lilyrosethedreamer:

lilyrosethedreamer:

So, I’ve been wanting to do a post on a character for a long time and well, there are so many things I’ve noticed about Hanzo. I decided “fuck it” and here we are.
Hanzo Shimada is a bit like Marmite for a lot of the OW fandom – you either love him (guilty as charged) or hate him (I can understand, everyone has different tastes). And Hanzo Shimada isn’t a one-dimensional man, he has a lot to show, which tends to be covered up under his usual masks.
Firstly, the most well-known things; he was born and raised in Japan under a traditional Yakuza family known as the Shimada Clan in Hanamura. They were a powerful force to be reckoned with and Hanzo was the first-born, therefore the next in line. He excelled in many areas, including business, swordplay and archery and wasn’t rebellious like his younger brother, Genji. It all unfortunately went horribly wrong when Sojiro Shimada (their father who we recently found out the name of) died and the Elders pressured Hanzo to “deal” with Genji. Now, the wiki description doesn’t quite make it clear whether they expected Hanzo to dispose of Genji or whether to just punish him, but either way, the brothers fought and Genji was horribly wounded. Hanzo believed he’d killed him and ran from the clan, distraught. Now he’s a wanderer, taking assassin and mercenary work as it comes and attempting to find redemption. Recently, Genji came back to reveal he lived in the Dragons short and Hanzo changed his look in the Christmas comic.
Now, while we all know without a doubt that attempted fratricide is pretty morally awful and illegal and will land you in jail or death row (depending which country you’re in), Hanzo didn’t just do it for no reason and he isn’t without remorse about it. In fact, as someone else pointed out not too long ago, he’s one of the few people in the OW verse to really regret and grieve over his past transgressions. But what made him snap in the first place? And why do so many people believe he’ll either join OW or Talon?
And while we’ll get to the first question later (that one has been discussed in the OW fandom a fair bit), the reason I ask the last question is because there are a few things I believe we may have been missing. The first thing people seem to miss is rather surprising, considering that this is canon as of today (and most likely will be for some time to come).
The fact is, Hanzo has joined neither. In fact, he seems to be fairly resistant to the idea of joining them in general (and while the canon is not in the actual game, the voice-lines do help us judge their characters, whether Blizzard likes it or not). When Widowmaker tries to tempt him with promises of restoring him to his true seat of power, Hanzo outrightly tells her “But at what cost?”
This leads me to believe he knows what happened to Widowmaker (at least the basics), due to rumours or info leaks from Talon (if Sombra isn’t involved in cheekily leaking info from Talon, I’ll eat my hat) and DEFINITELY does not want the same fate. However, from what I can gather, Talon (for the moment) seem to be offering him the chance to come willingly. But he has refused, so if he is interesting enough to them, it wouldn’t surprise me if they tried to take him by force, as they did Widow. And this leads to my next point that we’ve missed. Why would Hanzo not jump at the chance to take back power, especially as he seems conflicted over the Shimada Clan and his once-empire still?
Because it means he loses control.
For Hanzo, his whole life has been about being under someone else’s control. From the MOMENT he was born, he was groomed and conditioned to do everything the Elders told him to for the good of the Clan. He was raised to believe that doing immoral things (like probably weapon-smuggling etc) was beneficial to the Clan as a whole and taught to be accepting of power and monetary gain. While he wasn’t conditioned the way Widowmaker was, Hanzo was still very much psychologically manipulated. Genji seemed to get away with more under Sojiro because he was the second-born and one Sojiro most likely could afford to spoil a little – I believe Sojiro was fairly tied as well, as respecting your elders has a stronger influence in Japan. Of course, Sojiro most likely spoiled Genji too much, but Genji was able to remain more outside the Elders’ influence in the process. Hanzo, on the other hand, had no chance of escape. Did he probably feel stifled and smothered? Did he most likely fear the Elders as well as respect them? Did he feel the pressure every second of the day?
