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adickaboutspoons · 8 months

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Tea Soup and Sympathy

There’s already been plenty going around fandom about the significance of soup this season, so I’ll just condense soup discourse down and summarize that it’s about love and nourishment. But sometimes, soup is not real soup.

When we first meet Zheng Yi Sao, she is posing as Susan the Soup Merchant. But before the end of the episode, it’s revealed that her soup-slinging ways are all artifice.

And just as soup is love, this Yi Sao’s soup-slinging pretense is indicative of the fact that she uses the semblance of sympathy to manipulate people to her own ends. Let’s look at the case study of her interaction with John Bartholomew: Having successfully sacked his ship, she gets news that he wants to shoot himself, but only with the captain that bested him watching. Yi Sao attends the cabin of of the clearly panicking John with Stede and Olu in tow, and lets John show his ass with his inground racist and misogynistic assumptions; with him first identifying the white guy as the captain, then the MOC, and finally the WOC. In spite of the insult, Yi Sao meets him with the contrivance of compassion to give validation his heightened emotionally volatile state, acknowledgement of the cultural assumptions that are making this a particularly difficult defeat for him to accept, but also plays INTO his misogyny by suggesting that if he follows through with killing himself that his final deed in life with be the (implicitly shameful) act of surrendering to a woman.

Once she has gotten him to a place where he feels like someone is listening to him AND understanding where he’s coming from, and shamed out of taking his own life, she applies the social lubricant to foster that warm, fuzzy feeling of camaraderie by suggesting they have drinks.

Pay close attention to the language she’s using when she’s talking John around. After John complains that he’s just trying to feed his crew, and maybe make a little extra money on the side, Yi Sao jumps in with more affirming statements to demonstrate that she understands and appreciates the obstacles he’s facing in obtaining his goals, and concludes with a restatement of his thesis:

“Sure, but they won’t let you. The Spanish, the Dutch, the fucking English! Everyone is cracking down on the little guy! Like, hello! How’s a pirate supposed to make a living?”

Having established that she understands where he’s coming from, she starts the bridge-building portion of her agenda; inviting him to identify with her because of common interests, but simultaneously downplaying her authority, AND using a rhetorical question to which he can easily agree in order to prime him to continue agreeing with her further down the line:

“I don’t speak for everyone, but I didn’t get into this business to fight other pirates, did you?”

She’s also using neurolinguistic programming: all the while that she’s talking to him, she’s reaching her hand out to him - a gesture that mimics the way she is metaphorically reaching out to him, and inviting him to reach back. She then floats a hypothetical that ALSO is easy to say “yes” to, but posing it as a question rather than an order to encourage him to buy into the idea rather than just submit to it:

“What if we could all work together, support each other?”

From here, she plays coy - feigning reticence to float an idea as though it’s TOO audacious, and employing a little false modesty, suggesting her idea is stupid, to not only, once again, play into John’s misogynistic zeitgeist, but to allow him to feel that, when she DOES give voice to her ultimate plan, he can feel like HE won one over on HER by enticing it out of her.

“I don’t know… be, um…Oh! Forget it! It’s stupid. What if… What if we could be partners?”

And that, ladies, gentlemen, and those betwixt and beyond, is how you get someone to cheerfully buy into their own subjugation in the coming invasion.

And make no mistake - invading and conquering the Caribbean IS what Yi Sao is after. She's not looking for partners - she's looking for subordinates. She’s very clear about that with Stede back aboard the Red Flag.

Her soupy subterfuge in the Republic of Pirates was a reconnaissance mission to scope and get info on the local talent in order to try and get them to either join her or die. But she’s not picky either way. Her red flag fleet is already making its way over land at the isthmus of Panama. This IS going to happen. So are you on-board or not?

“Okay,” I hear you say (or not. I don’t know you well enough to put words in your mouth), “but she’s really nice to her crew, providing them with gentle exercise and kind words and soup that, according to all the Caribbean pirates who taste it, is so good it might be the best thing they’ve ever tasted. What makes you think it’s manipulation and artifice, and not the real thing. Maybe she’s just actually compassionate, but her compassion has its limits - the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove, as it were?”

Because we’ve already seen this behavior before. Using alcohol to lower inhibitions, using both shame and sympathy to motivate participation, using neurolinguistic programming to let the other party think that THEY’RE the one driving the action, and even being calculatedly withholding to make people think they’ve won something when they extract it from you:

That’s right. It’s Calico Jack, the master manipulator (RIP, asshole) all over again. But whereas Jack leaned further on the typically masculine end of the shame-to-sympathy scale with bullying and establishing himself as a subject matter expert, Yi Sao is coming at it from a decidedly more typically feminine place, encouraging self-identification and downplaying her strengths and contributions. But Yi Sao also ups the game transforming into what the other person needs her to be to close the deal. With Jackie the bossbitch businesswoman, Yi Sao is the Money Bitch. With John Bartholomew the prototypical pirate drowning in toxic masculinity, she’s a feminine fount of sympathy and understanding who, gosh, just CAN’T be sure that her silly little ideas are any good unless a big, strong man affirms that for her. And with Stede, she’s a girl-friend who has BEEN THERE and wants to dish about his toxic ex and all the complicated feelings about that.

So when we hear:

It should immediately throw red flags, both for us AND Stede. He was THERE when she used this voice with John Bartholomew. There might not be any liquor, but she KNOWS that Stede has said that he encourages this kind of “talking it through” behavior, so she doesn’t need to get him to buy into it first. Instead, she launches directly into the same kind of tactics she employed before. She hears Stede say “[The crew] couldn’t keep living like that. Ed can be quite troubled.” Out come the affirming statements to demonstrate that she understands where he’s coming from, and restatement of his thesis: “You must feel so weird. Like you’re glad he’s alive, but then he did all this evil shit to your friends?”

Then on to bridge-building (literally and figuratively - look how she reaches out to clasp him on the shoulder) to invite identifying with her: “I’ve dated my fair share of guys on ‘Wanted’ posters.They’re hot.”

She doesn’t bother with downplaying her authority, because Stede has just confessed to being a novice in terms of romance, but she is so calculated with her wording, floating a scenario that invites Stede to come up with a solution for: “But it always ends in a massacre and then the wrong people get hurt.”

So when she “caves” to his suggestion of “Maybe we could avoid that happening here?” with “I AM feeling a little merciful today,” it begs the question:

What, exactly, was going to be the price of this “mercy” if Auntie hadn’t interrupted?

So Roach isn’t wrong when he praises the soup they get aboard the Red Flag as “Beautiful, complicated, and balanced.” It IS a complicated act, an artfully balanced deception, and beautiful in its artifice. It HAS to look better and more enticing than the real thing. Because it will never give you the actual nourishment you need.

#ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd s2e3 #ofmd s1e2 #ofmd s2e1 #ofmd #our flag means death #my modest contribution to fandom

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sitp-recs · 10 months

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15 fics with different takes on Harry

Nobody asked but here’s another self-indulgent reclist to celebrate Harry’s HBD week! I wonder how many people are open to seeing their fave under a new light? Some readers can be very picky when it comes to characterization, myself included; it can be scary but I also believe that new approaches can be exciting and thought-provoking, and help us understand the multiple layers underneath their personality, as well as imagine how different things could have been had they lived under different circumstances. I am all for having my perspectives challenged so I thought it would be cool to share some of the fics that made me go 🤯🫢 with their bold and captivating take on Harry. These include dark unhinged Harry, down & out Harry, pitiful Harry, himbo Harry and some other tropes that I’ve found particularly creative and refreshing. Each fic is unique in their own way so come pick your flavour of fanon Harry and enjoy!

The Language of Power by Lokifan (E, 2k)

Harry loves talking in Parseltongue to Draco during sex: his response is just delicious.

Magpie by @corvuscrowned (E, 4k)

Potter doesn't steal because he needs anything, Draco quickly learns. He doesn't do it because it makes him feel anything. It isn't about power, and it isn't about control. Potter just does it because he can.

The Antique Bed Frame by @lazywonderlvnd (E, 5.4k)

Draco “needs his bed fixed.” Harry offers to help.

Better Left Dead by calrissian18 (T, 6.6k)

A love story and a half.

World's Edge by RurouniHime (E, 15k)

In the harshest environment on earth, Harry finds that escaping is harder than simply running.

Violent Delights by primaveracerezos (E, 20k)

Draco Malfoy's life should be going very well. He's engaged to a wonderful man and in line for the Head Auror job. He's been made lead investigator on a serial murder case, trying to figure out who is killing off the scum of the wizarding world, one by one.

A Year in Training by Omi_Ohmy (M, 25k)

Harry is finally living his dream and training as an Auror, but nothing seems to be going right: he’s just so angry all the time. And Draco Malfoy’s presence on the programme really isn’t helping with that, either.

Fearful Trill by @vukovich (E, 29k)

Harry should have come out and met someone when he was younger. He should have seen a doctor about the pain in his hip while youth was still on his side. Now, he's made his peace with dying young, but maybe not with dying alone.

He Who Must Not Be Normal by lettered (E, 41k)

Potter has fame and fortune and posh clothes and all he wants is a simple life. Draco has a flat and a cat and a steady job and all he wants is a complicated life. Which makes you think this story has something exciting like body-swapping, but it doesn’t.

REVOLVEVLOVER by firethesound, zeitgeistic (E, 46k)

The work Harry does is justifiable. It’s justice. He works for his country, and his country is a republic—the magical side, anyway. It’s not laudable work, it’s not work he’s proud of, but it’s necessary work. Harry has always taken the necessary jobs that no one else has the stomach for.

Chocolate and Pastry by agentmoppet, anemonen (E, 50k)

When Pansy bets Draco that there is no chance he and Harry could carry out a genuine romantic relationship, he and Harry form a plan. But as their fake relationship progresses, Draco sees a side of Harry he never expected.

Harry Potter Gives a Shit by talithan (E, 58k)

“Where are you headed?” “No place special,” Draco fumbled, and flushed further. But then: “I can change that,” said Harry Potter.

Absolution by sunnyeclipses (E, 63k)

At the mercy of his failing marriage, Harry only meant to use the potion once — to get Draco to listen. It’s not his fault that it works so well and that Draco’s just so easy to control.

Balance, Imperfect by @bixgirl1 (E, 91k)

When Harry sustains an injury in the line of work, he no longer knows how to navigate the life he loved, and finds help and solace from the most unexpected source.

A Sword Laid Aside by @korlaena (E, 128k)

When Draco’s cover is blown during a deep undercover operation and the Ministry is compromised, Ron takes Draco to the only safe place he can think of—Potter. Hiding out with a taciturn Harry Potter, who has been missing from the Wizarding World for almost two decades after a shocking fall from grace, is nothing like Draco thought it would be.

#sitp recs #Drarry reclist #HBD Harry week

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marlo-noni · 1 month

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Thank you @cynosurus for asking if I've ever written about my Mandarin learning journey, because I haven't, and I have stuff to say about it!

So, why and how did this middle-aged white lady learn Chinese? Here's the first part of that story, which focuses on why and how I started, and gets pretty introspective.

First of all, I was born and raised in the suburbs of Vancouver, Canada, and I've lived in Vancouver proper since 2003. We have a very large Chinese-Canadian population. As of 2009, about 30% of people in Vancouver have some Chinese ancestry.

I've always been really into languages. In my first year of university, I studied Latin, and the grammar was so difficult that I wasn't motivated to continue studying a dead language.

So in my second year, in 1999, I started studying Mandarin. I thought (1) it would be a challenge, (2) it's a very useful language to know in Vancouver, (3) I grew up around a lot of overt anti-Asian racism and wanted to combat that, and (4) I wanted to learn more about the Chinese culture that was always around me but that I knew practically nothing about. It also helped that my grandmother, always a free thinker, had been practicing tai chi since 1980 (the year I was born), and my grandparents went on a trip to China in the mid-90s and came back with interesting photos and stories.

I think it also must have been in the zeitgeist in the 90s that Asian culture was cool, and white people wanted to appropriate it. I was certainly into J-pop and anime by then, and I actually wore a qipao to grad (Canadian equivalent of senior prom) that I bought in Chinatown. If you've seen or read Scott Pilgrim, which takes place in Toronto (which also has a very large Chinese population) in the 90s, that gives you a bit of an idea of white Canadians' relationship with Chinese-Canadians at that time.

