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#process how he died and that whole process of him dying.
loving-delusions · 9 months
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is anyone gonna say happy birthday to lunar or do i have to do it myself🤨🙄
rambles in the tags bc i can't sleep
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hypewinter · 7 months
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The clone was dying. The others didn't realize this but Danny did. After all the dealings with clones he's had over the years, namely his own, how could he not recognize the signs?
Danny had first discovered the clone a month back when he was so tired, he tripped through the floor at Cadmus. That's how he had found a whole other base under the lab. Danny could kick himself for all the secret experiments going on under his nose. Some of which, he soon discovered, were even using his own research. Research that was meant to help grow new organs for dying patients. Now it was being put towards a process he never wanted to deal with again, cloning. In this case, specifically a Superman clone.
When Danny first saw the clone designation "Superboy" asleep in his pod, the first emotion he felt was overwhelming sorrow. Sorrow for the countless clones that had no doubt died before this one. Sorrow that he hadn't done his due diligence to make sure Cadmus was completely above board. And sorrow for Superboy, who would not doubt be used as a pawn at best.
Which is why when Danny realized he was destabilizing, he almost wanted to let him. A death the child wasn't even aware of would most likely be better than a life of suffering. But Danny couldn't bring himself to standby and watch this boy die. For one, if Ellie ever found out, he'd probably face his final death. But mainly, if there was a chance, a chance that the kid could have a good life, filled with loved ones, he had to take it.
So Danny did the one thing he thought he would never do, he gave his own blood. He had made sure to keep his DNA away from others for obvious reasons but he had no other choice. He knew the ectoplasm inside him would be enough to stabilize the clone or more accurately to say he hoped it would be. So each day, after everyone had left the lab, he would sneak in and transfer some of his own blood to Superboy. All the while he would talk to him. He'd tell him about his day, about his friends. He'd tell him how excited Ellie would be to find out about him and the hopes he had for the boy's future. Danny wasn't even sure that Superboy could hear him but it didn't matter, he talked to him anyway.
Finally the day came when the clone was fully stabilized. Danny felt overwhelming relief and joy in that moment but there was still one thing left to take care of. He had to get the clone out of here. He wouldn't risk the boy being used as a weapon. He couldn't. Danny had planned to come back for him the next day, after he had finished destroying all of his research, but he never got the chance. When he came back the next day, the building was destroyed, and the clone was gone.
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phas3d · 3 months
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helllooooo lovelyyy i really really love your works and i just want to request if it's okay with a reaction possible angst if you do it.
scenario alongside the war, where slytherin boys fighting alongside the death eaters and reader is on the order of the phoenix but another person that is reader's team is having a battle with the boys and reader's team where about to cast one of the unforgivable curse (worse could be the killing curse of course) to one of the boys and readers just jumped out and shielded of the boys which cause them taking the curse, and how would they react to that angst stuff, would they be furious, devastated, angry, pull out the curse as well to reader's team?? idk it's up to youu <3
i'm really a terrible person and i'm really enjoying being hurt as well.
Dying for Them || Slytherin Boys
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type :: angst
tw/cw :: death, torture, dead bodies, abuse (mattheo + lorenzo), panic attack (mattheo + theodore), blood (mattheo + theodore), suicide (lorenzon + all technically?)
contains :: draco malfoy, tom riddle, mattheo riddle, theodore nott, lorenzo berkshire
summary :: you take a hit for the boys, dying in the process, despite not being on the same side for the war. i love this prompt OMGGG but I'm gonna add that you two are recently broken up due to the different sides for the war
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DRACO MALFOY
He was very hesitant throughout the whole war to do something due to fear, he's not a born killer, he's just a boy
Once again, he was getting yelled at by one of the crazy death-eaters about how much of a pussy Draco is and how he's a shit wizard like his father
Draco wanted to defend himself, but the death-eater started ranting about how much better and stronger the Dark Lord would be without Draco
The death-eater shot the killed curse at Draco, but instead you jumped in, taking the hit
You dropped dead in-front of Draco, going completely limp as your soul left your body
Instantly, Draco is sobbing and upset, guarding your body with his own
He looks up at the death-eater and isn't afraid anymore, he shouts out "Crucio!!!"
Makes the man suffer for ages, kicking him, punching him, all whilst he's under the crucio curse
He's sobbing the entire time this happens, and before he knows it, he's been kicking a dead corpse for the past 10 minutes
The man died from the curse bring on for too long, making this one of Draco's first few kills
But Draco doesn't care, the man deserved it
It's better that he died then or else Draco would have tortured him for life
Instantly, Draco doesn't care about his father or mother anymore, running to go fight alongside the Order of the Phoenix in your honor
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TOM RIDDLE
You always knew he would fulfill his father's place as the next Dark Lord, but you couldn't stop loving him
But when the war broke out, you two broke up to be able to focus on your side fully
Obviously, everyone was going to be attacking Tom since he was one of the strongest and most supportive of his father's ideas
But even though you two were broken up and even though he's been killing people on the Order of the Phoenix, you couldn't stand to see him die since you knew he was much more than just an "evil" person
You ran in front of Tom as the killing curse struck you instead of him, he watched your body turn limp
Without missing a beat, Tom instead killed the other person
Tom has never been a soft person, even while you two were dating
But he silently reaped over your body, holding your hand against his chest as he placed his fingers on your wrist, desperately trying to find your pulse
From then on, he swore to find the person who killed you's family, friends, even pets and make their lives hell
He also swears to bring you back to life, no matter what it costs
He always thought he would be the type to not care about his lovers and to just move on, but he realized very quickly that he would never ever love someone like how he loved you
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MATTHEO RIDDLE
His father was obviously going to force him to fight in the war alongside him or else ungodly things would happen to Mattheo
He wanted to rebel, but Tom found out his plans and snitched to their dad
As punishment, Mattheo was tortured, beaten, and more. He was also forced to break up with you and lose contact with all of his friends who weren't death-eaters
When he saw you during the war, he did his best to avoid you at all costs so he wouldn't be forced to kill you
But when he heard you scream for help, his body was moving towards you before his brain could say no
When he saw you bleeding out, he saw one of his fellow death-eaters about to finish you off
He quickly shouted "AVADA KEDAVRA!!!" as he watched their body fall limp
Instantly, he's hit with so many emotions at once
The feeling of killing someone for the first time, missing you and finally seeing you, the fear of his father finding out, the pressure of the entire war being on his back due to his batshit insane father, and so so so much more
He was so lost in thoughts, borderline about to have a panic attack, making him not see his own brother about to shoot the killing curse at him
As he looks up, he sees you quickly standing infront of him on your weak bloody legs
BOOM
You were shot and fall backwards, into Mattheo's body
He fucking loses it
Every emotion he's been feeling for the past months explodes like a dam with too much water
He doesn't even use his wand, him and his brother get into a fist fight
Obviously, Mattheo was winning until Tom shouted out, "Crucio!"
Mattheo fell to the cold floor, sobbing as he was forced to make eye contact with your dead corpse
(ik he's different from his deadly class character, but honestly he's still a teenager ya know, and i think that he's just a fuck boy who physically beats people up but never actually killing or cursing people because he doesn't want to be like his father or brother)
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THEDORE NOTT
He knew he would be forced to fight alongside his father, but he never wanted to
Before the war started, his father forced him to get the Dark Mark which fucked him up mentally
When you two were forced to split up, he was broken and it reassured him that he wanted NOTHING to do with death-eaters
When the war broke out, he was fucking terrified of everything
All of the shots of magic, the screams, the crying, the sounds of bodies dropping to the floor, it was all too much to him
He never wanted to be part of this, if he could, he would make a time machine and force you and him to run away to the muggle world in Italy
As he stood there, shaking anxiously, he suddenly made eye contact with you
Instantly, he wanted to hug you, kiss you, cry and tell you about all of the awful thing he's witnessed within the past month
But he can't even speak, his throat is shut close from how scared he is
"Kill her." He heard a deep voice, without turning his head he knew it was his father
Theo shook his head and closed his eyes, "No, no dad p-please, don't m-make me." His voice was hoarse and weak, his entire jaw shivered
His dad scoffed as he started berate Theodore right in front of you, calling him awful things and threatening him
His dad aggressively grabbed Theo's shirt, pushing him against the wall
The impact of it was so strong that the back of Theo's head began to bleed, making his vision become hazy
All he could see was his father's blurry figure raise his dark wand to Theo's direction, about to shoot a deadly spell at him
Theo closed his eyes, giving up. He knew deep down that his father would never kill him, torture yes but murder? Never
"AVADA KEDAVRA!!!" His father shouted, leaving Theo shocked to his core...
