#otp: i will have you without armor

[youareiron-andyouarestrong]

💙for kanej, let’s goooooooo 🫶

drunken/tipsy kiss

For the record, Kaz is blaming Jesper for this one.

To be fair, Kaz blames Jesper for a lot of things. Like teaching Inej's male cousins the words to that stupid Kaelish love song, "Black is the Color," or some such thing, or insisting on trying to introduce color to Kaz's wardrobe, or the mangy orange and white cat that's taken up residence in the Slat. Granted, the last thing is not really Jesper's fault, but given time, and the proper motivation, Kaz is confident he can pin the blame on Jesper somehow.

Not this time, though. No, this time, this whole stupid situation is entirely Jesper's fault.

Jesper's fault, and the homemade moonshine that Colm Fahey brews with peaches and strawberries and wild ginger. He sent Jesper a jar of the stuff for the winter Kerst celebration, and now it seems like the entire Slat is near falling down drunk.

"It was one jar," Kaz says now, his tongue oddly thick. He hadn't been able to escape getting a glass shoved into his hand, so he'd looked at the seemingly innocuous pinkish-gold liquid and knocked it back without even thinking. He's had paint thinner that's milder than whatever brew this is. "How does one jar do all this?"

Inej is listing besides him, her long braid nearly coming undone. She says wisely, "Jesper says his da brews it with the fermented honey water. To give it, it, you know. Extra strength."

"All the Saints and their ugly mothers," Kaz mumbles and Inej swats at him, and misses by a mile. Which is a sign of just how potent this stuff is.

Inej had accepted a glass of moonshine from Jesper, tempered with water, and she'd danced with nearly everyone in the Slat--all the young kids, Anika, Pim, Roeder, Jesper, even Wylan, who let Inej drag him away from the upright piano someone shoved into the corner. No one's played it until tonight, until Wylan has started playing. Then someone got out a tin pennywhistle and another person dragged in a fiddler player from one of musician troupes that walk the Barrel busking inside, and the moonshine had flowed like water.

Music, wild and raucous and only slightly out of tune, poured out of the Slat, and the Dregs had danced like madmen, like heathens, howling at the winter moon. Kaz sat by the wall and watched; no one would ask Dirtyhands to dance, even if they didn't account for his leg. But he didn't mind watching Inej dance, her hair whipping around her, as she used her hands and feet to tell a story of a Saint defeating a monster on a mountain. Her hair is curtain of black silk in the light, and he wants to bury his face in it.

He blinks at the unguarded thought, shifting as Inej lists further and further, leaning into him more fully. "Sorry, sorry," she says, her s's oddly, delightfully sharp. Like a piece of ginger candy. "The room's dancing."

"The room's not dancing, you are," he says nonsensically and then gives up on shifting altogether. Inej is pressed up against him now, their layers of clothing between them prevent any skin on skin touch, but his heart pounds at her proximity anyways. He suspects that no matter how long he's gotten used to touching her, it always will.

"Did you like it?" Inej asks, a little dizzily. "Seeing me dance," she clarifies when he doesn't answer right away. "I didn't have the bell anklets, or the finger cymbals, but I think I got all the steps right. From what I could remember. Mama would do it better, though. Or Cousin Kathani."

Kaz couldn't tell her what they could do any better than Inej, and says so. Inej beams up at him, that smile he'd crawl over hot coals for, and for one glorious moment, leans her head on his shoulder. "One day I'll take you," she says, as the room continues to waltz and weave around them. "And you'll see me dancing. Properly, with jasmine and everything."

Later, he can blame this on the moonshine. Or the dancing room. Or the wild laughter and music still going around them, sealing them away from the outside world, and whatever consequences face them out there. But he finds himself pressing his lips to the crown of her head, lingering on the silky smooth strands, the scent of moonshine and the gardenia oil she uses on her hair. It lasts no more than second, but Inej's hands curl in the fabric of his waistcoat. Her breath catches in her throat, not in pain or fear, just dazed wonder.

He holds the moment as long as he dares, like a magician dragging out the climax of a trick before he releases the tension and settles back against the wall. Inej is still in his arms, and the room dances on all around them. Just this once, he can give Jesper and the moonshine credit.

[hannigramislife]

akutagawa, kunikida, atsushi and dazai for the ask game!!! :33

oh also YOU WATCHED SERAPH OF THE END?? IT WAS THE FIRST MANGA IVE READ I LOVE IT SMM

Loool that's a lot to do in one try! I'll do Akutagawa and Atsushi first, and then I can do Dazai and Kunikida in another post? Or separately? We'll see. And yeah! I watched the first season! Yuu and Mika are so cute!

Favorite thing about them: My favorite thing about Akutagawa is how hard he tries at everything. The narrative is always trying to beat him down and he's always like "fuck that" and gets back up again. And for Atsushi, I love how strong his personality really is? He gets scared at times, but his will is so strong.

Least favorite: My least favorite thing aboht Akutagawa is how embarrasing he can be on screen. I still love it, it's so him, but by God, "call me Diablo" was level A cringe. About Atsushi...I guess is how he sometimes doesn't think things through? I don't mind his personality much, he's funny.

Favorite line: Icon that he is, Alutagawa has a lot of incredible quotes, and that's without counting Beast Aku. However, one in particular means a lot to me; "Kyouka...I'm happy for you." This quote almost makes me cry, Akutagawa is literally braver and more mature than half the fucking cast, he will never run or hide from anything.

Atsushi's favorite line on the other hand...I love the line that he yells at Akutagawa in their first meeting. "People need to be told they're worthy of being alive by someone else! What about that don't you get?" Like, no, I think he gets it, dude 😭

BrOTP: For Akutagawa, I cannot not mention him and Tanizaki in Beast. I'm sorry, but they're everything to me and deserve so much more attention. Beast TaniAku on top. For Atsushi, him and Kyouka. So cute, my lovely siblings <33

OTP: Obviously AkuAtsu (using the ship name sskk now officially hurts me, they're on a different level and deserve better)

nOTP: For Akutagawa, I guess TachiAku. For some reason, that ship really bothers me, I don't like it. And for Atsushi, I would have to say AtsuLucy. Nothing wrong with it, I'm just not interested :\

Random Headcanon: Somebody said once Akutagawa collects antiques because he likes giving abandoned things a home, and I never recovered. For Atsushi, I am a believer of "Atsushi shows cat traits, like wanting to nap in the sun."

Unpopular opinion: I don't think I have any? Might edit this in the future, but I can't think of any.

Song I associate with them: Oh, where to begin. For Atsushi, the song I immediately associate with him is "The City's Yours" from Annie, and any song with that type of vibe. For Akutagawa, I like angsty songs. "In My Blood" from Journey to Bethlehem does me in every time, and for Akutagawa "cough cough"

Jealousy, Jealousy - Olivia Rodrigo

Heather - Conan Gray

Meet You At The Graveyard - Cleffy

Memories - Conan Gray

Mr. Perfectly Fine - Taylor Swift

Black Friday - Tom Odell

Down the River - The Crane Wives

Burn - David Kushner

You can be king again - Lauren Aquillina

I have so many more

Favorite picture of them: How am I meant to pick only one photo of Akutagawa 😭 the struggle.

He looks so fucking good in Beast, so fucking hot, I'd die for him with absolutely no regards to anything. And God, that specific moment in his fight with Francis?? The armor?? The gaze?? I die.

And here's Atsushi, bless him and the cunt he serves.

[serregon]

Túrin and Niënor for the character breakdown

-@outofangband

How I feel about this character

Túrin: baby boy. baby. evil. most mentally ill man ever. he’s so beautiful and strong and charismatic and he genuinely wants to be a good person. but he’s so so stupid and stubborn <3 we love a bisexual disaster. world’s worst man

Niënor: gorgeous, stunning, but also PAIN. she’s like a combination Juliet-Ophelia figure but she’s 6’3” and has balls of steel for facing down a dragon. love of my life. girl take the mifepristone

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Túrin: Beleg of course. they’re everything to me. they’re a battle couple. they hit that perfect balance of wholesomeness and pain. they die on the same sword! and I like Túrin/Gwindor/Finduilas. Orodreth too, like both a father and daughter want him. poor finny got stepdaughterzoned

Niënor: my favorite ship for her is with Mablung. he spends years searching for her! I want to see more of Niënor in Doriath and the comfier life she had there, establishing what she will lose. I also love ninduilas. chat is it still technically incest if they’re in the same polycule

My non-romantic OTP for this character

with each other, but you could kinda call it a ship if you stretch the definition of ship? I don’t ship them in a “uwu my precious incest babies I’m going to write porn of them” way, but I do ship them in a “the drama and tragedy and parallels make me mentally ill” way

I just want an au where they could be happy together as the normal siblings they were meant to be

My unpopular opinion about this character

Túrin: I guess liking him at all is a bit of an unpopular opinion lol. a lot of people hate him for being a disaster (while also liking characters who got even more people killed on purpose, but I digress). the thing that grinds my gears is that, whenever Dagor Dagorath is brought up, there’s always that guy in the comments going “but why Túrin??? he got people killed!!1! he doesn’t deserve that honor!11” sir you have failed eucatastrophe 101

Niënor: I haven’t seen a lot of bad takes on her, mostly because the fandom just doesn’t really care about her because she doesn’t have pointy ears or a dick. in most of the art I see of her, she’s depicted as a frail waif, either naked or running to her death. and yeah, that is a part of her story. but where’s the art of her wearing elven armor and blending in with the male elves? where’s the art of her staring down Glauring without a hint of fear in her eyes?

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Túrin: I wish we could see more of him in Doriath. he gets there at age 8 then it just timeskips to him at age 20. what was his childhood among elves like? we barely even get to see him with the marchwardens before he leaves

Niënor: the book might as well be called The Son of Húrin since there’s only one chapter about her. tell me more about her jirt! what did the curse look like for her growing up? Morgoth cursed both of them, but we don’t really see how it affects Niënor until the curse sets up her amnesiac meeting with Túrin

[koalatysleep]

Kuwameshi: the 'undercover' love story in Yu Yu Hakusho

This Christmas season, I binged watched the entire Yu Yu Hakusho anime series on Netflix (I was hit with a strong yearning for more content after binge watching the live action), and Kuwameshi became my OTP even though I started off shipping Yusuke with Keiko.

I must say the anime is a remarkably progressive work of art given that it was created as a Shonen manga in the 90's. I love love love love the entire series!! Right off the bat, the series subverts gender tropes, heteronormative romance stereotypes, and the sleeping beauty fairytale with Yusuke in the position of sleeping beauty, Keiko in the role of Prince Charming who literally brings him back to life with a kiss, and Kuwabara as the real love interest and knight in shining armor who continually saves and inspires Yusuke throughout the series.

Instead of a sleeping beauty that passively waits to be saved, Yusuke is actively making choices that ultimately helps to save himself, by first deciding to return to life, then by taking on the emotional work of helping Kuwabara study for the test, and saving Keiko by sacrificing his spirit realm egg and his chance to return to life.

The fact that Keiko was saving Yusuke, while Yusuke was saving both Keiko (from the fire) and Kuwabara (from the evil machinations of that despicable teacher), and Kuwabara was also saving Keiko (from thugs and then the fire) and Yusuke (by being one of the reasons Yusuke was moved to choose life over death and then from the fire) was an extremely refreshing change from the stereotypical heteronormative romance where the male character is doing all the saving, while the female love interest is just a passive character without much agency or ability to contribute, and no other character seems to have much of an impact on the romantic pair. Here we have 3 fiercely independent characters who are all actively helping themselves while saving each other in a holy trifecta of character development goodness.

When Yusuke's body was in danger in the burning house, I love the scene where Keiko shook off the bystanders holding her back with a fierce determination that we come to associate with Yusuke in life-or-death fights, sprang into quick-thinking action by dumping a bucket of water over herself, and ran headlong into the fire and mortal peril, all to save Yusuke.

Yusuke and Keiko would have been my ride or die OTP if the series had continued developing her character and the story along these lines, but even during this arc of reviving Yusuke where the main focus was on Yusuke and Keiko as a romantic pair, the seeds for Kuwabara as Yusuke's 'undercover' love interest are already being planted.

In fact, Togashi's authorial intent for Yusuke and Kuwabara as the central love story in the entire YYH series can be seen in their name designs itself!

Yusuke is written in 2 characters - the 1st character means Spirit/Soul, and the 2nd character means Assistance/Help.

Kazuma means True Harmony. So put together, Yusuke and Kazuma means Souls in True Harmony who help each other. And isn't that the very essence of our heroes right there? ❤️🌈

It's only after Yusuke possesses Kuwabara's body in Episode 2 that he got the help he needed to clearly communicate to Keiko to save his body from cremation. When you watch the episode, Yusuke and Kuwabara literally spoke with their 2 voices overlapping as one in multiple scenes! It's especially obvious in the sunset scene when they finally get to tell Keiko to save Yusuke. Yusuke and Kuwabara are literally Two Souls in One Body!

