#introductions are always rough aren't they

[eris-the-phantom-thief]

“Coming up!” Hana skated over to get her another drink and soon had it placed down in front of her. When she sat it down she took a moment to scan Catherine.

Huh…I feel like I’ve seen her before…but where..?

Something about her…unsettled her.

But why?

She couldn’t quite out her finger on why. Either way, she couldn’t very easily vocalize it.

Not without risking her job.

This chick feels like a walking red flag… but I might as well just do my job and hope nothing freaky happens…

( eris-the-phantom-thief. ) ━━━━━━ Hana skated around the stray sheep serving drinks, when she spotted…an unfamiliar girl in white. “Huh…” Is she…waiting for someone?

     ❛  uggh,  this  is  the  last  time  i’m  inviting  marina  out.  ❜   with  a  roll  of  your  eyes,  you  nurse  your  finished martini glass,  sucking  your  teeth  when  you  saw  the  woman’s  message  regarding  her  needing  to  work.  sitting  back  in  the  booth,  you  peruse  the  menu  (  as  if  you  have  not  been  here  multiple  times  )  and  settle  on  a  pizza  for  the  night.  looking  up,  you  see  the  waitress  skating  by,  causing  you  to  raise  an  eyebrow.  is  she  new?  you  don’t  think  you’ve  seen  this  one  before.  when  eye  contact  is  met,  you  flag  her  down. 

❛  can  I  have  the   berry  punch?  I  heard  that  beer  is  really  good!  ❜  you  give  her  your  sweetest  smile,  ❛  kinda  got  stood  up,   so  it’s  just  me  tonight  .  .  .  unless  you  can  find  a  nice,  hot  guy   to  join  me.  ~  ❜

[stu-dyingstudent]

Sakura Haruno fic recs: time travel AU

I'm finally getting around to recommending some good Sakura-centric time travel fics! There are plenty of them out there and they can be kind repetitive, but I always eat them up. Typically speaking, I really don't care much for the whole introduction bit at the start where it's the actual process of her being sent back... So just make it past there before you decide whether or not to continue!!! Also, I'm starting to think this list is getting kinda long, so maybe I'll do a second one?

I've been dying to post some of these fics in a list, so please enjoy!

Started: 2024.08.16

Last Updated: 2024.08.26

note: feel free to check out my master list which has a bunch of Sakura Haruno fic recs (all organized)!

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Sakura - lilac haze || ffn/ao3 || M || minasaku || time travel AU || complete

AU. Non-Canon. Time Travel. Please see inside for full warnings. Cross posted on Ao3. On his deathbed he was granted eternal peace and place to rest for all of time. Of course that was not appealing to him. Ever unpredictable to the end he had a counter offer. One that the Sage had to consider. In which Sakura's going to have a rough time. A really rough time.

If there is one thing I want you to take away from this list, it is this fic right here. I kid you not, Sakura is one of the best fics I have ever read. I have never felt so gutted, so heartbroken, so giddy, so stressed, all from one work. It's a masterpiece all while being criminally underrated. The characterizations and storytelling are beautifully done. You feel for the characters and the relationships formed along the way are truly great. Please share this author some love.

Check TWs before hand!!

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The Misadventures of Kakashi and the Girl From No Where - Goldfishlover73 || ao3 || kakasaku || M || time travel AU || complete

When a girl called Sakura seemingly falls in the sky, Kakashi is skeptical. Far more skeptical than the rest of Team Minato are. War is approaching quickly and this strange girl is leaving more questions than answers in her wake, Kakashi must decide where his trust and loyalties lie in a constantly changing world.

Told in the perspective of Kakashi in his youth! Really interesting take and I love how strong Sakura is in this in addition to the fact that we get to see a different side of Kakashi that we aren't used to.

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Anachronistic Drift  - Elesrea  || ffn || gen || T || time travel AU || incomplete

Her plan was flawless. Save Shisui. Save the world. Time-travel, Sakura-centric AU

Sakura spends years training to be sent back in time and save the world from Sasuke. Whilst masquerading as her younger self, she poses as an unofficial ANBU to stay anonymous in her efforts of changing the shinobi world for the better.

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Tourniquet - lilac haze || ffn || T || minasaku || time travel AU || complete

She was his tourniquet. She stopped the bleeding, she stopped his bleeding. She stopped his pain, his despair, his loneliness. She was the first face he saw. She was the first person he trusted. She was the first person to keep his secret. She was his tourniquet. He did not love her. He only loved the idea of her. SakuraXMinato. Time-Travel Fic. Alt. Universe

I quite honestly think this is a hidden gem amongst time travel AUs since I never see people recommending it, but Touriquet is so good! What's interesting here is that it isn't Sakura that's playing with time, but rather Minato. The night of the Nine-Tails attack, rather than dying, he is sent to the future where post-war Sakura is the one to find him and keep the former Hokage alive. It's a delicate situation and one which is kept a secret from many, but through Minato's depression and difficulties with his new life, Sakura becomes a close confident.

Same author as Sakura! I gotta read more of their works

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Armour-Sleeved Single Hit - thatdamnuchiha || ao3 || T || madasaku || time travel AU || one-shot complete

Sasuke always told Sakura she was weak. Even after she trained with Tsunade for years he only had eyes for Naruto whom he considered strong. She would forever be invisible to him no matter how many mountains she toppled. Being a member of Team Seven despite Sasuke’s refusal to acknowledge her meant she got herself into her fair share of sticky situations. Getting stuck a hundred odd years in the past had to take the cake though. But she was just a weak little girl and compared to the shinobi of old she’d be ridiculously pathetic. Sasuke had said she was weak to him – a modern day shinobi who hadn’t been forced into battle after battle like they did in the Warring Clans Era. Obviously she’d be nothing more than a spec of dirt in the eyes of the Founders.

Sakura manages to find herself in founding-era Konoha! While trying to prove that medical ninja are capable fighters she unknowingly gains the affection of Madara Uchiha. After all, the Uchiha find beauty in strength. Super cute read!

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here are the fruits of your labor (would you like a cherry on top?) - snickiebear || ao3 || M || shisaku || time travel AU || one-shot complete

Shisui smiles and it is unlike any smile she has seen before. She cannot remember the last time she had seen a smile. 

Sakura manages to fix everything and now tries to live her life in a past she doesn't know. Shisui is the first to find her and the two of them form a close relationship that continues through her journey of recovery.

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The Moon Knows Best - darth_healer || ao3 || E || madasaku || time travel AU || complete

The Moon has played a cruel trick on Madara. He's still home, but it's not the same. Instead of a tranquil forest, there's a colorful vibrant village. Instead of the cliffside he knows so well, it's a collection of Senju faces, one of which belongs to his good friend Hashirama. And instead of Hashirama, Madara is saddled with a very interesting, pink-haired girl. MadaSaku in which young Madara goes forward through time.

Madara finds himself far into the future where the first to stumble upon him is Sakura. He's such a brat, but his and Sakura's interactions are rather entertaining.

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In the Magic Hour - summersirius || ao3 || E || minasaku || time travel AU || complete

It's not perfect, but everything is beautiful. —Minato/Sakura

A sharingan mishap lands Sakura in the past where she drops down in front of team Minato. With her hope of returning to the present time dwindling, Sakura excepts her new life and tries to make the best of the situation and the new bonds that come with it. The dynamic between Sakura and the older generation is quite refreshing and her mentor relationship with the former team 7 is great.

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Stumble - writer168 || ao3/ffn || gen || T || time travel AU || complete

Sakura wanted to die.Sasori was fine with staying dead.But it seemed fate had other plans for them, because when they both wake up younger with blood pulsing through their veins, they had to remember how to live again.Time Travel AU

Sasori and Sakura are both sent back in time and they try to make a difference in their respective villages. Told in the perspective of both characters, but primarily Sakura. She ends up forming a pretty sweet bond with Ibiki and Genma (which I love) and they help her through some things. Sakura has a rough time

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A Twist in Time - wolf08 || ffn || sasusaku || T || time travel AU || complete

With Konoha on the verge of destruction, Sakura is sent on a last-resort mission to save her world by travelling to the past. Join her in coping with her old body's shortcomings, testing the natural laws of time, falling in love all over again, and rediscovering who she is.

With Sakura frustrated at being back to where she started in her becoming of a shinobi, she begins to train with Sasuke. This time around in her life, her relationship with her brooding teammate isn't so strained. Pretty cute read imo

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Return & Rehash - SpaceNugget11 || ffn || sasusaku || M || time travel AU || incomplete

"You," Sakura snarled with bared teeth. Sasuke gagged for air, clutching at her forearm, but she only pressed harder into him. Her green eyes crackled, and she wished she could burn him alive with the heat of her anger.

Sasuke and Sakura certainly did not end in their last life on goods terms and it is prevalent from the moment Sakura awakens and attacks her teammate.

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An Inch of Gold - KuriQuinn || ffn || sasusaku || T || time travel AU || complete

Team 7 is sent on a mission to investigate a disturbance outside of the village, where they encounter an unconscious girl in a crater. The mysterious Sarada insists she's a shinobi from the Hidden Leaf trying to rescue her teammates. When the team discovers she possesses a Sharingan, things become even more unbelievable. [Part of the Legacy of Fire Series]

Sarada lands herself back in time all while crashing into another team 7 mission gone wrong. An Inch of Gold is in multiple perspectives, but they're all done quite well. Sasuke and Sakura are obviously rather flustered by the situation and the fact they have to deal with it in front of the team makes it quite entertaining.

