yknow this could just be a bunch of nothing and yq himself doesn't even remember exactly how old he is/died at outside of "20s"ish but i'm going to tell u a big secret and let u know that yq's exact age is 25, which i said one time always made me hold my head in my hands because 25 is like smack dab never got to be old, for a guy who never got to be(/experience being properly) young either and was doing junyi's taxes and cooking and laundry since he was like 6 yrs old. but whenever i remember gero's 24 but plausibly looks older than yq (yq's babyface fault) and is also the more hopeful one im tickled. only a yr's difference n sm goin on
IT'S NOT A BUNCH OF NOTHING THO IT CAN'T BE A BUNCH OF NOTHING BECAUSE EURFGE BECAUSE EUWRFGEW OKAY I'M ON MOBILE 'N SPORTING INSOMNIA BEAR W/MY ASS BUT!!! I like the subversion of their looks because it almost tells ya their struggles?? In a way?? As in, YQ's perpetual babyface : playfulness almost or that manic pixie dream ghost vibe as the fronting demeanor vs older, worn face : hyper-competence as a surface-level veil for complete and utter tactlessness. IT'S KINDA POETIC TO ME, the fact that yq's centuries of harrow are beneath a more youthful demeanor & gero's newfound optimism is in a body which's lifespan has canonnicaly been 'shaved off' & therefore can be interpreted as older than it should be. AND IT'S ALSO LIKE it's a coincidental nod to the fact that, at least on Gero's side of things this mysterious stranger seems almost a sign of hope that emerges from guilt ( murdered by me but technically undying, will always exist -> cannot be ended by me, after all ), but then as they grow closer / as the cracks in their initial impressions begin to form, it's Gero's optimism & hope ( in spite of himself and his family and his mind and everything ) that has to pull and grasp at yq to join.
I can ALSO say this means something to me because at least when it comes to my perception of Gero within his narrative, there is this sense of impending responsibility overshadowing his genuine inward youth. As in, he has the same hopes of a young college student staring up at the sky at night, but he is considered to be and treated AS a fully-fledged 30-sth by his family: get married TO PRODUCE AN HEIR, conduct yourself with PERFECTION, do not bother with naive connections, always be USEFUL -- the sort of obtuse practicality the world expects of you the older you become. It only takes a single moment spent with him, though, something without threat or poison or anything, to realize that this is not who he is. But even then, even then, I think YQ sees it better than anyone in the actual narrative, on par w/canon Kinosaki past the beppu arc. Because normally his unabashed hope is directed at everyone, anyone that isn't contributing to that looming Master Gero image gets to at least glimpse this side of him, but seldom is it directed in such a POINTED, DECISIVE way, if it makes sense? Like in our threads it IS Yq, yq is this person he's been longing for, he is the point of affection he has never gotten to ACTUALLY full-on grasp before, and so Gero is further inspired to go ALL OUT, and even FURTHER stunted by his eagerness and bashfulness and tactlessness because the more he wants to extend his hope to him the more he realizes he doesn't know how to do that, he doesn't know how to do it except by complete accident sometimes. It still comes off to me as someone young learning to love, and wanting to share that newfound knowledge with the person they care for. It's so hard, but yq understands him, and that's what makes it just a little bit better.
ANYWAY ANYWAY. This ramble went everywhere but what I'm trying to get across in my half-asleep state is that IT AIN'T A BUNCH OF NOTHING TO ME, neither is it so for Gero. He hardly GETS to be the young one BECAUSE of that assassin self on the surface ( not even intentionally put there, it's a genuine default ), so he's genuinely pouring it all into this. The one year difference DOES count, especially since despite all of Gero's suffering & lack of a childhood, he had a kinosaki to offer him that spark before it was all too late, which lifted, and he had lived the 24 years exactly as they are, as opposed to Yan Qing's 25 that has kept going and going and going upon death.
@tenkoseiensei || I DON'T KNOW HOW COHERENT THIS SOUNDS AT ALL BUT ... YES. I NEEDED TO REPLY TO THIS.