This symbolizes how Kuwabara truly desires for Yusuke to return to life, as much as Yusuke himself, and foreshadows how Kuwabara goes on to stand with Yusuke as One Soul in Two Bodies throughout the rest of the series. I haven't even meta-screamed about the homoerotic subtext of Yusuke possessing Kuwabara's body! 🤣🤣🤣

We further see how Kuwabara is in True Harmony with Yusuke when Kuwa takes it upon himself to look out for Keiko on Yusuke's behalf when he thought Yusuke was permanently dead! Kuwa literally stepped in on spirit Yusuke's behalf to beat off the thugs bothering Keiko, and then puts his own life at risk to save Keiko from the house fire!

No one asked or expected Kuwa to do this, he looks out for Keiko simply because he knows how important Keiko was to Yusuke, and taking care of the people Yusuke loved is how Kuwa keeps a piece of Yusuke alive! Like, it boggles my mind how deeply Kuwa loves & values Yusuke to the extent that people important to Yusuke is by default important to Kuwa even after Yusuke's death! 🥹🥹🥹 If this isn't True Love (True Harmony), what is? Like, I know real-life married couples who do less for each other! I've meta-ed screamed a bit more about how truly, madly, deeply Kuwa is in love with Yusuke even before canon began, link to that other meta is at the end of this one!

And then of course we have the all-important Episode 3 where Botan literally tells us Yusuke and Kuwabara are so emotionally in sync (True Harmony) with each other that Kuwabara can sense Yusuke's feelings even though Yusuke is a spirit! Their connection even this early on literally transcends the boundaries between life and death! And it's only when spirit Yusuke started following Kuwabara around that Yusuke grew as a person, by learning about Okubo's family situation and deciding to help. This is a large reason why Puu's egg absorbed good energy to develop into lovable goofy Puu!

Yusuke is so moved by Kuwabara's honorable character and determination to help Okubo, that we see Yusuke doing the stereotypically 'female' emotional work of helping Kuwabara study for the test even though Yusuke himself hates studying. It's actually such a huge thing that Yusuke not only does this on his own free will without anyone nagging him into it, he actually looks like he's enjoying helping Kuwabara study! Yusuke has such massive character growth just by helping Kuwa! Look at how happy Yusuke looks! I just love how Kuwa is such a positive influence on Yusuke, because Kuwa inspires and emotionally resonates with Yusuke so deeply! Compare this to how Keiko wasn't able to get Yusuke to study despite all her nagging (which actually inadvertently makes Yusuke feel worse about himself, link to another meta post about this at the end of this one), and you see how Kuwa is Yusuke's True Love Interest who's in True Harmony with Yusuke!

And of coz, Their entire study dream-date is so romantic!! The way Yusuke's hand lingers on Kuwabara's shoulder when he first finds Kuwabara asleep over his desk, and the way this shot (Yusuke's gaze) lingers on Kuwabara's bruised and exhausted face clue us into Yusuke's burgeoning romantic feelings for Kuwabara!

The romantic coding of this scene is further confirmed through the soft lighting, the tender background music, Kuwabara's romantic candy colored galaxy in his dreamscape, and how soft and tender Yusuke's voice is when he whispers to Kuwabara back in Kuwa's bedroom. When morning dawns, the romantic background music segues into a scene of two lovebirds on a branch accompanied by birdsong, and this becomes our visual & audio analogy for Kuwameshi romance later throughout the series!

I personally think it's not a coincidence that Yusuke was carrying Puu's egg on him when he possessed Kuwabara's body and when he followed Kuwabara around as a spirit, and that the egg developed into a bird creature Puu who later becomes a majestic phoenix, but you'll have to read my fic The Good Fight to see what I mean! 😜

Then we get the laugh-out-loud hilarity of Yusuke possessing the body of the knocked-out-girl to beat off the thugs who were about to waylay Kuwabara on his way to the test 🤣🤣🤣! i roll on the floor with laughter every time! Apart from the sheer comedic genius, we also see that Yusuke did not hesitate to literally 'become' a girl to help Kuwabara! We see how emotionally invested Yusuke is in Kuwabara's success, because Yusuke is moved by Kuwabara's heart and grit!

I mean honestly this whole episode of Yusuke doing the 'female emotional work' of supporting Kuwabara is really amazing. I would have loved more episodes like this throughout the series where we get to see more of Yusuke developing his emotional muscle without any life-or-death fights!

Immediately after the revival arc is done, the story goes on to subvert heteronormative expectations even further - one of the first things Yusuke does after coming back to life is to save Kuwabara's cat in a really really sweet gesture. Yusuke punching the lights out of the thug holding the cat hostage, and then turning around in slow motion to reveal his identity is a typical hero's entrance when they save their love interest. The way that Yusuke cradles Kuwabara's cat with such gentleness and care while kicking the living shit out of the thug who had grabbed Kuwabara around the waist, and then returning the cat to Kuwabara in the midst of fighting is seriously swoon worthy !

I mean, if Yusuke had done this for a female character or even a 'good-looking' male character, it would have been universally interpreted as a clear romantic narrative, but because Kuwabara is not female and also not conventionally 'good looking', this flies under the radar, which is how the story can clearly depict Kuwabara as Yusuke's romantic love interest from here on out without anyone being the wiser.

I mean!! Throughout the rest of the series, Kuwa-chan literally spurs Yusuke on to greater heights than Yusuke would have attained himself, because Yusuke cares so deeply about what Kuwabara thinks about him, and living up to Kuwabara's faith in him! This is Yusuke we're talking about, he doesn't give a shit what others think if he doesn't respect them, so the fact that he wants Kuwabara to think highly of him speaks volumes about how highly he admires, values and respects Kuwabara in return!

During Genkai's succession arc, our heroes were literally on an Arcade Date!! Look at our boys putting their best selves forward to impress each other! 🤩😆 The way they're drawn so beautifully in such heroic frames tells us just how much they want to impress each other! If this isn't courting behavior, what is?

Look at how impressed Yusuke is at Kuwabara's high score in the punching game, and how he pretends otherwise! 😆

OMG they way they totally ignored all the onlookers as they gleefully try to outdo each other and show off for each other is SO CUTE!!!!!

I personally think Yusuke was in such a bad mood with the bat demon coz Yusuke was in a hurry to get back to Kuwabara! When he finally made it there and explained what took so long, his eyes were on Kuwabara the entire time!!! And look at how Yusuke is peacocking in front of Kuwabara when he explains how he's faster than the bat demon! 🤣

It's also because Kuwabara asked Genkai to wait that Yusuke was selected despite exceeding the time. Kuwa had zero doubt that Yusuke would make it! His belief in Yusuke is absolute! The scene where the boys forgot themselves and hugged each other in their excitement is chef's kiss! Look at Yusuke throwing himself bodily at Kuwabara! OMG I just love how Kuwabara makes Yusuke forget all about pretending not to care or appearing aloof (which is part of Yusuke's emotional armor) and brings out Yusuke's True Self!

Yusuke had so much fun with Kuwabara, he literally forgot all about his mission to find Rando, to the extent that even Koenma remarked on this! 🤣

Seriously the anime puts so much effort into the little details like these unconscious body language tells and non-verbal cues, it's really amazing!!! When Yusuke later tried to get Kuwabara to retire the fight against Rando to protect Kuwabara, Yusuke (who was still shocky from his fights) literally pulled Kuwabara close with a hand on Kuwabara's chest and another nearly on Kuwabara's neck! These are not platonic personal space boundaries, it's Yusuke's unconscious body language cluing us into his romantic feelings for Kuwabara! Look at how close Yusuke is to Kuwabara!

During the fight with Rando, it's also because Yusuke was so emotionally impacted by Kuwabara's serious injuries that Yusuke was able to tap into a new level of power! I was honestly surprised by this when I first watched the anime before I clued into the Kuwameshi subtext, given how cool and collected Yusuke was when Hiei almost turned Keiko into a demon!

And the unconscious Kuwabara was still cheering Yusuke on! When Yusuke was on the verge of being eaten alive by the demonic fish, Kuwabara's spirit even left his body to go save Yusuke, and Kuwabara knew just the right words to say to Yusuke to spur him on! Souls in True Harmony who help each other!

Cheering on the male character in spirit is literally what female love interests do in anime, and it's usually a one-sided depiction of the female shouting the male character's name in a paroxysm of emotion without the male character actually hearing or interacting with her, so this trope is again nicely subverted here coz Kuwabara is literally a spirit who can have two-way dialogue with Yusuke, and he's obviously a badass himself, which is why he can reach Yusuke as a spirit to begin with. Genkai approves!

As the series progress, we see more of Yusuke and Kuwabara's body language cluing us into their romantic feelings for each other. During their chocolate shake date, they were mirror images of each other when Keiko crashed their conversation and Yusuke covers up what they're really talking about with the movie excuse. When Yusuke was making his excuses to run out on Keiko, he again places his hand on Kuwabara's chest when he asks Kuwabara to come with him, then Yusuke pulls him along by the wrist 😍😍❤️❤️.

You can see in all these interactions that Kuwabara's attention is on Yusuke almost all the time, especially when Botan's explaining the 4 saints beast situation to them! Kuwa literally did not take his eyes off Yusuke even though Botan's the one speaking! This is despite Kuwabara supposedly having a 'crush' on Botan, but we will have to leave the explanation for this for another meta! ;P

I digress! To me, Yusuke running out on Keiko with Kuwabara and forgetting he left Keiko at the movie theatre clearly signals authorial intent to focus on Kuwabara and Yusuke's relationship, rather than Keiko and Yusuke's. At the end of the 4 saint beasts arc when Yusuke exhausted his lifeforce to defeat Suzaku, it was Kuwabara who brought Yusuke back to life by transferring his remaining life-force to Yusuke despite knowing this is akin to suicide, similar to how Keiko saved Yusuke from the fire despite mortal peril to herself at the start of the series. This time, Yusuke wakes up in Kuwabara's bed after Kuwabara has taken care of Yusuke for 3 days, to the sound of birdsong!!!! And from here on out, Keiko is relegated to a side character without further character development of her own or much contribution to Yusuke's personal growth.

When Toguro wanted to devastate Yusuke into unlocking his true power by killing someone Yusuke loves, he chose Kuwabara above all others, even though Keiko was in the audience. It's very telling that Toguro tried to kill Yusuke's metaphorical heart by ripping out Kuwabara's actual heart!! Kuwabara is Yusuke's heart! The subtext is main text!

Kuwabara chose to meet his death courageously even though he knew he had no chance of surviving, showing Yusuke once again the difference between true strength vs just power. The intensity of Yusuke's resulting grief and utter devastation at Kuwabara's death changed the very essence of Yusuke's reiki. The intensity of Yusuke's emotions is the reason why Yusuke rejected Toguro's "power above all else" motto, it's the reason why Yusuke understood the difference between true strength vs just power.

Some things can only be learnt through experience, and Genkai knew this was a hard lesson Yusuke needed to experience for himself before he could learn the difference. (She also knew Toguro still had some shreds of goodness deep down and wouldn't kill Kuwabara straight out).

Yusuke himself said he used to secretly admire and aspire to Toguro's power even as he was scared shitless, before Yusuke's eyes were opened to the immeasurable worth and value of love and friendship, the things that Toguro gave up in his blind pursuit of power. Yusuke lost his fear of Toguro after that, he stopped admiring Toguro after that, he pitied Toguro instead. Yusuke was able to gain this emotional maturity through the grief & devastation of losing Kuwabara. And because of that, he was able to defeat Toguro. Talk about the Power of Love! Kuwabara really is the Warrior of Love! Even when he's not physically fighting, he inspires Yusuke to new levels of both emotional maturity and physical strength through Love.

I mean honestly, at this point in the story, Kuwabara had clearly taken center stage as the love interest for Yusuke, one who actively plays a role in Yusuke's personal growth and emotional motivation, one who is strong enough that Yusuke can be honest about his spirit realm duties and his full self with.

It's a bit of a shame that the story didn't develop Keiko into a more interesting kickass female character like Botan, who's independent and capable of taking care of herself, and whose contributions to the story is not just restricted to that of a romantic love interest. It would have been nice to see Keiko realizing that she and Yusuke are better suited to be found family and lifelong friends rather than romantic partners. It's a pity especially since Keiko got off to such a strong start by saving Yusuke so courageously from the fire. After this point however, the story relegated Keiko to the stereotypical female 'love interest' who's just passively waiting on the sidelines for Yusuke to return.

But given that Yukina is also a similar stereotypical female 'love interest' for Kuwabara, one who's written out of the narrative almost as soon as she's introduced, and thus I also don't find Kuwabara and Yukina convincing as a romantic couple, I wonder whether the author deliberately chose to under-develop Keiko and Yukina's characters and to protray them as rather helpless, one-note and bland, in order to highlight the real love story he's trying to tell between Yusuke and Kuwabara. (Togashi even said in a Q+A that his least favorite character is Keiko, coz she's a typical manga character.)

