#edited because this shit got mixed up tfw | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

randomnameless · 1 year

Note

FantasyInvader reply on the Edelstans going full circle on “translation=making Edelgard look bad” is the first time I heard of Treehouse hating Rhea, but it honestly makes sense now that I think about it.

Oh,

TBH I ranted a few years ago about the localisation and the direction Cherami Leigh received to dub Rhea, and, uh, well...

I don't think she hates the character or anything, she just goes with the direction given, but man what a load of crap Pat told her lol - she made an interview where she says Pat told her Rhea has a hair-trigger temper (tfw she only loses her shit when you try to reenact the genocide she escaped when she was younger - but nah it's just a hair trigger temper) and how Rhea "just is", something we know is bullcrap because she's the same person who's insecure about "bothering" people if she eats with them, Rhea isn't the assured person she tries to pretend to be, but Pat dgaf.

Regardless of the meaning of the quotes, if you have time to spare of the feh wiki, just compare the delivery of lolcalised!Rhea and Inoue!Rhea (her Halloween alt is telling), they're like night and day - but in the game proper, we have the fe datamine website !

Short story : Lolcalised!Rhea isn't supposed to emote bar being AnGrY, monotone (that line where she worries about Aelfie's plans in the DLC could be swapped with her reading the notice of aspirin) or have 2 lines where she's relaxed (billy supports) - Jp!Rhea is allowed to be upset, to mourn, to be worried, cheerful etc etc.

I've already complained a lot about FE16's lolcalisation, cultural bias at play and wanting to soften a certain character, but to exaggerate only a little bit, I have the feeling Rhea was portrayed in the lolcalisation (and not localisation, the lol is very important) as the ultimate bogeyman of the "dictatorial evil leader of an organised religion who is also a zealot and does not tolerate dissent because she's religious" which has...

idk, but serious issues because again, if you are supposed to localise a product you cannot edit something red to be something violet and sparkly and if the shitstorm (that ultimately came from a misunderstanding!) about "creative localisation" is any indication, more and more people are fed up with lolcalisations altering the meaning, not of a word, but of a game to suit their own agendas.

Oh, and not specifically tied to Rhea but in a way it is because it adopts Supreme Leader's prop a ganda words :

A friend earlier noticed that the NoA official website - where you can buy the game (digital version) - adverstises Fodlan as a land controlled by the Church of Seiros. Oddly (lel) enough, this "controlled by the Church of Seiros" crap of a tidbit doesn't appear in the japanese website, and even in the european ones!

I don't believe we got another version compared to the Treehouse version - even if at times, the french script is closer to the japanese one and at times they come up with their own bullshit - but there is a point to be said that in a certain part of the world, the game was advertised in a way that kind of fit a certain's characters POV, something that doesn't exist in the rest of the world. And it's in that same "part of the world" that the person who directed the VA for the eng dub, well, worked and directed said VA.

So what, is it some great conspiracy or something else? lol no.

Did Treehouse told NoA "don't worry, I've got this game, I'll localise it just close your eyes and market it that's all" and they went bonkers? And for some reason whoever was in charge at the NoE branch didn't close their eyes (maybe half-closed) so we have a weird mix between the two? idk.

#anon #replies #FE16 #lolcalisation issues #lolcalisation woes #I mean I've shared recently a pic for the anniversary of rhea baking cookies with the widest smile ever #you won't make me believe that someone who is only familiar with Pat's Rhea would have drawn this #they're like two different characters #i understand trying to localise certain concepts/things to make them understandable for another audience #but damn if FE16 with Rhea went absolutely wild #imagine it's as if someone seriously take Ron the Deatheater and adds him to a serious work like a localisation #but i confess i've always been critical of the dub #that's generally the case where you live in a country where english isn't the main language and where we're used to consume media in our #own language #it's always the issue of if i have to listen to something i don't understand i'll take the original instead of the second hand copy thanks #and by the time you can understand the second hand copy the original is too ingrained in your mind and you notice differences #that's also why I'll keep on saying it but imo dual audio should be mandatory for games with voice acting

10 notes · View notes

demenior · 3 years

Text

Dem’s Big Post About The Spn Fics Part 1/2

aka The Wrap Up to celebrate To Exist Again and To Become a Man now being finished!

(This will be a long post. This is your only warning.)

Admittedly this is a bit of a weird thing to be doing, but I wanted to try it out for 3 reasons:

I love talking about my own work and

It functions really well as a self-reflective tool for me to improve on, and

I can answer some big questions people might have because there was a LOT of worldbuilding in these stories.

We’ll start off with reflective stuff, and move into the juicier world-building focused stuff later into the post. There will be major spoilers for both fics to come!

To begin with a funny anecdote, Why Did I Write These Stories?

I was beginning to write and work out the story that I wanted to write for Spn (what will now be To Destroy a Man. As I was writing the scene, I realized I had a LOT of ideas and while I was trying to avoid as much exposition as I could, it became quickly apparent that I was needing to create my own au (this scene eventually became chapter 34 of To Become a Man). A short prequel seemed like a good idea, to quickly hash out the ‘prior’ events that I needed to go through so all the readers could be on the same page. While plotting out prequel points, I realized Sam and Dean were going to have drastically different experiences during the same time period, and I was trying to figure out who’s pov would be better for which scenes, and how to keep momentum when they’re going through such radically different types of changes. Ultimately I decided to split their povs, which I also thought would be a fun project! And I naively assumed each pov would take about 2 chapters each, rounding out to maybe 15k total.

