#and she already was at various points throughout the show

[nachosncheeze]

so i put a tagramble (oop pls forgive me?????) but i'm too verbose and it cut me off so just to add the concluding thoughts were

i like this kind of thing both bc it forces me to really think outside my la la la not listening box which is honestly fantastic for my writing

and it's JUST PLAIN INTERESTING besides

so thank you thank you for writing and sharing and now resharing 😍

I got a PM on fanfiction.net asking what I thought of the ending.

This is what I ended up rambling in response, and it’s so damn long that I figured I might as well make it a blog post.

Please note that I really don’t want people to keep telling me reasons that Jane must have lived. In my heart, I don’t believe that Jane lived. You can keep giving me reasons, but it’s not going to change what my gut reaction is. So I would really prefer it if any responses to this didn’t tell me no one leaves bodies in Times Square, or anything like that. The American foster system would never let Jane the ex-terrorist foster any children, either, if you want to go into realism territory - and definitely not within a year of applying…

Anyway, with that said, I really am happy that so many people are happy with the ending. There were a lot of scenes that I liked in it, and that I can find squee in. But overall, I’m just see-sawing between underwhelmed and downright depressed, and this is why:

Keep reading

[under-lore]

What could Sans find out about Flowey ?

By finishing a neutral route over and over again multiple times, Flowey has some unique dialogues in which he mentions various trivia or shares his thoughts on some of the other characters.

One such character is Sans, who Flowey notably gives us a warning about.

However, the way he words that warning feels a little intriguing :

While Sans is generally a very perceptive character who is often capable of making pretty good guesses from limited information, Flowey makes it rather obvious that he is speaking from experience rather than simply making a general comment about Sans' observation skills.

But a question that isn't brought up very often is, what was it exactly that Sans would frequently "find out" about Flowey to warrant this warning ? And how ?

While the question may seem unanswerable at first due to Flowey not giving us any specifics whatsoever, there are a few details scattered throughout the game which may allow us to deduce our way towards what was most likely the intended answer.

First, we know what solution Flowey ended up settling with in order to deal with whatever that issue was : Simply avoiding Sans.

In any given timeline, Flowey took the habit of avoiding to be seen by or around Sans at any point, unless he specifically had something in mind that required him to do so. (such as in the pacifist ending) As a general rule of thumb, he would avoid Sans altogether as much as possible.

However, even with that effort on Flowey's side, a quick mention of a talking flower from Papyrus is already enough to seemingly get Sans at least a little suspicious that something may be up with that.

This is our second clue : The fact that it took Sans so little information for him to get suspicious of what Papyrus told him about a flower.

Our last clue is the few words we hear from Sans after he sees and hears Flowey at the end of the pacifist route :

In order to find out what to make of those clues, we need to introduce a fourth element : Sans' scientific background.

Luckily, none of the more complicated or speculative nuances of that side of his character are required here, all that we need is to highlight his somewhat-hidden friendship with Alphys.

She knows him well enough to call his jokes in advance :

Or here, the game more obviously points out that these two seem surprisingly friendly.

Sans tries to play it off, but it is clear they know a lot more about each other than seems at first glance.

But how much exactly ?

Well...

To go back to our main point, if one were to call Papyrus' phone in front of Alphys' lab, the conversation between the skeletons brothers would eventually deviate towards the question of wether or not Alphys is hiding dogs inside of her lab.

To which Sans answers, winking :

If it had just been this one joke, it may have been a coincidence, but the game doubles down on this exact same implication if you call Papyrus from within the lab as well, showing that this connection between Sans and Endogeny was absolutely intentional :

While the determination experiments were sorely Alphys' entreprise, it appears that Sans was at least made aware of the way they ended up playing out.

We cannot affirm with certainty how much detail exactly Sans has regarding the experiments, but if he is aware for the dogs and possibly even involved in dealing with them (as he had the dog food bag in his room), then he most definitely would also know about the vessel too. It was the main goal, after all.

This vessel had a few particularities.

First, it was a golden flower, the flower from the outside world, chosen for symbolic reasons.

But second, that specific golden flower was chosen because it was different from the rest.

It was at the center of the garden, it had grown before all the others, those were the ones mentioned by Alphys in her entries. But there was one more specificity which she omitted to bring up :

Golden flowers in Undertale are a species of flowers which has 5 petals.

But our "vessel" had a mutation, resulting in an extra 6th petal.

A design choice in part, perhaps, but one that takes a very real in-world importance within this context.

Adding to this that, from the view of the current timeline iteration, the vessel seems to have suddenly vanished one day and...

Since it is likely for Sans to have been aware of all of this, now, it makes a lot of sense that the mere idea of a new mysterious talking flower that says strange things showing up out of nowhere would immediately put him on high alert. A potential connection with the missing vessel is easy to make.

Actually, now that we have this context, even Alphys seems to make the same connection as well after hearing Papyus mentioning a talking flower just before Flowey arrives.

But most of all, it now feels incredibly clear why Flowey needs to avoid being seen by Sans so much.

His entire appearance, and particularly his obvious extra 6th petal, are all dead giveaways of his origins.

Could Sans, who is skilled enough at analysing faces to tell the difference between the face of someone that has died 9 or 10 times in a row, really miss out on such blaring evidence ?

Of course not.

Flowey might as well have written "i am the vessel" on his face with a marker as far as Sans is concerned.

Chances are that merely seeing Flowey even once would be all it takes for Sans to be practically certain that Flowey must be the former vessel.

Not only that, but given that those experiments were all about determination, the so called "resolve to change fate", Flowey would also immediately be considered extremely likely to be the anomaly, too.

This is what we see in this scene :

Not only does Sans get to see Flowey here, but the speech that Flowey makes during this scene also provides him with definitive evidence that Flowey really was the "anomaly" he had been worried about, as his psychological profile matches extremely well with the one Sans shows us to have built for the anomaly in a genocide route. But, it also shows him that Flowey has, for now at least, lost his anomalous time powers to Frisk, and is thus struggling to keep them in his "game".

This suggests that for now, Frisk actually still has the advantage, and that despite all those crazy speeches, without his reset powers, that weirdo has got nothing on them.

But this is all later on in the story.

During Flowey's earlier RESETs, being seen by Sans, even once, quickly becomes a major pain for Flowey in every timeline iteration in which it happens.

At best, he might get "pranked accross time and space" a number of times. At worst, Flowey might have no choice but to reset and start all over again on whatever he was aiming to do.

Except this time around, without letting the smiley trashbag learn ANYTHING about him.

[aealzx]

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Update Post

Prologue | AO3

Previous Next

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“So…Let me just summarize to make sure I understand,” Jazz requested, feeling a little overwhelmed by all the new information Bruce, Barry, and Leslie had explained to her, but at least not so overwhelmed to the point of breaking down anymore. She’d just never heard of something like hemoperfusion before, so it had been a lot to take in. “Danny has blood blossom toxin throughout his blood stream, and since blood blossoms don’t exist here there’s no antitoxin to inject him with. And since developing one would take too long and be too risky, you want to try hemoperfusion. Which is like hemodialysis, except it removes toxins instead of fluids. And since hemoperfusion is known to cause a mild decrease in various common blood components, you want to have a blood donation from Danielle to offset that. Because she’s the only one here who also has ectoplasm in her blood, and you don’t want to dilute that in Danny since he’s already low…Did I get all of that?”

“Yes,” Bruce answered simply, giving a small nod. He was ready to go over anything they needed to again, a tablet in his hand ready to be used to open any of the files he’d already shown Jazz a second time. She had reacted to the information about Danny’s condition with anxious fear, but overall she was managing to remain significantly calmer than earlier that day.

Jazz was silent as she ran through everything she could remember just one more time, as well as trying to think of anything that they may have missed. Either because it was an oversight, or they simply just didn’t know. But she couldn’t see any risks other than the ones they had already told her they were aware of. She honestly wasn’t sure she would have caught the risk of diluting the ectoplasm in Danny’s blood herself. Amity always had an abundance of ectoplasm leaking everywhere, so even when Danny has spent a lot he’d always been able to recover some from the ambient. It, and the way they had addressed this situation, was enough for her to finally look to Bruce and nod. “Okay. Go ahead.”

Bruce was admittedly pleasantly surprised at the response, but kept his response in check other than a content smile. Barry’s shoulders sagged with his sigh of relief, and he barely waited for Bruce to give him a nod before he dashed from the room in a blink.

“Barry and Wally will take care of getting the supplies. We’ll test the types of resin with the blood samples we already have to make sure we use the correct one. But it shouldn’t take too long. Is it alright if we inform the rest of your family of what’s going on?” Bruce requested, not wanting Sam, Tucker and Danielle to be left out just because his own children were doing a good job keeping them occupied. Barbara had come over to meet them already, and she and Tim were indulging Tucker’s questions as well as getting some of their own answers. Then Stephanie and Cass had spent some time letting Danielle pick out some different clothes before they had joined Wally in the gym. Danielle had been ecstatic to find out about Wally’s abilities, and all four of them were having fun showing off and messing around together. Which left Sam talking with Duke, Damian, and Alfred about some of Duke’s adventures, Damian’s menagerie of pets, and Alfred’s recipes and food sources. The news would be an interruption to their fun, but Bruce had confidence that his team could help them stay occupied and taken care of instead of relying only on Jazz.

“...Sure,” Jazz agreed once more, giving another nod. They had already told her that they would have Danielle stop by the room to draw her blood, so having the three of them back in the room for a bit wasn’t a bad idea.

It didn’t take long at all for Barry and Wally to return with the equipment, getting it set up in record speed next to the bed before Barry joined Bruce back in the lab to test the different resins. They were simple tests that could all be done at the same time, so they were back upstairs soon after Leslie had finished drawing Danielle’s blood.

“Here’s the lucky winner,” Barry chimed, holding a second canister of the resin that they had found cleared the blood blossom toxin from Danny’s blood while having minimal effect on the important parts that needed to stay.

“Woah… I was expecting something bigger,” Sam admitted, watching Barry from where she was hovering near Danielle.

Barry just chuckled as he headed to the machine and popped the canister in. “It doesn’t need to be that big. We’re only pulling a tiny amount of toxin from him and putting the rest back after all.”

“Fair enough,” Sam accepted, attention shifting slightly as Danielle flexed her arm and moved around to make sure she wasn’t dizzy or anything.

“And you’re sure it’s going to work?” Tucker asked, his nervous nature prompting him to reach for reassurance despite the procedure not being used on him.

“It’s not as common as dialysis, but it’s still something that’s been used thousands of times on thousands of different people. I’m sure it’ll get most, if not all of the toxin,” Barry assured, stepping out of the way so Leslie could proceed to get Danny connected to the device. Unfortunately the IV needle that had been used was too small, so Leslie couldn’t use it for one of the tubes, even if it had been in the right place. So it was simply pinched closed, and disconnected to use again later while the other two tubes were inserted.

The others continued to chatter lightly, but Jazz was more focused on what Leslie was doing. How she was prepping Danny’s arm, where she put the tubes, trying to guess what she was looking for. She didn’t think this would be the last time Danny, or Danielle got poisoned, so she felt she should learn as much as she could while she could. It also helped her feel like she was being useful. Adding to her skillset to maybe use later instead of just sitting and being worried. It certainly helped even though once Leslie finally started the machine nothing seemed to be happening. It was a good thing though. No immediate adverse reactions, no sudden drop in vitals. Nothing but the quiet hum of the machine added to the soft beeps of the heart monitor and puffs from the oxygen tank.

Within an hour the others had gotten bored enough to easily be lured away by the rest of Bruce’s family once again.

Thirty minutes after and Jazz was the only one left, having moved to sit on the floor at the side of the bed. She wanted to be close to Danny, but she felt in the way if she sat on the bed. There were too many tubes now. Before he could have been mistaken for just sleeping. But now he really was looking like a coma patient. It made it hard to watch him, even though she refused to leave.

A short time later Jason was knocking on the doorframe to announce his presence, causing Jazz to look up.

“...Hey,” she greeted, a little confused.

“Hey,” Jason returned, “Just checking in. You need anything?” A half lie. He’d actually volunteered to hang out for a while to make sure the hemoperfusion process was going well. Luckily it looked like Danny’s vitals hadn’t changed much from two hours ago.

Jazz blinked in mild surprise at the offer, but even after thinking for a moment she couldn’t come up with anything. Part of her knew there were probably a multitude of things that she should be at least curious about, but mostly she just felt tired. The near quiet of the room while she knew everyone was okay and having fun was nice. She was content to just relax as well as she could for now. “No, I’m good,” she responded.

Jason didn’t quite believe her, his brow raising. “Says the girl sitting on the floor wearing random spare clothes borrowed from someone else, and doing nothing but stare at the other side of the room,” he commented dryly with a half smirk, stepping into the room and taking a seat on the floor near Jazz.

The comment caught Jazz off guard, but she could only give a small giggle. She probably did look at least a little unwell huh. “...I guess I just haven’t fully realized I’m safe yet,” she admitted. “It’s hard to think about anything.”

“Fair enough,” Jason accepted, being able to understand the feeling. “...Do you mind if I ask you something then?”

Another mild surprise, but Jazz just nodded after a moment. “Sure.”

“You mentioned before…” Jason started, thinking back to something Jazz had said before lunch, “that your parents tried to hurt Danny before they knew….” The reminder was potentially a very unhappy topic, but it was prodding he felt was necessary. Were they safe at home? Were they runaways? Were their parents involved with the ones that had hurt Danny recently? They needed to know if it was a good idea to try and get these kids back to their family or not. And if he was going to keep Jazz company and monitor the hemoperfusion process he didn’t feel like spending the time in silence.

“....Yeah… Our parents used to be ghost hunters,” Jazz admitted, a sorrowful smile as she stared at her hands. It seemed she was in the mood to talk, for she continued unprompted. “We grew up with their crazy antics. Making machines that could track down and destroy ghosts. Always talking about dissecting them, or using them as a power source. They had so many studies supporting the idea that ghosts were just residual emotions from people, given human form, but not actually human. So many things that convinced others that ghosts weren’t people anymore.”

“And yet… all it took was them finding out that Danny was half ghost, half dead, and it made them rethink everything they had developed. He was fourteen when… And I didn’t find out until a few months later. I didn’t even tell him I knew, because I knew if I did he would get scared. Why wouldn’t he, after all? With the idea that his mom and dad might cut into him just to satiate their curiosity looming over his head. It was an accident that they found out, and I was so scared he was going to run away. But mom just tried her best to treat him like Danny, and nothing else. Dropped her gun and told us we should go home and get a snack, because we were probably hungry. It…. it was enough to keep him home, but it wasn’t enough for everything to be okay. It was like everyone was trying to pretend everything was normal, but we all knew it wasn’t. They stopped doing their experiments. Started pretending they were oblivious to anything related to ghosts. It was awful. I felt so… so useless.”

“It was months of this stupid, awkward fake normal family facade before it finally broke. Danny accidentally got burned when mom was cooking, and she had a breakdown. We found out that our dad was okay with everything, but mom was having a hard time because she couldn’t believe that she had hurt Danny before. Even if she didn’t know it was him. But, after she had a really long talk with my brother, things started to look more normal again. Only this time, instead of being ghost hunters my parents dove headfirst into trying to figure out how to help ghosts. We realized we couldn’t take Danny to the doctors anymore, so my parents and I tried to make sure we could fill in that role. Mom would try all sorts of new, ectoplasm rich meals for him, making sure they tasted good to him. She started making smoothies for him every morning once she found ones he liked. On top of helping him study for school every day when there weren’t other ghosts causing trouble. There’s so many nights I found them asleep together on the couch. Danny was always mom’s favorite, and I think dad got jealous about how close they got. Until Danielle came back from her world exploration adventures and Danny convinced her to officially meet my parents. Then Dad and Danielle latched onto each other so quickly, and became inseparable.”

The retelling had seemed a little painful at first, but it was easy to see that Jazz was at least content with the way her family life was now. It wasn’t perfect, but then again families never were. Jason couldn’t help notice the tone of voice she took when talking about her parents favoring her siblings. She didn’t seem too upset, but there definitely wasn’t complete indifference to the facts. “...Does it make you upset? Having your siblings be your parents’ favorites?” he couldn’t help asking.

Jazz could only snicker at the question, falling quiet for a beat before answering. “Sometimes,” she admitted, then looked over with a mildly mischievous grin that made Jason semi think of Danielle. “But then I remember I’m Danny’s favorite, and I’m usually okay.”

The proud declaration made Jason snicker, glad to hear she had at least one thing keeping her from devolving into jealousy. She didn’t seem to want to talk much more though, and Jason wanted to leave the conversation on a happier note and therefore didn’t ask about the ‘Guys in White’ Danielle had mentioned before. So instead, after another stretch of quiet, he just chose to reassure her. “... He’ll be okay.”

Jazz didn’t answer immediately, drawing in a sigh and letting it go. She seemed to be doing much better as the day had stretched on, handling the news that Danny had poison throughout his bloodstream much better than the suggestion of drawing his blood. And being reassured that he would be okay, she gained a smile. “... He better be,” she commented, gaining a glint in her eye that Jason had seen in others he knew. “Otherwise the government back home will have to deal with a new super villain family.”

The comment only caught Jason slightly off guard, eyes widening just for a moment as he looked at Jazz before bursting into a hearty laugh. “Fair enough,” he agreed. The son of a family getting killed by the government was a legit enough back story for super villains in his opinion.

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lil bit of home situation dump and hopefully the last bit of the part that was giving me trouble. Nice to get to draw Jason without the suit XD though I almost forgot to draw the bandage on his fingers.

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Tag list: @galaxy-sharks-and-bottled-ships, @starscreamlover, @nerdynonnativenarnian, @dragongoblet, @megacharizardx99

@bellathecatastrophe, @cj-ghostemoji-destielpie, @asexual-insomniac, @wolfeyedwitch, @tkiesai, 

@fanaroff, @raven1508, @nebulainajar, @serasvictoria02, @oliocelottafanfics,

@honeysuckletook, @omniithe-deer, @wolf-under-the-stars, @gingernutcalo, @that-random-fangirl,

@op-sys-chaos, @kirasigncomics, @ehobep

[eliza-forget]

PLEASE tell us more about your Leshy and the two cats!!!!! The cats are so pretty and also so is your art. I love your art so so so so so much 💖

Well, I'll start by saying that the Leshy himself in my AU is quite dark, violent, and traumatized. He survived the sudden betrayal of Narinder (as the one he trusted and looked up to most as a child), he survived all the turmoil associated with the fact that faith in the bishops was shaken, I call this period as "shaky", and the whole four were on the verge of losing their authority. And already during the game's storyline, Lamb's campaigns, Heket died. In my Au, which is mostly based on my insane playthrough of the game, Leshy was the last Bishop to be killed by Lamb. I mean, there was this sequence: Heket> Shamura> Kallamar. I have that point actually explained in the storyline, but that's not what the main question is about xd.

In the works, where you see him in the clothes of a follower (yes-yes that red one), has its own meaning. It's like a sign of his acceptance of a new way of life and to some extent, a rejection of the past. In this story, he's processing his traumas, learning the ways and lives of mortals, and then he makes two close friends: those two cats.

In general, I can characterize my Leshy as a personality. He changes slowly, but throughout the narrative in my Au. Leshy is still the Bishop of Chaos, in terms of character, but has softened a bit because of his environment in which he resides.

Tirena

Let me briefly tell you about Tirena's storyline. Her parents were nomads who came from other lands to the lands of the Old Faith. They mostly moved between locations, but eventually stopped at Darkwood.In fact, Tirena's family was loyal to what was happening in the lands and tried to please all the local cruel rules. The turning point of the plot for Tirena came at the time of her coming of age, for which her parents sacrificed themselves to the bishop, and she was given a necklace (but not the one she wears now) in memory of her parents. As a result of which she ran away from the place. Stumbled upon Lamb by accident, from behind a campfire in the night. So in the story, she showed up in his settlement and became a devoted disciple in the future, but still with an unconcealed grudge against the bishops.

In comic, she got into an altercation with Narinder on the same topic.

Yolk (yellow cat)

Yolk's former name was Najulmer, and he changed his name at the settlement. His parents were the same cultists who, long after Leshy's death, continued the resistance. Yolk did not share the same point of view with them; he was more interested in studying the world around him, and specifically its strange inhabitants. So he set out on his wanderings in search of that "paradise" by which he meant the Lamb's settlement. Along the way meeting various companions, studying monsters and even cooking with them. He has already been rescued by Lamb when he was trapped by the treachery of his recent companion. In the settlement he quickly finds contact with Tirena, or rather she has to tolerate his intrusive company. Then Lamb returns from a camping trip and summons Leshy from purgatory and he becomes both a nightmare for Yolk, but and an intriguing object of study. He btw yes, never once saw the bishops and didn't even know that Leshy was one.

Somehow that's what the plot of these three sounds like. I hope it was interesting and informative to learn about them!

[whotfelsewantedtobelynnyx]

So I’ve seen a couple posts about the DELIGHTFUL possibility of Zestial/Carmilla/Rosie and although it’s not the most realistic ship I’ve ever seen in this show…something about it just makes my brain go

So have some headcanons!

TW: Some mild implied sexual content and mentions of alcohol. It is Hazbin Hotel 🤷‍♀️

- Zestial and Rosie are both enamored with Carmilla’s hair. Rosie is constantly trying to convince her lover to wear her hair down more often, while Carmilla insists she wears it up because Rosie CANNOT resist playing with it (and really, she can’t). Zestial, on the other hand, just likes being allowed to help her brush and style it. He claims he enjoys the intimacy of the act. Rosie argues that he just ALSO enjoys playing with Carmilla’s hair.

Zestial, gently running a brush through Carmilla’s hair: Mine dearest, what, pray tell, befell thee to put thy locks in such a state?

Carmilla, leaning back in his lap with her eyes closed: Rosie.

Zestial, subtly smacking something away with the brush: Ah.

