#while he himself does the saving. was this on purpose? idk. i don't care either. it fucks either way

[rip-reaper]

here's the thing.

in one piece's skypieia arc we see the shandians praying to the sun god 400 years ago bc they are dying of the plague and want to be saved. and then in episode 192 when enel is trying to sink upper yard with his huge ball of fucking thunderclouds we see the people of skypieia praying to god to save them, and conis wondering if god is actually real, right?

and then the scene cuts to luffy doing his usual shit and saving the day and dissipating the huge ball of fucking thunderclouds before it kills everyone and destroys the ancient land of the shandians.

which hits a bit different after finding out approximately one billion episodes later that oh luffy didn't actually eat the devil fruit which turns your body into rubber, it actually was the fruit of oops you're now more or less the reincarnation of the sun god, enjoy. yeah.

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

wait so curious cause i like your interpretations of the lore, what do you think is up with all the emphasis on “the one you should not have killed” from ucn¿¿¿¿

i really do think it's michael, haunting his dad over sending him down into the bunker to die. william knew the funtimes wanted to kill him and sent michael anyway cause he cared more about his research/elizabeth than him. in doing this, william created a walking corpse chasing him down for years upon years for the sole purpose of setting him on fire. he lured michael down there by saying he could save elizabeth-- a promise of his dead siblings coming back, and of redemption for, y'know, shoving crying child into an animatronic. instead, he let michael die, and michael wasn't gonna let him get away with that

just labelling the spirit "the one you should not have killed" only makes sense from the standpoint of "THIS death is the one that fucked up your plan." because, like, he shouldn't have killed anyone in general, especially not fuckin kids, so "the one you should not have killed" can't refer to, like, a victim he was morally in the wrong for. he was morally in the wrong for everything he ever did in his life. with that in mind, the kids were too confused and scattered into pieces to do much other than haunt the animatronics and try to bite any adult that came near them. elizabeth was an accident and she was trying to help her dad at the end. charlie is confirmed to to not be the vengeful spirit by her saying "i don't hate you, but you need to stay out of my way." michael, however, spent years tracking down his dad, and, again, set him on fire twice (assuming you believe he's the fnaf3 protag).

when he says henry "tried to release US," he's referring to fnaf6, but that he's not letting his father go when he still has unfinished business with him. and that unfinished business is fucking with him over and over and over. this is only actively harming michael, though; while, yes, willie-boy is being tortured, michael is just forcing himself to stick around his abusive dad's spirit forever, making him replay michael's own nightmare experiences. ("this is how it feels, and you get to experience it over and over.") watching it might feel gratifying for a while but when you hear the one animatronic say "is this a prison for you or for me? perhaps both," i think that's implying that all the golden freddy symbolism is michael's torment; he feels like he belongs here still for killing his brother.

when omc tells the spirit to "leave the demon to his demons," he is telling him that he does not need to be here, that he does not deserve damnation for a mistake he made as a kid, and that if he just lets his vengeance quest go and moves on, he can be at peace. i honestly really like leaving it open-ended there, of whether michael will continue haunting his dad for his own sense of revenge, or forgive himself and move on. either way william's getting tormented in hell, it's just a matter on if michael accepts that he himself doesn't have to be there with him.

idk if i answered ur question there i just like to ramble. anyway ask @birdsareblooming for her thoughts she's the one that convinced me

[seeingteacupsindragons]

Hey! I’m not sure if Yuumori has confirmed this, but is the “Lord of Crime” persona actually part of who William really is (like a darker side to his personality)? Or, was it all a mask to hide his kind self? After The Final Problem, it seems like William has not shown that darker side of himself and has become much softer and gentle. Was he truly like this all along? Sorry if my question doesn’t make sense, English is not my first language.

This is an odd question to me. YuuMori has never addressed this because this isn't really a question. The Lord of Crime is not its own entity. He doesn't have a personality. It's just...a thing William does.

The Lord of Crime is just a character William made up to serve his purposes in the narrative he's trying to push to save the country. And because of the way it works, he and his brothers occasionally have to take on the role of this character.

But like. That's just LARPing.

And as much as I love Liam, he's not much of a character writer. The Lord of Crime is pretty personality-less.

William is a silly, kind, showboat of a man who plays his cards so close to his chest he can't see them anymore and honestly forgot what the cards were. But that doesn't mean he's using the Lord of Crime as a mask: pretty much the only people he acts as him in front of are people who are about to die (and thus don't matter), and Sherlock, who already knows and whom he's playing a game (see: LARPing) with.

William has the same personality really whatever he's doing: he's kind and loving and dramatic and intentionally annoying and domineering. He scares the shit out of his students even while he protects them and he ignores his friends and brothers even while ensuring they're in the best possible position and he protects his clients even as he murders people. He was kind and gentle from the start (but also awkward and annoying from the start: seriously, go read volume one again; you can see him barge into his student's dorm, but also go out of his way to protect one of them on his own initiative).

And even after the time skip, he's got a lot of that still going on. Sure, he's less domineering, which is good, because he was overbearing to the point of steamrolling over very reasonable objections from people he cares for deeply. But that's character growth, not dropping a mask.

Anyway, his silly little LARP character is dead now, so he has to actually act as himself. So the actions he used to take for the Lord of Crime don't happen. But he himself is still the same person as ever, and the same person he's always shown himself to be.

Functionally, this is not a lot different than asking if the Consulting Detective is a part of Sherlock or a mask. Or Mycroft's role as the intelligence director. Like, IDK, not really either?

[funnywormz]

not to be a hater but this is the most bizarre take i've ever seen (the original tweets i mean). like people are allowed to dislike toshiro but this person is just making up stuff that isn't even true about him???

i need to rant abt this rlly quick but i'm putting it below the cut bc this got Long

gonna address my issues with this in order based on where they are in the thread

1) toshiro isn't actually a lord, his father is but toshiro himself is just one of three potential successors. this isn't a big deal just a nitpick

2) falin is not a princess (or at least she isn't when toshiro falls in love with her) and she is not remotely even like a princess. she's a weird girl who loves bugs and shuro KNOWS this and he loves her for THAT. it's true that he finds her physically attractive but he SPECIFICALLY falls in love with her because he sees her being kind and gentle to a caterpillar even though most people would kill it. her unconventionality is the reason why he falls in love with her. he doesn't love her because she's a white princess he falls in love with her because she is compassionate and thoughtful and cares for things that others would be afraid of. it's her kindness that made him fall for her, not just her looks

3) female toshiro is depicted as being scared of laios and tearfully confiding to the other girls about him because he (presumably unintentionally) did something which made her uncomfortable and embarrassed. she's blushing because she's embarrassed. and the others look blatantly horrified with thought bubbles of laios looking scary above their heads. nothing about that suggests to me that she is in love with laios, it's the opposite if anything. laios himself even says that the situation would be "even worse" if toshiro was a girl. the whole image just screams "girl is upset because her male friend did something pervy on accident and she's telling her female friends about it while they comfort her and get upset as well on her behalf". it does not read as her being in love with him in any way idk where the hell ppl are getting that idea from

4) laios does not remotely fit the knight in shining armour stereotype. if anything he's a subversion of the trope. he happens to wear armour but he ISN'T EVEN A KNIGHT LOL this is a pet piece of mine bc why do ppl call him a knight when "knight" is a description of a specific type of professional warrior employed by royalty and laios is not that. he's just a guy who wears armour. a knight in shining armour also refers to the stereotypical idea of a male "hero" who goes out of his way to dramatically save people and do good deeds, whereas laios is basically only doing what he's doing to save his sister but necessarily doesn't go out of his way to be a saviour for anyone else or commit impressive heroic deeds. like i said, if anything he's a subversion of the trope

5) once again i don't see how falin is anything like a princess either. she's weird and loves bugs and ghosts and isn't afraid of getting dirty and also her and laios were literally homeless for a while due to lack of money. nothing about her suggests "princess" to me. she isn't delicate either, she's been shown holding her own in a fight multiple times and bashing people with blunt force inflicting weapons etc lol

6) i don't think toshiro ever describes laios as childish? this is another nitpick but like. he never said that. he's mad at him for being "oblivious" and for seeming flippant about a serious situation, but i don't think he ever says he's childish

7) i don't think there's any canon evidence nor precedent set by his character you could possible draw on to suggest that toshiro would abuse falin if they were married. i can imagine that he might be a bit emotionally distant or repressed at times but i don't think he'd treat her badly on purpose in any way

basically this whole post is just shit this person made up lol. like i said it's ok to dislike toshiro but you don't need to just make up random stuff about it to try and back up your point

twitter is such a shit show we’re getting takes like “shuro has a white supremacist white girl fetish and would abuse falin if they ever got married because he hates autism and is just ignoring it in her for now” and I’m supposed to nod and take it seriously

[fuwushiguro]

hi queen!!! Idk if your requests are open if they're not sorry just ignore this!!

BUT if they are I'm begging for yn being railed by daddy toji who invited megumi-nii who can't help but jerking himself off 😫😫

(I'm 20 by the way!!)

have a nice day!!!