I say all this just to make it clear that although very few white people in my community studied Chinese back then, and one of the reasons I started studying it was anti-racism, I wasn't some galaxy-brained politically pure being. I had good intentions, but I still lived in that time and did a lot of the same ignorant stuff other white people did. I had Chinese friends, but I cringe when I think of some of the things I said to them and did back then. It has been a decades-long learning process for me.

I'm also very lucky that my university (the University of British Columbia, aka UBC) has an extremely robust Asian Studies program. My Chinese* classes were very intensive - 2 hours long, 4 times a week, with language labs on top of that (I can't remember anymore how long). We got 6 credits per semester instead of 3 because it was double the coursework and class time of a regular class. Because I intended to minor in Chinese, I also took Asian Studies classes, including a general overview of Asian history (2 semesters long), modern Chinese literature in translation, and early Chinese dynastic history.

I studied Chinese in university for 3 years. UBC had two Chinese language streams - one for "non-heritage" speakers, and one for "heritage speakers". They interviewed all the students beforehand to decide which stream we should be in. Being in the non-heritage stream made it nearly impossible to minor or major in Chinese, simply because it takes so long to learn. I would estimate we were only at HSK 2, approaching HSK 3, by the time my third year was done. But the fourth year, the last year, placed all the heritage and non-heritage students together, and the fourth-year classes were reading Chinese literature. One girl in my class, who'd lived in Taiwan before and was the best student in our class, went to speak with a fourth-year professor to ask if she could take his class because she wanted to minor in Chinese. He basically told her it would be impossible. I can understand the university's dilemma, though. I don't know how they teach it now - if they've ever come up with a solution. I think now there are probably more non-heritage students who studied Mandarin in high school. That simply wasn't an option when I was growing up.

The other thing is that I wasn't a great student in university, because I hadn't yet been diagnosed with depression and wouldn't be until my 5th year (I was also working part-time, so I did fewer classes and attended for an extra year). University was slowly making my mental illness worse until I finally had a breakdown in my final year. So my first year of studying Chinese, I got pretty good grades, but by my third year (fourth year of being in university), I was getting C+'s.

So by the time I was done university, I'd say I was at about HSK 2 level, and it was time for me to start working. From then on, any Chinese study I did would be self-study, and like many people's hobbies, my interest waxed and waned over time. More on that in future posts.

(*)at that time, UBC didn't teach Cantonese, even though the vast majority of the Chinese diaspora in Vancouver spoke it. I think that's been historically true for most West Coast cities in North America, although that has been changing. So the only option at that time was Mandarin. Also, we learned simplified characters.

#me #mandarin #中文

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pad-wubbo · 1 month

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The Desolation

What was this feeling? I didn't know, strictly, but I could only speculate, be the all-devouring Dr. Sigmund Freud to the patient that was myself.

It was hatred. Pure, overwhelming, tangible hatred for this cruel civilisation, whose mesh of language had described every acute sensation so accurately that every being demanded for themselves and for others they cared or feigned care about that they know and pass judgement unto the exact thoughts and motives every other being, forming a ghastly panopticon that wrapped an entire planet in self-destructive fear.

No, it was fear. Fear of the relentless hunters who lived so comfortably inside the panopticon that they no longer were concerned with their own survival as to hunt for prey of other species, but concerned with perceived purity as to hunt their own and infect them with psychological autoimmunity. I thought of the bonobos, primates as us, yet not cursed with the abominable formality that was language. They lived for themselves, loved freely, thought freely and never judged one another. Intelligence is not wisdom, and as the self-proclaimed "most intelligent" species on this earth, we would do well as to realise we lost our wisdom, we licked it away with the thousand forked tongues with which we salivated our vile ink onto the walls.

I thought of the cuttlefish, even. Naked one hundred percent of the time, frequently incestuous, no concept of consent or personal boundaries, even regularly cannibalistic. Intelligent beings. Large brains and central nervous systems. They can clearly feel. Why then, are they not so traumatised, why not would they become broken, self-loathing wrecks of molluscs? The answer was simple. They did not speak. We speak language. We codify our most basic fight-or-flight response into "morality", with that language. We obsess over this morality we have constructed, as no other thinking species does. It leads to paranoia, to suicide. Why? I could not think any other response. WHY?

It's our formality that let us communicate exactly what we want, right? Exactly what we think of others and what they think of us? That's what culture meant. An endless feedback loop of appraisal, and to what end? Keeping up with the trends? Well, human beings were like fruit, I thought. It's all "stay fresh", that's the zeitgeist, but one can only stay fresh by staying in a box. I think I was onto something.

It wasn't just fear. It wasn't just hatred. It was pain. So overwhelming, so passionate a rage against the human condition which I was born into a hundred thousand years too late, a complete and utter terror at the reality in which I live, that it bled over my senses, wrapped me in sickness and caused a sensation which I could only describe as unrelenting, unbearable pain.

For a few seconds, there it was. The sensation of a demon, bursting out of my heart with a thousand white-hot knives, ready to tear this wretched world apart. No, ready to tear me apart. The demon screamed. It was a scream truly otherworldly, like the cry of no bastard child of the lungfish before. No bastard child of the lungfish, except for me.

The demon was me. I stare in the mirror, and there he is. Quite a scary one. "Think of the children", I hear him scrape into my brain. That's what they all say.

Well, it's not going to work. Do you see me? I am the children who was thought of.

CC-BY-SA 4.0.

#creative commons #poetry #musings #horror

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tenebrius-excellium · 1 year

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Hot Take: Avatar The Way Of Water will receive mixed reviews and while it’s beautiful, it won’t work for European audiences.

1. Someone I watched the movie with described it as a “documentary” of the water world and that’s exactly what it is. It’s beautiful. Focus lies on aesthetic descriptions and playful visual experiences. It’s not plot-driven, but that’s not a bad thing! It’s just... different. What someone might call a “good” filler movie.

2. James Cameron’s themes remain highly traditional. While I support that to a degree, it puts them in danger of being outdated. I don’t know, I’ll let myself be surprised by audience reactions. To me, the values feel dusty and out of touch with the current mindsets and priorities of Western society. Cameron wrote a script that was borderline old 13 years ago. A lot has happened in the world since then.

3. The Na’vi culture, so carefully built during the first movie, was eliminated, full of plot holes, and made to fit narrative whims. The kids were loud and careless in the forest. Barely any Na’vi was spoken. The Omaticaya’s way of life was erased and Jake not held accountable for destroying the Metkayina’s too.

4. Stereotypes of outcast existences, culture appropriation and white savior elements were applied again as if it was white man’s earth. What the heck. I don’t think the Maori culture inspiration and the use of sign language were truly done justice. They were creative plot devices. Wonderful to be explored, but not treated as if they were to be taken seriously as parts of real people’s identities in reality. Jake got to play at *another* way of life without risk to himself. He switches tribes and identities at his leisure, adopting their manners as he pleases without realizing the harm he is doing to them. He plows through their hospitality and their resources like a bulldozer. What.

5. The new characters are super cool, the old ones neglected and ooc. Arcs happen at random. They are picked up, then dropped again. The movie is more about existing than about action, which strangely, isn’t a bad thing to me. It’s simply a series of events led mostly by the kids’ wondrous, innocent discoveries. What the events mean and where they lead, remains shrouded in mystery. Somehow, it’s still immensely enjoyable to watch it all unfold!

6. The main point being that this movie is still as painfully White American as can be and that is terrible to watch in the year 2022. As a European, I don’t identify with Jake’s motivations. Like, at all. I doubt any other culture will. This movie pushes American “black vs. white, right vs. wrong” dualistic thinking to a brink where it can exclusively be understood by White Americans with military background. That’s a far too narrow target audience, if you ask me. I felt pretty alienated. To me, Jake was a horrible parent. Addressing fathers as Sir and expecting your kids to give you the respect of a soldier would count as child abuse over here. We are not familiar with military culture, nor do we want to be. Neytiri “Missus Sully” is not meant to be a military wife and she is clearly uncomfortable with it. Also, Europe is not divided in “white” and “different”. We define ourselves (mostly, hopefully - please don’t argue with me on this) by our nationality and whether we are part of the European Union, not by skin color. Avatar The Way Of Water is stuck up, misses the modern world’s heartbeat and is, by all means, not relatable to European multinational coexistence (not to even speak of global cultural diversity). In addition, the movie’s narrative structure is repetitive and not even that well thought out at times.

7. So what do we make of it? This movie is clearly weaker than its predecessor, yet somehow almost equally enjoyable. It relies heavily on the visuals and the atmosphere, while missing out hard on zeitgeist and cultural respect. I like every character’s story, although it rarely seems to lead places. Perhaps it doesn’t have to. Avatar The Way Of Water is a flawed, dreamy, idealistic, aesthetic nature vibe. The reality is much more complex. It was slightly underwhelming, but in a James Cameron kind of way, so it lowkey was to be expected and I’d 7/10 watch it again :)

#avatar 2 #avatar the way of water #avatar 2 analysis #analysis #wherethekiteflies #avatar the way of water analysis #avatar 2 spoilers #avatar the way of water spoilers

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sapphiresonstrings · 4 months

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Allegory Must be a Double-Edged Sword

If you write a story that's obviously an attack on a particular belief system, especially a political belief, anyone who supports that position will tune you out. People tend to dig in their heels when you attack their beliefs.

If you want to reach people who don't already agree with your message, you need to sneak up on them. That's where allegory comes in.

You start by introducing inoffensive characters or plots that hook the audience, then sneakily set up the structure of your message without the audience noticing. When the allegory is revealed, the audience may find themselves on the other team without realizing it, far deeper into engagement with the subject than they would ever allow themselves to get normally without shutting down. This can make them re-examine their deeply held beliefs. It's a political sneak attack under a veil of fiction.

But there's a flipside to this. In order to attack, you must make yourself vulnerable to counterattack.

In order to have an allegory at all, you need to construct a fictional issue that turns along the same philosophical axis as the object-level issue your allegory is about. To do that you need to expose the foundation of your beliefs, beneath slogans, beneath buzzwords, beneath conformity. That foundation becomes a vector for counterattack. If your foundation is weak, your sneak attack becomes an own goal. The sword cuts both ways.

In order for your allegory to penetrate a real believer, the real subject needs to be present. You can't have an allegory without inviting its subject and allowing it to speak for itself. In other words, to use rationalist parlance, you need to pass the Ideological Turing Test. If you skip this step, your sneak attack won't reach its target. A sneak attack on a strawman draws no blood. (You may not know what your opponents believe, but they do and can't be fooled.)

But if you do this and your argument doesn't actually stand on its own, this can bite you back. People naturally root for the underdog, and the greatest underdog-overdog fight of all is Character vs Author. The character is not even allowed to speak for himself. If the author is unfair to the character, the allegory falls apart. Worse, its sneak attack power is turned back on you - now it's your team that let their defenses down and started to really think about the issue from a neutral standpoint.

The famous example is The Merchant of Venice, when the audience says, "I know he's the villain, but I kind of feel like Shylock was treated unfairly." (It's a subject of debate whether Shakespeare intended this kind of Straussian reading.)

The current Zeitgeist is very anti-debate. Elaborating on this would be its own post, so take my word for it.

Most English-language media comes from either the tightly-knit Hollywood bubble or the tightly-knit UK bubble, both of which enforce strict ideological conformity. Engaging with beliefs you disagree with is considered suspicious, sometimes heretical. Consequently, the people who make most media are really really bad at forming strong arguments. Many of them have literally never had to defend their beliefs against a real attack in the format of a sincere debate. They want to make allegory about their political opponents, but they've never met one.

The end result is a two-pronged problem. On one hand, the people making these allegories don't know enough about their subjects to actually portray them. On the other hand, if they did succeed at it, they would lose the debate to their own allegory because they have no practice.

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miyamorana · 1 year

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2022 Fic Recs Part 3: Everything Else

Happy New Year everyone! I have once again read a lot of fics in 2022 and want to share my favorites. I’m only reccing complete fics as usual, although I’m reading a lot of amazing WIPs. Maybe at some point I’ll do a special WIPs rec list?

Anyways! This is Part 3, which is for everything other than anime/manga fandoms.