Rosie, who had been sneakily winding a piece around her finger: >:(

- Her impressively long hair is also why Carmilla has banned showering together in her home (“If you want it so badly, you can pay the water bill.”) It already takes her the better part of an hour to wash, condition, and then restyle it without any…distractions.

- Cannibal Town is significantly further away from Zestial and Carmilla’s territories than either are from each other. Rosie keeps a little box of knickknacks stashed in her vanity (handwritten letters from Zestial, a bottle of Carmilla's perfume, and various jewelry that she's stolen from them both) for when she can't make it to see her lovers for too long.

- Carmilla sleeps in the middle when they share a bed. This isn’t necessarily out of preference (in fact, she’s really not a big cuddler and would probably sleep on her own mattress at least some of the time if given the chance) but because both her partners are INCREDIBLY cold bodied and insist on being curled around her much warmer self when they sleep.

- Carmilla is also CONSTANTLY sleep deprived. It’s mostly her own fault (she takes the phrase “working yourself to death” to a whole new level), but every once in a while she suffers from a bout of actual insomnia, which leaves her miserable to be around the next day. Zestial usually gets sent in at that point to convince her to take a break (and a nap), because she’s least likely to snap at him.

- Zestial is partially nocturnal due to his somewhat spidery traits. He still enjoys staying in the same bed as his partners, but spends at least part of the night simply just watching them sleep. Carmilla took awhile to be comfortable with it (though she warmed up to it eventually) but Rosie found it sweet.

- Rosie and Zestial often bond over classic literature, like a weird little two-demon book club. They’ve tried to include Carmilla in it in the past, but she shuts it down every time (she loves them both, she does, but what little she understands she finds either dull, depressing, or both). She will, however, drop by with a cup of tea and a kiss for each before leaving them to their own devices.

- Both Carmilla’s partners have a good relationship with her daughters. However, Zestial is more like to a second parent to them, whereas Rosie is closer to a fun aunt/godmother (which gets her in trouble sometimes)

Clara: Rosie, will you take us downtown tonight?

Rosie: Hmm. What’d your mama say?

Odette: She said no.

Rosie: Then why’re ya asking me?

Clara: Because she’s not the boss of you.

Rosie: Huh. Well-

Zestial, interjecting with a pointed look at Rosie: In fact, I do believe she is. Of us both, dear one.

Rosie: …yeah, that’s probably right.

(Side note- 90% of the time, Carmilla absolutely is the boss of them both. In more ways than one 😉)

- Zestial is the only person Carmilla will let see her cry.

- Both C and Z have some chronic pains from throughout their lives/afterlives (Carmilla gets horrible migraines, while Zestial has some old wounds in his back and shoulders that never healed properly, as well as some joint pain in his wings that flares up when he sleeps on them awkwardly). When it gets too bad, the other will usually take over their work for the day so that they can go to Rosie’s and rest.

- Rosie, for her part, enjoys fussing over her partners a little too much- while Zestial sort of enjoys the attention, it can be a bit much for Carmilla when her head’s already killing her. She can’t stay too mad though, especially when being cradled in Rosie’s arms like that is so soothing and she can tell Rosie left off her usual perfume and hairspray out of consideration to her headache.

- Rosie has a pretty high alcohol tolerance and can usually function fairly well when she’s been drinking. The only exception is when she goes out with Alastor. Carmilla hates these nights because she then has to go and haul them BOTH home.

[watermelonsugacry]

can we plsss get harry’s reaction when y/n first sang the nonsense outro about him??

i love this series so much!!!

A/N: so this happened pre-married!ynrry !!

Despite the massive arena, fans were quick to spot Harry, Jeff, and Jenny (YN's manager) in their seats reserved for family and friends. He puts a hand over his heart, blows some kisses, and gives some friendly waves at some excited fans surrounding him.

There's no question about how much fans love to see the two at each other's shows. Despite the struggle of having to split their attention between the one on stage and the one in the audience, it's all worth it when seeing the two at the same show.

Throughout the night, Harry's been dancing in his spot, singing along to every song, a red solo cup in his hand--all while looking fondly at his fiancée on stage.

Tonight is especially a good night since it's the first night YN plans on singing Nonsense live with Harry in the audience. She's already sung the unreleased song a small handful of times and it never fails to put a smile on her face to see the fans go crazy when it pops up on the setlist.

She shouldn't be surprised by the crowd already knowing the lyrics and screaming/singing them back to her. But there's no denying that the most anticipated part of the song is when YN creates outros that are tailored around whatever city she's in. Tonight was no different. Tonight, she wrote a little something special for this show in particular.

So when the song comes to a close, YN makes sure to walk on the side of the catwalk where her fiancé stands with her favorite dimpled smile.

You might know me as that girl from 1D.

Fell in love with one of them named Harry.

Putain je t'aime tellement, Paris (I fucking love you so much, Paris)

After singing her lines, YN puts her hands in the air with a cheeky smile as the audience erupts into a fit of screams. Both of their manager's jaws drop, simultaneously leaning over to look at Harry in excitement.

At her second line, Harry had cheekily turned his head with a smile and raised brows. But by the end of the song, he hides his pink, bashful cheeks in his hands as Jeff shakes his shoulders. Jenny cheers along with the loud crowd, pointing out Harry's shy reaction.

"Did yeh like that one?" YN eagerly asks her love, cutely leaning to the side like she's trying to peak around his hand shield. She lets out a giggle when she receives a blown kiss and two thumbs up from him. Despite the low lights in the audience, close fans can see how his cheeks still cling to the blush.

It's quite a sight to see him act so shy about her relatively tame lyrics given that he's written countless songs about her with various sexual nuances. But oh how the tables turn when he's on the other end.

"Good. Wrote that one just for you, babe," She holds up a finger gun with a wink and a clink of her tongue. She spins on her heel to turn her attention back to the rest of the audience but it doesn't last very long once the fans begin to bark and hoot at Harry.

"Oi! This isn't about him anymore," YN playfully scolds but she can't help but join in as she pumps her fist beside her. "Alright, alright. We better stop before it gets to his head. His egos already big enough."

Despite the arena being to loud to actually hear it, everyone can practically hear his offended 'heyy' with that pinch in his brows.

.

SINCE 2010 masterlist

Taglist:

@wobblymug @be-with-me-so-happily @ashtongivesmebutterfiles @kiwiskiwiskiwi @darlingdesire @hopefulwastelandcreation @cacapeepee @breezie-b00 @obsesseddd @harrysfolklore @theekyliepage @sunshinemoonsposts @nervousspiderling @tbslonelyhes @tenaciousperfectionunkown @harrystylesrecs @certified-nalayak @itsjustsel @iknowyouthinkimbulletproof @gviosca @behindmygreyeyes @twobluejeans @allisonxmcu @theemeraldbutterfly @jean-love @marvellover-sam @b-readers-things @reveriehs @rach2602 @thurhomish @perrypughstyles @luvonstyles @mxltifxnd0m @teamspideyman @c00chiemonster @juiceboxrry @s8tellite @folklorehrry @illicithallways @claramllera @eunoiaax @hoya122 @nichmedder @sleutherclaw @gloriousmoneyrascalbiscuit @harianaswhore @vrittivsanghavi @vc55bughead @futuristiccroissantlampsludge @onecrazydirectioner @valluvsu @itsgabbysblog @awkwardbisexuall @rosehel @sucker4angstt @isalove @diorchives @mrshiddlestyles02 @fdl305

[libraryofgage]

PJO Steddie Five

One | Two | Three | Four

Here it is! We learn El's parent in this one, and there's a wonderfully healthy dose of Steddie throughout the whole part.

There's a meme on this one, too lol

If you see any typos, no you didn't ^_^

-----

It should not have taken five days to drive from Athens, Tennessee, to Camp Half-Blood in Long Island. Eddie wouldn't be surprised if Chrissy and his bandmates thought he'd died some horrible death while on this retrieval. But Eddie would love to meet the person who can tell Steve and a gaggle of demigod children to hurry up and get to camp already. They spent two days at Hearth and Home just for the pool, and various stops along the way followed that same pattern.

It was, in all honesty, the most relaxed retrieval mission Eddie has ever fucking experienced. Only one monster ever gave them trouble (another harpy--go figure--that Steve dispatched with ease and no injury) while the rest would sniff around and eventually have their eyes glaze over like they'd lost interest or encountered something familiar. They'd then move on, leaving the group to continue their meal in relative peace.

But for as relaxed as Eddie and the kids are, Steve is ramped to the absolute limit. His shoulders remain tense, his leg bounces whenever he sits still too long, his eyes constantly survey their surroundings, and he seems to have placed a distance between himself and Eddie. It hurts to see, especially considering the literal spark between them, but Eddie tells himself it's just until they get to camp and Steve sees for himself that they're safe.

And that moment is getting closer as they hike up Half-Blood Hill, Steve's car left at the foot until Eddie can convince Chiron and Mr. D to let him park it in the camp itself. "That big tree there is where the protective barrier starts," Eddie explains, pointing at Thalia's tree. "It used to be a girl, but there was a whole thing with the Golden Fleece, and long story short, she's running around with Artemis now."

"Can I run around with Artemis?" Max asks, her voice eager as she falls back to keep pace with Steve and Eddie.

Steve snorts, and Eddie notices the way his hand tightens on his bat. His knuckles turn white and the muscles in his forearm straining slightly and Eddie has to look away before his mouth gets too dry. "Maybe when you're older," Steve says, "After you can beat me in a spar."

Max groans, stomping her way back to Lucas with hunched shoulders and a quiet mutter that she won't be winning anytime soon.

They reach the top of the hill then, and Eddie watches as the group slows down. El in particular falls back until she's next to Steve and can grip his hand tightly. Her beanie seems to be squirming, but the movement is so subtle that Eddie thinks he's probably seeing the air ripples from the heat. He hurries to the front of the group and grins at them. "Okay! You ready to enter Camp Half-Blood, AKA the best place ever?" he asks.

"Just get on with it already," Mike says, crossing his arms as Erica nods in agreement.

Eddie, in an incredibly mature move, sticks out his tongue, and he's rewarded with a quiet laugh from Steve. "As I was saying, once you pass by the tree, I'll introduce you to Chiron, the activities director here. After that, we'll get cabin arrangements, measure you for armor and swords, and give a full tour. Of course, I'll be the one showing you around, which means you'll be getting the best possible version of the tour."

He waits for applause, but it never comes, and Eddie pouts at them. "Can't you be more excited? This is, like, the first time I've managed to bring back kids who aren't terrified."

"Oh boy," Dustin says, his voice high and fake, "I can't wait for Eddie to show us around Camp Half-Blood."

"Joke all you like, Henderson, I'm taking it as a compliment," Eddie says, darting forward and pushing down the bill of Dustin's cap. He moves back easily and claps his hands. "Okay! Step on through, please."

The kids all glance back at Steve, and he smiles encouragingly. As a group, they move past the perimeter of the tree until only Steve and El are left standing on the edge. Eddie flashes a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, it's gonna be great. El and the kids can meet more demigods their age, and you, Stevie, can relax since you won't have any monsters coming after you."

Steve nods and looks at El. "You ready?" he asks. She holds his hand even tighter--and Eddie is starting to worry about Steve's bones here--but nods.

Together, they step over the threshold.

Or, well, Steve does. El is stuck on the other side, Steve's hand still in hers but unable to pull her through. Her shoulders drop, and despite Steve's best efforts, she can't get an inch over the barrier that ripples between them. Resigned, she looks down at their hands, her grip starting to loosen some.

Eddie stares at this scene with wide eyes, and a few things suddenly make sense. No wonder Steve wouldn't say who El's godly parent is. She technically doesn't have one. The odd protectiveness makes a lot of sense now, too. And so does the way monsters would apparently move on like the gaggle of demigods was uninteresting.

"Well," Steve says, breaking Eddie out of his epiphany, "we gave it a shot."

With that, he steps back through the barrier, the rest of the kids quickly follow suit, and Eddie can feel them slipping through his fingers. "Wait!" he shouts, relieved when Steve looks up at him.

He's about to give El permission, to say everything is gonna be fine, to beg on his fucking knees if that will keep Steve--and the kids, of course--from walking away.

This is, of course, when the fucking armored and armed barrier patrol (a tradition that never really faded despite the camp's renewed safety) decides to show up.

Eddie just can't get a fucking break, huh?

-------

The moment arrows, swords, and spears (among other weapons) are aimed at them, Steve shoves the kids behind him. El sticks the closest, practically hugging his back, but he knows she'll pull away if it comes down to a fight. Steve twirls his bat, his eyes narrowed as he takes stock of his potential opponents.

The barrier shimmers between the two groups, a slight haze in his vision, and Eddie stands in the middle, one foot on each side of the barrier, looking a little frazzled. That's when a girl comes forward, her blonde hair pulled in a ponytail, a bow in hand, and her quiver slung over her shoulder. She smiles at Eddie, bright like the sun, and Steve feels a familiar-but-not kind of buzzing under his skin.

"Eddie! You're okay!" she shouts, dashing forward and hugging him tightly.

Steve's throat feels tight as Eddie hugs her back, his grip on the bat straining until he hears the reinforced wood groan and forces himself to loosen up. "Eddie," he says, a huge part of him relieved when Eddie immediately looks at him.

The girl looks between the two of them, and her eyes widen, and she smiles excitedly, and Steve suddenly feels a little better.

"Hello, I'm Chrissy," she says, walking over to stand across the barrier from Steve. "We got an alert that a monster was trying to cross, so we came to offer help. Everything looks fine, though, so come on through."

Steve feels El tug on the back of his shirt as the kids shift nervously. "We're good, actually," Lucas blurts out, unable to handle the silence.

Chrissy blinks, her smile still present but her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "You're...good?" she asks.

"Yeah," Steve says, licking his lips nervously, "I'm sure Camp Half-Blood is fun and all, but we can't stay."

"Why not? You'll be safer here."

Steve doesn't know how to answer that question, and El spares him the effort of trying to by saying, "I can't get through." He wants to spin around and grab her shoulders and ask what she's thinking, but it's El's choice to tell people, no matter how much Steve might disagree with her.

"Oh," Chrissy says, her smile dimming some before she brightens again. "Are you mortal? That's okay, we can just give you permission."

It's the perfect excuse, and Steve is ready to fucking run with it, but El shakes her head. "I'm not mortal," she says.

A heavy silence falls over the group on the other side of the barrier as the demigods understand what she means. "What kind of monster are you?" a boy asks, his hand twitching as though ready to reach for an arrow.

"Look, it doesn't matter," Steve says, a bad feeling forming in his gut. His nerves start buzzing on instinct, crackling and pulling at the clouds just a tiny bit. "We'll leave you alone and go our separate ways. You'll....you'll never see us again." And Steve can't help his voice softening, glancing at Eddie as he says that last part.

Because he wants to see Eddie again. He wants to learn about the literal spark they shared. He wants to know if Eddie's lips are soft or rough. But Steve always puts the kids first. Their safety comes before everything else, even himself.

"Wait! There's no need to go," Eddie says, holding his hands out to both sides but looking at Steve. "El isn't dangerous. We can still give her permission."

"Like Hades we are!" the same boy shouts.

"Jason!" Chrissy says, her tone hard as she whirls around.

Jason looks insulted and confused. "What are you yelling at me for? I'm not the one trying to bring a fucking monster into camp."

"She's not a monster! Stop saying that," Mike shouts, trying to push forward only for Steve to push him right back.

"Oh? Then what is she?" Jason asks.

"Her name is El," Steve says, his voice hard and unforgiving, "and she is my sister."

Several of the campers' eyes widen, and suddenly their bows are loaded and ready to shoot. "You brought two monsters to camp!" a girl shouts, glaring at Eddie.

Steve frowns, trying to control the building anger and wariness. Based on the slowly gathering clouds overhead, it's not working.

"Those things are dangerous," Jason says, his eyes narrowed. "I bet the rest are monsters in disguise, too."

"No!" Eddie shouts, "they got through the barrier."

"Oh? Prove it. Walk through right now."

The kids don't move an inch and neither does Steve. Chrissy turns back to them, an uncomfortable grimace tugging at her lips. "It would really help to diffuse things if you could just step over," she says softly.

"Not without El," Max says, glaring at the group.

"Or Steve," Lucas adds.

Despite everything, Steve can't help a wry smile and a joking, "Gee, thanks for thinking of me," thrown over his shoulder.

"Well, isn't that convenient," Jason sneers, "None of the monsters want to cross."

He pulls his bowstring back a little farther, and the clouds above them start to gather faster, tiny sparks jumping under Steve's hand on the bat. He grits his teeth, trying desperately to not get lost in anger, and takes a deep breath. "Listen, this obviously isn't going to work," he says, looking at Eddie. He smiles apologetically. "Thank you for trying, though. It was...a nice thought."

And then several things happen all at once.

Eddie's eyes widen, desperation seeps into them, and he shouts, "I give El permission to cross the barrier!"

El starts to move around Steve like she wants to talk to Chrissy herself, her beanie squirming obviously.

The rest of the kids behind Steve get caught up in El's movements and try to follow, pushing Steve forward a step and bumping El slightly to the side.

His annoyance flares, and dark clouds stretch above them with a quiet, nearly inaudible rumble of thunder.

Finally, an arrow is loosed from the group of demigods, and its path would have been true if not for the kids pushing Steve. Instead, it shoots El's beanie clear off her head and lands in the grass behind the kids, just barely missing Dustin and Will in the process.

Really, Steve can't be blamed for what happened next. Between El's snakes freaking out and the kids shouting and the arrow in the grass overpowering his vision, he really can't be blamed.

It's only understandable that he loses it, that his tenuous control fucking snaps.

A bellowing crack of thunder above them is the only warning the demigods get before a bolt of lightning strikes the ground right next to them. The sheer force of it creates a whole nearly two feet deep, knocking the demigods back a few feet as more bolts follow in its wake. Each one burns the ground where it strikes, and tiny fires feed on the grass.

Little arches of lightning jump across Steve's arms, his hair fluffing out slightly from the static. His chest is heaving from anger and electricity and the aftermath of so much tension finally breaking free as bolts corral the demigods into a tiny circle, striking all around them to prevent escape.

"Steve," El says, the sound of her grabbing his attention more than her words. But when Steve looks at her and sees the snakes on her head rubbing against each other and tasting the air and trying to stay as close to her scalp as possible, his anger flares again at the reminder of the arrow that could have killed his kids. Not only the arrow, but El's snakes could have hurt them, too. If not for the kids immediately squeezing their eyes shut, a few might be statues right now. Sure, it would wear off in a bit, and Steve is immune anyway since he's related to El, but it's fucking inconvenient and dangerous given the situation.

"Stay back," he growls, his words crackling with the lightning as he turns back to the demigods. They look scared shitless, and Steve hasn't even done anything yet. The only ones who haven't been corralled are Chrissy and Eddie, since neither of them actually did anything.

He steps forward, an arch of lightning stretching between his heel and the ground when he lifts his foot. The nails on his bat spark and glow red, looking nearly as angry as Steve feels. Steve crosses the barrier, feels it wash over him, and stops just on the other side. He smiles at the demigods, feral and unrestrained as a storm, and raises his hand to the sky.

Or he starts to only for his view to be blocked by brown hair in desperate need of a good shampoo and big brown eyes. Steve blinks, a tiny portion of his anger calming if only because he's looking at Eddie. "Move, Eds," he says.

"Stevie," Eddie whispers, his voice nearly drowned out by the rumbling thunder. So Steve pulls it back, forces it to quiet down so he can hear. "C’mon, sweetheart, there's no need to smite them. They've already peed themselves."

"They almost killed my kids," Steve says, his eyes narrowing slightly. "What would you do if you were me?"

"Well, I wouldn't look nearly as hot, for one," Eddie jokes, flashing a shaky smile.

"You're already plenty hot," Steve blurts, the shock of the words calming him down a tiny bit more. And, when he hears Lucas and Erica behind him complain as El thanks Will for retrieving her beanie, his anger finally soothes enough for lightning to stop striking the ground. The clouds are still hanging over them, though, and sparks still arch across his arms and through his hair.

Eddie's smile becomes a bit wider. "Seriously, sweetheart, there's no need," he promises. "I already gave El permission to enter. She can cross the barrier. Word will spread in camp that nobody can mess with her without getting their shit rocked by a very powerful son of Zeus. Don't you want to relax? Don't you want the kids to meet others like them? Don't you...don't you want to, you know, spend time together?"

Steve does want all of that. Especially that last one, because he's never been talked down from an unbridled, anger-fueled, lighting strike marathon this easily. Usually, the kids have to let him work through the anger and vent it all before he's back to normal.

He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes to focus on calming down. When Eddie hesitantly takes his hand, Steve calms down even faster, and the sparks that pass between their palms are harmless. "That's it, Stevie," Eddie whispers as Steve's shoulders relax. "Besides, you can always beat Jason's ass at capture the flag later."

Steve can't help laughing at that, and he opens his eyes to see Eddie's smile. "Looking forward to it," he says, squeezing Eddie's hand. Then he looks over his shoulder at the kids. "Is everyone okay?" he asks.

The kids are all gathered around El, who has secured her beanie over her head. Unfortunately, the arrow made a larger hole than expected, and two of her snakes are poking their heads out, tongues flicking as they taste the air. They aren't strong enough on their own to actually turn anyone to stone, so none of the kids avoid looking at them.

"We are fine," El says with a tiny smile as she steps forward. Steve is about to tell her to be careful when she walks through the barrier without a problem.

The other kids follow, sticking close to El and then orbiting toward Steve and Eddie. "That was awesome!" Dustin shouts, his eyes bright as he looks at the scorch marks that create a circle around the demigods that haven't moved an inch.

"Yes, it was awesome," a voice says, old and wise and belonging to a centaur that has trotted over from the camp gates and comes to a stop before them. "Though, probably not in the way you mean, young one."

