X Never Marks the Spot

OMG!! THANK YOU!! JUST WHAT I NEED!

Now that that's out of my system, I'm going to read this. :'D

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d'uhhmmm after rehearsal which begins in 7 minutes that is

*runs*

orz

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I fear I am a bad influence on your rehearsals! ^^;;; (but hope the crack entertains XD)

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At first I was all like: Crap! That makes too much sense!
Then Gintoki broke the 4th wall. All is right with the multiverse. XD

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Heh, yeah, it works almost too well, really - it was Gin-san's name that made me decide I had to write it; it was too perfect to pass up!

(also XDXDXD to your icon - Freakazoid would fit right nicely into the Gintama 'verse!)

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I have never watched Dr. Who, but I know enough about it to have my mind blown by this. I've been wondering if Gintoki's actually like, half Yato or something, but a being from another series/universe is far more amusing. XD

You know, I used to think Freakazoid would work in Gintamaverse, but then I realized he'd pretty much be normal to annoying there. Cosgrove on the other hand, would be an absolute riot. What would happen if Cosgrove told Okita to cut it out - and he did? O_O

This reminds me, I have the bones of a Gintama/Star Wars crossover sitting on my hard drive. It's surprisingly hard to write simply because Gintama's kinda already in the Star Wars universe, and whatever doesn't line up exactly can easily be adapted to the Star Wars canon which means... well there's not a whole helluva lot to actually cross over.

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Heee, glad it made sense even with only passing Who-knowledge! That's always the disadvantage of x-overs, though I figured in this case Who is known enough to make sense even if you haven't seen any. And yeah, I've wondered myself what Gintoki might be (my personal not-quite-as-cracky theory is that he's a protection spirit...)

Gintama and Star Wars, mwahah - I've thought of fusions but I can never decide who to cast as who (Gintoki would want to be Han Solo, but then if you have Han Zura then Elizabeth can be Chewie, and it gets worse from there) - but yeah, the universes themselves would blend with very little effort...(Really Gintama can be x-overed or fusioned with nearly anything...)

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You know, I was wondering if Yama's neither living nor dead condition had carried over into Gintoki. I can only think of two, maybe three times where Sorachi has pointed out that Gintok's freakish strength/durability is unusual even for Gintama (during the serious arcs, I mean - anything done for the lulz doesn't count). I was watching episodes 107 and 108 the other day, and in 108, when Gintoki shows up again alive and well after being shot in the flipping kidney only a few days prior, he flat out says that something like that can't kill him. It could be brushed it off as main character/shounen hero power, but later in the same episode the yakuza guy is shot in the EXACT same place... and he dies from it. Which means Sorachi totally did that on purpose. >.>

Heh heh, somehow I figure Sorachi will never fully go in to Gintoki's past and what he really is, thus leaving the official explanation as "he's just awesome like that". XD

Oh, I didn't bother trying to match up characters, I literally just plopped Gintama into the Star Wars expanded universe. I based it ten years after Episode III since the end of the Clone War and order 66 would basically provide a parallel for the Joui war. And I centered most of the action on Corellia, partly because Treasureship Row = Kabukicho, and Coronet City = Edo. Also, Corellian Jedi ran things differently than the main branch - it was much closer to how samurai rolled.

The Joui 4 were all young Jedi when the Jedi purge began, and seeing as how they're a cut above the rest of the Jedi when it comes to mad skillz they all survived and went to ground. Takasugi went to the dark side and ultimately aligned himself with the Harusame space pirates, who are one of the more notorious pirate gangs with several Moffs in their back pocket. Sakamoto walked away from being a Jedi to open a shipping business; Katsura keeps up the fight as one of the founding members of the Rebel Alliance, and Gintoki does odd jobs around Coronet City and has traded his lightsaber for a wooden sword. Shinpachi was born into a Jedi family-in-hiding and is otherwise the same. Kagura is exactly the same, Sadaharu is exactly the same, er... Otose, Tama, Catherine, Otae, Hasegawa, Kyuubei, Tsukuyo and everyone are exactly the same. The Shinsengumi are the Corellian Security Force, so while they are not Jedi, they're still cops, and back in the day, used to work closely with Jedi and have some mad sword skillz as well. NOW of course, they have to help the Empire hunt down Jedi.

