#ayathomato

[liminalpsych-in-teyvat]

Notes for A Matter of Duty - Chapter 13: In those unknown corners

He'd fallen into a kaidan story. Thoma sat at a perfectly pleasant table, drinking perfectly pleasant tea, and exchanged perfectly polite pleasantries with Secretary Yata Kyoshiro of the Tenryou Commission as if this were an ordinary visit between distant acquaintances. Did they observe these formalities of hospitality when Thoma arrived with Ayato, nearly a full moon ago? He didn't recall being seated for small talk, before. He certainly didn't remember a smooth cup of tea to warm his rain-numbed fingers. Kyoshiro was the picture of ordinary. Indescribably unremarkable. He could be any middle-aged government official, any Tenryou aide. All polite affability and conservative attire in neatly layered earth tones. Unassuming. Not a threat, said his relaxed posture and his sloped smile. Nothing to see here. That was how any number of kaidan stories began. A neighbor asking to borrow a portion of rice. A beautiful woman begging for assistance with a lost child. A humble man offering shelter from the rain. They seemed benign or even helpful until their target let down his guard, and then they revealed their true nature as hungry ghosts or malevolent yokai. This was a new twist, a kaidan story told back to front: the pretense of innocuousness after the past reveal of a demonic nature.

I debated so much with myself about cutting the explicit scene with Kyoshiro. Ultimately I decided to leave it in, though we'll see if I keep that decision. (People are here for Ayato/Thoma, not Thoma with some original character antagonist. I never thought I'd be the sort of person to write original characters. But there were no canon characters that worked for the role, especially as the story is set 9 years before the Traveler gets to Inazuma...)

Thanks again to PancakeBeast for beta reading! Check out their Childe/Aether fic, it's an absolute treat. Also thanks to my nesting partner Hrefna for fact-checking the bondage scene.

Notes and references:

Sex work: I'm citing personal communications with sex workers as my research here. I've had a couple roommates and a number of friends who were in various types of sex work at some points in their lives (past or current/ongoing), everything from cam work to licensed brothel work, some of whom are involved in the activism or organizing side of things. Reina's perspective is absolutely derived from conversations I've had with sex worker friends. The tragic prostitute trope is overdone and overrepresented, and sex workers for whom it's just a job are underrepresented. I've got enough survival-sex / tragic-sex-work representation in AMOD already with Ayato and to a much lesser degree Thoma; most of the other characters involved in sex work will be doing so with far more agency and far less tragedy to balance it out a bit.

An introduction to kabuki makeup

Oshiroi, the powder foundation of kabuki makeup

Oshiguma - Kumadori - Japanese kabuki theater makeup prints

Hyōbanki or actor critique books were actually a thing! They'd do a judicious canvassing of 20+ contemporary sources to develop actor critiques and then rank all the actors for the year's season.

Social environment of kabuki: A fascinating piece on the social experiences and context of kabuki actors.

Thoma's hand-towel is a tanugui, a thin, versatile length of cloth that serves a variety of functions from headscarf to handkerchief to towel to belt-pouch or even a belt itself. It could be hemp, silk, or thin cotton, and was unhemmed on the short ends so it could dry faster.

Hokijiri caning: Someone re-enacted all the Tokugawa Shogunate corporal punishment techniques and documented their experiences with descriptions of what was done, what it felt like, their emotional state through the process, and photos throughout the process; this links directly to their account of the hokijiri caning experience. It's in Japanese, but the embedded translator in some browsers gives enough of a gist to be useful.

The rope tie used on Thoma is a variation of the one shown in the drawing at the top of this page, with a neck loop added (sometimes also seen in hojōjutsu). Alternatively, a basic variation on a TK / box tie / takate-kote.

Hojojutsu - Rope colors and meanings: I chose the color before I found this (of dubious reliability) reference, but it ended up working out, so I'm going with it.

A guide to impact play: Kyoshiro's doing some things right, and some things wrong. (Or rather, some things more ethically and advisably than others.) Don't imitate Kyoshiro. Read some better resources instead.

Caning 101: More on using a cane in BDSM.

