#reword that first sentence into something Greater for the ending

[thotpuppy]

First & Last Lines

Post the first and last lines of the last 10 fics you posted. WIPs are welcome. Not super strict!!

Thanks for the tag @whimsicalmeerkat <3 This is a really cute game!

Triskelion Reign: The Shepherd, the Lamb and the Wolf

First Line: As the sole heir to his father’s crown and, according to the court healer, a particularly fertile omega, Stiles had always known his hand would be given to a suitor not for love, but for political security.

Last Line: “Inside,” he agrees.

2. Sweating Out Confessions (We'll Build Our Altar Here)

First Line: The dedication of worship has always presented a unique appeal to Stiles.

Last Line: He begs forgiveness to their gods in silent prayers as Scott takes him apart right there on the floor, but he knows his own sins are only of devotion to someone far more important than the faceless gods he’d only ever worshiped in word.

3. 'My Whole Life is a Reference to 1995 Hit Movie Clueless and I Still Don't Know the Plot' by Fall Out Boy

First Line: “I dunno man, that sounds like some real fairytale bullshit.”

Last Line: “Oh,” Stiles says. “I’m an idiot.”

4. Under My Skin

First Line: A sharp ringing pulses through Stiles’ head as he blinks back to consciousness.

Last Line: For now, he’s going to go be a normal teenager.

5. Thirsty

First Line: Dawn arrives with the fading smoke of a hard fought battle drifting into the horizon, melding with the fog of new day sun burning away the dew of night.

Last Line: “Go lock the door, please.”

6. Want You to Want Me

First Line: It’s not easy being a human member of a werewolf pack.

Last Line: “So,” he starts after stranding and pulling Stiles’ to his wobbly feet. “Mine or yours?”

7. Gumusservi

First Line: The stench of chlorine is still an unwelcome, stagnant presence in Jackson’s nose long after he’s shed the last of his scales and learned to embrace his inner wolf.

Last Line: “So, who’s topping?”

8. Touche (Confessions in the Dark)

First Line: The dull thwap of rubber hitting net is soft in the muggy twilight air.

Last Line: Stiles is almost struck dumb at the boldness, and Jackson smirks at him over his shoulder, stepping quickly towards the Jeep and tugging him along.

9. Elementary, My Dear Sheriff

First Line: “Bobby said you didn’t turn in your latest paper on time.”

Last Line: “Me too, kid,” Noah agrees. “Me too.”

10. Get It While It's Hot (Dessert sans Dinner)

First Line: Stiles has never been a particularly talented cook.

Last Line: Oh yeah, he can definitely go again.

Woo! What a list!! I didn't realize how few fics I'd written were like... wholly for me and not at least Partly for an event ehheh,, anyways!

low pressure tagging: @mirrorthoughts @outtoshatter @geekmom13 @one-fandom-became-all-fandoms @lucky-bishop @renmackree

[cryingcow]

Character Story - Mine [RGGO]

I feel like i just wrote an entire MineDai pre-relationship fanfic with the word count on this >_< There’s a section in Mine’s wiki page about the “The Man Called Yoshitaka Mine” event. I’m pretty sure this takes place after that one, because Mine makes references to things Daigo said when they first met.

When it comes to idioms, I decided to leave in the ones that don’t sound too different from their English counterparts as is. The others I just tried to reword (it took a lot of googling to figure them out lol). Also, please note that anything I write before the chapter starts is shit I made up, don’t take them as facts XD

Story: Mine, Chairman of the Hakuho Clan, meets up with Sixth Chairman Dojima. He then goes out for drinks with his boss, loses him in a public toilet, and ends up saving the day with his inherent skepticism that Daigo could be sleeping with a woman (either because our boy Mine’s gaydar is on point, or he believes that the words “Daigo” and ���get laid” could never occur in the same sentence).

Mine: (I wish I could be his friend so he could smile at me like that . . . but it seems I am fated to only know him as the Sixth Chairman . . .)

Daigo: “Hey Mine wanna get some drinks together?”

Mine: :O

.

CHAPTER 1

.

[Tojo Headquarters]

Driver: “Well, Chairman Mine. This is where you get off.”

Mine: “Ah.”

Mine: (Today’s my meeting with Chairman Dojima. Heh. I’ve really gotten far.)

Mine: “Hm? That’s . . .”

{Daigo walks by, talking to someone on the phone.}

Mine: “Is that Chairman Dojima? He seems to be on the phone with someone.”

Daigo: “Hahaha. It’s hard work. But I’m fine.”

Telephone voice: “But Daigo-san. Ever since becoming chairman, you’ve become a distant person!”

Daigo: “What, would you like to come visit the Tojo Headquarters next time? It’s full of yakuza . . .”

Telephone voice: “No way! Just treat me to some cabarets and soaplands!”

Daigo: “Idiot, use your own money! Ha ha ha!”

Mine: (. . . Is the other party on the phone a friend of Chairman Dojima? . . . From what I heard, Chairman Dojima was playing around with his friends in the city before he assumed the position of Sixth Chairman. Must be a friend from that time period. I thought he was strict, but it seems he can make that kind of expression . . . to a friend . . .)

Daigo: “Oh, Mine. You’re here.”

Mine: “It’s nice to meet you, Chairman.”

----

[Tojo HQ – Chairman’s Office]

Daigo: “. . . That’s all for today. Good luck from now on.”

Mine: “Yes. I will live up to your expectations.”

Mine: (By exchanging a cup with him, you entrust your life . . . It seems that I may only know this person as the Sixth Chairman . . .)

