#it's just a little ginzura

[zurajanaizurakoda]

Do you have HC for both ginzura and takazura ?!

First of all, thank you so much for the mail. I haven't gotten mail in years, I just assumed that it was activity, and holy shit, it was mail! I have so many complex and conflicting headcanons. In fact, just for you, I found that rant I started about why I write Takasugi like I do and my personal thoughts on him. But in the meantime, my current strongest headcanon is that Katsura is a sleep cuddler and Takasugi doesn't want none of that shit and Sakamoto's first response when he wakes up next to someone friendly is to get handsy, he doesn't even have to be awake for the process to start, so it was mutually decided that Gintoki has to sleep next to Katsura, and sometimes Gintoki just wakes up with Katsura clinging to his back and a big wet spot where the drool has soaked in, and if he's really awake he'll smack him a few times to try to get him to stop drooling but most of the time he'll just sigh extra loud to make sure the universe knows he didn't ask for this, and then he settles in a little closer and falls back asleep and he's surprised after the war how much he misses it.

...But Katsura misses it significantly more.

---

I got self conscious about posting personal thoughts when more people were following me obviously for the memes and I noticed people had me blocked and I wasn't sure if it was for the AI or the generally unpleasant subject matters I deal with, but I'd be happy to talk more if you're interested. And until someone gets mean, I'll keep anon on, so no judgement!

[joelletwo]

Do you have HC about first takazura kiss

I DONT. but thinking about it now i think it has to has to be super young like maybe before gintoki young. so i can ramble about that instead bc i find kid romance sweet but uninteresting lol theres a million ways kids get into kid romances. which they are demonstrably in by the time they are welcomed into shoukason and gintoki butts in on it /affectionate.

theres a lot of complicated shady math in my head that gets me from takazura dont pay each other very special attention onscreen in canon but theyre both IN this psychosexual triangle -> their deal must be already so solidly established as to not be worth acknowledging. and their deal must be able to withstand benizakura sugi appearing not to care if his comrade tries to kill zura even if they have enough of a currently ongoing relationship to have little cryptic terrorist meetups and for zura to be invested enough to file the divorce papers at the end. which 'we're no longer friends and ill take the kid gloves off next time we see you' is still a goofy underreaction to now TWO attempted murders by ur former comrade lol.

so they have a strong relationship base to say. and kind of demonstrably different from takagin who have the almost the same length of knowing each other but all their stuff hinges on those teen moments thats their clearest point of connection everything else is just like. eh two guys who know each other and are forced to be around each other. and ginzura cracks me up here bc they develop very organically very linearly very devotedly. from the starting point of kid gintoki being like WHO ARE YOU. STOP CREEPING AROUND MY SCHOOL BEING WEIRD. zero interest lol. once again stuck together.

so where shoukason trio as we see them as kids are only juuuuust cautiously cagily starting to reach out to each other. kid takazura leg already have an established dynamic and routine for making excuses to keep being connected and they already link each other as a solid duo in their minds. thats fun thats a whole realm of possibilities of extrapolating their past AND their future from just that info. i think they have their disgustingly sweet kid romance going into shoukason and i think theyre the disgustingly sweet mostly-secret relationship of the amanto war that gintoki has to cover for and is extremely annoyed to have to cover for their loveydovey bullshit. back when takasugi could be normal sweet underneath just a normal level of kid brattiness u have to imagine he could be gentle to a zura full of zura thoughts

[fyeahshinpachi]

Gintama  ABO  AU (SFW)

Do you sometimes wake up with the worst ideas? Yeah, so my headcanons for  Gintama characters in Alpha-Beta-Omega dynamics AU, where everything is the same, but there’s ABO dynamics involved. 

GINTOKI - omega. But not really bothering with it, as since he presented he was on heat supressing coconotions (which were more or less effective), or pharmaceutical supressants. Male omegas are rare (while not unheard of) so he can usually pass as a beta. He blames his need to help others... and every little  vice he ever had (sweet-tooth!) on ‘omega instincts’. While she would never tell him that, Otose almost cried in relief when he ‘employed’ Shinpachi and Kagura, as omegas have a deep instinctual need for contact, and the lack of human connection does terrible things to the psyche (a few times this led Gintoki into a really bad and frankly damaging relations with people). What Otose actually teases him with, is that taking care of two kids is absolutely his motherly omega instincts. Gintoki is absolutely sure this isn’t the case. He has issues with any sort of authority, but particularly when it stems from someone’s ‘alpha instincts’. There’s also some... history between him and Zura (who is an alpha) but neither  touches this topic with a 10 foot pole. 

KAGURA - none. Amanto have no ABO dynamics, and thus Kagura had no idea what is it all about. While with time she learned to take dynamics into consideration, it still adds to her lack of proper social skills, as she can’t read the room very well. People who don’t know she’s a yato think that she is an alpha or beta with some gland disability. It’s not a problem though in everyday Yorozuya life, as neither Gintoki or Shinpachi are too big on following proper ABO dynamics. 

SHINPACHI - alpha. And quite serious about being a good, considerate, protective and providing alpha. Expresses it in the very non-alpha way, though, by cooking, cleaning, washing, being overbearingly caring, and, as Gintoki says, by constant nagging. And while he’s not exactly non-confrontational (hooo boy), he’s not really bothered by shows of dominance, and he’ll usually just submit to skip the issue. (some alpha punk: wanna try me, huuuh? shinpachi: no (bows slightly in submission). can I pass, please? some alpha punk: :white guy bliking meme:  I guess?). Well. Unless other person threathens his sister or his friends. Then he goes full alpha, even if there’s no chance for him to win. As the time passes, he becomes better at knowing when to try to assert dominance, but he’s practically never the one to start the dominance contest, and he never has any problem with omegas or betas telling him what to do (what sometimes is an issue with alphas). His rather lax attitude towards the outward displays of being alpha stem mostly form the fact that his sister, who is also an alpha, was his only pack member for majority of his life, so he’s learned to channel his instincts in ways that wouldn’t challenge Otae.

OTAE - alpha. She works very hard to keep herself in check. Female alphas are, similarly to male omegas, rare but not unheard of, however it is considered to be, well, unattractive for a woman to be an alpha. So she tries her best to pass as a beta, especially at hostess club... but it doesn’t work. At all. Unlike Shinpachi, she’s very quick to try to assert dominance, but she’ll quickly fold if the situation becomes truly dangerous, to keep it from escalating. 

SHINSENGUMI - Kondou is a beta, and is slightly self-conscious about this. It works pretty well, though, because can absolutely play referee between Hijikata (alpha) and Sougo (alpha). The situation between them is extremely heated, as their (well, mostly Sougo’s) alpha instincts go absolutely haywire. Sougo doesn’t want to submit to Hijikata, and Hijikata is not going to back down. (They both submit to Kondou, though, even though he’s not an alpha.) Sougo has a lot of issues connected to dominance and being an alpha, and that’s one of the reasons he hits it off so well with Yorozuya, as they don’t particularly care for this pissing contest. And Yamazaki... is the most beta-like beta that ever lived. 

[radiashen]

WIP tag game

Rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs (or as many peeps as you want, really- ‘tis just for fun!) tagged by: @jester-mereel

—

ooh this looks fun!! all of these are gdocs i can see from my phone (bc i have wips scattered literally everywhere)

1. zura shit

2. gintoki au

3. ginzura shoyo

4. tama bfy

5. we can try to keep the love from fading

6. constellations koichi

not tagging anyone but feel free to do if u see this and want to participate 🥰

[ievaxol]

shudder with blood in my nose

An explicit ginzura fic under the cut - available on ao3 >>LINK HERE<<

Every once in a while there’s a knock at Katsura’s door, right before he’s about to turn off the lights and go to bed. Always at the same time, strong and insistent — every time he tells himself not to open, every time he does.

On the other side he’ll find Gintoki, slumped against the doorframe and grumbling about how long it took for him to get around to opening the ‘goddamn door, Zura, c’mon, a guy can’t wait forever huh’. A little tipsy, a little sad. Not drunk enough to forget on his own and not sober enough to read his JUMP and go to bed.

Such a pain.

Nonetheless Katsura will stand aside and Gintoki will shoulder past him, will ask about Elizabeth and then go straight for his fridge when he says that Elizabeth is out. Gintoki will cackle with unrestrained glee when he finds the strawberry milk Katsura stocks and then he’ll gulp it down in a single movement and Katsura will reprimand him, firmly, tell him that it’ll lead to a stomachache.

Then Gintoki’s eyes will darken and Katsura will feel that same old thrill down his spine and he’ll touch Gintoki until they tumble into his bedroom in a mess of kisses and feverish touches.

Katsura never tries to stop it, despite the voice in the back of his mind telling him that they can’t go on like this — it’s not healthy, a better version of himself says. Gintoki can’t keep using you as a crutch, no matter how much Katsura wants. It's like Gintoki has an uncanny sixth sense for when Katsura has once more started to steel himself to say no more, slipping in like a knife between his ribs right when Katsura starts contemplating not giving him his latest address and getting rid of the sweets he has around just in case.