Courtesans in Edo period Japan: This article is about the courtesans that Reina references in the city. They have less freedom than kabuki actors and are kept in far more debt, but they also have way more status. (In later parts of the Tokugawa Shogunate, actors were officially classified as non-human.) The "tragic indentured sex worker sold to a brothel in their youth" trope is more of a courtesan story than a kabuki actor story. Certainly kabuki apprentices were often indentured as well (and that often began in an impoverished youth), but they were no longer indentured once they became full actors. And I am just… avoiding the Edo period kabuki apprentice age issue with AMOD. It's Inazuma, not actual Edo period Japan, I can just decide that Sakura-za only accepts apprentices at age of majority.

Summary of the fic itself with content warnings, tags, etc so you can decide if you want to read it or not before you click on the link.

A Matter of Duty https://archiveofourown.org/works/47604337?view_full_work=true

"…What would your options be if I hadn't agreed?" "I would have done whatever I had to." Ayato looked away, unable to meet that stricken jadeite gaze. His smile faltered into something lopsided, mirroring the listless shrug of a single shoulder. "I do not have much to bargain with. And what I have loses value the more I use it, as with any form of capital." Thoma paled, and this time it wasn't just a trick of the dim and shifting light. "My lord," he choked out, strained and strangled words, "please don't talk about yourself like that." A laugh rattled from Ayato's chest. "It's true, though. I have to think of everything as political asset, social risk, and negotiation value. Everything." His words hardened along with his stare, and this time it was no mask. "Even you, Thoma."

A year after the death of Ayato and Ayaka's parents, the clan succession is contested from within and without. Kamisato Ayato will do anything—anything—to ensure the safety of his family and the stability of his clan.

But powerful supporters come at an unimaginable price. When Ayato's own sacrifices aren't enough, he is forced to involve Thoma in a web of intrigue and exploitation that will push them to the breaking points of their bodies, their minds, and their very hearts.

or: Kushiel's Dart meets Genshin Impact in a quick-scorch-to-slow-burn romantic drama of court intrigue, sexual politics, and sacrifice.

Note: Mind the tags. More specific content warnings will be given at the beginning of each chapter, and the story tags will be updated as needed. All characters in sex scenes are adults.

Rating: Explicit. It's porn with plot. Porn as a vehicle for plot, or plot as a vehicle for porn, you can interpret it either way. (I prefer: porn and plot as a vehicle for ~feels~)

Tags that I'm not actually turning into tags here, but it gives you an idea of what you're in for: Kamisato Ayato/Thoma (Genshin Impact), dubious consent but not between Ayato and Thoma, slow burn, sex ed, first time, self-sacrifice, humiliation, exhibitionism, oral sex, anal sex, bdsm, bad bdsm etiquette, rough sex, breath play, impact play, bondage, service kink, abuse, sadism, codependency, shame, guilt, jealousy, possessiveness, trauma, ptsd, dissociation, political sex work, or sex work for political maneuvering, or political survival sex work if that’s a thing, exploitation, blackmail, political machinations, political intrigue, no aftercare, maybe someday some aftercare, hurt/comfort, mostly hurt for a long time but eventually comfort, oblivious disaster gays, for such socially savvy people they are terrible at personal relationships, dominant Ayato, submissive Thoma, top Ayato, bottom Thoma, Ayato is incredibly parentified, Thoma has no sense of self-preservation, self-sacrifice isn't a contest but don't tell Ayato and Thoma that, it's like the snipe-the-check game at restaurants but with sex and politics, Kushiel's Impact, no really this was in my drafts for the longest time as Kusheline Thomato Fic, everyone's an adult in this timeline except Ayaka, she gets protected at all costs, original characters out of necessity, finding appropriate existing Inazuma npcs for some of these roles was impossible

Full fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47604337?view_full_work=true

Chapter 13 - In those unknown corners: Wherein Thoma gets an orientation to offstage work, a kabuki makeover, and a late-night rendezvous to complete his deal with Yata Kyoshiro.