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These Eyes of Mine (I Can See) - tsukuyue || ao3 || gen || time travel AU || complete

They've lost. Naruto was dead, killed at Kaguya’s hands. Along with him died any illusions of hope that they could win. They couldn’t win, but perhaps they wouldn’t need to. In attempts to stop the Fourth Shinobi War from ever occuring, Sakura is sent back in time to the moment of her birth. Protecting the people she cared about would be much easier if she knew all the facts. OR Where Sakura can see the dead, and Danzō deserves to die.

I'll be honest, I can't remember much, but I do remember that it was really good! I believe a large focus is the Uchiha massacre.

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Trials of Change - Espoiretreves || ao3 || gen || time travel AU || complete

Haruno Sakura made a promise. Looking in the eyes of her Shisou and the reanimated Hokage, she took on the most important mission of her life. Go back in time and try to prevent the 4th Shinobi War. Now, Sakura is back to her 5-year-old body, with all the knowledge and haunting memories of the future. She vows to keep her precious people safe and stop certain events from happening, without altering the timeline too much. The trials her emotions and logic put her through have her questioning her very existence, but for the sake of peace, she has to push forward. No matter what.

If you love Shisui then you'll definitely like Trials of Change. Him and Sakura form the most wholesome friendship ever and try their best in taking down ROOT. A huge cast is present here and the whole thing is just great. It seems as if everyone has some character development lmao.

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Time Flies Like An Arrow - Katlou303 || ao3 || gen || K || time travel AU || complete

Sakura traveled back in time with the intent of changing everything, but something went wrong, and now she's four years old having nightmares about impossible monsters and losing friends she has yet to meet.

I always like the ones where Sakura isn't fully aware she time travelled. I find it interesting in this fic to see how oblivious Sakura is to her situation, she's a four year old in mind and body. However, she still feels the need to make a difference in the lives of the people around her.

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cut the head off the snake - itsthechocopuff || ao3 || T || time travel AU || complete

when eighteen-year-old, post-war Sakura is thrown back into her tiny, pre-Academy body, she makes a decision. she'd had a childhood once already, and this time, she's more interested in Not Dying when the inevitable shit hits the proverbial fan. so she will work harder, care less, kill more, and smile when she's done.and hey, if she ends up reviving an extinct nature transformation to attract the most corrupt, power-hungry man from her timeline, all the better for her, right?

Sakura decides that her first order of business after traveling back in time is to infiltrate ROOT and that's exactly what she does. Sai, Shin, and Shisui are all great characters and team Ro is present as well. Very good!

Update: just found out it was recently completed!!

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Q: Do you guys like my little comments? If you look at my other lists you'll probably notice that I tend to reuse some of what I say (bc I'm lazy), but for the most part I try to add something new whenever I put a fic on a list. I know that descriptions aren't always very helpful, so I like to put a little something for y'all to get a better idea of what to expect!

Send me recs if you have any!!!

[peppermintquartz]

(Tommy's pov of this)

He's in the process of making sure the bird is ready to go when he turns and sees Howie, as well as two unfamiliar young guys following him.

Good-looking faces too. Maybe they should do the calendar next year. The shorter one has large, soulful eyes and a confident stride that speaks of military experience; the other is a tall, leggy man with a boyish smile and seems to be visibly thrumming with energy.

Of course they bring in the studs after I'm gone, Tommy thinks, half-exasperated that he's missed out on eye candy and half-amused at his own shallowness.

"Howie, hey!" Tommy says and embraces his former colleague and current friend. It's not always possible for them to meet up, but a life debt is not something Tommy will forget. "Long time."

Howie claps him on the back. It feels like a silent thank you, which, given the enormity of what they're going to do, the less said aloud the better.

Can't risk someone overhearing that they're going to steal a helicopter on a mere hunch.

Tommy knows he has a good poker face, and it's proven to be effective because no one seems to realize how nervous he is. They may cause an international incident if anything goes "pear-shaped", as his old instructor Winslow used to say, but Tommy isn't about to back out now.

"This is Tommy, Tommy Kinard," says Howie to the other two, telling them about him being a former member of the 118 and also about his being a fathead. At least Howie acknowledges that Tommy's grown out of it.

"Thanks to you," Tommy says. He sticks out his hand to the new faces.

Soulful Eyes grins when he grasps Tommy's hand. A firm grip, almost challenging. "Eddie Diaz."

Tommy smiles, feeling like he's found a kindred spirit. "Pleasure. And you are...?" He extends the hand to the other young guy.

"Uh, Evan," he says, eyes wide and curious like a puppy in a new environment. His hand is warm and dry. "E-Evan Buckley."

"Hi Evan." The splotch just over Evan's left eye is a birthmark, Tommy discovers. To his amusement, Evan doesn't let go of his hand, as if he's completely forgotten that they were just shaking hands in introduction. Tommy doesn't want to embarrass the guy, but he doesn't want to rudely snatch his hand away either. He opts for a slight tease. "I'm gonna need that hand to fly the chopper, kid."

"Oh! Oh, right. Sorry." Evan drops Tommy's hand like it's hot. His ears go red. Tommy thinks, That's so cute, and then sternly warns himself not to read too much into anything. He's not falling for a straight guy again, just because they're cute. And he's glad that he doesn't read too much into Evan's fluster because Evan says, "I was just, um, thinking, about Cap and Thena."

Bobby Nash must mean a great deal to Evan, judging by the way his gaze skitters from Tommy's face to the chopper and bounces lightly on his heels. For some reason, he reminds Tommy of Bambi.

Howie sticks his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, we're gonna need Hen to show soon with some coordinates. Can't go flying all over the Gulf of Mexico."

Tommy makes a mental note to re-check fuel levels. It's definitely topped up, but ninety minutes one way and ninety minutes back in what will definitely be rough conditions is not a walk in the park. Nevertheless, he keeps his tone light. "We'll do what we can."

A pair of headlights slide along the road that leads to harbor. Tommy doesn't really know if it's Hen, but his nerve is starting to give, so he says quickly, "Wait, I see a car pulling in. Might be her. Get in the backseat, strap yourselves in. Once I get Hen clear of Melton, we'll dash. Hopefully she has a good cover story..."

Eddie doesn't hesitate as he scrambles in, nearly knocking his head on the roof of the chopper.

Seeing that they aren't about to call him out on his fake calm demeanor, Tommy blows out his cheeks to center himself. Then he smiles, asking, "If we're all arrested, can I blame it on you, Howie?"

Howie snorts as he gets in next to Eddie. "Yeah I really twisted your arm with the 'Please help us save Cap and Athena'."

(In fact, Howie actually said, "Hen has a hunch, she won't let us help, but she''ll need a chopper. So I'm gonna need you to steal one for us to save Captain Nash and his wife." And Tommy agreed instantly. He trusted Hen Wilson's hunches too.)

"You know it's because of your irresistibly pretty face," Tommy quips as he helps guide Evan - the tallest of the three - in without hitting his head. "Alright, put those helmets on. Careful, Evan," he says when Evan nearly bounces the helmet off the bridge of his sharp nose.

It's a very nice nose. Be a shame to bruise it.

Fuel. And preflight. Tommy inhales sharply and gets into his seat as the three firefighters strap themselves in. It's a calming ritual by now, and he feels ready. He knows he is ready.

And Hen should be here by now.

"Alright. She's ready to go when we are," Tommy announces, patting the stick fondly. As he opens the door to get to the hangar, he says to the three men, "Don't touch anything. I'm gonna hang out near Melton and run intercept."

Howie rolls his eyes. Eddie holds up three fingers of his right hand, like a Scout's promise. "We'll behave."

Evan beams a dazzling smile at Tommy, like they're not actually about to commit a crime.

It's a good thing Tommy has to focus on flying into a hurricane, because otherwise his heart will be tripping all over itself to get Evan to smile like that once more.

Nope. No crushing on a straight guy, Kinard, we've been through this.

Instead, Tommy jogs towards the hangar where he sees Hen approaching Melton, holding a form that Tommy knows will not stand up to scrutiny.

Boy, if you can't convince someone, confuse them, Winslow used to say over drinks after their flying lessons. Act like you know exactly what you're doing and seventy percent of the time they'll let you get away with it.

Tommy takes a deep breath, puts on a smile, and walks into the light of the hangar.

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edited on AO3

[hestzhyen]

An Extremely Subjective HakuHiro Romantic Trope Breakdown

Greetings, void. This arc is rough and the brainworms won't let me write my own hurt/comfort fan fiction- they demand half-baked analysis instead of lovemaking. So have the closest thing that passes for fluff from yours truly.

In essence, this is just a list of the explicitly romantic tropes I love applying to HakuHiro with varying degrees of gushing ship babble as justification. Some are definitely skewed hard towards headcanon but there's always at least a tenuous connection to something that's demonstrated in the work itself. Proceed if this kind of brain rot sounds like your jam! Otherwise just please let me die from cringe in peace.

Battle Couple

Offense and support working in perfect harmony.

So this is just one of my personal favourites, but Chihiro and Hakuri definitely have strong vibes for this trope. They fought together in an absolutely stunning display of mutual trust and understanding in the Rakuzaichi Arc. Seriously, these guys pulled off some truly spine-tingly good moves to take down Kyora despite Hakuri only just awakening to his powers the very same day.