He opened his eyes, only to see your body hit the cold floor right below his feet
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LORENZO BERKSHIRE
Was forced to fight alongside Draco's family since they're the ones who gave him a home
To help prove his loyalty, they forced him to cut off all ties with you which ended up with you two breaking up and going no contact
The whole month was pure torture for Lorenzo
Everyday he watched people die as an example to other death-eaters of what would happen if you were unloyal to Lord Voldemort
He was the only one in the group to try and keep the energy light by making small jokes or telling stories when the slytherin boys were locked inside the manor
But deep down, he was exhausted of acting okay and he missed you dearly
Only you could replenish the energy he lost, and he knew fully well he would see you again
When the big fight broke out, he was terrified but knew how to act and play along with the group
As he pretended to fight, he was secretly searching for you
When he spotted you, he instantly got teary eyed as he ran straight towards you
But for some reason, you didn't reciprocate his smile back, instead only showing fear as you shouted something at him
Suddenly you tackled him, shoving him to the ground
"(Y/N)?" He asked, thinking that you were just hugging him "I missed you so much!"
He sobbed as he hugged you, only to realize your body felt heavier than before
But he didn't say anything, thinking you just gained some extra weight
He moves his hand to brush your hair out of your face, only to be met with cold eyes
It strikes him like a truck, you took a hit for him... You were screaming for him to duck but he was so blinded by you that he didn't listen in time...
As Lorenzo looks up, he sees Tom... Of course Tom knew his plan all along, his plan to see you and to join the Order of Phoenix
And of course, Tom had to ruin it all
Lorenzo is shocked, about to scream out in pain but he knows he has to avenge you first in some way
Tom and Lorenzo both raise their wands, about to shoot their strongest spells
This fight may be Lorenzo last, he knows that he's a weak wizard, but he couldn't care less
Besides, if he dies, he'll see you again
And as he realizes that, he drops his wand and allows Tom to shoot him with the deadly curse
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kyemna · 2 months
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Alastor with a non-biological teenager who died in the 80's
This is kind of based on some headcanons I posted earlier. I wanted to include some in the story, so here it is!
Again, i made him a softy here, to come for my throat😞
I apologize if there are any grammar mistakes.
TW: Mentions of death
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It was strange, dying. Apparently there's a whole process that happens after..
Standing in Hell when you 'wake up'..
Processing, and finding a place to live.
Getting kicked out of that place, because they find out you lied about your age, and now living on the streets.
A girl finding out you live on the streets, and you discovering she's the Princess of Hell.
She invites you to stay at her hotel, rent free, but in exchange, you have to rehabilitate. Okay, do-able right? Wrong.
Finding out the radio demon stays at that EXACT Hotel.
The demon you wanted to avoid the most.
Sighing and accepting the fact that your stuck with him.
So, there you were. A 16 year old, standing in the door opening of the hotel, ready to be Rehabilitated.
Charlie, the girl you met on the streets, walks up to you and shakes your hand enthusiasticly.
"Welcome (y/n)!! We're so happy to have you here!" She smiles widely.
You awkwardly smile back at her.
"Thanks for taking me in.. i really do appreciate it."
"Ofcourse, it's no problem. We need more guests here anyways so, your helping me out more than your aware." She drags you inside the hotel, introducing you to the staff.
"Everyone this is (y/n), our first ever teenager at the Hotel! (y/n), this is, Vaggie, Husk, Angel Dust, Nifty, Sir Pentious, and Alastor"
You looked at everyone taking in their appearances and names.
You make eye contact with Alastor, his usual grin widens, as he tilts his head a little to the left.
"Nice.. to meet you all." You smile a little.
Alastor spoke. "So, how old are you, dear?"
Taken off-guard by him actually speaking to you, you answer.
"16."
"When did you die?" Angel dust asks.
"1983" you answer, again.
Angel whistles.
"How did you die?" He asks.
You stayed quiet for a moment.
"I drowned." Your grip on your bag tightens.
"Charlie, can you show me to my room, please? I need some time to... take it all in"
She nods, leading you upstairs.
Alastors gaze follows you.
"Wow, well done Angel. Asking a teenager how they died. real smooth." Vaggie says.
"How was I supposed to know it would upset them?"
"I don't know.. common sense?"
He rolls his eyes.
Charlie opens the door to your room, as you both step in.
"Take your time to get settled in, there's no hurry. Breakfast is at 8:30, lunch at 12:00 and dinner at 18:00 (6:00). There's also a meeting tommorow morning at 10 but you don't have to come to that if you don't want to." She smiles, leaving your room.
You sigh, and plop down on your bed.
You turn to your left, being met by Alastor staring at you.
You scream, rolling off the bed.
"What the hell, Alastor?" You say, loudly.
"My apologies, dear. I just noticed something was wrong when you spoke about the way you died. Now, i'm no therapist, but I am a good listener.
Would you like to talk about it?"
You inhaled sharply
"What's there to say? I was fighting somebody off near a pool. I killed his friend. He pushed me in, and he drowned me. That's all there is."
He hummed as you stand back up, and start unpacking.
"Did you know him?"
"Not really.. I went to school with him but that's all." He nods, as he stands up, taking the shirt you had in your hands, and folding it properly for you.
"If you need a hand with anything, just ask" He says, leaving your room.
The next morning you wake up at 7:00 am.
You sit up, as you heard a knock on your door.
"Come in" you say, yawning.
Alastor opens, enters, and closes the door.
"Charlie asked me to help you get settled i-" He stops and looks at you, noticing your hair. "-in." He stays silent for a moment before speaking again.
"My goodness, you look an absolute mess, dear."
You roll your eyes, laying back down.
He walks towards the curtains and opens them, light cutting off your vision for a few seconds. You groan.
"Time to get up, we have a trip to make." He lays an outfit on the end of your bed.
"Meet me downstairs in 15 minutes."
He exits your room again.
"Strange guy" you mumble, getting out of bed.
"And make your bed!" he says loudly from the hall.
"Okay, dad" you yell back, sarcastically. That came out quicker than you wanted it to. You hoped he didn't hear it. With no response, you assumed he didn't.
You get dressed, brush your teeth, do your hair, and all in a hurry since you only had 15 minutes.
You run downstairs, noticing yourself in the mirror. Your wearing a white button-up shirt, with a dark blue skirt that reaches to your calfs, a pair of low black heels and a black hat, with lace. Not to big.
You weren't used to dressing so.. conservative.
Alastor was already waiting at the door.
"17 minutes. your late."
"Oh, whatever. It's only two minutes."
You say, straighting your skirt, hearing a quick static sound of irritation.
He sighs and opens the door for you.
"Thank you." You step outside, the cold wind hitting your skin, as you breathed it in.
You two were walking in silence when Alastor spoke.
"We'll be going to Cannibal town, where we'll be meeting a friend of mine. I need to ask a favour of her, and I wanted you to tag along, so you could get accustomed to Hell."
"What kind of favour?" You asked, looking up at him.
"I'm afraid that's none of your concern, dear."
You hummed in response, looking around, trying to memorize some of the streets.
"Alastor, when were you born?" You ask.
"1893, January 1st. Why do you ask?"
You whistle, a little surprised.
"No reason, just curious.."
You guys arrived at Cannibal town.
Everyone looked so old fashioned.
You realised why Alastor picked this outfit for you. You blend right in.
You two enter a small communal building.
He waves at a woman.
"Oh my stars. Do my eyes deceive me? Alastor, it's been ages!" She walks up to us, kissing him on the cheek.
"And who's this? Come now Alastor, she's much to young for you. I'm just kidding, I know your an ace in the hole." you snicker.
"A what now?" He asked, confused.
"I think she means ase-sexual, Alastor."
"Yes, that!" The woman says, snapping her fingers.
"I'm Rosie, dear. What's your name?" She smiles.
"I'm (y/n), ma'am, nice to meet you."
She gasps softly, laying her hand on her chest.
"A pleasure meeting you, dear. So polite. Alastor you could learn a thing or two from her." She says, laying her hand on your shoulder and taking us to a table.
You wiggle your eyebrows at Alastor, grinning. He rolls his eyes.
"So what can I do for you two?" She asked.
"It's better I discuss this with you privately, Rosie." Alastor says.
She nods, turning to me.
"You can wait here, Dear. We'll be right back" she smiles, as they enter her office.
An hour later, they came back out, laughing.
"Sorry it took so long, we got a little carried away" Rosie apologized.
"It's okay" you said, standing up.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Rosie."
Alastor thanked her.
She waved it away.
"No need to thank me, Al. It's always a pleasure having you around. See you next time!"
We both smiled at her as we left.
"So.." i started. "What did you two talk about..?"
He raised his eyebrow.
"I'm still not telling you."
You shrug. "Worth a shot"
You two got back to the Hotel, and had dinner with the rest of the staff.
