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#I also realized as I was finishing it that I might have interpreted the head shape wrong
usoppsstar · 6 months
Note
Idk if your requests are open or not (sorry if they are) but can I ask for either nsfw with buggy or law who just detaches their dick when they can't bring y/n with them?
(This is also my first time requesting 😞)
When they detach their dick to give to you🍌🍌🍌
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Pairings: Op men x f! Reader
Characters: Buggy, Law
Tw: Explicit content/Explicit smut( kinda) Masturbation(m! and f! Receiving)/Oral sex( m! Receiving)/Semi- public sex( cuz buggy and law are around people)/ Crocodile and Mihawk are mentioned; Ageless blogs do not interact
Notes: Thank you so much for requesting!;This is the short/headcannon version, I plan on posting oneshots for each of them later; Buggy's is a little longer than Law's but hopefully they're both equally horny; Still really new to writing smut, please keep that in mind;I used bananas cuz they're cuter than eggplants;as always, this is proofread but there may still be mistakes🍌🍌🍌
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🍌Buggy
Gives it to you easily
He's hesitant at first because he has a meeting with Crocodile and Mihawk,but starts feeling arrogant and decides to give it to you anyway
He's definitely confident that the stimulation will be nothing to him and looks forward to you being nice and needy for him once he gets back to the ship, ready for the real thing
He's feeling less cocky though when instead of using him to play with yourself, you decide to give him the best head he's ever had.
He's biting his lip and suppressing his groans like his life depends on it( it might actually depend on it, knowing how the two former warlords can get when angry) While you suck on him.
He can't help but wonder why you're so eager today. It was obvious by how wet it all felt and the frequent vibrations that were running through him, that you were drooling and moaning around him like you're in heat. You had given him head before but never like this. He can't help but feel a little disappointed that he can't buck into your mouth, but you were taking care of that for him just fine.
On your end, you hadn't originally intended to suck the soul out of your Captain's cock, but once you held him in your hand,you couldn't help but think about that fact that Buggy had left you alone with his dick to do whatever you pleased. The realization made your mouth water.
You slobber and swallow on his dick until he inevitably cums down your throat. He can't help but let out a deep groan this time, and once he's done he can only hope that his company interprets it as a painful one.
Unfortunately the two warlords did hear, but before they can question him, he gets a call from you, a very needy call asking for him to come back to the ship and "finish" things, a request the rings clearly through his transponder snail for all the men in the room, leaving buggy to stare at the other two pirates in shock, waiting for their response.
After he's silently dismissed by Crocodile, Buggy takes off towards his ship , leaving the two warlords to sit in a pissed off and horny silence, now sporting matching hard-ons.
•••🍌•••
🍌Law
Thinks you're just messing with him again until you tell him that you mean it
At first he was against it, not trusting you to be mature and responsible with one of his organs, but after you promise not to mess with it or prank him, he gives you permission.
He won't let you keep it for very long but he'll give it to you for some self-care while the crew docks and everyone else gets supplies, making sure you have the ship and his room to yourself.
Even though he had discussed a lot of things with you, somehow he had overlooked one really important thing,how he'd be affected while you're busy using his….."piece".
His legs get weak in the middle of the market when you first slide his tip against your pussy to get it nice and wet.
He's actually able to hold it together well enough while you grind on him, or grind him on you( he can't really tell) not being very vocal anyway, only a few hisses under his breath whenever his tip would bump against your clit. It isn't until you finally slide him inside you that he knows he's in for it.
Law has no way to stop you or tell you to slow down when you start to roughly stuff his dick in and out of you. It's not like you had any idea, you were too busy in your own fucked out little world, trying to cum and imagining he's there with you.
Law eventually has to make his way to an Alley, ignoring Bepo and Penguin's questions and comments about how flushed his face is and how hard he's breathing, and wait for you to finish, moaning into his fist the entire time. Not being able to help imagining what you must look like right now. Is your chest pressed against the bed, hips in the air? Or are you on your back with your pretty legs spread wide?
It isn't until you come down from your high and actually process the cum dripping down your thighs that you realize you just made Law ejaculate in the middle of the market.
You were going to be in trouble when he gets back.
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A/n: First on the agenda: Apologies for taking so long to respond to this! I did not forget about your request tho, as you can see! I've actually been working on it since I got it but was having trouble finishing it until I just decided to stop stressing and write it lol. I'm really glad your first request was with me and I hope you enjoy this one enough to come back again! This actually turned out pretty smutty for me, I hope y'all feel the same! Thank you @cafekitsune for the lovely mdni banner.
Thanks for reading!🍌🍌🍌
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304 notes · View notes
naomihatake · 5 months
Text
In search of freedom (Ch. 7)
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7. What do you wish for?
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⠀⠀➺ fic masterlist
⠀⠀➺ Chapter 6 ; Chapter 7 ; Chapter 8
⠀⠀⠀⠀She's been searching for freedom her entire life and everytime she thought it was laying right in front of her eyes, she was mistaken. She was running around the East Blue, seeking herself and her dreams, meeting people she never forgot. No matter how much she traveled, she could only catch a glimpse of peace before realizing everything would crumble at her feet.
⠀⠀⠀⠀Maybe it was destiny that brought her on that ship with three strangers — foolishly, that's what she tried to believe when the moon shined beautifully and hope settled in her chest, squeezed by the same ribcage where feelings were blooming.
Pairing: female!reader x OPLA Zoro Roronoa
Warnings for this chapter: angst, graphic depictions of deaths and fatal wounds, self-harm, brief suicidal mention, canon-typical violence, tiny bit comfort at the end
Word count: 8,4 k
Theme song: fic spotify playlist (click on the link)
A/N: I'm glad I could finish the chapter so early and there are some scenes in here that I really loved writing. Also, I want you to pay close attention to the fight Witch has with the fishman. The anime watchers and manga readers that got far enough with One Piece will probably get it faster ;)
I'd be happy to hear your opinions on this chapter. Every interaction is appreciated and thank you so much for sticking to this story till now <3
The reader is referred to as "Witch" because I have no intentions of using "Y/N".
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"What is your dream?"
While she would've rather expected that question to come from Luffy, the tipsy Zoro by her side, leaned against the mast, seemed to be rather intrigued by her reasons to remain with Luffy. 
When she turned her head towards him, one of her suppositions was proved to be right: the stars above shone beautifully, but nothing could compare to the swordsman's brown eyes. In the dark, his dark chocolate irises were swallowed by pupils dark as the depths of the oceans. No. Dark and beautiful as the night sky she teared her gaze away from. 
Her silence could've been interpreted in many ways and Zoro might become suspicious, but his already flushed state seemed to swallow everything in. He only looked back at her. 
The witch couldn't exactly spot the specific aura of his gaze. He wasn't only flushed because of the alcohol, no. He seemed… soft, even. His shoulders were relaxed and the grip on the empty bottle loosened up. 
His question was simply something she didn't expect, as he was always down to earth, similarly to Nami. However, there was a tiny difference — he proudly admitted he wanted to become the strongest swordsman in the world. 
"I—," the word left her lips like a mere whisper. 
Her determination faltered under the weight of the alcohol. Until that moment, after sharing some ugly parts of her past, his remarks made her laugh and chuckle happily. 
"I want to be free."
One simple wish that could have so many connotations. 
"I don't see any rope around your wrists."
His voice was like a low rumble coming from the depths of his chest, such a pleasant and soothing sound. 
Their eye contact didn't break. Their gazes were locked together and she couldn't bring herself to be mad about it, especially when she was drunk enough to let vulnerable sides of her poor soul see the light of the stars. 
Faint, shy, but it was there. 
"I want to be free from myself and the expectations everyone has of me," she clarified. "Free from the rules of the world, written or unwritten. Free from the Marines that are now on my tail."
"Why did you become a pirate if you wanted to be free from the Navy?" 
"The sea always looked like a place where I could be free," she admitted with a weak voice. The same tiny voice her younger self used to have when dreaming of a future. 
Zoro knitted his eyebrows together and blinked, staring at the small beauty mark on her face he just noticed. He seemed deep in thought or rather trying to figure out the meaning of her words. 
He was rarely so concentrated outside of critical situations like fights. 
"Are you free now, then?" 
With a gulp, she shook her head. 
"No." 
One word. One heavy weight on her soul. 
"How do you wanna be free?" came another question from the swordsman. 
"I have no clue."
The cage around her was a metaphor. She always felt like iron bars squeezed her tighter and tighter, until she broke down, a situation that occurred only a few times a year and was always hidden from prying eyes. 
Realistically, there was no free place in that world. The Marine wasn't by any means as righteous as they wanted to look like and they were certainly not saviors. Of course, there were plenty of pirates that did nothing else but harm everyone and everything they laid eyes on. Some of them had ugly souls, dark and dirtied by greed. 
However, there were plenty of people that were so-called pirates and yet never harmed unless they had to protect someone. Like Luffy or Usopp. They never took anyone's life. 
Like her father. 
She wasn't one of those pirates. The witch has killed people, even if never solely for blood thirst. Or, at least, not yet. She deserved to die, to never see the light of a new day. 
A personal justice system — that's what she's always had, that's what she grew to learn about from the crew she left barely a year ago. 
Deep down, she knew she would never be free. There was no liberty for a monster. 
When she looked at Zoro, she also wanted him to taste freedom on his tongue. Maybe he already knew what that felt like. 
If she couldn't find her own freedom, she could settle for protecting her friends' freedom. That would be more than enough, right? 
"Aren't you at fault for your own lack of freedom?" Zoro pulled her out of her thoughts. 
His question might've sounded as insensitive and accusing, but she was aware the swordsman didn't mean it that way. He always had his own way with words and, unfortunately, he got misinterpreted most of the time. 
He was simply stating a probable truth. 
Then I suppose I should get rid of my—
No. There was no time to think of such things, even if she was drunk and vulnerable. Admitting that to his face would be shameful of her. 
Maybe she wasn't that ready to share secrets yet, was she? 
"I most probably am," the witch whispered as she averted her eyes back to the sky splattered with stars. "At the end of the day, I'm the only one taking into account what others say and how they affect me." 
She didn't know exactly how to pursue freedom, but she was certain of something else: if that beautiful future stood in front of her, Zoro was probably one of the ways to find out. 
•┈┈┈•┈┈┈•┈┈┈•
The witch wasn't able to find freedom if she died at that moment, with the blue hand of a fishman gripping at her throat. There was a lingering ache at the crown of her head from when he pushed her against the wall. 
Her eyes squeezed shut while life seemed to slip from her hold, the same way her fingers lost their force while clutching onto the fishman's forearm. She had to find a way to get out of there, to breathe, because her lungs were already begging for some oxygen. Her vision was getting blurry and the pain in her entire throat spread like fire through her body. 
Maybe it was because of her hyper-aware state, but she could swear the wound on her bicep was bloody again considering the sharp pain shooting through her arm. 
No. There was no time to die and beg for forgiveness — and whose forgiveness could she ask for if she stays alive? Exactly. No one's. 
The witch didn't know if she breathed in air or it just felt awfully familiar to that sensation, but her lungs suddenly swallowed something fresh and powerful. It ate the pain hungrily, destroying every doubt in her mind the more she thought of her promises, of the corpse of a father who still whispered in her dreams "go find your freedom".
The grip on the fishman's arm grew tighter, stronger, until her nails dug into the scales and penetrated them. Her fingers ached, the skin around her nails scratched harshly by the sharp broken scales. Fresh blood surfaced. 
Her eyes opened up slowly, burning with each one of her promises, this time including her own — If I can't find freedom, I'll make it. 
Every nerve in her body burnt and she tasted drugs on the tip of her tongue, an addiction threatening to clutch onto her and take control. 
Power. 
The witch has never been one to love power, to ache for it and yet, there she was, with a devil-like grin growing on her face. 
Power. 
It ate her alive and she loved that sensation. The steadiness of her heartbeats, the cage of ribs that broke to make place for that overwhelming feeling. 
Power will never take control of me. 
Her eyes bore holes through the fishman's entire being. There was no need for her revolver when two shining irises had the same effect. 
Her vision and mind has never been clearer. 
The fishman was struck. A weight settled on his shoulders, pulling him down, doubts flickering in his head. 
Claws sank into his eyes, into his face and throat, clutching at his heart, threatening to pull it out of his chest. 
The fishman stumbled and dropped her. 
His strong grip on her throat left blooming red marks. They were ugly and her neck felt tender, but her nerves didn't register the pain properly because of the adrenaline running through her veins. 
The witch immediately took the opportunity, despite the lack of air in her lungs. She crouched down to take her gun, but before she could shoot again, a loud sound got her attention. 
The door of the restaurant broke at the floor underneath her when Luffy got thrown right into it by Arlong.
On the side of the stairs where Usopp crawled down was Sanji struggling to get back up after he cracked his back at the harsh contact with a table. 
People were hiding under chairs and bars from the fishmen's wrath. 
Her anger was fueled by each single detail. One of her shoulders felt light, while the other was heavy. The monster lurking inside her had one eye open — the same one that pushed her to cuss out Mihawk back when Zoro got a cut through his chest. The same monster she wouldn't trade anything for, because wrath has always been her forte. 
The small flame of revenge started burning in the pits of her stomach. Steadily. Still vague, easy to control. 
She ran down the stairs and passed by Usopp, who was at that moment helping Sanji get on his feet. The witch got out of Baratie, suddenly stopping in her tracks when she saw Arlong standing a few meters in front of her. 
That fucker—
Luffy shouted something along the lines of Gum Gum and she knew that was his fight to deal with. 
However, it was a fight she didn't know if he would win at that time, considering the way Arlong only turned his head to the side when he got punched in the face by Luffy's fists. The fishman spat blood on the wooden floor while he stepped closer and closer to the Straw Hat. 
In a fraction, the punch Luffy received sent him flying in the sails of a boat and he fell down with a thud, grunting. It was stupid of him to provoke Arlong further, but Luffy has never been to give up or let his enemies feel the satisfaction of a victory without a proper fight. 
The witch wondered if her captain didn't break a rib or two after being punched and thrown around for so long. He still had the energy to throw his fists into Arlong's face with all he's got, using his rubber arms to attack from meters away. 
His Devil Fruit powers were definitely the only reason why he was alive. 
But not for much longer. 
Arlong muttered something with a growl and once he sank his hand in the water, the witch knew it wasn't going to end well. 
The fishman didn't just splash Luffy; no, he soaked the Straw Hat to the bone and the hit with both sea water and brute force got Luffy to the ground. It was his biggest weakness. 
The witch's eyes widened when she saw Arlong grabbing at Luffy's shirt and lifting him in the air, opening his mouth to reveal razor-sharp teeth. 
Her feet carried her for only a second and she almost shouted out for Luffy out of despair — she would rather be stabbed in the stomach countless times than feel helpless again. Out of instinct, the hand holding the gun raised, aiming at—
"Arlong, wait!" 
Nami. 
The witch snapped her head towards her friend. 
The orange-haired woman stomped her feet and came, leaving the Going Merry behind her. The tank-top she wore exposed a strange old tattoo on her left shoulder. She was clutching tightly onto a thin and long cylinder. 
"I have it," she addressed Arlong. "I have the map." 
The map. 
"I got it for you, just like I said I would."
The witch blinked away the confusion that almost made her hazy and stepped in front of Nami, stopping her from moving forward. 
"Nami," the witch knitted her eyebrows together. "What's going on?" 
Nami's eyes held no clear emotion besides a flicker of anger. 
"Exactly what you knew all along."
It was one of those times when the witch wished her tarot was wrong. 
She shook her head, one of her hands gripping at Nami's wrist. 
"Nami," the witch squeezed her friend's hand tighter, scared it would slip from between her fingers. 
"Let go."
Nami snatched her arm out of the witch's hold and her jaw ticked. She wasn't only annoyed, there had to be more in her eyes. 
"You cannot possibly tell me you want to do this," the witch insisted, stepping even closer, until she was one breath away from the navigator. 
Their intense gazes clashed together and none of them let the walls fall. 
"But here I am, ain't I?" Nami cocked an eyebrow. 
When the orange-haired passed by, her shoulder collided harshly with the witch's who was still stuck in place. 
No fucking way. 