Notes: Hi nonnie u sweet angel! Requests are FRESHLY open so ur more than welcome to deliver this juicy morsel to my inbox hehe

Warnings: Stepcest, Dubcon, Doggystyle, (Does this count as cucking??)

stepdaddy!Toji x f!Reader x stepbro!Megumi

You didn't feel good about being in your mother and step father's marital bed. There were possessions and photographs dotted around that displayed their love and life together thus far. Tears were streaming down your face as your daddy fucked you stupid from behind, your eyes meeting your mother's in the wedding photo on the wall.

How could you betray her like this?

"What the fuck," Toji spoke, punctuating his curse with a spank to your rear, "are you looking at?"

Your wife. You wanted to say, but you thought better of it. Letting an outpour of continuous moans tumble from your lips instead.

"D-Daddy. Too rough! Too rough f'me!" you sob. He does nought but chuckle at your discomfort. He doesn't care whether you're a virgin or not, he didn't bother to ask. He thought either way, you'd feel like one when his monster cock split your aching cunt open.

"Shut up," another voice hisses at you. You feel five fingers lace through your hair and yank your vision in their direction. "Don't wanna hear your bitchin' when I'm tryna get off." your brother Megumi complains, his angry red tip dangerously close to your eye. You're panicking, if he cums now your eye will be bloodshot and stinging like crazy. How will you explain that to your mother?

"What are you- Why are you- Daddy! Why is Megumi-Nii here?" you ask with a whimpering bottom lip. Aw, they both think you look so cute. But not cute enough to save you from another spank from Toji.

"What a darlin'. Ya hear what she calls you Megs? What a good sister you have." he teases, even Megumi is smiling. Or is that because he has more sinister intent?

"Well I couldn't help myself when I heard you getting your brains fucked out from my room," he admits, his fist becoming a blur in front of your eyes. "Could you blame me? Tight dresses and low cut tops are all you wear around here." he tells you. Is it so wrong to have a clothing preference?

"I-"

spank.

"Don't interrupt him."

You gulp.

"Are you really surprised we wanted to try your juicy cunt out for ourselves? We've seen it enough times every time you bend over in front of us. Was it on purpose? Whore." he snarls.

He kisses your wobbling lip. You know it's wrong to be with them both, but the small comforting act makes you feel a lot better. Before long they're both shooting their loads in or on you. Megumi paints your pretty face, and you're grateful he somehow missed your eyes. But you're stuffed full of your daddy's milk, you had a feeling he'd have a cream pie kink.

They both leave the room while you're panting and quivering on the bed. You suppose you are the one who will have to clean up their mess.

© 2021 fuwushiguro

[kazewhara]

the modern!xiao agenda continues

xiao kinda seems like he'd either play guitar (electric, acoustic, bass, ukelele, doesn't matter) or piano.. idk, i just feel like he has the hands for it

if he plays bass, he'll probably sit on top of the amp and lazily pluck out bass lines from famous songs

OH MY GOD, BASS PLAYER XIAO WITH THIS SONG.

carrying out casual conversation while he mindlessly switches up songs

don't ask why i think xiao is a musical prodigy, he just is, okay?

modern best friend xiao who has his gallery filled with the most embarrassing photos of you

they're all taken in the dark with the flash on, and most of them are so unflattering

he'll threaten to post them whenever you annoy him, but he'd never actually do it. those are precious to him

modern best friend xiao who asks you to help him re-dye his hair

the process was going well until you accidentally got some on his neck

he was joking when he blamed you for it, but you purposely put some more on his skin

...and now there's teal all over the bathroom sink. that's not coming out for a while.

modern best friend xiao who has the gentlest touch

he can't style hair to save his life, but if you ever have braids that you want to take out, or you want to take your hair out of a complicated style, xiao's the best person to ask

he'll massage your scalp as he helps, and yes, he loves the little sighs of relief you give him

modern best friend xiao who goes with you to conventions -- anime conventions, comic conventions, etc.

FANBOY XIAO FANBOY XIAO

he'll lie and say that this isn't his kind of thing, but look at the way he lights up when he sees his favorite artist selling prints

when he steps away to "use the bathroom" (he's going to check out more stuff), please just buy him his favorite merch

if you get him a charm, a t-shirt, a hat.. no matter what it is, he'll cherish it

modern best friend xiao who throws fries at you. don't ask why, he just does.

"would you stop eating my fries? you have your own."

"yours just look better."

and then he throws like, four of them at you.

and lastly, modern best friend xiao who's resigned himself to the fact that he's probably going to harbor this one-sided love forever.

it'd be a cold day in hell before he confesses and risks the chance of you rejecting him.

so when you call him one night, gushing about the date you had with zhongli, he'll listen and grunt out his responses just like always.

you're happy, so who cares?

[haleigh-sloth]

Idk how to interpret Tenko/Tomura because I feel like it's being left ambiguous on purpose (it's also something he's confused about!) I think even if they changed Shigaraki's severe repression and dissociation into full blown DID... Tomura still needs to be saved! Like, based on vestige Tenko only having the eye scar that means if the DID interpretation is true, Tomura would have "split" during the incident and either way would have been the one dealing w/ AfO's manipulation and abuse.

Sigh..."Tomura still needs to be saved!"

Yes. Saving Tenko means saving Tomura. They're the same person. One does not exist without the other. I'm a little exhausted of that take honestly.

THEY. ARE. THE. SAME.

It's really not that ambiguous. Honestly. I've pointed out a multitude of times that the "inner child" is used a LOT in BNHA.

Boku no Baby Academia.

I have talked about how to interpret it quite a few times (Here, here, and here). You're welcome to give those a read. Here are a couple of other explanations NOT by me, but pretty much align with what I've been saying, and delve into much more detail on this "inner child" trope, which is undeniably what this is (Here and Here).

I'm trying to give you options anon, because the way you're approaching it is, imo, not going to get you anywhere or land you on any conclusion you like. You're coming at this as if Tomura is going to be left behind in the dust and not saved. (And I'll touch on the DID stuff at the end because that's not a good way to come at this either). And I will reiterate what I said here, in another post explaining the Tenko/Tomura situation: Does saving Touya mean leaving Dabi in the dust to rot? No. Yet, I don't see people saying that about him? Yet he also gets the "hurt inner child" symbolism used for him as well, but for some reason this take doesn't apply to him. It shouldn't! But it shouldn't apply to Tenko either.

I'm not trying to tell you what to interpret it as, do what you want, I can't stop you. But honestly there really isn't a lot of room LEFT for open interpretation. It's pretty obvious what Tenko/Tomura is. Tenko is symbolic of the entire person's being. He is who he is.

It's as simple as this: The reason the entire person, Tomura Shigaraki/Tenko Shimura, was not FULLY absorbed by AFO, is simply because the ENTIRE person is not completely full of hatred and rage. That tiny part of his mind/heart/soul however you wanna classify all of this, is being symbolized by Tenko. Because Tenko was the identity this person was born with, and represents the part of this person's life before AFO gaslit him into believing that he was this destruction incarnate and had no hope for a happy life, because, well, destruction incarnate who destroys everything he touches--including people he cares about (his family), as well as any chance he will ever have of being saved (destroying society). That's what Tomura/Tenko believes about himself, and until that belief is washed away through an outside influence, he can't be saved at all.

Now for your take on DID. I have a couple of issues with it but let's start with this:

"I think even if they changed Shigaraki's severe repression and dissociation into full blown DID... Tomura still needs to be saved! Like, based on vestige Tenko only having the eye scar that means if the DID interpretation is true, Tomura would have "split" during the incident and either way would have been the one dealing w/ AfO's manipulation and abuse."

I have a problem with this. This is implying that one part of Shigaraki is experiencing the abuse while the other is not. That is not even applicable to irl DID. When a person experiences trauma, it affects all aspects of a person. This sounds like you're saying there are two brains within this person and while one brain is taking a nap, the other is dealing with the abuse. One brain, one person, one experience.

The very fact that Tenko is being used to symbolize Shigaraki's heart is pretty clear cut proof showing that this isn't freaking DID lol. Tenko remains unaffected and continues to represent the part of Shigaraki that isn't full of hate, hence keeping him from fully disappearing into AFO, leaving there leeway for someone to pull the entire person OUT of this possession. If this were going to be a clinical representation of this disorder, one part of Shigaraki would not be shown to remain unaffected. The shut away identity in a person with DID IS affected, that part adjusts to the trauma just like the part of them that is front and center. It just doesn't work that way where one gets off scot free and the other takes the brunt.

This is the second issue that follows up on that--don't assign diagnostic labels and then interpret canon through that lens. Do not. You will not find answers, because this isn't a clinical study nor a clinical representation. Headcanons are fine and projecting is fine! Absolutely, project away. It's how we cope. But trying to analyze the material as if it were canon, when it's honestly not, is not going to land you anywhere. I will hand it over to Horikoshi for displaying mental illness and trauma really well through his characters, and especially familial trauma and the effects it leaves on the family members (Todorokis and Shimuras), but I'm not going to assume he's got an open DSM-V on his drawing desk.

