follow me into the rain

Reposting a fic I wrote as a treat for the Chocolate Box Exchange on Archive of Our Own, first posted here. Original recipient: Iserlohna on AO3.

Title: The Opposite of the Opposite of the Unexpected, Times Four
Character/Pairings: Gintoki/Katsura/Takasugi/Sakamoto
Rating: PG for language and mentions of sexual situations
Summary: Things each of the Joui Four are not terribly known for: the silence of Sakamoto, the languor of Katsura, the gentleness of Takasugi, and what of Gintoki...? Rare glimpses, given to precious few.
Settings/Spoiler: Vague spoiler for the final arc. Jumps around in time. When the fic mentions Takasugi, assume it's from the wartime days unless otherwise specifically noted. The time can be more ambiguous when it comes to the other three.

( Turning you outside and inside and out yet still there are more surprises )

(Trying to get back into the swing of posting to Dreamwidth, so here's the repost of something I put on Tumblr yesterday.)

Rewatching the "Jōi reunion" arc (episode 271 and 272), there was something that stuck with me about Katsura's and Sakamoto's reactions to the real flashback:

( images and spoilers behind the cut )

What do you think?

Fic title: There's No Together, There's No Apart, There's Only Impossible Longing
Chapter: 2/5 (plus prologue)
Chapter title: It Shouldn't Be This Damn Difficult To Put One And One And One Together
Word Count: 4626
Fandom: Gintama
Fic status: in progress
Pairing: Gintoki/Katsura/Takasugi: Gintoki/Katsura, Katsura/Takasugi, Takasugi/Gintoki
Rating: PG-13 (or maybe PG-15)
Spoilers/Setting: Starts before canon, ends after it. Final chapter will contain post-manga scenes and be very spoilery for the manga ending.
Flavour: Angsty, but hopefully with a relatively happy ending (that's the plan at least)
Summary: A story about Gintoki, Katsura and Takasugi told through various scenes and fragments.

Author's Notes and disclaimer in the prologue post

Continued from Chapter 1

( we started in the same place, how did we grow so far apart? )

Continues in Chapter 3

New fic for Gintama! Also up on AO3.

This is set shortly after the end of the war and has plenty of backstory spoilers. You probably shouldn't read it if you haven't watched up to episode 305 or read up to manga chapter 519. There's also violence and angst, hence the PG rating.

Possibly I might change the title if I find one I like better.

Constructive criticism very welcome. I'm particularly interested in comments about Sakamoto's dialogue. It's my first time writing him, and I don't think my own "generic rural bumpkin" attempt for his way of talking sounds all that great. Opinions on how to improve it, or if you think I should drop it entirely and go for standard English in spite of his canon dialect, are much appreciated.

Many thanks to Plipdragon who did the beta for this fic and helped me out in discussing details, finding background facts on bathing at the time, and encouraging me. Any remaining errors are my responsibility alone.

Katsura finding refuge among monks after the war is a detail I took from Naye's great fic They also serve who only stand and wait, and I've found it resonates among several other Gintama fans as well. It's part of my headcanon now.

Title: Bathing In A Time Of Peace
Rating: PG
Word Count: currently 4779, liable to change a little in case of edits of course
Characters: Katsura, Gintoki, Takasugi, Sakamoto, Mutsu
Spoilers/setting: see above
Warning: Angst, violence, suicidal thoughts
Summary: A character study in four parts. The first hot bath after the war for Katsura, Gintoki, and Takasugi, plus Sakamoto's first bath together with the Kaientai including Mutsu.

( Sometimes a bath is just a bath and sometimes it means something more )