Chapter contains: Sex work education, sex work is work, asexual sex worker, bondage, flogging, caning, humiliation, degradation, objectification, impact play, rough oral sex, breathplay, choking, subspace, sadomasochism, practically no aftercare, poorly negotiated bdsm, insufficiently negotiated bdsm, shame, guilt

[liminalpsych-in-teyvat]

Notes for A Matter of Duty - Chapter 17 - Like a fish to water

The patron had kissed him—hesitant at first, then sharp with yearning. Lost in the memory, Thoma drew a finger across his lower lip. Softly, gently, like the patron’s first shy fumblings. He traced his upper lip too, remembering the touch of a stranger's on his own, and wondered. Wondered about the texture of a beauty mark, and the taste of his lord's mouth.

Thoma has twenty days to get information out of a prisoner before Ayato takes over the interrogation. Twenty days to spare Ayato from losing more of himself. He throws himself into the investigation with a desperate will.

- - -

Aaand we're back! I give up on estimating how long things are going to take; I should know better by this point. However, my frantic writing deadlines are done. I was writing every spare minute for the past 2-3 months for a project that finished up in late Feb/early Mar (and went really well!) and it's finally over, so I can put my focus back on Genshin fanfic.

Any guesses as to who Thoma's patrons were? The Liyue sailor and the Liyue merchant are both actual Genshin NPCs.

This chapter was a bit of an experiment. I'm not sure if it worked or not, but I needed to get through a lot of plot points very quickly and didn't want to spend *tons of chapters* doing so.

(I might write out some of the more interesting Sakura-za scenes in a spinoff at some point. You know... this fic was originally meant to be kinky porn with some angst, and some handwaved plot in the background. Now I keep cutting out the porn because it'd bog down the plot. Siiigh.)

Back to a more traditional format next chapter. Thanks to: PancakeBeast for beta reading, and the Hidden Akasha Records discord for all the general support!

Notes and references:

Characteristics of Japanese block-printed books in the Edo period: 1603-1867: This is mostly for block-printed books, though I don't see why blank journals would be constructed any differently. (Also some nifty stuff on a particular book binder's books.)

Sugoroku: Probably dice games were more popular by this point, but board games have a certain sedateness to them that's valuable for conversation—yet I didn't want to use something too cerebral like shōgi or Go, so sugoroku it is.

My math. Conversion rates grabbed off of... some forum thread or another; fees for actors sourced from The Great Mirror of Male Love by Ihara Saikaku, a collection of m/m short stories published in 1687.

- Sleeping with apprentice actors cost 1 bu of gold (1/4 ryu of gold, about 25k yen or 170 usd) - $1 USD = 297.52 mora. So 1 bu = 50k mora - 5 ryō of silver = 66,665 yen = 455.98 usd or 423.10 euro = 135k mora for a night with a full fledged onnagata actor of no particular stardom

Studies in Kabuki: Its acting, music, and historical context - Specifically page 46 talking about dance (but I've referenced this whole piece heavily).

Summary of the fic itself with content warnings, tags, etc so you can decide if you want to read it or not before you click on the link.

A Matter of Duty

A year after the death of Ayato and Ayaka's parents, the clan succession is contested from within and without. Kamisato Ayato will do anything—_anything_—to ensure the safety of his family and the stability of his clan.

But powerful supporters come at an unimaginable price. When Ayato's own sacrifices aren't enough, he is forced to involve Thoma in a web of intrigue and exploitation that will push them to the breaking points of their bodies, their minds, and their very hearts.

or: Kushiel's Dart meets Genshin Impact in a quick-scorch-to-slow-burn romantic drama of court intrigue, sexual politics, and sacrifice.

Note: Mind the tags. More specific content warnings will be given at the beginning of each chapter, and the story tags will be updated as needed. All characters in sex scenes are adults.