Here's the other thing--this "split" has not been an ongoing obstacle for Shigaraki. This "split" hasn't been a part of his character's struggles with his identity and who he really is. That struggle lied with uncovering his memories, and that already happened. When he recovered his memories, he just recovered them. And then spiraled even more. He adjusted to the "new" information and kept going. He hasn't been dealing with a "split" the entire story, as if to show that he is dealing with a separate part of himself that he is fighting to bring out, or keep at bay. The "split" in identities only became a thing at ALL when the literal possession started happening. And there are LITERALLY TWO PEOPLE INSIDE. So again, yet another reason this is just...not a representation of DID. It's just not. Of course there are aspects of it there--absolutely. But those little aspects ONLY started manifesting when literally more than one whole person was occupying a body. During the war arc you see Shigaraki reflect on his memories multiple times, but he doesn't revert back to his 5 year old self.

5 year old Tenko is a representation--nothing more. There isn't a literal 5 year old sitting in the vestige with a physical body waiting to be pulled out. He just represents the very fact that he can still be saved from AFO, and saved from himself. It shows that there is a part of him that knows he isn't good for nothing but destruction, knows he didn't legit murder his family, knows he didn't want them to die, knows he wasn't born to just kill. Those beliefs are there buried deep down, they just need to be validated. Pulled out from the bottom of the ocean that is AFO's gaslighting and psychological torment inflicted on him.

So not to be rude, really, but I'm going to have to kindly reject your interpretation.

I genuinely don't know why people are looking for a way to explain away Tenko though? The reason is pretty clear and simple for why he's there. Why do people keep looking for ways to try to make it make sense that "saving Tenko means leaving Tomura behind?" Why, honestly I'm at a loss.

The only people I see who don't like the Tenko situation are the people who don't want the villains saved at all, and the people who want this fanon version of Shigaraki that doesn't exist so they can see him, like fight AFO off and take back his agency (that he never had to begin with honestly) and just carry the League off bridal style into the sunset. Idk tbh but the attempts at making the Tenko symbolism out to be this negative force in Shigaraki's arc are exhausting to read.

Not saying anon is doing that but....tbh idk why there are so many attempts at explaining Tenko away to be something he's not. He's not taking Tomura away from us either. Yeah idk where that comes from but it's a take floating around out there.

I'm fairly certain that we will see more 5 year old Tenko, and 5 year old Izuku, since we've seen them both on screen together already:

So I'm hoping that maybe all of this "Tomura won't be saved if Tenko is the one who is saved" bullshit dissipates when we finally follow up on this lol.

[izzyspussy]

@dykerory said:

okay but what if you messaged me your thoughts in extreme detail

well most of the fics i saw had the devil trapping her in the loop in order to? get with daniel i guess. like the dark lord satan is a shipper or something aksjfks. but anyway, regardless of the pairing or lackthereof, this just doesn't make sense to me in accordance with the devil's narrative purpose and such.

like, to begin with ready or not in my opinion does not lend itself particularly well to fanfiction (unless you want to write pseudo-incestuous infidelity porn or whatever, which of course good for you if you do but ain't nobody doing that smdh) but like. in my opinion the story is complete, with no glaring holes, with satisfying and thematically consistent ends for all characters, and with the story and themes very well portrayed and not particularly ambiguous (while at the same time affording the audience the ability to just be like ''haha girl in wedding dress vs pack of incompetent rich people who will win?'').

AND in addition, there's really nothing for the devil to gain by putting grace in a time loop of this day. he's not portrayed as cruel in this iteration, he represents the deliberate and then habitual bankrupting of one's own morality and the consequences thereof. nor is he portrayed as benevolent (i.e. would want to reward her with romance or save daniel when daniel had the option to save himself all along and chose to get drunk and marry someone he didn't love instead).

the only reason he'd do anything to grace is if he thought she was also At RiskTM to turn herself into an immoral person in exchange for some stupid material thing. he's not here to torture or trick "good" people, he's not even here to punish "bad" people, the point is that they did it to themselves! and he already determined grace wasn't Like Them by making the card come up hide and seek in the first place.

sorry this turned into a whole ass summary of the thing as preface but like. this is where i'm coming from. this is why the other time loop fics don't make sense. he-would-not-fucking-do-that.jpg. i mean even though the devil himself is only there - somewhat ambiguously - for like five seconds, his character is clear through the deal itself and- anyway.

so - and tbf in my opinion my version is also a huge stretch of the devil's character and the deal and such, but i was starting with the idea and working backwards here, but it's at least no just putting a different character in there for the purposes of Making Them Kiss or whatever (which like fine, whatever, do what you want who cares, but that's awfully boring and you could just write a coffee shop au or something idk) - if we want a time loop that is the devil's doing, then either grace would have to ask him for a deal, or we would have to fudge his character a little bit to make him want to Get Her Too as part of the family. there wouldn't be any "redo it until you get it right" as a goal that would break the loop and that's why the loop is there. he'd be wanting her to get it wrong and morally bankrupt herself. (but again like. she's only one person, and he already determined she wasn't Like That by picking hide and seek in the first place so like. we're stretching. we're stretching really hard man.) and she'd break the loop by *not* morally bankrupting herself *and* achieving whatever incredibly improbable happening that is the best case scenario or whatever.

and personally i would still have it be daniel getting out. (doubtful that i would pair them up tho tbh. sure they had tension, maybe i'd have them fuck in a loop or two, whatever, but i think in this case it's more poignant and on-model for them to have a kind of semi-platonic found family dynamic. but whatever that's just me.) but like, the deal would be phrased ambiguously, and being that grace is not a third party observer like us she wouldn't know going in how devil's deals work like we do.

so, like, the sentences and phrases that are running through my mind are the opening bit, where i stretch the devil's characterization and have him tell grace she could "save him" if she wants to. and she thinks "fuck no, fuck him, fuck all of them, they got what they deserved" first (true), and then she thinks about daniel, and then she thinks about the children - not innocent by any stretch, but still children - and then she thinks about alex (she was going to marry him after all, you know, there was a guy there - who was not the real guy - but when you love him you want him to be real, if only you can make the perfect world that makes him so). but anyway so she doesn't answer quickly enough in words, so the devil takes her thoughts as her answer instead and starts the loop.

but the loop isn't the wedding day, and it's not a single day at all in fact. she starts on the day she and alex met. and on the first go she sees him across campus (or wherever they met? that part was the least important detail so idr it) and simply turns right around. so the loop starts over after one day then, because that's not right.

and then she goes through a few loops thinking she's supposed to "save" alex, and since she doesn't know how the deal works (yet) she doesn't know how to tell if it's working or when it's too late or whatever, so a few times she still gets all the way to the wedding day and playing hide and seek and them exploding, and the devil sitting in his chair smiling and then flickering into plain flame, etc etc.

and eventually she starts to figure out how the deal works, but she still thinks she's here to "save" alex, so she's still getting with him and trying to get him to fully believe what he professes and give up the money and get disowned or just ghost the family or whatever and not take the money and exempt himself from the benefits and therefore the punishment. but he never does, and she always has to either leave him and start over, or marry him and play hide and seek again and then start over.

but of course every time she plays hide and seek, daniel eventually tries to help her. and now she mostly gets how the deal works, so she realizes okay. maybe alex can't be saved, and she's actually here for daniel (not true, she's here to give up, but daniel is the only one she could save).

so then she has to figure out how to get close enough to daniel to encourage him to stop drowning his guilt and face it instead, to make choices instead of passively accepting his wealth and its evil. maybe she tries a couple of times to tell him about the loops, but he's basically a coward until it gets right to the wire so he probably just drinks harder and runs away from her when she does that. and meanwhile, grace has to still at least initially get with alex because that's how she meets daniel, so then she has to juggle alex and charity too. see? impossible, surely.

but, you know. you put grace in a Situation and she's gonna make it out of there if for no other reason than to spite you and tell you to go fuck yourself. so, she never succumbs to despair/self-pity/greed and becomes the person who doesn't pull the hide and seek card, and she doesn't get stuck forever either. eventually, she actually does manage to save daniel - or rather to influence him enough that he saves himself. (and then the devil breaks the loop, because now he's losing on his investment.)

i will not write ready or not fanfiction. i will not write ready or not fanfiction. i will not write ready or not fanfiction.

[sckyie]

word count: 1.6k

genre + warnings: fluff; timeskip!kuroo, streamer!kenma, baby kuroo (like his kid not him), the word poggers is used

pronouns used: she/her

a/n: for reading purposes, oji (叔父上) is uncle and oba (叔母様) is aunt, doraemon is that bluecat thing with no ears ,, next imagine is gender neutral pronouns

"You should let Y/n play a round," Kenma reads off the chat. "I would but she has to go to the store."

"Either way I can't when I get back, I have to babysit," You say standing up from your chair beside Kenma. "I'll see you later bub." You peck his cheek before putting your rolling chair off to the side and leaving the room. 

You had decided to go out to get some groceries before Kuroo came by with his daughter, Tomiko, for you to babysit. His wife had gone on a business trip and he had an important meeting to attend. You agreed since you and Kenma mainly work from home. 