Daigo: “Hm? What is it, Mine? What’s wrong?”

Mine: “. . . no. It’s nothing. Excuse me.”

Daigo: “Really?”

Mine: (Now I have to fulfill my duties faithfully. To be Chairman Dojima’s . . . the Tojo Clan’s backbone.)

Daigo: “. . . Wait. Mine. Are you free tonight?”

Mine: “Tonight? I don’t have any plans . . .”

Daigo: “Then, do you want to go out for drinks?”

Mine: “Eh?”

Daigo: “It’s late, but consider it a celebration of the direct promotion of the Hakuho Clan. In addition, I’ve never had a drink with you yet.”

Mine: “. . .”

Daigo: “How about it? I know a good place.”

Mine: “. . . Yeah. I’ll be happy to.”

----

[Champion District]

Mine: (. . . no way. To receive an invitation from Chairman Dojima . . . I’m in trouble. What do I even talk about . . .)

{Off to the side, a thug and a yakuza are yelling and fighting.}

Mine: (Jeez. It’s a noisy town. The Chairman will arrive anytime now.)

{The thug and the yakuza keep fighting. The yakuza shoves the thug, and he bumps into Mine.}

Mine: “. . . ku!”

Thug: “What are you standing around there for!”

Mine: “. . . If you two are having a dispute, can you do it elsewhere?”

Thug: “We can have disputes wherever we want!”

Mine: “. . . You’re an eyesore. Scraps.”

Yakuza: “Scraps?”

Mine: “Yeah. Garbage. Messy trash dirtying the Chairman’s path. The Chairman will feel uncomfortable with guys like you around. Get lost now.”

Yakuza: “What part of it don’t you understand! We’re not going anywhere!”

Mine: “I guess it can’t be helped then. I’ll have to announce the Chairman’s arrival before he comes. Bring it on, scraps!”

{Mine takes care of the garbage.}

Mine: “Hn. Not so mouthy now.”

Daigo’s voice: “I think they’ve had enough, Mine.”

Mine: “Chairman Dojima . . .”

Daigo: “Did I keep you waiting?”

Mine: “No . . . I just arrived myself. Even so, a place like this? There’s a lot to be said about the location, the security . . .”

Daigo: “This is my favorite bar. When it comes to drinking, this is the best place.”

Mine: “Is that so . . . hm?”

Bodyguards: “. . .”

Daigo: “They’re coming along while we drink. Those guys are at work, don’t mind them.”

Mine: “I don’t have a problem. This is for the safety of Chairman Dojima.”

Mine: (Now, since I was invited, I have to be enthusiastic . . . It’s time to forget my daily duties and just enjoy myself tonight.)

----

[Bar that might be Shellac unless it’s just reused assets]

Daigo: “Fuu. I finally got a drink. I can’t do without this.”

Mine: “. . . Chairman Dojima, you seem tired. Are the Chairman’s duties difficult?”

Daigo: “Ah, it’s very hard. For days it seems I’ve done nothing but work.”

{A couple overhears and starts whispering near them. The woman wonders what Daigo is a chairman of, but the man says he’s probably no one important.}

Daigo: “. . .”

Mine: “. . .”

Daigo: “. . . Hey, Mine. Why are you calling me Chairman Dojima today? It’s too stiff.”

Mine: “Sorry. I didn’t realize. Then . . . Daigo-san. That’s what I’ll call you.”

Daigo: “Ah, that’s fine.”

Daigo: “You know . . . the Fourth Chairman Kiryu-san’s existence is far greater than I thought. It seems even among those who don’t openly oppose, many are still dissatisfied with my appointment as Sixth Chairman.”

Mine: (Kiryu Kazuma . . . his name will always come up when you talk with Daigo-san . . .)

Mine: “That person, Kiryu, to Daigo-san . . . is he like your aniki?”

Daigo: “Aniki? . . .That’s right, something like that. I can’t express it in one word. But family, no . . . he may be more than that.”

Mine: (More than family? Something that far?)

Daigo: “That person is now running an orphanage in Okinawa. There, he seems to be living in peace with his new family.”

Mine: “An orphanage . . .”

Daigo: “Life in Okinawa is the peace he finally got. I want to protect it, whatever happens . . .”

Mine: (For Daigo-san to declare as much . . . Kiryu Kazuma . . . must be quite the man.)

----

|2 hours later . . .|

Daigo: “Hahaha! Kanda’s face at the time must have been a masterpiece.”

Mine: “Yeah! Once my anger passed, I was amazed. He had a face like a sumo wrestler’s after I hit it.”

Daigo: “Ha-Hahaha! Su-Sumo wrestler-!”

Mine: (It seems he’s having fun. This is nice . . .)

Daigo: “By the way, Mine. Are you a private person? When it comes to friends . . .”

Mine: “Eh? Private? Me? . . . Hm? A phone?”

{A phone goes off with a notification.}

Daigo: “O-oh. It looks like I got . . . an email . . .”

Mine: “. . . !”

Mine: (What? Daigo-san’s face . . . is turning pale . . .)

Daigo: “. . .”

Mine: “What’s wrong?”

Daigo: “. . . N-no. It’s not a big deal. It’s my work email. Good grief, they must be bored. I don’t usually get emails at times like this.”

Bodyguards: “. . .”

Mine: (Daigo-san looks upset. Who did the email come from?)

.

-END-

.

CHAPTER 2

.

[Bar]

Daigo: “. . .”

Mine: (Daigo-san. Since that email arrived, he’s been acting strange. He keeps looking at the time, and acting like he doesn’t want to be here anymore. Who did that email come from?)

