#i hope the canons are interesting!!

[ni-kol-koru]

1, 5, and 13 for Hayama ^^

Yayyy, more Hayama questions! My moots know me so well! 🧡✨

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

Oh boy. Where do I start?

Well, first of all, I obviously like the character. Not like, I absolutely adore the character. Why? I don't know, I just do, and I always did. I think I will explain the process of how exactly I fell in love with his character, because I think it's a big part of why I like him and explains some things.

Ever since he appeared on the screen for the first time, ever since I heard his voice for the first time, I knew he was going to be one of my favorite characters. Something about him was special, and I couldn't really tell what, but something felt different, and refreshing. His first appearance was so short and yet so impactful, and it left me so curious. I could simply not wait to learn more about him and see if I would really love his character as much as I thought I would.

Then, the Rakuzan-Shutoku match came up, and my Shutoku heart was broken in advance because it was almost obvious that Shutoku will just be used as a tool to showcase Rakuzan's power and greatness. While I was sad to watch Shutoku lose, a side of me was curious to learn more about the Uncrowned Kings, and especially Kotaro. Then, the scene where Kotaro is yelling about how strong their opponents are and being excited about facing them had me thinking 'What a sweet and cheerful guy', and that was a first green flag for me.

The episode kept going on and the match was progressing. Kotaro didn't do anything special yet, and oh, Shintaro is getting doubled teamed and the ball is in Kiyoshi's hands. His opponent is that cute blondie I have my eye on. Well, that was my current favorite character, Kiyoshi, against that new guy, Kotaro. Kiyoshi passed Kotaro with ease, and I was like 'Seriously?', but still found Kotaro's amazed expression and mood after being passed amusing and interesting. He was like a puppy, he was there for a fun time. Green flag. Then, Kotaro was being scolded by his teammates, and he didn't seem too bothered by all of their complaining. I really thought he was so cool and chill for being able to take criticism so easily, and I loved it. I already liked him a lot.

Then he destroyed Kiyoshi like he was nothing. And he also showed that he can, indeed, be serious, and that he has a pretty special and cool skill. I was biased, and I thought that Kotaro was a heartless bastard for a long moment... He was still pretty cool, and his dribbling was pretty cool. He was just talented, he was just better. That didn't really make him a bastard. Well, my bias was still on Kiyoshi's side, but Kotaro was cool. That was my mindset until pretty much the end of the Rakuzan-Shutoku match.

I don't really know the order of events in the WinterCup finals, but I remember how I felt about them. So, yeah...

Then the WinterCup final match started, Kotaro was against Taiga. Immediately, everyone figured out he was kind of powerless against a Miracle like Taiga, so he switched positions with Seijuro and disappeared for a while. I remembered being very disappointed and sad that Kotaro didn't even try to face Taiga... I just really hoped for a comeback.

Of course, there was a comeback! When Kotaro asked for Taiga to add Senpai to his name I chuckled. He wanted respect, and I sort of respected him for that. In their duel, it was revealed that Kotaro has animal instincts! He was also compared to a cheetah, which is one of my favorite animals since I am a kid. That was a pretty nice coincidence! I was also pretty surprised by how fierce, serious and vindictive Kotaro could be. I remember thinking 'What a dude', in a good way of course.

When Rakuzan entered the zone and Kotaro faced Taiga again I remember cheering for him so badly! When he yelled 'Comeback time!' I was like 'YES SHOW HIM'... Unfortunately, Taiga was still quicker than him and stopped him. Still, that was a cool moment, and I remember being so hyped up about it.

When his showdown with Shun happened, I really loved how Shun's and Kotaro's personalities clashed. I was pretty much on the edge of my seat as long as they were in the main focus of the episodes. It was intense. I loved how Shun made Kotaro go all the way out and all of his skills were super cool and flashy, my little self was blown away! I loved how quick and decisive Kotaro was, and I really enjoyed seeing people cheer for him, too. His proud smile made me feel things.

That moment where he was called 'The Raijuu' and he was all pressed about it was also pretty cute and funny! It also reminded me that he was just a happy and silly guy!

When he laughed at Shun's pun my heart melted. I was happy that someone appreciated Shun's genius and creativity, and I was so happy that it was Kotaro. What a sweetie cutie pie he is.

