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ashintheairlikesnow · 2 years

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⛑ for kauri?

⛑ - Some tender first-aid got this for Chris, too, and I think we should have some Chris and Kauri time

CW: Kauri's Poor Life Choices, drug use, bandaging referenced domestic violence, Kauri's Total Lack of Self-Esteem, accidental whump

Takes place during Chris's time at Nat's safehouse, probably before the end of the second year

"There we go." Kauri soothes, holding Chris's wrist with gentle fingertips just barely touching freckled skin. He wraps the gauze carefully, letting it unroll from its spool even as he tightens it over the gauze pad pressed to the cut. "There, it's okay, Chris. You're okay."

"I just, I, I, I just wanted to, to, to help with dinner-" Chris's face is ruddy with tears, shiny with the tracks drying as he rubs viciously at them with the back of his other hand. Red hair falls over his eyes, growing out by now but not long enough that he'll consent to a haircut yet. He sways to one side, then stops himself, but his hand starts to move, then, rubbing over the seam of his jeans along the outside of his thigh, back and forth, back and forth, seeking the comfort of the rough texture and the thread.

"It's okay," Kauri repeats. "It's okay."

"It's, it's, I'm, I'm so stupid, I can't even c-cut up a bell p-p-p-pepper-"

"You're not stupid." Kauri's eyes are sparkling a little more than they should, his smile is slightly hazy, but Chris doesn't ask what he's on and Kauri doesn't volunteer the information. He had shown up on the front step like this, beautiful and a little scary. "You were just surprised, that's all."

Chris sniffs, hard, rocking forward and back when Kauri lets go of his arm, looking down at the bandage haphazardly applied. Then he looks up at Kauri, slightly sidelong, not quite looking at his eyes. "You, um. Are you okay?"

"Me?" Kauri tips his head to the side, smiling and sunny. Brilliant and sparkling, and he's so high he can barely stand on his own. Antoni is taking a shower, and other than Krista and Ant, Chris is alone in the house, everyone else is out. Krista will fuss and Antoni will press his lips together but no one will tell Kauri to stop. "Of course I am. Why do you ask?"

Chris hesitates, then reaches his uninjured hand up to graze his thumb over Kauri's cheekbone. "You, you, you have a black eye."

Kauri pulls away abruptly, pushing himself to his feet, turning as if to hide the smear of bruising Chris had already noticed. There are more bruises around one wrist. "You're not the only one who's stupid sometimes, Chris."

Chris swallows the pain - he knows Kauri doesn't mean it, not about Chris, even if he always means it when he says it about himself - and stays where he is, swaying side to side. "Did your boyfriend hurt you?"

Kauri laughs, bitter and brittle as glass. "I don't have a boyfriend. Just some guy. Some... just some guy."

"Did he, he, he, um, did he give you-"

Kauri's head whips back to him and Chris swallows the end of his question.

"It's not important," Kauri says, flat. He runs a hand back through the wild tangle of black curls. There's fingernail polish on his nails, black to match, and the leather bracelet that hides his number is buckled so tight it must be painful, too.

There's a speaker playing music off a playlist that Jake made for Chris of all the songs he's mentioned liking since he came here. The song switches, a softly strumming acoustic guitar creating a wistful, pulsing beat with an electric melody over the top before the drums kick in.

I walked through the door with you, the air was cold but something about it felt like home somehow-

Kauri pauses. "I know this song."

"Yeah. Jake, um. Jake says not to to to to tell you. That he has this album. I don't know, um, what it is, but-"

"I do." Kauri throws his head back in laughter that's so sharp and loud it makes Chris jump, his heart skipping a beat. Then Kauri turns and looks at Chris, holding out his hands. He leans over, grinning, but it's a rictus, not an expression. "Jake's sentimental, he just likes to pretend he isn't. Dance with me, Chris."

"... what?"

Oh, your sweet disposition and my wide-eyed gaze-

"Dance! I want to dance. Come here." Kauri moves and takes his hand even though Chris hasn't moved yet, pulls him so close their bodies are pressed together and Chris shivers. Kauri's face is an inch away from his or less. His breath is warm against Chris's cheek.