Blah, someday I'll write that fic. Someday! XD

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Yeeeah, the Yakuza arc has to be one of the more extreme cases of Gintoki being unnaturally badass, what with him getting poisoned, shot twice, and drowned, and totally fine in a matter of days. And great point, too, that Sorachi deliberately contrasted that with the yakuza guy dying from the same injuries. Then there's how everyone's astonished Gin-san can match the Benizakura's speed, and that he survives against Housen for any length of time. And with Jiraia Gintoki himself is surprised that he lived. Not to mention Shiroyasha was legendary even among the Amanto...

...and yeah, Sorachi will probably never explain it, any more than he'll ever give us a full Joui war flashback (damn him!) but that just leaves more room for entertaining speculation! XD

Whahah, I don't know the expanded 'verse well enough to know much about Corellia or anything, but that sounds awesome...the Joui 4 wielding lightsabers, Takasugi going literally dark side, Shinpachi from an old Jedi family - hee! I would totally read that comic!

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*nodnod* Oh, and in the Itou arc when ye yanks the helicopter out of the air. The Shinsengumi watched him do that and were rather surprised, IIRC.

Man, I haven't read anything Star Wars in sooo long, I was surprised I remembered as much as I did the shining moment I realized that Gintama could be plopped seamlessly into Star Wars. I don't know why I remember these things. X)

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Good god, sparty.

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snarkydame.livejournal.com

Brilliant! (though I have the feeling I'm missing the stealth crossover -- time to research! :D)

And aw, the ending! &hearts

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Hee, so glad you liked it! <3

The stealth x-over was Sapphire & Steel - didn't really want to keep it secret, but I figured few enough folks would know both Gintama and Who and didn't want to scare them away with a fandom no one knows! (except David McCallum fans ^^;)

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I had never heard of Sapphire and Steel before (though it seems neat from how you've used it to explain Gin's parentage). Until the end here, you kind of had me going thinking Gin's daddy was a youkai or something — a) because we'd talked about the possbility before and b) Inuyasha was my second anime ever after Escaflowne and pretty much the #1 thing I obsessed over in middle school... it still influences the way I think XD

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S&S is bizaaaaarre but I'm fond of it all the same. Gintoki's father as youkai would make sense (and would explain the hair, which S&S's Silver does not ^^;) and if I knew Inuyasha better I might've tried to loop that one in, but... ^^;

(you can always write your own version of that in! plenty of room to riff off this timeline - the metaverse is infinite~!)

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1) Got so excited as soon as I realized you'd be addressing the issue of Gin's parentage!

2) YOU TIED THIS INTO GINTAMA CANON (pffftSazaetimehahahahaaa) SO VERY WELL HOW DO YOU DO IT AGHHH UTTERLY BRILLIANT ♥

3) So much glorious breaking of the fourth wall ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ I think we need to invent a new word for that special brand of repeatedly breaking the fourth wall like they do in Gintama :'D

4) "...figured if it wasn't Western imperialism it was media snobbery, TV's bigger budget than comics, you've got more tie-ins, bigger foreign demographics, whatever. But you honestly don't know...Forget I said anything. What you don't know won't hurt you. ...Unless you get cancelled. Again. But the franchise is probably big enough that you don't have to worry about that anyway. When you get down to it, the basics are true: your universe has been around a lot longer and is way more stable than this one." This. This dialog. So Gintama. So very Gintama that in my mind's eye, the "camera" zoomed out and I was seeing a still of the exterior of the shop. XDD

5) And at the point where they began arguing if they were speaking Eng or Jpse, and then he said "non-canonical" and I realized you were talking about fanwork and eeeeee I was grinning so hard my face hurt. THIS IS MAR~~VELOUS!!

5a) Are you familiar with Avatar: The Last Airbender? If so, have a peek at this :D :D http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/art/Modern-Physics-45112021

6) The burden of being a hero part. ♥. Many, many ♥♥♥s. I feel like that really touched on the core of Gintoki, and how really aware he is of his responsibility as the star of a "shounen manga/anime" at all times, even when he doesn't act like it.

