9 1/2 Weeks -- Wrap-up Post

[haikuesque.livejournal.com]

This is not such a long how-the-sausage-was-made post as with Same Deep Water, but we still had a few things we wanted to share.

1) lieben_kame's Fanart

Lexy made illustrations of some pivotal scenes in #RedK and was kind enough to tweet them to the world.

Cool shelf Kame, week 4



Week 5: Car AU



Week 6: Jin is waiting.



Sleepy!Kame, week 7 (we still adore the nipples...)




She also tumbld (is that how one spells that??) a photoset which she said was inspired by #RedK, and we liked that so much that we want to add it here too.



Thank you, Lexy, for letting us inspire you. :)


2) Porn manuals

Every now and then, haikuesque runs into communication difficulties with regard to choreography. Usually of the 'his leg is where? it goes where?' variety. We have at times solved this problem by re-tracing the legs of a sex scene with pairs of jeans, making home videos of ourselves with a pillow, and occasionally, Art.

This one relates to Week 8 1/2, and was prompted by Jo going, 'how do they get to poking?' Solo is a maestra with a pen and thus produced explanatory Art. We are sharing because we thought it might amuse you.






3) Location, location, location

Since so much of the story takes place in Jin's apartment, we also needed a blueprint (well, a vague powerpoint representation) of that. Just so we knew what was close to where and how they could have sex without hurting each other or kicking through a wall and upsetting a neighbour. (And as for the shelf crowd, this may help you or not, we really don't know. You may be beyond help. :p)







And finally -- if you had any questions about the story or the universe we dodged or that only occurred to you at the end, or weren't sure you could ask, this is the post for you. ^_^ We'd like to open the floor for questions and will do our best to answer them, with no more worries about spoilers or being overexplaining authors.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/___clash/]

Your pokey-maps are way too cute :)

[haikuesque.livejournal.com]

We feel flattered to be praised by colleagues in Art. :p

[lieben-kame.livejournal.com]

Awww thanks guise. <33 Thank YOU for the inspiration! XD

I am DYING at the "bulge" doodle LMAOOO. I think that part I did reread because I was a little confused by their positions too, so thanks for the uh, clarification! Also Jin's apartment layout is helpful too! :D Good to know for when I reread this over the summer too. :DD

[haikuesque.livejournal.com]

We were having laughing fits all over again putting your doodles together. We just adore them. ^_^

And glad the bulge is helpful! >_>

[lieben-kame.livejournal.com]

LOOOL it's my pleasure! XD Thanks so much!!!

[krystal-32206.livejournal.com]

I'm laughing so hard at your porn doodles, they're too cute! ^___^

And thanks for sharing the fanart. I especially love the coolshelf!Kame and the sleepy!Kame. I love the teeny tiny nipples, too. XD

Jin's 1K apartment is really small. It's a wonder the neighbors don't complain with the noises they make when Kame pounces on Jin. But this floor plan of Jin's place will actually help me in visualizing on where to place them when I go off to reread the story again. XD

[haikuesque.livejournal.com]

We are so pleased by the fanart. *g* Lexy is jinius.

Jin's apartment is REALLY small. We had to remind ourselves a few times too just because where we live, even a small apartment wouldn't be that small. But, yes. (We figure the neighbors never notice because they have their TVs on very loudly. *g*)

[souleater-angel.livejournal.com]

1. I vote for a floor plan for every new story. Otherwise your brain defaults to someplace else that you are already familiar with and it doesn't always work right with the story. ;)

2. So, just to be clear, at the beginning, Kame decided to go to Jin because he was secretly lonely, as well as curious as to how Jin was dealing with life? If so I'm detecting some feelings of care from Kame pre-story. Had Kame liked him already? What made him go to Jin to cure his loneliness as opposed to someone else, or hey, even a new dog? Or did he just have some irrepressible need to feel superior?

Jin also went from "Stupid arrogant cold bastard Kamenashi" to "hot sexy I-like-how-he-talks-dirty-to-me-as-well-as-other-things Kame" pretty quickly. Is there any history at all here?

3. The doodles. Just, the doodles. Wow. XD.

[haikuesque.livejournal.com]

We've only made floor plans for three stories so far: the long xmas story (well, that was a seating plan, mostly), SDW (THREE club levels, Kame's apartment, and Jin's old and new apartments... >_>), and this one. We like to avoid it when it's not entirely necessary. *g*

Kame decided to go to Jin because meeting Jin's mother had made him curious how Jin was getting on. Kame did not realize that he was 'secretly lonely', but he was, so secretly that it was not even clear to himself. XD

There were feelings from Kame loooooong pre-story. I mean, all the Akame backstory is intact, and we still assume that Kame pined after Jin for a bit, too. Long ago. Not that that would have featured into his decision right then.