I had my ending points: Dean n Cas soul-merged and (basically) married, Cas on the lam from heaven and a complete anomaly, and Sam juiced up full of powers and a weird mix of archangel and antichrist but still 100% human and ready to fight God.

Now I needed to add weight to these changes, so I wrote 200k of build-up.

Am I proud of these fics?

OF COURSE I AM!!! These are the longest fics I’ve ever written AND finished AND in the fastest freakin turnaround ever (both were finished writing, barring edits, in like 6 months holy shit)

I didn’t write a single scene that I “didn’t” want to write. If I had trouble writing it, as in it was fighting me, I scrapped it. Most obviously was the scene in Dean’s pov where he and Sam were intended to meet some other hunters and Dean declines working with them because he’s nervous about being outed as queer. It was meant to be a good scene! I wanted to introduce some new characters! But it just wasn’t working so I said ‘thank you, next!’.

But it means this story was an absolute joy to write. Because for a while all I was doing was ‘if I wanted to write one scene into supernatural, what would I write?’ and then just DID that!! It’s why there’s a lot of ‘Salmondean do dumb shit or have really dumb heartfelt conversations’ scenes.

Would I change anything?

If I’d been less eager to start sharing, I might have planned out the story beats a little tighter so there were less ‘soft’ chapters and a draw/pull for people to come back and keep reading. I felt Dean’s story specifically lagged at points and could have used some tighter editing (there was a noticeable lull in directed movement between Dean n Cas getting together, until Sam corrupts Amy).

I also probably would have held Sam’s story until I’d finished Dean’s so I could make the two line up better! Probably could have inserted more scenes into Sam’s fic that way, and made sure things were a little more consistent. In an ideal world one concept I had was to release 1 chapter from each pov every week that would correspond to the same time frame so we’d be getting real-time SalmonDean pov narrative. Unfortunately that didn’t work!

The biggest takeaway overall is for me to focus more on what moves the plot, and to make my scenes do more than 1 thing so I can cut down on wordcount and increase my efficiency.

Of course every writer will find things they want to fix in anything they’ve ever written, so these are minor “mistakes” at best. I’m so dang proud of these fics.

Onto more interesting things!

How Did I Put These Fics Together (because it’s different than anything I’ve ever done before)

Normally when I write a story, I plan out the beats I need to hit, see where I need to insert any kind of foreshadowing/buildup, and then write from A to B to C and so on and so forth. Hence, this is why I can normally post things as I complete chapters, because it’s all a linear progression.

For these two stories, rather than linear plot/a normal story structure, I just sat and free-wrote any and every scene that came to mind and then pieced them into a kinda-linear form like putting a quilt together. You’ll note that this is why there’s not a lot of internal callback or a feeling of sense of time flowing within the fic (save for points where I went back and specifically edited it in). How long does the story take place over? Hard to say! Your author has the barest grasp on linear time even on a good day (how many times did I say ‘see you on [wrong day]’ at the end of chapters lmaaoooo)

This also meant EXTENSIVE editing on the back end once I decided in what order I wanted my ‘quilt pieces’ to be. Hard to say if this is a bonus or a negative!

But I did want to try and capture the vibe of the lives they lead, as a bit of a ‘slice of life’-style story, when the slice of life is the profound weirdness of the Winchester roaming life, and how things are status quo- until everyone almost dies oh shit!! And then they have to keep living because no therapy we die/undie like Winchesters. Do I think I captured this effectively? Hmm. Good question.

Dem where the FUCK did the inspiration for a lot of the magic and creature weirdness even come from?

Honestly? Music, primarily. And completely mishearing lyrics!

Nightwish ‘Ever Dream’: the line is ‘my song can but borrow you grace’ and because my brain is scrambled eggs on a good day, I heard ‘grace’ ‘song’ and ‘borrow’ in that order and have had, for YEARS, the mental image of Cas borrowing Dean’s soul to power himself up for battle.

From there I’ve always been enamored with the ‘wavelength of celestial intent’ descriptor that Cas drops in s6 for “what he is”.

I also really like ocean metaphors mostly because I’ve been obsessed with the ocean and things in it since I was like… 5??? So really this was me just rolling with what I know lmao. I love using (somewhat) accurate scientific metaphors for very intangible things!

I was also finishing my degree in biology/ecology while writing these fics and I think it shows

Stars ‘The Night Starts Here’ gives us the series title and the fic titles. Except for ‘To Exist Again’. TEA was almost titled ‘The Upwards Fall’ because I wanted all 3 of the Main Stories to have titles from this song, but I couldn’t make anything else work in tandem with the series name ‘The Love It Takes’ while also working for Sam’s personal story. So Sam, as always, is the rebel <3

Stars ‘Up In Our Bedroom, After The War’ is basically the vibes of the whole story. TFW has been, literally, to hell and back!!! There’s a bit of melancholy and sadness, a lingering dark, but the chance of a bright new tomorrow and a soft start.