The witch needed time to think, she had to search for some clarification with her tarot cards. She needed more time to read the energy, to figure out the situation, to understand what, where, why and when. Nothing made sense and time passed by so fast she couldn't even process it all. 
Luffy was so disoriented he didn't even pour enough force in his hands to get rid of Arlong's grip on the collar of his shirt. 
"Nami?" he firmly spoke. "What are you doing?"
"I tried to tell you, Luffy," Nami continued walking towards him. "I was never on Your crew. I only joined up with you so I could steal the map." 
"I don't believe that," Luffy denied. 
"That's because you only believe what you want to believe. Doesn't make it true."
Nami, for fuck's sake, we both know you're lying—
The witch opened her mouth, ready to argue, to yell from the top of her lungs, but with one glance thrown to Arlong, she stopped. Saying the wrong thing might get Nami in great danger and she might lose credibility in front of him. 
"Sister Nami's a loyal member of the Arlong Pirates," Arlong started speaking, pointing with his chin towards the one in question. "She has been for years."
The witch didn't know why she still protected Nami, but she was certainly not going to give up on her friend at that time. 
Nami shoved the map in Arlong's nose to get his attention to her — or maybe the witch has gotten to another level of delusion. 
"Why waste your time killing a Devil Fruit eater?" Nami reminded the fishman as if it wasn't a death sentence. "Let the sea do it for you."
"Nami, this is too far, cut the crap—" the witch revolted immediately. 
Before she could make any step towards Luffy, she was grabbed by the back of her neck and launched into the wall of Baratie with sheer force — it was one of Arlong's asshole crewmates. She groaned in pain and squeezed her eyes. The shoulder she fell on sent sharp spikes through the entire left side of her body. 
She cussed out, struggling to get back to her feet when Arlong let Luffy drown in the sea. The witch let out a shout of the Straw Hat's name and one of her knees betrayed her, resulting in another unceremonious fall to the ground. 
Lucky for her, an arm curled around her front to help her up, a silver ring resting on the finger of the man. 
"Luffy fell in the water, go now!" she didn't even wait to be properly raised to her feet to urge Sanji to jump. 
Her aching body and the lack of strength wouldn't help her get Luffy out of the sea. She didn't even clearly notice when the cook left her side and jumped into the sea, too caught up in the agitation inside of her. Events passed by her faster than light. All she saw was a discarded shirt. 
She wasn't sure because of what powers she managed to walk on the deck, at the edge where the other two should appear from under the water. Her head turned when she recognized Usopp from her peripherals.
"Luffy?" he asked, panic building up as his hands shook. 
The witch would have responded if not for the answer to appear right under their noses. Sanji held Luffy tightly by the collar and pushed him on the dock with Usopp's help who dragged him. 
The witch extended her hand to bring Sanji on the dock with them and since then, things turned blurry despite her open eyes. 
•┈┈┈•┈┈┈•┈┈┈•
Now the only woman in the crew, the witch sat on the floor in the room that used to be Nami's, her back leaning back against the wooden wall. With eyes devoid of life, she stared up at the ceiling while pulling her knees closer to her chest, once again trying to hide herself from everyone. From everything. 
On Nami's bed there was still an inert swordsman and he didn't even flinch when she tentatively said his name after entering the room. 
"Fucking dammit," she squeezed her eyes shut. 
Nami left. Zoro was unconscious. Luffy almost drowned if not for Sanji. Usopp was bluffing about how "everything has to be alright". 
She didn't know if he was trying to convince himself or her. 
Because everything was wrong. It felt wrong. 
The witch took in a deep breath, but only half of the oxygen she inhaled got to her lungs and brain because of her constricted throat. Tears were sitting on her waterline for the fourth time that day. 
Too much happened since the crack of dawn and it wasn't even sunset. 
Exhaustion made her look years older than she was. Her head fell forward, forehead hitting her knees before the light sneaking through the windows could fall on her face. 
Tears filled with anguish ran down her cheeks and it was the first time she allowed herself to let at least an ounce of the weight on top of her body dissipate. The droplets of pain melted down her cheeks and sank into the material of her shirt. 
The witch sneaked her arms around the back of her thighs and squeezed herself tighter in a ball, lips trembling. Her breathing was ragged not only because of the lump in her throat, but also because of the firm grip that fishman had on her neck. The skin was sensitive to the touch and it hurt to swallow. 
Every event of that day got added one on top of another. Her fight with Zoro, the fact that he was unconscious after that dwell, Nami leaving just like the witch expected to.
Betrayal. Maybe I was a fool for trusting her. 
Or am I? 
Teeth sank so deeply into her lower lip it drew blood and she tasted copper on the tip of her tongue. 
Pain. That was right. 
The only right thing happening that day was the physical pain. Palpable, real, bringing her back to earth. 
Except that time it failed, because the tears didn't stop. She squeezed her eyes shut as sharp pain traveled through her body, from her chest into her limbs, puncturing each nerve, shaking her to the core. 
Her soul screamed, caged by sorrow, an ugly animal that sank its fangs into her flesh and ripped from the inside. Blood was pouring from her heart, soaking organs and bones, melting into the skin like acid. It burnt so fastly, yet it never seemed to end. With a throbbing head, she couldn't hold the pain back anymore. 
However, no sound ever left her lips parted in a silent scream. No whimper, no sob, no cry for help. The room was filled with silence as a heartbeat drummed in her ears in an agonizing rhythm. 
I shouldn't have come on this ship in the first place. Only if I had been wise enough to leave when I got the chance. Syrup Village was a perfect option, I could've gone on another ship and continued my mindless traveling. Why did I bother myself with this? Why did I suddenly decide it was a great idea to be part of another crew when this only has brought me suffering? 
With each second, she willingly aimed the gun at herself and every word was like a bullet. 
I should've left. I would've been happier. I should've left it all behind when I realized this won't go well. Fuck the premonitions, fuck the destiny, damned be the world. 
A body stripped of clothes and skin, only burnt flesh left behind the monster's bites. Broken ribs and a shattered heart pumping a meaningless life. 
As seconds passed by one after another and her tears came to an end, the gentle swinging of the ship pulled her into a half-asleep state.
She noticed when Luffy came into the room and she was aware of his position on Zoro's bed — the cracking of the wood gave him away. As the Straw Hat talked, she only heard the swordsman's name being spoken, some words here and there, but most of his monologue was muffled. 
He probably thought she was asleep because of her slow and steady breathing. 
Exhaustion was clawing at her muscles and brain, but something kept her aware of the surroundings for a few more minutes. 
Everything turned pitch black in her perspective. A husky and deep voice made her believe she was dreaming, the tips of her mouth curling shily upwards. 
Only if it would've been reality. 
"Zoro!" 
Her entire body flinched and she raised her head, wide eyed. If she didn't know any better, she would've said her soul jumped out of her. 
"Luffy?" she whispered, confused on why he yelled the swordsman's name—
"You're not dead!" Luffy shouted again, loud enough for everyone in Baratie to hear. 
He's alive? the witch thought to herself. I really heard his voice. 
Luffy crawled on top of Zoro and squeezed the life out of him. Literally. 
"Now I wish I was," she heard Zoro mumble between grunts. 
He was alive. 
The witch's lungs filled with fresh air for the first time that day. Relief washed over her and her body relaxed, shoulders deflating as some of the weight sitting on them fell into the sea below. 
While leaning her body against the wall, she managed to get up just to get a better view of the swordsman who was squinting his eyes at the ceiling. A heavy sigh escaped her lips, head falling forward. 
At least one thing went right, didn't it? 
After Luffy got up from above Zoro, the swordsman managed to take some deep gulps of air, chest raising up and falling rhythmically. 
"I had the strangest dream that Nami left," he said with a frown on his face as he closed his eyes. 
"She did," the witch responded faintly. 
There wasn't enough courage in her to look at him as she said that, instead choosing to glance at the window. 
Zoro looked again at the ceiling and realized her voice was too faint for all of that to be a mere joke, a prank thrown at him for staying unconscious for… for how long? 
"It's my fault," Luffy said with his chin lowered.
From the corner of his eye, Zoro saw the witch place a hand on their captain's shoulder. 
"We'll find a way."
There was a promise etched onto her fragile smile. As if a simple brush of air or one wrong world could make her crumble. 
But she didn't. Instead, she threw a knowing look to Zoro and silently told him to talk with Luffy. She knew the Straw Hat needed his first mate's support at that moment. 
What confused Zoro the most was watching the witch get out of the room without too much of a word. Her hair bounced as she stepped further away from him and their friends. Even as his ribs and body hurt at every inhale, he wanted to understand the real reason for her leaving. 
Last time they talked, she expressed worry. What happened in the meantime? What the fuck went wrong? 
There was a fat chance she was still mad at him for whatever reason. Sure, she was calm, collected, but he could swear he's seen fire burning in her eyes more than just once and a grin splayed on her face at the thrill and adrenaline of a fight. She snapped at him when they fought and he had to admit it would've been sadder if she treated him with silence. 
However, he didn't know if that was silence or something more. 
Weird, he concluded. 
His attention went back to Luffy. The swordsman couldn't manage watching the ever happy-go-lucky captain speak like a ghost. 
"You didn't do anything wrong." He seriously hoped he could find the right words to bring Luffy back to reality. 
There's no way that crew would fall apart without a proper fight. What has been was just the beginning. 
"You acted like a captain."
"But the crew is falling apart," Luffy pulled his lips in a tight line. 
"No, it's not," the green-haired firmly affirmed. 
Maybe a lot more than Zoro thought has happened, but that was definitely not the end. 
•┈┈┈•┈┈┈•┈┈┈•
Before the sun could set and hide in the sea, they gathered some supplies for their new journey. They found out from the clown head — who they found out told Arlong where to find the Straw Hats — that Nami was most probably heading to Conomi Islands, specifically Cocoyashi Village. Sanji joined their crew, which made Luffy jump in excitement for the second time that day. 
Luffy's folded arms were resting over the railing of Going Merry while he stared down at the water splashing against the ship. 
"Does it always take so long?" Luffy spoke so softly. 
Sanji chuckled with the fishing rod in his hand as he waited for a fish to catch the bait. 
"We've only been here for two minutes, be patient," the cook reminded him. "Some days, they bite as soon as you drop the line and some days, it takes hours."
Then, he threw a knowing glance towards Luffy with an arch of his eyebrow. 
"But we're not talking about fishing, are we?" 
"I highly doubt it," the witch mumbled as she curled her fingers around her tarot deck. 
She didn't dare to shuffle through the cards again, a side of her afraid of what was waiting for them. It felt uneasy everytime she got the impulse of taking the cards out and finding out which one of them holds the truth. 
The witch was leaning with her back against the railing, not so far away from the Straw Hat, pressing her fingertips into the old box made of cardboard that fit perfectly in her hands. 
Luffy smiled towards Sanji before he stared into the horizon with hope. 
"I just want to know if Nami's okay."
"A beautiful, talented woman does not choose to ally herself with a pirate like Arlong," Sanji said firmly, convinced of his beliefs. "Nami clearly needs to be rescued." 
The witch breathed in deeply and widened her eyes, trying to find the right words to tell them what she knew. A pair of heavy steps caught her attention and she immediately recognized the chiming filling the air. 
Zoro. His hand was resting on his Wado Ichimoji — his only sword now. 
"Her tattoo says different," he said. 
The way he looked at the witch was bringing back to life some shattered pieces of her soul. He might look serene when sleeping, but he was better that way — wide awake and an asshole. 
Also, he noticed something she couldn't pinpoint. There must've been a scar on her face, most probably. At first, he only stared at her face, just to lower his gaze. Oh. She didn't sleep for two days and got in a fight with a fishman, which left some nasty bruises on her bare neck. 
"Well," Sanji argued, "tattoos don't tell the whole story. And like any woman, she's a mystery to be unraveled."
"Am I supposed to feel flattered?" the witch arched her eyebrow at the cook after she turned her head towards him. 
Right at that moment, Zoro stepped between her and Luffy, restricting her view. All she could see was his chest, bandaged and with a red patch in the center. 
"You should change your bandages," she looked up at him. 
However, the witch was hesitant when she did so. As if the man in front of her could vanish in thin air. 
Zoro turned to Sanji and decided to completely ignore her comment. 
"Nami made her choice." 
The cook immediately frowned, creases appearing on his forehead. His scowl was deeper than Zoro's.
"You don't know why," Sanji retorted. 
As if getting snapped by Usopp, Zoro scoffed: 
"The only thing I want to hear from you are dinner specials. You don't know Nami."
"Sounds like you don't know her either, Mosshead," Sanji spat with a taunting smile on his lips. 
"Oh God, stop, you two," the witch sighed heavily, annoyed. 
Just to get the swordsman's attention to her, she poked his back with the tip of her finger, digging deep enough to receive a light flinch. It seemed like she took him by surprise. She bent her back more as she continued resting her elbows on the railing to glance at Luffy over Zoro's shoulder. 
"I'm sure Nami has her reasons," their captain nodded. 
"I know Nami's reason."
All of their heads turned to the witch. 
Usopp was just walking up the stairs of the forecastle when his eyes sparkled curiously.
"What are you guys talking about?" 
"Nami," Zoro said quickly. "Why didn't you say anything until now?" that time, his sharp words were directed to the witch. 
The witch shot him a glare, displeased by his reaction. However, she would've acted the same if someone was to hide something so important. 
"It would've felt unfair to tell you before talking with her," the witch clarified. 
"You talked with her about it?" Usopp suddenly intervened, surprised by the news. 
The witch gripped at the tarot deck in between her hands tighter and clicked her tongue, trying to find the best words to explain. 
"I did. Somehow," uncertainty latched onto her voice. 
None of them rushed her anymore so she took her time. 
"Listen, this isn't as easy as it seems to be. Yes, Sanji, she didn't willingly get into Arlong's crew."
A snarky remark sat on the cook's tongue and he wanted to throw it Zoro's way. 
"But," the witch continued in order to stop an eventual argument, "she's fully aware of her actions. She was forced by the circumstances to do what she's doing, but it doesn't mean she likes acting like Arlong's crewmate. Nami certainly hates him from the bottom of her heart. He did something. Something that forced her to act like she's a friend just to protect something or someone. Or both. She's not only protecting herself, she's protecting what's most dear to her heart."
It wasn't the witch that spoke, but the gut feeling she had. Her thoughts didn't seem so clear in months, since her last successful tarot reading. Now, as the significance of each card sank into her brain, she knew what everything meant. 
It wasn't her that spoke, but her intuition. 
"She's keeping us away because she's scared we'd get hurt, not only because we would get in her way. Nami cares about us and that's exactly why she's pushing us away."
"Who does that?" Zoro wondered out loud. 
Maybe he should've kept that to himself. 
"You do that," the witch's head snapped towards him. "I do it. And Nami does. She said she tricked us — which was true. At the same time, she's tricking Arlong. He isn't her crewmate, he's an asshole that stole something from her—"
The witch got so carried away she didn't even realize what she just said. She suddenly furrowed her eyebrows into the void and received confused looks from her friends. 
"He stole something. Her freedom."
Those words were said as she actively figured the details out, staring into the void. 
"Witch?" Usopp nudged her. 
"Yes?" she turned towards him. 
"Did she tell you all these things?"
There was a light chuckle that left her lips at that question. 
"The cards did. Her reactions just gave her away and answered my doubts." 
The witch knew what games she was playing. She's been doing these things for years and not only — she trusted her gut feeling above everything else. 
She received an especially confused look from the cook, who had no clue why she was called a witch. He probably supposed it was because she was beautiful or maybe secretive. 
He should've taken that nickname literally. 
"What do we do then?" Zoro turned his head towards their captain. 
Luffy listened intently to everything the witch had to say and he made up his mind since long ago:
"I want to hear her decision for myself."
"That's for the best," the witch nodded. 
There was more she would've liked to say, but speaking from the gut was both easier than usual and harder when tired. Considering the last time she got some proper sleep was before they got attacked by the Marines, she could say it's been long enough for her mind to get clouded. 
Stuck in her thoughts as she was, the grip on her tarot deck loosened up and the object fell from her hold on the wooden floor. The witch's exhausted brain registered that too many seconds later. 
A deep frown appeared between her eyebrows, blinking in an attempt to clear her vision while she bent down to take the deck in her hand. 
