An AO3-CSS Block Walkthrough

Day 17 : Steampunk

how about cuties with gears?

sorry its a day late - i was just too tired to get it coloured after work yesterday ^^;

gear background

Original Prompt list by gratefulcheeses

Bonus Smut chapter. you're gonna have to go to A03 for this one folks.

28. Kimono

Kidd - 22 | Killer - 26

Tags specifically for this chapter:

Kidd injury recover from loosing his arm

Killer's not doing much better mentally

bathing again

with hair washing role reversal

Read at A03 linked above or here below cut

-thank you wife for telling me kimono (きもの/着物) literally just means 'thing to wear' and helping me get unstuck with suggesting coat redux.

Drabbles from Pocket Jack's KiKi-tober Prompt list

He's starting to remember more and more of each day, the haze of pain and drugs slowly lifting as his body heals. What was once just vague feelings are starting to be actual lucid moments, a few minutes at a time.

<><><>

Killer's there at his side every time he comes around; even if he can't remember, he knows it's true.

Killer's on the chair facing him today, feet propped up on the nightstand, but careful not to disturb the bottles of meds or the canteen of water. He's fiddling with something in his lap, but Kidd's not sure he has the facilities to figure out what.

<><><>

When he drifts back again, he practically begs Killer to let him up; he's exhausted, he's hurting, but he also has to pee and he would like to take a piss like an adult for once.

Halfway there, and Kidd knows they aren't going to make it if Killer walks him there - and Kidd relents and lets himself be carried if only for the fact it means he won't piss on himself in the hallway.

He'd hate all of this more if he had the energy to even make it back to bed before he's passing out again.

<><><>

He wants to eat with the crew.

He wants to see his crew.

Heat & Wire keep assuring him everyone if fine, but they're too quick to placate and refuse anything more. Killer won't even entertain his questions, and Kidd nearly cries when he finally has the awareness to notice that Killer's hair is almost completely gone, shorn just past the helmet.

He can't bring himself to ask, and Killer offers nothing back.

Kidd needs to see his crew.

<><><>

Finally Killer relents, but he has his own stipulations. The big one being Kidd needs to look presentable if he's doing this.

Kidd - who is tired of sponge baths and fever sweat sheets - allows him to be man handed into the bathroom again, this time letting Killer pamper him in the warm tub. He's too tired and heavy to appreciate it fully, but soaking in the warm water already has him feeling more like a person again, and he lets Killer scrub him down, wash his hair, tend to his still healing wounds.

Kidd see them for the first time, then. He'd been aware his left arm was gone, but it didn't sink in until he sat in the water, bandages off, healing stitched skin on display. It's not just his shoulder, but his reflection in the water, his neck and chest, his gut. His right arm bears more marks from where he tried to defend himself and if he crosses his forearm across his chest he can see the long injury drawn out across his entire body, from forehead to groin.

No wonder Killer's been so quiet. Gormaichean. He owns his partner big for this - the fright he must have caused the man.

Its a wake up call, as he watches Killer mother him in the water's reflection, combing his hair like the invalid he is. He can't even bring himself to bitch about it, instead just letting the continuous motion and the still water lull him into a doze, until the bath starts to cool and he's all prunie and wrinkled.

Then Killer's hauling him up and toweling him down, and Kidd says nothing about the zen-like focus his partner pays him, afraid to break whatever peace Killer has found in the actions. The absolute concentration Killer directs at him once he is clean and dry, and Killer starts to work the ointment into his stitches before wrapping them once again.

The stitches still pull at his left eye a bit, and it feels like Kidd is just endlessly crying. He's almost relieved when Killer wraps his face back up, the tears hidden in the gauze.

Killer gives him a moment to compose himself as he slips Kidd's legs into his pants, starts dressing him slowly and reverently. Slides his boots on for him and laces them like they're something precious.

The shirt Killer pulls out to dress him in is unfamiliar. Unlike Killer, who liked to hide behind long sleeves and higher collars, Kidd's ruined too many shirts with his devil fruit, the small sharp edges that came hand in hand with weapons and scraps tearing the sleeves to shreds after a single fight. But he doesn't have the range of motion right now to be pulling a tang top on and off. Kidd is too broad chested for it to be one of Killer's, the solid dark colour not in his partner's usual tastes either. It's short sleeved and very low necked, and it's a button up that Kidd realized was Wire's as Killer slide it up his right arm. It's a snug fit around his bicep but it's not unwelcome, and the hem stops just short of the thickest part of the wrapping on his left arm as Killer carefully works it over the healing stump.