At 23:00 (11:00) you stumbled upstairs, exhausted from your long day.
You opened the door to your room, and kicked off your shoes, falling onto your bed, immediately dozing off.
Alastor entered your room, about to say something, when he noticed you were asleep. He sighed softly, walking over to you. He gently picked you up, laying your head on your pillow and tucking you in.
Maybe this wasn't so bad after all...
Thank you for reading!
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writer-in-theory · 1 year
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berry sweet on your lips
TW: Period-typical homophobia, Some Internalized homophobia, Implied abuse (Steve's dad is a pos)
When Steve was seven, his Mama caught him in her makeup.
He was sitting up on the bathroom counter, sloppily drawn eyeliner over his eyelids and trying to apply bright cherry red lipstick to his lips without smearing. The application process required so much focus he hadn't realized when the front door opened downstairs, or when his mom called repeatedly for him to come down to dinner. He did hear the surprised little yelp from her though, and the sigh once she realized which eyeliner he'd accidentally broken.
"Honey, those aren't toys to play with." His Mama's voice was tight like she was barely containing her frustration at the lost products. Dad always made her upset, and Steve didn't want to add to it. So it didn't seem like a good time to correct her, that no, he wasn't trying to play. He'd seen how pretty makeup could make people, and he wanted it. He wanted to be pretty.
Instead, he sighed and nodded, hopping down from the counter. "Sorry, Mama."
"It's okay, baby, that stuff just isn't for kids to play with. C'mon, let's get you washed up and we can get some dinner."
It wasn't the last time he'd thought about makeup, though it took years until Steve found the courage to try again.
--
It happened when he was fourteen in Carol Perkins's basement. He, Tommy, and Carol spent most nights together anymore. The Perkins' always volunteered to babysit Steve when he was younger and his Mama started going on business trips with his dad, and they always let Tommy come over so he wouldn't be left out. That basement with its bright tie-dyed blankets scattered around and posters of every attractive celebrity you could imagine felt more like home than his own house.
Maybe that was why he felt so comfortable suggesting it in the first place.
"Ugh, I need more girl friends, honestly," Carol groaned, flopping back onto the pile of pillows and blankets she'd acquired.
"What now? We're not entertaining enough?" Tommy teased from where he and Steve were playing air hockey. Steve's knuckles were sure to bruise tomorrow from the speed with which they were knocking the puck at each other but they hadn't stopped laughing yet. "Need to go braid Tina's hair and talk about boys?"
"You're not boring," Carol clarified, "but it'd be nice to do someone's makeup and talk about boys every once in awhile. A girl needs some gossip."
Tommy laughed, so Steve laughed too because it seemed the right thing to do. But really...it didn't sound so bad, did it? So when the laughter died down, he spoke up. "You could put makeup on me, I don't care," Steve shrugged.
He did. He did care so much. Even the thought of it made his heart flutter, threatening to fly away at any second.
"Really?" Carol raise one eyebrow, sitting all the way up and twisting around to face him. "You'd let me put makeup on you? The whole thing, I don't do boring makeup."
"C'mon, man, don't let her do that to you," Tommy groaned, but Steve just shrugged again and abandoned the air hockey table, coming over to sit down on the floor with Carol.
"It washes off, right?" As if he hadn't known how easy it was to swipe off red lipstick, though it would always leave a deep tint to his lips like he'd been eating berries. "It can't hurt."
It at least made Carol happy, and seeing her smile as she rushed off to retrieve her makeup bag made Tommy's grumbles about ditching the game worth it.
And you know, it was fun. Carol was actually gentle, and seemed to know what she was doing. Steve had his eyes closed most of the time while she brushed powder and liner on them, as she swiped mascara on and tried to perfect whatever glamorous look she'd seen in her latest magazine. She did talk about boys too, all about which girl had crushes on each boy that they knew, and why Eric Thompson was the most crushed on boy in Hawkins Middle.
"Eric Thompson? Get a grip, Perkins, you can do so much better than him," Steve told her, laughing at her indignant shout.
"Seriously. The guy's a total meathead," Tommy called from where he was sprawled out across one of the couches, idly watching whatever movie the Perkins' decided to rent for the night.
"You're a total meathead," Carol shot back in return. "Not Stevie here, though. No, I think after I tell all the girls about what a good guy you are, you'll be the new king of Hawkins Middle."
"Screw Hawkins Middle, I better be king of Hawkins High for this," Steve laughed, only because he had no idea how to thank her for it. By the time he'd left the Perkins' house the next morning, the bright eyeshadow and tacky lip gloss had been washed away but the feeling of pure peace it had brought him persisted.
--
Steve hadn't dared try again, not until he was sixteen and saw a guy wearing nail polish. It was one of the Seniors, the one who wore all black and who the whole basketball team called The Freak. And maybe he was a freak, Steve didn't really ever have a reason to talk to him and find out, but the sight of the swath of black over his nails left Steve breathless.
"You taking photography this semester, Harrington?" The guy—something Munson, Steve thinks—asked when Steve hadn't stopped staring in the hallway.
"Huh?" Steve startled, looking down both sides of the hallway as if to check if any of his friends were seeing who he was talking to. "No?"
"Shame," Munson let out a little 'tsk' noise, the way Steve's dad always did when he was disappointed. "You could've taken a picture and made it last longer."
Oh, oh. Steve's face flushed red, and the second he saw a flash of another green and orange letterman he panicked. They would know, oh God they'd see him with The Freak and it would all be over, they would figure out that he wanted to paint his nails too and—
Steve wasn't proud of the words spoken after that. They lingered far after he'd said them, swirling in his head until it sounded a little more like his dad was repeating them over and over again, reminding Steve of just what kind of person he was to stay clear away from.
It was that guilt that finally convinced him to go to Melvald's, where the kind woman at the counter didn't question why he was buying the cheapest makeup products he could find. He didn't even know if any of it would look good together, he just knew he needed it. He needed a way to see himself like this before he messed up again where someone could see, where someone could figure him out.
And so began the careful ritual. Every night he'd rush home from practice, lock his bedroom door even though he knew his parents were away on another trip, and swipe the makeup over his eyes, cheeks, lips. He got better at it with every attempt, until the liner wasn't shaky and his lipstick didn't look like it had already been kissed off (and now, wasn't that a thought).
--
Except that was the trouble with secrets, wasn't it? They couldn't stay buried for long, not when Hawkins was so small and this felt so much larger than the town, than the state, than anything Steve had ever been apart of.
It was only a matter of time until his dad found out.
That night he'd been sloppy, unprepared for his parents to come home early. The light in the upstairs bathroom had gone out and instead of changing it he'd moved downstairs, where the lights had already been switched out to a cooler white that made it easier to see what colors he was painting his skin with.
Steve Harrington was pretty sure he would die that night, all over deep red lipstick and perfectly-drawn eyeliner.
He didn't know where he was running to, all he knew was that he couldn't stay in Loch Nora. He ran until he was near the edge of town, nothing but trees and the one road leading out surrounded him. Steve hadn't had his car keys on him, and there was no way he could go back for them without facing his dad's righteous anger. Steve let out a painful cry, finding nothing left to do but lay down on the pavement and stare at the stars. He was barely eighteen, no car, no money except whatever bills were stuffed in his pocket, no plan. Just himself and that damned red lipstick still lingering like berry-stained evidence on his lips.
He didn't move for anything. Not when the night grew chilly enough to freeze his joints and prick up goosebumps on his arms. Not when the rumble of an old car engine came roaring in the distance, or for the subsequent squeal of brakes and a loud horn.
"Shit, Harrington, I know you have air for a brain but what the fuck are you do—" The person cut themselves off, like from seeing the state of him. They'd probably hit him too, kick at him while he was down because why the fuck did he think he could get away with this shit in the middle of nowhere Indiana?
"Shit, Harrington," the voice hissed again, sounding as pained as Steve thought he should feel.
"Get on with it," Steve voiced, voice rough with tears and the violent yells his dad had hit out of him.
"Get on with what?"
Steve rolled his eyes, turning his head to meet Eddie Munson's gaze. He wondered if he still painted his nails. He wondered if it even mattered, because even Eddie Munson didn't do what Steve did. "I'm tired, man. If you're gonna get your revenge on me make it quick."
That startled Eddie, reminding Steve of just how expressive the guy was. It was almost humorous, the way his head reeled back and his eyes widened impossibly far.
"Get in the van, Harrington."
Right, if Eddie was gonna murder him he couldn't do it out in the open, not where anyone could be driving by.
So Steve picked himself up from the ground, not bothering to brush off his jeans before sliding into the passenger seat. They didn't talk the whole drive. No music played. They just sat in complete and total silence, punctuated only by the nervous taps of Eddie's hand on the steering wheel.