Let’s Talk About Themes in The Story! What were you looking to accomplish?

My earliest notes for TFW are, as follows:

Dean’s journey of self-discovery (who am I when I’m not trying to be Dad?)

Dean wants to settle down! He wants a big family! He wants to be domestic!

Basically: Dean doesn’t want to have a short life of hunting. He wants to live!

Dean’s journey of realizing he’s bi, and him accepting that

Dean’s relationship to Sam is both older brother/parent

And continuing Dean balancing these roles while also letting Sam be an adult

Dean’s Big Issues/Fears about never being good enough for people to want to stay with him (these are effectively highlighted in that Cas thinks he’s not useful enough to be wanted)

Sub Plot:

Castiel’s autonomy

Cas’ fall from grace, to trying to restore Heaven, to wrecking it further

He’s majorly depressed by the end of s7 (before purgatory)

Wants to stay in Purgatory but doesn’t tell Dean

Remains depressed after leaving, but resolved to keep living on because he’s clearly meant for something

After the seraphim reveal: does he have free will?! How does he grapple with this? How does he live in a way he can be proud of?

And lastly

Sam gets his powers back CAUSE THATS HOT

where tf did they go????

he got them from Lucifer?????

sleeper agent??????

Sam is The Chosen One

Accepts that he is More Than Human and to celebrate all parts of him

Lucifer and Sam friends?? Work together????

Sam needs autonomy in his choices/his life

If you compare these to the overall arc of TFW within the two stories, I think I got a lot of them! But you’ll also note a lot of these things aren’t concrete goals that are easily measurable (ex: Dean wants to learn to bake pie. In chapter 1 he starts a fire in the kitchen. By the end of the story he finally makes A Good Pie.) part of the lack of concrete milestones was why I felt it was important to tell Dean (and Cas’) story by going back to the point they meet, in s4! Dean’s gradual change towards his feelings for Cas, his relationship to Sam (heavily influenced by the s7 events of this fic) and then his own relationship with himself were such slow burns that I felt it would be a disservice to try and cram a change like that into a timeline like “1 year”.

I felt like these subtle changes and adjustments actually felt a lot truer to life-- people often change in very small, gradual ways over time, even without realizing it and often times not consistently! If only we could all gain skills like the sims, where we can easily level up and remain at that high level of performance!

So the Guy Who Ate Satan, A Celestial Nuke that Developed Sentience, and Dean walk into a bar…

Sam’s story in Spn The Show has always been a ‘chosen one’ kind of narrative. Sam is living with one foot in the realm of the monsters, and I wanted to bring that back full force! It really makes sense for him that he should only continue to grow in power, might, and magic!! As the story progresses.

Cas also got a power up! I do desperately love in the show that he was kind of a grunt/nothing angel, and so even when he defected to TFW he was a huge help for them, but in the scale of things he was an annoying fly to most other angels. It really worked for the underdog story of s4/5. In this I wanted to give him a power up, and originally it was actually going to be close contact with Sam that eventually changed Cas into something unknown (you can still see traces of this in ch34 of TBAM, where Death remarks ‘Castiel could be [Sam’s] first creation’. But for a combo of reasons: how Sam’s magic needed to have intent, the entire concept of free will and consent, and how much I wanted Dean and Cas to have their effect on each other, I decided to go with the route that Cas has actually always been something angel-adjacent rather than becoming something new. TFW/Supernatural has always been about free will and making your own story, so I amplified that with Cas.

Dean has always been A Normal Guy, which is part of the appeal of him and Sam (2 normal dudes!) taking on the Very Not Normal. As explained above, Sam’s story is ‘normal guy finds out he’s the chosen one’ and so, in a story about very large concepts and huge monsters and acts of magic, I felt it was very important to keep Dean as normal as possible. To the point it became a running gag to me, personally, in that ‘no matter what cool shit happens around him, Dean has to stay as Just A Guy’. And it’s a very humanizing role that allows the story to have the scale it does!

What were the most important themes in your story?

Sam’s Autonomy

I wasn’t even going to include the plot about Lucifer’s death in this story— that was going to come up in a later story, actually! And rather than Sam having ate Lucifer, the original idea was that they’d become a SamandLucifer entity (this harkens back to a concept I wanted to write when Swan Song first aired).

That storyline would have involved a lot of mental ‘Sam and Lucifer discuss what it means to live, which one of them is more worthy of life and if they do deserve to destroy the world for the pain they’ve been forced to go through, just to create the dichotomy of good and evil for everyone else’ discussions. There would be a lot of talk about how Sam hates and fears Lucifer for the pain Lucifer put on Sam, how Lucifer hates Sam because he and Sam are the same but Sam’s brother loves him anyways, etc.

Ultimately that was scrapped because Sam’s entire story in the show is always about how the world and everyone around him manipulates him and that he never actually gets to make choices about his own life or body that aren’t influenced or part of someone elses’ design. And that always bothered me that Sam was never allowed to be himself without having to be ashamed of it, and I wanted to make sure that Sam’s triumph of being proud of himself/proudly choosing to exist (again) was evident in his story

In the end I needed Sam to have this visceral win over his tormentor. As the story shows, in this case Lucifer was abused and put into a position where he was incapable of empathy and could only express himself in violence. Sam even understands this! But it doesn’t change the fact that Lucifer tortured Sam in unimaginable ways for thousands of years.