Part 1: BnHA (25 + 2 crossovers (Harry Potter and Star Wars)) Part 2: Other Anime (Haikyuu!! (18), Hunter X Hunter (1), Jujutsu Kaisen (8))

Fandoms: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Stargate SG-1 crossover (1), Harry Potter (9), Julie and the Phantoms (1), The Legend of Zelda (1), Our Flag Means Death (1), Percy Jackson & Related Fandoms (6), The Sandman (4), The Sandman/Julie and the Phantoms crossover (1), Teen Wolf (5), Voltron: Legendary Defender (2), The Witcher (3)

Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Stargate SG-1 Crossover Title: Bridges Author: Tassos Pairing: None Rating: Teen Word Count: 114,456 Series: Part 1 of Bridges 'verse (Words: 140,209 - Works: 4) Summary: After the collapse of Sunnydale, Jack gets a call about a woman he knew over twenty years ago . . . and the son he never knew he had.

Fandom: Harry Potter Title: Azoth Author: zeitgeistic Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy Rating: Explicit Word Count: 88,722 Series: Part 1 of Azoth (Words: 90,351 - Works: 2) Summary: Now that Harry is back at Hogwarts with Hermione for eighth year, he realises that something’s missing from his life, and it either has to do with Ron, his boggart, Snape, or Malfoy. Furthermore, what, exactly, does it mean when one’s life is defined by the desire to simultaneously impress and annoy a portrait? Harry has no idea; he’s too busy trying not to be in love with Malfoy to care.

Fandom: Harry Potter Title: Life skills outside the curriculum Author: Endrina Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy Rating: Explicit Word Count: 66,238 Summary: It was "Witch Weekly", of all people and organizations, the first to notice and comment on The Boy Who Lived’s absence from the ranks of first years at Hogwarts. The magazine went on to elucubrate that the young hero was studying at a foreign school, possibly Beauxbatons or Holzschuhkäse.

Fandom: Harry Potter Title: The Meaning of Mistletoe Author: Endrina Pairing: Remus Lupin/Severus Snape (Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy in later parts) Rating: Mature (Part 3 is rated Explicit) Word Count: 30,708 Series: Part 1 of The secret language of plants (Words: 373,077 - Works: 4) Summary: “Just… tell me. Tell me what is going on, Snape.”

What was going on was that Severus Snape had no trouble tracking down one Petunia Evans, now Dursley, to a little town in Surrey where he saw how exactly she was treating her nephew. Which somehow led to last night and Severus knocking on Lupin’s door with a toddler half-asleep in his arms.

Fandom: Harry Potter Title: Mental Author: sara_holmes Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Rating: Mature Word Count: 186,678 Summary: Harry has had quite enough of sharing his mind with someone else, thankyouverymuch. A miscast Legilimecy spell says otherwise.

Fandom: Harry Potter Title: Slithering Author: astolat Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Rating: Explicit Word Count: 27,355 Summary: Draco found the nest down in the Manor’s cellars, while he was clearing them out.

Fandom: Harry Potter Title: The Gift of Kindness Author: hippocrates460 Pairing: Harry Potter/Severus Snape Rating: Explicit Word Count: 107,004 Summary: When Harry arrives at Hogwarts, everything is overwhelming. Luckily he makes some friends, Hagrid who took him to Diagon Alley, Ron who he met on the train, and Severus, who explains why they have to pretend to hate each other. This story spans 7 years, during which Severus and Harry get to know each other and find understanding.

Fandom: Harry Potter Title: A Radical Change in (Self) Perception Author: AnyaElizabeth Pairing: Harry Potter/Severus Snape Rating: Explicit Word Count: 57,117 Summary: Harry should know better than to touch museum exhibits, especially in a magical museum. Now he's in trouble...

Fandom: Harry Potter Title: Things Gained in the Chamber of Secrets Author: Blueseabird2 Pairing: None Rating: Teen Word Count: 21,437 Summary: Harry finds out that the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets might not be particularly happy to be acting against students. Turns out, a hatred of baby Dark Lords and a tendency towards being over-protective makes an excellent basis for friendship. Harry gains a new mother. She has several opinions on how people are treating her hatchling.

Fandom: Harry Potter Title: Just a Few Changes (will Keep you Safe) Author: Blueseabird2 Pairing: Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley (Background Relationship) Rating: Teen Word Count: 29,841 Summary: It's been over five years since Voldemort's defeat when Harry Potter gets pushed through a portal and falls into the Great Hall of Hogwarts. This wouldn't be a problem, exactly, except it's his parents' Hogwarts instead of his own. Thankfully, Hermione and Ron aren't about to let him face this newest form of trouble by himself. Even more fortunately, Hermione says they're in a different dimension entirely. Harry has a castle full of living ghosts, his best friends by his side, and three to six months to make just a few changes. Starting with a snake.

Fandom: Julie and the Phantoms Title: Touch Me Like a Love Song Author: breakaway71 Pairing: Julie Molina/Reggie Peters Rating: General Word Count: 1,201 Summary: Julie has always kept her deepest feelings locked away in the dream box her mother gave her when she was very young. Reggie, on the other hand, uses a plain old notebook. She swears she didn't mean to read it.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda (Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask and related fandoms) Title: Sands of Time Author: tirsynni Pairing: Ganondorf/Link Rating: Teen Word Count: 103,445 Series: Part 1 of Sands of Time (Words: 118,807 - Works: 8 (some of which are WIPs)) Summary: Link awakens in the desert with no idea how he got there, to encounter his worst enemy...except it was the King of the Gerudo, not the King of Evil, he faced.

Fandom: Our Flag Means Death Title: on the bed of this blue ocean Author: kirkaut Pairing: Blackbeard | Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet Rating: Teen Word Count: 9,684 Series: Part 1 of on a homeward path we go (Words: 25,540 - Works: 2) Summary: Ed’s made up his mind: if he ever lays eyes on Stede fucking Bonnet again, he’s a dead man. Ed’s had six months of Stede-lessness, and six months of thinking about all the terrible things he’d do to him when they saw each other again. Somehow, it never occurred to him to think that they’d never have the chance. [Or: Ed hears about Stede's 'death' and promptly falls apart.]

Fandom: Percy Jackson & Related Fandoms Title: Runaways Author: MermaidMarie Pairing: None Rating: Teen Word Count: 9,697 Summary: “You again,” the kid said. “You again,” Leo replied. - In which Leo and Nico run into each other several times, before they meet on the Argo II.

Fandom: Percy Jackson & Related Fandoms Title: Love, Or Something Like It Author: MermaidMarie Pairing: Nico di Angelo/Jason Grace Rating: Teen Word Count: 15,078 Summary: In which, a year after the prophecy is over, Nico and Jason get sent on a quest where they have another run-in with Cupid. Things go a little differently this time.

Fandom: Percy Jackson & Related Fandoms Title: Those walls I built didn't even put up a fight Author: Aza (sazandorable) Pairing: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace Rating: General Word Count: 14,214 Summary: "Is it morally okay to stab a medic with their own scissors?" Nico asked Cecil. (Not that he usually cared about morally okay, as Octavian might demonstrate.) Nico's three days in the infirmary go by faster than he'd thought, and Will just won't stop flirting.

Fandom: Percy Jackson & Related Fandoms Title: As The Miles Go By Author: Marine_is_Hope Pairing: Nico di Angelo/Jason Grace/Piper McLean Rating: Teen Word Count: 18,130 Summary: What are you supposed to do after you single-handedly win a war? Would you try to stop another, run and hide, or would you try to make something new? Would you go searching for those who had disappeared without a trace? Three months after the battle with Gaea, Nico is running and Jason is searching. Piper is just trying to keep everything together. In the end, it all boils down to one last question: how far would you go to overcome the past? How many miles would you travel to save someone who doesn’t believe that they deserve a new beginning?

Fandom: Percy Jackson & Related Fandoms Title: The Blank Pages at the End of the Atlas Author: Sour_Idealist Pairing: Nico di Angelo/Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson Rating: Explicit Word Count: 37,360 Summary: Five years after the Gaea War, Percy and Annabeth are at Camp Half-Blood, training the students, treading water. Then a fairly straightforward task - get a vulnerable demigod child to safety - turns up an old friend.

Fandom: Percy Jackson & Related Fandoms Title: Halloween Candy & Crushes Author: MermaidMarie Pairing: Nico di Angelo/Jason Grace Rating: General Word Count: 3,567 Summary: It started with someone casually commenting at dinner one night that Halloween was probably Nico’s favorite holiday. Impassively, Nico had shrugged and picked at his food. “Never really had a Halloween.” Jason had perked up, the way he always did when Nico shared any personal detail about himself. “Me neither,” he offered.

Fandom: The Sandman Title: Building on These Foundations Author: breakaway71 Pairing: Dream of the Endless | Morpheus/Hob Gadling Rating: General Word Count: 2,085 Summary: What happened to Dream's realm when he was captured can never be allowed to happen again. It's time he took precautions to ensure it does not.

Fandom: The Sandman Title: King of Infinite Space Author: Banhus Pairing: Dream of the Endless | Morpheus/Hob Gadling Rating: Mature Word Count: 15,865 Summary: In which Hob has a spate of odd nightmares, a collection of strays, a student with an unusual knack, and a very weird fall semester.

Fandom: The Sandman Title: Inspire in Me, the Desire in Me Author: ElloPoppet Pairing: Dream of the Endless | Morpheus/Hob Gadling Rating: Teen Word Count: 14,850 Series: Part 1 of In Between Days (Words: 20,705 - Works: 2) Summary: It’s the right day, but the year is all wrong, and Dream suspects that there’s something else not quite right even before he finds himself standing in front of the shuttered remains of the White Horse Tavern. Still, he’s chilled in a way he’s not accustomed to feeling, reminiscent of the hopeless, free-falling frost that climbed up his spine and inside his gut the day he was meant to meet Hob when he was imprisoned. And that’s what it is, he realizes, this cold feeling. Hopelessness. Should Dream seek him out, would Hob welcome him as a friend, or turn his shoulder as he would on an intruder? It’s what he would deserve, Dream muses as he’s preparing to turn heel from the tavern’s closed gates, even though as he’s resigning himself to shame he’s also gearing up to make this his next mission, his next purpose: to find Hob Gadling. Alternatively: Dream and Hob find each other in 2021, and see no reason why they have to wait centuries to see each other again. And again.

Fandom: The Sandman Title: more sky comes and more days Author: Chrome Pairing: Calliope/Dream of the Endless | Morpheus/Hob Gadling Rating: Teen Word Count: 18,537 Summary: In the aftermath of her imprisonment, Calliope is determined to learn to trust humans again, so she finds a roommate and settles in the mortal world. Meanwhile, her former husband has been on another quest that ended in grief, and he seeks her out for solace. What could possibly go wrong? or, “Hey, Zed,” Hob answered. “Something the matter?” “Yes,” she said. “Calliope’s ex showed up and he’s fucking terrifying.”

Fandom: The Sandman/Julie and the Phantoms Crossover Title: Good Dreams, Sweet Prince Author: breakaway71 Pairing: Dream of the Endless | Morpheus/Hob Gadling Rating: General Word Count: 34,015 Summary: When Dream leaves the Burgess estate, he does so without realizing that more was taken from him during his captivity than he ever knew. As the dust settles and his realm begins to heal, Dream is unprepared for Lucienne to tell him of a ghost in the Dreaming. A ghost tethered to the mortal plane, and who can sleep as no ghost should be able to sleep. Meanwhile, after growing up with adoptive parents who hated each other more than they ever loved him, Reggie has always craved a family who wanted him. He died before he ever had the chance to find his birth father, but then, when has a little thing like death stood in the way of Reggie and his dreams?

Fandom: Teen Wolf Title: El Lazo Author: thisgirlsays22 Pairing: Derek Hale/Stile Stilinkski Rating: Explicit Word Count: 50,995 Series: Part 1 of El Lazo (Words: 54,503 - Works: 2) Summary: "Seriously, Derek, level with me here. Is this some kind of werewolf mating ritual?"

"No, Stiles." Derek scowls, shooting him a dirty look.

Canon-flavored college AU in which Stiles is a little bit older, Derek's a little bit wiser, and Erica and Boyd still manage to get kidnapped by the Alpha Pack.

Fandom: Teen Wolf Title: Where You Still Remember Dreaming Author: yodasyoyo Pairing: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes Rating: Explicit Word Count: 95,612 Summary: “What’s your name? I can’t keep calling you Balto.” “What’s yours?” “Stiles.” Derek raises an eyebrow. That isn’t his real name. There’s no way. But now he thinks about it, he has a vague memory of someone, probably Uncle Peter, telling him that with the fae, names have power. “I’m Miguel,” he says. “Lie.” “Are you trying to tell me your real name is Stiles?” Stiles runs his tongue across his teeth and considers Derek carefully. “Fair enough,” he says, “Miguel it is.” Grabbing his groceries and pocketing the change, Derek turns to leave; he’s nearly at the door when Stiles calls out, “By the way, Miguel, if you’re interested, it’s two for one on bags of kibble at the pet store down the street.” Derek doesn’t look back, doesn’t hesitate, just raises a hand and flips him off on the way out.