Mine: “. . . Um. Daigo-san, are you okay? Your complexion looks bad.”

Daigo: “No, it’s fine. I just feel a little sick.”

Mine: (Are you hiding something?)

{There’s a commotion outside. Two yakuza brothers are trying to enter the bar, but Bodyguard A says monkeys like them aren’t allowed inside. They get into a fight.}

Bodyguard B: “Sounds like trouble outside. I’ll go help.”

Mine: (Not again. It really is a noisy town.)

Daigo: “. . . Now’s my chance.”

Mine: “Eh?”

Daigo: “Mine, actually there’s something I need to tell you . . . I need to get out of here alone.”

Mine: “Get . . . out?”

Daigo: “Lately, my bodyguards have been hanging around all the time, and I’m getting sick of it. They even follow me to the toilet . . . I can’t even stretch out my wings. That’s why I want to be alone for once and take a break.”

Mine: (. . . he wants to be alone? What do I say to that?)

Mine: “By any chance . . . does the content of the email you received have something to do with this?”

Daigo: “! . . . No Mine, it’s not like that. As I said . . .”

Mine: (He keeps glancing around the place. What is it?)

Mine: “. . . understood.”

Daigo: “So you’ll let me go?!”

Mine: “Yeah. It’s likely you’ll still try to leave even if I say no. However . . . please let me accompany you. As your bodyguard.”

Daigo: “Wh-what? You too?”

Mine: “It is expected that as the Sixth Chairman, you cannot be walking around alone. ‘I will accompany you as a bodyguard’ . . . that’s the last oath your subordinates swear by.”

Daigo: “. . . Alright. Then come along with me. We should be able to get out through the back door.”

Mine: (Daigo-san’s expression when he received the email is no small matter . . . When it’s just the two of us outside, maybe then he’ll tell me what’s going on.)

Middle-aged Man: “. . .”

----

[Children’s Park]

Daigo: “Fuu. Somehow I found it.”

Mine: “. . . Daigo-san, what are you doing? You said you wanted to stretch out your wings.”

Daigo: “. . . Ah, that’s right . . . I felt like wanting to move my body somewhere.”

Mine: “If so, there’s a batting center nearby. How about that?”

Daigo: “A-Ah, that’s great! It’s been a while, I feel like hitting some balls!”

Mine: “. . . By the way, Daigo-san. About the email earlier . . .”

Daigo: “!”

Mine: “Are you hiding something from me? If you’re in trouble, I might be able to help.”

Daigo: “. . . . . . No, it’s a personal problem. It’s not something I should be telling you.”

Mine: “But . . .”

Daigo: “. . . . . . Mine, I understand your concern. From my position, it seems I am always threatened by danger to my person. I don’t know what or when it will happen. There’s no guarantee of tomorrow’s safety.”

Mine: “Daigo-san?”

Daigo: “. . . No, it’s a long story. Don’t worry about it. Well, you said the batting center, right? It’s been a while. Mine, will you join me?”

Mine: “Yeah. I’ll take you up on that.”

Mine: (Daigo-san is still hiding something. But, why won’t he tell me?)

Daigo: “. . . Don’t get cold, Mine. I’m going to the toilet.”

Mine: “Understood. I’ll be standing guard right here in front, so take your time.”

Daigo: “I’ll be right back.”

{Daigo enters the public toilets. Mine takes his position by the exit. A few minutes pass.}

Mine: “. . . . . . . . . he’s taking his time . . . unless . . .”

{Mine rushes to the toilets.}

Mine: “Not here . . .! He’s gone! Did he go out through the window?! He took his chance the moment he was alone! Fuck, what do I do . . .”

----

[Children’s Park]

Bodyguard A: “Ah! You!”

Mine: “Tch! At a time like this . . . !”

Bodyguard A: “Where is Chairman Dojima?!”

Mine: “. . . I don’t know. I’m also looking for him.”

Bodyguard A: “You’re lying! Did you bring him outside?!”

Bodyguard B: “You, no way . . . did you plan to kidnap Chairman Dojima all along?”

Mine: “Kidnap? You idiot, why would I?”

Bodyguard B: “Until recently, you were a regular man. You might be a spy sent by an enemy organization.”

Mine: “That’s a stupid idea. Right now we need to-“

Bodyguard A: “Whatever. If you don’t plan on spitting out the Chairman’s whereabouts, would you like us to make you talk?!”

Mine: “Tch. I guess it can’t be helped.”

{Mine beats the shit out of Daigo’s bodyguards.}

Bodyguard A: “Fu . . . ck . . . so strong . . .”

Bodyguard B: “Stupid. We are the elite . . .”

Mine: “Fuck! Get out of the way! Daigo-san . . .”

----

[West Shichifuku Street]

Mine: “Not here . . . Where?!”

Barker: “Nii-san, Onee-chan, why not come have fun at our place?”

Mine: “A barker? No, not right . . . now . . . wait, are you always working in this area?”

Barker: “Eh? That’s correct, why?”

Mine: “Did a man in his mid-thirties with black hair, a black suit, and a good physique pass by here?”

Barker: “Yeah, he did.”

Mine: “What?! Do you know where he went?”

Barker: “Where he went . . . I think he took a taxi somewhere.”

Mine: “Taxi?”

Barker: “Yeah. He was joined by a young and beautiful Onee-chan.”

Mine: “Eh? O-Onee-chan?”

Bodyguard A: “So . . . a woman.”

Mine: “!”