Eddie Munson must be stupider than he was. Most murderers wouldn't drive their victim to their own trailer before finishing the job. Though, Steve supposed all Eddie had to say was that he saw Steve Harrington wearing lipstick and it'd all be waved away. Upstanding citizen, that Eddie Munson was.
"Shower's back there, there's a first aid kit on the shelf," Eddie spoke, unable to stand still once they got inside the trailer.
And that, well that was just downright weird. Steve tilted his head to the side, eyeing the little hallway Eddie waved his hand at like it might jump at him. "What's happening?"
"What do you mean?" Eddie sounded tired, like he hadn't slept in weeks. Steve felt like he'd never slept at all, like he might never again.
"You...aren't you gonna...?"
"I mean, I could if you think you're gonna fall," Eddie said nervously, eyes also watching the hallway. "Just tryin' to protect your modesty, man."
"What?" Nothing was making sense, and Steve was beginning to wonder if maybe his head had hit the tile floor one too many times because this was supposed to be simple, cut and dry.
"Can you just go clean up, Harrington?"
"Why?"
"Because I hate seeing all that damn blood on you, okay?" Eddie snapped out, voice raising in pitch the more worked up he got. "I don't know what the hell happened, but I hate it."
Oh.
"You're not...you're not gonna...?" Steve repeated, including a lackluster air punch.
That seemed to make everything click in place for Eddie. He sucked in a breath and both hands flew to the top of his head, scraping through his unruly curls. "Shit, you think? Nah, man, I'm not a piece of shit like whoever did that to you. C'mon."
Eddie started walking down the hallway, and honestly this all felt so vaguely dreamlike Steve couldn't do anything but follow, wordlessly sitting on the toilet lid where Eddie waved for him to be. The other man was knelt between his legs, wiping off his face with a wet washcloth. His touch was gentle, experienced as he wiped away the blood and set to work rubbing antibiotic onto each open cut.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Steve whispered out, eyes focused on the barest hint of eyeliner on Eddie's eyes. The other man clearly wasn't wearing it to be pretty though. No, this was drawn on with intentional haste, and made Eddie look so fucking badass that Steve didn't know what to do about it. "I sucked in school. I was awful to you."
Eddie's hands didn't stop, brown eyes focused on Steve's lips as he wiped at the split in the lower one. He could see the breath hitch in the other man's chest though, a quick collapse of Eddie's chest before his breath restarted at a normal rhythm. "You did suck, but that doesn't mean you deserve this."
Steve didn't say anything else, couldn't really. Not when the lump in his throat grew until he was sure he would never be able to breathe again, and the tears began to spill without inhibition. And Eddie, well Eddie let him. He just kept patching him up, never saying anything, never berating him or looking disgusted by the tears. He just sat with Steve while he let it out, eyes looking to Steve's every so often as if to check he was okay.
"I think something's wrong with me." The whisper sounded so loud in the tiny bathroom, echoing around and around and smacking into Steve's chest repeatedly.
"No." It was the first time Eddie seemed bothered by anything Steve said all night, fingers gripping tightly around the corner of the counter he was holding to keep himself steady. "There's nothing wrong with you."
Steve opened his mouth to say something, but Eddie cut him off. He looked Steve right in the eyes, a kind of fire lighting up in those dark brown eyes of his. "Steve Harrington, there is nothing wrong or broken or shameful about you. So you like to wear makeup, lots of guys do."
"I've never met anyone who does."
"Because you're in Bumfuck, Indiana," Eddie continued on, never sounding more passionate than he did now. It was intense, sure, but Steve had longed for someone, anyone, to say what Eddie was now. And of course it was the guy with the painted nails he'd been enraptured by years before. "Just you wait, pretty boy, there's a whole world out there with people like us."
Like us. Like us.
"C'mon, you need some sleep. We can figure out the details in the morning."
"Wait...what?"
Eddie laughed a little, shattering the heavy moment with a burst of pure warmth. He stood up and offered a ringed hand out to help Steve up despite him not needing it. Eddie's hand was cold in his own, but it felt right there.
"Try to keep up, Harrington," he teased. "If you don't mind sharing a bed, you can stay here. Us freaks have to stick together, right?"
"I mean...your uncle won't...?"
"Nah, Wayne'll love pissin' Robert Harrington off," Eddie answered coolly, "And he's cool with...everything."
And despite Steve's skepticism, he was. Wayne Munson was pretty much the greatest support anyone could ever have. His face had flashed dangerously when Steve admitted what happened, saying the world had no place for men who hit their boys (Steve wondered only briefly why the topic seemed to pain Wayne so much). And living with Eddie Munson, well, it was great. The trailer was small and Eddie kicked in his sleep, but Eddie also smiled from the second he was awake and the no place had ever quite felt like home in the way the Munson trailer did.
And the next time Steve found the courage to sit and do his makeup, it came with bright smiles instead of that old, lingering fear.
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randoimago · 3 months
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Request for Astarion and Gale: What if Tav nearly dies saving him during a battle and he hasn't yet confessed his feelings to Tav yet?
Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3
Character(s): Astarion, Gale
Note(s): Yeah the confessing love to someone on the verge of death would never work in BG3 cause "Poof! Scroll or Resurrection! You were saying?" 😂
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Astarion
A bit stunned that anyone would risk death to save him. And then he calls Tav a bit of an idiot. Sure, Astarion doesn't want to die, but it's not like you don't have a stockpile of resurrection scrolls just in case.
Makes a comment about since you're so eager to die for him, he'll keep an extra resurrection scroll him just in case. The idea of you dying does leave a sour feeling in his stomach, but nothing magic can't fix, right?
Scolds you a bit, makes some jokes, but he's certainly not going to confess because he needs to hide and process his feelings. The fact that you seem more than willing to die for him definitely causes a whole new type of fear for Astarion and he doesn't have enough wine to deal with it.
Gale
While touched that Tav wanted to save him, he's very upset. Tav is going to get so many scoldings from Gale. He has said that he has a plan in case he dies and that it'd be fine.
He's a wizard and might not be as powerful as he once was, but death won't keep him gone for long. He wishes that Tav would trust him instead of trying to die themselves.
Expect a stern scolding from Gale for trying to do something foolish like that. He won't confess his love to you like in cheesy romances, but with how willing to jump into the heat of things you are, he might need to move up his plans of confessing.
While touched that Tav wanted to save him, he's very upset. Tav is going to get so many scoldings from Gale. He has said that he has a plan in case he dies and that it'd be fine.
He's a wizard and might not be as powerful as he once was, but death won't keep him gone for long. He wishes that Tav would trust him instead of trying to die themselves.
Expect a stern scolding from Gale for trying to do something foolish like that. He won't confess his love to you like in cheesy romances, but with how willing to jump into the heat of things you are, he might need to move up his plans of confessing.
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Taglist: @reo-the-leo @unhelpfulnpc
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batmanschmatman · 3 months
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It’s interesting to me to see how many people have been saying they feel like [character’s] death was too sudden or too early, and while I agree from a writing standpoint we didn’t exactly have a lot of time with him and they COULD have framed the show differently to give us more, I also think it’s sort of The Point that his death is sudden and kind of out of nowhere.
The air war was incredibly fucking brutal. I’m not saying it was more or less so than what the BOB or TP guys went through because they’re all awful, but it’s a well accepted part of the WWII experience that anything to do with flying planes might have seemed glamorous and cool but was actually terrifying and had a sort of uniquely horrible flavor to it when it came to facing the death of your friends.
(And this isn’t even getting into the stuff happening on the ground when cities became viable targets, but that’s for a different post.)
When Hoobler dies, the guys are there, they see it happen, they can try to help him, and then they know after a point that he’s dying. They can sit with the body afterward and take his stuff to send back to his family. Even in the more fast paced deaths like Rob Oswalt, Sledge and the others can look at his body and have a moment - however brief! - to say goodbye. There’s often no mystery of what happened, you’ve seen the wounds and know they’re dead. And you also HAVE to push it down because you’re being shot at and need to keep yourself alive. 
All of that is real important in the grief/mourning process. Guys in the 100th usually didn’t have that unless someone on your bomber died. You’d go up with your friends, you’d see their planes get hit, there’s nothing you can do besides watch for chutes and hope they survive to be taken prisoner. And then you come back, and your friends are gone, there’s no body to bury or sit with or touch. Their stuff is all still in the barracks like nothing happened. Sometimes you’re not even immediately sure if they are dead or not! You don’t know who those chutes belonged to, or if they made it safely to the ground instead of dying on impact or immediately being caught by the Germans and executed. But your friends are gone and you were powerless to do anything to help them.