Fandom: Teen Wolf Title: Blood Pounding in Our Veins Author: minusoneday Pairing: Danny Mahealani/Stiles Stilinski Rating: Mature Word Count: 41,305 Summary: Stiles figured that Mrs. McCall finding out Scott’s secret would change things, but he’s completely unprepared for the very first thing she does, which is to invite Isaac to move in with her and Scott. *** In which Stiles is angry. For some very good reasons.

Fandom: Teen Wolf Title: A Brief Introduction to Live Action Roleplaying Author: wldnst Pairing: Danny Mahealani/Stiles Stilinski Rating: Teen Word Count: 28,171 Summary: Jackson tells Danny he's a werewolf. Danny gets werewolf advice from a stranger on the internet. Things escalate from there.

Fandom: Teen Wolf Title: Don't Call Me Buttercup Author: ElloPoppet Pairing: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski Rating: Teen Word Count: 15,825 Summary: Isaac wants to do Secret Santa. Derek is bad at gifts. Stiles helps, and also practices making Derek uncomfortable with awful, cutesy pet names along the way. Derek secretly loves the pet names. Oh, and he loves Stiles as well.

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Title: The Snow on Mars Author: museaway Pairing: Keith/Shiro Rating: Teen Word Count: 11,243 Summary: This is the reality with a happy ending thanks to the help of a meddling inter-dimensional being and a few Christmas ‘spirits’ sent to show Shiro the past, present, and future.

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Title: Method Acting Author: YouAreInAComaWakeUp (Nikanaiko) Pairing: Keith/Lance Rating: Teen Word Count: 11,116 Summary: A lot of things can happen in ten years.

Things like a person's citizenship being revoked due to new, xenophobic laws.

But there is...one...loophole.

Fandom: The Witcher Title: Do it Again Author: thisgirlsays22 Pairing: Geralt/Jaskier Rating: Explicit Word Count: 6,771 Summary: By the twentieth time Geralt has gone through the loop, he decides to just throw himself off the cliff’s edge after Borch.

He wakes up to his twenty-first attempt.

“Fuck.”

Fandom: The Witcher Title: Fever Author: breakaway71 Pairing: Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier Rating: General Word Count: 2,158 Summary: Jaskier has all but forgotten he's anything but human.

Fandom: The Witcher Title: Goodbye To All My Darkness (There's Nothing Here But Light) Author: ElloPoppet Pairing: Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier Rating: Explicit Word Count: 9,910 Summary: Geralt of Rivia made his way to Kaer Morhen during the Summer of the 78th year of his life, believing himself ill. * “Some would consider the extraordinarily rare gift of a soulmate something to be grateful for, Geralt. A side effect of your mutation to be celebrated. Although, I can understand why having an empathic bond with a newborn creature might be making you feel a bit bratty.” Minutes of silence stretched between them, interrupted only by the sounds of the wind whipping through the valley outside. Eventually, Geralt lifted his head and stood. “Fuck.” He said after a time, with finality. “Hmm,” Vesemir agreed. * In the 97th year of his life, Geralt met a bard named Jaskier.

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wovetherapy · 9 months

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Another Look at Love Languages

You are sitting across from *a potential love interest*/*your best friend*/*a new connection*/*your cousin*/*a mirror*. “What is your love language?” you ask them, not having to explain what that means. Have you ever wondered where the popular phrase “love language”, now incorporated into the modern zeitgeist, initially came from? As we as humans continue to attempt to make sense of love, let us revisit and take a closer look at what the love languages are all about, where they started, and how they are doing now.

The Five Love Languages Origin Story

Maybe you have heard of the name Gary Chapman, Ph.D., or maybe you have heard of his book, The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts. But did you know that Gary Chapman was a pastor who earned a doctorate degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in adult education? The inspiration and foundation of Dr. Chapman’s book came from observing and recognizing patterns in his work of over 20 years as a marriage counselor at his church.

The Five Love Languages

In his book, Dr. Chapman proposes that people experience love in different ways. Often, conflict does not stem from partners’ lack of effort in understanding each other’s needs; rather, partners often experience and receive love differently. In many instances, people in couples therapy report not feeling loved, despite their partner’s attempts to express it (Borst, 2023). Partners who understand the ways in which their significant others experience love are able to foster a closer relationship and deeper connection. Instead of the Golden Rule (Treat others the way you want to be treated.), Dr. Chapman promotes that one ought to show love in the way their partner is able to receive it and understand it. He identifies the following five love languages:

Words of affirmation - i.e. verbal or written acknowledgment of love and care

Acts of Service - i.e. actions which anticipate and fulfill a partner’s needs

Receiving Gifts - i.e. thoughtful, tangible symbols of one’s care for another

Quality Time - i.e. one’s undivided attention

Physical Touch - i.e. physical connection as a form of security and comfort

How to determine one’s love language

To determine your love language, you could take Dr. Chapman’s brief online quiz. It is also helpful to reflect on past and present relationships and experiences. Thinking of not just romantic partnerships but friendships and familial relationships as well, how you received care and what made you feel loved may also shed light on your love language. One’s love language may also be revealed through experimenting with a partner. At various times, one’s partner would introduce a different love language to them. Together, they may reflect on feelings and reactions that come up and identify when they felt closest and most cared for and vice versa.

Love Languages are Fluid

While Dr. Chapman’s theory depicts five distinct love languages, there are no rules which confine one’s love language to a single category. It is not wrong for people to feel a connection in part to each love language, nor is it uncommon for people to identify a secondary and/or tertiary love language in addition to their primary one (Borst, 2023). Also noteworthy is that one’s love language can change. As people experience life, their wants and needs may morph into new forms along with the way they receive and impart love.

Queering the Love Languages

Dr. Chapman and his book have been criticized for being racist, misogynistic, and fundamentally heteronormative (Heaney, 2022). On May 27, 2021, a new set of love languages entered the world via Twitter by user @neuroworld, which was presented as “the five neurodivergent love languages”. Although it remains that anyone can experience any of the five original love languages, @neuroworld’s list encompasses how neurodivergent individuals may express these feelings in a unique way. The five neurodivergent love languages which have been widely embraced by the neurodivergent community are as follows (Still, 2023):

Infodumping - i.e. sharing all the little details of something you are passionate about/ your latest obsession

Parallel Play/ Body Doubling - i.e. being in a shared space while doing separate activities

Support Swapping - i.e. looking after one another’s self care through reminders and helpful task completions

Deep Pressure - i.e. feeling grounded and secure under the weight of a partner’s body, like a weighted blanket

Penguin Pebbling - i.e. gifts in the form of uniquely personal, interesting, meaningful, thoughtful, fascinating little tokens catered towards one’s partner

Conclusion

Knowing the questionable origin story of the five love languages, the underlying sentiment that partners often have different ways of receiving and experiencing love and may benefit from learning one another’s love language remains a pure and seemingly simple truth. Although Dr. Chapman may not have had you and your partner(s) in mind, there are many ways to explore and expand the ways in which you speak and understand love, including therapy. Whether you want to reflect on your own or with a partner, your therapist will support you and always have the intention to operate with your best interest in mind.

Check out some of the resources to use for Love Languageshere.

#Language #Love #Love Language

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svetlanamirchevaworks · 1 year

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IMAGES OF THE WORD

solo exhibition

20 Nov.–Dec. 2014, Un Cabinet D’Amateur / Olivier Boissiere, Sofia

Four series by Svetlana Mircheva based upon chance meetings with things and words From rebus to cosmic constellations, to twisted slogans and computer explorations a short sampling of possible intrusions of the visual arts in the infinite world of language. Works in the exhibition: 4 Rebus collages on canvas, series --Fly me to the moon --At 11 o’clock put everything in the blue pot --Cry me a river --Menuetto in G major For Laika with love, series, 9 calligrams, polymer clay biscuits Ads for happy days, series, 3 twisted slogans, 2 Glagolitic sentences --You've got questions, we've got mountain --How many licks does it take to get to the center of a sun? --Non stop cri ckets --Me, knowing the letters, I speak / Glagolitic --Speak the word strongly / Glagolitic Make pages, 1-15, series, thesaurus for the word "make" Make believe, thesaurus for the word "make" Good morning, 1&2, ready made Possible exhibitions, model 7 RANDOM, CHANCE, BLIND DATE, SERENDIPITY “langage=jeu galant”. Marcel Duchamp Once upon a time, there was a flâneur. Baudelaire followed him strolling the city leisurely both distracted and attentive to the new world (it would become brave later), looking for modernity. A viewer/voyeur, he would note the remarkable in the environment of his contemporaries, the spread of commercial activities as a consequence of the industrial revolution and the raise of consumerism. The flâneur attitude marked a significant shift in the points of views upon the world. Shop-windows became familiar scenes where artists would dig for inspiration. The cubist collage and Duchamp’s ready-made replaced the representation of the object by the object itself incorporated into assemblages exposed to language that would become the rule at mid-century. Walter Benjamin haunted the Paris “passages”, the Surrealists the flea market of Saint-Ouen looking for bizarre objects of undetermined functions and forms, craving for close encounters of the third kind , expecting surprise ( “soup-rice” as the Marx brothers had put it ) “One does not do poetry with ideas, one does poetry with words”1. Mallarmé said. He must have foreseen that poetry could become image by means of “a throw of the dice”. Freeing words from one another, dispersing them on the page opens new interpretations as well as a disconcerting design. Are they pure coincidence or an effect of the Zeitgeist? Mallarme’s poem might look as a prelude to the re-introduction of the word in visuals arts. From Picasso’s first cubic collages to Schwitters’ Merzbau, to Saul Steinberg’s rebus and Rauschenberg’s , then “Conceptual’ and Art language, Kossuth, Lawrence Wiener, then Bruuuuuuuce Nauman, Ed Ruscha et al, words, sentences, aphorisms did invade the art field. An art work could both express and enounce? The computer age has generated a new version of the flâneur, the “geek” zooming and zapping on the freeways of information. Exit the street and the city. The world has turned global and the Net its cosmic echo. An all-over set of information both text and imagery has become available at fingertip distance. The somewhat naive first fans of cybernetics in the late 60s prophesized then the advent of some new Leonardo, Picasso or other artist genius who would take up the new medium and generate new masterworks. This has not happened (yet). But the amazing field of the Web providing for all kind of opportunities of criss- cross and short cuts is currently being explored. Wait and see… Horace Walpole coined the name “serendipity”2 from an indo-arabian old legend where the three princes of Serendip described a lost camel that they had never seen through the traces and indexes which they had noticed on the road. Serendipity was defined as discovering by chance something that one was not looking for, or the art to take notice to the surprising and give it a pertinent interpretation. It was thus chance + sagacity. The word had a discreet carrier at first until it reached the scientific domain with the discovery of the penicillin (a fortuitous accident, according to Fleming) or Albert Hoffmann’s one of LSD. Even Isaac Newton and his apple were called in. It became an argument for free versus applied research. In the art field, it sounds like a fact, No usefulness is expected. Free imagination, innovation and fantasy are supposed to be the rules of the game. Serendipity is supposed to pop up without notice. “The stupid call these strikings of the thought “chance” without thinking that chance never occurs to the dunces.”3 Svetlana Mircheva is the heiress of all the above. She walks the city, collects abandoned objects, bits and pieces, sheets of left over papers, fragments of newspapers (preferably old) photographs of loves forgotten, rags of faded materials evocative of lives unknown, memories anonymous. The artist reinserts them in comic strips, little tales to be deciphered, telescoping images and words (image as text, text as image) in poetic collages in the form of rebus, those “compositions that operate this great marriage of letter and drawing which has always haunted the baroque artists.”4 Mircheva’s attention to shop windows might be triggered by petty trivial domains. Exploring pet shops she has spotted a variety of dog food, biscuits wearing unexpected words suggesting pet loves …She has used them to design candid canine calligrams, nursery rimes whistling little tunes, pretty constellations, as many tributes to Laika, Pschyolka, Mushka and other moon dogs heroes of the first Sputnik age. Ironic compassion? Love thy dog as thyself? The interactive aspect of the computer can take (at least) two forms: communication with brothers/sisters internauts or direct dialog with the Machine, as it offers help/services to user/client. Mircheva contacted once by curiosity programs which given a name of your firm + keyword to your activity would deliver the right slogan for your advertising. The tests Mircheva did rapidly proved deceptive, either irrelevant or conventional. But a little twist on a sentence could make them funny on the verge of the absurd. So… Coincidently Mircheva landed on the glagolitic site. Cyril and Method had elaborated an alphabet before the Cyrillic. In their devotion, they had followed up with three sentences using each letter as a key to a word all to the glory of God. A sublime early use of sacred advertising! Following up with her “mistakes” Mircheva has bumped into new intriguing incidents. A A4 found in a paper basket had all the visual seductions of the “conceptual” art of the 60s. The content, an exploration of the keyword “make” proved most serious and hilarious. A further research led (with the help of New York curator friend Eriola Pira) to a million words thesaurus accumulated by a very serious university department in Providence, RI, on the possibilities of computers in the field of language in the early 60s. With “Make” the viewer is invited to pursue with the game. Infinitely. “Language is a virus from the outer space.”5 Certainly serendipitous Svetlana Mircheva is not fooled by the process. She is well aware that the haphazard character of serendipity cannot ever constitute a method, only a state of mind. Told about the story of the three princes of Serendip, Mircheva had but a brief comment: “there is no normal camel” she said. Think of it. Olivier Boissiere 1 Stephane Mallarmé “Un coup de dés jamais n’abolira le hasard” in Cosmopolis Paris 1897 2 Sylvie Catellin “Serendipité, du conte au concept” Seuil Paris 2014 3 Balzac “Theorie de la démarche” L’Europe litteraire 1833, La Pleiade 1981 tome XXII 4 Roland Barthes about Saul Steinberg in “All except you”. Repères. Galerie Maeght. 1983. See also Rosalind Krauss “Rauschenberg and the Materialized Image” in “The originality of the Avant Garde and other modernist myths” The MIT Press Cambridge Mass. 1985 5 William Burroughs CATALOG ONLINE