While his face heals, Kidd's not surprised Killer doesn't offer him his googles, but at least the bandages have the side effect of covering his forehead and keeping his hair pushed back out of his eyes.

<><><>

He hadn't realized he'd drifted off again until he he wakes up to the feeling of anxiety. Not his own, but his partner's.

Killer's staring at their makeup bag on the bathroom counter - foundation in hand; It's going to rub off on the bandages all over Kidd's face. Kidd decides for him, pulling the bag closer and picking out the black eyeliner pen and his favorite shade of red eye-shadow. "You can at least fix up my good eye, yeah?"

It's the first thing either if them have spoken since entering the bath

Killer patiently paints his face back on, Kidd watching him intently, trying to get a read on him though the mask.

It's not usually this hard, but Kidd knows things have changed again.

Kidd lost.

It's been a very long time since that's happen. He'd forgotten the feeling.

He drops his jaw gently, parting his lips as Killer pulls out his favorite lipstick, Killer's thumb pressing against his chin. Kidd can see Killer's eyes this close, his attention completely on his task.

His hand is next, Killer matching the nail polish to Kidd's lipstick; Kidd realizing with a pang that it maybe a long time, if ever, before he's able to do things like this for himself now.

Its intolerable: this weakness. It is inexcusable, especially from a Captain. Kidd can not loose again. He wont stand for it and neither should his crew.

Killer inspects Kidd's appearance, seeming hyper aware of the way every hair falls, and even with out gelling it up, spends a few moments carefully arranging the drying locks.

Kidd's hates every moment of it, hates that Killer is still so shaken that he's stressing about how Kidd's hair is styled.

"You died." Heat will tell him later, just the two of them as Wire takes watch and Killer finally, FINALLY falls asleep. "And Boss Killer was more than willing to follow you. I thought he was going to turn on us when we tried to stop him."

Hates that he was too weak to protect Killer from himself.

Satisfied, Killer steps back to look him over, a Captain's Return. Kidd understands why Killer believes they need this, the crew need to see Kidd as someone strong, even if Kidd doesn't feel that himself at the moment.

But Killer has one last touch, pulling a heavy weight across Kidd's shoulders. Physically, physically, it's not too much - Kidd thought his coat destroyed and gone, but Killer appears to have salvaged the red fur lining and it's been reworked into a presentable coat once again. it's also nearly a third of the weight of the original one, and his left arm can shoulder the weight with little strain. The weight on his heart, however is crushing.

Killer carefully balances it over his shoulder's draping it back like a King's cloak.

Kidd will earn that weight back. He won't fail them again.

Work in progress sketches

Top from some point in R.Rebellions, and the end of Last Emperor Blackbeard. Bottom two future chapters from Adrift and "Kid" Pirates

Looks like i gotta put that finalist patch away. Because we're fucking champions

Only thing cuter than a kitty in a box is a kitty in a bag. She pulled it down, and has been sitting inside watching me for the last hour

reblogged here since i no longer use that account

Sprite was an edit from the Nintendo DS game, One Piece: Gigant Battle! 2 New World, with Zoro in his Strong World Outfit.

On size 14 count canvas, with 15 or so colours. Maybe Four inches tall

(my scanner is downstairs, I dun wanna go back down there just yet to measure  and then have to come back upstairs XD )

Roronoa Zoro (c) Eiichiro Oda

20 questions for fic writers

@master-of-the-sorrowful-order, who has become one of my favorite people to brainstorm ideas with, thought it would be cool to have me fill out this questionnaire, and i agreed =^.^=

1) how many works do you have on ao3?

I have 34 works under Mekachu04, 4 works under my old nom-de-plume, and at least 5 orphaned works flouting around in old fandoms

2) what's your total ao3 word count?

of the 38 will linked to me: 142,059

3) what are your top five fics by kudos?

173rd Airborne Brigade (The Umbrella Academy)

Just our hands clasped so tight, waiting for the hint of a spark (Good Omens)

I'll think of you every step of the way (Good Omens)

Whenever this world is cruel to me (Good Omens)

Southbound Hearts (One Piece)

4) what fandoms do you write for?