Rating: Explicit. It's porn with plot. Porn as a vehicle for plot, or plot as a vehicle for porn, you can interpret it either way. (I prefer: porn and plot as a vehicle for ~feels~)

Tags that I'm not actually turning into tags here, but it gives you an idea of what you're in for: Kamisato Ayato/Thoma (Genshin Impact), dubious consent but not between Ayato and Thoma, slow burn, sex ed, first time, self-sacrifice, humiliation, exhibitionism, oral sex, anal sex, bdsm, bad bdsm etiquette, rough sex, breath play, impact play, bondage, service kink, abuse, sadism, codependency, shame, guilt, jealousy, possessiveness, trauma, ptsd, dissociation, political sex work, or sex work for political maneuvering, or political survival sex work if that’s a thing, exploitation, blackmail, political machinations, political intrigue, no aftercare, maybe someday some aftercare, hurt/comfort, mostly hurt for a long time but eventually comfort, oblivious disaster gays, for such socially savvy people they are terrible at personal relationships, dominant Ayato, submissive Thoma, top Ayato, bottom Thoma, Ayato is incredibly parentified, Thoma has no sense of self-preservation, self-sacrifice isn't a contest but don't tell Ayato and Thoma that, it's like the snipe-the-check game at restaurants but with sex and politics, Kushiel's Impact, no really this was in my drafts for the longest time as Kusheline Thomato Fic, everyone's an adult in this timeline except Ayaka, she gets protected at all costs, original characters out of necessity, finding appropriate existing Inazuma npcs for some of these roles was impossible

Full fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47604337?view_full_work=true

Chapter 17 - Like a fish to water

Thoma has twenty days to get information out of a prisoner before Ayato takes over the interrogation. Twenty days to spare Ayato from losing more of himself. He throws himself into the investigation with a desperate will.

Chapter contains: sex work, bdsm

[liminalpsych-in-teyvat]

Notes for A Matter of Duty - Chapter 16 - Mind the deluge

There was a grunt from the cell, and a flinch of shoulders, and water dripping— Thoma's heart tangled with his lungs in a hitch of breath and a stumbling rhythm. His searching gaze followed the droplets up, up, up to a ceiling slick with condensation, suffused with a subtle Hydro glow. No. No. He wouldn't.

I am three weeks behind schedule thanks to three weeks of no ADHD medication due to the shortage. Finally got back on it and managed to write the chapter but wow. I now understand why I didn't write prose fiction for so many years. Much harder to just force myself to write when I'm not properly medicated.

Anyway, apologies for the delay, and the next few chapters might be a little slower than usual because I have other deadlines. I'd hoped to have this all done before other project deadlines came looming, but then I lost three weeks and now… I get to try to do them simultaneously and I'm upset about it. I get 10 more days of fanfic writing and then I have to dive deep into other projects for a few weeks, so hopefully I'll get one more chapter out before then.

Thanks to: PancakeBeast for beta reading, the Hidden Akasha Records discord for putting up with my flailing, and my nesting partner Hrefna for the martial arts consult and references.

Notes and references:

Ayato's throw of Thoma is a fairly standard martial arts throw. Thoma probably expected it and tried to roll with it, but not quite quickly enough for how reactive Ayato was. (And Hrefna tested it out for me, and doing that particular throw doesn't exert much in the way of strain on the area where Ayato was injured.)

The cushions on the crate are a zabuton or zaniku (flat square cushion) and a zafu (round cushion).

The versatile tenugui makes another appearance, this time as onigiri wrapping.

Not really much else this time, actually. Lots of poking around the Genshin wiki and game images and that's about it.

Summary of the fic itself with content warnings, tags, etc so you can decide if you want to read it or not before you click on the link.

A Matter of Duty https://archiveofourown.org/works/47604337?view_full_work=true

A year after the death of Ayato and Ayaka's parents, the clan succession is contested from within and without. Kamisato Ayato will do anything—anything—to ensure the safety of his family and the stability of his clan.

But powerful supporters come at an unimaginable price. When Ayato's own sacrifices aren't enough, he is forced to involve Thoma in a web of intrigue and exploitation that will push them to the breaking points of their bodies, their minds, and their very hearts.

or: Kushiel's Dart meets Genshin Impact in a quick-scorch-to-slow-burn romantic drama of court intrigue, sexual politics, and sacrifice.

Note: Mind the tags. More specific content warnings will be given at the beginning of each chapter, and the story tags will be updated as needed. All characters in sex scenes are adults.