"Kauri... we, we, we aren't supposed to-"

"I'm not going to kiss you, Chris, I just want to dance."

"... okay. I, I, I can do that."

He's scared of Kauri, a little, when he shows up like this. Too scared to say no.

"Good." Kauri slides arms around him. He moves Chris's arms up around his shoulders, and Chris feels the heat coming off of him like a furnace as they sway to the music. Kauri lays his head on Chris's shoulder even though Chris is shorter than he is or maybe they're the same height. His wrist aches, but Chris bites his lip against the pain. He can't pull away.

He isn't made to be able to pull away.

It'll be fine.

Kauri would never hurt him.

And I might be okay but I'm not fine at all-

Kauri's hair tickles his neck for a while, prickles and irritates where Chris's collar once was, but he never says anything. He lets Kauri lead their slight, soft movements to the beat, feels his own pulse beat not quite in time with the song.

At some point, he feels a shudder go through Kauri. The older man's shoulders are shaking. His breath hitches, soft as a whisper, but Chris knows that sound. He's made it himself, so many times. Chris pulls him even more tightly against him, telling himself to be brave. "Kauri-"

"Don't." Kauri's voice is tight.

And you call me up again just to break me like a promise, so casually cruel in the name of being honest-

"Kauri, please-"

"I said don't, Chris. I don't want to talk about it."

I'm a crumpled up piece of paper lying here cause I remember it all too well-

"Kauri, what, what, what's wrong-"

Kauri's hands press to Chris's shoulder blades, fingernails digging in. The kitchen light buzzes overhead, a sound Chris can hear but no one else can, apparently. Except Kauri, sometimes.

"I'm so stupid, that's what," Kauri whispers, lips moving against Chris's neck, his earlobe. "Not you, you're great, but I'm... I'm so fucking stupid, Chris. Why did I think I could go? Why did I try to start over?"

Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it... I'd like to be my old self again but I'm still trying to find it-

"What?"

"They're all him," Kauri says, voice low. "In the end. Everyone just ends up being him all over again. I think they're going to be different, and then they're not, and why do I keep trying?"

'Cause there we are again when I loved you so-

Kauri pulls away, violently, sending Chris stumbling back until he backs into a chair and trips over the legs, crashing to the ground, landing on his injured wrist with a soft cry.

Back before you lost the one real thing you've ever known-

Kauri's eyes widen and he leans forward to offer Chris his hand, only for the younger man to flinch away from him instinctively. Kauri freezes, blue eyes wide, no longer hazy.

The guilt in them is glittering, crystal-clear.

"Oh, shit. Chris, I'm sorry-... it was an accident, I didn't mean to-" He freezes, hearing his own words, and Chris watches Kauri's heart shatter as he hears himself saying what's been said to him already, a thousand times before, by people who have hurt him.

"What happened?" Krista is in the doorway, ponytail skimming her shoulders. "Oh, Chris, oh no-"

"Oh, god," Kauri whispers, and backs up. "Oh my god-"

Antoni is right behind Krista, the two of them moving to Chris, who is curling up around himself, looking down at the ground, shaking his head back and forth. He's not listening to them.

But he can hear Kauri's intake of breath, watching.

Antoni turns to look over his shoulder. "What happened, Kauri?"

"I-... I was just-... we were dancing and I-"

"What happened to your eye?" Antoni's eyebrows furrow. "Oh, Kasha, no."

Kauri's jaw works, his chin goes up, and he turns without a word and walks out the front door, slamming it behind him.

"Kasha, wait-..." Antoni takes in a deep breath "Take Chris back to Jake's room," Antoni says softly, meeting Krista's eyes over Chris's head. "I will go after Kauri."

"After Kauri," Krista echoes, but nods, and helps Chris stand. The music has changed, Chris hates the new song even though it's been his favorite. It's too happy, and there can't be happy music over a moment like this.