In case of what, Katsura doesn't dwell on. He doesn't know what he wants from Gintoki and beyond the sex he doesn't know what Gintoki wants from him. 

They know nothing at all, either of them, two idiots connected by a cosmos that only ever seems to laugh at them.

Gintoki is a vocal and wondrous lover — on a particularly sappy day Katsura might follow the curve of his spine with the tip of his finger and think he was made to be loved, no matter how much it annoys Gin. The sex will be on his lap or with Gin on his back, face tipped up against the ceiling and eyes scrunched shut in pleasure as Katsura works endlessly to expel the ghosts haunting them, at least for a night.

Other days Katsura’s mouth is thin and he knows that the day after he’ll need to move locations again. On those days he smacks Gintoki’s ass, frowns when Gin grins and it’s over fast. Gintoki will be mean and Katsura even meaner, teeth and nails their weapon of choice as they both try their best to drown.

Today is an in-between — Gintoki’s breath is coming fast and labored into Katsura’s pillow and while Katsura isn’t taking it painstakingly slow he moves his hands with care, cups the scar on Gintoki’s hip with one hand as he slips the other between Gintoki’s spread legs.

They’ve been at it for a while already. Rare are the times that Gintoki will allow Katsura to linger but today he simply tsked at the rebel, an unhappy curve to his mouth that Katsura tried to erase with tongue and lips and fingers. His mouth tasted like cheap sake and Katsura felt like if he kissed Gintoki deep enough he might become a little tipsy himself, buried his hands in Gin’s thick hair and moaned with reckless abandon.

After all, who could better understand than him? When the city lights become too bright and Katsura ducks into the yorozuya shop, is that not the same as whatever this is?

He doesn’t know if Gintoki seeks out anyone else like this and he doesn’t want to know either.

As long as he remains ignorant this can be theirs alone.

Gintoki’s on his stomach, clothes neatly folded to the side — courtesy of Katsura — with his back arched as he chases pleasure. If Gintoki tilts his head to the side Katsura can see the dark purple bruise that’s forming on his pretty throat and it makes something hot rush in his blood, makes him dribble more oil over his fingers and marvel quietly at how Gintoki affects him.

"Zura…" Gintoki whines, high and needy. It's pathetic, really, for a grown man to sound like that — but it's also sort of cute and Katsura has always been weak for cute things. After the customary reminder of his name being Katsura, he rewards Gintoki with a twist of his fingers and Gintoki warbles something incomprehensible but undeniably pleased.

Probably for the better that he doesn’t know what Gintoki says, with the things that come out of his mouth sometimes.

“Zura.” When Katsura pumps his hand slow, “Zura — !” when he drapes himself over Gintoki and finally pushes home into his tight wet heat, “Zura, Zura, Zura.” A prayer from the least religious man Katsura knows and a sinful stroking of his ego, making him snap his hips that little bit harder to make Gintoki see stars.

No matter where or on what side they are there are moments that Katsura and Gintoki fall into perfect sync, without thinking, without speaking — fucking is one of those times, when they both know exactly what to do and how the other will move.

This is why Katsura opens the door, he reminds himself every time. This and the shadows underneath Gintoki’s eyes that speak of something other than staying up all night on the pachinko machine, one shared look enough to know what burdens has made a home of his shoulders.

And he won’t lie — Gintoki knows him just as well. The man doesn’t say it out loud but sometimes his fingers will drag along the scar over Katsura’s waist when they meet like this, fingers curling possessively around it.

Gintoki is sinful and gorgeous and meets Katsura just so, spreads his legs and pushes himself up on his elbows with a grunt before Katsura can ask. Surprisingly pliant underneath Katsura, he lets the rebel set the pace and simply takes it with his head hanging and hoarse pants filling the room.

It drives Katsura insane, makes him reach around Gintoki because he simply must get his hands on Gintoki’s cock that very moment — it’s hard and heavy in his hands and he pumps it just the way he knows Gin likes it, feeling the man clench around him as he starts to chase his release.

He always makes Gintoki come first, finds it unbearably hot when Gintoki looses any last shred of composure he has left, muscled thighs trembling underneath Katsura as he spills over the rebels hand — Katsura finds his own release shortly after every time, hips staggering as he drives into Gintoki with grit teeth.

And then.

A little slice of pure bliss as Gintoki begrudgingly lets himself be cleaned up by Katsura and a quiet moment laying side by side, lazily trading kisses. Sometimes they go for round two but not today — Gintoki mutters something about helping Kagura walk Sadaharu later when he gets antsy enough and Katsura lets the obvious lie slide.

He lies on his side and watches Gintoki cover up his scars, watches him roll his shoulders and smiling when they seem considerably lighter. Katsura’s own head is also blissfully quiet. The thought of Gintoki staying, of waking up next to him and having access to him always, will come later.

And thus the cycle begins anew.

[asideblogofananimelover]

Gintama Ships Fairy Tale Versions:

GinZura: Snow White

Snow White Katsura, dubbed as the fairest in the land with skin white as snow and hair black as ebony, accidentally eat a poisened apple prepared by Evil King Utsuro who felt that his beauty outshines his. He fell into a deep sleep, encased in a glass coffin by seven Renhos, or as he named them, Elizabeths. Until handsome Prince Gintoki see how beautiful he is lying in the glass coffin and kiss him.

GinHiji: Cinderella

Gintoki's a poor guy who just wants to go to the ball and feast on the desserts. His wish is granted by his fairy God Father Shouyou but he goes as Paako and got into a swordfight with Prince Hijikata. When it's midnight he runs away and is chased by Hijikata only to drop his bokuto, Lake Toya. Hijikata, who has fallen for him, searches for anyone who can fight using only a wooden sword. (Since it's canon that he searched for him for 2 years anyway so a few days of searching won't be a problem for him)

KonZura: Beauty and the Beast

Katsura offers himself in exchange of his grandmother who has been captured for trespassing in the castle of Prince Kondo. Kondo, who has been cursed to become a gorilla and get his servants (who all consisted of Shinsengumi members) into the mess, must make the beautiful Katsura fall in love with him to break his curse. (But when he turns back normal he still kinda looks like gorilla so nothing really changes but Katsura loves him anyway).

GinTaka: Sleeping Beauty

Princess Takasugi is in a coma deep sleep. Prince Gintoki has to face a horde of space pirates and crow assasins to smack kiss him awake. (Huh? Isn't this just the plot of Rakuyo arc?)

OkiKagu: Little Red Riding Hood

Red-hooded Kagura is sent by Shinpachi to bring sweets to Gintoki. She encounters a big bad wolf named Okita on the way who intends to "eat" her.

GinTae: The Princess and the Pea

Instead of Princess and pea, it's Samurai and bokuto. The Shimura family is looking for a true samurai to marry Tae when one night, Gintoki came to ask for shelter. Shinpachi believes that only a True Samurai can use Lake Toya. Gintoki proves himself a True Samurai when he uses the bokuto to defeat their debt collectors and marries Otae.

KatsuMatsu: Rapunzel

A wanted man Katsura comes across a tower where Ikumatsu is imprisoned by her evil step brother. He climbs the tower using her long golden hair and then they fall in love.

KaguSoyo: Aladdin and the Magic Lamp

Poor street girl Kagura saves Soyo, a princess in disguise from bullies. They bond and start liking each other, but Soyo's high social status gets in their way. (This is pretty much canon). Kagura then is hired by an afro yakuza named Inoue to get a magic lamp in a cave but ends up trapped there. She awakens a powerful silver-haired genie named Gintoki who promises to grant her three wishes, including getting her together with Soyo.

(Feel free to add more)

[regnigt]

Fic tag meme

fic tag game! Thank you very much for tagging me @pearthery!