#soloexhibition #imagesoftheword #exhibition

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thewriting-corner · 2 years

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Languages in Fiction

One of the things that bother me the most when reading/watching fantasy or larger scale sci-fi is when literally everyone speaks “English”. Even when visiting neighboring kingdoms, everyone seems to know the same language without any conflict at all. So here I have some random information that might help make your fiction worlds a little more realistic.

Importance in world building

I’d never seen the importance of languages in fiction until I heard Marissa Meyer’s podcast episode with Marie Lu where she mentioned how in her book, Skyhunter, it was hard having two characters with a language barrier - Red being a war prisoner from a neighboring country and Talin using sign language. In the book, only one person knows Red language. This makes for some complications in the the plot that honestly, they were brilliant and something I’d never seen done in (dystopian) fantasy/sci-fi.

Culture differences

I’m about to sound like a douche but I speak 3 languages, and something that I hated when I was first learning German was when a teacher would tell us a word couldn’t be translated (like Zeitgeist). Now, why on Earth would you care about that in fiction? WELL, language is dictated (sometimes) by history and culture, so when you have two different countries with very different pasts, there will be words that cannot be translated.

My favorite example of this comes, yet again, from Skyhunter. In the book, Talin and Red develop a bond that allows them to read each other’s thoughts. At one point in the book, Talin and her friends have to infiltrate the Federation (Red’s country). Now, due to the Federation being much more technologically advanced, they have trains. At first, Talin can’t understand the word is using and he has to explain how a train works so that she can understand it. So even though the book is (obviously) written in English, this gives us an idea of the differences between both languages, countries and cultures.

Globalization

Depending on the type of world you’re using in your story, globalization will have an effect in the languages your characters use. Once again using real life examples, my first language is Spanish but “Americanization” is a very common phenomenon. What this means is some English words are very common, although altered so they make sense in Spanish. I can’t think of any examples right now😅but if I do, I’ll pin them in a comment later.

Common letters

While listening to another episode of Marissa Meyer’s podcast (lol) Victoria Aveyard mentioned that the way she made a distinction between languages was to pick a set of letters that would be common in each realm/language. This made it easier for the reader to recognize what words belong in each different dialect/language.

Dialects/land differences

The final, but I think most interesting thing I will talk about today is dialects and land differences.

In large countries with the same language people are bound to have dialects. What are dialects? In short, it’s a difference in accents, pronunciation and sometimes even words/phrases within a same country (language). In writing, this could be described as people from different parts of the country speaking at different speeds or elongating certain words.

Now, by land differences I mean different countries that speak the same language. In real life, I see this most commonly in Spanish. Though many of our words and accents differ, we easily communicate with one another.

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sitp-recs · 1 year

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When I saw that Anti-romance/Heartbreak was the 2nd most voted option for a V Day rec list I couldn’t resist! I’m surprised that I came up with so many titles, as I don’t usually read unhappy endings. Or maybe - as I came to realize - I do read them, as long as they’re short enough to make me recover nice and quick 😂 I’ve got to be in a mood to dive into these but oh boy, do they hurt good. Darkness and heartbreak done right can be fascinating and cathartic in a very special way, and what better date to indulge than today?

Disclaimer: there’s no MCD or force majeure at work here. I specifically wanted fics that showcase heartbreak as the result of human action - flawed characters, bad choices, cruelty, messed up romance. Some are on the darker side, some are just angsty af, some include toxic relationships and fidelity issues. Please mind the tags and enjoy! Major thanks to @writcraft who brainstormed ideas with me and was especially invested in this theme, and to my dear pal @tackytigerfic who didn’t even think twice before selecting this option on the poll. This is for you both! <3

Scent Memory by bryoneybrynn (M, 755 words)

Draco's been away for five years but it wasn't long enough.

Nothing to Declare Here. by hephaestiions (T, 1.1k)

He shatters. You watch.

The love you no longer seek by @teacup-tai (M, 1.3k)

Harry’s smile is small and painful. His head lolls to the side to watch Draco with such deep emotion, such a turmoil, such confusion. “Come here,” Harry whispers, voice deep, palm turning up, hand reaching towards his husband.

Draco/Rest by @lol-zeitgeistic (E, 1.6k)

Harry’s estranged husband has never really been estranged to him.

Never Fall Apart by @writcraft (M, 2k)

The idea of having an open relationship seems like a good idea until they stop being open with one another.

Ties and Knots by @iero0 (G, 2k)

I’m not prepared for the way it makes me feel when I watch you across the room, or for the tenderness of your touch. I’m even less prepared to see you touch her the same way.

The Language of Power by Lokifan (E, 2.3k)

Harry loves talking in Parseltongue to Draco during sex: his response is just delicious.

cruel blade by @wheezykat (E, 2.5k)

Drowning in his grief after the murder of his husband, Draco will do anything to bring him back. But this is not Harry. This is something else entirely.

Buttercup by @tackytigerfic (E, 2.8k)

Scorpius shoulders his way through the crowd, making for the bar just behind Harry. He's waiting for something—anything—but it's still a delicious shock to feel Harry's fingers against the skin of his wrist, dipping maddeningly slow under the cuff of his robe.

Through His Teeth by @dictacontrion (M, 3k)

"C’mon then, Potter. Don’t tell me there’s nothing you’ve ever wanted to do to this body.”

Cigarettes Will Kill You by Femme (E, 4k)

He lights a cigarette across the pub, his hand cupped to his mouth as the tip sparks to life in a faint orange flare, and my breath catches.

Call Me Friend, But Keep Me Closer by @tackytigerfic (M, 4k)

"Neville Longbottom had always loved plants, but he loved Harry Potter more." Neville's got a good thing going with Harry... or so he thinks.

Magpie by @corvuscrowned (E, 4k)

Table Ten by @lower-east-side (E, 4k)

Harry loves working on Thursday nights.

The Quiver of a Heartstring by @tackytigerfic (E, 4k)

Draco Malfoy has been away for eight months and seventeen days, but now he's back, and Harry has never stopped wanting him.

Not That Kind of Lovers by alpha_exodus (M, 5.6k)

The only thing Draco knows is that at the end of this, one of them will be dead.

Dirge Without Music by @writcraft (E, 6k)

Albus is happy because everything seems to be coming together. He is captain of the Quidditch team and his father is getting married again – then one night the bottom falls out of his world.

fermata by onewhodiedyoung (M, 6.5k)

Or, Draco, after and before he forgot Harry, after and after he lost his mother.

Better Left Dead by @wellhalesbells (T, 6.6k)

A love story and a half.

Bitter. Sweet. Alive. by @gracerene (E, 6.7k)

Tomorrow, everything is going to change, but they still have tonight.

Epitaphs in Autographs by @vukovich (E, 7k)

A series of works surrounding death, imperfect relationships, flawed coping, and humanity.

Blame Is Shaped Like A Circle by @sleepstxtic-drarry and @gnarf (T, 7k)

Harry and Draco take you through the story of their life together.

The Way It Is by amalin (M, 7k)

‘Give it time,’ Hermione advised. Harry was draped atop the Potions book he was supposed to be reading, the instructions for Stinging Solution an ironically cool comfort against his cheek, her fingers carding gently through his hair. ‘It was just—you’ll feel better, in time.’

The Turquoise Cottage by deja_lu (M, 7.6k)

Draco Malfoy lives in a cottage. It's a very nice cottage. Every morning, she makes herself tea. The kettle is broken, so she boils the water in a pot. Then Harry Potter turns up.

hear me (with your whole body) by @teacup-tai (E, 9k)

It was a sexy idea, exploring other bodies with Draco, engaging in sex with other people to spice things up. Something inside of him was excited about the prospect, but the nagging fear, the feeling of abandonment that follows each image that pops in his head is throwing him off.

Saltwater Stain by @the-starryknight (M, 9k)

Seven days stuck on a boat investigating a rogue ghost wouldn't be so bad if Harry didn't want Draco so much. Draco has his rules and Harry's content to follow them, but the air feels different away from the shore.

The Disappearing Act by @corvuscrowned (M, 11k)

The only thing Potter is good at is disappearing from Draco's life. But Draco can't just stand by and watch the man destroy himself.

Closure is a state of mind by @quicksilvermaid (E, 12k)

After Harry's husband Charlie is killed, his Mind Healer recommends a Polyjuice therapy company, so Harry can see 'Charlie' again and find closure over his death.

The Eighth Tale by lettered (E, 12k)

Draco Malfoy tries to fix the past, but instead mucks it up some more. For Harry, it all becomes quite clear.

any day now by @oknowkiss (E, 17k)

Draco supposes he should be grateful. The rehabilitation centres were the Minister’s idea, or that’s what the Prophet said anyway.

I Love You by Curlee_Cue (M, 18k)

Harry knows what love is. It’s something that grows. Something that adapts. Something that sometimes needs a little help along the way. (or the one in which Harry loses his mind).

Collapse Amongst the Dying Stars by @writcraft (M, 26k)

After the final battle nothing is quite as Harry expected. Death Eaters remain unaccounted for, Malfoy is in prison and there is something rotten in Azkaban.

The Good Guys by Frayach (E, 26k)

When Draco Malfoy is captured red-handed trying to sell an illegal potion to a clerk at Borgin & Burkes, he is handed over to the Department of Essential and Necessary Truth’s newest interrogator.

Dreaming Darkly by @quicksilvermaid (E, 40k)

It's five years after the war, and Harry is not okay. He hates his job. He hates Robards. He hates Ron's promotions and Hermione's concern.

Absolution by sunnyeclipses (E, 63k)

At the mercy of his failing marriage, Harry only meant to use the potion once — to get Draco to listen. It’s not his fault that it works so well and that Draco’s just so easy to control.

#happy v day #drarry recs #heartbreak

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baiwu-jinji · 2 years

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hello! i was this anon. thank you so much for taking the time to write up an insightful response, i did learn something and i also saw a little bit of myself in your learning methods. finding out that you first dove into pride and prejudice despite not being fluent in english reminds me of myself reading chinese webnovel raws despite not understanding what half of the words mean. i thought it was a stupid move, but knowing you sort of learned this way except in english really bolstered my desire to learn chinese in an “orthodox” way. with that said… are there any chinese literature you would recommend? my uncle said mo yan is a good start, but i’d love to hear your recommendations as well! 多谢，你的回答真的很好，有意义。

Hi! I’m happy that you found my answer useful!^^ Lao She (老舍) was my favourite author when I was in high school so I’ll recommend him first. Lao She’s scathing sarcasm and deep sympathy for the struggles of the common people reminds me of Charles Dickens, and his works give you a glimpse of early twentieth century China that’s war-torn, poverty-stricken, corrupt, chaotic, and in the throes of a painful rebirth. I think I loved Lao She not only because he’s a great storyteller who captured the zeitgeist but also because of the profound humanity behind all his writings. Some of Lao She’s famous works are 《四世同堂》 (Four Generations Under One Roof), 《骆驼祥子》 (Rickshaw Boy), and 《茶馆》 (Teahouse); his short stories are also great.