"Chiron, hey, how's it going?" Eddie asks, rubbing the back of his neck as he shifts to stand in front of Steve. "This, uh, was all a misunderstanding, really."

Chiron raises an eyebrow at Eddie, but Steve can see the twinkle of amusement in his eyes. "I see. Is that so, Chrissy?" he asks.

"Yeah, it is," Chrissy says, nodding once as she glances at Jason, "because Jason was trigger-happy and wouldn't let anyone talk."

"I see," Chiron says again, looking back at Steve and the kids behind him. "Well, I look forward to hearing all about it and getting to know our potential campers at the Big House. Over some snacks, perhaps?"

He seems nice enough, and something about Chiron just makes Steve feel confident that nothing will happen to the kids. At least, not for the next hour or so, and that's good enough. Still, he can't help pushing just to see the extent of Chiron's patience. "Even if my sister's mother is a gorgon?" he asks, watching Chiron closely.

"Am I correct in assuming her mother is Medusa?" Chiron asks.

"Yes," El says, answering for Steve as the two snakes poking through rub their heads on Steve's arm. "She's very nice."

Chiron seems to be holding back an amused smile at that, and he nods. "I'm sure," he says, nodding once. "Yes, you are still welcome, my dear. After all, our very own Eddie Munson has vouched for you."

Steve can feel the kids behind him relaxing, and he glances at Eddie to see the relieved smile on his face. "Okay then," he says, looking back at Chiron, "lead the way."

----

Tag List

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And now, the quality meme you've all been waiting for

[tired-biscuit]

18+ fem!reader // quirkless AU. cw: alcohol, infidelity.

thinking about your friend's sweetheart of a boyfriend kirishima, who stays up and helps you clean after everyone else has already either passed out on your couch, or left the party you've thrown to celebrate your new job promotion, and thus an upcoming - unavoidable - switch to another city.

it's almost four in the morning, you're tired from all the socializing and drinking, and yet you catch yourself feeling pleasantly surprised by the fact that your friend's new boyfriend offers to keep you company as you try and sort out your home into its previous state of tidiness that you're normally used to.

the task before you is certainly no easy job after hosting such a fun party, however luckily for you, kirishima - or kiri, as he tells you to call him - is still as talkative and chipper as ever as he helps you gather and take out all the garbage, screws shut and sorts the remaining bottles of alcohol back into the fridge, and makes sure that all of the chairs find their rightful place back at the dining table, exactly where they belong.

and before you know it, all that's left to do is to take care of the dishes. feeling bashful all of a sudden from accepting so much help from a man you barely know, you repeatedly try to reassure him that you can handle this pesky little chore all by yourself, so that he can go join his girlfriend upstairs in the guest room because she must be surely missing him by now.

however, eijirou, being the good sport that he is; insists on offering a helping hand by grabbing a nearby dishcloth and waving you over to the pile of dishes that are waiting for you both, now, it seems.

so, you agree - happily. selfishly. even make a little show of it by rolling your eyes before approaching. i mean, how couldn't you, when he's just so nice?! he stands next to you by the sink, all big and warm, glancing at you every so often from the corner of his eye, easily making conversation and asking you where he should sort the various plates and glasses which you've still got to pack in the upcoming weeks. he makes you ogle a little bit whenever he stretches his arms to open and close the cupboards you point your chin towards every time. makes you leer.

there's chemistry; an instant spark you fail to snuff out even though deep down you know you should - he's your friend's man, for fuck's sake, not yours. it's tough. you try not to flirt whilst you think about the faint nip of guilt that's appearing in your conscience every now and then, but you simply have to admit it to yourself; you're attracted.

he's handsome and nice on the eyes with his broad shoulders, burly physique and defined jaw. strong. enticing. just your type.

and that's not all. after sneaking several looks at him during the party, you've learned that he has this constant grin playing on his face that you could almost describe as cheesy from how big it gets, and a thunder of a laugh that had struck your very soul whenever it boomed throughout the space during the course of the night.

but those are all things you've noticed from afar. now that you can see him more up-close, you realize that his eyes are striking and clear. they burn like a forge no matter the hour, making it seem like his irises contain molten glass. the feverish intensity in them matches the colour of his hair. it's like he burns from within - a true embodiment of a wildfire breaking free stands right before you.

he doesn't burn you, of course, as much as you think he would own the power to actually do it. the touch of your fingers brushing against his bigger, more calloused ones - god, they're just so thick - whenever you hand him a utensil or a cup is shiver-inducing, yes, but you also know that it is purely coincidental.

though, the touch of his hand, landing onto the small of you back the moment the dishes are taken care of, isn't coincidental. it isn't coincidental at all.

just like the way he turns and looks at you then, so attentive and inquisitive all of a sudden, isn't. staring up at him with a hammering pulse and a tight throat, you realize you're standing much closer to each other than you thought at first. the proximity is already small, but as if he's trying to provoke your limits, he makes it even smaller when he takes your hand in his so that he can wipe away the droplets of water off your almost-trembling digits.

he's still looking at your pretty manicure as he places the dishcloth back onto the counter. the way his callouses scrape your palm is to die for. it makes your stomach clench, because it tells you he's a working man. a capable one, who could fix things for you with seemingly no trouble.

a man who could perhaps help you set up the furniture that will surely be causing you many headaches as you settle in your new apartment.

"you're moving in a few weeks, right?" he asks quietly, rubbing his thumb across your knuckles. you've noticed that he slurs on his words a bit, but the rasp that riddles his voice still makes you nearly preen from how inviting it is to listen.

"yeah, that's, uh... that's right," is all you reply with, because it's all you're capable of at the moment. the lump inside your throat is still annoyingly present, and the kitchen is semi-dark, and you're both tipsy and he's standing so close, towering over you in a way that you can smell his potent scent and almost taste it sitting on the flat of your tongue at the same time.

there's silence. and also tension. the sticky kind.

"aw... what a shame, really," he mumbles, the corner of his mouth kicking upwards before he turns it into a subtle pout instead. he sounds genuine even if the expression that he now allows to show on his face seems to be masking a different motive. he almost looks... lustful.

wait, didn't he remind you of a puppy, at best, just mere hours ago? who is this wolf, now?

"what is?" you ask, trying to mentally push away all the immoral ideas that are forming inside your mind at the sight of him. his teeth are so sharp... he truly is no puppy, hmm?

as if on cue, he smiles, no, smirks, as he looks down at you. he tightens his grip and strokes your knuckles with his thumb one, two, three more times, before he brings your hand up to his lips then, and whispers, "the fact that i'll probably never see you again."

the sentence he leaves hanging in the air is like a scapegoat. a reason worthy enough for him to ram his cock inside your treacherous little cunt that you've been hiding from him underneath your too short skirt all night long.

after all, it doesn't really matter if you fuck him just once, right? you saw how he's such a good boyfriend, so caring and loving - surely he can slip up just one time? and it's not like it'll lead into something more. you'll move, you'll forget about each other and after enough time passes, you'll start doubting if the entire thing even actually happened.

that's it. you'll forget all about how his hands feel so big and rough as he runs them along your thighs; how he obscures you from sight the moment he sits you down on top of the counter and makes you wrap your legs around his waist whilst he leans in to kiss your jaw.

you'll erase from your memory the way he pulls you closer, to the very edge of the marble, just so that he can fuck into you as fast as he's able because it's supposed to be a dirty secret. erase how big his cock feels as he bottoms out then, groans into the side of your neck and lets it throb inside your belly. how he looks so mesmerized, with his rosy lips parted and his face flushed, when you hike that wretched skirt of yours up and he falls in love with a dripping wet pussy that definitely isn't his girlfriend's but that he's sinking into just as happily all the same.

you'll forget all about it, both of you truly will. he definitely won't look you up on instagram afterwards. won't slide into your DMs. won't ask you out. won't spend the weekend at your new place, helping you assemble furniture and fucking you on top of it right after the job is done. won't leave his girlfriend, who is also your friend, just to chase after you. won't, won't, won't.

he promises you that, even though his tongue is deep inside your mouth already, and he's holding onto you like he's scared you'll break apart if he even as much as thinks about releasing you from his grip. he just likes you so much. too much.

because unbeknownst to you, all that takes for a fire incarnate to blaze...

is a spark.

[shoyosoneandonlywife]

Yoshida Shoyo's Origin and his Path to Salvation

I will be covering a lot of topics pertaining to the character and events that took place in Yoshida Shoyo's life, from birth till death. This will be a very long post and I hope you enjoy it. I've tried to NOT make it as sad as possible and pertained to a practical approach.

Note: I know there will be people who raise doubts before completing this(personal experience) so let me say this, if you have any questions, there is a 99 percent chance I've already covered it in this essay itself, so please do try to read the whole study if you would like to build on this subject. If you would only like answers to a specific topic, you can lmk and i will try to highlight that certain segment for your convenience. And if you do read this and still have questions, do feel free to lmk

Yoshida Shoyo's Birth:

I would like to clarify that in my previous posts, I had discussed that Shoyo may have been born a human and then infused with Altana somehow by naturally being exposed to it. But afterwards, I had some more discussions and revisited the manga several times to get a better picture of his origin. Based on the facts from the manga itself, here is my research.

You can refer to the last Silver Soul arc and the Rakuyo arcs in case you would like to see them for yourself. I think they explain his origin very clearly. I draw many parallels from old folktales, myths, and history—whatever you choose to believe—but beings that have been born from the Earth herself are, in fact, a lot of recurring stories, which I’d like to point out (I’ve included just one example; otherwise, it would take too long to explain every single one).

So here it is: Yoshida Shoyo's creation began in the dragon veins running throughout the Earth. It’s established in Gintama how there are various dragon holes/outlets throughout Japan. Shoyo was born directly from Mother Earth and had been pushed out from one of these dragon holes.

I had previously tried to theorize how Shoyo's genesis began, and I came to the conclusion that this is the way he was born. These panels from the manga in the Silver Soul arc state that he had been reborn from one of the dragon holes governed by a temple. In this panel, it shows that at first, he had sprouted as a mass of meat out of the ocean and then had generated to become a human.

Nonetheless, this may have been how his life originally started as well. OR, he could have sprouted as a fully formed infant, like how a human is born from their mother's womb. I’m including this idea as well, as "Takasugi's Rebirth" had also been like that. Matako had found him as an infant floating in one of the water bodies in a dragon hole at the end of Silver Soul.

I still consider Shoyo as a human, though he may not have been born the normal way. More than human, I think the most accurate term to describe him would be superhuman. In the Silver Soul arc, when Nobume reveals the truth to Yorozuya and Katsura, she explains how the Altana, which is the life source of the planet and is vital for survival and advancement, is what led to the creation of their teacher, whose blood is Altana itself, and he is the literal embodiment of Altana, the Earth's life source.

So how did these dragon veins, the Altana running through the East, suddenly have the capability to produce a whole human baby with superhuman qualities? One theory is that every planet in the universe with life on it produces at least one such being. This can’t be backed up with confirmation for now, as the only other being like Shoyo is Kouka from the planet of Yatos.

So I can’t say this for sure since we only have little data. Maybe they are special cases since the Yatos are considered a very strong species in the universe, and the case for Earth can be a different reason altogether. Or simply for the plot. Either way, this is how his birth came about.

Another example of the same case is a hindu folktale/myth/history is Sita from the Ramayana(a mythology, whether it is historical or mythological is up to everyone's opinion). To summarise it quickly, Sita's adoptive father, who was a king, was struggling to solve the problem of his land suffering from having no rain and the crops of his kingdom were suffering.

After some advice from scholars, he attempted to plow the land in hopes of it being the start of his solution. He had struggled to move the plow for some reason or not been able to move his plow at all, and then dug up the ground to see what was holding up. It was a child in a burrow.

That child was Sita, and her mother was the earth herself. So, Sita was born directly from the earth, which resembles the origins of Yoshida Shoyo, who was born from the earth, but via the dragon veins and with the altana as his base.

And rather than being found in the soul, he had sprouted from the dragon holes, in a body of water. There are many interpretations to how she ended up in a furrow in the first place, but this is the most widely accepted interpretation.

Alike to Yoshida Shoyo, Sita had immense strength right from infancy, an event where she had displayed superhuman strength was when he kingdom held onto an ancient bow that was once utilised by a mighty god. It had been laid to rest in her kingdom.

When a accomplished saint had come across Sita, playfully lifting the bow effortlessly as a child, he was surprised by this brute strength of hers, as even the gods in heaven were not able to wield that bow other than the highest level of god who had originally been its owner.

Of course one of the reasons behind her skill is due to being a blessing from the gods, specifically from the the goddess of the earth, however, even though she was considered and looked human. She had still possessed qualities that surpass the average humans, and even mighty warriors and deities.

Now i want to clarify that I'm simply drawing parallels, and that such cases of interpretation of beings born directly from the earth has happened before, I'm sure this isn't the only example akin to Shoyo's origin. So take it with a grain of salt.

I believe Yoshida Shoyo also possesses the same magnitude due to the nature of his birth. His parent is Mother Earth and the blood running through his veins, his DNA all stems from the altana and dragon veins, which contrasts the brith of humans who carry the DNA, genetics and bloodline of their ancestors.

Shoyo's ancestor/parent/origin comes from the Earth herself. TO reiterate, he is the child of Mother Earth, yes all of us are made of the earth, but we descend from humans, while he had directly descended from the source herself.

My theory can further when he has been said to be, its not a direct relation to him but it does attribute to how his strength is akin and massive like that of the very earth herself. His superstrength can be attributed to the fact that he wasn't born normally and is the literal embodiment of the life source of the planet, So his power should be no surprise. (refer to manga panels below)

This was supposedly said by one of the strongest characters in the verse. Many others have said something along those lines as well. As for these strongest characters, they may accumulate an immense amount of strength, travelled and gain many things to build on themselves. But in the end, they were still descending from people of their own kind, their strength, their body has limits, depending on their ancestors.

As such, a being born from the earth herself, the planet that can swallow up these strong people without hesitation, as people, humans depend on the planet itself for sustenance, for protection, for resources, for life.

So imagine if the very thing you had relied on at least unconsciously turned against you so suddenly, even the strongest person alive wouldn't stand a chance against the very ground they stand upon. That's my take upon Shoyo's strength, as far-fetched as it may seem. But I think there are many many parts in gintama which elude to his undeniable brawn.

To summarize, Shoyo is a child of Mother Earth, and I would mainly label him as a superhuman. As to what makes a human, I'll be exploring it a bit more later on as well. (Immortal beings being produced from the planet herself is also mentioned in the manga)

Traits similar to the earth

Going by the connotation of him being a direct representative/offspring of earth, we can observe all the undeserved torture, abuse, ostracization, KILLINGS, he had faced just because he was discovered to immortality, to which he was subjected to by none other than his fellow humans.

I would see the theory of humans treating anything they do not understand or anything stronger them as something to be feared/demonic and finding ways to kill/ make them weaker somehow, mostly I'm adhering to the fact that humans would carelessly hurt or destroy anything they can't handle or understand. Which is what has been going on for the last few centuries, such as pollution, global warming, ecosystems being destroyed.

Basically torturing earth is someway right? which is kind of the same treatment Shoyo has been receiving, as he had been docile and had not retaliated when being subject to such abuse by humans, he had tolerated it, held the weight of it, like earth actually. Which is why I would say he has traits that are familiar with the earth herself.

Now this is just me drawing parallels and it doesn't mean that Sorachi did this with this idea in mind, is what id like to clarify. This is just an observation of mine, and it can be purely coincidental. And is purely speculation

Docile nature during torture phase

Since I'm on the subject of his docile nature during his torture phase(approximately 500+ years), I've always had the question, why did he not fight back?, For 500 years he had remained passive, let himself be subjected to cruelties beyond what any person would ever be able to handle. Why? He has super strength, super speed, he's superhuman, so why did he stay quiet? What was the reason behind his actions of not resisting? As far as I have seen, he was discovered by humans when he was a young child, a few years old, able to walk and act independently.

Or, another theory is that people have been seeing him ever since he was an infant, but had discovered his immortality when he was a few years older. For example, he could've died and then people witnessed him come back to life, thus coming to the conclusion that he's immortal. During the silver soul arc, the priests monitoring one of the dragon holes had discovered Shoyo reborn as an infant and took him in.

Until Gintoki had come to collect Shoyo, so possibly, when he was originally born and came out one of the dragon holes, a few priests might have taken him in, and raised him for a while, and when he was around, well I'm guessing definitely above 6 years old, his odd origin and traits would have been noticed by the people around him, thus leading to the fear and ostracisation, ultimately leading to centuries of torture.

Now begs the question, he has enhanced capabilities, inhuman strength, and speed. Yet, why did a man of such strength get tortured for so long, or to be more accurate why did he remain docile throughout his centuries' worth of agony, there are many points that I can backup this segment with.

One, humans are not violent by nature, mostly at least, Shoyo being subjected to extreme mutilations and tortures had been happening to him since he was a very young age, so one fact is that he had become indoctrinated to accept it, the way people treat him so cruelly had become the normal for him, in the final in that one flashback of Shoyos past, it can be shown how as a child and while growing older, he had stood with fear or was seen trembling in fear.

The depressing truth is due to the fact that as a child you would not be able to comprehend or understand how to save yourself from such problems, especially when in his case, the whole world apparently was out to get rid of him or villainise him as a demon.

After those two phases, we see him sprout as an adult, but this time he starts running away as much as he can, signifying that as a child he was unaware of how to handle his situation, but after reaching adulthood he had started thinking of ways to get out of his situation.

So he started to run, hide, anything to get away from humans, but as you can see he was cut down, burned and scorned once again, or to be accurate, the torturous cycle continues regardless. Now going back to my question, why did he not fight back? Granted he was more than capable of getting rid of or stopping anyone from even getting close to him, let alone viciously killing him repeatedly, so why?

As mentioned before, humans are not born violent, it is nurtured, even if there are times where we may act in times of dire needs or for survival, self-defense, etc, that is due to our evolution of over a billion years, from the stone age all the way to the current era. So that would explain our need to protect ourselves or rid of what we may label as danger in dire times.

However, if we go by that logic, Shoyo should have been fighting for his life everyday, killing or at least immobilising people left and right everyday to save him selves. Yet he didn't, yes he was unable to know how to do so as a child while growing up when he was first born, but after adulthood, why did he choose to run, when it would rather have been much easier to rid of his problem once he found himself capable?

He is afraid, he's tired, he's not violent by nature, even when I am able to say that humans, that have gone through survival and evolution for millions of years, when we have such ancestry and are not violent by nature, it's important to note that Shoyo is human, but was not born and did not come into origin the way a human being does, he came directly from the earth, from the planet's life energies itself.

The planet's energy, its life source, the altana, is something that every being in authority, every organization, was out to get from their own planets after discovering its existence.

The planet's substance that could possibly grant immortality, cure diseases, wounds, any physical problems, enhance your physical prowess and many other healing properties. As shown in Gintama itself. Some of its properties include, rejuvenation, regeneration and of course as we know, unlimited energy.

That very life force of the planet itself, had created a man from its very essence, coming directly from the altana itself, the very essence of the earth, the energy of the planet, comes Yoshida shoyo himself, every pore exudes altana, every single atom in his body is from altana, it is not alien, it is depicted to be as the very substance that allows planet earth to persevere and flourish till today.

As aforementioned, the life force of the planet. That every energy, has taken on a small form of a man known as Yoshida Shoyo, or to be more accurate.

The life force that has given life to every being on the planet, including humans, has produced Yoshida Shoyo as a special phenomena. He is generated from the very altana itself, the bloodstream of the earth I could even say.

He comes from the altana, the water bodies, and thus is pushed out via one of the dragon holes, that can be found all over the world, especially many in Japan, which is how he was born in (probably) Heian era Japan(which era he came into existence is a convo that should be discussed but as far as I can salvage I can gather than he has lived up until 1700+, [give or take] years old till the Gintama finale, as per the calculations I've made).

After the centuries worth of damnation, he then gets imprisoned far away, on some mountain perhaps, away from civilisation far away from humans, for the humans safety I'm presuming.

The humans of that time would have finally come to the conclusion that Shoyo just cannot be killed, after centuries of torture, wow a very bright and intelligent group of people aren't they. So they lock him up, he stays at the same one cell for 500 years, he never bothers to walk out, to break free, to escape.

As I have discussed, why would he do so? he will be persecuted just for the sole reason of breathing, so of course it explains why he chose to stay within his cell for centuries, away from humans, away from society, away from cruelty, away from agony.

I don't want to hear anyone saying oh did they give him food or something everyday as a prisoner... bro he was incarcerated for just breathing, they labelled him as a devil, do you think they're gonna bother whether a devil gets his daily bread or not? Especially one they've continuously KILLED every day? I don't think so, and it definitely isn't so. He was seen and treated as a literal demon that should be feared and chased away, or even not let him walk on this earth, because he was seen AS A DEMON.

People did not want him to be alive, as letting him even live or given the minimal amount of space, or even being in the same area as him, would pose a risk to their lives.

Hence they actively tried to get rid of him, but they couldn't, they didn't understand what his real nature was and what he had actually been born from. They were trying to destroy the embodiment of energy that comes form the very core of the planet that they walk upon and depend on to survive.

I don't know how many times I want to emphasize this, they did not want him to even be alive, much less even try to go anywhere near him unless they were attempting to end his life, as repeated many times in Gintama, his mere existence caused fear and anxiety to take over all of their senses, you can even see this as an example when Okita started to tremble by the mere presence of Utsuro, who was still much farther away.

Him being in the same vicinity had already struck a chord of terror in everyone. They either wanted to run or get rid of the problem all together.

So yes, he lives in isolation for over 500 years in his little cell, tucked away in a cave, that's in some mountain range, no humans, no words, nobody, just the man born from Altana. Like they have shown in Gintama, he doesn't choose to leave, he is forced to leave his abode of centuries after the jail cell fucking ROTS AWAY...