About ten minutes later, you pull into the parking lot of your local grocery store and get a phone call from Kuroo. "Hello?" You ask.

"Hey, I know I said four but apparently the meeting is being pushed up two hours. Can I drop off Miko right now?" Kuroo rushed.

"Oh, I'm not home, Kenma is. Just drop her off, he's streaming but it should be fine. I just got to the store," You say. "If you need it, the spare key is in the lamp above the door."

"Thank you so much Y/n, I owe you again!" He says before ending the call. Kuroo turns to his babbling daughter and swoops her up. "Come on babe, you're going to Oji's."

Kuroo gets all of her stuff ready before heading out. He texts Kenma that he's coming over but to his luck, no response. Kenma was too absorbed in his match of Valorant to reply to his best friend. Once at the front door, he knocks but again, no response. Kuroo reaches up to get the key and unlock the door himself. 

Tomiko began to babble louder as she recognized the living room. Kuroo kicks off his shoes and walks over to the streaming room. "Come in!" Kenma called after his best friend knocks. He turns to see him and Tomiko and tilts his head. "I thought you weren't coming until later?"

"I texted you and I think Y/n texted you too," Kuroo points out. Kenma quickly checks his phone and looks back up at chat. "She said it was fine to leave Miko with you."

"Hah?" Kenma turns back to him. "I'm playing solo queue and I just started stream."

"Miko can sit on your lap and watch. She does that with me at least," Kuroo strides over, placing his daughter on Kenma's lap. "I will see you later, and Kenma don't forget my baby is in your lap."

Kuroo quickly exits before turning to camera. Tomiko reaches at his desk but Kenma moves his keyboard, controller and mouse forward to avoid any accidents. "Uhm...Tomiko meet chat," Kenma awkwardly holds up his niece to the camera and a spam of heart eyes flood the chat. 

He was never one for taking care of kids or at least fond of it. When Tomiko was born, he obviously knew he had to watch her at one point but every time he did, you were there to help him. The entire topic of kids always been pushed back ever since you two got married. You were the one with baby fever while he didn't necessarily want to have a kid just yet.

Kenma sets her back down on his lap and notices her reaching for something on his desk. "Oh, did you want that?" He asks, pointing at the small cat plush on his desk. Tomiko's only response, because she's barely one, was to smack the table. Kenma reaches over, handing the toy to her. "Y/n got that for me, but you can play with it as long as you don't- drool on it." He finishes his sentence as Tomiko nibbled at its ear.

"Tomiko is so cute!"

"Awww! You and Y/n should have a kid!"

"Tomiko eating the cat is pog lol."

Many more comments flood in as Kenma admires the baby on his lap. He snaps out of his staring and looks back at the Valorant lobby. He switches to just his camera overlay and changes the title of the stream from "solo queue is poggers" to "idk yet i have a baby with me."

"I can't really play Val with you on me Miko," He turns to chat to see any suggestions. "Draw things with her on a paint studio? Maybe...Let her watch you play Minecraft...I like the drawing suggestion." Kenma replies to the comments. He carries Tomiko to the other side of room to get his drawing pad. He realizes his issue with moving the drawing pad and places Tomiko on his couch. 

Tomiko doesn't move an inch as she watches her uncle move his big drawing pad. "Baba," She calls out. "Wan Baba." Kenma immediately knew that meant she wanted you. 

"Sorry Miko, Oba isn't here right now," He says placing down the drawing pad. After hearing his words, Tomiko began to whine at him. "Oh no, no, no, don't cry." Within an instant, Tomiko began to cry, slapping her hands on the couch. Kenma goes to carry her but she smacks his shoulder in protests.

"Baba! Wan Baba!" She cries. Kenma seats himself, only to see sympathetic comments.

"Miko look, look," He attempts to show her the plush she was previously chewing. She swats the toy away, still wailing to see you. "Uhm...I don't know what to do, Y/n usually takes care of her."

Tomiko continues to cry, smack, and scream for you to come get her, leaving Kenma lost in how you always kept her from crying. He looks around for something to help and spots his headphones. A thought comes to mind and he quickly types in his search bar on his computer. Soon after, the opening to Doraemon starts to play.

Her crying ceases as she looks on the screen to see her favorite blue cat. "Is that better?" He asks. "How about...we draw him?"

Tomiko watches as Kenma lowers the music down and opens his drawing software. She began to calm down yet her breath was still stuttering. Kenma sketches out Doraemon and Tomiko began to smile slightly. "Do you want to color it?" He points to the drawing pad. He switches it to touch screen mode as she reaches to touch it. "What color do you want?"

"Boo," She says. Kenma switches the color to blue before Tomiko starts scribbling on Kenma's drawing. Tomiko's sniffles slightly as he wipes off her tears with his sleeves. 

"She's better now, yeah I'm glad she is," Kenma responds to his chat. "Miko, what else do you like to do...Nevermind you can't talk and I'm dumb."

"Jellwy?" She asks. 

"Jelly?" Kenma tilts his head at her. "What do you mean by jelly?"

"Jelly cups maybe?"

"Jell-o?"

"What if she's saying a video game with jelly?"

"Jellwy," Tomiko looks away from the screen to look at Kenma. "Jellwy fly!"

"Jelly fly?" Kenma stares at her intensely. "What jelly flies? Do you mean like slime rancher?" Kenma exits out the drawing software, changing the title of the stream beforehand, and opens the opens Slime Rancher. 

Tomiko's eyes light up and a smile grows on her face. She giggles cheerfully as Kenma began to play one of his old saves. More comments roll in as Tomiko's adorable noises captures the viewer's hearts. Kenma smiles as she is finally happy in his lap and not crying out for someone else. 

About twenty minutes into the game, you arrive home to find the two still streaming. "Hi bub," You peek in. Tomiko sat up at the sound of your voice. She shifts around in Kenma's lap to look over his shoulder. "And hi Miko! Were you playing with Oji?" 

"Baba!" She cheered. You walked over, expecting her to reach out to you but she seats herself back onto Kenma. "Pay jellwies." She points to the screen.

"Oh Jiji's playing jellies?" You leaned down and kissed Kenma, also prompting Tomiko to push your face away from his. "Ok missy, how about, we let Jiji stream and we can go make dinner?"

"No! Wan jellwies!" She argued. 

"She's fine here, I don't mind her. Chat loves her anyways," Kenma says. "Miko, do you want to show Oba your drawing?"

Tomiko smacks the table as an agreement and he switches monitors to show you the messily colored Doraemon. "Wow Miko, good job," You praised. "I especially like that Oji added ears to him."

"Oh, he doesn't have ears?" He asks. You nodded and placed your hand on his shoulder. "Anyways, let me know when dinner is done so I can end stream. Miko and I have important slime farming to do." You roll your eyes, pecking Tomiko and Kenma. 

Right when you finish cooking dinner, Kuroo arrives to get Tomiko. Kenma explains his day to his best friend after ending his stream, leaving him to smother his daughter with kisses. "Do you want to hang out with Oji again?" He asks. Miko nods and holds out her hand for Kenma to high five. "Thank you again. I'll treat you to dinner when the Mrs's comes back."

You say your goodbyes and turn to Kenma who was setting the table. You go to the stove, plating everything when you felt a pair of arms around your waist. "I want a baby," Kenma muffled into your shoulder.

"You want a what?" You chuckled.

"Miko needs a cousin," He says. Kenma pulls away from your back and stood beside you. "Can we get a baby now?"

"Bubs, we can't just buy a baby," You laughed. "Tomiko gave you baby fever, huh?"

"Maybe," He says. "Also we can babysit Miko anytime Kuroo asks."

taglist: @amillionfandoms-onlyoneme @just-a-siiimp @d0llpie @elianetsantana

[the-music-maniac]

You ever notice how similar Xie Wang and Han Ying’s stories and character arcs are?

A warning here that this contains spoilers for all of Word of Honor/Shan He Ling. Stop reading now, I reference a ton of shit.

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I was actually discussing a couple fic ideas with a friend a few weeks ago, and I got to wondering after thinking about those parallels I could see -

Does Han Ying x Xie Wang exist as a ship?? Is that a thing?? That exists?? Can it please exist??

It has so much potential. There's so many narrative parallels with these two characters.

They're two people who deserved better than their respective endings, who never got what they wanted, because of the manipulation of men who wanted power and would stop at nothing to get it (Jin Wang and Zhao Jing). The manipulation of those who saw them as less then what they were.

They also have similarities in their relationships with their "mentor figures" - Han Ying and Zhou Zishu, and Xie Wang and Zhao Jing. They have quite a lot of differences too, enough that their lives parallel each other instead of mirror, and I just think that their personal experiences could make for a very compelling storyline if these two were to interact. It would be an interesting road to a development of a potential relationship, and moreover an opportunity for both of them to learn from the other and heal.

And real talk? I just want the both of them to be happy tbh (and of course that obviously doesn't need to involve a romantic relationship - I just have no self control. I'd be just as ecstatic about a really good friendship though).