If I were trying to tell a non-heteronormative love story aimed at teens in conservative 90's Japan, hiding Kuwabara and Yusuke's love story in plain sight, under the cover of them both having female 'love interests' is probably one of the ways to do it while still getting published in Shonen Jump.

It's clearly contrasting Kuwabara and Yusuke's extremely compelling romantic subtext with the very bland and unconvincing heteronormative pairings. It leaves it up to the audience to notice for themselves which pairings they find more compelling to root for, and perhaps in so doing, the story subverts a conservative audience into unknowingly supporting a non-heteronormative couple of Yusuke and Kuwabara 🤣

Togashi also said in his letter to fans that he ended the manga for three reasons, one of which is that he has exhausted the character directions he can explore within the publication bounds of Shonen Jump.

I wonder whether a sexual romantic relationship between Yusuke and Kuwabara (the sex is hinted at in this bonus canon content) is one of the directions Togashi couldn't explore within the publication bounds of Shonen Jump 🤣. (But that's okay Togashi, thank you so much for giving us the rich Kuwameshi subtext in canon, we'll take it from here to explore these directions for you 🤣🤣).

When I first read part of the manga casually as a kid, all the subtext flew right over my head of coz, but now when I watch it as an adult who understands just how much queer love stories were not allowed any expressions in the 90's, I really love Kuwabara and Yusuke as each other's true love interest.

The development of their relationship can also be read as a natural progression of their characters growing closer together than Yusuke and Keiko can, due to Yusuke having to keep Keiko in the dark about spirit realm activities to protect her from it, and Keiko just being so different from Yusuke that she inadvertently makes Yusuke feel worse about himself. This is apparent in Episode 1 itself, when Keiko inadvertently triggers Yusuke's self-worth issues when she berated Yusuke quite thoroughly to apply himself to school - she immediately assumed he must have done something wrong for Takenaka-sensei to be looking for him (when actually Takenaka just wanted to proactively counsel Yusuke!) and she outright says if he doesn't go soon he'll drag her down and she'll get a scolding as the class monitor as well. This is when Yusuke flips her skirt, not because he is romantically interested in her or is pervy, but because he just wants to stop her words which were quite hurtful for him coz it confirms all his worst fears about himself!

Keiko also can't understand why Yusuke enjoys challenging good fights, whereas Kuwabara can and in fact enjoys those fights himself. So perhaps Keiko and Yusuke drifting apart as a romantic pairing once the revival arc is done is also a natural state of things.

In any case, by the time the dark tournament is over in episode 67, it's Kuwabara that Yusuke seeks out for an early lunch at school, it's Kuwabara who Yusuke riles up by poking him in the ass 🤣🤣, similar to how Yusuke used to flip Keiko's skirt, except Yusuke's jabbing Kuwabara in the ass when he's in a good mood and wants an excuse to be close to Kuwabara! I haven't even screamed about the HILARIOUS homoerotic subtext of Yusuke jabbing Kuwabara in the ass just as Kuwabara's thinking about becoming "a real man" for Yukina! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Look at our boys taking the opportunity to physically be as close as they secretly want to be with each other, under the guise of rough-housing and bickering! Yusuke's full-on hugging Kuwabara in the second frame, and he's got his leg over Kuwabara's shoulder in the third!! 😍😍❤️❤️Once again they totally ignore their audience and focus just on each other, to the extent they didn't even realize the class bell had run and Takenaka-sensei and the entire class is looking at them! 🤣

This scene of Yusuke seeking out Kuwabara for lunch in a good mood and needling him for food is SO CUTE and so sweet! Coz it's Yusuke's way of asking for Kuwabara's attention. It's Yusuke's way of saying he wants to spend time with Kuwabara, he wants Kuwabara to be the one to take care of him (by feeding him), and when Kuwabara reacts with outrage instead (coz he is still in denial about his feelings for Yusuke at this point), Yusuke immediately reacts with hurt defensiveness. Even so, they still have such a great time with each other! It's very relatable and very sweet! Haven't you ever just riled up your crush and teased them mercilessly coz you wanted the excuse to be close to them? I also love that Yusuke is actively seeking out Kuwabara to do normal mundane things like eat lunch together, he must have realized at some subconcious level that Kuwa-chan is his OTP!

We even get Kuwabara's friends and Botan wondering whether Kuwabara and Yusuke were a bickering married couple in a previous life, so the subtext is more or less already the main text by this point.

Then we see Kuwabara catching up with Yusuke after school and Yusuke sharing his feelings of ennui with Kuwabara, who brought Yusuke right out of it with ease 🤣🤣 it's these seemingly little things like Yusuke opening up about his feelings to Kuwabara, Kuwabara keeping Yusuke grounded, and Kuwabara talking about his loss of reiki with total ease with Yusuke and being worried that Yusuke was going through the same that shows the deep emotional connection and deep trust between these two.

Of course, then Yusuke gets abducted and we see Puu flying straight to Kuwabara for help, so again the story subverts the typical heteronormative romance by having both Kuwabara and Yusuke continually inspire, save and rely on each other as true equals in their partnership. No one is the wilting flower, no one is just passively waiting to be saved, and both are simultaneously both the protector and the protectee. Just as Genkai told Yusuke to never forget why he became strong and who he became strong for, they are truly the main reason why the other became so strong!

Speaking of abduction, the tables gets turned later on when Kuwabara is the one who gets abducted and Yusuke goes after Sensui on a bicycle(🤣🤣!) like a man possessed. I mean seriously, even before I clued into Kuwameshi, I thought Yusuke looks like a man who's singlemindedly saving the love of his life! And then of course, Kuwabara experiences the devastation of Yusuke's death, similar to how Yusuke experienced the devastation of Kuwabara's death during the dark tournament, and we get that precious glimpse into Kuwabara's feelings for Yusuke all along! It was never about winning Yusuke in fights, all his challenges were just an excuse to be with Yusuke! His heart gets so excited when he's with Yusuke! He was over the moon when Yusuke called him by name the first time! He did it all - Genkai's succession trials, Rando fight, Byakko fight, yukina rescue mission, Dark Tournament, facing down Toguro - all of it, for Yusuke!!!! Screams! Can it get more romantic than that?!? This not only reveals Kuwabara's heart, it also reveals authorial intent for the Kuwameshi love story from the beginning!

And then of course Kuwabara chooses to avenge Yusuke even if it means his own death and the destruction of the entire human realm! Kuwabara, the warrier for love, truth and justice, protector of the weak, literally chose to burn down the whole world to avenge Yusuke, and follow Yusuke into death! That's how much Yusuke means to Kuwabara! The entire world literally means nothing to Kuwabara if Yusuke isn't there! So for me, I fully believe Yusuke and Kuwabara are the real love story here!

If you love the delicious Kuwameshi subtext as much as me, come scream about it with me in my Kuwameshi meta series on AO3, and my Kuwameshi Alternate Canon Fic The Good Fight on AO3! Most chapters have End Notes with more meta about canon that inspired that chapter! There's just way too much meta to put all into one post here!

If you'd like to read more meta on when Kuwabara fell in love with Yusuke, here's one you may enjoy!

If you'd like to read meta on when Yusuke fell in love with Kuwabara, here's one!

[cameliawrites]

Kanej Fic Recs: The "Figuring Out Intimacy" Trope

If you're anything like me, you're a glutton for very specific fic tropes applied to your very favorite OTPs (and we all know my OTP of OTPs is kanej). To this end, ao3 tags are your best friend. When you see that delicious combination of tags like "emotional hurt/comfort" and "healing" and "pining" with some sort of moody, vaguely poetic title, that's the good shit right there. That is a MEAL, and you are about to feast.

Anyways. I'm getting off track.

I come to you today with more than just an offering to the potluck; I am here to open up the doors to the whole damn buffet. That's right - FIC RECS. Specifically, fic recs that scratch the particular itch for "post-canon fics where Kaz and Inej figure out how to touch each other, but really the Physical Armor is always symbolic of the Emotional Armor that they have to learn to lower if they hope to ever really Be Together." Do you know what I'm talking about? If you know, you know. It's kanej figuring out intimacy. It's touch, but it's about the way they touch each other's souls. It's a fandom-classic fic trope. FEAST AWAY. (And feel free to reblog and add any of your own favorites! This is certainly not an exhaustive list, just some favorites of mine that fit the bill.)

They're all complete, they're all canon compliant (I had to set some limitations because my list was getting out of hand lol), and they're listed in order of rating (T, M, etc.), but otherwise they're in no particular order, and the summaries and/or most of the excerpts are those provided by the authors on ao3!

Can We Stop? by thegoldenkneazle (Rated G, 220 words, drabble)

Excerpt:

Kaz immediately drew back, rolling over onto his side of the creaky bed to create space between them. “Are you okay?” he asked, dark eyebrows drawing together.

Every Time We Touch by Pokemon67 (Rated G, 1k words, oneshot)

Summary: "Inej hadn't been exaggerating. It wasn’t easy for her either."

Excerpt:

She couldn’t quite recall how they’d ended up here, in Kaz’s room, on his bed. She was perched on his legs, right in front of him, and if she raised her head she could look into his eyes count the little flecks of gold the light always teased to her were there. 

Uncharted Waters by insignificant457 (Rated T, 5k words, oneshot)

Summary: "One step on the long and winding road to intimacy."

Excerpt:

Perhaps Inej should be insulted that she’s been penciled into Kaz’s schedule, fit snugly in between a Crow Club shareholders’ meeting and a parley with the Liddies, but when it comes to taking steps forward in their relationship, romantic spontaneity is not exactly something they can afford.

Council of the Tides by blacktag189 (Rated T, 15k words, multichap)

Excerpt:

With each tiny step forward they made, the urgency to be pulled out to sea still built. She couldn't ignore the brutal truth in that - that no matter how much he gave her here...one day everything would align just right and she would leave. But today wasn't that day.

Discover the Rest by Silver_89 (Rated T, 4k words, oneshot) (note: restricted to ao3 account holders)

Summary: "Post Crooked Kingdom fic where Kaz and Inej have made some progress with touch but touch is not the only progress Inej wants to see from him. She wants to know him too."

Excerpt:

Inej didn’t share much about her time at the Menagerie...And yet she had shared that she struggled with touch too. He understood why. But she didn’t know why he was the same. I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all. It was time he tried taking it off.

All Flowers in Time (Bend Towards the Sun) by laurie_ipsum (Rated M, 10k words, multichap)

Summary: "Does this fandom need yet another Kaz and Inej figure out intimacy fic? Probably not, but I did it anyway."

Excerpt:

Kaz wants all his firsts. It’s written in his eyes, on his face, in every line of his body. She can tell it terrifies him. It terrifies her, too.

One Thousand and One Nights by Trogdor19 (Rated M, 11k words, multichap)

Summary: "One new touch, every night…"

Excerpt:

He dips his head, his cheekbone brushing against hers so quietly it’s like the way she moves. So silkily between shadows no one’s ever quite sure it happened. 'Wait for me,' he breathes. The letters barely given enough air to shape them.

The Trouble With Wanting by A_nonnie_mouse (Rated M, 6k words, oneshot, part of a series)

Summary: "Inej begins to reckon with her own armor so she can have what, and who, she wants."

Excerpt:

“Kaz.” She was frustrated at his self-deprecation. “Please understand. My mind wants you. My heart longs for you. My body…” She struggled for words, the shame rising again, threatening her eyes with tears. “My body isn’t entirely convinced something horrible isn’t going to happen again. This wasn’t because of you. You understand that, don’t you?” 

show me where my armor ends (show me where my skin begins) by kingsandqueensofthebarrel (Rated M, 25k words, oneshot)

Excerpt:

“You’re something I want, Wraith,” he says, his tone all business like. “And I don’t stop until I have what I want.” “That could have sounded romantic.” “It’s a fact.” She hums and squeezes his hand.

collision course by cameliawrites (Rated M, 10k words, oneshot) (shameless self-promotion)

Excerpt:

Inej adjusts to Kaz the way that winter adjusts to spring: she thaws, and thaws, and thaws—and then she utterly melts.

you're a bandit like me, eyes full of stars by sarathedreamer (Rated M, 54k words, multichap, part of a series)

Summary: "Kaz and Inej learning to be with one another after Crooked Kingdom (events in Rule of Wolves might be mentioned in later chapters but you'll be warned!) Basically a slow burn filled with angst and fluff, and little plot :)"

Excerpt:

She blushed and felt a smile tug at her lips, so she looked down at his hand, held up in front of her like an invitation. His fingers were barely shaking. Inej looked back up at his eyes, asking a silent question once more, and Kaz nodded after a short hesitation. She gently cupped his hand in hers, fascinated by the softness of it, by the way two of hers were not quite enough to hold one of his. No one but she could know how graceful Dirtyhands’ weapons were under his gloves, and that was another one of his secrets she would gladly keep close to her chest.

