#stories told for free

[incandescent-creativity]

Hi lucent

For storyday, tell me about the most normal story you've ever written and the most outlandish. According to you, I mean.

This question became very interesting to me as I started thinking of my answer to it, because it made me realize the only wips that have really Stuck are the ones that land in the middle of that spectrum? Which suggests that you have to hit that sweet spot between normal and outlandish for something to succeed.

For example, the most outlandish story idea I can remember ever trying to flesh out and write was something about a girl discovering an abandoned greenhouse full of sentient plants and their warring society contained entirely within glass walls. I don’t remember ever having a plot, just that premise I thought was fun.

(My headless zombie idea is in a similar stage, but I think I can come up with a plot for that one, so I don’t want to abandon it yet)

And the most normal one was probably a romance story about a woman traveling around taking people’s stories to post, similar to the People of New York account, and the man who follows her trying to get her story instead.

There were several reasons it didn’t work; for one thing, the two characters were basically Ash and Zach clones, and I couldn’t come up with unique characterizations for them. For another, I never had a solid backstory for how or why she was doing this project. Additionally, I think it would make for a more interesting story if she had a motivation that meant she collected the stories but didn’t post them, told people she was collecting testimonies for different reasons each time, and the man was an investigative journalist who had noticed these discrepancies. Which is quite different from the story I had originally.

But! Still quite “normal” I think. Mundane, almost. No supernatural characters or magic or worldbuilding of any sort.

Which I think is what I write best and is most interesting to me right now. Maybe the above story could be told someday, but for now I’d rather work in the mundane world but in the future (SOLE Project), or the mundane world with angels n demons (LiaHT and its sequels).

#sleepyowlwrites #incandescently answered #about me #my writing #my wips #stories told for free

[gentil-minou]

I am not an artist but I never want to forget this.

I am not a number.

I am a whole planet.

-Khalil

#sometimes i do watercolors for therapeutic reasons but i couldnt get thus out of my head and at first i was like wouldnt i be insulting him #with my horrible art skills if i shared this but then i remembered he wants his story told #so i will make sure it is #you are a whole planet Khalil #gaza #free gaza #ceasefire now #free palestine #palestine #bushy art #you arent allowed to be mean about my lack of skills but also if you are that just means youre cruel

[nerdpoe]

Injustice Timeline but with more Ghosts

Superman loses Lois, and starts to go rogue a la Injustice route.

Problem.

Dan, who was just entered into the Justice League, takes great offense to this.

Dan, who is reformed.

Dan, who remembers ripping every single member of the Justice League to shreds in that other timeline, and still remembers how to do it.

Superman never makes it past his opening speech to pitch the idea of hero-approved murder.

Dan, standing over an actually unconscious Superman who probably definitely needs medical treatment, looks at the other Heroes who would have sided with Superman.

"Ẅ̸̖̭͚̰̳̼̰́̇̋̚͜ͅh̴̨̛̭̝̘̻̙̝̜͔͚͛͌̿̉̓̈́̔̈̍͆̾͘͜o̵̦̟̣̖̝͔̠͍͙͖͕̔̏̈́͗̍͒̎̿͗̚͜'̴̦̣̪͓͓̤̲̲͐͌̂͋̉̚͠s̵̛̛̛̙̠̾̂͐̌̏̐́͝ ̵̛̩̹̪̤͔̰̣̼͈̒̉̿́͆͌͒͊̄͘̚͝ñ̷͉̠̩̝̇̒̐͂̄̽̈̃̅̕͘͝͠è̷͓̹̫͊̍̔̃̾̌̽̈́͑̓͜͝x̴̻̓̊̽̎̑ṫ̶̬̮̭̳͕̗̙̙̭̬̣̯͌͋̅͌̎͒͐̍͜?̴̗͍̺̼̪̞̋̕"

Meanwhile, Danny was sitting bored in his throne when a rather frightening new ghost forced her way in.

She demands an audience with him, introduces herself as Lois, and bullies him into making an interdimensional Passport.

She bullies Walker into agreeing that a Passport would make interdimensional travel follow the rules.