What probably did play a role was instinct. Instinct that Jin would always be on his side and that he could trust him implicitly. He'd have denied all that vehemently if you'd suggested it at the start, but without that instinct, he wouldn't have gone. He was looking for somebody to trust, without realizing it. Once he was reminded of Jin, there was almost no way he couldn't go.

Jin... is more complicated. :) (Yes, really, we just said that.)

The 'history' there is only that he knows Kame. Enough never to be afraid of him, and enough to remain curious. And to cut him some slack when there's slack to be cut. But for himself, he really discovered that the hot dirty sex worked, in combination with their arguments. This Jin was used to having to play nice with everybody by now, even when he felt used and unfairly treated. With Kame, he doesn't have to, he can be as snarky and blunt as he wants. But at the same time, he can give up feeling all responsible for absolutely everything and angsting over jobs and things, and just let go. Kame will take care of stuff. Kame makes him 'play nice' and tells him what to do and bosses him around and it feels good for a change. It's refreshing. It's soothing. :)

(Jin also has good instincts, and it becomes clear to him -- not right at the start, but pretty quickly -- that no matter what sort of dick Kame is being, Jin's special to him -- he's not going 'ooh, Kame loves me', but he knows on some level that Kame doesn't let anybody else this close. And that can feel nice even when Kame's being a dick.)

Hee the doodles. Aren't they nice! :)

[souleater-angel.livejournal.com]

Would it be too much to ask to see the SDW floorplans...? Maybe once you start on the ficlets or something. *puppy eyes*

hehe at Jin feeling special when Kame picks on him. ^^ I can totally see that.

I really love how well you guys think through their characters, and how they are relevent to each story and universe. It makes it much more believable that they will work out. Thanks for the extra info!

[krystal-32206.livejournal.com]

+1 to this comment.

Please post the SDW floorplans, if you deem us worthy. *bows deeply*

[haikuesque.livejournal.com]

We'll see if we can find them, and think about it. :)

[haikuesque.livejournal.com]

Let's see about the floorplans, right now we aren't sure where they ended up. We'll have a look and think about it! :)

[akamaru07.livejournal.com]

i'm not done with this fic YET but just to let you know this post made me lol. hard. in a very good way. XD

[haikuesque.livejournal.com]

WHAT. U laugh at our ART. #shock

[akiracheng.livejournal.com]

if you had any questions about the story or the universe we dodged or that only occurred to you at the end, or weren't sure you could ask, this is the post for you. ^_^ We'd like to open the floor for questions and will do our best to answer them Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure abt 80% of every comment I made was made up of Qs and we'll probably be here till next year if you answer them all and then there'd be no new fic.

The doodles...every time I see a sexy pic of Kame I will automatically conjure up a stickman vers from now on...
...
How can he still be hot as a stickman?!?

The over-riding Q I want to ask is what happens when they have a proper argument for the first time in their relationship? They live together, they work together and Kame interacts with the kids...no running away from each other...

[akiracheng.livejournal.com]

Actually, 1 more Q - whatever happened to Kame's dogs? He mentioned Jelly and a puppy but they never appeared at his apartment. It makes sense that they stay away when Jin and Kame are having sex but surely they'd be the perfect ice-breaker with the kids, so...

[haikuesque.livejournal.com]

Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure abt 80% of every comment I made was made up of Qs and we'll probably be here till next year if you answer them all

But we answered most of them! And you're so good at the analysis, we're sure most of the rest have resolved themselves. >_>

LOL, stickman Kame! But seriously, if anyone can be hot as a stick figure, it would be him, right?

As for the first time they have an argument -- it depends a little, but in general we think it will go well. Funnily enough, in this verse, as fucked-up as they are in their own ways, they have pretty good coping strategies. (In contrast, the first actual fight in SDW, for instance, is going to be a horribly traumatic experience for Kame, and not all that pleasant for Jin either.)

If their first real fight is based on people having bad days and being cranky and because Jin left the milk out or Kame failed to tell Jin when he was coming home, they'll bitch and snark and maybe even yell at each other a bit, and it'll probably culminate in hot!angry!sex where they work it out on each other, and all dissolves in post-coital bliss.

