#vintaka

This is a scene that will appear in one of the upcoming chapters of Synchronize. Not sure yet if it’ll be in chapter 8 or if it’ll appear later, but it’ll feature this beautiful art I commissioned from @luci-on-the-moon (the full uncropped, color version will be posted with the fic/chapter).

Approximately 25 years ago, Vincent brought the twins and Tanaka on a trip to Japan…

Vincent drained his cup and set it aside, turning to face Tanaka. “Hiro,” he whispered. Just hearing this abbreviation of his name from Vincent’s lips was enough to raise goosebumps on Tanaka’s arms. Vincent cradled his face, smiling warmly. “I never imagined I would ever feel this way about anyone.”

“Hai,” Tanaka agreed before he could stop himself.

Vincent kissed him. Slow, not quite chaste but still restrained, and Tanaka could have sworn the heat from the water was traveling up through his body and winding around his heart.

His eyes fluttered as they pulled apart. “How long were you married?”

“Four years, nearly,” Vincent remarked as he refilled his sake cup.

That’s when it dawned on him. “But—but we first—I had only been working for you a year—”

Vincent smiled. It was glorious as always, though a veil of sadness seemed to have been pulled over it. “Ah, well. To be honest, I was entranced by you from the moment I saw you. And with how easily Sebastian took to you, I was prepared to offer you almost anything if you’d stay by my side.”

…

Vincent’s smile was sweet and genuine. His fingertips teased Tanaka’s short hair. “You should grow it out.”

Tanaka laughed, playing with the dark ponytail draped over Vincent’s shoulder. “The twins need at least one good example.”

Acting as if he were deeply offended, Vincent said, “Are you suggesting I’m a poor influence because I have long hair?”

Tanaka smirked playfully. “No, I’m saying Vincent Phantomhive Michaelis is.”

Melodramatically clutching his chest, Vince replied, “But I thought you loved me!”

Goes to ao3

Checks the Vincent Phantomhive/Tanaka tag

(Knows exactly what I’ll find)

Only 1 fic. Mine.

Saves the tag anyway because I’m a masochist

Cries in rarepair 😭

I’ve had major brainrot for this super super rare pair and decided to share my playlist I have for them. I structured it so it follows their romance arc in the story (to a certain extent). I’ll probably add to it later, but maybe it’ll awaken a few latent vintaka shippers to join me 😈

I know some of these songs are old, but since they were in love in the 1990s, I figured some nostalgia fit.

“The Man to Hold the Water” - Rob Thomas

"Anata no Sobani" - Riria

"I Honestly Love You" - Boy from Oz Musical

“Love Someone” - Lukas Graham

"As Long As You Love Me" - Backstreet Boys

"I Knew I Loved You" - Savage Garden

“Who We Love" - Sam Smith & Ed Sheeran

"Soulmate" - Flora Cash

"In Case You Don't Live Forever" - Ben Platt

"The Day I Died" - Five For Fighting

"Hold On" - Chord Overstreet (tw: suicide attempt)

"Once Before I Go" - Boy from Oz Musical

Only some of the songs are on soundcloud and to listen on spotify you have to have an account/login, so I've included the songs I could below the cut, along with a youtube playlist (I had to remake it bc the other was on my deadname account and I'd rather not share from there). If you like these let me know <3!

A ship you dislike but others do?

This one is easy.

A Ship I Like Others Don't: All of them? lol.

Honestly, most of the ships I love are uncommon. Some I am literally the ONLY person who has written about them here or on AO3, including BardAgni and Vintaka, which makes me so sad bc they're suchhhh good ships.

Even Sebard has very few followers. And sadly, sebagni is almost all antis </3. I'm like... the only one posting about them here (who I don't have blocked or doesn't have me blocked, anyway). There's a couple non-anti artists who still draw sebard occasionally.... sebagni is almost never seen anymore outside anti circles... and it's not a popular ship in Japan so there's no content in that fandom, either.

There's a lot of other rare ships I like but haven't been able to write for yet, like Bardlau, or Sebataker (one of the more popular ships I like)*.

*Correction, I *have* written Sebataker, in WDH, but not as its own story. Yet.