These days it pretty strictly One Piece, for the Kidd/Killer duo

5) do you respond to comments? why or why not?

I didn't used to because i'd just get overwhelmed (in a good way!) and didn't know what to say. I've done a lot better in the last year or so, even if sometimes it takes me a few months to collect my thoughts. i think i'm just more confident shouting into the void, and when the void answer back, i no longer know what to say, ya know?

6) what's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

XD ... uh... that tends to be the genre i enjoy writing the most. as far as endings... toss up from a VERY old one from 2007 archived under my former name, or Cephalophore. (Pluton & Last Emperor Blackbeard are also very close) (all from One Piece)

7) what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Living without, Living without, Living without you or Just our hands clasped so tight, waiting for the hint of a spark, both from good omens

8) do you get hate on fics?

not as much on the fic themselves, but offsite i get shit for the concepts i like to write for. just block and move on with my day

9) do you write smut?

poorly. i dabble in it, but i have a love/hate relationship with it. i like writing the emotions and thoughts that go along with such intimacy but i dun really know how to write the act itself

10) do you write crossovers?

I'm not opposed to crossovers, but the only true crossover i ever wrote never got shared because i got stuck in the middle and it lies languishing in my wip folder I much prefer fusions/ AU where one series is inserted into the world of another, but with little to no interaction with the cast of that series.

11) have you ever had a fic stolen?

if so, i dun know about it. Having said that, I have had *ideas* stolen. In a previous fandom, i had a BNF steal one of my AU concepts wholesale and they couldn't even be bothered to leave a kudos on the work they stole it from. (they even admitted it, though they did not know i was the original author. i had reached out to them on twitter (which did not have my fandom name) because i had thought it was so cool that we both had the same idea. i had shared my story with them (not stating it was mine, just *a* story with a similar idea) and they flat out said that's where they got the idea. The fact they did that, but couldn't even be bothered to leave a kudos or comment still hurts, not gonna lie. (at the time, the fic was several months old and had zero comments and only like 8 kudos)

12) have you ever had a fic translated?

!!Yes! its a very recent thing, and it's been super exciting! Not just on the fic exchange side, but getting to chat cultural differences

13) have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Not so much, but my dear friend above has been great a helping me work out of plot pits I've dug myself into and also going back and reworking stories that certainly needed more context for the reader. We spend a lot of time bouncing ideas off each other and i know soon i'm going to stop using the no beta we sink like the punk tag and that neat!!

14) what's your all time favorite ship?

Currently, Punk Aibou aka KiKi aka KidKil aka Eustass Kidd x Killer. the problem with "all time favourite", is its always going to be the current one, even if they are in a rotation. Ineffable Husbands is sitting right there, along with oldies like Starsky and Hutch.

15) what's the wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

* Side eyes the pile * i got so..... many.... I think, heartbreakingly, it's Southbound Hearts. I have an outline, i have a three part plan... but i fear i bit off far more than i can chew with that one, and I'm really struggling to get characters to sound right.

16) what are your writing strengths?

hmmm... i feel like i'm doing stuff no one else is. maybe it's just cause my little corner of fandom is a little isolated these days, but i feel a lot of what i write is *becuase* it doesn't exist yet, at least on a03.

17) what are your writing weaknesses?

finishing a story

18) thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

it's a tread carefully thing. i feel it has its place - like you see in movies - but authors really need to look at *why* is this in another language? I try to keep it for more when characters are making a point to exclude someone from a conversation, but a clever reader might be able to read between the lines, or someone who knows the language gets an extra little part written just for them, like they're in on the secret. Or if the whole purpose of a piece is focusing on communication. i have one story where some guys are just screaming at each other in other languages as a form of dick waving, only to find out that the guy who speaks more languages is technically illiterate, and the story ends up being about cultural genocide im pretty cool with loan words getting sprinkled in; i know some readers get annoyed by it, and it has absolutely been done terrible more often that not, but that's never bothered me

19) first fandom you wrote for?

oh.... its been soo so long... probably G-Force. not Gatchaman or Battle of the Planets, but this adaptation specifically. XD that has all LONG been lost to time. I think the first fanfic i *shared* for was the animated mighty duck series back on a Disney message board. pre ff.net

20) favourite fic you've ever written?

i have no earthly idea. i did LOVE writing KiKi'tober [2024] and while it's not the most polished thing i've done, it was the most memorable to write

18. Trust

Kidd - 12 | Killer - 16

Tags specifically for this chapter:

Children in danger

Killer lives up to his name

Kidd makes Killer's dating life complicated

Kidd devils fruit

he's getting better with it

but it draws unwanted attention

Read at A03 linked above or here below cut

Drabbles from Pocket Jack's KiKi-tober Prompt list

Kidd was getting better at the smaller things, easily convincing the deadbolt to open for him in the grey afternoon, clouds overhead repeating another day of cold autumn rain. 'Talking to locks' as Killer called it, and there was no way Kidd was going to tell him it was more like singing.