I also know they never interact in the drama - but then again these two are also literally dead in the drama. Reality is what you make it 🤣🤣. And considering how close the Scorpion was working with Tian Chuang - honestly I'm pretty sure you can't really say they haven't met either.

So anyways, I guess reasons why I think this would be a good ship dynamic:

First of all, their relations with their mentors and how it's similar to each other and also not. The resulting potential for mutual support:

Han Ying's dearest wish is to be a disciple of Zhou Zishu's, as he says plainly in that one episode.

The thing is, there could be quite a lot of subtext taken from that - I've read interpretations that he's in love with Zhou Zishu, or at least has romantic feelings for him - a strong crush possibly - which I can plausibly see (I can also see it just being platonic, which I will talk about later). But yeah, a romantic interpretation just because of how strong his devotion towards Zhou Zishu is. The wistful looks?????

In that kind of situation, IF the romantic feelings are two-sided instead of one-sided - which I would like to go on the record and say that with Han Ying and Zhou Zishu, I don't believe it is - and as a result actually becomes something, that type of relationship would not be the most healthy, because there's a very strong imbalance of power. Even if the mentor figure genuinely cares and actively minds the mentee's feelings - the mentee still undeniably has that level of hero worship - it won't ever be equal. We can see that already in Han Ying's case, Zhou Zishu repeatedly tells him to stop treating him with so much formality because he's not the leader anymore and yet Han Ying still remains deferential.

In that interpretation, if that were the case of it being two sided - Han Ying would have quite a lot of similarity of experience to Xie Wang's relation to Zhao Jing -

And here I can talk about how Xie Wang and Zhao Jing's relationship is uh. Kinda sus tbh. Like. That doesn't look like a healthy or platonic father-son relationship and it gives me the creeps. In Xie Wang and Zhao Jing's relationship, I'm more inclined to believe there's some semi-incestous yifu fucking going on than anything platonic, there's just so many sus moments - and if I'm not mistaken they dubbed over a line in the show where it was basically stated plainly that it's not a platonic relationship. Or at least - Xie Wang doesn't view Zhao Jing platonically (and I don't believe Zhao Jing discourages it at all, if anything he actively encourages and guides it to make Xie Wang dependent on him). So we got another setup where it's potentially one sided romantic feelings/hero worship. Or maybe two sided for them, who knows.

But the thing is, while I talked about unhealthy romantic relationships in my section about Han Ying, a fundamental difference between Xie Wang and Han Ying's relationships with their mentors is that Zhou Zishu's relationship with Han Ying would be a lot healthier. A LOT healthier. So much fucking healthier, I cannot emphasis that enough. And that's mostly because their relationship is not two-sided, and because he sees Han Ying as a person.

He cares about Han Ying a lot but not as anything beyond platonic - he views him as a student and a subordinate and protects him as such. Han Ying on the other hand could have romantic feelings for Zhou Zishu. Not in love per se, it feels to me like it could be a mix of a really strong crush with really strong hero worship. I don't think Han Ying truly knows Zhou Zishu's other aspects of personality (yet?? I guess because if we're gonna hypothetically bring both Han Ying and Xie Wang back to life he probably will eventually get to know Zhou Zishu properly), because I doubt he ever showed anything beyond his stern assassin leader type of persona to his subordinates. He was likely caring yes, but in a way that keeps people at a distance. So, a mentor-mentee type of relationship where Han Ying could be crushing quite hard on Zhou Zishu. But still a healthy one, as Zhou Zishu, one - doesn't intend to pursue a romantic relationship with Han Ying - and moreover, although might know about his feelings, or his devotion at least(tbh you'd have to be blind not to), he treats them, and him, with respect. He doesn't try and manipulate Han Ying, or use his emotions for his own purposes. He sees Han Ying as his own person. His affection and regards towards Han Ying remains unconditional, even if Han Ying messes up or doesn't follow instructions. Instructions that, btw, repeatedly try to keep Han Ying out of the line of fire, and makes it clear that Han Ying is to put himself first.

Everything Zhao Jing does however is solely to cripple Xie Wang and make him wholly dependent on him. He's been grooming Xie Wang from such a young age, and his positive regard and care is ALWAYS conditional. As soon as Xie Wang messes up, he takes it away as punishment, and because of how Zhao Jing's made himself the center of Xie Wang's world, that action is devastating to him. He subtly encourages and toys with Xie Wang's regard for him for his own purposes, he tries to make Xie Wang jealous so he works twice as hard to earn back Zhao Jing's attention. And as we see with his intention to eventually discard Xie Wang as soon as he is no longer useful - he doesn't view Xie Wang as a person. He's merely another tool in his arsenal.

The reason why I wrote such a long ass analysis about the similarities and differences between Xie Wang and Han Ying's relationships is because as I mentioned before, one reason I think this would be a pretty interesting ship and dynamic is how these two could help each other. At first, it might be more Han Ying helping Xie Wang.

Xie Wang hasn't ever experienced what a proper and healthy guardian type relationship is like, or even what it means for someone to choose him first. He's a victim of abuse, and should he manage to survive the avalanche at the end of the show, there is potential for him to start to undo all the damage that Zhao Jing has inflicted on him all those years, especially if the man is truly no longer around. And I think Han Ying would be in a very good position to offer him support in that journey. Moreover, if Han Ying has had an experience similar to that, it could be the reason he would want to offer support to Xie Wang. He's experienced a lot of what Xie Wang has experienced, but he's also seen what it is for someone to genuinely care about him, and as a result likely has a more healthy view on that type of relationship. They're similar enough for Xie Wang to potentially not want to push Han Ying away if he ever offers his help, but also dissimilar enough that Han Ying could offer new avenues of thought.

At the same time, if you just read Han Ying and Zhou Zishu's relationship as a really strong type of hero worship, this dynamic could make sense too. Han Ying clearly looks up to Zhou Zishu quite a lot, and on top of that, Zhou Zishu in a way represents everything Han Ying has wanted and couldn't have - aka a family and a mentor figure and a home to call his own. Regardless of if it's purely platonic or not, it's still an infinitely healthier relationship, a parallel to Xie Wang's experience, so the potential of the offer of support remains the same.

Second of all, similarity in origin and life experiences, which is a small thing tbh but still an important thing:

Han Ying is someone I don't know a lot of background on tbh - I presume he doesn't have a family anymore, and somehow ended up in the Window of Heaven. I've read fics where Zhou Zishu was the one to save him at some point and offer him a position in the assassin group, and I'm inclined to take that as a plausible head canon (unless it's actually canon, idk I haven't read tyk yet).

So, in bare bones, he's an orphan who is taken in by a mentor figure, and becomes a high ranking member of an assassin group.

Xie Wang is also someone who no longer has a family - we don't know that much about his background either, but I presume he was happened upon by Zhao Jing in some way - I'm not sure at what age tbh, is it assumed that he was raised by him?? Or maybe in teenage years??

Whatever it happens to be, Xie Wang was taken in, maybe even "saved" by (although if you ask me, he'd be better off without) Zhao Jing.

So in essence it is the same thing as Han Ying's experiences, an orphan who is taken in by a mentor figure, and becomes a high ranking (or the leader of) an assassin group.

And not only that, as I mentioned from the beginning, these two both realize and know, eventually, that they’re being used by men who are desperate for power (Jin Wang, Zhao Jing).

I mention this actually as just an extension of my first point, because while I mentioned that Han Ying very obviously can support Xie Wang in that particular “past grooming and abuse” aspect, there are probably still many hidden traumas and scars for these two from the lives they’ve both lead. Their similar experiences lead to similar choices which helped shape who they are, and as a result, I think these two could truly understand each other and where they’re coming from.

Their personalities would fit pretty well with each other. I think:

I don’t know if my interpretation on how these two are is accurate tbh, so feel free to let me know if you think it’s out of character.

To me, Han Ying seems like someone who would be pretty calm around the people he cares about; responsible, smart, eager to learn, with a steady sort of presence. He seems like someone who would wear their heart on their sleeve around people he trusts too, but not in any overtly obvious way. I think the reason why I get that impression is that, upon rewatch, I could plainly see his worry about Zhou Zishu in episode one, but when I first started the show, I somehow missed it entirely. Han Ying also didn’t show any qualms about admitting to Chengling that he wants to be Zhou Zishu’s disciple - which can be a very personal piece of info. The way he was around Zhou Zishu, and Wen Kexing also gave off an air of innocent eagerness to do well in his accomplishments and for approval. I’m not saying he’s always like this, because I’m rather certain he has a darker side too - as we see with all the characters, no one is without their traumas and no one is without artifice or without complexity. They’re all grey moral in a very human way, and Han Ying is no different. We’ve seen before too that once he’s got his game face on, the man is pretty competent and also ruthless (his conversation with Gao Chong for example) - I don’t think he could be any less if he’s that high up in the Tianchuang hierarchy. But at the same time I can also see him being a bit of a very subtle disaster (almost?? Slightly dorky??) in certain situations, and we can see that kind of peek through when Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing hijacked his kidnapping attempt and he was kind of like uhh. Okay so, I’m in a choke hold, I think that might be my former commander, so like. Let them go. It’s actually really funny cause while Wen Kexing was telling Gao Chong and Chengling to hurry up and leave, I swear you could see Han Ying contemplating his entire life.