Obviously, she failed. 
When her back was straight again, her vision went pitch black and a heavy throbbing settled in her temples. The ship swayed worse than a second ago. She groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes closed. 
The witch has been in that situation before. She stood still, because attempting to walk would've ended in a passionate kiss with the floor. 
When the sensations dissipated little by little, tiredness was everything left behind. 
"I'm gonna get some rest," she mumbled, the words a little slurred. 
With her eyes now opened wide enough to see where she's heading, she walked towards the stairs and cussed them out one by one. 
Falling like an idiot wasn't on her to-do list for that day. 
By some miracle, she managed to walk all the way into the galley. The room she shared with Nami was hers, but it was too far away. Her feet barely carried her to the dark red sofa she let her body fall on like a sack. 
She didn't care about the clothes she hasn't changed from, too caught up with everything that has happened. There was enough time for a shower later, when exhaustion wasn't seeping into her bones. The only thing she had the decency to do was to take her boots off. 
She stretched her legs and put an arm under her head, resting on her side to face the room. Not the most comfortable place to sleep in, but after all of that tumult, nothing mattered anymore. 
The sweet sound of jingling disturbed her again. 
Oh, god dammit. 
She was one breath away from cussing Zoro's ass and his earrings — despite being in ecstasy that he woke up. The witch, as if expecting his next move, bent her knees to make space for him. The swordsman plopped himself down with a grunt at the other side of the sofa and her bare feet touched his thigh. 
She didn't dare mutter a word about his presence. Zoro could stay. Gosh, as she was thinkingln about it, she could only believe it was a blessing he wasn't only awake, but also throwing remarks her way. 
It was so much better than telling stories of her past to an unconscious Mosshead. 
Right. 
The edges of her mouth curled in a smile. 
"What?" 
"Mosshead," she chuckled, eyes still closed. 
Zoro let out a scoff and she could imagine him rolling his eyes to the ceiling. 
"Didn't you say you were going to rest?"
His voice was unusually low and even soft, pulling her towards the dreamland. 
"I'd say this place is perfect," she mumbled.
The witch didn't bother to explain she was tired out of her mind or that her feet would most likely betray her if she dared to get up. 
The silence was filled with their breathing and the sounds of the water splashing against their ship, the cracks of the wood. She remembered the times when she traveled with her father's crew and she would many times fall asleep curled next to a barrel while the vice-captain was still singing sea shanties in the middle of the night. 
"Zoro," the witch whispered. 
She was too weary to care about what left her mouth. It acted like alcohol — it clouded her mind and she felt shameless. 
"What if I wouldn't have stepped on this ship?" 
That question plagued her mind and she finally said it out loud. 
"So the last ship was more to your taste?" he snickered. "It almost sank in the sea." 
"You're such an ass," and while that phrase might've sounded harsh in the past, at that moment it was filled with fondness. 
"Been told that before." 
I really missed that voice. 
"For someone with a big ass bruise on your neck, you sound more like a coward than I thought."
Maybe she deserved that serious tone thrown her way. Was he right? Only halfway through. 
"No," she was stubborn enough to fight the sleep for a few more minutes. "What if I would've been happier? Y'know, less worries, no people to haunt my ass. No anxiety."
No crying over you for being almost dead. 
The continuation sat on the tip of her tongue and got swallowed back with a gulp. Was there really a need for an admission? Puffy eyelids and dark circles under her eyes, chapped lips and bandages around her forearm soaked in blood. Those details were enough proof.��
"Do you hate us that much?" his low voice sent shivers down her spine. 
"It's not about that. Just…" she gulped and curled her fingers around the tarot deck she was still holding onto. "I want some peace."
"I say you should get some sleep." 
•┈┈┈•┈┈┈•┈┈┈•
Standing on the deck felt right, even if the witch doesn't remember why she was there. She can't point out the weather clearly, it feels blurry. Seconds ago she was in the kitchen talking with Sanji about some unusual topic she couldn't remember. 
Then why was she suddenly on the deck, face to face with a kneeling Zoro who had two swords piercing through his upper body from behind? She didn't only know it was him, she felt like it was him, as if the pieces connecting in her head were just right. However, it horrified her. Everything around him was blurry except for him. 
Him, whose essence of life was pouring down his body, creating a puddle under him, sinking into the cracks of the wooden floor. The crimson liquid melted into his white t-shirt. Now that she was looking better at it, she noticed the sharp point of a sword penetrating all the way through his stomach to the front side of his body. 
He was looking up at her, despite the way his chin was tilted down. Those sharp brown eyes were boring holes through her. His beautiful irises painted with the warm nuances of chocolate and coffee were scary, like no other time. 
Was Luffy next to her? It feels like it was him, even if she can only distinguish a silhouette in the corner of her right eye. 
Why was Zoro looking at her like that? She couldn't move, as if her feet were stuck in place. She didn't know if she was breathing or if she was alive anymore. She didn't know why she was on the deck, why those swords took his life away. It barely made any sense that he had enough energy to stare at her. 
He didn't falter once. He didn't beg for help, her name didn't come out of his mouth, no groans, no nothing. 
She couldn't move. As she stood in the same place, her anxiety was rising up, up, up, until she felt like panicking despite the lack of reaction. She felt like exploding, but she couldn't express those horrific feelings. 
She couldn't help him. Her arms were stuck by the sides of her body, as if someone had put a spell on her. She had the will to move her legs, to get closer to him, she wanted to, but she remained glued in that spot. She couldn't feel her body. 
She had to do something, but she was trapped inside an unmoving object that was her own body. Why? 
Everything snapped. 
The smallest hope towards an escape woke her up. Her eyes opened instantly and she raised up in a sitting position, eyes frantically searching for more clues, for answers about the horrifying images she just saw before her eyelids. 
Her heart was beating so fast it made her wish she didn't have it at all, a deafening ba-dump repeating in her eardrums over and over again. 
Unfortunately, she was face to face with the swordsman she dreamt of. Instantly, as if she was shot, she looked at his upper abdomen. For no more than two seconds, she saw a big black patch on his bandages. 
She inhaled deeply and her heart was beating faster, suddenly unable to release that breath of air. Her eyes widened and her hands shook, chest tight. 
"Hey," she heard more of a background sound. 
She blinked countless times, until her tired brain figured out that it was just her imagination. It was so dark in the room and her nightmare was a shock, the reason why at some point the patch started blurring out, inviting her to blink until it turned to be one small spot. It has been there since he woke up from his slumber. 
When the realization sank in, she let go of that breath and let out a pitiful whimper. Deep inside, it felt like relief, her eyes now squeezed shut. 
This time, he clearly called her name after his fingers securely gripped at her shaking shoulders, avoiding her wound. Her hands were trembling, her entire being disturbed. 
Zoro said her name, not the nickname she got so used to hearing on that ship. Not the usual Witch, a word that sounded so endearing coming from her crewmates; no, it was her name and it was spoken so softly she could've confused him for someone else. 
She had a poor attempt at recalling those images in order to figure out the reality, but it backfired. The bloody scene stuck before her closed eyes pushed her to open them up again. 
Thankfully, his dark gaze was warm, filled with unspoken worry. For a brief moment she wondered how he woke up, since he slept like the dead sometimes. 
"I'm surprised I managed to wake you up," her voice trembled. 
He didn't joke back at her. Instead, his thumbs started rubbing slow circles into her shoulders in order to bring her back to earth. Or, better said, back to the ship that was peacefully sailing on the sea during the night. 
"I think you should correct your breathing," he pointed out. 
Once she changed from autopilot breathing, it felt like her throat was tight. 
"Breathe in."
Blindly, she trusted his instructions. That mere breath shook her again, feeling shivers when she allowed the oxygen to sink into her lungs, the same way his voice sank into her being, in the cracks of her soul. 
It took a few minutes until that normal bodily process didn't seem like an impossible task. Her muscles were tense until Zoro squeezed her shoulders again. 
She could distinguish more of his face than just the warmth she noticed not long ago. His expression seemed pained with worry and not from a wound that could kill him, even if there still were bandages wrapped around his torso. Maybe it was also fear that made him look so different from usual; or was it confusion? 
"I'm sorry for destroying your sleep."
It was half a lie. She wasn't sorry about the touch keeping her afloat, about how she managed to breathe again only because of his presence, because he was clearly awake and alive. At the same time, she knew he needed to rest so his wound could heal properly. 
"Be serious," he huffed in a lower voice, clearly displeased. 
"I am. You should sleep."
"Just like you should, but I doubt you will."
"I'd argue about that."
She was still tired, even if her shock from earlier struck her like thunder. Her eyes could close at any moment, which she feared, because another nightmare didn't sound good even for how stress resistant she became. 
Since he heard her soft whimper when she was still sleeping, he had no clue what to do, how to act. One thing was clear: it was better to wake her up, despite the possibility she might get defensive and attack. 
Alright, now what the heck do I do? He's had nightmares before, he's seen horrendous things during his sleep countless times, but he didn't have any idea about what to do for her. Was he even supposed to do something? She didn't like being pampered — maybe he should act like nothing happened. However, the fear coloring her face earlier shocked him as well. The witch has always been collected, she had such a firm grip on her reactions it was annoying sometimes. 
The swordsman shook his head, but didn't let go of her. Instead, he leaned against the cushions on his side, while his hands fell down to her forearms to get a comfortable position of his limbs and upper body. The wound on his chest sent daggers through him at each movement. Barely a day of consciously dealing with it and he's already got annoyed. 
The witch looked down at where their bodies were connected. His long calloused fingers were securely wrapped around her arms, close to her wrists. When did her legs end up in his lap she didn't know. Her bare knee tingled with warmth — why? 
"You had a weird reaction after you woke up," his whisper stirred something in her heart. 
"What do you mean? I had plenty of reactions."
Are you playing the idiot with me? Zoro thought. 
"You were more scared of seeing me than of the nightmare."
"Oh."
Why did the Mosshead have to be so observant? It was one of the reasons why she was attracted to him, evidently, but sometimes he exposed her too easily. 
She dropped her chin and looked down at her own hands. Admitting that she feared his role as the main character of a tragedy for the second time felt embarrassing for some unknown reason. She's been in enough humiliating situations and he never ridiculed her. 
Zoro was utterly stuck. Was he supposed to move away? His body felt too heavy to get off the sofa and go to his room. It wouldn't be alright leaving her alone with her crippling anxiety either, considering she was prone to overthinking. 
He wanted to do something, but what? 
He let out a long sigh and rested his head against the cushions, his fingers still curled around her wrists. Her pulse was fast, but as seconds passed by, it slowed down under the weight of his thumbs. 
The witch became hyper aware of the situation, but it felt too good to move away. Her tired brain entirely registered his presence and her eyes closed. She breathed in the chill air of the night and, while focusing so intently on Zoro's presence, she fell into a deeper state of mind, half asleep. 
He was disturbed from his own journey into the dream realm when he felt a light weight on his shoulder. Once his eyes opened, he saw the cause: she leaned in closer to him, clearly unaware. 
He smelled like the sea and the familiar scent of soap clung to the unbuttoned blue t-shirt he wore. With her forehead resting against his neck, the witch could vaguely point out his pulse. The safety of his embrace lulled her into a dreamless sleep while she focused on his slow breathing and the secure grip he had on her.
Zoro filled her senses so fiercely it was impossible not to melt into him, inhaling and exhaling in sync with him. 
The swordsman had different sentiments about this and they were all confusing. 
What am I doing? he scolded himself.
He moved his head and angled his face so he could look at the right side of her sleeping face. With long eyelashes resting over her soft cheeks, she looked like she didn't have a worry in the world, even if he knew better. Her shoulders would rise and fall rhythmically in such a slow pace, making him wonder what exactly exhausted her so much. 
Then, his gaze fell on the purple marks on her neck and his jaw clenched. If he would've been awake when Arlong appeared at Baratie, maybe none of them would be like that. Maybe he would've had enough stubbornness to get answers from Nami and maybe Luffy wouldn't have been so close to drowning. Maybe those marks on her neck wouldn't have been there in the first place. 
What the fuck am I doing? 
Giving up, he rested his head back against the cushions with a scowl. He didn't understand himself and it was even harder to understand the woman sleeping so peacefully, too close to him. 
Zoro let out a low displeased sound and closed his eyes, deciding to rest for a while. He didn't dare move away or wake her up either. 
First and foremost he was displeased about the fact that he liked the proximity. 
I wonder what that fishman's face looks like. It'll surely be a pleasure to slice him in half.  
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sporkfingers · 7 months
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Some Tang Sanzang concept art that I don’t think I’ll finish anytime soon, but whateva
The scar on his head is from a spat with wukong gone wrong, spur of the moment which he regretted after he realized what he had done-
he waited for his sifu to use the fillet tightening sultra to punish him, he’s shaking, apologizing profusely in a small voice. To his surprise he doesn’t feel the painstaking ache of the band squeezing. Instead, when he looks up he finds Tripitaka, his sifu, looking at him with a horrified look on his face. But…. He’s not scared of wukong… he’s scared of himself, if he could cause such a reaction in this godly simian, a demon that the heavens feared, then…what he had been doing…it wasn’t right, it couldn’t be.
-Lololol that’s my head canon/ my own home brew story of Jttw that I’ve been making in my mind, I like to imagine that’s the point where they’re relationship starts to turn for the better and instead of reluctant companions they become friends who wish to protect each other in every way, no matter the cost. They are representative of the mind and the heart, like in most cases they clash and argue, resent and fear each other, but when finding balance and harmony throughout their journey the mind and heart grow closer and work as one. They’re relationship to me is something more than friendship, it’s love but not romantic love, but it’s also not familial love like a father and son, though some translations of the book describe their relationship as such I’d like to think of it as something deeper. Again not romantic kissy love. These babes are Buddhists lololol but it is more than friendship. I might post my version of the story on here and you can interpret as you please, father son, a couple, friends, enemies. But know that in the end what him and sun wukong have is complex, it can not be summed up in one word. At least that’s my take on them,
Also the other scars are from demons, getting captured and such, the scar between his eyebrows he got as a baby, and the read on his wrists are from rope burn, again from being tied up and captured.
I like to see the monk as having a fit build despite acting and appearing weak, though he does not know what to do with this rocking bod he has. (This drawing was inspired by gidget… I loved their reference for their tang and decided I would make my own concept sheet depicting his scars and body type as well.)
I want to start posting my dynamic stuff on here and actually drawing my Jttw ideas… I just get really perfectionist about them and end up only liking the art after a year goes by and it’s too late to post them….
If you made it here tell me what you think, I’ve spent like 5 minutes writing this and my cat is chirping angrily at me cause she wants me to pet her lolololol so pouty, my cute baby is throwing a fit
Sorry if you think these takes are trash it’s just my headcanons, they might change overtime though
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starry-pierrot · 1 month
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The Fall of The Lamb
Hello hello! Alright I'm getting into angst territory with this one so if you don't like to cry, it's okay :D.
This was inspired by the works of @circuscountdowns , their COTL art has given me life and now you all get to read this bitter sweet story.
Also note that I did take some liberties with the lore of their interpretation and I might not be at all accurate with some detail's here. So please do not try to incorporate anything from this fic into anything that's 'cannon' because it's probably not. Maybe I got a few good guesses in but this isn't an official work by Circus.
With that out of the way-
TW: Eye squishing, blood, stabbing, death.
Narinder awoke on the stone floor of the temple with a jerk, his body back to normal and sore after his fight with Romulus. A groan as he sits up and wipes at his face, noting that he would probably have a few more scars to add to his collection. The wolf had been a surprisingly difficult opponent.
He had put up a good fight but in the end he had lost. 
Narinder picked himself up and dusted off his robes, a shiny glint in the light catching his attention. Seeing the eyeball on the floor he grinned as he picked it up, a smug feeling as he crushed the eye in his palm and let the gore drop to the floor. At least he can take pride in knowing the wolf made it out injured, the Lamb had to be finished with him by now.
Ears flicked as Narinder searched for the sounds of the temple only to notice something.
The whole temple was quiet. 
Something felt off. Wrong. There were no sounds of battle let alone any pained whimpering from a defeated wolf. Narinder wouldn’t admit it but he felt his own heart sink into his stomach and suddenly he was running. Running as he felt the heart in his chest pound a mile a minute as he took corners and ran through doors and soon came to the biggest room in the temple. 