Antoni goes out the door, leaving Krista and Chris alone in the kitchen.

Chris hears him call Kauri's name, already faint, and knows that Kauri is running-

Antoni is running after him.

"Call Jake," Chris whispers. "We, we, we should call Jake."

"Call Jake. Um, I think he's... with his girlfriend, with Addie-..."

"I want Jake."

Krista swallows and nods. "I want Jake, too."

@burtlederp @finder-of-rings @endless-whump @astrobly @thefancydoughnut @newandfiguringitout @doveotions @pretty-face-breaker @gonna-feel-that-tomorrow @boxboysandotherwhump @oops-its-whump @cubeswhump @whump-tr0pes @downriver914 @whumptywhumpdump @whumpiary @orchidscript @nonsensical-whump @outofangband @eatyourdamnpears @hackles-up @grizzlie70 @mylifeisonthebookshelf @keeper-of-all-the-random-things @canniboylism

#erase to control #Kauri's Poor Life Choices #drug use tw #drugs tw #trauma recovery #domestic violence references #referenced abusive relationship #black eye #recovering whumpee #chris the strawberry blond romantic #imperfect survivor #oh kauri #angst angst angst

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pozerjacket · 9 months

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in love with @another-corpo-rat 's victoria, she’s so hot 😭

bonus meme below

#ship: teacher’s pet #everytime i draw her i’m like uh oh 👀#feels like i haven’t drawn smut in ages #victoria crane #kauri stunzer #cyberpunk 2077 #my art

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hinderr · 2 months

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@r0b0tz me when i get u....me when i fucking get u...

(Kauri, from Lucidity)

#dnd #dnd art #dnd character #kauri #hinderr art #'filean asks me to jump- oh okay im not gonna hesitate' AND IF I FUCKING LISE MY SHIT #HUH. IF I LOSE MY SHIT. HUH. CAT.

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limoncats · 11 days

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my mum grew this yellow rose

...Mary?

#ib #ib kauri #mary ib #ib game #ib rpg #ib rpg game #i put the rose in my room #i took this pic in the living room though #fun fact yellow roses represent jealousy iirc #oh yeah it smells wonders too

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creamecream · 6 months

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Name meanings, band version.

My handwriting is particularly bad this time around, sorry.

Name: Naaz. Meaning: Pride.

Name: Carys. Meaning: Love.

Name: Euna. Meaning: Hunger.

Name: Anasuya. Meaning: Without Spite or Envy.

Name: Raivo. Meaning: Fury.

Name: Alora. Meaning: Dreamer.

Name: Kauri. Meaning: Tree.

#awhile ago when I introduced euna I talked about my plan for a band #made of powerful demons each chosen by a prince as sort of a thing they could all have #euna carys and alora have been around for awhile everyone else has been a wip for a long while #I finalized the rest of them like a few days before the newest episode of helluva boss came out #because I remember going like ‘oh…I guess I should edit kauri a bit and add green to her’ when I saw mammon #these guys have names that reflect their sins of origin #the only one not obvious is kauri who I had a reason for but I couldn’t find it on my discord chat with my friends so I just left it #I either misread the meaning of anasuya or thought it was funny because she’s envy #you can tell the rest kauri is greed carys and raivo are he/him the rest are she/her pronouns!#trying real hard not to run out of tags just saying their all based on the base idea of their prince naaz is a ringmaster after lucifer etc #hazbin hotel #helluva boss #fan characters #naaz #carys #euna #anasuya #raivo #alora #kauri

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grimmnetworks · 2 months

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Sara: "Can I join you sweet thing? Mommy is all sore~"

Kauri: "What the fuck are you- How'd you even get in here?"

Sara: "I have my ways..."

Kauri: "Yeah, ways that'll get you killed."

Sara: "Oh hush, I'll make you some lobster thermidor later."

Eeeee!! I'm so happy to test Kauri for @pozerjacket! He's absolutely amazing. Thanks @pozerjacket! I have so much more to do with him.

