretations can seem quite OOC to some while appearing perfectly in-character to others! It's because we're basing our headcanons & interpretations on different canons & cultural contexts! (or we could be playing in sandboxes that are totally removed from canon, which is a perfectly legitimate way to enjoy art too!)

As an example of how different "canon" can be depending on the translation/cultural context, in this scene in Anime Episode 5 when Koenma asks what Yusuke plans to do if Keiko doesn't make it in time to resuscitate his body:

-----

The Japanese original dialogue is: "I can't make Keiko wait 50 years. If that happens, I'll give up with dignity."

(I google-translated the Japanese CC script below, if anyone reads Japanese, let me know if the Google translation is accurate!)

Coupled with the official Chinese Manga translations of the equivalent scene which has very similar dialogue to the Japanese CC dialogue from the anime, Yusuke is referring to how he'd give up on trying to come back to life, and just die cleanly now.

At this point in time we have to dive a little into the subtext of previous episodes in order to understand the meaning of this Japanese dialogue, because Japanese culture/verbal communication is VERY VERY SUBTLE, with A LOT of meaning left unsaid between words. Yup, Japanese verbal communication is itself very subtextual, same as YYH canon! So let's peel back the layers!

We saw in Anime Episode 1 itself how Yusuke had such a low self-esteem due to his distorted view of himself as a "good-for-nothing-fuck-up" which he internalized from the external world's treatment and view of him, that he genuinely believed his life was worthless, that he wouldn't amount to anything good even if he came back to life, and that it'd be better for everyone around him if he stayed dead! 😭

Which is why he was ready to stay dead even when Botan gave him the choice to come back to life!

At this scene in Anime Episode 5, while Yusuke is no longer as ready to give up on his own life as he was in Episode 1 (because he saw how much he meant to his mom, Kuwabara, Keiko, Takenaka, and the kid he saved during his wake), when he saw how his mom was still more preoccupied with getting drunk than care about him in this episode, and how Kuwabara wasn't receptive to kissing Yusuke*, Yusuke again felt like he doesn't mean much to the people around him, which is why Yusuke thinks if he still wants to return to life, he can only rely on Keiko to wait around another 50 years to resuscitate him, which obviously wouldn't work, thus Yusuke feels he can only give up on coming back to life and die cleanly now.

While this is indeed a very Yusuke thing to do - he doesn't do anything by halves! - this is still driven by Yusuke's emotional wound of feeling unwanted, unloved and worthless to the people he cares about! 😭 It's very true to life, because emotional wounds like Yusuke's doesn't just get resolved when you see people crying at your wake one time! Yusuke is likely thinking - they may be sad he's dead coz well he's dead, but they don't really care enough to want him to come back to life! 😭

*(I also think Yusuke saw Kuwabara screaming awake in terror after the romantic kiss that Yusuke projected into Kuwabara's dream.. The fact that Yusuke went to the arcade to tell Kuwa a second time to kiss him tells me that Yusuke saw Kuwa scream, and even before this arcade scene Yusuke already said he can't rely on Kuwa or his mom to resuscitate him so he already knew Kuwa wouldn't show based on his scream 😭😭 that must have hurt Yusuke too, because Yusuke obviously had subconscious romantic hopes with Kuwa as evident from the Freudian-slip of a romantic kiss he projected into Kuwa's mind, where Yusuke literally pictured himself as Sleeping Beauty and Kuwa as the Prince Charming who kissed him back to life! 🤣 But instead of reciprocating, Kuwa screamed in terror, denied the dream, and refused to acknowledge it even after spirit Yusuke tried to tell him a second time at the arcade 😭 This must have been romantically disappointing to say the least or felt like rejection at the worst, even if Yusuke's romantic hopes at this point in time with Kuwa were just nebulous subconscious desires! Thus this again makes Yusuke feel unwanted!)

But I digress! The point is - based on the Japanese original dialogue, we get the above interpretation of what's going on with Yusuke as a character - his emotional wound of feeling unwanted/unloved/worthless is not yet resolved, it's triggered when 2 out of the 3 people closest to him doesn't do anything to bring him back to life, and Yusuke feels that if Keiko is the only one who wants him to come back to life enough to do something about it, he's still ready to give up on his own life and just die cleanly now, rather than drag it out another 50 years.

In other words, this is not a romantic scene that confirms Yusuke's in love with Keiko, if anything it's a scene that confirms Yusuke is NOT in love with Keiko, because if she's the only one who wants him to come back to life, he would still give up on living! This scene is about who Yusuke is as a person, and what makes life worth living to him!

This scene in its original dialogue tells us VERY IMPORTANT things about Yusuke's character -- he only feels life is worth living if he has people he cares about in his life + he's loved by the people he cares about! Which is why in the episode when Keiko rushes into the house fire to save his body, he told Sayaka that it would be pointless for him to return to life if she dies, because for someone who's as made out of Love as Yusuke, there really is no point in him returning to life if it costs the life of one of the few people he cares about! I've been shouting to anyone who'd listen that Yusuke is actually entirely made out of Love, and this is more proof points of that!

Yusuke's emotional wound of feeling unwanted / unloved / worthless / and thus alone is also FUNDAMENTAL to his character arc in the rest of canon, especially during the Dark Tournament!!!! Without this scene and its meaning intact, it would totally change our interpretation of the rest of canon, especially the Dark Tournament which is ALL ABOUT Yusuke overcoming this emotional wound!!!

-----

If you watch the anime in the original Japanese audio track but with English subtitles, the dialogue and meaning becomes different in seemingly subtle but significant ways:

"I can't very well make Keiko wait 50 years. If that happens, I'll give her up like a man."