They demonstrated this again in the train fight protecting Uruha- Hakuri and Chihiro only need the bare minimum of communication between them to fight in style. I look forward to more chances for them to show off their teamwork! If they end up fighting back-to-back in canon I'll probably just straight up ascend to fudanshi heaven on the spot. I LOVE BATTLE COUPLES.

Love at First Sight/Rescue Romance

"This is the kind of man I need in my life."

Love at First Sight is pretty self-explanatory: person A sees person B and immediately falls head over heels. It's easy to slap that on Hakuri in his introduction chapter- he's only missing an invitation to get to know each other over some coffee when they finally meet up, really. Unless asking someone to help you kill your family is the Kagurabachi universe's equivalent...?

As for Rescue Romance, it's another very simple scenario: person A is saved by person B, which causes them to fall in love. Chihiro saves Hakuri with the other random people at the site of Sojo's massacre attempt, and Hakuri... yeah. You get it.

I think there's a better trope to associate to this later on in the list, but Love at First Sight and Rescue Romance are still apt and very funny tropes to apply towards Hakuri's first impression of Chihiro. The way he waxed poetic over the mystery samurai who saved and inspired him had me in stitches. Seriously, my oldest notes on Hakuri from that chapter are mostly just laughing about him being really passionate about Chihiro for someone who's not intended to be a love interest! Go get 'im, Hakuri. He needs you in his life just as much as you need him in yours.

Mindlink Mates

Don't need to hear each other at all if you just "get" them.

This is something I like to apply as a Fanon concept based on what happens in canon. Hakuri and Chihiro aren't literally linked mind-to-mind via telepathy, but both of them have a deep understanding of what the other's thinking and feeling at any given moment. I really like the concept that they understand everything about each other on an instinctual level. It's mostly fueled by the Aun concepts that have been associated to them, which I'll get into during a later section. But yeah. Hakuri and Chihiro being borderline telepathic in how they can sense the other's status. That's crack cocaine to me and it's not too far removed from canon so I'm running with it.

I also really like the idea of their strong emotions and desires bouncing off of and amplifying each other's, but I don't know if there's a specific trope for that, so it gets placed here at the end of this tangentially related section. Also not something far removed from canon given how they both fuel each other's self-destructive savior tendencies because they feel the same way!

Moe Couplet

They're so cuuuuuuuuuuuuuute

A Moe Couplet is essentially a pair of characters that enhance each other's cute traits. Separate, they are perfectly fine individuals with their own appeal. Together, they are adorable and capable of some tooth-rottingly sweet moments. This trope isn't typically associated with romantic duos in stuff aimed at general audiences, but it's common in BL as the basis for "fluff" works and wholesome pairings.

This is probably the biggest stretch to apply towards canon on the list, honestly. We haven't seen that much moe moe action from Hakuri and Chihiro- they're kind of busy fighting for their lives or hurting themselves to save others most of the time. But the few moments we get send me straight into cuteness agression-induced brain rot every time I think of them.

Most of this trope label for HakuHiro comes from little details. Like Chihiro often being shown reassuring Hakuri, and Hakuri getting some of the sweetest smiles out of him in return. Hakuri brings out Chihiro's soft side when Char's not around to do so and Chihiro helps Hakuri be his absolute silliest. These guys are are so good to each other! They melt the ice around my cold, dead heart into a slurry of hnnngh and incoherent shipper screeching.

What's it actually based on though? Well, I thought I was just doing normal delusional fudanshi things by thinking Hakuri is extra cute when he's around Chihiro and vice versa. But then Hokazono-sensei threw me a bone in an interview by saying he intended for Hakuri to "bring out Chihiro's personality and add some cuteness". And I. Just. I exploded into confetti on the spot. MOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

One True Love

This ship is not merely an OTP to me, if you haven't noticed.

Note: "ai" is not inherently romantic despite it being the end-goal of pretty much every romance novel out there. It's for deep, profound affection felt for someone- friends, family, even pets. It's rare and not commonly said aloud outside of the climax of a love story is all!

This is mostly tied to Hakuri's experience with love growing up and how he can find out what 愛 [ai, purest and deepest love], really means.

Hakuri probably has no fucking clue what love of any kind is really supposed to look or feel like, much less the ultimate form of it. His father threw ai around as something to manipulate his children into serving the family tradition. Soya used it as an excuse to torture him. This was deliberately done to contrast with the love that Chihiro knew growing up- true ai between father and son, which was cruelly ripped away from him.

So let Chihiro teach Hakuri, and Hakuri provide in return. They're already each other's perfect partners anyway so just put a romantic spin on it!

Hakuri finding unconditional love he doesn't fear in Chihiro and Chihiro finding the same in Hakuri once more. Neither of them ever needing to fall in love again because they slot together so perfectly to fill the gaps in each other's hearts. Oh I'm gonna die...

Opposites Attract

If not meant to be canon, why colour coded as opposite compliments? :thonk:

This is the trope that activates a primitive part of my brain that overrides all thoughts with eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee noises when it comes to HakuHiro. Hakuri and Chihiro are true opposites that are perfectly balanced to contrast and compliment each other, resulting in a duo greater than the sum of it's parts.

Hokazono-sensei made his intentions about Hakuri and Chihiro extremely clear by going so far as to colour code them for us. This is the protagonist and his foil/deuteragonist guy who is Important as Fuck. The level of detail in designing and writing them reads like he took this trope extremely seriously and said "let's save the Hero + Lancer coding for Hiyuki instead". 'Cause as much as I love her, Hiyuki's got nothing on Hakuri when it comes to this trope. Her thing is closer to being the same person as Chihiro with the opposite frame of mind and mode of expression- it's Hakuri and Chihiro who are the true manifestation of Opposites Attract down to the tiniest details. I'm ready to die on this hill so come at me and put me out of my misery.

I mean just look at these guys:

Chihiro: black and red, stoic, reserved, serious and polite, slim and straight profile.

Hakuri: white and blue, emotive, outgoing, silly and casual, loose and boxy profile.

They invert the same ways under pressure; Chihiro stresses and falters while Hakuri focuses and buckles down. Their fucking backstories are in on it too: they both lost their father's love but under distinctly opposite circumstances. Even the love they received was contrasted since Kunishige was a perfectly wholesome dad while Kyoura used love in an abusively manipulative way! And that laid the foundation for the premise of the Rakuzaichi arc- Hakuri wants to destroy his family's legacy while Chihiro still wants to do right by his. It would take a whole 'nother post to list everything between them because every single detail about one is carefully crafted to be present in the other in order to complete their characters. It's absolutely insane and it's what really sold me on the ship.

The level of care put into writing Hakuri and Chihiro as opposites who complete each other is out of this fucking world. I'll feel sorry for whatever girl gets assigned to be a mandatory heterosexual love interest for either of them because there's just no way to compete when two people are written to be so thoroughly intertwined with each other.

(To clarify just in case: I don't think Chiyuki is a bad ship. I'm not trying to trash it and say HakuHiro's better or more legitimate somehow. I just have an issue with shounen romance in general because the girls don't get nearly as much narrative effort to make them compelling companions to the MC compared to the "best friends" and Kagurabachi is doing nothing new in that regard so far. Hokazono-sensei can actually make a bigger impact by refusing to tease Chihiro and Hiyuki at all instead of going down the tired old path of obligated sub-par heterosexual ship tease/romance IMO.)

The Power of Love

Nice Heroic Second Wind you got after thinking about Chihiro there, Hakuri.

So this is definitely skewed towards pure delusion on my part, but that's what we're all here for anyway. Power of Friendship? Never heard of it.

Basically, person A uses their love for person B to power up and overcome the hardship they're facing. In this case, I'm interpreting Hakuri's tendency to think of Chihiro when he's in dire straits as romantic!

Hakuri comes in clutch a lot and his feelings abut Chihiro are the reason he can do it. The memory of his samurai refusing to yield gives Hakuri the strength to keep standing and finally put Soya down in chapter 36. He does it again in a sadder way in Chapter 58 when he thinks of Chihiro and musters the last of his strength to summon him too late to save Uruha. I have no doubt that he'll have more of these moments as the series goes on, too. Chihiro is kind of hope incarnate to Hakuri.

Chihiro's drawn strength from his feelings for Hakuri too, but not in a pinch kind of way like the Power of Love trope typically implies. I'm just waiting for the day when it's his turn to use memories of Hakuri to keep standing (never gonna happen)!

Ship Tease

Putting this here for lack of a better term, but there's a running gag about Hakuri and Chihiro's relationship that's been escalating in intensity since the early parts of the Rakuzaichi arc. It only comes across in bits and pieces in English compared to Japanese, sadly, but I'll do my best to explain it.

Basically, I'm interpreting the jokes about Hakuri acting like a dog as deliberate ship tease for the lols from the author.

"Paw. Shake. Good boy."

It starts in chapter 28 with Hakuri dropping everything he's doing to run over to Chihiro when his name is called. It's really cute and funny and not something that can get lost in translation- Chihiro calls, and Hakuri comes. Just like a loyal dog to it's master.

