#to get that actual samurai AU space

[sabraeal]

Get Up Eight, Chapter 10

[Read on AO3]

There is little in his life of which Obi can be proud, and fewer still that he could call accomplishments, but he will admit: getting ojou-san so flustered is both.

“Here?” Her skin is already sun-flushed, blossom pink where it should be paper pale, but it’s hardly his imagination that licks crimson trails up her neck, pooling in the apples of her cheeks. “R-right now?”

Small toes curl into the sand, weight shifting as she scours the Sakawa’s shoreline, searching some reason to keep them planted instead of dangling over his shoulders. Obi hides his grin in the bend of his neck. “No place better, ojou-san.”

“But how would I, er...?” Stripped to her juban, she is not bare, but here, in the retreat of the sun, it is no trick to see that the skin beneath it flushes to a deeper shade. “Do I...? I mean, should I...?”

“Just throw your leg over my neck,” he suggests, bowing his head low in invitation. “There’s so little of you the rest will just sort itself out. If you trust me.”

She hesitates. Haah, of course she does; ojou-san may speak all the sweet words a mouth can make, but it was only three days ago that she whistled to him a man might to a cur and bade him follow. Three days since she sat across from him in a tea house and offered him a small fortune, and he fondled her for her troubles. He is less than a stranger to her, and she carries enough coin on her back to make even a monk feel the pull of worldly desires. It can come as no surprise that she would rather let time turn her to statue than let him--

“Just...over your neck?” The sand splashes over his hands as she steps toward him, even her ankles uncertain. “Ah, how...?”

Her feet dance just beyond his fingertips, so close he could reach out at grab one if he wanted to hear her shriek. “Like a samurai astride his war horse.”

“Oh!” The hand brushing his shoulder recoils, as if he burns. “I don’t think...”

He dares a glance up at her. “Though I hope you’ll use me more gently, ojou-san.”

She huffs, her jaw taking its most stubborn set. “Don’t be so-- so--!”

“Charming?” he offers, unable to keep his mouth from slanting into a smirk. “Tempting?”

They have only known each other three days, but it is long enough to know that ojou-san’s sunniness rarely gives want to storms. Still, there’s certainly one brewing in the scowl she sends his way. “Incorrigible.”

It is the perfect opening; it would be all too easy to let this grin of his hook into a leer, to inform her that reform required repentance, but instead--

Instead she presses both hands onto his shoulders, forcing his head down and his heart into a gallop as she swings one leg up and over. Or at least, that’s what she would have done, if her juban didn’t tangle around his head; she trips rather than sits on him, coming down hard-- and askew-- enough to knock the air from his lungs.

“Ojou-san,” he wheezes, hands raising up to hook over her knees. His calluses barely brush the silk of her skin before she gasps, fingers knotting tight in his hair. “Haah...”

“Oh!” The pleasant shiver trembling down his spine quickly turns to pain. “My-- my bag! I have to--”

Even with two working feet and a functional relationship with balance, this sort of dismount would have amounted to little more than disaster. But ojou-san has neither; as soon as she slips too far to her left, leaving only one leg to hold her upright, that traitorous ankle buckles and spills her off his back.

Her knee hits the sand hard, a whimper hiccuping up from the depths of her chest. The other leg threatens to take him with her, hooking around his neck and squeezing with all the strength panic and pain can provide. It’s only reflex that gets a hand up in time to shift all that to his shoulder instead, grimacing as he unwinds the mess of his mistress from around him.

“Ojou-san,” he pants, staring down into the wide depths of her eyes, two jade pools that know no bottom. “I would have gotten it for you!”

Her mouth slackens, the slightest furrow bridging the gap between the narrow arches of her brows. Frustration wells up on his belly; not the cold anger he’s used to, but something wilder, warmer, hands clenching in the sand so that they do not grasp at her.

You are paying me, he does not say, do you even know what for?

“It’s...” Without the distraction of her hair, he can see every muscle tremble as she murmurs, “It’s mine--”

“To carry, I know, I know.” Sand scatters as he sits back on his heels, the long fingers of one hand working at the endless ache in his shoulder. He wouldn’t trust him with his money either in her place, but still, still. “Let’s try this again.”

Defying all expectation, her next attempt is worse.

The weight of her wealth sits heavy on her back, enough that even the most graceful of the emperor’s concubines would stagger beneath it. Ojou-san is hardly that; with both feet injured and only the skittish sands of the Sakawa to support her, there is but one possible outcome.

Still, it surprises him. Even as he watches her, one foot rising to swing over his neck, disaster never occurs to him. Not until the leg collapses beneath her, and she’s sent, squealing, into the scrub.

“Ojou-san.” It’s a miracle he keeps his voice so even, that none of his laugh escapes the tight clench of his chest. “I think it’s time we try something else.”

She is shy when he leads her to the water’s edge, just dipping her toes into the river’s cool current before she scurries back, a gasp caught between her teeth.

“I thought you grew up on the water, ojou-san?” he hums, crouching in the shallows. It’s pleasant enough at first, refreshing after a day’s walk in this heat, but there’s a chill eddying through it, one that says he’ll be longing for sweat and sun soon enough. “And you swam the Kawasaki...”

Her mouth purses into a temptation, a pout that just begs to be poked. “You know I only said that because...because...”

Because for all her pretty protests, there’s a part of her that knows the monkey and his men have only circled around them for the scent of coin. That they’ve only kept their sticky thief fingers out of her purse since there is the promise of a husband with a bigger one.

It’s always been Obi who tongues have been clucked at, who has always been on the short end of a scolding, but looking at her now, stripped to her juban and toes flirting with the water’s edge, well-- he understands why they did. Oh, what would her cousin think, seeing what his mistress has made of him?

“Come on,” he says instead, jerking his chin toward his shoulders. “Over here.”

“W-why?” For once, it’s not him that a young woman eyes askance, but the water. Ojou-san shuffles in the sand, wincing at each wave that laps at her toes. “Wouldn’t it be easier to do this on the shore...?”

“We’ve tried that. I like my neck at this angle.” Ojou-san is too kind to scowl, but the hint of it lingering around her lips only spurs him to add, “Come in, I don’t bite.”

Both her brows lift, the furrow between them as faint as her flush. “That’s not quite what I remember.”

“Ah...” His breath catches, and oh, how fortunate he is to be submerged to his shoulders so she cannot see how parts of him twitch at the thought of her in his arms, of the noise she made when he-- “You’ll find me much tamed now, ojou-san.”

There’s a playfulness to the way her chin lifts, to the dubious curl of her mouth. “Will I?”

“So long as you hold my lead tight,” he promises, smiling a wolf’s smile. “Which is hard, if you’re all the way over there.”

That gets a sigh out of those sweet lips, drawing her deep enough to soak the hem of her juban, even with it tucked up into the cord at her waist. “What do I do now?”

“Nothing.” He sinks lower still, moving like an eel in the shallows. “Just stay where you are...”

There is some yelping when he ducks between her legs, and a satisfying gasp when he rises from the water, but in the end, his ojou-san sits steady across his shoulders. There’s not much for her to grab onto, but she makes do with what she has, her slender fingers buried right to the root.

“Am I hurting you?” she murmurs, thighs squeezing tight at his neck as they sink further beneath the Sakawa’s waters. “Your head, I mean. I could...”

“Don’t worry yourself.” It’s a far better thing to say than, keep going. “It might be nice if you, er, eased up just a little.”

Or less distracting, he doesn’t add; this crossing will be hard enough without his mistress’s self-conscious squirming.

“Oh!” Her fingers flatten against his scalp, though her nails still scrape deliciously with every step. “Are you sure I’m not too heavy?”

“Heavy?” She could hardly weigh twelve kan soaking wet. “You think you’re too heavy for me?”

It takes a shrug of his shoulders to hike her further up, so close the cotton of her juban presses against his neck. Ojou-san squeals, curling around his head like a cat escaping a bath.

He parts her sleeves like curtains, peering up to ask, “Does it seem like you’re too much for me to handle, ojou-san?”

He’s paid good coin to see the smile a geisha hid behind her fan, but still, it pales in comparison to the frown this girl gives him, free of charge. “I only wanted to make sure...”

A laugh huffs out from his lips, too quick to catch. “I think that bag of yours weighs more than you do, ojou-san.”

This close, he can feel how her thighs tense, how every muscle from the tips of her toes to the set of her shoulders turns rigid as her mouth thins, gaze skittering away from his. “Maybe.”

“Either way.” His fingers wrap around the soft skin of her shins, fine hairs tickling his palms. “It’s not a problem for me.”

She doesn’t so much answer as hum, grip tightening as he takes his first step deeper. “You’ll let me know if it becomes one?”

The heat nestled between her legs radiates through the cotton at his neck, but still he smiles, giving one calf a reassuring squeeze as he sighs, “Oh, ojou-san, if there’s a problem, it won’t be your weight.”

For all their bullying and bluster, Obi has to admit: the porters had not exaggerated the Sakawa’s depth or the treacherous shifting of its shoals. The coarse sand gives way to finer stuff only a few shaku from shore, sucking stubbornly at him with every step. Still, he’s trudged through worse, though the current and the sudden shallows given him pause more than once. The real trial is, well--

“Ah, what’s that?” Ojou-san’s thighs flex around the slack muscles of his throat, straining to sit her higher, as if she could gain inches from will alone. “In the distance, that tower...?”

Her legs hook tighter around his shoulders, feet tucking against his sides to steady the shift of her body, and-- and Obi takes in a strained breath, readjusting his grip on her calves. If he pictures slipping them up, holding her steady as he sinks them into her thigh, well, the frigid waters of the Sakawa go a long way in helping him...not.

“Odawara-jō.” From here it’s no more than a flourish at the foot of the mountain, a brief hint of white above the squat roofs of the village. “The seat of Kaga no Kami.”

Unless this was his season to arrive at Edo on his knees, satisfying the shogun and his sankin-kōtai. He’d never kept track of things like that, only gawked at the spectacle like every other set of eyes on the road, watching as the daimyos and their hundred retainers crawled to the capital to kiss the tatami at Tokugawa’s feet. Maybe he should have, now that it’s the difference between a loyal daimyo paying homage to his lord, and well--

Well, it’d be something else entirely, if one of the fudai threw in with the emperor. Especially one with as prosperous a domain as Odawara. Ah, if only Ojou-san would allow him to pry this monkey from their back; then he might be able to spare a few hours learning what only a generous application of time and sake can turn over.

“It’s so...” Her small hands flex, as if she might find the words scrawled across his scalp, hidden beneath her palms. “Big.”

“Big?” It hiccups out of him, a laugh chasing its heels. “Surely Edo filled with a hundred more wonders than some tower.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

His head is half-turned, a question on his lips that dissolves as her thighs tense, skin close enough to skim the edges of them. A more telling twitch than any tight smile or tic of the cheek-- and more distracting one too. There’s no room for other thoughts when his only one is how easy it would be to open his mouth, to sink his teeth right into her soft flesh and smell just what that might do to--

His foot catches on the slight incline, not just sand but stone, the first shelf of a shoal, its start hidden beneath the Sakawa’s turbulent water. He stumbles, disoriented, nearly tipping both of them into the current.

“Oh!” The way she grips at him hardly helps; pleasure skipping down his spine as her hands clutch tight around his skull. “I’m sorry! Are you sure that I’m not too heavy for you?”

It only takes a laugh to get his feet beneath him, shaking his head loose from her grip. “I already told you, the bag’s heavier than you are. How you carry it without tipping straight over, I’ll never know.”

Ojou-san does not so much stiffen as still, her hands hovering uncertainly beside his ears. “I could...I could get down and carry it myself. If that would be--”

“Ojou-san.” It is a trial to smother his snickers, swallowing down each hint that tries to sneak past his throat. “You would never touch the bottom.”

“That’s not...! I’m sure...” Her fingers stretch down, skimming at the water on her shins, and he can tell the precise moment she takes its measure. “Ah...oh...”

“There is no issue with your weight.” He shrugs his shoulders, earning a strangle shriek and the hard strike of gold against his back. “Either of you. But if you are worried, we can go back to shore, and I can carry--”

“No!”

Even used when used to a strike, the hit still stings. A laugh expels itself from his chest, straining through the grit teeth of his smile.

“You know, ojou-san,” he lilts, the melody of it stilted even to his own ears. “If we continue on together, some day you will have to let me bear some of your burden, too.”

It’s impossible for silence to fall between them, not when the river rushes pasts and bird’s cries break through the winds as often as those of the porters, but still--

He knows a denial when he hears it. Or when he doesn’t. It’s written in the slack of her fingers and the curl of her toes. In the way her breath catches between her teeth, none of her sweet words to follow.