This seemingly small change makes a world of difference, because this phrasing "I'll give her up like a man" implies Yusuke is in love with Keiko, which the original Japanese dialogue doesn't!

If I were watching canon purely in this English subtitles, I would think Yusuke is revealing that he's in love with Keiko, which totally changes what this scene is about, as well as what the rest of canon means!

Based on this dialogue/meaning, I would think that Yusuke really is in love with Keiko, and my interpretation of Yusuke in the rest of canon would go from the Japanese original "Gay and in love with Kuwa, but whose found family sibling Keiko complicates matters coz she's in love with him", to this version's "Bi and falls in love with Kuwa, but was previously sorta in love with Keiko"!

When I first watched the anime in this English subtitles, I was hella confused by the rest of canon after the revival arc was done 🤣, because I was blinded by my heteronormative expectations into thinking Yusuke really is in love with Keiko, and that wasn't helped by translations like this which changed the meaning of the original scene, which made this scene incongruent / inconsistent with the rest of canon which shows us Yusuke is in love with Kuwa!

I was like "hmmm?? Why the inconsistencies between what he says and what he actually feels? Why does he seem to be crystal clear he's not in love with Keiko, but he says something else? Even though he obviously knows he's in love with Kuwa?" And thus my interpretation of this version of canon can change to "bi- or gay-struggle to accept his own sexual orientation", which is very different from the Japanese original canon where Yusuke has always been crystal clear about his romantic feelings and didn't actually have issues accepting that internally, he just wasn't sure whether it was reciprocated by Kuwa or not!!

And thus the headcanons and fanworks we create would be completely different depending on which canon we got!

Of course, Japanese canon also had to keep the dialogue ambiguous enough that heteronormative audiences can read Yusuke as in love with Keiko easily, coz canon had to hide the Kuwameshi love story under the misdirection of Keiko as the romantic love interest, which is why even the original Japanese dialogue is deliberately vague so it can play into mainstream audience's heteronormative assumptions, but still, it doesn't imply Yusuke is in love with Keiko like this "give her up like a man" phrasing does, because the scene in its original Japanese meaning is about Yusuke's emotional wound, not his romantic love interest.

This English subtitles also doesn't tell us anything about Yusuke's fundamental emotional wound, which is what's driving his character arc in the rest of canon, especially the Dark Tournament!!

Like, it took me SO LONG before I figured out what the Dark Tournament was actually about in terms of Yusuke's character arc okay! 🤣🤣 I had to re-watch the entire anime before I got it! 🤣🤣

We begin to see what a world of difference subtle changes in translations & cultural context makes! Large ripples from small stones!

-----

Now if you watch the anime in the American English dub, the dialogue/meaning becomes even more different:

"The only thing I can do. Wait around another fifty years. Then I'll go see Keiko when she's an old hag."

Okay first of all, I love how the American English Dub doesn't change the scene to a romantic one that implies Yusuke is in love with Keiko! I also love the way Yusuke refers to Keiko as "an old hag" 🤣🤣, which is thoroughly sibling-coded rather than romantically-coded 🤣🤣🤣. Which can explain why a lot of my fellow fans who watched canon in this dub read Keiko as Yusuke's sibling way earlier than I did! Thank goodness I eventually caught on though! Giggle!!!

While I love that the American English dub doesn't change the meaning of this scene to a romantic one, it nonetheless changes Yusuke's character in significant ways -- in this version, Yusuke doesn't have the emotional wound of feeling unwanted/unloved/worthless anymore, he's suddenly so over this fundamental emotional wound that he will hold onto his life even if he has to wait 50 years as a spirit in a pretty meaningless existence, even though it seemed to him like nobody apart from Keiko cares enough about him returning to life! 😅

And thus based on this version of canon, my read of Yusuke would again completely change from the Japanese original of "Appears confident and uncomplicated on the surface, but actually has a deep inner self that's very different from his external facade and has a tender aching heart that he hides from the world", to this version of Yusuke who seems to be "Really as uncomplicated as he appears on the surface, no hidden emotional wounds or tender achy feelings inside" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

And thus we see how the headcanons and fanworks we create would again be completely different, depending on which version of canon we're basing it on!!

Like I said, large ripples from small stones!

And while I'm more than happy if Yusuke really has overcome this fundamental emotional wound in just a few short episodes that didn't actually give him enough learning opportunities to overcome this wound, it makes this scene incongruent with the rest of canon (especially the Dark Tournament), which is ALL ABOUT Yusuke overcoming this emotional wound!!!

Having said that, perhaps the rest of the American English dub in other scenes/episodes down the line establish Yusuke's emotional wound in other ways, which would bring his character arc back in sync with what the Dark Tournament's all about!

ANYWAY, the point of this post isn't to compare "canons" to see which one is "better". The point is - we've already seen for ourselves how even "canon" itself can be totally different (or even internally inconsistent with itself) depending on which translation/cultural context we consume it in, so if you come across another fan's headcanon/interpretation which seems OOC to you, it might just be that their canon was in a different language/cultural context from yours, OR their canon contains subtext that your canon doesn't, OR they noticed subtext you didn't, OR their canon's translations contained inconsistencies, OR it might be that they're playing in a different sandbox that's quite far removed from canon itself, which is still a perfectly legitimate way to enjoy art too!

We're lucky that the YYH fandom is by and large a very nice tolerant fandom which gives people space to interpret canon however they want even if there's supposedly "no canon evidence" for it, because this is art, art is supposed to give us the space to imagine and create, it doesn't have to be so serious, and we can all play in our respective sandboxes even if it really is totally removed from canon!

