Some things about Saiunkoku (ficlist? fic bits? thing?), also GIP
While I was working on this last night and bugging ninjatrauma, my interwebs kept going down and finally refused to connect at all.
I think it was a sign.
Some Thngs About Saiunkoku.
1. Seiran thinks this is why Ryuuki is emperor and he is not: Ryuuki cares about people, about people he doesn't even know, enough to put his own needs and desires aside for the good of others. He can't do that. Ryuuki is kind to everybody. There's three people in this world worth his kindness, and he can't be kind to anybody else. They're not worth it. Nothing is worth it but the people he loves and his heart is too small for more than the ones that keep it.
2. Seiran said but of course he would never do anything to hurt his Majesty or his lord Shouka or his lady Shuurei. Shuuei thought, that leaves a hell of a lot of the world left over.
3. Shuurei was asleep beside him. She'd been up all night working on a report, and it was natural that when she sat down to have tea with him in the garden she would fall asleep. They were sitting on the ground and he flung his outer robe half over her. The purple and gold contrasted brilliantly with the red of her dress, and he smiled, pleased.
4. It's not like Kouryuu means to get lost or enjoys getting lost or anything. It's just that no matter how carefully he watches where he's going the path he takes just gets confused and -- he's not lost, he thinks, it's everything else that's changed around him! He doesn't know what he hates worse, having court members leading him back and laughing at him behind their sleeves, or having Shuuei find him. Shuuei's eyes laugh at him, but in a kind way. Shuuei just takes his hand and leads the path back to where it should be. It's not fair. He hates it. He hates the warm curve of Shuuei's hand around his and staring at his broad back covered in indigo brocades and he -- he hates being lost, is all. He's not a baby. He's not an orphan any more.
5. As Houju once pointed out, most people do not list their favorite things as 'plum blossoms and my adopted son'. Reishin said it was quite true, thank you, and Houju, even more long-suffering than usual, asked him since when was a son a thing?
6. Kouryuu makes Shuuei feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It's just. Kouryuu hunches his shoulders and glares and Shuuei can't help but admire him for being able to show what he feels. That open honesty was something Shuuei would never have.
7. The point is, the song he's been playing on his flute is the sound of the world around him. If they find it jarring and unpleasant, it is only as a reaction to their selves, as seen in a mirror. Soul Friend Number One doesn't know, because her ears are untutored, but around her and Soul Friend Number Two the sound of the flute softens and clears.
8. What people don't know about Shouka is that he'd die for someone he loved, but he would kill for his daughter.
10. Shuurei wakes up sometimes from the old nightmares and that's when Seiran finds her moving around the house, white robed and pale as a ghost. She stands outside their doors and listens anxiously for their breathing, or she does something, anything, so she doesn't have to think. He takes her into the kitchen and makes her tea and waits quietly until she smiles at him sleepily and falls asleep at the table.
11. He lifted her hand to his face and rubbed it affectionately against his cheek, dropping a kiss against her palm with half-open lips. Shuurei's heart didn't go faster. It just seemed to expand almost unbearably, as if to grow wide enough to take him inside and hide him away. She wanted to hold him close and guard him within her arms. Her hair fell against his shoulders and chest like a wall to protect him.
"Why are you sad?" said Ryuuki. "Don't be sad."
"Because," she said. "You were so lonely."
He kissed her hand again. "I'm happy now."
Ninjas left a scroll of their presence in LA last night! It left LA at three am last night and we're 14 hours away if you're driving and about three hours if you're flying. I suppose it's got to go through PDX but still! Dammit, everybody in the house is going to be gone today, too! ;A; If only we could convince the dog to sign for packages. He probably would if he thought there was a chance that he could whore himself out for pettins. And it's aggravating because they're logging this week and about every five seconds I start up, convinced I hear the DHL ninjas when really it's just yet another goddamn log truck trundling down the road.
In other um less animanga geekly news I'm trying to do wristlets but I've already ripped it out twice and changed needles once. I think this version should be okay but I'm going to be dumb and try cables, so we'll see. I'm not very happy about attempting the wrist gusset but I think I know in theory how to do it.
edit: Seiran, if you start lurking around my Sarah McLachlan folder we're just going to have to start the beatings early.