When Shun and Tetsuya forced Kotaro to get into Taiga's field of defense and he was defeated my mind just went 'Oh no'. I remember being really bummed out that Kotaro was stopped after everything.

In the next moment we saw Kotaro being all angry, clenching his fist with steam coming out of his head, I remember stopping for a moment. His internal monologue was sort of making me feel like he was going to break something, or someone. Then, he took a deep breath and stopped. That impressed me a lot. Yet again, I was like 'What a dude'. I loved him.

At some point in the match, I noticed how supportive Kotaro was of his teammates. He was cheering for them, praised them, comforted them, calmed them down when they were angry and expressed his concerns when they seemed like something was wrong. Made me think of how observant, open, genuine and close he actually was with his teammates.

And then he kind of ruined it.

Whatever Kotaro said about his Senpai was disrespectful as heck, and it got me thinking how merciless Kotaro can actually be. I was pretty pissed at him. Still, the match continued with Chihiro in it and the Uncrowned Kings played with him well. The moment when Seijuro lost his cool and started making mistakes and Kotaro calmly said how there was no point of keeping him on court made my jaw drop. Disrespectful. Rude. Cold. Distant. Made me realize just how goal-oriented Rakuzan players could be. Still, couldn't blame him, or any of them. The motto of their captain and school is literally about how winning is everything and only the results are what matters in the end.

When everyone started cheering for Seirin after Shigehiro's speech, I just remember being extremely bummed out. The moment 'power of friendship' was introduced and everyone connected and formed that friendship WiFi zone, I could tell who the winner was, and I was not so impressed. Until the end of the game, I could see that everyone tried their best, and after the buzzer beater, I remember being happy for Seirin. They did it! They won! I was happy for Tetsuya and Shigehiro and Taiga, I was happy for Teppei, Shun, Riko and everyone, but when I saw the devastated looks on the faces of Rakuzan players, I still felt bad. I've been there, too. I know how much the feeling sucks. Failing to be the best when it was expected of you. Being so close to holding the golden trophy, but having the silver one put into your hands.

I remember that I was sad that the series finally ended, and I needed a moment to collect myself, I needed a little break.

After all of the feelings and impressions settled and calmed down, and after a lot of thinking, I just decided that Hayama Kotaro was my favorite character. It felt right.

When I realized that there was nothing else left of the anime, and that there was no more Kotaro screen-time, I decided to research about him and see what's up with him in the books, CDs, games... That was the absolute best decision ever.

His Wiki page and Character Bible sheet reveal so much about him, and I remember being super excited to learn everything there was. Learning what his name meant was so cool. His motto ('Strike while the iron is hot', which translates to 'Куј гвожђе док је вруће' in my native language) was a line I had in a school play when I was a kid. He liked kappamaki. He was into skateboarding. He had two older sisters. He liked World History... I was so happy that there was so much more information about him, his personality and his private life. I loved literally everything about him!

Then, I discovered The Replace Plus novels, special CDs, video games... Little pieces of information regarding Kotaro's personality and life were scattered here and there, and when I found them I was so excited and I cherished them like gold! I loved having a clearer idea of what kind of a person Kotaro was, what he did, how he lived...

It was still the golden era of KuroBasu, so I could easily find bunch of fanart and fanfiction related to Kotaro. I could also find friends who also had him as their favorite character! I was a little shy on the Internet so I didn't really meet a lot of people, but I had a few friends who I would talk to about him. We discussed his personality, made up headcanons, made our own fanart, one of them wrote fanfiction... It all just brought me closer to him and his character.

Every now and then some lost or rare piece of KuroBasu media gets uploaded somewhere and I learn something new about him! The KuroBasu crew is also working hard on new lines of merchandise, and sometimes, Kotaro makes it to the lineup! There is a chance we will get to learn more about him in the future, and I am here for it. In the meantime, I will enjoy drawing him and writing about him, and I will incorporate everything I already know about him!

Well, what more can I say? I just love everything about Hayama Kotaro. He is really special to me and he is my biggest comfort character ever. I will always have a little space in my heart for him! 🧡

I have a few canons about Kotaro that I found over the many years of being in the fandom that I would like to share!

