#mankin

HaoRen Scene Thoughts

We first started shipping them based on this scene, "You're everything I could've hoped for, Ren-kun~" and "You'll become mine someday…"

They only have this one scene (unfortunately) but it's SO good.

We first made the HaoRen AU in the first place to explore their potential together.

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C: Dude the manga and new SK 2021 anime makes Hao/Ren very 👀

C: Hao seems so damn interested in him. Hit me up with that Evil and Edgelord, Charming and Cold dynamic!!!

Me: HaoRen in this scene???

"You'll be mine someday..."

HELLO???

C: The scene where he tries to talk Ren into joining his ragtag gang

C: Need me an evil AU where Ren is never redeemed and finds another type of salvation with Hao

C: Tbf just with the way Hao says "You're everything I could wish for, Ren-kun~"

I think Hao/Ren would be a spicy alternate Enemies to Lovers ship

Me: I LOOOVE their potential together so much! 💞💘

I loved seeing the anime version of this scene too.

I'll post it separately eventually

C: "One day you'll be mine"

Ok Hao

LOVE the vibes of this scene.

Me: Their expressions here are peak af too.

C: It's a really cool one since it's like. The only time. Hao personally approaches Ren. And we get to actually see a bit of how insecure and afraid he is, but how he covers it with his rage. Also a major scene since it's where he loses the Basontou (his guandao that originally belonged to Bason)

Hao and early Ren

SK: Ch. 6

SK: Ch. 232

SK: Ch. 198

Me: YESSS I LOVE THIS SCENE

That first Hao scene you posted from Ch. 232 is so goated, it's one of my absolute favourite lines from him. I love it SO much.

God bless Hao for being the most efforted SK chara in terms of writing (imo) and for being a complex and layered, well-written antagonist/villain with incredibly good reasoning and morals.

C: Early Ren's mindsets REALLY match with Hao's

Me: THEY BOTH HAVE A LOVE FOR STARS TOO

C: So I'm way down for a evil SK AU (corruption AU) where he (Ren) finds salvation in different ways with Hao.

C: YEAH STAR BOIS

Hao and early Ren can definitely relate to each other with how they saw unspeakable horrors/trauma from a young age.

With Ren having a very isolated childhood and Hao's "corruption" (in some regards) and perceived "inhuman-ness" distancing themselves from others

C: YEAHHH

For a corrupted Ren AU, you really wouldn't need anything more than Hao finding Ren before Yoh

Me: Hao's followers are a group of maligned people. They (Hao and Ren) would definitely relate to each other and find some resonance in each other with their upbringings/circumstances

Hao ends up finding out that Ren is more similar to him than he thought deep down inside. They're both terribly lonely.

Misc Rambles

I've been cycling back into my SK: HaoRen AU lately because I miss them... Hao and Ren are my top fave SK charas. HaoRen is my fave SK ship 😌❤️💜 I also love HoroRen and RenMei too! 💗

I really want to draw that one scene where Hao tells Ren, "But one day, you'll be mine..."

I eventually wanna draw HaoRen in both my usual style and cartoony style. I'm trying to get used to drawing SK charas in my style... I'll post them on my main (@/stepswordsen) once I do.

I'm usually into Protagonist/Antagonist ships (as long as they have interesting compelling dynamics and make sense) cuz I always tend to prefer ships with more contrast (and cuz 2 meow meow mfs together usually tend to clash in unappealing ways imo)

I always go for Evil Meow Meow Mf x Soft empathetic S/O with a brighter disposition (ex. LimGuda (FGO), JuAli (Magi), XanLena (KHR AU), KuroEne (KagePro), IdaTatsu (WATGBS AU))

I love Sun/Moon/Eclipse, Light/Darkness (Darkness/Shadow cannot exist without light), Yin/Yang, Protagonist/Antagonist, Protagonist/Rival, Opposites Attract, Seemingly Opposites - Deep Down So Similar, Narrative Opposites/Parallels, Angel/Devil, Soulmates ™️ ships

However... HaoRen is so tasty.

HaoRen, a ship between 2 meow meow mfs, is the perfect rare pair ship in SK for me between my top fave characters, so it is my fave SK ship. It is extremely Sen-core.

Antagonist x Antagonist, King/Lord x Vassal/Retainer, Evil x Edgelord, Charming x Cold

Sign me up!!!

SK: TSS - Adult (Patch) Hao and Adult Ren

From separate scenes, but their designs and aesthetics look so good together!!!

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I just had the thought come to me but one thing that sets apart the dynamics of my beloved SK rare pair, HaoRen, compared to other “King x Vassal/Retainer” and “Antagonist x Antagonist” dynamics that involve two charas trying to destroy the world (as a way of lashing out against the world for their traumas), is the fact that Hao distancing himself from his own humanity with his goal of wanting to make a kingdom for Shamans (basically wanting to build a paradise in heaven for people he doesn't hate LMFAO, and become a being equivalent to a God), adds such interesting layers to the ship dynamic.

The power gap between Hao and other characters in SK is VAST and everyone inherently fears him for being terrifying.

Due to his immense furyoku (lit. "shamanic energy," translated as "mana" in Official TLs), and his Reishi (Mind reading ability)

And I think that's what makes Ren's decision to follow him in our HaoRen AU soooo interesting…

And I think it plays into that whole Sen-core trope I love with "Someone who was distanced from normal social interactions or humanity via their emotional repression and/or divinity/non-human status"

Ren was kept isolated due to the controlling abusive upbringing he had (Ren's childhood with his extremely physically and emotionally abusive family), so he clearly struggles with social interactions.

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I love my SK faves deeply, but I have a lot of crits with the series' writing and distasteful handling of sensitive/heavy themes at times

So I'm not satisfied with some of SK's writing and the way some characters were handled/framed by the series' narrative, and how their character development/writing and character arc resolutions were handled.

My Fave Chara Tastes

My fave character tastes are characters who are: morally gray, evil, antagonists, villains, deuteragonists

So my fave taste in fictional charas is Meow Meow Mf ™️

"Meow meow mf" is an extremely specific character type that the majority of my top faves, including Hao and Ren, fall under.

I named it myself cuz it's the no. 1 Sen-core character type.

Meow Meow Mf: Morally Bankrupt and/or Morally Questionable Evil, (Optional: Black and White colour scheme), has sadistic and bloodthirsty tendencies, has emotional issues, is distanced from humanity and/or human social interactions in some way (estranged from normal people due to their childhood upbringing, or being non-human or divine, etc.) which gives their ego this "Sen-core quality"

I think the qualities of their arrogance and ego are what defines them as "Meow Meow Mf"

My fave charas often operate on "Evil/Shadow/Darkness" or Yin/Yang and Light/Darkness principles (usually embodying one of, or both aspects)

I love my black cats and tux cats 🐈‍⬛🖤🤍