The face of a man confuzzled.

Xie Wang on the other hand, is someone that’s more impulsive, liable to push or be mischievous, less of a steady personality and more like - for lack of better word - an absolute gremlin. A pretty murderous one. It’s a bit hard to tell all aspects of how Xie Wang is tbh, since he has many different mannerisms while talking to different people. With Zhao Jing he has a very subservient, almost dutiful, childlike and innocent air about him, and a sort of. Sa jiao (撒娇) type of demeanor. He craves approval from Zhao Jing, and is just generally very baby around him, and I’m really not sure how much of that is how he actually is and how much of that is him learning that this is the best way to get Zhao Jing’s attention. And tbh I don’t think all of that is grooming, I think Xie Wang probably does have the potential to be as soft or as innocently childlike and happy with others he cares about (just hopefully in a lot healthier way). I think we see his soft side a little with Qianqiao when he gives her the cure. Despite that though, we can still see other aspects of him surface. He makes suggestions and pushes when he thinks Zhao Jing’s refusals are unreasonable, he just goes and does his own thing sometimes (um usually murderous things. Like when he killed Song Huai Ren and told Zhao Jing he’s a traitor). He’s mischievous about some of his actions (after literally stabbing a man, ‘what? he said I should kill him if I have the ability’). He’s a lot more obviously gritty and aggressive and morally grey than Han Ying appears, which I think adds dimension to his character when added in with everything else. He’s also very smart, competent, ruthless - obviously since he runs the Scorpion, but he’s surprisingly fair and almost? Honourable? In certain aspects? And like Han Ying, he does somewhat wear his heart on his sleeve, retains that eagerness to do well and is somehow not as jaded as he could be, as he still finds the capacity to eventually care for a stranger (Liu Qianqiao). 

I may be oversimplifying how these two could be, but with their personality types I think they have a lot of potential both in a romantic relationship or as close friends. And in a way that at first glance would probably be puzzling - how in the hell did these two become friends/get together (lmao you’ll see Han Ying in his rather sensible disciple robes and then Xie Wang is just there in his braids, dramatic black outfits, winged eyeliner, etc. 🤣🤣😅😅) but on closer thought, makes sense. Han Ying could be a more steadying presence for Xie Wang, and Xie Wang in turn could help him loosen up a bit more. (That’s kind of oversimplifying it but it’s 5 am where I am rn and I’m too tired to elaborate) I also believe Xie Wang might push Han Ying to be more ambitious, be able to do things for himself more - because Xie Wang went through a process of, everything I do is for someone else, until I realized they were using me, and now I’m going to do it for myself. In that way they could potentially push each other to higher heights in what they do, and they are pretty similar in ideology and morals and previous actions. They both have blood on their hands, and they’re not afraid to be ruthless or do what’s necessary to get the job done. They have their traumas, their complexities and an understanding of what it’s like to put on masks for different people.

The potential for found family. All the found family. Gimme:

This one I feel like is more obvious and changes some things about canon, but the timeline I imagine for if Xie Wang x Han Ying would be a plausible ship is one where Han Ying survives the stealing of the fake glazed armour incident and becomes one of the disciples of Siji (second disciple of the sixth generation????). Everything else would likely proceed in a very similar way (although in this au in my mind Gu Xiang and Cao Weining are alive). And then during the avalanche incident, with WenZhou trapped in the armoury, Xie Wang ends up surviving and they end up finding him somehow.

Whether or not it’d be out of character for WenZhou to save him I think could be explored, but the bottom line is that eventually they would probably take him back to Siji. There, whether him meeting Han Ying goes smoothly or not is up to interpretation - I very much doubt it would be an amiable meeting tbh - in fact I fully imagine it to be antagonistic af at first, considering what opposing groups they used to be a part of and the knowledge of how deadly the other can be - trust would be hard to come by, which makes a slow development all the more interesting. And moreover them becoming friends or dating would likely help Xie Wang into the dynamic at Siji because now there’s a more tangible connection between him and the place, and I can see while he’s getting to know all the people of Siji, eventually thinking of them as family as well.  And Han Ying in turn gets another person who cares about him, and for him to care about.

I’ll be honest here and say that I don’t particularly care at this point how realistic or in character it all would be -  I need found family in my life I have no self control. Xie Wang and Han Ying my beloveds needs all the good things.

Another possible meeting is just Han Ying being sent to negotiate with the Scorpions instead of Duan Pengju (is that how it went? I’ll admit I’m a little fuzzy on plot points here) and meeting each other that way. There could be moments of understanding while working together, an inevitable kinda separation, and eventually seeing each other again at Siji, after all the shitshow is over. The development could continue from there.

The closer age gap:

I’d like to preface this part with a disclaimer that I’m not trying to bash any other ships that are out there, this is actually just entirely my personal preference.

I don’t really like big age gaps in my ships unless their both established adults - for example in their 30's 40's, even 50's. Even if one of them remains young in body, it’s just not a dynamic I generally like. The most popular ship that comes to mind here is Ye Baiyi x Xie Wang - and all the more power to you if you do ship it tbh, I can see it being really adorable and healing for the both of them, especially since Ye Baiyi never really gets a happy ending either (and he absolutely deserves one 😤😤😤) - but that as a ship dynamic is personally not for me, especially after Xie Wang’s kinda hinted relationship with another man that’s also older than him. Ye Baiyi obviously is ten million times the man Zhao Jing could ever be, and it would be an infinitely healthier relationship anyway, but yeah the age gap thing is just my personal bias.

So I don’t know, I appreciate that Han Ying and Xie Wang are both closer in age to each other. I know there aren’t confirmed ages (I think?) but if I had to take a guess, I’d say I think both of them are probably in their early to mid twenties.

Anyways, it’s literally 5:43 am now where I am, so I think I’m gonna end this way too long post and pass out. Honestly, I’m not even sure if this thing is coherent anymore, I’m half delirious with exhaustion while writing this. I might possibly write a fic or do something about this Xie Wang x Han Ying ship, I might not, but I just wanted to get it out there. It’s a cute idea.

Oh god my eyeballs are burning. Cheers, goodnight.

[ephemeralgalaxies]

Loki Ep4 Spoilers below (once more bc I just can't help myself, can I?)

It's been a while since I've had a character as interesting as Mobius to analyze and I have no chill. Spoilers start below:

Also some spoilers for WandaVision but it's been months so hopefully y'all have seen it

TL;DR Mobius really trying to connect back with Loki in order to try and bring the TVA down (and also bc "oops, Loki was right, guess I gotta own up to that bitterness") and it works but it hurts so much. Also see: I can't stop watching this scene over and over trying to understand Mobius' subtle actions bc his reaction here is so different than in all other scenes where he's usually calm or trying to delve deep into Loki's mind for information. Now he's just desperate.

Ok so I know I made a post talking about Mobius' jealousy in that interrogation scene but I also want to touch on when he comes back again after seeing the footage from C-20's interrogation scene bc man is so desperate here and I'm crying

(I'm sorry, I can't get gifs to work for me today so we just using images. But I got these from this post)

Mobius was so hurt last time we saw him, Loki being thrown back into the time cell with Lady Sif, hitting our dear agent with "out of all the liars in this place... you are the biggest... for the [lies] you tell yourself." Mobius has been pushing down all these doubts, hiding all his questions and curiosities of the TVA for a while. He's teased Ravonna, but could never really get anywhere. Then after speaking with Loki about Sylvie, about "you're all variants", Hunter B-15's suspicions, the oddness of C-20's "death" (M:"she was just fine before." R:"well, then she suddenly wasn't fine."). Mobius is finally allowing himself to realize things, to question truly what is going on. (R: "Is that what you wanted to hear?" M: "Yeah, if that's the truth." R: "You've been around Lokis too long.")

In this scene, when he comes back to the time cell for Loki, he's frustrated, he's angry, he's desperate. Everything is a lie. He can't pretend anymore. Loki has bonded with Sylvie (actually caring for another human being without the trauma of Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok) ((I'm begging you, pls let him see a variant of Thor in this series and get to bond again, I miss them)). C-20 is likely pruned and gone forever with no answers. B-15 is getting anxious and unfocused. Ravonna is snapping at him and manipulating him with those long speeches (please, Mobius has heard enough from Loki's videos to know when he's being manipulated by fake sentimental words). He's tired, no longer patient enough for all the little quips-- he just need answers. For once in his "life" at the TVA, he just wants the truth. Something to safely hold to.

He's just put Loki through this timeloop of Lady Sif, of someone from home someone that could've been close to him under different circumstances, someone his brother cared about, kicking him/slapping him/ berating him with "you deserve to be alone, and you always will be." Loki's whole "Sacred Timeline Life" marks him to "always be alone", to finally get close to people before being torn away (whether in his own volition or by someone/something else). But with Loki caring for Sylvie, maybe even loving her, this changes everything for this Loki. He could finally care enough to save someone, to go out of his way in order to help others at his own cost. And Mobius knows this.