Things We Can Never Do by rainstormdragon (Rated E, 3k words, oneshot, part of a series)

Excerpt:

They had done this before more than once. First words, then their hands on their own bodies. Gasped encouragement and shared fantasies. “Tell me what you’d want to do,” he urged her, not moving even a hair’s breadth toward her, giving her the safety of the space between them. “Tell me what you’d want me to do.”

Closer by lilieswho (Rated E, 7k words, oneshot)

Excerpt:

There is a deep desire crawling under Inej’s skin. It’s a feeling she’s begun to grow used to by now — the feeling of wanting someone, wishing for their touch and hoping they wish for hers back. Not someone’s, no. Kaz’s.

If you've made it all the way to the end of this rec list (hi!! thanks!), you should absolutely reply to or reblog this post with your favorite "kanej figure out intimacy" fic, whether it's on this list or something else! :) Support your local organic pasture-raised fic authors, etc. etc.

[twisting-echo]

For the ship asks: 3,26,29 and 30 for both Hercules x Cinderella and Aladdin x Mulan please.

Ooo, Sailor, what I love, besides the questions you picked, is that all of these characters are canonically in Disney Mirrorverse too! So, I'm going to talk about them from a Disney Mirrorverse standpoint, if you don't mind.

Hercules x Cinderella:

3. Most common argument?

Okay, their most common argument is that Cinderella wishes Hercules would stick up for himself more. He has a tendency to let himself be a doormat. Having been treated like an outcast most of his life, he was raised as a well-meaning and soft-spoken farm boy who can be too polite for his own good. Despite his impressive strength, God-like appearance, and towering height, he's still that farm boy who is afraid of what others will think of him because of his gifts. Cinderella, who has dealt with being treated like a punching bag her whole life, hates seeing the person she cares deeply for not assert himself when needed. She gently urges him to stand up for himself and promises that it won't make him lose his kind and gentle nature. Over time, her support helps Hercules gain the confidence to assert himself, making their relationship stronger.

26. What would be their theme song?

Okay, the theme for this OTP is a song I love called "At the Beginning" by Donna Lewis and Richard Marx. It's a beautiful song from the soundtrack of the 1997 animated film Anastasia. Coincidentally, Hercules also came out in 1997. I just feel that the lyrics fit this ship so well!

★ Song link: [At The Beginning - Richard Marx & Donna Lewis (Lyrics)]

29. One headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart?

(This is a plot bunny from my fic idea.) The headcanon that breaks my heart is when Cinderella feels that she is pushed past her breaking point and fails Mickey and her fellow guardians. So, she calls it quits as a guardian and goes back home to her universe, telling none of her friends or Hercules, sparing them and herself the heartache of goodbye.

30. One headcanon about this OTP that mends it?

(This is also a plot bunny from the same fic idea.) The one headcanon about this OTP that mends it is when Hercules finds out that Cinderella left. He was sad that she didn't say goodbye, but he was absolutely heartbroken to learn that the woman with the unbreakable spirit whom he loves and adores has finally let adversity crush that spirit. Cinderella has helped him through so many of his personal struggles, and he'd be damned if he was going to let her succumb to hers. So, he goes to her universe, flying with the might of Icarus in search of the woman who is his sun. When he finds her, he tells her that strength isn't about how physically powerful you are; it's about having the inner strength to be strong through the most challenging and darkest times. He gently lifts up her chin, looks her in the eyes, and tells her that the woman underneath the enchanted glass armor is the strongest person he knows.

Aladdin x Mulan:

3. Most common argument?

The most common argument for Mulan is that she finds Aladdin to be a spontaneous risk-taker, which conflicts with her more disciplined approach to fighting the Fractured and handling situations. Aladdin can be overly cocky at times, and it frustrates her because she's trying to keep everyone safe. It makes her feel that it undermines her authority as the team leader. She wonders if it is also because she is a woman that Aladdin doesn't listen, but he assures her that it has nothing to do with that and admits that he's not used to being on a team or having anyone look out for him because he grew up without a family and had to look out for himself his whole life.

The most common argument for Aladdin is that, whether she wants to believe it or not, Mulan cares too much about what others think. He knows what the need to prove oneself feels like, and he's never seen anyone try to prove themselves as hard as Mulan does, which breaks his heart. He gently urges her not to be too hard on herself and that it's okay to ask for help from time to time.

26. What would be their theme song?

The theme song for this OTP is another song I love called 'Love Will Find a Way' from The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride. Aladdin sings Kiara's part and Mulan sings Kovu's. The song fits the tone of their arc in my headcanon perfectly!

★ Song link: ["The Lion King 2" - "Love Will Find A Way" (HD)]

29. One headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart?

Aladdin worries that his past as a street rat will never be fully accepted by Mulan's family. He also fears that Mulan will return to her universe and accept Li Shang's marriage proposal because he can provide a better life than Aladdin can offer, and he'll never see her again.

Mulan often feels torn between her duty to her family and her love for Aladdin. She struggles with the expectations placed on her as a daughter and the deep feelings she has for him, which sometimes leaves her conflicted and unsure of the right path to take. Her family wants her to marry Li Shang, knowing that he can provide a more secure and stable life than Aladdin can offer. This only adds to her inner turmoil, as she worries about Li Shang's marriage proposal and how it affects her relationship with Aladdin.

To add to the heartbreak, just watch the video I linked below. I like to think of Aladdin and Mulan every time I watch it (Aladdin is Haida and Mulan is Aggretsuko).

30. One headcanon about this OTP that mends it?

The one headcanon about this OTP that mends it is that, of course, Mulan wants Aladdin! He's her beautiful Cutting Desert Diamond! Aladdin reassures Mulan that she can always be herself with him, and he loves her for who she truly is. Mulan shows Aladdin that their love transcends their pasts and their differences, bringing them closer together. Mulan and Aladdin reconcile, they marry, and Mulan's family loves him (especially Mulan's grandma and Mushu). Together, they continue to protect the Mirrorverse with their fellow guardians!

[duhitsitadori]

Into a Thousand Pieces

Synopsis: Prince Miya Atsumu despises his knight Sakusa Kiyoomi. They both can at least agree on that about each other. Yet upon Atsumu juggling his princely duties, needing to find a suitor, and getting himself to grasp the concept that he will be king in a year's time, he unexpectedly finds himself writing this down: Rule No. 1–– Don’t Fall in Love with your Knight.

CHAPTER 1– The Future King

Tags + Tw (please read): Sakuatsu, Knight x Royalty AU, Sakusa Kiyoomi, Miya Atsumu, Injury Chapter Summary:  “Ma’ god that took you a melon! Yer knees gettin’ bad or somethin’?” Atsumu says with full confidence. “I think you mean a millennium, your highness.” And this is the future king? Sakusa Kiyoomi has been asking himself the same question for years. Fandom: Haikyuu Section: Fanfics, 2/1/2025 A/N: GUYS. I’m literally shook. I've had this fic in the basement since AUGUST OF 2023. HO!!!!!! THAT’S NEARLY TWO WHOLE ASS YEARS. This shit might have been EXPIRED. But yk how candy doesn’t expire yea that’s why we’re here… still eating this shit up. I think it’s just that I’ve come back to it off and on tbh. I only recently started adding/fixing a lot in this fic cuz you already know I had to come back to my roots. Sakuatsu is my otp, my forever my everything ya feel ya feel ya feel? Time passes by so quickly, and upon editing this fic I realize it is still number one nowhere near finished and two that I’ve grown so much as a writer. Guys.. this fic might be a little too important to me so enjoy it. Besitos.

Atsumu couldn’t wait for the day that he could get out of this grimy palace that he calls ‘home’. Although practically impossible, he’d grown to loathe the smell of aging bricks, pragmatic books, and all the royal duties that came with it. On the contrary, the most intriguing part of its entirety is the open window of the east tower where his royal knight trains just below everyday precisely in the afternoon.

“Omi, what cha’ doin’?” Atsumu yelled, leaning smugly over the edge. 

On occasion when Atsumu is in danger; so almost never, Sakusa would answer his vexing calls from that window. He’d perform the same motion regularly of shooting a barely acknowledging glance at the prince without a word, and promptly continue with his routine of slashing soulless dummies.

Atsumu clicked his tongue, and counted: “that’s day 100.” He pranced gallantly over to his desk opening the seemingly only neat part of the cacophonous desk scattered with various texts yet to be read. He smirked, picking up a single sheet of paper between his fingers from a uniform stack. He dipped the quill in the ink, biting his lip as he drew a single tally mark under the rather conspicuous title: ‘Omi so Boldly and Gracefully Ignores the Future King’. Out of the several of these papers, which he kept proudly under his bed, his favorite one he’s come up with is: ‘Reasons why my Knight Should Be Rightfully Banished from my Side’. He’s profoundly boastful about that one, in fact he told Sakusa himself, who expectedly disapproved, but agreed that it was the most ‘royal’ he had ever sounded when addressing someone. Every one hundred days was another taunting title, another tally, another reason for Miya Atsumu to amplify his own spite for being stuck with the famously noble knight known as Sakusa Kiyoomi.

The prince looked at the tally as though it were his latest and lengthy masterpiece. He twiddled with the quill between his fingers, grinning at all one hundred standing lines and slashes until finally rising and returning to the familiar tower cill. 

“C’mon Omi!” He said, pasting his palm to his cheek, moping in distress mockingly. “Aren’t I more interestin’ than those stuffed dummies?”

Kiyoomi heaved. Full armor, and one of the hottest summer days. He couldn’t have thought of a worse way to end training today.

Atsumu, in his own twisted, spoiled, princely fashion way, couldn't find a more perfect day to cause an inconvenience. He grabbed his throat, sticking out his tongue as though rain would suddenly start falling and save him from his imaginary decade long drought. Swimming through the humid air he pleaded,“Omi! Omi! I dun’ feel so good. I think ima faint from the heat!”, buckling his knees for extra effect.

The sweaty knight looked up and cocked his eyebrows at the immersive sight. It eluded him every time: how Atsumu could imagine these intricately deluded scenes on the spot, and yet never learn to memorize his own public speeches when it really mattered. There were no “ums” no “ohs”, or “I forgots”, when it came to Atsumu’s daily mission of pissing him off– and everyday was a flawless victory. It’s all irrelevant though, only a measly nuisance that frequently appears within his duty to protect the heir. Miya Atsumu is mediocre: and perhaps, Kiyoomi thought, with utterly desperate hopes, that it’d finally come clear as day when that crown eventually sits on his head.

He shrugged his shoulders down, throwing his head into the shadow of the tree, finally pulling his sword from the torso of the training dummy. Atsumu observed quietly, taking Kiyoomi’s motion as sweet, victorious obedience. The knight met the gaze of his prince, who was staring amusingly at the site. Sakusa rolled his eyes, pacing dreadfully to enter the tower doors, readily obliged to Atsumu’s apparent ‘danger’.

The prince snickered.

—

Atusmu loved to play pretend. Fortunately for Sakusa Kiyoomi, he stopped joining the fun promptly at seven years old when he’d begun his knightly training. Now, at 22 years old, he had the extreme privilege of protecting the life of his kingdom's wealthiest man-child who was anxiously bouncing his knee, with his feet flat on the floor wearing the expression of overwhelming concentration upon the pages of a book covering the concepts of world trade.

The focused prince only broke out of his haze when the wooden door slammed open, and he thought that  the stoic knight might’ve just broken the door against the tower bricks. He hid the grin behind the leather cover of his book, and peered conveniently over the top of the pages. Atsumu glanced audaciously just over his eyelashes, while Kiyoomi lasered his gaze sternly into the back of the prince's skull. He wants nothing to do with me, Miya thought; It’s astonishing.

“Prince Miya.” Sakusa bluntly muttered. Atsumu shook his head back into his fantastical persona of an intellectual regal, taking careful intentions of poshly placing his book onto the polished wood desk. He straightened his back passively, folding hands meticulously and clearing his throat, “Omi.”

The knight sighed, “What ails you this time?” Atsumu routinely waited for that nonchalantly gravitational tone like fresh breakfast after a long slumber. Devouring his knights' undivided and devoted attention was one of his many joys, and there was no other pleasure than absolutely thriving in Sakusa Kiyoomi’s apparent frustration. “I told ya’ Omi it’s this heat!”, and living for the tense jaw that rested above that sturdy, mole freckled neck that responded back to the dramatism was no exception.

“No, Prince Miya,” Kiyoomi spat out his response as though this was no matter for posing rhetorical questions. He knew his prince well enough to know that his stupidity wouldn’t allow him to live in such stable, mature things like absolutes. A futile remark always led to that sort of situation, and Kiyoomi saw it all play out ten steps ahead. “What is it really, because I can’t make the goddamn sun go any further from the earth.” He continued.

His gritting pearly whites were always the cherry on top. A daily afternoon satisfaction that never fails: that elicits from Atsumu’s extravagantly irritating efforts. It’s just unfortunate that Sakusa Kiyoomi happens to be the very heart of it all. It’s also a shame, almost pitiful, for the prince that even in his own gaudy act he still stutters without intention. “Tch. I dunno,” Atsumu trails. “Just go, and uh, fetch me a water or somethin’.”