7) a white dog the approximate shape of a small puppy and the approximate size of a small elephant. What an absolutely exquisite way to describe Sadaharu, so simply and with such a nice sense of balance to it too! .....I-I think that in the likely event that I won't be able to marry Gintoki, I shall settle for marrying your prose. = 3=

8) HEY NO FAIR I WANT THE YOROZUYA TO TAKE ME ON A GUIDED TOUR OF THE KABUKI DISTRICT MAAAN THAT WOULD BE LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE I COULD DIE HAPPY IF THAT HAPPENED Q______________Q

9) "Oh, that explains Kagura's grammar," Shinpachi said. Keep throwing out lines like that and I will be dead from being so keenly entertained. And I won't be able to finish this comment or to leave you any more comments in the future. XDDDDDD

10) And and and and then you throw protective!Kagura at me. You're really determined to slay me, aren't you? If not with wit than with cute! x333

11) "So those are your, er, employees," the Doctor said.

"If you can call them that," Gintoki said, as the Doctor finished convincing the waitress that the psychic paper really was good for the bill and they headed out themselves. "Not like they ever do what they're told. ...Or get paid, for that matter..."

"Associates, then," the Doctor said. "Or friends. Companions."

Gintoki shrugged. "They're mine," he said simply.

"They're who you have to protect."
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Ok. That's it. Now I'm dead. I hope you're happy. |D

...
12) Gintoki tripped over an invisible pothole in the road and fell flat on his face. "...No," he mumbled into the pavement. "I don't." I summoned up just barely enough life to point out to you how much I dig that visual. So much.

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I WOULD LIKE TO BUY THIS COMMENT A BOUQUET OF ROSES. You are crazy, you know that? <3333333

My bro & I have been having an ongoing debate for a while over whether Gintoki's human or not, and if not what is he...I can't remember when I started saying "Time Lord!" but the trouble was that once I thought of it, it made way too much sense, given the mixed-up state of the Gintama timeline - and then it occurred to me that he's actually named GinTOKI and then I had to write it. Also I love writing insane pseudo-quantum-physics technobabble, so.

The fourth-wall breakage just kind of happened; you put Gintoki in a room with the Doctor and, yeah...poor Doctor (okay, poor any x-over char who gets put in a room with any Gintama char. There's genre savvy and then there's Gintama...

naye once remarked that the Gintoki took down the fourth wall a while ago and is using it as a shelf for old copies of Jump...)

that really touched on the core of Gintoki, and how really aware he is of his responsibility as the star of a "shounen manga/anime" at all times, even when he doesn't act like it.

He really is! (The weird thing is that it's totally meta, and yet it's sort of extra-meta canonical at the same time...like, even if Gintoki wasn't totally aware he's a major Jump icon, he's still the kind of guy who'd think of himself as the hero of a shounen manga...
...Gintama makes my head hurt sometimes ^^;;;)

XDXDXDXDXD x FOREVER for the Avatar fanart (OH ZUKO <33333)

And yeah, strapped for an ending I went with cute. So sorry to have killed you!! (well, not *that* sorry, but...! :DDDD)

*sends Gintoki over to offer chocolate to revive you*

(I gave him three boxes of cake, I'm hoping one will make it. As long as Kagura doesn't find out... :P)

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THIS COMMENT SAYS HOLD THE ROSES, HE'S ALLERGIC TO FLOWERS, AND IT'S THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS :'DDDDDD

Ahahaha, that's brilliant. Yeah, I do think "shelving the fourth wall" works quite well in this context, hehe.

Even if the chocolate doesn't make it, I'll be more than happy to accept the Gintoki! ^_________^

~~And I somehow misread 'Kagura' as Katara...that doesn't even make sense~~

~~She's more like Toph anyway~~

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Toph and Kagura!! Would get along marvelously up until the food fight that LEVELS A CITY. (Katara and Shinpachi could bond over scolding them. While Sokka gets Sadaharu-head-chomped. Poor Sokka.)