So I guess what I'm saying is - if you get your kicks by basing your enjoyment on canon like I do, there're plenty of "canons" to geek out over ❤️❤️, and if you get your kicks by playing around with the characters in ways that are totally removed from canon, that's perfectly fine as well! We can all still get along, because that's what ART IS ALL ABOUT, it gives us space to enjoy it in whatever ways float our boats! :D

-----

As for why this post is tagged Kuwameshi, well that's coz I personally get my kicks from deciphering canon's subtext, and I'm so obsessive about it I'm even considering learning Japanese language so I can read/watch canon in its purest form without the risk of anything getting lost in translation🤣🤣, coz deciphering canon to me is an exciting fun adventure where I get to unearth buried treasures that have been hidden in plain sight more than 30 years ago by Togashi and Anime Studio Pierrot, and every time I discover something new I jump and scream like a mad person with SHEER UNADULTERATED EXCITEMENT AND JOY, and since the Kuwameshi Love Story is at the HEART OF EVERYTHING IN YYH, I literally cannot talk about YYH without screaming about Kuwameshi!!!

As I've mentioned before in metas / replies to comments of various fellow fans, on my first watch of the anime, I was still shipping Yusuke with Keiko coz I was blinded by heteronormative expectations (& also confused by translations which were not consistent with what canon shows), but I was SO DISSATISFIED shipping Yusuke with Keiko coz I could sense all the ways in which Yusuke is actually not romantically interested in Keiko, just that I couldn't explicitly put my finger on it at that point in time, so much so that I watched the whole anime again looking for clues and found Kuwameshi instead! GIGGLE! 

I kid you not, canon's subtext is guaranteed to blow your mind, to paraphrase a Dua Lipa song ;P

Come scream about them with me on my Kuwameshi Meta series on AO3 if you wanna see what I mean!!! 🥹🥹🌈🌈🐦🐦👌👌

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO @sadique-angel coz the buried treasure analogy is a chef's kiss analogy from you!!!! I HAVE SO MUCH FUN gushing about canon and discovering hidden treasures with you that honestly I might just tag you in all my meta about YYH in future!!!! 🤣🤣🙌🙌📸🤿🤠🤩😍

[anime-chick]

There was a Kurahi cinematic parallel in the finale. Keiko runs to Yusuke, Yukina runs to Kuwabara, the two couples are shown together in one frame, then the camera pans to Hiei looking in their direction, lastly, Kurama approaches Hiei, and they have their conversation. Their dialogue was not only "private" (Kurama fulfilling his promise of helping to find Yukina, Hiei granting his wish of handing him the sword, a deal concerning only them), there was also the accent on Kurama looking softly at hiei. So we got three couples in a sequence shown in a romantic light.

There was no need for Kurama and Hiei to have a scene together at that moment instead of just standing up or going towards Yusuke. The sword could have been passed to Koenma directly or with the help of Botan later. Or the exchange take place on the boat.

agreed!! the live action, in the limited amount of time it had, did a wonderful job on portraying hiei and kurama's relationship in the few scenes they shared and through the subtext.

in contrast with kurama cooly watching yusuke kill gouki, kurama asks hiei to give back the sword to prevent another fight. this can be viewed as protecting yusuke from fighting hiei who's much stronger and smarter than gouki or protecting hiei from the wrath of the spirit realm (something kurama is familiar with having been killed by the spirit world's special defense force).

either way, this shows kurama cares for hiei and although hiei is very stiff and aloof and straight up annoyed -

(some may say, i may say, he's pouting, thinking kurama is playing with him from his line 'stop playing around' which insinuates kurama is playful with hiei)

-and rebuffs kurama's attempt at giving back the sword, he does show he trusts kurama by his act of picking up his own sword when he thinks he's being intruded on and then puts his sword back down once he realizes it's kurama.

and to further add, with kurama asking for the sword, there's a subtext of mutual respect. there's no fight. kurama isn't forcing hiei to give it back. hiei never draws his sword on kurama. in fact, hiei leaves after being asked the first time and intends to leave after kurama stops the second fight with yusuke. kurama is certainly strong enough to go against hiei, but he doesn't and neither does hiei. he asks. hiei refuses. that's the end of it for the moment.

hiei's trust in kurama is also shown when kurama stops hiei's second fight with yusuke and announces he knows where hiei's sister is, hiei then stops when kurama tells him to and he trusts kurama's intel.

the other side of this coin is that kurama knows about yukina -> hiei told him, a huge sign hiei trusts kurama enough to know his connection with yukina, something that could be held against hiei or yukina herself, putting her in possible danger from anyone else.

this really does culminate in that moment after the fight with toguro. hiei gives kurama the knife, acknowledging kurama is right and, once again, doing as he's asked - only when kurama asks, as hiei said after his fight with bui, 'i don't like being told what to do' [paraphrased] - and after long moment of looking and watching hiei, kurama takes the knife back. surprised. touched. proud, even, of hiei. that hiei has no interest in fighting yusuke over the knife or the spirit world.

the way kurama smiles at hiei after receiving the knife - it's fond. there's no other way to describe it. kurama is very fond of hiei in that moment. he's found his sister. he's not interested in causing another fight, in possibly killing yusuke. kurama seems genuinely happy at hiei's growth and happy for hiei to finally have found his sister after, possibly, years of looking for her in the human world.

while it's likely not meant to be romantic, i do think having kurama and hiei have that moment post toguro fight is such a lovely bow on their relationship.

kuwabara is falling over himself in love with yukina. yusuke gets to reunite with keiko. and kurama and hiei get to have their moment, whether it's romantic or platonic, it's undeniably deep and filled with understanding and happiness. while hiei sighs and huffs and looks away from kurama's very soft gaze, damn near beaming in his own way, it fits hiei's character and it feels familiar (after all, hiei has never done well with sentimentality). it's their dynamic through and through. and the show did such a beautiful job with them~

(not to mention kurama sticking up for hiei and telling kuwabara and yusuke hiei is worried too and to 'please bear with him' and the moment on the ship where kurama trails after hiei, ready to put out the fire hiei is deadset on setting with kuwabara)

[kazimakuwabara]

Feral 2

Summary: a continuation of "Feral." Koenma reminds Team Urameshi, that a demon is still a demon. Kurama is dangerous.