It's set aside for a while until the Sword Bearer Assassination Arc starts up and Hiyuki drops this banger during the trial in chapter 46:

"But where he [Hakuri] stands is a big pain in the butt. He's not the one calling the shots." - official TL

Of note is the term Hiyuki used to say that Chihiro's the one in charge: 舵取り [kajitori]. The normal meaning for it is "steering a boat" or "helmsman" with the secondary being leader/director, so it's not like the English TL messed up. Same meaning different wording. What's lost is the subtext: 舵取り as Hiyuki's using it can also imply that Chihiro's in charge of Hakuri like the owner of a dangerous guard dog would be lmao. Hakuri kind of earned that jab after threatening to leave her in the storehouse to die if she hurt Chihiro, though.

And then there's this completely unnecessary scene from Ch. 50...

"Who's this? This little squirt smells like Chihiro, but he's not Chihiro."- official TL

The TL again isn't bad here but it really downplays just how fucking weird Samura is (which downgrades the rocket propellant to mere ship fuel). Samura's phrasing about Hakuri smelling like Chihiro was so batshit insane in Japanese that fellow JP shippers felt compelled to reach out to the rest of us in English to let us know, which is almost completely unheard of.

Basically, Samura wasn't saying that Hakuri merely smelled like Chihiro. He actually said that Hakuri was wearing Chihiro's scent, completely enveloped in it to the point of smelling identical to him. A native JP reader (in the link above) said that in their interpretation, the word "まとって [matotte]" isn't really used for friends, but more for lovers, family members, or dogs and their owners in the sense that being so physically close all the time causes their scents to rub off on each other.

It's not a normal term used to describe smelling like someone in the first place. When Samura meets younger Chihiro in the flashback and says he "reeks of Rokuhira", he uses the typical word for "smell/scent" (香り [kaori]) in Japanese. So for some reason we just had to know that Hakuri smelled like Chihiro in the way dog or a lover would, huh... so much so that Samura thought he actually was Chihiro... (I can't get over this, it sends my sides into orbit every fucking time).

So yeah. That's some top-tier ship tease if I do say so myself. What that dog doin'? What did they get up to on the train before meeting with Uruha? That's for us to decide!

Soulmates

It's not exactly hard to see that Hakuri and Chihiro have a bit more going on between them than standard friendship or brotherhood, even for a shounen series. Even some dudebros acknowledged this before the fandom gave over to homophobic trash anyway.

It all stems from Hakuri invoking one of the most potent romantic tropes there is as soon as they meet:

"That day, a samurai lit my helpless existence on fire."

Jesus Christ Hakuri, that's some passion!

I think the "soulmates" trope is the most fitting description of what's going on between Hakuri and Chihiro from the very first time they meet. I'll even go so far to say that it actually has a pretty damn good case for being canon in a platonic sense!

For the uninitiated (like I was), the soulmates trope is invoked when two characters feel a strong and immediate connection upon first meeting each other. It can be one-sided or even completely rejected by both at the start, but they will always find their way to each other since they are fated to be. The whole world falls into kilter when they get together even if they were perfectly functional people on their own before. HakuHiro is this trope to a fucking T in my mind. Absolutely flawless execution, 10/10 no notes.

Hakuri's part is obvious- he sees Chihiro and decides he must have this amazing person in his life no matter what. He feels the pull of destiny and answers the call with an overabundance of enthusiasm.

Chihiro's part is more subtle. He does the one-sided rejection thing at the start by running away, but fate pulls them together via circumstance and he takes Hakuri back with him. And somehow, for some reason, Hakuri is the first person he opens up about his genuine feelings to in a surprisingly raw way:

"If I don't do something, and a sacred blade takes the lives of innocent people... I wouldn't be able to bear that..."

He met the guy minutes ago, tried to run away from him, then decided to bear his heart to him in the elevator. Chihiro's a natural stoic who doesn't show much of what he's feeling and generally keeps thoughts like this to himself. But Hakuri brings out this softer, more vulnerable side to him that no other character has before. Then as the arc progresses, Chihiro comes to rely on Hakuri more and more until it's crazy to think that he ever ran away in the first place. It's like they were always meant to find and save each other.

I'm not looking too hard at this with shipping goggles strapped to my face. We get confirmation that this is what's going on with them via The Word of God Himself:

From the Volume 4 description: 一方、兄からの愛と暴力によって地に伏した伯理。今際の際に脳裏を過ったのは、ある少女との日々だった。極限の中、二人の少年の魂が呼応する。

"Meanwhile, Hakuri is struck down by his brother's love and violence. On the brink of death, he remembers the days he spent with a certain girl. In the midst of this extreme tension, the souls of both boys resonate with each other."

The last sentence is basically more total harmony/Aun imagery for Hakuri and Chihiro. 呼 (ko) means to call and 応 (ou) means to respond. Together, 呼応 means to act in concert. So Hakuri and Chihiro's souls call out and respond to each other in perfect sync when they're in dire straits. It's canon!

If that's not enough, then there's also the Aun imagery. It was left out of the EN Chapter 38 colour page as usual (never gonna forgive the EN version for removing the text), but basically the author used deliberate religious imagery to tell us that Chihiro and Hakuri have an inherently harmonious relationship. A and Un, in perfect sync- whatever one starts, the other will finish. The beginning and end of all things. A perfect pair.

They demonstrate this lethal effectiveness by working in tandem during the storehouse fight, with Chihiro only needing to yell Hakuri's name for Hakuri to perfectly interpret everything he's thinking and execute on it flawlessly. It's absolutely insane stuff even if we disregard Hakuri only woke up to his power less than an hour ago in-universe isn't it?! And they repeated the stunt the next day while protecting Uruha, so it wasn't just a one-off for a cool moment. It's core to their dynamic for their souls to resonate in total harmony!

And just to top it off, we got a funny little gag of Chihiro and Hakuri passing out and waking up at the same time side-by-side after the auction, totally in sync.

All of this within a week of meeting each other.

Some actual romantic soulmate couples don't get this much effort put into coding their relationship, just saying. I also don't think people would be so quick to jump on the sibling interpretation after Shiba's "What are ya, twins?" joke if Hakuri and Chihiro were a heterosexual ship option, just sayin'.

Unknowingly in Love

No sad pictures of dead Kunishige in this post!

This is another one that's far closer to fanon than canon. It banks on the fact that both of them grew up isolated and, quite frankly, probably poorly socialized compared to the rest of the world.

Chihiro lived with just his dad in a remote mountain home and only occasionally visited the town nearby with Shiba. No friends, no school even. Hakuri lived on the secluded Sazanami estate surrounded by his family and saw some of the outside world, but likely only the criminal elements of it. Plus there's the whole growing up only knowing love as something abusive and manipulative thing; even his parent's marriage was strongly implied to be arranged and joyless. Neither of these guys have anything decent in their personal lives to reference from!

So in my mind, while Hakuri and Chihiro have certainly heard of romantic love and thought about it themselves, they wouldn't really have an idea of what it feels or looks like to them. Couple that with being each other's first friends ever and you've got some extremely potent fluff (or angst) about them being unaware that what they're feeling isn't platonic.

You Are Worth Hell

I will follow you into the dark.

And to round things off, one of my favourite romance tropes ever! But it's not canon at all- YET.

You see, Hakuri and Chihiro are constantly pulling each other forward. When one stumbles, the other's there with a helping hand. But what happens when one descends into hell like Chihiro says he's doing this very arc? Will the other try to throw them a lifeline and hope for the best?

Nay! The other will stay by their side out of love.

This trope can veer too close to toxic situationship scenarios for comfort, it's true. Characters staying to "save" someone or letting themself get dragged down at their own expense is not healthy at all. But the core sentiment of this trope is that anything is bearable if you're with the one you love. The emphasis isn't on the mutual suffering but rather the comfort of being together despite it all.

My personal interpretation of the relationship between Hakuri and Chihiro is that one was born in hell (Hakuri) and the other has condemned himself to it (Chihiro). Hakuri's trying to rise up while Chihiro has consigned himself to sink further into the darkness. They met at at a crossroads on their respective journeys and are walking together for a while. And when Chihiro takes a turn to keep going further down, I think Hakuri will stop him from going too far. Hakuri will be the light in the gloom until the mission's over. Then they'll figure out if they can make it back up or not. And if they can't? Well, he was already at rock bottom before Chihiro came into his life. It's worth it to stay in hell at his side and face everything together.

So I think this can apply very well to HakuHiro as the current arc progresses. Hakuri choosing to stay as a partner to provide support rather than trying to save Chihiro at his own expense would be huge character growth for him. And Chihiro accepting Hakuri's gesture would be growth for him too- he doesn't have to do this alone. There's no truly Bad End for their stories if they are walking side-by-side to face the hardships together until the end.

That's it. If you got through all this, thanks. Yap at me about tropes I missed! I love hearing the myriad ways other people interpret this ship. Unless you think fixed left-right boring seme/uke stereotype ChiHaku is the only valid interpretation, in which case we can never be friends. Sorry not sorry.

[eris-the-phantom-thief]

Hana looked over at Goodra and smiled gently. “Thank you sweetie…” she cooed as she petted the dragon. When she heard the sound of a male voice she turned over to see…

“Eh?” The guy looked familiar from the ceremony, but who was he?

She was outside of Hammerlock for the gym challenge, but her battle with the leader would have to wait for a while.

“Is she yours?”

message in the timeline: 𝐔𝐍𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐃 | @eris-the-phantom-thief : Hana puffed her cheeks as she reached for berries outside of hammerlock. “Too high…” (Raihan) I 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆

“𝙂𝙊𝙊!” The Goodra cheers and waddles itself forward until it stops behind the young and SMALLER woman. It uses its retractable horns to carefully grab a bundle of berries from the tall tree before happily handing them to the woman. “GOO.” It chirps happily.