He lives in the dorms and his roommate is Mibuchi Reo

Akashi Seijuro considers him a very close friend, putting him in his most intimate circle of friends

He has very stretchy cheeks and is very aware of his facial muscles, which allows him to make funny faces

He once ate snowballs

He is pretty bad with technology (mostly because he has no patience with it)

He has a bad poker face

He dislikes his UK nickname, 'The Raijuu', because it makes him feel like a tiny, rare beast

He can wiggle his ears

When someone is taking a photo, he has to get in on the action

He plays video games online with Mibuchi Reo

He is a gymnast and he does Horizontal Bar

He knocked out Nebuya Eikichi when he played the role of Mibuchi Reo's husband for Akashi Seijuro's movie

When he speaks he uses a lot of modern slang words

He lets Mibuchi Reo do makeup on him

He spends his free time by skateboarding around the neighborhood

In his original color scheme he had platinum blond hair and black eyes; in manga he always has his eyes colored fully black

In his original design he had two snaggle teeth and spiky hair at the back of his head

Hopefully there is something new in here that you didn't hear of! These are some of my favorite and random canons about Kotaro that people don't usually talk about!

5. What's the first song that comes to your mind when you think of them?

It is one of my favorite Japanese songs from one of my favorite K-POP girl groups: 'Happy Happy' by TWICE! When I first discovered this song and watched the Music Video I was melted away by the vibe! The beat was so cute and bubbly and the MV was so colorful and cheerful and adorable! It just put a huge smile on my face, just thinking about the song right now is putting me in a good mood!

One of my first thoughts after I finished watching the MV was 'Kotaro would eat this up', and honestly, I still think he would. Whenever I listen to that song I think of Kotaro, and if someone uses the words 'Kotaro' and 'song' in the same sentence, 'Happy Happy' starts playing in my mind.

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon, and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

The emoji that reminds me of Kotaro the most is probably this one: ⚡! He is known as 'The Raijuu', which means 'Lightning Beast', so the lightning emoji is an obvious one that would remind me of him!

He would definitely use lots of different emojis while texting, and would sometimes send the most specific and random emojis that exist. He just likes to add fun and color everywhere, even to the simplest messages! Another thing I think he would do when texting is just not use capital letters or any symbols like question marks and commas correctly. Capital letters for yelling, and commas and question marks when it feels right. While writing the words, he is thinking of what emojis to use, not about if his message is grammatically correct, readable or understandable. Of course, I think he would use slang while texting, and would use a lot of abbreviations like brb, lmao, wyd, ily... A lot of people don't know what he's trying to say a lot of times, but Kotaro would just find it funny!

'we had homework 😐❓📚🖊️ lmao'

'ok mum 💐😋👌��'

'im at the park,, hbu 🛹😎🏀🍃'

'TF THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN BRO 🤨❓❓❗'

'i disagree w u!!! 👎🚫😃'

'actually reo i think its UR time to buy groceries + im kinda broke rn and ik u got money 🥦🥬💰 also buy me kappamaki pls 😘💗'

[calmlb]

It’s been clear that the Tanizakis aren’t siblings from the very beginning

here’s some evidence now that it’s been confirmed canon…

everyone who’s read irl Tanizaki’s book knew that Junichiro & Naomi weren’t siblings as soon as they introduced themselves

BUT just because the Tanizakis aren’t siblings doesn’t mean you can’t feel uncomfortable about them. if you feel uncomfortable, GOOD. that’s exactly what they want

the Tanizakis, Mori— they all use these disturbing ruses to disarm or distract people in order to protect themselves, or to accomplish their goals. this is a writing device that asagiri commonly employs as a way to parallel the irl literature (it’s actually ingenious)

there are 4 main indicators that have always made it clear to me that Junichiro & Naomi are not siblings:

1. most obviously— their character designs. Harukawa is extremely intentional with character designs, & she very intentionally made Naomi & Junichiro look nothing alike

their eye shapes are purposely different

their color palettes are contrasting

even their differing styles of clothing have meaning

this was all done so that the audience could PLAINLY see that they’re not related— so that WE know that they’re lying when they say they ARE related

2. how the people around them respond to their act.