The Lamb had called it their sanctuary, the room having a large open skylight and built around the foliage like an open garden. While they did not hold sermons in this room it was often used as a place to pray and devote oneself. 
Narinder stopped at the sight he came upon. The Lamb’s corpse was on the grassy floor having disintegrated into bones and cloth. The wolf stood nearby looking at his achievement as the red crown sat upon his head, his spear bloodied. 
Suddenly Narinder’s heart slowed down and calmed itself, a sense of painful calmness swept over him. It seems that the time has finally come. They had both known the Lamb can’t be a god forever, that eventually someone would come along and usurp them. Narinder had accepted this fact a long time ago. 
 Composing himself the cat began to walk down the stairs, not taking his eyes off the large godly corpse in the center of the room. All the while the memories they shared together played in his head. 
The first time meeting the Lamb after their beheading, how loyal they had become and how much he enjoyed their banter. The betrayal and pain. Further betrayal of rescuing his family without even consulting him. 
But then there were the good memories. The ones where the Lamb managed to get under his skin and somehow claw their way into his heart. Aym and Baal being brought back to him. All the annoying little quirks that made him laugh. He almost chuckles at the memory of the Lamb soaked in ocean water and covered in seaweed from when Narinder threw them in the water. 
First kisses and nights cuddled up in bed as they talked quietly. Private moments where the two couldn’t get enough of each other and even the ones where they argued. Of holding the Lamb as they wept. 
Their wedding day. Oh how the Lamb had looked so beautiful in their robes, the jewelry on their neck and horns shone brilliantly in the light. What Narinder wouldn’t give to see them like that one more time. 
His heart aches at the realization that this morning had been the last time he would see the Lamb alive. The last deep kiss between them. The last heartfelt words as they had laid in bed for just a bit longer than they should have. 
The last, "I'll see you tonight, love!”
Of course it wouldn’t be the last of them being together in the end, but that didn’t stop it from hurting so much. 
“Ha! Weeping for your fallen god, Witness?” The wolf barked at him as Narinder reached the last step, walking towards the Lamb’s remains. 
“It is nature to be cyclical. Gods die not because they are weak but because they must.” Continuing to walk up to the ribs of his lover’s corpse it didn’t take him long to find what he had been looking for. Oh so carefully Narinder picked up the Lamb’s heart, still somewhat warm but no longer beating. 
“Hey that’s-” Romulus took a step forward before Narinder cut him off. 
“No. That crown may be yours by conquest….but this will always be mine.” Holding the heart against his own he relished in the feeling of it for a moment before walking deeper into the cavern of the ribs. 
“Leave us now.” Narinder demanded while reaching over to break off a pointed bone. 
“Tch-How can I trust you wont-” 
“Leave us.” He demanded once more, his tone leaving no room for the wolf to argue. Not unless he wanted to start another fight. One Narinder knew the wolf would not live through. 
Romulus stared for a good minute seemingly understanding what Narinder had intended to do, eventually turning away with a scoff. The crown weeping on his head. “Whatever.” 
Alone for the final time Narinder settled down against a rib and once more looked into his memories. He could still see that annoying smile that he loved so much on that face. Still sees the eyes that were full of love for him. 
It wouldn’t be long now before they were together again. 
“I only want to remind you that, as I have seen your rise, I will gladly witness the fall.” 
The Lamb’s skin was warm as his palm rested against their cheek, seeing that tear fall from their eye. 
“You would stay with me through even that? Promise?” 
“Promise.” 
Giving the heart one last gentle squeeze before he lifted the pointed bone up in his hand, a tear falling down his cheek. With a final breath he plunged the bone into the heart he held and into his own. A pained grunt slipped out of his throat as well as more tears. 
Leaning back fully against the bone he waited. 
And soon he was seeing white. 
The lands around him are just the same as they’ve ever been. Once his place of imprisonment now his new home. He no longer felt the heaviness of which the chains had held him here, no longer did he despise the after under his breath. No, it was beautiful and he felt as light as a feather. 
A bleat had him snapping his head towards a figure, a figure dressed in the same robes they wore on their wedding day. Not willing to wait a moment longer, Narinder broke into a run, his own clothing being those from the same day. 
“Narin-” The Lamb didn’t get a chance to say anymore as they were tackled, arms tightly around them as lips peppered their face and soon finding their lips. They couldn’t help the laughter as eventually Narinder pulled back just to look at them. “Hey hey it’s alright!” They soothed as the cat cried into their neck. “Why the waterworks, kitty? We knew this would happen. You promised me.” 
“..Doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt stupid Lamb.” Narinder refused to let go and the Lamb didn’t try to pull him off. 
“Ah. I’m sorry.” Their voice was beginning to sound as tight as Narinder’s, a tear falling down their own cheeks. They stayed like that for a long while, just holding each other. 
Soon others had found them, Narinder’s family as well as their cultists. 
And other lambs, goats and ewe's. 
Hand in hand once more Narinder and the Lamb walked into the white fog, to be together again.  
It’s said if you were to take a walk into an old temple, one that belonged to a Lamb you would find the bones of a god.
 And if you took a closer look you would find the bones of one who has been said to have been devoted to the god. 
So devoted in fact that you can feel it around you and if you leave a bundle of camellias you’ll be blessed with long lasting love of the deepest kind. 
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Thank you for reading! Please like and reblog if you liked it : ) And please let me know if i missed any they/them pronouns, I get my words mixed up sometimes and I'll gladly fix it!
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onnoffwrites · 6 months
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I have been losing my shit over this damn panel for the past THREE DAYS (more or less) and I need to yell somewhere so it's gonna go here.
It all began when I was writing my fic (I think this was for My Immortal), and I needed to recap significant hakukai moments. And I remembered "hey, I should include this one thing saguru said during sunset manor that was stupidly super gay for no fucking reason" bc like, yea hakukai not canon, but if canon was gonna give me a whole ass confession then I might as well use it. So, like always, I head to mangadex to look for this panel... Except... It's not there... The line... The line's not there... But I remember... I remember something about "the only one to disrupt/disturb my thinking/mind"... Where... I didn't imagine that right? I mean I read a lot of google translated Chinese fanfics but... I REMEMBERED reading that line... In a manga... In English... ON mangadex...
This is where I should mentioned, that if you weren't around for the Great Collapse of Mangadex. Then... Well, so there was this period of time where mangadex just DIDNT EXIST. Bc there was some cyber?? Attack??? On the site??? I can't fully remember. But it like wiped out most of the site. The mangas r just, gone. So mangadex fixed it. It took a while bc they figured "might as well revamp our site and system". And they did. And it's great. And it looks beautiful now, even more than before.
But see. The line I remembered? Yea... Yea that was from before The Collapse. And mangadex let multiple translation groups submit their translations. So u can read diff translations of diff group, see how things are interpreted differently... And... I remembered this one, that I posted here up top, but I remembered there was another. One that had The Line.
And it was driving crazy so, like usual, I asked my cn friend. But my cn friend (why am I still saying that, it's @beingvv , that's the friend) has A Life, and isn't always online, and we love that for ppl. So. I'm still crazy. I can't trust my own damn mind and memory bc why tf do I remember something that isn't there (happened before btw, but that has nothing to do with this).
Luckily, I have a friend who knows jp. UNLUCKILY, I don't have the jp raws and it's from chapter 300 and we are in the thousands. So, I went back to losing my mind. Until I found it again, and realized. Heyyyyyyy there's a whole ass ANIME. So like the baggage my dear friend had the misfortune to be saddled with, I went to find the ep, timestamped it, yelled begged them for help.
This is where I lose my damn mind the first time in the recent weeks.
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(thank you my dear piglet, u don't even go here but u tolerate my insanity)
THIS. THIS WAS THE LINE. THATS WHAT I REMEMBERED.
So, I feel a little more sane (bc my mind didn't fabricate a memory again) and also A LOT more insane bc WHY WOULD U SAY THAT, HAKUBA SAGURU 😭😭😭 WHY WOULD U SAY IT LIKE THAT 😭😭😭
In any case I feel validated. Told beingvv about my discoveries (for whenever they come back) not that they need it cn fandom already got the correct translation. And finished writing my fic.
And then Saguru's comeback was announced.
So I've been losing my shit for 3 days on twitter, looking at all my fave KR and JP accounts and the things they say.
And then someone dug up and old tweet thread that talked about this panel. Specifically, op talked about the nuance in the word choice used.
Here's the og thread if anyone wants to read or Google translate it urself.
(mkppyong my love, bless you)
Bc mkppyong talked to a jp acquaintance about ??? Uh I dunno just language I guess. POINT IS. They pointed out that gosho used specific words/phrases that really wasn't needed if all he wanted to say was "the only one who drives me crazy/mad." But he did used them. It's specifically "his thoughts/mind" that's being driven crazy. And that if he wants to just talk about Saguru's mind being disrupted/confused, then there's rly no need to use the words "go crazy"
And then they wrote out a whole symbolism about clocks and saguru and being broken down/disrupted and I lost my shit over the clock symbolism, sue me 😭😭😭
I don't think I'm making sense anymore bUT WAIT, THERES MORE, THE FINAL BLOW
THE THAI TRANSLATION
This is where I expose myself more than I ever want to, but here's a fact. I'm thai
Here's a second fact. I'm SHIT at Thai. I've been bad at this language before I got good at English. My Thais as good as an elementary student. Every time I understand difficult words I get confused bc where did I know THAT from???
In any case, point is, I saw that tweet, read the text, immediately understood it and began losing my shit all over again... And then I doubted... Bc like, I'm not good with this lang anymore... Maybe im understanding it wrong? So I look up Google.
Google: คลุ้มคลั่ง just means go crazy
So I was like, damn guess I'm wrong, read too much into this. BUT SEE BC I LIVE HERE I HAVE FRIENDS WHO ARENT A DISGRACE. And so my friend said:
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SO WELCOME TO MY THIRD ROUND OF INSANITY.
HAKUBA SAGURU WHY WOULD U SAY THIS SHIT IN FRONT OF LIKE NINE OTHER PPL 😭😭😭😭😭 BOY WHY R U TELLING THEM UR OBSESSED 😭😭😭 youre driving ME crazy 😭😭😭
So. Here we are. At the end. I have no idea how tf I'm supposed to end this post. I'VE been obsessed for 3 days straight. I don't have a lot of braincell left in me (there weren't any to begin with). I don't have a statement to wrap this post up in a nice little bow. Go make ur own conclusion I dunno.
But I would not have been losing my shit over this stupid panel for a month if it wasn't for the fact that eng translation was missing a pretty crutial thing in what Saguru said. I don't know if this was a mistranslation or a misunderstanding or something, but the English translation was lacking. And I love and have always been thankful and grateful to the ppl who worked hard to translate mangas in their free time, and do it all for free, bc I haven't had any real way to rent/borrow mangas from renting shops/libraries in years. So this was one of the only ways I can read mangas. But, even as I checked the raw panel with Google lens just now, even google translate it as "the only one to make my thoughts go round." No where was there any mention of "case" and "solving." So that's just, multiple accounts of ppl who knows jp, including native jp speakers, all saying that this panel is Saguru saying "the only one to drive me crazy". And man I rly hope this doesn't make me come off as ungrateful or like shitting on the translation team, I'm rly not. But yea. Uh. The translation was wrong. And I remembered that there used to be a diff eng translation. And it led me to go to all this trouble and journey to find out what was actually said. And here we are, at the end.
The only one who could disrupt Saguru's thinking.
The only one who could disturb Saguru's mind.
The one whose sole existence drives him mad.
The only one to make his mind obsess over till he's driven to madness.
Or to use the symbolism mkppyong wrote: the only one to break down the clock, the precise and accurate mechanism, that is Hakuba Saguru.
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victoriadallonfan · 2 months
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I had this whole thing written out but it's honestly not worth getting into all the weeds. I'll try to keep it short.
I do apologize for phrasing, but it's like someone getting punched, another person saying they got stabbed, and then that person saying you're "trying to justify what the 'stabber' did" when you say it's not stabbing. So you up try to head that off by saying that punching is still *not good* but it just doesn't help.
You are the one saying "Closure" means "rape". I mean, I guess I can see how you could interpret it that way. But that's in no way explicitly stated anywhere in Worm (never managed to finish Ward and Worm is where you are claiming the rape was stated). I personally interpret it as being able to openly express her feelings without being met with disgust/getting to hear Victoria say she returns those feelings (obviously while knowing it's not real, but just getting to hear her say it)/getting a hug/saying goodbye. And that her "break" was just to have Victoria hug her/reassure her again.
And hey, it's fine if you interpret it the way you do. But people who don't aren't "rape deniers" or "canon ignorers". They just don't read it that way /shrug
It's completely possible to interpret what happened as not rape, but still very bad, and think that Victoria didn't deserve it (i.e. not demonizing her).
See, I feel that you might misremembering what went down with Amy. I made a big post about it here on the Victoria and Amy Timeline.
To summarize the events:
- Amy mind rapes Victoria into loving/being attracted to her
- 4 days later, Amy paralyzes and operates on Victoria without her consent
- Amy mind controls and kidnaps Victoria, refusing to undo the mind rape despite TT, Taylor, and Regent telling her to do so (TT even mentions that Amy’s doing this for her own selfish desires)
- Amy creates the cocoon shaped in Victoria image using stray animals, the cocoon healing Victoria in Arcadia.
- Amy tells Jack she’ll do whatever she wants to Victoria, in order to “trick him” into leaving
- Amy heals Taylor and refuses to remove the mind rape from Victoria, with Taylor realizing that Amy is going to do something bad, but she has to chase after Jack
- Amy kidnaps Victoria again and takes her to an abandoned home, so no one can find them
- 3ish days pass before Carol and Sarah are told by TT where Amy and Victoria are. Amy admits to Carol that Victoria was just “lying there” (remember, the pod was what was healing her, not Amy), and Amy realized she really could do what she told Jack.
- Amy then admits to using Victoria for “closure” and that she would wipe Victoria’s memories of what she did, so Victoria wouldn’t have to remember what that “closure” entailed.
- She also explains that it was during this “closure” that she would add things to Victoria, then go to change her back to normal, then take “breaks” to use Victoria again to make more changes to Victoria, and then repeat for several days
Even without Ward, it’s really clear that Amy used Victoria as a sex doll once the healing pod fixed her up.
Why do you think Victoria has so many hands? So many heads and faces? Multiple sets of tits and vaginas?
Do you really think Amy needed Victoria to have 4 pairs of tits and 3 vaginas to get Victoria to “hug” and say “I love you” (which is still molestation btw)?
Why do you think Amy not once fixed Victoria mind rape, but had no issue mind controlling her and altering Victoria’s memories to suit Amy’s needs?
Amy’s closure was to turn Victoria into her own person toy, a living fantasy, and it’s a scenario we see play out in Ward proper. Where Victoria is forced to watch herself from the perspective of a different head as Amy molests her.
Anything else is just denial, unfortunately.
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j0kb0x · 10 months
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Over-analyzing the shit out of “Meet The Spy”
- You’re insane if you said you suspected Scout. The writers of this short did a good job hiding the fact that this was Red Spy in disguise at the time. The whole narrative of deceiving the audience is a perfect way to bring out the character’s affects on people and to show how much of a threat he really is.
- Speaking of which, what makes the character even more horrifying is the Spy’s general ability to seemingly psychoanalyze people around him. Blu spy (subjectively) shows signs of suspecting the disguised Scout, and Red spy roleplays as Scout so accurately, right down to his over the top ignorance and pretending to cut himself with the blade of his own butterfly knife. He couldn’t have done this without throughly gathering information on his own teammates. Creepy mf.
- Speaking of that scene where Red Spy pretends to cut himself, the whole action itself is GENIUS writing. Not only are the other mercs being deceived into thinking this is the real Scout, but the audience is as well. Because no spy would do such a terrible job demonstrating a basic opening balisong trick. Only someone as over his head and stupid as Scout would pick a weapon up too confidently without thinking twice and then promptly cut himself with it.
