#idk man kuwabara's just a good judge of character

[eikichi-supremacy]

can i step on the soap box for a second or wtv just hear me out .. the thing about kuwabara is like.

he looks to yusuke like pretty much nobody else. yusuke's a unique protagonist in that he's well. shitty!! he's shitty and if you asked anyone pre-series they'd call him no good or a loser. If people weren't hating on him they were scared of him. There were a few exceptions to this like his mom, Keiko, and takenaka ofc. But kuwabara is the most interesting to me because he hasn't known yusuke as long as the first two and doesn't have that sense of duty to a student a teacher would. he is unique because he saw yusuke, someone feared and despised and saw something worth working towards

There's no sense of responsibility over him no long established relationship but. Begrudging respect. Awe. He put yusuke of all people on a pedestal and I don't think anyone else had done that. Saw yusuke as a worthy goal. Kuwabara was the first to see worth there in that sense. Obviously there were other people but Kuwabara was only privy to some of the shittiest parts of yusuke and still somehow came out thinking he's fucking great

Idk it's dumb like obviously yeah kuwabara's whole thing is that he elevates yusuke in his mind vs pretty much everyone else just seeing him as a shit stain but

Thinking about how this affects yusuke and his actions. Kuwabara isn't Keiko or Atsuko his attention and concern and care can't be explained away by "I've known you forever" because he hasn't yet. Kuwabara isn't sticking around for a yusuke that used to be kinder or wtv he's here for the yusuke that broke his ribs with a grin on his face.

And then ofc he realizes "kuwabara is good" during chapter 7. And if kuwabara is good and he sees me as someone worthwhile then that must mean he thinks...I'm good. What do you do with that when you've been told you're bad not just by everyone around you but by the prince of the underworld. The spirit world apparently sees how everyone's lives pan out and they couldn't fathom yusuke trying to save a child but I feel like kuwabara wouldn't have been surprised in the least. Because yusuke is a good guy

And it's crazy to me because how did he know. What did he see during those 156 fights with yusuke that made him chase after him that made him see worth when everyone else saw nothing. What made him cry and grieve and say you're supposed to be here for me. It couldn't have just been strength that made him do all that. He saw smth even spirit world wasn't prepared for and he didn't have years of knowing yusuke for him to see it he just knew.

But yeah back to yusuke the way that must've made him crazy all you ever did was beat this mf up! You barely remembered his name some days you didn't know anything about him because all you did was lay him flat but here he is crying over you angry that you left him behind. All that admiration how does one who hates themself cope bro.

Yusuke realizing who kuwabara is as a person when he was a ghost is just so. It's crazy cos he's seeing in real time that kuwabara isn't some jackass who only cares about fighting there are worthwhile qualities there admirable qualities a kindness that yusuke never bothered looking for. And yet. For some reason this guy is tagging along with you following your lead. He becomes friends with you like that's a thing someone like kuwabara should want. And it doesn't go away in fact it seems to get bigger the more time you spend together. God. me when I can't see the good in me but I know you're good and you can

Tldr; one of the most compelling aspects to the kuwameshi dynamic (ship or not) to me is that kuwabara is this noble, honorable guy and the coolest person in the world to him is the local menace and loser yusuke

[luckystarchild]

Random headcannon! What kind of fathers do you think the boys would be like? :)

Now THIS is the kind of head-canon Ask I can sink my teeth into! Love getting these. WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD.

KURAMA:

I actually wonder if Kurama would want children. Part of me thinks he’d be perfectly happy to be childfree by choice. He’s a precise person I imagine as a clean-freak, and I think he’d find kids tiresome.

BUT, if he had them, he’d raise them to be polite, responsible, and calm–almost little Kurama clones, because wild children would get on his nerves. He’d never, EVER raise his voice to his kids and he’d find spanking repugnant (because intimidating a child into obeying means he failed to reason with said child, which means Kurama’s big brain failed him, and his pride can’t have that)

 He’s the kind of father who would have an office in his home that no one is allowed into except for him;  “Don’t disturb your father while he’s working, children.”