If they have an argument about something more serious, it'll probably be tense. Kame might be a bit of a dick (but only a bit -- even in this story, he's had good instincts when too far is too far) if it's something personal to him, and Jin will know to let Kame get the dickishness out of his system without taking it too personally, and they actually talk it out. (And then Jin tells Kame afterwards, 'And also, you were a dick, and you should apologize.' And Kame does.)

A combo of a surprisingly mature Jin, and a Kame who knows he sometimes needs guidance in how to be a human being. It'll work. :-)

Kame's dogs are living with his mother. There's no way he could keep them at his apartment given his schedule. We did think that depending on how Jin's schedule works out, they might take the dogs in after a while. (Jin's going to be working much saner hours, because he's got kids and will see them during the week too.) But give poor Kame time to adjust to the pink puppy books in his sterilized operating theatre. *g*

[cagnurit.livejournal.com]

Yay, the discussion <3 I like all the pictures in this post, esp. Lexy's graphic & the "manual" XD

So, I have some questions all because of the total life-inexperience of mine, please bear with me for a while >___<

1. I see where Sara's characteristics come from. Her charming naivety is like sunshine, just like chibi!Jin. Just one chance with her and you are already swept of your feet. But Akira's characteristics make me wonder. All of his insecurity, his seriousness, his shyness... make him so adorable that I want to hug him tight >o< Please tell me more about him, and what makes you create him so? (hope this is not too much demanding of a question, I'm sorry ;___;)

2. To a not-innocent question. Uhm... how to voice this without being >////< !? Till the end of this story, every time Kame had sex / made love with Jin (I mean when he topped), he all did it from behind (OMG does this sound obscene already? >____<). I would like to ask whether it has some kind of meaning behind, with the authors' intention? He never made it face-to-face. It would be less painful to Jin if he did it like that, I guess, maybe? *this inexperience m(_._)m*

3. A while ago you said that Jin has liked Kame from before (actually I never see it coming). So my guessing from week 4 (http://haikusociety.livejournal.com/32361.html?thread=1105513#t1105513), please please kindly please correct it if I get it wrong?


From the beginning, you confirmed that this story is told by Jin's POV only; but as the story went on, in my wildest dreaming, I thought if the prologue is Jin's, the epilogue might be Kame's. But no, that would just breaks the story's stream off, nee? So whenever I have time, I will try to read this story from Kame's POV by my own or wish for a miracle bestowed by the generous authors in the form of one precious chapter... XD


P.S. I really want to thank you every single time you answer my comments. And I feel bad as I have the thank-yous from you. My comments are just one or two lines way too short, never longer, AND never as good as many well-analyzing, profound-thinking-into-the-details comments from other sophisticated readers :'c

[haikuesque.livejournal.com]

Questions are always cool! :)

1. Yes, Sara is easy to place. Chibi!Jin, yay. Akira is a bit more complicated. We gave him Jin's thoughtful characteristics -- in our opinion, Jin actually thinks a lot about stuff, like where best to move to avoid earthquakes, and how to eradicate racism, and things. Once he gets over his camera shyness he often comes out with things that are pretty... deep. He actually thinks. So that was one part. Older Jin.

The other part was the thought that he's experienced more of the stress at home and how dad suddenly didn't live there any more. Sara is too young, but Akira is in a sense a 'divorce kid', whose certainties took a blow at some time. He knows that stuff can be lost, so he has a more cautious approach to life.

2. From behind and our intention... well, initially, it was both for 'easy' (because it is easier) and because it gives Kame more of a position of superiority. (And the very first time, he probably also didn't want to see Jin's face because he didn't know what he'd find there.) And they fell into that rhythm, it worked. Jin got to like it that way.

So the very last time, well, that was because Jin was clearly looking for dommy!Kame to give it to him good, and for that, doggy-style is just perfect, because it's less mutual. (In general, it has nothing to do with pain, really, both ways work the same in that respect, except maybe that it's easier to relax for an inexperienced bottom when he doesn't have to sort out what to do with his legs at the same time, and you get less pain from accidental tensing.) Face to face, the bottom has to 'help' much more for the choreography to work, so it can (!) be less intuitively dommy. We actually think that they'll have a lot of face to face sex too, with Jin bottoming. Maybe the VERY NEXT SEX SCENE which we're no longer going to write. Just, in that story, Jin was also looking for a particular thing. :)

Does that help? We're happy to elaborate if stuff is unclear. (And hope this wasn't far beyond what you wanted to know. >_>)

3. Hm, when did we say that? Because we're wondering if we didn't mean 'long before, before the story even started'. Jin has always had a soft spot for Kame, even when Kame's way of doing whatever Johnny wanted drove him ABSOLUTELY NUTS. So there's that - always that.