Name(s): printfogey, Print

Fandoms: Gintama now, but I started out in Ranma 1/2 a long time ago (only wrote a couple of fics for it though). Most of my fic output has been for One Piece. Where you post: AO3, my journal on Dreamwidth (originally on Livejournal, which I still crosspost to automatically; all my old Livejournal posts got imported to Dreamwidth, though), and sometimes on fanfiction.net as well. I will answer the questions on popularity only via AO3 response, though. I don't get much response on ffnet at all these days and it takes too much time to go back and look up comment count on Livejournal (mostly I didn't get all that many comments, though!) Most popular one-shot (by kudos): -Overall: Caught in the Rain, One Piece, Sanji/Usopp - my most popular fic by far -This year: There's Often A Spike In Nativity Numbers Nine Months After A Sudden Cold Snap, Gintama, Gintoki/Katsura. (My most popular Gintama fic overall is also a one-shot, Annoying Friends Are No Less Annoying When They Come With Benefits , also Ginzura but with explicit smut.) Most Popular Multi-chap (also by kudos): Overall: Among true multichapter fics: Opening the Box, One Piece, 2 chapters, angsty gen with Sanji and Usopp. Among ficlet collections: I get Ideas, One Piece, various shippy fics involving at least one of the Strawhats. This year: I didn't post any true multichapter fics this year. Of the two ficlet collections I've posted (both Ginzura), Maybe Manga Characters Can Make A Home For Themselves In The Margins is the more popular one so far. The last time I posted a true multichapter fic was around a year ago, with the conclusion to There's No Together, There's No Apart, There's Only Impossible Longing (Gintama, Gintoki/Katsura/Takasugi). Favorite story you’ve written so far: That's a very hard question. I have a huge soft spot for my long Ginzura fic Human Beings Are Simple Creatures. I'm also fairly satisfied in the end with the abovementioned GinTakaZura fic, which took unexpectedly long to finish. And my very first Gintama fic which saw Katsura befriend Mitsuba in the past, I still like it a lot. I'm fond of my recent Ginzura Fest shortfics and ficlets, too... Among my One Piece fics, I might still be the most proud of my longest fic of all, Absence, and the aforementioned Opening the Box - though I might be more likely to re-read something short and fluffy like Autumn Soup, With Noodles (for instance). I also just remembered, I'm pretty darn proud of the haiku collection I wrote for the Zoro/Usopp ship, 17 haiku. Fic you were nervous to post: The last few chapters of Absence. And the total radio silence from readers the first few days after I had posted them - silence in ALL venues: ffnet, Dreamwidth, AO3, and LJ - was just so crushing at the time. I honestly considered deleting the whole fic. Thankfully at last comments started to come in! Grateful forever to @dethorats <3<3<3 How do you choose your titles: Ahahaha. That one's become a little different since I got into Gintama fandom than it used to be! I used to mostly think to myself, "okay, what's this fic all about, when it comes down to it? can i sum it up in just a few words without it sounding too obvious and trite, and let that be the title?" And sometimes I could! Often I couldn't, especially for fics inspired by prompts. So I'd play around with idioms and expressions and perhaps some lines from poems or song lyrics. For some reason I seem to nick titles from old Broadway standard songs' lyrics more often than other sources... Truth be told, I still do all of the above, but I usually at least try to find some Gintama-esque title even if that's not what always what I settle on, in the end. It also seems that Gintama canon's penchant for long chapter titles has made it easier for me to go nuts with long titles even when they're more poetical (I guess) than in the Gintama "words of life wisdom" mode. Do you outline: For short fics, just a vague mental sketch at best. For longer fics, sometimes, but not so much at beginning. Mostly towards the end when you need to think about pacing more and

bringing it all together.

Complete: Okay, this took some time to count since I had to go to my Master List on Dreamwidth as several of my AO3 fic posts are actually ficlet collections, and not all the chapters are fics. Excluding poetry, filks, and a few reeeeally short Twitter ficlets that don't feel like they entirely count, I've written and posted 129 fics for One Piece (some of which are reeeally short, though!), 22 fics for Gintama, and 13 other fics for Ranma 1/2, Fullmetal Alchemist, and a couple of other canons. Considering my age this is not really as productive as it might look -- there have gone several years since I first got into fic-writing fandom where I haven't written a single story. It's been mostly done in phases. Shipping fests and regular prompts (and chaos threads, back when those existed) seem to inspire me, but I also need the right kind of canon to obsess about, and that doesn't happen very often. It's not just about loving the canon, there's much more to it than that... there are way more canons that I've felt obsessed about than canons I've felt inspired to write (and, importantly, read) fic about.

In progress: My current Ginzura fic with a bath theme. And a few languishing WIPs like the one with the power shortage in Kabuki District and the sickfic/notsickfic about Katsura... (though I did end up posting one intended "chapter" from that WIP, as it felt like it could be read on its own).

Not started: A number of vague ideas, some of them safe for work, other ones not. There are several where it feels like I need good opening lines to even start committing the ideas to the computer screen or to paper.

Prompts?: Yes!! I prefer prompts of just one word, a couple of words, or at most perhaps a short quote. Detailed plotty prompts mostly don't do it for me. But I think prompts work the best for me if there's some kind of common framing within a corner of the fandom, like a shipfest or a regular prompt account or something. And again, chaos threads back in the day. Upcoming work you’re most excited about: Right now there's only this one bath-themed Ginzura WIP that I mentioned before. If I do manage to get back into the mood for writing my other, older WIPs, that would be pretty exciting, though! No Pressure Tags: @egelantier @listening-to-thunder @nocturneequuis - and anyone who's reading this, consider yourself tagged! (I would tag more people but I'm not sure how many are active on Tumblr these days)

[suchine-toki]

You know... it really kinda confuses me that HijiGin is still the big mlm Ginship in this fandom. Like no hate to it, it's great, but Gintaka... has it all... the rivalry, the angst, the backstory, the soulmates... I expected a sharp GinTaka boost in the fandom and yet it never happened??? Gintama fandom is wild

Well, it's no wonder when you consider that Hijikata had a lot more screentime than Takasugi, and a lot more interactions with Gintoki. Even I didn't care about Takasugi and gintaka until their fight back then in 2014 lmao🤣

In that sense, yes there was a sharp gintaka boost in the fandom, but since so little was known about their relationship, you could say that at that time it just started to... bloom haha. It was impossible for it to catch up with mlm ships that had been around for much longer, like ginzura and ginshin (gintoki x shinpachi... yes, I know), let alone ginhiji.

You also have to consider that what you ship is closely related to how much you like the characters that compose it, individually. And Gintoki and Hijikata are the two most popular characters in Gintama. However, if you add up all the votes from the six polls that were taken (actually I did it here lol), Takasugi is in third place. He'd a boost at the end when he started to appear more, which suggests that things could've been different if he'd had more screentime and more interactions with Gintoki from the beginning.

The first time I saw Gintama, I did it, so to speak, without the influence of the fandom, just on my own. It was a surprise when I found out that ginhiji and okikagu were the most popular pairings because I never saw them that way. At that time I liked ginzura and ginsaka (joui pairings) better. I think it may be related to the fact that I generally don't like cops in media, and I tend to support the side of the revolutionaries 😂

In short, the experiences are different for each one, and they will dictate what we like, with whom we identify and how we see things. Not everyone feels the same and that's okay, the important thing is to enjoy the ship you like. The rivalry, the angst, the backstory, the soulmates, are elements I still enjoy a lot about gintaka 👌

[dragonshost]

gintama, ginzura, promot: “I walked until I got arrested.” Please and thank you, i am a big fan of your blog

Thank you so much anon, I LIVE for these morons and I had so much fun imagining and writing this.  Special thanks go to @thatoneonfire for helping me out with this immensely!!

I must warn you that this is a bit crass because it’s... well, it’s Gintama.

Below The Cut

Knock Knock Knock

Gintoki groaned at the sound, like a jackhammer aimed at his head.  His hangover was particularly bad this morning.  Nausea swam through his body like a fish.  “Go away!” he yelled, and then winced at his own voice.

Knock Knock Knock

“I don’t care who’s there!” Gintoki shouted, picking up his pillow and placing it over his ears and trying to become one with his futon.  It was too damn early in the morning for this.

Knock Knock Knock

“I don’t have rent, old lady!  Go bother someone else!”  There was no possible way it was a customer.  Not this early in the day.  Customers for Odd Jobs never came around at a decent hour, because decent people waited until the afternoon to get shit accomplished, like proper, upstanding citizens should.  Not that they got a whole lot of proper citizens patronizing them, now that he thought about it.

Knock Knock Knock

“No one’s home! Leave a message after the beep!  Beep!”

Blessed silence fell over the office, and Gintoki heaved a sigh, choking back the bile that rose up when he did so.  Ugh, he felt like shit.

Ding Ding Ding

Dammit, they found the doorbell.  Now he was screwed.  He had to either get up and answer it, or let them wake up Kagura and she would answer it - with a kick straight through it.  Gintoki couldn’t afford to replace it again; he was starting to get a reputation for door theft in the neighborhood and he couldn’t bring that kind of heat down on his head again.

“Alright, alright!  I’m coming!”  With a groan, he heaved his corpse out of the futon and stumbled out of his room.

Ding Ding Ding

“I said I’m coming, you a**holes!” he snapped, bumping his shin into the table.  “C***s****ing a**holes!”

Ding Ding Ding... dingdingdingdingdingdingdingding

“Stop button-mashing!  Do you think this is Mortal *ombat?!  Are you here to avenge your sensei?!”  Throwing the door open, Gintoki continued, “I’m gonna show you exactly where you can shove that button-mashing finger, you peace-disturbing piece of-”

His rant abruptly cut off as he met the bewildered stare of the person disturbing his peace.

Or rather, persons.

There was a full squad of uniformed Shinsengumi in front of his door, and spilling out onto the stairway and into the thoroughfare.  Which would be sufficient cause for alarm on most days, but particularly alarming were the four people immediately on his threshold: a scowling demonic vice-chief, a sadist barely containing his glee, and a fully stark naked chief holding the leash of a renowned joui terrorist Katsura Kotarou wearing the shabbiest dog costume Gintoki had ever seen in his life.

Kondo cleared his throat.  “Um... sorry to disturb you so early in the morning, but I think I found something that belongs to yo-”

The door slammed shut in his face.

“Hey!! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Hijikata yelled, grabbing the handle and trying to force it back open.

Using all of his might to hold it closed, Gintoki shouted back, “I’m going back to bed!  Whatever sick fetish this is, I don’t want any part of it!”

“Just open the damn door!  Do you think we want to be here any more than you want us?!”