He asks again, desperate, pleading, hoping. Loki has to believe in himself, has to love himself enough to think to believe that he deserves a family, love, security from his greatest fear. He has to have changed because if not, then he'll either get pruned or wind up just like Mobius. Either way, gone from existence-- life erased, precious memories of "what if", "what once was", obliterated. He has to believe, or it'll happen again and again and again. To everyone, to the whole universe, unless something someone could do the impossible and shatter all reality.

With Wanda (specifically in WandaVision, final episode end credits), with her searching for her children and Vision, attempting the impossible and blending her realities in order to give them life because she needs them, she loves them. (M: "If you really care about [Sylvie]..."). This threat to the Sacred Timeline, pushing closer and closer to the MCU Multiverse, because they have to, because they want to.

(sorry again for bland picture, I love his expression in this gif but it wont load)

Mobius knows Loki is hurting-- from Lady Sif, from his past, from failing to protect Sylvie on his own, from Mobius not believing him and calling him "just a bad friend". He knows Loki could learn to believe, but he doesn't yet. Only Frigga ever told him she believed in him, he needs to hear it again. He needs to know he deserves love because he is loved. Mobius does, "believe, stupidly" (ep2) that Loki has this potential.

When I first saw this scene in the trailers, I was nervous it would be in the context of Mobius trying to get Loki on the TVA's side, "someone good". But here, this is so much better-- he knows the TVA is lying, is manipulating, is destroying lives. (L: "No one bad is every truly bad, and no one good is ever truly good" ep2 again lol). Loki knows he's not "truly good", that he's hurt people-- whether he planned to or not. But he can still be good. He can still choose to love, to care, to believe.

He can be what he's always wanted, what Frigga promised him, what he's always feared. He can be known, be loved, be safe-- Loki doesn't just fear being alone, he fears people choosing to leave him. That's why the memory of Lady Sif instead of Thor reaching for him on the Rainbow Bridge or Thanos threatening the Asgardian refugees or even Odin trying to explain why he "saved" Loki when he fought Loki's homeland. This memory was casual, simple, unnecessary. But it's always the smallest moments that truly impact us the most-- the slight changes.

When Mobius says this to Loki, he freezes-- he's confused, hesitant, scared. No one tells him this, why is someone telling him this, how can I believe this?

And then:

.And the little shrug Mobius gives here

It's so casual, so simple, so nonchalant. He just wants to reassure Loki that he still cares. He just spent a whole interrogation hounding on Loki for finding love with Sylvie, for changing with her (jealous boi be jealous), for lying to him and betraying him (M: "You don't do partners... unless ofc it benefits you and you intend to betray them at some point"). But now, now he's stopped lying to himself. He knows he cares, that Loki has a chance, that they have to burn this place down. Mobius wants stop this from ever happening again, from someone ever having to go through what Loki's gone through, being told they can never be loved because that's just how the Timeline goes. That a kid would be taken away from their family (probably because Sylvie presents feminine?? Idk, feel like MCU Odin wouldn't be so good with that). He has to reassure Loki, he wants to, because no one should ever feel that way again.

(and frick I really hate this, please look at the gifs from the linked post above, u gotta see his precious smile grow)

LOOK AT THIS SMILE, LOOK AT HIM HE'S HAPPY. And it was such a small, subtle apology from Mobius but it made all the difference bc he told Loki that he believes in him. And then they walk back out of the time cell, side-by-side, looking at each other. Content, safe, prepared to face the world together. He's no longer alone.

... And then ofc this happens...

*cue my heart shattering* (bless Hiddleston's acting).

The fact that you can even hear the hitch in Mobius' breath as he realizes this is the end of the line for him, that Ravonna knows and there's no going back--he's not making it out of this.

"One last desperate trick from the desperate trickster."

He talks about the jetski, about what his life might have been, he knows this hits Loki, being ripped from your timeline, losing all that potential. More importantly, it gives Loki a reason to fight. A silent, "Don't let this happen again. Don't let them get away with this. Please, remember me, don't let me disappear." But it doesn't work, because the one thing Mobius didn't account for, is that Loki cares about him. That now, the fight drains out of him. They pruned Mobius, ofc they'll get to Loki and Sylvie. They didn't even hesitate. Loki just lost, once again, the only other person who ever told him they believed in him. "You can be whoever, whatever..." "She told me I could do anything..."

Loki is less of a narcissist and more of a person desperate to fill that hole inside-- he's been neglected, cast aside, told he should want this and then never getting it. A "Glorious Purpose" to always hide in the shadows, to cause suffering, to give others a reason to unite against him. But for once, just once he hoped that he didn't have to do it alone-- that he could unite. And then they crushed those beautiful few seconds of hope like it was just another tedious, burdening purpose of the TVA.

(credits of images/gifs to the original posts linked, none were mine as I can't figure this out at all lol)

[claymorecut]

Journey of a shipper: Kontae and how I fell for this ship?

OKAY! SO I'M FINALLY DOING THIS. Writing a long ass meta about this ship because hell, I love them and this ship is beautiful and I just need more content for this ship, so I'm making some myself! Before I start, it's just my opinion and I don't mean to offend anybody and second, I'm not a great analyst. I'm just going to ramble about stuff here and it's pretty long. So, enjoy!

I remember making this post about gintama ships back when I first started watching Gintama and I remember mentioning Kontae there. The sweet and kind guy falls for the hard-core and strong willed woman. A ship dynamic I really love. And their interactions, so damn funny I can't even say! And the 10 years gap didn't look like a big issue to me; they are both adults so I was okay with it. This ship looked funny to me, Kondou blushing, asking her to marry him, butt hair and all xD but also made me feel like "it may not get too far". But Idk why, I decided to stick with it. Because i was just so much in love with Kondou and Otae's characters. But in between all that, I really didn't see any kind of romance happening between these two and I was like maybe in an AU, they'd make a really good couple. It's not happening in Gintama 'cause I really don't see any kind of romance happening in this universe (and yet, I continued shipping xD)

But, I was wrong.

When the Yagyuu arc came and I watched episode 81. And my faith in this ship was restored. I know there were some ship-tease moments for gintae in the benizakura arc and the yagyuu arc but then this scene came:

I know, I know, it wasn't literal but what if it was? Well, that's not the question here. I was pretty surprised to hear this myself. Gintoki saying "She'll make it up to him" and Hijikata saying "She loves him. She's just playing hard to get" and all then Otae comes and saves Kondou from his Gorilla marriage. I got the verdict here tho. Maybe it was just for comedic purpose, maybe not. But still, it was enough for me to continue shipping them coz they looked hella cute and I just thought I'd just stick to it. Maybe, I'm gonna find something big soon. I found other ships like Hijimitsu and Gintsu! But that's a topic for another day.

AND, YES. I DID!

The pool arc came, which is like ep 217 and yes, nothing huge happened but remember how Gintoki was a making fun of Otae's breasts and how he wasn't interested in looking at her flat chest but Kondou, who was, like always, stalking her, then says he's ready to explore every part of her to find the nipple xD and Otae just punches him. Yeah that was funny. And then Tae later again comments that she can see right through Gintoki's actions and Gintoki retorts again by saying that he's not interested in her camel toe. Then this scene happens:

Kondou says he has no interest in camel toe and Tae again punches him while yelling "YOU DON'T?!"

Weird, right?

I know, it was weird for me too! But what can I say, these short details were what made me feel like maybe, JUST MAYBE, Tae has a thing for Kondou. Just look how offended she is. I know Kondou didn't mean to disrespect her neither was he rejecting her but I think Tae feels like he is. And so she goes like "what do u mean u don't?! Don't you love me!?" Even if it was just a sexual reference, it made me think that maybe, Hijikata was right. She does try to play hard and that there is something.

Then came the love choriss arc and I got a major hint.

How Sayaka-chan was Kondou's virtual girlfriend and how he introduced her to everyone in the Shimura residence. Yup then this happens.

This was stupid and weird and funny and my Kontae heart screamed "YER JEALOUS TAE!"

Just look at her going all dramatic while getting worried about Shinpachi. Well, of course she'll be worried about Shinpachi's well being and how her brother is just drowing into his own virtual world but Why. Throw. Kondou's. Game? If she really doesn't feel anything for him then there's no reason for her to throw Kondou's game. Why not let him stay in his own virtual world with his own virtual girlfriend? What were you planning, Sorachi-sama?

It was the very first time when it looked very evident to me that Tae has something for Kondou deep inside. That whole dramatic scream "THIS CAN'T BE!" just after Kondou introduced Sayaka-chan. I listened to that dialogue very closely and it first started with Kondo introducing her then Gintoki saying something like you're in this shit too? And soon was followed by Tae's dramatic "this can't be! Is Shin-chan going to be like this too!?" while throwing Kondou's game out and Kondou screaming "Sayaka-chan!!"

Tae's jealousy is still a mystery here but I still feel like, somewhere she was.

Moving on!