━━   ❝   𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐚���𝐞 𝐨𝐥 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥.    ❞ The trainer himself arrived on the scene, witnessing a potential friendship forming between his Goodra and the girl she decided to help. “She’s the friendlier one of the lot that’s for sure, although there isn’t any shame in giving the tree a bit of a shake here n’ there.” Although, he think she’d know that it could also lead to wild pokemon falling from the tree itself.

[comicaurora]

When did you decide on introducing Falst as a fakeout villain? in my head it's such an ingrained part of the arc but I have to imagine his intro wasn't always like that.

It wasn't! In the very earliest version of the story, aka the loose pre-scripting nebulous idea for how to get him in with the group, it was a pretty simple scenario where Falst was victimized by some bad guys and the gang helped him out, validated his existence, etc. It was functional for what it needed to accomplish - getting him in as a Main Character - but it had a lot of problems, namely that he had no agency in any of it.

I realized as I got closer to introducing him that Falst had a characteristic that none of the other protagonists had: he was rough. Erin isn't nice like Kendal and Alinua, but he's not going to go out of his way to purposefully hurt anyone who hasn't hurt him first. Erin can be rude and thoughtless, but he likes explaining things, and that does a lot to smooth over potential miscommunication. Falst isn't like that. Despite suffering deeply from loneliness, Falst is not good at making himself palatable for other people, and for the most part doesn't want to, in part because he shouldn't have to. It took a lot of bad stuff to grind him down to the point of seriously contemplating turning himself human to make it stop, and even then, he typically responds to antagonism by hitting back twice as hard, not making himself more inoffensive in the hopes of making it stop. In the trifecta of fight-flight-freeze, he defaults to fight, and he has a lot of reasons to wall off every conceivable vulnerability and snap out at people instead of giving them an in-road to hurting him by being nice to them. This makes him incredibly vulnerable to conflict and miscommunication plotlines because he will never explain himself if he thinks he has any other more combative option available, and that makes it very easy to turn people against him if they aren't willing to reach out and potentially take a hit trying to close that gap.

What I like most about writing Falst is that none of this makes him a monster, and none of it makes him unworthy of chances, love or understanding. He's a ball of sharp corners and he hurts people, and he's very easily framed as an antagonist because of that. And framing him opposite a kind, soft-spoken, eloquent, handsome small town doctor makes it easier to see him as a villain. And the fact that the doctor is actually a manipulative villain doesn't undo any of the stuff Falst did during their initial encounter when they didn't know each other and he made his introduction by robbing the party and lightly maiming Kendal. Falst is not perfectly nice, and it doesn't take much to get him to be actively mean or unnecessarily defensive. It is easy to convince characters and an audience that a character like that is a Problem, because if he weren't a Problem he would be nice and non-confrontational and conventionally attractive. Undercutting aesthetic morality is always fun, and sometimes you just gotta judge a character by their actions and conclude that they might not be good at making you like them but they're not actually doing anything all that bad.

Falst is kind of a jerk. He also has a lot of qualities that are not jerk traits. Falst found people who like him, and the fact that he's a jerk doesn't contradict that. We're all jerks sometimes, and we all tank hits from our friends being jerks sometimes. Falst is at his most interesting when I let him be emotional, hostile and imperfect, and I think it's nice to give him people that love him without undercutting the things that make him believe he's unlovable.

[mint-8]

Yandere Fisherman x GN! Reader

Content/Trigger warning: Mentions of sexual themes.

- Yandere Fisherman who lives in a coastal town, enjoying life leisurely and hunting for different fish so they can sell it at the market. They are considered the chill, cool uncle of the village and are well-liked by all the townsfolk, plus they work part time as the designated tour guide for the town visitors that may wish to enjoy the sun, the beach and some good sea food.

- Yandere Fisherman who first met you when you visited their hometown. Perhaps you are here as an order from your doctor to breathe some fresh air and relax? Or mayhaps you are here to study the vast aquatic life on the town's ocean? Doesn't really matter why you are here. The important part is that you are here, and Yandere Fisherman can't deny that you sure are quite the looker for someone they've just met. Sure, they have had some adventures here and there with locals and tourists, but they never felt such a thrive to keep them by their side. Forever.

- Yandere Fisherman who approached you as they would always do whenever a new face is around town. A nice introduction, some flirting here and there, and an offer to show you around the plaza. Won't you accompany them to get some ice cream? There's this one place with killer shrimps if you want to try it out! Oh, don't worry! Their treat! Please, they insist ;)

- Yandere Fisherman who will invite you to go fishing with them. Whether it's in their boat or in the main bridge far away from the popular coastal area, they'll make sure to teach you anything and everything there is about it! You don't even have to fish if you aren't into it! Simply being by their aside and having a nice conversation is good enough!

- Yandere Fisherman who will keep things chill and easygoing. They won't force you into anything. Yet. They don't wish to scare you off! You are their adorable little angel, but... if you wish to escalate... well, they will try not to be rough, but no promises ♡

"Tired, darling?"

"...How come you have so much stamina?"

"Heh, I guess working out in the sun will do that to you. But sweetheart, you barely lasted 1 hour, next time I won't be as easily satisfied ;) ♡"

- Yandere Fisherman who dreams of domesticity with you. The idea of having a baby in your hip while preparing dinner... oh, dear! It makes them feel butterflies! And... other stuff ♡ They would love to keep you as their stay at home spouse. With you keeping the shared home warm and clean, while they go outside and get the bacon!

- Yandere Fisherman who will make sure to get rid of all and any other competition for your heart. It's as simple as getting some poisonous fish and later dumping their bodies in the ocean! Accidents happen all the time, no need to worry!

- Yandere Fisherman who will make sure to put a ringer on your finger and plan for a few little blessings in the near future! It's scary, they know. That's why they will by your side through it all! They have your back! Won't you have theirs?

[eris-the-phantom-thief]

Hana puffed her cheeks, “I’m on enough meds thanks you very much I don’t need another prescription…”

She curled up, “I thought talking to you would help…Junpei suggested I talk his wife…” So much of this didn’t make sense to her. Out of her teammates she was only one to have this issue… It made no sense to her.

@eris-the-phantom-thief sent:

(For Mitsuru or Chidori) “I don’t get it…why do my powers leak out in these weird bursts?”

Chidori didn't answer at first. She wasn't even sure why this girl was even here in the first place. She just wanted to draw in peace, yet all these other people kept bothering her.

"Perhaps you should start taking suppressants like we do," Chidori suggested, eyes glued to her sketchbook as she continued to draw.

[cards-of-rose]

study tip!! how i write essays

going from a long, intensive classical education to my current history major, i've had to write a lot of papers. at this point, i can write a 5 page paper in a few hours, and just a couple weeks ago i wrote a 20 page paper in a single day. i graduated valedictorian with this method (current cGPA of 4.0!) so i thought i'd share how i write them! grab some coffee and settle in - it'll be a long post, but i promise it'll be worth it. :)

first, the topic. if you don't have an assigned topic, pick something that fascinates you, something that you could write pages and pages about. you will. if your topic is assigned, find something in it that you find fascinating. even if you find your topic completely boring, there's always something interesting to glean from it! once you find this, you'll gain motivation, and that's half the battle.

write down a basic outline. when i say basic, i mean barebones. just a vague, 3-point general idea of what you think you might write your paper about. this will guide you in your research! you don't need to worry about writing your full outline just yet.

sources. after you have a basic list of points, it's time to find sources! if they're already assigned, you can skip this step. most of the time they aren't, though. this is the most important part of your paper. you can go to google scholar to find really good academic journals and studies!

generally, the number of sources you have depends on the length of your paper! a good guide is that your amount of sources should number half the length of your paper. so if you have a 5 page paper, 2-3 is a good way to go. if you have a 20 page paper, you'll want around 10.

evidence. skim over your sources and categorize each one under the point you made earlier. this will mean you have a quick reference guide when you're writing, so you don't have to go through a big list of sources when you're looking for evidence! under each source, put a few bullet points talking about the info that you can use for your paper.

outline. this part may seem daunting. i promise, though, it's one of the easiest parts of the paper! you may feel tempted to skip it, but having an outline makes your paper sound better and makes it easier and quicker to write. use the sources and bullet point info you used earlier to fill out your outline. start broad and general, then add details as you do your research! your outline should be about half the length of your paper. don't worry about making it super scholarly - this is just for you, so make it as informal and easy to understand as you want! be stupid, throw in memes, whatever gets it written!

every outline should include an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. i can go over the structure of an outline in another post, but remember the 3 points you thought up earlier? these will form your entire outline, and eventually your essay!

finally, write! open a blank google doc and view it side by side with your outline. once you get started, it's a lot easier to finish than you'd think, especially if you took the time to outline! this is when you can make your dumb outline into something that would make the ancient philosophers proud. don't worry about perfection. just write it as you go. you can edit it later!

quotes/evidence. once you've finished your rough draft, it's time to add the evidence! some profs want quotes, others want you to paraphrase. either way, go through your paper and put in the evidence you researched earlier. don't worry about citations just yet - just put in the link in a comment on your rough draft. it won't be hard to fix it up later.

edit!! please, please don't finish your rough draft and be done with it. you can save so many points by going over it again instead of submitting it in a rushed 3am haze. fix spelling and grammar, add citations and a reference page, edit for clarity, anything you need to make it sound like the best paper you can write! if you're proud of it by the end, you know you've done something right.

congrats, you did it!! make sure you start your paper early and don't wait till the night before - your grade will thank you <3

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hello! I'm trying to write a very simple, easy to follow, not-overwhelming bullet point outline for a story I'm writing, but as I was outlining a bit of the set-up I was just like, "Oh god, this is SO boring." I was starting to wonder if it's just me (this is my first time actually trying to outline something, I've never made it past the brain dumps stage before) so maybe it's something I'm missing/lack of experience or if it's a sign that I'm lacking goals in my intro or if my characters are dry/not fleshed out enough? Like if I'm already bored, then readers will most likely be bored, too, right? Also, if it is a characters issue, how do you make readers care about your characters in the exposition of your story? I've read so many articles and posts about making your character relatable so readers like them/connect to them, but I just feel like I'm struggling to accomplish this in the introduction. Anyways, thanks for your time and help! Signed, Chronic Overthinker.