So it goes to show that his home I guess, has collapsed, he has no proper shelter, hence he is forced to leave, and walk out into society yet again. Now before we move onto him moving out, let's discuss what went down during those 500 years when he was all alone, secluded, isolated, yea everything that concerns loneliness.

I want to start off this whole theory by quoting that "an idle mind is the devil's playground" now I want to make this clear, I am NOT saying Yoshida Shoyo being diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, going on killing spree, does NOT mean he was possessed by a demon or the devil. NO. That's not what the quote means in my eyes.

That is very much his own actions and choices, as much as he was mentally unwell. He was secluded, he was stuck in a little cell, for CENTURIES. Human ourselves, if we were locked in a room or cell with nothing to do, no entertainment, nothing to keep us occupied. We will without a doubt go crazy within a few days.

Now this man was locked away for centuries, just imagine the magnitude of what he was subjected to, what he had to experience. If we can go crazy, then for a man that was locked for centuries, he's bound to lose his mind.

When the mind is not kept busy, all sorts of thoughts will come in and inconvenience or upset us, and given the agonizing life Shoyo has lived, I'm positive of the fact that literally, not even a single thought of his was able to make him happy or peaceful, it will only serve to make him spiral into madness further along with his traumatizing past.

Now going onto why he had become the victim of multiple personality disorder, I mean of course its given he will be subject to mental illness after what he's going through in his life without a doubt, but why specifically MPD? Multiple personality disorder stems from the branch of dissociative identity disorder.

Due to his repetitive abuse from childhood, is one of the reasons that led to it. Moreover, despite his physical strength, he did not defend himself, or at the very least, could not defend himself, as he was unaware of how to do so. I mean come on he was persecuted from the very age he gained conciseness and was never taught anything, all he had was himself to learn and grow, and his ever-persevering altana body of his.

His stress, his fear and rage and not being able to change his situation for himself, to be finally allowed to live I peace, also caused this man to spiral into disassociating to a certain extent. "the disorders form in children who've lived in environments where they went through frightening times or they never knew what to expect. The stress of war or natural disasters also can bring on dissociative disorders.

When you go through an event that's too much to handle emotionally, you may feel like you're stepping outside of yourself and seeing the event as if it's happening to another person. Mentally escaping in this way may help you get through a shocking, distressing, or painful time." Well, this perfectly explains's shoyo's past doesn't it.

He was subjected to killings and torture ever since he was young, and he was only able to escape this treatment when he was locked away from civilisation, alone and rotting away, mentality wise. So he truly was unable to reach any environment or situation where was at the very least comfortable or content with the way he was living, it was pure anguish everyday.

As they have mentioned in Gintama itself, he had developed multiple personalities as a way to coper with his extreme trauma. And it was not just 2 or 3 personalities, it was hundreds of them. Which is fitting that if a person, that has an average lifespan can develop 20 or more personalties, as such cases actually exist. It makes sense that an immortal man who's ONLY ever experienced pain throughout his life from birth till incarceration, had resulted him in developing hundreds of personalities.

To quote my paragraph from another post of mine to provide a little more relatable and just a basic understanding of MPD and how it starts and develops:

"To help provide an easier understanding, The average human has many voices running in their minds, and are always contradicting one another like there are different personas living in our heads, however it is to a controlled level and we are able to distinguish these to a certain extent when making decisions and taking actions.

Multiple personality disorder stems from that same phenomena of the brain but multiplied by many many more folds due to psychological trauma, PTSD, and repression of emotions as a method to cope with said trauma."

Another theory is that he has been subjected to various methods of mutilations, like he himself says, at one point he had his eyes gouged out every day for decades, which is what forced him to adapt his senses to perceive his surroundings, even without his eyes. which is what causes him to accurately move around and be precise in his actions like swinging his blade or walking/running/ defending/attacking etc.

So due to this various torture treatments from humans, I'm sure he had thought of various ways that he wanted to escape or stop it as in the act or humans themselves.

Like stopping them forcibly, cutting them down, talking to them, crying for help, simply running away, scolding them, killing them, and various other ways he would have wished he could have done to stop his unfair treatment. But he wasn't able to do so, he had to bottle up his emotions and thoughts, and it ate away inside of him.

Eventually, when he was incarcerated all those emotions, all that trauma, all the pain, agony, rage, desperation, that was bottled up, had bubbled up to the surface, or to be more accurate, erupted completely, due to how he was always constantly killed and tortured for CENTURIES, ON END.

But now suddenly. Nobody is around, not a single soul, it's just him, his cell, the cave, the wind, and the little insects crawling around.

That drastic change itself is also just a fucking slap to the face, which serves the purpose of his bottled up emotions of rage and agony exploding much more faster and in a destructive way for his state of mind. So the various ways that he wished he would help himself, the ways to escape, to stop, to find peace. This can also explain why he had developed HUNDREDS of personalities which is such an extreme amount, to of course with his said extreme trauma.

So when his cell finally rots away, he walks back into the outside world, to civilisation, with all of these personalities warring within his mind, but even with all of these personalities, what his brain knows, what every single personalities of his knows, is pain, murder, torment and violence.

This was all of what he was only subject to for as far as he can remember since he was born, he was not allowed even a moment of peace, his sudden seclusion in a cell after being subject to such horror did no good in helping him become peaceful, as by then all his trauma would never let him stay at peace, would never let him get a wink of a good rest, a glimmer of happiness, a spark of hope, he was deprived of all of them, to be more accurate, he was not even given the chance in the first place.

His history is truly unfathomable with the way it was crafted. So when all those personalities within him, are struggling to find an outlet to quell his rage with, he comes across society once again, and this time, he puts his natural capabilities to use destructive use. Like how this also was discussed in Gintama, he simply displayed the nature of what he was exposed to throughout his whole life, death and violence, terror and misery.

Which is why this explains why before his incarceration, he was a very docile creature, letting his larger-than-life body with astounding physical capabilities, be subject to abuse, as I have explained before, due to his exposure and cruelty being the only thing he was faced with, and the label that he himself is a demon.

Which was the label for him the humans had used to justify their behaviour. Hence, this explains why such a docile and mild man, had suddenly turned into the beast of killing with amazing physical prowess that he finally chose to use.

I mean given how he had 500 years to grow into this type of man, maybe it isn't a very sudden change, but for the others it will be a very drastic change and unexpected one, as Shoyo has now truly turned into a monster. Or we can also say, the beast finally shows its fangs. And then when he goes on a killing spree, truly wishing to kill every human in sight, he then heats captured by the soldiers and is dragged to the emperor.

Now he could have easily broken free as we all know, but maybe after being alive for so long and becoming numb to literally everything, he wanted to see what they were going to do or let him see since he was continuously killing people, maybe he just wanted to see what else they were gonna do now, just for his curiosity, since it would be a contrast from the cruelty and horror he had faced up until that point. Not saying he was finally given peace, no, the problems were just starting when he was brought to court actually.

But for him it was just a change of events, and he was just going to let them act to see what going to happen. I strongly suggest this as he is very much immortal, and he is already beyond what the average human does or goes through in life.

So being brought to court was just another Tuesday for him or something, and he was just playing along because why not, if he wanted to he could easily break free and make a run for it. But the problem lied in the fact that if eh did run again, they would again repeatedly try to kill him and persecute him.

Only this time he's different, he won't take it like the docile man he was anymore, he would fight back, kill, and slaughter, anyone that came to harm him.

Working for the Naraku

It is said that the Naraku was founded by Utsuro (Shoyo) himself, I want to make it clear that yes by name, the naraku did come into existence after Shoyo was brought to the monarchy, however they were the ones that had assigned Shoyo to become a "grim reaper" or an assassin. They had seen the crimes Shoyo had committed and had realized a means to an end had become available to them, to destroy or slaughter their enemies in a way that won't tarnish their name.

The Naraku is literally a secret crime organization that's working for the government all along. Which is canonically stated. So yes, by name, "Utsuro" founded the Naraku(hell), since he was known as a devil himself. However, the idea and the execution of Naraku being implicated was done by the government of that time, by the monarch of that time. If Shoyo was the leader, it guaranteed that Naraku would stand for a very long time due to his immortality as well as his physical capabilities that further proved to enhance his skills in murder and assassinations.

Thus, in name Shoyo is the one in charge, however, he simply had become a pawn in the government's hand. Now I know people will say why did he let himself be restricted to such authorities.

In spite of that, I need you to understand that he had no concept or care for higher authorities or morality, he simply wanted to give back all the pain he was given, he wanted to eliminate humans if he was given the chance. If he had refused the government, he could kill people but he would still be chased and hurt again and again, maybe even more so than he was in his past, for defying the government. So if he could continue to take out his wrath on humanity, which he was expected do to, as by the government, for a long time, don't you think he would just take the easier option.

He can continue to hate humans and yet spew his hate onto them when the occasion arises. SO at the time he would have let himself become the government's grim reaper due to the convenience at the time.

It is canonically stated about the assassination group Naraku, that "They consist of lawless people or orphans that were thrown out from society and were taken in by the group and trained." Now there are so many things that can be inferred from this statement itself.

Humans that were considered outcasts/ had no one to protect or take care of them/abandoned/ ostracised, were all taken in by the government secretly to train them as assassins instead. in a sense they took in humans that were treated the same way as shoyo, OF COURSE not to the extent to which he had been treated, but treated very badly or had nobody to back them up nonetheless. People that very similar to Yoshida Shoyo fundamentally.

Oboro was an orphan as far as we know, going by how he talked about his past as a kid, he was a working as a child labourer/ servant for a clan/family. Most likely a family in power, as they were powerful and troublesome enough that the government had sent the naraku to get rid of them fully.

At that point is when Shoyo had met Oboro and revived him by giving him his immortal blood. Making him semi-immortal (and his first blood related son lmaooo)

Nobume was also an orphan taken in and trained by the Naraku, as well as Hitsugi who had worked for Oboro and Shoyo, where he was also semi-immortal, making Hitsugi another son of Yoshida Shoyo technically.

The member off the naraku were trained to act like Yoshida Shoyo when he was an assassin, when you watch/read Gintama, the Naraku is seen as people who are emotionless, lifeless, and follow orders robotically, basically being devoid of emotions, being empty, so it would be safe to assume that Yoshida Shoyo was taken as a role model in how they should behave as an assassin(slave to the government).

So to be clear, over this span of 500 years, the people taken in to be work for nark were already traumatised or in extreme struggle as mentioned before, and had nobody to take care of them, which could explain why the government was successful in making sure these kids disappeared from society without a trace, and were then trained to become robot-like. Im not even exaggerating as in Gintama itself, the members of Naraku simply act as mindless and emotionless assassins, and have always been killed left and right, like dolls, pawns, robots, devoid of life, this is due to the tenets they would have set in the beginning which allowed the Naraku organization to be longstanding for over 500 years, up until it was dismantled finally after Shoyo died and Edo was being rebuild under a new government.

Many characters from Gintama can be seen killing or cutting down the members of Naraku without any hesitation, as that's just how much these people of Naraku were detached from their lives and were simply trained an indoctrinated to follow orders and numbly kill as told.

A very sad predicament for the people who have no one in society and were orphaned as a whole if you think about it. Fated to have your basic humanity and qualities sealed away to become a soulless, lifeless, dumb pawn, until you are eventually cut down by someone, or even by your own organization if you defy them, and then to die nameless, the fact that is isn't even an exaggeration an if anything, its an understatement. Gintama itself is a good example of displaying the dark sides of the monarchy as well as capitalism.

The Naraku were indoctrinated to reject their humanity and only have killing as their profession, without any discrimination. Like when Shoyo escaped to start Shoka Sonjuku, he was chased down despite being their leader for centuries, as that is what their tenet was, whoever betrayed must be cut down. And it does make sense as they are the ones who do the most horrifying murders and dirty work of the government (the dirty work is just slaughter and wiping out whole families, clans, maybe even towns, judging by how vital they ere to the government)

SO it makes sense that Shoyo was hunted down, he was their leader, he has seen and witness every single crime of the Naraku, and in connection, the government itself, so he had to be put down, importantly. Even if they were indoctrinated, maybe the Naraku members had some semblance of humanity, but them being constantly sent on missions to murder so many humans, authorities, families, could have ventrally lose that little hope of humanity too.

Which is what essentially leads to them being seen as the soulless machines they have become in Gintama.

This explains why when Shoyo came cross the townspeople about to attack his kids, he had interfered and said he would topple the government itself had anything happened to the children.

This is because he knows the government has been the root of all the problems, bloodshed, slavery that was deep-rooted into the country, and the branches of theirs was widespread and everywhere, even in the small spaces.

Cutting down the branch won't stop the tree from growing another one, so for a man who has seen just what the government, the monarchy, the injustices they have been committing behind the screens, he realises if the country were to flourish and truly become a space where every civilian regardless of their background can live well, the roots will have to be crushed first. And those roots are the government itself as I have alluded to.

Resurrection and buddhism

Now we come to the bane of Shoyo's existence, his ability to resurrect. And BOY, does he hate it, yes it is no secret that Gintama and especially Shoyo drew many references from Buddhism, and his life in a way is a representation of the cycle of life.

Consequently, I'll be talking about a few parts of the cycle and how he was an inescapable victim of this miserable cycle of life, and how he managed to escape it, at least for a certain while (or did he?) This cycle of life is called samsara, and this whole ordeal is known as the wheel of samsara/ the wheel of suffering(Living itself is suffering).

Breaking this wheel of samsara is what is called nirvana/salvation. Let me give a brief rundown of this cycle before I explain. Samsara is something every living creature is held under, everything that breathes will come under the laws of karma. All of those beings, and their worlds, are categorised in this wheel, each with different representations. Those are The Realm of 1. Gods, 2. Titans, 3. Hungry Ghosts, 4. Demons, 5. Humans and 6. Animals.

This whole cycle is controlled by Yama, the God of Death. Suffering is prevalent in our lives, and it is believed that the reason for our sufferings is our attachments, whatever they may be.

So by detaching, in turn our suffering will lessen and in due time allow us to break the cycle of samsara, this is a very, very watered down summary. And in order to go beyond our suffering, or in essence stop our suffering, it is said for us to realize the Four Noble Truths, which is said to be one of the most important teachings in Buddhism. These four truths are

Truth of Suffering

Truth which is the cause of suffering

Truth of the cessation of suffering

Truth of the path that leads to ending our suffering

And now very importantly, The Noble Eightfold Path is automatically connected to these 4 Noble Truths, as it serves as a guide to terminating a human's suffering.

The 4th Noble truth, which is the journey to the cessation of suffering can also be called the middle way. During this middle way, adhering to the Noble Eightfold Path is what will lead us to our ending of suffering. As said in the name, there are mainly 8 aspects to follow to embark on this journey.

Wisdom

Right understanding

Right thought

Ethical Conduct

3.Right speech

4.Right action

5. Right livelihood

Mental discipline

6. Right Effort

7. Right mindfulness

8. Right concentration

Adhering to these rules is believed to lead us to resolutely end our sufferings and achieve enlightenment and/or break the samsara cycle. Now in the first place, what are these attachments that cause suffering this life we call samsara? Yes there are many but in Buddhism it is mainly categorized into 10 shackles that tie us to samsara.

Drishti

Vichikitsa

Silabbata-paramasa

Kama-raga

Vyapada

Rupa-raga

Arupa-raga

Mana

Udhacca

Avidya

These are mainly called the 10 fetters, its important to keep in mind that the first five mentioned are known as the Lower fetters, as they are tied to the realm of senses/sensuous world. While the next five are called the Higher fetters as they are oriented with the immaterial world in mind. I will try to expand on these without taking too much time afterward.

For a better understanding, individuals who have crossed a certain umber of fetters each have a name attached to them, fro example, One that is free from 1-3 is called a Sotapanna, One, who is already beyond 1-3, and has now overcome 4 and 5, is called a Sakadagami.

And, One who is fully freed from 1-5 fetters is known as an Anagami. Lastly, One who is freed from all 10 fetters is called an Arahat. under these circumstances, as I have briefly explained, Shoyo (I mean the whole man himself, I'm not differentiating at all, Shoyo, and Utsuro are all the same man and mind, which I will delve into more specifically later on), fit into the category of Anagami.

Now as much as i would love to explore all of these manacles of samsara. I am mainly going to focus on the chains that strongly binds Yoshida Shoyo specifically to the wheel of samsara. And these fetters are Vyapada, Arupa-raga, Udhacca (most predominant fetters in his life) and some little dabbling into Mana and Avidya(essentially the Higher fetters).

To start off ill explain these terms, Vyapada in summary means ill will, or wishing harm upon others. Vyapada can also go hand in hand with Dvesha, which literally means hatred. Displaying vyapada includes, killing, destruction, ruin, evil design and malice. All of which this immortal man has done for centuries on end. Vyapada typically has 3 categories of varying vyapada, and is also considered as "wrong intention" in essence.

Those 3 are Vyapadasankappa(intention of ill will), kamasankappa (lust) and vihimsasankappa (intention of harm). NOW I CLARIFY, Shoyo had only committed to vyapadasankappa and vihimsasankappa, NOT kamasankappa, im emphasising this as i will explain why this anomaly is done so. Shoyo did have vyapada prevalent in his life but it was only the 2 aspects i had mentioned, excluding the kama one, like i said, i will explain after i briefly flit through the other shackles of samsara in Shoyo's life.

As mentioned before, this comes under the implications that in the 10 fetters found within the wheel of samsara, only the higher fetters were the challenges Yoshida Shoyo had to overcome, this leap in fetter can be contributed to the fact that his life was not allowed to be normal as he did not live like how the average human should, both in lifespan, social acceptance and treatment, as well as inability to live on his own terms.

Now, Arupa-raga, in a nutshell is defined as the craving for immaterial existence... yea i think you can see where im going with this, call it death, samadhi, moksha, nirvana. You name it, in essence, its the end of the cycle, or desire to attain heaven, dissolving the soul, salvation, there's many terms for it.

But to wrap it up in short thats what arupa-raga is. Rupa-raga is a fetter which is one step below arupa-raga, like how their names are similar, both are the cravings for the unknown, or samadhi, heaven, whichever interpretation you may have. Rupa-raga simply defined means the craving for fine-material existence. To summarise, it means the want to have a peaceful mind, with tranquility and serenity to become one's core.

And for the mind to become one-pointed, or more focused to a purpose. In this regard, its possible that we would try to conclude that Yoshida shoyo is suitable to this category, due to the way he lived his life in around those 15 years of time he was Yoshida Shoyo. However, it should be clear that even when he was Yoshida shoyo or all of his previous years before that, and afterward too after his "execution" in the war.

But yet, he had longed to become human, and wanted to embrace his humanity, despite his origin, so that can be considered his quest through rupa-ruga He had explicitly, stated he wanted to become human, embrace his human nature and compassion, but it did prove to not be fruitful as his journey with shoka sonjuku did not last very long. This is before he crosses the threshold to arupa-ruga.

Moving on, throughout his whole life, his Arupa-raga had always remained strong, however, due to his immortality, atleast when he started shoka sonjuku he had to adjust to being one fetter below, rupa-raga.

The difference is, that arupa-raga is not the end goal, it is still a fetter to overcome, so his arupa-raga was one of the strongest fetters in his life.

Nonetheless, staying stuck to it will not lead him to his salvation, which could explain why it was put off for thousands of years. Because at the end of the day, even though it is a non physical craving, it is still a mental image conjured up, thus it leads to an illusion, which is why arupa-raga is also a fetter to overcome, not indulge in.

His path as Utsuro proved to be an obstacle as even though his end goal was salvation, his craving for samadhi, freedom from samsara, desperation to end it all, it is also what caused him to get stuck in arupa-raga for a certain period of time.

Which explains his grandeur plans to end himself, the universe and vice versa. In simple terms arupa-raga is the yearning for bliss and crossing your physical limits, aligned with spirituality and the soul, possibly, it can also point to wishing for enlightenment.

I'm going to digress a bit to explain something important. If, speculation that this is, if yoshida shoyo demonstrates the path through rupa-raga, arupa-raga which is the next stage, is where utsuro, the final boss, extremely nihilistic personality, was born.

Now bear with me, if you rewatch/reread the Silver Soul arc, you will realize that in the instance where Utsuro goes to meet the space elders or whatever u wanna call them, the Harusame geezers, Utsuro had clearly stated that throughout his whole empty life, now has come to this form, this personality, born from him to finally and resolutely put an end to it all.

In essence, Utsuro is mainly his mantle, more than his name, as it was used throughout his time in Naraku. However, as much as all the personalities he took on during were violent and wished death towards, well anything in general. All those personalities didn't wish for the extreme end of the world and the universe, nor were any of them trying to speed run his death and finding options to kill himself.

Utsuro however, the moment he rises after the joui war, had actively worked towards securing the route of ending everything. In the scene of Yoshida Shoyo's beheading, Utsuro shows up among a pile of Shoyo's corpses(executed personalities) and tells Shoyo," There is no need to suffer anymore, I will put an end to everything".

So in short, Utsuro is truly the grim reaper he created, the all-encompassing destroyer that had risen within himself to finally end everything that caused him pain. I need to explain this more elaborately so ill do it in another segment below sorry.

Now back to Arupa-raga, so it goes to say that arupa-raga was the undoing that had more resolutely began Shoyo's path to salvation and nirvana.

Even though it was self-destructing in many ways. i say this as his desire to go beyond his body, to finally wear off his lifespan and end himself, is what had sealed the absolute nature of him finally attaining nirvana. As through this heavy yearning and rush to end things no matter what anyone or anything comes between his path, is what solidified his absolute end, after over a millenium of reincarnations.

After Arupa-raga, comes mana, mana means conceit, pride and arrogance. i realise that the more i elaborate on each of these steps, we can realise it also comes in line with how Shoyo had behaved until his death. If Shoyo is rupa-raga, utsuro is arupa-raga, and after that the next fetter is conceit, and as you may realise, yoshida shoyo, at the very least, did not show himself to be a gloating arrogant man, he was very much down to earth.

