Aki Imokawa

    Hope     the desire and search for a future good, difficult but not impossible to attain  [ZALERA, CRYSTAL]
  —   21+, EST     —  

• TENETS
• PERSONA
• HISTORY
• CONNECTIONS
• VISUALS
• BSKY

No matter what

you keep finding something to fight for

  001.   21+ ONLY.
Aki's story and character involve many dark and mature themes. For my own comfort, I will ONLY rp with people 21 and over. If I find out that you are under the age of 21, ties will be cut immediately. No exceptions.  002.   NO DRAMA
Aki's story is heavy and breaks canon. If you don't enjoy that sort of thing, that's okay! This might not be the right muse for you. Please do not try to police me on what my character can and cannot do.  003.   NO BIGOTRY.
I will not tolerate any transphobia, racism, or any sort of hate whatsoever, in character or out of character. I do not care if you character is a villain, I will not engage with such behaviour.

  004.   IC =/= OOC
Aki's character can be dark and morally grey, and there may be times that he does questionable things. This is not a reflection of me as the writer. I enjoy making connections IC and OOC, but if you are not able to separate Aki from me as a person, then I will not continue writing with you.  005.   I AM NOT LOOKING FOR SHIPS WITH AKI
however, I am always searching for friends and other connections! That being said, if you want to engage with NSFW/ERP themes with him you must build rapport first. He is not a walking dom for people to climb all over.

  006.   CONSENT IS KEY
I understand that everyone's characters are important to them, and the last thing I want to do is to force something you don't want upon your character. I will always make sure to check your comfort on things, as I want to be able to respect any boundaries that you have, and I ask that you do the same! If I have crossed a boundary, please let me know as soon as possible so I can avoid repeating the behaviour.  007.   I AM A REAL, LIVE PERSON
I am a queer, disabled writer. Sometimes I run out of spoons and I need to cancel and reschedule plans, tap out of sessions, or take a little longer to respond. I am currently dealing with a lot of IRL problems, and just ask that you be patient with me. I will extend the same courtesy to you.

NAME  Aki ImokawaNICKNAME/ALIAS  Kai / Sun / Ember / Flame / Firecracker / FlowerTITLES  Captain of the Hatsuzakura, Warrior of Light, SongbirdAGE  28DATE OF BIRTH  UNKNOWNGENDER & PRONOUNS  Male, he/himORIENTATION  Queer, PolyamorousRACE/ETHNICITY  Xaela / Au RaVOICE CLAIM  Howl Pendragon

  PHYSICAL   HEIGHT  8'4"HAIR  Black Fading Into RedEYES  Glassy, Mismatched Opal/RedPIERCINGS  Septum / Belly Button / More HiddenSCARS / TATTOOS / SCALES  Covered in Tattoos. Red and Black Scales that Burn and Crackle like Embers.BUILD  Slender, FitDISTINGUISHING FEATURES  Spiderweb-like Markings Spreading from his Left EyeAETHER 
Bountiful and volatile. Heavily aligned to fire. Radiates heat. Tastes of pomegranates. Focusing on it too much causes one to feel an aching sorrow for something just out of their reach.  MENTAL   TRAITS Hopeful, Loyal, Determined, Passionate, Stubborn, PossessiveALIGNMENT  Chaotic GoodNEURODIVERGENCES & DISORDERS 
- Depression
- OCD
- AnxietyLIKES  Whiskey, Cigarettes, His Darling Moon, Flowers, Leather, His Oddball CrewDISLIKES  Liars, Choccobos, Heights, Losing Control, Breaking Promises

  BACKGROUND   PARENTS 
- Unknown
- UnknownSIBLINGS 
- Kiyoko - DECEASEDSIGNIFICANT OTHERS 
- Jack Whimzee, Husband
- Clef Seagrazer, Boyfriend
- Dehvakul Orl, LoverCOMPANIONS  A Lone Pink ButterflyOCCUPATION  Bounty Hunter, Pirate Captain, Warrior of LightBIRTHPLACE  The High SeasRESIDENCE  The HatsuzakuraLANGUAGES  Eorzean, Hingan

  HOPE.    A fragile, flickering thing-- naive to some, futile to others-- yet for Aki, it is everything. It is the fire in his chest, the force that compels him ever forward, even when the world threatens to swallow him whole. He fights, not because he is fearless, but because he refuses to let despair win.This hope does not belong to him alone. It is woven from the love of those who have stood beside him, the echoes of their voices, the weight of their hands in his own.