She has Danny searching various dimensions to find hers, because she wants to spend her afterlife with her still alive alien husband.

Danny...is too scared of her to tell her no.

#dcxdp #dpxdc #dc x dp #dp x dc #story prompt #injustice but with more ghosts au #Dan did not go through years of therapy to revert back to villainy #jazz would be so disappointed #ellie would be so disappointed #younger him would say he told them so and Dan CANNOT let that happen #If Superman needs to punch his grief out fine Dan can take it #He'll drag Superman's ass to the Realms and sign him up for a free-for-all brawl #but like fuck is he letting this shit happen again #Meanwhile Danny is very confused by this new reporter ghost #and very intimidated #he wishes her husband well because if he did anything stupid because of her death #she seems like she'll kick his ass with her new ghost powers

[pixlokita]

I feel like ? I gotta remind people it’s ok to unfollow a blog when it upsets you in any way >> like if I ever do that sure, you can let me know if it was anything I did personally I’d appreciate it but if you just don’t enjoy something it’s ok to unfollow ;w; can’t stress enough how important it is to put your mental health first 👌

#pix habla #fnaf #✨💖 even if you don’t like frogs and I post about frogs does that make sense #i see some yall not liking some of the stuff I draw and just kinda wonder ? why you still follow lol #i won’t take it personally #even if it’s a mutual heck I’ve even told my friends to unfollow if they ever need a break from my blog =w=👌 #because It’s nothing personal >> #i used to ok so funny story xD I used to follow a friend in middle school on social media #and we were good friends but had nothing in common in what we posted about =w= #like she loved Beatles fanfics (don’t ask do not ask idk I didn’t read past the titles) #and i loved sonic :v #and like #thats aigh ? you don’t gotta ? follow a blog that doesn’t bring joy no matter if you’re close or not #i would honestly hate it if I’m making anyone upset or unhappy #so yeyeyeye I’ve said this before in other fandoms but like >>)✨✨💖 put 👏 your mental health 👏👏👏 FIRST ALWAYS👏 #Stay safe y’all ✨👌 have fun be free #we’re all just… sitting here… online 😔 ain’t nothing to it

[angelsdean]

I need people to understand how S&P (standards and practices) works in television and how much influence they have over what gets to stay IN an episode of a show and how the big time network execs are the ones holding the purse strings and making final decisions on a show's content, not the writers / showrunners / creatives involved.

So many creators have shared S&P notes over the years of the wild and nonsensical things networks wanted them to omit / change / forbid. Most famously on tumblr, I've seen it so many times, is the notes from Gravity Falls. But here's a post compiling a bunch of particularly bad ones from various networks too. Do you see the things they're asking to be changed / cut ?

Now imagine, anything you want to get into your show and actually air has to get through S&P and the network execs. A lot of creators have had to resort to underhanded methods. A lot of creators have had to relegate things to subtext and innuendo and scenes that are "open to interpretation" instead of explicit in meaning. Things have had to be coded and symbolized. And they're relying on their audience to be good readers, good at media literacy, to notice and get it. This stuff isn't the ramblings of conspiracy theorists, it's the true practices creatives have had to use to be able to tell diverse stories for ages. The Hays Code is pretty well known, it exists because of censorship. It was a way to symbolize certain things and get past censors.

Queercoding, in particular, has been used for ages in both visual media and literature do signal to queer audiences that yes, this character is one of us, but no, we can't be explicit about it because TPTB won't allow it. It's a wink-wink, nudge-nudge to those in the know. It's the deliberate use of certain queer imagery / clothing / mannerisms / phrases / references to other queer media / subtle glances and lingering touches. Things that offer plausible deniability and can be explained away or go unnoticed by straight audiences to get past those network censors. But that queer viewers WILL (hopefully) pick up on.

Because, unfortunately, still to this day, a lot of antiquated network execs don't think queer narratives are profitable. They don't think they'll appeal to general audiences, because that's what matters, whatever appeals to most of the audience demographic so they can keep watching and keep making the network more money. The networks don't care about telling good stories! Most of them are old white cishet business men, not creatives. They don't care about character arcs and what will make fans happy. They don't care about storytelling. What they care about is profit and they're basing their ideas of what's profitable on what they believe is the predominate target demographic, usually white cis heterosexual audiences.