I believe so, yes. And as the Clan were apparently traditional, honour and holding yourself up were most likely very strongly taught. Hanzo had no room to let himself rest – he needed to uphold honour. There is a really good post on Tumblr that describes more of this cultural attitude in Japan (I wish I could remember who made it but it is a fairly popular post in the Hanzo tag at least).
And I think when Genji defied and refused to listen to Hanzo’s pleas…it was the rod that broke the camel’s back, as they say. Of course, Hanzo was in the wrong. But the Shimada were an abusive family, despite Sojiro possibly trying to shelter them both from that. And abuse from your own family is pretty terrible. It’s a least a reason to understand Hanzo’s actions, not agree with them.
This all means that Hanzo fleeing the Clan took an act of great desperation, mental breaking and, dare I say it, courage. To run from people emotionally and mentally abusing and conditioning you is terrifying for anyone and Hanzo was still fairly young – in his late twenties at least.
And while Overwatch definitely does not have the same rep as Talon, Hanzo would still feel used and exposed, possibly under someone else’s control as a weapon. He can’t and won’t go through that again – I genuinely believe he has a phobia against that. Or at least deep-rooted trauma from his time in the Clan and Genji’s “death”.
So he doesn’t. He doesn’t join either.
And I believe Genji knows this, to an extent. In the Dragons short, while he does hint that Hanzo should choose the side Genji works for, he doesn’t pressure Hanzo. He doesn’t even stay to convince him. He just quietly and almost longingly tells him he has faith in him, then leaves him to think it over. He’s giving Hanzo the freedom to CHOOSE. He’s telling him “You are free, Hanzo, I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do”. Which is why it sort of confuses me when I see multiple fics where Genji outrightly CHASES Hanzo into OW when he’s never done anything of the sort in canon, nor do I think he would want to. His time with Zenyatta has most likely taught him empathy with what Hanzo went through and he cares enough for his brother that he doesn’t want to put him through any more of it. Will Hanzo seek to join his brother in OW one day? Perhaps.
But it will be his own choice, and HIS ALONE. That may even be something he can be proud of (I hope it is ;_;).
Hanzo is also traumatised enough that he can’t hold a sword anymore after Genji’s “death”, so it also confuses me when I see fics where GENJI is the one to give him a sword and be all “Hey let’s spar bro, nothing will go wrong, lol”, but I see the appeal in writing that scenario. It’s more likely Hanzo either gets over that hurdle through careful therapy and training, or in a desperate self-defence scenario where his bow is broken and a sword is all he has available, but I think the first is more realistic.
Hanzo is also stand-offish, defensive and possibly shy around social interaction, being quieter and less outgoing than Genji, but he has moments of humour and even loudness (there is one line where he literally shouts “I GREET YOU” and if that’s not a sign of flailing and a “shit what do I say to break the ice” scenario, I don’t know what is). Grumpy too, but I don’t think his grumpiness defines him. I think he’s the type to slowly warm up to someone the longer he knows them and he’d be a quiet, but highly loyal friend if you ever gained his trust (that would be a rarity, sadly and with good reason). I also think he sees Omnics as beneath him, but fairly neutral otherwise (an anti-Omnic feeling most likely bred within the Clan and not the same as Zarya or Torbjörn’s outright hatred and distrust) but that has been tempered a little by his wanderings. Numbani makes him uncomfortable, but not just because of Omnics relations there, but because of the warm, caring atmosphere. It’s not something he’s used to.
He’s also very intelligent and would absolutely be fluent in English and several other languages. He MIGHT not know every English saying or slang, but nobody knows every word in every language anyway, so that’s a moot point.
And with the obvious signs of trauma, depression and self-loathing to wrap it all up, I think I’ve said enough about Hanzo Shimada. I like to think and hope that the Christmas comic shows a small step in his healing, but…Blizzard is ultimately in control of his fate, whether we all like it or not. XD
I hope this was okay – just some musings I had regarding Hanzo. Any thoughts or disagreements, I’m happy to discuss! Sorry for any possible offence as well. I’ll happily add anything I might have missed.