“Yes, your highness.” Sakusa bowed quickly, and turned his back to the heir. Atsumu breathed, searching for something else. “Oh and Omi!” he shouted, making the knight hesitate to take hold of the door knob. Sakusa nudged his head slightly, offering his ear to the last part of the prince’s request: “Make it cold!”

Atsumu could see the loathful shudder that traveled from the knight's feet to the back of his curly-haired head. If Sakusa Kiyoomi had the ability to make the very earth shake for a mere second to scare the living shit out of Miya Atsumu, he would’ve done it twice; so that not only would the prince shut up, but start crying in fear of his demise. But luckily enough for the blonde royal, he doesn't have to fear, and he’ll never have a reason to. Not as long as he has his knight by his side, not as long as he’s the heir to the throne– and Sakusa Kiyoomi knew better than to let his pent up anger get the best of him. It was a dual-life, this life of duty and valor that was the best outcome the universe could’ve possibly come up with for him. 

“Stop calling me that.” he stated for the millionth time, opening the door and closing it behind him.

And of course, that all came with a price. Life will never be bliss the way we’d like, Kiyoomi knew that better than anyone. And so, he proceeds to drag himself down the stairs to seek cold water for his parched prince.

—

Atsumu was on the last page of a book he just about took in nothing of. Every other sentence was skipped with only a blot of transition words sticking to his memory, and all the relevant content seemed to slip even when he reread it. Atsumu saw no point in teaching him anything since he had turned eighteen four years ago, the king had insisted all of his ‘fun’ books be switched out for the books that addressed the royal laws and duties of his soon to be kingdom. He learned quickly that the overload of information wasn’t meant for his kind of processing, it always went one ear out the other even when he tried. He nagged about how boring all of it was to Sakusa, complaining about the quizzes that took place promptly every Sunday by his royal tutor, who consistently gave slaps on the wrist for failing or just barely passing. Long lectures would always follow from several sources as if the physical consequence wasn’t enough for the prince, of ‘one day you will be king’, questions of disbelief like ‘did you even read the books?’, and blatant chastising comments of ‘how improper’ he entirely is. That knowledge stretched further than the palace walls throughout Atsumu’s adolescent years, and it became widely known throughout the kingdom that Miya Atsumu was stupid. Plain out stupid, conceited, selfish, and childish. The prince tried to believe that it all wasn’t so hopeless if he really wanted to give himself credit, it’s not like he wasn’t trying, and he certainly wasn’t proud of this unbearable fact either. He just knew that deep down his subjects probably knew that they were utterly wrong about him– that this crowded perception of him was merely an archetype that would gradually pass he finally got to rule. He reassured himself that he’d prove this notion, and believed it truly. 

But absolutely no one in the entire kingdom, not even the generous king himself, could’ve possibly believed in Miya Atsumu more than Sakusa Kiyoomi.

“Prince Miya, your book is upside down.”

And there stood a flushed knight with a glass chalice of water, dreading the sight of the clearly innovative prince.

“Omi!” Prince Atsumu shouted, nearly throwing his book five somersaults in the air. He pushed out his chest, swallowing in recoil from the sudden jolt his body had thrown him in.  “Ma’ god that took you a melon! Yer knees gettin’ bad or somethin’?”

“I think you mean a millennium, your highness.”

“Nuh uh, it’s just the heat gettin’ to me.” The prince pursed his lips averting his gaze from Kiyoomi. He held his hand out and faced himself nonchalantly towards the window, “Now, come hand me my cold chalice.”

Sakusa let himself have the pleasure of releasing a soft scoff, so maybe by some miraculous acknowledgment Atsumu would drop the act. He motioned himself forward to Atsumu’s desk annoyingly close to where the prince's feet rest at the top, ‘reading’ his book ever so studiously. Just at that very second, Sakusa swore the prince’s waiting hand was in a sort of twist. He couldn’t figure out what it was about today, maybe the fact he was perspiring nonstop during his warmups, or the fact his knee let out minor twitches here and there whenever he struck his foot forward. He deduced it was just the odd configuration of Miya Atsumus' pretentious face appearing one too many times today, more than usual. But since when was he ever keeping count?

“By the way Omi, how ever so kind of ya tah’ remember I love my drinks in glass chalices… but I mean who else coulda’ known that, ya know me so well…”

Maybe it was just some recurring average that would suffice Sakusa Kiyoomi’s logic just for today. Today, he had zero capacity even with his astute wits to put up with the density of the prince. It was yet another box to check, not something to pay any mind, especially not his own.

“And Omi, ma’ lord I swear to my own father that I am just so grateful for ya’... Omi?

He knew better than that. Better than anyone in the entire kingdom that he just needed to let empty sentences, thoughts, and people trail off as intended– let it all wander somewhere past him in the pointless haze. Someday, he thinks, maybe it’d all have meaning as it moves effortlessly through him. Yet there’s something tranquil about the tepid warmth that hits the side of his face and pours into the rest of his body, cradling him into this suspenseful trance of sinking. Sakusa Kiyoomi, desperately grasping for conscientious resilience against a plunging weight three times his own for one of the more sparse moments in his life, finds himself submitting to the mystifying pleasure of comfort.

“Omi?” Atsumu double-took the oddity of the knight's hesitation. He observed as Kiyoomi’s face stood fixed and molded into a plain expression, as though every pore in his skin refused to breathe vitality into his soul. “Omi, my chalice, please. Are ya well, ya look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Mmmmm…” the knight hummed, though not conscious of it.

“...Sakusa?”

Atsumu followed the heavy back and forth movement of Sakusa’s head, and the slow, drowsy close of his eyes. The prince forgot to react, in fact it wouldn’t dawn upon him even after the chalice sloppily falls out of his knight's two fingers that it shattered into a thousand pieces on the brick floor– and Sakusa Kiyoomi followed.

The prince left a moment of silence. Atsumu never thought he could experience such an upsetting sensation where his stomach could stop his mouth entirely from producing even a sound, and more importantly an incredibly solitary state where time itself could move without any sort of consideration for him.

“O-Omi!”

Atsumu practically squealed, launching himself out of his chair in a frantic haste. He shakily scans the entire room for an answer, capturing nothing but shuffled books, papers, and finally the grey brick wall. For Atsumu, even the wall was an appealing prospect to threaten his life. He thought maybe he could die in this moment: this was possibly the closest he had ever been to it after all; death. After all, it’s approximately 12:30 in the afternoon, he knows that because usually this is around the time Kiyoomi stops training for the day. Which also means, every one of the palace workers in the east corridor is on their break for at least fifteen minutes. But this couldn’t wait fifteen minutes, he thought, raking his delicate fingertips into his own blonde hair, Sakusa could be dying and Atsumu would’ve just witnessed it. How is he going to survive when the only knight that can handle him is dying? At the hands of the future king? Kiyoomi can’t go out like this– that's Atsumus' verdict. Not while the fainted knight in front of him holds one too many secrets and truths about him, not when he would have to go through the motions of explaining himself.

Rule No. 1 of A Guide to Being A Worthy Ruler, ‘always take matters into your own hands if possible with help’

 and of course there was no latter, so, promptly, the former.

I should check if he’s alive first, he thought. The skill isn’t really necessary for a ruler, but Sakusa showed him once. It was all brought up because Atsumu made a comment about how he thinks one of his worst fears would be to be buried alive. The knight invalidated the possibility, and the prince questioned whether it was a matter of wizardry, and that if Kiyoomi was really a wizard, he should’ve just said so and taught him a few spells. Atsumu jumped back when Kiyoomi brought two fingers to his delicate neck, and held it with light pressure. “There is a pulse here, just as there is one in your chest”, he’d say. Atsumu knelt down slowly, taking two of his fingers and bringing them to the crook of Sakusa’s neck. Atsumu shook, please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead, please. He pressed lightly to be met with the reassuring pulse of his knight. The vibration against his fingers left a feverish warmth lingering on the prince's fingertips, and he wiped the vast amount of sweat back on Kiyoomi when he retracted his fingers. Atsumu looked around gawking in realization that Kiyoomi had fainted from the heat. He glanced at the pieces of the chalice now into smithereens on the floor, wondering if his knight truly needed that water, why didn’t he just drink out of it? He wouldn’t have fainted.

This is all his fault.

Atsumu threw Sakusa’s arm over his shoulder and hobbled into a stance.

“Gee Omi, you’re heavy. Maybe think about losin’ some weight.”

Atsumu fumbled down the stone stairs of the east tower to the closest room available without help:

His bedroom.

—

Sakusa felt a heaviness on his head, and peculiarly his feet. He furrowed his eyebrows, slapping his hand over his eyes. His head pounded, and his heart thumped through his ears. “Hinata, how long was I out for?”

“Sorry, Omi. I’m not Hinata.”

Sakusa paused, sighing at the sound of the familiar accent.

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

“Oh shit.”

Atsumu tilted his head, a tinge of concern shaping his vowels. “Omi? Are ya well?”

Sakusa thought he should’ve just died instead of waking up. Here, anywhere but here would’ve been better than anything, even hell. sat up from Atsumu’s bed. He grips the soft sheets, searching for any consolation that he wasn’t already a dead man as it is. Sakusa has never messed up this bad. Maybe a few times his sword slipped from his hand into the wrong position, or he lost sight of Atsumu for a couple of seconds, but this was bad. Really bad. He messed up.

“No, No. Your highness, are you well?” It was the most wide-eyed Atsumu had ever seen him. He could’ve mistaken his knight's question for a coo.

“Omi,” Atsumu thinks he might be living in an alternate universe. Of course, Sakusa Kiyoomi would be the only one who could make him feel stupid enough not to be aware of where he was despite being the only completely conscious one in this situation. “I’m perfectly fine and dandy but-”

Sakusa didn’t wait for another word to slip out of the prince's mouth. His feet reacted first, throwing his weight out from under the covers and attempting to come to standing. His head knocked at his skull again, and threw him around in a second trance.

“Omi!” Atsumu watched as Sakusa’s body threw him around like a drunk dancer. “Please lay back down ya we’re burnin’ up in yer sleep I think yer ill and-”

“Your highness. Please.”

“No,” the prince stood to meet his knight's shifty gaze. “Omi I command you, rest!”

Sakusa threw his hands, “Your highness! If you will,” he said, almost barking through his teeth. “But I have just so ignorantly abandoned my duties! My duty to you!”

Atsumu jumped back at the sudden sternness. Atsumu was never barked at in such ways, as really most of the time he was the one doing so. And Sakusa, on the other hand, had always spoken to him in his usual knightley composure. Such a composure that he knew no matter how much he hated Miya Atsumu, he was just as much obligated to the Prince.

Sakusa digresses, his eyes softening at the sheer sight of the Prince's pale face and torn up pants.

Sakusa cleared his throat.

His eyes scan around the room, his head swiveling around to the door. “Does the palace know I’m here?” He sighs.

“No.”

“Are you going to do anything about it?”

“…No.”

“Why?”

Atsumu grips his sheet covers. In any other circumstance, Sakusa would’ve been promptly beheaded the next morning. Atsumu hated Sakusa. Hated that, no matter what he would always be babysitting him. Hated that, whenever Atsumu attempts to go on one of his bold excursions to escape from the palace, Sakusa was always two steps ahead waiting to escort him back. Hated that, Sakusa Kyoomi very apparently pities him.

“Well,” Atsumu pauses, struggling to meet the knight's dark eyes. “I wouldn’t do that to ya, Omi.”

His eyes flicker back, finding Sakusa’s expression to be unchanged. He never wavers, even upon utmost tension. That’s one thing Atsumu can at least admit he admires, maybe even envies about him.

“My god,” Sakusa whispers, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Let me have a look at you.”

Sakusa knelt down to where Atsumu sat on the side of the bed and began to examine the bloody holes in his pants.

Atsumu giggled, “So ya noticed huh?”

“Of course I did.” Sakusa blinked, pinching the torn material between his dexterous fingers. “Since when does a Prince like you ever allow himself to walk around with bloody holes in his clothes?”

“Hm.” Atsumu pouted.

The fireplace next to the bed crackled, interrupting the silence. Nonetheless, Atsumu couldn’t help but focus on the warm luscious glow that washed over Sakusa Kiyoomi’s features. Atsumu had never really taken note of any of it, except the two apparent moles just above his eyebrow. But now he had taken note of how full his curls looked in this illumination, and how just below his side burns followed a chiseled jaw, and even lower, a softly rounded chin. Sure, Sakusa Kiyoomi may have had some rough spots all over from training, and countless hours of fighting. But he looked as though he had just been freshly sculpted, or painted. Atsumu hates this, sitting here deciding whether he looks like a statue or a porcelain doll while his knight tends to his wounds.

And after the conclusion, how to make a nuisance out of it.