So, imagine a show that started airing in the early 2000s. Imagine a show where the two main characters are based on two characters from a famous Beat Generation novel, where one of the characters is queer! based on a real like bisexual man! The creator is aware of this, most definitely. And sure, it's 2005, there's no way they were thinking of making that explicit about Dean in the text because it just wouldn't fly back then to have a main character be queer. But! it's made subtext. And there are nods to that queerness placed in the text. Things that are open to interpretation. Things that are drenched in metaphor (looking at you 1x06 Skin "I know I'm a freak" "maybe this thing was born human but was different...hated. Until he learned to become someone else.") Things that are blink-and-you-miss-it and left to plausible deniability (things like seemingly spending an hour in the men's bathroom, or always reacting a little vulnerable and awkward when you're clocked instead of laughing it off and making a homophobic joke abt it)

And then, years later there's a ship! It's popular and at first the writers aren't really seriously thinking about it but they'll throw the fans a bone here and there. Then, some writers do get on the destiel train and start actively writing scenes for them that are suggestive. And only a fraction of what they write actually makes it into the text. So many lines left on the cutting room floor: i love past you. i forgive you i love you. i lost cas and it damn near broke me. spread cas's ashes alone. of course i wanted you to stay. if cas were here. -- etc. Everything cut was not cut by the writers! Why would a writer write something to then sabotage their own story and cut it? No, these are things that didn't make it past the network. Somewhere a note was made maybe "too gay" or "don't feed the shippers" or simply "no destiel."

So, "no destiel." That's pretty clearly the message we got from the CW for years. "No destiel. Destiel will alienate our general audience. Two of our main characters being queer? And in a relationship? No way." So what can the pro-destiel creatives involved do, if the network is saying no? What can the writers do if most of their explicit destiel (or queer dean) lines / moments are getting cut? Relegate things to subtext. Make jokes that straight people can wave off but queer people can read into. Make costuming and set design choices that the hardcore fans who are already looking will notice while the general audience and the out-of-touch network execs won't blink and eye at (I'm looking at you Jerry and your lamps and disappearing second nightstands and your gay flamingo bar!)

And then, when the audience asks, "is destiel real? is this proof of destiel?" what can the creatives do but deny? Yes, it hurts, to be told "No no I don't know what you're talking about. There's no destiel in supernatural" a la "there is no war in Ba Sing Se" but! if the network said "no destiel!" and you and your creative team have been working to keep putting destiel in the subtext of the narrative in a way that will get past censors, you can't just go "Yes, actually, all that subtext and symbolism you're picking up, yea it's because destiel is actually in the narrative."

But, there's a BIG difference between actively putting queer themes and subtext into the narrative and then saying it's not there (but it is! and the audience sees it!) versus NOT putting any queer content into the text but SAYING it is there to entice queer fans to continue watching. The latter, is textbook queerbaiting. The former? Is not. The former is the tactics so many creatives have had to use for years, decades, centuries, to get past censorship and signal to those in the know that yea, characters like you are here, they exist in this story.

Were the spn writers perfect? No, absolutely not. And I don't think every instance of queer content was a secret signal. Some stuff, depending on the writer, might've been a period-typical gay joke. These writers are flawed. But it's no secret that there were pro-destiel writers in the writing room throughout the years, and that efforts were made to make it explicitly canon (the market research!)

So no, the writers weren't ever perfect or a homogeneous entity. But they definitely were fighting an uphill battle constantly for 15 yrs against S&P and network execs with antiquated ideas of what's profitable / appealing.

Spn even called out the networks before, on the show, using a silly example of complaints abt the lighting of the show and how dark the early seasons were. Brightening the later seasons wasn't a creative choice, but a network choice. And if the networks can complain abt and change something as trivial as the lighting of a show, they definitely are having a hand in influencing the content of the show, especially queer content.