#cyberpunk 2077 #modding #cyberpunk #nexus mods #cyberpunk photomode #cp2077 #female v #cyberpunk oc #cybernetics #oc: kauri #kauri is a beast in the sheets

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letstalkwhump · 1 year

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Let's Talk Whump

Welcome to Let’s Talk Whump, a series of interviews that spotlight the amazing people in our whump community. I’m Malice and I’ll be your host.

Joining us today is the fabulous @ashintheairlikesnow!

It’s great to have you here, Ash! Let’s kick this interview off with a fact or two about yourself!

Hi! I go by Ash, I am an ageless elder crone, and my life is built around the whims of an old dog and a very young cat. My primary hobby is reading, and I especially get lost in books on cults and new religious movements, World War I, and vampires.

What does whump mean to you?

To me, whump is physical, mental, and emotional suffering. What causes that suffering can be any one of a number of things, and any of them might be what fascinates about the story.

But it's whump when someone hurts.

And how did you find the whump community? What made you want to join?

I had gone through a tumultuous few months in 2019, including being laid off. I was reading and writing in-between frantically applying and interviewing for new jobs, and somewhere in there I stumbled back onto Tumblr after a long… long… hiatus.

In August of 2019 I did a fanfiction writing challenge and the prompt for day 11 was 'whump'. A friend of mine had to explain to me what the word even meant, which is when I realized there was a whole subgenre dedicated to my favorite thing to write! After that, I started following some blogs with whump in their name and shortly after, took a chance on posting some writing, too.

2019 you say, and yet I would affectionately swear you’ve been around the whump community forever! Do you think your view on whump changed since you joined?

Definitely! I was more timid when it came to what I would or wouldn't write out in detail early on. Eventually I gained confidence and started including things that delved into full horror, where before I wasn't sure how it would be received.

I think I have come to appreciate a ton of tropes that didn't really speak to me or that I struggled with at first! Finding certain writers that really did a great job with them helped me get over that.

ANd now for the best bit; Let’s talk whump tropes! Do you have a few particular faves?

Noncon and recovery from it - one of my favorite things about whump isn't even the harm but the way a character recovers from it, and noncon can be a violation of physical self, identity, everything. So I enjoy the noncon but also watching someone rebuild themself afterward.

Trauma recovery - on a related note. Most of my stories really focus heavily not on the worst of times, but in what comes after. How do you find yourself again when everything about you was erased? Or beaten, or broken? Resilience is essential in my work.

BBU - I started writing at the beginning of the BBU taking off in early 2020 - I think my first Kauri piece was written in January 2020 actually. I love world building and dystopian fiction, so I never stop finding new awful details about the BBU to bring to the light.

Creepy/intimate whumpers - Whumpers that get under your skin without necessarily treading into noncon territory. Think like @comfy-whumpee's Alistair, a master of overwhelming, awful affection and the power of control. Or @for-the-love-of-angst's Zever, a father-figure to OC Taron turned captor.

Shades of gray - whumpees who weren't the good guys, but who have been forced to struggle and suffer. I like writing, and reading, imperfect people who are trying to make themselves better than they've been, or bad people who have their reasons who run into someone they can't get away from.

Hype time! Do you have a few pieces of your favourite work that you’d like to share?

This is so hard! Oh my gosh. I need to think about this.

Haunted - a Kauri piece. The way this one delves into the emptiness of Kauri from someone else's perspective… there are some metaphors in here I am really proud of.

Blood, Freely Given - a vampire walks into a hospital. God, I love when I get the chance to work in a more horror-centered space. This one is lyrical and I love it.

I’m Here - a boy remembers everything he was made to forget. This was maybe the most intense thing I've written. It is disjointed and chaotic and I adore it.

Oh my god! I am obsessed with Blood, Given Freely’s vibes! Creepy but somehow tugging at my emotions- damn! Do you have a particular writing routine?

My best writing happens in a coffeeshop with a pastry and a latte on hand! I almost always sit down and put on a playlist based on whichever story, then write out a whole piece on two or three hours. Then I spend a day or two editing and cleaning up, then post.