Another writer I want to recommend is Liu Cixin (刘慈欣). He’s a science fiction author and I consider him to be one of the most significant and influential contemporary Chinese writers. Science fiction has never been a widely popular genre in China, but it’s absolutely amazing to see how some of the terms from Liu Cixin’s works such as “降维打击”, “不要回答！” , and “黑暗森林” have become so well-recognized among Chinese readers and have entered common parlance. With Liu Cixin, you really only need to read his Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy that consists of the following three novels: The Three-Body Problem (三体), The Dark Forest (黑暗森林), and Death’s End (死神永生). This trilogy is his magnum opus and I doubt he’ll ever write anything greater that this lol. I think the way Liu Cixin wrote about the universe, humanity’s place in the universe, and cosmic civilizations has a great impact on the outlook of younger generations in China (including me), and I'm really happy to see that the trilogy is gaining popularity outside China.

If there’s any other literature I’d recommend then it’ll probably just be the four classic novels (四大名著), which I’m sure you’ve heard of. Those are great novels and they’re just so…classic that you have to learn about them one way or another. Their language might be more difficult compared to more recent novels, but I think they’re largely readable. 《三国演义》 (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) and 《西游记》 (Journey to the West) were my favourite when I was a kid and I read them over and over again, and I’ve only come to appreciate the beauty and depth of 《红楼梦》 (Dream of the Red Chamber) more as I got older.

#chinese literature

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teacup-tai · 3 years

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Tai Recs: Crazy Looong Fics

My best friends used to have a running joke about my fanfic reading habits, saying that "Tai wouldn't touch anything shorter than 50k". Let's say they were not far from wrong. xD #facepalm

I am a sucker for really long stories. How writers provide us with a crazy amount of world building and character's development/study, and all kinds of mix of Slow Burn, Scorching UST, Brilliant Case fics, Political Plots, Adventure, Action, Beautiful Slice of Life & etc!

I devote my whole heart, gratitude and appreciation to all the Monster Writers, for such incredible long rides, for your time, hard work and for sharing this huge gifts with us!

Welcome to the: Crazy Long Fics 'Rec List! (>300k)

Drarry Favourites

TURN by Saras_girl (E, 306k)

One good turn always deserves another. Apparently.

A classic. No one in the Drarry fandom can go without having read, or attempted to read, Turn. The kind of fic that make you question your life and decisions. The kind of fic that don't let you go untouched.

Twist of Fate by Oakstone730 (T, 302k)

Draco asks Harry to help him beat the Imperius curse during 4th year. The lessons turn into more than either expected. A story of redemption and forgiveness.

ToF is another huge Drarry classic. It goes without saying that it will grab you and not let you leave without finishing. The angst is brilliant, the canon rewrite magnificent. A must read.

Foundations !verse (Series) by Saras_girl (E, 364k)

Harry is about to discover that the steepest learning curve comes after Healer training, and that second chances can be found in unexpected places.

This series is composed by 2 main fics (Reparations (87k) and Foundations (236k)) and 11 adjacent oneshots. Healer Harry wasn't something that I knew I needed until I read this. I learned so much with this universe; about being human, about learning from one's patients, about working with people. Reparations is my fave Saras_girl fic.

The Secret Language of Plants (Series) by @llendrinall (373k)

“Just… tell me. Tell me what is going on, Snape.”

This amazing series is composed by 4 parts, and it starts with Snape and Remus stealing and raising Harry, while falling in love with each other. It's bloody amazing how Endrina retells the story with such a nice canon rewrite, and gives us Drarry with such a nice twist <3

Tales From the Special Branch (Series) by @femmequixotic (E, 1.214k)

When Gawain Robards asks him to form Special Branch seven-four-alpha, Harry Potter knows they'll have to work outside the confines of the law--even though they are the law.

This is one of the most intertwined and interesting Drarry plots I've ever read. The amount of world-building in this 5 amazing fics is insane, the backstories to all the characters are impressive, how everything connects in such perfect way is amazing, how the plot thickens is breathtaking and the sex- lol hotter than firewhiskey. A mix of Action-politics-scorching hot smut-Slytherins being aurors-Harry Potter being a hot mess. (warning: WIP. ;_;)

Next in my to-read list:

Hush of War by @lol-zeitgeistic (E, 453k)

Conscience by sordidhumor (E, 1,450k)

Blood Magic by houseofhebrideanblacks & Thestralsofspinnersend (E, 335k)

My Favourites Outside HP fandom

I'm adding 2 non-HP series, bc I honestly think it is such a loss that there are folks in the world who never read it, so here, have at it:

Death Note (L/Light)

Those Who Stand For Nothing Falls For Anything - The Hinterland Doctrine Series by @halfpromise (E, 676k). 4 fics, WIP.

Light is a politician. What could go wrong?

Look at me: this is THE BEST POLITICS AU FIC I'VE EVER READ IN MY WHOLE LIFE. This is crazy long, crazy intense, it has a very very dark sense of humour, a very narcissistic and unreliable first narrator (Light) and it is such a toxic relationship. It's a utter delight to appreciate how Laura put it so well together, this is a literary recommendation for those with a strong stomach. Check the tags. (I've read it twice)

Naruto (Neji/Shikamaru | multiship)

Break to Breathe (Series) by @okamirayne (E, 1.240k). ffnet | AO3

Neji has always been in control. There's just one problem. It's killing him - and only Shikamaru can tell. But sometimes being pulled back from the edge is just as dangerous as being pushed there.

If you like Naruto and deep psychological plots, you should read this masterpiece. BtB is one of the biggest loves of my life. It should be published in a big editing house! xD Ninjas gone deep and real and raw and in love! This is a monsterfuck rollercoaster wrapped up in 4 books (1.240k). Rayne does a really good job in delving her fingers in the characters and making them hers but never making them OOC. Now my favourite Monster Writer is back and giving us a bit more of deep angsty-post-war-vibes <3

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jenroses · 3 years

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I'm thinking about the whole concept of "Authors I used to love and can no longer read" vs. "Authors who wrote problematic stuff in a problematic time but learned to do better once they understood the issues better."

And it comes down to willingness to listen and learn. I don't read Orson Scott Card anymore, though at one point I'd read everything he'd written to that point, most of them multiple times, because when given a choice between grace and ugly bigotry, he doubled down on the bigotry.

I don't read HP anymore, because there's so much to read in the world that is not written by someone actively, currently hostile to people I love.

But almost every author I know who I still do read has shifted how they write over time, gotten more inclusive, more aware. There are things written 30 years ago that would not fly today, and their authors wouldn't write them the same today, because one of the fundamental marks of a good human being is that when they know better, they do better.

I have things I wrote years ago that I absolutely would have made different choices about in the language now, some are only 5 years old, and I'd still do them differently now. If people judge my writing by what I wrote 10, 20 years ago, they're looking at a single 2d snapshot of a four dimensional progression through time.

Our whole understanding of consent has shifted within the last ten years. Most people did not understand transgender issues *at all* ten years ago, even people who have since transitioned. Same sex marriage only became universally legal in the US less than six years ago. The zeitgeist has made incredible progress but making incredible progress also implies that the starting point wasn't great, and it wasn't.

So yeah, I make allowances for stuff written years ago, and if I'm really curious, I look at what that author is saying NOW. Because it matters more where someone is than where they were.

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eirist · 3 years

Text

Little Bits and Pieces of Heaven

OTANJOUBI OMEDETOU!

One-shot #: 28

Disclaimer: One Piece (and its characters) belongs to Eiichiro Oda-sensei.

Reminder: I have no beta-reader. Any grammatical and spelling errors are solely mine.

Warning: OOC possible. One shot.

Rating: T

Note: This was supposedly for Nami’s birthday last year but I didn’t get to finish it on time. Not that I did as well this year. But I don’t want to drag this for another more year or so. And since it’s still July, I figured I can still make it work. Better late than never right?

This is for @redpakwan. AU setting. College zeitgeist. Yet super late. Forgive me. I hope you still enjoy this.

The omedetou in the last part actually has two meanings. In case you are familiar with the Japanese language, you’ll get the implication. *winks*

Summary: All of their friends are present at the party tonight! Even those who she barely knows and acquainted with her only through common friends. Yet Zoro who was supposedly close to her, wasn’t here!

“Ssshhhh! Quiet now!”

Usopp shushed the fidgeting and whining Luffy beside him.

“Quit squirming like an ant is biting your butt!”

“But Usopp…” the black-haired lad bemoaned. “It’s taking too long. I’m starving!” His stomach made a rumbling sound and a horrified expression crossed Usopp’s face.

“Shut up. Just wait for a few more minutes!”

“I can’t! I can smell all the meat that Sanji cooked!” A drool dropped down the side of Luffy’s mouth. “I can’t resist anymore!”

“Oi! Can somebody put a fucking gag on that moron’s mouth?” Sanji hissed somewhere from behind them. He had pushed the swinging door leading to the kitchen (where he was hiding) open to glare at them. “He’s gonna ruin our surprise!”

“Sanji! I can’t wait anymore!” Luffy shouted from his hiding spot.

“Aho! Don’t you dare move from that spot or I’ll tie you to a chair and make you watch us eat all the meat you specifically requested that I cook!”

“Demo…”

“Uruse!”

“Shhh! Quiet down guys!” Franky called out from beneath the bar counter. “She’ll be here any minute now!”

“Usopp,” Sanji drawled, throwing a handkerchief at the curly-haired lad. “Gag him if needed.” He nudged his chin at the boy beside Usopp, who was pouting at being denied food.

“But he bites,” Usopp complained even as he caught the hanky.

“We all have to make sacrifices...”

“Damn you!”

“She’s already here.” Robin announced from her position at the bar’s window. The raven-haired woman was acting as their lookout. “She’s about to cross the street,” she added before sauntering away from her location to join Sanji in his hiding place.

“Robin-chwan,” the cook greeted suavely as he opened the door wider to let the older woman inside. Then he turned and barked at the others. “All of you quiet down now! Anyone who makes any shitty noise will not be allowed to touch any of the food!”

“But, San—mmph!” Luffy opened his mouth and Usopp promptly shoved the small cloth inside.

“Everybody shut up and get ready!”

The bar door opened with a soft tinkling sound.

“SURPRISE!!!” They all shouted simultaneously as they popped out of their respective hiding places… well except for Luffy, who had to spit out the handkerchief in his mouth.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY NAMI!!!”

The sound of confetti poppers exploding alongside the hoots of party horns and lots of clapping and cheering immediately followed the greeting.

It was Nami’s birthday. And they had planned a surprise party for her at their group’s favorite bar. It had been a real challenge to pull it off since everyone was busy preparing for the university’s ‘hell week’—those torturous days before the summer break officially starts.

Plus, it was kind of hard to keep it hush-hush since some people in their circle are terrible secret keepers (namely Luffy).

But somehow they did. And Nami—as sharp as she is—didn’t have any inkling on what was going on, given the way her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

“Ah ma cherie!” Sanji crooned as he twirled across the room, kneeling down on one knee in front of the newcomer. He presented a heart-shaped cake with flourish—with all the candles lit up. “Otanjoubi omedetou!”

Nami looked genuinely astounded as her brown eyes wandered at the grinning faces of her friends.

She blinked a few times and her lower lip quivered slightly. “You guys…” she whispered, bringing a hand to cover her mouth.

For a moment, she looked like she was going to cry.

Then her face broke into a largest smile.

“Minna! Arigatou!!!” She squealed, clapping her hands together delightedly.

The loud hoot of the party horn filled the room as Franky blew on it again before bellowing, “Supeeer Happy Birthday Nami!!!”

That signaled another round of applause and shouted greetings as the well-wishers approached Nami to greet her up close.