Even in s15, (seasons fifteen!!!) Misha has said he worried Castiel's confession would not air. In 2020!!! And Jensen recorded that scene on his personal phone! Why? Sure, for the memories. But also, I do not doubt for a second that part of it was for insurance, should the scene mysteriously disappear completely. We've seen the finale script. We've seen the omitted omitted omitted scenes. We all saw how they hacked the confession scene to bits. The weird cuts and close-ups. That's not the writers doing. That's likely not even the editors (willingly). That's orders from on high. All of the fuckery we saw in s15 reeks of network interference. Writers are not trying to sabotage their own stories, believe me.

Anyways, TLDR: Networks have a lot more power than many think and they get final say in what makes it to air. And for years creative teams have had to find ways to get past network censorship if they want "banned" or "unapproved" "unprofitable" "unwanted" content to make it into the show. That means relying on techniques like symbolism, subtext, and queercoding, and then shutting up about it. Denying its there, saying it's all "open to interpretation" all while they continue to put that open to interpretation content into the show. And that's not queerbaiting, as frustrating as it might be for queer audiences to be told that what they're seeing isn't there, it's still not queerbaiting. Queerbaiting is a marketing technique to draw in queer fans by baiting them with the promise of queer content and then having no queer content in said media. But if you are picking up on queer themes / subtext / symbolism / coding that is in front of your face IN the text, that's not queerbaiting. It's there, covertly, for you, because someone higher up didn't want it to be there explicitly or at all.

#long post #LONG-ass post #but it needed to be said! #i'm sorry if you think every creative involved with spn was a braindead asshole but the thing is. #even the most mediocre of writers understands a thing or two abt symbolism and writers working in TV are plagued by S&P #countless writers have talked abt the S&P bullshit and having to tweak and edit down their work to get past censors #it's a reality of writing for television #and the people who understand all this and understand the context of making TV in the early 2000s (to present tbh!) aren't 'delusional' #i'm sorry but it's naive to think that queer stories and queer characters are free to be told even nowadays. it's still a constant battle #times have changed but unfortunately not as much as you'd think #the confession !!!!! the confession still struggled to air and what we got was so obviously hacked down to bits!!!!!! #how can anyone think getting destiel content into the show was ever easy? #how can anyone think the pro-destiel writers weren't constantly having to be careful and underhanded in their writing? #there's a reason queercoding and subtext exist and it's this!!! it's censorship from TPTB #anyways. people much older than me have been talking abt this for ages. younger fans who are used to more open queer rep need to understand #it hasn't always been that easy and even nowadays SO many networks are still not willing to take a risk on queer stories #so creators do what they can #vic.txt

[witsserviceablesubstitute]

How can Will move forward if he's just ignoring his past and listening to people who call him evil– internalizing all that self hatred?

How can James find his voice and master his needs if he actually has no autonomy– if he keeps letting people tell him he has no autonomy?

The battlefield in Dark Heir is really about who controls the narrative. Right now the Light controls the narrative and James and Will are losing because of it. They have to take the control back. They can't do that if they continue to buy into the propaganda against them, their past selves, their relationship, and the desires they harbour.

They need to start facing themselves as they are, who they once were, and start fighting back against the Light's narrative to be free of it.

#will kempen #dark heir #dark heir spoilers #james st clair #anharion #sarcean #not just Will and James trapped by the story being told– also Anharion and Sarcean. They too need to be set free of the narrative.

[cookkoo]

Drawtober 2023 day 2: Spider (lily)

Day1

#shumako #amamiya ren #niijima makoto #kurusu akira #drawtober #drawtober2023 #inktober #inktober2023 #This is Ren based on my very old au #you probably can find it on twitter if you look up for loopAU under my acct #not the most creative name I know #altho 70% of the actual story is probably in my private acct #long story short it's a loop reset setting but every time he comes back his body decay more #boi pretty much two steps away from death in this loop #did I told you I like angst #just dont ask me how many angsty AUs living rent free in my head #There really is no happy ending for us #is what I wanna add as the caption but I feel like ppl will get the wrong context even with the higanbana #asdfghj