I used to try to write once or twice a week. Lately that's fallen off to every other week or even less. Life gets busy! But I still write when the mood strikes me.

And do you find somethings are easier for you to write than others?

I am so so so bad at writing fight scenes or action. It's like pulling teeth! On the other hand, I am pretty good at dialogue, I think. The different voices of different characters come to me fairly easily.

Can we get a peek behind the curtains and see what your currently working on?

I am half-heartedly trying to get started on a novel that I keep going back and forth on, involving a man looking for a vampire in 1926 upstate New York. But not for the reasons you think.

Actually, maybe exactly for those reasons.

I am definitely enjoying writing horror more often. My OC Finn Schneider's story is pure nightmare fuel, and I find myself thinking about him a lot.

Do you have a joke or pun you would like to share to spread some smiles today?

When I was in high school, I decided to start telling bad jokes on purpose, as my "thing". To my credit, I kept it up for years. I had jokes I would tell at every party. They were all terrible.

I was surprised that people kept asking me to tell more.

Now I can't remember any of them.

I mostly run screaming from puns. They are the real monsters here.

Haha, puns seem to be very popular in the whump community, particularly in our urls! Would you care to share some writing advice with our readers?

My best advice has always been and will always be just to write often. Like any muscle, it gets stronger with exercise, like any skill you get better primarily through practice. Even if you doubt yourself, keep writing. You will look back and be shocked at how you improved even without realizing it over time.

Try to set aside time to write. It doesn't have to be anything in particular, any one story. Write anything at all.

Shout-out time for some of the wonderful people on here!

Oooooh it would be such a wildly long list. I will try! Okay, here are just a few:

@albino-whumpee who we recently lost created some incredible whump art from a very personal place. I miss them.

@wildfaewhump @comfy-whumpee @whump-tr0pes @hackles-up @card-games-and-pain @whumpiary @sableflynn @redwingedwhump @whump-it @for-the-love-of-angst @boxboysandotherwhump @whumptywhumpdump @winedark-whump @justplainwhump @just-horrible-things … gosh there are so many!

Finally, is there anything you'd like to add?

The whump community has been an incredible place to make my writing "home". I've met some pretty amazing people on this hellsite! May we all continue to enjoy the suffering of our silly little guys here together!

Thank you for joining us, Ash. It was an absolute pleasure to have you on the show!

And to all you fabulous folk at home, have a whump-derful day!

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justplainwhump · 1 month

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BBU Community Days Showcasing Prompt: Boxie

So, today's @bbu-on-the-side prompt is about showcasing my favorite Boxies. And oh my, this is hard, because I love so many. I will try to limit myself.

KAURI | @ashintheairlikesnow | Erase to Control

Probably one of the first box boys I read about on here. This man. Is special to me. He is so intelligent and strong and sparkling - and also so desperate and sad and struggling. Kauri's story is in huge parts about imperfect recovery, with so many bumps and mistakes but he's getting there. Kauri is so different from me in so many ways, and still his story touches me so deeply, few other characters or stories do. There's some careful quiet strength I feel in him, hidden at first under so so many layers of self deprecation and fake lightheartedness. Ash lets the readers follow him through so many episodes and years of his life, and it all makes such bittersweet sense.

LOURDES | @wildfaewhump | Lourdes: One of a Kind

Everyone following me knows I love Lourdes, because I keep coming back to them, and borrowing them to make their life even more miserable (listen, Lourdes, I am sorry, but you know, that's how one shows love, right?). Lourdes' is another story about imperfect survivors, and the struggles of finding a place - and an identity - after trauma and humiliation. Lourdes has an utterly heartbreaking backstory (wrong place, wrong time, wrong relative), a very hot and very deranged owner, and the most beautiful, sad, poetic way of looking at the world. Their struggles in recovery are heartbreaking, and their choices could be considered problematic more oft than not. Lourdes' mindset is messy and beautiful at the same time, and (yes we tried it) they are an incredibly scary whumper if you push the right buttons. Lourdes is an artist, somewhere buried far under their conditioning and trauma, and honestly, I wish they eventually find that again. We have the headcanon that my OC Bradley wrote them a song, and honestly, if I had any talent, I would do so as well. But alas, this essay has to suffice.