the general reaction is “don’t question it”— which is exactly what they want. “be distracted by how uncomfortable you feel so that you look away from what we’re hiding” (this is likely a protective measure)

3. most importantly, this is meant to parallel irl Tanizaki’s book “Naomi,” where the main character Joji picks up Naomi to raise her into his ideal woman, but since she's so young (& a minor) they call each other cousins (Joji makes no sexual advances on young Naomi btw)

however, his plan backfires because when Naomi gets older & they get married, she flips the script on him & manipulates HIM so that he's under her thumb (which is why bsd Tanizaki is at a domineering Naomi's mercy). Joji let her have her way because of his masochistic tendencies

4. lastly is the emphasis that Asagiri and the Tanizakis themselves put on calling each other siblings.

over & over, it’s “my brother this” & “my sister that”

like they’re desperately trying to convince us that it’s true (“don’t let your lying eyes deceive you”)

here are just a few of many examples from the light novels…

again, if you’ve read “Naomi” you knew that Junichiro & Naomi weren’t siblings as soon as they introduced themselves

just like if you’ve read irl Mori’s works, it’s clear that bsd Mori isn’t a pedophile

just like if you’ve read No Longer Human you know that Dazai’s an unreliable narrator. he makes you think he’s a bad person bc he believes he’s a bad person, but those around him see him differently (btw this doesn’t mean he’s never done anything “bad,” though bsd isn’t about morality— but that’s another discussion)

anyway, i’m so excited for the Tanizakis backstory to be revealed so that we can better understand why they use this defense!!

also let this be a reminder to READ THE LITERATURE if you’re able to!! even reading synopses & analyses of the coordinating books makes bsd make much more sense 🥹

reminder that this how you’re supposed to react while reading bsd:

also, if you’re interested in a post explaining how Mori isn’t a pedo, i wrote this analysis on twt. OR you can read this document that one of my moots sent me (remember: analyzing a character does NOT mean you condone any actions they may or may not commit!)

[tea-n-ink]

Homesickness is where the heart is

[bloobydabloob]

You doing good dude

[welcometogrouchland]

I understand that literature nerd Jason Todd is kind of overblown in fanon compared to it's actual presence in canon (a few issues during his pre (and post?)crisis Robin tenure that highlight it) BUT consider that I think it's hilarious if the unhinged gun toting criminal has strong opinions on poetry

[collophora]

Happy may the fourth have a 4 minutes animatic about Crosshair and Omega bounding over sniping stuff.

[roadkill-punk]

It's kind of tragic, in a sense, that iterators were made with so much of their creators logic and desires and yet they were left with none of the resources to satisfy such things.

Do you think they crave touch? Family? Do you think they have to have any hope of connection stomped out of them lest they rebel against what they were made for?

Were they ever afraid to feel, or to be outside of what they were supposed to be? If they ever dared to desire, would they have to hide it?

Do you think they saw their creators sometimes as family, and did the abuse hurt just that much more because of it?

Were they like children, when they were born? Did they process the world through the lens of uncertainty and naivete and was that taken advantage of to mold them into the desired product?

Or were they conscious and self aware in full, was is overwhelming, being alive for the first time?

Or were did they process things entirely as machines, did they only learn to be people after seeing it happen around them, and then did they ever regret becoming more alive than they ever needed to be? That they ever became enough to feel hurt and to hurt others?

If they were just machines at birth, with only the capability of consciousness, were the desired traits injected into them with thoughts and ideas and interactions in their formative early years and was anything else just a byproduct of trying to build a person from scratch? Did their creators even want them to feel, to be conscious and alive, or was that just a necessity to create the desired machine?

Did they even care that their creations were alive?

Did any of them grieve, when they left the children of their labor behind? Were they grieved for in turn when they were gone? Do their echoes ever try to reach out, to let them know they aren't alone, to find comfort in connection that before was so condemned?

If they tried hard enough, could they reach?

Could they find each other?

Would it be comforting to iterators that the remnants of their creators could find them, or would it bring more feelings of rage, of sorrow, of painful memories and grief and hurt from the years they were used and the years more they were abandoned?

Did they ever truly mean anything to each other?

