liminalpsych

Notes for A Matter of Duty - Chapter 8: Cascade

Writing this was a rollercoaster. I kept getting stuck, and then finding my stride and writing what felt like a beautiful scene, and then getting stuck again. I don’t know how the chapter reads at this point. It felt like writing in an altered state half the time (probably the migraines. Or the dysautonomia flaring up form the heat. I don’t do substance-induced altered states).

I hope you enjoyed Ayato barely hanging on to sanity, while Thoma inadvertently and unknowingly experiences subspace, and I guess Ayato’s a dragon now? (Not actually, but, well. He does give me draconic vibes sometimes, though, and it came through in this scene with the possessiveness. Maybe I've been reading too many Morax-era Zhongli stories.)

Notes and references

• Kazumasa has a spear here because it's 9 years ago, he's somewhat younger, and probably just an ashigaru door guard at the moment.
• The puzzle Thoma is trying to solve in the beginning of the story is Problem 5 in Takeo Kajiwara's book, Direction of Play, as illustrated here - and many thanks to my nesting partner for xir suggestion of using direction of play as the Go problem for this chapter, and for lending me their copy of Kajiwara's "Direction of Play".


• Visions glow when they're used. Do they glow when the wielder's ambition is active, the one that led to the acquisition of their Vision? I don't actually know that they do, but it makes sense in my head and it's a fun plot device, so I'm saying it's a thing. ;)

A Matter of Duty
"Back then, I had no choice but to accept the position I was in. While I desperately looked around for powerful supporters, I endured smear campaigns and attempts to exploit me. I had no other choice... I didn't mind what became of me, but my family... No one can ever be allowed to trample over my precious family."

How Ayato secured powerful supporters, endured exploitation, and weathered the storm of the years following the death of his parents... and how Thoma helped him contend with a bunch of self-serving, degenerate public officials.

And how, after much stilted fumbling and well-intended sacrifice, they learned the truth of one another's hearts.

Note: Mind the tags. More specific content warnings will be given at the beginning of each chapter, and the story tags will be updated as needed. All characters involved in any sex scenes are adults.

Rating: Explicit. It's porn with plot. Porn as a vehicle for plot, or plot as a vehicle for porn, you can interpret it either way. (I prefer: porn and plot as a vehicle for ~feels~)

Tags that I'm not actually turning into tags here, but it gives you an idea of what you're in for: Kamisato Ayato/Thoma (Genshin Impact), dubious consent but not between Ayato and Thoma, slow burn, sex ed, first time, self-sacrifice, humiliation, exhibitionism, oral sex, anal sex, bdsm, bad bdsm etiquette, rough sex, breath play, impact play, bondage, service kink, abuse, sadism, codependency, shame, guilt, jealousy, possessiveness, trauma, ptsd, dissociation, political sex work, or sex work for political maneuvering, or political survival sex work if that’s a thing, exploitation, blackmail, political machinations, political intrigue, no aftercare, maybe someday some aftercare, hurt/comfort, mostly hurt for a long time but eventually comfort, oblivious disaster gays, for such socially savvy people they are terrible at personal relationships, dominant Ayato, submissive Thoma, top Ayato, bottom Thoma, Ayato is incredibly parentified, Thoma has no sense of self-preservation, self-sacrifice isn't a contest but don't tell Ayato and Thoma that, it's like the snipe-the-check game at restaurants but with sex and politics, Kushiel's Impact, no really this was in my drafts for the longest time as Kusheline Thomato Fic, everyone's an adult in this timeline except Ayaka, she gets protected at all costs, original characters out of necessity, finding appropriate existing Inazuma npcs for some of these roles was impossible, no beta we die like ayato's parents, let Kamisato Ayato say fuck, no seriously please mind the tags

Full fic: A Matter of Duty on Archive Of Our Own

Chapter 8: Cascade: In which Ayato finally stops avoiding Thoma due to a distressing political deal. Emotions run high.

Chapter contains: angst, recollection of unpleasant sex, subspace, biting, marking/bruising, possessiveness, limitations of choice, continued ignorance of aftercare, poorly negotiated kink, allusions to past dubious consent experiences, Kamisato Ayato being bad at feelings