Bodyguard B: “I thought he was acting funny when he received the email at the bar. That ‘I’ve done it’ face. It seems that he missed a promised meetup with the woman.”

Mine: “Then, Daigo-san wanted to be alone . . .”

Bodyguard A: “Because he has a secret rendezvous. With who, I don’t know.”

Mine: “Somehow found . . .”

Bodyguard A: “A bad boy is attractive to a woman. Besides his money and his status, he’s also handsome.”

Mine: “. . . he said he wanted to move his body . . .”

Bodyguard B: “Heh. It’s nice to have a great time.”

Bodyguard A: “It can’t be helped. You should call it a night. You had a hard time too.”

Mine: “Stupid . . .”

.

-END-

.

CHAPTER 3

.

[West Shichifuku Street]

Mine: “Did Daigo-san go somewhere in a taxi? And with a young woman?”

Bodyguard A: “Chairman Dojima is unmarried, has money, and he’s handsome. It’s no wonder he’s popular. Right now, he’s probably with a model or an actress.”

Bodyguard B: “He should be careful not to get involved in a scandal.”

Bodyguard A: “Now, let’s head back. You should go home too.”

Mine: “. . .”

----

Daigo: “. . .”

Thug Leader: “As promised, did you come alone?”

Daigo: “Yeah. My faithful subordinate tried to follow me, but I left without telling him where I went. I made him think I was secretly meeting with a woman.”

Thug Leader: “. . . Is that right. Did you bring the money?”

Daigo: “Yeah.”

{Daigo hands over a bag. The leader unzips it to reveal cash.}

Thug Leader: “. . . Everything seems to be here.”

Daigo: “Will you keep your end of the bargain?”

Thug Leader: “Yeah. Don’t lay a hand on Kiryu Kazuma. He’ll be living in peace in Okinawa from now on.”

Daigo: “. . .”

Thug Leader: “Even so, that Kiryu person must be really important to you.  . . . Is he your weak point?”

Daigo: “. . . What are you trying to say?”

Thug Leader: “It’s amazing that the Tojo Clan’s Sixth Chairman can be lured out over one person.”

Daigo: “What?”

Thug Leader: “You still don’t get it? I’m saying this time it’s your turn to be the hostage!! Stupid! The aim was to get you all alone from the very beginning! If we kidnap you, we’ll get far more ransom money!”

Daigo: “Fuck . . .”

Man’s voice: “So . . . it was all for Kiryu-san. I figured that would be the case.”

Daigo: “Mi-Mine?”

Mine: “Daigo-san, I had a hard time looking for you.”

Daigo: “Why are you here?”

Mine: “You think you can get away with such an obvious lie? . . . That barker, you paid him off.”

Daigo: “But he didn’t know about this place . . .”

Mine: “. . . Yeah. There are countless taxi companies in Kamurocho. Too many candidates to question where you went. And those guys won’t give out customer information, saying it’s ‘personal information’. So it couldn’t be helped. I had to resort to buying the taxis off. When that didn’t work, I bought off the taxi companies. When you become a stakeholder, you gain access to customers’ information.”

Daigo: “You did that for each company?”

Mine: “It took hundreds of millions. Heh. It was a huge expense.”

Daigo: “Mine . . . Why did you go so far . . . just for me?”

Mine: “. . . Daigo-san. I’ve shared a cup with you. That’s not something I take halfheartedly. I’m ready to sacrifice everything just for you. Forever and always. There are absolute bonds in the yakuza world . . . you taught me that.”

Daigo: “. . . Mine . . .”

Thug Leader: “O-Oi! Who are you to come barging in and interrupting us! I’ll kill you if you interfere!”

Daigo: “Kill him? You don’t seem to understand the situation. With this guy here, you’re the one who’s going to have a bad time.”

Thug Leader: “Ha?”

Daigo: “Mine here looks like a regular man . . . but don’t you know he’s actually really strong? I can trust him to have my back.”

Mine: “!”

Daigo: “. . . Mine. With you here, we can take on a hundred people.”

Mine: “Yeah. Let’s show them how we do things.”

Daigo: “Let’s go, Mine!”

Mine: “Yeah!”

{Mine and Daigo take down the whole gang.}

Thug Leader: “How . . . there are so many of us . . .”

Mine: “You . . . which organization are you with?!”

Thug Leader: “Guh! Th-That’s . . .”

Mine: “Answer me!!”

Thug Leader: “Ta-Takashima Family . . .”

Mine: “Takashima Family? As in ‘The Four Kings of Omi’ Takashima Family remnants? Chairman, what are you going to do? The Omi will want to hear this . . .”

Daigo: “. . . No, I won’t tell the Omi. Even with the conflict finally over, I don’t want to make needless waves over these excommunicated members. The police can handle them.”

Mine: “Is that so . . . . . . Daigo-san, will you finally tell me what’s going on this time?”

Daigo: “. . . Yeah. The thing is . . . I was being threatened before today.”

Mine: “Before?”

Daigo: “‘If you want to protect the peace of Kiryu Kazuma, pay the money. If you tell anyone, his peace will be lost.’ I got an email telling me where to go. Along with a stolen shot of Kiryu-san.”

Mine: “His peace . . . then that means they didn’t directly take Kiryu as a hostage, right?”

Daigo: “Yeah. If they did that, they would be in trouble. Their opponent is a legendary yakuza. However, there are many ways to ‘disturb the peace’.”

Mine: “So that’s why. And you’re Daigo-san. You wanted to protect him at all costs.”