CHRISTIE | @winedark-whump | The Safehouse

Listen, with Christie, I don't even know where it started. She is, just, such a beacon of positivity, and I don't even know how to say it, like... positive femininity? (Isaac, let me know if this is imperfect wording, please.) Christie just, has this spark inside her, and I love how she learns to navigate freedom and inspire others around her. She accepts herself, and learns to care for herself, and thus turns into someone who can be so good for others, too - I wish everyone had someone like her in their lives. And I am happy to have met her through her stories and through the headcanons Isaac shared. Even though my favorite Christie piece is a heartbreaking and one from her captivity, her path to happiness is what inspires me most.

(And now, my pizza has arrived, so this is the reason I cut myself short and end it here. Still, special shout out to @hackles-up B, @angst-after-dark Dami and @ocean-blue-whump Sunny who would be the next ones I just have to scream about and will need to do it another day)

#i love you all #and your characters #thank you for sharing them with me #and with the word #it means a lot

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ask-emoripals · 5 months

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*Sunny sits at his computer, making sketches on his notebook of the images he’s looking at*

🔪: Hmm… Kauri wood….. stuffs gonna be expensive but I need the best materials to carve a gift…

🎹: Oooh… your making a present for the person your giving to? What’re you gonna carve little brother?

🔪: Oh uhm, a maori-style club and wood carving of an animal. Not gonna say what animal yet though. What of you, what’re gifting to your assigned friend sister?

🎹: Hmm… if I tell you you’ll already know who I’m gifting it too.

🔪: Hmm, that's fair.

🎹: Though I will say it has something to do with a special interest I share with them.

#ask emori pals #emori ask blog #emori au #emori #omori ask blog #omori #omori sunny #omori mari

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vox-monstera · 11 months

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WIP WEDNESDAY

Oh goodness, is it Wednesday already? Life moves so damn fast lately that I don’t even know what day it is!

I was tagged by the fantastic duo of @wanderingaldecaldo and @theviridianbunny 💕

Thank you both so much for thinking of me!

Been working stupid crazy hours lately, so I haven’t had a lot of free time. And in my free time, it feels like my brain is barely firing, so I haven’t been working on a lot of things lately. 😭

I do have ONE thing I’ve been trying really hard to get done, which is a little smut fic I have in the works featuring my favorite NC himbo, @pozerjacket’s pretty-boy Kauri.

Nothing graphic yet, but the first paragraph will be under the cut (not satisfied with how the rest is coming along, but we’ll get there…) ⬇️

Tagging… @another-corpo-rat @merge-conflict @ghostoffuturespast @pozerjacket @nananarc @gamerkitten @timaeusterrored and whoever else would like to share their wonderful works!

••••••••••••••

FOR • A • RIDE

A procession of chrome dashes across rusty sands.

Like jewels they shine against the midnight sky, mere flashes of sleek metal as the vehicles cut through rock and flora alike. And at the helm, the devil’s ride, a shimmering black monument to speed and destruction. Its imposing silhouette glides over the landscape as if floating on air, a mesmerizing illusion, the swiftness with which it crosses the finish line only possible in the hands of one driver. The Countempierre rushes past the hailing crowd dismissively, disappearing behind clouds of crimson dust as it speeds over the moonlit horizon.

#I have like forty wips but I haven’t finished anything in months lmao #why have the muses forsaken me so?#I also just gotta cut back on my hours at work #it’s killing me! I’m so upset all the time!#my brain never works unless it’s thinking about Italian food and hospitality!#tag game #wip wendesday

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ashintheairlikesnow · 1 year

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Kauri, if you had the chance to live in a timeline where you never got taken by WRU, would you? Would you rather live as Liam, even if it meant that you would never meet Jake or Antoni or Chris?