Sakusa lifted his head. “How’d you get them?”

“I carried ya’ over,” Atsumu stated, proudly. “I probably just got nicked here and there by the walls and floors. You were pretty heavy.”

“Tch.” Sakusa scoffs and tugs on the bottom of Atsumu’s pants, “May I?”

“Take em’ off?”

“No!” Sakusa jumped, and cleared his throat. “No. Just– I’m just going to lift them off your knees, Prince Miya.”

“Oh. Well yea…” Atsumu scratched his head. The innuendo wouldn’t hit him till later that night, before he goes to sleep. “what else we’re ya thinkin’?”

“You were the one who–” Sakusa pauses, capturing the genuinely puzzled look on the prince's face. Blondes. “okay. Proceeding.”

Sakusa lifts Atsumu’s pants gently and finds three wounds. One on his thigh, which was barely a scrape, and one on his shin which was the just of the same minority. But the worst of all was the still bleeding and tender one with a small piece of glass hanging out of Atsumus knee. Sakusa snarled.

“Nicked,” Sakusa clicks his tongue. “Is an understatement. You’re gonna be a lousy ruler, you know.”

“Oh yea? How da ya’ know that?” Atsumu challenges.

“Because,” Sakusa took the small piece of glass gently between his index and middle finger, pulling back swiftly.

“OUCH!”

“You save your knights,” he continues. “If I die, I die. And that’s at no expense to you. It shouldn’t be.”

“But Omi, I didn’t know if ye were dead. I dun know what I’d…” Atsumu trails. “What I’d do.”

“Do?” the knight scoffs. “You ask for help, Prince Miya.”

Sakusa hoisted himself up and walked over to the fireplace, where he discarded the small piece of glass.

Atsumu’s eyes follow the knight's motions, attempting to think up any excuse. “Well, they were all on break.” He swallowed, “I can’t just–”

“Doesn’t matter.” Sakusa answered swiftly. “They’ll help you and you shouldn’t feel sorry for it. They serve you.”

Atsumu's heart sinks. Sakusa pays no attention to the shift, and motions to the prince’s bedroom door. “Now I’m going to get a towel and some alcohol to clean you up. Just wait here.” And Sakusa Kyoomi hopes he does just wait. He knows he’d probably be dead in the next five minutes should anyone else see the prince in this condition. “Study for your next quiz,” he suggests. “I believe now that is, and should have been your priority.”

And before Sakusa can find the door handle, Atsumu finds a stroke of courage. “Well,” he blurts. “I dun really like that.”

Sakusa’s hand lingers over the cold metal. “Like what? Studying?”

“Nuh uh.” Atsumu says, shaking his head adamantly. “Servin’.”

The Knight cocks an eyebrow at the Prince.“Huh?”

“I don’t like that ya serve me.”

Atsumu enunciates every syllable like he could die on that statement alone. Sakusa goes quiet, and still air surrounds the room.

“That’s quite alright, Prince Miya.” He tries to reassure him accordingly. But he knows the problem isn’t the rest of the kingdom that will fall into his hands. “I’ll be gone anyways after you become king.”

Sakusa walks out, shutting the door tight. Atsumu stares, left to ponder on his next perplexion of the almighty royal quiz.

—–

“Sakusa, are you feeling alright?” A bubbly voice calls out. “You look hellishly pale.”

Sakusa squeezes a wet towel from a bucket and reaches for the cabinet. As if Prince Miya wasn’t enough of a bother, Sakusa Kiyoomi also had to bear the burden of sharing bed chambers with the eccentric Hinata Shoyo. But at least, he thinks, it isn’t Bokuto Koutarou– who is a neighboring knight of theirs.

“I’m alright Hinata.” he says, flicking the damp cloth out. “I just went all out today.”

“Again? Jeez.” the orange-haired knight, always full of expression gasps. “No wonder you're entrusted with the Prince, you train all day no matter sunshine or rain!”

“Tch.” Sakusa purses his lips into a pout. This is the one thing that is nice about his roommate: he gets an infinite pass to complain. “Well, it’s not always very peaceful.”

“Go figure…” And the best part, Sakusa Kiyoomi thinks, is that Hinata Shoyo agrees. “I mean honestly, who wants to watch over the Prince? He’s the royal ditz of the century.”

Oh, and he’s to Sakusa’s surprise, funny. “Yea, I know.”

But this time Sakusa walks the awkward line of the remark being funny and wanting to reject it. Hinata, observant as ever, leans against the counter pointing his lips at the lack of return Sakusa gives him.

“You sure you’re alright man?” The short knight's lips curl into a smirk. “I mean normally you’d be going off on the guy.”

The silence stretches alarmingly thin. “...I owe him a favor.” Sakusa almost mutters.

“A favor, huh?” Hinata tilts his head, following his eyes with the dark-haired knight pacing quickly to the door.

Sakusa swings it open, turning back only to briefly answer.

“Yea. And I forgot to say thank you.”

— © —@duhitsitadori DO NOT repost, copy, or translate any of my works.

[mensahbots]

i got some new followers, so i wanted to make an intro (。･ω･｡)ﾉ♡

i love writing rarepairs, especially mensahbot, mensah/pin-lee, indah/mensah, and bharadwaj/pin-lee. any forms of those dynamics are super fun to me (eg, teammates, partners, pining, divorced, "i wish i knew" ^^)

my favorite human character is mensah, my favorite bot character is miki, and my favorite murderbot is murderbot. every scene with indah is inexplicably one of the highlights of the series for me. perihelion and i have startlingly similar media consumption habits, and i'm on team redemption arc for leonide. i'm also manifesting bharadwaj and pin-lee casually getting married in book 8.

i love exploring things like canon-based devotion, narrative parallels, mutual respect, existentialism, self-esteem issues, and trauma, especially how they nuance interpersonal dynamics. my favorite fic trope is missing scene.

fics - fanart - meta - tv show stuff - otp-related reblogs - funnies

please note: internet harassment has put me in the hospital before. i will block anyone who interacts with me in a hateful way. i have little tolerance for racism, sexism, ableism, cisheterosexism, or any discussion of sexual violence without warnings. i'm agender & aroace and will also block people for identity-related gatekeeping and moralizing ship bashing because... i mean, stop that. it's baffling that this fandom (of all fandoms!) is flame warring like it's 2012.

feel free to dm if you're interested in an invite to a mensahbot-specific server— all headcanons and interpretations are allowed, but ship bashing and headcanon policing are not. the server is for people who like the pairing and want to discuss it and interact in a kind and respectful way with other fans.

(yes, my pinned post has bonus content. lol)

an important all systems red moment:

“It’s usually better if humans think of me as a robot,” I said. “Maybe, under normal circumstances.” She was looking a little off to one side, not trying to make eye contact, which I appreciated. “But this situation is different. It would be better if they could think of you as a person who is trying to help. Because that’s how I think of you.” My insides melted. That’s the only way I could describe it. After a minute, when I had my expression under control, I cleared the face plate and had it and the helmet fold back into my armor. She said, “Thank you,” and I followed her up into the hopper.

another important all systems red moment:

I put the pilot’s console on standby, and looked at Mensah. She pressed her lips together, like she wanted to say something and was repressing the urge. Then she nodded firmly and said, “Good luck.” I felt like I should say something to her, and didn’t know what, and just stared at her awkwardly for a few seconds.

an important exit strategy moment:

The words kept wanting to come out. It gave me context for the emotions I was feeling, I managed not to say. “It kept me company without…” “Without making you interact?” she suggested. That she understood even that much made me melt. I hate that this happens, it makes me feel vulnerable. Maybe that was why I had been nervous about meeting Mensah again, and not all the other dumb reasons I had come up with. I hadn’t been afraid that she wasn’t my friend, I had been afraid that she was, and what it did to me.

an important network effect moment:

I went the other direction, further into the council/admin offices because I needed to see her. I found her only three unsecured doors away, but at least it was an office without a balcony or windows onto the admin mezzanine. I walked past Station Security and admin personnel. They should have tried to stop me but (a) it wasn’t like they didn’t know who I was and (b) it was a good thing they didn’t try to stop me. Mensah was watching the door and when I walked in her shoulders relaxed.

another important network effect moment:

I could say it was an accident, I’d meant to take him prisoner and he had tried to get away and— Dr. Mensah would never believe that. My accidents were spectacular and usually involved me losing a big chunk of my organic tissue or something; she knew I could stop a human without hurting them, without even leaving a bruise, that was my stupid job. She would never trust me again. She would never stand close enough to touch (but without touching, because touching is gross) and just trust me. Or maybe she would, but it wouldn’t be the same.

another another important network effect moment:

[Farai] added, “I wanted to ask what your relationship to her is.” Uh. In the Corporation Rim, Mensah was my owner. On Preservation, she was my guardian. (That’s like an owner, but Preservation law requires they be nice to you.) But Mensah and Pin-Lee were trying to get my status listed as “refugee working as employee/security consultant.” But I knew Farai knew all that, and I knew she was asking for an answer that was closer to objective reality. And wow, I did not have that answer. I said, “I’m her SecUnit.” (Yes, that’s still in the buffer.) She lifted her brows. “And that means?” Backed into yet another conversational corner, I fell back on honesty. “I don’t know. I wish I knew."

you read this far?? here are some mensahbot headcanons of mine ^^

i interpret mensahbot and murderhelion as being something akin to qprs, although i don't think murderbot or either of them would use that term. i think the vulnerability and closeness it shares with them is a much bigger deal for them than any human definition for what they have

i think murderbot definitely hugged mensah back in exit strategy. it tells us it doesn't dislike hugging her ("strange, but not as horrific as i would have thought"), makes itself warm to help soothe her, and the moment seems reciprocally meaningful. it also holds her hand without hesitation one scene later, and it offers to hug her again in "home." i think we can assume the hug must have been "not awful" for it

i love the idea that murderbot is great with mensah's younger kids, and farai and tano internally squee when they see how much the kids love it and how gentle and friendly it is with the small humans every time it visits preservation :3

[rustyvanburace]

flynn for the ask game!! or if he's already been sent, then isabeau!!

favorite thing about them: While at first I found it a little jarring, going from a completely silent protagonist to one speaking, I'm really endeared to Flynn's gentleness and soft-spokenness. And actually it suits him really well, having once been a silent protagonist. Nor is it even out of left field -- NPCs in IV comment that Flynn is very reserved and quiet. So I'm really glad that IVA kept that even while giving (the real) Flynn a couple speaking lines. I also really, really like that he (the real one) stays humble and reserved in IVA despite his celebrity status. When I first played IVA, I had only done IV's chaos route, so I found everyone praising him to be really jarring. But now having done the neutral route, I can see why and it makes me appreciate Flynn's modesty all the more. Not to mention, it makes the distinction between him and Shesha Flynn's radical "personality shift" all the more apparent. That's good!!

least favorite thing about them: Having said all that… This is more an issue with IVA's writing and pacing, but I do wish that (the real) Flynn got more moments to express himself and really show his own character. Flynn suffers from the same problem that Toki does -- we don't get to see their actual character for the majority of the game and their potential and own development suffers for it. I'm very happy with Flynn's personality in IVA, but the rest of him only serves as a foil for the plot and especially in handing Nanashi the torch.

favorite line: My favorite line WOULD be his comment on Issachar's fishing hook in the bonds route, had I not permanently missed the fishing hook in my first playthrough 😭

However, I do really like his surprised, saddened reaction when he sees Jonathan's and Walter's spirits in YHVH's Universe. I was actually surprised that he even reacts to them in the massacre route even after becoming a semi-mindless puppet, especially when…he no longer has any attachment to the fishing hook in that route aaaauuughhhhh 😭😭

brOTP: EASILY Flynn and Issachar being the bros for life and eternity!!! And he's totes bros with the whole Samurai cast, for sure for sure!

OTP: I like a lot of Flynn ships (minus my NOtp), but Flynn x Isabeau are truly best for each other. I love that Isabeau cares for and is devoted to Flynn, but without sacrificing her own convictions. I do wish though that Flynn showed some attraction to her (again, an issue with IVA's writing).

nOTP: Yeah uh, I really hate seeing Flynn x Nanashi and I hate how popular it is in the Japanese fandom. Big reason why I don't engage a lot with the IVA fandom cause I'm just so tired of seeing that.

random headcanon: I too also lowkey fancy the headcanon of Flynn being a transwoman, based on dialogue demons can give in IV~ We support trans headcanons in this house!

unpopular opinion: Like aside from how certain sides of the fandom treats him with respect to other characters, and what I've already voiced about his writing in IVA, I don't really have an unpopular opinion on Flynn? Kinda hard to when he's mainly a player avatar. He's good that way.

song i associate with them: I'm so sorry, I'm just not good with song association questions. 🥹 I listen to a lot of music but if you asked me to pick one, I'll pull a blank lol.

favorite picture of them: Def the artwork Doi did for the Sound & Design extra! It's so so good to see BOTH Flynn and Isabeau dressed in different clothes! :) Plus, I actually really like that armor Flynn has so it's SO good to see official art of it.