Daigo: “. . . Yeah. I’ve secretly stationed a bodyguard around Kiryu-san. Just earlier, I received a photo of the bodyguard killed.”

Mine: “That’s the email you received at the bar . . .”

Daigo: “As soon as I saw that picture, I had to move.”

Mine: “Daigo-san, why didn’t you tell me this sooner? If you had, I would have been able to help.”

Daigo: “‘Someone is watching you’, the email said, so I couldn’t speak about it. In fact, there was a guy there at the bar watching us. And this is my personal problem. I didn’t want to get you involved.”

Mine: “That’s why . . . it’s unreasonable for you to act on your own. You are the Sixth Chairman of the Tojo Clan, an organization with hundreds of thousands of members in the East. I don’t know the Fourth Chairman or the Legendary Dragon, but acting alone to protect one individual . . .”

Daigo: “. . . It was unavoidable. Kiryu-san is a special person to me.”

Mine: “Which is more important, the clan or one person?”

Daigo: “! Th-That’s . . .”

Mine: “Before, you told me that the clan members are like your family. Isn’t that right? You’re giving priority to someone who’s not even a member of the clan. Are you not aware of that as the Chairman?”

Daigo: “Mine . . . you’re right. I’m sorry. I still have a long way to go.”

----

|A few days later . . .|

[Tojo HQ – Chairman’s Office]

Mine: “Eh? Me be the Headquarters’ Junior Head Assistant?”

Daigo: “Yeah. I’ve been looking for someone to be Junior Assistant.”

Mine: “. . .”

Daigo: “What? You don’t want to?”

Mine: “No, it’s just . . . the other day we had just been promoted to be a direct subsidiary of the clan. I haven’t raised any tribute since then.”

Daigo: “Didn’t you entrust your life to me? Did you not say you were prepared to sacrifice everything for me?”

Mine: “!”

Daigo: “. . . Mine. I realized something the other day. You . . . you’re the one I can trust with my back.”

Mine: “Daigo-san . . .”

Daigo: “In addition, there’s no one in the Tojo Clan now who can preach to me face-to-face besides Kashiwagi-san, Mine.”

Mine: “I might have gone a bit overboard . . .”

Daigo: “So what do you say? Will you accept it?”

Mine: “. . . Of course. I will be happy to accept it . . . Daigo-san.”

Daigo: “That’s great! I’m counting on you, Mine!”

----

[Tojo Headquarters]

Mine: (Junior Head Assistant. That was an unexpected harvest . . .)

Mine: (A man named Kiryu Kazuma. He’s a danger . . . I won’t let Daigo-san take such a reckless action again. I can’t leave that matter alone, as Daigo-san’s new Junior Assistant . . .)

.

-END-

Masterlist

[sagechan]

Tododeku major character death

Submitter said:

Can i please get feedback on this and how I can improve?

Oh and also can i stay anonymous? Thank You!

No problem, friendo! Here’s what you sent me! I’ll put my feedback under the cut! <3

Blood, everywhere. The thick red liquid gushing out of Izuku that won’t seem to stop. Dyeing Shoto’s white hair red like it’s other half. Izuku gasped in pain as his blood slowly exited his body through the gaping wound in his chest. Shoto’s panicked and desperate cries for help echoed on the brick walls of the deserted alleyway. Then, footsteps. The sound of hope. Uraraka and Iida’s worried voices calling out for them.

But alas, it was too late. Shoto holding Izuku’s limp and lifeless form in his arms, Izuku having bled to death. He trembled, mourning the loss of his closest friend and comrade as he cried out in anguish letting the world know that they had lost a great hero and a great friend.

The funeral was black. Black like the night that swallowed up that boy, once so full of light. Shoto despised it. He hated the wails that clouded up his mind, and he refused to believe that the boy lying in the casket, a cold smile on his dead face was Izuku Midoriya, the boy that would surpass All Might. When everyone had left, he stood there, shaking, but not in sadness but in rage. He hated the villains that had caused the end of such a boy full of love and light. He swore that he would avenge him as his right side shot flames to the sky and his left froze everything in ice. He would avenge him if that would be the last thing he ever did.

He reluctantly started to make his way home, until Izuku’s mother stopped him, tear stains on her face. She silently handed him a piece of paper folded in thirds and equally as quiet, walked away. Hands trembling, he opened the letter, eyes filling with tears. After he had read it, he laughed. He sank to the ground, laughing through his tears. Because even through his death, Izuku Midoriya had never failed to make him smile.

Okay! Let’s dig into this!!

Summary:

This is a quick one-shot/drabble centered around emotional turmoil after the actual character death and how it affects Shouto. It follows Shouto from the moment he holds Izuku’s body, through the grieving and funeral processes, and up to a mysterious letter he receives from Izuku’s mother after Izuku is gone. The scope of the one-shot zooms in and out from broader sweeps to more specific details, like an omniscient eye roving over the scene and focusing in on moments that catch its attention.

What’s working well:

I think what’s really working well is the first paragraph’s use of fragments, like we’re seeing quick shots of a larger scene. It creates a cinematic tension; I could very easily envision this being an actual on-film scene. Excellent use of sentence dynamics right away, too. For example:

“Blood, everywhere. The thick red liquid gushing out of Izuku that won’t seem to stop. Dyeing Shouto’s white hair red like its other half.”

Short sentence followed by longer sentence creates a mental tension for the reader, like placing two different colors next to each other on a canvas. Your first two fragments are also tense-less (since there’s not a typical ‘subject-verb’ setup), but they read like they’re in present tense, which adds urgency to the tone.