“Ah, I can’t blame you, ojou-san.” It’s easy to play this part, to be the easy-going yojimbo, the man who expects little and gets less but plays it off with no more than a shrug. “I wouldn’t trust a face like mine either.”

The sun clings stubbornly to the horizon when his toes finally curl on the solid shores of Odawara, crouching down so that his mistress might dismount with more ease than she stumbled on. A fine intention quickly spoiled by reality; she no more than gets her sore feet under her than she shivers, knees nearly dropping her back into the much chillier shallows of the Sakawa until he catches her hands, laying them flat upon his shoulders.

“Ojou-san,” he huffs, mouth twitching. “Do I need to carry you to the hatago as well?”

“N-no!” There it is, that delicate flush blooming across her cheeks, a more delectable bite than mochi beneath the sakura. “I can make it just fine, so long as I have my, er...”

Her gaze skims over the Sakawa, scintillating in the sunset, and squints into the glare.

“Ah...” Obi scrubs a hand over the smirk that threatens to curl over his lips. “Right. We gave all your clothes to that mon-- er, Mihaya-dono.”

“They haven’t made it across yet.” She frowns, a worried crease bridging the gap between her brows. “Can you see them out there? I can’t...”

She pushes to up to the tips of her toes-- toes that are too swollen to hold her weight, even slight as it is. Ojou-san teeters, a gasp catching between her teeth, and she reaches out, grasping at his elbow as if she might catch his sleeve--

Only there is none, just the bare flesh of his arm.

Her grip is purposeful, meant to pinch cloth between her thumb and finger, but instead-- instead sparks zip up from his elbow, like flint on stone, setting him alight where she grips him, just above the crook. His skin tingles, both numb and too much at once, but there’s nothing he can do but just bear it, grinning down at her as he says, “Don’t hurt yourself, ojou-san.”

It’s too breathless, too much, but she only flushes, ducking her chin against her shoulder. “I just thought I might see them if...ah...”

Ah, right, the monkey and his merry band. He lifts a hand-- his other hand, the one attached to an arm that comes when he calls it, shading his eyes against the glare.

“There.” Two rafts float across the river, carried by four porters each, every last inch filled with scowling ronin.  All that time, and that idiot still couldn’t haggle himself out of a glorified crate. Obi stifles a smirk. Couldn’t have happened to a better ape. “Looks like he couldn’t talk his way around those naked worms after all.”

“Oh!” Ojou-san’s fingers shift, no longer pinching but wrapping gently around the bend of his arm. “Are they close? Should we...?”

Wait, he’s sure she means to say. He can’t think of a worse idea.

“No.” In all the time it took them to cross, the monkey is hardly at the first shoal. “It’ll be a while yet.”

Her mouth rumples, the way it does right before she says something stubborn, but-- but instead, she shivers, the pale shoots of her legs trembling where they’ve taken root in the sand.

“Plenty of time to take in the sights,” he tells her, voice pitched too loud and grin too wide. “It’s a bit of a walk, so if ojou-san needs me to carry her--”

“See...?” Her fingers slips from him, boneless. “I can’t possibly-- my clothes--”

With a quick flick at her waistline, the hem of her juban floats to her ankles, rumpled and wet, but serviceable. “Come now, ojou-san. A white yukata might be rare, but woven as finely as this...”

Her frown bows into a forbidding curve. “I’ll look as if I’m in mourning.”

“Ah, let’s not get ahead of ourselves!” His grin widens as the skeptical bent to her brows deepens. “At this time of day, they’ll think you’re a spirit, a pretty girl drowned in the river, and--”

A small hand claps over his mouth. “That’s quite enough.”

It’s with delicate fingers that he plucks his mistress’s palm from his lips, clucking, “Now, now, where’s your sense of fun?”

Her lips pull into a forbidding line. “I would prefer not to draw the wrong sort of attention.”

“Fine, fine, have it your way.” He shrugs, putting his back to her. “No hungry ghosts. But we should still go to town. That kimono of yours is fine enough, ojou-san, but when it comes to catching eyes...”

“Ah...” Her feet shuffle beneath the hem of her juban. “Yes, I suppose it would be better if I, er...found something less...um...”

“Expensive?” he offers.

“Elaborate,” she says instead. “More...everyday.”

“Oh, ojou-san,” he sighs, “there’s nothing everyday about you.”

This time, the silence is more complete, a hundred sentences smothered in their cradles.

“I know.” It’s barely more than a breath, more wish than reply. “But I can try.”

[shipsational]

Hi!!!👋🏾😊

I'm curious about your self insert for the golden trio. How did they meet Johnny and Jack? And, anything else you'd like to share about them. No pressure, though.😊 Sorry if you already answered this question somewhere before, lol.

absolutely! Okay So the thing is the insert for jack and johnny normally is kinda Just Me, but in the CN city bumper crossover universe (im actually considering making a much bigger, nonsensical crossover world for all my f/os but we'll see!) unfortunately beyond that im still ironing out the specifics with my insert there, since its gonna be a part of something so extensive

however! beyond that, i Also have a fun and funky au for them that leans way more into the vibes of jack's canon- i call it Samurai Bravo: Space Opera, and its about me and the boys traveling through a retro futuristic sci-fi universe (think cowboy bebop meets lupin lll out of touch (synthwave remix) vibes lol) where aku is still the evil in charge of the greater worlds, and jack is from a family that was destroyed by him. he's dedicated his whole life to taking aku down, and this eventually leads him into a bar looking for information, and this is where johnny comes in.

johnny in the space opera au is something of an idiot savant- he's actually one of aku's top assassins despite being dense like a brick bless his heart. he's only in the business to take care of his mama of course.

but in this bar, some guys pick a fight with jack because that just sorta happens to him when people see he has a samurai sword and want to know just how tough he thinks he is. since johnny is a pretty good guy when he's off the clock, he steps in to help jack and its a real bar rager, and maybe they get a little flirty when they escape out the back door when things get out of hand, whatever its not like they'll ever see each other again anyway- except for a few days later when johnny is told that he has to go take care of the cute samurai he met. this is doubly unfortunate when i, his childhood best friend, overhear the phone call about his dangerous double life and he has to decide what to do about that.

well turns out that the thing he decides to do is to basically kidnap and hide me away somewhere that i'll be safe since i now know too much, and then he's off to try and kill jack.

obviously eventually we work it all out and decide to go on the run together to all try and stop aku. unfortunately bunny bravo might have had to die to catalyst johnny into going against aku but thats angst and plot for ya!

i'll of course add more to this eventually, and i need to actually get down a design for my insert (since its scifi im lowkey considering making them partially alien or something but we'll see!

as a fun little bonus, years ago before i was openly proship, i participated in a selfship halloween event, and i came in second place! it was for this moodboard and the idea that the three of us got stuck in a scoooby doo esque haunted house

and this was the little prize doodle i got for it! my insert had really long brown hair at the time cause I had really long brown hair (it was exaggerated of course)

i really hope the proship selfship community does similar events sometime if they dont already

[anosrepasi]

10 Character/10 Fandoms/10 Tags

Tagged by the wonderful @aeide :)

Nil (Horizon Dawn Zero/Forbidden West) - My current obsession I'm rotating around in my mind. What's not to love he's charming in the sense that his most common AU occupation is "Serial Killer." Will he kill you? Depends! Only if you suck, and he promises to never stab you in the back, he wants to look you in the eye if he tries to kill you. But actually, I find him utterly fascinating and in the context of HZD he's just. so nuanced it destroys me. This man has decades of c-ptsd and asks the question of what happens when someone drenched in violence is suddenly expected to stop fighting- the answer is, it takes a lot! I adore him.

Kassandra (AC:Odyssey) - Look the more I think about Kassandra and like the canon quests in that game the more I'm like. They did you wrong, girl. They did you so dirty. SHE JUST WANTS TO GO HOME. IT TAKES DECADES. HER STORY IS A FUSION OF THE ODYSSEY AND THE ILIAD. YOU CAN APPLY THEMES FROM BOTHA ND IT DRIVES ME INSANE. And. And then they say, all thsi you worked so hard for? Well. We have other things we need from you. I am going to chew through my arm.

Mizu (Blue Eye Samurai) - Look. I could link thousand upon thousands words of meta about Mizu and her/they're relationship to gender and existence as a mixed race individual in isolationist Japan. And it still wouldn't capture it all. And past that it's hot person brutally murdering people in absolutely fantastically animated fight scenes.

Vincent Valentine (Final Fantasy VII) - Look. He's my original blorbo. I saw 10 minutes of screen time of him in Advent Children and have been insane ever since. I bought and played through Dirge of Cerberus for him. Something about him apparently just imprinted on me as a child, I've been a lost cause ever since.

Xaden Riorson (Fourth Wing/Iron Flame) - These books are still relatively new so I'll hold my tongue since a lot of what I am obsessed with re: him is spoilers but oh my god. oh. my. god. buddy.

Axel (Kingdom Hearts) - Also an original blorbo from childhood, imprinted on him like a baby duck. His death in KH2 made me bawl. His entire storyline makes me sob, he's the reason why every single aspect of Roxas' story was a gut punch cause like. The best way to make people care about characters is give them someone who loves them then make it sad.

Charles Milton Porter (Bioshock 2: Minerva's Den) - Look. This dude's DLC made me cry. big cry. I still kinda get choked up when i think about it for a while. it's about the grief.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits - I can't choose a characters from this, so I just advise everyone to play this game. It's so good. You're going to be emotionally devastated. It's also about grief. Every character in this game is so so good and you will feel things.

Joe Miller (The Expanse) - He was not the first but he was my defining love of shitty noir space detectives. I loved him from when he was introduced to when he left the series and my love was rewarded so much. Holden and Amos were the runner up characters for this fandom.

Death (The Book Thief) - I read the book thief for the first time in 7th grade I think? Every day of my life since them on my commute to work or when on break I look at the sky and think about how Death would describe the taste of the colors. This book irrecoverably changed me from the day I read it and firmly cemented this Death as the death i hope is there at the end of everything, i love this version of it so much. This death is like. look. go read the book if you haven't had the opportunity.

Tagging for anyone who wants to do it: @ongreenergrasses @lobstermatriarch @airmidcelt @tirsynni @aevallare @duesternis @salsedine @avelera @thehoundkeeper @green-nbean

[cherryrockpops]

░▒▓█ Then and Now █▓▒░

For my OC - Nicolas B

Where to start... honestly I didn't jump on Cyberpunk until a year after it's release, and it wasn't until my 3rd run that I actually invested time into my character's design and backstory. I won't be sharing pictures of those previous two, but just to give you a taste of my humor, they were gag characters; Corpo Bill Nye the Cyber Guy, and then Streetkid Avril LaV.

Nicolas, my Nomad baby, is my first true OC in Night City. I gave him the alias/last name "B" mainly because it was the closest sounding letter to "V". However it also tied in well in being ex-Bakker. He's based off of no one in particular and grew naturally as a character the longer I played and interacted with the fandom. (OC QnA mainly) Back then, I was way too nervous to try mods and only stuck to vanilla PM, taking shots at every turn I could in the story without any ReShader or High Res programs. Below is one of my favorites from back then.

During the development of his lore, I wrote his story to specifically revolve around 2023 and planned for him to die in the bombing while helping Johnny. However, due to some people who didn't like this idea, and from my desire to have my OC hang out with other OC's/V's, I chose to design a much older version. Nicolas '77

From there, I finally got into using mods etc, and changed my story around where I would have 3 Nicky designs in total. Streetkid teenager Nicky for 2013, a city Nomad Nick for 2023, and a Dark Corpo styled Nicolas for 2077. I didn't plan for all version to utilize each lifepath, but it did. I will point out though that Nicolas is more Nomad than anything.

It wasn't until a year later that I finally started to settle on his canon story. Through RP and continuously detailing him out, a dark horse came along and Silver B was born. He is more AU specific than actual canon, but I still want to include him in this post. In this AU, he loses and arm to an assassination attempt and ends up getting a chrome left arm. I also used it as an excuse to play with more mods ^w^

Now it's 2 years later (coming up on 3) and I've continued my VP journey. Ranging from memes, photoshoots, abstract and comic panels. I also still do Digital 2D Fanart, but it's more spaced out in comparison. The one below is my only fanart to myself of Nicky, aiming for the body form I truly see him in along with the cleaned up hairstyle.

So wrapping it all up, this is his canon summarized.

Arrived in NC in 2012

Became a Roadie for Samurai before they signed on with a label

Worked as a Techie Merc/Thief until 2023

Designed and built the bomb for Johnny's Arasaka Tower Raid

Disappeared off-grid for 50 years due to the loss he (believed) he caused

Returned to the surface when he hears whispers of Silverhand and the Relic, along with news of Kerry's attempted suicide.

Reconciles with Johnny and the rest of the band members before choosing to go off with Alt in cyberspace.