Struggling with Outlining Beginning of Story

Yes... if you're bored, the reader will be bored, too. However, that's not something you can really determine from an outline. You can be outlining the most engaging story in the world and still be bored, because outlines aren't the story... they're just the blueprint. And, not only that, but some writers are "discovery writers," meaning that the story fleshes itself as they actually write it. Outlines can still be helpful in that they give you a structure to aim for, but the really thrilling details that make the story engaging might be things that develop organically as you write. So, don't worry about that at this point. If you're bored as you're actually writing the story, that's another issue--and even then, a rough draft can be a little boring and have more excitement added in later.

As far as struggling with making readers care about your characters in the exposition part of the story, remember the goal is to do three things:

-- Show the character in their "normal world," including establishing who and what is most important to them, so the reader can understand what's at stake when the inciting incident turns their world upside down, and so they have a reference point for "right side up."

-- Establish the character's internal conflict. What is the problem inside their heart or mind that will need to be resolved in order for them to eventually resolve the external conflict brought on later by the inciting incident? Remember, they may not be fully aware of this problem--or they may be aware of the feeling/situation but not understand that it is a problem.

-- Establish important elements of the character's personality so that when the inciting incident occurs, the reader can understand why they respond the way they do.

Be sure to have a look at my Character Development master list of posts if you need additional help, and my Plot & Story Structure master list has posts about structure and outlining if those would help.

Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[masonmyluv]

Barcelona GP - Pedri Gonzalez

Pedri Gonzales x reader

Warnings: ansgt, jealous!Pedri, brother!Carlos Sainz, bestfriend! Charles Leclerc, mentions of some other drivers, google translated Spanish, I hope that’s all

"Carlito!!!"

"Stop calling me that hermanita. I have a reputation around here" Carlos said. "Who's that fella over there?" He asked. "Pedri, come here" you said, seeing that he was a bit lost. "Carlos, this is my boyfriend, Pedro and Pedro, he's my annoying older brother Carlos" you made the introduction and the boys shook their hands. "Good to finally meet you. Y/N won't shut up about you" Carlos smiled. They engaged in a conversation, more like interrogatory, so you made your way over to the other Ferrari driver.

"Lord Perceval, lovely to see you again" you bowed. "My lady" he laughed, placing a kiss on your hand. The gesture made Pedri's blood boil, but he kept cool. "Y/N!" "Lando! Good to see you again" you said, hugging the British boy. "I hope you're good. Both of you, with the rough start and everything" you said. "I've been better..." Lando sighed. "I know. I really hope you get P10 tomorrow" you said sympathetically. "Thanks Y/N. Is always great to meet you before a race" Lando said and went to the McLaren garage. "So... you and Barcelona's golden boy. Who would've thought?" Charles teased. "Yeah... well it happened" you blushed, looking over to the two most important men in your life. "I would be dead by now" Charles joked. "Comment ça? (What do you mean?)" You asked. "He's been throwing daggers here all the time" he chuckled. "He's not that jealous" you shrugged. "Mhm here he comes" he said.

"So... ready for some action hermanita?" Carlos asked as Pedri made his presence well known to you by wrapping an arm around your waist. "Always hermanito" you teased. "How do you like it so far?" You asked Pedri as the two drivers were busy checking their cars. "Bueno" he replied. "Seriously Pedri? I know your inner child is screaming" you laughed. "True, but I don't want to make a scene right now" he said. "Ooohh... you want to show my brother you aren't a little boy anymore. I get it" you said, patting his cheek. "It's not—" "Your secret's safe with me, Pepi" you said, kissing his lips softly. "Hey! No PDA around here" Carlos said. "Overprotective brother phase 1" you rolled your eyes.

After the race, you congratulated even more drivers for their poles and Pedri felt like he wanted to punch everyone. You went over to Pierre, Perez and Alonso, but Pedri wanted to meet Verstappen, so you went over the Red Bull Racing pit. Now that little boy was coming out of Pedri, who asked Max for a picture and an autograph too. "cómo estás? (How are you)" Sergio Perez asked. "Bueno. Y tú? (Good. And you)" you replied. "decepcionado (disappointed)" he sighed. "estoy seguro de que puede manejar (I'm sure you can manage)" you tried to encourage him. "No estoy tan seguro. Pole 13 es malo (Im not that sure. P13 is bad)" he explained. "No quiero que Max gane. alguien más es mejor (I don't want Max to win. Anyone else is better)" you said quietly so the Dutch won't hear you. "Veo que no has seguido adelante (I see you haven't moved on)" he smiled knowingly. "Jamás (never)".

"What a day! Verstappen P1. He's going to win this" Pedri said, making his way into the room after he's had his shower. "Yeah wonderful" you said sarcastically. "Don't be grumpy. Carlos got P4 which is good" he said, putting on his pyjamas. "Yeah I guess" you sighed. "Or are you sad that Leclerc got only P11?" He asked. "Are you jealous Pepi?" "Never said I was. But you seem very comfortable around all these guys. Wouldn't be shocked if you fucked them" he shrugged. "Very highly you think of me, Pedro" you snapped. "Just saying. What I saw today. A bit too friendly for my liking" he said. "They're my friends. And Charles is my brother's teammate! Obviously I'm a bit closer to him than to anyone else! You have no right to be jealous" you said, tears threatening to spill. "Whatever" he rolled his eyes.

You left the room quietly while he was still in the bathroom, and made your way down to the pits. You needed some time alone to think.

"What's up, petit papillon? (little butterfly)"

"Charles, sorry. I had a little fight with Pedro and didn't know where to go" you smiled weakly through the tears.

"You never call him that"

"What?"

"Pedro. You call him Pedri, Pepi, Pedrito. I get you're mad at him" he said.

"I am, oui. He's being a jealous ass. Thinks I fucked you all" you said, cringing at your words. How could he think that in the first place?

"If only he knew how Carlos truly is. Je suis surpris that he didn't chop his balls off yet (I am surprised)" Charles joked.

"And even if we were to be...you're not my type of girl, but you're his type" Charles said. "stupide de dire ça (stupid to say that)" you said. "Excuse moi. I'm not Doctor Love, but I see that you really love him" he said. "I do. And I'm also jealous. When girls give him pieces of paper with their numbers or Instagram, whispering in his ear to leave me and fuck with them" you shrugged.

"Disgusting"

"I know. But I try to ignore them and love him for what he is. The man Pedri, not the footballer" you said. "I know. That's why everyone here loves you. Because you saw behind the famous drivers, you saw the people behind them. And you're friends with the actual people, not the drivers. Which means a lot to all of us" he said, hugging you.

"Y/N? Are you here?" Pedri's desperate voice interrupted your hug with Charles. It was enough to look at Charles to know he had a plan. "Hola Pedri. How are you mate?" Charles said, not giving away that you were hiding behind his car. "Not so good. Y/N left after we had a little argument, left her phone in our room and no one has seen her. I'm going insane" he said. "Well, I happen to know where she is, but—" he pointed his finger at Pedri. "You stay where you are, don't move a finger. And she'll come out when she's ready" Charles said, leaving the room.

"Y/N, amor, I'm so sorry... I trust you, I know you won't cheat or anything like that... I just saw you being so friendly with them and just remembered how we met...you weren't like that towards me and I thought what do they have and I don't? I don't know the answer to that... but I know I love you and had no right to be jealous. You go through this almost every day with me and the fans and you're not throwing a tantrum at me. You understand me and I should've done that today too. I'm sorry... I feel so bad" he sobbed. "Oh Pedri, come here" you said, leaving your hiding spot and hugging him. His head fell on your shoulder, letting tears soak your hoodie. "I'm so sorry" he whispered. "It's okay... maybe I should have warned you about me being friends with almost everyone on here. But they are my friends and I get very few chances to see them lately, so it's always good to see them" you said, threading your fingers through his hair. "And with Charles we're just friends. Best friends. Who do you think I told that I was seeing this Spanish football player huh? He was the only one who knew and he told me to go for it. Even if it fails, at least I tried. And look at us. We're together and happy" you said, pulling away to look into his glossy eyes. "And you're special to me, Pedri. I love them as friends, but you're the only one I love like I want to scream of happiness... or the one I want to rip the clothes off" you chuckled. "Eres preciosa (you're precious)" he smiled, pecking your lips softly.