They went out on a date, which was a disaster and then alongside Kyubei in the Beam Saber arc, how Kondou fought for Otae I started to feel a lot more from Kondou's side. Yes. The stalking is a running gag but Kondou's feelings were given more comedic effect rather than highlighting it in a very serious tone. But that's how Sensei does his work. Gintama is supposed to be funny and this ship is supposed to be funny and I really wasn't expecting any intense and serious Kontae moment in the series.

Well, Sorachi-sama proved me wrong. AND I THANK HIM SO, SO VERY MUCH!

The Genderbender arc came, Kyubei is now this handsome hunk and Tae is blushing furiously and Kondou is this blond bombshell which is his too good! It's been shown over and over again that even if Kondou is a stalker, he just wants to see Otae happy. That's what he always wanted even if he isn't the reason for her happiness. When Jyubei and Tae starts meeting frequently, Kondou comes and encourages Jyubei to stop worrying about other and enjoy himself with Tae. He even says that he's happy with just being her friend and I think this proves how much he cares for her. He gives them those movie tickets telling he actually wanted to ask her out but now that he's like this, can't be with her like the way he always wanted to and now Jyubei is the only one who can take care of her. He was genuinely hurting but what matters most to him is Otae and so he leaves them while saying "if you make her cry, I'll arrest you". Even Kyubei later mentions it that it was him who was hurting and crying and he just happily sacrificed Otae so that she can be happy.

Then came the roach motel arc and OTAE WEARS THE KIMONO THAT KONDOU GAVE! Yes, not in the episode but in opening 15 she does and even in the manga cover! Ah..the feels. Well, coming back to the point, this episode was basically everybody bullying Kondou but the good part here was the ending of this episode. Kondou knowing that he was getting bullied and that Tae was a part of all this but he still says "that's how Otae-san is. This is what makes her, her." That was beautiful; he accepts her for who she is. He knows that she's brash and manipulative and even abusive but she's also kind and strong and beautiful; even after all her flaws he still continues to accept and love her. That's true love. And then comes Otae's part. She slowly starts to learn more and more about him, I think she knew he wasn't stalking her. And then she finally admits that she actually had fun with Kondou and that she got to see a new side of him while hugging that roach mask. She was happy to discover a new side of him, no stalking attached. I was so amazed to see this happening coz like I said, I wasn't expecting all these serious Kontae moments but these were actually happening. It was a breath of fresh air and I was really happy to see a developed relationship between these two characters which just made me ship them even more.

Then comes the love incense arc which was just....bizarre. What was Sensei thinking while writing this arc? Why would you do that to my poor kokoro!? But whatever, nothing is properly explained here, everybody is falling in love with everybody, Kondou turns gay, Gintoki just loses his senses and is sleeping with practically everybody, Tsukuyo's feelings for Gintoki starts to go havoc. But then, Tae and Kyubei comes in the picture. And they're in love with Gintoki too. But then, things change. Take turns out to be in love with Kondou! Hell, she was actually JEALOUS! Yes, it was the love incense and yes, this arc is just too crazy to explain anything properly but hear me out. What if, the love incense actually triggered some of Tae's hidden feelings for Kondou? Just like Tsukuyo's. Coz she actually saw Gintoki's dick first when she inhaled that smoke. Not him. But she ended up discovering her own feelings towards him. So what if this was the same case with Tae? We all saw that she was under the effect of that drug and was in love with Gintoki so Sensei, why this change of plans?

No answers, right? I don't have them either. It's just the little theory I came up with. What was Tae's real feelings? But soon the Shogun Assassination and the Farwell Shinsengumi arcs are followed after this.

And GOOD LORD! Sensei actually proved me wrong! By giving one of the most beautifully written scenes between these two characters.

It isn't always when Sorachi-sama actually decides to go for the romantic plot but in Kontae's case, I felt like he actually hinted a LOT. The very first ship in Gintama where I felt like no, this isn't just one-sided but actually, feelings were shown from both the sides, especially Tae. Like everyone, she misses him. But Tae remembering him like this and crying when she's about to get her neck slashed:

"A real man, a real samurai would never do something like this. That man, would never do something like this."

She knows him, she knows what kind of a man Kondou really is. And even at a time like this, Kondou is the man who comes in her mind. A true man, true police, a true samurai who not for once tried to force himself upon her. Not for once showed any kind of disgrace towards any other people or her. All this time, she comes to learn more and more about him and you know, it was worth the time.

Even Shinpachi sees it.

"I'll bring that man, and everyone, back to you for sure. So wait for us with the same old smile on your face, Sis."

Why exclude him from everybody? There has a meaning behind this and a deep one and tbh, I see a romantic meaning behind this. Shinpachi addressing Kondou like this, it was new. It's not always when Sensei uses such points to evoke a romantic gesture but when he does, it sure leaves an impact.

And this is not the last time he used such implications for KonTae. Fast forward to ep 316, Tae is at Kozenigata's place and she's now leaving. Haji and Konzenigata both tries to stop her because it was dangerous outside and the police organisation isn't working properly and she replies,

"That's exactly why police need to go back to their jobs, and cabaret girls have to go back to their job."

It's like foreshadowing their relationship- the police and the cabaret girl. And then Kozenigata just simply puts a cherry on top.

"They must have come back. Her police."

And Kondou pops out of that dustbin!

FREAKIN' POETIC CINEMA!

And then come the dialogues.

"Don't you think it's high time you stop doing this....You'll catch a cold."

"Why did you have to say that out of all days? I wish you had acted like always, called me a perverted stalker and hit me like you always do. You're....making it hard to say goodbye."

The voice acting, the dialogues, the animation, honestly everything screams romantic here. And yeah, the close-up happy-sad faces, if you've seen/read romantic anime/manga, you should know it's a shoujo trope used to display romantic feelings between two characters. And if I'm just making speculations, they're sharing the same umbrella...

Two people, especially a man and a woman, sharing an umbrella in rain is considered as a symbol of romance in Japan.

This kinda proves that romance is present in this scene.

And then finally this.

ANOTHER SHOUJO TROPE. THE CLOSE-UP EYES!

These eyes literally says it all. It's like Tae saying I'll wait for you and when you come back, I'll happily welcome you and then we can go back to those old days. Just like how Shinpachi said.

And I think, this is the very first and the only time, Sensei used this gesture. And this is just too much for me to not ignore it!

The way Kondou looks at Tae while talking to her, it almost feels like he's telling her to not look so sad. Like I've mentioned before, Kondou wants to see her smile. And i think, in this scene it's crushing for him to see her with such a sad smile on her face. That is the last thing he wants to see. That's why he said he wanted to see her react the way she always did. And Tae not acting like that and instead showing such emotions towards him, it's too overwhelming. Just think how Kondou would be feeling there. Tae seeing him off, her eyes glistening while she sees him walk away but also waits for his arrival in the near future, its simply poetic.

The reunion between these two is as funny as ever, Kontae was back in its own color. When Okita said Kondou was always okay with their usual type of setting, he meant to say that Kondou was happy in those old days. That's what he said in the FS arc, he wanted to see her in her usual self, no sad face, no crying, just a happy Otae who loves to beat the crap outta him but also respects him. Things really were pretty intense in the SA and FS arcs but I don't think Sensei wanted to continue this for long. It was like Sensei saying, we're back to the old days, happy days. The Silver Soul arc and the ongoing arc isn't as intense as these two arcs and that's what Sensei wants to say "we're back to those good ol' day". But that doesn't mean he threw away all those meaningful moments between these two; it was so heavily implied. Just because of a troll scene, one cannot disregard the whole development and say "it was never there" because of course there was something which was very much visible to the viewers/readers, even if it isn't present now doesn't mean it was all a joke or just some i-just-wrote-it-but-now-it-doesnt-mean-anything bullshit. Yeah, the ship isn't canon but that also doesn't mean it sank. I mean, Kondou is not gonna marry that gorilla anymore so....

Imo, KonTae is the only ship in Gintama where romantic feelings are implied from both the sides. It really didnt look unrequited. It's not only Kondou or Tae, it's both of them and both of them have actually shown interest in each other in a way which I won't say is completely ambiguous. The FS arc was the part where it is shown how far their relationship has come and how they have come to learn and respect each other, maybe even love each other. I'm not forcing these ideas on anybody, these are facts and I'm sure even non-shippers must have noticed these moments as well. Honestly, the romantic implications were heavy here, the scenes, the dialogues, the "Take care" which is just too beautiful to not to be ignored. Even if I don't see canon pairings happening here, I still somehow hope for this ship.

My love for Gintsu is eternal but Kontae, this is the only ship where I feel like has come a lot far. And even other characters have mentioned their relationship and in a serious note. Check all those subtle hints, pick up the whole FS arc, it's there. A relationship that started with a gag but now is fully developed where I can see loads of potential. It's a ship that's been here from the very beginning of the series and it didn't look rushed at all. Another universe of how I met your mother lol.

People can ship whatever they like and I'm really not trying to push my thoughts onto anybody here.

But KonTae, this ship is no gag or joke and it deserves more love.

It's stupid, it's hilarious, it's beautiful and it's properly developed and that's why I fell for this ship so hard.