In other OC's universes, I've also given Nick an "NPC" role. He randomly spawns in various bars and alleyways in NC, offering to craft you items based on the scrap you provide him. In the event that you are low on scrap, you can buy weapons and tech outright, but he would charge additional along with taking more than just a day to get it done. I've played around with the idea of making him his own romance route, but I've yet to flesh that out.

Anyways, if you read until the end, thank you so much for taking the time. I don't often have the chance to talk about Nicky in detail, but it was a lot a fun revisiting how far I've come with him and my VP.

[ooeygooeyghoul]

Tell me about YOUR WoL! Rapid fire!

Favorite food vs. Comfort food

A childhood memory

That one thing that they don't need but can't let go of

Best friend

Something people are surprised to learn

And a pet peeve.

OKAY GET READY FOR MULTIPLE PARAGRAPHS YEEHAW

Favorite food vs. Comfort food

Shiun is a simple man, he enjoys most dishes with a large portion of meat. Roast dodo, smoked raptor, meat pies, grilled fish- doesn't matter what it is as long as it's dead and cooked. His comfort food, however, would be some good old pickled plum riceballs. They remind him of home.

A childhood memory

Shiun's childhood was... rocky to say the least. Growing up in Doma during the Garlean occupation, things weren't easy. Most of his memories of his younger days are tainted by Garlean oppression or the scathing words of his father whenever Shiun refused to follow the path his parents laid out for him. One fond memory that lingers in his mind, however, is the time he snuck out of the house in the middle of the night after a bad argument with his dad when he was about 9. He encountered a lone man out in the countryside, practicing his swordsmanship on a withered tree. Shiun watched him quietly from the tall grass for a long time, completely enraptured by the man's fluid movements and grace with the weapon. Eventually, the man sheathed the blade and called out to Shiun, seemingly aware of his presence the whole time. Embarrassed, but curious, he came out of hiding and into the open. Apparently, the man was a samurai and was training for the day Doma would rise up against Galemald. Something stirred in Shiun's soul as the man waxed poetic about hope and his faith in the Doman people, the desire to do the same one day grew inside him. He told the samurai that he wanted to learn to fight too, and he was ecstatic when the man allowed him to use his sword and gave him a few lessons on how to wield it. When he returned home that night, he had a newfound resolve to become something more. He never got the man's name, and he can't remember his face, but he'll never forget what he taught him (even if he ended up being more fond of axes than katanas and swords).

The one thing that they don't need but can't let go of

Shiun stubbornly holds onto every axe he's ever used. He's got an odd sentimentality about the weapons he's sliced enemies apart with over his journey, each one a sort of old friend he doesn't want to get rid of (even though he's running out of space for them.) He also holds onto the bandana/eyepatch thing Thancred used to wear during the Dragonsong war as a sort of "good luck charm." He'd rather die than let anyone know about that though, so you didn't hear anything about it okay?

Best friend

Out of the NPCs, he's the closest to Alphinaud and Alisaie. He's kind of adopted a big brother role over them, and being around them really draws out his more aggravating personality traits. Especially with Alisaie, they two play off each other to bully their other friends in an unfair tag team of sass. Player-wise, his best friend is my best friend's WoL, Gholi- a sharp-tongued black mage lala. You'd never guess they're friends just by looking at them, because they are literally always at each other's throats, but they actually get along swimmingly. When they're hanging out, Gholi is usually hitching a ride on Shiun's shoulder because he gets sick of not being able to keep up with the Au Ra's ridiculously long stride.

Something people are surprised to learn Everyone is always surprised to find out that he's a cat person. His favorite minion is his gaelikitten named Potato (thanks to a friend group poll lol), and he would die for that little dude. No one expects the 7'5" Au Ra with the perma-RBF and enormous axe to fawn over a tiny little kitten with silly wings.

Pet peeve

The quickest way to get on Shiun's nerves is to give him unsolicited advice about how he should be doing things. His parents were major micro-managers, and it drove him crazy. He's going to be doing things his way thank you very much.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Jojolands - First Impressions

That’s what we’re doing here. I know I haven’t really delved into Jojo’s much before, but I know several of my mutuals are big into it and I am at least a fan of this bizarre multi-generational adventure. Still need to finish Part 8 but honestly...I’ll probably just wait for the anime. It’s too confusing for me to properly binge the manga. I’ll keep any actual spoilers under the cut, but first...

I’m sold. This intro chapter hooked me more than Stone Ocean. I’ve never really been into JJBA for the plot, I like what my boyfriend said when I got him to watch the dub. “This is one where you’re just here to enjoy the experience.” If I put it in art terms, something like One Piece is a very traditional story. It’s not exactly breaking a lot of new territory, more perfecting an established style. Jojo’s? That’s abstract art. Sure there’s an overarching story to each part and how they tie together, but you’re mostly just enjoying the vibe. And oh my god do I love everything about this vibe in Part 9. First and foremost though...

My newest beloved blorbo Dragona. Just gonna say this now and get it out of the way; it’s as worth getting hung up on pronouns as it is that clip of Izo referring to Kiku as his “brother.” Differing norms are going to make this finicky, especially when we’re talking about a Japanese author writing about Hawaii as a setting through the viewpoint of a 15yo younger brother. Little different, but I live in an area with a lot of Marshall Islanders. You sorta get used to it. We could ultimately find out Dragona is as much a “woman at heart” as someone like Kiku and referring to him as such still makes sense in context. Especially with an older Japanese author and there still very much being a mindset of like, not using “transgender” to refer to anyone except someone who has fully transitioned and treating it like a man becoming a woman there. Make sense?

All that to say, use your eyes and common sense over getting hung up on specific words. I’ll probably casually use she/her most of the time because it’s hard not to. Everything I see so far suggests Dragona also acts pretty girly and hell...I’ve known 18yo trans folk existing in a space like this while they sort themselves out. We’re clearly going for something in that bubble, I’m sure Dragona will have more room to clarify...it’s Jojo’s, just roll with it. Because by all accounts we’re looking at the sane, reasonable one in the group. And that’s cool, I’m definitely keeping an eye on this pair from the perspective of wondering if maybe, just maybe Araki was a little influenced by a certain pair of samurai “brothers” who like to play with similar territory. If nothing else, our introduction does show, not tell that absent being informed most people are going to read Dragona as female. Curious about those “cosmetic injections” as well.

With that out of the way, I adore our introduction to these new Joestars. Sets the time, locale, everything so well. They’re rocking out to Dua Lipa, hassled by dickhead cops, name dropping covid, cops one up the racism with transphobia. Then our best bros fuck em up. Awesome. These parts since Stone Ocean all track with an AU version of a previous part, and I love that we don’t waste time showing off our new cast as a twist on Passione from Vento Aureo. Though this time we aren’t screwing around with noble intentions. This is all about getting filthy rich and I’m here for it. Especially with my second love from this first chapter.

This bitch. Who is, without a doubt, 100% that bitch. If she has a Stand please let it be Lizzo inspired. Speaking of Stands, Jodio’s November Rain is cool looking and I like the reference...but of course Dragona is the better one with a nod to the absolutely legendary slow jam Smooth Operator. Given the similarities I love the jokes about “Sex Reassignment Pistols” Fun fact, 80s wrestler and guy who looks like he walked straight out of a porno “Ravishing” Rick Rude would sometimes use that song as entrance music. Does it sound like fight music? Nah, but he made it werk. Where the hell was I?

Right, let’s steal this diamond! Good hook, I’m invested and we have the gang together. Although I know this series well enough to know we’ll probably find a better motivation along the way (please be nice to momma and Beach Boy’s reference Barbra Ann Araki, she’s so loving) for now I love focusing on a gang of scrunkly criminals who make no bones about it. Jodio’s going to school solely to sell drugs, Dragona and Boss Bitch Meryl seem to have a lovely bond. Like I said, a part hasn’t hooked me this well since introducing Jolyene ashamed to have been caught paddlin’ the pink canoe. Part where I just died though...

Two words were all I needed to see to know Araki did his research on the islands. Spam Onigiri. It makes sense if you know the history, soldiers in WW2 brought Spam with them to a lot of these islands because it’s easy meat to ship and stockpile. It became popular trading fodder with locals, they still very much consume a lot to this day. Because it’s also something you don’t have to worry about taking a while to ship. And there are some dope Polynesian recipes built around using it these days. I’ve just personally always found that a fun quirk from the Marshall Islanders I know and past experience with people from Hawaii, Guam, etc. Will never forget a lab partner from Guam in college, said something about it and he was just gobsmacked. Had been going his whole time here wondering why it was so hard to find certain flavors on the mainland. 

Anyways, that was a lot of disjointed rambling to say I’m very excited about Part 9. Disjointed rambling is on theme though because it’s Jojos. Nothing bad is allowed to happen to Dragona or Barbara Ann. Paco and the weird guy? Meh. Jodio’s great because he’s a scruffy no-goodnik and proud of it.

[miutonium]

Ok so in battle through time (latest SJ game) in the very good hard to get ending ashi lives

Anyway if Prof Utonium is a very distant descendant of jack and ashi does that mean he could have spooky space demon powers?

(also adding onto this, i may not know the circumstances about your friend loss, but I am very sorry. I know ots hard to loose someone you once confided and talked to, and it sometimes feels like you will never create again, but give yourself time to heal)

Hmmm i guess it depends?? Although I prefer that he doesnt have those powers since Jack doesn't actually possess any power and only have a magical samurai sword to defeat Aku so I just like the idea that Prof is just a normal dude with no powers but has the ability to neutralize Aku's power (the AU i mentioned before stated that Chemical X is basically the essence of Aku and and that means the girls are a spawn from those essence hhh)

Anyway thank you for your kind words. I am still processing over it and I just wish I have time to shut everything off and heal but time has been not very kind to me. I couldn't sit down and process my grief because I dont have the time to do so due to my schedule and I don't even have anyone to confide too because I was too comfortable with 1 person and didn't think this could happen to me so I've been alone for like idk months now lol i am going insane

[radiomonkeys2]

~Arcturus

It's funny that I returned to Tumblr to post this Yabanverse worldbuilding stuff and got around to the Gosamyrs, considering that the entire idea of the Gosamyrs was rooted in Tumblr culture of the 2010s

If you've been here since the mid-2010s, you probably remember all the æｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ (美的) posting that was popular then as Zillennials discovered the magical world of 80s retrowave/New Wave punk/Outrun/90s vaporwave/Memphis aesthetics. Remember that time the 2010s wanted so desperately to be the 1980s? Things like the retro anime aesthetic, side-shaved haircuts, synthwave music, VHS aesthetics, Japanese city pop, and Mom Jeans were deliberate attempts to bring back certain parts of the 80s. To some extent, that "Zoomers Discover the 80s Existed" nostalgia wave never really ended; it just became oversaturated, and now everyone's all about the Y2K and Frutiger Aero aesthetics.

But the Yabanverse formally got its start in December 2017, and in trying to make my "Legally Not Saiyans" in the form of Yabans, I figured very early on that I wanted to heavily invoke 80s aesthetics, partially because the Saiyans already were doing that (again, take 80s aerobics and fitness freaks, cross that with Battlestar Galactica-tier sci-fi samurai armor, get some glam hair straight out of the LA Strip and the Batcave, and put a monkey tail on it with a society fit for an anime OVA, and you have the OG Saiyans). However, Yabans and Planet Kollidor in general were aiming more to ape (badumtish) the look of 80s heavy metal, with its airbrushed desert chrome, steel and leather, blood and thunder post-apocalyptic hell-riding road warriors, big muscles and big egos of early/mid 80s British heavy metal, power metal, and thrash metal, the kind of stuff you'd see in Heavy Metal magazine or some Rambo/Commando/Predator/Conan-esque video game cover-art made by a Frank Frazetta-clone. You know, the part of the 80s the 2010s was conveniently not interested in reviving.

But the Saiyans were contrasted by the Freeza Force and their ilk, and I did quite enjoy the likes of Zarbon and Jeice especially, with their fruity-colored skin and aggressively flamboyantly 80s style of fashion, and decided to run with them specifically to create the Gosamyrs.

The Gosamyrs, to be fair, were already a thing from another story of mine, essentially a "Vaporwave Skyrim" story on a planet that was essentially the standard pseudomedieval European fantasy world that somehow reached the equivalent of the 1980s (and the 1780s for the Gosamyrian elite). So instead of Elves being treehugging archers and Orcs being green-skinned chimps in the wastelands, these elves were synth-pop glammy hypercapitalists and the Orcs were denim and leather road warriors.