Thank you for the ask!

[bardan-jusik]

Get to know your mutuals ❤️❤️

tagged by both @babyscilence and @arliganzey thank u guys <333

What's the origin of your blog title? 'OYA MANDALORE' is a pretty clear explanation of what this blog is- a love of legends mandos and an absolute refusal to let specifically legends mandalorians get overshadowed by disney mandos (it drives me fucking bonkers when i see people saying 'this is the way' when 'oya' would evoke a more apt emotion)

OTP+Ship name: hmmm atin/laseema i think! i don't really have a ship name for them

Favorite color: i love u pine green. u can never go wrong with pine/sage/dark and desaturated green

Favorite game: all time favorite is Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess but i've been playing Fields of Mistria a lot recently

Song stuck in your head: god. lmao. Killers Walk

Weirdest habit/trait: uhmmm idk i really hate being barefoot?? socks in bed, socks basically all the time

Hobbies: mandalorian cosplay is probably my most major hobby but like i write and draw and can knit and crochet and stuff

If you work, what's your profession? accountant/auditor in training and also i work a grocery store bakery job (hopefully by the end of the year i'll be able to get another accounting/bookkeeping job and get out of the grocery store tho)

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be? full time fiction author tbh. heavy on the military scifi

Something you're good at: i can pretty comfortably say i'm good at art and making things, speaking generally

Something you're bad at: musical instruments. i want to be good at it. ive tried. i am just not musical at all beyond singing

Something you love: my dual monitor pc setup <3 hell yeah

Something you could talk about for hours off the cuff: republic commando/legends mandalorians/my beef with disney canon. like don't get me started it's impossible to get me to shut up

Something you hate: ok this one took me a while bc i wanted to pick something that fills me with absolute incandescent rage that i would never defend anything about (without getting political) and while i am a little hater there is good in everything. so here's my one thing that makes me really fucking angry every time i think about it: once i had an rp partner who i knew was sucking ai's dick but i later found out they definitely fed my replies into an ai for 'help replying' and it makes me want to kill

Something you collect: star wars legos i guess but i havent gotten any new ones in a while

Something you forget: shit i still need to pick up my latest med refill. fuck

What's your love language: being willing to make stuff with u <33 headcanons, rp, art collab, food, whatever. my most sincere show of love is mutual creation

Favorite movie/show: movie: knives out and glass onion i think. i really adore a one-off movie with an exquisitely done plot show: andor. you don't get better cinema than that. (DO NOT LET ME DOWN IN APRIL I SWEAR TO GOD)

Favorite food: uhhmmm i don't really have a favorite but i would SMASH a good pulled pork sandwich right now

Favorite animal: teki assigned me coyote so coyotes i guess <3

What were you like as a child: i remember myself as being weirdcringe as hell but tbh all kids have a right to be weirdcringe. i really loved lord of the rings, medieval swords and armor and stuff, and then took a steep dive into star wars pretty young. i had a nerf sword i would carry around everywhere (i still have it actually) and i liked to pretend to be a lotr ranger with my threadbare blanket cloak and trusty steed (bike). i read a lot and didnt have to try to get straight a's in school

Favorite subject at school: despite being an easy straight A student i really liked PE. i was also a little bit of a jock kid (out of pure spite) and lived for the competition aspect it offered

Last Favorite subject: god chemistry was the FUCKING WORST

What's your best character trait? uh.... not to stroke my own ego or be pretentious about this but i like to think that it's an unkillable optimism and belief that there's some amount of good in literally everything? but i'm a huge hater tho.

What's your worst character trait? my self discipline in the face of tedium is dogshit tbh

If you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be? 50,000 american dollars right in my bank account. jk actually it's that i would want my parents to at least not freak out about my immortal soul being in danger/probably consider me untouchable if i told them i don't have a gender and i want to legally do a gay marriage

If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet? a neolithic era person i think

NPT: @the-pyromaniacs-teki @zanabes @viscanpikamine @finerafin

[youareiron-andyouarestrong]

who are we to fight the alchemy?

So the Rietveld boys stay with the caravanserai. Jordie’s easy manners and faster tongue smooths the way when faced with suspicious law enforcement, and Kaz’s quick hands and faster mind are put to good use. He learns the basic accounting from Jasmir, who does the books, and displays a near frightening capacity for calculating the entire sum of the day’s takings in his head, right down to the last coin. So the years pass by and soon the caravanserai forgets that the Rietveld boys were ever outsiders, or even that they’re Kerch. They are just another part of the caravanserai. Life seems to have found a groove for them all. Until the Ghafa troupe comes down into the valley.

in a very different lifetime, Kaz and Inej find each other.

written for the Bastards of the Barrel winter fic exchange for @theoppositequeens. for the prompts "fix it, first time/intimacy, and royalty au" (circus royalty that is).

read on ao3

[kuriboo]

Jointech Armor

Fandoms: Yu-Gi-Oh! Go Rush!! (Anime) Words: 864 Rating: General Audiences Relationships: Ohdo Yuuhi/Yuudias Velgear Characters: Yuudias Velgear, Ohdo Yuuhi, Ohdo Yuamu Additional Tags: Pre-Relationship, Canon Compliant, Sharing Clothes, Year of the OTP, Drabble, Slice of Life, Pre-Slash

Summary:

After Yudias agrees to join UTS, he realizes something vital: he will need a uniform to work for the organization, a uniform which he doesn't have.

Unfortunately for everyone else, Yudias makes this realization in the middle of the night.

(Written for the Year of the OTP prompt for January: Sharing Clothes. Link to ao3 in the notes.)

⁂

There were some unforseen issues with Yudias' plan to blend in amongst humans as he learned more about Rush Duels.

For example, he did not expect to join an organization that required a specific uniform.

Well, Yudias supposed he couldn't have possibly predicted needing to wear so much of the color orange. Yudias himself wasn't used to wearing such warm colors; the deep blues of his base form and the mostly neutral colors of his transformation were the only colors he'd really considered wearing up to this point.

If Yudias needed a different outfit to learn about Rush Duels, though, then so be it! He would do whatever it took! Which is why he immediately went to Yuhi and Yuamu about the situation.

Initiative was always appreciated, after all...

"Did ya have to wake me up at 3 in the morning for this?" Yuhi asked with a yawn. "Can't this wait?"

...unless it was the middle of the night on Earth, it seemed.

"Now, now, Yuhi." Yuamu patted Yuhi's arm. She was looking up at Yudias with a squint; her glasses were off, which Yudias had been told impacted her vision. Perhaps she was having trouble seeing without them. "Yudias just wants to make sure he's completely prepared for his first day working at UTS. Isn't that right, Yudias?"

"Of course!" Yudias grinned appreciatively at Yuamu. She understood his intention! A good soldier was always prepared, and Yudias was certainly missing something important in his preparations.

"We ain't got a spare uniform your size." Yuhi was clearly fighting off a yawn. "We already looked. Won't it be fine if you just wear your regular clothes til we get one?"

"It'll take time for the ones we're ordering to arrive..." Yuamu brought a hand up to her chin to think. "I would be fine with making do with your regular clothes. But those will need to be washed at some point, and the blue will make it hard for you to be visually recognized as a member of UTS."

"Does the brand recognition really matter all that much?" Yuhi muttered.

"Of course it does. If people see and recognize UTS out working in the field, then when they need help, they'll think of us to call." Yuamu seemed to stop herself before going into a whole marketing and advertisement spiel. "Anyway, our orange is iconic in this town. If Yudias is wearing at least warmer colors and is seen working with Yuhi, people are more likely to put two and two together. If Yudias stays in blue, that's much less likely."

Yudias was eager to contribute to the conversation. "Uniforms also help give a group a sense of unity. Unity helps to boost morale!"

"I get it, I get it, I'm outnumbered." Yuhi crossed his arms in front of his chest. "But still, that doesn't change the fact that there's no uniform for Yudias to wear."

"Like I said, we don't have to start with an exact match." Yuamu seemed to be musing over her own words. "Something with warmer colors…" She walked over to a door in the room and opened it. Inside was a smaller room filled with clothes, which she immediately began going through.

"Wh-what are you going through my closet for?!" Yuhi pointed at Yuamu. "Yudias is taller than me! Have him steal clothes from one of the adults or something!"

"They're all asleep. I'm not going to wake them up now for clothes," Yuamu told Yuhi. "We might as well go through your clothes first, and then in the morning, if we don't find anything— Aha!"

Triumphantly, Yuamu pulled out an outfit. A yellow jacket, an off-white turtleneck, and dark pants.

"Those are my casual clothes!" Yuhi protested.

"If UTS and Yudias are going to work together, we'll have to make some compromises," Yuamu told Yuhi. "Can he borrow these clothes from you until the new uniforms get here? As soon as we get them in, I promise you can have these back."

"Yes!" Yudias nodded. "I won't keep them a minute longer!"

(Yuhi looked from Yuamu, clearly excited to capitalize on the opportunities a new employee brought, to Yudias, giving him the most sincere, straightforward look. Eyes that left Yuhi with no room to do anything but trust and belief in Yudias.)

(Left him with no room for doubt.)

(When was the last time Yuhi felt like he could trust someone so completely? He sighed. What an annoyance this was. What was he supposed to wear outside of work and school?)

"Okay, fine," Yuhi relented. "As long as you let me go to sleep, and give 'em back as soon as the new uniforms are in. And you better not go back on your word."

Yudias placed a hand upon his own chest. "On my honor as a warrior, I would never do such a thing."

(As he laid back down and rolled over, Yuhi couldn't help but smile. Something about Yudias' words put him at ease. Like he wouldn't have to worry about Yudias being a liar or some kind of crook.)

(He felt warm, safe. Maybe Yudias working for UTS wouldn't be a bad thing after all.)

[dalliansss]

either Mairon/Finrod: complimenting them with every single outfit change of the trip

or -(second ask)

love paradise - summer vacation scenarios for your otp

Context: takes place in this fucked up verse.

Mairon walks down the hallways and Angband trembles around him. In the úmaia's chest is a chaotic storm; just moments earlier, Melkor had given him orders to evacuate from Angband, that the fortress has been lost, and he had best now go east, as they had long planned -- east, far east, to the land of Mordor which awaits, and where the foundations of Barad-dûr already await to support further construction.

Mairon wants to stay and help fight the war, but Melkor would have none of it.

He turns to the direction of his quarters with purpose. The double-doors leading thereat open without need of physical touch; only Mairon's thoughts. The úmaia walks into the ornate but pristinely-kept room, and finds his maksima still sitting by the dresser, as if the Host of the West is not yet upon their doors, as if Angband does not tremble, in anticipation of the Wrath of the Valar.

Maksima, Finrod, his prize -- his precious -- sitting there clad in black silk, riddled with oxidized gold chains and dangling earrings, brushing his hair.

"The world is ending yet here you are, insisting to be pretty," Mairon says as he stands behind the former elf. He cards armored fingers through that platinum hair. Finrod regards him through the mirror.

"You like me pretty," Finrod states plaintively.

"I like mine creations always pretty," Mairon purrs just beside a pointed ear. "Now arise, maksima, precious. We leave Angband in all haste."

The former elf picks up a burlap satchel and dumps all his jewelry boxes in it. Jewelry -- all of which were crafted by Mairon, where the úmaia had not created jewelry in Ages.

They flee then, even before Eönwë's trumpets could be heard.

--

The first time Finrod wears Mairon's armor, the úmaia purrs so loudly the very room vibrates. Black has always been Finrod's color, and how he owned that color as the years rolled by, as he sank deeper and deeper into the tar-pit Mairon dropped him in, kicking and screaming, all his spittle about righteous anger and needless cruelty forgot and ground into the dust, drowned in the mire of blood that ever sustains his unnatural existence.

Mairon stands from his throne-like chair, and he closes the distance between them, crushing their lips together and blood seeps between, dark, scarlet blood mingled with Ainu copper.

His own. His precious.

"As beautiful as the world under an eclipse," Mairon snarls lowly against those lips. "Beautiful," he repeats, and he digs his talons into Finrod's nape, forcing him to tip his head back, to offer his pearl neck, where Mairon sinks his teeth.

--

The ship creaks around them, and Mairon nervously holds Finrod upon his lap. He hates the sea; always has. It was not Melkor who has hated and loathed the sea; it had been Mairon. The elven loremasters could never get their own lore right. Melkor would swim in the Sea and face Ulmo unafraid, while Mairon...Mairon would never.

He runs his hand through Finrod's platinum hair. Snarls. They are bound for Númenor, and he has seen how that dúnadan Ar-Pharazôn had eyed his maksima.

Mairon's fingers twist the fabric of Finrod's clothing, but then he hesitates and does not tear asunder the seemingly-fragile cloth.

"Stay close to me, once we dock in that accursed land," Mairon snarls, the words in Black Speech pressed against Finrod's bare shoulder. "I will not let this scum touch thee. Do you understand?"