Rating: Explicit. It's porn with plot. Porn as a vehicle for plot, or plot as a vehicle for porn, you can interpret it either way. (I prefer: porn and plot as a vehicle for ~feels~)

Tags that I'm not actually turning into tags here, but it gives you an idea of what you're in for: Kamisato Ayato/Thoma (Genshin Impact), dubious consent but not between Ayato and Thoma, slow burn, sex ed, first time, self-sacrifice, humiliation, exhibitionism, oral sex, anal sex, bdsm, bad bdsm etiquette, rough sex, breath play, impact play, bondage, service kink, abuse, sadism, codependency, shame, guilt, jealousy, possessiveness, trauma, ptsd, dissociation, political sex work, or sex work for political maneuvering, or political survival sex work if that’s a thing, exploitation, blackmail, political machinations, political intrigue, no aftercare, maybe someday some aftercare, hurt/comfort, mostly hurt for a long time but eventually comfort, oblivious disaster gays, for such socially savvy people they are terrible at personal relationships, dominant Ayato, submissive Thoma, top Ayato, bottom Thoma, Ayato is incredibly parentified, Thoma has no sense of self-preservation, self-sacrifice isn't a contest but don't tell Ayato and Thoma that, it's like the snipe-the-check game at restaurants but with sex and politics, Kushiel's Impact, no really this was in my drafts for the longest time as Kusheline Thomato Fic, everyone's an adult in this timeline except Ayaka, she gets protected at all costs, original characters out of necessity, finding appropriate existing Inazuma npcs for some of these roles was impossible

Full fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47604337?view_full_work=true

Chapter 16 - Mind the deluge

There was a grunt from the cell, and a flinch of shoulders, and water dripping—

Thoma's heart tangled with his lungs in a hitch of breath and a stumbling rhythm. His searching gaze followed the droplets up, up, up to a ceiling slick with condensation, suffused with a subtle Hydro glow.

No. No. He wouldn't.

Chapter contains: nightmares, implied torture (mild), hurt/comfort.

[liminalpsych-in-teyvat]

Notes for A Matter of Duty - Chapter 14 - A factor in the equation

"Congratulations, my lord?" Caution and confusion turned Thoma's regards into something hesitant. "Unfortunately, no. Provisional Commissioner is no victory." Ayato let him think that through. He watched closely as Thoma's hands worked over the displayed ceremonial kimono, as Thoma bent (stiff, decidedly stiff) to untie it from the display rack, as Thoma folded it carefully over an arm (and was that arm trembling?). He noted the tightness in Thoma's jaw, clenching before each bending movement, releasing in the aftermath. He noted, too, the moment that Thoma put the pieces together, the implications of another provisional year. The need for more favors. Further deals. Higher costs. I see, Ayato thought distantly, as Thoma's lips paled almost to blue. Perhaps it is too much for him.

We're almost to the "comfort" part of the hurt/comfort, I promise~

Thanks as always to PancakeBeast for beta reading! And my gratitude as well to the Hidden Akasha Records discord.

Notes and references:

The neuroscience of sub drop

Neurochemicals in BDSM (including pain physiology, subspace, endorphins)

BDSMwiki on scene drop (for both doms and subs)

The complete BDSM aftercare guide: Thoma didn't really get aftercare. Here's a discussion of drop and examples of aftercare.

A chronological record of the Edo period diet: Because the Inazuma recipes in game can't be everything people eat in Inazuma.

Gobei is probably using a kiridashi knife.

Ayato's issues with eating when stressed is based off of a whole bunch of people in my life. It might be sensory processing related, it might be disordered eating related to stress and a need for control, it might just be a chronic stress-related appetite issue, who knows.

Ayato's ceremonial clothing would be some variety of sokutai. Were aristocrats assisted in getting dressed? I couldn't actually find an answer to this so I made it up. Seems like it'd be helpful with the really formal sokutai though.

Summary of the fic itself with content warnings, tags, etc so you can decide if you want to read it or not before you click on the link.

A Matter of Duty https://archiveofourown.org/works/47604337?view_full_work=true

A year after the death of Ayato and Ayaka's parents, the clan succession is contested from within and without. Kamisato Ayato will do anything—anything—to ensure the safety of his family and the stability of his clan.