***

“It’ll wear off,” Koenma said, not unkindly about Kurama’s condition, but with not much concern. "He's fine."

The Youko was currently sitting with Hiei canoodled into his lap, his chin plopped on top of Hiei’s. Hiei, surprisingly, was quite relaxed and neutral about Kurama snuggling him and taking up his space. He didn’t even seem to mind when Kurama started rubbing his cheek against Hiei’s neck, yipping cheerfully as he scented him. To Yusuke and Kuwabara's amazement, it seemed that Hiei might have even been used to such behavior from the fox.

“I think it’s best to just let it run its course. We’re still analyzing what Kurama was injected with, but we’re already sure it’s temporary. It’ll be a week a best. We might as well just let it pass naturally,” Koenma said, smiling from a safe distance behind his desk. He tapped his chin, “Although, he should remain in the Makai. Close to you three. I don’t think he’d like it if you’re not close.”

“Pff, so we gotta give into fox-boy’s whims?” Yusuke asked, reaching over to ruffle Kurama’s ears.

Kurama all too happily leaned into the attention.

“Despite his friendly attitude… he is still a Kistsune. He's still, Youko Kurama. He’s dangerous,” Koenma insisted gravely. He nodded slowly, “It’s probably best you three stay nearby to help him keep calm.”

“You sayin’ that cuddle monster is dangerous?” Kuwabara chortled, wincing as Yukina’s hands glided over his back. She was healing his injuries, her cool hands doing their best to soothe away his pains.

“A demon is still a demon. And a demon with an animalistic nature is most dangerous… no matter how friendly they may seem,” Koenma intoned, his eyes serious.

“I’ve got to get your leg now Kazuma… this will be painful,” Yukina gently told Kuwabara, her face sympathetic as moved her hands down to Kuwabara’s leg.

Kuwabara nodded at her, flashing her an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry about it Yukina-chan!”

“Hard to imagine him dangerous!” Yusuke chattered, grinning as Kurama now leaned into his palm, moving his head in an attempt to get Yusuke to scratch his ears. “He’s so different like this! This isn’t how Youko Kurama acted, right?”

“Hardly,” Hiei snorted. “I think he has his Youko form, but his mind has regressed a little more to his fox state of old. The fox he was before a demon.”

“Exactly,” Koenma agreed. "If he was Youko Kurama, as he was when he was a criminal, I'm sure that would be a different flavor of danger. But we could at least talk to him, and convince him we're not his enemy. In this state, it's a bit more complicated."

There was an audible pop as Yukina pressed down on Kuwabara’s injured shin, her hands rapidly glowing as she fixed the fractured bones and torn muscles of his leg. Kuwabara let out a strangled cry, that trailed off into a hiss. His eyes closed in pain, and slammed his mouth shut as he tried to repress the painful grunt.

The growl that filled the room on top of Kuwabara's whimpering, was ferocious.

Several shouts went up as the Youko sprang from behind Hiei to snap at Yukina, his golden eyes glowing with a pale light. His softer, almost cheerful expression had completely vanished, as his jaw rippled with fierce anger. He had gone a shade paler at the sound of Kuwabara's muffled pain, and it made him look more like a charging ghoul as he sprang on all fours towards Kuwabara, and Yukina.

He rushed the ice maiden on all fours, growling and showing fangs as he moved wild and fast towards her. Yukina kept her calm, and simply backed up and away from Kuwabara, holding her hands out submissively with her hands full of her medical herbs.

Kurama crawled over Kuwabara when he reached him, positioning himself on all fours over the man. His chest was out, and his teeth were flashed as the fur of his ears and tail bristled, his face lowered as he stared at the perceived threat with anger. He snapped, emitting a low sound that was quite different from the high-pitched yipping he had been doing all day.

“Whoa,” Yusuke managed, slowly getting to his feet, “Holy shit!” Kurama had moved so fast, that neither he nor Hiei had been able to stop him.

“Kurama…” Kuwabara gently tried, very surprised by the Youko’s abrupt behavior flip.

Kurama pressed into Kuwabara, his gaze fixed on Yukina, who kept her head slightly bowed, her hands and the medicinal herbs still held out before her. He sniffed the air in her general direction before he settled around Kuwabara, a clawed hand cupping his head, and going to warp around the back. Kurama then tugged Kuwabara to him, shifting so that his body was a clear block between Yukina and Kuwabara, his tail twitching with irritation.

“Kurama, no,” Hiei said patiently, his voice firm. Slow but sure, Hiei walked to stand in front of Yukina, his red eyes fixing Kurama with a look. “She is helping Kuwabara. Do you smell?” Hiei kept his eyes on the angered fox, while he reached back and took up some of the medicinal herbs. He approached Kurama slowly, holding the dried herbs out.