“Stand back, sir, I’ve got this,” Okita piped up, a heavy clunking emanating from the other side of the door.

“Would you all shut UP!”  A red-pajama-ed leg sailed past Gintoki’s nose, punching straight through the door and knocking Okita and his trusty rocket launcher off the roof.  Gintoki stared through the gaping hole in his door as Kagura let out a yawn, and then stretched.  Scratching her belly, she crawled back through the hole in the door and stumbled past the furiously sweating Gintoki, letting out a loud belch on her way.

Meeting Gintoki’s eyes, Kondo cleared his throat once more.  “Um... sorry to disturb you so early in the morning, but I think I-”

“I heard you the first time!” Gintoki snapped.  “What do you want?!  You’ve disturbed my sleep, upset my ward, and now you’ve put a hole through my door-”

“Don’t you blame that on us!” hissed Hijikata.  He jabbed his finger at Gintoki.  “That was clearly your kid’s fault!”

“My kid?!  I clearly saw that rocket launcher your kid was about to blast me with!  And didn’t your mother ever tell you it’s rude to point?!” he accused, not following his own statement and pointing his finger back at the Shinsengumi’s Vice Chief.

Kondo cleared his throat.  “Um... sorry to disturb you so early-”

A vein throbbed on Gintoki’s head.  “I said that you already said that part!  Just tell me why your furry b**** are darkening my doorstep already, Gorilla!  So I can go back to sleep!”  Given that Katsura was in a dog costume standing with the Shinsengumi, it was sure to be incredibly stupid but that would be par for the course at this point.

“Well, we were out on an early morning patrol, and we happened upon the dogcatcher.”  Beside him, Katsura, in his costume, nodded along   “Then I saw this little guy looking out the back, with such sad eyes, and I could just hear that one commercial with Sarah McLaughing playing in my head, you know?”

“Understandable, but that’s clearly not a dog,” Gintoki pointed out.  “That’s a terrorist.”

“Being cute is not illegal,” chided Kondo, reaching over and patting Katsura on the head.  “The dogcatcher had caught him, and he knows his business, Gintoki.  I’m not about to question it.  Besides which, this good boy was holding this sign around his neck.”  He passed it through the hole to Gintoki.

“Where was this?” Gintoki questioned, taking in gingerly.  “Where were you hiding this?!”

“That’s not important,” replied Kondo, a blush spreading across his cheeks.  Both sets of them.

Disgusted and regretting the fact that he’d already taken the damn thing from him, Gintoki looked over what it said.

If FoundPlease Return To:Sakata GintokiOdd Jobs GinAbove Bar OtoseKabukicho, Edo

‘What the f*** was Zura doing?!?!  And he got caught by the dogcatcher?!?!  Does no one in Edo have eyes?!?!  And what is up with this “good boy” nonsense?!?!  Zura’s never been good a day in his life!’

“Woof,” said Katsura, helpfully.

It took every ounce of self-control that Gintoki possessed to stop himself from killing Katsura on the spot.  “I don’t want this package.”  Gintoki glanced down at Kondo’s crotch.  “Either of these packages.”

Hijikata rolled his eyes.  “Look, we have better things to do than stand around your place yakking all day long.  Just take the damn dog so we can go already.  Also, when did you get a new dog?  I could’ve sworn you only had the one.”

“Me too, buddy.”

“You know that you’re going to have to get a kennel license, right?” Okita pointed out, finally working his way back up through the rest of the squad and onto the walkway.  “We’ll overlook it this time as a favor to you, Boss, but you’ll have to turn in the paperwork within a week or two or else get a fine.”

Gintoki blinked slowly.  “...What?”

“A kennel license.  Because with four dogs, you have to get one.”  He started ticking them off on his fingers, “The white furball, this decrepit looking one, the old one you keep downstairs...”

Gintoki wondered if Okita was referring to Hasegawa or Otose with that.

“...and the red bitch with hair buns that-”

“WHAT WAS THAT YOU CALLED ME?!”  A red blur whooshed past Gintoki’s head for the second time, breaking apart more of the door and sending Okita over the edge once again.  Her work complete, she turned and stared at Katsura, finally noticing him for the first time.  “Look, it’s dog shit in a dog costume.”

Katsura wheezed painfully at Kagura’s harsh words.  “Leader!” he protested, only to garner the immediate and intense appraisal of everyone around him.  “I m-mean... W-woof.”

Narrowing his eyes at Katsura, Hijikata addressed Gintoki.  “I’ve been meaning to ask you this, but what kind of dog is he?  That was a pretty human sounding ‘Woof’ just now.”

‘What about the rest of it?!’ Gintoki internally shouted.  ‘It’s only the bark that concerns you?!  Why are you only starting to question this right now?!’

“...I’m a spacedog,” Katsura himself offered.  “We can talk, actually.  Sorry I didn’t say anything before now.”

Kondo nodded.  “That checks out.”  When it looked like Hijikata might protest after all, Kondo silenced him with a raised hand and a shake of his head.  “Calm down, Toshi.  Remember where we found him.  I’m sure the dogcatcher knows better than anyone what is and what isn’t a dog.  It isn’t our job to question fellow officers of the law.”

“I’m personally questioning the ones right in front of me,” muttered Gintoki.  “Since you’re talking now, just what was it that you did to get captured by the dogcatcher?”

“I was just walking around, until I got arrested out of the blue by that scary man with the net.  It was terrifying.”

‘I mean, it’s clear that you’re a highly suspicious person, and I’m glad that someone took you off the streets, but come on!  Getting caught by the dogcatcher is not the same as getting arrested, you moron!  Speaking of which, it’s a miracle you haven’t been up to this point!’

“Aww...”  Kondo petted Katsura on the head once more, the look in his eyes tender.  “I’m sorry, that must have been quite the ordeal for you.”

“It’s been quite the ordeal for me so far, honestly,” Gintoki observed.

Shuffling sheepishly, Kondo tentatively asked, “By the way, I’ve been wondering... what is his name?”

“It’s Zura,” offered Kagura, before Gintoki could stop her.

“I’m not Zura!” Katsura declared.  “I’m Katsura!”

‘I shouldn’t even try to save him.  Zura is just asking to get arrested at this point.’

Kondo blinked, then let out a huge laugh from deep in his belly.  “That’s hilarious!  What a fantastic name!  So that’s why you called him a terrorist before!  I will say that it’s apt.  He’s certainly hijacked my heart, the little rascal.”

Begrudgingly, Hijikata nodded.  “I have to say, I’m surprised but naming an animal after a fellow animal is a pretty clever idea.”

Gintoki opened his mouth, and then quickly shut it with a snap.  He sighed heavily through his nose, and rubbed his aching head.  “Shinsengumi... someday, we’re going to have to have a talk about your face-blindness.”  Deciding it would be faster to get rid of them all by playing along, he continued in a monotone, “Thank you for returning my pet.  If you will just hand him over to me, you can be on your way.”  The sooner they were gone, the sooner he could kick Katsura out and go back to sleep and possibly his anti-nausea medication.

Shockingly, Kondo hesitated, staring deep into Katsura’s eyes.  His own were soft around the edges, and his hand on the fake-dog’s head was gentle.

In The Arms Of The Angel

Katsura gazed back at him, thinking the other man was challenging him to a staring contest and not wanting to back down from it.

Fly Away From Here

“Stop that!” Gintoki demanded, looking around desperately for the source of the music.  “Stop with the melodramatic music!  This isn’t a touching moment!  Neither of these two are on the same page!  One of them clearly thinks this is a staring contest!”

From This Dark, Cold, Hotel Room

“THIS ISN’T EVEN A HOTEL ROOM, IT’S MY HOUSE!!  PLEASE STOP IT, SONG FICS AREN’T EVEN ALLOWED ON FFN!  DRAGON’SHOST IS GOING TO GET SUED AT THIS RATE!”

And The Endlessness That Y-

The music abruptly cut off, Kagura proudly holding up a broken boombox.  “I took care of it, Gin-chan!”

“Good job, Kagura!”  He gave her a thumbs up.  “Zura, let’s go.”

Breaking eye contact with Kondo at last (mostly because the other man’s were tearing up from strain and he wanted to save his opponent some dignity), Katsura waddled over to Gintoki in his tattered suit.  As he passed by him, he laid a paw on Gintoki’s shoulder.  “Thank you, my friend,” he whispered so only they could hear.  “I was afraid my cover was blown.  But thanks to you, I can continue with my undercover infiltration plans.”

“The only thing you’ve managed to infiltrate is my house, you moron,” Gintoki muttered darkly.

“Nevertheless, I will not forget this debt.”

“I hope that debt comes with a monetary reward.”  He wasn’t going to hold his breath, though.

Katsura smiled, and continued past him into the house.

“There,” Gintoki stated, beckoning for Kagura to come inside as well.  “Now that your business is concluded, please go away now.”

“Wait.”  Kondo motioned his hand towards the broken boombox Kagura was making off with.  “That’s my personal property.  I’m not mad about you destroying it, but can I at least have it back?”

Kagura looked him up and down coldly, a sneer spreading across her face.  “Mine now.  Finder’s keepers.  If you wanted it so badly, maybe you should have taken care of it and not broken it.”

