Comments | saiyuki_time: Warmth (Challenge #38, New Year; Yaone: G)

opalmatrix in saiyuki_time

Warmth (Challenge #38, New Year; Yaone: G)

Jan 08, 2009 12:52

Title: Warmth
Author: opalmatrix
Warnings: nothing at all
Pairing(s): Kougaiji/Yaone ... maybe, if you squint really hard
Spoilers: a bit of Yaone's history
Notes: written for saiyuki_time, Challenge #38, New Year; time allowed: 20 minutes; time taken: 24 minutes
Summary: Yaone could use a few new New Year's memories

( Most of the time, Yaone managed not to think about her old home ... . )

challenge: new year, char:yaone, char:kougaiji, author:opalmatrix, char:lirin, char:dokugakuji, rating:g

Comments 15

sharpeslass January 8 2009, 20:16:30 UTC

This is so sweet it actually made my chin wibble. And I normally couldn't give a toss about the Kougaiji tachi. Nice work... very warm.

opalmatrix January 16 2009, 12:20:17 UTC

I have trouble with both Kou and Yaone that way. Dokugakuji is usually the only one of them I can really get into. But every once in a while I fix on Yaone. I'm glad this worked for you!

despina_moon January 9 2009, 02:38:52 UTC

Awww! I'm so glad you wrote this, Yaone doesn't get enough love. Well done!

opalmatrix January 16 2009, 12:23:04 UTC

She really is a very sweet person! I think the problem for many of the fans is that unless you put in unrequited love for Kou or Dokugakuji - and there really isn't that much evidence for it - she has no conflicts, so she doesn't come across as quite as interesting as the rest.

I'm glad you enjoyed this!

lady_ganesh January 9 2009, 20:24:25 UTC

Oh, that's so sweet. I love Lirin.

opalmatrix January 16 2009, 12:25:29 UTC

She is such an indomitable, cheerful little tough cookie, isn't she? I am completely undone every time by the scene where Dokugakuji has just busted her out of that tank in Nii's lab, and she's not freaking out at all - she just sees her brother and her face lights up and she says "I knew youd come for me."

lady_ganesh January 17 2009, 00:33:54 UTC

Yes. And honestly, one of the things I love most about Kougaji is that he would. Thanks to a prompt over in the Minekura kink meme, I've been toying with an AU where Doku and Gojyo are the ones in Hotou Castle, and I have no doubt that if Kougaji was the one coming in with blood on his hands, he'd be dragging Lirin in behind him.

opalmatrix January 17 2009, 04:58:56 UTC

I think you're right. And that made me think of something else. Do you think Kou really believes, in any way, that Gyokoumen Koushou will ever release his mother? Or is it just something he continues to act out from duty and to give him a reason to keep on going? Because it often seems to me that he's pretty much on the edge of depression/numbness, and his three loved ones are about the only thing that keeps him back from the precipice. And there's something almost touchingly painful about his rare smiles.

Thread 5

avierra January 10 2009, 06:09:05 UTC

The Kougaiji tachi is pretty much the "good and noble guys" mirror of the Sanzo ikkou, so it's good (and interesting) to see a treatment of some of the issues that plague the tachi. And poor Yaone does come up the short end of the stick in a lot of ways, so it's nice to see her finding her own place.

opalmatrix January 17 2009, 04:42:14 UTC

It's funny, I think I'd like her a lot as a person, but I have trouble writing about her! So I'm especially glad that you liked it.

freeradical9 January 13 2009, 03:46:49 UTC

This was really sweet. Yaone is a good-hearted character with a difficult past, and it's good to see her happy for just a bit. Nice cultural references, and I loved the vivid descriptions of the gifts and the clothes. :D

opalmatrix January 17 2009, 04:44:25 UTC

The cultural stuff was actually the most fun I had with it too. I had been toying with the idea of a column for work on lunar New Year, so it was still pretty vivid in my mind. I'm glad you liked it.