- After Scout sends a random storm of insults Blu spy’s way; he then adds “No offense..” At the end. If you watched this short the first time you wouldn’t have caught it, but this random proclamation at the end is Red spy’s own self awareness and sarcasm shining through. Showing how ironic it is that he’s indeed resorting to insulting himself in order to pass off. He doesn’t think that about himself at all; let’s be honest. This isn’t enough to be a slip up because it has double implications. You can also interpret this as Scout not wanting to get on Blu spy’s bad side. Red Spy knows how to choose his words wisely.
- Blu spy’s “I can assure you, they weren’t like me.” Is another double implication. It could be either seen as passive aggressively objecting against Scout’s insults, or even threatening the Red Spy he suspects might be disguised as Scout. Lots of fucking social mind games here for the audience to try and understand.
- When Scout sees the Blu spy’s head get blown clean off, he reacts as if he’s shocked at soldier’s lack of impulse control. Not only did Red spy deduct pretty quickly he had to react like this in a spilt second, but also you can notice his mask beginning to slightly falter in this scene as he realizes his main competition was now gone. The way he steps forward to check if Blu spy is truly dead is way too off-putting and doesn’t fit Scout’s typical body language whatsoever.
- Finally, Scout’s expression turns into a dead fucking hard gaze once he realizes he has the perfect opening here, now that soldier and heavy are distracted. This gave me chills as a kid. Then the disguised Red Spy throughly demonstrates he’s fully capable of doing a knife trick. The camera is right at his hand and makes sure to place emphasis on this moment as realization slowly sets in for the audience that they’ve been completely misled this entire time.
- Red spy finishes Blu spy’s sentence before he got blasted to smithereens. Showing once again how ironic the situation is, perfectly balancing ironic humor and the feeling of pure terror. “Right behind you.” Comes off more raw than it should. Emphasis on this line is done perfectly by Dennis Bateman. Sounds both like a velvet whisper, and a snake hissing before striking. 10/10 acting here.
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lumiellle · 4 months
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Haikavember Day 3: Feast
For as long as Kaveh can remember, Alhaitham has always had a knack for showing affection through his cooking.
At first, he didn’t realize what he was doing. The very first time Alhaitham cooked for him, Kaveh poked at the food with his fork, contemplating the probability of it being poisoned. It was something Alhaitham called ‘an improved version of sabz meat stew’, but it was beyond recognizable. The flat, pizza-like substance had very few similarities with the sort of stews Kaveh was familiar with, not to mention the addition of an actual word written on it in herb sauce.
“Just try it,” Alhaitham had said, so Kaveh hesitantly took a small bite. It was unlike anything he’d ever tasted before.
To his complete and utter shock, it was delicious.
After that first time, Kaveh gained a little more trust in Alhaitham’s cooking, though the message Alhaitham was trying to convey kept flying over Kaveh’s head for a while. At first, there was ‘Contemplation’, written on what Kaveh eventually helped Alhaitham rename ‘Ideal Circumstance’. 
More dishes followed, each decorated with a singular word: Observation, Companionship, and right about the time Alhaitham was about to lose patience, as he later told Kaveh, Adoration.
Kaveh thought about that last one for a good while, even after he finished eating the meal Alhaitham prepared for him that day. He couldn’t fathom what Alhaitham’s understanding of adoration might encompass, much less who or what might even elicit such an emotion from him—after all, in the realm of Kaveh’s imagination, the only thing he could envision Alhaitham adoring was books, and he was positive he felt no need to remind Kaveh of that fact. It was also possible Alhaitham wasn’t talking about himself at all. For all Kaveh knew, he could have been practicing his calligraphy using random words (and sauce).
“There is a saying in Mondstadt,” Alhaitham told him when Kaveh finally confronted him about the cryptic messages he’d been leaving all over Kaveh’s dinner. “They say that love goes through the stomach. I hope that answers your questions.”
Kaveh mulled over Alhaitham’s words; he even consulted a couple of dictionaries for usage examples of the saying, but ultimately felt like he was interpreting too much into it. After all, there was no way it was that simple, right? It wasn’t like Alhaitham to try and tell Kaveh that he had feelings for him in such a roundabout way.
And still, Kaveh couldn’t shake the thought once it had been planted in his head—and for a while he was convinced that he was losing his sanity, because Alhaitham’s runic dinner embellishments didn’t stop. In fact, they were starting to get more direct every day.
Kaveh thought about how to best broach the topic with Alhaitham, how to convey how these little gestures were making him feel. At first, he didn’t think much of it, but as days bled into weeks, he knew he could no longer brush his own feelings aside. The simplest dishes started feeling like scrumptious feasts to Kaveh, and not only because they tasted good. He felt like each bite he took warmed his insides, each word consumed unraveling into unspoken confessions. 
In the end, Kaveh felt like there was only one way to go about it. He decided to try and emulate Alhaitham’s strange way of communicating with him—so one night, after Alhaitham had taken a seat at the table, Kaveh served him a portion of omelet rice, the word ‘Trust’ carefully written in ketchup standing out vibrantly against the gold of the omelet. It took him a good chunk of courage to write it out, but it felt right—just as Alhaitham had been giving him all these little hints about how he was feeling, Kaveh wanted to give something back. Something he hadn’t been able to give Alhaitham for a long time. He was willing to try again.
Kaveh sat across from Alhaitham with his own plate of food (sans ketchup-lettering), nervously waiting for Alhaitham to comment on Kaveh’s creation.
And comment Alhaitham did, but not until he had polished off his entire dinner. Kaveh almost thought he wasn’t going to say anything at all, but when he walked around the table to collect Kaveh’s empty plate, he felt Alhaitham’s hand brushing against his shoulder.
“Thank you,” he said, the corners of his mouth upturned. “It means a lot to me.” Then he stepped away from the table to do the dishes as if nothing had happened, leaving a red-faced Kaveh behind, his heart hammering in his chest.
After that night, writing messages on each other’s meals became a common occurrence in their shared household. Even after Kaveh plucked up all his courage and confessed his feelings to Alhaitham properly, the tradition stuck. 
Today, too, Kaveh finds himself smiling down at the dinner Alhaitham brought him to his work desk. Written in tomato sauce, mild as Kaveh likes it, four letters complete the dish: ‘Love’.
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erisenyo · 21 days
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Questions for fic writers 1, 3, 5
Anon thank you so much for indicating the ask game, I did not realize I reblogged them both so close together lol
What inspired you to start writing fanfiction?
Epistles by Lady_of_the_Flowers lol. It is an absolutely stellar fic and I couldn't get it out of my head when I finished it. I kept imagining how the story might have gone on, what their BSS reunion could have looked like, how they might have found their happy ending...
And eventually I couldn't get it out of my head to the point that I wrote the BSS reunion (the teashop alley scene for any Burning Bright readers). And then I went hm, this could be better with a bit of context... (880K words later.)
3. Are there any specific themes you enjoy exploring in your fics?
I LOVE playing around with perception! How can two people experience the same event but interpret it differently because of their different frames of references. How can a character's behavior suddenly be recast in an entirely different light because of revelations about their background. How does an external POV contextualize or challenge or reframe an event. How does the reader's own perception come into play, whether through canon events or tropes or genre conventions, where expectation builds perception which then is challenged and recast by the unfolding events, not just within the text but within the reader as well.
5. What techniques do you use to create believable dialogue?
I really like writing dialogue, and I tend to think of building up an exchange in a few layers:
Verbal Habits: is your character a rambler (Sokka)? Blunt and terse (Zuko)? Always trying to poke fun (Toph)? Those verbal habits help build out the conversational voice of each character, and are often rooted in their characterization
Recognize Rhythm: Actual conversations tend to be a mixture of long and short sentences, exchanging listening and speaking, nonverbal as well as verbal cues. A hear-to-heart will have a different flow to it than shooting the shit after work.
Dialogue Isn't Perfect: People stutter and stumble, thoughts start and stop, there's cross-talk and interruptions, spoken word tends to be less formal than written word--building in those pauses and half-thoughts can help it feel more natural, and also show where a character is stumbling or struggling with a thought
Build Around the Words: layering in even simple action is a great way to make a piece of dialogue more engaging while also accomplishing some needed point A-to-point B or worldbuilding or exposition. Characters are also reacting to and thinking about what they're hearing, what they might say next, how it makes them feel.
Don't Forget Nonverbal Cues: Someone saying something with averted eyes and fidgeting hands suggests something very different than the exact same thing said with a direct gaze and squared shoulders. Body language makes the dialogue more rich.
Mix Up Your Sentence Structure: This is related to rhythm, but switch between using dialogue tags or not, put your internal aside at the front of a line of dialogue or the middle or the end, switch between long and short sentences. And do it all with a purpose--fewer dialogue tags and shorter lines of dialogue generally feel like a faster conversation, dialogue breaking in the middle tends to shift the emphasis of the sentence. Get a feel for the ways you can leverage your sentence structure itself to signal tone or pace or pauses!
For this Questions for Fic Writers asks game!
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meimi-haneoka · 3 months
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What are your top 10 favorite scenes in Clear Card manga? (Not counting the anime because it hasn't been finished yet)
Aaaahhh nice question! 🤭 Thank you so much for sending me this ask, since now that the main story is over, with a cool mind, it gave me the opportunity to think about the scenes I loved the most.
It is actually quite hard for me to choose, because there are so many good scenes, and it somehow feels also "unfair" to make a ranking, but I will try to answer with my CURRENT top 10, which is highly depending on my current inclinations and preferences. 😊 (under the cut, with explanations and analysis for each scene)
10. Chapter 1, "We'll be together forever"
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I'm not placing this here because it's my least favorite, not at all, but because after more than 7 years, its power to evoke emotions in me has been supplanted by other scenes. 😅 I dunno how to explain it but, while it stays one of the most important and nostalgic scenes in this series, so much more happened in this arc that I feel "in a stronger way" than this scene. Still, it's in my top 10 because I was highly emotional when I've seen it in chapter 1.
9. Chapter 22, "Same goes for you, Syaoran-kun"
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Ooooh, this was such a satisfactory moment, I still remember it. Till that moment, Sakura never gave out any hint that she had started to notice that Syaoran had been hiding something from her. This was portrayed differently in the anime, because Sakura confides her doubt with Meiling way before this scene happened in episode 21, but in the manga it was such a "wow" moment for me, because we had been screaming in our heads "how is it possible that Sakura is so oblivious that she doesn't notice anything", but no, she actually had already noticed, it's just that she wanted to take all of us by surprise, Syaoran included! And she was waiting patiently for him to talk to her. I also liked the way she phrased this, because it might be interpreted as slightly slightly calling him out while telling him "please open up to me" with love. Which is exactly what also will happen with another couple later on.
8. Chapter 33, Sakura hugs Syaoran with a resolute face
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Another moment that made me scream "QUEEN!!" was this one. Oooh, how much I loved Sakura in this specific panel. Syaoran is prevented from warning her about Kaito and what he knows about him, so he desperately tries to convey to her with that crushing hug that no matter what happens, he's going to protect her. But since Sakura had just found out the truth about the Clear Cards and felt the frustration of not having understood it earlier, causing her loved one to put himself into a dangerous position, her resolute face here always conveyed to me her desire to be more "in touch" with herself, finally "waking up" and do her part to protect Syaoran in turn. That little hand gripping Syaoran's shirt tightly is everything to me. It's so rare to see Sakura depicted with such strong and complex feelings.
7. Chapter 41/42, Syaoran and Kaito's fight
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One of my favorite scenes, no doubt. You have no idea how much I'm anticipating to see this scene in the anime. It's not only because my two favorite boys are basically arguing over who's more "I'll save/protect my most important person no matter what" (even if one of them hasn't figured it out yet), but it's also because we have a pretty violent Syaoran here...he attacked Kaito behind his back with a freaking lightning, without notice or anything else, and that made me go "wow Syaoran, you must be quite mad if you're not caring about fair play in this confrontation" 😂 And it's also pretty uncharacteristic of Kaito to be taken by suprise by someone....but this is just because Nadeshiko had distracted him with a topic that really dug deep in his core.
6. Chapter 31, "I'm also mad at you, Syaoran-kun"
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And of course, this is another main scene that I can't wait to see animated and that really left an impact on me. I realize that my favorite scenes are those where the characters do something you wouldn't expect from them basing on what's been portrayed of them till that moment. And I think hearing Sakura say "I'm also mad at you, Syaoran-kun" had a major impact on me. And felt very satisfactory. Of course I knew that Sakura would've never lashed out at Syaoran when she would've found out about the Sakura Cards, about lying and omitting things to her...Sakura knows that her Syaoran would never reach such lengths if it weren't for her safety. But still, he didn't fully consider the consequences of his actions, which could've been so much worse than what we've seen, and I think in that moment Sakura fully realized all of that, and it's inevitable that the pain turned also into anger because "how can you be so blind to not realize that you would've killed me if something happened to you?". Sakura's calm and composed anger and pain is very much in character for her, but also something we yet had to see till that moment, so it felt really refreshing. I also remember her next sentence, "Even if it would've made you uncomfortable, I would've cried and cried forever". It's as if she was telling him "in front of something of such gravity, I need to take notice of my own feelings and express them. I WILL react in this way, even if I know that I will make you feel bad about it." It's claiming the right to be angry when your loved one messes up big time with you. (lord, the parallels!) And Syaoran's hug to her head, not even allowing himself to hug her body, felt very humble and respectful from his part, in my opinion. He absolutely felt the need to apologize and comfort her, but not invading her space and comfortable zone too much.
5. Chapter 52, "But you look like you're in pain"
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Chapter 52 was a "parallels fest" beginning to end, and more than a scene, I'd daresay I place the entire chapter in this position of the ranking. It was very nice to see, for once, a parallelism between Akiho and Syaoran, rather than the usual Akiho and Sakura. I think CLAMP took care in depicting this scene because they wanted to make sure that the readers understood that, despite being under a "synchronization", the feelings Sakura and Akiho have for their loved ones are absolutely genuine, unique and personal to eachother. In short, Akiho doesn't act in a certain way towards Kaito because she's "mimicking" what Sakura does with Syaoran. If there's one thing in CLAMP manga that always eluded hitsuzen, plotting, scheming, even premonitions, are the feelings the characters have for their important people, and it's not something specific to CCS. Not even magic can change the feelings someone got for someone else, just as magic alone cannot make someone fall in love with someone else. It's always coming from the heart. And so, in this scene we see two kids deeply worried for their loved ones, who look in pain, and CLAMP have shown to us how their situations, although paralleling, had two very different outcomes, not because the feelings at the base were different, but because their circumstances were different. In the Akiho/Kaito half, I was absolutely heartbroken by Kaito's reaction, dictated by fear and isolation. But I was also in awe at Akiho's strength of mind, the way she kept insisting for Kaito to open up to her because she just could feel that something wasn't right, it hadn't been for a while at this point, and the fear to lose him made her stronger and more incisive than ever. Alas, Kaito's stubborness at this point of the story is basically playing a tug of war with her (a game Akiho has no intention to lose), so he had that reaction of running away and shutting the door in her face, another thing I found extremely uncharacteristic of him, because he had always been so respectful and diligent in his "role of the butler". With the progression of the story, this reaction became so much more clear and coherent with his state of mind. To this day, this chapter is so dear to me because of the strong and complex emotions depicted in it (even though at the time it hurt so much).
4. Chapter 80, "Cristaux. That's my true name"
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Well yes, it might be because it's just fresh in my mind, or because it was, in a way, the end of the tribulations for me to see this guy finally realizing what Akiho is to him, but I feel this scene in my core. The choice to reveal his true name to her, what it means in a CLAMP manga, the intimacy of the scene without actually depicting anything that any reader (who doesn't know CLAMP well) would consider "regular" for a romantic scene (so much that a good amount of people didn't understand what happened here), makes it so precious and special to me. When I've talked about this scene in the stories of my IG account, I used "Delicate" by Taylor Swift as a background song, because I really feel like CLAMP depicted Kaito's intentions in a very delicate way. Which is how it is supposed to be, how their relationship will develop and transform along the way. They need so much sensitivity, gentleness, time, tenderness, because they both have lots of scars they need to heal from. And just like in the song, Kaito is starting to acknowledge many things and he's moving a tiny step ahead in that direction, with this gesture that means so much (and Akiho is perfectly aware of what it entails). It's like "starting again" for them, this time from a foundation of honesty and trust. Slowly, slowly healing and building their bond back up. It's the evidence that when your heart is in the right place, there's always a second chance and Kaito showed here that he doesn't want to waste it.