“Do you see? Can you smell it?” Hiei prompted patiently. “She is helping. Do not snap at her. You will not harm her!”

Kurama sniffed the air again, a growl in the back of his throat and rumbling around the room look an ominous storm. There were a few more seconds of quiet tension, and then Kurama flopped against Kuwabara, taking the large man by surprise. Kuwabara fell on his back as the Youko stretched out on him, pinning Kuwabara beneath his arms as he nuzzled against Kuwabara’s face.

“Is he uh… good now?” Kuwabara asked, voice wobbly with tension.

“He’s fine. He’s protective of his pack. Maybe he doesn’t quite understand our words in the state,” Hiei sighed. He turned back to Yukina and returned the herbs. A faint smile touched his lips, “Sorry.”

“Oh, it’s fine… I think he knows I’m helping. He can surely smell it… but I don’t think he liked that I caused Kazuma further pain,” Yukina giggled, non-plussed by the fox demon’s behavior. “I got the biggest injuries sorted, so Kazuma should be okay.”

Yukina peeked over Hiei’s shoulder, and cupped a hand to her mouth, “I think for my safety though, you’ll have to let the rest heal up on its own!”

“No problem,” Kuwabara weakly laughed, gently patting Kurama’s sides as the Youko shot Yukina a mistrustful expression.

“Like I said. A demon is still a demon. No matter how friendly… he’s dangerous,” Koenma cautioned. “I think you three are going to be the best people to stick by him. To make sure he doesn’t maim someone he doesn’t remember…”

Yusuke nodded, “Yeah, I see your point now.”

Hiei approached Kurama who was still perched atop Kuwabara, keeping him pressed to the floor. He pat Kurama’s head, and Youko leaned against it, practically purring with delight.

“Do not snap at my sister,” Hiei warned in a quiet tone mingled with affection.

Kurama whined and exposed his throat to Hiei. Hiei sighed, and scratched him under his chin, “Though if he is going to snap at others… we should invite Yomi over.”

Yusuke perked up at the thought immediately, “Oh my God, can we please? I wanna see him maul that ear-fucker!”

“No, no, no! Don’t you cause trouble!” Koenma snapped.

Kurama snapped his head over at Koenma, his hackles raised once again. Pressing protectively over Kuwabara again, he growled.

Panicking Koenma held up his hands, “Now, now! Easy Kurama! Be a good boy! I’m not threatening your friends!”

Kuwabara chuckled, most of his nerves resettled, “This is going to be some week!”

[hellboundhimbo]

koenma gave them the wrong tape :\

i asked my friend what i should draw and she said koenma doing the “buff baby” dance from adventure time. so ofc i went ahead and spent like 2 hours making this dumb ass comic (disclaimer half of that time was spent scrolling through photos of the yyh stage play)

[askurameshiyusuke]

reblog for a bigger sample size! That's what smart people say, right? & I'll tag all my peeps just for fun:

@ask-hiei @ask-youkokurama @ask-master-genkai @askjinthewindmaster @ask-sota-urameshi @ask-koenma @ask-kuwabara-kazuma

[askthepsychic]

Part 1

Rey sighs, the assailant at her hooves. She notices Ambrosia coming up and smiles.

Ambrosia smiles back and says “hi Rey. You can leave the rest to me. I’ve called for guards, and I’ll help your current host understand what’s happened.”

Rey nods, then relaxes her focus, letting her spirit relinquish its hold on the unconscious mare that would have been the assailants victim. The mare regains consciousness as Rey exits her body, staring at her assailant in confusion, then looking up at Ambrosia as the young mare offers to explain. Rey returns to an elevated position, folding her arms over her chest and sighing. “One thing I’ll miss when this is over is the ability to help others fight for themselves.”

A voice comes from beside her, saying “it really is a good way to help them.” Rey smiles and turns to look at Koenma, who continues with “after all, helping someone that way restricts you to utilizing their abilities rather than yours. With Ambrosia explaining how they were saved, you give them a boost in confidence as they realize they have the strength to defend themselves in similar situations.”

Rey nods “right. Granted, once I’m back in my body, I’ll be happy to take over defensive measures again, but it’s nice to let them know there are situations they don’t really need me in. So, since you’re here, can I assume there’s good news?”

Koenma nods “we’re ready to go. It’s time to try and get you back in living flesh again. Follow me. I’ll explain the particulars when we’re in the room with your body.”

Rey nods, then follows Koenma. When they reach her body’s new bedchamber, having been moved after the attack, Rey smiles at first to see Nyx and Twilight watching over her body as usual. But her smile falls when Nyx, noticing Koenma, leaves the room after telling Twilight that Koenma is there by way of explanation. “Why can’t she understand that her failure is only in her mind?”

Koenma sighs “the Lunar Knight takes great pride in her ability to protect others. Admitting that she was overworked was the most difficult thing she’s ever done, and she will consider that her greatest failure for a long time yet. She did manage to reach out to me recently with an offer I was quick to accept regarding you. If everything works out to the greatest benefit, she’ll take care of teaching you about your new powers and helping you to train them.”

Rey smiles “awesome. I’ve missed training with her. So, getting me back in that body. How do we do it?”

Koenma smiles “before I tell you that, I’d like to explain a bit about the factors involved. What do you know about wavelengths?”

Rey hmms crossing her arms. “Wavelengths. Isn’t that what determines the frequency of a particular energy? Different forms of magic work in different wavelengths, and it would take at least twenty lifetimes to master every single one. That’s what mom told me once.”