Sanji—who remained kneeling on one knee before her with her birthday cake—nearly got shoved to the side by Luffy and Usopp as they both sprang towards the orange-haired girl to give her a hug.

“Oi temee you idiots!” Sanji shouted. He was barely able to save the cake from the two morons.

But the two were oblivious to his swearing as they launched into a rather off-key happy birthday song, which the others soon followed.

Nami winced slightly as Usopp and Luffy belted out the song just right at her ears. They were saved from her punches by Robin approaching and placing a party hat around her head.

“Happy birthday Nami!” The older woman greeted and Nami grinned at her, holding the party hat with one hand and trying to shove Luffy and Usopp’s faces away from her.

“Thank you Robin!”

The birthday song ended rather exaggeratedly high and Nami tried very hard not to wallop both of her idiotic friends who had made it a contest to see who can sustain the last note longer.

“Enough! Both of you!” Sanji roared as he stood up and kicked Luffy and Usopp out of the way. He presented the cake to Nami again and said charmingly, “Nami-swan if you please.” He motioned to the cake he was holding. “The birthday girl has to make a wish first before blowing the candles.”

“Arigatou Sanji-kun,” Nami smiled at him and leaned forward, tucking a strand of orange hair behind her ear. She closed her eyes, silently stating her wishes before blowing the candles out.

“I hope you wished for your prince charming to—ooof!”

Luffy excitedly elbowed him out of the way to greet her again, almost toppling the cake off the blond’s hand again.

“Nami! Happy birthday!”

“Damn it Luffy!” Sanji desperately and comically tried to save the cake before it falls flat on the ground… and luckily succeeded.

Luffy ignored him and the ever-enthusiastic lad yelled. “It’s finally time to eat!!! Sanji serve the meat!”

“Aho!” Sanji bellowed and hit him in the head. “You nearly made me dropped Nami-san’s precious cake!”

“Ooops sorry!”

Robin giggled as Nami smiled wryly. Even during her birthday these morons just can’t stop themselves.

“Alright you guys!” Usopp suddenly hollered from her side. “Start calling the others! Nami’s happy 23rd party’s about to start!”

Nami whacked him on the head… hard.

“I’m just twenty you idiot!”

-------------------------

It hadn’t taken long for the bar to be filled with guests. Almost all of their friends and colleagues from the university attended the celebration. Not to mention, those friends also brought their own pals to enjoy a night of overflowing free food and drinks.

Not that Nami minded. She knew most of them anyway. If not, her friends definitely knew them.

Plus, you can bet she’s gonna charge their freeloading asses anyway.

Her eyes roamed around the room, noting the individuals who were present. She was enjoying her beer at the bar counter and taking a break from all that socializing and thanking her birthday guests.

Usopp had taken the responsibility of acting as the DJ for the night. An upbeat music was now playing and Luffy’s attractive older brother Ace had taken over the dance floor with his buddies.

Brook has just arrived from his band practice and Luffy ran off to greet him. Sanji was busy flitting around the female guests, crooning and spewing praises at them while Robin and Franky were sitting near her and was chatting with the bar owner, Shakky.

She gave a small wave at Kid and Killer when she spotted them. Both raised their beer bottles at her—a sort of silent birthday greeting. She mouthed thanks just as Luffy’s attention went to them and he launched himself at the two men much to their chagrin. She wasn’t really that close to the two seniors students but they’re both in the same fraternity as Luffy and Zoro.

Speaking of Zoro… is he still not here?

A frown suddenly appeared on her face and it deepened when she noticed the beer coolers stocked near the kitchen doors.

“Hey,” she turned to Robin, Franky and Shakky who stopped talking. “Why do we still have so much booze?” Nami pointed towards the large, still filled with beer coolers. “Considering we have a lot of guests tonight and most of them are drinkers… I’m surprised we haven’t broken the fifth one yet.”

“Huh?” Franky lifted his sunglasses and gazed at her curiously, before shifting his eyes to where she was pointing. Nami really doesn’t get it why he still wears them indoors. She just dismissed it as one of his idiosyncrasies… they all have one after all.

“Is there a problem Nami-chan?” Shakky inquired with a smile.

“Nothing. It’s just that… it’s nearing midnight and we still have that many,” Nami observed. “Hmm… never mind,” she waved her hand dismissively. “It’s probably just a slow night.”

“Maybe those guys are still warming up.” Robin observed Ace’s group and the Luffy’s fraternity acquaintances, who were all shouting and hopping on the dance floor. Good thing Luffy and Ace’s other brother, Sabo, is out of town. Or there’ll be chaos in that floor now.

Shakky leaned down the counter and propped her chin on her hand looking at Nami with a glint of amusement in her dark eyes. “It’s probably because Zoro-chan’s not here to start a drinking competition.”

Nami’s eyebrows disappeared behind her bangs. So that confirms it.

“Oh? He’s still not here?” she asked, trying to be casual about it—even if she already noticed that her green-haired friend was nowhere in her party. “Really? Of all days to be M.I.A?”

“He’s probably late just like Chopper,” Robin said with a soft smile, refraining from teasing the younger woman since it was her birthday. She had seen the disappointment flashed across Nami’s brown eyes earlier. It was for a fleeting moment but it is there.

“He better have a damn good reason why he’s not here,” Nami grumbled, folding her arms across her chest. The nerve of that guy, missing one of the most important days of her life.

“Just relax girly…” Franky winked at her as he handed her another bottle of beer to replace her empty one. “He’ll be here. This party’s compulsory and has booze after all.” He guffawed, opening another beer bottle for himself and taking a drink.

“Compulsory?” Nami repeated, cocking one eyebrow.

“Yep,” Franky nodded. “We made it mandatory for all invitees to attend so we’d have more heads. As we promised Shakky when she let us use her bar for your party’s venue.”

Shakky winked at her. “Once the supply beer runs out, you have no choice but to buy here.”

Nami snickered. “I’m surprised you even let them bring beers from outside.”

“Not really,” Robin chuckled. “Those are from Shakky’s as well.”

Said bar owner winked at Nami again.

“Damn,” Nami just shook her head disbelievingly. Shakky’s negotiation and money skills are way beyond awesome!

Franky grinned. “So let’s just wait for him. Besides, what’s a party without any drinking competition started by Zoro?”

Nami nodded her agreement even as she huffed. “He has to get his ass here first before anything else. Or I’m gonna start charging by the minute.”

Franky winced at that while Shakky and Robin giggled. Nami was notoriously known for her habit of charging outrageous amount of belis whenever she thinks the situation calls for it. Almost everyone in their circle owes her a certain amount that just keeps increasing as time goes by.

“Hey!”

Usopp suddenly appeared near them. “Got any more beers?”

Nami eyed him warily. “Weren’t you supposed to be on the other side playing songs and entertaining us?!”

Usopp made a face at her. “A guy could use a break you know. You’re not exactly paying me for my services.”

“I thought you said you’d do it free for Nami since it’s her birthday,” Robin reminded him as Franky went to the coolers to get him a drink.

“I did?”

Nami narrowed her eyes at him. “You still owe me my gift you idiot.”

A sheepish laugh escaped Usopp. “Well consider my dj-ing skills your present then.”

“Cheapskate.”

“Oi!”

“Here ya go long-nose,” Franky handed him his request.

“Thanks Franky!”

“Aren’t you going back there?” Shakky inquired as she lit up a cigarette.

“Nah. I’ll take a break.” Usopp answered. “I just auto-played a playlist. It’s not like those guys really care about what’s blasting on the speakers.”

He shifted his eyes towards the dance floor where the crowd was getting louder and rowdier. “Besides… I swear I’m not gonna be surprised if a fight breaks out in a few seconds.”

“Why?” Robin queried with an amused smile. “Too much testosterone?” As unruly as the guests may get… they wouldn’t dare or lest they acquire Shakky’s wrath and forever be banned in the place.

“More like too much Luffy.”

Everyone nodded in understanding.

“Thank Kami Zoro’s not here.” Usopp gushed. “One less of a headache.”

“You do know if he’s here someone can actually rein Straw Hat in?” Franky said matter-of-factly.

Usopp waved his hand dismissively. “I know that of course. Anyway… Zoro’s like really, really late isn’t he? Has anyone tried to call him?”

Both Robin and Franky shook their heads.

A horror-stricken expression crossed Usopp’s face. “Oh shit wait! Did someone inform him about today?!”

Nami eyes were sharp as they zeroed in at her curly-haired friend. “You didn’t tell him about today?”

Usopp looked guilty. “I think I forgot,”

Robin raised her hand. “I did tell him. And I’m pretty sure Luffy did as well.”

“Whew! Thank heavens for you Robin!” Usopp sigh in relief as Nami punched him on the shoulder.

“Ouch!”

Robin just smiled. “Luffy wouldn’t let Zoro miss Nami’s birthday of course.”

“Yeah. That’s why he isn’t here now. That moron.” Nami complained, glaring at Usopp who flinched under her gaze.

“Hey I said sorry,” Usopp rubbed the back of his neck. “He’s just been kinda busy lately it’s hard to catch him. Honestly, I haven’t seen him for like a week now.”

“That’s what cellphones are for you idiot,” Nami groused. “So you can send him a message to remind him of important stuff!”

“Like your birthday party?”

“Yes!”

“But Robin said she already told him,” Usopp whined. “So he should be getting his ass here by now. He’s a grown man after all.”

“Unless of course he got himself lost…” Franky reminded them. “Anyway well know if he’s here. Sanji’s been blissfully happy all night. Let’s just wait for his—”

There was a noise coming from the entrance as another group entered the bar. The sound of Chopper’s voice excitedly calling for their names got their attention.

From the looks of it, the medical students had just been released from Dr. Kureha’s clutches and they all headed straight to Shakky’s bar for the party.

“Oh wait there’s Kaya!” Usopp perked up when he spotted his girlfriend just right behind Chopper. “I’ll talk to you guys later.” And just like that he ran off.

Nami sighed inwardly. Of all days not to show up and it looks like Zoro will chose this one which means a lot to her. She had been looking forward to this day too. It’s always fun to see her friends try to make it fun and special for her in their own clumsy ways.

Especially Zoro.

Ever since they’d known each other, he never missed her birthday. It doesn’t matter if he had no gift for her… he always make it to a point to be one of the first to greet her.

And sometimes the last as well.

But today… she still hadn’t heard from him. No call… not even a message!

It wasn’t easy to miss. Not when you’ve been waiting for that particular person to greet you.

Nami squared her shoulders. Now is not the time for the birthday girl to be down in the dumps.

There’s still time before midnight after all.

------------------------

The party was already in full swing. The sixth beer cooler was already opened. There was a lot of drunken shouting, singing and dancing happening inside the bar. Nami was pretty sure that they’ll be seeing Luffy’s brother Ace dancing on one of the tables along with Franky any minute now.

Yet no tall, scowling, green-haired man made an appearance.

She glumly stared at the sprinkle-rimmed birthday martini in front of her. Shakky made it for her birthday. But neither the cute-looking, celebratory beverage nor its taste can make the sinking feeling in her stomach disappear.

It was past midnight. And Zoro is no show.

No calls, no messages… no anything!

Idiot probably forgot her birthday!

All of their friends are present at the party tonight! Even those who she barely knows and acquainted with her only through common friends.

Yet Zoro who was supposedly close to her, wasn’t here!

Nami clenched her fist and gritted her teeth. He’s gonna owe her for this big time!

She didn’t realize that Shakky was just right in front of her, chin resting on the palm of her hand, watching her.

“Don’t worry about it Nami-chan,” Shakky suddenly spoke up. Her eyes were still glinting with the same amusement as before. “I’m sure he’ll show up.”

Nami instantly turned red at that. “It’s not…. that’s not…” she stammered. But then she gave up. No use trying to hide it. The look on Shakky’s face clearly tells her that she knows what’s in her mind (or who, to be exact).

A determined look crossed Nami’s features. “If he doesn’t… I swear I’ll charge him so much, he’ll sell his soul to the devil just to pay me!”

That made Shakky laugh out loud. Luffy’s friends are always so interesting. That is why she is fond of them.

“He wouldn’t miss this for the world. Late he may be,” Shakky stated in a mysterious tone and smile like she knows something that Nami doesn’t.

Nami just gaped at her.

Then Luffy was suddenly hollering at the other end of the room.

“Zorooooo!” He was bellowing loud enough to drown the already deafening noise in the bar. There were shouts of protests and swearing as the young man pushed his way across the crowd to greet his friend. “Zoro’s here!!!” Zorooo! Oi did you got lost again?”