“That was you that broke it, idiot,” Gintoki pointed out.  “Just give it back to him.  We already have Zura, we don’t need more pointless junk.”

“Had Zura, you mean.”

The man blinked.  “Eh? What do you mean, by ‘had’?” he questioned, his voice pitching an octave higher.  “Eh?  Kagura-chan?  What?  Why are you using past tense?”

Pointing into the main office, Kagura stated, “Sadaharu got jealous of a new dog in the house.”

Right on cue, Katsura’s bloody form collapsed in the entrance to the hallway.

In The Arms Of The Angel

A strangled gurgle erupted from Gintoki’s mouth.

Fly Away From Here

Katsura shakily raised his head, blood streaming down his face.

From This Dark, Cold, Hotel Room

“NOOOOO!” Kondo screamed, time slowing down as he ran towards the injured spacedog.  Only to stumble and fall just short of his goal.  He reached out towards Katsura, his fingers straining to reach him.

With a trembling hand, Katsura reached back.

And The Endlessness That You Fear

Just before their fingers could touch... a giant white paw slammed down on Katsura’s back, dragging him back into the office.

“NOOOO!” Crying, Kondo curled his fingers and slammed them against the tatami.  “Why?!  Why did it have to end this way?!”

You Are Pulled From The Wreckage

A horrible ripping sound penetrated the air, followed by a wet squelch as a tattered and bloody tail of Katsura’s dog costume hit the mats right in front of Kondo.

“ZURAAAAAAA!” sobbed the Shinsengumi chief.  “ZUUUURAAAA!!”

Of Your Sile-

The music cut off again, and Gintoki turned to stare as Yamazaki put down his own boombox.  He shrugged.  “It seemed appropriate before, but now that it’s become a horror, I thought I should stop.”

Gintoki stared at him.  “How long have you been there?”

Offended, Yamazaki huffed, “That’s rude!  I’ve been here the whole time!  Didn’t you see me?!”

He thought it over.  “...Nope.”  When Yamazaki continued to stare at him in accusation, Gintoki defended himself.  “You’re like Shinpachi levels of bland, but without even glasses to give you some sort of presence, I didn’t even notice you were there.”

“How?!” Kondo demanded, rising to his knees.  Snot dripped down his face, and his eyes were rimmed red with his tears of despair.  “How can you all just stand there and talk so calmly?  He was your pet, wasn’t he, Gintoki?  A dog, man’s best friend?  He just died in front of you!  How can you stand there like nothing happened?”

Shoving a finger up his noise, Gintoki hummed in thought.  “Eh...”  He pulled his finger out, contemplated the treasure he’d just excavated, and then flicked it at Yamazaki, who flailed to avoid the projectile. “He’s probably fine.”

Kondo gestured with an open hand towards the murder scene.  “He’s dead!”

“I’m sure he’ll get better.  I have absolute faith in how impossible he is to kill.”

Sniffling, Kondo wiped his face with one arm.  “I’m going to... I’m going to pay my respects.  To the bravest dog I’ve ever known.”

With a sigh, Gintoki begrudgingly followed Kondo into the room.  He nearly ran into the man as he stood inside, his jaw dropped.  “What the heck, Gorilla?  Don’t you know better than to just suddenly stop in front of someone?”  When there was no response, Gintoki stepped around him and got his first good look of the room.  And then immediately wished that he hadn’t.

“What the hell are you doing to my office, Zura?!”

The man looked up, the bottom half of his dog costume pulled down to his ankles as he popped a squat next to Sadaharu, who was doing the same.  “I’m not Zura, I’m Katsura.  And Sadaharu said that he would respect me as junior member of the household if I could prove myself to him.  So we’re doing that.”

“What part of that translates to ‘take a dump in Gintoki’s house’?!  And when did you learn how to speak dog anyway, you mangy mutt?!”

“I am a dog,” Katsura reminded Gintoki of his cover.  “Maybe not originally, as I’m just a gun that ate the Dog Dog vegetable.”

“What do you think this is, One Park?!  And didn’t you say you were a spacedog, before?!”

“A space gun that became a dog. But I will prove myself here and now as a proper pet with the best cannonball that I can produce!”

A brown mosaic dropped onto the floor.

“It’s a big ball of SOMETHING all right!” Gintoki shouted.

“Don’t interfere, my friend!” cautioned Katsura, holding up a hand to forestall Gintoki stalking over there and beating the literal crap out of it.  “This is a battlefield!  It’s about honor!”

“No, it’s clearly about crap!”

Kondo clenched his fist, bringing it to his hairy chest and holding it over his heart.  “I was right about you, Zura.”

“I’m not Zura, I’m-”

Tears glistened anew in Kondo’s eyes.  “I was right in thinking that you were the bravest dog I had ever seen.  Would you... would you allow me to fight by your side, as your comrade?”

Katsura stared up at the naked man, his eyes glistening with the depth of his emotions.  “Kondo... Yes, I would be honored if you fought alongside me.  Comrade.”

“NO!” Gintoki screamed, about ready to throttle all of them.  Only a healthy fear of being arrested kept him from actively doing so.  “GO OUTSIDE!!  I’M BEGGING YOU!  THERE’S A CHILD HERE!  WE’RE ALREADY PUSHING THE RATING OF THIS WITH YOU GUYS EXPOSING YOURSELVES IN FRONT OF HER!”

“Wait!”  Kagura ran into the room, already dropping trou as well.  “Don’t leave me out!”

“You see?!  You’re a bad influence!  Kagura, don’t follow their example!  You’re better than that!  The PTA is going to come after us again!”

“Hmph.”  Pushing past Gintoki, Okita stared down the scene in front of them.  “Just as I thought.  What a crass bitch.”

“Thank you, Okita.”  Gintoki looked at him with hope in his heart.  “Finally, someone with some common sense-”

Okita shook his head.  “Sorry, Boss.  But I’m not about to let her outdo me at something,” he said, before rushing in to join the literal sh**show.

Tears began to stream down Gintoki’s face.  He wasn’t altogether sure if they were from his despair or from the rancid stench starting to fill the small space.  “Please, you monsters,” he begged them.  “Think of the animators who have to draw all this sh**!  Think of their training, their hard work, their hopes and aspirations they must have had!  Only to culminate in working on a tower of excrement!  Think of how accurately they have to draw this, for the mosaic program to pick it up?  Think of what you’re doing to them!  For something that we totally can’t air now!  The only ones going to be happy about this are your proctologists!”

His heartfelt speech fell on deaf ears, as the crapping contest continued unabated.  Gintoki watched the whole thing, numb inside.

When it was finally over, and the participants were quite literally and thoroughly crapped out, Kondo approached Gintoki.  “I was wondering if I could speak to you, Gintoki.  Man to man.”

Gintoki sighed heavily.  “Don’t you mean gorilla to man?  But yeah, sure.  What is it?”

Laying a hand on Gintoki’s shoulder, Kondo confessed, “I think I love your dog, Gintoki.”

“Yeah, okay.  Raise the rating on this thing, why don’t you.”

He shook his head.  “Not that like that.  I mean, I’ve fallen in love with his samurai spirit.  It’s the same spirit which forms the basis the Shinsengumi’s heart and soul.  I was wondering, since your pets don’t seem to get along, if I might take him back with me to the Shinsengumi.  We could use such a noble mascot among our ranks.”

Completely numb and wanting to be done with this whole affair, Gintoki could only nod.  “If it will get all of you out of my house, I don’t care anymore.  Just take him and go.”

Kondo smiled. “Thank you, Gintoki!  I will not soon forget this favor!”

“Good, because I’ll be sending you the repair bills for this.”

Ignoring him, Kondo repeated, “I will not soon forget this favor!”

“Didn’t you hear me?  I said I’ll be sending you the-”

Hijikata stepped beside Gintoki and shook his head.  “Don’t waste your breath.  We’ll take care of it, if you forget this ever happened.”

“Deal.”

As everyone began to pack up and leave - including Kagura, who was out of her favorite pickled seaweed - Katsura walked up to Gintoki.  “Gintoki.  Words cannot express my gratitude.  Thanks to your sacrifice, I was able to successfully infiltrate the Shinsengumi.”

“You literally crapped your way in, but okay.”

“Regardless...”  Katsura paused, and looked deep into Gintoki’s eyes.  “I heard everything you said before opening your door, you know.”  When Gintoki opened his mouth to reply, Katsura shook his head.  His eyes flicked over to the gathered Shinsengumi members waiting at the door for him to join him.  “Gintoki.  I know that it will be difficult to see your friend leaving, and wagging his tail for a different master.  But I will always treasure the times we spent together - both the difficult ones, and the easier times where we were full of laughter and hope.  I will always treasure you, even though are paths are different.  Even if others would not agree with my decision, and hate you, I never will.  Do you understand?”

You Are Pulled From The Wreckage

Gintoki found he had no more words left in him as the soft piano playing from Yamazaki’s boombox began to fill the room.  Nothing he could say to express the well of warmth rising inside his soul at Katsura’s words.  So he said nothing, and just nodded.