Edit: Some additions to be made!
Firstly, @khrysm rightfully pointed out that the Shimada Clan were pretty subtle about manipulating Hanzo. They didn’t engage in outright abuse, like it’s written in many fics, but they needled, pushing little points here and there and built up the pressure until Sojiro died, then put the greatest pressure on Hanzo yet. While emotional manipulation and conditioning is classified as abuse, I agree that they wouldn’t have been heavy-handed about it. In fact, that leads to @doctor-q’s reply, which I think ties into this. It was very much normalised, sadly. Genji and Sojiro would be able to see it, Genji more so than Sojiro, but Hanzo wouldn’t.
@xxpyrosomniacxx , I totally agree with you too – I love how they show Hanzo’s humour and sarcasm. I totally think he would be the quiet one listening to the group laughing and then just outrightly comes out with something with a straight face. Everyone else would be in fits. X3 I also hope the brothers are reconciling a little, judging by recent voice line additions. ;_;

ask-the-dads:

Brian: Instantly wants to pet Dadsona but is worried it’d be weird. Does it anyways, belly rubs all around.Maxwell gets jealous sometimes.

Damien: His first concern is Lucien’s allergies and requests Dadsona doesn’t go into dog form around his house. Constantly nose boops him. Buys little cravat style collars

Robert: Likes to cuddle up with Dadsona on the sofa in dog form, won’t admit it though. Betsy likes to sit on Dadsona too.

Joseph: His eyes lit up and he looks at Dadsona in wonder, “Now I don’t have to buy the kids a dog”

Craig: Jokes that Dadsona is cheating whenever the two of them go running and Dadsona shapeshifts. He can unsurprisingly keep up with dog-dad.

Mat: Loves Dadsona’s fur, will idly run his hands through it. Sometimes if he has a bad panic attack being able to hug a dog and cry helps.

Hugo: He’s concerned about Duchess jumping all over Dadsona at first. Will carry dog-dad through the house if she gets too excited. Falls asleep on Dadsona if he’s had a hard day at work.

ultraprocrastinatingwriter:

referenced ask

Hugo: He loves to take care of you and make you feel safe. The man gets flustered really easily but he tries his best to show you in every way that he loves you. He’ll take you on dates (he’s paying whether you like it or not), He’ll buy you gifts. He just loves to spoil you. At times he’ll get wordy and go on a long explanation of all the reasons he loves you. God forbid if you ever feel self-conscious. He’s the kind of guy that will talk about every single detail of your body and why he loves it. 

Damien: Very similar to Hugo. He’s a traditional man. Little gestures of respect and love are very important for him. He’ll hold the door for you, Wrap his arm around yours as you walk down the street. You’ll receive bouquets often. Of course, he’ll have all the meaning correct and you have to do research to understand. It’s always something to show he cares and loves you deeply. Damien can also get wordy. He could go on for hours about how lovely you are and how lucky of a man he is to have you.

Mat: Very subtle gestures. Kissing your head as you wake up. Resting his forehead on your after you two kiss. Gently caressing your face as you kiss. Making your coffee or tea. Playing your favorite records as you have a lazy day at the house. He gets really anxious with big gestures. He named a coffee/tea after you and you almost cried when you ordered it and it was your favorite blend. The bigger things he does is write songs for/about you. It takes a bit to get him to show you but when he does, there’s so much love and emotion in the song.

Brian: CUDDLES. He absolutely loves to cuddle you and when he does he’ll gently run his hands through your hair and tell you how great you are. He loves random acts of affection. He’ll out of nowhere give you gifts or will randomly start kissing you with passion. It’s always a surprise when it comes to Brian. He pays close attention to what makes you flustered and giggly and will constantly do that action. He loves seeing you flustered

Joseph: You’ll hear “My lovely boyfriend” or “My Beautiful Man” a lot. He loves to compliment you. He’ll hold your hand as he tells you everything he loves about you. He’ll tell you he’s so damn lucky to have you. That God blessed him with your presence. He has a certain way with words that make you blush and he loves it. 

Craig: He loves the feeling of protecting you. He’ll hold you and do anything to make you feel safe. He’s definitely a kissing guy. From little kisses to steamy makeout’s. He loves it all. The guy really wants to make sure you’re healthy. He can go overboard like he does with himself but it comes from a place of love. If you’re ever feeling tense or achy he’ll help you stretch and massage you till you’re feeling better. He just want’s to care for you in any way possible.

Robert: He tries his best. Robert definitely isn’t one for emotional vulnerability and he’s not extremely romantic. Yet he does small things. He loves physical affection more than he’d like to admit so every now and then when you two are sitting in the back of his truck at the lookout, he’ll slowly slip his hand into yours wordlessly and scoot close to you. One night he just straight up pulls you into his lap. He want’s you around whenever possible. He’s very protective. If anyone is making you uncomfortable he will not hesitate to deck them. He just wants you to feel loved and safe with him. He’ll try his god damn best to make you feel that way.

Send in your Prompts and Imagines!!

ask-the-dads:

Mat: His breath catches in his throat when he sees them. He’s trying not to react so he won’t upset Dadsona but the thought of him being hurt without him, the very idea Mat could have lost Dadsona before he even met him, is unbearable. Without really thinking about it he’s pulling his partner into his arms and saying how much he loves him.