“Shut up Luffy and get off me!” A voice growled.

Nami perked up at the familiar gruff tone.

“Better late than never you dumbass,” Sanji was saying from somewhere. “Thought you got lost and ended up dead and decaying on the other side of the town. Tch! Too bad.”

“You wanna go cook?”

“Unfortunately I’m busy and don’t have time for you. Go scat.”

“Temee…”

“Zorooo!” Luffy whined, pulling the taller man away from Sanji and towards the bar counter where Nami was. “Why are you’re sooo late? Come on! You have to greet Nami or she’ll be mad at you and charge you so much money it’ll break you!”

A vein popped on Nami’s forehead as Shakky chuckled.

“Nami! Nami!” Luffy all but dragged Zoro towards her as Nami schooled her face into a neutral expression. “Look who’s finally here!”

“I can see that Luffy,” she huffed and narrowed her eyes at Zoro. “You’re late.”

Zoro scratched the back of his head as Luffy released him and started pestering Shakky for a drink like the one she has. “Sorry… got tied up.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. He was still in his after training ensemble—track pants, zip up hoodie, sports bag. It looks like he just came from Mihawk’s dojo or his gym workout or both.

“I just needed to take care of something,” Zoro was saying. “Anyway, happy birthday.”

“It’s already past midnight idiot! Technically my birthday’s done.”

Zoro glanced around him. The party is still at its height. “Apparently the celebration is not.”

She pursed her lips at his observation. “You better have a good reason why you just got here.”

“Shit. I’m gonna owe you big time for this aren’t I?”

“You bet your ass you already do.” The grin on her face was so evil that Zoro couldn’t help but think she really is the devil incarnate.

“Hey Zoro!” Luffy suddenly appeared between them. “Jaggy’s looking for you. Come on! Come on!” He was referring to Kid whom he fondly calls by that nickname. He hooked an arm around Zoro’s and pulled him towards where their other friends are and away from Nami—much to the latter’s disappointment.

-------------------------

“So why are you late?”

Zoro flinched slightly as Nami surreptitiously appeared beside him. He was standing outside Shakky’s bar, enjoying a few minutes of silence while drinking his beer. He had sneaked out of the party to get away from an already sugar-high and tipsy Luffy and the boisterous, smashed guests as well.

“Thought I already told you I had something to take care of.”

“Important enough to miss my party?”

He paused halfway to bringing the bottle to his lips. From the corner of his eyes he saw a displeased expression appeared on Nami’s face.

Zoro sighed inwardly. He should’ve known she was not going to let him off the hook that easy.

“Hey if it’s that important, then I have no complaints.” Nami raised both of her hands in mock-surrender.

He didn’t answer and instead took a swig from his drink.

“Just thought you were out busy with a date.”

Silence.

“WHAT?!”

Zoro had sharply swiveled towards her that Nami took a step back, hands still raised up in surrender. He was practically snarling at her.

She was teasing him of course. It was always fun to rile him up. Besides, he deserves it after making her wait for such a long time… intentionally or not.

Plus… she kept hearing snippets all night from their friends about why he’s been so busy recently (to the point that nobody has actually seen him) and why he was constantly absent at their recent group gatherings.

He’s dating someone. Stupid Usopp has whispered to Kaya and Chopper just as she was passing them on her way out to answer a phone call from their friend Vivi.

It made her insides twist and turn when she heard it.

To think he’d pick his date over her—his long-time friend?

What a jerk. She will wring his neck. Definitely.

She was so distracted with what she heard that she wasn’t able to enjoy Vivi’s enthusiastic greeting. And when she saw him stepped outside the bar to quietly enjoy the beer in his hand, she decided not to let the opportunity slip.

Zoro’s face was scrunched into a frown as he glared at her. “Where did you even get that idea?”

Nami bit her lower lip. “Usopp.” She unapologetically throwing her friend to the sharks… or shark.

Zoro’s face darkened. “What did he say?”

“He said you were dating someone. So I assumed that’s the reason why we weren’t seeing much of you lately and also the reason why you are late for my birthday. And not just because you were running around in circles again.”

The green-haired man studied her for a moment. His lone grey eye fixed intently on her. “Is that stupid long-nose making fun of me again?”

Nami blinked dumbly at his question. She’s not really sure what he meant by that.

This time Zoro’s frown had turn into a full blown scowl. “What the hell is that idiot up to now? I’m not dating anyone!”

And Nami’s face brightened at that. Good thing they were outside and the entryway of the bar was dimly lit or he will see it.

So Zoro was not really dating anyone? She fought the urge to smile. She’s gonna choke Usopp’s neck so hard later.

“Nami,” Zoro growled out. “Is that idiot making fun of me again? Because I swear I’m gonna hang him by his feet and we’re not talking about a tree this time!”

“Uhm… I don’t think so Zoro,” Nami’s lips trembled and she threw back her head and laughed. She recalled how Usopp spread a gossip about the older lad’s dating his ‘bokken’ before and Zoro literally strung his feet together and let him dangle from one of the trees lining up the front of their complex.

Zoro let out an irritated ‘tch’.

“So you’re really not out with someone?” Nami probed when she finished laughing. Of course she had to be sure. She still doesn’t know the reason why they’ve been seeing less of him lately or why he was late for her birthday party.

“No,” Zoro muttered. “I don’t have time for that.”

“Oh good,” Nami folded her arms across her chest, eyeing him sternly. “Because it that’s the reason why you showed up late for my birthday, I will raise your current debt amount so high you will be serving me eternally.”

He just smirked at her threat.

“And I’ll never forgive you.”

That made him glower at her. An unforgiving Nami is hard to appease after all.

She gave him a cheeky grin before swiping the bottle from his hand and taking a drink from it.

He glared at her, unimpressed with her antic as she childishly stuck her tongue out at him.

“Be glad it’s your birthday witch.” He muttered as he grabbed the bottle from her.

“Like I said Zoro, it isn’t anymore,” she reminded him. “That’s how late you are. You missed the whole day of it.” She was still peeved at him for that. Just a bit though.

She watched him as he exasperatedly rubbed the back of his neck.

And she smiled.

She was still glad he was personally here for her birthday. She can live with that.

There was a sound of pitter-patter coming from above them. And it didn’t take long for them to realize that it started raining.

They remained silent, watching the rain splatter on the street and on the pavement. Inside the bar, they could hear someone hooting. Probably Franky as he was on his eighteenth bottle when Nami stepped outside. And that was minutes ago. He’s most likely on his twentieth or twenty-first.

"Oi." Zoro nudged her shoulder with his own, prompting her to look at him. He was suddenly standing a lot closer to her than before.

"What now Zoro?"

He pulled his hand away from the pocket of his jacket and almost shoved it in her face. "Happy birthday," he mumbled, diverting his gaze straightaway to avoid looking at her.

Nami was taken aback at the object in his hand. It was a small light orange box with a silver ribbon tied around it prettily.

She stared at it, then at him. Even in the dim light she noted the blush that appeared on his cheeks. Truth be told… a blushing Roronoa Zoro was gift enough for her birthday.

But of course she wouldn't say no to the present he was handing her.

She made a grab for it before he decides that she's taking too long in accepting it and retract his hand.

"Aawww... you didn't have to," Nami cooed and laughed when the blush on his cheek deepened and spread all over his face.

Cute.

"Shut up witch and just open it!"

"I’m really surprised you’re able to get me a present to be honest," she giggled. "And a fancy one too I might add."

Zoro grunted something that she didn't quite catch. She was far too busy untying the ribbon to pay any mind to whatever it was he's grumbling about.

When she opened the box, she didn't fight the gasp that escaped her lips.

Inside was a necklace. With a dainty thundercloud pendant.

She took it out… and a warm feeling suddenly washed over her making her cheeks tingle.

It was beautiful. It was perfect.

Nami lifted her eyes so she could look at him. Zoro was still engrossed on the empty street across them, watching the rain splash down on the ground with the droplets exploding everywhere.

It was really thoughtful of him. "Thank you Zoro."

He gave her a flinty side-glance. There was a smirk on his lips as he turned his attention back on the road. "It's nothing witch."

She glanced at the necklace again. She recalled they have a private joke back in high school that started one afternoon while watching an animated series on the old television set in Luffy's house. Nami loved one of the characters who had a knack for predicting the weather and whose weapon can conjure thunderclouds that produce lightning which the character uses to electrocute her enemies. "It'll be really handy to wield that. I can use it to electrocute your asses whenever anyone of you pisses me off. Especially you," she recalled poking his cheek harshly. "You're so goddamn hard to wake up whenever you are asleep." That had been so long ago. She honestly forgot all about it.

But Zoro remembered. She blinked rapidly as she felt herself tearing up.

Such a sweet gesture. And on her special day too!

Maybe she’s not gonna raise his debt and damn him into eternal servitude to her after all.

She lightly punched Zoro on the shoulder, earning a surprised glare from him.

"What the hell are you hitting me for?” Zoro hissed at her, rubbing the abused part. “I already gave you a present!" "That doesn't mean you get a ticket away from my knuckles!" Nami countered. “That was for being late today of all days!”

"Oi! Gratitude you wicked witch!" He complained. "Do you know how many nights I've stayed behind to clean up Mihawk's dojo just to get you that?!"

Nami's eyes widened. And so did Zoro’s when he realized his slip.

She finally understood now… the real reason why he was not hanging out with them lately.

Why no one had seen him these past few days.

“Sooo…” she intoned as she glanced him mischievously, loving the expression on his face when as he realized that he just idiotically revealed what he was supposed to keep a secret from her. “You actually went to such lengths just to get me this?”

She almost burst out laughing when Zoro’s face turned so red and he stuttered his objection.

"N-no...I... ju-just..."

"Hmmm..." Nami hummed teasingly. "That's what you said."

"Fine!" He bit out. "Thought that gift would be good enough to cover three more future birthdays."

Nami chortled and tried to ignore the way her heart was doing cartwheels inside her chest from too much happiness.

"Do the honors Zoro," she requested as she handed him the necklace, turning around and pulling her hair over her shoulder so he can clasp it around her neck.

He didn’t protest and did what she asked. His fingers felt warm as they brushed her nape, as warm as the heat that was spreading on her cheeks and sending shivers running up and down her spine.

“There.”

She immediately whirled to face him. "So? How does it look?"

Zoro rolled his eye at her as she tried to dish out a compliment from him. "It looks... fine."

"Fine?!" Nami snorted in disbelief. "I swear Zoro, you can do better than that!" She looked down to check the necklace, touching the pendant while a pouting.

When she tilted her head up to look at him to chastise his lack of aptitude when it comes to flattering women… Zoro was smiling at her in a way that made her heart skip a beat.

“It really suits you.”

The way he was looking at her right now made her want to kiss him.

Just like she always wanted to do.

Suddenly the bar door burst open and Luffy and Usopp ran out, excitedly (and drunkenly) shouting that the rain finally let up. Zoro immediately stepped away from her to prevent them from barreling into him.

And just like that… the one, rare moment between the two of them disappeared in an instant.

They both turned to watch the two hopped and danced in the middle of the street like a pair of lunatics. Chopper hurried past Zoro and Nami to join them.

“Oi get back here you dumbasses!” Sanji was shouting from inside.

Nami sighed. It was finally time to rein in the inebriated ones.

“I got it,” Zoro said nodding at her. The corners of his lips quirked up to give her a small smile, then he stepped out on the street to restrain the three before they can create anymore disturbance that might get them all in trouble.

“Oi Nami!” Franky called out to her from the bar. “You and Zoro both get your asses here! There’s a lot more to drink!”

Nami nodded as she glanced again at the green-haired man who was now effortlessly hauling up Luffy, Usopp and Chopper by their collars back to the bar as they whined and griped.

"Nami-chan?"

She looked back to see Shakky standing on the doorway. "Problem?"

"Nah." Nami grinned. “Zoro’s just trying to contain the troublemakers.”

Shakky chuckled. “Zoro-chan’s really handy.” The woman paused momentarily, as if she was studying her. Then she said, "What a pretty necklace."

Nami’s hand automatically went to touch her necklace again.

“Omedetou.” Shakky gave her an insinuating smile. “Now come on. You and Zoro-chan’s still got a drinking competition to start.”

#zoro x nami #ZoNa #zonami #zonalove #zona one-shots #zona fanfiction #zona prompt requests #zoro nami fanfiction #roronoa zoro #nami

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