For fun, I crossed these with the Not!Dragon Ball that was the Yabanverse at the time, and when the Yabanverse returned to being a DBZ AU in 2023, they came along, though admittedly the Gosamyrs are a bit redundant if Zarbon's race and the Brench-seijin actually do exist in the Yabanverse (even if they're a Universe 23 variant)

I've yet to do something more with the Rongo and Kusurian, but the latter actually is as old as the Yabanverse itself, back during the proto-Yabanverse. Kusurians essentially being excessively strong martial humans, who may even be the precursors of the Saiyans themselves (as well as several other races in the universe) insofar as they possess a "primordial form of Super Saiyan"

It was always a deliberate play on a Toriyama-style villainous race, and it actually fit in with Super somewhat by accident when there was a mention that Universe 6 Earth was destroyed by warfare and terror. The Kusurians essentially super-ancient Earthlings exiled after some forgotten war in the distant past to outer space, and their empire seeks to return to Earth to re-establish Earthling domination. So the fanfic concept was that Son Goku and friends have to face off against space-Earthlings who gather the people of Earth to their side, essentially putting the conflict squarely in the realm of "you have to defeat the same people you dedicated your lives to protecting"

And when the Super reference to U6 Earth was made (this was around the time of the U6 Tournament arc, right before Goku Black), that then evolved into "U6 Earthlings were foolishly resurrected by the Super Dragon Balls because of Champa's gluttony without factoring in the context of why they exterminated themselves, and it turns out U6 Earth is essentially the same as U7 Vegeta (the planet, not the Saiyan), complete with a scene of Planet Sadala being invaded by a pair of ridiculously strong Earthlings, and Cabba has to go to Vegeta (the Saiyan, not the planet) for help"

Adapting it to the Yabanverse shifted it even moreso, since it's not set in the same universal stream as the DB-verse, so technically the Kusurians could exist there, but the ones in the Yabanverse are different and based far more heavily on "50s googie" or "space age/raygun" aesthetics to play off the Yabans (80s heavy metal/fantasy), the Gosamyrs (80s glam/retrowave), and the Narakans (90s/early 2000s edgelord/nü metal). Earth in Universe 23 is probably not their actual homeworld goal either.

[linelpisffxiv]

Men who were missed, but if this is done again, here’s my flippant jokes:

Estinien: Growly voice. May have fucked Aymeric in the past cuz they were friends beforehand. People say he’s notoriously bad with money, but it’s also a bit of a kindness thing, at least one time (He likes to help those in need knowing he’s being scammed). Once got possessed by a dragon. We saved him. Fandom is generally close to Aymeric’s due to their friendship, Haurchefant’s due to both being Ishgardian Knights, and now the Scions’ fandoms since he joined them, but that last one isn’t as close except for the Twins’ and G’raha’s fandoms. (And more specifically Alphie’s the most, other two somewhat tangentially due to a few scenes and a high school au)

Zenos: You cannot convince me he isn’t a sex-repulsed aroace, but I am *very much* in the minority here. He likes battle. Only battle. And even then not all the time, only the rarest of times where someone can challenge him. So far, that’s only been the WoL. Lets us ride him in the final battle of base Endwalker. Also turned into a dragon. Cannot die. Fandom is generally close to Emet-Selch’s, but also I know many who have it overlap with various heroic NPCs’ due to the same devotion (or “Devotion”) to the WoL.

Thancred: This is Thancred. May or may not be in a thing with Urianger post-Shadowbringers. Started off as a pretty boy flirt, but as of now is an adult spy who could actually get some if he wanted but is too busy worrying about his daughter in a parallel universe. Is very well-liked in fandom, with a decent amount shipping their WoL with him. Generally not very controversial even if everyone was sick of his shit during Shadowbringers, but he gets over it.

Alphinaud: Is 16. We do not touch this.

Raubahn: Leader of Ala Mhigo, former general of Ul’Dah. Big and burly. Clearly a bear. Pretty well-liked, but I don’t know many people who would choose him above others in the game.

Hien: King of “China” that is really Japan cuz it has samurai and ninja. There’s also another Japan that’s more Meiji Japan but that one we don’t learn as much about. Is literally Cyan’s (well, Kaien’s) son. Is... decently popular, but also has people who hate him either jokingly or for serious because of certain things he’s said and done. (I say both, I know people in both camps of hatedom.)

Midgardsormr: Is a space dragon from the planet dragon. They can reproduce both sexually and asexually. It is unknown which version his 7 kids are (He escaped Planet Dragon with their eggs). Is the WoL’s best friend and I will hear no arguments.

Vrtra: One of Midgardsormr’s sons. He’s a baby boy and it’s his birthday. Is a valuable ally to the main characters through Endwalker and is currently part of a party investigating the Void cuz he has a giant siscon (platonic, maybe? But not sure... I’m not gonna get into dragon biology here) and she disappeared into the Void 3k years ago. Has two dolls (one a kid, one an adult) he can control to wander around in a humanoid form. But LBR, he’s trying to seduce Estinien too cuz the big one only came out after Estinien started working for him. Generally well-liked by the fandom.

Vauthry: Is the hottest character in XIV. Okay, no, but yes. I don’t wanna talk about it too much, but he is a beautiful butterfly.

Elidibus/Themis: Is... borderline. While the word “youth” is used for him twice in english, in every other language, it’s more a term meaning “Young man” (which Youth can also mean, though more in the “College age barely legal” kind of way). May or may not have a boyfriend. Ends up becoming a god who gets sliced in 14 but only after his consciousness was ejected. Has memory problems in the present.

Erichthonios: Elidibus’s maybe boyfriend. Son of one of Elidibus’s coworkers, and works in Hell, which is just a containment unit for dangerous monsters made up by these people.

Lahabrea: Erichthonios’s dad and Themis’s coworker. Also Emet-Selch’s coworker. Is grumpy and has fucked at least once and had Ancient Secret Super Sex once. We’ve seen the latter on-screen. Was once a reasonable-if-grumpy guy, but the way we meet him (Cuz time travel) is a man who’s lost most of his personality into becoming a giggling evil ghost wizard from hell.

Fandaniel: Will kill you, the world, and everything and then himself. Because he hates living. I don’t think he fucks anymore, but who knows, maybe he did when he was Amon. Even if he regretted it.

Hermes: The Past life of Fandaniel and also kinda him? Ascians are weird. I generally hold they’re functionally the same, but this version is more openly sad. Made a bunch of bird daughters out of dark energy and sent them into space. Found out space was hella dead and decided to kill everyone and then himself. Then wiped his memory of that decision so he can test the people of his world.

Thordan: Has canonically fucked. Unfortunately. Is Elf Pope and Aymeric’s dad. Looks hella old. Keeps the secret that the elves started the war with the dragons.

Nidhogg: Has also canonically fucked, probably. Another son of Midgardsormr. Hates the Elf Papal States cuz they killed his sister 1000 years ago and has been trying to kill them ever since. Gets killed. Comes back, and then killed again. I like him. He’s fun.

Hythlodaeus: Does not have a made-up name. It means “Dispenser of nonsense” and is from “Utopia.” Or so I’m told. Is a fucking troll for the most part. Says he’s incredibly weak except for his magic sight, but he’s comparing himself to Emet-Selch and another friend. Works for the creation approval department of the Ancient DMV. Hates getting all the shark ideas. Keeps approving all the shark ideas. Wao Sugoi. Generally shipped with Emet-Selch (and sometimes their third) in fandom, extremely popular. Has the dead mom hairdo, which is fitting, cuz he died 12k years ago.

Nero: Cid G’s constantly divorced and remarried husband. Constantly trying to one-up him because Cid G comes from privilege and Nero “had to work his way up to the top” and kept  getting outshone. They aren’t actually married, but people often interpret it that way cuz there’s a five minute cutscene we have to watch every time we do a dungeon where he’s on call complaining to Cid and the WoL just... stands there.

Gaius: My BEC character who can do no right. Used to be believed to be fucking his adoptive daughter, but after he was given five more adoptive kids, not only was it revealed he wasn’t fucking her, but also that he thought it was creepy she was pursuing him and was his least favorite kid and subordinate and he totally hated that he adopted her. I hate him, but he’s generally well-liked. Has some funny lines that people don’t pay attention to the meaning of because haha guy says funny line in a funny way. One has been deleted from the game and people are still mad about it. Hates the evil laughing wizards from hell known as Ascians because one used him to try and destroy the world when he only wanted to rule the savages.

Ardbert: Is a bro. Ghost bro. Killed himself and his friends to cross parallel universes to save their world by causing a rejoining. Urianger managed to broker a way for their world to stay around without a rejoining. We later run into him again. He was a bro. Had at least one person who wanted to fuck him.

[snow-slayer]

Jared x Gal Obligatory OTP Asks

Questions developed by @  glitter-and-gasoline You can find the rebloggable version here

It was not asked for, but also, I love them despite their flaws and not exactly establishing a relationship. Gal is Scaramouche’s youngest brother and developed by @gravity-what Jared is part of a Samurai Jack AU we created. You can find the original story here.

TW: angst, suggestive content, mentions of drugs, etc.

Who would end a heated argument by defending their actions with ‘because I love you!’ ? Jared for sure, considering he’s the only one who has verbalized the sentiment

What would they do if the other woke in a manic state after a nightmare? Jared would talk to him to calm him down and lead him through some breathing exercises. Jared doesn’t have too many nightmares, and Gal would probably be bad at doing anything so just waits a while and then asks if Jared is alright.

Do they wear the other’s clothes? (sweatshirt, bandana, necklace, etc.) They share a couple Jared’s sweatshirts when Gal wants something really large to layer on.

Which one is more protective? Who needs to be ‘protected’? Jared is more protective and Gal actually does need to be more protected.

Describe their cozy night in. Curled up on the couch or bed under a bunch of fluffy blankets, close but not touching, binge watching some comedy movies with a bowlful of snacks.

Who would beg the other not to leave? Who has to leave to protect the other? Jared begs Gal not to leave at times when Gal is susceptible to relapsing back into his mercury addiction. Gal considers him leaving to be protective of Jared, since Jared is also a recovering mercury addict and doesn’t want to do mercury in the apartment they share.

Would they build a pillow fort together just because? Yes, absolutely. Mostly it’s a pillow wall because Gal likes a little space since he’s a bit touch repulsed to a varying degree in the AU.

What happens if one of them gets sick? Jared hunkers down in his room, but Gal will step up to bring him things and do whatever he can around the house. Jared wishes he could offer more physical comfort to Gal when he’s not feeling well, but checks-in frequently and knows some remedies to help with certain ailments. Both tend to suffer from headaches and Gal still has some nasty withdrawal symptoms on occassion.

What are their thoughts on having children? No. It’s too much work and neither would find it fulfilling. Would they help out a kid or parent they met on the street? Absolutely.

Describe their first date. They’re not exactly dating... As a first friend interaction of equal grounds, it was hanging out and Gal getting to share his love of comedy movies.

Do either try to hide their emotions if upset? Can the other still tell? Gal muffles a lot of his emotions because of his depression, but Jared can usually tell. Jared for the most part tries to make his emotions obviously because Gal is so terrible at social interactions he would not be able to tell. Sometimes Jared will hide when he is upset if he knows Gal can’t do anything to help (like listen) or if Gal has too much on his plate.

Do they have many heated arguments? How do they smooth things over? For the most part, no. Excluding when Gal was working to overcome his addiction and would get angry, they’ve only really fought over a few things and it was something outside of their interactions with each other (usually having to deal with Francis or Gal’s siblings). Since it’s usually Jared getting upset, Gal would remind him that it’s not really their business, which stings a bit, but later Gal does manage to mention he does care about Jared and asks how he can make him feel better about a situation.

Who’s the bigger tease? Jared, but only because he shows off his body a little bit. It barely counts.

How do their personalities compliment each other? How do they clash? They are both pretty laid back, which works for each other, except Gal is too laid back that he will rarely side with an issue or take a stance on something that Jared sees as being important.

Do they always say 'i love you' before leaving? No. Gal never does, and Jared only says it on some occasions, like if Gal is in a good mood.

Can they stay up all night just talking? Yes, and they do frequently, only because Jared works a nightshift and Gal has adopted his sleep schedule so that they sleep in the morning. They can get into really long conversations because Gal will start rambling and go on and on, but Jared enjoys his company and makes sure Gal feels like he is being listened to and cared about.

Who's more likely to pull the other in by the waist and kiss them passionately? That’s a no for them, again because of Gal. Jared is more likely to ask for physical touch.

How likely are they to have fur babies? How many and what kind? It’s story time (because I don’t think I want to write out a full story with it). I think Jared would like a pet and it would probably be good for them. They could do a cat, but I think Jared opts for a dog because then it would force them to go out and get fresh air every day. Gal is okay with it, but he wants a really ugly and mean looking dog because he does not like to interact with people and he does not want people coming up and asking if they can pet the dog when he takes it out for a walk. So they adopt a dog that fits the criteria from a shelter, one that has probably been there a long time because no one will adopt it, and the dog is the sweetest thing. It loves both of them and they both get so attached. They probably enter a picture into an ugly dog contest and accidentally win.