You also play with scope, zooming in and then way, way out. For example:

“He trembled, mourning his closest comrade as he cried out in anguish, letting the world know they had lost a great hero, and a greater friend.”

[I tweaked this a bit for clarity/anything redundant. Remember, simplify. Less can be so much more in writing.]

You’ve got this moment where Shouto is curled over Izuku’s body in mourning, avery small, personal detail--and then the narration suddenly zooms out to include the whole world. All in one sentence. That’s very, very good. It creates a sense of universality to the reader: “Shouto is grieving, but so is the whole world, and if the whole world can be in grief, I can too.” It’s a good idea to see where else you can play with that kind of scope. Go from small to large, many to one, one to many, huge to tiny. Zoom in and out on your writing. Fill it with details of the world. Cars rushing by the alley they’re crouched in. People’s voices who don’t even know a hero has fallen. The sound of rain tapping on the roof, just beginning to drop, and what right does the sky have to weep, what right do any of them have to cry but Shouto?

See how I took it from Shouto in the alley, out of the alley, up into the sky, then back down to Shouto? Think of your narrator’s voice not as a voice, but an eye. Where is it looking? If it’s looking at something painful, maybe it needs to look away. If it’s looking at something beautiful, maybe it needs to get even closer. I think you do a great job of playing with scope, but definitely press more on it for this piece! Since you’re not following a “narrative” of action and dialogue, but there is still a “chronology,” I think that lens zooming in and out will definitely help to build and release tension, and to create a richer background for the characters.

My advice for improvement:

Pacing.

Timing.

There is an order.

In which everything is presented.

Which we call.

Chronology.

One thing leads to the next, leads to the next, leads to the next, to the next, to the next... Slow down this one-shot’s pacing. It’s okay to take your time getting to things. That builds tension for the reader, as you slowly parcel out what comes next, until the reader is begging you please just tell me they make it out okay, and then bam, Shouto reads Izuku’s note and you see him crying through his tears and you think, oh god is there anything more tragic than this moment right here?

And of course there is. But you’ve tricked the reader into thinking there isn’t.

For this piece, my only real advice would be to pay attention to your pacing. Slow things down. Maybe add in a scene. You don’t use dialogue in this, but I don’t think it would take anything away from it if you inserted a few quick scenes to really focus in on the moment, to slow the reader down and let them revel in the anguish. Remember our narrator’s lens, the eye that roams. Let it focus on a scene. One place I wanted to see a scene was when Ururaka and Iida show up. I want to see some interaction between them and Shouto, that we you show us Shouto’s grieving, you show us it’s too late, you don’t just tell us. Remember, show don’t tell. It’s an old rule, and sometimes you can overlook it, but it’s still generally a good rule to follow.

Another place I wanted to see a scene was during the funeral. I want more of Shouto’s grief. I want it to become tangible. I want to feel what he’s feeling. I don’t want to be told what he’s feeling. The way writers communicate emotions is not through “emotion” words. Grief. Anger. Horror. Depression. Sadness. Joy. Confusion. As great as these words are, they are empty. They’re just abstracts. Fill Shouto with details. Fill his world with his grief. You started doing that here:

“The funeral was black. Black like the night that swallowed up that boy, once so full of light.”

This is great because you’re moving into metaphor. You’re creating an image the reader can grab hold of, instead of just saying “At the funeral, Shouto was very sad.”

Another thing to think about: like I said above, simplify. Sometimes, less is more in writing. Let the reader infer things. Trust your readers, they’re pretty smart. For an example, I’d write something like this...

“When everyone had left, he stood there, shaking, but not in sadness but in rage. He hated the villains that had caused the end of such a boy full of love and light.”

...more like this:

“When everyone had left, he stood there, shaking. He hated the villains who had taken Izuku from him.”

I cut “not in sadness, but in rage” because the very next sentence tells us why Shouto is trembling. He’s full of hatred. I did some rewording of the second sentence to emphasize Shouto and Izuku’s connection, using the phrase “taken from him,” to imply their relationship, and how much worse it is for Shouto than just losing “a friend.” I was originally going to write:

He hated the villains who were capable of killing a boy full of such light and love.

But that sounded too clunky to me. So then I tried:

He hated the villains who had killed Izuku.

This really emphasized “killed,” which is what I thought I wanted from the first rewrite. But it still didn’t sound right to me. So I thought, okay, well, what’s really going on here? Shouto isn’t upset that villains are capable of atrocities like murder. This is something he already knows. What doesn’t he know? What is he unfamiliar with that would make him so upset?

Losing a friend.

It’s not death or murder Shouto hates. It’s that his friend was taken from him.

And then I got my sentence.

See how I edit for clear, simpler language, and then suddenly the sentence becomes stronger, and the scene more impactful? There’s a whole lot more to unpack from Izuku “taken” from Shouto than there is in simply saying he was killed. Izuku’s death affects everyone, but being taken from Shouto affects only Shouto.

General comments:

JRHGADRHGHRGOLFJKHJN HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO MY BABY BOYYYYYY????????

I’ve been waiting the entire post to say that.

This is very, very good practice. That’s all writing is. We practice and practice and practice, and eventually something comes out we’re proud of. Be proud of your writing. Be proud you can make someone hunch over a screen for an hour writing an honest-to-god dissertation about anime character deaths. Be proud of what you’ve created. Keep practicing, keep developing your style. Remember that all I’m giving you is guidelines, a little nudge in one direction or the other. Your voice is yours, and it’s important. Please continue to make good things full of love and careful attention to the world.