3. Chapter 78, Akiho and Kaito's reunion
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Well. OF COURSE this would be in my top 3! I cried so much!! 🥲 The emotional tension, Akiho's anger, Kaito's silence that suggested how stunned he was, finally realizing things that we waited for the whole manga for him to see... I think the one aspect that struck me the hardest in this scene was imagining to be in Akiho's shoes in that moment, and feeling all that love and anger pouring out of her, without even fully understanding where those feelings came from, because she still didn't remember anything about him. Like, you have someone in front of you, your heart knows it's the person you love, and yet you can't remember anything about them, not even their name. But you still feel this storm of feelings pouring out of you. So powerful. As powerful was Akiho's assertiveness when she rebuked Kaito not only for deciding her happiness on her behalf, without asking her absolutely anything, but most importantly because he dared to remove himself from her life, thinking "she doesn't need me to be happy, after all", when he was so so so wrong. And in doing that, he committed another horrible thing, he literally threw himself away in the process, like something of no value. I think more than anything else, this was what hurt Akiho the most. And we always go back to that parallelism of chapter 31, how these boys, in their fever of protecting their most important person, completely forget/don't see how fundamental THEY are to that person's happiness. Out of this whole reunion, another scene I love is when Akiho kinda "pulls" Kaito back to her, pressuring him to go along with Sakura's plan to revert him back to his true appearance (from that of a dragon). You can see that his self-loathing makes him hesitate, and resist that plan till the last second, but when he exchanges that long stare with Akiho, he finally caves in. Her hard stare, which shows already the irritation and pain that will overflow afterwards, makes him feel "wanted", necessary to someone. Just for being himself, not because of his powers, like it had been till he met her. That's another moment of this scene that I love deeply.
2. Chapter 48, "The moon is beautiful"
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Yeah I'm sorry, I've been debating whether this scene would go to n. 1 or not, then decided otherwise, but I can't lie to myself: the scene that impacted me the most in this entire manga, the one that changed me, is this one. Akiho's covert love confession under the full moon. And until someone explained to me what Akiho actually meant with that "because the moon is really beautiful", I had considered this just a very sweet and cute scene, but nothing more. When someone gave me the correct "reading key" (and it's absolutely intentional because Akiho's speech is placed between quote marks), something changed inside of me towards these two. I already liked them, Akiho in particular, but this scene confirmed to me that Akiho was serious in wanting to grasp her life tightly and change it. From a shy, insecure girl needing validation at every sentence, crushed by the trauma of the past, to someone who actually made the first, concrete steps in conveying her thoughts and feelings to the person most important to her. From stillness, to action. The first steps towards finding her voice, and letting it be heard, louder and louder, throughout the story. This is a very important turning point, as you can literally see her changing, after this scene. Even in this metaphorical way, it must have required for Akiho to muster all of her courage to confess her feelings. Did Kaito understand what she meant, here? To this day, I don't think he did. Otherwise, he wouldn't have said such a foolish thing like "I didn't think you needed me to be happy" in ch. 78. But he still wanted to spend time with her, he was visibly glad to receive that "invitation" from her, even though he never let that transpire from his words, his reply is a line carefully built in Japanese to address what Akiho wanted, not what he wanted. Cause he couldn't allow himself to want anything, aside from that one wish, knowing very well how this would've ended. Chapter 48 and 49 were giving us everything we needed to know to determine not only Akiho's feelings towards Kaito, but also his own feelings for her. It's very clear by the way they look at eachother in their scenes of these two chapters. And yet, the smell of "doom" was looming over them (so much that at the time I thought this would be their last conversation before everything went down the drain; fortunately it wasn't), so this "duality" created the perfect mix to get me definitively invested in these two.
1. Chapter 79, "I can't be on everyone's side"
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I chose this scene for the 1st position because I absolutely adored the revolutionary and strong message that Sakura passed in the very culmination of the climax. I felt we really needed it. More than once I had feared, throughout the serialization, that CLAMP would've shown Sakura trying to "befriend" or "compromise" with the Squids & Association, when the "moment of the truth" would've come. Because of the apparent "dogma" that "Sakura is everyone's friend, no one is evil in Sakura's world, Sakura is such a good girl".
But what they had already shown about Akiho's clan and the Association ABSOLUTELY couldn't be justified or compromised with. CLAMP had already shown too much cruelty from them, there couldn't be any "redeeming arc" or anything like that, that wouldn't result in being offensive to the sensitivity and intelligence of the readers. Sometimes it happens that you just can't compromise with cruel people guided only by greed. You shouldn't. Especially if they abused other people ever since they were so little.
In this specific scene, CLAMP have put Sakura in front of a choice, but not only that: they also made her question her own morality. How I adored that! Sakura does realize that what she's about to do might not be good from a moral standpoint, forcing people to forget about something without their consent. Exactly what Kaito did before. But she doesn't care. This is something different, and the difference lies in the intentions. While Kaito acted out of love, those other people were clearly trying to harm her friends. Because of this, she spells out clearly that she can't be on everyone's side. Because at some point a choice needs to be made, and she chose Akiho and Kaito. This scene right here is, perhaps, the one that answers the question that I know many people made themselves throughout the story, and after it was over: did we need Akiho and Kaito in Cardcaptor Sakura?
Yes, we did.
Because they brought Sakura to this moment, and they pushed her to make this decision. The decision to choose her loved ones' happiness over anything else, even her own morality, particularly when cruel intentions were involved towards people with a background much less happier and ideal than hers'. The decision to go on along with them, rather than trying to go back to how things were before. The decision to do whatever in her power to protect them. A series of decisions that brought her an enormous character development. This thematic of "going on" rather than "going back" was so strong in Tsubasa too, and it's not a coincidence that everyone could feel a strong connection to that other CLAMP work, in the final 2 chapters (and not only because of the cameos).
I think this scene defined and changed CCS forever (for the better, in my opinion). I feel like the essence of Clear Card is all here. This feeling of "everything we went through was for this moment" is so strong that made me designate it as my n. 1 scene!✨
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galaxy-siren · 1 year
Text
I’m Still Here
Pairing: Eddie Munson x GN!Reader
Request: Eddie and reader going to watch the movie at the cinema (since it came out in 2006 could be a modern!AU or a future!AU with they in their 40-ish) with a therapeutic cry and some cuddles in the aftermath
Word Count: 439
Warnings: short, a little bit of fluff, some hurt/comfort-ish vibes, a little sad!eddie, reader comforts eddie 
AN: This was a request from @kiacampa​! Thank you so much for sending this in! I hope you don’t mind that I deviated a little bit from the request (reader and Eddie watch the movie at home instead of the theatre) and that it’s so short. I also left whether this is a modern!AU or older!eddie/older!reader up for interpretation. Anyway, hope you all enjoy!
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Since you were both tired from work, you and Eddie decided to spend your Friday night at home, order some take out, pop some popcorn, snuggle up on the couch, and watch a movie. It was your turn to pick a movie, so you randomly picked something to watch, and it just so happened to be Treasure Planet. Everything was fine, you both were thoroughly enjoying the movie, until the song “I’m Still Here” started playing.
You didn’t even realize Eddie was crying until the song finished and you heard the sound of soft sniffles next to you. You turned to look at him, and you instantly went into comfort mode. You paused the movie and focused completely on him.
“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” You placed a gentle hand on his knee.
Eddie wiped the tears from his eyes, “God, that song just got to me.”
“I’m sorry,” you waited for him to calm down a bit before continuing, “did it hit a little too close to home?”
“Punched me right in the gut is what it did.” Eddie gave a watery chuckle.
“We can watch something else.” You offered.
Eddie shook his head, “No, I like the movie, and I want to finish it. I just need a minute.”
“Take all the time you need, love.” You kissed his cheek.
“Thank you,” he smiled at you, “it didn’t help that this Jim kid also had a jackass for a dad.”
“I know.” You rubbed your hand up and down his back.
“This might sound weird, but it just felt like that song was about me, you know? It made me think of when I was a kid and being an outcast and everyone wanting me to change to fit into their idea of normal.” A couple of fresh tears slid down his cheek.
“Music has a way of doing that. I’m sure you’ve written songs that have resonated with people the way this one does with you.”
“Oh my god, I hate crying.” Eddie leaned back on the couch and tried to stop the tears from flowing.
You shifted so you could look at him, “Eddie, sweetie, it’s okay to cry.”
“I know,” he sat back up, and took a deep sigh, “okay, I think I’m good.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, play the movie.”
“Come here.” You held your arms out in an invitation for him to snuggle up to you, and he gladly did so. He wrapped his arms around your waist and placed his head on your chest. You placed a kiss to the top of his head before pressing play and wrapping your arms around him.
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dominijoyce · 11 months
Text
Some Feelings About Disco Elysium
I wanna say, I've never really related to the need of wanting more represantation of your culture and/or community. I understoon the idea and why actual represantation beyond headcanon and fandom interpretation was something many people strive for and need more of. I just never personally could relate to that need - even if it revolved around cultures and communities I am a part of.
Yes, I was always happy when I saw a represantation of those like me, especially if said represantation is positive but I never felt that "I needed this".
Well at least not until playing and finishing Disco Elysium.
I do not want this to be some extremelly long personal post so I will not go in detail of the game itself but as someone who has suffered from psychosis for years now, I don't think I have ever felt so close to the protagonist of the game as I did with Harry.
While I also see Harry as plural, For the entire game I couldn't help but keep thinking how Skills [and items like Necktie] talking to Harry is quite literally how I experience everyday through my life with auditory hallucinations that incidentally do manifest as random inputs out of nowhere in my head that are impossible to locate the source from.
And the way Harry talks, the way he interracts with the world - even if you decide to only pick the most "sane" of the given dialogue options, you still may struggle heavily to be seen as "normal" by other characters in the game. That one is something heavily personal to me as well - when even at the times of me trying my best to mask, the symptoms and effects of my psychosis among other mental disorders still manage to come out and possibly freak others.
And just... In general showing Harry's struggle and him being intense and quite often not being sure what was the intention of his actions either, not knowing why he cannot put the phone down, not being able to stop what he's doing even when he knows he already failed [specifically talking of when you lose a Check but cannot back out even if technically nothing is stopping him from shutting up or not continuing to harm himself, etc.].
He is lost, yes he is a complete amnesiac so that's given but even in later stages of the game where he recovers some parts of himself and the world around him, he is still struggling and quite often openly talking of needing a break and just, stoping everything around him.
I could go on, yes but it would be repetetive of me and if you played the game you probably are able to yourself name multiple other characteristics of Harry not being "sane" no matter how hard he/player might try.
I'm listing all of those because as I mentioned, those are heavily personal and relatable things to me as well. Dare I say, except for amnesia, sometimes my daily life does just feel like playing Disco Elysium. [Although I do suffer from micro-amnesic episodes as well...]
And I didn't know I needed a protagonist like Harry Du Bois in my life, I didn't know I needed a game like Disco Elysium in my life that lets you put on the shoes of a canonically psychotic character and written in a purposefully ugly way. Not romanticising it but also being respectful and not treating Harry as a monster nor a person who will never be part of the society [the ending of the game hit way too close to my heart...]. The game doesn't beat around the bush or tries to minimize the horrors of his mind or characterize them in the way where it feels like the game's genre is meant to be fantasy instead.
The game and the writing of Disco Elysium is just... honest. Honest is a good word. It shows you both the ugliest and the prettiest and the most hurtful and the most hopeful of Harry's mind. And before playing Disco Elysium, I struggled heavily to sometimes explain the way my mind works, even to myself - to put pieces of it in place or category. But Disco Elysium made me able to and able to notice certain patterns or realize certain things of what is going on with me. I needed this game in my life, I needed this protagonist in my life and I didn't know I did until I finished it.
I suppose it is no surprise I will now consider Disco Elysium my favorite game and keep recommending it to people who can handle heavy subject the game tackles. It is also no surprise that I have already started my second playthrough of the game. The way mentality of Harry is written is just one of many other amazingly written aspects of the game. The game's story made me emotional, the game's characters made me emotional, the setting made me emotional and there is still so much content I haven't managed to explore on my first playthrough. Not to mention I cried twice or thrice during it. It is a masterpiece, I believe.
Thank you, Robert Kurvitz. Thank you, Aleksander Rostov. Thank you Helen Hindpere. Thank you for creating and writing an experience so close to mine I didn't know I needed to see represented.
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Had this card finished for a while before posting, but I was kinda insecure about it lol. I talk a little more in depth on this card's Patreon post (you can view and download it for free btw), but long story short, I got stuck in my head about whether I was embodying the symbolism of The Star and then I realized I didn't have to have a one-to-one counterpart to every Rider-Waite-Smith card lol.
Once I wasn't so stuck in my head, I realized I really like the way this card came out! I usually struggle to draw fire, but I found this quick tutorial and it actually gave me a process to try! Would recommend!
But let's go ahead and talk interpretations. They'll be below the cut as always:
After The Tower's destruction, The Star rises from the wreckage-- a shining beacon of hope.
While you likely experienced a period of pain and upheaval in the past, the presence of The Star suggests that good things are coming your way.
The Star is a card of hope and renewal. It reminds us that even though we went through trauma or generally crappy situations, we can emerge from them confident that things will get better. There are good things coming and we're urged to focus on those.
A lot of the symbolism within this card is somewhat religious in nature. The original woman is kneeling down with one of her feet seemingly walking on water, an homage to the Christian understanding of Jesus. The Star appears to be very in touch with the higher power within her whether her understanding of it stems from religion or her own spiritual beliefs.
In this way, we're urged to have faith in the forces we might not be able to comprehend. Sometimes singular or series of events can happen without us putting much effort into their creation. Sometimes, something we wanted or needed comes to us even when it didn't seem at all possible. The Star urges us to have faith in ourselves and trust that what we want will come to us.
Be confident in yourself, have hope that things will change, and begin to free yourself from the fear that keeps you from living authentically.
Reversed, the once hopeful figure of The Star has lost their glow. They've become lost in their pain and struggle to find any reason to stay positive. There's only so much a person can take before they feel beaten down and hopeless.
An important distinction, however, if that a reversed Star does not mean you have no hope. There are still plenty of chances for our situations to improve and for us to heal, this reversed card simply indicates our own feelings and thoughts.
While it can be frustrating to hear that something's 'all in our head', a reversed Star can be looked at as a sign that we have the power to make things better. Whatever higher power put us on Earth also gave us the ability to alter our reality and create a better life for ourselves.
Of course we may need help along the way whether that be a therapist, doctor, support group, or our loved ones, but that help is out there.
Even a reversed Star is a message that the worst of our pain and suffering is over. The pain we suffered is real and valid, it always will be. But The Star reminds us that we have the power to heal from it and come back stronger than when we started.
When designing this card, I wanted Haruka to represent the Star in question.
After Kiryu's entire family died, he felt like he had no reason to stay alive. The whole reason he went on his journey in the first game was to be reunited with the people he loved. He was willing to forgive those that had hurt him and move on, but in a very short period of time, everything was taken from him.
Everything except Haruka.
Haruka isn't free from suffering, either; her mother was taken from her and her father tried to kill her, but she serves as an anchor for Kiryu to hold onto his desire to live (even if he continues to struggle in the future).
She's an opportunity for Kiryu to get away from the Tojo Clan-- the organization that gave him everything he loved, but also took it away so many times. A beacon of hope leading Kiryu towards the life he actually wants.
Things aren't easy. Healing from such intense trauma rarely is, but there's hope for this little girl who never had a proper family and this man who just lost his.
Fate seemingly destroyed both their lives, but it seems like it also gave them everything they needed to find new meaning in the mess left over.
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thefirstknife · 10 months
Note
Hi!! I just finished the weekly campaign mission No Time Left (rip Rohan 😭) and I realized I’m not sure if we know anything about those large mosaic murals in the boss fight room that the Radial Mast was in front of. There’s depictions of ghosts and guardians but beyond that I can’t puzzle anything out. Just curious if you have any more info on it?
Here's the link to the artist and the full view of it! Much easier to see like that.
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We don't know much about it however. It's up to anyone's interpretation, which I like in a way. It's a very distinct style and representing something we can't fully understand.