"Now that's what I want to see, hermano" Charles said, leaning on the door. "Spanish looks good on you" you chuckled. "Well, Carlos taught me some" he said, wiggling his eyebrows. "You should go to sleep. You have a big race tomorrow" you said. "I'm sorry for all this" you said. "Don't. I'm happy to help a friend" Charles said, hugging you. "But I'll chop you dick off next time" he said to Pedri. "Got it, sir" he joked, taking your hand in his. "No need to call me that. I'm only 5 years older" Charles laughed. "You're old, grandpa" you said laughing. "I will pretend you didn't say that. Goodnight" Charles replied.

"God I was so worried about you" Pedri said, back in your hotel room. "I mean I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't found you. Probably faint" he chuckled, hugging you from behind as you tried to fall asleep. "I love you" he whispered. "I love you too, Pepi".

"Yes! Go Charles! Go Carlito!" You yelled their names as they passed the finish line one after the other. Charles first place, Carlos second and Perez third. "I'm so proud of them" you said. "And where is Verstappen? I can't see him on the podium" you teased Pedri. "He just had a bad race day" he shrugged. "Aham. As you say. Let's go celebrate with them".

"Carlito!!! I'm so proud of you" you said, hugging your brother soaked in champagne. "Don't call me that, hermanita" he whined. "And Charles! I'm so proud of you too. You really deserve this" you said, hugging the Monegasque. "Why aren't you calling him Charlito?" Carlos asked, making you laugh. "I should, shouldn't I? Pedrito, Carlito and Charlito. The three most important men in my life" you said, pulling them into a group hug. "I don't like it" Charles huffed.

"Don't be sad, Charlito" Carlos imitated your voice and they started bickering (playfully).

"You good?" You asked, seeing Pedri was a bit zoned out. "Yeah. Just enjoying the view" he replied. "Which is?". "Mostly you" he smirked. "Come on, we have to celebrate" Carlos said, throwing his arm around Pedri's shoulder and dragging him after him. You and Charles walked behind them. "So everything's good in paradise?" He asked smirking. "Yes. Again, thank you so much" you said. "That's what friends are for, non?". "Of course, Charlito" you giggled. "Hey!".

Hope you like it ❤️

[eris-the-phantom-thief]

Hana yawned as she hugged the pillow, “Lemme sleep…I spent all day moving in….” She sat up on the sofa, and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “Mmmm….oh crud did I pass out on the sofa…?”

Taking a moment to glance around, she fixated on the person in front of her. “Wait…are you one of the people Miss Kirijo said was coming? The people coming to help train us?”

The woman before her looked more at place in a photoshoot in Hana’s opinion. She was taller than her easily. (Although Hana herself being only 4’7, that wasn’t hard.)

Hana knew better than to voice this however, afterall. Mitsuru based on appearances, wouldn’t have crossed her mind as being a demon slayer…

Hana curled up asleep on the sofa of the dorm after moving in. Everything was all so overwhelming…

Mitsuru told her Anya, and Luca that more of the ops would be coming. Yes the three had become persona users, but Hana didn’t have full control over her powers…despite being a wildcard her power wasn’t stable…

s.e.e.s. was rapidly growing ! which meant more persona users , and more persona users meant it'd be much easier for them to take down this dang dark hour . what a relief ! yukari was honestly getting real tired of fighting all these stupid shadows ( and going up those long stairs ) .

tick — tock , tick — tock .... the clock kept going and time continued to pass . everyone seemed to pour in one by one , until they were all present . ' maybe i should wake her , ' yukari mumbled beneath her breath . it's not like anyone else here was going to . slowly the girl leaned over and tapped her shoulder a few times . hoping it'd do the trick , ' hey , uh you should get up . the meetings about to start . '

[a-m-w-worlds]

SSO Theory: The Secret Behind the Masks

"It looked like a mask. One of those old wooden ones with holes for the eyes." (Excerpt from Shari's Mask.)

The Miscreants might be the most famous mask-wearers in Jorvik, but have you noticed they aren't the only ones? The Miscreants, Xin, the Vala, Shari, even Pi in The Legend Awakens, so what's the deal with all these wooden masks?

I have a theory!

The only common denominator I can find between all these characters is neutrality. Not good, not evil, something in-between the two. Let's start with Shari, who is first mentioned in the Soul Riders short story collection Ghost Stories from Jorvik., in Alex's story, Shari's Mask. We don't learn much about Shari other than that she is referred to as a goddess and wears the Miscreant mask, as seen on the book's back cover and other illustrations.

According to the About section of the Miscreants page on Spotify the Miscreants styled the masks they wear after one found in a thrift store that likely either belonged to Shari or one of her followers.

The Miscreants are shown to be neutral troublemakers, in no way evil, but not saints either, also equally liked by Soul Riders AND Dark Riders. (Their song Face in the Crowd is used as Sabine's theme and Lisa has a Miscreants poster and replica mask in her bedroom.) Similarly, the Vala, Pi, and Xin (through Ydris) have all been shown to be our enemies AND allies at different points in time, and all seem to have agendas separate from the battle between good and evil.

Xin is an odd case; we know very little about him, although I assume he is Pandorian in origin like Ydris and Zee. The way Ydris refers to Xin's mask is interesting and definitely makes me think it has some greater significance.

In the questline where we're trying to save Concorde from the circus, we also have this little exchange between Linda and Evergray. (Pardon crusty Linda!/lh)

I feel this strengthens the case for Xin being Pandorian.

Now for the witches!

And yes, I do mean witches generally, not just the Vala!

In the second Soul Riders book, The Legend Awakens, Pi is described as wearing wooden masks also! This is an excerpt from Pi's introduction.

"She emerged from the darkness. The darkness sent her to them. All they could see was a figure shrouded in shadows, dressed in a dark cloak with something in front of its face. A wooden mask? The mask was glowing pink, with almost luminescent letters. Anne gasped as she felt the Pandoria sickness wash over her, sticky and pink. She recognized those letters."

Thanks to Sive in the Storms Over Devil's Gap questline we know the masks have some power beyond just cool aesthetics.

I find it interesting that these masks are always specified to be "wooden" either by verbally being referred to as such or in their design.

This makes me wonder if the masks are perhaps made from the wood of Primeval Tress. We know Lisa was able to communicate with the Sleeping Widow while in Pandoria and it was explained the Primeval Tree's roots reach to Pandoria. Dialogue from the One of Our Witches questline also states that witches and Primeval Trees do sometimes form alliances, making this theory even more credible in my opinion.

This same questline also gives us this bit of dialogue.

I find myself wondering if Pi's masks specifically came from a corrupted Primeval Tree. Anne's reaction to it and the fact that Pi's is the only mask to glow pink suggests a stronger Pandorian connection than the Vala masks. Pi in The Legend Awakens is also described very differently from her in-game counterpart. (Since this depiction is more current, I'm considering it the canon version. I want her to be updated in-game so bad!) She's described as having feet like rough tree roots and hands that are half claw, half atrophied wood. Maybe using masks made from corrupted trees corrupts the wearer as well?

For the last part of my theory, we're going to circle back to Shari for a minute.

In Shari's Mask it's revealed that Shari is searching for her missing horse who was taken from her, which I believe to be the Laverna, who is also a mask-wearing trickster. Here's Laverna's in-game description.

"The veil between worlds grows thin around Halloween, allowing spirits to travel to other planes. Laverna was one of these, though no one knows when she first crossed over.

When she arrived on Jorvik she was a mere wisp and a mask. But Laverna is a powerful soul, and before long she created a solid body in the shape of a creature she saw around Jorvik that was suitable for her interests. Disguised as a horse, she got up to all kinds of mischief, preferring the "trick" in "trick or treat."

Laverna fashioned her body after an American Paint Horse; she likes the splashy colors even when concealing her magical coat and mask. She employs nighttime and shadow as cover for thievery. Mischief is her entertainment, so be prepared to keep an eye on her!"

The line "though no one knows when she first crossed over" seems to imply that Laverna is quite an ancient spirit. When Alex meets some of Shari's hypnotized followers in Jorvik City they describe Shari as "the goddess, the deceiver, the rebel, the legend", which is in line with Laverna's mischievousness and the Miscreant's rebelliousness. Shari is described as wearing black robes and not having a face, only the mask. And if Shari can be referred to as a goddess, I would imagine that she's also a very old being. The only other character that's ever been called a goddess is Aideen, so here's my thinking.

Aideen and Garnok are both treated as deities with their own missions and followers, what's interesting though is that while witches and Pandorians (the primary mask-wearers) acknowledge both as powerful beings, they don't seem to worship either. Aideen seems to be a goddess of Jorvik, and we know Garnok is not from Pandoria, merely trapped there. My theory is that witches and Pandorians are followers of Shari, who I believe to be a Pandorian goddess, more specifically a trickster goddess, who is unaligned to good or evil and acts only in the best interest of herself and her followers, the masks symbolizing their neutrality. Mask=ambiguity=neutrality.

The only thing that gives me pause about Laverna being Shari's horse is that Gabby (one of the hypnotized followers) calls Shari's horse Solomi (no clue if I spelled that right, I only have the audiobook version of the story). But it's possible that this is either a discrepancy or Solomi is the horse's real name and Laverna is the name given to her by Jorvegians who didn't know her real name.

So, am I onto something?

Thank you for reading my insane wooden mask deep dive!/gen

[mugram]

[opens door, Es enters]

Es: Good afternoon, prisoner–

: Oh, you’re… actually in your… seat.