And then you get to do it all over again knowing it’s going to happen to other friends or to you and there’s basically nothing you can do about it. How do you cope with that? What does it do to you to feel like your friends just literally vanished into thin air even though the last time you saw them, they were healthy and young and alive? And then new guys replace them, and you have to decide if you want to make friends with them or close yourself off, because these guys are going to die too.
(Oh, and if a member of your crew got badly wounded? You could have HOURS before you got back to base, and you have some first aid training but you’re not a surgeon, you don’t have plasma or whole blood to give a guy to help keep him alive until you make it back. So another horrible traumatic thing you get to deal with. Wounds that could’ve been treatable if you’d been at Carentan or Guadalcanal could be fatal.) 
I’m not saying this show is a masterpiece in storytelling by any means, but… You’re supposed to feel shocked and angry and robbed of the chance to get to know these guys? Because that’s literally how their friends felt. It’s a point Miller makes a lot in the book, and a really vital part to understanding why being in the AAF (or other air forces) was such a meat grinder physically and psychologically for these guys. 
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PLEASE HEAR ME OUT….. okay fainting while rehearsing with tokio hotel
basically the reader has been lacking sleep and is over working herself and when the band were rehearsing she fainted
(Hello! Sure I can! Enjoy!) Taglist
Fainting with Tokio Hotel
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Obviously, everyone is concerned for you
You seemed fine for a moment, then, BAM
you were down for the count
It happened so fast everyone couldn't react as quickly as they would have
Gustav was standing closest to you, and somehow managed to catch you before you fell and hit your head and died
He was freaked and almost actually let you go, but was smart enough to sit down with your head in his lap
Bill noticed quickly yelling in surprise before he rushed over to help
He dropped his mic, just as Tom noticed and came to help, tripping on it and almost dragging Georg down with him
Everyone was stumbling over to you, everyone almost dying in the process as hands backstage and they all came running
They're your closest friends, so obviously they're all concerned
Bill is yelling for someone to get a medic at least, and Tom is almost shaking you to wake you up
"(Name)! I swear, don't be fucking dead!"
"Stop shaking them!"
"It'll wake them up!"
"No, it won't! It'll give them shaken baby syndrome!"
"What the hell is that?!"
"It's where if you shake a baby they'll be messed up in the head!"
"...oh, shit!"
Georg and Tom don't know what to do that's their whole conversation, making absolutely no sense at goddamn all
Gustav and Bill are the only ones actually helping, making sure your head is okay and answering the medics questions
But Georg and Tom help eventually, letting nobody else carry you except the two of them because they wanted to make sure you were okay
They somehow got you to the dressing room, laying you on the couch
Somehow a story was pieces together from the medic
You were extremely tired, malnourished as he noticed as well
It finally clicked for the guys as they had barely seen you even sleep, drink or eat in the past few days
Bill noticed when it started, telling you it's okay and to stop overworking yourself
Tom was the one to make you eat, giving you food and watching you eat, even if it was something small hen he would let you work on whatever you wanted
Gustav was worried for your health, seeing how tired and stressed you were as he offered to help take a load of your shoulders, but you refused
Georg was one to stay out your way, but had to step in and take your stuff, making you get at least a little sleep before it all
But it all seemed worthless now as you laid passed out on the couch
Tired, hungry and overworked
They all felt bad for you, as a friend they all felt guilty and like they failed
The second you woke up they were all over you again
Hounding you in mixed scoldings and relief that you were okay
Bill was letting you know to never do that again and that you worried them
Tom was just glad you were awake, saying stuff to not do that again
Georg was the one telling you that you scared the shit out of everyone
While Gustav was making sure you were okay, and telling you to stop overworking yourself again
They all felt guilty and then suddenly had a little agreement to stop this from happening
From then on, they made sure you ate, slept and drank at least something
It may seem a bit drastic and weird, but they're your closest friends
And they would feel like shit if this happened again
So mark their words, they have the best intentions, and a way to have this never happen again
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@billsjum6ie @bigbootahjudy @dead-tapes @ilovebill-and-gustav @r3dheadedw0rld @kiwitsune @V4mpyboyy @novaaisstupid @billybabeskaulitz @yas-v @iischafer @dilfverz @ahswhore0
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psychewritesbs · 7 months
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Chapter 236: Go South—JJK is generational
Gosh. Can we pleeeease just like... have a moment of silence for the one and only...THE Man, Gojo Satoru.
Ok, time's up.
Moving on.
Word vomit under the cut.
The process of reading this chapter was a very interesting one this week because the fandom got really noisy as soon as the leaks dropped.
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Between allegations of bad writing and the utter sense of grief Gojo fans were expressing, it was quite the 💩 storm.
And then the actual scanlations started dropping, and little by little they replaced most of the noise with the utter sense of calm and peace and satisfaction that Gojo felt in his last moments in this plane of existence.
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I gotta say that I just absolutely loved how Gege depicted those emotions (outside of Gojo's "dream") through shots of the devastated Shinjuku district.
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The remnants of the battle of The Strongest, as if the landscape and the buildings themselves represented the end of an era, the devastation of the structure of Jujutsu society itself.
After all, as The Strongest sorcerer in the modern era, Gojo represented the very system he was trying to destroy.
Gege loves his irony.
Now, I would normally say that the words in the speech bubbles are superfluous because Gege creates such a beautiful atmosphere through the setting alone. But it is the words themselves that re-contextualize not just the battle, but also shed more light on Sukuna's interest in Megumi, which I feel we haven't seen the extent of what he had in mind.
Now I'm hoping this isn't a dream
Listen, I must admit I've never cared for Gojo.
I don't hate him, I don't love him, I simply never really cared for him.
That, of course, changed with this chapter.
And it is perhaps Gojo's death that really solidified in my mind the idea that one of the underlying themes in jjk is... dun dun dun... DEATH.
Yeah, I know. Sue me, I'm late to the party lmao.
But it's not just death itself that is a theme, but rather the face we put on when death comes knocking at the door.
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There aren't many things that we can be certain of in this life, but death is one of them. So how we confront death and our mortality shapes the sense of self.
I know a lot of people were dissatisfied with the transition from 235 to 236 and Gege not showing how/when Gojo got slashed in half, but I find the abrupt transition makes sense, and I even dare say was... quite poetic.
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For one, now knowing that Gojo knew Sukuna was holding back, a lot of incidents throughout the battle are given new meaning. Like that look of confidence on Gojo's face as he "thinks" he's finally managed to "get through" to Sukuna.
So I have to say that I loved that Gege starts the chapter with Gojo becoming aware that he has died or is dying.
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In other words, Sukuna's attack was so sudden that Gojo's next moment of awareness as "Gojo Satoru" is in what we would normally think of as "the light at the end of the tunnel" where he is greeted by people who were of significance to him in his youth.
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And can we please just talk about how Geto is the first person he sees when he becomes aware that he is dying?
Please. This is fucking poetry!
Insert keyboard smash.
Screaming in jjk.
Go South
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I literally lack the words to explain why I love this whole chapter so much. Which is a lot to say because I am about to word vomit about it. But like...
Again, hindsight is 20/20.
I always thought of the panel above as Geto being jealous of Gojo surpassing him in strength but, in retrospect, I think Geto's disappointment had more to do with Gojo's sense of self over-identifying with the title "the strongest" and how that made him harder to relate to, which is one of the main themes in this chapter. I'll come back to this in a sec.
But first...
Quick depth psych segway. I think I've said this before, but it bears repeating again that an overwhelming sense of self is all ego. There's nothing wrong with ego per se.
The problem is that an over-identification with ego means inherent separateness because, as an organ of the psyche, the ego sense of self is what gives us a separate identity from the collective.
On the other hand, soul/heart (another organ in the psyche) is the principle of relatedness--love, the single energy that can bring us all together as a collective.
But as we already know, the stronger the sorcerer, the more overwhelming the sense of self.
Unfortunately, because an overwhelming sense of self = separateness, this also means the person in question can't relate to others.
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And is this not thematically perfect for a sorcerer whose perfected cursed technique was meant to render others unable to "reach him"?
In other words, Gojo saw himself as separate (because he was "The Strongest") and that made it harder for him to relate to others, but only because he self-identified as "The Strongest".
Infinity ∞, in this sense, is also about the self-fulfilling prophecy Gojo was stuck playing out in his life in regards to seeing himself as "The Strongest".
But like a serpent eating its own tail, Gojo came back full circle, and in the moments before his death, learned that what really mattered to him was not strength for the sake of strength, but rather the connections he had fostered with others.
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PLEASE. GEGE. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK?!!!!!!!!!!!
To bring it back to "Satoru became 'The Strongest'"...
I just loved so much that seeing Geto as soon as he becomes aware he's died felt like an encounter that meant Gojo had returned to the person he was before he self-identified as "The Strongest".