"On the contrary," says Finrod. "I would let him touch me, and when he least expects it, I shall bite him and turn him into my thrall."

"You will do no such thing," Mairon says. "Not yet. Yet I shall give you the dúnadan once our plans come to fruition. You will tear him limb from limb for me."

Around them, the ship creaks again.

"When we get to Númenor," Mairon continues. "Choose plain clothing, once it shall be given. Leave all ornamentations to me. You will be as plain as dirt, if need be."

Finrod gives a disdainful snort. "Me, plain?"

"Do this for me, precious. I will not let that scum touch you. Do you understand me?"

Their bond lashes with hurt that makes Finrod flinch.

"You have very strange ways to say I am pretty. But very well. If you insist."

@skaelds

[merruschka]

Merruschka’s Commissions 

Hey there! I am opening my commissions again! 💗 Feel free to flop into my inbox if interested!   

Status: OPEN

Available slots: 1

💕 Hazred - Not started yet (full body illustration; 2 chars; bg)

💕 whirlingroses - Not started yet (photobooth couple; basic colo)

💕 wildmagickatie - Not started yet (halfbody lineart; BW colo)

💕 FREE

Art-Trades:

✨️OPEN

Giveaway:

⭐️Kosh67 (Twitter)

⭐️brennacedria (tumblr)

Prices are in US$! Payment with Kofi ☕ (preferable) or Paypal!

More Information under the cut! 

If you are interested in a commission please contact me via email pheobe.darque✦gmx.de (✦ = @ !) OR DM on Instagram/Tumblr! >w< you will find me there as @merruschka ! 

(Please also check the spam folder after a day in case you don't see a reply, my answers sometimes land there when I reply to mail!) 

General Information:

I will draw!

🌟Your OCs

🌟Canon characters from most fandoms

🌟Any sort of pairings! (OC x Canon; Canon x Canon; Crossovers)

🌟Kemonomimi (ears and tail) and fantasy creatures such as fairies/mermaids

🌟Character sheets and emotion charts 

♥️NSFW - Such as smutty content, and blood - goreish pictures (as best as I can!) (though if I feel uncomfortable with your request, I have the right to reject)

I will NOT draw:

❌Meccha; Cyborgs, Fullbody Armors (I am sorry, I am just bad in drawing those!)

❌Ero Guro

❌Fetish Art that include: Obese, Vore, Feet, Sodomy/Zoophilia

❌Pedophilia

❌Hate Art

❌Furry-Art

Commission types: 

🌙Sketch: A rough sketch artwork, the pricing varies if it's a couple or full body - it can be roughly colored as well

🌙Illustration: A completely rendered artwork in my style, simple background and gradients have no charge, more complex ones start from 15$ and go up. The prices are here for one character! If you would like to add another it's +80% of the base price for one character. If you would like me to draw an additional animal (depending on complexity and size) it would be +20%-50% of the base price.

🌙Chibi: Please specify the type you would like (more like a simple scenery or sticker type!) You will get my classic styled bubble heads with simplified outfits and features! Backgrounds will be simple only as well, or if you would like some cute items, please ask me about it!

Commission Specials:

🌙Character Sheet: you will get a sheet of your chosen character with 3 clean headshots - completely rendered and 3 full body (one pose) outfits in a simple coloration! (Please provide a bunch of references for this commission type!) 

🌙Photobooth Couple: 4 different sketch-y headshot pictures in black and white of the couple (or friends) you would like! You may request for +30$ a simple coloration on it as well instead of black and white! 

🌙Sweet Kisses: a headshot artwork of your favorite kissing couple! Perfect for any OTP ♥️ 

🌙Sketch portrait: a headshot sketch-y artwork of your chosen character! 

                                                 

Ordering:

❥Please send me a mail or message! 

❥Tell me what type of picture you would like! (Such as Chibi, Illustration, Sketch or one of the specials!)

❥The amount of characters and their names!

❥Please send me a lot of visual references if possible!  

❥A description about the image you would like: e.g Atmosphere, Emotions, (Couple/Enemies/Friends, Pose, Outfits, Colors  - please give me enough information about the characters and their relationship as well! (But please keep the information important to the image and mood you would like me to draw!)

                                                

Payment:

❣The price depends on the complexity, background and amount of characters! 

❣Payment: You can pay with Kofi or Paypal! 

❣I will send you an invoice via paypal/or you use one of the Kofi-Choices. I am covering the fees.

Please do NOT send me the payment in advance or without the invoice or my approval! 

❣Payment is always due once you accepted the rough sketch; unless we discuss it otherwise.

❣No refunds possible once you paid - unless I won’t be able to finish your commission then you will be of course fully refunded!

                                                      

Guidelines:

❣When all commission slots are full, you can ask me to notify you once they are free again or put you on queue! – First come – First serve

❣I will send you progress pictures if wished, you may ask at any time!

❣The artwork is ONLY for private use, meaning you are NOT allowed to use it commercially or make profit out of it without my permission! Though of course you are allowed to share and post the artwork on your social media as long as you give credit! If you would like to make personal merch for yourself and friends you are free to do so! I would love to see the results as well! ♥️

❣I may decline your commission if I do not feel comfortable doing it.

❣There will be no major changes after the sketch was being accepted!

❣The prices are in US$

If you have any more questions, please drop by at any time! I will answer as fast as I can! (Please keep in mind I still have a life with work and sleep, so it may take some hours at times!) 

[sycamorre]

You know I gotta get my girl Ledo! Also Wisteria, please. I barely know her, but I love her already.

[send me a character]

Another long one!

Ledo —

Favorite thing about them: It's a hard tie between her design elements and her passion for what she cares about. I love how her design has come out, in part because of how long I've picked away at her over the years waiting for a chance to play her, and how everything fell into place with the campaign's setup, but I also love how passionate she is about things: her work, her goals, and even her problems. Coming off of playing Oriana, who has a tendency to downplay a lot of her emotions due to her anxiety, it's been a good change of pace. Ledo is pretty calm most of the time but won't hesitate to say what's on her mind if she thinks it's important.

Least favorite thing about them: She's really hard to pinpoint morally/alignment-wise. I've settled on lawful neutral, but she flip flops between wanting to actually do some good and not caring about others at all and it's one of those things that will probably either go one way or another as her story develops, but for right now is just hard to feel out without regularly writing or playing her.

Favorite line: "If the universe wanted us gone so bad, it should have done a better job at killing us." for a specific line. But I'll echo your sentiments about their little campfire talk. I had never gotten a chance to show Ledo angry and when a little bit slipped with her "I am no damn pirate," comment, that was satisfying.

brOTP: Already adoring the vibes between Ledo and Char, they get shit done. But honestly I can't wait to see where the relationships with the other characters go, too. Especially Celeste once they get to really talk about Twalan one on one and maybe even Foaly at some point if they ever get to swapping war/battle stories.

OTP: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) You've seen him. I've only let his name slip once, but you've seen him on this here blog. That's all you get.

nOTP: You've also seen him but do not yet know his name. There's a lot of people in the world she would sell to satan for a corn chip, but she would pay for Satan to take this fellow.

Random Headcanon: In-character, her steel guardian Drache is based on a drake for one primary reason: a joke between her and her father. One day he asked her what she might want as a pet, and she said a dragon. She eventually learned that this was not possible, but the family in-joke remained. Out of character, the reason he's a drake is because I didn't want him to be a dog or a bear, and nothing else felt right. I originally was going to make her an armorer or artillerist artificer and she was gonna have a small monkey automaton, but after reviewing the sub-classes and realizing neither of those actually felt right and battle smith felt like the most useful sub-class, that automaton eventually morphed into Drache.

Unpopular Opinion: I doubt this technically counts, but I honestly think looking back that Ledo would have been better as a Pathfinder character. The inventor class is perfect, and I very well might replay her one day if I do ever get to join a Pathfinder campaign. But she feels like she fits well into the current party so I don't dwell on it too much.

Song I associate with them: OH boy. Currently her main song is "Queen of Kings" by Alessandra, but specifically this cover by Annapantsu for thematic reasons. "Runaway" by AURORA was her main theme before that. I have... a very long playlist for her I am still fine-tuning.

Favorite picture of them: I still think this is the best headshot I've done of her, even if I need to update the horns:

Wisteria —

Favorite thing about them: She's just fun! Half of my enjoyment when it comes to thinking about Wisteria is considering the fun things like what she might wear, how her spells might appear since she's a dancing-based bard, or what kind of shenanigans she might get into.

Least favorite thing about them: Intelligence is absolutely her dump stat and hoo boy is that gonna be hard to get used to if I ever do get to play her in some kind of game. She also has no sense of personal space and is the worst kind of nosy.

Favorite line: We'll come back to this one day. One day...

brOTP: Her little eladrin bard gang back home. The tightest clique of court ladies and performers the fey have ever seen.

OTP: This gal's not looking to settle down or just pick one... but I could be convinced if the right opportunity presented itself.

nOTP: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Random Headcanon: Since Eladrin can change their "season" willingly, back in the Feywild she would do it on a whim or based on which court she was performing in, but she heavily preferred spring since that is the court she originates from. However, once she enters the material plane and the idea of the courts is no longer looming over her, her "season" tends to change depending on her overall mood for a while, at least until she starts understanding that seasons in this plane are a set timespan and then she starts adhering to that a bit more as she settles.

Unpopular Opinion: Probably gonna need to actually play her some to get an idea for what this might be.

Song I associate with them: A bit of a cop out if I'm being honest because I haven't worked on her playlist yet, but "The Willow Maid" or "Round and Round" by Erutan because they feel like songs she would perform to

Favorite picture of them: She's ready for mischief and other nonsense

[jadeoxfordrose]

OTP asks: 5, 10, 11 for your favorite ship that has you in a stranglehold!

So I'm gonna answer these for one of my TTRPG OCs, Thea, and her paramour Adelaide (an NPC). For a little context, the game where I play her is Court of Blades which is a Forged in the Dark system focused on interpersonal relationships, political intrigue & the interplay of the noble houses as you play a retainer for one of said houses. It's very Game of Thrones meets the Borgias in fantasy renaissance Venice.

I won't go into full details of the backstory but while Della is *mechanically* Thea's paramour, the two of them are still in the longing/yearning part of the relationship - yes they are both in love with each other, no they haven't actually said those exact words to each other yet. It is complicated of course by the fact that Della is currently married to Thea's former husband who did try to kill her 12 years ago and until very recently believed he had been successful. And Della is pregnant with his baby. Like I said, it's complicated lol.

With that in mind, I'm gonna approach answering these as if the two were already at a more established point in the relationship :))

2. What would they do if the other woke in a manic state after a nightmare? Of the two, Thea is the one who struggles with nightmares more often. I can see Della putting Thea's arms around her, letting Thea hold on to her as tight as she needs to, hands resting over Della's heart and the two of them just breathing together until Thea feels ready to talk (if she wants) or fall back asleep. Then Della turns to face her, hands wrapped around one of Thea's, so she can fall asleep knowing Della is there.

5. Describe their cozy night in. Baby settled for the light, the two of them curled up together on a big pile of cushions or a conversation pit style seating arrangement. Thea working on some embroidery or sewing something, Della working on research or reading aloud to Thea.

10. Describe their first date. Arguably it was Thea bringing Della a picnic that they got to share in the vineyard in late summer, the heat of the sun kept at bay by the shade of one of the trees that are peppered through the arbor.

If they were to do an official first date? A walk through the artist's quarter, listening to music and watching performers, small gifts being bought and a meal as the sun goes down, making the canals look like they are shining pink and gold.

11. Do either try to hide their emotions if upset? Can the other still tell? Thea definitely does, a habit born of necessity, and while she isn't there quite yet, Della will get to that point soon. Roles reversed, I think Della does it less/is less practiced at it and Thea can usually tell right away. (Her inability to realize Della was in love in her is due to other factors, Thea is usually pretty emotionally perceptive.)

20. Choose one song that perfectly describes their relationship. I don't know if I have found the song that does it perfectly but if I think about them while listening to First Light by Hozier, it's like being body slammed with feels lol.

30. Your OTP gets to pick out each other's outfits; what is each wearing? Thea for Della: Long floaty dress in a light but rich colour, soft outer layer, well worn boots. Comfort is first priority, but also a mixture of pretty and practical. (Della has had to dress to social expectations for a long while, Thea doesn't want or expect that from her.) Della for Thea: Genuinely not sure, I kind of want to ask the GM lol. I could see it being something simple, without all the layers of (mostly metaphorical) armor Thea wears, a sign that Thea was safe enough to not need them.

44. Who would dance in the kitchen making dinner? Would the other join in or watch from the doorway? Della is making dinner and dancing, Thea would watch for a little while (probably until she's spotted) then join her because Della would absolutely hold out a hand to her and Thea is always going to take it. Thanks for the questions @emilykaldwen and @homosociallyyours <3

OTP Asks!