("Get out of the inugami's mouth, Sokka, we've got a serious problem here! For one thing, Uncle's wandered off with that weird guy with the silver hair, something about an all-you-can-drink cabaret...")

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Appa and Sadaharu would have mad fun times romping around Kabukichou.
Sokka would bond with Kondo over always being the buttmonkey/looking alarmingly alike when Kondo was a boy.
Katara and Katsura would go around spreading hope and dreams.
Aang might like parfaits if they came with lychee nuts.
Mai and Matako would bond over their lethal weapons (omg can you imagine Mai dual-wielding pistols)
And Zuko would try to make Takasugi see the light again, idk ~~disfigured left eyes = instant pals?~~

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Aang would find spaceships and aliens awesome! Though he might try to ride some of the more exotic races...

And Zuko would try to make Takasugi see the light again, idk disfigured left eyes = instant pals?

...Zuko learns Takasugi's deep dark secret - his eye's actually fine, the bandages are just for dramatic effect! XP

Ahahahah young!Kondou totally did look just like Sokka. XD

Azula vs Okita? Hijikata and Zuko could bond over growing up with crazy sadists...(and Zuko could light Hijikata's cigarettes and suddenly I'm seeing xover slash. IDEK, I don't slash Avatar canon usually! ^^;;;)

(and am rather wanting to see Iroh & Gin-san go out drinking. Because they'd both recognize the veteran in one another, and I can't get enough of Gintoki getting poked about his angsty past...sorry, Gin-san...)

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~~Actually I think Aang and Baka-ouji might get along magnificently... so long as the latter doesn't try to steal Appa~~

Uncle Iroh and Gin-san being buddies is so perfect I wonder how in the world I never saw that on my own. (I've already sold two friends on Gintama, 1 via the Toph & Kagura comparison, another via Sokka and Kondou.)

You know who would really like each other? Azula & Kamui. I'm not even kidding.

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XDDDDD Aang + Baka-ouji!

Using Avatar comparisons to pimp out Gintama = Solid Win!

You know who would really like each other? Azula & Kamui. I'm not even kidding.

O_O That's...kind of frighteningly perfect, really.
~~how wrong would I be if I said it'd be hot? ^^;;;;~~

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You wouldn't be wrong, per say. It's more that I really can't comfortably ship Kamui with anyone. He has Kagura's face (more so in the manga art), for one, and I don't feel like I'm familiar enough with his character yet. I like the relationship he has with long-suffering ~~Folken~~ Abuto, and I see interesting potential in the "enemy of my enemy" deal he's got going with Takasugi. But there's just something definitely Dilandau about him that makes it hard for me to see him in a relationship.

Being hypocritical for a moment here — I do rather like the idea of Azulandau: http://perishing-twinkie.deviantart.com/art/OTP-Azulandau-87867510 XD

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Heh - I don't think it would be a relationship, per se, so much as semi-contained channeled destruction. But yeah...Kamui's canonically interested only in fighting anyway, sex is just a pointless distraction...

XDXDXD to Azulandau, that's...amazing.

(also LOL to Abuto = Folken, down to the lost arm!)

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IKR? I'm way more fond of Abuto than I should be. I think he won me over when he turned out to be such a caring guy. ♥

So today I saw Dilandau at the top of the possibly asexual characters list over on the Dreamwidth ace fandom community. Which got me to thinking if that makes Kamui equally likely to be asexual? Personally, I see both characters as sort of childish in terms of mental outlook, childlike but twisted.

That said, Kamui would absolutely love to fight Azula. xD

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Abuto I'm fond of, though trying not to be too fond because I'm not quite sure he'll survive...! ^^; (of course that didn't stop Folken from being my favorite char in Esca...)

Hmmm, I don't know if I really buy Dilandau as asexual...or more it's that I agree he's not really into sex, but I think that's less because of nature and more because of, er, how he was made? Between the gender swapping and the general torture, small wonder if his sex drive got warped. And also he is childish, as you say; mentally/emotionally he might not even be at puberty, really...

(Ahhh I haven't watched Escaflowne in years, now I wanna see it again~!)