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But more importantly, Gojo's imagination of himself as back when he was young also speaks both to how much he cherished that period of his life, and to how he was emotionally frozen in time due to his encounter with Toji.
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It makes me wonder whether Gojo was afraid of dying alone when Toji almost killed him. So it's almost like what he took away from that battle was that he was always alone, and so he sought to push others away.
The kicker is that he simultaneously feared his existential isolation and yet craved the very source of his fear--human relations.
But in choosing self-preservation, he was a selfish to the very end.
What an idiot (tragically affectionate).
Anyways. How much of this is hc? Someone tell me please 😂. I feel like I went off the deep end in the last few paragraphs.
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Like everyone else in this fandom I've lost all objectivity when it comes to Gojo because his departure from the story was truly one of the most heartbreaking moments in jjk.
I understand people's complaints about the "execution," but I think the world-wide phenomena that Gojo's death has spurred speaks to Gege's ability to elicit deeply archetypal emotional responses as a story teller.
With Gojo's death, a part of our own psyche too has died. And what's most significant about this death is that it was, true to Gojo's character, "something that needed to die because it represented the very thing it sought to destroy."
And this would be why I love Gege's writing.
A fitting way for Gojo to go out
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I know not everyone agrees, but I really appreciated that he was satisfied and at peace in the very end.
He got his cake (battle to death with Sukuna) and got to eat it too (reconnected with his loved ones).
Sukuna
But we can't talk about Gojo without talking about Sukuna as the one who liberated Gojo from the burden of his existential isolation.
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Sukuna gave Gojo a fun battle, but if it weren't because Sukuna figured out how to cut through Gojo's metaphorical defenses by learning to cut through space-time itself--the very fabric of reality, Gojo might not have found his humanity once again.
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The outcome of this battle spells out in no uncertain terms how dire the situation is as Sukuna has proven himself to be the uncontested "Strongest".
But in a sense, the end is a new beginning, and this time, there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
JJK is generational
I get the feeling that everyone will remember where they were when this panel dropped.
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I was in bed. It was 6 am and Tasokare, my miniature panther, was demanding attention.
A moot was on the way to the gym. They never made it out of the house after seeing the panel.
Another moot was completely avoiding Twitter to avoid leaks, but her brother, who does not even read jjk, saw the panel on Facebook and showed it to her.
Yet another moot was on vacation at the beach.
JJK is generational like that and there's just so much more I can say about this chapter and its implications (like the idea that Sukuna can now cut through space-time, why?! what does he want to get out of this ability?), but I just don't even know what more I can say right now.
Anyways, thanks for reading. I'm looking forward to any thoughts you might have. Just a heads up, I'm very, very slow at replying.
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sweepingboy · 4 months
Text
the day mu qing's mother passes he finds jian lan dying and manages to save the child. he's being very emotional and sentimental so he decides to keep him: creates a female form, a clone of her, and raises as his own.
he takes care of him teaches him how to fight with saber (the kid prefers a bow for some reason. whatever) one day tells him he's not his actual mother( cuocuo still calls him mom).
some time passes the clone "dies of old age" and shortly after cuocuo ascends and becomes nan yang's deputy( oh how mu qing hates that!).
general xuan zhen still keeps an eye on him, borrowing for missions occasionally, claiming that he's the only competent person in the whole palace and feng xin finds him very helpful too. he teaches him archery praises his good manners and education. his mom raised him good.
in a century he gets his own godly domain and two generals are still there to support him.
when xie lian brings jian lan to heavenly court she points at mu qing and tells he stole her child. he's forced to show his woman form but denies the accusations. she also reveals who's the father of her kis and the heavens are shaken by that awkward family dynamic. mu qing is arrested, feng xin is processing and cuocuo is confused af
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This question might be off topic..👀 or strange perhaps.
In your opinion , how do you think other Strawhats if each of them were in Luffy's place instead and instead of Ace , Luffy died at Marineford?
I am trying to find a way to draw other Strawhats but slightly having troubles with finding best devasted like poses/things they's do upon such trauma☆
This wound up focusing a lot more on the long term aftermath than the initial devastation because I believe it would be pretty similar for everyone (whole lot of screaming and crying), but I hope you still find this useful or at least fun to read.
In the event of Luffy dying at Marineford, everyone would be in shambles. Whitebeard (assuming he lives) would offer them a place to stay on his ship while they regroup and try to grapple with the trauma of what happened. He isn't forcing them to join his crew or anything. They're free to go whenever they please, but he would also welcome them with open arms should they choose to stay.
Zoro splits off almost immediately and returns to his life as a bounty hunter. He is very much still pursuing his goal, just in solitude. He is constantly being inundated with invitations to other pirate crews, but he rejects all of them (sometimes violently). Luffy is the only person he will ever all captain. He blames himself a lot for his death. He was supposed to support and protect his captain, but he failed miserably. He's even more cold and removed than he used to be, and he'll never let anyone else in again. He also drinks more, to the point that it becomes genuinely concerning.
Nami also leaves, but takes more time to do so. She claims that she's only going back to Cocoyasi village temporarily so that she can process everything that has happened around familiar faces, but she never sets foot in the Grand Line again. Luffy was her safety net. Even in the most scary and intense situations, she could find solace in the reassurance that Luffy would be there to handle it... But now he isn't. He's gone forever and she feels lost without him. The Grand Line is much more scary without him leading the way. She will eventually start venturing around the Blues, but that is it.
Usopp cannot handle the survivor's guilt. He latches onto the Sogeking persona to cope after Luffy's death. It becomes extremely rare to see him without the mask, and he doesn't even respond to hearing the name Usopp anymore. He wants to go home so bad, but he can't bring himself to. He can't stomach having to look everyone there in the eye and telling them why he's back. Now would be a great time for Yassop to step up and be a father, but he's nowhere to be seen so Whitebeard steps up to the plate. He supports Usopp and actually talks him through the intense grief that is choking him. It takes time, but Whitebeard does succeed in making Usopp take of his physical and metaphorical mask by properly addressing his emotions on the matter. Usopp decides to stay with the Whitebeard Pirates and accepts becoming one of Whitebeard's sons.
Sanji is devastated. He wanted to leave immediately, but waited around for Nami to be ready to go before heading back to the East Blue. Sanji goes back to the Baratie and refuses to talk about what happened. He blames himself intensely for not being there for the battle and fully believes that it's his fault that Luffy is dead. On top of his smoking habit, he starts drinking. Everything feels so hollow now, and nothing will fill that emptiness. The only times that Zeff or the other Baratie staff members get a glimpse of the old Sanji is when Nami stops by to visit with him. Even then, he's much more subdued. He never really recovers from this and has abandoned the idea of ever finding the All Blue.
Chopper is inconsolable after Luffy's death. He feels like a failure as a doctor for not being able to save him even though there was nothing that he could do. He also chooses to stay with the Whitebeard Pirates and becomes Marco's apprentice. As devastated as he is by Luffy's death, he copes with it relatively well by throwing himself into an education. He does becomes obsessed with curing Whitebeard, however. He can't stand to watch two captains die back to back.
Robin up and vanishes as soon as night comes. This breaks her. She fully believes that Luffy's death was her fault. Someone finally loved and accepted her and look what happened to him. As far as she's concerned, she's cursed. Naturally, she distances herself from literally everyone. She refuses to let anyone else die because of her. She'll spend the rest of her life in solitude, and it probably won't take very long for that to happen.
Franky goes back to Water 7 with the Thousand Sunny after confirming that the Straw Hats were disbanding and that no one else wanted it. He makes the ship into a memorial for Luffy and takes meticulous care of it. While the death absolutely does hurt him, he copes with it the best out of anyone. He is no stranger to grief, and he bounces back relatively quick. He works for Galley-La designing ships, as well as doing so as a hobby.
Brook is similar to Robin in the sense that he believes that he is cursed. He finally let someone in and joined another crew, only for the captain to die almost immediately. He resolves to never join another pirate crew. Unlike Robin, he doesn't completely sink into despair. He pours all of his pain into music, and you can find a lot of clear inspiration from Luffy and other Straw Hats in his music. He also takes the time to visit Laboon whenever he can. He doesn't want the poor thing to be abandoned all over again.
Bonus round for Ace. Ace will never emotionally recover from this, and his grief is messy. He alternates between hysteric sobbing and an uncontrollable rage. One moment he'll be begging a god that he doesn't even believe in to give Luffy back and take him instead, but the next second he'll be destroying everything in arms reach while scream his throat raw. He's cursing Luffy for being a damned martyr. For putting himself somewhere he had no business to be. For leaving him to pick up the broken pieces in Luffy's wake. There is a noticeable improvement in his psyche once he reunites with Sabo and realizes he isn't the last brother left alive, but he is never truly the same after Luffy's death. It should have been him. He is very much at risk of dying not long after Luffy because if Garp doesn't kill Akainu, he will. And he will die trying.