But okay, Kame grows on Jin pretty quickly in this one too, and by week 4, yes, Jin likes it. :) He likes the way they interact, that he can just let rip at Kame, and basically they insult each other for a bit and then it's just cool. He hasn't had that in his life for a long time. It's easy, it's ... familiar. It's comfortable.

Um, generous authors are too busy for miracles just now. (Also, trust us, it would be less fun if the POV had alternated, honestly. :-)

We like your comments! We appreciate them, really, they tell us there's somebody out there reading and enjoying the story. Not everybody has time for long comments and some people don't like writing them, and that's okay. We're just happy if you let us know you are there! That's more than many readers ever do, so THANK YOU, again. :)

[cagnurit.livejournal.com]

Wow, I have to say I really really love your discussion posts. It's like broadening the story a little bit more ^____^

2. Yes, it helps a lot. Thank you <3

3. You said that in one of your replies (I can't remember which chapter though >u<)

[souleater-angel.livejournal.com]

2. Till the end of this story, every time Kame had sex / made love with Jin (I mean when he topped), he all did it from behind (OMG does this sound obscene already? >____<).

@cagnurit: We're all obviously very !!! about Kame and Jin getting it on so I don't think you need to be embarrassed about it. ;)

@Solo&Jo: Honestly I've noticed this too. It's not just in this story but in most stories you guys do, and I have wondered about it (but also didn't have the guts to ask about it.)

Kame will do, uh, other things to Jin when he's on his back but when it's time for Kame to get some he always has Jin turn over. I can only think of one time when he didn't, (not including SDW, tho it didn't, in words, happen a lot there either.) Personally I can see Kame very much liking getting his dominance needs fulfilled by putting Jin on his back, and yeah I like it too okay. I had wondered if there was a reason it doesn't happen much in your writing, such as preference on your parts or not seeing it happen much with them or something. Anyway it was brought up so just wondering! XD

[haikuesque.livejournal.com]

Ha, okay, so! This is not the first time someone's gone 'but you always do this in your writing', and then we go back and check our fic list, and it turns out people are wrong. :p (Lexy once claimed Jin never got any blowjobs. *g*)

This story is, for story-intrinsic reasons, heavy on the doggy-style, yes, that's true. But if you take it out of the equation, you get exactly 3:3 for from behind vs. face to face in our one-shots. (SDW is f2f-only in the second half, Kame is quite neurotic about it, actually. Surprised you don't remember that! And even in the first half, it's 2:2.)

So, basically, your statistics are incorrect. :p

[souleater-angel.livejournal.com]

I definitely understand the reasons for this story; it makes a lot of sense. And you're right about SDW. What I meant by "it didn't happen a lot" is that they would do other stuff like hand or (sometimes) blowjobs, which I guess is technically f2f, but not, uh, what I meant, and not doggy cuz I know Kame would be very, well, Kame about it. XD

I honestly can only think of one time in the one-shots that they did it that way. Maybe that means I need to re-read some stuff. Oh well, I've had much worse assignments. XD

[cagnurit.livejournal.com]

We use statistics for Akame's sex life now? I LOVE THAT XDDDD

[bellemelody.livejournal.com]

I'm very very late for the party and I'm sorry for it. the art is hillarious and very cute <3 I loved the one with pics it suits to the story a lot.

I did once the plan for the flat for my heroes, but it was more in Kame's art style XВ

Also the one with limbs and porn manuals. The big reason why I avoid writing porn, because I have no idea what to do with thei hands and legs and other things. even with such a manual that won't work with me, so I'm impressed and this is really funny xD

Also I have question.

Akame have a pre-story. I'm very curious why you didn't give them any past love story or something like this. They have bond, they have failed friendship and they read each other easily, but they weren't in love with each other in the beginning of this fic. So, why? With past love story it would be too complicated?

[haikuesque.livejournal.com]

Well, the reason why we do the floor plan in powerpoint is that at least one of us draws Kame!style, too. >_>

To get the porn right we do all kinds of things, really. There is home video. If Jo ever has a public career, she should be very, very afraid. XD

Your question is a really good one. We never had a long discussion about it, it never really occurred to us that they could have a past love story in this verse. Probably for a mix of reasons.