Of Your Reverie

Katsura smiled.  “Good.  I will see you again someday, I’m sure. Take care of yourself, and your new comrades, Gintoki.  I know how much you treasure them, too.”

You’re In The Arms Of The Angel

He nodded again, shortly.  “Yeah.”

May You Find Some Comfort Here

As Katsura left with the Shinsengumi, Gintoki followed him outside.  As Katsura reached the bottom of the stairs, he paused and looked back up at Gintoki, a warm smile on his face.

You’re In The Arms Of The Angel

Then he turned slowly, and departed, the piano notes fading softly behind him.

May You Find Some Comfort Here

Gintoki stood out on the balcony for some time, leaning against the railing.  Once Katsura was out of sight, he returned back into his office.

And came face to the face with The Great Tower of Mosaics.

He stared at it for a moment, flies attracted to the stench buzzing around his head.

Then he shut the door, and left the building.

“Pachinko time.”

This was a problem for Future Gintoki.

[runawaykotaro]

ginzura 1-30

Oh okay oh man we’re going 0-60 here all at once i get it okay lets go

1. Who is the most affectionate?

I think this one is going to depend on what you count as affectionate? like, Gintoki’s more into physical contact and he’ll like, touch katsura more often but Zura’s more likely to express concern for Gintoki (by nagging but u know. it’s affectionate nagging) so i’d say that one is a toss up

2. Big spoon/Little spoon

With all of Zura’s hair???? Zura is definitely the big spoon Gintoki doesn’t want any of that near his mouth and Zura doesn’t want Gintoki’s mouth anywhere near his hair

3. Most common argument?

It would literally be easier to name what they don’t argue about. Like, they argue about each others bad habits, their hygiene, what to eat for dinner, who’s paying for dinner, although who’s paying for what is a really common one because they’re both really cheap

4. Favorite non-sexual activity?

They like to sit on the couch and just do nothing together. Like, Katsura will read the newspaper and Gintoki will read jump and they’ll just like, sit there, mostly quiet but sometimes making inane comments about what they’re reading. They like the peace :’) (close second is family dinners with the yorozuya)

5. Who is most likely to carry the other?

I’d say that Gintoki is more likely to carry Katsura, cause Zura has this nasty habit of taking blows meant for other people and that generally makes it hard for him to walk

6. What is their favorite feature of their partner’s?

Katsura admires how strong Gintoki is to be able to recover and try to build a new life for himself after everything that happened to him (he also likes his abs) As much as it irritates him, Gintoki admires Katsura’s strategic mind and how he’s able to manipulate people into doing what he needs them to do (and his legs)

7. What’s the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for the other?

I’d say that nothing really changed because i don’t think that either of them ever had a ‘i’m in love with you’ moment. I think that they just naturally came together after a while and without much thought

8. Nicknames? & if so, how did they originate?

I um. Don’t think i need to answer this. I think we all Know.

9. Who worries the most?

This might be controversial but i think it’s Gintoki, especially towards the beginning of the series, because he sees a lot of Katsura’s behavior as lashing out and bordering on self-destructive. I think that Katsura worries a lot about gintoki too though but both of them have a lot of faith in the other and their ability to deal with their problems which is why they usually keep quiet about it

10. Who remembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant?

Katsura because Gintoki’s order is so unique and he finds it so disgusting. Red beans on rice? Gintoki, you’re a disgrace to samurai everywhere. You have no respect for your body or proper nutrition-

11. Who tops?

I’m going to say usually Gintoki but i don’t think that’s an always thing

12. Who initiates kisses?

Gintoki again i think. Overall I think that Gintoki is more into physical intimacy, whereas Katsura is very verbal with his affection

13. Who reaches for the other’s hand first?

Depends on the situation I guess? But I don’t think either of them are big hand holders now but I think Zura would do it a lot when they were kids

14. Who kisses the hardest?

Whoever just got insulted in the last petty argument they had

15. Who wakes up first?

Gintoki probably. I feel like most of the time he’s a light sleeper so he wakes up really early and really easily which pisses him off to no end. Whereas Zura sleeps like a log

16. Who wants to stay in bed just a little longer?

Also Gintoki. If he wakes up before his alarm he’ll just do his best to go back to sleep (and usually ends up sleeping through his alarm) It irritates him to no end that Katsura goes from like, deep sleep to ready for the day in point two seconds after he wakes up so sometimes he’ll nag Zura into staying in bed with him for a while after they’re supposed to wake up

17. Who says I love you first?

Okay I actually can’t imagine either of them saying it ever i really feel like they’re both more inclined to show it than actually say the words? I don’t think that they’ve ever said it

18. Who leaves little notes in the other’s one lunch? (Bonus: what does it usually say?)

Zura. He packs bento boxes for Gintoki and leave notes in them that say ‘Eat something other than carbs for once in your life.’

19. Who tells their family/friends about their relationship first?

Again I think that it was more of people just eventually... figuring it out? like, Sakamoto walks in on Gintoki and Katsura making out one day and he’s like oh okay that makes sense and Takasugi would have had to have been blind Not to notice, and for Now, as Zura and Gintoki settled in around each other again Katsura just started coming over to the yorozuya more often and staying over and Kagura and Shinpachi just, figured out that they had a lot of history and cared about each other a lot just from watching them

20. What do their family/friends think of their relationship?

Sakamoto and Takasugi literally couldn’t have cared less except for when it was something that they could make fun of them for. Like, Gintoki and Zura being Involved didn’t really change their dynamic because they’d always bickered like an old married couple anyway, so beyond Sakamoto making dirty jokes and Takasugi yelling at them when they’re remotely affectionate somewhere he can see, they really didn’t acknowledge it much, though both of them hoped that gintoki and zura were happy. Kagura and Shinpachi were more conflicted because first of all: Ew Old Men, but more importantly because they can and could tell that Katsura and Gintoki had kind of a difficult history together but at the same time, Zura was also practically family to them too. Overall, they’re happy for them though

21. Who is more likely to start dancing with the other?

Katsura, and he’s really embarrassing and demanding about it. If a song he likes comes on he’s like ‘Gintoki Get UP we’re going to dance now’ sometimes he starts dancing by himself. it’s awful he’s so bad at it. Gintoki loves him anyway. sometimes he’ll give in and get roped into ‘slow-dancing’ which is mostly just them holding onto each other and swaying in one spot

22. Who cooks more/who is better at cooking?

Gintoki cooks more because it’s his house dammit and he’s not leaving Zura alone in the kitchen. He’s also better at it- Zura only knows how to make like, three things

23. Who comes up with cheesy pick up lines?

Zura likes to find really bad pick up lines on candy wrappers or over the internet or whatever and read them to Gintoki in a really serious voice and then get offended when Gintoki tells him to shut up

24. Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear during inappropriate times?

Gintoki no contest, but Zura will sometimes do it by accident because he has a malfunctioning social filter

25. Who needs more assurance?

Gintoki, probably. He worries a lot about how he’s impacting Kagura and Shinpachi, and he’s always conflicted about the decision he made on the cliff and what Shoyou thought. Katsura takes supporting Gintoki and reassuring him very seriously

26. What would be their theme song?

Sorry for cheating but i have literally no idea i listen to the same three songs on repeat

27. Who would sing to their child back to sleep?

Gintoki. Its his inescapable fatherly nature (Zura would like to wait outside the door and listen)

28. What do they do when they’re away from each other?

Pretty much the same things they do when they’re together. Gintoki ‘manages’ the yorozuya, Zura has the Joui

29. one headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart

After the cliff, the reason that Katsura left was that he believed that Gintoki wouldn’t want to see him anymore because he’d be a reminder of how he’d had to kill shoyou to save takasugi and katsura. Gintoki thought that Katsura left because he could bare to be around him when he’d killed shoyou

30. one headcanon about this OTP that mends it

Katsura is really really fond of Kagura because how brash and rude she is reminds him of Gintoki when they were younger

[kuraiamore]

hi!! i just read your recent gintama fic updates gotta drop in for a sec. alittlesomethingtowarmtheheart was so great you got across the feeling of them winding down from fatigue really well and it was so soft, everything they talked about too. loved the bathwater carrying troubles to the sea and the way how gintoki's voice was quiet to not disrupt the morning scene. also for possession fic -- yay! i love how much research you put into the geographical and cultural details, it really shows. tbc

k continuing bc i wanna say this enough to complete these anon captchas twice. for possessions fic, i'm invested plot-wise, Give Zura Back you Horse. Also, the idea of Zura being the one in Joui3 who didn't turn into 'demon', i've never thought of that or seen it in fic and it hurts buddy. anyway gz tag has been dead a few months and you're one of my fav authors for it, it's great to see you back! hope offline life is treating you well, thanks for writing

I have spent the last twenty minutes trying to find the words to tell you how amazing it was to find your message in my inbox, anon, but my brain won’t give me much more than ‘aaahhhhhhhhh’ and much flailing in happiness, because wow. Getting recognised as a ginzura author among ginzura authors? That’s a crazy compliment, cause you know, it was ginzura writers that inspired me to pick up fic writing again with how amazing they were, so to think that my stuff could stand up with them... Just. Mind blown. 