"I can answer that for me," Kauri says, almost immediately. It's clear this isn't the first time he's thought over some variation on that question. "But I can't answer it for, you know, Liam. I wouldn't. If Liam is here, I'm not, and I don't... I'll never know him, not really. I love Jake and Antoni, I love Chris. I wouldn't give them up because of someone else's life. I feel like shit about it, so don't bother trying to shame me. I do a good enough job of shaming myself. But... no. It's... it's not fair, and it sucks, but I'm the one in this body now and I like the life I made with it."

#kauri asks #oh kauri #always thinking of himself as something like a demon possessing Liam Harker's corpse

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pozerjacket · 1 year

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LMAO. For Kauri, I need to know how this went:

🚙+ 💕/💔

and

If Saburo feels like Kauri is a son, how would:

❔ (yorinobu)+ 🌊 or🔪

Kauri + Panam - After a spicy night

and for Yorinobu i did a bonus with Saburo

#panam palmer #oh panam :'(#saburo arasaka #yorinobu arasaka #kauri stunzer #cyberpunk 2077

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republic-korlan · 3 months

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The Ilfiatist War Convention

As the leaders of the world gather together to discuss the future of the largest Ailouan nation in history, and perhaps the largest threat to Ulina as a whole, there's a weird feeling in the air. Ikaroa Storinka hasn't shown to the convention yet and the leaders begin to get reckless.

Former leader of the People's Republic of Korlan, Kauri Ngata shows up to the convention with hopes of re-establishing some semblance of his now non-existent nation. The leaders seem uncomfortable around Ngata, however, treat him kindly.

The Golden River

Ikaroa Storinka sits alone by the Kōura River, awaiting a phone call. It begins to ring.

"Hello? Is it time?"

"Yes, it is sir. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I could be I suppose. This may be the last we speak."

"It may. But for a cause as worthy as this? I would be honoured to die."

"Perhaps after us Tuipulotu, the world can finally see true peace, together we will be martyrs for the next generation of Ilfiatists."

"Perhaps it will."

"I do wish I could have told Donny about this plan."

"I'm sure he'll understand sir."

"Oh stop with the sir, we're friends Alefosio. Call me Ikaroa."

"Alright Ikaroa... are you ready?"

"I am."

"May Kapuano be with you."

"And Mārena."

Tiffany, Vau'sena

Sirens blare.

Planes fly overhead, bombs begin to fall.

The first nuclear bomb drops on the city. Vapourising it's citizens instantly.

Vau'sena

The entire nation is in chaos. The first bombs dropped mere minutes ago in Tiffany, with more certainly on the way.

With the royal family and the president on their way to the summit. The top officials struggle to decide what to do, however, one decides that retaliation must be swift.

The remaining government of Vau'sena, without being able to reach Lucerne and Ataahua, who are presumed to already be out of the country, launch the entire might of the Vau'senaan nuclear arsenal back at Korlan.

The rest of the bombs begin to fall on Vau'sena.

First on Asdas. Then Pikoto. Then Metamoria. One after the other, all major cities in Vau'sena begin to be erased off the map.

The people of Vau'sena are vapourised. Nothing left of their lives. Everything and everyone they have ever known is gone.

Korlan

"Well Ikaroa. This is it."

"I suppose it is"

"Goodbye my friend"

"Poroporoaki"

The nukes begin to fall on every island in Korlan. The guilty soldiers of Ikaroa's army. The innocent civilians. The bombs are unbiased. They're all gone within an instant.

The Ilfiatist War is finally over. Ikaroa sits alone as the phone connection is cut, Akalotu, the capital of Korlan, is gone.

Ikaroa jumps into the golden river. Dying alone, his skeleton coated with gold.

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silvercrystalwhump · 1 year

Text

The Safehouse Knows Now

Vince, Nat, Jake, & Kauri belong to @ashintheairlikesnow

Vince blinks awake to the sound of his phone vibrating. He wiggles up from under Dmitri’s arms and reaches up and takes the phone. His eyes struggle to adjust, focusing around glowing letters. The light from the partially open window dances over the screen and sends light glaring into his eyes. He turns the screen away and fails to read the name.