Koenma nods “more or less correct. We’re dealing with a similar situation right now. To put it simply, the physical has a different wavelength to the spiritual. However, in the case of an individual’s soul and body, over the course of their life, the physical and spiritual wavelength will periodically synchronize. For you, the earliest occurrence of this phenomenon starts tonight at midnight. At the moment this happens, I will begin a mystical process that will open the link between you and your body starting at noon tomorrow and ending at midnight. When that happens, your body will begin to emit a golden glow starting at the feet and spreading upwards. Our estimates put your body’s full illumination at ten’o’two. But it’s worth pointing out that you don’t have to wait to be fully illuminated for successful resurrection. Any time between noon and midnight will be viable.”

Rey nods “sounds simple. Too simple. There’s gotta be some kind of difficulty to this. Some obstacle I have to overcome to earn the restoration of my life.”

Koenma nods “there is. Up till now, you’ve spent your time as a spirit helping others, proving time after time that our faith in your guardian nature is well placed. Well, for this, you’re the one who needs help. The obstacle you have to overcome is in gaining that help within the rules of this situation. To start, you can ask only three individuals for assistance, and they must care deeply about you in order to qualify. To put it more clearly, only the three people in living world who care about you the most are viable options. Second, verbal communication of the facts is forbidden unless your helpers can figure out symbolic indicators on their own. Finally, you can only communicate your need for assistance via dream communication.”

Rey hmms. “Mom and Nyx definitely are two of those people, but there’s a problem with both of them. Neither of them have been sleeping at all since the attack. I’ve been checking on them more often since then, and no matter what time of day I come around, they’re always awake. So right now let’s focus on my third option. Hmm. Wait… I remember, after the attack, I asked Aaron why Fluttershy was there, why she had gotten hurt. He told me she’d made a point of coming to check on me practically every day since I died. It’s her. She’s my third option.”

Koenma nods “wouldn’t surprise me at all. She’s shown a high level of care for you ever since you met. You could practically call her your second mother based on that.”

Rey nods. “You’re right. I’ve never said it in so many words, but you’re definitely right about that. So, can you explain what I need to get her to do in order for this to work?”

Koenma nods “certainly. I was planning on it. As I’ve already explained, between noon and midnight your body will have an increasing golden illumination to it. Fluttershy must act during that time frame unless either Twilight or Nyx fall asleep for a moment and give you other options. If all three of them miss the deadline, Spirit World can no longer help you. We’ll have to turn to other possibilities. Now, this is exactly what Fluttershy must do. Your body needs a portion of life energy to jumpstart its ability to support you again. Fluttershy, Twilight or Nyx must provide that energy through an act reminiscent of mouth to mouth resuscitation.”

Rey blinks “I need one of them to basically kiss me on the lips you mean?”

Koenma smiles. “Is that a problem? Parents and even siblings do such all the time don’t they?”

Rey sighs “well, yes. And I guess this situation really is like mouth to mouth. But… right now it’s definitely looking like it’s going to have to be Fluttershy, and with how shy and timid she can be I can’t help but question if she’ll even be able to do it. I know she has some sort of motherly attitude towards me, but would that be enough to overcome her anxiety?”

Koenma nods “a fair question. Unfortunately, as you said, it currently looks like it’s going to be her or no one. We just have to hope her motherly feelings will be enough.” After saying this, he looks at a clock nearby “aaaand… it’s time.” He holds a fore hoof towards Rey’s body as waves of light start to wash over her. A moment later, the waves of light sink into her, Koenma looking at Rey. “It’s done. Now it’s up to you and Fluttershy to work out the rest.”

Rey nods “then I better go visit her. She can’t help me if she doesn’t know I need help.” With that, Rey leaves, going to Fluttershy’s cottage.

When she arrives, she can’t help but smile at seeing a few of Fluttershy’s animal friends cuddled up to her in her bed. (That’s no surprise. But I can’t deny it looks really sweet. Okay time to get this message across) “Fluttershy, it’s Rey. Hi there.”

Fluttershy smiles a little wider in her sleep as in her dream, Rey appears in a golden fog with her “Rey? Oh my, is this a dream visitation? I’ve heard others talking about how you’ve appeared in their dreams to help them during difficult situations. Um… hold on… I… can’t think of anything I’m having a hard time with right now. Nothing outside of my usual day to day troubles. Rey, why are you here?”

Rey smiles “it’s true that I usually use this medium of communication to help others, but this time is different. I’m the one who needs help this time, and you’re one of the only three people in my life that qualify to help me. The three people who care about me the most.”

Fluttershy blinks “I… I am? One of the three people who have you in their heart and thoughts more than any others? Wow. I won’t deny it, I do care about you a lot. I think I act as sort of a second mother to you if I’m being honest. Twilight is definitely your true mother, but she’s the sort of mother who is primarily focused on teaching and protecting. Providing and nurturing. Most definitely a good mother, but not always the best when it comes to dealing with emotional distress.”

Rey nods “which is where you step in to take up the slack. I can go to mom for practically anything involving comfort and health, but when my emotions build up to near breaking point, I always come to you, the kindest pony I know.”

Fluttershy smiles, then looks at Rey “is that what you need me for now? I’m always happy to help you with that.”

Rey chuckles “I know. But I need a different kind of help this time. I can’t verbally communicate what I need unless you can successfully interpret the symbolic visions I’m going to show you. Ready?”

Fluttershy nods “I’m ready. I’ll do my best to understand the visions you’re going to show me.”

Rey nods, then looks off to the side. Fluttershy, when she follows Rey’s gaze, sees an image of Rey’s body lying in sunlight, a clock indicating that the time is noon. The clock begins to advance, Rey’s body gradually starting to glow a golden color from the feet up. As the clock advances, the golden glow spreads upwards over Rey’s body until finally, at ten o two, her body has fully illuminated. The time advances almost another two hours, then the glow fades and a big red X appears over the scene. Rey looks at Fluttershy.