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mysterycitrus · 4 months
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I'm forever thinking about persephone pt2 when dick talks about robin as a mantle and how mary grayson's death haunts it and how now so many kids have used the name and died with it, and so when I was reading through New Teen Titans #55 recently, kory's thoughts about dick when he goes to bruce after finding out about jason's death really just ripped my heart in two in a whole different way...
"He hasn’t been the same since he found out about Jason. Oh, Dick- I know you were Robin. I know what this means to you that the new Robin died. I know you feel like part of you died, too- but it wasn’t you, honey. Robin died. But you didn’t. You’re still alive!"
yes!!! yes!!!!! im very very happy that connected with u — death in the family + lonely place of dying + new teen titans + war games were big big rereads for me when i was writing that part. my regret is that i haven’t been able to include an interaction with steph (im committed to keeping her as far away from bruce as possible) but yeah it was so crucial for dick to know that robin had literally gotten children killed. partially because it proves that bruce is a hypocrite, and partially to show how divorced robin has become from its original meaning and purpose. my intention was the same as my version of the pearls falling — to change the context enough to give the actual text new meaning!
i did a lot of reading about romani funeral/practises of mourning, because i think how dick and bruce grieve differently are big parts of their respective characters, and also a significant factor in their estrangement post-robin and post-jason. bruce is trapped in the alley metaphorically, but he also maintains his family home as a mausoleum. he spends a lot of time looking at family portraits, thinking about the pearls, seeing himself as a child in the house. jason’s suit remains in its glass box. he is unable to process his grief, nor does he want to. that pain is the driving force behind his desire to do good.
dick is transient by comparison — he’s never shown to have a lot of worldly possessions (he arrives in bludhaven with a duffel bag and nothing else) and his one point of physical connection to his parents is usually just the poster that shows up sporadically in canon. i didn’t want to misinterpret romani practices for a gd batman fanfic, so i tried to introduce different motivation for how dick utilises his own grief to take action. he uses his family to create a legacy for himself to protect their memory.
with that in mind, it becomes even more devastating that bruce has taken that and given it to others, without explaining the reasons behind its creation. literally, like what if dick used the wayne portrait for kindling? that’s probably the closest point of comparison.
dick actually explaining to donna and roy what robin meant vs its legacy that is totally out of his control was also really important. they still call him robin a decade later! he’s their robin! it’s so important to know that that name persists for him, no matter how many others have worn the cape!
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umbrellacam · 1 year
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Reading A Lonely Place of Dying is so interesting in so many ways, but the question I'm still rotating in my mind is about Dick, and specifically why he ends up smiling and soft-advocating for Tim to be Bruce's Robin, after he had his morality crisis over young heroes with Jason's death.
So when he finds out about Jason's death, Dick feels guilty over giving Jason his Robin costume and not being there when he died:
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New Teen Titans #55
To the extent that, later in the same issue, he unilaterally fires 15-year-old Danny Chase from the Titans, over Donna and Kory's objections, citing what happened to Jason. He even expresses doubt over his own young age when he became Robin, wondering whether that was a mistake:
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New Teen Titans #55
However, when Dick visits Bruce in Gotham to both express his condolences over Jason's death and also confront him over not telling Dick about it, he explicitly rejects Bruce's implication of blame:
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New Teen Titans #55
And later, when the Gargoyle is mentally torturing him over his past failures to the Titans, to Bruce, and Jason, Dick breaks through his self-blame issues and firmly asserts that there was nothing he could have done to prevent Jason's death.
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Secret Origins (Vol. 2) #3
But understanding his lack of blame logically isn't the same as being totally past it, as it's part of Dick's larger cycle of guilt, as he acknowledges to his therapist:
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The New Titans #57
So how does Dick get from here, still wrestling with guilt and feeling ambivalent about the idea of young heroes as a whole, to the end of A Lonely Place of Dying, where he smiles and basically urges Bruce to give Tim a chance to become Robin?
Like, yes, Dick then spends the entirety of Batman: Year Three worried about Bruce's tenuous mental state after Jason's death, reaching out to him in the midst of Batman's reckless, violent spiral, trying to both express care and to call his mentor and hero back to his foundations of crime-fighting through careful detective work, not through brutality - and getting rejected by Bruce over and over. Even while being proud of Dick's methods and the hero he's grown into, Bruce just can't seem to pull himself out of his own morass of self-destruction. Dick eventually has to leave him to it, though he clearly hasn't stopped worrying about Bruce by the start of ALPoD.
Yes, Tim impresses Dick multiple times over the course of ALPoD. First at the circus with his reflexes and his quick thinking (apparently almost as much as he irritates and baffles Dick with his stubborn evasiveness and pushy presumption, lol this total gremlin). Then at Wayne Manor when Tim goes through his deduction of Batman's and Robin's identities, although this one is more an implication through Dick's decision to show Tim the Cave immediately afterward, and Alfred's words to Tim.
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Batman #441
And yet Alfred's sentiment here is immediately contradicted when Tim insistently pushes the Robin costume at Dick, and Dick gets pissed off, saying that, "When Jason died, he took Robin with him. And no matter how much anybody may want it - you can't bring back the dead."
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The New Titans #61
How does Dick go from this to accepting Tim as the new potential Robin all of two issues later!! This boy's emotions are so mixed up, lol.
I feel like while Dick is clearly angered by Tim's presumptions, kind of baffled and creeped-out by the sort of parasocial fixation Tim has on both Bruce/Batman and Dick/Robin, below the surface he's also genuinely absorbing Tim's driving love and care for them both. Like, he's way too ticked off to show it or even think of it consciously at the moment - and it's hard to process!! despite that day at Haly's Circus tying them together a decade ago, this kid is a rando, it's out of nowhere, it's wild to be confronted with!! - but on some level he has to be touched by Tim's care and passion for their legacy. He wouldn't make his heel-turn later and smile at Tim so approvingly otherwise.
Like, Dick wants Bruce to have a partner that cares for him that much, that forces him to care for himself in a way that he clearly hasn't been since Jason's death. And Dick is both afraid and aware that he can't fill that role anymore - that he can try to stand beside Batman as Nightwing and support him that way, but he can't stand behind Bruce in his protective shadow again, can't cramp himself back into Robin.
So even as Dick is making line-faces at this bizarre kid pushing himself at them, talking about Jason and Dick and Bruce and what Batman needs like he knows better than Dick, UGH… Dick is also considering… is maybe moved a bit by that star-bright conviction and overflowing love in the face of all the doubts that seem to plague both Bruce and Dick lately… is maybe hoping, seeing a possible light in the dark. Not on a conscious level, perhaps, but it's maybe churning below the surface with everything else Dick is thinking about.
Anyway, Dick still tracks Batman down and tries being a supportive partner as Nightwing, even going "I'm here. Always," when Batman finally brings himself to admit that he needs help. Only to IMMEDIATELY run face-first into Bruce's control issues and post-Jason-disregarding-orders trauma - "You're not with the Titans now. If you want to be with me, you follow my orders. Now do as I say." (The New Titans #61) Oof, instant I'm-NIGHTWING-not-ROBIN friction, but Dick swallows it for now.
Then Two-Face blows up a building on top of both of them, and Tim (and Alfred!) have to rescue them both. By the time that they've been dug out, Alfred and Dick are both praising Tim's potential to a very baffled and alarmed, verging on angry, Batman lol. Dick and Alfred then grin at each other while young Tim struggles against his intimidation and argues the tremendously (and understandably!) reluctant Batman to a standstill.
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Batman #442
As they drive away afterward (Bruce, Dick and Tim in the Batmobile to track down Two-Face - using the tracker Tim planted on him, good job Timmy!! - and Alfred toward home in a separate car), we get the following thought-bubbles:
Bruce: Even if he's right, I don't want another partner. Dick: Bruce, for once, think with your heart, not with cold logic. Tim: He doesn't want me, but he hasn't said no. So just do your best… Alfred: …One way or another, the rest will take care of itself.
Batman #442
"Think with your heart, not with cold logic" - so does Dick's line here mean that this is what he himself is doing at this point? Setting aside his logic, his fears and reservations about young heroes, about Jason's death, about putting another young boy in the Robin costume - because Tim joining them, maybe becoming Bruce's new partner, feels right? Because everything that Tim has shown of himself so far means the kid deserves a chance, at least? Because Bruce's caution after Jason's death would mean that he'll make sure to 'do it right this time'? Because Tim's passion and conviction could be what Batman needs, and - maybe as much if not more than that - could be something that deserves to be nurtured into something great, despite Dick's own (and Bruce's) fears?
