#yukino o'brien

[meesherbeans]

Yukio questiooooon!!!

(Many hugs for the lovely laaadyyyy)

This is a two parter!!

A. What's a hidden talent or one people wouldn't anticipate Yukino to have?

B. What's a useless talent she has!

afdsafafsafa I WAS SO BUSY TODAY AND GOT SO EXCITED TO SEE THIS IN MY INBOX TONIGHT! ignore how lonely my inbox usually is that's irrelevant

So! Two parter! Leeeet's get going. *rubs hands together*

What's a hidden talent, or one people wouldn't anticipate Yukino to have?

Jewelry-making!! She is actually extremely deft with her fingers, and is quite talented at making intricate jewelry. Give her some beads, jewelry wire, jump rings, or floss, and she can whip something special up! This was a more utilized talent when she was a teen; after entering the workforce, she started devoting her free time to research instead of hobbies.

What's a useless talent that Yukino has?

She's preternaturally good at guessing what time it is. This woman has an internal clock made of the finest... whatever a clock would need to be made out of to be accurate at all times!

[meesherbeans]

Formally introducing: Yukino O'Brien!

(The above chibi was commissioned from a Discord friend of mine, but I don't think her comms are public.)

Where to begin? At the beginning, I suppose! Her full name is Yukino Carina O'Brien.

So, in my Our Life universe, all of the LIs end up with their soulmate (my MC for them). Yukino, however, is my main Our Life character. She is Liz's sister, grew up in Sunset Bird with the Moms, and is Cove's platonic soulmate/sister.

She doesn't know anything about her birth parents; in fact, the moms only know her birth mother was Japanese because that information was on the paperwork when they adopted her. Since she doesn't know what the "other half" is, she considers herself half-Japanese and that's good enough for her!

From an early age, she was always very athletic: if there was the opportunity to swim, run, jump, or play an active game, she was first in line. Everyone assumed she would pick up a sport once she hit middle school, but Yukino didn't feel like the commitment a team required was worth it. She'd rather be hanging out with her friends, especially at the beach!

The one thing she kept up for several years, from nine to 12 years old, was her dancing lessons. It was always a hobby for her, but one she enjoyed immensely. She took a little of everything but spent the final year focused on the different ballroom styles... mostly because she was tall and that was a boon in that particular field.

Going to the soiree when she was 13 changed her life, but not because she got to dance with her mysterious stranger boy (aka Bax-teen). It's because it was the first time she was able to dress up maturely, mingle with adults, and put her dancing skills to real use outside of lessons. She felt like she was truly growing up, and it inspired her to want to travel after graduating. This quickly evolved into a desire to go to university in another country. The soiree is what led to her buckling down hard in order to learn Japanese and get amazing grades, so that she could go to Tokyo University.

Although she continued to be uninterested in joining a sports team, Yukino did want to work in that field. She also always loved working out! After some chatting with her moms, she decided that a physical therapy career was the right direction for her, especially with an emphasis on sports injury recovery. As an adult, she attains that dream!

(Above are OL1-style commissions of Step 4 Yukino from @xxcathartistxx. 💖)

While in university, she also picked up a taste for assisting with the research side of things: helping to analyze and interpret data on studies done in the physical therapy field, to help further what we know about how best to heal people.

This is something she continues in her spare time, lecturing at conventions and co-authoring papers with the researchers doing the studies. She works for a well-respected rehab/PT company for her day job, though! It's in a city two hours away from Prima Vista (I made one up, it's called Azure Valley).

As for her romantic endeavors, Cove would call it "frustrating" but Yukino would just say that she had to take that journey in order to end up where she was meant to be.

She had a few flirtations, crushes, and short-term partners in middle and high school, but Yukino really buckled down with her studies around then, so nothing ever truly stuck. Her priorities were elsewhere, and she definitely (accidentally) ruined a relationship or two by not being around enough.

Dancing with Baxter at the soiree at 13 was a very magical and fun night, and she always considered that her first real crush. Many an evening was spent idly imagining them meeting up again one day so that she could actually learn his name, and maybe even thank him for the compliments. There was an exciting connection there but she brushed it off as a cute memory that'd remain such.

When the Danger Oreo, as I call him, arrived in Sunset Bird, Yukino was instantly drawn to him for a second time. The two of them (much to Cove's chagrin) were practically inseparable after the second time they started chatting via text. Needless to say, Baxter's departure at the end of the summer was devastating. Yukino did not cope with it well for a few days, but then she buried it because she didn't want to worry her family or friends. But Cove knew the whole time.

While at university, she had several relationships, all of which she would swear to you that she was fully invested in... however, none of them lasted longer than six months. She began to get a reputation as a really amazing friend but painfully aloof girlfriend. After her longest relationship, with an Australian rugby player named Elijah, ended in a confusing breakup, she decided to just... not date any longer. It wasn't worth it! (And what was Elijah talking about, saying she wasn't over a guy named Baxter she hadn't seen in years at that point?)

She spent her last year at university, and the year after graduating, focused solely on her studies. The intensity only got worse once she moved back to California, found a place and job of her own, and began to work both days and nights: days at the PT, and nights helping edit and analyze papers. It was during this time that she began to pretty much just subsist off of grocery store salad bags and protein bars/shakes.

Then... the wedding happened. Her friends called her to help, she gladly took time off to do it, and she got Baxter'd yet again. But this time, he stuck around when it was all done. 😊

Below are some of the fan art pieces that I've commissioned over the past year! Yes, all of them are her with Baxter. What can I say, they're my true OTP!

Fan artists, in order: @sunflowerpin, @kaikonn, @adricarra-art, and then sunflower again!

If anyone actually read all of this, bless you and your house and your MCs/OCs. My inbox is totally open if you have any questions (or fic requests, I could totally do little prompts) about Yukino!!