Robert: His first reaction is to try and defuse Dadsona’s nerves by pulling up his shirt and pointing to his own scar saying “We match, must be fate or whatever” When it doesn’t have the desired effect he get serious and tells him, that they don’t have to talk about if Dadsona’s not ready and that they can take things as slow as he needs too. The last thing he wants is for Dadsona to feel uncomfortable around him.

Joseph: Instinctively, he reaches out to touch them, but quickly withdraws his hand seeing how uncomfortable Dadsona gets and apologises. He says silent thanks that whatever Dadsona went through he’s safe and healthy now. Makes sure to tell him how perfect he is just that little more often.

Damien: He can’t help the quiet “Oh, darling” that leaves his lips when he sees the scars the first time. He fidgets where he is because he wants to hold Dadsona but doesn’t know whether his partner would be comfortable with it. Instead he settles for kissing both his hands and telling Dadsona just how handsome he is.

Craig: He get’s just a little upset, because this happened when he wasn’t there. After the two of them had lost contact and he wasn’t there for Dadsona. He’s extra attentive to Dadsona after he sees the scar for the first time, like he’s trying to make up for not being there in the first place.

Brian: He gets real quiet for a moment whilst he thinks, before showing Dadsona the stretch marks around his thighs and says “Some days I feel bad about these and some days I don’t but that’s okay, because we can make each other feel better now, right?” He wants Dadsona to be confident in his body and decides the best way to do that is through honest about his own.

Hugo: He very cautiously broaches the subject of how Dadsona came to have the scars, reasoning that talking about them might help him feel less nervous, If Dadsona isn’t comfortable he drops the question. Hugo gently cups his partner’s face in his hands and kisses his forehead saying, “I’m here if you ever need to talk about it”

ultraprocrastinatingwriter:

Thank you so so much, Anon! 

So Dadsona is going to be a retired FBI agent that had to get a prosthetic leg due to a really bad incident. He’s still highly respected for his work. Like he still gets big opportunities since his name is pretty well known in the government agency. 

Let’s get to it (sorry this took awhile. Had a shit ton of prompts still do)

Robert: He was immediately interested in you when the two of you meet. He could just tell you had a story to you. You were attracted to him for a similar reason. He didn’t push the story out of you but he definitely tried to guess a few times.

There was no big reveal or anything. No big giant things that happened. You simply told him one night as you two whittled away. Robert made a joke about how he was disappointed that there was no paranormal story. You just hit his arm and go back to talking. 

One day it clicks with Robert that you wOrkEd fOr thE gOvErnmEnt And yOU prObAbly knOw sEcrEts. Suddenly you’re bombarded by Aliens, right?

“Are we keeping Aliens a secret? Is the Illuminati real? Are any of the theories real?”

“I can’t tell you any of that. You know that right?”

“Why not?”

“They’ll hear us.”

“WHAT?!”

You fucking lose it and can barely breathe your laughing so hard. He rolls his eyes and calls you an ass.

“I’m just kidding…” You say with a grin

“I swear to god. Don’t”

“Or am I?”

“I’m both very proud and extremely pissed off right now”

Craig: When you two see each other for the first time it kind of goes. “Oh, Bro! It’s been fore- Holy Shit! Bro what happened to your leg???” You laugh at his surprise and tell him you’ll explain later.

And you do. Craig jumps up. “Bro! That’s awesome! Well, not the losing your leg part but being in the FBI!? That was your dream in College I’m so happy you got to live it out!” He exclaims before hugging you.

The twins think it’s super cool. They draw really sweet messages on your prosthetic leg with your permission and it’s a really sweet bonding moment between you and the twins.

You’re about ten times better at helping Craig take breaks. Since you worked in a field that you HAD to push past your limits at times. He knows how much effect that can have on a person. 

Brian: You bring it up way too quickly during the time you were trying to one-up each other and boy he had no idea what to say. 

Once the rivalry is worked out, he’s very protective of you. You assure him your fine and have lived with the prosthetic for years now. But being the sweet man he is. He does some things around his house to make it easier for you to maneuver and helps do a few things at your house too.

Daisy is more curious about it than Brian. She loves listening to your stories and is very interested in what it’s like to be disabled. She wants to know everything. It creates cute bonding moments between you two.