The first one (from the left), I think represents the founding or just like a vibe of Neomuna. At the top there's what might the first Neomuni or a Cloud Strider standing in protection of Neomuna. At the bottom, we can see a Guardian, a Ghost, the Traveler and possibly Pyramid ships hovering above Neomuna, which is safe on Neptune, shown here as being protected in the hands of a bigger figure with poukas flying around. Kind of like "this is who we are, we are safe here, we are away from everything else and nobody can approach us, but those dangers are never too far."
The middle at the top is possibly representing the council and maybe Cloud Striders making a decision of some kind. The scene below represents the closing of the Veil into the containment; the circular object being shut behind the door is 100% the Veil. Two Cloud Striders are closing the door and below are the Neomuni are watching the ceremony. Since this is the central mural and the mural is in the entry to the Veil containment, it might be showing that ceremony of when the building was finished and locked.
The final mural is very strange. At the top, there's people with the background of Neomuna building/Cloud Strider memorial looking structure. Their pose might be symbolising how they stand guard to protect Neomuna. The scene below is quite bizarre. There's clearly the Cloud Strider memorials behind the head of an elderly man; maybe symbolising past Cloud Striders as legacy to the current one. And then there's a younger looking figure sitting on the Veil with a Guardian looming nearby. Maybe some sort of a warning? Like, a picture meant to present how the Guardians are a constant danger and how the two Cloud Striders that are always in charge are the ones dedicated to protecting the Veil and thus Neomuna.
I've seen people saying that the bearded figure is supposed to be Rohan and that the mural prophesises his death with the other figure being Nimbus crying for him over the Veil, but this mural must've been made waaaay before Rohan and Nimbus were even alive, let alone anything else. Also the bottom figure isn't crying; what people misinterpret as tears is actually an earring. So I don't think that there's randomly a prophecy in the mural. It's most likely just a symbol for a warning about the duty of a Cloud Strider. There will always be just two, one older and one younger, with the legacy of other Cloud Striders behind them, standing as the final line of defense for Neomuna and the Veil in particular, which serves as Neomuna's power source so it must be safe at all cost.
I like hearing other interpretations as well so feel free to share! It's a fascinating piece of art and I love that it's open to interpretation instead of someone just showing up to tell us in great detail what this painting means culturally for Neomuni.
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emblazons · 11 months
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That's a nice point about Matt Duffers, lol. But I sometimes feel like the show could not manage to deliver the message on the show. Most of the audience thinks Will was truly being childish and in the wrong for playing DnD in S3... and they still think that way after years. And of course, the audience is 'dumb' sometimes and they do not get the messages of the show and its narrative, but... it is also the case that the show could have done... better, so to say.
Honestly I think you make a fair point, though I personally don't agree with the idea that they "could have done it better" just because a lot of people don't understand what they were doing? Sure, I agree that there were maybe simpler or more straightfoward methods to get to where we are now, and I don't necessarily agree with all the Duffer's decisions, but...I certainly don't think they've done anything poorly…on top of the fact that the show isn’t even done.
I have talked about it here several times before, but: Stranger Things was and always has been a show for a specific audience (which The Duffers have repeatedly said, even walking into S5) rather than the behemoth household name moneymaker a lot of people see it as today, and a lot of the muddled interpretations of the show come from that expansion beyond its original bounds more than anything else. I think that, especially with the introduction of S4 when they “started showing their hand,” their direction for the story was clear to the audience it was meant to be—and while it is perhaps its a bit "pretentious" in a way to say so, the fact that ST is lost on people who it wasn’t designed for doesn't mean the Duffers did a weak job—it just means they aren’t the audience the show was written for.
With smaller shows (and even movies) that have more niche audiences and smaller viewerships (aka: people who know what to look for in the show), you don't see the same kind/level of criticism or audience dissonance ST gets—just like the audience for Clueless (1995) can appreciate things about it that people outside of its viewership might think was overwhelmingly foolish, same as the viewership for Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is going to catch and appreciate things about it that are going to fly right over the heads of a fair number of people who watch it...despite both of those films being phenomenal examples of work for their specific audiences/genres.
There are people who don't like Jane Austen who know she's a master at what she did even if they don't understand it, and people who hate Stephen King books still know he's good at what he does (unless they're being critical for its own sake). To me, its much the same with The Duffers & Stranger Things—it makes sense to almost all of the nerdy, deeply steeped in movies and TV humans who watch the show, and most of us have realized they are on their way to making a clear point about how embracing your nerdiness is positive...even if most of the general audience hasn't gathered that yet.
Also, given the show isn't even finished yet, its jumping the gun a bit to say "you haven't delivered" on something that isn't yet complete? You can’t get 4/5 of the way through a book, see the lead up for the story, and then shut it before the dénouement…only to then say the author doesn’t know what they’re doing lmao.
Like. If The Duffers fuck this up I will be right there demanding justice for Will Byers, same as you. But I’m not gonna call Matt Duffer a liar or incompetent writer before his proverbial essay’s even finished just because someone who wasn’t the intended audience for ST doesn’t understand or see the deeper themes of the show ☠️ if it’s pretentious to say that then…I guess they have to mark me down LMAO.
Anyway. I hope that makes sense? And that you know I am not coming for you, but more the idea that the duffers are fucking up somehow because some people don’t understand them. But still, thanks for the ask!
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tinyboxxtink · 2 years
Text
"Spring Break '86" *Chapter 14*
Chapter 15
Chapter 13
ALRIGHT GUYS, this is it.
This is the last chapter before Part 2. And I've already changed the ending. Lulz.
I said this in another post, i really don't know what's gonna happen over the weekend.
If Eddie dies [god forbid] in Vol 2, i don't know how i'll react. It might fuel me to make this the best damn fix-it-fic of all time, or it might throw me in a spiral of despair, unable to finish this.
No no, i'm kidding. Mostly. I will finish this no matter what, but if he does it might take me a few days to recover.
SO I posted this today because either way, it will probably be about a week before you get the next chapter. I'm sorry, please don't leave me in that time!
I'm also sorry this chapter isn't super long, but I was running out of plot leading up to the ending of Vol 1 , and I didn't wanna just start writing bullshit to fill up pages. That's not fair to anyone.
SO, here we are. I hope you all enjoy my interpretation of the ending, even though I flipped who gets stuck in the UD.
Which honestly shouldn't be that different because all the trailers we've seen she's been FINE, so obviously she gets out of the UD pretty fast.
Oh PS-- Per usual, i highly recommend listening to this song before/after/during your reading. I cannot believe I didn't use this song earlier, it's so fucking accurate.
But better late than never, right?
PPS--- Okay like 3 or 4 screen names don't work in my tag list. If they are yours, please tell me what I did wrong. Otherwise i'll give the spots to other people.
Alright here we go!
-------
You and Eddie had decided to head off towards the direction of his trailer, whether or not you’d make it. At least you had each other. 
“....You find it weird Vecna hasn’t said anything to us lately?” you asked him. 
“What are you doing?!” Eddie hissed as his eyes darted around frantically. “He could hear you!”
“Baby,” you gave him a look. “He can hear us no matter what, and he hasn’t said shit, like I said!” 
“Still,” he took your hands and continued to walk with you down the streets of Upside Down Hawkins. 
“But seriously!” “What else has got his attention?!” You asked again, looking up to the sky.
“Can we maybe not, think about the monster that’s going to kill us all right now? Focus on us?”
“Us?” You gave him a surprised smile. “There’s an ‘us’?”
“Are you for real right now, Princess?” he laughed sarcastically. 
“Well, you never exactly asked me to be your girlfriend, Munson,” you teased him with a tongued smile. 
“I proposed!” He reminded you.
“Almost proposed,” you clarified.
“I gave you a fuckin’ ring, Y/N,” He held up your hand, but the ring was gone. “What the--?”
“Oh my god,” You gasped, immediately looking around. “Oh my god, no--”
“Babe I’m pretty sure it’s long gone by now,” He put a hand on your shoulder. “Think about all the shit we’ve been through in the last two days,”
“Oh god,” you whimpered, realizing he was right. You stopped looking around and looked at him apologetically. “I’m so sorry Eddie,” 
“Hey, don’t be,” he pulled you into a tight hug, your head up against his chest. “It’s not your fault,”
“It was your favorite though!” you cried upseteddly. 
“Nahhhh, it definitely wasn’t,” he shook his head with a smile, holding out his right hand. “THIS is my favorite,” 
You recognized it immediately. 
“Eddie…” you bit your lip. “Y-You still have that?” 
“Are you kiddin’?” He laughs, kissing the top of your forehead. “It’s the best gift I’ve ever gotten,” 
-------------
Eddie’s 14th Birthday
“....Happy birthday dear Eddie, happy birthday to you!” 
“And many mooooreee,” you added with a giant flourish. 
“God be more lame, please,” Eddie blushes as he looks around the diner, making sure no one heard your god-awful singing. 
“Shut up and blow out your candles before you get wax on those pancakes!” you hit him softly. 
Two candles on a stack of pancakes wasn’t ideal for a birthday cake, but Eddie appreciated any effort you gave him. God knows no one else did. Eddie sighed and blew out the candles, to which you promptly started loudly cheering and clapping.
“Yaaaay!!!” you giggle as Eddie shoots daggers at you for making such a show of yourself. 
“I hate you,” he grumbled. 
“You love me,” you teased, but both of you stopped as soon as the words left your lips. You just stared at each other while Eddie tried to suss out how serious you were being, and you were mentally kicking yourself for even joking about it. 
“...Anyway,” he coughed awkwardly as he cut himself a bite of pancake. “You really didn’t have to do this, Y/N,” 
“Well of course I did Eddie,” you began cutting yourself your own piece. “It’s the last birthday I’ll have a chance to,” 
“You act like I’m going off to war, Princess,” He chuckled as he stuffed his face with pancakes. 
“High school is war Eddie,” you held out your fork making a point. “Everyone knows that,” 
“Right,” he rolled his eyes. 
“Shut up and open your present,” you took a small box from your purse and placed it on the table, sliding it towards him. 
“...I thought this was the present,” He gestures arounds the booth that had been decked out with balloons and streamers, and the Pan “Birthday” Cake. 
“Uh no, this is the party doofus,” you shook your head.
“Some party Princess,” he gestures around the empty booth.
“Well I can’t help it that people find you weird,” You pulled 
“US weird,” 
“Oh people like me fine,” you teased. “It’s just you,” 
“...Right,” he nodded with a small, soft laugh. “Well, I guess you’ll have a hell of a good time next year without me then, huh?” 
“Eddie,” you held out your hand, realizing you had stuck your foot in your mouth. “I didn’t mean it like--”
“Yeah I know,” he shrugged it off as he took the box from you. “So, what’s this? It’s pretty small. Spend too much money on the party--??”
He stops teasing you when he pulls out the ring. It shines brightly, reflecting the glow of the fluorescent lights of the diner. He looks at it for several seconds before speaking, just admiring it. 
“....You don’t like it,” You said softly.
“W-What?” He’s knocked from his trance. “No, I-I love it,” 
“Oh don’t patronize me Eddie--” You started to take it back. 
“No,” he grabs both of your hands, making you look at him. He looks more serious than you’ve ever seen him; he even looks like he might cry. 
“I love it, Y/N, It’s…it’s the nicest thing anyone��s ever gotten me,” he could barely whisper, refusing to cry in public.
“Really?” you bit your lip, doing your absolute damndest not to look at his lips at that moment. His hands holding yours with that look on his face, it felt like the most intimate situation you two had ever been in since you’d known him. 
“Really,” he rubs the tops of your hands with his thumbs, the ring already on his finger. “It’s like an elvish ring,” 
“Um….okay,” you smiled nervously, not understanding what he was saying, but not caring as long as your hands were in his.
You two just sat there in that booth, holding hands and looking into each other’s eyes.
“Eddie, I um--” This was it, you were going to tell him how you really felt. How you’d always felt. 
“Yeah…?” His eyes widened a bit, hoping you were going to make this the most perfect birthday by saying the words he’d waited to hear his whole life. 
“I--” 
“Y/N!!!” All of a sudden your little brother was calling your name. Eddie instantly dropped your hands and stuffed them back under the table.
“Shit,” you muttered as a ten year old Dustin came running up to the table. 
“Did you forget you were supposed to take me to the arcade or what?” Dustin whined. “I’m tired of sitting over there by myself,” 
“Dammit Dustin!!” you snapped at him. His eyes instantly went to those huge puppy dog size, big crocodile tears forming in his eyes. 
“....I’m sorry,” you sighed, ruffling his hair before giving Eddie an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Eds. I need to--” 
“Yeah, yeah sure I get it,” he nodded in understanding, nodding at your brother. “Sup Dust?” 
“Yeah,” Dustin nodded back at him awkwardly. They didn’t really know each other yet. 
“Alright you, let’s go,” 
You scooted out of the booth and took your brother’s hand, giving one last longing look at Eddie 
who was now admiring his ring with a huge smile. 
------------
 “I should’ve said something then,” you sighed, running your hands through your hair. 
“Why are you doing this, Y/N?” Eddie asked you seriously.
“What?” Your eyebrows furrowed.
“Why are you forcing these trips down memory lane, when you know they all lead to the same place?” he elaborated.
“What are you--”
“You realize what all your little ‘memories’ have in common?” He snapped. “They’re all moments where we came ‘this’ close to being together, but inevitably one of us chickens out, or gets interrupted, or something else!”
“Well yeah but--” 
“I don’t wanna look back at that!” He kicked a rock angrily. “I don’t wanna focus on the fact that we could’ve been together so much longer, that we wasted all this time,”
“Eddie--”  
“No!” He shakes his head as he grabs your face. “What matters is that we know now. That we’re together now. That I love you, now,” 
“Oh just now?” you half laugh, trying to ease the tension. 
“You know what i mean, Y/N” he gave you a look.
“Yeah, I know…” you looked down as you played with your fingers.
“So what are you doing, huh?” he asked again.
“I don’t--” you looked up at him, confused.
“You wanna know what I think?” He answered his own question.
“I know you’re gonna tell me--” 
“I think you wanna bring these up so you can ‘atone’,” he accused. “You think that one of us or both of us is gonna die, and you wanna apologize and get everything off your chest before we do,” 
“Eddie…”
“And I’m not accepting that, do you hear me?” He moved his hands to your face. “I’m not letting you give up on me, not now. We’re not rolling over and accepting death. We’re gonna go make it to this portal and get the fuck out of here,”
“Baby…” 
“No!” He pressed his forehead against yours. “Knock it the fuck off,” 
“Okay okay,” you put your hands on his face now, trying to calm him down. 
“Good,” he sighed as you moved your hands to his neck, burying your face in his shoulder.
“So, what now?” you asked into his t-shirt.
“Whaddya mean ‘what now’?” He rolled his eyes at the question, stroking your hair while your face remained on his chest.
“Well what are we gonna talk about now, goof?” You shook your head with a laugh as you started to pull him along, resuming your journey. 
“Hmmmm, well--” He pretended to think. “Let’s talk about the future, y’know when we get out of here, which we will,” 
“Oh?” You smiled in amusement. “Thought you didn’t wanna talk about our imaginary kids,” 
“Okay we don’t have to go that far,”he blushed. “ Just like…y’know, after all of this,” 
“You mean, next week?” you clarified warily.
“....Maybe…” his voice sank, the reality of your situation sinking in. Even if you did both survive this, Vecna, the world ending; you still had to deal with the fact that technically you lived almost 200 miles away from each other.
“I don’t…” you played with his fingers interlaced with yours as you walked. “I don’t know…” 
“Yes you do,” he nodded his head sadly. “You have to go back to school,” 
“Well, yeah obviously,” you half laughed. 
“And you’ll just forget about me again, and I’ll see you when you graduate,” he added in a mopey tone.
“Seriously, Eddie?” You dropped his hand and stopped walking. “You really think--” 
“Well what else are you gonna do, huh Y/N?” he was suddenly getting very defensive, suddenly feeling as if walls were closing in on him.
“Okay first you don’t want me to start ‘atoning’ for mistakes, and now you’re accusing me of making more before they even happen?!” you had to laugh at the situation, it was ridiculous.