How do they feel about PDA? Absolutely not (unfortunately for Jared).

Choose one song that perfectly describes their relationship. Why am I bad at this question? Please send help!

Who would get into a fight to defend the other's honor? Who tends to the other's wounds? Gal will say some nice things about Jared if he hears someone discrediting him, but won’t fight too much. Jared might fight some, but then he’s stuck licking his own wounds since Gal can’t do any sort of gore/injuries.

What reminds each of their partner? Reminds Jared of Gal: Music especially with a heavy drum influence, anything green or comedy related. Reminds Gal of Jared: When his older siblings are dismissive of him, because it reminds him of how much Jared does listen; oversized cobalt blue sweaters.

Who's more likely to convince the other to stay in bed come morning? Gal could very easily convince Jared to stay home all day if he simply asks.

Who's more likely to give the other a massage? Neither, really, but maybe Jared later on if Gal can stand any sort of touch (like rubbing his shoulders or head if Gal’s not feeling well. Nothing below the belt though).

Do they have any hobbies they share? Definitely watching movies, and Jared turns Gal on to audiobooks so they’ll listen to them together. If they’re feeling adventurous, maybe they’ll check out a local comedy or music gig.

What are their vices? Jared: Overly patient, settles too easily for less than he wants, previously had a drug addiction to mercury although he has been sober for quite a few years. Gal: Refuses to take sides, struggles to avoid triggers, previously had a drug addiction to mercury and while he is sober, he still sometimes brings some into his room as a “just in case” plan.

Who is the light weight that needs to be taken care of after a party? Both are good about their alcohol consumption. If anyone needs care after a party, it’s Gal because he got too over stimulated.

What are there thoughts on pet names? Do they have any? They aren’t into it and don’t really have any. Jared would be okay with it, but nothing developed.

Who is more likely to jump in an elevator? Who freaks out? Gal is surprisingly better with elevators as long as he has not had a recent link-up with Scaramouche (in which case he cannot ride in them). Jared does not freak out but he is more hesitant because of how often the one in his old apartment broke down, so he’s skeptical.

Your OTP gets to pick out each other's outfits; what is each wearing? They end up wearing about the same thing: oversized sweatshirts, likely green maybe dark blue, and super baggy pants. There’s probably 2-3 layers of clothes.

Can they sit side by side without touching the other or are they handsy? (lacing fingers, touching knees, etc.) They often sit side by side without touching. Jared had to learn in the early days to keep his hands to himself since he is very physically affectionate for the most part.

Who's the better story teller? Jared because he can retell a story he read and also Gal will ramble and lose the point.

Who's the better cook? Jared

Who's more likely to tell a dirty joke or story to make the other blush? Gal probably does so accidentally because he does not always think before he speaks and then makes himself blush and then makes that worse by trying to apologize while Jared holds in a laugh.

Who's more artistic? Gal. He’s more musically talented and eventually picks up painting.

Who's more likely to fire up the stove at 2am because the other woke up in the middle of the night hungry? Jared for sure. Or any time of day, since they’re both nocturnal.

Which is more likely to swear? Both, but Jared slightly more.

Who is more sexually experimental? Who's more vanilla? Jared has had more experience with experimental because he works as a sex bot, but in their relationship, they keep it extremely vanilla. He’s open to more things. Gal, not so much, even in the past.

Who would rescue an injured animal and nurse it back to health? What would the other think? Jared is more likely if there’s any visible injury, but Gal would help retrieve items and assist more in the nursing part of it.

Who has an insatiable appetite? And what does the other do to help? Jared has more of an insatiable appetite for physical affection, and Gal’s okay with letting Francis come over and cuddle with Jared sometimes (Francis has permission from Scaramouche, and it’s also strictly platonic)

Which one would take their jacket it off and drape over the other one because they were visibly shivering?  Both would, but Jared would be faster to realize Gal needed something.

What's their favorite type of weather to enjoy together? (getting snowed in together, watching thunderstorms, etc.) They enjoy a rainy day or at least an overcast since most of their activities are indoor.

Who would give their life for the other without a second thought? Gal would not, and I don’t think Jared would completely sacrifice himself. He would sustain an injury, but he would not give up his life.

Who would dance in the kitchen making dinner? Would the other join in or watch from the doorway? Jared might a little, but not too much and Gal would enjoy watching.

Can they fall asleep without the other? Yes, but they sleep better knowing the other is around.

Would they get frisky at the movies by themselves? Lol, no. Just ignore Jared fantasizing about it.

Does either of them have a secret that could potentially ruin their relationship? Nope

Who's the better driver? I ... don’t know if either of them drives. Probably Jared because he’s a little better with his surroundings?

Does either of them have a hard time being away from the other? Not necessarily, but they also are usually in the same area all the time.

who's more likely to do something out of spite? Neither would.

What’s a non verbal way they say I love you? They both care for each other without being asked. It’s a little unbalanced in the current with Jared pulling a lot of weight, and Gal might not be able to say he loves Jared, but he was the help Jared needed when he was still living on the streets to get his life together. 

Describe their weekend getaway? They’re more of a staycation type, just doing the usual cozy night in.

Would they ever go skinny dipping? Jared would, but Gal absolutely would not.

Who’s more likely to carry the other to bed? I don’t think Jared can actually lift Gal in an emergency (also, Gal would not like to be carried) and I don’t think Gal wants to touch Jared that mouch. So ... neither... and ignore the thought I can’t of Gal calling Fandango to help move Jared from the couch to his bed so he would be more comfortable

Do they like watching clouds or star gazing? Watching clouds because they make each other laugh by trying to pick out shapes.

What do they do turn the other on/put them in the mood? Jared can kind of tell when Gal wants to get off to him, so that’s technically what Gal does. It’s self-serving enough because that also turns Jared on and he’ll intentionally make it a point that he’s going to take a long shower because he knows Gal likes to listen to him jack off in the shower and Jared gets off to the idea of Gal getting off to him. So it works XD

Whose the serious one when grocery shopping and who likes to toss random things in the cart? Gal would be more serious if he’s shopping because he only gets what he needs. Jared likes to get fun stuff for them (and also, he does most of the shopping).

Who’s more likely to hold a grudge after an argument? Jared, but he does not act on it. He’s just kind of disappointed.

Who tops? Who bottoms? They’re only into mutual masturbation.

Who pulls the other closer when they’re sleeping? Neither. Jared wants to, but Gal does not like that much physical affection and can only stand modified cuddling if he is asked when awake.

[sabraeal]

Get Up Eight: Chapter 1

An expansion of this Edo Period AU snippet, River of Silk

The incense is cloying this close; the scent of agarwood threatens to choke her, to leave her gasping for air if she doesn’t open the thick curtains drawn around the kamidama. A punishment at the hands of the gods themselves.

Instead, Shirayuki kneels.

The lamp burns steadily above, its light spilling off the shelf to fall, muted, to where she sits. The scent is less here, almost pleasant as long as she’s on her knees. As long as she’s showing deference.

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs, hands reaching up, up, until her fingers flip the latch over the sacred mirror -- the latch her grandfather had set so many years ago, when her mother was just a child, when he had built this with his own hands, to show that they were townspeople now, that they weren’t poor farmers --

There’s no shinkyō inside. It’s only books, only the last of her precious treasures, only her last memories of the time before.

Even now her fingers tremble as she holds them. The last of her dreams, held in rice paper and foreign parchment. A match, a careless hand, and she would lose even these.

She’s already lost too much. She can’t bear any more.

There’s just enough light to read by, for her to squint as she turns the delicate pages. Lines sprawl across the page, like nothing more than trees with endless branches. Shinkei, one book says, zenuw, say another. Nerve, she mouths to herself; the English word she knows from asking ship surgeons. She’ll know all of them, one day.

“Shirayuki!”

But not this one.

“Shirayuki!” Eno shouts again, knocking his cane against wood, gravel scuttling beneath his feet as he tries to peek in a window. “Shirayuki!”

“What is he thinking?” she huffs, cheeks flushing. She hurries to squirrel away her books, her notes. They can’t be left them out here for anyone to find. “Does he want someone to hear him?”

She scrambles to her feet, flipping the latch on the kamidama to hold her treasures safe. A breath of relief, and then she is rushing to the window, throwing open the shutters.

“Eno-san!” She doesn’t dare lift her voice above a loud whisper. “There’s no need to shout!”

“Shirayuki!” His mouth widens into an insensible smile. “Are you open?”

She glances toward the sky, the sun disappeared behind the roofs but light still golden. “No.”

“Ah, come on, then,” he cajoles. “It’s hardly much before dusk. Might as well open a bit early, if there’s asking!”

Her mouth purses into a thin line. She already works late into the night, ushering the drunks home only hours before dawn. Must she be expected to do more, to be available at all hours for a man’s pleasure? She did not risk so much to live a yujo’s hours anyway.

But she can’t shout her thoughts into the streets, not when there might be dōshin around, watching the old drunk make trouble. “All right,” she relents, “just this once.”

“Bless you!” he calls out, drawing more eyes. “Bless you, girl!”

She hurries out to the front, cursing each blessing Eno lays upon her doorstep. He’s a kind man, an old friend of Oji-san’s, a man she’s known her whole life -- but he’s the sort who must always make a scene, who must make a production of himself. It had been funny when she was a small girl, when he was only a whirling, mad uncle who would turn every moment into mummery.

Now he is a liability. A danger.

The door slides open easily in her hands, allowing him to stumble through.

“You are a golden child!” he tells her, nearly bowling her over. He already reeks of sake; some of the foreigners must have plied him with it, thinking it a fun game. She sighs, peeking out past him to see what attention he’s garnered.

The street is not busy, not before nightfall, but there’s always someone. With the foreigners in the port, there’s always some samurai prowling, looking for an excuse to make the tension worse.There will be violence here, one day, a massacre -- already, barely months ago, a Russian sailor was murdered three streets away, cut down by Japanese steel. Sonnō jōi is a wave, a tsunami, and one day it will break on Yokohama.

No one is particularly interested in this scene however; a drunk man in Yokohama can be seen on every corner when the ships are in. Still, eyes latch to them before skittering on, pretending they never looked.

Except one.

Gold eyes fix on her, steady, set in a face that might as well be a mask for how much it gives away. His hair is shorn, covering his skull like a bristled cap. It was cut all at once, she knows, maybe evened in some still water’s reflection; the look of a man without a master. She’s seen it enough these days; she hardly needs to take in the blade slung at his waist to know just what he is.

“Ronin,” Eno spits, catching the line of her gaze. “There’s too many of them here. Samurai too. Too many hot-blooded young men in one place spells trouble.”

Shirayuki doesn’t mean to stare, but there’s something about him that draws her eyes like a flame. There’s a scar just above his eye, a pale slash on his dark skin. Dangerous, that says, as does the gouge on his chest, bared through the loose wrap of his kimono. It’s a wound that might have -- should have, by her guess -- killed him. And he displays it proudly, like a trophy.

She doubts the man who gave him it is alive

“Maybe the shogun was right to place the sword ban,” she breathes, tearing her eyes away, She can still feel his on her. “Less steel will make it safer in the ports.”

The ronin’s gaze slips over her, and he passes, no more than another man with a blade.

“No,” Eno says, his speech clear. “It only makes men desperate. Like that one. A whole city full of desperate men.”

Shirayuki stares out on the street, empty now. Another street over, she wouldn’t even have to imagine it. She hears you can smell blood on it still, when the sun beats down.

“Forget about that!” Eno says suddenly, back with his old drunken swagger. “Come on now, let’s give a drink to Jiji.”

“To Jiji!” the men roar, cups lifted. One of them -- the youngest, Roku-san’s middle son -- traipses to the bar. He’s quiet out of his cups, a wary thing, but now he saunters up to the golden Buddha that sits, contentiously, at its center. A sliver of serenity in the chaos that is the sake house.

The wave might take this from her too. The sake house sees mainly regulars, men who knew her grandfather, grandmother, and even mother, but those who aren’t cast dark eyes at the statue, gazes slipping off it as if it is unclean. Sonnō jōi is to expel all foreigners, even, it seems, saints.

And Shirayuki will do anything to keep her head above water.

Her patron is all smiles now, tipping some of his sake into the offering cup clutched in golden hands. Shirayuki grimaces. It’s tradition she knows, meant to honor Ojii-san, but –

But it’s another task she’ll have to do, cleaning the Buddha, making sure there’s no sticky sake left in his cup. Another reminder that if she doesn’t mind herself, this could all come tumbling down.