But powerful supporters come at an unimaginable price. When Ayato's own sacrifices aren't enough, he is forced to involve Thoma in a web of intrigue and exploitation that will push them to the breaking points of their bodies, their minds, and their very hearts.

or: Kushiel's Dart meets Genshin Impact in a quick-scorch-to-slow-burn romantic drama of court intrigue, sexual politics, and sacrifice.

Note: Mind the tags. More specific content warnings will be given at the beginning of each chapter, and the story tags will be updated as needed. All characters in sex scenes are adults.

Rating: Explicit. It's porn with plot. Porn as a vehicle for plot, or plot as a vehicle for porn, you can interpret it either way. (I prefer: porn and plot as a vehicle for ~feels~)

Tags that I'm not actually turning into tags here, but it gives you an idea of what you're in for: Kamisato Ayato/Thoma (Genshin Impact), dubious consent but not between Ayato and Thoma, slow burn, sex ed, first time, self-sacrifice, humiliation, exhibitionism, oral sex, anal sex, bdsm, bad bdsm etiquette, rough sex, breath play, impact play, bondage, service kink, abuse, sadism, codependency, shame, guilt, jealousy, possessiveness, trauma, ptsd, dissociation, political sex work, or sex work for political maneuvering, or political survival sex work if that’s a thing, exploitation, blackmail, political machinations, political intrigue, no aftercare, maybe someday some aftercare, hurt/comfort, mostly hurt for a long time but eventually comfort, oblivious disaster gays, for such socially savvy people they are terrible at personal relationships, dominant Ayato, submissive Thoma, top Ayato, bottom Thoma, Ayato is incredibly parentified, Thoma has no sense of self-preservation, self-sacrifice isn't a contest but don't tell Ayato and Thoma that, it's like the snipe-the-check game at restaurants but with sex and politics, Kushiel's Impact, no really this was in my drafts for the longest time as Kusheline Thomato Fic, everyone's an adult in this timeline except Ayaka, she gets protected at all costs, original characters out of necessity, finding appropriate existing Inazuma npcs for some of these roles was impossible

Full fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47604337?view_full_work=true

Chapter 14 - A factor in the equation: "But human desire will always be a factor in the equation. This is not the first situation of its kind, nor will it be the last." The aftermath and fallout of Thoma's insatiable, prying curiosity.

Chapter contains: sub drop, bdsm scene drop, insecurity/rejection sensitivity/social anxiety, inadequate self-care, not-quite-suicidal-ideation but it has the same flavor, hints of disordered eating, invasion of privacy, dissociation

[liminalpsych-in-teyvat]

Notes for A Matter of Duty - Chapter 12 - Sweeping away the fog

This chapter brought to you by: so much whining about writing being difficult, a million adjustments to the outline, lots of cursing, too many episodes of the Writing Excuses podcast, and two weeks of migraine headaches and brain fog (not the fanfic writer's curse for once, just a chronic health condition acting up).

Why is the middle of a story so hard to write???

(Also, I want an award for continuing to work on this every single day despite the lure of Genshin updates. I still haven't started the 4.1 archon quest because I have self-imposed fic deadlines, damnit. Behold my self-control. No, I don't really know how I'm maintaining it. Using every ADHD management trick I have in my repertoire.)

Thanks again to PancakeBeast for beta reading! Also thanks to the Hidden Akasha Records Genshin fanworks Discord for helping with all my weird questions, listening to my rambles, and hosting writing sprints.

Notes and references:

A bu is 1/10th of a toki, the Edo-period hour. One toki is roughly equivalent to 2 hours (varies by time of year and length of day), and so one bu is somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes depending on the time of year.

The Hour of the Monkey is 4pm.

Japan's had a variety of different time divisions over the eras, even within the Edo period itself. I'm going with the 10-day jun here, each lunar month divided into thirds, for simplicity's sake.

Does Mondstadt have a tradition of time off on weekends? I have no clue. But taking weekends off is referred to as a Western phenomenon in Japan, even where they've adopted it, so I'm just going to say it does for the sake of this story.