INSIDE UNIVERSE:

They have a bond, and Kame wanted more back when they were in a band together. From 2005, we figure. But in this universe, Jin was quite aggressively heterosexual (and very much into the cool macho thing before he dropped out of sight) so Kame never even really tried. He got over it, found other people. Jin may or may not have suspected something but would have preferred not to think about it.

WRITERLY REASONS:

As you say, it would make things very complicated. We wanted to do a few things with this story, and all of them would have been muddled up if they were presented through the lens of 'and in year XXXX Jin and Kame were boyfriends'. If you assume a past history, you have to figure out both why they got together and why they broke up, and a story of them getting back together is almost always also a story about how they deal with their previous break-up. And that wasn't what we were interested in.

Furthermore, can you imagine Kame showing up at Jin's doorstep and being a bossy dick who wants to put his other bossy dick into Jin, and Jin letting him, if they were exes? A lot of what Kame does would have a much nastier aftertaste if they had that kind of history, either if Kame had made a move and Jin turned him down, or they were actually together. And we didn't want Kame to be that much of an asshole, and we didn't want Jin to have to kick him out, for then we would have no plot and no sexxor and no strawberry bubble baths.

It also made a few other things cleaner. For this story in particular, we wanted Jin and Meisa to be a relationship that could have worked, if things had gone better; if you put Kame at the start and Kame at the end, it tends to feel more like the relationship between was filler that was doomed to failure anyway. >_>

(Because Akame is forever.)

[bellemelody.livejournal.com]

I have noticed that mostly Akame relationships from the beginning to the end in some stories are doomed to failure, but akame is forever and they always worked and this is absolutely natural and not even questionable xD

I see the point and yes, past issues will ruin everything here.

And you have material to blackmail Jo if she will start her career in Hollywood xD

Thank you for answering <3

[solo.livejournal.com]

And you have material to blackmail Jo if she will start her career in Hollywood xD

I was more thinking if she wants to become Chancellor. *g* I could get rich. RICH, I tell you! XD

[bellemelody.livejournal.com]

You can totally. Politic career is even better. That will be such a scandal :DDDDD

[sablenoir4.livejournal.com]

well hello. if peri is late, i am ....? right.

first off, again you amaze me. thinking of this. taking the time to do it. you are super good to your readers. thank you so much.

some funny/gorgeous/hilarious and, well, 0__0 here. and having read thru the comments, and giggled a bit, i must say am of those that can live happily without a floorplan. imagination rules, i tell you. who wants the laws of physics? tho' i do appreciate that you took the time to work it all out so it works. even if i will never bother my head about the extra hand/foot or whatever going whichever way. those kind of details tend to elude me. laughing so hard right now..

oh, and the grab, pounce, bulge has just finished me off. wohooo. this is fun XDDD.

wipes eyes. right. then home videos. jo & home videos??????????????????? - and just how do i get even the idea of that out of my head now? huh? [with so many apologies jo]

and questions? nah, not really. i did find myself pretty uppity for the first chapters tho', as i could see no LOGIC in jin's response. kame was easy (uh..). and yes, that is me using the L word. and you both, normally so eminently logical. so it didn't sit so well, and i ranted a fair bit to myself. but resolved to bite the tongue and wait. and, yeah, it kind of started to make sense. no eureka moment, more an okaaaaay, so this is how we're playing it. and sure, there's that long-time ease, and freedom from niceties needed (all that necessary bowing and scraping, for them both). but there's also always that damn loneliness (also for them both). and kame's got what jin needs, and it's not just money. and vice versa.. so it was enough. and all the time, feeling the pace and drive of the thing as so necessary, so i didn't want to give too much credence to my wibbles, in favour of hanging on for this ride i did not want to miss - i could almost see you holding the whips over the horses heads [visions of Boudicca and chariots, lol] to make sure the pace didn't slacken. so, yup. satisfied reader, from beginning to end. and the rest is their story, and am happy to butt out. XD

thanking you again. have a cherry tart each.

[haikuesque.livejournal.com]

We rarely wonder about floor plans when reading. But as writers, and particularly in a collaboration, we really have to know what's where. Even so it happens about once per story that one of us says to the other, 'what, wait, the legs are where??' or some such. :)

oh, and the grab, pounce, bulge has just finished me off. wohooo. this is fun XDDD.

Solo is so pleased to see her Art appreciated. XD

We're happy we could convince you after initial scepticism. We admit that this one was perhaps harder to sell than most of our other stories.