“Another!” Kino-san -- the Elder -- laughs, waving his hand. “The night’s not yet done!

Shirayuki nods, hurrying into the pantry to grab another bottle; behind her she hears laughter, hears one of the men say, “Might as well go grab it yourself, Kino, save the girl the trip! It’ll be yours anyway.”

She nearly drops the flask. That’s not -- she’d refused him, his offer of protection. She knew what a precarious situation she was in, how all it would take was a curious dōshin to bring it all down around her, but --

But she wouldn’t take a man’s kindness, just because their grandmothers had been close, just because their mothers had called each other sisters before one had married beyond herself.

If she must come into marriage with a man, it would not be on her knees.

“Ah, no!” She turns in time to see Kino -- the Younger -- flush, to see him wave away the teasing. “It’s not like that. Shirayuki -- Jiji has this well in hand.”

“Ah, right.” The atmosphere of the bar becomes somber; more than a few eyes linger on the Buddha, on the cup he clasps.

“Come on, girl!” Eno-san calls out, jovial, trying to raise the mood. “Hurry –“

The bar goes silent when the doors burst open, revealing red coats. Foreigners. British.

“Well, well!” says their leader in English, a young man with a lop-sided smile and dark hair. “Don’t let us stop you.”

Raj has come to the sake house every night since his ship has been in port, and it feels as if it will never sail again.

“You’re not like the other girls here, Shirayuki,” he drawls, the consonants of his English crisp, the vowels sharp. She doesn’t know much about accents – hardly more than it takes to find out if a man is English or American – but his men don’t have the same. She’s sure he’d call it educated, but by the way his men send him long looks, she guesses it is more moneyed.

Perhaps that’s the same, in the West.

“How would you know?” she says, letting her voice sound teasing but not flirtatious. He already sees too much into the way she talks with him. Foreigners always do. “None of them speak English.”

“S-some of them do!” he blusters, pale skin flushing red. “Isn’t that right, Sakaki?”

“Of course, sir,” his manservant deadpans, eyes hooded with what she assumes is exhaustion. He’s older than Raj, but lower rank. She suspects this has more to do with birth rather than competence.

“I mean, of course, that you speak so well,” he continues, as if the man had never spoken. “You’re clearly a league above the other girls here, when it comes to intelligence. Why, with that red hair, you could almost pass for British.”

She hopes her grimace looks much more like a smile than it feels.

“Our ship leaves at the end of the week, you know,” he says, finger tracing the rim of his cup.

She hadn’t known, and it’s only through practice that she manages to keep the relief off her face. Soon he will be gone, and some other foreigner will come. Hopefully someone who prefers pining rather than flirting. Maybe someone French; she’s been meaning to pick up that language too.

Her thoughts distract her, she doesn’t realize his hand has moved until it’s on her wrist, thumb rubbing over her pulse. The blood in her veins turns to ice.

“It would be a shame to leave such a treasure as you here,” he says thoughtfully, tugging her closer to the bar. “We aren’t supposed to bring home souvenirs, but no one will say me nay…”

There is a part of her that is tempted. Here, there is no chance of her getting to study, but across the sea, she had heard there are women doctors. Not without pain, not without strife, but Shirayuki is used to both.

All it would cost her is herself.

“I cannot,” she breathes, “my grandfather needs me here.”

“I’ll pay him,” Raj promises easily, as if he’s never wondered where money comes from. “More than handsomely. A bride price any proper girl would be proud of.”

“Bride…price?” The term is strange, though she can guess what it is, from context. He couldn’t possibly –

“I couldn’t marry you, of course,” he laughs. “But you’d be the best kept mistress in England, aside from the King’s himself.”

Her mouth pulls flat. “No, thank you.”

She tugs at his arm, but he yanks her closer. “I’m offering you a life beyond dreaming, Shirayuki. A way out of this backwater country. Come with me, and I’ll show you how civilized people live.”

“I said no,” she gasps, pulling away, but he just holds tighter, his grip nearly painful.

“If you know what is good for you,” he growls, words clipped, “you’ll come with me.”

She grabs for something – anything – to make him release her, and –

And Grandfather Buddha slaps him across the temple, sending him tumbling to the floor, sake offerings staining his coat, his face.

The bar is quiet.

“I said,” she says, raising her voice, “no.”

The laughter crashes down with a roar, native and foreigner alike. On either side of the ocean, a spurned man is ridiculous

Raj scrambles to his feet, shaking himself. Sake sprays off his jacket, his trousers, and it only makes them laugh harder, grown men nearly in tears, leaning on each other to stay upright. Even Sakaki’s lips twitch at the corner, though he remains his master’s stoic shadow.

“You!” Raj growls, back hunched, teeth bared, more an animal than man. “You’ll regret this, you little whore.”

As the curtain swings shut behind him, only Sakaki following him into the night, Shirayuki certain he is right.

It’s the shouting that rouses her, that makes her lift her head, but –

But it’s the glass breaking that gets her out of bed.

It’s all gibberish for a few minutes as she rights herself, and but then she realizes it’s English, it’s Raj’s men outside shouting whore and worse. A rock crashes through her window, breaking the wood slats and --

And, oh, she can’t stay here. They’ll kill her.

Her hands shake as she throws clothes on; there’s not time to worry about propriety, not when any moment they could break through the door, the high windows – even the walls themselves, if they’re angry enough. She manages, just barely; her kimono lies askew over her juban, and her obi is just barely tied, but it’s enough, enough, and she moves to flee --

But then she smells the smoke. They’re carrying torches. They could set the sake house alight.

The latch of the kamidama is hot against her palms, and she flings it open, collecting the precious treasure within. The last of her hopes, her dreams. They’re the only thing worth anything in this whole place, save for –

The Buddha.

There’s no thought to leaving it, not now that she remembers. Not when it will be the first thing looters take, thinking the gold real, thinking there’s more than just wood beneath.

They would not like being right.

Shirayuki sprints into the bar, ducking under the windows so as to not be seen. Wood litters the floor under her feet, glass and stone as well. They’ll destroy this place to get at her, to make her pay, to force her onto that ship if she still lives. They’re practically pulling boards off the walls, but they haven’t broken through yet.

She cradles Buddha in her arms.

“I’m sorry,” she tells him. “I’ve ruined everything.”

There’s only one place to go.

Kino-san opens the door himself, eyes bleary. She thanks all the kami it’s him, not his parents.

“Shirayuki,” he says, eyes wide. “Are you all right?”

He would have made a good husband, had she been the sort of girl interested in being a wife.

“Kino-san,” she breathes, aware of the Buddha tucked against her chest. “I have a proposition.”

Her pockets are heavy as she steps out into the streets. The kimono she wears isn’t hers – that one is smoke-stained, ruined, but Kino-san’s mother was eager to dress her nicely, to put her in the sort of silks a wife of their house could enjoy. It’s beautiful, makes her look like she’s a woman to be reckoned with, instead of one without a home to go back to, with only what her life is worth in her pockets.

She can’t stay in Yokohama. Even if Raj’s ship leaves today, he’ll be back – a year, two? Enough time to build, only for him to raze it again.

She won’t live in fear. She won’t marry to be safe, to protect herself from a man who won’t let her say no.

Where will you go? Kino-san had asked her after she refused him again. It’s not accusatory, not angry, just -- concerned.

If only she knew how to make herself love someone. It would be so much easier.

None of these samurai will take her. They ask to see her father, to know where her gold comes from. That, or they eye the wisps of hair from under her wrap, or their gazes linger too long on the folds of her kimono.

There are men who are too expensive, and those who are too…expensive. She can pay in coin, and she knows some of them will not be happy for it.

By mid-day her feet hurt, her legs tight from mincing about in this fashionable kimono, and she is no closer to leaving than that morning. She’s desperate, and –

Desperate.

There’s at least one other man in this city as desperate as her.

“Samurai-dono.”

Gold eyes sweep down to meet hers. Up close, he’s smaller than she remembers, but still tall. At least average.

His kimono still gapes, still shows off his scar. He scratches it.

She does not wince. Hopefully.

“I have a proposition for you, samurai-dono.”

The key to negotiation is to pretend you hold the power. Oji-san always told her that.

“Six ryo if you bring me to Kyoto safely,” she says, her hands not even trembling around the cup. This past year has been an exercise in acting; this is just one more small performance. “Well, samurai-dono? Do you accept the terms?”

He’s a slovenly man, and when he slips his hand down from his face to hide in his kimono, she cannot hide her distaste. He’s not shaved recently; stubble prickling his face, though she must admit it lends him and air of…ruggedness she does not precisely mislike.

His mouth lifts at one corner, wry. He thinks he has humor, this ronin. She’s yet to see evidence of it. “Sorry to say, ojou-san,” he says in his smooth voice, “but I’ll pass on this one.”

Her gaze flicks up to his. This isn’t right. He’s desperate, more rib than meat. He can’t possibly pass up six ryo. It’s a fortune. “Is it the money?”

“No.” He grimaces as he takes in his sake. She’s surprised they’re selling it this early, but this ronin is not a man she’d care to cross in her own house. The man probably just wanted to keep him happy, less likely to make trouble. “It’s that you’re lying to me.”

Her heart pounds, her cheeks flush. “T-that’s not true. I’ll pay you half the ryo now, and half when we arrive in Kyoto.”

“Where did a girl like you even get so much money?” His eyes trail over her, no spark of interest in them. It’s a relief, as well as an insult. “Can’t be in the brothels. Are you running away from a marriage?”

Her mouth works, trying to find some reason to give him, but –

But she hears Raj, kicking up a fuss about the whore inside. “Samurai-dono,” she whimpers. “Please. Take me to Kyoto.”

His eyes narrow. “What’s in Kyoto, ojou-san?”

Nothing. He can’t know that. “My – my cousin.”

It’s a likely enough story, no reason for him to doubt it, but he remains incredulous. “I don’t think --”

“Let me in!” Raj demands, throwing – something. She flinches. He’ll find her, just sitting here like this. With another man. He won’t think it’s just business, not a man like him.

“Ojou-san --?”

“Please.” She wants to be big, be strong, but she’s so, so scared. He’ll kill her. He’ll strangle her right here while everyone watches. “Please take me from here.”

There’s a moment, an eternity, before the ronin speaks.

“Come here.” He grabs her wrist and yanks.

She’s not prepared; she stumbles into the table, and that in turn sends her sprawling into his lap, bottom pressed improperly to his front.

“I –“

“Play along!” he hisses, and then – then –

Then he puts his hand down her kimono.

Never has she been so – so manhandled, and he worsens it, jostles her to that her legs fall open, so that she tips against his shoulder, then – then –

He put his mouth to her neck.

“Sound like you’re having a good time,” he purrs against her, and she – she feels strange, feels hot –

“Oh-ho-ho!” she shrills, like the geisha she’s seen flirting with custom in the streets. She hopes.

It’s not. “Not that kind,” he snaps, and then –

Oh. Oh, oh – that is – that is his mouth, and it’s – his tongue is there too, and there’s sucking, and she cannot – it’s not –

“You, ronin!”

Oh, that’s – that’s right. She’s – she’s hiding from Raj. She’d forgot—

His hand shifts; no longer is his palm pressed awkwardly against her breast but cupping it, long fingers holding her with far more delicacy than she’d expect from a man like him. The way he positions her over his crotch, though – that she expects.

Raj stamps his foot, incensed. “Excuse me, I’m talking to you!”

The ronin looks up, gold eyes cold as coin, and stares blankly. Perhaps he doesn’t speak English; very few speak it as well as her.

“Have you seen…?” Raj lets out a huff, a growl, impatient as always. “HAVE YOU SEEN. RED HAIR. WOMAN.”

His only answer is to bring his mouth back to her neck, worrying at a spot that makes pins and needles break out over her arms, her legs.

“Why do I bother? Sakaki!”

Shirayuki dips her head as his companion appears, hoping her face has not flushed more than is seemly for some – some yujo, or whatever this ronin is trying to imply about her with his antics. Between the two of them, it would be Sakaki who would see through a ruse. She may only be red hair and green eyes to Raj, but not to Sakaki.

Raj thrusts out an impatient hand. “Ask this man about Shirayuki.”

“Excuse me, samurai-dono?” he intones softly, his Japanese as impeccable as always. “But have you seen a young woman with red hair?”

She is more disappointed than she ought to be when the ronin pulls away. “I haven’t seen any foreign women.”

“Not foreign. From Yokohama. Green eyes as well.”

The ronin’s face grows thoughtful – he may not have seen her hair, but her eyes, those he could not miss. She came to him because he was desperate, because she though a bag full of ryo would speak louder to him than pride, but –

But Raj could offer so much more, and for far less effort.

Shirayuki can’t – she won’t allow that.