Hugo: The prosthetic never really bothered him. Once he started interacting with you the only thing that it affected was whenever Hugo would hug you or put his hand on your shoulder or anything like that he didn’t use all his strength since he didn’t want you to lose balance. 

You told him the story behind it further in your relationship. The conversation came up because Hugo asked if it was an amputation. You said “Partially” and he politely asked you to elaborate. So you did. 

Hugo was fascinated. We all know he is a sponge for knowledge. He asked many questions that you happily answered. At one point he asked questions about your current safety. Which made you feel very lucky. You assured him you were completely safe. 

Mat: He was a bit anxious around you at first. He didn’t want to hurt you and was worried he’d fuck up and hurt you somehow. You immediately noticed and assured him that you’ve lived like this for so long it’s hard to do anything that could hurt him any differently than a normal person. Which was a relief.

The FBI part of the story came up when Carmensita randomly asked about it. Mat tried to tell her that she should be more polite. Yet you said it was alright and told the story. Mat and Carmensita sat in silence and listened. They were both very interested. Once Carmensita ran off Mat asked what the real story was. You laughed and said that WAS the real story. He immediately felt bad and apologized a ton. You hugged him and assured him that he was fine. 

After that nothing, much happened but Carmensita asking a lot of questions about the government that you couldn’t answer. 

Joseph: Once you two get romantic he’s very much so like “Oh honey let me do it” To everything. He’s not trying to be rude. He just wants life to be a bit easier for you. But eventually, it does get on your nerves. You bring it up and he apologizes. 

He still does it but a little less than before. You really hate feeling useless for your disability and the two of you get into an argument. You at one point say “This damn thing already makes me feel useless enough. I used to fucking protect our country and now you don’t even think I can fucking clean” You start crying. He immediately wraps his arms around you and apologizes. 

After you too calmed down you explain what happened. Why you lost your leg and the job you used to love. Joseph feels horrible. He tells you he’s sorry and says he simply just wants to make you more comfortable. He wants to take care of you.

Joseph dials it down. The kids overheard you telling a story one time and go nuts. The think it’s amazing and wants to know everything. Joseph finds it adorable.

Damien: Your first interaction with Lucien went a bit differently. He was on his phone while giving you the wrong directions to Amanda’s class. When you came back, very pissed, he looked up and noticed. He immediately apologizes. You sigh and say something along the lines of “So you were only being rude because you thought I wasn’t disabled. Hm. I appreciate the apology but my disability isn’t the only reason you should be polite to me.” You say before going into Hugos room. Lucien has quite a bit on his mind after that.

When Damien introduces you to Lucien. You can see the fear in Lucien’s eyes that you’ll tell his dad. Not because Damien would yell or anything. He just didn’t want his dad to be disappointed in him. You reach out your hand for a handshake and give him a look that reads “let’s start over” Lucien nods in silent agreement and shakes your hand. From then you and Lucien get very close. Lucien is the first to know about your old job. He gains a lot of respect for you and wants to know everything. He enjoys listening to your story and learning about your disability

Damien found out on one of your picnics at a graveyard. You start telling him the story of how you lost your leg and the many times you almost lost your life in your old job. You tell him that it helps you appreciate your life more. He kisses you gently before saying. “I’m lucky you survived, my darling”

Have a lovely day! Hope you enjoyed!

ultraprocrastinatingwriter:

This ask is adorable oh my god. Sorry, It took a bit to get back to you.

Damien: Little shows of affection always get Damien flustered. He loves when you wrap your arms around his waist while he’s cooking or kiss his cheek when you walk by him. Long walks where the two of you speak of your beliefs and dreams. He really appreciates when you listen to his facts on the Victorian era and when you ask about it. It shows him that you care. He’s a romantic guy, cheesy romance is his guilty pleasure. Anniversaries and special days are big for him. He appreciates any gift but will cherish it if it’s homemade. He melts over the idea of you spending time working on something for him. At night he loves when the two of you sleepily talk about nonsense and say sweet nothings to each other as you run your hands through his hair

Robert: He’s not much of a romance person but he has his little things. He loves just being with you, no matter the situation or time. He doesn’t show it but he loves physical affection. He’s not much of a hand holder or anything but he secretly loves when you lay your head on his shoulder or curl up with him when you sleep next to each other. Honesty shows love for him. He appreciates when you tell him the truth. Not what he wants to hear. It shows him you care when you say what he needs to hear. Patience is big. He wants to move slow. He’s new to the lovey-dovey thing. He needs to get used to it. He really loves when you give him time to adjust. You listening to his stories and going cryptid hunting with him is probably the best way to show him you love him. 