He presses the answer button and mumbles his voice barely more than a croak, “Hi, Shield speaking.”

“Vince–” Nat’s voice echoes through the phone– “You just woke up didn’t you?”

“Um, yes?” Vince mutters as he sits upright. Dmitri’s arm wraps tighter around his waist and Vince feels Dmitri press his nose into his hip. “How’s your morning?”

“It’s been quiet. Are you coming today?” Nat asks.

Vince blinks, “I said I would be there Thursday.”

“Today is Thursday Vince.”

Vince pauses and looks over at the glowing blue clock on Dmitri’s nightstand. His eyes fade in and out around the glowing numbers. Eventually, the small 10:43 glows back at him. His brain shifts around his skull like molasses as his thoughts scramble to get into a line.

I was supposed to be there thirty minutes ago.

“Oh shit! Sorry Nat I’ll be there in,” Vince exclaims as he scrambles out of Dmitri’s bed and thinks, shoving brain cells together, “Thirty… forty-five minutes.”

“Vince you can’t make–”

His thumb presses onto the hang up button before Vince realizes Nat started speaking. Falling gracelessly onto the floor, Vince curses under his breath as he scrambles for his drawer of clothes sitting in Dmitri’s dresser.

Dmitri looks up from the bed and mumbles through the blankets, “Where you going?”

“I completely forgot I was meeting Nat today,” Vince stumbles over to the door as he throws a jacket on, “I'll be back later!”

“Okay, have a good meeting,” Dmitri sheepishly mumbles as he rolls over in bed.

After just shy of thirty minutes of objectively messy driving, Vince knocks on Nat’s door. She opens the door and blinks, honestly shocked. “How did you manage to make a three hour drive into less than thirty minutes?”

Nat steps inside and lets Vince walk in behind her. “I drove less than eloquently to get here.”

She steps back into her kitchen and says, “That is not possible at all even if you speed the entire time.”

“And also I wasn’t at my house,” Vince answers as he shrugs off his coat, “I was at Dmitri’s.”

“Who’s Dmitri?” Nat says as she wraps her hands around a streaming mug on her countertop. The smell of tea ruminates through the room.

“Oh, um, he’s the man I’m seeing right now,” Vince says as he leans against the counter, “He’s my boyfriend. He lives on the other side of this city.”

“Congratulations,” Nat perks up, giving Vince a warm smile, “How long have you two been together?”

“A few months now,” Vince smiles as he looks at his feet. “He’s wonderful. I’ve been staying with him when I’m in between projects.”

Jake steps out from the back and blinks, “How the hell did you get here in thirty minutes?”

“I wasn’t at my house,” Vince repeats. “I was just up late.”

Jake looks back over his shoulder into the deeper parts of the house. Vince watches his expression shift slightly.

“I’m not interrupting anything am I?” Vince steps back towards the door, “I know I’m late and–”

Nat raises his hand, “Both of you were impromptu and this is brief. I can ask you about Dmitri later.”

“Okay so–” Vince starts.

“Wait a damn minute.”

Vince looks over his shoulder and Kauri stands in the doorway to the deeper parts of the house. He leans against the older, simple door frame and blinks, “Is he the Dmitri that’s so tall it’s stupid?” He raises his hand and locks his arm, holding his hand parallel to his head.

Vince nods, “Um, yes. I come up to his collarbone.”

“And he dyes his hair alot?”

Vince nods.

Kauri pauses and chuckles, a more of a snort than a laugh, “So you’re the reason he’s been out less.”

“I don’t stop him from going places,” Vince mutters.

“I mean,” Kauri rolls his eyes, “I knew he was patient but I didn’t know he was a damned saint.” With that retort, Kauri spins on a heel and walks back deeper into the house.

#kauri's known lol #the phonecall weeks ago #kauri called vince a bitch #dmitri o'brian #vincent shield #vince asks

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