Nevertheless, after his birth as Utsuro, Utsuro is often shown as conceited and smug, especially when he was arrogant in the finale that he had deceived the students of Shoka Sonjuku, but his arrogance and impatience are what ultimately lead him to lose miserably to Gintoki and Takasugi (i HATE saying this cuz he is literally my majestic goat).

See how these fetters align with his life? mana along with arupa-raga is what sped up his demise, which is what he was wishing for, but the nihilistic side of Shoyo's did fail, as Earth had survived. Alas, Utsuro did come to terms with himself and finally stopped hiding from embracing humanity, in his last moments.

However, the contrast of mana is that this superiority complex also stems from inferiority complex, it can also mean, how can you think you know more than me? This can be shown when during the silver soul fight, Utsuro said something along the lines of "Can you defeat this dragon tho?"(LMAO) where he was referring to himself.

NOW BY ALL MEANS, he is truly a dragon, and the strongest man in the verse. But his blatant statements and goading during this fight goes to show that he had grown arrogant when his plan was very close to fruition. Thus this concludes his crossing of the 8th fetter, mana.

Then comes the 9th fetter, udhacca, restlessness and worry is the simple definition of it, it also defines guilt and regret. Udhacca is also a hindrance to nirvana, as it diverts the mind from reality, this is a truth for Shoyo, as his whole ordeal of multiple personality disorders, was ultimately his undoing, and is what led him to lose all the things and bonds he had built.

MPD is just ONE of his problems, his regrets, his sins he wished to wash away, his bloodthirst he had abandoned, as Yoshida Shoyo, can also be seen plaguing his mind as Yoshida Shoyo, as Katsura had explicitly stated," looking back, the vacant look he would sometimes have in his eyes, might have been him staring at the giant shadow of his past." another event that took place before this when Oboro had suggested opening a school and Shoyo had stated that he has nothing to teach, and would rather learn along with the students, of how to wash his bloodstained hands.

This shows how he demonstrated immense guilt and regret for all the murders he had committed for centuries along with how he had said that even though his sins are immense, he will try to atone for them as long as he lives(happened when he escaped from Naraku and was talking to Oboro of how he would lead his life as Yoshida Shoyo, his true nature).

Next it showed to be predominant... remember how i talked about Utsuro being very conceited during the silver soul fight especially, yea, and right after that, he had such a big inner turmoil when he realised that gintoki would be able to bring an end to him, as lo and behold, Utsuro, or more to say Shoyo, was the one that enabled Gintoki to become capable enough to end his life of hate and suffering.

Utsuro struggles and loses focus of a fight 10 v 1 that he absolutely had in the bag (still held up like a champ against the strongest characters) while thinking back on how his life as Yoshida Shoyo, such a small time spent compared to his thousands of years of living, is what had resolutely led him to almost be defeated and have his universe destroying plan busted,all because his life as Shoyo, in those 15 years approx., crafted all these students capable enough to stop and end him.

Moreover, in the silver soul fight, his inner conflict, is what led his udhacca, his worry, his anxiety to skyrocket once again, as Shoyo he was calm and collected till the end, as Utsuro he was smug and cunning, he was only ever anxious and restless before he was Yoshida Shoyo, where he was living in guilty and worry over the murders and agonizing life he has lived. An emotion that had remained dormant for over 15 years and more, finally returned during his fight in Silver Soul.

As he realized just the magnitude of his deeds and the small smile that he had unwillingly let slip, created such a wave of changes in so many people, from Shoka Sonjuku all the way to Edo. And by that, his own deeds to change himself, even though he returned to emptiness afterward, is what ultimately halted his plan of destruction.

Blatant examples are when he had hesitated to fend off Gintoki when he reminisced of him when he was a child and was teaching him, and also when Nobume had confronted him and he finally started hesitating. Yes he mostly was taken aback by the tenacity of the human spirit, but Nobume was able to stunt him for a while too, she has due credit that should be given to her.

And by that explanation, his udhacca is what stunted his success, and had let him to falter and eventually give up and jump into the dragon veins to at least get one upper hand and recollect himself. To then return in the finale and attempt to destroy the planet once more. That is how Shoyo had crossed the threshold of udhacca, the 9th fetter to reach the last fetter, the 10th manacle, Avidya.

We have finally reached the last stage, the last obstacle, shoyo's last hindrance to nirvana, and it was longggg overdue. In buddhism, avidya, or called ignorance to make things easier for us, points NOT towards lacking the knowledge to know things, but rather means our misconceptions/misunderstandings of reality. Like assuming that the wrong things are right. In this regard, ignorance is considered one of the biggest fuels for the three poisons demonstrated in buddhism. By this flow, ignorance is considered one of the, if not the hardest obstacle to overcome before attaining nirvana.

This is due to the fact that this ignorance is extremely common among humans, and is indoctrinated into us since young, a person's ego also contributes to this. Ignorance is without a doubt the most difficult manacle to break, as it involves shaking the very fundamentals of our thoughts, our personality, our morals, our ideals and beliefs. Overcoming ignorance or abandoning avidya, can very much shatter one's existence, which is tow is what nirvana also means when it points to breaking the wheel of samsara, and thus freeing ourselves from rebirth/ reincarnations.

Now, where did Shoyo demonstrate avidya? Where did he show himself to be ignorant? One such instance is well, of course, back to the Silver Soul fight. After showing Udhacca, in the end when he jumps back and talks while everyone is distracted, with only Gintoki listening in, even though he admitted that he knew the strength of humanity and that it was even capable of erasing his eternal hate.

Along with how his short life as Yoshida Shoyo is what led him to realise that that aspect of him is what he truly was and that his hatred becomes a mere fragment in front of the life of Yoshida Shoyo, no matter how cut short it was. This goes to sow that he had come to terms with himself, and was very well aware of the truth.

But yet, he still chose to go ahead with his plan, risking everything to accomplish it. When he starts losing the upper hand, mere moments before jumping into the dragon vein, he says that the humans can cry and be anguished over this state, he says that this isn't the end, and eventually, they will also be experiencing agony beyond measure, and all will be for naught. Pointing to how he also wants to make them feel the sadness and emptiness he did.

His ignorances becomes clear her as he had clearly reflected upon himself and realized humanity cannot be defeated, but yet, chooses to stick with his beliefs that humans are horrible and irredeemable, despite his sudden introspection. This goes to show that even though he was aware of the truth, very much so with first-hand experience, still chose to believe that no, humans are not worth living, and they should suffer in sorrow and then perish along with me.

This clearly shows us how he chose to stick to his nihilistic beliefs and was adamant in his hateful judgement of humans, refusing to back down from his planet-destroying plan. THIS is the ignorance that contributed to his ultimate loss. This ignorance is what made him stir up such chaos in line with killing himself along with the world, when in the instance that he didn't fall victim to his ignorance, he may have attained a much more peaceful and honest solution where he could finally attain his goal of ending his life.

Therefore, ignorance, the most troublesome ordeal to come out of, was what was stopping Shoyo from reaching nirvana long ago. I say this as of course, there are ways to overcome this ignorance, a few of them being ethical conduct, where you put the wellbeing of others beyond yours and cease doing harm to others and ourselves.

Second is Meditation, where we balance out the emotions and turmoil within ourselves, one of them is learning to let your anger go, or stop being enslaved to it, and practicing patience. Meditation essentially helps to cultivate our perception and clarity. Overall, it just makes our mind more relaxed and our life easier.

Thirdly, wisdom also plays a role in defeating ignorance. This is training the mind to be mindful of our speech, actions, thoughts and experience. Can you see where im going with this lmao, Yoshida Shoyo is a clear example of how, in his short time of running Shoka Sonjuku, had strived to overcome his ignorance.

All these traits are predominant in the character that is Yoshida Shoyo, he was by far the wisest and most broad-minded individual, and was also extremely self-sacrificial and caring. Hence, this elaborates how he DID attempt to overcome his ignorance, the last fetter, before finally attaining freedom.

Now your question may be, then how tf did he become such an evil character, Utsuro? Simple, despite his efforts to overcome his sorrow, it was just too immense for a person to handle, even though he isn't ordinary, the abuse and torture he faced for SO LONG. Is what deflected him from staying true to this path.

Even though he was very much aware of his nature and his soul, he was still a victim of Multiple personality disorder, and it is very unpredictable and uncontrollable, for the average person. Hence, even though mind-wise he did attempt to change, his pain was just too immense, that his MPD had reacted when he was executed.

Now to put things in perspective, imagine you lead a life of hate, and then you realise, that you don't want to live like this anymore, you want a life of light and happiness, and mostly peace. And you did that so, you tried your best to be kind and considerate, changing lives for the better as you go. But it only lasted a short while, before your past caught up to you, before the ignorance and ego of humans caught up to you. Now for the problems of some damn government and other species, now YOU are the one paying for their crimes. By having your children watch you die, knowing that you will cause irreversible trauma to them.

And whats worse, the child you raised, the child you wanted to do better for the world, for himself and his people that he cares about. Now he is the one who has to behead you, and god knows what damage that will cause to him. How would you feel? Hopeless? Tired? fed up? Angered? Saddened? Mostly negative emotions isn't it.

EVEN THOUGH it clearly shows Shoyo turning to smile and thank Gintoki, it also shows that he knows his mind would not stand for this insolence, this absolute bullshit that even though he tried to be true to himself and turn over a new leaf, the world didn't let him, it still spat at him, still persecuted him, and is now also torturing the people he took under his wing, innocent lives also now suffer.

Even though he was wise enough to know that Gintoki and the rest would eventually be better, From his personal perspective, deep down, wouldn't he feel wronged? that all his efforts were in vain? That he wasn't allowed to live a peaceful life even when he tried his best to?

Thus, comes the birth of Utsuro. He vanquishes all the other personalities conflicted with turmoil and finally puts down Shoyo, stating that even his kindest side, couldn't reform these arrogant humans. He finally comes to the conclusion that no matter what he tried, including overcoming these fetters, it ultimately didn't help him, and his hate for humans sparked again. This hate eats away at him, and finally, Utsuro rises(literally, from the ashes).

In my opinion, i think Utsuro would have gone about destroying the world even if the Naraku didn't accept him as their leader again, He is very much capable of acting alone, but as the cunning and shrewd man he is, he probably thought of the bigger picture, what if the surrounding forces turned on earth and humans, destroying them, wouldn't that satiate his hate for them? and in turn the universe will also perish in the war he will orchestrate. It would be a win-win for him.

So, he then embarks on this journey, enjoying his own nihilistic beliefs and turning away from the noble eight-fold path, abandoning his efforts to overcome ignorance and attain freedom, rather choosing to indulge in his hatred and fuel to destroy whatever exists. Now bringing an end to the universe itself is also pointing to breaking the cycle, he clearly does so nobody will suffer. So it was more of a universal nirvana lmao.

And even though he chose to fall back into hate, apathy, nihilism and ignorance. HE had still yearned for freedom all the same.

Which is why it is important to realise that multiple personality disorder is just one aspect of this man, regardless of the extreme spectrum of his personalities, they all stem from one mind, one brain, and hence, are all just parts, puzzle pieces that build up Yoshida Shoyo's soul. A human is made up of love and hate, apathy and compassion, light and dark. Shoyo is the example of the extremes of a human's psyche, and how his experience can orient how they live their lives through out time.

Thus, With these 5 higher fetters his only obstacles, i hope i provided better understanding of how he struggled with each of these and tried to overcome them. As for the lower fetters, they are known as sensuous fetters. As I've discussed many times before, they were no problem, as Shoyo was always yearning for death, to leave his body and wasn't the least bit concerned about physical indulgence in anything, that just how his character is crafted and made into. Sensuous points were just useless to him and he had no interest in any of them whatsoever.

The only indulgence he did however have was food, now food is the most vital thing for humans, so that is an exception, along with the fact that he has a very advanced and strong body, with the stamina that can rival the earth, it can explain that he also has a big stomach. There are actually many monks, saints, or heightened beings, who have crossed many fetters, but still favour food largely and love to eat.

So, Yoshida shoyo, had no trouble with the lower fetters, scratch that it wasn't even a concern for him, he had knowingly or unknowingly already crossed them during his first few years when he was persecuted and tortured unfortunately. As him dying repeatedly will just make him detached from his physical body.

Which is why I have said statements like Yoshida Shoyo is truly a virgin, and theres an essay for that too I'll link it here as well. Now in vyapada i had mentioned how he did not in any way indulge in kamasankappa, this is because he has already crossed the wants and needs in physical ways, which includes lust, so yea there you have it. Ive already made many posts about this so i will link it below.

Also, he has died way too many times like he died multiple times in one day, especially during his first few centuries. So his libido stays dead too. In short, lust is for those who hold a strong attachment to their bodies, so the average human, however, Yoshida Shoyo strays much much MUCH away from it. So yea there you have it.

For a more clear explanation you can refer to my post here. It isn't extremely elaborate and is much shorter, but i do get my points across. Do refer to it as necessary as you find it.

Monk attributes

Now comes my favourite part lol, Yoshida Shoyo definitely acts like a monk, and i would even say he strived for it, exempting the bloodshed lmao sorry, he did strive to live like a monk, and man do i have so many examples for it. Oboro was also aiming to act like a monk, i have short post about it but delving into the topic anymore regarding the students of Shoka Sonjuku will be done another day. For now lets focus on this monk, Yoshida Shoyo LMAOO. In a literal sense, I'm not saying he was a full fledged official one, mostly I'm adhering to the fact that his characteristics were that of one, is what I'm getting at.

One of those conditions is that he recollects his past lives, for humans it normally means of remembering your past incarnations, as much as it may vary, this itself takes practice, however, Yoshida Shoyo did get reborn multiple times, but not in the same way humans did, it was the same physical state, same body, and same conditions, as his body can regenerate regardless of whatever death or destruction he may face.

Therefore, with this upper hand, along with his immortality through out these phases, recollecting his past lives is no issue for him. As much as monks can also be views as priests, saints, people who prioritise god in their lives. In many cases, monks can also be seen as people who try to cross the boundaries they have in their lives, striving for a higher purpose, or simply set themselves free. In Buddhism, nirvana is considered the highest priority, as experiencing the wheel of samsara, the wheel of suffering, is expected to strive to break that suffering.

Hence the come about of nirvana. In short, the goal of buddhism is to reach salvation/nirvana, or enlightenment. Or both, but usually if enlightenment comes nirvana will also follow. This is a whole conversation for another time. yes of course there's the obvious fact that Shoyo wished for a definite end, which is essentially nirvana. This is one of the qualities expected when becoming a recluse, ascetic, monk, whatever you name it. Since it has already been discussed, I'll try to focus on the characteristics now. Very basic qualities are wisdom, humility, and compassion, all of which I believe Yoshida Shoyo displayed everytime we see his life as Yoshida Shoyo.

Moreover, for a man that resorted to murder for over centuries, had suddenly dropped his weapons and violence when he ran away from Naraku. For example, when he was telling Oboro of how they would deflect the Naraku members chasing them, he strictly said they will not resort to killing. This shows to go his discipline and his conscious decision to step away from violence and brute force.

Even though Naraku members were indoctrinated to be emotionless and not care about themselves, as i had discussed a few segments ago. even for those emotionless, soulless, dead inside beings, Shoyo had decided that they shouldn't be killed, even though they were at the receiving side of violence. This shows that Shoyo, despite his past, had turned over a new leaf and decided, that no matter who they may be, a life is still a life, and that life force should not be harmed.

That is one of the fundamentals of buddhism. And when he does find Gintoki, he suggest he strives to protect his soul, rather than his body or defeat his enemies. This displays the notion that one should always strive to remain true to their soul, without finding the need to put down others. Shoyo's teachings were considered radical during that era, as he advocated for individualism and free will, rather than adhering to social norms, and only finding purpose in serving a master, a clan, or a higher authority.

This would end up in posing a threat to the government, as it will destroy the submission people give to the government, and can incite rebellions, due to the mistreatment and docile nature they are expected to have.Which is why Shoyo was branded a traitor and accused of spreading propaganda, which was the excuse they used to subdue and arrest him for before the war.

Coming to Shoka Sonjuku, its no secret that in Gintama, Shoka Sonjuku was said to be a temple school, Shoyo himself had stated it a few times. This is of course, referenced from history, as a temple school, or also known as Terakoya, was something that came up during the period of Edo, the literal definition of Terakoya is a temple school, which is categorized as a private school too. Which was also said to be what Shoka Sonjuku was, where Shoyo was running it for free.

Temple schools branch out from buddhist temples and were educational facilities which descended from them. While samurai were expected to learn in a public school, other groups of people were more oriented towards going to temple schools, now at the time some samurai ran temple schools, a fictional example is Yoshida Shoyo of course.

And temple schools did last for a while up until they were abolished in the Meiji period, where public schools were then made compulsory. With the historical context, it can point to how Shoyo chose to run such a school given that the rules were strict and that he could only have some leeway to teach what he wanted to teach after establishing a private school, which was also completely free, and welcomed any type of individual regardless of their background, which was considered radical during that period.

However i would also like to believe as i mentioned in the first segment, that when Shoyo was born he was most likely taken in by one of the shrines monitoring the dragon holes, and grew up there till a young age, which could possibly explain his reason for leaning towards Buddhism and its connections when it came down to him wanting to lead a simple life.

His past experience with buddhism and temples is what could have made it much easier for him to choose to establish a private school, a temple school, rather than fighting against the laws and confronting the rigid and strict public schools that were domineering at the time. So his connections to temples, buddhism, to spirituality from the get-go, considering dragon veins were also a big spiritual belief way before its existence was established in the Gintama verse, goes to show his deep-rooted connection to these aspects.

Moreover, as a educator adhering to the branches stemming from buddhist temples. He is also expected to dedicate himself to his work and improving the lives of others, teaching them the ways of life, and prioritising the wellbeing of others, especially the upcoming generation above his. Especially in a. time of war and crisis at the time. With propaganda and indoctrination soaring and dominating the field.

Thus, this makes me see it as that Yoshida shoyo's life did resembles that of a monk in a very similar way Hell, I think that if he came back or somehow lived after the finale he would just go back to being a recluse and running a quiet temple school yet again, this time really becoming a monk to detach himself from all the unnecessary problems he had in his life and with people frl.

Crossing worldly desires

Ive already discussed this before, but the gist of it is that throughout his whole life we can observe that he never really shows a care for anything materialistic or banal, of course due to the life he lived, which contributes to this. His whole character arc shows him striving for something more, or to become something more, which many people in the verse itself couldn't really grasp and it took them a long time to understand how he was the way he was. So since I've already explained it previously this is just a short summary.

Unable to cross over MPD

This was also discussed before, as even though he had so much wisdom and knowledge given his age and more. It still leaves a blank to the audience for a while on why he regressed to such a hateful personality. Like i mentioned, before, it could be due to the fact that deep down he felt wronged yet again, he may have been hateful, vengeful and violent at first, which would explain his consequences, but now, when he finally changes for the better, quells his rage and tries to walk the noble path.

He gets shunned yet again, ending up in ending his life yet again, regardless of what cool demeanour he may show outside, emotionally he would have still been in a whirlwind. Which explains why his hate burst out yet again to consume him and in turn point his rage towards everything in existence.

MPD basically starts off when a person tries to control their emotions and thoughts too much, bottling up these feelings will eventually burst out in some ways, this is a very much watered-down definition of what MPD is, but you get the gist.

However he does not have MPD the same way victims usually do and is incredibly self aware and remembers himself.

Multiple Personality disorder is very much uncontrollable to a human, it also includes not remembering what your personalities do if it takes over. A common sign is that one personality may not remember what the other personality did, so basically memory loss or amnesia. However, in this regard, Yoshida Shoyo differs. As he can clearly remember all the events in his life, as long as it may be. There's proof of this in literally almost all of his appearances in Gintama.

The first one literally being when he fights Gintoki in the Farewell Shinsengumi, and he says the exact same lines he had said as Yoshida Shoyo decades ago, to taunt Gintoki and make him realize it is truly his teacher that stands before him yet again. It was also to catch him off guard to cut him off. So he had known exactly what words to use due to his memory. So the difference im bringing here is that usually, victims don't remember what they do, however, Shoyo remembered it all, regardless of which personality he was.

Next example is when he is on a spaceship observing the Joui 4 students and he tells Oboro how he would have to teach his students(children) a lesson yet again, now this can serve as mockery, but it also goes to show that he is still very much familiar with them, even though they never knew this vengeful side of him. Oboro also realises, as he also bids his farewell as his student(child) from Shoka Sonjuku before heading off to fight off Takasugi and eventually die.

Another blatant example is during the silver soul fight yet again, when he reminisces about Gintoki as a child when Gintoki rushes to cut him down. It's literally how parents view their children when they do something in Infront of them, they can't help but see them as the children they used to be, since well, they are the children he raised. And no matter how many of them change or may drift apart, their bond and history will still remain the same.

Like this there are many more examples, and i hope i can compile them together soon to make a post.

Shoyo is a smile Utsuro let slip

This was in fact a very well-know dialouge from Gintama, said by Nobume, Shoyo's last student from shoka sonjuku. As this suggests, this line encapsulates of how utsuro(shoyo) did not intend to let the wish to be happy deep down, to seep through the cracks and show itself.

He wished to keep it buried and fuel his hate for as long as he could, and give back all the bloodshed the humans had caused him. All the deaths to hit them back. However, he could only hold it back for so long, as this yearning for peace had also bursted through at some point, leading him to abandon his life of Naraku and pursue his own path.

Shoyo was a glimpse of happiness that had slipped through his endless agony called life, and since it was held down for so long, his smile lasted for a few years, and it would have lasted till the end, had the war not happened, and had the government not intervened in his path again. Which is why i constantly want to drive the point home that Shoyo and Utsuro are no different, it is all the one and same man.