Hugo: He wants to see your interested. When you show you care about his passions. Whether its wrestling or his favorite pieces of literature, it really makes him melt when he sees you intensively listening. He has a hard time showing his appreciation since he gets flustered so easily. Hugo isn’t one for gifts. Although, if the gift shows you’ve been paying attention to him. He loves it. (like if you get him a book that he mentioned wanting but he only said it once.) The best way to love Hugo is to listen. He prefers to be the more dominant one in the relationship, paying for you. getting you gifts, driving you home, taking you on dates, etc. If you want to show you love him, show him how much you appreciate him through words. Telling him sweet nothing or long statements about why you love him are the best way to show it verbally. Yet, through action. Just listen. It makes a huge difference for Hugo.

Joseph: Playful love with this one. Quirky inside jokes and cheesy gestures. He really only wants to be with you in any way. The best way to love him is to make him smile. His kids are very much so part of the key to his love. He loves the feeling of family. When all of you are together and you’re all laughing. He feels full of love. Physical affection is nice as well. He loves when you hold his hand or kiss his cheek

Craig: Even though he’ll fight you on it, pulling him away from his stressful life every now and then is really good for him and shows him how much you care. He really likes going on runs with you, seeing your progress puts a smile on his face. Craig isn’t much of a lovey-dovey person but there are little things he likes. He likes resting his head on your lap and cuddling up to you. He may seem like the big dominate type -and in many aspects of your relationship he is- he loves when you take the lead. Cooking dinner for the family, doing things around the house for Craig, being the big spoon. You make him feel loved when you show him what he’s doing is enough. Words of encouragement and reassurance are big for Craig. He needs it and loves it.

Mat: “Music is a Piece of Art That Goes Into the Ears Then Straight to the Heart” -Michel Vanden Broeck. The way to Mats heart is music. Whether it’s singing a song to him or slow dancing as you listen to Ricky Montgomery. Show your love through beautiful melodies, whether already written or original. Little gestures make his heart flutter, like taking him to see the band you saw the first time you hung out. A gift that holds a vinyl record with all of your guys’ songs. Other than music. He’s very romantic but prefers to be home with you. He loves when you come by the coffee shop on his breaks. Texting him little cute messages while you’re away from each other is cheesy but Mat melts when you send them. 

Brain: Random acts of affection. He’s a spontaneous guy. Though, gift giving is a big way he likes receiving love. He likes all your gifts but he has a special love for the things you create for him. Helping him out with his work shows love for Brian. He’s a busy guy and really appreciates the help. When it comes to physical attention he LOVES to cuddle. You snuggled up to him warms his heart. Brian is also a very romantic man. He loves when you do cheesy things like give him roses or say some cheesy thing about love. He’s easy to please. If it involves you. He adores it.

I KNOW I SAY IT EVERY TIME BUT I LOVE WRITING THESE. It’s been forever since I’ve written for fandoms and I love it so much. 

Hope you liked it anon!

(Send it imagines and prompts!!)

mad-madam-m:

mikkeneko:

violent-darts:

handypolymath:

mominmudville:

soyeahso:

There are a couple of things about current shipping culture that confuse me.  

1. The focus on whether or not a pairing will become canon as a reason people should ship something or not.  Do you not understand what the “transformative” part of “transformative works” means?”

2. This idea that saying “I ship that” means “I think that, as presented in canon,this is a perfect, healthy relationship that everyone should model their relationship after.” 

Sometimes shipping something does mean that.  Sometimes shipping something means “Person A is a trash bag who doesn’t deserve person B but I would love to explore how Person A might grow to deserve Person B.” Sometimes it means “I want these characters to live together forever in a conflict free domestic AU.”  Sometimes it means “I want Person A to forever pine after Person B.  Nothing is beautiful and everything hurts.”  And sometimes it just means you like their faces and want to see Person A and Person B bone in various configurations and universes. 

Listen to your parents, kids.

This really should be one of a handful of Public Service Announcements randomly and chronically inserted into one’s dash.