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I don't think Sorachi would off Abuto though since Abuto wasn't exactly a villain in the first place; he never had a change of heart. *keeps fingers crossed*

Right. I don't think Dilly's mentally or emotionally at puberty either. Which wouldn't be the case for Kamui at all, from the little we do know about him. Still, there's just something really simple about Kamui's character, but then again he might just be pulling one over me with his constant grinning and single approach to every situation.

Not gonna lie, I'm more than half-hoping it's all a facade and he really has a motive of some kind, cared about his little sister back in the day, still does deep inside, etc. etc. I feel like there's more to him that makes him worth saving. It would feel like a waste if Kamui just turned out to be a villain.

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Not gonna lie, I'm more than half-hoping it's all a facade and he really has a motive of some kind, cared about his little sister back in the day, still does deep inside, etc. etc. I feel like there's more to him that makes him worth saving. It would feel like a waste if Kamui just turned out to be a villain.

Oh, yes, I completely feel this, too. If not a facade per se, then Kamui's damaged in a way that can be fixed. It's what their father thinks - "I turned black that day, and I smeared everything in him with black." (I confess, Umibozu talking to Gintoki at the end of the Yoshiwara arc is one of my favorite serious scenes in the show.) And Kagura wants Kamui saved--by the rules of anime, that has to be returned (right? I hope?! ...yeah, I am a complete sucker for siblings...)

--In other news have started watching Moribito and Level E, greatly enjoying both (for entirely different reasons, of course!)

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To be completely honest with myself, I think chances of Kamui dying are higher than Abuto dying, but here's hoping both pull through!!

Yay! I'm glad you're enjoying my recs. These should hold you through until the return of Gintama! ♥

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kimchiburger.livejournal.com

OOOOOOH MY GOD, it's a good thing I'm not in the same room as you or you'd be hearing my unholy squealing!

The breaking of the fourth wall! The Sazae-time! The Doctor! The universe warping itself to revolve around Gintoki! Aah! ♥ I don't leave comments very often, but this was too good to pass up!

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Hee, thank you for the squeals, even if I can't hear them~! And thank you, too, for commenting - I'm often a lurker myself, so I'm flattered to have inspired response *^^*

(and Gintoki is totally the center of his universe, which he's well aware~!)

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lala-ii.livejournal.com

I've seen things that break the fourth wall, and things that just blatantly poke fun at it- but this is the first time I've ever see someone examine the wall, break it down, and then discuss the rubble. Acknowledging both the fact that it's not only fiction, but further even fanfiction (it's usually ever one or the other, ad never in an even remotely serious fashion)... I think this is the most amazing fic I've ever read, haha. Plus it's motivated me to finally watch all that Dr, Who I've got- I saw a few episodes and wasn't really interested, but this has put me in the mood, haha. So, yeah. Just. Wow.

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Hee, so glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, no one does 4th-wall-shattering the way Gintama does. It's special that way (if potentially traumatizing to most other canons they might run into! XD)

Doctor Who is awesome - I especially liked the 10th Doctor (this one was the 11th) but the whole series is a ride! ^^

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runawayroadkill.livejournal.com

*hasnt read this yet as they are currently trying to find pieces of their mind off the ground after it exploded from looking at the fic summary*

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*laughs & hands over broom and dustpan*

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shayera.livejournal.com

OH, YOU. XDDDDDDDD

*giggles uncontrollably*

OMG YOU WENT THERE. This is exactly the kind of feeling I get from Gintama canon sometimes, with the WTF did I just read and why can't I stop laughing and and BWAHAHAHA my brain iz ded. XDDDDDD

I love how the Doctor's explanations of why the Gintama-verse is like it is actually makes sense with both canons, and then Gintoki actually knows about fiction and the Doctor is all "ummmmmmm" and I die with laughter. XDDDDD Poor Doctor, fourth-wall-breaking is not a part of his "real" universe!

Also, the fact that who cares if it's "real" or not, because it's a good life. Hee. ♥

(One small thing - it bothered me a bit that I wasn't sure which Doctor you were talking about, because I couldn't put a face to him in my mind. I kept flashing between the modern Doctors (and even not-modern ones for a while!). You did make it clear eventually that it was Eleven, and in hindsight, maybe I should have known, but it was hard to be sure... A mention of the bowtie or something in the beginning would have cleared it up!)