He is an amalgamation of every kindness, every sacrifice, every moment of faith placed in him. And so, he will keep going-- because to falter would be to betray the very thing that makes him who he is.But hope is not a gentle thing.It is not soft, nor passive-- it is defiant. It is the stubborn refusal to kneel, the fierce belief that even the darkest night will yield to the rising sun.

Aki carries this hope not as a wish, but as a weapon, sharpened by every trial he has endured. He has been broken, beaten down, and left with nothing, yet he still rises, still reaches, still believes. Because as long as he breathes, there is a future waiting to be written-- and he will fight to see it.No matter what, you keep finding something to fight for.

soul survivor.

There are few who truly know the depths of Aki's past.Few who know that the man so fiercely filled with light and hope once believed himself to be nothing-- a tool, a beast, a monster meant only for destruction. Plucked from the streets of Limsa Lominsa, stripped of innocence, he was sculpted into a weapon to be wielded and discarded at his master’s whim. His days were spent in agony, his mind and body shattered beneath the hands of a madman, twisted into something unrecognizable. The boy he had been was buried beneath pain, his humanity left to rot in a cage of blood and chains.Yet, even in the darkest abyss, a single voice reached for him.Clef Seagrazer. Another lost soul ensnared in the Reapers’ grasp, but unlike Aki, he had not yet been completely broken. He saw the boy beneath the monster, the person beneath the pain. With careful precision, Clef wove a plan-- one that would see them flee into the night, dragging another of the Reapers' victims with them. But freedom did not mean escape from the past. They would always be marked, always be haunted by what had been done to them.For Aki, healing was not an easy path. The scars, both seen and unseen, ran too deep, and the nightmares clung to him like shackles that would never break. Yet, for the first time, there were hands reaching for him-- not to hurt, but to hold. There were voices speaking his name-- not as a command, but as something real, something his. And through them, through Clef, Aki began to stitch together the pieces of himself that had been torn apart.But the past could not be ignored. The wounds that had shaped him, the lives stolen, the light that he had lost-- he would not let them be forgotten. His healing did not mean surrender. No, deep within his chest, a flame began to burn once more. Hope. Small at first, flickering and fragile, but unwavering. If his life had been shaped by the cruelty of others, then he would reshape it with his own hands. And so, he sharpened his resolve.Revenge would come. And with it, justice for all that had been taken from him.

blood and bounty.

Years would pass, and the fire burning in Aki’s chest would only grow stronger.With the help of Clef and their fellow survivor, Deimos, the trio carved out a new existence, free from the chains that had bound them. But freedom alone was not enough-- not when their pasts still clung to their backs like ghosts. They needed direction, purpose. And so, they became bounty hunters, chasing down the wicked and turning their own suffering into something righteous.For Aki, every contract was a step forward, every hunt another piece of the puzzle. The skills beaten into him, the instincts honed through suffering, were repurposed into something greater. With each bounty collected, with each whispered name in the underbelly of the world, he gathered the information he needed. Contacts, manifests, trails of blood leading back to the man who had stolen everything from him-- their former captain, the serpent of the seas.During this time, Aki became more than just a survivor. He became a leader. The Captain of the Hatsuzakura. His ship became a haven for the lost, a sanctuary for those discarded by the world. Loners, freaks, outcasts-- anyone who had been robbed of home and hope found both beneath his flag. He gave them what Clef had once given him: the chance to reclaim themselves.And yet, revenge was still his guiding star.It was that hunt that brought him to Jack Whimzee.

a wilting rose.