I think it was a sign.
Some Thngs About Saiunkoku.
1. Seiran thinks this is why Ryuuki is emperor and he is not: Ryuuki cares about people, about people he doesn't even know, enough to put his own needs and desires aside for the good of others. He can't do that. Ryuuki is kind to everybody. There's three people in this world worth his kindness, and he can't be kind to anybody else. They're not worth it. Nothing is worth it but the people he loves and his heart is too small for more than the ones that keep it.
2. Seiran said but of course he would never do anything to hurt his Majesty or his lord Shouka or his lady Shuurei. Shuuei thought, that leaves a hell of a lot of the world left over.
3. Shuurei was asleep beside him. She'd been up all night working on a report, and it was natural that when she sat down to have tea with him in the garden she would fall asleep. They were sitting on the ground and he flung his outer robe half over her. The purple and gold contrasted brilliantly with the red of her dress, and he smiled, pleased.
4. It's not like Kouryuu means to get lost or enjoys getting lost or anything. It's just that no matter how carefully he watches where he's going the path he takes just gets confused and -- he's not lost, he thinks, it's everything else that's changed around him! He doesn't know what he hates worse, having court members leading him back and laughing at him behind their sleeves, or having Shuuei find him. Shuuei's eyes laugh at him, but in a kind way. Shuuei just takes his hand and leads the path back to where it should be. It's not fair. He hates it. He hates the warm curve of Shuuei's hand around his and staring at his broad back covered in indigo brocades and he -- he hates being lost, is all. He's not a baby. He's not an orphan any more.
5. As Houju once pointed out, most people do not list their favorite things as 'plum blossoms and my adopted son'. Reishin said it was quite true, thank you, and Houju, even more long-suffering than usual, asked him since when was a son a thing?
6. Kouryuu makes Shuuei feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It's just. Kouryuu hunches his shoulders and glares and Shuuei can't help but admire him for being able to show what he feels. That open honesty was something Shuuei would never have.
7. The point is, the song he's been playing on his flute is the sound of the world around him. If they find it jarring and unpleasant, it is only as a reaction to their selves, as seen in a mirror. Soul Friend Number One doesn't know, because her ears are untutored, but around her and Soul Friend Number Two the sound of the flute softens and clears.
8. What people don't know about Shouka is that he'd die for someone he loved, but he would kill for his daughter.
10. Shuurei wakes up sometimes from the old nightmares and that's when Seiran finds her moving around the house, white robed and pale as a ghost. She stands outside their doors and listens anxiously for their breathing, or she does something, anything, so she doesn't have to think. He takes her into the kitchen and makes her tea and waits quietly until she smiles at him sleepily and falls asleep at the table.
11. He lifted her hand to his face and rubbed it affectionately against his cheek, dropping a kiss against her palm with half-open lips. Shuurei's heart didn't go faster. It just seemed to expand almost unbearably, as if to grow wide enough to take him inside and hide him away. She wanted to hold him close and guard him within her arms. Her hair fell against his shoulders and chest like a wall to protect him.
"Why are you sad?" said Ryuuki. "Don't be sad."
"Because," she said. "You were so lonely."
He kissed her hand again. "I'm happy now."
Ninjas left a scroll of their presence in LA last night! It left LA at three am last night and we're 14 hours away if you're driving and about three hours if you're flying. I suppose it's got to go through PDX but still! Dammit, everybody in the house is going to be gone today, too! ;A; If only we could convince the dog to sign for packages. He probably would if he thought there was a chance that he could whore himself out for pettins. And it's aggravating because they're logging this week and about every five seconds I start up, convinced I hear the DHL ninjas when really it's just yet another goddamn log truck trundling down the road.
In other um less animanga geekly news I'm trying to do wristlets but I've already ripped it out twice and changed needles once. I think this version should be okay but I'm going to be dumb and try cables, so we'll see. I'm not very happy about attempting the wrist gusset but I think I know in theory how to do it.
edit: Seiran, if you start lurking around my Sarah McLachlan folder we're just going to have to start the beatings early.