This displays the complexities and extremes of what a human can do and feel. And completely disregarding that to treat hm as two different people, completely misses the whole point of what his character stands for.

Why it is lowkey incorrect to call Shoyo as Utsuro(in terms of legitimate name) or Shoyoutsuro and why I always call him Yoshida shoyo even when he is Utsuro

You would have noticed that i called Yoshida shoyo as Shoyo even when he was working under the name of Utsuro. Fundamentally, it should be understood that Utsuro means emptiness, void, hollow and vice versa. However, it isn't a name truly. It can be seen as more of a mantle.

It goes to show how he has abandoned his humanity, or more so of wasn't even able to embrace humanity, due to his nature and life. However, the whole thing of his smile slipping and Yoshida Shoyo suppressing his centuries worth of hate, shows how he had finally had enough of himself, choosing to change himself for the better. So it is a journey of self-discovery, and learning, despite his bloody past.

After which he chooses the name of Yoshida Shoyo. He himself blatantly states this in silver soul when Gintoki raises him for a short while. He says that he has taken on many names, but this is who he was truly who he was. You heard it from the man himself everybody. And in other parts too it suggest how Shoyo was his true self and his fundamental self. Detaching all of his past and actions too in some instances.

So when people call him Utsuro, it really just refers to his mantle, it shows how he wants to make the universe void too, make it empty after destroying it. It mostly adheres to that goal, and himself at the moment when he renounces his entire existence to achieve his deadly goal.

There are people who call him shouyoutsuro, which is to likely drive the point home that its the one and same man, however, i feel like calling him Shoyo would suffice. As even during the end, when he returns to destroy planets and earth, I see it as the man named Yoshida Shoyo taking on the mantle of Utsuro to solidify his role as the grim reaper of the universe. This is mostly because Yoshida Shoyo was specifically a name he chose for himself.

Significance behind Utsuro parting his hair

This is just a small fun detail to think about, from the beginning up until the end of his life being shoka sonjuku's teacher, Shoyo had his fringe covering his forehead. However, when the final boss Utsuro is born, he pushes back his messy fringe, leaving his forehead bare. Now this could pertain to the fact that he wanted to show that he wasn't the same anymore, he was no longer going to be nice to humans, nor was he going to be out for blood and start killing like the assassin he used to be.

He resolved to destroy earth in a more orderly manner, and by having earth destroyed completely, instead of settling for more smaller ways to execute humans. It shows how he was truly done with his previous ways of life and wanted to end everything as soon as possible.

An interesting way we could see this is that the third eye is located on the forehead, so him finally uncovering forehead and pushing back his fringe, could also possibly mean on how he thinks he is no longer blind to the truth anymore and that he is finally clear on the true nature of things and humanity, which explains his unshakeable resolve to end life itself. A bit of a thought-provoking thing to ponder about hmmm.

Fight with Gintoki

As Yoshida shoyo, we never see him fight anyone seriously, and as utsuro, we have the fight with Gintoki (backed up by Nobume and Okita), the fight with Umibozu, and then the silver soul fight, Edo vs Utsuro, and then 10 v 1). In this fight against Gintoki, its his first immediate fight after he reveals himself as the final antagonist and gintoki fights against Utsuro. In this fight Utsuro almost kills Nobume when Gintoki rises from the rubble to fend him off.

This does serve as his purpose to rid himself of loose ends, as Gintoki and anyone else from shoka sonjuku are the ones who can truly find out his weakness and bring him down. This is just speculation of course.

He also showed himself to be a smug and cunning man, taunting Gintoki as much as possible while also sneering down on all of them, ridiculing them of their weak wills and how predictable they were. However, for the strongest man in the world, and has remained unmatched thus far, he seemed invested in the fight against Gintoki, given how he was the one that trained Gintoki and now it has come to a time where his child himself will have to try and cut him down seriously, there is no more sparring anymore.

Fight with Umibozu

The fight with Umibozu did seem a bit shallow to me, mostly because Utsuro wasn't really locking in like it was life and death akin to Umibozu. Yes it did show a lot of introspective from Umibozu, stating his regrets with his wife and how he had still not gotten over her. he still calls her his wife, and he is her husband. So that was one thing that made Umibozu stand out, as he was a very much dedicated husband, who was trying to atone in ways to pay back his wife for all the pain he had caused her.

Even though she willingly left her planet with him. He tries to salvage what gift he had for her to try and bring down the immortal who posed a danger to earth, and in turn his kids, especially Kagura, his daughter. Yea Utsuro was gonna destroy the whole universe too yes thats a reason too of course.

And i digress, about that whole boner thing its kinda obvious that it was for comedic purposes and to show how endangered the Yatos were, from my reading, i mostly read that Umibozu already had a boner when fighting the Orochi, before meeting Kouka, and when he did meet her his ding dong stood up again, but this time with a more conscious reaction lmao.

So his fight with both Orochi and Utsuro was just a survival instinct for the Yatos due to them being an endangered species, Umibozu does view Utsuro as a unfathomable and fearful monster as stated by himself, much like the Orochi, or even more terrifying than the Orochi themselves.

Given how he was very much sure he was going to die and was describing Urusro as this unpredictable phenomena who was much too emotionless and monstrous. While kouka is the anomaly here as aforementioned as Umibozu deeply valued her from the get-go and literally worshipped the ground she walked on.

Since Umibozu fell in love with Kouka immediately. So in this case the Orochi and Utsuro are in the same category, Kouka being the exception and becoming his wife. Now back to the battle of these decomposing corpses, Utsuro is be shown acting nonchalant, aloof, and smiling half-heartedly, once again taunting Umibozu.

I feel like his actions were more of like trying to see if he could actually "kill" him. Given how the last time he "died" was when he was beheaded by Gintoki and then burnt on the pyre, after which he rose out of the ashes. So it would have been more than a decade since he last had his body die. When Umibozu wrongfully assumes that the altana crystal will kill him, he tricks Umibozu and regenerates to cut him down again, in which Umibozu finally becomes immobilized.

Not going all out in one or both of these fights

I will stand by this and will die on this hill, Utsuro was not going all out in his fight with Umibozu, yes umibozu is very strong, considered the strongest, but with the way Utsuro was acting it seemed like he was still unserious about the whole fight, while Umibozu as prepared for the consequences of dying.

He was aloof and smiling through out the whole ordeal, even when he was killed, and regenerated. He finally says that he's grateful that he was able to die again after so long, a mere glimpse into what the end of the cycle would look like for his immortal body. And then speaks in a complacent manner about how he would meet them all in the afterlife, considering Umibozu was very close to being dead.

As it shows right after of how he was ready to join Kouka, his love that he has never gotten over of and dearly misses, but she didn't let him, which is a metaphor for how his duties as a father isn't done yet mostly. ANOTHER fact i have to back up the claim that Utsuro did not go all out on the fight is once again during the silver soul arc fight, when he is fighting off both Umibozu and Kami, and he still fends for himself like a king(yes I'm glazing).

Even the strongest Yatos could only act as a cog in this whole organization of bringing down Utsuro along with many other people like Gintoki and the gang, Shinsengumi and his other two children, who were also extremely powerful, even all of them combined struggled to bring down Utsuro.

SO, this solidifies my statement that Utsuro INDEED was not serious during his fight with Umibozu, just like his fight with Gintoki, The only place where he did lose composure and felt like losing was in the silver soul fight, before that all his fights were simply battles that were a guaranteed win for him or just took it as an opportunity to make them suffer or taunt them, mostly to sneer down on them.

Shocked with Gintoki, not shocked with Umibozu

In the first fight against Gintoki, Utsuro was shocked to see Gintoki come back to fight him. This could be due to the fact that Gintoki will soon become aware of who he is and how their lives have already been connected. He’s literally his dad in a sense and taught Gintoki everything he knows.

Meanwhile, Utsuro is unserious and aloof until the very end, brushing it off like nothing happened, just as he acts in every other situation. The only scenarios where Utsuro was actually caught off guard were those involving his students. This could reflect that even though his personality as Utsuro was present, there was still inner turmoil going on—his different fragments fighting against each other and his past still haunting him despite his resolution to destroy everything. This is just my observation.

Fight with everyone in silver soul arc

This fight was the one where we finally got to learn more of Utsuro's thoughts, as before that, it had been stated that no one could predict or understand his actions or the reasons behind them. But when his plan came close to fruition, his arrogance caused him to fumble, which led Gintoki and the gang to crack down on him and foil his initial plans of exploding the planet, lmao.

This is the only fight, before the one in the finale, where he slips up and hesitates. He was such a formidable and unpredictable opponent before; he was considered someone against whom it was useless to fight, as it felt like kicking down on the Earth itself.

But now, he was weakened and having second thoughts, doubting himself once again and becoming agitated after realizing just how much all these humans and his past bothered him. This led to the crack down and his trying to save face by jumping into the dragon veins to regenerate and come back with a better plan, riddled with cunningness, in the finale.

Gintama Finale fight

Utsuro obviously didn't have the upper hand here, his consciousness was in Takasugi who was actively rebelling and throwing off Utsuro, along with Oboro's little help. Takasugi taking over control is what allowed Gintoki to finally defeat Utsuro. If it was Shoyo's original body, it is without a doubt that he would clear out anybody.

Which is mostly the reason Sorachi made Utsuro get stuck in this situation, so that his ignorance and arrogance cane be shown of how it led to him messing up and finally using that crack to defeat him finally. Gintoki himself states how Takasugi did the most work in defeating Utsuro as he was the one reining in control over his own body and threw Utsuro off his senses.

Only let his guard down with his students

Utsuro was caught off guard by both Gintoki and Nobume, who were students of his, in terms of dialogues they were the ones that strongly challenged Utsuro's beliefs and brought back the same self-confident energy that Utsuro displayed. The others were trying their best to bring him down and was more of a way to rid themselves of the danger that could destroy them, and overcome their fear of the form of death himself, Utsuro.

Yearning for inclusiveness and happiness

This Silver soul fight also drives home the point of how Utsuro, no matter how much he tried to hate humans, he still deeply wanted to connect with people and wanted to be included, he wanted to allowed to be human and wanted to be treated as such, but he had never once gotten the opportunity even as Yoshida Shoyo he was shunned and ridiculed, chased away from towns for his "radical views", only people who were also abandoned and shunned like him, Gintoki, Oboro, Takasugi, Katsura, and Nobume, and his other students, were able to see him as the human he was and gave him the respect he deserved.

They valued him as their guide and teacher like how they normally do in their cultures, and that is what alllowed him to be human, for a short period of time. He was content with leading a quiet life, raising his children, and taking people under his wing who suffered injustices and outcasting as well as poverty like him, But he was only able to attain peace for so long.

Significance behind different birthdays for Shoyo and Utsuro

Shoyo has two different birthdays, one is on August 4th(Shoyo) and another is on October 27th(Utsuro). I think that neither of these are the dates where he was actually born, as in where he was born as a baby through the dragon veins and being popped out of the dragon holes near the shrines.

I think august 4th is the day "his smile he let slip" and he changed his ways, abandoning Naraku and starting Shoka Sonjuku. While October 27th is the day he was beheaded as Yoshida Shoyo by Gintoki, or to be more accurate, removed by Utsuro, his hateful side of him, taking over and Utsuro being born after destroying all his other personalities.

So it was the day his hate was born anew returning back a hundred times stronger to finally put an end to it all, nothing worthy enough to stop him anymore. SO, Utsuro was born on the day his body was beheaded at the end of the war.

Proof is the silver soul arc where he says he is neither Shoyo nor Utsuro now

In the end, Yoshida Shoyo is his true self, but according to other people's views, shoyo was just a teacher, while Utsuro the Shinigami. So in the finale when Takasugi asks him to return as their teacher to Shoka Sonjuku. he states how he is neither Shoyo nor Utsuro now, this could be because even though he had been a teacher before, after his execeution, his mantle as Utsuro and the crimes he did during that time was just too immense, riddled with blood and pain. So it would be very difficult for him to return as their teacher when he was so close to ridding the entire universe, and in turn, killing his students too.

So it shows how that regardless of all these identities, he was just a being that came from the earth. he says this when the Harusame or Tendoushuu capture him and find out his past, he says the same line there too. That he is neither Utsuro nor Shoyo, or both at the same time. Regardless of his name, he had no name given to him and was only called a devil at first.

Him repeating this statement at the finale goes to show how he believed he was truly at the end, and that there was no going back for him, he just felt remorse and regret for causing hell and chaos for his students, his children, that he cared about the most, to also be the ones to suffer the most because of him.

In the end, he was just a human who had the misfortune of immortality, and had tried to make the best out of his suffering for a while and had also committed genocide afterward, which goes to show how he was unforgiving of himself and refused to let any of this problems go any further when he sacrificed himself and apologized to his child.

His consciousness is able to spread just like the dragon veins rooted into the earth

In the movie, Gintama the final, the animation shows Utsuro looking up at Yoshida shoyo when he takes over Takasugi's body, however this differs vastly from the manga, in the manga it shows his shadow being shown behind takasugi, so the more accurate showcase would be Takausgi smiling an evil smile at Shoyo before Attempting to stab him again. As this was the scene that gave many misconceptions to the audience of Utsuro and Shoyo being two separate beings, because at this scene>>>

Utsuro was simply a shadow, his conciousness was acting, Takasugi's body had still remained the same. Even in the final fight against Gintoki, physically Gintoki could only see Takasugi as he was fighting. Showing Utsuro there was just to make it easier for us to understand it was Utsuro acting out in Takasugi's physical self. Only Oboro's depiction was shown accurately, where he was beside Takasugi and helped him push back Utsuro for a while.

So i think this is where the movie screwed up, i made a small post about it too here. Discussing how he has this skill can strike up a whole new debate, so we will just assume it's one of his many supernatural, abilities and move on.

Majority tend to forget that this single man can only have one physical body at a time

As mentioned in the scene above, it was depicted inaccurately in the finale. I'm emphasizing this as Utsuro didn't change Takasugi's appearance and only showed himself to have his consciousness remain active in Takasugi's blood. The only physical body that was actually there at the time was Yoshida Shoyo's—his true self's body. I mean to say that Shoyo can only have one physical body at a time, contrary to the common misconception.

For example, in the Rakuyo fight, after his heart was stopped and he dropped dead, his decapitated arm, which was detached from his body with his heart that stopped functioning, allowed him to regenerate his body again. We can see him standing by his dead body; there was only another body, but it was already dead. This goes to show that only if the current body drops dead can he regenerate again.

Another example is in the Silver Soul fight when he willingly cuts off his arm to throw everyone off and focus on destroying the arm while he regenerates out of sight again to jump-scare his opponents.

Finally, in the finale, Utsuro was not physically Utsuro; it was simply him taking over Takasugi's brain, and Takasugi still looked like himself throughout the whole altercation with his teacher and Gintoki. Now, even though he is the same man, why did Shoyo get caught off guard by Utsuro's consciousness in Takasugi's body, and why did Utsuro trick him and try to kill him?

From Utsuro's perspective, since his consciousness has spread by getting rid of his original body, if he successfully kills Gintoki, he would have blown up the Altana core and, in turn, also destroy Takasugi's body and Edo along with it, accomplishing his goal. Now, how did both of his personalities war with each other?

Simple: at the time Utsuro's consciousness had possessed Takasugi, he was the nihilistic personality, Utsuro, while Yoshida Shoyo had literally regenerated over two times—one being born out of the Dragon Hole again, and then sealed in a chamber in his child form, regenerating very fast yet again in the finale. Since he was reborn, he stepped onto the land as his true and original self, Yoshida Shoyo.

The consciousness of Shoyo that runs in Takasugi's blood predates back to the Silver Soul arc, which is approximately 2-3 years before going by the timeline of the Gintama verse. So Utsuro's personality is the one that retained itself in its unoriginal and salvaging way in the blood of his student, while Yoshida Shoyo was born anew in his own physical body like he always was for the last few times.

Now, the consciousness in Takasugi wasn't exactly strong nor useful, given how Utsuro had remained hidden for all this time—3 years—and yet he could only get the upper hand for a few minutes.

He believed he killed himself, his original body, but it was an illusion orchestrated by Takasugi taking control again. He lost the fight against Gintoki when he wasn't even able to see clearly.

So his consciousness is outdated and weak; this is also due to the fact that his original body has risen, thus explaining the weakening of control. But I think he never had that much control to begin with, since it was just a small blood manipulation to extend Takasugi's life, and Utsuro himself was waning out and dying. So i'm sealing the canon idea and reminding that Yoshida shoyo(Utsuro) is indeed one and the same man and both are only the 2 extremes of the one and the same man. With further proof that he can only have one physical body or regenerate one single body for himself since he only has one brain and one soul

Attaining nirvana despite trying to be saved by students

Oboro died, and soon after Takasugi finds out the truth and attempted to free Shoyo from the hands of the world, as that was the time immortality was rising as a religion, and Shoyo was starting to be heralded as a god, basically a cult was rising fast. Gintoki also finds his own way of learning the truth about Shoyo, as he was the last person who saw him, and he was the only one who saw Utsuro willingly jumping into the dragon veins, while everyone remained oblivious. Takasugi and Gintoki both use their own methods to get to the bottom of this centuries-lasting problem. Soon they both band together to free their teacher from his suffering, Katsura joining in, and Nobume also aiding.

Now this is where interpretations can become more than one. When Gintoki and Takasugi talk about saving their teacher and putting him out of his suffering, did they mean to save him from the cult and bring him back as their teacher(and parent more like) and family, or did they mean that he can finally die.

I think they mostly were ready for both paths, as when Takasugi saw Shoyo, he talked about making Yoshida Shoyo reunite with all of them again and going back to being their teacher, however, he must also have been aware that death was the only way Shoyo could finally be given some freedom and salvation from all these people vindicating him.

But i think all these students of Shoka Sonjuku had small hopes, of a better more happier world, where they can all reunite together as Shoka Sonjuku. However that wasn't possible at the moment, given how Oboro died, Takasugi was going to die regardless, and Shoyo's sins were too heavy fro him to forgive himself and go back to his old life like nothing happened.

A parent's sins will soon torture the children they raise. And Shoyo must have been well aware of this, as his kids had already suffered enough. If he did somehow manage to return, they might have been happy, but the world would not let Yoshida Shoyo live in peace once again. It's either death or persecution and propaganda. And Shoyo knew that sacrificing himself and empowering future generations was the best solution.

Hence why he chose to rip out his heart and save everybody when none of them expected him to sacrifice himself. By putting the wellbeing of humans, of his loved ones, his family, and future generations above his own survival, and his final admission of all his crimes and inner turmoil. He finally returns to the noble eight-fold path, fulfilling all the conducts mentioned in this path sprouting from buddhism.

And thus, being able to finally, FINALLY, die in peace, with the comfort that at least the children of his that still lives, and all the future generations of humans, will be doing fine, and that he has made up for all his world-destroying methods and goals by saving humanity, most importantly the people that came together because of him in the tower, by sacrificing himself and all his ignorance, his restlessness, his ill-will, and his grief and hate. Most importantly, his remorse and regrets.

He was finally able to lay them all down, lay down all of his personalities, his identities that spanned for over a thousand years, he had worn down all of these identities, these false conceptions of reality and nature. And by ridding himself of all these thoughts and ignorance, the storm in him finally calms and he lets go.

Finally and at last, being able to reach nirvana and break his wheel of samsara. Going out with a smile on his face. That despite his agonizing life, there were moments where he shined through, and he finally acted out successfully by saving the planet from which he was born. This is what ultimately let this man riddled with sorrow and bloodshed and pain, finally reach salvation, attain nirvana, and freeing himself from the cycle of birth and death.

Going back to the source, the earth

After Shoyo subdues the exploding altana with his heart, we can see the altana flow back into the earth from the terminal, and since Shoyo was a child of the earth herself, meaning his existence literally sprouted out of the earth and the dragon veins, I'm assuming his body crystallizes and disintegrates, and eventually joins the altana flowing back, while his soul dissolves and frees himself from the wheel of samsara, which is what nirvana essentially means.

Helping Takasugi to be reborn

Sakamoto says saving the students is simply a teacher's duty, and isn't a miracle, which just points to the fact that Takasugi's body must have also fallen into the dragon veins and been destroyed, And with the dragon vein which is capable of regeneration and curing diseases and rehabilitating life.

When it is shown that Takasugi is reborn once again it gain pertain to the fact that he was able to have a rebirth due to falling into the altana veins, as well as with the blessings of his dad/teacher/guide, Yoshida Shoyo, as he himself would have been depressed that both Oboro and Takasugi had died in lieu of trying to save their Mentor/Dad. So if any of the upcoming projects in Gintama features Shoka Sonjuku, I hope Oboro and Takasugi come back. And that they will grow up fast at the same rate Shoyo did when he regenerated in the Silver soul arc. For the reunion.

Can be considered a deity considering he had a whole religion threatening to spread universe wide due to his nature

This is ME just dickriding, but Shoyo was turned into a deity and treated like one in his absence when the cult was rising an a religion getting popular with him as the catalysts directs us to the fat that he was on his way to being truly immortalized as a deity, given his immortality mostly and his superhuman abilities. They did briefly cover this in silver soul, which is why the students of Shoka Sonjuku were pressed for time and had to act fast to quell this rising cult and save their teacher's name and free him from this misery. And they did succeed in the end.

However, there are countless cultures where a human who has showcased outstanding qualities during their time have also been worshipped as deities long after their death. Considering Shoyo's immortality and his superhuman qualities, along with his longstanding mental qualities and tenacity, I wasn't surprised when they were planning to make him a deity or see him as one, he definitely deserved such a title, but he had no need nor wishes for such things, he just wanted freedom. But he is basically, built different (yes im glazing).