I also think he might accidentally wind up being a bit distant from his kids. Not for lack of love, but he’s so dang polite and reserved that his kids might not find him accessible or approachable. PLUS I don’t think he had much of a family as a demon, and since he spent a lot of his childhood ignoring Shiori, he likely has no clue how to be a good parent (though he mimics Shiori as best he can). He’s not the type to play Legos with his kids, is what I’m saying.

He’d have no trouble telling his kids “no.” 

I think his kids would inevitably have a rebellious phase, mostly to get their father’s attention, and otherwise be hungry for his approval.

Mess with Kurama’s kids, btw, and you die. You die slowly and horribly in the basement, tortured long and slow (and Kurama’s kids, seeing him protect them, realize that while their father might be cold sometimes, he truly loves them very much).

The voice of reason on the local PTA (which he low-key runs by psychologically manipulating the other parents).

Bonus: Kurama’s kids would have a GREAT relationship with Shiori and spend a ton of time with their grandmother, whom Kurama would go to for parenting advice at least twice week when no one’s looking.

HIEI:

Firstly, I don’t think Mister Deathwish plans ahead enough to truly imagine a family life, and secondly, I think he’d avoid having kids after such a fucked-up childhood. “How can I raise a family when I’ve never had one of my own, never experienced what that feels like?” I hear him asking. He won’t even tell his sister they’re family, which makes me think he thinks he doesn’t DESERVE a family of his own…so any kids he has would likely be an accident, unless you write him with a lot of character development in which he moves past his intrinsic self-loathing.

So I see him being one of two types of fathers: the dad who resents having a kid accidentally (but the kid eventually opens him up and makes him a happier person), or the kind of dad who tries to be a good parent and just has no idea how and winds up making his kids cry a lot (“Daddy is scary!”). Or maybe he starts as the first and grows into the second; IDK.

Point is, he’d be gruff and no-nonsense, and when teaching his kids to fight (because you know he would!) he wouldn’t pull punches. In fact, I imagine him almost as an Aggressive Little League Dad™, taking a small child’s fighting lessons far too seriously for their own good:

“Pick up your sword, child!” he says to a kid literally in pull-ups.

“But Daddy, it’s too heavy!” says the kid as they try to life a sword that is literally twice their height.

“I SAID PICK IT UP, BRAT, AND STOP DAWDLING. AN ENEMY WOULD HAVE KILLED YOU BY NOW.”

 “Waaaah, Mommy, help!”

I think Hiei’s partner would have to step in and say, “Hiei, honey, they’re KIDS. Let them be kids. They don’t need to fight yet because we’ll keep them safe.” But since Hiei was LITERALLY TOSSED OFF A ROCK AS A BABY BY HIS OWN DANG MOM, he has no concept of what a peaceful childhood looks like and insists the kids fight while in diapers. It’s only when his partner points out that they do not, in fact, intend to toss their children off a floating island that Hiei chills out.

“Tell me, Hiei. Do you intend to abandon our child? Do you ever intend not to protect them? No? THEN LET THE KID GET A DANG TEDDY BEAR FOR HIS BIRTHDAY AND PUT AWAY THOSE NUNCHUCKS; GODDAMN.”

Has no idea what a PTA is and doesn’t care to learn, and will sulk if dragged to one. Maybe light a curtain on fire to cut the meeting short. It’s Hiei.

Bonus: Yukina would be a very involved auntie, because if Hiei is open enough to have kids of his own, he’d be open enough to confess he’s her brother.

YUSUKE:

Yusuke loves kids (at least in my personal head-canon he does), and while I totally see him having kids accidentally (because he ain’t the responsible sort), I do think he’d want them (or not hate the idea of then and just not think too hard about the possibility of kids until, whoops, one is on the way, too late now).

And you know what? I think he’d be a great dad.