I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed a little something to warm the heart, and that the possessions fic has caught your attention! I’m afraid to say that the demon’s not quite ready to let Zura go yet, and I’ve only got more hurt planned for the future *evil laugh* It’ll be fun, I swear ;)

And I am glad to be back! Although whoops, I may have picked up some non-gintama wips so, uh, it might be a while again before any gz fic gets finished and posted ^^;; (If you’re interested, I recently wrote up a wips list here. I’m going to do my best to keep it as up to date as possibleso you can keep track of what i’m working on if you feel like it :) )

Thank you so much again for reading my self indulgent works and dropping by in inbox with your comments. I really can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate them

[zurajanaizurakoda]

So, I decided to write the Katsura side of Big Spoon, wrote like 8k words in one day, and then crashed.

A week later I had a discussion where I realized I was sleeping on Katsura's unhoused period. Like, the onigiri thing is probably food insecurity, right? That fucks you up as a kid. He must have been using his own resources to make food, even as a poor orphan, because he knew what it was like to starve and have no one care enough to feed you, and he does it without prompting because he's got his pride and it's humiliating as shit to beg for food so he wants people to have the food without having to ask. And of course Gintoki the corpse robber would pick up on that shit immediately and understand "hey, this kid's seen some shit."

and I wrote this sequence, and I didn't like it, and I crashed again and stopped writing. I think it's interesting, though, I don't know how unhoused people were treated in ye olde Japan so it's more based on modern outlooks and prejudices, but it encapsulates what I think about that period of his life. Vaguely Ginzura, but they're kids so it's nothing really. And canonly his classmates did complain he reeked of poverty.

One last thing animals seek warmth do you think he ever woke up with random strays curled on him on cold mornings. Do you think that's part of why he likes them so much FEEL SAD ABOUT BLORBO

If you think about it his obsession with the umai sticks could also be food insecurity

One day Gintoki sat down next to him out of nowhere when he was resting by himself on a log far behind the school, just thinking.  It was a favorite pastime of his, and normally he would be annoyed with the company, but Gintoki was Gintoki and you couldn’t expect him to behave like other people.  The other boy just flopped down like he’d been specifically summoned and pulled out a parcel wrapped in bamboo leaves.  He untied the string around it to reveal two onigiri, offering one without comment.  Katsura looked down at it, and then back up at the boy.  “What is this?”

“Onigiri, with plums.  You like those, right?” he asked without making eye contact.  “I don’t like plums.  You eat this one.”  He shoved half of the other one in his mouth messily.  “Don’t worry, there’s nothing weird in them or anything.  We just got them from the lady next door.”  He shoved the onigiri roughly in the other boy’s direction.  Katsura looked at it again without taking it, and Gintoki sighed.  He looked down like he was trying to gather courage, or maybe just keep from losing his temper.  “You were homeless, right?  When you were young.  One of the other boys was laughing about it.  How was it?”

Katsura considered the question and the boy asking it.  He was no stranger to being ridiculed about his life situations, but somehow he felt like Gintoki was being sincere.  He knew enough about Gintoki’s past to understand that the silver haired boy’s life had been much worse than his own. It wasn’t something he was fond of talking about, but it was more out of a sense of privacy than shame.  It wasn’t something other people readily understood, they responded with disgust or sympathy and Katsura wanted neither of those things.  With Gintoki, however, he felt like there would be genuine understanding.  He stared straight ahead and explained like he was reciting an old tale: “I lived with my grandmother, out by the graveyard.  There was a bamboo grove nearby where people threw trash, and we stayed there most of the time. People didn’t care about it so no one made us leave.  For a while there were tatami mats thrown out by a local restaurant, and we slept on those.  I always associate the smell of sesame oil with the bamboo grove.  Other times we slept on the ground.” He stared down at his feet, and felt warm.  They were difficult times, but he hadn’t been unhappy.  He’d had his grandma, and they had visited his parents every day.  He’d had people he cared about to talk to.  “Sometimes there were other people or families, but if there got to be too many of us together the authorities would run everyone out.”  Gintoki nodded without comment.  “I didn’t mind living there, though, there was a river nearby that we could wash at.  It wasn’t so bad.  Not like it was with you.”

“The town burned the tatami mats because you were sleeping on them, didn’t they?  It was unhygienic, they probably said.”

“How did you-”  Katsura stopped.  Of course he knew, he’d lived the same way.  “Yes they did.  I had a few books I’d left behind and they burned those too.  You had to keep things with you if you wanted to keep them.  Books were so hard to get, too.”

“Where did you steal food from?”  Gintoki asked in the same bored voice.

“We never stole!”  Katsura replied, eyes wide.  “I would never!  It goes against bushido!  I could never!”  He was surprised that Gintoki would even suggest it.  Had he given the impression of having such loose morals?

“Whatever.  Bushido is bullshit when you’re hungry.”  Gintoki said with a frown.  “What did you eat?”

“We… we got food from some of the local houses, or sometimes from a nearby temple.”  Katsura explained.  “There was a monk who would give me buns if I recited scriptures.  Sometimes there were leftovers behind some of the restaurants.  Sometimes…”  he paused, remembering how shameful it was that they had fallen to such circumstances.  “Sometimes my grandmother would ask people for food.  She had always said that the head of the Katsura household shouldn’t be reduced to begging, but sometimes… she would.”

“Bet the restaurants dumped the food in the dirt to keep people out of them.”  Again, the other boy wasn’t wrong.  “What did you do when no one would help?”  Gintoki seemed even more angry, for some reason.

Katsura furrowed his brow.  It would be useless to deny that it happened, not with someone like Gintoki.  “We went to bed hungry sometimes.  It wasn’t uncommon.  Sometimes life is like that.”  Gintoki was silent, and he leaned forward.  “But there were a lot of good people.  Didn’t people give you food when you were homeless?”

“Hell no, people were assholes.  I was a demon, remember?  They’d throw stuff if they caught me hanging around.  I never asked anyway.  Why should I care?  They can live without a little.  I stole every day, and I’m as strong a samurai as you are now.”  he nudged the other boy.  “Did they throw things at you?”

“Not… very often.”  His hand went to a spot on the back of his head where there was a small ridge of scar that hair never quite grew back around.  He chose to see the good in people, but he would never forget that there was bad.

“But they did, right?  They called you names?  Ran you out like you were stinking up the place?”  

“Sometimes, Gintoki, but most people were nice.  And when they weren’t… it was okay.”  Okay was perhaps a bit of a stretch, but he’d long since made peace with those days.

“It wasn’t okay, Zura, and you shouldn’t have starved.  You should have taken what you needed, and when people called you things, you should have called them things right back.  When people hurt you, you should hurt them back.  You shouldn’t have to have someone else get angry for you.”

“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura, and that’s not how a general should behave. How I behave reflects on more than just me.”

“That’s stupid, and you’re stupid.”  Gintoki replied in a huff.  “That’s why you’re always getting picked on.  You should fight.”  

Katsura looked down at his feet again, and this time he felt a little lost.  He didn’t need Gintoki’s support in the matter, but it was something that he would have liked to have had.  He felt strangely alone, knowing the other boy disagreed with him.  “We deal with things very differently, Gintoki,” he finally said.

There was a long pause.  “You need to take care of yourself, you won’t always have friends…"

"I've spent a lot of my life without friends, I don't need you to tell me I won't have them.  I'm okay on my own."  Katsura didn’t even try to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"That's not what I meant," Gintoki protested, and he genuinely sounded a little hurt.  "I meant you need to stick up for yourself. I know you’re strong enough to do it.  I bet even Sensei would look the other way.”

“It’s not something I’m interested in doing.”

“Fine.  Look, getting bullied is one thing…”  Gintoki said, and then dropped his head back between his shoulders as if making a decision.  “But being hungry is something else.  If you’re hungry, come to me.  You don’t have to steal if you come to me.  I’ll get you food, I promise.  So don’t let yourself starve.”

Katsura turned, “why are you-”

“-It’s because you know what it’s like to be hungry.  That’s why you do the onigiri thing.  Because you know what it’s like to go to bed hungry and wake up hungry.  People tease you because they think you’re such a crybaby, but it’s because you’ve known what it’s like.  Those jerks think hunger is missing lunch, they’ve never chewed on scraps of leather just to have something in your mouth.  They don’t get when you’re trying to trick your stomach into thinking it’s eating because you know there’s no food today.  You don’t have to worry about what they say because you’ve been there and they haven’t.  That’s why you’re stronger than they are, Zura.  That’s why you should fight and not worry about being proper.  You’re better than them.”

"Sometimes I would chew on twigs, just to have the taste of something in my mouth."  Gintoki nodded encouragingly.  "But I don't let people bully me because I think they're stronger than me.  I know I'm stronger than them, that's why I should be the one who shows restraint."

"I still think it's stupid," Gintoki muttered, but then he smiled.  "But I guess if you're too stubborn to fight back, that's better than being too mopey to fight back.  You're weird as hell, but you're not weak."  He reached over and tucked a stray strand of hair behind the other boy's ear.  It seemed natural, but after a second Gintoki flushed slightly and slapped his shoulder.  "Your hair is stupid, too."  He crossed his arms, looking straight ahead.