How she makes the moan she’ll never know; it hurts her throat to be used in such a strange way, but both Englishmen stumble back, propriety offended, and the ronin –

It’s can’t be heat that she sees in his eyes. Not for that.

“No,” he says, so even, even as his thumb flicks out, rubbing right over her – her –

It makes her flush even to think about, squirming on his lap as a strange heat pools between her legs.

“Tell him to look in a brothel,” the ronin snaps. “I’m busy.”

Raj makes a scene, of course, and it’s nothing to sneak out the back, though she hesitates not to leave coin on the table.

“If it make you feel better, that man would have sold you out if he knew what was under your scarf,” the ronin tells her, cold, before moving past her.

It’s a fair point, even if it leaves a limp knot in her belly. She follows him.

It’s not a long walk to the back, to the alley behind the sake house, but her cheeks are still red with shame, her face flushed with heat, and --

And he had no right to use her like that. As if she were -- were -- some kind of yujo.

“We should go over my terms --”

Her hand snaps out before she can help herself. They both stand for a moment after she’s done, stunned.

He looks up, and her hand pulls back, ready to try again, and –

And he grabs it, giving her a long-suffering look.

“Don’t – don’t do that again!” she stammers out, cheeks flushed. “I’m not – I’m no yujo --”

“I know, ojou-san,” he says, both soothing and stern at the same time. “I was saving your life. Or maybe just your virtue.”

She doesn’t want to think about what would have happened had Raj found her, had this ronin decided to give her up. “I…know. Thank you. But…think of another way, next time. Samurai-dono.”

His laugh is harsh. “I’m no samurai, ojou-san.”

She’s not stupid. “I know. What else should I call you?”

He hesitates. “Obi.”

She nods. “Obi-dono.”

“No.” He shakes his head. “Just Obi.”

“All right,” she says. “just Obi. We should...finish our conversation. Not here.”

“Not here,” he agrees. “Do you have somewhere to go?”

“I...” It’s a terrible idea, but unless she wants to pay for an inn tonight, it’s what she has. “I do.”

[beansprean]

Lol I know I haven't posted much art recently and I feel Sad about it BUT! To titillate us all: there is a LONG list of things I'm currently working on:

a long comic about Izzy and stede having The Talk during the gay chicken tenders era

a long comic about Izzy and Ed having The Talk during the gay chicken tenders era (should probably be right before the stedeizzy Convo but I may finish that one first whoops)

silly comic about Izzy and Jackie getting hitched

big dump of stock photo cuddles

bikie au stuff (with Actual Bikes)

a silly kindergarten au I may never finish lol

The classic flowershop / tattoo parlor au but stede does tattoos and Ed does the flowers

Learning to draw encanto characters for @ambidextrous-space-samurai 's beautiful fic

How Did I Draw These Ocs Again: The Musical

Bumblejinx? old old sketches must redo

lil comics about my cats' origin stories mostly for warmup purposes but may get posted one day if people want to see it

that dumb bnha thing that's been in my drafts forever bc I feel like if I post it people will expect me to draw more bnha even tho I haven't read it in like a year or more and am not that into it

Pen poised to draw lupete the second Alan drops that fic

Guillermo??? Impossible to capture his cuteness

[bleachbleachbleach]

It’s a Summer Film! (2021)

In keeping with our tradition of having now watched multiple Director Byakuya movies, last month I mentioned that we were planning to watch It’s a Summer Film! because it was impossible for me to read the synopsis as anything but a Director Rukia Movie: 

"Let's make a movie together!" A girl passionate about samurai films and a boy full of mystery make a film together that transcends time and space.

And omg, it was so delightful!!! It’s about a girl who lost the Film Club’s summer film bid to another girl (whom she then declares her Arch Nemesis) because no one was interested in the weirdo movie she wanted to make, so she sets off to make her own by herself.

Well, with her two friends, Tatsuki and Orihime! Tatsuki is in the kendo club and Orihime is in the Space Club!

Their dynamic is so excellent, and I love that they remain such an important part of the film, even after Renji also comes into the picture. Here’s Rukia (armed with an umbrella) sparring with Tatsuki at their VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER:

Rukia, who is also an enthusiastic artíste in this film, has a very specific idea of the kind of boy she wants as the star of her film:

So when she finally finds him, she gets dead-set on having Renji in her film. Rukia even follows Renji after he jumps off a bridge into a river, which is a clear AU reinvention of the Memories of Nobody bridge exit!!

She also invites him back to the van down by the river:

But there’s something you should know about Renji...

He is from another dimension. A different temporal dimension, to be specific, and the reason he is so afraid to engage with Rukia--DESPITE THE FACT THAT SHE IS THE VERY PERSON HE CAME TO THIS TIMELINE TO WITNESS--is because he’s afraid that interacting with her too much will rend space-time and punch a hole in the universe.

Which would be. Non-ideal. 

In the course of filming, he is compelled to admit this, which, as usually happens when you announce to all of your new friends that you are a time traveler from the future, spurs a chalk talk, which has less to do with dealing with the fact that their classmate is a time-traveler from the future and more to do with making sure the math checks out:

Luckily, Orihime did the math, and she assures everyone that, at least for now, the time paradox is static and all is well.

Universe-rending potential on the backburner, you know what that means? 

It means it’s time to make a fucking movie. 

Two movies, actually--the romcom the Film Club was officially making, and the samurai movie no one but Rukia wanted. Though the two films are initially set up to be rival projects, with Rukia taking the Not Like Other Girls stance, her rival is actually super, super nice (and has no idea they are at war with one another), and instead of fighting a bitter battle to the death, they help each other work towards their joint premiere.

These movies are low-budget, MacGuyver-level productions of of love, of friendship, of summer excursions to shoot on location. Most importantly, it is about the power of storytelling. <333

(Because you know why Renji broke the laws of space-time to come find Rukia in the first place? The future doesn’t make movies anymore, and she was one of the last greats. He fell in love with her movies.)

But sometimes a story can be too powerful. As Rukia struggles to complete her film--changing the ending over and over again, refusing to end it, refusing to end it in the way it seems destined to end--it becomes clear that sometimes, whatever your opinions of fate or destiny or that which has been scripted, you need to let go of the things you love most. 

You lose them to save them.

10/10, EXTREMELY EXCELLENT MOVIE. STRONG RECOMMEND. 

All of the characters are absolutely top-tier, from the mains all the way down to the most random person Rukia recruited off the street to do high-level movie jobs for her. It’s quirky, it’s funny, and combines the best of both words in its meta “a movie about making a movie” + SURPRISE TIME TRAVEL SCIFI splendor.

Good job Rukia!!! You did amazing. ToT 

Director Renji agrees:

[bounce-a-coin-off-your-witcher]

Barbie Girl

I’ve seen like... 3 or 4 really fuckin’ sad ‘almost geraskier but Geralt is a fuckin’ idiot’ ficlets on my dash tonight and that just... hurt me.

So here’s some goofy modern au fluff to lighten up the vibes tonight (and because I’m addicted to putting Jaskier in goofy outfits and ruining his taste in music).

---

Geralt leans back against the faux-marble countertop and crosses his arms over his chest, relaxing comfortably in warmth of the familiar space. The holidays have been rough on both of them and he’s glad that their families have all gone home and left them alone for the time being. The Witcher smirks when his boyfriend greets him and nods towards the radio. “Really, babe? Aqua, on a weekday?”

Jaskier spins around on the smooth linoleum with his too-fluffy socks and uses his wooden spoon like a microphone, singing along with his Cursed Pop Favs playlist: “I'm a blond bimbo girl in a fantasy world; dress me up, make it tight, I'm your dolly!”

He points his wooden spoon at Geralt, who raises an eyebrow in return. The next two lines of the song play and Jaskier frowns when Geralt doesn’t sing Ken’s part.

Jaskier picks Barbie’s part up again effortlessly, turning back towards the stove as he belts along: “You can touch, you can play, if you say, ‘I'm always yours.’”

“You're my doll, rock 'n' roll, feel the glamour in pink;

Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky panky...”

His hips swing back and forth to the beat of the song as he moves through the kitchen with practiced ease. He tastes and seasons the vegetables gathered in his cast iron pan like he’s auditioning for Food Network, voice still loud and clear and sweet as he works: 

Geralt gives in to the brunette’s whims with a little grin, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s waist and bopping back-and-forth with his knees like a high schooler at a dance: “Come on, Barbie, let's go party!”

“I'm a Barbie girl in the Barbie world!

Life in plastic, it's fantastic!

You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere;

Imagination, life is your creation!”

“Ah-ah-ah yeah!” Jaskier beams over his shoulder, pressing a quick kiss to Geralt’s ever-chapped lips. The Witcher represses a chuckle in order to keep singing. 

Geralt has never been one for dramatic displays of affection, which he knows can bug Jaskier sometimes. The slender musician is just as possessive of Geralt as Geralt is of him, though, so things have a way of working out in their favor when it comes to love languages. Quality Time is something they both crave and cherish in equal measure.

Geralt winks and finishes out Ken’s last set of lines: “Come jump in, bimbo friend, let us do it again. Hit the town, fool around, let's go party!”

“Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please;

I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees!”

When dinner is on the table and the radio has been turned off, Jaskier gives his boyfriend a quiet, private smile. “Thank you for playing along. I know it’s not really your thing but... I enjoyed it. And I like hearing your voice.”

“I don’t practice like you do.”

“I know, but it’s still sweet. And it’s nice to spend time with you like that.”

“I like spending time with you, too,” Geralt blushes. He scoops some potatoes onto Jaskier’s plate before serving himself and the brunette beams again. Geralt swears that his boyfriend’s smile could re-light the sun if it ever decides to go out. He’s amazing. He’s gorgeous. He’s... He’s more than a Witcher deserves.

“You’re thinking really loud, babe,” Jaskier offers him an out. Geralt takes it gratefully, momentarily overwhelmed by his own feelings. 

“You’re just lucky it wasn’t Butterfly. I’m not singing that one with you, no matter how I drunk I get.”

“You don’t want to be my samurai?” Jaskier teases. “I can be your little butterfly.”

“Your food is delicious,” Geralt says. “Don’t ruin it with early 2000′s pop disasters.”

Jaskier blushes and the conversation turns to other things, like work and their plans for the weekend.

Later, after the dishes have been put away and their pajamas are on and their teeth are brushed, Geralt kisses his boyfriend goodnight and smiles to himself. He’s happy to have found someone as sweet and kindhearted as Jaskier to call his own (and even more grateful that Jaskier has claimed his heart in return). 

He curls himself around the younger man, one arm pillowing Jaskier’s head and the other looped over his waist, and whispers against his sleep-warm temple: “Actually, nevermind. Whatever you want, you can have. My heart, my home, a drunken rendition of a bad song... it’s yours. I will do everything in my power, from this moment until forever, to make you smile. I love you, Jaskier.”

If Jaskier hears him, he doesn’t let on. The brunette merely sighs in his sleep and nuzzles closer to the Witcher’s warm chest.

[mayflowers07]

Continuation of this post for my Out-of-Character (or maybe better said as unexpected) DnD classes for the Hermits because I’ve come up with everyone else

Like Scar, most give Cub some form of magic to do with the Vex, making him a wizard or a sorcerer. However Cub is a sneaky businessman so I propose to you: Cub as a rogue that uses tricks and gadgets to fake having magic

It would make sense to give Cleo some form of magical alignment to explain her rising from the dead, probably a necromancer gone wrong or something. But I’ve been watching her play a lot of Fallout and Cleo with a gun makes my sapphic heart happy, so I’ve decided that she will be a fighter with the subclass of gunslinger

So initially I jumped on the idea of TFC as essentially an artificer dwarf, especially with a magical mechanical prosthetic leg. However I love the wise-old-man stereotype and after years of adventuring he’s probably a seasoned fighter and disciplined warrior. So how about TFC as a monk, probably following either the Way of Mercy or the Way of Tranquility? Bonus if he acts as a mentor of sorts to Bdubs the younger monk as well

Beef as a melee class? As something muscular and powerful to make sense of the blood on his clothes? Nah, lets make Beef a bard who builds and sells his own magical infused instruments and discs and can entangle spells in the stories he tells

Mumbo is most obviously an artificer because of all the redstone stuff. But Mumbo irl is actually pretty built, very tall, and was pretty decent at archery and axe throwing, so how funny would it be if he was a brawling fighter?

Taking inspiration from other AUs, I bet Jevin’s squishy slime body would be very good at squeezing into tight spaces and sneaking into places he shouldn’t be. Of course Jevin being a neon blue slime doesn’t exactly help him with the whole rogue thing and going unnoticed but he somehow makes do

Tango is also quite good at redstone so again artificer is too obvious. But I headcanon him as a nether being, so why don’t we assume that nether beings have inherent magical abilities like dragonborn and that he uses magic to enhance his redstone, so that way he’s a sorcerer?

