Reika - Blog Posts

Repeating my ArtFight comment more or less, but she looks gorgeous! This made me so happy, thank you so much!

revenge of Reika for Nyktoon!

[art-only version - original inspiration here! Thanks @ieyasuwu and @rimalupin !]

Can we get Kennyo's face when receiving a surprise hug from his son Ranbabu or Reika (or both lol since this is just his expression, this is just unnecessary backstory tbh) cuz I really need to see him in A1 cuz cuddles and human feels still take a while to process :')

It’s not exactly the same expression, but I hope you like it! :’D

OC Week Day 4: How would they react to being mugged?

alk;jsdkfljklasdf in all likelihood, if they just want money, she would give up her coinpurse.

But there are situations where she would use Surprise Knife, and she has some smokebombs, caltrops, and other ninja goodies from Ranmaru and Sasuke in case she needs to make a getaway. :3c

OC Week Day 5: Who is their partner in crime? (non-romantic)

“sometimes you just need a pal to commit crimes with. time to get up to some shenanigans!”

Reika and Ranmaru do a lot of looking out for one another. It’s Ranmaru who first begins to teach Reika how to physically protect herself after she arrives in the Sengoku, and it’s Reika that Ranmaru can confide in about the strain of his dual loyalties. Do they get up to crimes? It’s a secret!!! >u>

One of the fun things about this OC week is that I’m using the opportunity to play with different coloring styles / brushes each time, and it has been a ton of fun~!

OC WEEK DAY 3: How does your character flirt? :3c

Reika’s flirting is, perhaps, rather typical. She expresses interest by being straightforwardly positive:

“It’s nice to see you~”

“That was impressive.”

“Thank you for spending time with me. It means a lot.”

And by paying careful attention to her object-of-affection’s mood, interests, etc. etc. and checking in with them about those things.

Granted, she acts this way towards most everyone she’s on good terms with, so it’s the very direct, warm eye-contact and gentle tone of voice that is intended to be ~meaningful.~ If she’s more confident about the other party being interested, there will be lingering glances, secret smiles, and the occasional touch on an arm or shoulder. :3c And then she’ll probably just tell them that she admires them a lot and would like to be closer – probably taking their hand and stepping very close when she does so >u>

OC Week Day 1: Ishikawa Reika

Introductions

Reika is a 28-year-old, fourth-generation Japanese American who grew up in a predominantly white town. Reconnecting with her Japanese roots and finding a sense of home has been a lifelong journey, the most recent step of which was moving to Japan for her work as an educational psychologist. 

Unfortunately, she didn’t have much time to adjust to her new cultural surroundings before a misadventure – involving a calico cat in traffic, a grad student at a historical monument, and a storm – flung her 500 years into the past.

It’s not a happy arrival, and it takes some time for Reika to warm up to her captors in Azuchi. However, in general, Reika comes across as friendly and easy-going, quick to smile and thoughtful in conversation. While she’s happy to play the role of a humble and somewhat eccentric scholar, at her core is an iron sense of ethics that can propel her into conflict.

Reika is intent on returning home through the wormhole. Though she lacks an internal sense of home, she’s keenly aware on the effect her disappearance will have on the people who care about her, and she is determined not to leave them in grief and uncertainty.

Symbols: Rivers, Ink, & Dandelion Seeds

[Take a browse through my #Reika tag for more art, including commissioned works and picrews with links, and a scattering of writing snippets. :3c ]

[EDIT: almost forgot!! dandelion background comes from here ]

“You know what’s better than sex? Crying”

-Kennyo

:O

Jcjdjcjjf just playing around with style and photoshop brushes and I feel like it came out cute

And I kept telling myself I was gonna fix some things on this one up:

But I’ve put it off forever and I don’t think I actually ever will so hERE IT IS anyway

Quick concept sketch designing Reika’s party clothes / Sengoku-formal-wear for the birthday pic :3c I think I’m overall happy with the ideas here, though the colors are just a placeholder for now X3

lalala~ just noodling around

Inktober 02 - Tranquility

aka Nyk is a really messy artist who can’t make decisions! Awkward filter? Natural paper color with the yellow lighting in my apartment? Greyscaled??? :THONK:

Anyway it was fun, I hope you enjoy~! [blease click through for better quality!]

Some OCs are into kabedon. And some OCs

Reika might be a little startled

When you’re trying to write a fic and the characters just

Happy Valentine’s Day, Reika~ [for the last 10 minutes of it, hahahaha]

scrapped work: Reika mock anime opening

This is from summer 2018, very early in the development of Reika and her story. A lot has changed in the conceptualization of her character and her “route” with Kennyo, so to speak, but I’m wheezing reading this and I think it’s funny enough to post, even though it’s scrapped. I think I was just playing around, doing something fun to get a start on the project, so I wrote this as if it was the opening of an anime 😂

[Exterior Shot: As if from the ground, looking up at a wide blue sky with a few thin clouds as a plane crosses far above]

[Interior Shot: Inside the plane]

Reika looks out the plane window with a bright, hopeful smile. She glances down to her phone, and sends a messge–“Yeah, I’m reading it (laughing emoji)”–before pulling up the digital copy of A Traveler’s Guide to Japan’s Hottest Warlords

[Voiceover]

“My name is Ishikawa Reika, 27 years old and single, blood-type O, born in the United States.”

[Exterior Shot: Kyoto University]

Reika stands before the iconic camphor tree and clock tower, one hand holding the extended handle of her “teacher” suitcase, the other shielding her eyes from the sun as she looks up at the tree with a smile.

[Voiceover]

“A few months ago, I moved to Kyoto to finally begin my dream of teaching English to students at the university. As the child of immigrants, I also wanted to get closer to my heritage.”

[Interior Shot: at Nobunaga’s memorial stone]

Reika walks inside the small shrine, looking at the engraved stone with a more curious/solemn expression.

[Voiceover]

“But this might be…”

[Exterior Shot: Azuchi town]

Reika, on Masamune’s horse and flanked by Hideyoshi, stares up at Azuchi castle in the distance, clearly mortified.

[Voiceover]

“…too close.”

[Roll Opening Credits]

OC Week Day 2: ReiKenn

From the prompt: “Who is your OC paired with romantically? Tell us what made your OC fall for them! Or maybe what annoying habits their partner has that they could definitely live without!”

Reika and Kennyo have a slowburn romance – Kennyo is still in the midst of grieving heavily for his friends, families, and followers, and Reika has learned over the years that deep heartbreak is not the healthiest soil to plant a romantic relationship. Besides, she needs to get home so her own friends and family don’t mourn her disappearance for any longer than she can help. 1582 is just not the right time.

But Kennyo is the first truly safe person she meets in the Sengoku and her liberator from Azuchi. So while sticking with him seems like the best bet for survival, her curious and humanitarian nature also can’t help but want to untangle the crossed threads of Kennyo’s current beliefs and sense of self. 

It’s hard not to fall in love with a man so gentle, brave, and generous. At the same time, it’s painful to fall in love with a man hellbent on destroying himself.

And she’s not the pure woman that he first believes her to be, either. Reika would kill to save a life and believe it’s the right thing to do.

The two must learn to navigate their clashing convictions and question what they truly desire, while the machinations of war escalate and the clock ticks down to the wormhole’s return.

-

Unfortunately, I only have a one-off fic of them so far |D;;; But you can read the story [ “A Half-Finished Bridge” ] here on tumblr or on AO3.

I also have had the honor of working with a lot of wonderful artists for commissions and requests, so you can see a lot more of these two being goobers on my #Kennyo x Reika tag X3

The top images are originally from a comic I did here~