He’d be warm with his kids, play with them on their level, and totally support them when they do something he never could (do well in school, for instance). Lots of affectionate teasing and wrestling, I picture. Yusuke’s father was canonically abusive, so Yusuke would try to right the wrongs of his childhood and be the best dad ever.

HOWEVER…I think he’d inevitably turn his partner into the Bad Cop to his Good Cop. Yusuke would be his kid’s buddy and leave the discipline to his partner. “Daddy, can I get a puppy?” “Um…go ask your mother/father!” He’d be the “fun” parent, and sometimes that would lead to strife with his partner and a lack of discipline with his kids. I mean, he’d probably give out the odd spanking or three (he spanks a kid in the manga, after all) but taking away a cell phone or grounding the kid would fall to Keiko, or whomever he has kids with.

In fact, if he tried to ground his teenage kids, they’d probably just laugh at him and assume he’s kidding, because he definitely let the kids skip school a few times, talks about their teachers with disdain, and isn’t built for being a stern parent.

Goes to PTA meetings, like, twice a year and makes snarky comments the whole time while eating all the snacks.

Bonus: Atsuko sobers up because Yusuke makes it clear she can’t be drunk when babysitting (and she desperately wants to be a better caretaker to them than she was to Yusuke, even if she laments she’s too young to be a grandmother). He also visits Mister Takenaka (who never married) with the kids sometimes and gets parenting advice from his former teacher, because Takenaka is the closest thing to a dad Yusuke had growing up. Takenaka becomes like a grandfather to Yusuke’s children and it’s lovely.

KUWABARA:

He wants kids, full stop. As a kid himself he wasn’t so sure, but as an adult his paternal instincts go a bit nuts. Turns out his obsession with kittens extends to human babies, as well. He’s a joyful parent, but he would very responsibly wait to have kids until he’s making good money and has finished school. No accidents like Yusuke, that’s for sure.

He preps the nursery as much as his partner does and is the best dad a mother could want during infancy. You ever see someone change a diaper at 4 AM with a grin on his face? You will if you visit Kuwabara when the baby comes home.

As the kids grow up, he gets totally wrapped around their fingers, a total “Yes Man” who brings home presents  (sometimes living ones like kittens) far too often for his partner’s tastes. Spoils his kids rotten, this guy, but his kids trust him completely and can go to him with any problems they have, knowing he won’t judge and will just listen.

He’s nurturing to a fault. Every night he helps with their homework, and if he doesn’t understand it, he’ll read chapters ahead in their textbooks and learn all of the material just so he can help them (through this he realizes just how much stuff he missed in school, back before he buckled down and went to college).

If he has a girl, he’ll be the kind of dad who gives a “Shotgun & Shovel” talk to her boyfriends (though knowing Shizuru, his daughters will be feminists and demand their dad back off and trust them to make their own choices). 

Kuwabara’s biggest fault as a dad is that he hovers and smothers; his kids will be driven NUTS and need space, much as they love their father.

Is the one bringing all the best snacks to the PTA meetings.

Bonus: Shizuru gives all his kids the sex talk because Kuwabara is too embarrassed to do it himself. She’s the coolest aunt ever, and his kids go to her house to escape their dad when he gets too smothery.

IN SUMMARY:

Hiei is an Aggressive Little League Dad™, but with fighting lessons. Doesn’t know what a PTA is and doesn’t care. WILL set something on fire if dragged there against his will.

Kurama is an aloof authority figure who psychologically manipulates the other PTA parents to get his way. Fuck you, Brenda, and screw the funding; these kids are getting a greenhouse.

Yusuke is the Cool Dad™ who eats all the snacks at PTA meetings (of which he only attends, like, two) and makes snarky comments about the moms' boobjobs to himself the whole time.

And Kuwabara is a loving helicopter parent who brings all the best snacks to the PTA meetings, during which he takes the meeting’s minutes (earnestly, but with illegible penmanship).