Similar to Tango, I think I want to give Impulse some magic. But he needed to practice to break bedrock and learn how to do it, plus I want him to be a foil to Tango’s naturally-achieved magic. Therefore I dub Impulse as a wizard

And how iconic is it if Zedaph of all people is the tough af melee member of the Team ZIT? If he’s the muscle? I love the idea that he is sworn loyalty to his friends and he wants them to achieve greatness and that’s his driving force (plus we stan Team ZIT in this house) so how about him as a paladin who’s taken the Oath of Glory?

Admittedly I don’t watch a whole lot of Hypno, so I was initially lost on him, but I have an idea. However I have been watching the past few episodes of him breeding the villagers to get better and better arrows, which is vaguely dark and horrifying when you think about it. So anyone for warlock Hypno whose staple move is charming/feebleminding/causing hallucinations (basically hypnotizing) people?

I definitely want Xisuma as something magical and powerful, but I feel like warlock or wizard is too stereotypical. We are talking about the appointed gardener of the shopping district, and he is the man who changes his skin to match an animals every season. I feel like druid is a good fit then

Keralis is definitely a tricky one, but he really loves his friends. He just seems like the type of man that would do anything to protect them, and I mean anything. How cursed is it then if Keralis is the world’s friendliest, most loving barbarian who would throw himself into any fight to protect the other Hermits?

Mr. xB 1) loves his dog quite a lot, 2) likes to build away from everyone else and prefers to be alone in nature over people, and 3) seems to take a distant, support role in most conflicts. Therefore xB is going to be a ranger. Basic? Yes. Fitting? Also yes.

Listen am I tempted to make this sneaky ninja man rogue or a samurai fighter? Obviously yes. Am I instead going to take inspiration from Critical Role and make Etho a cleric of the trickster domain because I think Etho as a cleric that hates/refuses to heal people and who worships his god by playing pranks and lying to people is hilarious? Also yes.

Finally we have Iskall, also someone who would fit most obviously a melee class due to his “hitman”/ “Iskallman” personas. But we are talking about the man who cheated death by winning demise. Therefore I propose Iskall as a Wizard from the School of Necromancy who is actually quite nice considering how sinister his powers may seem

TL;DR here’s a summary of everyone’s classes I’ve assigned in this AU

(If you don’t look at this list and go “wtf” at least once I did it wrong)

Artificer: Stress (Alchemist)

Barbarian: Grian and Keralis

Bard: Wels and Beef

Blood Hunter: False

Cleric: Scar and Etho (Trickster Domain)

Druid: Doc and Xisuma

Fighter: Cleo (gunslinger) and Mumbo

Monk: Bdubs and TFC (Way of Mercy or Way of Tranquility)

Paladin: Zedaph (Oath of Glory)

Ranger: Joe and xB

Rogue: Cub and Jevin

Sorcerer: Tango

Warlock: Ren and Hypno

Wizard: Impulse and Iskall (School of Necromancy)

[ashenpages]

Current Projects & Emoji Voting Key

Quick disclaimer: I’m a romance writer in all aspects of the term, so most of my works will contain mature content. Engage at your own risk, you know the rules, you’re responsible for curating your own experience of the internet, blah blah blah.

This post serves as a current mock up of fic ideas I’m either actively working on or considering working on next. You can drop me an ask about any of them, or just vote via the emoji combo I’ve assigned them.

Voting lets me know you’re excited about an idea and makes it more likely I’ll actually work on it. You can vote anytime, there’re no deadlines or winner announcements, just me gauging your interest by what I see in my ask box most often.

You can also ask me about the original stuff I’m working on currently. The current WIPs are Medusa centric and the emoji for them is: 🐍

Support my original work on Ko-fi and Patreon.

- Lupin: 🤑🤠💍  These are all oneshot ideas, between 5-15K each. If you want to vote for a specific idea, send me the emojis and the number of the idea.

Born from the idea that Goemon and Zenigata probably couldn’t be an item, my brain decided to come up with how I could write for them. Goemon’s teaching an ikebana class as part of his training, and Zenigata shows up as a student on forced recreational leave for his health from the ICPO. Zenigata wins the samurai’s heart through flowers. But what happens when Lupin and Jigen find out? (Only good sexy things, I promise. These beans are in a healthy polycule--be gay, do crimes) (WIP)

Jigen/Lupin, but it's Jigen deciding to seduce Lupin while wearing his own Lupin disguise. The thief is waaaaay too into it, and some artistry is taken with the sex so that they don't mess up the disguise too much during their encoutner.

Jigen/Zenigata/Lupin where Jigen has some fantasices about Zenigata, but is pretty sure they'll never happen. Tells Lupin about them. Suddenly the fantasies are coming true, in the middle of a heist, and Jigen doesn't what to do except get swept up in the moment and enjoy. Plot twist, it's Lupin dressed up as Zenigata granting all his gunman's dreams. Plot twist again, Zenigata catches them at it.

Zenigata/Lupin, where Lupin keeps doing good things in illegal ways and Pops has to find a way to punish him for it. Good thing for Pops Lupin's a masochist?

Trans!Lupin and Trans!Jigen premise: Jigen cares for Lupin after the master thief has top surgery, since Jigen has Been There and Done That. Caring, sweet, and a little sexy. Lupin is a much better patient than Jigen.

The one time Zenigata caught Lupin in an alley and kissed him and it was Jigen in disguise. Things get sexy anyway, and Zenigata has crushes on two thieves now. Lupin and Jigen "kidnap" him later for an evening of taking care of their inspector.

The background plot of Jigen's Gravestone where we see Jigen think he's done for and try to leave Lupin. Our thief has none of it, and we get to relish in the inherent eroticism of Lupin sitting in sniper fire, knowing Jigen's got his back. This is the moment I think Jigen finally believes he can be with Lupin forever.

I love the idea of something longer and more plot driven like a Lupin special where Lupin ends up in hot water and Jigen and Fujiko have to work together to save him. Jigen and Fujiko have such an interesting relationship. They're both partners of Lupin, they don't really like each other, they constantly screw the other over, but when it really matters they take care of each other. I'd like to see that highlighted a little more and also give them space to call each other out and bicker. Nothing sexy between them, but maybe a really interesting threesome with Lupin and Fujiko in a strap on once they save their boy.

- Sonic Vampire Novelist Coffee Shop AU: 📚☕💐

Shadow is an immortal vampire who has seen the world change for the worse too many times. These days it feels like he only lives for his coffee dates with Rouge, another immortal who loves each new era they encounter, warts and all. He has to admit that the book series she got him into speaks to him, at least. If someone in this era can understand him without meeting him, it can’t all be bad. But he hardly expected the goofy blue barista at the new coffee place to understand him the way those books do.

This is a novel length romcom romp with some big feelings about what it means to watch as things change, grow, and die. Expect lots of Big gothic feelings from this one, emotionally charged kissing, and overly-adoring sex. But also expect shenanigans from everyone in the coffee shop, which include Rouge, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, and more.

- Sonic Blazamy, "Like the Sun": 💖🌸💎

Amy Rose has been in love with Sonic for a while.

Or has she?

When the Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver are trapped as the fuel sources for Doctor Eggman’s newest evil scheme, Amy teams up with Blaze, Rouge, and Cream to save them. With Sonic out of the picture and Amy fulfilling his role, was she ever really in love with him? Or did she just want to be like him?

This is a novel length epic romance with lots of competent women and lots of romantic Blazamy content. Expect flowery hopes and dreams, badass self-actualization, and glancing hand touches that give way to cuddly and sweet sex.

- Persona 5: 🗡🍛☕

After bringing down the Metaverse twice, Ryuji didn’t think graduating high school and figuring out what to do with his life would be so hard. Akira’s back in town, and the gang’s more-or-less all in Tokyo, but everyone else seems to have a plan while Ryuji just floats. How’s he supposed to change the world when he’s not a phantom thief anymore?

This is a novel length fic that addresses how powerless one can feel being just one person in the face of all the corrupted systems and bigotry the world has to offer. It’s about holding on to what you believe in, working through the doubt, and fighting your way to a better tomorrow with the power you do have. The whole gang is queer, featured relationships being Mako x Ann, Ryuji x Akira, Futaba & Yusuke as platonic life partners. Akira is polyamorous and omnisexual, Futaba’s asexual and aromantic while Yusuke is demisexual and very romantic, Makoto’s a lesbian, Ann and Ryuji are bi, and Haru’s pansexual, demisexual, and aromantic. They’re one giant band of queer Phantom Thieves, and even if they’re not really doing the Metaverse thing anymore, they’re still gonna save the world!

Also, I’m gonna make Makoto not a cop. That super didn’t age well. Zenkichi and his boss can work on making them better/abolishing them for other better organizations.

- Hades Game: ❤️‍🔥💀

Oneshot. I just really need to elaborate on the threesome you can have with them in-game, okay? Healthy and canon poly relationships are so few and far between, so often I have to do a ton of groundwork to explain why it’s working in the fic, but NOT WITH THESE KIDS!

Get ready for Meg helping Zag and Than be better at expressing their feelings, lots of kissing, and probably pegging.

- Castlevania Animation Trevor/Sypha/Alucard: 🧛🏰🛌

Castlevania gave Alucard a threesome last season, and I just really need S4 to give me him being taken care of by his partners. They’re probably not going to give it to me, so I’ll need to do it myself. This is just an everybody loves Alucard oneshot, with the gang’s signature banter (to an extent), Sypha being sexy, and Trever being remarkably sincere. This fic is gonna feel like that Ann Hathaway picture with Trevor kissing Alucard and Sypha holding the end of Trevor’s whip while she leans her head on Alucard’s shoulder adoringly.

- Devil May Cry Nico/Lady/Trish: 💋✨😈

Nico’s gay, okay? Like really, really gay. And Lady’s bi and not into men who make her pay bills, but very into women who make amazing guns for her and demonesses with hearts who fight by her side. Trish is ace, but loves people and is pretty attached to Lady at this point. Plus it’s cute when Lady blushes and says nice things like they’re insults. I don’t have super solid ideas for them yet, and I envision these more like a polycule where Lady’s with Nico and with Trish but they’re not with each other more than seeing it as a threesome, but who knows what might happen. This is probably 1-2 oneshots depending on ideas, but might turn into a series of oneshots if people are interested (or I can’t control myself and inspiration strikes).

- Post FMA:B Blind Roy & No Alchemy Ed: 👀👑🙏

This is actually an old novel-length fic I wrote ages ago and didn’t post that didn’t turn out well because I was new to writing sex when I first wrote it. The plot is good, and is all about Roy learning to work with his blindness to reclaim his ambition of being Fuhrer and changing the system to something that actually cares for its people. He and Ed reconnect, fall into bed, and both set about working through their respective traumas about being “useless” having lost their sight/alchemy. They go to Xing as an ambassadorial party to offer Amestris’s collaboration on Al and May’s Alkahestry experiments--and uncover a plot that might threaten both kingdoms.

- Age of Calamity continuity Mipha x Revali: 🦚🐟💘

The first time Revali noticed Mipha, it was in the heat of battle. She stole his mark, taking them down with a flurry of quick blows from her spear. Violence rained from her like water--and then she healed him on her way to her next battle. No questions, no conditions, just pure kindness. The usual need to measure himself against those around him was quiet in her wake. And Revali couldn’t understand it. But how to get to know more about her? A fish and bird may fall in love, but where would they live?

This fic could be a oneshot or novel length depending on how far down the hole I fall. I need it to cover time, but it could be done in linked vignettes or with actually covering events in detail. I may elect to do a oneshot just to get it done and out of my system faster. So much fic to write, so little time.

Expect trans!Revali, polyamorous Zoras, scary competent Mipha, songbird Revali, love confessions that are made up entirely of berating Link for not loving Mipha the way she wants him to, and breaking these characters a little outside of their assigned roles in BotW and Age of Calamity. Background Link x Zelda, and Urbosa x Zelda’s Mom.

- Epic desert romance about Urbosa and Zelda’s mom: 🏜🏝⚡

I just think Urbosa should kiss women and Zelda’s mom should get more development and maybe a name or something. Also, lightning imagery/metaphors/play.

It also went way over my head that Riju wasn’t Urbosa’s daughter the first time I played BotW, so now I want to write about the Gerudo queen who refused to produce an heir. The Gerudo are fascinating and have a very interesting cutlure, but I think it could be examined from a nonbinary perspective that rejected pregnancy and wanting to find a husband. Not in like a hateful way, but in a way that examines if that’s really right for everyone. There’s that shop in town that sells Voe armor, after all. Maybe finding a husband and having children isn’t something you have to do if you don’t want to. And Urbosa really doesn’t want to.