[rustchild]

one of the wild things about people’s stubborn insistence on misunderstanding The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas is that the narrator anticipates an audience that won’t engage with the text, just in the opposite direction. Throughout the story are little asides asking what the reader is willing to believe in. Can you believe in a utopia? What if I told you this? What about this? Can you believe in the festivals? The towers by the sea? Can we believe that they have no king? Can we believe that they are joyful? Does your utopia have technology, luxury, sex, temples, drugs? The story is consulting you as it’s being told, framed as a dialogue. It literally asks you directly: do you only believe joy is possible with suffering? And, implicitly, why?

the question isn’t just “what would you personally do about the kid.” It isn’t just an intricate trolley problem. It’s an interrogation of the limits of imagination. How do we make suffering compulsory? Why? What futures (or pasts) are we capable of imagining? How do we rationalize suffering as necessary? And so on. In all of the conversations I’ve seen or had about this story, no one has mentioned the fact that it’s actively breaking the fourth wall. The narrator is building a world in front of your eyes and challenging you to participate. “I would free the kid” and then what? What does the Omelas you’ve constructed look like, and why? And what does that say about the worlds you’re building in real life?

#ursula k le guin #omelas #There are so many ideas in this story that simply do not get engaged with! #I’ve heard it argued that a central element of anarchism #as a political philosophy #is the expansion of the imagination: what is truly possible if we forget the structures we are raised in? #if we forget what we have been told is or is not possible? #le guin wasn’t an anarchist but her work is heavily inspired by anarchist thought #Also the idea that the compassion of citizens of omelas is possible only because they are able to see themselves in relation and contrast t #the kid #very interesting stuff there #arguably a searing critique of moderate liberals #who feel compassion from on high but rationalize the ways in which those who suffer cosmically deserve it #in order to maintain structures of suffering #This short story is breaking the fourth wall Constantly to grab you by the collar and ask #what do you think is possible in the world and what do you think is good and what do you think is necessary #If you want to free the kid then what! What does that mean! #ALSO if omelas is a place being constructed as an idea #are the ones who walk away meant to be literally deserting a place #or are they rejecting an idea #hmmm much to think about

[greencarnation]

Printed some fliers and stickers to put up around town tomorrow. Remember that posting isn't the only way to spread awareness and build public consciousness in your area

#palestine #gaza #israel #free palestine #its a shame theyre in back and white but there isnt a colour printer #but if anyone wants ive built this document of hundreds of our martyrs along with their names and stories in this sort of format? #i might make it a series on here as well. their stories should be told #to be honest making the document was very hard. every time i look at it i want to sob #how can the world hold this much grief? #and i don't even have 1% i think of the martyrs #30000 dead is unthinkable #collecting hundreds of photographs and writing out what i can find about them. looking at their social media their families social media #i don't know #i was going to share it on here anyway once my grandfather ass works out how to turn it into a sharable pdf #but ok just get a sharpie and write free palestine on the bus stop u dont even need printed stuff #politics #free gaza #genocide #stop the war #ethnic cleansing #south africa

[daily-dr-ratio]

guys im ngl argenti has completely taken over my brain,,i cant draw dr ratio like at all it always ends up being argenti BUT pls take this for now,,,

#im sorry but i got hit with the yume gun and now i cant stop thinking of argenti #ouughhh hes so beautiful <3 #IM STILL SO EXCITED FOR DR RATIO THO OMG #WE'RE GETTING HIM FOR FREE #i got 36 pulls rn for his lc and hopefully i can get some copies of him? #doubt it tho #and friend told me abt some story leaks and WOW IM SO EXCITED!!! #wont talk abt it here tho #its not even 1.6 leaks so im not gonna post abt it #ANYWAYS!!! ALL DR RATIO FANS WILL ACTUALLY HAVE HIM #THATS SO COOL #dr ratio #hsr #honkai star rail #hsr dr ratio #honkai star rail dr ratio #dr ratio fanart #hsr fanart

[sarah-kings]

Me trying to find a good start to explain the story I've been writing for the past five years that mostly consists of G/t and is neither only focused on just one person, but on multiple who aren't even necessarily on one planet, having rich lore that goes back since the creation of time in the story, trying to figure out how to explain it to a friend like:

#god I want to talk so much about this i want to talk SO much about this! #i just don't know where to start and it's just ddhdlsvsksvykahsks #not a single character of mine counts as a side character! everyone has equal amount of lore and care of background story! #meaning that you could have a story following whoever you wanted and you still could tell the story! #which is EXACTLY my problem because I don't know which is the best one to start with! #if you want to talk to me abt my brainrot of a story feel free to ask me #plz plz plz plz plz! #i have only like ONE friend of mine who understands my story and that's only I told it to them BEFORE I settled on the deep lore #*deep breath* I'm cool now #I'm cool now... #shsksgskshslshsks #ok. now I'm cool #kinda a shitpost #enjoy my ramblings

[b4kuch1n]

blood loss edition

#sk8 the infinity #kyan reki #hasegawa langa #renga #colloquially. like gesturing towards a signifier of a signifier of a story told long before. youre not getting more out of me than that #ft. tố linh (and them in yuutoverse for a hot second) #if u wonder what a dirt historian is. stay tuned <3 #that thing reki does in the first page is a real thing everyone here's convinced of btw #like. free hangin from a bar by ur arms will make u taller #also I literally did not mean to design amy and linh Like That. I did Not mean for them to be. Like That #but I am happy that I did. bc I love their design and they play well with yuuto #the last page is. some extremely disorganized Thoughts from a thing I kinda wanna write #maybe not right now. but eventually #I guess it's also mostly like. one more love letter to the siblings out there. it has to do with reki getting #underground basically illegal T shots at S lmao #shakes u by the collar we're not going anywhere! I love you!! everything will find its place!!!! #anyways. there are also a number of muppet type creatures in this one. idk whats up with that #I dont have much blood in me rn Im not lucid. have fun be urself ok? #thats also why the inks been taking a break btw. and the fact that my new pot of ink just arrived today #while Im being deprived of my appropriate volume of intravenous fluid #man. may be another day. before I can stop screaming at my wall and punching things off shelves. and draw properly #meanwhile. u know whats up #I go lay down now. have fun ok? be kind to ur tall friends knee them only gently #also just realized future!langa kinda has a bit of haruka vibes. that is literally so awesome

[radjerda]

Story-time in Rivendell with Uncle Glorfindel! Elladan and Elrohir absolutely love going out adventuring early and listening to stories of old when offered the opportunity.

(Hopefully Glorfindel chose something more appropriate than the balrog story, this time.)

This piece is intended to be a panel of a comic that as of yet lives in my head, but it stands on its own (and I'm impatient), so I thought I'd share this as it is now

#Lord of the Rings #lotr #Glorfindel #Elladan #Elrohir #Elladan and Elrohir #Glorfindel of the Golden Flower #Silmarillion #Silm #Tolkien #Rivendell #(even if only my imagined version of a corner in the valley somewhere) #But I like to think that this fountain is the storytime fountain for Glorfindel - he finds it peaceful to sit by #Bonus points if anyone would like to take a stab at guessing at the meaning of the fountain/statue #Or if you just wanna know about the fountain: i WILL ramble #(gladly) #My eventual comic ideally will address what story is being told - but in the meantime feel free to fill in the gaps how you'd like! #Also feel free to guess at which twin is which - I did actually have a particular twin in mind when drawing them #Radj Draws

[jaebeanie]

DINLUKE || WAVES

“Are you a jedi?” “I am” “I need your help... they took the child.”

are you also disappointed with what's happened in season 3 Mando? Here is my little fix it edit - lets all just pretend this is the direction the show went in ?? 

I started this project at the end of last year but never had time to work on it, my pain over season 3 mando kicked my butt into action 

interpret the edit however you’d like! I tried to build a small collection of DinLuke interactions & moments which perhaps give ground to a bigger picture that isn’t always shown on screen. 

anyway- if you want to see more DinLuke edits please take a look at my channel! I currently have 5 DinLuke videos up, with over 40 handmade masks between them. DON’T MISS OUT!