With that in mind I didn’t like the idea of Lucifer and Sam having “co-ownership” of their new identity, so I made the choice that Sam had to be the survivor. This tied in well with Sam’s new crusade to restore free will to the universe, because he’s breaking the narrative of his own story!

While Castiel wasn’t a pov character, his own autonomy and free will was equally as important. You’ll note that many, many paragraphs and conversations revolved around that theme and that in the end Cas followed himself (and love!) which ensured his freedom of self <3

The Brothers are WEIRD PEOPLE!!!! And Codependent to a Worrying Degree, but It’s Also How They Survive

It’s very hard to show “unusual” relationships when you’re writing from the pov of the two people who don’t think there’s anything weird about their relationship. Sure, they say ‘yeah it’s probably weird that we still share a bed’ but that’s kinda more in line with ‘I had a nightmare and I want to be close to the person who makes me feel safe’. Hashtag normalize co-sleeping when you need it!!!

From there I did try to point out how the boys have a weird perception of lifestyle in the little things they did.

From thrifting everything from clothes to appliances to books (thrifting is a valid lifestyle! It’s incredibly handy when you’re on a budget.)

To never actually having condiments or knowing how to use a dishwasher cause they’ve lived in a car, a motel room, or squatted in old houses their whole life.

I tried to have them wear each others’ clothes or casually swap things as much as possible. They live out of each others’ pockets!

Also the brothers are just weird people!! It’s hard to show from their pov, cause they don’t know how far off from normal they are, but like…

Everything about Sam and Amelia was NOT right like holy shit those two were wilding in their grief. They are very lucky things worked out for them and that they got to be hashtag Weird Girls together

Dean explicitly, in the story, gets horny after killing stuff!! Violence has done a number on his psyche and he’s gotten some wires crossed that maybe shouldn’t have been, or maybe could be worked out in a safe space but… uh… how likely do we think Dean is gonna go find a safe space to deal with any of his shit???

LOVE!!! Love is truly what this whole story is all about

If you’ve read the stories, you know how much emphasis I put on love. Love is the strongest force in the Spn Universe! It’s what averted the apocalypse and saved the world (Swan Song), it’s what created free will (Cas’ entire arc!) I love love!!!!

I went out of my way to not put any definitions on platonic love vs romantic love because I think love is love is love and how you express that is the difference. Neither is more powerful than the other because LOVE is powerful!! Sam and Cas are the most important people in Dean’s life and he loves them equally! He shows this by giving Cas kisses and stealing Sam’s socks.

It’s a personal pet peeve of mine when I have to hear explanations like ‘I love you, like a brother’ or ‘I love you, but like, as a friend because I’m a lesbian and you’re a man’ etc etc in media. If you have to continuously define how your characters love each other, then I don’t think you’re doing a good job of portraying their relationship. So you’ll see that I never put those parameters in any conversation. Dean DOES muse that he loves Cas differently than he loves Sam or Bobby, specifically because there is a romantic and sexual tone that his feelings for Cas takes, but not because he loves Cas more or less than he loves Sam or Bobby.

Which means, if you haven’t realized it yet, the Series + Fic Titles are meant to be a complete sentence because the power of love IS the thesis of this series:

The Love It Takes To Exist Again (Sam’s journey!)

The Love It Takes To Become a Man (Dean’s journey!)

The Love It Takes To Destroy a Man (TBA)

And now for fun stuff. Behind the scenes!!

What’s Something People Probably Don’t Know?

The demonic fungal/hydrothermal vent growth on Sam’s arm was thrown in literally as I was posting the chapter because I had just finished a 48 hour cram session of writing a report on tube worms for an ecology class (I was chanting my tube worm song as I wrote it) and it ended up being a HUGE hit with both readers and myself. But it was so last minute I had trouble fitting it in more throughout the rest of Sam’s story!

Cas’ orders? That may or may not have bound him to Dean and removed his free will? Were written into Sam’s story and I went ‘oh SHIT that’s compelling’ and then left them there as a ‘guess I’ll figure that out when I get to Dean’s story lol’

Originally Dean and Cas were supposed to get together after having their souls bonded, and have been in a UST limbo the entire time before that. Mostly because I think the entire concept of ‘we just got married of the soul I guess we should try dating?’ is very funny. CLEARLY the two of them were way more eager to fall in love than I anticipated (thank you Cas for your honesty) but you can still see shades of this original idea here and there (especially in ch35 of TBAM)

I never intended Dean and Benny to connect so well!! Benny was going to reunite with Andrea, she was going to live, and they were going to go off into the world and leave the story. And, uh, here we are. I’m still debating if I need to adjust the relationship tag or not haha. Polyamory is fun, especially when I was planning for Sam to be the polyamorous brother...

Speaking of, I can’t believe I forgot about Sam and his sexuality! If I rewrote TEA I would have had Sam contemplate more on his lack of sexual appetite due to trauma, up until he meets Benny and he gets to rediscover how he wants to be a sexual person

Many of Sam and Dean’s absolutely stupid sibling conversations were lifted near-verbatim from conversations I’ve had with my siblings

And lastly...