The butter yellow pegasus has a hoof on her chin. “I’ll try to interpret that vision now. Um… noon tomorrow, a process begins that could lead to your resurrection. But in the vision you showed me, something either went wrong, or a necessary step was never taken. So you remain dead?”

Rey nods “additionally, this failure would mark the end of Spirit Worlds ability to help me. I would have to turn to other methods of restoring my life if this doesn’t pan out.”

Fluttershy nods “I understand. Next you’re going to show me a successful version of this, right?”

Rey nods, then the vision rewinds to noon. This time, as Fluttershy watches the vision, she can’t help blushing deeply as she sees herself walking into the vision at intervals, leaning down and kissing the deceased pokemon. But she does notice that every time their lips touch, some sort of energy passes up her throat and into Rey, who awakens after the kiss breaks every time. Until the final iteration, seconds after midnight, when there’s no passage of energy, and Rey’s body remains motionless. Throughout this vision, Rey watches Fluttershy closely. Though she sees the expected embarrassment and shyness, she doesn’t see what she feared most. Unwillingness.

Finally, after the final iteration, Fluttershy looks at Rey. “I understand. I have to share some kind of energy with you if no one else does. And I have a limited time to do so. If you can’t reach Twilight or Nyx to show them what you’ve shown me…”

Rey nods. “There’s another complication. Neither Twilight nor Nyx have slept at all since the attack. I’m only allowed to communicate this request for help via dreams. That means that right now…”

Fluttershy gains a determined look “right now, I’m your only hope.”

Rey nods “if it helps you feel more comfortable with what you need to do to help me, you’ve admitted yourself that you’re kind of a second mother to me. Mothers kiss their children on the lips all the time, right? That’s nothing to be embarrassed about, just a common display of motherly affection.”

Fluttershy nods “all of that is true. And I don’t want to let you down. Still, I do hope you’ll get the chance to communicate your need to Twilight or Nyx. That being said, I’ll try to get there as soon after noon as I can. All of this is happening tomorrow, right?”

Rey nods “that’s right. I’ll be near my body throughout the day. I do still want to help others, but I’m nervous. And my body has already been attacked once. I want to be there to protect it tomorrow with it being such a critical day.”

Fluttershy nods “in that case, I’ll see you there tomorrow.”

Rey nods, then with permission gives Fluttershy a grateful hug before leaving to monitor the situation at her body.

When Fluttershy wakes up the next morning, at first she smiles, looking forward to seeing Rey alive again later. Then her ear twitches as she hears a cough.

[deathblossomed]

@thuganomxcs asked:

"You know Botan, sometimes I can't help but feel you screwed me over with this 'spirit detective' gig." (can be au free time after hiei but before genkai. For Bonding's sake.)

"Oh, I'm sorry Yusuke, and here I thought you'd enjoy being brought back to life. Not to mention a license to get all that fighting energy out. But I can always tell Koenma that you'd prefer to go back to being a ghost if this job doesn't suit you."

[anime-fan-05]

マスターリスト

Started: 10th September 2023

Last update: 26th January 2025

Total works: 91

My rules are here. Please, read them before asking me.

♥️: fluff

⚡: angst (my angst are never too violent or sad and they usually have a happy ending)

Sailor Moon

Nothing yet

Inazuma Eleven

Headcanons

With a reader like Roxy (Endou, Gouenji, Kidou, Kazemaru and Fubuki) ♥️

Mermaid Melody

Nothing yet

Hunter x Hunter

Headcanons

Nicknames (Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio) ♥️

Ships

Sweet (KilluGon) ♥️

Nana

Headcanons

Boyfriend headcanons: Shin ♥️, Nobu ♥️, Ren ♥️, Takumi ♥️, Nobu and Shin part 2 ♥️, Yasu ♥️

With a legendary singer very connected with her singing partner (Nobu, Shin and Yasu) ♥️

Jealousy (Nobu, Shin, Yasu, Ren and Takumi) ♥️

Cuddling (Nobu, Shin, Yasu, Ren and Takumi) ♥️

With their crush (Nobu, Shin, Yasu, Ren and Takumi) ♥️

Boat's capsizing during your cruise (Nobu, Shin and Yasu) ♥️

With an idol reader (Nana) ♥️

With a professional dancer (Nobu, Shin and Yasu) ♥️

With a J-pop idol reader (Nobu, Shin and Yasu) ♥️

With Nana's younger sibling but totally different from her (1st part) (Shin) ♥️

With a very famous singer and dancer, chill and kinda flirty in public but actually shy and sweet reader (Nobu, Shin, Yasu, Ren and Takumi) ♥️

With an autistic reader (Nana) ♥️

Celebrating their birthday (Shin and Reira) ♥️

With an African-American female rapper and singer similar to Lauryn Hill (Nana, Shin, Yasu and Reira) ♥️

Scenarios

Wait, you're what?! (2nd part) (Shin) ♥️

Oneshots

Blindness (Takagi Yasushi x reader) ♥️

My Hero Academia

Headcanons

Receiving a kiss on the cheek from their crush as thanks (Midoriya, Bakugo, Shoto, Mirio, Tamaki and Hawks) ♥️

Kimetsu no Yaiba

Headcanons

Calling them 'handsome' 1st part (Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke, Genya and Yoriichi) ♥️