Thank you for the exercise, dear one! I feel nice and limber now. Time to go do some writing of my own!

Ready? Set. Go!

[voicesfromthelight]

On Spiritual Shorthand as A Claircognizant Trigger

If you take a look at the sample channeled reading I’ve posted earlier on this blog, you may notice that some of the “raw” text that comes through seems slightly grammatically jumbled, and hard to understand. This element of my channeling method has unfolded itself spontaneously over the past few months. I find it quite fascinating, since although it was never a method my guides and I mutually agreed upon, it operates similarly to the system of symbols clairvoyant evidential mediums often develop as a kind of spiritual sign language to communicate with the Spirit. Today, I’d like to dive into the system of coded, linguistic shorthand communication my guides employ, how it works to expand the information transmitted in the reading beyond the channeled words themselves, and how this fits in with the general mechanics of psychic reading.

First, let’s talk a bit about the psychic reading process. The universal currency of both psychic and mediumistic communication - as well as of life itself - is energy, in the metaphysical sense. This is the raw stuff of emotions, imprinted memories, physical information, thought-patterns, sensibilities, etc., that we carry around with us, mostly in an intangible or subtle state. Spiritual entities also carry this subtle information in energetic form. The job of a psychic or medium is to engage with that energy, and use their nervous system - which has usually been sensitized and trained to do the job through meditation and practice - to decode and translate the information into tangible form. This results in the experience of what we might call the sixth sense, or the phenomenon of intuitive knowing. In theory, everyone has the potential ability to do this, and most of us do so, subconsciously, every single day, to varying degrees. How specific we can become in our ability to intuit information is a question of learning to pay attention to the subtle impressions we receive, and to understand them. However, whether we are intuiting information directly from people’s personal energy fields in a psychic reading, or receiving energetic impressions from Spirit in mediumistic communication, there is always a synesthetic process of translating subtle impressions into tangible information.

Every psychically sensitive person will have different tendencies in how their personal nervous system interprets energy. (Different forms of this ability can also be honed with practice.) The acuteness of people’s physical senses, and their aesthetic bents, will often be a good indication of which forms of “clear sensing” will come to them most naturally. A musical person might be more prone to being clairaudient than clairvoyant. A visually oriented person might more easily open up clairvoyantly than empathically or clairsentiently. However, the more seamlessly a psychic can get all of the clair-senses to work together synergistically, the more easily the transmission of energetic information will flow. 

The curious thing is, sometimes, in the mediumistic process, Spirit will use one clair-sense to energetically relay additional information that would normally come through a different one. Many clairvoyant mediums develop a system of visual symbols to convey larger concepts, or even auditory information such as names. (A medium might, for instance, see their grandmother Ada every time a spirit by that name comes through, or see a red cross every time a spirit was employed in the medical field in their previous life.) But this can also work in unexpected ways. For example, once, during a psychic reading, I heard the word “mud,” and shortly thereafter, when visualizing the readee’s home, saw a children’s slide in the backyard, accompanied by the phrase “history of trauma.” It turned out she had lost her home in a literal mudslide, and this traumatic event was being conveyed not only clairaudiently, but through a kind of visual pun.

Visual symbol systems are probably the most common way of receiving clairvoyant information in mediumistic readings. In my case, clairaudience has become more dominant, and is how much of my channeled information comes through. In addition to the technique of clairaudient dictation, my guides also have a system of written shorthand. Instead of a “symbol bank,” I have a word bank! This shorthand operates through a kind of idiosyncratic logic, which means that I often reverse-engineer my guides’ longer messages from the “Cliff notes” version of the full channeling. But there is more to the words than meets the eye.

Somewhat counterintuitively, there can be an actual advantage to this shorthand system compared to long-form clairaudient channeling. Mediumistic communication can require quite a lot of energetic effort on both ends of the conversation. The medium has to raise their vibration as high as possible to reach toward the frequency of Spirit, and Spirit has to “wind down” theirs to bring themselves closer to the density of the physical plane. It’s not always comfortable or easy for either party. So, the more efficiently the communication can take place, the more information can be relayed in a single session. What I have discovered is that the system of shorthand not only serves to convey more long-winded verbal messages, but also relays information clairsentiently, empathically, and claircognizantly. The reason this works, I think, is because my guides are intimately familiar with my energy, my history, my understanding of certain spiritual concepts, and the associations certain words will trigger in my mind.

How does it work, then? Well, for starters, every word has a certain raw emotion or momentum to it, and this is largely what determines the system’s word correspondences. Emotion is one of the easiest energies to read. It is a universal human language, and spirit guides will take advantage of this. Adjectives will often be paired with the word “energy” to convey a more complicated concept than the surface meaning of the word implies. For instance, the word “jealous,” in the abstract, conveys a feeling of lack, a sense of “bleeding out” emotionally, and also of vicarious experience. So, in spiritual shorthand, “jealous energy” can mean that someone is either feeling a sense of lack, inadequacy, or experiencing something vicariously through another rather than honoring their own individuality. “Hard energy,” on the other hand, can mean any kind of emotional harshness, quarrel, denial, or personal struggle. Similarly, the word “bless” can mean not only literal blessing, but also appreciation, acceptance, or one thing benefitting another, often in the future. (For example: “Your individual joy blesses the joy of marriage.”) Sometimes the grammatical order of a sentence will be reversed, Yoda-like, for emphasis. The correct nuance of the full message will be reached intuitively when the shorthand is translated into longhand.