His devil fruit was absurdly loud, all of the time, and everything demanding his attention like ostentatious exotic birds; their songs fighting for his attention at all hours. Most of the time his usage of his abilities was just going, 'Okay sure,' and just -attracting- or -repelling- everything in mass. Which was a great offense/defense kind of move, but didn't work for shit if Killer was standing next to him; his poor friend caught in friendly fire more than hurt by their pursuers these days.

It made Killer extremely paranoid when ever he did, and Kidd's not so sure it has anything to do with any sense of self preservation in the teenager. If Kidd uses his ability, Killer does not leave witnesses.

There had been a boy recently, one that had been nice to them, and while Kidd hasn't really felt any which way about him, he knew Killer liked him. A lot. Caught them making out once after Killer thought he'd gone to sleep.

...

Caught Killer crying over him when a group of thugs hadn't liked them squatting in their turf, and a fight broke out. Kidd had ended up killing a few of them by -repelling- an entire dumpster at them; and it was pretty obvious he'd done it, because he'd yelled it when he'd done so.

It had made it so much easier, calling it out like that. The exhale of sound and breath, and then the metal had moved like an afterthought, no convincing required.

Any joy in him figuring out such a trick was lost though when he turned to his two companions.

Killer looked at him heartbroken.

Kidd thought the other boy might be uneasy, scared... but no. No one had ever looked at Kidd like that before. Hungry. Greedy. And then with a blink his face was casual, forced jovial before nothing at all as Killer stabbed him in the back, once, twice, three times, aiming up under his ribs for the lungs.

Half a life time ago, Killer had told him not to let anyone know he'd eaten a devil fruit. At 12, Kidd is haunted by The Boy's face - and he's just The Boy, Kidd refuses to remember the name of anyone who looked at him like that - and vows that one day, he'd get to so powerful with his abilities that people look at him in fear instead. No one will even look at Eustass Kidd like he's an easy payday. And he's going to be strong enough that Killer doesn't have to kill his boyfriends to protect Kidd.

If the dead bolt is in place, then Killer is already home. While the other boy is crafty enough to jimmy open most locks given time, he's certainly not skilled or patient enough to try and get them locked back up when he leaves. Kidd does because it's easy enough for him, and lowers the chances of an opportunist slipping in and running off with their stuff.

It's not a lot of stuff; and never anything worth much. Killer thinks its bad luck to keep that nearby, like it's inviting danger, and Kidd likes to joke Killer was a pirate in a past life, the way he buries his treasures all over the place.

"Jokes on you then," Killer would tease back, "because I don't leave maps with 'x's' on them for you to find."

A very long time ago, faces Kidd can't remember used to sing songs about Roger and Pirates and he has vague memories of someone trying to explain log posts to him. "The pirate king uses a log post, not maps," Kidd had teased Killer back, and he'd let the island sing to him until he'd lead Killer right to one of his hidden caches.

And then to another one

And another one

"Good thing i trust you not to rob me blind," Killer had joked, but his voice was coloured in a kind of awed pride in Kidd.

Killer doesn't trust many people these days; he certainly hasn't brought another boy around Kidd since. He won't even show Victoria where they live right now; Killer rarely brought girls over to start with - most girls don't want to hang out with the two of them in whatever place they've shacked up in at any given time. But Victoria was at least judgemental in away that feels teasing instead of cruel. Not of the ruthless criticisms that barbed other girls' tongues.

Kidd adores Victoria, he loves hanging out with her, but even he's afraid now that he might slip up and show her. He's terrified one day she'll look at him they way that boy had, ready to turn on him for a coin.

...

He's afraid one day, Killer will have to choose between Victoria or Kidd.

And he's afraid of what either answer would mean.