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So glad you...er...liked it! Or at least WTFed really hard XDXDXD

I've been joking about it as as crack!theory for a while, the trouble is that it made so much sense (by certain definitions of "sense" that I eventually just had to write it...poor Doctor, though, he's clever and strange enough that he probably could grasp the dynamics of fourth-wall-breakage; but he'd need a kinder teacher than Gin-san!

(and oops, sorry the Doctor wasn't clearer - on AO3 I just list him as Eleven, it's not that I was trying to keep it secret, just forgot to put it in the summary here ^^;)

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shayera.livejournal.com

Oh, I loved it! ^_____^

It does make sense! It makes sense in that very special techno-babble timey-wimey way! And since all of that is just another day for the Doctor, yeah, he could probably grasp the Fourth Wall eventually, but it would come as a shock at first for everyone. *pats Doctor*

Gintoki, on the other hand, making comments on Doctor Who canon (a more stable universe indeed! XDDD) is priceless. Hee!

(Ah, yes, putting the number of the Doctor in the summary or something would be good!)

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raineyz.livejournal.com

I am...terribly ignorant about Doctor Who ~~this must be rectified~~ but that didn't stop my mind from being completely and utterly blown by this! Fourth wall, we hardly knew ye.

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Eh, fourth walls are vastly overrated, who needs 'em! XDXD (and Doctor Who is made of awesome, albeit a different sort of awesome than Gintama ^__^)

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pandap.livejournal.com

I love this!

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Hee, thanks! ^_^

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kuro-gin-iro-no.livejournal.com

I thought I’d just skim this since I know next to nothing about Doctor Who (the only part of it I’ve seen was due to an animation project for school), but, as with pretty much anything you write, I found myself unable to skip a single word. The most GENIUS usage of breaking the fourth wall that I have ever seen. All of it was so perfect. I am absolutely in love with the part where Gin is speaking about the Doctor’s world as it is: just another piece of fiction. And the “…We’re speaking Japanese right now.” “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.”

I was also quite pleased with the number of elements that parallel my own cracky “Gin’s origin” story. Being born in a future era but sent back in time as a child, originally having a western name, being half (well, technically a fourth) non-human, and being offered a chance to go back to where/when he supposedly belongs – which he of course refuses. In my story, the ones who come for him (his parents) decide to stay, which is kind of funny because they aren’t too much older than Gin himself. Oh time travel, you silly thing. (I'd love to share more in-depth, but it would probably take up a lot of space… ;^;)

By the way, as long as I’m here, I’ve been wanting to tell you how brilliant it is that you have written fics for all three of the fandoms I have been most involved with in my life… but only while I was into them. It’s so freaky! I discovered you so very long ago through your Yu-Gi-Oh fics, but after I lost interest in Yu-Gi-Oh in favor of One Piece, you wrote One Piece. You didn’t post much on FF.net for quite a while so I stopped checking your page for several years, during which Gintama replaced One Piece as my one-true-series. I was then shocked to see you appear in the Gintama community! It’s like there’s some sort of psychic connection!! Or we both just have really good taste in series. ~∀~ Keep up the excellent work!

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Hee, glad you liked it! It's good to know it makes sense even not knowing Who. I do love me a bit of 4th-wall-breakage, and Gintama lets me indulge like few other series. Makes for fun x-overs, too, because pretty much no other chars are as, hmm, self-aware of their fictional natures as the Gintama crew ^^

It's so tempting to come up with wacky backstories for Gin-san, when there's so little in the actual canon! You totally should write yours, sounds fun ^^ It's kind of hard to believe that Gintoki is totally human, really, given everything about him, but what he actually is is anyone's guess...

And thank you, so glad you've enjoyed my other fics as well! OP and YGO remain two of my favorites, even though Gintama's currently got the keys to my fangirl soul - you have excellent taste in series ^_~

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verifyinsanity.livejournal.com

Oh man, this is amazing. The way Gintoki casually sends the fourth wall crashing down around the Doctor, who is completely oblivious, is practically artwork.

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