#fowzu

The plan for my fowzu series is to have them travel to the nearest unrazed port (I believe I decided on Yokohama)—which, with their respective injuries, may take several days. Expect plenty of grumbling and mutual antagonism as they cross waist-height rivers and make camp along the way. Incidentally, the Edo fire of 1657 raged for three days and was immediately followed by an unseasonable blizzard, so there'll be ample opportunity to huddle for warmth. 😈 And of course Abijah is going to be insufferable and gentlemanly and considerate and callous and thoughtful and petty by turn upon confounding turn! Their enmity is like a beautiful ouroboros. It can be plumbed for endless conflict!

When they reach Yokohama, I think I'll have Fowler entertain the idea of losing Mizu in the crowd... They don't trust each other yet, and if Fowler can scrounge up some old contacts he may be able to secure a vessel without her, and escape her vengeance. But perhaps his contacts betray him for a bounty put out by the Shogun, or out of nationalist sentiment to retaliate for his attempted conquest, or out of sheer opportunistic revenge for a past slight. Cue Mizu having to get him out of trouble if she wants him alive—fighting back to back! :3

The crew they end up with is probably one only gotten through some slightly more (though not MUCH more) trustworthy connections of Fowler's—which means they're in Fowler's pocket, to an extent, and Mizu probably can't trust them as far as she can throw them. So she probably holes herself up in the captain's cabin and sleeps with a blade. 🤔 Until Fowler convinces her to stop hiding—maybe even gives her some weirdly well-meaning advice about how, surely she could turn her fellow countrymen to her side if she just showed her face and gave them the time of day? So she does and surprisingly that works and Fowler doesn't seem to be trying to stop her? He's like. Amicable. And she's like "Did you tell me that just to get me to come outside the cabin more often" and he's like "Well I'm not NOT gonna conspire to kill you, but if showing my hand and losing that advantage is the price of your pretty face seeing the light of day a bit more often, I'll gladly pay it, Lady Mizu." (I'm imagining him using the gender neutral -sama to avoid outing her to the crew, but THESE TWO know what he means, lmao)

They make port occasionally for supplies, and of course Mizu HAS to accompany Fowler doggedly, or else he might escape! So basically they are going on little outings with each other where Mizu gets to see such confounding things as: Fowler being surprisingly good with kids, Fowler charming an elderly merchant woman with nothing but his smile and some pantomiming gestures, Fowler securing a surprisingly good deal for fresh fruits and demonstrating unaccountable concern for the well-being of the crew. All practical things, of course. But it unnerves her how effortlessly he seems to inhabit the skin of a normal fucking person.

Fowler setting aside funds (maybe he even has to beg on hand and foot for spending money from Mizu... mortifying... or he steals it I suppose lmao) for a musical instrument to play sea shanties and pub songs. Mizu is mesmerized by his verve for life. Also probably pissed off lmao. But it's not like he's NOT going to spend his last few years alive acting like it's his last night alive on Earth!

And Fowler can demonstrate his competence by handling the crew and the ship like a CHAMP when there's an unexpected storm... Mizu getting underfoot and pissing him off by traipsing after him in a high stress situation to make sure he's not sabotaging anything, but maybe by that point he gives enough of a fuck that he forgets to throw her overboard when he has the chance—or maybe the crew is liable to mutiny if any of the Shogun's agents catch up to them and make them an offer they can't refuse, so it behooves Fowler and Mizu to stick together in their fairweather den of lions... 👀

I want to find an excuse to make them travel through the Middle East if I can, because I happen to have some knowledge of and interest in the region from my studies, and it would be a great opportunity to incorporate accounts from resources like the Hajj Trail game, which covers roughly a similar period in history (circa 1500-1800), and I could have them suffer through an Arab summer! 😈🔥🔥🔥

Then we're back on a boat to cross the Mediterranean, most likely, and stopping off on several European ports to sightsee—all the while Fowler is teaching Mizu English in preparation for her debut in London society. Which, when they arrive, Fowler will probably have Mizu masquerade as his wife—oh, actually, of all the things to find in my documents while I'm writing this post... I actually have a story summary for this particular installment prepared! :3c

Becoming a boy had been a matter of survival.

Becoming a man had been the natural consequence of that first necessity. A girl could not apprentice to a swordsmith. A woman could not become a swordsman.

It had always seemed a simple, straightforward problem. Women had less freedom than men; thus, to move freely enough to enact her revenge, Mizu would need to become a man.

But in order to navigate London unnoticed, Mizu may have to once more take up her skirts—and her former marital duties, albeit only for appearances' sake.

So while THAT'S happening (and Fowler is insisting they put on a proper performance of a married couple to exact still more contact and intimacy with Mizu), Fowler will likely con his way into some cozy parlors by acting like he's a successful lord still in good standing in Japan and capable of making a bunch of exclusive trade deals (it is the perfect crime, because they will only learn the deal fell through or their ship was attacked 2 to 6 years after fowler made all his lofty promises, and it's not like he expects to be alive by then, sooo... LMAO)

Fowler continues Mizu's education on the finer points of etiquette and navigating London high society. She is annoyed to discover that Fowler is subject to anti-Irish racism (it makes him even more relatable! and she thought he was the same kind of white as everyone else! this is bullshit! it is challenging her worldview too much!!)

It is a constant battle for Fowler to convince Mizu to bide her time, to wait for the opportune moment to approach Skeffington and Routely, to not prematurely vanish into the night like an assassin and try to kill them only to most probably fail, and maybe even get herself killed, and almost certainly drive the erstwhile pair into hiding where they will have to give still further chase. Mizu suspects Fowler of stalling... Perhaps he is... What remains to be seen is whether Mizu's resolve to kill him will outlast his stalling, after they've spent a year or more surviving harsh conditions and sickness and certain peril and political plots and brigands and pirates and now the machinations of London high society, back to back.

Obviously Mizu plans to end her bloodline when it's all said and done... but has some of Fowler's verve for life (among other things) rubbed off on her in the intervening years? My plan is to gradually escalate their intimate encounters with each installment, but I don't know for sure how each one will shake out, so I'll have to see where the characters take me during the writing process.