The yatate is a portable writing instrument from Edo era Japan (and earlier!). It's actually a really clever design and comes in all sorts of shapes and forms.

Summary of the fic itself with content warnings, tags, etc so you can decide if you want to read it or not before you click on the link.

A Matter of Duty https://archiveofourown.org/works/47604337?view_full_work=true

A year after the death of Ayato and Ayaka's parents, the clan succession is contested from within and without. Kamisato Ayato will do anything—anything—to ensure the safety of his family and the stability of his clan.

But powerful supporters come at an unimaginable price. When Ayato's own sacrifices aren't enough, he is forced to involve Thoma in a web of intrigue and exploitation that will push them to the breaking points of their bodies, their minds, and their very hearts.

or: Kushiel's Dart meets Genshin Impact in a quick-scorch-to-slow-burn romantic drama of court intrigue, sexual politics, and sacrifice.

Note: Mind the tags. More specific content warnings will be given at the beginning of each chapter, and the story tags will be updated as needed. All characters in sex scenes are adults.

Rating: Explicit. It's porn with plot. Porn as a vehicle for plot, or plot as a vehicle for porn, you can interpret it either way. (I prefer: porn and plot as a vehicle for ~feels~)

Tags that I'm not actually turning into tags here, but it gives you an idea of what you're in for: Kamisato Ayato/Thoma (Genshin Impact), dubious consent but not between Ayato and Thoma, slow burn, sex ed, first time, self-sacrifice, humiliation, exhibitionism, oral sex, anal sex, bdsm, bad bdsm etiquette, rough sex, breath play, impact play, bondage, service kink, abuse, sadism, codependency, shame, guilt, jealousy, possessiveness, trauma, ptsd, dissociation, political sex work, or sex work for political maneuvering, or political survival sex work if that’s a thing, exploitation, blackmail, political machinations, political intrigue, no aftercare, maybe someday some aftercare, hurt/comfort, mostly hurt for a long time but eventually comfort, oblivious disaster gays, for such socially savvy people they are terrible at personal relationships, dominant Ayato, submissive Thoma, top Ayato, bottom Thoma, Ayato is incredibly parentified, Thoma has no sense of self-preservation, self-sacrifice isn't a contest but don't tell Ayato and Thoma that, it's like the snipe-the-check game at restaurants but with sex and politics, Kushiel's Impact, no really this was in my drafts for the longest time as Kusheline Thomato Fic, everyone's an adult in this timeline except Ayaka, she gets protected at all costs, original characters out of necessity, finding appropriate existing Inazuma npcs for some of these roles was impossible

Full fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47604337?view_full_work=true

Chapter 12 - Sweeping away the fog: Maneuvering, negotiation, and bumping up against unhealed wounds.

Chapter contains: Dissociation. Not much else I can think to warn for, really; let me know in the comments if I missed a relevant content warning for this chapter.

[liminalpsych-in-teyvat]

Notes for A Matter of Duty - Chapter 15 - The imminent storm

Thoma ran. He chanted his lord’s order in his mind like a shrine prayer. A ward against fear. A ward against worry. A ward against any thoughts of Ayato's fate amidst the screams and shouts echoing behind him. Take Ayaka back to the estate.

The storm was imminent, and Thoma was like a leaf drifting in the sea.

Chapter contains: assassination attempts, hurt/comfort, violence, graphic violence, prayer, guilt/shame, nightmares, allusions to childhood emotional neglect, allusions to childhood parentification.

At long last I give you: comfort! Finally. Nothing like nearly dying and nearly losing your loved ones to put things into perspective. I promised the comfort part of hurt/comfort eventually… it just took around 85k words to get there. Oof.

Thanks as always to PancakeBeast for beta reading! And my gratitude as well to the Hidden Akasha Records discord for holding space for all my flailing through the process of writing this chapter in particular.

It’s the trickiest chapter I’ve written yet. I’ve never written and rewritten so many wildly different versions of the same scene. I have a whole page of my original outline and notes that I ended up completely tossing out because of how much the story shifted and changed.