Dem where’s Kevin????????????? Where is our sweet baby boy????????

He’s SAFE!! He’s in the Hunter pipeline somewhere cause Sam handed him off to Bobby’s people. He and his mom are safe and at some point they probably got rib sigils like SalmonDean did against angels, but for demons. I didn’t have room in this story for him!!! But my baby boy is SAFE and I want to get him back to university because it’s WHAT HE DESERVES!!!!

To that point: god there were/are SO many characters that I just didn’t include in the story so far because I didn’t feel comfortable including them without stalling the story for them. To that point: pretty much everyone who is alive/dead in s8 is that way in this story, except Bobby who gets to live.

[Check Out Part 2 for reader questions!]

#the love it takes series #to exist again fic #to become a man fic #dem speaks

9 notes · View notes

houkuaichuii · 6 years

Text

Then There Was You - Chapter 3.

Tfw it takes you two years to write a single chapter. HA!

Recap about the fic: It’s a normal!AU, with Rukia being a photographer and Ichigo being a paediatrician. It sounds simple, but it’s actually quite more complicated than that. Anyhow, it can be found on both fanfiction.net and AO3!

And bless @rvkiakuchiki for beta-ing like always!!!!!!!

Also, warning--- pure fluff down below.

Summary:

“You’re really adamant about that burger of yours, aren’t you?”

Rukia grinned, “As adamant as you are about your tonkatsu.”

It were moments like this when she forgot that she had only actually known him for no more than a two weeks.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He took her to a garden; a place that held such aspect of simplicity, and yet with the morning light hitting it just right, the essence of fantasy did more than take her breath away. Spring was woven all around them, with the flowers blooming and pink petals falling onto their path. It was peaceful, perfect equilibrium through and through, even as the sound of the running stream reached their ears. The air was also almost different--- or it could just have been her mind playing tricks on her, she could not say --- fresher than the outside world. She loved it there. It was secluded, not a soul seen nor heard. It was like a whole secret hidden by nature itself, found by those who truly searched to their wits’ end. The imagery of it all was so vivid within her mind, she could have almost felt herself in the centre of garden with her eyes closed. And that was how time passed her by; quiet, lost, and alone as she was sat before her desk, work quite forgotten all the while.

She sighed.

Willing herself to finally open her eyes, what met Rukia were not the flowers, trees, or the birds that she longed for. Rather, a raw picture was wide on her monitor, waiting to be edited.

Right, her job. Something to which she had chosen to ignored for the past few hours.

Another sigh.

Unmotivated, uninspired, Rukia sat there in silence, the tablet’s pen loose in her grip. She rested her cheek on top of her other palm, elbow perched on the edge of the desk as she stared at the shot.

It was a portrait taken at a slightly lower angle on the side, the model standing close behind a tall, chain-linked fence. The blue of her irises were bright with the setting sun’s light, a hint of a smile visible with the way her lips were curved. Moreover, the blurred chains of the fence formed patterns of shadows across her features, her set gaze directed towards the viewer; as if saying bow down to the queen.

An image of dominance, conveying the concept of no shit taken nor needed. It was what they had asked from her, and it was what she had just delivered.

Though of course, the photo itself was far from being a finished product. There were still a few remaining touches needed, she just couldn’t quite figure them out.

Rukia stared at the colours and tones that were used, and she was fine with them. She moved onto the contrast levels, the shadows and the highlights, and again, no complaints. For the next fifteen minutes, her attention shifted from detail to detail, searching for anything that would have satisfied that annoying feeling in her mind. It was constantly telling her that there was something missing, something that she was meant to change or fix.

An element that she couldn’t see.

She hated that feeling so much.

Leaning back into her seat in defeat and frustration, the wheels rolled her away from her workstation. The photographer focused on the high ceiling above her, waiting for inspiration to strike. But once she knew that it wasn’t going to happen, she closed her eyes and just breathed.

Through her apartment’s opened windows, the city’s noise reached her from below. She delved into the soothing sound of cars driving by, of a helicopter flying in a distance. She was embraced by the night’s warmth, the air tickling her skin. She relaxed herself, all pretense from stress leaving her body right there and then.

Her thoughts were silent, her entire being calm as her chest rose and fell. At that rate, she could have fallen asleep, and would have if her phone hadn’t rang. Eyes shot open, the moment of peace broken by a call that was very much unneeded. Nevertheless, she pulled herself back to her desk and grabbed the phone, glancing at the caller ID with contempt before sliding across the screen to answer.

“Do you realise what time it is?” She started, her voice low and eerily threatening.

“Mm, time for me get food,” The other responded, completely disregarding the annoyance that he had just heard, “I just finished my shift and I don’t feel like eating at home. What are you doing?”

Somehow--- just somehow--- the man’s voice was as soothing as the cityscape, even through the phone. As irritated as she was for having been pulled away from the abyss of sleep, Rukia couldn’t help but loosen a bit as she listened to him speak; a quiet breath released.

“Working.” It wasn’t a complete lie, considering how that was exactly what she was supposed to be doing.

“Really?”

“. . . Yes.”

It was suddenly quiet on the other end of the line, until Rukia could have sworn that he chuckled, “Alright, then. Well, I’m about to leave the hospital now to buy dinner.”