But I love trying out different combinations. If I had had more spoons in my years in the fandom I probably would have written at least one little thing for every ship I felt like trying out.... maybe someday. I still want to do that Vintaka vampire fic eventually....

Ofc I haven’t mentioned every ship I like, bc we'd be here all day, lol, but yeah, I really, really wish I could get a few people into BardAgni and Vintaka (and more into Sebardgani)..... maybe someday.

A Ship I Don't Like Others Do: Sebaciel

I don't really DISLIKE it, but it just... doesn't do much for me. I enjoy their dynamic in canon. It gives me ENORMOUS glee when they're working and scheming together, like in the Murder arc or Weston arcs (partly why those are my top two fave arcs). But they don't... spark much in me the way other ships do. I don't.... get that buzz of emotion when I imagine Seb and Ciel the way a lot of people do. I WISH I DID SOMETIMES because there is SO MUCH CONTENT for them in canon and ofc fan made.... But.... as much as I like Ciel in canon and admire him as a survivor and a character, he just... doesn't really connect with me out of canon in the same way that other characters do. I don't even include him in most of my stories lmao. He just... doesn't really interest me outside of the manga.

Synchronize, Ch 5: Light in the Darkness

↱ Read on AO3 ↰

↑ click to see cool art by @/zombiemouth ! ↑

Pairing: Sebagni, some Bard/Agni, Tanaka/Vincent, etc.

Words: ~40K total

Chapter Summary: Sebastian begins to trust Agni more. He finally meets Sieglinde, but a crisis interrupts their visit. We learn about how Tanaka first met the twins and their father, Vincent.

TW: This chapter does feature emesis, though it is not explicit/graphic.

~#~

Fic Summary: Agni, a home-care nurse, has had his share of difficult patients, but now he's up for his biggest challenge yet. Sebastian is young, seriously ill, and angry, but Agni is determined to help him anyway. Will the two be able to synchronize and move forward, or will Sebastian forever let his bitterness over his past trauma hold him back?

~#~

Reblogs appreciated, as always! 🥰

[image description: meme of gru from despicable me with a white board with text on it on a series of four panels:

thinks about vintaka

goes to the tag

remembers i’m literally the only person who ships them

cries in rarepair

]

Six-Sentence Sunday: Synchronize AU, Ch 5 Snippet

I’m close to wrapping up the next chapter of Synch, finally, so thought I would share a little snippet here. Enjoy.

“Come in, come in, I think I have it somewhere…”

Agni entered, shutting the door behind him. This was his first time in Tanaka’s room, which was about the size of his own, apparently also with its own en-suite bathroom. The walls were covered in modern art canvases and various framed photos, the antithesis of Sebastian’s barren and undecorated room.

A large altar cabinet dominated one corner. Inside, a small buddist statue and incense holders sat on a shelf, along with an urn and several photographs.

One was of an strinkingly handsome dark-haired man alone. Another, of that same man with a significantly younger Tanaka, two elementary-age boys standing in front of them. Each man had their hand on one of the boys’ shoulders, their free arms around each other. One boy was smiling; he had long hair and piercing eyes that almost appeared red in the lighting. The other was scowling, glasses perched on his nose.

Tanaka noticed Agni staring and paused his search through a filing cabinet beside his desk to pluck the photo from its shelf and hand it to the nurse so he could get a better look. His smile was fond, but his eyes were sad. “That’s Vincent, Sebastian and Claude’s father.”

Agni hesitated before risking, “You loved him.”

Tanaka’s smile grew broader, but more bittersweet. “Yes.”

“He was very attractive.”

“The best looking man I had ever seen. And charming. And talented. Everyone who met him was drawn to him. He just had that certain something. He was magnetic.” Tanaka signed and took the frame back, staring down at it for a moment. “The twins were only ten when he died.” He swallowed thickly and replaced the photo in its spot. “Almost twenty-five years have passed, and sometimes I still expect to hear his voice.”

Agni cradled his right shoulder, palm resting over where his Kali tattoo was hidden beneath his scrub top. “Sometimes, I think the ones we love and lose never really leave us.”