Keisuke: Eh? Why wouldn't I be?

: You are the person who is supposed to be watching over us, right, Warden?

: Then, I should let you watch over us and listen.

Es: Ah, well… Thank you, I suppose. [Es takes a seat]

: My last two interrogations weren't as cooperative as you. I'm glad that I've been able to take a break from all the… 

: Conflict, I suppose.

Keisuke: Hey, I get it!

: You have to be careful, you know! Make sure nothing bad happens. 

: Oh! I've heard around you don't plan on voting any of us innocent.

Es: Where did you–

Keisuke: One of the others, I think?

: I don't know. Either way…

: I trust you.

Es: This blind trust in me…

: It's…

: What do you want from me?

Keisuke: What? No, no! I'm trusting you, Warden! You're the one with all the power here, so it's up to you to decide what to do with it.

: I don't think I'd be able to change your mind anyway, so I might as well just let you interrogate me and get on with it.

Es: Yes, yes… As MUGRAM's Warden, I must reveal your sins through an interrogation. So, let's begin this interrogation.

: Ahem, name, age, and… occupation, though you don't seem to look like you have one.

Keisuke: Hey, are you saying I look lazy?! 

Es: [laughs] Ah, well, I didn't exactly intend on saying that, but sure, if you'd like to interpret my words as such.

Keisuke: I… Aren't you younger than me, too? This feels so weird… 

: Anyways, hey! I should get back to my introduction.

: I’m Izumi Keisuke. I’m 19 and I'm in high school! Anyways, it’s nice to meet you, Warden!

Es: You're a high-schooler? You certainly don't look it.

Keisuke: Hey, well…! Man, school is so rough… Alright? There's all these tests and also having to deal with classmates. 

Es: What's wrong with your classmates?

Keisuke: Oh– Nothing, of course! I'm just saying… There's always drama and fights and other stuff… 

Es: Hm… 

: Well, that's helpful… I think?

: How has your life in MUGRAM been?

Keisuke: Oh, it's nice! It's weird not to be around my classmates or anything. 

: I've never been around so many people with working jobs, though… It's hard to find people to talk to about high-school besides people who are… like in university or something.

: Which reminds me, Isamu is nice! And, Mia! 

: I don't really talk to Mia that much; I think she's still scared about MUGRAM.

Es: I recall someone bringing up Isamu once… and Mia… Hm.

: Well, I'm glad to know your stay at MUGRAM has been enjoyable.

Keisuke: Can I ask how much longer we'll be here for?

Es: Well… I suppose, since you're being cooperative, until these trials are over and I have fully understood your sin.

Keisuke: Ah, but– Warden…

: I promise I didn’t do anything wrong. 

Es: Unfortunately, I've been brought here with the knowledge that you are all murderers.

Keisuke: …

: Look, I’m putting my trust in you, so keep us safe, okay?

: Make sure we're all okay by the end of this.

: …please, Es?

Es: Ah–... [sigh]

: I suppose.

: I'll keep that in mind. 

: …May I ask about your school once more?

Keisuke: Oh! It was nice. Classmates were fine. Teachers were nice, even if they ignored stuff sometimes.

Es: Hm? What do you mean by that?

Keisuke: There would be a fight happening in the hallway and the teachers wouldn't do anything about it.

: I mean, we put our trust in them and they don't do anything, like come on! 

: I'd listen to them – sure! – but when they're ignoring stuff like that, it's dumb!

: You understand, right, Warden? 

: You'd also listen to someone you trust, but they need to prove their trustworthiness. 

Es: So, you killed them.

Keisuke: What? Huh–

Es: They weren't trustworthy enough, were they?

: Someone let these little troubles slip by without a word and you needed to make sure someone noticed.

Keisuke: No, that's not what I–

Es: You saw this person, who you trusted, ignore these issues, deciding that they should let this stuff continue on. So, you took matters into your own hands. 

: You killed them just because they weren't paying attention to some silly drama?

: You're sick.

Keisuke: That's not what I did! I didn't do anything wrong, okay?!

: Everyone needs protecting and people need to see that! You listen to them when they need help, right, Warden??

: Right??

[Es stands up]

Keisuke: You'd listen to someone who needed help, right?

: Who needed protecting?

Es: Of course I would.

: But, I'd never resort to murder. 

Keisuke: Wh…

: What…?

Es: I believe I am starting to break down your defenses, Keisuke.

: Thank you for this cooperative interrogation.

Keisuke: No, no– Es!! [slams table] You need to understand– Please!

: I was just listening– I needed to– They asked me to– I was protecting them!!

[mechanical noises]

Keisuke: What's happening? Why is everything changing? Why is everything going dark?

: Es, please, you need to tell me what's going on–

: Please! You're supposed to keep us safe–

Es: Unfortunately, Keisuke, my job here is to reveal your sins.

: So, come now, prisoner number three, Keisuke.

: Sing your sins!

MUSIC VIDEO - Promise

[eris-the-phantom-thief]

Hana let out a yawn as she turned over. Kivuli pawed at Hana’s nose as if to say, “Mama! Play with us!” Her brother Midnight, followed suit as he climbed on her shoulder.

“Nooo lemme sleep…” She whined as she sat up slowly. Her hair was long, dark, fluffly, and a rats nest from sleeping on the sofa.

“Hmm…?”

Rubbing the sleep from her large brown eyes, she looked around. The girl before Yukari was short, looking to be only 4’7. She had tanned skin, a freckled face and a beauty mark under her left eye.

Hana yawned as she was curled up on the sofa of the dorm, fast asleep and with two kittens nestled against her. (Yukari) With the new college dorm to serve as a home base, Hana was conked out. Moving in was more time and energy consuming.

"Cats....?" She'd notice as she'd see the girl fast asleep, she didn't want to disturb the girl's sleep, but couldn't help but notice the cats, wondering where they'd come from, along with observing the girl who seemed worn out.

[bluegekk0]

How does the troupe get around as a unit in your AU? People always have their own little interpretations of how they get to place to place so I was curious about yours

Sneaky little second question, what do the troupe members including the grimmkin do in between rituals when they are just chilling in dirtmouth? Do they also contribute and interact with the town or do most of them just stay in the main tent?

I think they move on foot, perhaps there is some magic involved to make them travel faster, but they don't teleport around or move through the Nightmare Realm, since it's inaccessible and Grimm isn't powerful enough to do anything like that. So they have their carts and their Grimmsteed, they might also take other forms of transport such as the large Silt Strider like beasts I was talking about a while back. These days they usually travel between Dirtmouth and the nearest countries/kingdoms on the continent, so their journeys can take from a few days to a week or two.

(As a side note, I definitely want to sit down and do some calculations for things like how long is Grimm absent from home, the lifespan of his physical body, that sort of stuff. Since to this point I think it was unrealistic at times, and it's clear I'm kinda making it up as I go. I want to do some worldbuilding about the length of the year, the seasons and all that, so it would be fitting to do that then)

As for the second question, yes, they do contribute. For a while they kept mostly to the Troupe area of Dirtmouth, but as time went on they started getting more involved in the everyday life of the town. A lot of them helped with the physical part of the town renovations, which included Grimmkin houses where they reside when away from their duties. They also contribute to the holiday celebrations, the music crew in particular, and other Grimmkin help with the preparations like decorations, preparing the tables, that sort of thing.

Their introduction to Dirtmouth had a very rough start, many of them were unhappy (and we know how that ended), but as the town expanded and developed, they found themselves enjoying it more, mostly because there was more to do. There is a diner, a tavern, there are shops and markets, and extra jobs to do for those who want it. Of course, it doesn't compare to the things they experience whenever they travel to large countries and kingdoms for rituals, so they were fully on board with the idea of leaving without Grimm whenever possible (which he ended up suggesting after the incident). But their stay in Dirtmouth is not that bad, so they can't complain.

As the rest of the town got used to their presence, the Grimmkin were able to get integrated into the community more. Many of them have friends within the town, some may have found even more. I could see one or two Grimmkin finding love and deciding to leave the Troupe to start a family, which Grimm ensured would go as smoothly as possible. They could still work at the actual Troupe tent with performances and such, but they would no longer be connected to the Nightmare King.

It would mean that they'd sacrifice any special abilities that connection granted them (including their immortality), and in some cases there could be some side effects like memory issues or general confusion, but it would pass. I mentioned it before, but in the AU, the Troupe has always been voluntary, bugs could leave and get the benefits of the connection to the Nightmare King, while also working for Grimm and his crew. Consequently, they could also choose to leave at any time, with some minor side effects that I mentioned (or sometimes without any at all). Those who get banished aren't as lucky, and I like to think it's because Grimm throws them out and severs that connection without any extra effort. I'm definitely going to share more details on the WorldAnvil page about how exactly this works at some point in the future.

I mention this because I quite like the idea of the Troupe becoming even more of a theatre/performance house in Dirtmouth. They put on performances for the town, and if anyone needs some extra geo, they could help with Troupe matters without joining the ranks of Grimmkin, or maybe even work for them full-time. And I can't see why some Grimmkin, who perhaps found a life outside of the Troupe, wouldn't want a similar arrangement made. Grimm definitely wouldn't be opposed to it as long as the Troupe is still able to function correctly. He always tried to treat them nicely, and if he's able to enjoy a family life, he wouldn't want to strip those who remained loyal to him of that opportunity either.