Not humane but has human qualities that make him human

I am reiterating my statement here for reference, Shoyo is human, yes he wasn't born like how ordinary humans are, but all humans body is made up of the earth, and he is all the same. The difference is that he was directly born from the dragon vein's the life source of the planet. He is the embodiment of this energy, which explains his extreme superhuman strength, speed and vice versa. Supernatural abilities along these lines too. However, he was still every bit as human as the next in my opinion.

"Humanity is not a physical state but a mindset" given how many non human characters in Gintama have also been portrayed as having humanity and compassion

As much as he was persecuted as a monster, he displayed immense compassion and humanity for a certain period of time. His pain and sorrow, his agony of being unable to cope with the life he was living, were further proof of just how human he was, despite being such a special being with a much different origin.

All the aliens, Yato, or even animals, like Sadaharu shown in Gintama, also display humanity. In summary, being human isn't just a physical condition; showing humanity and compassion isn't something only humans do. If anyone has a heart, they are considered human—not in a literal sense, but more in a metaphorical way, as they can display heart-touching humanity and care.

Essentially, the point is that humanity lies in the heart, and compassion and enriching each other's lives is a choice anyone can make. Even though Shoyo displayed his humanity for only a very short amount of time, that spark caused a domino/butterfly effect, changing the lives of so many people for the better and altering their views on how their once strict and cruel world had been. He became a light of hope for a better future and present when we are willing to change ourselves and enrich the lives of those around us along with our own.

P.S: This essay got longer than expected but i did try my best to cover as many topics as possible, i still think there are many more scenes to breakdown on so i'll see if i can work on a different essay. Writing wise, this only took me a week, but this took months for me to finish as I wanted to do my research and had to find enough time to sit down and grind on this. Which explains the delay.

I hope this helped provide a clear dive into Yoshida Shoyo's character and made things easier to understand as in some parts his actions are difficult to get or just overall not explored on.

I know i linked some posts above already related to Yoshida shoyo so i'll link my other analysis posts below just for perusal. Don't worry they are much much more shorter than this essay lol, Cheers yall.

Gintoki & Lake Toya

Oboro Analysis

Takasugi breaking down in the finale

Nobume the goat

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Costume Meta 7x03

so there aren't al l that many costumes to talk about this week from a min cast perspective as pretty much everyone is either in uniform, or a costume they've been wearing for the previous two episodes!

I do have a few things to talk about though so I'm still writing this meta and then I'll be gearing myself up for next week when I have a feeling I'll be up to my eyeballs in new costumes!!

Check theory

The danger around Jared played out - he large bold check signalled that he would be in danger - and he met a grim end!

Pink Theory

I feel like I'm spending every episode playing spot the bright pink and this one came to the pink party as well - we have Corey's dad in this pink sweater and then Corey's two siblings in pink.

Its really interesting to me that we're not seeing this bright pink on any of our mains up to this point (Athena has worn pale pink but not bright pink)- its always been on guest cast (Marisol, Lola, Norman, the mom trapped in the car) and there's a fairly even split between the characters who are in one episode and the multi episode arc characters.

I've already pointed this out but the various traits associated with bright magenta/fuchsia pinks are as follows

Things that are considered positive traits for this shade of pink are; intensity, acceptance, kindness and it's supportive and uplifting nature. It's connected to naive love (as in lust rather than the passionate and enduring love of red) can also be considered a nurturing colour.

Negative traits are; intensity, volatility, arrogant and impatient, irritability and irritating and frustration. it is also said to be a stress inducing colour and is said to be overly emotional and childish.

Stripe Theory

Then we have the stripes - Corey (who I'm convinced is autistic but thats maybe just me projecting!!) is in stripes pretty much the entire time.

The only exception is when the family is on Manzanillo - when he is wearing a watery themed shirt - again separating him from most of the rest of the family - who are all in floral prints (older brother is all in white and not the floral Hawaiian prints but he and his sister (I think they're meant to be twins?!) switch between who is wearing the bold print and who is in a white top throughout the episode)

Mom wears stripes as well - before she gets onto the ship - we see her in this striped coat. Dad and the sister also wear stripes and check scarves, showing that the entire family is in peril, but the largest amount of stripes are saved for the ones who will be in the most danger - which makes total sense from a pattern theory perspective.

An amusing aside that had me giggling - this top is shear perfection when paired with the 118 deciding their new moto is who cares!!😂

Right off to the firehouse to finish up! - I've mentioned before how uniform variation is used to separate out a character where needed (I wrote about it in my 6x09 meta) so here in the firehouse we have two separations going on - Buck and Eddie are the only ones in t-shirts - separating them from everyone else.

In connection to this separating them from the rest of the firehouse crew is that yellow rag Buck is waving around - it feels a little bit like that red one we saw him with several times in season 6 - the season of red flags.

In the same way t hat red cloth was like a red flag, this reads like a yellow flag - now yellow flags are interesting. In shipping terms they were historically a signal of quarantine (this isn' the case any more), and in sports generally they are used to denote hazardous conditions (motor racing and on beaches relating to surf and currents).

But the more interesting yellow flag concept is the yellow flag in a relationship - generally speaking they are indicators of things that could become problematic and turn into red flags if not dealt with or communicated about (yup communication again). Paired with the fact that Buck and Eddie have been 'singled' out through their uniform, its telling us issues ahead (even if we didn't know about them) and that its their dynamic that is going to be tested and that they are going to need to communicate.

Now all those yellow hoses hanging around in the back ground and then one hose physically connecting them - is certainly a choice (remember they could have used one of the non yellow hoses if it wasn't important) and a pretty loud one. I go on and on about yellow lines of communication, a lot, and I have in my metas for this season so far, but here we have another example of yellow ropes.. lines, cables etc.

The really really key thing here is that we haven't actually seen Buck and Eddie connected by a yellow anything since the end of season 3 and having not seen them connected with a yellow anything since season 3 - when their respective yellow lines got cut/burnt. This one here is about , a yellow line of communication being re-established. What adds to this is the directorial choices - the yellow flag is waves around before they connect themselves with a yellow line (hose) - as a piece of directorial foreshadowing I am in love - its telling us the Buck is the one who is the creator of the yellow flags (read his jealousy) and he is the one with the yellow rag (in the same way he was the one with the red rag previously), but that it will ultimately lead to Buck and Eddie reconnecting after those flags are raised and dealt with. I cannot stress enough the importance of that yellow line between them being reconnected - it really speaks of their communication improving and that we'll see them operating on a level we haven't seen before - they cut their yellow lines at the time when Eddie was changing his will, and whilst they have spoken on important topics etc since then, there has always been something in between them - they haven't had a proper full cards on the table conversation. My feeling is that we might be about to get that (especially combined with what we know from what Oliver and Ryan have teased!)

Then there is Chimney who is separated from everyone else by virtue of being the only one in a long sleeved shirt. If you watch the scene through, and pay attentiion to the background, you'll see all the firefighters in either short sleeve shirts or wearing bomber jackets. there is one exception - a guy carrying a medical bag who I'm pretty sure is meant to be a representaion of Hen's reinstatment to the 118 as he crosses Chim at the time Chim announces Hen has been reinstated!

Thats all from me this week - hope you enjoyed! I'm off to prepare myself for Thursday night!!!

Tagged peeps below!

@theladyyavilee @mistmarauder @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @mandzuking17 @spotsandsocks @loveyou2thecore @rogerzsteven @wanderingwomanwondering @oneawkwardcookie @leothil @copyninjabuckley @shammers86 @crazyfangirlallert @missmagooglie @katyobsesses @radiation-run @gayandbifiremenofmine @bi-moonlight @crazyaboutotps @princesschez75 @alliaskisthepossibilityoflove @sherlocking-out-loud @tommykinarddd @satashiiwrites

[bipanicoverthegravessiblings]

Art by treein

Haven't seen a pure one-shot from you. Can you make a one-shot of a yandere Ashley who got rejected for prom?

I will certainly try! :D

TW: Mentions of alcohol and spiked punch, Character Death, Depictions of a dead body, Violence, Ashley Graves steps on the reader and not in a hot way, reader is kind of a dick

[One-Shot] Rejecting Ashley Graves’ Prom Invitation

The music echoed throughout the neon lit gymnasium, blaring from speakers you’re sure hadn’t been touched since last year’s prom. You and your peers were packed into the room like sardines in a can, but no one seemed to mind. Any chaperones assigned to make sure the students “saved room for Jesus” when dancing with their dates, were blackout drunk and slumped against the chairs set around the circular tables. It was essentially a free for all.

You stood by the snack table, about two foldout tables with light purple tablecloths draped over them….at least you thought it was purple. The only others provided were various color changing lights, and even then it still made it hard to see. What you could see was the mass of people gathered in the center as the DJ/Janitor played remixes of popular songs on the radio. Your own friends among the mass, dancing with their dates- faces flushed from the spiked punch.

Your smile for them faded slowly as the reminder of your current positioned dawned on you once again. You hadn’t come to prom alone, no- you arrived with your friends and your own date but…you hadn’t seen her since she left to use the bathroom. It wasn’t a very big gym, even with the people….she would’ve eventually found you. Then again it was dark.

You had looked for her earlier, even sneaking behind the bleachers to not find your date- but rather two of your classmates rawdogging it among the dust and cobwebs. You- you could’ve gone a lifetime not needing to see that. Having gone to find your friends after….that….made you discover that they hadn’t seen your date either. It was strange.

Maybe she ditched you. And before you could really do anything to fuck it up badly. You now know how the weird kids felt at prom, standing and observing from the snack table like a freak.

You glance down the lined up tables at the few other kids who decided to show up despite not having a date or friends to go with. It was pitiful really. Why go, you’re just outing yourself at that point. At least you had friends….who abandoned you for grinding against their dates- but you had them!

Against your better judgement, you looked among the dots of freaks for one in particular….wondering if she came.

Ashley Graves, the resident crazy chick. You’re 90% sure she’s an undiagnosed psychopath, with rumors of her doing heinous things floating around. Stabbing a girl’s eye out with a pencil for looking at her wrong, throwing her childhood pet hamster from her four-story balcony, being involved with her brother- that last one you didn’t believe for a couple of reasons. One, her brother was already dating a girl- Julia Lamb. You shared an English class with her and she’s really sweet, Ashley’s brother is lucky. Second reason is because Ashley had asked you to go to prom with her.

She slipped the card into your locker- you don’t know how she found out which one was yours but she did. The handwriting was illegible, with a scribbled drawing of you inside. It was…off putting. Like something a serial killer would make while on death row. You managed to find Ashley and break it to her gently that you wouldn’t be going to prom with her- mostly cause you didn’t have a fucking death wish- but then she went berserk. She took her dumb card and tore it to shreds, throwing them at your feet and shoving you over as she stomped away in a temper tantrum.

You don’t even know why she wanted to go with you, it’s not like you were friends. You had lunch with her one time, and it was mainly out of pity. You took the outburst as dodging a bullet and went with someone you actually liked.

And by hell, you were going to find and spend the night with her.

You moved away from the snack table, making your way to the locker rooms where the bathrooms were. No one was really paying attention, so you went into the girls one. Slowly- the music became muffled, and your eyes were no longer assaulted by neon. No- rather the darkness of the locker room- save for a single overhead light that flickered- giving it an ominous look. Your shoulders tensed, debating whether or not you should really check and see if she was still in the bathroom…but you didn’t want to spend this night alone. You push your fears down along with everything else you choose to ignore, making your way through the maze of lockers.

You preciously stepped over left behind equipment, scrunching your nose at the faint stench of sweat- until you paused. A light. A bright one at that. Turning the corner of a wall of lockers showed you the showers, and the faint sound of one running.

You were hesitant, worried to have another situation like under the bleachers….but you heard no indications of debauchery. The flimsy shower stream wouldn’t have been loud enough to cover it. So- you make your way over to the bright area, like a moth to a flame.

You wished you hadn’t.

You stared wide eyed at the floor. When making your way to the final shower stall, you hadn’t expected to find your date.

Well- at least not like this.

Her face had several lacerations, almost making her unidentifiable. Her blonde hair stained red at the ends with her own blood, as her dress. Her eyes were glazed over, and she looked pale. The sight was gruesome. You wanted to throw up, but you brought your hand to your mouth to hold it back. You supported your weight against the wall, heavy breaths leaving your panicking body as you asked yourself who could do shock a thing.

You learned quickly as you felt a blunt object hit the back of your head, sending you crashing to the wet tiled ground beside your date. Her watered down blood stained your hands and clothes, you stumbled to look behind you- the culprit’s figure being obscured by the bright lights behind them. They wore a slim dress with a ribbon around the waist- tied neatly at the side in a bow. At their side was a knife, though held in a way you could clobber someone with the handle. It didn’t register who this could be until you saw the ponytail.

“A-Ashley?!” You stammered, fearful for your life.

“Bingo-Bongo bitch!” She raised the knife, slashing it across your chest. You hissed in pain, trying to protect your body as she slashed at your back.

“Stop! Stop!” You pleaded, letting out sobs from the pain. She got tired of cutting into you and started digging her heels into your cuts, stomping you into the ground like you were nothing more than a bug.

“So THIS is who you rejected me over?!” She gestured to your date, still dead as a doornail beside you, “Well fuck you! I don’t need a hussy fucking asshole!”

She kicked you against the wall, the tip of her heel winding you over and over again as she let out hell on your abdomen.

“Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!” She screamed over and over and over as she wailed on your body. How was no one coming to help you!? Could they not hear her over their shitty music!??

Blood dripped from your mouth, clutching your abdomen in pain as you looked up at her helplessly.

“Please….I…I didn’t mean to upset you,” you coughed out weakly, “Please….please don’t kill me.” You choked on your tears.

She watched you for a moment, whimpering pathetically for mercy, before she narrowed her eyes in disgust.

“Rot in hell.”

With that, everything went dark as you felt a hot, burning pain in your chest as she plunged her knife directly into your beating heart.

[mrm-pachypoda]

I binged all of Death Note in one day! Here are my thoughts.

Spoiler warning for obvious reasons

Yagami spelled backwards is im a gaY

I feel so bad for Misa especially. She was the obsessive one at the beginning, but Light spent their entire relationship manipulating her.

Gotta love an aita situation where everyone is the asshole

Also Misa’s question to L on if he was “on the other side of the fence” (read: gay). You know she wouldn’t’ve minded if it were a throuple situation, she only got uncomfortable with the third wheeling after the gay accusations were denied.

I really liked the subtle jokes throughout. Very nice.

After L’s death I was slightly less interested, but the whole playing-with-your-food ouroboros that played out afterwards was very amusing.

I’m sure many people have mentioned it, but in episode 25, that scene where L and Light were in the rain? And the scene directly after???

“I am almost certain that Light is Kira at this point, and these are probably my last days with him…. What if I brought him out into the pouring rain so his white dress shirt could get soaked, and then we could towel each other off.. hm, maybe I could even give him a massage…” <-L’s inner dialogue at the time (source: bro trust me)

Also. The fucking. I couldn’t’ve screenshat it but in the toweling scene, that moment where Light.. cups L’s cheek with the towel?? In the guise of drying his hair?? Am I going insane I know other people saw that shit

Also wtf was their sleeping situation. Was it a Goldilocks situation (two separate beds that were kinda close together) or??? What. The public must know.

Loved all the stupid fisheye lens shots

“Light, it seems i must finally tell you what this investigation really was. It was never to find Kira; it was actually all a ploy to figure out if you were gay. Your father, the chief of police asked for my assistance. When we installed the cameras in your room, it was already clear as crystal. You bought that porn magazine and read it in clear view, but you laid there kicking your legs looking so disappointed in the material you were reading. You didn’t even bother to crank your chain. Then, through various means we kept eyes on you and your dating life. You dated multiple girls at a time, yet you never truly showed interest in any one of them. You even openly admitted your disinterest in Misa Amane. Along with your clear willingness to be close to me, in spite of my supposed investigation on your identity as Kira? That’s pretty gay, Light. I could go on, but you get the point, Light I’m-A-Gay.”

Ok I’ll stop lmao i got way into writing that dumb ass monologue. I can almost guarantee that someone else has written something like it before me.

I love engaging in long-finished pieces of media.

Also the old brainrot from DanganRonpa definitely is trickling down into this new brainrot.

Bye for now ε:

[nonbinaryspy]

Meta: Timerra and Tellius

Timerra’s (belated) birthday gives me an excuse to talk about one of my favorite Engage topics: the parallels between her and various Tellius characters.

(Spoilers for FE9/10 and FE17.)

The obvious place to start is Ike. As Timerra’s personal Emblem, his build and paralogue in Engage focus on turning defense into offense to endure and protect others. This synergizes with Timerra’s Sandstorm ability as well as her priorities as Solm’s future queen.

Compared to other Emblem summonings in the game, the scene where Ike is summoned is quick and to-the-point. The Solm royals are highly competent, with a wide spy network, and already had a plan in place for when Alear shows up. They have a healthy wariness they don’t immediately display, as they welcome Alear with open arms while secretly testing if they are the true Divine Dragon. By the time Timerra meets Alear, their identity has been confirmed and bandits are already attacking, so she jumps straight into action to get Ike’s help and protect the village.

I’m sure Ike would approve of her no-nonsense approach and her focus on keeping people safe, especially after all of his own bandit fights. He has no patience for bureaucracy or noble trappings, but he understands the need for discretion when danger and politics are involved (see: his own ‘sometimes you have to fool your allies’ maneuver in RD part 2), so I think he would appreciate how the Solm royals handle this.

But you don’t have to take my word for that. Between Timerra and Seforia saying they always wanted to meet him, Timerra calling him family, Ike telling Fogado that Solm castle reminded him of being with the mercenaries, and his first Somniel dialogue saying that he already misses Solm, I think it’s safe to say there’s a lot of natural fondness between Ike and the Solm royals. Is there any wonder, when one of Solm’s main norms is accepting people regardless of their origins, possibly Ike’s defining ideal?

My favorite example of this is when Alear’s origins are revealed, and Timerra and Fogado have some of the most affirming reactions:

[ID: Four screencaps with the following dialogue toward Alear: Timerra: What matters to me isn’t how you were born. It’s what you do with the life you’re given. Timerra: If you choose to live as a Divine Dragon, then that’s what you are! Timerra: Nothing’s changed as far as I’m concerned. The you that’s in front of me—that’s all I need. Fogado: The people of Solm don’t care about origins. We care about the you NOW. And you are amazing.]

This aspect of Timerra shines throughout her supports, most notably in her relationships with Merrin and Panette. Their love and loyalty toward her stems from a time before they even knew she was a princess. They both see her as a beacon in their lives, as they wished to escape the confines of their pasts and find new futures for themselves. Timerra saw them for their ideal versions of themselves—Merrin as a chivalrous knight, Panette as someone who isn’t caught in a destructive cycle—rather than the situations they came from. Her acceptance helped them create those realities for themselves.

Anyway, unrelated to the above, just a completely random pair of images that don’t make me cry at all:

[ID: In a screencap from Engage, Timerra is saying, “No matter what’s happened, you’re still you. Let’s go save the world, Ike!” In a screencap from Path of Radiance, Ike is telling Soren, “No. It doesn’t change anything. You’re still you, Soren!”]

Another example is Timerra’s attitude toward Veyle. In the main plot, she’s one of the few main characters to express distrust toward Veyle even after the truth is revealed. However, once Veyle has proven herself as an ally, Timerra is extremely friendly toward her in their supports, with Veyle appreciating how Timerra treats her like any other friend rather than a Fell Dragon’s daughter. Again, this is reminiscent of Ike’s blend of skepticism and treating everyone the same.

I think it’s also interesting that Timerra struggles with conflicting desires for freedom vs. connection, as shown in her S support. Despite Ike’s love for people, he doesn’t always deal well with the responsibilities and expectations that get placed on him, and his ending shows he shares some of her wanderlust.

Timerra: When we connect with people─you know, really bond with them─those bonds make us stronger. Timerra: I mean, our closest allies help us do things we could never do all by ourselves. Timerra: That’s powerful stuff. But those bonds─those friendships─can feel like obligations too.

Finally, one of my favorite parallels between Ike and Timerra is a shared charm point: the fact that they live as they please, regardless of what others think, while also acting like everything they do is super obvious. An extremely ‘have your cake and eat it too’ mentality that I can only respect. 

Alear: Still, you never cease to amaze. You take it upon yourself to help root out bandits… Timerra: What, is that not normal? Timerra: I’m just protecting my people. I thought that’s what royalty was supposed to do. Alear: You say something completely radical like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Timerra: Hahaha! That’s my charm!

Ranulf: Well…a little crazy, yeah! I’ve never worked for a leader who’s as blunt and straightforward as you. It’s pretty shocking to have a commander who doesn’t care what anyone thinks, no matter how powerful they are. Ike: Well, that’s just my style. I don’t have to be like someone else, do I? Ranulf: Why are you so confident? I don’t get it. Normal beorc just do what people tell them and try not to make a fuss. But not you. I heard you even yelled at the apostle! Ike: Yeah, that wasn’t my brightest moment. Ranulf: Then again, worrying about a beorc like this is definitely not normal laguz behavior. I guess I’m a fish out of water myself… Wait, did I just call myself a fish? Ike: Wha–? Ha ha! You’re a cat, remember!? I thought you ate fish. Ha ha ha!

Okay, that last bit isn’t relevant, but I just want to highlight that while Timerra and Fogado talk about how serious Ike is compared to them, they would definitely enjoy his secret love of bad puns. Here’s a bit of Timerra’s own sardonic humor that brings Ike to mind:

Alear: What?! How do you eat that much?! Timerra: Oh, you know. Open my mouth, bite, chew. I won’t bore you with all the details.

Of course I have to mention their love of meat, even if I don’t find that to be an important part of Ike’s character. What I will say is that Ike is shown in his supports with Oscar to have a genuine appreciation for artful cooking, so I think it’s neat that Timerra is one of the best cooks in the army. It’s also endearing that she feels bad for cooking around Ike when he can’t eat, though he tells Fogado the smell is enough.