“No, but--”
“For fuck’s sake Eddie, I almost died for you! You really think I’m just gonna go home next week and forget the love of my life?” you gestured to your leg for emphasis.
“I just--” 
“I love you, Eddie Munso,” you pulled him close to you, stepping on a curb to be taller. “I love you, and I’m never letting you go again, do you hear me?” 
“Yeah…” he nodded softly.
“It’s me and you, okay?” You tugged on his shirt. “This is it,” 
“Alright so what do you think is gonna happen?” he challenged you, not fully accepting your cookie cutter solution.
“Well,” you pulled him on the curb as you started to walk again. “Why don’t you come with me?”
“To Chicago?” he laughed. “How am I gonna do that, if I’m in my millionth senior year?” 
“You realize there are things called GED’s, right babe?” you asked.
“Yeah, you think I don't know that?” he grumbled. “But I don’t wanna just give up,”
“Seriously?” You half laughed. “You’d rather sit here in Hawkins for another three months to prove something to people? You?” 
“Well, why not?!” he argued. “You don’t think I deserve to walk across that stage and flip off the principal?” 
“Eddie,” you rolled your eyes. “Come on,” 
“Come on what?!” he threw his hands up. 
“Why do you need to--” 
“Because everyone in this town thinks that I can’t do this, and I wanna prove them wrong!” He gestured wildly.
“Just now, all of a sudden?” you didn’t mean to laugh, but the thought was idiotic to you. 
“Excuse me?” he looked at you seriously offended.a
“Eddie you’ve been there three years longer than you’re supposed to be,” You half laughed. “Why now all of a sudden is it so--” 
“Wow,” he scoffed with a hurt laugh. “Wow, okay,” 
“Eddie come on--” you reached for him but he jerked away.
“NO,” He shouted. “I just want--” 
 “Why does it matter what anyone else thinks about you but me?” you exclaimed in distress.
“Because you weren't around, Y/N!” he barked back.
“Wha--” 
“I spent years trying to not care about what you thought of me, d’ya get that?” He laughed tearfully. “I spent years trying to downplay the shit you and your sheeple friends would say about me, do to me,” His blood began to boil just thinking about it. 
“So excuse me if your opinion isn’t going to be the ‘only one that matters’!” he sputters angrily.
“Eddie, I--”
“Y’know, honestly at this point your brother’s opinion should matter to me more than yours does!” he cut you off. “He’s been nothing but nice to me, hell he admires the shit out of me! Shouldn’t you want me to impress him? Set a good example to him by walking across that stage, not giving up?”
“Oh yeah, Eddie,” you laughed. “I really think you flipping off the principal after a lifetime of senior years is a great example--”
“SHUT UP!!!” He screamed, causing you to flinch. 
“Eddie--”
All Eddie could focus on in that moment was how condescending you were being. Telling him he was wrong, like you always did. Like how you always had. Like you always would be, until the day he died. 
“No, this is always what it comes down to, Princess,” he wasn’t backing down this time. “You think you’re better than me. You will always think you’re better than me. No matter what I do, or say, or how much you claim to love me, that will be always be true,” 
“No it won’t!” you protested.
“Yes it will!” He started to walk away from you. “We’re never gonna be on equal ground in your mind, ever,” 
“This isn’t you,” you trailed after him. “You know I’m not like that, not really,” 
“Maybe I do, and I’ve just been pretending you’re not because I was so idiotically happy that you finally seemed to feel the way that I have,” 
“That is so ridiculous--” you dismissed his thought.
“SEE?” He raised his voice again. “You’re still doing it!”
“Eddie you’re ridiculous,” he mocked you. “Eddie that’s stupid. Eddie you’re a fucking moron!” 
“I’m not saying that,” You jogged quickly to catch up to him and stopped him. “I’m saying listen to yourself: Two minutes ago you got pissed that I kept dragging up memories that I felt bad about. You got mad for me trying to-- atone, or whatever,” 
Eddie looked away, trying not to accept what you were saying. 
“And now I think I'm better than you? Th-That all of this has been some kind of sick prank? Like I have been risking my life for the past two days to just-- what, make you feel like a moron?”
Eddie knew you were right, deep down he knew that. But for some reason all he could think about was how cruel you had been to him in High School, how you had always been too good for him. That none of this was real. 
“I don’t wanna do this anymore--” He shoved past you and kept walking.
You knew what you had to do-- you knew this wasn’t Eddie This was Vecna, finally getting to him. It made sense since he had connected with him earlier, now he had a hold on him. But what were you going to do? You didn’t exactly have a band, or a record player. And you wondered if the same song would work on two people. 
Then you had an idea. 
“I can’t fight this feeling any longer…” you started to softly sing, making Eddie stop in his tracks. 
“And yet I’m still afraid to let it show.” You kept singing, tears choking your throat as you mentally willed him to turn and look at you. 
“What started out as friendship has grown stronger…” you started walking towards him. “I only wish I had the strength to let it show,”
The lyrics were so hauntingly accurate, you knew this could probably be your song. It was your song. And it was the song that was going to bring him back to you.
“I tell myself that i can’t hold out forever,” you walked closer, he still refused to look at you. “I said there is no reason for my fear,” 
“Yeah right,” Eddie mumbled with a sad laugh, Vecna’s voice still in his ears.
“Because I feel so secure when we’re together,” you were approaching him closely now, taking his hand softly as you stepped in front of him. 
“You give my life direction, you make everything so clear…” 
Eddie felt his anger shifting as he saw the sincerity in your eyes and truth in your words. 
“And even as I wander, I’m keeping you in sight,” he felt himself singing softly back to you, thinking about all the years you had lost. The years you were so close yet so far from each other. And deep down he knew he had never given up on you, not for one second. 
“You’re a candle in the window, on a cold dark winter’s night,” you took both hands in his now, sincerely meaning the words you were singing. 
He had always been a beacon to you, even when you had tried to deny it. He had always been there in the back of your mind, keeping you from ever being truly as awful as the rest of your ‘sheeple’ friends.
“And I’m getting closer than I ever thought I might…” you both sang together, holding tightly to each other’s hands now. 
God this song would’ve been so perfect to actually admit your feelings to one another before all of this bullshit had gone down. You could have stood up at your graduation and sang it to him. Hell, you could have stood up at any dance or school function and sang this to him. You could have announced to the world that you, Y/N, captain of the cheer squad, valedictorian, all american girl, were in love with Eddie Munson, the ‘freak’. 
“And I can't fight this feeling anymore. I’ve forgotten what I started fighting for,”   
You couldn’t believe how stupid you had been, trying to fight your feelings for him. For not fighting for him, for you, for the two of you. Why you hadn’t just said what you were really feeling, telling them to go to hell. But you were saying it now, and you were saying it to fight for him. Fighting for him against something far more nefarious than a bunch of white-bread Americana sheeple. 
You took his face in your hands, looking deep into his chocolate brown eyes as you sang the last line of the chorus, needing him to hear you more than ever.
“And if I have to crawl across your floor, come crashing through your door. Baby I can’t fight this feeling anymore,” 
WIth those words, Vecna’s hold on Eddie was relinquished. He grabbed your face in his hands now and pulled you into a long, luxurious, kiss. You both stood there for a while just exploring each other’s mouths, being taken back to the moment you had kissed for the first time.
When you both had been so relieved to see the other alive, knowing how you felt about each other. When your lips had finally cascaded against one another after almost a decade of wanting, waiting, yearning.
And now here you were again, all of those feelings coming back at once. It was as if you started again, feeling like you had almost lost him in those five minutes Vecna had a hold on him.
“I’m sorry, baby,” he pressed his forehead against yours as tears dripped down his cheeks, his mind clear of any bad thoughts. 
“No, I'm sorry,” you shook your head with your own tears falling down. “If I hadn’t made you feel that way Vecna wouldn’t have anything to hold onto,”
“You do whatever you feel you need to do, Eddie,” you went on. 
“I just-- I can’t stand the thought of leaving you here again, not for any reason or any amount of time. I just want-- need, us to be together as much as we possibly can, because I lost so much time with you and I don’t wanna lose any amount of time with you, ever, ever again,” 
“I know, i know,” he pulled you closer as you cried into his chest.
“And I want to stay here with you, I do. I just--” You cried.
“No,” he pulled you back to face him. 
“No, don’t you think for one second of just-- dropping out, to stay here with me. That is the absolute one thing I have dreaded about us being together, me holding you back,” 
“You don’t--” you put a hand to his face.
“Maybe not now, but if you do that it will actually be true, yeah?” He gave you a sad smile. “So you-- you do what you have to do, and I’ll do the same. And we’ll--”
“I’ll come back for you, Eddie,” You cut him off, knowing he was having his doubts. “I swear to God, as soon as school ends I will be right back here,” 
“Hopefully not here,” he joked, gesturing around you. 
“You know what i mean,” you hit him lightly.
“Yeah, I do, Princess,” he smiled, kissing you again. “And who knows, maybe this summer I might just come to you, being a free man and all,” 
“I love you, Eddie,” 
“I love you too, Y/N,” He smiled, kissing you once again. “Now let’s get the hell out of here,”
-----
Eddie’s Trailer 
Dustin, Max, and Lucas all paced around Eddie’s living room, the gaping portal hole in the middle of all of them. 
“Where are they?” Dustin worried out loud. 
“I mean, they were walking on foot Dustin,” 
“But still,” he paced unnervingly. “I just want them--” 
Suddenly sounds of running and chattering interrupted his thought. All three of them looked down to see Nancy, Steve and Robin running to the opening in the ceiling. 
“Where is Y/N and Eddie?” Dustin immediately noticed his sister was missing. 
The three of them looked at each other awkwardly, trying to figure out what exactly to say to him, and who would say it. 
“Dust…” Steve stepped up, knowing him the best out of the three of them. 
“No,” Dustin shook his head, refusing to hear whatever he was about to say. “No, don’t say it,”
“She didn’t…” Steve tried again.
“Shut up,” Dustin spoke over him.
“She didn’t make it,” He finished.
“Yeah I think that was obvious, Steve,” Robin hit him lightly. 
“But what about Eddie?” Lucas asked.
“He uh,” Steve looked at the two girls. “He wanted to stay with her--” 
“Stay with her?!” Max gasped out of nowhere. “He wanted to stay with a dead body?!” 
“MAX!!!!” Lucas hit her violently, gesturing to Dustin who was silently imploding, trying to take everything everyone was saying in. 
“So you’re telling me I’ve lost my sister, and my best friend--?” Dustin stammered.
“I’m not your best friend?” Steve blurted out.
“REALLY, Steve?” Max scoffed.
“...It just came out,” He muttered, embarrassed.
“NOT the point!” Dustin yelled.
“You just let him stay there with-- with Y/N?” He couldn’t bear to refer to you as just a body. 
He was dying inside, trying like hell to keep it together. You were more of a best friend to anyone in the vicinity at that moment. You had been his first friend, his big sister. You taught him everything. His ABC’s, how to count, what made the perfect burger and pizza, which ice creams were good and which were downright toxic. 
He had waited for what seemed like forever for you to come home from Chicago, wanting to ask you about girls. He knew you’d be reluctant, but he wanted to tell you all about Suzy. You had been the first person he wanted to tell in the first place. But when he called your dorm the person who answered said you were out, and then never gave you the message. 
He had felt the two of you growing apart since you had left, and it would have killed him if he hadn’t been so busy with the literal apocalypse happening every other minute of the day. He wanted to keep you from it, from all of this. For this exact reason. He didn’t want you involved because he couldn’t lose you, and now his worst nightmare had happened. 
“We tried to--” Robin tried to explain to Dustin how they had pleaded with Eddie to come with them while he lay there sobbing, holding your ‘dead’ body.  His anguished cries were forever burned into her brain as they tried dragging him away from you. 
He was bigger than all of them, even an inch or two on Steve, so he had easily ripped away from their grasp and ran back to your side, cradling you in his arms. She had finally been the one to beg Nancy and Steve to just let him be. She couldn’t take hearing him cry anymore, it was too tortuous. 
“Dustin we really tried to--” Robin tried telling him.
“No,” he stopped them, moving away from the hole. “No I don’t wanna hear anymore, do you hear me?!”
“Okay can we just focus on getting the rest of us out of here, please?” Nancy had enough of all of the drama. She just wanted to be back in the real world.
“Jesus Nancy, way to be empathetic,” Robin scoffed under her breath.
“I’m sorry!” She threw her hands up. “I’m sorry I’m tired of being in this god-forsaken place. I’m sorry if I'm a tad anxious when I’m literally steps away from freedom!”
“Alright alright,” Steve put his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her down. “Okay, we’re getting out okay?”
“Thank you,” she mumbled, rubbing his hands on her shoulder. 
“Do you have something to get us out guys?” Steve asked the kids. 
“Yeah,” Lucas grabbed the ‘rope’’ Dustin had made since Dustin was busy having a crisis over you and Eddie. 
He threw it up into the ceiling, and to their shock and amazement it stuck. In the Upside Down, he had thrown it ‘down’ to the group for them to climb.
“That is so trippy!” Robin gasped. “Okay who’s first?” 
“Ladies first,” 
“Nance,” Robin pointed at her. 
“Thank you,” She smiled gratefully as she pulled herself up the rope and into Eddie’s living room, crashing onto the mattress they had put in front of the hole. 
“Alright Robin, c’mere,” Steve nodded to her as she followed Nancy.
--------
Meanwhile
You and Eddie were reaching the entrance to the Trailer Park, when you saw the portal and the group starting to go through it.
“Shit,” Eddie muttered. He didn’t waste any time grabbing your hand and sprinting towards the portal. “Let’s go baby, let’s go!” 
You were practically howling in pain as Eddie pulled you through the park, your leg throbbing in pain. BUt you did your best to keep up with him, lest he drop you and leave you there. Though you knew he’d never actually do that. 
“HEY! GUYS! WAIT UP!” Eddie screamed across the park, hoping to get their attention.
-------
At The Portal
Steve was about to head up the rope when they all heard Eddie screaming. Even Dustin could hear it from across the trailer. He leaped up off the couch and ran to the portal. 
“Steve!” He yelled. “Steve who was that?!” 
“It’s Eddie,” Steve answered in disbelief, staring at the two of you racing towards them. “...And Y/N!”
“She’s alive?!” Dustin began to cry happy tears, he didn't care who saw them. You were alive. 
“She’s alive!” Steve smiled up at him. “And they’re coming! They’re gonna make it!” 
“Thank God,” Dustin breathed a sigh of relief, wiping his tears away.
----------
You and Eddie were still almost to the portal where Steve was yelling encouraging words to you both. 
“Come on guys, you can do it!” He called. 
You could hear your brother yelling for you, tears in his voice. “Y/N!! Y/N I’m here!!!!” 
You began to smile at Eddie, who was thinking the same thing: You were gonna make it out of here. Together. 
You were so elated in thinking about getting out of there you didn’t notice a rock in your path. You tripped on it just before reaching Steve, sending you sailing on top of it, banging your head against it. It knocked you out cold. 
Eddie had the inertia of still running when you toppled over the rock, releasing your hand from his grapes unintentionally as he stoped a few feet away from you. 
“Shit!” He began to panic, about to run to your side. But something stopped him. 
Before he could make a move, Vecna appeared in front of him, blocking your unconscious body from his view. 
“I don’t think so,” He wagged a finger.
Everyone gasped and gaped in horror as they watched Vecna physically pick up your body and throw it over his veiny shoulder. 
“You tell Eleven if any of you want to see your friend alive, she’ll come to me,” He smirked. 
“What the--” Eddie began to panic, looking at Steve and up at his friends, then back to Vecna.
“We don’t know how to find her!!!” Dustin screamed down to Vecna. 
“Well, you’d better pray you figure out a way,” He chuckled darkly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Y/N and I need to get better acquainted,” 
He ran a gray finger down your thigh, smelling you with a perverted smirk.
“You SON OF A---” Eddie started to make a run at him, but Steve held him back as hard as he could. 
“Don’t you fucking TOCH HER!!!” He screamed, angry tears stinging his eyes. 
His cries fell on deaf ears, as Vecna began to float back up into the sky with a mighty evil laugh, disappearing into the red horizon. 
‘What just--” Dustin looked down at Steve and Eddie. “What just happened?”
How were they going to save you now? 
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