“Ichigo, did you really call at 8 P.M just to tell me this?”

“No, I called to see whether you wanted to eat dinner with me. But since you’re busy---”

“Where are we having dinner?” Rukia heard herself cut in without a thought. She could have said that she was surprised at doing so, not understanding as to why there was a form of excitement that started to buzz within her. Sure, he called to invite her out for dinner, though it wasn’t like it was anything out of the ordinary, right?

They already had a morning walk with coffee together, so what was dinner?

It was just two people eating dinner, no biggie.

“Meguro. I’m in the mood for tonkatsu, so heard of Tonki?” Ichigo answered as she heard a door closing from his end. She presumed that he got into his car.

She had been told of the place, just had not necessarily eaten there. Last she remembered, Rangiku described the restaurant as great, with the menu being somewhere in between of delicious and simple. However, she also knew that in judgement of the restaurant’s popularity, the chances of them having to line up in a queue were high. Plus, did she really feel like eating there?

“I’ve heard of Tonki, yes,” she said, “But I don’t know, Ichigo, I kind of feel like eating McDonald’s.”

“McDonald’s for dinner? Really, Rukia?”

At his reaction, the woman in question couldn’t stop the smile that pulled at her lips. She spun her chair around, gaze up on the ceiling as she shrugged. “Why not? It’s basic and I haven’t had a burger in a while.”

“Fine, you can buy your burger and then meet me at Tonki.”

“And what? Watch you eat your tonkatsu? I think I’ll just buy my burger and then head home straight after.”

He was quiet again, and Rukia found herself waiting for a response. She continued to spin around, tapping her fingers against the armrest. She knew that he was thinking, although about what was the actual question.

“You’re really adamant about that burger of yours, aren’t you?”

Rukia grinned, “As adamant as you are about your tonkatsu.”

It were moments like this when she forgot that she had only actually known him for no more than a two weeks.

About an hour and a half later, the two of them were sitting on a table in the endless rush of a McDonald’s branch, with Rukia sipping happily on her glass of earl grey ice-tea. She watched as Ichigo took his time on eating his wrap, a knowing twinkle in her stare. There he was, professionally dressed as he ate in front of her, after he had tried to convince her to eat tonkatsu for dinner.

Ha! Iconic!

“How long are you planning to stare at me like that.” And there it was, his trademark scowl.

Rukia peered at him, playfully at that as a smile made itself known. She had only known him for a short two weeks, but her comfortability said otherwise.

“Don’t feel so bad, Ichigo,” She began, “You’re enjoying your wrap, aren’t you? And you also have my company, so aren’t you lucky?”

She saw him contemplate her words, knew that he didn’t want to admit to relenting earlier on. The boy-like scowl didn’t leave his face, even as he took a bite of his meal and visibly enjoyed it. He may not have said it, but one’s eyes could only ever actually hold so much hidden.

“So, why did you call me out tonight?” Rukia asked amidst the white noise of others’ chatter. She was relaxed in her seat, playing with the straw of her drink by flicking the end. There was pure curiosity in her tone, an indication that she had been itching to let the question out. And although she was slightly expecting for him to be caught off-guard, Ichigo merely looked up from his wrap and blinked.

“I don’t know,” He said, “Just thought that you’d need time away from whatever you were doing.”

Confused as she was, Rukia tilted her head, a crease appearing between her brows, “What made you think that?”

“Because every time you messaged me during this past week, you’ve been saying that you have no inspiration and that you were doing nothing but staring at your screen. Besides, I thought some company would be good, so yeah.” He spoke casually, mixed in together with something akin to familiarity. Rukia was astounded that he even managed to pick the point up, albeit not realising it herself. Did they really talk to each other often enough for him to notice her small problem?

“I see.” Was her response, her smile diminishing as it was replaced by uncertainty. It was, however, not towards Ichigo, although more for the question that came to mind.

But with the doctor being the doctor, he noticed the change in her expression as well, and said, “Don’t give me that look. If you didn’t want to come, you could have just said so.” His intonation was lighthearted, a reflection of his own gentle smile.

Rukia soon felt herself at ease, relieved by the words that came from the doctor. Then when she opened her mouth to speak, to say something along the lines of appreciation, Ichigo continued on.

“Besides, I could have gotten my tonkatsu if it weren’t for you.” He finished off, before chewing on a piece of the wrap.

Of course, she should have expected for him to say that.

Not being able to bite down the growing smile that came to be, the smile that mirrored the one in front of her, Rukia simply shook her head and fell back into comfortable silence as she, too, decided to finish her meal.

It was tranquil between them after that, enjoying each other’s company, accompanied by a few questions here and there.

How was your day?

Was work busy?

And what about the patients, how were they?

Today’s clients didn’t give you any problems, right?

Conversation flew by without a hitch, and it was that aspect that Rukia found herself savouring. There was no air of awkwardness, their small talk just enough that it didn’t overwhelm her as it would have with others. They spoke like old friends, just with the same level of interest that strangers would have during first meetings. It was an equal amount of give and take from both sides, and Rukia was actually enjoying it.

In fact, they were so in tune with one another that her actions became instinctive.

“Wait, so let me get this straight: your brother is a lawyer who wanted you to follow his footsteps, so that you could have taken over the family firm when the time comes?” She heard him ask. However, her attention had been set elsewhere.