[zuzu-draws]

I don't know if you're still doing those requests but....

may i suggest......

catboy kise and wolfboy daiki 🥺👉👈

Well since i would be doing them animal themed, might as well try being more accurate to their canon animal counterparts, no? ;D So Black Panther! Daiki and Fox! Kise it is!

...sometimes Kise forgets he's not in Animal Form

[mswyrr]

After twenty years, the thing I still don't get is that everything cruel that can be said and has been said against Zutara romance can also be said against their friendship--and Zuko's friendships with the other characters!--and yet somehow friendship is always good and pure but romance would immediately make their healthy friendship dynamic bad and abusive???

But that's not how relationships work. If they can have a healthy friendship, then they could have a healthy romance. If any romance is inherently unhealthy, then the friendship must be inherently unhealthy too.

You've got the original writers saying women who think that Katara and Zuko should be together will forever have "failed relationships"... and then, at the same time, those same writers are like yay let's write them bonding and building a friendship.

People calling a brutally abused child who went on a redemption arc and turned against his father's ways a "colo/nizer" when it's a romance, but when it's friendship it's all good somehow. If lips never touch, it's not possible for a relationship to be toxic??? But if lips DO touch, then a healthy friendship based on mutual respect immediately becomes a Lifetime movie about toxic boyfriends...

The only way this logic works is if you think romantic love immediately "corrupts" or "taints" in a way friend love doesn't. And that's an incredibly ugly, sad idea to push.

[fastafeijoa]

Post-canon Vivec be upon ye!

Some headcanons: •He had a few potions prepared just in case so he doesn't really age for now and won't get infected with some serious illness.

•Was absolutely mentally wrecked from losing his divinity (as if the return of his old friend that he had murdered wasn't enough) but surprisingly it helped him deal with some other mental problems in the end.

•Travels Tamriel with Sotha Sil (yes I couldn't just put up with his death), who is now a big dwemer-ish quadruped mecha thanks to the Clockwork City and his past experiments. Sil's soul is the same but his body is now very different, although he doesn't seem to mind. Vivec doesn't mind as well, using Sil as transport :D

•Smokes a hookah or a pipe 24/7, the only reason he didn't damage his voice yet is probably Azura not wanting him to screech like a cliff racer cuz Vivi definitely isn't giving up singing under no circumstances.

•Made up an insane backstory for himself and Sotha Sil, pretends to be one of those heroes who once were prisoners, tells everyone he found mecha-Sil in a dwemer ruin and managed to repair him.

•Shows off for a living. Sings, tells stories (mostly made up and about himself), occasionally sells trinkets.

•Avoids sleep until passing out, has bad dreams quite often and blames Sharmat on it (it's just consequences of his tough life). Additionally doesn't really like staying tet-a-tet with his thoughts for long.

•He and Sotha Sil try their best to care for each other, although Vivi doesn't always understand what a big mecha might need and often doesn't let Sil know about how he feels cuz he's too proud and cool to be sad or scared. But they slowly open up more to each other. Overall they get along really well.

•Used to be quite skinny as a god but it's chubby Vivi era now.

[fatedroses]

I draw a sketch to simply offer my own personal little headcanon and theory that Zenos was the only other descendant Emet got close to (knowing him probably unintentionally) besides Lucius.

Obviously we never see them interact directly, but several little worldbuilding tidbits do make me ponder about certain things, like the possibility lorewise that it could've been Emet that named Zenos, and the fact that they share certain habits and potentially interests.

[mourn-and-watch]

"with only two companions in the party someone's going to third wheel with rook and their love interest" that's nice and all but consider this: rook is actually a third wheel for the two companions in their own situationship

[kiyomitakada]

impromptu meta at 2 — oh wait 1 in the morning thank you daylight saving time

the thing about light yagami is that we all know he is repression incarnate. and we also know that kira was born out of his desperate need to justify sort-of-accidentally killing two people. and so therefore kira isn't what light's repressing, not at the outset; kira is an extension of his repression.

and the death note and his need to hide it very quickly takes over light's life. so it's easy to say that light is light yagami on the outside and kira on the inside, and maybe light feels that way. but. kira is just as much a persona as light yagami. a more hidden persona, but still not the real him, whoever that is.