Hell man sometimes it means “these two are TERRIBLE and I want to watch them burn like a catastrophic forest fire as a proxy for all the shit I don’t actually want in real life (like to light my own apartment on fire and scream) and then laugh at the destruction at the end.” 

All “I ship it” really means – really – is “I think there’s a story in those two, and I want to hear it.”

All “I ship it” really means – really – is “I think there’s a story in those two, and I want to hear it.”

fr00tzs:

my weakness is two broken characters who are broken in two completely different ways finding each other against all odds and healing each others wounds 

lchimatsunos:

RusAme AU where Ivan’s a vengeful ghost and Al’s the poor human dude who ends up living in the apartment where Ivan died. And like every single day he tries to haunt him, but Al just ignores, or is too oblivious about it, until eventually Ivan kinda maybe falls in love with him a bit

So one day he intentionally reveals himself to Alfred, hoping that maybe he’d realise and understand everything.

But when he does that Al just starts to laugh and say, “Dude, I’ve seen you since the moment I checked this place out. Call it weird, but it’s the reason why I bought it after all; when I saw you I kinda fell in love.”

jejemonmon:

Do y’all realise how wild the concept of the Epiphany normal ending is? Like yes, Mystic Messenger is pure fiction and Zen doesn’t exist, but the literal universe is infinite, which means that somewhere OUT THERE, there is actually a world where Zen is real and in love with you. That’s so weird how high do you think I am right now

jejemonmon:

VERY GOOD QUESTION. I can’t believe I’ve never explicitly addressed this.

Also before you guys start reading this, I’d just like to say that this is probably the most I’ve thought and worked for a post, so it would be so nice if you guys could voice out your own opinions and tell me your take on this.

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Firstly, I’d like to debunk something that to this day, a lot of people still believe. This is regarding the 707 Reset Theory.

Most people believe that Seven is actually the true ending based on the main game because out of all of the RFA members, he breaks the fourth wall the most. This leads us to believe that he is aware that it is a game. From here, the theory branches out to say that Seven actually loves you in every route and has to suffer through watching you fall in love with all of these other characters before you finally get to him.

The theory caused the creation of many beautiful fanart and excellent mini-fics and headcanons about our darling 707, and because of this, we all slowly stopped seeing it as just a theory. After all, it is very convincing. Even I believed it for a long time.

Some people raised the theory that the other characters also loved MC in every route, another convincing one being that Jumin is also aware of the reset, but ultimately the 707 Reset Theory remained the most popular because his route is the suggested last route, and his good ending allowed us to access the Secret Endings. But at the end of the day, just like all the other theories regarding MysMe, this is not canon. Cheritz has never confirmed it.

This means that the 707 Reset Theory is just a popular theory.

Moving on to the DLCs. The Christmas DLC, in my opinion, was pretty light-hearted. There isn’t anything particularly eye-catching that could bring rise to a theory.

Then, we get the Valentine’s Day DLC. They’re After Endings of the main routes. Nothing much can be said about this DLC either, but some people did start to get suspicious about Seven’s character in his After Ending. Irrelevant to the points I’m currently trying to make, so we’ll save that for another post.

Finally, we have the April Fools DLC, which totally caught us off guard because we thought it would be another light-hearted DLC. Instead, we’re given the Epiphany ending, where it is confirmed that among all the RFA members, only Zen is real, and he is trapped in another dimension where he can never get to you. He then confesses his love for you. Because this is a DLC where you don’t get to choose you’re own route, it becomes canon that no matter what, Zen is in love with you.

This one ups the 707 Reset Theory because 1) Zen does the ultimate fourth wall break and 2) he outrightly confesses his love for you through the screen. No hinting, no beating around the bush, just straight up “I love you”. And we have to take note that he doesn’t say this to the MC. He says this to you.

He genuinely loves YOU, in the form of MC or the player.

I’ve tried to come up with my own conclusions based on this fact, and here’s what I have.

It’s very obvious that the MC in each route has a different personality. For example, the MC in Zen’s route is slightly different from the MC in Jaehee’s route. Each RFA member falls for an MC with a particular personality. However, by addressing YOU, Zen is ultimately saying that he loves you as the player, and not as a character in the game.

MC is a bunch of different people in different routes. She loves different people in different routes. She’s just a puppet. Zen even says in the Epiphany ending that he knows all your answers are pre-determined. It’s clear he didn’t fall for the character in the game. He fell for the girl playing the game.