Rukia motioned for him to lean forward, and naturally, he did. She then reached out and using the pad of her thumb, wiped the sauce off from the edging line of his bottom lip.

“There we go. Can’t exactly have you walking around with evidence of you enjoying your wrap from McDonald’s now, can we?” using a napkin to clean her thumb, she missed the dumbfounded expression etched across Ichigo’s face.

He didn’t move an inch since the initial contact. His brown eyes were wide, intently focused on her. Yet, she paid them no heed. She also didn’t know how heavy his chest became, how loud the beating of his heart was in his ears, and how he faltered to confusion due to that single second.

What… happened?

Time seemingly slowed down around him, everything else a blur apart from her. His body froze, his pupils dilating --- that much he knew. The hairs on his skin stood, and yet there was an overwhelming amount of warmth that had blanketed over him. He was staring, he knew that he was staring as he couldn’t bring himself to move his attention elsewhere. She was there, nonchalantly going as she normally did. And he was bewildered, confused with the way he was reacting to nothing more than an act of kindness. It was no lie that Ichigo was caught in captivation.

“But yes, that’s pretty much the story. Thing is, even though I’m not directly related to him, I’m the only one who he can actually trust with the responsibility,” Rukia said, still oblivious to the gaping man, “Not that I can be angry with him or anything. Well, apart from the fact that he sometimes still tries to control my life, but I guess it’s just because he’s afraid of me tarnishing the family name.”

It were a few seconds later when Ichigo finally regained his composure and gradually sat back down onto his seat. He tried to nod along, cleared his throat, and cleared his head in hopes of organising his thoughts. It was a simple matter, and he was not about to make a big deal of it. Not at all.

Unbeknownst to him, the tips of his ears had turned red.

“Right,” He said, “You know, you’re kind of making it sound like you’re a princess or something.”

Rukia looked at him with a raised brow, “What if I am?”

“Are you?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny that. Who knows, you might end up running your mouth off and someone’s bound to tell the paparazzi that there’s a princess around town.”

Ichigo snorted in disbelief at Rukia’s response. She really was strange; he came to that conclusion during their walk through the garden two weeks ago. With her gushing about nothing but Chappy for fifteen minutes straight, it took a lot of him to not walk away until she stopped. But all in all, she was… interesting. Different to those he knew, and though he understood that there was nothing extremely special about her (because as if he was going to believe that entire royalty shenanigans), there was something about her that he couldn’t exactly pinpoint. Left at that, she was Rukia, and for whatever reason unknown to him, he was content with it.

“Any other plans in mind for tonight?” Rukia asked next.

Swallowing the final bit of his salad wrap, Ichigo shook his head. “Nah, you?”

“Was supposed to have a girls’ night, but backed out last minute.” She said.

“Should I ask why?”

Rukia lifted a shoulder, amused by the curiosity heard in the lilt of his voice. She threw him a small smile, a glint in her indigo eyes as she replied, “I just didn’t feel like it.”

“But you’re here.” Ichigo remarked.

“This… this is different.”

When the doctor looked at her with a bemused gaze, Rukia sighed and crossed her arms against her torso, leaning back into the backrest of her seat.

“I wasn’t in the mood to go clubbing. And knowing my friends, I’d have to deal with their sorry asses by the end of the night, and I felt like I needed time to myself, instead of whatever it is that one does at a club.” As short as the explanation it, it was nothing less than truthful.

“Right, so instead of having wine and drinks, you’d rather settle for a happy meal at McDonald’s.” Ichigo said.

“Would’ve been great if it were a happy meal, but alas, you only bought me a burger.” She retorted.

Ichigo tried his best to at least look a little bit innocent in that case, “I’m pretty sure I asked you whether you wanted a toy---”

“Shut up.”

A smirk and a concise response, “Yes, ma’am.”

At the end of dinner, the two had split ways in note of the late night. Had it been a weekend, Ichigo would have wandered around the city a bit more; most likely sharing life stories with his earlier companion, had she agreed to stay for a little while longer. But in the comforts of his own home, the man pulled on his necktie and unbuttoned the first three buttons of his dress shirt, a heavy breath leaving him. There was a sudden appearance of overwhelming tiredness on his shoulders, weighing in on him the instant he had set foot through the front door.

As tempting as it was to drop dead onto the leather couch, his body was aching for a hot shower.

He walked past the open space of the apartment’s living room, purposefully not glancing at it, in case he were to cave in and sleep into a new day. And as he dragged his feet across the wooden flooring, trudging his way through his home, Ichigo’s mind decided to settle for that night’s events--- how normal it had been, despite of it being different to his everyday routine.

He thought of Rukia, how open her character was around him; as if there was no wall in between them. Weirdly enough, he had known her for far less than those he worked with, and yet it was safe for him to assume that she knew him better than they did. Around her, he found that he was able to be himself, whoever that was. He didn’t need to hold back with his smart remarks, and even so, she managed to make comebacks that didn’t leave a bitter feeling in him.

Around Rukia, he was able to let go of Dr. Kurosaki and simply become Kurosaki Ichigo, the boy from the small city known as Karakura Town.

He liked it. Or if anything, he appreciated it.

