frozen heart.

anyway i removed a bunch of muses off my muse list, mostly, but if i ever get an itch for things, i'll add more.

           “      𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃  𝐘𝐎𝐔  𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄  𝐅𝐎𝐑    a  cup  of  tea  ?      “      slow  ,  soothing  tones  draw  from  lips  that  curl  into  a  well  meaning  smile  ,  beckoning  the  other  to  accept  her  offer  .  she’s      lavishness  and  charm  embodied      as  she  pulls  back  the  draping  sleeve  of  her  intricate  kimono  ,  delicate  fingers  lifting  a  porcelain  tea  pot  and  tilting  the  aforementioned  tea  into  the  contents  of  a  jade  cup  .  two  are  filled       ;     one  for  company  ,  and  one  for  AHRI  .  

taking  up  work  in  a  tea  house  like  this  had  it’s  perks  ,  ahri  admitted           ———        the  tea  was  always  fresh  and  the  conversation  pleasant  enough  .  in  fact  ,  she  may  have  enjoyed  prying  into  the  lives  of  her  customers  a  little  too  much  while  they  sipped  away  .  the  mi’qote  whisked  her  tail  about  curiously  as  she  settled  into  her  seat  across  from  the  other  ,  re  -  adjusting  her  kimono  sleeve  .  “      you  look  wary  ,     “      she  notes  ,      “      have  you  just  come  from  battle  ,  then  ?  oh  my  .  .  .      “   

@jitsuzai​             \ \             starter  . 

               𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬,  𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲,  𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬,  until she finds something of familiar comfort    —    just one of the many teahouses amongst the others and the inns and taverns.  there is peace here,  a calm and welcomed change of pace in contrast to the thunderously rambunctious atmospheres of limsa and thanalan bars where her fists have collided with too many faces.  the sigh that escapes her is heavy,  but cherry does well to keep low,  quiet.  she feels as though even a hushed whisper would be a shattering cacophony,  here.

2 years later i still haven’t figured out what islander renji is mixed with lol.  i haven’t decided if he’s like half hawaiian,  samoan,  micronesian,  guamanian,  or what based on his tattoos and like … obviously his tattoos aren’t exactly like anyone’s style,  but it’s very similar to everyone and no one at all so i can do whatever i want.

ok i’ve decided finally that he’s probably like . . . some part hawaiian.  1/4.  definitely mixed.  it makes the most sense to me.  his tattoos are ambiguous enough just because they’re kubo’s own design and whether they’re based on or inspired by anything else,  who knows  !!  but,  yeah,  i’ll say he’s mixed japanese  -  hawaiian,  and the reason why i’m hesitant in saying anywhere else  (  although it’s still quite plausible  )  is just because places like guam and micronesia are places that the imperial japanese actively oppressed in their colonization.  as far as i’m aware,  japan doesn’t have a history of that regarding hawaii.  however,  what happened was that they controlled their own citizens’ emigration from japan into hawaii in waves,  which stems from mainland japan’s racist ideology regarding the  “  ethnic purity  ”  of their bloodline,  which by the way isn’t pure to begin with lmao.  mainlanders are mixed with korean,  chinese,  etc.

anyways.  there was also a time of okinawans emigrating from okinawa to hawaii prior to world war 2 as well,  so i might just say renji is okinawan and hawaiian mixed,  as well as being of mainlander blood as well.  okinawan  /  hawaiian parent on one side,  the other being mainlander japanese,  both based in hawaii due to immigration.  he’d be fully rooted in all three cultures,  and even to some degree possess some familiarity with chinese culture due to there being chinese roots in okinawan culture.  i have a bright idea to make zabimaru partially based on a habu,  a poisonous snake based in okinawa and other ryukyuan islands.

since renji isn’t a soul who was born as a soul,  these origins are definitely plausible in terms of the age of his soul,  which could be anything.  he clearly died young,  having seen him in rukongai at probably a pre -  teen age.  so he would have been born within the very early 1900s as a human on hawaii,  and died thereafter.  and because there are japanese people living all over the world,  it doesn’t matter where he dies.  his soul will find a place in the soul society regardless,  and why he’s now mainland  -  based as a shinigami,  due to their operations being heavier on the mainland due to the naturally higher population of japanese souls being located there.  that isn’t to say that shinigami don’t operate elsewhere,  because they do  !  but they have a heavier presence in the mainland where it is larger with a denser population.  it’s easy for a soul to travel here and there,  and renji makes regular trips,  when possible as designated by missions since he likely doesn’t have a lot of leeway to do as he pleases,  even as a lieutenant,  to visit okinawa and hawaii.  he’s nostalgic and misses the home of hawaii,  and okinawa is rather similar in its small,  warm islander feeling of welcome.

               𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.  nina’s eyes flicker,  catching in the shadows of the light as she averts her gaze in the abyss of her heavy,  entrenching thoughts.  his question is a scorching open flame that burns the delicate skin of her palm when she hovers too close.  it is a question that she rolls back and forth over her tongue,  slow and deliberate in careful consideration.  does all evil not deserve death  ?  once,  before,  perhaps she would have said yes in a heartbeat without faltering,  without pause for thought or breath,  that yes,  all evil is evil,  that all evil should be put to rest,  even if that means finality in death.  now . . . nina is still unsure if she knows better than she did before,  but she has seen the evils of the world,  its monsters,  every demon that lurks within the darkened,  tar  -  stained pits of each soul’s heart,  even her own.  the world is not so black and white as she once believed it to be,  but then again,  she never knew of the evils that walked amongst mankind,  not as intimately as she had come to see.  there is a grey line,  a fine line that toes the edge of inevitability and cause and effect,  the battles between nature and nurture.  even despite the evil that dwells within him,  solitude is not his to bask in,  to drown in.