So you know what? Maybe Seven is the true end for MC, a game character. But you, the player, you’re the true end for Zen. Does this make sense?

This isn’t the end of what I’m trying to say. Let me continue with the April Fools DLC.

This DLC also allowed Cheritz fans, those who’ve played Nameless, Dandelion, and Mystic Messenger, to make connections between these three games. From here, we realise that the 707 Reset Theory isn’t completely wrong, but it isn’t completely right either.

Yes, Seven is aware that it is a game. That is why he breaks the fourth wall. But it’s not necessarily because he’s the canon end. It’s because he is a wizard. He represents the game maker. We are given evidence of this multiple times in chatrooms when he talks about being a wizard. This wouldn’t make sense if you don’t know the background of the other Cheritz games. It all links up.

Taking elements from the 707 Reset Theory and the newest Zen theory, there is a huge, HUGE chance that Zen is the canon end. Again, this is not confirmed by Cheritz, so it remains a theory just like the 707 Reset Theory, but as of now, it is the best-supported theory and quite frankly, it’s the one I believe.

Very long-winded because I wanted to cover a lot of things in this answer, but to summarise, Seven isn’t the canon end. None of them are the confirmed canon end. However, the most possible canon end currently is Zen. This could change in the future if Cheritz decides to release more MysMe DLCs, though I doubt they will any time soon (not huge DLCs at least) because they’re currently working on The Lynn Project.

Speaking of which, this is also something I think we should all take note of. The Lynn Project, which is the current game Cheritz is working on, was actually started way earlier, I think in 2015. However, Cheritz put it on hold because they decided to create and finish Mystic Messenger first. There’s got to be a reason for this. I’m sure The Lynn Project will answer even more of our questions. After all, all of Cheritz’s games link up, which I really applaud them for. What amazing storytelling.

So yeah, there you have it. Nothing is set in stone. Unless explicitly said by Cheritz or stated in the game, all the theories we have so far are just speculation and we’re all just trying to contribute more and more evidence to the theories we support to make sense of the game.

I’ve read a lot of Mystic Messenger theories, and I’d have to say that the best one I’ve encountered is this theory, which links all three games together and supports the “Zen loves you in every route” theory. It explains a lot and is very well-evidenced.

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I hope I’ve answered your question sufficiently. I kind of went all over the place but it’s the only way I can really explain this 🙂

jejemonmon:

Have you guys ever seen that post about how the way parents talk to their children becomes their inner voice?

That means that sometimes Zen looks at the mirror and all he remembers are his mom’s harsh words telling him he’s ugly, scolding him for not being as obedient as his brother.

That means that sometimes before he sends a picture of himself into the chat he probably hesitates, because he’s not sure if he really does look good in it. His narcissism is all just a façade to hide the fact that he’s actually so insecure inside.

That means that when you start living with him there will probably be days when he just feels absolutely disgusting, and all he does is avoid mirrors, work out almost to the point of overexertion, and you have to stop him and just assure him that he is alright the way he is.

You’ll start to wonder if the reason why he heals so quickly is because his body’s so used to it.

You’ll start to wonder what it was like before you came along. On good days he would be sweet and loving, but on the bad days he wouldn’t even want to look at you because he doesn’t feel like he deserves to. Because he’s ugly. Because you deserve better.

You’re there with him through thick and thin because you love him, and each day you just have to remind him that you love him and that both of you deserve each other.

One day he’ll learn to love himself, you tell yourself. And so you stay, because in the first place, you have no reason to leave. You’ve got a perfect man. His insecurities don’t change that. He just has to see himself as how you see him.

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Just a mini-fic before I go to bed!

I’d like to dedicate this to @zens-ponytail because she inspired me with her previous post here.

If this post actually blows up I’ll do one for the rest of the RFA members + V + Saeran since this was actually really fun to make.

Thanks for reading!

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UPDATE: YOOSUNG X MC MINI-FIC

jejemonmon:

So many people don’t like his ponytail.

I wanna see how many people actually like it LIKE I DO.

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THEORY ABOUT ZEN’S HAIR

jejemonmon:

I feel like sometimes we neglect Cheritz’s kindness. Like all of this cost money to make and yet they offer it to us for free, and instead of being money-hungry they constantly provide us with hourglasses to make sure we have enough to continue playing. And then they donate a sum of their earnings to charity??? Wtf we don’t deserve this I’m so grateful for Cheritz y’all are my true ending