He didn’t need to uphold any professionalism. It was what he did at first, only to have the photographer laugh at him and brush it off.

It’s not that she ‘didn’t like it’, she said, but more of how it ‘felt wrong coming from him’.

He chuckled inwardly at the memory as he entered his bedroom, setting his suitcase on the chair next to the door.

In the dark, the room was nothing extravagant, except for the floor-to-ceiling window that covered the entire end, giving away a grand view of the awakened city. To the centre, was the bed, its headboard connected to the wall adjacent to the window, whilst his walk-in closet was built on the opposite end. And the door directly across from Ichigo’s entrance, led to a bathroom that he was actually quite fond of.

It wasn’t too big, nor too small. The shower head was perfect for his height, and even with its wet floor design, the tiling had fit his tastes perfectly.

It really was nice bathroom.

Falling into the soft, cotton sheets of his bed, face first as one often did when they were ready to avoid their problems, Ichigo inhaled and closed his eyes for a moment’s while. He was tired, so tired that he could have fallen asleep had his mind not reminded him of the shower that he needed to take. He groaned at the thought and rolled over onto his back, only to feel the vibration of his phone in his pants’ pocket. He fished it out, and squinted at the blaring light of the screen until his vision came to focus at the message received.

Got home safe. Said the first one.

Thanks again. Came after.

Ichigo didn’t even need to look at the sender’s name to know who it was, nor did he need to for the smile to tug at his mouth. Upon setting an arm as a pillow beneath his head, he unlocked his phone and typed a reply with a single thumb.

Glad to know. Your treat next time?

He didn’t have to wait long before the other responded.

Next time? We’ll see.

“We’ll see. . .?” Ichigo repeated the words to no one in particular, but there was no way he could have ignored the feeling of peaceful happiness; more so when it was sitting just between his lungs, confined by his ribcage. Chuckling, the tired doctor pulled himself up and stood, throwing his phone onto the bed. He ran his hand through his mess of a hair, and contented, made his way to the bathroom.

The screen lit up again, alerting of a new message received.

He stood under the warm spray of the shower for a good twenty minutes, his muscles loosening and the aches disappearing. Truth be told, he spent most of the time pondering about whatever situation needed to be sorted, rather than doing any actual cleaning. Still, it didn’t take long for him to scrub as much grime, dirt, and sweat as he possibly could have.

Barefooted, he walked through the apartment, his knit joggers sitting threateningly low on his hips. He also opted for the lack of a shirt, reasoning that it was too warm to wear one, and that he was bound to take it off in his sleep. It were the little things like those that made life easier in a way; decisions made without too much thinking or expectation of consequences. Moreover, he was living alone, so it wasn’t like he was committing a crime by walking around shirtless.

The lights were dimmed down, albeit bright enough for him to navigate past the furniture and corners. Gentle music echoed throughout the space from the speakers in the living room, the tune of piano keys calming him as he found his way to the kitchen next to it. He had turned it on when he arrived--- out of habit more than anything, really. Because, again, he was alone in a big place, and there was something about music that made him feel less… isolated.

Arriving at the kitchen, Ichigo got a glass from the dryer and poured himself a cold drink from the fridge. He soothed the thirst of his dry throat, a breath of satisfaction leaving him straight after. He rolled his neck, and tilted his head from side to side, knowing that he couldn’t feel any better than he did then. To describe him, he was utterly filled with naught but a state of calmness and contentment.

He had tended to his patients earlier in the day, and finished his rounds as he expected himself to. The children were looking much better than they did when they were first admitted, and fortunately enough, they had taken a liking to him; letting him in on their little secrets, and stories, and worlds that were often kept hidden. Their smiles were as bright as the sun that shone through the windows, and their parents were more than happy to trust in him. And as a doctor, those were enough to keep him going.

There was also the dinner. Originally, Ichigo didn’t plan to have a salad wrap from McDonald’s, but what right did he have to complain in consideration of who sat across from him?

It was a nice way to end the night, he admitted that much. He was able to leave the character of a doctor behind in his office for a while, and merely laughed as he did all those years ago. Hell, he wasn’t even sure when was the last time he had enjoyed another’s company. It was a nice change of pace for once, and he was glad that he made the phone call after minutes of pure hesitation.

The buzz of a doorbell and Ichigo was instantly pulled out of his reverie. He glanced at the digital clock embedded on the fridge, 2337 staring at him boldly and in its ominous colour of red. He frowned, brows furrowed together in wonder as to who was insane enough to drop by at this hour of the night.

A weeknight, nonetheless.

In resignation, he made his way to the front door; his bare torso forgotten much to his repose. He called out, telling them to hang on. And without even looking through the peephole, or even the monitor near the entrance, he turned the doorknob and pulled it open.

Who stood on the other side was no one in particular-- correction, she was somebody, just not one whom he was expecting.

Her surprised gaze met his, her posture straightening the second she saw him. And uncontrollably, Ichigo’s heart was quiet.

“A-ah, Kurosaki-Kun…!”

#Chie writes.#IchiRuki #Ichigo Kurosaki #Rukia Kuchiki #bleach fic #2 years lATER WE FINALLY GOT IT OUT!!!!!#Y E E E E E E E E ET!!!!

53 notes · View notes