The choice of words in shorthand messages can also help to convey more sophisticated, hidden meanings in them. One of the correspondences that always elicits a chuckle from me in the hardest of times is the habit my guides have of referring to excruciatingly difficult life lessons as “gifts.” The repeated message is clear: Your challenges are always a potential path to greater understanding. Another recent gem was my guides’ phrasing when encouraging a readee to avoid falling into anxiety: “Don’t get excited without smiling.” Hence, the implication: There can be good excitement, and bad excitement. The physiological difference between anxiety and enthusiasm is happiness.

The most recent, and perhaps interesting, development in this system of communication has been the emergence of claircognizant communication triggered through the language itself. As the words are received, impressions also begin to form that go beyond the scope of their literal meaning. I will notice myself feeling emotions associated with the situations under discussion, as well as suddenly having a sense of  simply “knowing” something about them. Increasingly minimally worded snippets are enough to relay sophisticated information. For instance, in one channeling: “All care next: daughter. Decide who is sick: Them both.” triggered the realization that the daughter of the person under discussion had recently been hospitalized with a specific mental illness. (This was confirmed to be true.) In yet another instance, even though it didn’t seem especially necessary, “Please hear from wonderful rest.” was instinctively reworded into “Please allow yourself sweet, sweet rest.” in the longhand reading report. It turned out that the readee had had the phrase “sweet, sweet rest” stuck in her head for weeks, and the translation process had provided this as a form of validation or evidence to support the reading’s legitimacy.

I’m still learning the ins and outs of this system. It is an evolving technique, and my guides seem to find new ways to implement it as times goes on. Every reading teaches me something new about the nuances that can emerge through this form of communication. Every mistake I make teaches me more about how to do this job better, too! Psychic development is a marvelous exploration of consciousness, reality, and how much there is to learn about it all.

Have you noticed specific systems through which your own guides communicate information? Have they evolved over time? If you haven’t thought about it before, try tuning into how your intuitive knowing interprets energy, and see if you can pick up on certain patterns that allow you to access information in new ways!

[ahoyimcorey]

July 29th, 2017 This is a letter you will never read. I want to type this out because my thoughts are far too scattered to handwrite this and I would be constantly crossing things out and rewording sentences, it just works better this way.     I can’t not be in love with you. When we officially ended things in April, I thought I was out of love with you, truly I did. I wasn’t lying to myself or was in denial or pushing back feelings, I genuinely felt apathy towards you. A few months later and I realized that I still am and always will be in love with you. I don’t want us to be together. I don’t want to get back together with you. It’s a strange contradiction. What’s more is I’m quite angry with you.     I don’t open up to people easily. You not only already know this, but you understand it, probably more than most because I know you are the same way. And I’m angry at you for making me fall in love with you, for opening myself up to you and trusting you and then you leaving.  All of the things that I did to you, you also have done to me. You’ve hurt me and broke my trust. You have me questioning your love for me, whether it was real or not. Just how I cut you deep, you cut me just as deep. I trusted that you would stay. You were supposed to be different, but just like everyone else you ran when things got hard. Yes I screwed up, but that’s what people do in life. They make mistakes and screw up. Intimacy breeds conflict you will never find yourself in a relationship where you won’t hurt each other at some point. But the difference is working through the conflict together. Becoming stronger together. So what did we do?     I threw myself into us and our relationship. I’ve never fought for something so hard before in my life. I didn’t just express myself, my regret, my apologies, my love, with words, I showed you with actions too. Big actions. What did you do? I don’t feel like you did a damn thing. You waited. Waited for answers to fall into your lap, waited for the love to come back without trying to work through the pain. When I would ask if you’ve worked on dealing with things emotionally you would say no. You shut down because it was so painful. You froze in time while I was rushing forward. Truly loving someone means loving them unconditionally. It means loving them when it’s hard to, not just when it’s easy to. I love you unconditionally. I love you when I hate you. I love you even when you don’t love me back.     I don’t know if you’ve tried to look at things from my perspective.  I was manipulated and assaulted by someone who I thought was a close friend. You cannot imagine how stupid I felt, how stupid I still feel. I really thought I could trust him, if I thought otherwise I wouldn’t have driven him home that night. I thought I was asking for it. His actual words were, “I’m not asking, let’s go take a shower.” And they haunt me. Even though they don’t deserve a thought in my head. I acknowledge that I was very disrespectful. You know how sorry I am, I don’t and I won’t go into that anymore. I’m finished with apologizing.     So here is where I’m at: I am not interested in being your friend. I don’t want to catch up with you every few months or once a year I don’t want to see updates on Facebook or any other social media. I can’t be friends with you. I won’t. I also don’t want you to look at me as a backup. “If we’re truly meant to be together we will find a way back to each other.” No. I am not a backup plan. I’m a first choice.     I have found myself caught at a crossroads. When I think about you with someone else I can’t stand it. I think about you holding another girl, kissing her, telling her you love her and I want to vomit. Then, I thought about you smiling…laughing…I thought about you happy. And that makes me happy. So I’ve taken myself out of the situation, and don’t look at it in a selfish way. If the purpose of me in your life was to be a stepping stone to something greater and more beautiful, then I will be your stepping stone. I’m coming to peace with the end of us. I’ve accepted that I will always love you, more than you realize.     Life isn’t easy. It’s a mess a lot of the time. There are beautiful times and memories and experiences to share, but it’s also a big mess. I genuinely hope you find someone to take on the mess with, someone who you love enough to forgive when they hurt you and someone who loves you enough to forgive you when you inevitably hurt them. I actually don’t doubt that. You can and you will. You deserve all of the happiness in the world. I don’t even know how to sign this, C