Next, I want to talk about a couple of characters who aren’t in Engage: Mist and Elincia. I adore that the focus on Timerra protecting Ike flips his dynamic with both of these ladies on its head. Speaking of protection…I believe that Mist and Ike’s relationship mirrors Timerra and Fogado’s, with their fond, casual banter. It makes sense, since both duos are close in age.

Interestingly, despite Timerra being Fogado’s older sister, he is as protective of her as Ike is toward Mist. In Fogado’s case, he seems to almost see himself as Timerra’s retainer, given that he will one day be her advisor. He travels around to prepare himself for this role. Timerra, however, doesn’t always like this, as she wishes they could hang out more and that he would be more candid with her. While they’re clearly close, the distance still leaves her lonely.

Though it’s a different situation, Greil’s death puts Ike in the role of Mist’s protector at the same time that he gains dangerous responsibilities. He also takes it upon himself to get revenge on their father’s killer. She stresses that she does not want him to do these things if it means she’ll lose him, too, and as the game goes on, they lose some of the lighthearted dynamic they had at the game’s start. Having already lost her parents, it’s easy to assume Mist feels lonely in this circumstance. She even has her own protective streak toward Ike, such as in her battle conversations with the Black Knight and Ashnard. Like Timerra, Mist wants to stay close to her loved ones and protect them, and she joins the fighting to that end, even learning swordplay despite being a healer.

Despite their troubles, Mist and Timerra share a bubbly personality. They tend toward optimism and try to hide their cares them. Their sunniness gets them and others through tough situations. However, those around them still want to be able to support them even when struggle with being vulnerable.

In my opinion, some of Mist’s designs evoke Timerra’s, such as in the colors and flowing accessories. While the clothes aren’t super similar, I think the two of them would definitely enjoy going clothes shopping together. I also think they’d like to sing together. Timerra’s silly songs may be a far cry from the galdr that Mist and Elena safeguard, but that would suit Mist just fine.  

Possibly my favorite character to compare Timerra to, though, is Elincia. Timerra’s bangs and the fact that her hair is tied up even follow in the character design traditions of Elincia and other characters in her archetype, such as Nyna and Guinevere. Granted, Timerra’s ponytail is a lot looser than those other characters, which is an excellent design choice as she has a much more free-spirited personality.

Still, Elincia once upon a time was not so different. She grew up in secret, frolicking in the countryside with no expectation of becoming queen. As a result, she did many things most princesses didn’t do, such as chores, horseback riding, and sword fighting. It’s commented many times that due to cultural differences as well as Timerra’s own personality, her lifestyle and activities are often at odds with what others expect from a princess. While their allies might find both princesses strange at times, they end up trusting and supporting them due to their approachable natures.

Elincia is shown to have a playful streak in PoR when she is reunited with her retainers, around whom she feels comfortable enough to drop her more stately personality. On the flip side, while Timerra is more frequently playful, she never forgets her role. Even her more casual supports show this, such as when she susses out Ivy’s weakness during a camping trip, or interrupts a training session with Diamant to ask if he believes peace is possible. Many of her exploration quotes show this as well, with her referencing the other nations’ politics and even in her response if her allies die.

“My brother, my stewards…gone. It’s so cruel. But as the future queen, I will not crumble!”

Elincia and Timerra’s upbringings contrast with each other, since Timerra has always known she would be queen. Her free-spirited nature stems from Solm’s ideals and the role of its government. After Daein invades, Elincia has to travel incognito, giving her a chance to learn about the world. She develops a strong desire to protect her people. The endpoint of her character development in PoR is where Timerra is already at when we are introduced to her—Timerra has been training and traveling incognito and is ready to defend her country. Regardless of where they start, Elincia’s compassion and resolve are reflected in Timerra, who only wants to make her people happy and believes the best way to do that is to get to know them, so she can better understand and protect them.

The games’ plots present challenges that test both characters’ resolve. While Elincia has to make a variety of decisions, the one I want to highlight comes at the end of RD part 2, when Lucia is taken hostage. Elincia is told that Lucia will die unless she gives up the throne to a usurper. However, she refuses. Despite the sacrifice of someone dear to her, she will never give up on protecting Crimea. In the end, both Lucia and Crimea are safe, but it has nonetheless been demonstrated what Elincia would do under that pressure.  

I thought of this when I got to one of my favorite moments in Engage, when Timerra and co. have to take back the palace from the Elusians. Hortensia holds her mother hostage, assuming Timerra will bend and hand over the Emblem rings. However, doing so would doom Solm along with the rest of the world. Timerra refuses to back down, and she saves her family along with her country.

[ID: Five screencaps alternating between RD and Engage. Elincia and Timerra look resolved, while Lucia and Seforia as hostages look on proudly. Elincia: But I will see Crimea through this trial. I will give my people the future they deserve, no matter the cost. Timerra: So threaten us all you want. Take my whole family hostage, if it makes you happy. Timerra: But I stand for Solm, and I always will. Lucia: People of Crimea... Behold a true queen! YOUR queen! Long live Queen Elincia! Seforia: There she is, the future queen of Solm. And her ally, the Divine Dragon.]

Back to characters who are in Engage: the other Tellius Emblems. As with Elincia, Micaiah is presented with a series of trolley problems throughout RD. There’s a big focus in the Tellius games on making decisions for personal vs. political reasons, and whether to prioritize a loved one/a situation that is right in front of you over the bigger picture, and I think this is most complex with Micaiah’s story. This is highlighted when Sothe is held hostage and she is told to stand down to save him. This recalls the situation I already discussed with Timerra.

Like Timerra, Micaiah is a tactical thinker who has to foresee long-term plans as well as use strategic approaches in situations where she’s outnumbered. Micaiah ends RD as Daein’s queen, despite not being brought up for that role and having traveled in disguise, getting to know and love Daein’s people. Again, this fits with Timerra traveling around incognito and being passionate about protecting Solm.

Timerra expresses that Solm didn’t reach out for help when Sombron returned because they’d have to return other nations’ support when it was taking all of their efforts just to keep Solm safe. This brings to mind Micaiah’s conflicts, as she has to make difficult decisions to protect Daein from Begnion’s occupation and the blood pact, which sometimes involves rejecting outside help when a situation is too complicated, such as in her 3-13 battle talk with Ike.

Unfortunately, Emblem bond supports don’t have the scope for these sorts of complexities. However, I was tickled by the fact that Timerra invites Micaiah to sing with her, as a reference again to the Galdrs.

Speaking of bond supports…I don’t have anything deep to say about Timerra and Soren, but just look at how precious they are:

[ID: Two Emblem Bond screencaps. Soren is bowing with his hand over his heart, and he and Timerra are smiling at each other. Soren: You’re the princess of Solm, is that right? I thank you for protecting Ike. Timerra: He’s told me so much about you. I expect big things from you, talented advisor!]

Her careful approach to protecting Ike’s ring won the trust of someone with deep trust issues and a protective streak toward Ike, aww. They’re friends in my files every time. It’s also sweet that she wants to understand him and Ike better by learning about the mercenaries. I know she loves her moodier Emblem pals, but I’m sure she’d feel right at home with the whole rambunctious crew, like how Ike felt at home in Solm.

While this post is long enough without going into depth on Yunaka, as Micaiah’s guardian she also has a combination of Tellius influences, between her obvious parallels to Yune and Sothe as well as some of the themes of Micaiah’s character. Micaiah’s introduction, with her calling out to Yunaka, even mirrors Micaiah hearing Yune’s voice. For these reasons, I really wish she and Timerra had talked. I think Timerra’s simultaneous hidden wariness and acceptance of people regardless of their backgrounds would definitely play well with Yunaka’s arc. Fogado, as someone who shares Timerra’s ideals, certainly had a positive influence on Yunaka in their supports with his compassion. Plus, can you imagine the silly phrases Timerra and Yunaka would invent together?

I’ll end this before it strays too far from the main point, but I hope someone else enjoys these observations! Timerra is my favorite Engage character, and since Tellius is so dear to me, noticing these connections definitely made her character even more special.

[atla-what-is-this-site]

Fixing Voltron's magic system FT. Sanderson's Laws of Magic (and examples from various famous media)

Firstly, let's begin with what the Alteans canonically can do. As seen throughout the series, two alteans shown actually manipulate quintessence. Another has super strength but no magic. A final is shown to have none. (poor Coran). It is implied the majority (if not all,) have these abilities. 

Quintessence manipulation seems to have one small limit:  When Allura uses the magic too much, she passes out. But remember: shes powering a giant ship. We never see Team Voltron going and getting gas or whatever, which means Allura is probably the sole supplier of power for the Castle. Which is an example of how OP this ability is, even with the limit.

Then we have super strength and shapeshifting, two other abilities that all (or i guess most, since Coran never shows any signs of having them) Alteans seem to have. These abilities seem to have little plot importance besides a few certain episodes. There is nothing inherently wrong with these abilities. However, when you pile them on top of (if I'm being completely honest,) a character who's already quite over-powered, I think you can understand why I'm not the biggest fan. 

We know quite a bit about Alteans. They're one of the most important species in the series. According to Allura, they're super-ambassadors, and they use their shapeshifting to better blend in. Their culture seems very intellectual-based, with Alchemists holding high places. They mixed magic and tech to make incredible ships like The Castle. 

This is where things tend to taper off. We get brief glimpses of what could be rules: Allura always places her hands on whatever shes infusing. Clearly, you must be Altean or of Altean Heritage. 

Now, let's take a look at Brandon Sanderson's laws of magic. 

Number One: "An author’s ability to solve conflict with magic is DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL to how well the reader understands said magic." 

This means that if we want to solve problems with magic, we need to explain how that magic can solve our problems. So, for example, Harry Potter. Every spell that Harry uses is explained beforehand so that the audience knows what he's doing. It just wouldn't work if Harry went around Lumos-ing away, making the reader guess what the spell does. 

However, in The Lord of The Rings, Gandalf doesn't need to tell us anything, because he barely ever uses his magic for plot important things. Readers don't want to read three paragraphs explaining how he made his fireworks, when the story isn't about his fireworks.

Number Two: Limitations are more important than power.

What your magic system can do doesn't make it interesting. There's no power that hasn't been thought of. Infinite power makes it impossible to come up with a plot. The character could solve anything, meaning there's no point in telling about the solution to their problem. However, when you throw in weaknesses, costs and other limitations, you get a much more original and interesting idea. 

Picture that one scene from Aladdin, where Genie tells Aladdin about the three rules. (No playing with free will, no raising the dead, no wishing for more wishes.) It's a simple and easy to follow system, with limitations that make the plot more interesting. Aladdin can't make Jasmine fall in love with him magically, so he's forced to come up with other ways. 

Rule Three: Expand what you already have before you add something new. 

This one leans more on general worldbuilding, but what he's saying here is don't shove new ideas in your reader's face. Don't create new magics out of nowhere. Build on what you already have. 

There aren't many examples of this, luckily Voltron isn't really guilty of this, so elaboration isn't really needed.

Now, we'll take these and begin perfecting the magic system. 

First, what is Quintessence? Quintessence is, essentially, the animating factor. It's what makes living things alive. It's a form of energy. 

This isn't to say nonliving objects can't have it, but most don't, unless it's given to them. 

Quintessence is energy. It can't be created, nor destroyed. However, you can transfer it from one container to another. 

There are a few things you can do with it. Firstly, giving a living being quintessence can make them stronger. This is what Haggar does with Zarkon throughout the first two seasons.

Next, taking too much quintessence from someone will "de-animate" them. A.k.a. They die from lack of life. 

There is one third thing you can do with quintessence. It takes a lot of training and a bit of energy. But I imagine you could also make these huge shockwaves that just fucken decimate everything in a 300 foot radius. However this is more after-we-get-ridiculously-good type material.

Our limits are these: 1. You must draw energy from something, whether that be your own energy or someone else's. If you use too much of your own, you could pass out and die. 2. You must maintain contact with whatever you're imbuing with energy/drawing energy from. (The only exception is the shockwave. But the shockwave comes from your hands so..?) 3. Too much quintessence can become an addiction. Specific examples can be Zarkon and Haggar. 

A little interjection: While Alteans have a lot of quintessence, it can only power a small ship for a few hours. However, Altean ships have evolved to collect quintessence from bacteria that gathers on the ship's metal. This keeps the ships sanitary and also helps with efficiency. As well, ships often use Balmera crystals as a secondary source of power. Balmera crystals hold high levels of residual quintessence.

We can construct so many different plotlines that can't be solved with quintessence, or the limits can prevent solution. What if the person who needs healing is out of Allura's reach? What if she doesn't have enough energy?

That wasn't so hard, was it, VLD team?

[sentientgolfball]

Okay, how about some dad Copia sharing some of his juice with Phantom aka the first time Phantom uses a plastic cup to drink and it’s… a mess. Poor bug doing the classic 2 year old gasping into the cup noises 💀 bonus points for them having cuddle times too please? 🥺👉🏽👈🏽🧃

ehehehehehehe I hope you like it :3

I also added Aurora in there too. Papa bonding time with the new summons

Requests are open !

When a ghoul is summoned it is imperative to connect with them. They may have been brought Topside for a specific purpose, but they are still autonomous. They can easily refuse to listen to their summoner. Some choose to connect in a more traditional way. Offering their blood or their body to the ghoul. Some present them with grand offerings, a show of goodwill. 

Copia does this in a more unique way. 

He’s heading back to his room after a rather successful scavenge through the kitchens. It’s late, the only light being the candles throughout the halls. They flicker and dance, soft orange light creating living shadows. Any other person would feel cold claws of dread at walking these halls in the middle of the night, but not Copia. The dark has never scared him, how could it when his friends come out to play? 

He freezes though when he hears the sound of claws against tile. He turns to look down a hall, just in time to catch a glimpse of smoke and a silver mask. Special. He shudders and adjusts his grip on the various snacks in his hands. The Chimera is the only exception to his fear, or lack thereof. 

Copia picks up his pace after that, luckily he’s not far from his room. When he rounds the corner he can’t help but smile at the sight before him. Phantom and Aurora are waiting outside dressed in their pajamas. Phantom is staring out of a window, tail idly swishing back and forth. Aurora is sitting on the ground, eyes tracking their spade and swatting at it every so often. They both perk up when their senses catch wind of Copia. 

“You’re late!” Aurora calls, springing up off the floor. 

“Si but for a good reason. I could not let my mostriciattolo go hungry.” 

“I think we can forgive him for that Ro.” Phantom takes the bowl of popcorn from Copia, eyes gleaming with hunger. 

“We’ll see about that.” She narrows her eyes before popping a piece into her mouth. She chirps when the salty, buttery flavor hits her tongue. Both her and Phantom begin to take handfuls. 

“Slow down,” Copia laughs as he opens his door, “that is supposed to be for the movie.” 

The three enter and the ghouls immediately make themselves comfortable on Copia’s bed. He busies himself with laying out the assortment of other treats on his desk. Once he’s done with that he shifts through his VHS collection, mumbling to himself while he tries to decide on the perfect movie. He has the ones they’ve already watched in the back of the selection. He lets out a little ah ha when he finally makes a decision. 

He pops it into the slot, cursing when the first thing that plays is the credits. He stands directly in front of the tv as he rewinds, careful to make sure the two ghouls don't catch a glimpse of the scenes. Once it’s back to the beginning he hums and joins them on the bed. He positions himself between them. They respond immediately, curling closer and wrapping tails around whatever body part they can reach. Phantom rests their head on Copia’s shoulder, chuffing quietly. Aurora’s eyes stay glued to the screen, but when she’s not stuffing popcorn into her mouth she’s idly playing with his fingers. 

Copia loves these nights more than he’ll admit. It was something he did the first night it stormed after their summoning. He was up late, insomnia rearing its ugly head. He had been wandering the halls, watching bolts of lightning flash through the stained glass windows when he realized he wasn’t alone. He had found Phantom and Aurora huddled up together, hackles raised at the booming thunder. He took them back to his room and did everything he could think of to distract them. The movie ended up doing the trick, holding their attention until they both passed out in his bed. Ever since then they’ve had a weekly movie night. 

It makes Copia’s heart throb knowing his ghouls like him and his silly human trinkets to keep coming back. He loves being able to show them something he enjoys that’s not just music. He’s happy that they’re happy. 

About a quarter of the way into the movie the popcorn bowl is empty, Phantom and Aurora having devoured most of it. His attention is stolen when he hears Phantom smacking their lips. 

“Something wrong coccolone?” 

“It made my mouth all dry.” 

“Si that would be the salt,” Copia chuckles. 

He stands from the bed, going to his desk to grab the other goodies he brought. He sets out three plastic cups before grabbing the carton of juice he snagged. He pours the red liquid, filling each cup about halfway. He carefully picks them up and brings them over, handing one to Phantom and Aurora before sitting between them once more. The ghouls hesitate, sniffing at it, unsure about the new thing they’ve been presented with. They watch Copia sip from his cup for a moment before figuring it’s safe to try. 

Aurora dips her tongue into it first, tasting it before she decides to put it in her mouth. When the sugary, fruity flavor hits her Copia watches her pupils expand in real time. She brings the cup up to his lips, sipping at it the exact same way Copia did. He decides not to comment on the way she chews at the plastic in between drinks. 

After seeing Aurora and Copia both enjoy it, Phantom figures it has to be worthwhile. They stare at the red liquid for a moment longer before shrugging. There is no hesitation as they gulp it down with more noise than necessary. They don’t even pause for air, breathing through their nose and mouth as they chug it. Copia and Aurora slowly turn their heads to look at them.

“Bestiolino. Please. Slow down, it is not going anywhere.” 

Phantom exhales with a fang filled smile on their face when they empty the cup. 

“More please.” Their tail thumps happily against the mattress.

[wing-ed-thing]

Show and Tell (Shino x Reader)

Synopsis: Just another day for Iruka teaching ninja kids.

Word Count: 0.7k

Tags/Warnings: Kid!Shino, Kid!Reader, Bugs/Bugs on you, Entomophobia, Fluff, No Reader Pronouns

Notes: I made this gif only to realize I already had an identical one saved. I like this one better though. You know why? BECAUSE I MADE IT

“That one’s ​​Kononoka.”

“What about this one?”

“That one’s Komiruwa.”

The entire class was in an uproar, not that you or Shino really cared or noticed. Naruto started shouting in a mix of awe and horror, climbing onto the desks to narrate to the rest of the class. When no one seemed to be paying attention, he shouted louder. Ino had about broken down in the corner of the classroom, inconsolable as she wailed. Kiba stood about where you and Shino sat, raving about one thing or another, and that chaos didn’t stop for Iruka. 

He walked through the door, tense, with eyes already wide at the sheer anarchy that was his classroom. Iruka shouted for order with a disappointed frown, but his students were whipped up in too great of a frenzy to listen. Iruka groaned, wiping a hand down his face as he set his lesson plan for the day on his desk. 

“Alright, everyone, let’s get some butts in seats!” he clapped, making his way up the stairs. “Naruto! Down! This is a classroom, not a jungle gym!” A few students sat, staring over their shoulders at the chaos at the back of the room. A few disappointed grumbles scattered throughout the room. 

Iruka approached the screaming children surrounding you and Shino at the back of the class with urgency and hesitation. Surely, if someone were bleeding out, he’d know, right?

He peered over a dozen tiny heads; the sight in front of him just about made him stop right there. Iruka took a breath, placing his hands on his hips as he looked up at the ceiling—a tiny tug pulled at the leg of his pants.

“What are you looking at, Iruka-Sensei?” Naruto craned as he studied where Iruka had just cast his eyes. Iruka frowned.

“Didn’t I just tell you to sit down?” Naruto shrugged, not paying attention. Iruka clapped his hands again as he continued to make his way toward you. “It is not recess! Everyone to your seats.”

He crouched next to you once the crowd cleared. You were covered head to toe in beetles, unbothered, as hundreds of Shino’s insects marched across your body. Any more of them, and Iruka might not have been able to see a kid underneath. Shino sat with his legs pulled close to his chest, pointing at various members of the swarm.

“That one’s Konomo. And that’s Kogure.” 

Iruka snorted, raising a brow at the sight before him.

“Shino,” he said gently. “Class is about to start. Will you call your insects back?”

“But we haven’t gotten to everyone’s names, Iruka-Sensei,” you pouted. 

“You’ll have time to hear everyone’s names after school.” He nodded. The beetles had begun to descend, marching from you back to Shino. Your brow crinkled in distress as you bid each one farewell.

“Goodbye, ​​Kononoka. Goodbye, Kokoko. Bye-bye, Koeoku.” Iruka wondered if you actually remembered their names and, if you did, if you could remember his lessons that well too. 

Kiba stood up in his chair, cupping his hands around his mouth.

“Bugs are icky, and so are you!” he stuck his tongue out.

“Oh yeah?” you shot back before Iruka could intervene. You shook your tiny fists in the air. “Say that again, and I’ll punch your lights out, Dog Breath—!” Iruka gaped in shock before his lips turned into a deep frown. 

— “Hey! Knock it off, the two of you. We do not talk like that to each other.” He wondered what had gotten into his class as he gestured for Kiba to sit. “Apologize. That was not a nice thing to say.” Kiba bowed his head, not looking at you as he grumbled,

“Sorry.” Iruka glanced toward you.

“And we do not call names and threaten to hit each other. Say you’re sorry.”

You took Shino by the hand, ushering him to your seats next to each other. You didn’t spare a glance at Kiba.

“Sorry.”

Iruka sighed, looking back up toward the ceiling before returning to the front of the classroom. Perhaps someone was giving out free ice cream before class. Or maybe their previous instructor riled them up during training. He should check what phase the moon was in.

Thank you to all who liked, reblogged, followed, and supported. Your support means so much and is greatly appreciated.

Notes: I WAS WRITING THIS AND MY CHARGER SLIPPED OFF THE BED AND LET ME TELL YOU THE SHEER PANIC I FELT WHEN I THOUGHT IT WAS A HUGE INSECT JEEZ