and the thing is that no one sees past that. ever. most people obviously fall for the charming boy act, but even the detectives — L, near, mello — god, even ryuk stops at part two. i think a lot about how L set up the mock execution because he thought that kira would have killed his own father if necessary. can you see light doing that? eighteen-year-old light yagami who said "if anything happens to you, dad — i'll see that kira gets the death penalty. i swear it."? remember when ryuk laughs at how good an actor he is afterwards and light doesn't look at him?

light never thinks kira is evil. even in yotsuba arc he acknowledges that they think very similarly, just that kira has gone too far. (ha, ha.) for all of death note light yagami is light yagami, who says if kira wins then kira is good, who has convinced himself he is doing the right thing. he gets frustrated when other people don't perceive him the same way — lind l tailor, misa killing police chiefs while pretending to be kira — but the anger has nowhere to go other than murdering more people.

light yagami is kira is light yagami. but L, ryuk, everyone doesn't manage to see through kira in the end.

and after L dies, well. no one will ever measure up to L, in light's eyes. he almost idolizes him in the weirdest way possible. so maybe, he thinks, if the only person in the world who could ever possibly see all of him (this isn't true, it's just what light believes) thought he was just a murderer, then maybe —

i think he hollows himself out in the second arc. in the anime he seriously considers killing sayu; in the manga he never does that but justifies his unwillingness to himself by saying that this way soichiro and light won't come under suspicion (they weren't going to in the first place). light doesn't really have a sense of self. L said he was evil and of course L is wrong — was wrong — will always be wrong — but isn't it easy to play into that stereotypically evil image of himself? especially after soichiro, his last moral compass, dies: isn't it easy to nullify misa's memories, to say she's not intelligent enough to be my partner, to kill kiyomi in the most painful way possible?

("light would have done the same things in the first arc!" sure. but not with that much callousness.)

it's just. it's tragic, you know? light has always pretended to be nicer than he is but he isn't the cold any-means-necessary person they thought kira was either. he is constantly playing someone he thinks he is but he can never escape being light, in the end.

does this make any sense do i sound insane

[anachronistic-falsehood]

i just. love qpac and qcellbit and their weird complex relationships. like when I hear celltw i think of cannibalism and the prison and all the fucked up implications of just. everything that went on there. when i hear pacbit i think of cellbit telling pac e mike that he loves them and that he’s no longer cell and that that monster died, and cellbit telling pac after the happy pills arc that he’s not alone anymore and he’s a hero, and them raising a kid together and joking about their past. like. it’s insane that one character can change so fuckijg much that two different ship names can make me think of two completely different dynamics, even though cell and cellbit are the same exact character in different points in time and celltw and pacbit are essentially the same ship

LIKE cellbit has changed so much but pac has stayed more or less the same and i just wonder what the hell cellbit must look like from his eyes. yk. how one person can change so much that your entire relationship has flipped on its head and now you’re family but you still find yourself scared of who he used to be sometimes regardless of how he’s changed. the duality of these fucking guys. i’m going to eat the floorboards

[takami-takami]

My headcanon about Hawks is that the same duality that exists in his personality exists in bed.

Like we all know Keigo is a good person, a good boy. We know he feels strongly, we know he's empathetic and kind and observant. But we also know he's willing to do things most people would be unwilling to do, that his actions are painted shades of moral grey.

We know he's sweet and a bit of a tease, he's passionate and optimistic. But he's also incredibly, terrifyingly serious at his core.

He's indulgent and gluttonous with his little allowances like food and sweets, yet selfless and self sacrificing to a fault. He claims to not have self control when it comes to what he wants, yet continuously denies himself the slowness and domestic life he admits to craving.

So. He loves his partner dearly, holds you like glass and treats your feelings with an innocent reverence twice as so. He wants it slow, wants it sweet, wants to cement every ounce of love he has in it.

But those wants aren't going to stop him from devouring you.

It won't stop the carnal desires from welling up, won't make his instincts to take and toy and play with you go away.

Yeah, you're his darling partner for life, his cherished love.

But you're still his chewtoy.

[lucifer-kane]

At the end of the day I also want Warren and Gordon to end up living together because they're literally the only one the other person has in the world anymore. They're deeply co-dependent on one another and will not do well without the other (all of this is platonic only)