#dinluke #the mandalorian #din djarin #Luke Skywalker #skydalorian #star wars #luke x din #grogu #baby yoda #i did my best with the s3 clips but i couldnt get my hands on anything HD and then there wasnt much to actually work from #im just so disheartened by s3 its a struggle to even put it into words #dinluke heart aside for a moment #they ruined din and its hard to watch because of that #there is a better story to be told and they have actively ignored it #really hope you all enjoy this wee thrown together piece aaaaaaaa #feel free to rant at me about dinluke anytime anywhere always

[blackbackedjackal]

Binging It's Me or the Dog and holy shit I'll never understand how people will just get dogs and not train them.

#if you guys have any horror stories about pet owners you've encountered at work feel free to spill the tea in the replies or anon #like I cannot believe how irresponsible so many people are #like literally maybe 5-15 minutes every hour or two has gotten Blue acting really well for a puppy #plus crates and gay baby jail are lifesavers like #i told my parents when I bought her crate and jail that this was for me more than her lol #jackal's journal

[designernishiki]

The Kiwami Millennium Tower showdown definitely ended with Kiryu being shaken awake by Haruka, who frantically pulls him over to Nishiki, half-buried in rubble and in a pool of his own blood, and Kiryu carrying a badly injured Nishiki out of the building to safety and still holding him close and not letting go when Nishiki regains consciousness in his arms and starts to weakly struggle against his grip, gives up, and breaks down sobbing, clutching Kiryu’s shirt and pleading to him–

“Please don’t do this– please don’t force me to live with this– just end it. I don’t deserve to live, I don’t want your mercy or your pity– it wasn’t supposed to go like this. I failed– I fail at everything– I even failed at ending my own life. I’ve hurt and betrayed everyone I’ve ever cared about and been a burden on everyone I’ve ever known. I’ll never be enough. Why the hell are you trying to save me? What the hell is there to save? Let me do one useful thing for once in my life and leave me to bleed out like I should. Please, Kazuma.”

And with teary eyes squeezed shut, his head down, Kiryu holds him so tightly to his chest it makes Nishiki’s burns sting and tells him,

“Everyone hurt you, and I left you to hurt alone. I broke our promise. I should’ve never left you to cross the line alone. I was supposed to be there for you, and I wasn’t– but I’m here now and I’m not letting you go. Never again. I need you here. I want you here. Just being here is enough, Akira. I promise.”

And Nishiki gives into his instinctive need to just cling to him and cry, as if making up for years of pent-up tears he’s forced himself not to shed out of an intense fear of vulnerability. He does what he should’ve done a long time ago, fakes his death, and leaves the yakuza life behind in favor of something more mundane, but something that’s actually him– something that allows him to accept himself as he is rather than being forced to live up to the impossible standards of others.

Trust me this is absolutely how it went. The End.

#didnt mean for this to be like. a miniature fic but. oops #also feel free to take this as platonic or romantic its really not important the point still stands #nishiki #kiryu #akira nishikiyama #kazuma kiryu #nishikiryu #yakuza kiwami #yakuza kiwami spoilers #cw suicidal ideation #i just. i want them to make up. and i want nishiki to break down crying. and i want him to be told hes enough. gaghghfgdhghh #long post #like legit tho. narratively speaking. i think just blowing up nishiki and having that be the end of it is... so much missed potential and #definitely not the most satisfying and emotionally engaging way of going about nishiki's overall story #something about suicidal characters being put up against horrible odds and struggling and in the end just being left to die without #anyone ever truly getting through to them that they are enough and deserve to exist and etc– at least enough to back away from the #ledge so to speak. idk. i just. dont like it #no one wants to see a character suffer like that for so long while being shown Clearly the causes of their self loathing and what Made them #fall as far as they have into self destruction- thus knowing they truly WANT to live. they just dont believe being happy or feeling content #is ever possible for them based on what they've been told and what they've gone through. and then watch them successfully kill themselves i #in an act of volatility and hostility essentially affirming that they'll forever be remembered for being malicious and as horrible as #they believe themselves to be and etc etc etc #sorry im rambling here #but #it just. i dont know man i just dont like it. and like i said its just. theres so much wasted potential for character growth and a more #well-rounded story overall....... sigh