At first, the viera was nothing more than another mark. A loose end, a weakness to exploit. Aki hunted him, cornered him, pressed him for information. But Jack was slippery, too clever to be caught. Again and again, he escaped, turning their deadly game into something neither expected.Because love never plays by the rules, does it?What began as pursuit turned into something else entirely. What began as pursuit became something else. In Jack, Aki saw something raw, something real. And despite Jack’s fierce loyalty to a crew that had long since abandoned him, Aki couldn’t ignore the spark between them.But their story was never meant to be simple.Jack still clung to the past, a thrall to the siren song of the Soul Reaper. So Aki chased him-- not just for revenge, but to save him. Across the seas, through fire and ruin, Aki fought for not just for justice, but for the man he had come to love.And then, as if the world had decided he still hadn’t suffered enough-- Caelus Oleander happened.A cruel experiment. A twisted curiosity. The doctor had always wanted to see what would happen when flesh met flame. Bound, reforged in the image of Ifrit, Aki crawled from the ashes of himself-- fire and fury made flesh.He had spent his life proving he was more than what had been done to him. And now? Every time he looked at his hands, he saw proof they were right all along.A monster.Yet Clef was there, ever his knight, helping him piece himself back together.
And in the end, he won. Jack was freed. Their old captain was no more. The past, at long last, was over.But what does a man do when the one thing driving him is gone?For the first time, Aki stood at the edge of his story, staring into the unknown. The revenge he had bled for, suffered for, lived for-- was done. The enemy was dead. The battle was over. And for the first time, he had no next move, no grand mission guiding him forward.For the first time, Aki was lost.

embers and ashes.

And so, Aki lived.But... he wasn’t supposed to. His story was meant to end with revenge. That had always been the plan-- cut off the head of the snake, burn away the past, and follow it into the dark. His life had never truly been his own, not since the day he was taken, not since the day they made him into something less than human. A tool, a monster, a weapon to be used. The only thing that had ever belonged to him was his vengeance, and once that was done-- once there was nothing left to chase-- what else was there? He should have died there, at the end of it all.And yet, he couldn’t do it. Not to Clef. Not to Deimos. Not to Jack.So Aki lived. And in doing so, he found himself lost in a way he never had been before. For the first time, there was no battle ahead, no war to wage. The fire in his chest, once so sure, flickered uncertainly. His hands, made for fighting, grasped at nothing. And worse-- he had time to think. Time to see himself without the haze of revenge to keep him blind. Time to feel the weight of everything that had been taken from him.And as Aki fought to hold himself together, the one person who was supposed to stand beside him was slipping through his fingers.Jack had always a survivor first, a husband second. That was the way of things. Aki had known this. Had loved him despite it. Had chased him across the seas for it. But he thought-- hoped-- that now, after everything, they were past that. He was wrong. And Aki let it slide, over and over again, until the day Jack's life hung in the balance.Jack was slipping through his grasp, and Aki-- without hesitation, without thinking-- gave up his sight to bring him back. A decision made in a heartbeat. An act of love, given freely.

flower in requiem.

But even that-- even that-- was nothing compared to the final wound.Because Aki had spent his life chasing ghosts, fighting shadows, burning his soul away in pursuit of vengeance-- only to find that his husband, the man he had bled for, had feelings for the very monster that had ruined everything.Caelus.The man who had broken him, who had twisted his mind, who had turned him into a beast and set him loose. And Jack loved him.Aki could forgive a lot of things. He could withstand betrayal, he could survive heartbreak, he could endure every scar and every sin that had been carved into his body and his soul. But this? This threatened to break him.For the first time in his life, he did not know how to move forward. Did not know how to hold all of this pain in his hands without letting it consume him. He had built his world around love-- love for Clef, for his crew, for Jack. He had given everything for it. And now, as he stood at the edge of this betrayal, he could not tell if that love would be enough to save him. Or if this was the thing that would finally destroy him.There is one man, though, who has stood by his side through it all-- who has always been there to put him back together when everything falls apart. Clef. And Aki can no longer deny the feelings he’s tried to bury for years.Now, he stands at a crossroads. Torn between the love he’s built, the ghosts that haunt him, and an uncertain future stretching before him. Does he let the phantoms of his past dictate his path? Or, for the first time in his life… does he finally get to write his own story?

