🧁Writing a Pre-Canon Smut One-Shot: What I've Tried and Other Commentary

[g_uava]

Here, the Ryusoulger pre-canon smut one-shot that I've written after about nine weeks of writing drabbles exclusively. Both my story and this post contains spoilers for the show and the show's prequel The Legacy of The Master's Soul.

Before, I wrote only drabbles about Kamen Rider Ex-Aid and when I no longer wanted to write drabbles, I moved on from writing about the show altogether. Finishing my latest one-shot got me out of the rut of writing with a word limit and extend the story for as long as I want.

Having said that, I did keep some constraints in mind to reserve my energy for other non-writing creative projects. I wanted to complete my one-shot within a handful of writing sessions to not have to rearrange my routine around getting it written in a timely fashion, which I would have done for a story that's bound to be 10k words or longer.

Creating 'exit doors' to potentially end the story at each transition

As I got to each transition in the one-shot, I created an 'exit door' for myself. An exit door allows me to stop writing the story if I want to and post all or a part of what has been written. It's a concept inspired by my historical fencing training, especially fitting as Ryusoulger is the dino and knights Sentai.

For fighting with sword and buckler (shield), the historical fencing books introduce 'plays' that are a sequence of attacks and counters done by a pair of fencers that continue until one fencer has landed the finishing blow on the other fencer. Andre Lignitzer's Play 04 in particular allows a fencer to 'finish' their opponent at four different points in the sequence and essentially ending the play. Likewise, I can end my story through creating multiple exit doors. I thought up the strategy for reducing the stress of having to write a story that just goes on and on after having abandoned the draft of a novel-length fic about Crush Gear Turbo earlier in 2025. For that draft, it'd be more trouble than it's worth to select potentially self-contained chunks of story rather than to reimagine some of its ideas in a more compressed and concise form.

The narrator providing the 'outsider's perspective'

Aside from the parts with just Melto and Asuna, Melto provides an 'outsider's perspective' on the other relationships going on around him. It was interesting for me to weave the outsider's perspective trope into what's largely a shipfic since usually, fics centering on this trope just has a character 'outside' the main ship comment on the dynamics of the main ship. I wanted to have Melto comment on how other characters in the Ryusoul Tribe relate to each other and how that influences what he thinks and does.

I also wanted to explore Melto always being a bit of an outsider even if he becomes the ultimate 'insider' in the Ryusoul Tribe through taking on the title of RyusoulBlue. My recent viewing of the show has got me noticing that Melto has quite a bit in common with those who have left the community of the tribe, yet remains dedicated to supporting others of his kind.

A crucial part of the Ryusoul Tribe's history involves not just its members leaving their village, but also then going all the way to outer space. I alluded to the Ryusoul Tribe's spacefaring potential in the stargazing that happens towards the end of my one-shot. I thought about emphasising more the parallels between Melto and his ancestral outsiders, but since the show itself makes no big deal out of Ryusoul Tribe members leaving their home planet, I've stuck to having my story also take a light approach to how far the Ryusoul Tribe members could go after leaving their village.

The senior disciples' effect on their juniors

I wrote about Mayu and Isuka, who only appear in the Ryusoulger prequel, not only to flesh out their characters but also to develop how they've affected Melto and Asuna as senior disciples and rivals for succeeding their teachers' titles. The Ryusoul Tribe's senior disciples interest me for having the potential to become either a mentor or anti-mentor to the Ryusoulgers, unlike their teachers who are straightforwardly put in the role of mentors. Mayu is also like a mentor to Melto and Isuka acts as Asuna's anti-mentor, while in the show itself, Nada acts as Koh's anti-mentor and as Towa's mentor in taking the place of the departed Master Green.

Of all the senior disciples, only Nada gets to play a significant role in the main story, which more directly affects the development of Koh, Towa and Bamba. It has been fruitful to continue developing Melto and Asuka through their interactions with Mayu and Isuka, who are in a sense their Nada.

A trio without all three childhood friends

What's also interesting is having Melto seriously consider Isuka becoming the next RyusoulPink instead of Asuna. If he's to work with her and Koh to fulfill his duties, he couldn't base his projection of his future on his familiarity with Koh and Asuna, so he turns to trying to emulate Master Blue like in his training as he's shown to do in the prequel. That gets him to begin seeing his mentor as a person, which mirrors the prequel's resolution in having Master Red and his former senior disciple Nire reveal the failings of their old mentor. But in my one-shot, I didn't have Melto actually try to get to know better Master Blue and Master Blue's dynamics with his own teammates because Melto flinches from showing vulnerability.

What I've learnt about writing Melto/Asuna specifically

I'm still working out my ideas of the Ryusoul Tribe's treatment of sexuality. For my one-shot, I wanted Melto and Asuna to treat sex as natural while no less meaningful, and a means for them to become closer without necessarily changing the nature of their relationship. Meaning that I don't see that sleeping together would lead them to begin imagining a shared future as a monogamous couple. Basically, I'm presenting their romance as having a vaguely polyamorous basis without having polyamory be central to the story's premise, just to have it focus on them without alluding that they're also getting it on with Koh or anyone else in the village.

While Melto is a bit of an outsider, Asuna is the opposite who's effortlessly likeable to others. Melto appreciates Asuna's likeability, unlike Isuka who resents it for seeming as effortless and unearned as Asuna's incredible physical strength. Reflecting on Asuna's strengths got me thinking of the pairing between 'insider' and 'mentor', as opposed to 'outsider' and 'anti-mentor'. Mentors shape the beliefs and practices of future generations, whereas anti-mentors are cut off from their community's unfolding history altogether. It's then especially apt that Asuna's the one who opened a school in their village at the show's end.

Melto's small bottles for flavouring food

I thought up this detail after initially thinking that all the roast boar in the Asterix comics looked really tasty until it struck me that the meat isn't seasoned with anything. I only got the idea to have the Ryusoulgers carry around oil for cooking/eating/makeshift lube but after getting into the habit of preparing and dressing salads in the years since I first wrote about the show.