Calling them 'handsome' 2nd part (Giyuu, Kyojuro, Sanemi and Muichiro) ♥️

Calling them 'handsome' 3rd part (Kokushibo, Douma, Akaza and Gyutaro) ♥️

With a reader like Stitch (Muzan, Kokushibo and Akaza) ♥️

Calling them by their first name 1st part (Tanjiro, Giyuu, Kyojuro, Sanemi and Muichiro) ♥️

Calling them by their first name 2nd part (Obanai and Tengen) ♥️

Boyfriend headcanons: Muzan ♥️

With a young admirer (Obanai) ♥️

Falling asleep on them (Tanjiro, male Shinobu, male Mitsuri, Kokushibo and Akaza) ♥️

Scenarios

Cheater? (Muzan, Kokushibo, Douma and Akaza) ♥️⚡

Assassination Classroom

Headcanons

With a VKei singer reader (Karma and Itona) ♥️

Oneshots

Sick (Isogai Yuuma x reader) ♥️

Fullmetal Alchemist

Nothing yet

Haikyuu!!

Headcanons

Break up prank (Hinata, Kageyama, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Nishinoya, Tanaka, Sawamura, Sugawara and Azumane) ♥️

Getting a girlfriend (Kenma) ♥️

Proposal and marriage (Kenma) ♥️

With a short reader 1st part (Hinata, Kageyama, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi and Nishinoya) ♥️

With a short reader 2nd part (Oikawa, Kuroo, Lev, Tendou, Goshiki and Atsumu) ♥️

Scenarios

Is that my jersey? (Kageyama, Sugawara, Oikawa, Kenma and Akaashi) ♥️

Akatsuki no Yona

Headcanons

Cupping their cheeks (Kija, Shin-Ah, Jae-Ha and Zeno) ♥️

SFW alphabet: Hak ♥️

Scenarios

Sleeping together 1st part (Kija, Shin-Ah, Jae-Ha and Zeno) ♥️

Sleeping together 2nd part (Hak, Yoon and Soo-Won) ♥️

Are you hurt?! (Hak, Kija, Jae-Ha and Soo-Won) ♥️

Oneshots

Together (Shin-Ah x reader) ♥️

You weren't the right one (Hak x reader) ♥️⚡

Cursed (Abi x reader): 1st part, 2nd part, 3rd part ♥️⚡

Yu Yu Hakusho

Headcanons

Calling them 'handsome' (Yusuke, Kazuma, Kurama and Hiei) ♥️

With a reader who thinks they're funny (Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei) ♥️

With a very feminine reader (Yusuke, Kazuma, Kurama, Hiei and Koenma) ♥️

SFW alphabet: Kurama ♥️

With a reader with big legs and a nice butt (Yusuke) ♥️

Oneshots

Three times (Jin x reader) ♥️

Big proposal (Jin x reader) ♥️

Terrible day... but maybe not that much! (Jin x reader) ♥️

Attack on Titan

Headcanons

With a small reader (Eren, Armin, Levi and Jean) ♥️

Hugging them for the first time (Reiner, Bertholdt, Porko, Zeke, Colt and Falco) ♥️

General headcanons with OCs: 1 ♥️, 2 ♥️, 3 ♥️, 4 ♥️, 5 ♥️, 6 ♥️, 7 ♥️, 8 ♥️

Sweet domestic life's scene (Eren, Armin, Reiner, Bertholdt and Falco) ♥️

My children are titan shifters?! (Eren, Armin, Reiner, Bertholdt and Falco) ♥️

Kamisama Kiss

Nothing yet

Code Geass

Scenarios

First kiss (Lelouch, Suzaku, male Kallen and male Cornelia) ♥️

Ouran HighSchool Host Club

Headcanons

Finding out their crush is being bullied by their fans (Tamaki, Kyoya, Hikaru, Kaoru, Honey and Mori) ♥️

Naruto

Scenarios

First kiss 1st part (Naruto, Sasuke, Sai and Shikamaru) ♥️

First kiss 2nd part (Gaara, Kakashi, Obito and Itachi) ♥️

Oneshots

Forever (Madara x reader) ♥️⚡

I'll always stay with you (Naruto x reader) ♥️⚡

Death Note

Nothing yet

Blue Lock

Headcanons

Dating them includes... (Isagi, Bachira, Chigiri, Nagi, Reo, Rin and Sae) ♥️

Nanatsu no Taizai

Nothing yet

Jujutsu Kaisen

Headcanons

Being called 'darling' by their crush 1st part (Itadori, Fushiguro, male Nobara, Inumaki and Okkotsu) ♥️

Being called 'darling' by their crush 2nd part (male Maki, male Mai, Gojou and Getou) ♥️

Playing with their hair 1st part (Itadori, Fushiguro, male Nobara, Inumaki and Okkotsu) ♥️

Playing with their hair 2nd part (male Maki, male Mai, Gojou and Getou) ♥️

Oneshots

Cat called? Not when I'm around! (Inumaki x reader) ♥️

Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon

Headcanons

With a sweet, shy and awkward reader who has difficulty communicating (male Miyo, Kiyoka, Kouji, Kazushi and Arata): crush ♥️ and boyfriend headcanons ♥️

Marriage (Arata) ♥️

Children (Arata) ♥️

Pharaoh's Concubine

Headcanons

With a queen, apparently evil but actually good and kind, reader (Ramesses, Lapis, Memphis, Yali and Badru) ♥️

Sabaku no Harem

Nothing yet

Tokyo Ghoul

Nothing yet

Kaiju No. 8

Headcanons

Dating them includes... (Kafka, Reno, Soshiro, Iharu and Gen) ♥️