  JACK WHIMZEE    —  carrd
Loving Husband    Not even in death will we part.  CLEF SEAGRAZER  
First Mate & Boyfriend.    The man who shields
his flame.  DEIMOS NIGHTSHADE    
Friend, Confidant, Survivor    Healing touch
and soothing words.  NIMBUS STARSHOWER 
Old Friend & Newfound Kin.    Protector of what
was lost.

  KIYOKO IMOKAWA    
Fallen Star.    A flower plucked before its time.  CAELUS OLEANDER    —  carrd
Ghost of the Past    Harbinger of Pain,
Begrudging Metamour.  AMASAR AGNAR    
Enacted Revenge.    Cut off the head of the snake and the body will die

  THYME NIGHTINGALE    
Metamour.    A face of the moon's past.  DEHVAKUL ORL    —  carrd
Gentle Lover.    The shining stars in the dark of night.  DEHKU'TO ORL    —  carrd
Friend & Confidant.    One of few to earn the
sun's trust  CIREN FAEA    —  carrd
Friend & Confidant    A butterfly to guide
and to shelter.

  JACK WHIMZEE    —  carrd
The man Aki loves like no other-- though they did not start that way. Jack was supposed to be nothing more than a target, a step toward Aki's revenge. But sparks flew, flames kindled, and Jack showed him that to be known is to be loved. They have bled, suffered, and sacrificed for each other, defying fate time and time again. Yet, the bitter sting remains-- Jack is torn between the unwavering love of his husband and the siren call of a past he can’t seem to escape.

  CLEF SEAGRAZER    
The first to see Aki as a person, not a monster. Clef has always been the one to pick up Aki’s broken pieces, to stand by his side when no one else would. Together, they survived hell aboard the Soul Reaper, and in the years that followed, Clef’s loyalty became Aki’s foundation. He was the first to earn Aki’s trust, the first to never leave-- and the first man Aki ever loved. Now, bound by history and heart, they sail forward with a ship and crew to call their own.

  CAELUS OLEANDER    —  carrd
The phantom of his past, a shadow he cannot outrun. From Aki’s abduction onto the Soul Reaper to the monstrous experiment that twisted him beyond recognition, Caelus was always pulling the strings. Now, he lingers in Haukke Manor, leading his Flock in a mission shrouded in secrecy—one that has caught Jack’s attention. Offering power Aki’s husband desperately craves, Caelus has once again found a way to worm his influence into Aki’s life. Will Aki find peace with the man who haunts his nightmares, or lose the one he loves most to him?

  DEHVAKUL ORL    —  carrd
The one who got too close-- and paid the price. Caught in the crossfire of Aki’s past, Dehvakul was taken, tormented, and forever changed by Caelus' cruel experiments. Twisted by the essence of Garuda, he and Aki endured the agony of transformation together, their suffering forging an unbreakable bond. Now, in Dehvakul, Aki has found a lover, a kindred soul-- someone who has seen his darkest days, knows his deepest scars, and still chooses to love him, again and again.

  DEHKU'TO ORL    —  carrd
The steadfast anchor in Aki’s life, unwavering even in the storm. Bound by times of laughter and loyalty, Dehku'to has been Aki’s closest friend, standing by his side through every high and low. But friendship with Aki means facing the shadows of his past, and Dehku was no exception-- caught, broken, and scarred by the same phantom that haunts Aki. Yet even now, he remains a voice of reason amid the chaos, urging Aki to see the truth: that he deserves more than the pain Jack leaves behind.

  CIREN FAEA    —  carrd
The one who has seen Aki’s soul and pulled him from the abyss. Somehow, when the weight of his burdens grows too heavy, Aki always finds his way to Ciren. She is a quiet solace, a steady presence, and in her, he sees echoes of the light stolen from him so long ago. Alongside her ever-loyal charge, Brisket, Ciren has carved out a place in Aki’s heart-- helping to mend wounds left untended, whether she means to or not.