I took a lot of creative license for the shrine practices in this chapter. Consider any discrepancies from Shinto practice to be Inazuma-specific differences.

Notes and references:

Matsuri and matsuri-goto: Religion and state in early Japan.

Encyclopedia Britannica on Shinto

This book was invaluable and provides a ton of context for so much symbolism in Inazuma, especially at the Grand Narukami Shrine. It also has information I struggled to find anywhere online. Ono, Sokyo. Shinto, the Kami Way. Edited by William P. Woodard, Tuttle, 1962.

Omamori and types of omamori.

Assassination attempts in Edo period Japan seem to have largely been ambushes on the road by armed forces.

Ayato's nightmare is based on the ushi no toki mairi, and he awakens at the ushi mitsu doki, Japan's ~2am equivalent of the witching hour.

What do you smell like on the inside? Yeeeah I had to search some … exciting things this time around. (Me typing in "…for writing", "…for writers", "…seriously this is for fanfic", even though I didn't end up using the reference on stab wounds, or the one on poison, or…)

The Spear: The King of Weapons - I didn't quite reference this specifically, but I learned some spear work from people who have referenced things like this, so it's the nearest online reference I could find.

Summary of the fic itself with content warnings, tags, etc so you can decide if you want to read it or not before you click on the link.

A Matter of Duty https://archiveofourown.org/works/47604337?view_full_work=true

A year after the death of Ayato and Ayaka's parents, the clan succession is contested from within and without. Kamisato Ayato will do anything—anything—to ensure the safety of his family and the stability of his clan.

But powerful supporters come at an unimaginable price. When Ayato's own sacrifices aren't enough, he is forced to involve Thoma in a web of intrigue and exploitation that will push them to the breaking points of their bodies, their minds, and their very hearts.

or: Kushiel's Dart meets Genshin Impact in a quick-scorch-to-slow-burn romantic drama of court intrigue, sexual politics, and sacrifice.

Note: Mind the tags. More specific content warnings will be given at the beginning of each chapter, and the story tags will be updated as needed. All characters in sex scenes are adults.

Rating: Explicit. It's porn with plot. Porn as a vehicle for plot, or plot as a vehicle for porn, you can interpret it either way. (I prefer: porn and plot as a vehicle for ~feels~)

Tags that I'm not actually turning into tags here, but it gives you an idea of what you're in for: Kamisato Ayato/Thoma (Genshin Impact), dubious consent but not between Ayato and Thoma, slow burn, sex ed, first time, self-sacrifice, humiliation, exhibitionism, oral sex, anal sex, bdsm, bad bdsm etiquette, rough sex, breath play, impact play, bondage, service kink, abuse, sadism, codependency, shame, guilt, jealousy, possessiveness, trauma, ptsd, dissociation, political sex work, or sex work for political maneuvering, or political survival sex work if that’s a thing, exploitation, blackmail, political machinations, political intrigue, no aftercare, maybe someday some aftercare, hurt/comfort, mostly hurt for a long time but eventually comfort, oblivious disaster gays, for such socially savvy people they are terrible at personal relationships, dominant Ayato, submissive Thoma, top Ayato, bottom Thoma, Ayato is incredibly parentified, Thoma has no sense of self-preservation, self-sacrifice isn't a contest but don't tell Ayato and Thoma that, it's like the snipe-the-check game at restaurants but with sex and politics, Kushiel's Impact, no really this was in my drafts for the longest time as Kusheline Thomato Fic, everyone's an adult in this timeline except Ayaka, she gets protected at all costs, original characters out of necessity, finding appropriate existing Inazuma npcs for some of these roles was impossible

Full fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47604337?view_full_work=true

Chapter 15 - The imminent storm

Thoma ran.

He chanted his lord’s order in his mind like a shrine prayer. A ward against fear. A ward against worry. A ward against any thoughts of Ayato's fate amidst the screams and shouts echoing behind him.

Take Ayaka back to the estate.

Chapter contains: assassination attempts, hurt/comfort, violence, graphic violence, prayer, guilt/shame, nightmares, allusions to childhood emotional neglect, allusions to childhood parentification