Because Dick has to be wrestling with and at least quelling (if not fully letting go of) his fears about the risks to young heroes in these issues, it doesn't make sense for him to be okay with Tim as Robin otherwise. And it can't all be about what use Tim could be to Bruce - the leash he could put on Batman's out of control behavior. That's far too selfish and manipulative as a sole motive for Dick Grayson; especially after Jason, he wouldn't encourage a kid to jump into the meat-grinder of vigilantism solely to save Bruce or preserve the legacy of Batman & Robin.
I feel like Dick has to also be seeing something in Tim here, his potential, his determination, the good that he can and wants desperately to do, that Dick has to respect, has to think deserves a shot. When Alfred goes, "The boy should be a politician!" and Dick replies, "He'd do more good with Bruce," (Batman #442; panels above), it does feel like he's thinking of the difference Tim himself could make in the world. Dick has to be remembering why he himself could not be put off from the vigilante life when he was even younger than Tim, why Jason also went out there and did his best every night. To help people, in a way that mattered.
Anyway, Tim also puts in a good showing when they confront Two-Face, despite giving Bruce a near heart-attack over this strange unfamiliar boy wearing his son's uniform when Tim briefly appears to have been crushed - only for him to have saved himself and warned Batman and Nightwing of danger through his quick thinking.
Afterward, Alfred and Dick both advocate for Tim, so Dick is clearly pulling for Tim to be given a chance. Dick's smile here, my heart.
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Batman #442
I still wish they'd been a little more explicit with the turn of Dick's mindset here, but at the same time I guess it's pretty effective as show-not-tell!
All in all, I feel like ALPoD was very effective storytelling, well done Marv, hugely enjoyable read, and I can't wait to read more.
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hypewinter · 2 months
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3 HC Prompt thingy!
1). Cracked Core AU
2). Full Ghost AU
3). Good Parent Fenton AU
(Yes, I am setting this up as easy angst:) )
Apologies if this was supposed to be three separate prompts because my mind is going down a 3 in 1 route.
Danny gets tired of protecting Amity. Really tired. Don't get him wrong, he loves protecting people. Obsession or not. It's just that he really misses having a normal life and figured taking a break for a while wouldn't be bad. Especially when his parents offered to take care of things during his little impromptu vacation. So Danny takes a little step back and his parents take over and all goes swimmingly.....until it doesn't.
You see it turns out a ghost's obsession is a little more serious than Danny has given it credit for. In fact, it doesn't take long at all for Danny's obsession with protection to rear its head. He keeps getting these twitches in his body and pangs in his chest. Both seeming to call him to action. To pick up the mantle of being a hero again. But Danny just chalks it up to missing his quip filled fights with his rogues and ignores these feelings. Until he wakes up one night with an unimaginable pain in his chest.
It feels like he's shattering into a million pieces. Like his chest is being forcibly ripped open. Like he's dying. All Danny can do is scream. He screams as a terrible fire-like feeling ignites in his chest and spreads through his body. He screams as his parents rush in and ask him what's wrong. He screams as he's loaded into the spectre speeder and taken to the Far Frozen. He screams until Frostbite injects him with something and the pain dies down to a numb throbbing.
As Danny calms, Frostbite asks him a question: "Have you been fulfilling your obsession recently?" At first, Danny says yes. After all, it's only been a week since he stopped protecting Amity Park. But Frostbite continues to prod until Danny tells the truth.
There's a grave look on Frostbite's face and he informs Danny how important one's obsession is. How it needs to be fulfilled constantly. One can only go about 3 days without fulfilling it. Then Frostbite gives the Fenton's even graver news. Danny's core is cracked.
Typically this is debilitating for a ghost but not the end of the world but Danny is a halfa and they have no way of knowing how it'll affect him. It may be fine. But it might also kill him. Given his vitals in the last hour, Frostbite is leaning towards the latter.
Luckily there is an experimental procedure that's been developed to heal cracked cores but the process has a decent chance at killing off Danny's human side. So Danny is left with two choices: Become a full ghost, or risk having a final death.
Danny's not sure he wants to do that though. To become a full ghost would mean severing his last ties to humanity. He'd have to live in the ghost zone full time to get enough ectoplasm. He'd no longer be able to go to school, get a job, or start a family. He didn't want to do the procedure, but he was dying, so he's parents signed off for him.
The procedure works and Danny is now a full ghost with a now whole again, albeit slightly damaged core. But nothing is the same. He watches the whole move on without him as he continues to fervently protect the innocent. He sees his parents grow old in the blink of an eye and his friends are moving on to better things in a snap. The world continues turning and people come and go but Danny cannot. For he is the constant protector.
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pilot-boi · 5 months
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About your jaune scars art piece, do you think jaune flinches back when someone touches his scars?
Sadly, no. Sad for Jaune, because the angst is actually still there but for a different reason
More like everyone else flinches when they touch his scars. I Uno reverse carded you, but you’ll see why
Jaune doesn’t flinch when people touch his scars because for him they’ve been there for years, decades even for some of them. His arms looked slightly different, his body differently toned, but the scars are still the same. He’s used to them by now
His friends, however, very much aren’t
For them, every scar is a mark of how long he was there, how long he was alone, how much he went through
Jaune has so much Aura, how many times did he have to come close to dying to sustain this many scar-leaving injuries? How many near-death experiences did he have ALONE, with nobody but paper stars to hold him through the recovery process?
How many of the scars are self-inflicted? How many are from him throwing himself in harm’s way, not worrying if he lives or dies? How many injuries did he leave unhealed, leaving his health and safety to the wayside without someone to bring him back down to earth?
He’s covered in scars like cracks in a statue. His body is just as shattered as his soul and mind
Jaune doesn’t know what the big deal is
Of course he has scars, he was there for decades. Weiss has a scar over her eye, Blake has one on her stomach. Yang is missing an arm, and Nora has lightning burns over her whole body
A few cuts and scrapes are an occupational hazard. He was able to patch himself up… well enough, anyway
They don’t know how to explain to him that he shouldn’t have had to. They don’t know how to explain that they’re mourning the years he lost. They don’t know how to explain that he is worth more to them than the blood he shed in their absence
So yes, they flinch when they catch sight of stark white lines curling from under his shirt sleeves, when they glimpse burns in the shape of cat claws when he’s pulling on his shirt, when his snowy locks catch the light over his too-young-too-old eyes
He’s a hero, as he always wanted. An inspiration to millions across Remnant. He’s the Rusted Knight
His friends just hate that “The Rusted Knight” almost cost them Jaune Arc
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sibylsleaves · 1 year
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rest in my arms, sleep in my bed
a quick little 6x12 coda
He looks so…soft, on Eddie’s couch. With his light gray sweatpants and his few day old stubble and his half-open mouth and his arm thrown across the back cushion like he’s just waiting for someone to sit down next to him and cuddle into his side.
When he showed up at the door, Eddie was—fucking elated, if he’s being honest. Relieved, that Buck came here, barging in the way he always does, not even waiting for Eddie to invite him inside because he knows the invitation’s always implied.
And now he’s here, and he’s fast asleep on Eddie’s couch, and Eddie doesn’t want to stop looking at him. He’s here on the couch and Eddie just wants to keep him here. Where he knows he’ll be safe. Where he can look at him, the way he couldn’t for all those days in the hospital. Those days in the hospital where looking at Buck felt like dying, and being away from Buck felt like dying, and so Eddie was just stuck in this awful purgatory, a waking nightmare.
And Eddie’s been—he’s been fucking worried, okay? Buck died. But he’s been trying to give him space to heal and process everything that happened, knowing that if he was patient, Buck would come to him.
And now here he is. And it’s everything Eddie’s wanted for days, ever since he watched Buck’s parents take him home from the hospital to a loft across town that doesn’t even have a proper couch. Well, now it does—Buck already told Eddie how his mother insisted on getting one, and that’s a whole thing Eddie can’t even touch.
But even though there is a brand new couch sitting in his loft, Buck is here, sleeping on Eddie’s couch. It’s not the first time he’s done it, and it certainly won’t be the last, but Eddie sits down with his beer and just watches him breathe for a minute, because he still remembers all too well what it felt like when he saw Buck lying on the gurney not breathing. And when he saw Buck lying in that hospital bed with a machine breathing for him.
Now his chest rises and falls on its own, and Eddie’s not really sure how something so simple can be one of the most beautiful things he’s ever seen in his life, but it is.
He knows there’s more healing ahead—for Buck, for himself, for the team. He knows it’s not as simple as waking up and getting on with it. He knows this kind of thing, being that close to death, isn’t something you can just shake off. Not even Buck can. 
But he’s here. He’s breathing. He’s safe. 
And for now, sitting here in the early twilight, that’s all Eddie needs.
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