There was a long silence, and then Katsura hesitantly reached for his hand.  “Before Sensei found you…”

“I don’t remember,”  Gintoki returned, looking away and picking his nose.

“You at least remember what it’s like to starve.”  Katsura pressed.

“-And someday I won’t.  I’ll forget everything bad that ever happened to me.  I probably won’t remember this conversation next week.  I definitely won’t remember the onigiri.  There’s nothing you can do about the past.  Someday we may not be friends anymore, and maybe I’ll forget all together that there ever was a mopey kid named Kotarou Zura.  But while we’re here, I won’t let them hurt you, and I won’t let you starve.  You're my friend.”

Katsura’s hands clenched on Gintoki’s hand on the trunk beside him.  “I’ll never forget you, Gintoki.  You’ll never be alone again, because you’ll always have me.  Even if we move on, and even if you forget me, I’ll always remember you.”

Gintokii chuckled.  “You stupid sap,” he said affectionately, smacking the back of his head.  “You’ll find someone else’s wife and you’ll have a dozen kids and do wherever the hell generals do.  You’ll be someone too important to worry about little demons.”

“Even then, I won’t forget, I promise.”  Gintoki just looked away, but in that moment, Katsura made a promise to himself.  As long as he was alive, there would be at least one person who believed that Gintoki Sakata was a good person.  One person who knew.

He heard yelling from over the hill.  “And that’s my cue to leave!”  Gintoki called lightly, slipping off the log.  “I’d get out of sight, just in case.  And eat the onigiri, they can’t pin anything on you once the evidence is gone!”

“Did… did you steal these?!” Katsura screamed in disbelief.

“Outta the way, Zura!”  Gintoki yelled, escaping in a flash.  Katsura blinked a few times in shock, then hid under a bush as the other kids rounded the hilltop.

“Gintoki went this way, right?”

“-He punched Ito out cold!  One blow!”

“Sensei is so gonna kill him!”

“It was like they were laughing like always, and then Ito said one thing about Katsura and he flipped!  I didn’t think they were even that good of friends!”

“Boys, boys!”  Sensei called.  “Fighting is bad, but gossiping doesn’t help!  Gintoki will receive the punishment owed to him, so why don’t you all just wait back at the dojo?”  Sensei stopped a little too close to the bush Katsura was hiding behind for it to be accidental.  “And we can all see this as a lesson, right?  The circumstances of Katsura’s birth are nothing to laugh at.  Neither, I think, are Gintoki’s.”  He led the group off in the other direction.

Katsura looked at the onigiri in his hands like it was a bloody knife.  In all his years, he’d never stolen anything.  If he’d found a wallet on the ground, it would never occur to him to check it for money before he turned it in to authorities.  It went against the fiber of his being.  Gintoki must have realized that… but it was a gift from Gintoki, and it wasn’t like he could give it back without admitting his complicity in things…

Corruption tasted surprisingly good.

[razberryyum]

A Gintama chapter a day keeps the ending away...Lesson 278

MY FAVORITE MOMENTS IN LESSON 278:

I’d call that city sad.

Kagura-chan’s passionate desire to save the kitties warmed my heart and made me love her even more.

These three goofballs.

I would care too! Gintoki’s so mean to Zura sometimes.

Poor Zura.

I was actually feeling a little distressed for Zura. He had to put up with more abuse than usual.

At least he eventually got to be a badass, even though his weapon was Gin-chan’s tail.

It’s not like they had any other weapons on hand...

...and at least their tails are better than what Kondou was using. That was a disturbingly long mosaic too.

SHIPS TALLY:

GinZura: despite all their bickering and abuse of each other, they still make one hell of a team and are simply adorable together.

Disclaimer: Gintama is not only about shipping. Gintama is hilarious, clever, exciting, poignant, heart-breaking, loving, brilliant, and just so freaking amazing.  It is only due to Sorachi-sama’s generosity that I can enjoy Gintama on yet another level, the shippy level, and I am forever grateful for that. GINTAMA IS LIFE AND LOVE.

10/7/2017

[lunosamentelunitoo]

why can't gintsu fans be chill like idk most of the ppl who ship ginhiji or ginzura or any yaoi ship? as a gz shipper everyone is so whatever about canon relationships lol just ship what you want and don't take it to seriously? especially if someone doesn't like your ship

well there are unchill people even in those fandoms parts....

i will not make it a question of yaoi fans vs not yaoi fans, prob gintsus are just a little more vocal and active on tumble

[zurajanaizurakoda]

I assume no one will read this, but the fanfic I'm working on is going to be more author notes than fanfic and I'm highly invested in Katsura as a character at the moment so I thought I would post my feelings about Katsura and disassociation here. (Mild Ginzura)

EDIT: I think I'm confusing fugue state with catatonic.

I very strongly headcanon that Katsura has dissociative states that can get to fugue state, and there’s not a lot of evidence but hear me out.  When Sensei is beheaded, he doesn’t react, like at all.  And I know it’s because the scene is supposed to be about Gin and Takasugi and Katsura is on standby as much as he possibly can be while still being in the scene, but it’s telling.  He doesn’t even cry, which is odd because he cries early and often, even in serious scenes.  During the battle at Eiroku, he cries simply because he and Gin lived through a battle.  I feel like when he realized what was happening he just went away when he realized he couldn't do anything.

Second piece is in the second movie where he’s facing execution, and he does literally nothing.  Definitely not arguing for fugue, he does react to his surroundings, for instance he watches Gin come up with the sword with at best mild interest.  (And this is a man who is a six foot penis dressed as his dead boyfriend running past security to take his head personally, you’d think it would be worthy of a reaction)  This is literally Runaway Kotarou, it’s essential enough to his character that he’s famous for it.  He escaped from jail in a week when he was a giant screwdriver.  It doesn’t come up much, but every time he’s been captured he’s escaped.  Suddenly he spends five years in a jail cell and then goes to his execution without a word.  I feel like he was living in some form of dissociative state for most, if not all the five years.  Once he realized that the world was broken in a way he had no skills to fix and realized he was useless and he just shut down.  I feel like Katsura’s sanity hinges on his ability to feel like he serves a purpose. Also, of course, he apparently talks about destroying this wretched world but the first thing he says to Gin is how disappointed he is in himself for not being able to save the world when Gin apparently failed. Unlike the execution scene, he actually displays a good deal of emotion when recounting the last time he saw Gin, almost crying. (One might even say it's implying that unlike his own death, which made no difference to him either way, he genuinely regrets Gin's death, but that's just me)

The third one is a good one!  After Nizou cut him down he played dead, meaning he was unresponsive enough that Nizou assumed he was dead and left him as a corpse.  When they discuss it later, Takasugi comments that he’s getting better at playing dead, implying that Katsura becoming unresponsive during battles has been a recurring theme in the past.  Katsura replies that the fault was Nizou’s, implying that he didn’t assign his survival to any conscious action on his part, it just happened like that.  Knowing he was about to die (and since it’s Katsura, the fact that he’s dying alone and possibly by the orders of one of his few friends in the world are probably factors in that) is enough to make him go away for a while.  I imagine in battle it would be useful, their battlefields tended to be piled high with corpses and it’s likely most soldiers wouldn’t go through them looking for survivors.  I feel like it’s highly possible that on at least one occasion his friends thought they were pulling a Katsura corpse out from under a pile of amanto, only to realize he’s alive and just left for a while.  Probably scared the shit out of them, and not just the first time.

The last thing is just a little one, but when he’s Zura he seems to turn off or at least greatly dull his pain reception.  He definitely seems to still be in the moment and aware of himself, but he’s consciously ignoring signals coming from his body.  Just noting that it’s something he does.

If you're into Ginzura, consider reading Big Spoon! It's not the fic this rant inspired, and it may be not the best characterizations but it's my favorite fic of mine. Gin and Zura sleeping big spoon/little spoon style when life gets too shitty starting in childhood, and eventually getting so many feels.

OH YEAH maybe not relevant but he sleeps with his eyes open and it seems like that's another indicator that he can just leave, five senses be damned.

[zurajanaizurakoda]

Political Lessons are Only Important if you can Hold Your Listener's Attention (6490 words) by ZurajanaiZurakoda Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 銀魂 | Gintama (Anime & Manga) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Katsura Kotarou/Sakata Gintoki Characters: Katsura Kotarou, Sakata Gintoki, Other Character mentions Additional Tags: Gintama The Final, Somewhat established relationship, Light Angst, Multiple Orgasms, Anal Sex, referenced toys, Bottom Katsura Kotarou, Top Sakata Gintoki, Hair Pulling, Implied/Referenced Blow Jobs, Canon Major Character Death, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Spoilers, Gin doesn't understand politics, attempted humor Summary: After everything that's gone down Gintoki figures it's finally time to have that conversation he's been dreading with his long time not-quite-boyfriend Katsura. Contains spoilers for entire series and final movie.

I got an invitation to A03, so everything is up there now! I'm still writing a lot, I'm just deciding what to put up. I'm used to a much more mainstream couple, but I'm a little excited that I could actually make a noticeable blip in the Ginzura fanfics on A03.