#soh2

[strungoutheart]

SOHAE2: Safety Pins and Broken Hearts

END. first  ||  prev | authors note Strung Out Heart, Angel Eyes (Book 1)

[msrinran]

First of all, I want to say that SoH is an amazing work in overall. It is dramatic, serious, interesting, tragic and soulful. Sometimes bloody, frightening, maddening, mind-blowing. But sometimes funny, colorful, warm and with unpredictable twists and turns. This game has completely unpredictable, intriguing situations, but they all add up to one big, overall picture. Each story chapter intertwined into one incredible book that you read out. You empathize with the characters, you understand them, you laugh with them, you cry because of them and fight for them.

Sure, you can make your MC a bad, rude, bloodthirsty person. You can do bad things and not delve into other people's problems, but what hooked me personally in SoH… is the opportunity to be a real hero without a demonstrative label. I can't stand characters who literally boast about being kind, fair and helpful. It looks so pompous, unpleasant and lofty. As if you are nothing compared to the beacon of justice and law. When a "hero" like this talks, I want to roll my eyes. I love when person shows who they are through their actions, even if, at first glance, they seems most unreliable and immoral.

The main character, ronin, is precisely like that. They don't trust anyone, have a hard time opening up to others, hate themselves more than all their enemies hate them combined… and at the same time, they embody a true talented, wise hero (if you play this route, of course).

Take for example my ronin. Akio. A man who hates himself, carries the weight of responsibility, guilt and a painful past on his shoulders, pushes people away… is incredibly caring, protective and conscientious. At first glance, just a drunkard mercenary, but in fact, a man with a heart of gold. Sometimes sharp-tongued, sometimes straightforward and stubborn. He often hides the truth to protect others and always suffers from some inadequate inner instinct of self-sacrifice for the sake of others. He doesn't think about risks, he just helps. It's in his nature. He doesn't believe in his own importance, but people are drawn to him. He fights, doesn't give up, shows strength, resilience, and will. To put it simply, at the beginning of the journey he is a real mess. He suffers from an innate sense of justice, bleeding heart, self-loathing, and men in love with him. He come an incredibly long way from a dirty dog ​​to a man ready to learn self-forgiveness.

In this wonderful art, drawn by @tokiko220, I tried to show the connection between the past and the present. The way my ronin has changed from first book to the last one. How he looked at the beginning of the journey and where he is now. As you can see the "past" ronin have dark blood under his feet, and the "current" ronin stands on clear water. Streams of blood and water collide, mixing and like a river stream, flow away. The symbolism is that the past and present are inseparable, but now the ronin himself chooses whether the river will be clean or bloody.

I like that the ronin is not a permanently invulnerable hero. He can lose, he can grieve, he can see the consequences of his decisions. He may be in a complete despair, on the very edge. He can be weak, he can be scared. He can be human.

Plus, honestly, it's so funny that MC doesn't believe that someone can love, care and desire them, but most of the characters (both main and secondary) adore ronin with a variety of feelings.

Well, also, this applies only to my personal walkthrough, but after a long time my Akio become calmer, more graceful, more elegant and more wise, as if a real experienced sensei. But despite all his strength, incredible martial talents, leadership, he still revains sensitive and needy of love. I don't know if this could be called as a certain trope, but I absolutely adore when a strong, skilled, fearsome hero becomes soft, gentle and becomes vulnerable/open onlу with the loved one.

To put it simply, I never get tired of taking screenshots of favorite moments and admiring this rare, thoughtful story. The text is well-written, colorful and easy to read. You can understand how subtle the author feels his work, how much attention was put into the details, how much information been studied for the authenticity. The descriptions are captivating, the emotions are touching, the battles excites imagination and every character you met, carries something that you will remember. In your head every word transforms into a breathtaking series (or anime).

The story has exactly what lacks so much sometimes — a real, sincere, selfless kindness and the opportunity to make the world a better place. SoH can be very dark, expose baser aspects of human nature, frighten with real situations and fascinate with mythical mysteries. But among all this struggle and survival, I see a thrilling adventure full of inspiration, friendship and the desire to fight for good. SoH is about justice, about the desire to protect and learn, about hope in the darkness, about the strength born from love, care and protection.

SoH makes you think, feel, experience emotions, and only a great book has the power to do that.

Cr. @samuraiofhyuga (Devon Connell / MChoiceStudios)

[amesliu]

STRUNG OUT HEART, ANGEL EYES 0.5 2nd Edition is now available for FREE to members of my Ko-Fi!

2nd edition is the same story but with updated artwork:

[screenshotsonpinterest]

Guys safety pins and broken hearts ends this Sunday I feel sick

[katedoesfics]

Shadows of Hyrule | Chapter 2

Link was at his locker just seconds after the last bell rang. He tossed his bag over his shoulder and waited for Mipha as he typically did. They pushed through the end-of-the-day crowd as students milled about the halls. When they reached the front door, they spilled out with the other students, trotting down the front steps. Link turned when he heard his name and saw Daruk waving an arm. Link and Mipha walked over to the group of seniors that stood at the corner of the building. Urbosa greeted Link with a smile, her hand on her hip, as he and Mipha approached. Teba gave a short nod with his chin, and Revali turned his back, his arms crossed over his chest.

“What are you two doing tonight?” Daruk asked.

“Studying,” Mipha said with a slight groan.

“Sleeping,” Link said with a smirk.

Mipha rolled her eyes, turning around as she heard Riju’s voice. The freshman skipped towards them and waved enthusiastically.

“Can we go to the arcade?” she asked her sister.

“That depends,” Urbosa said. “Don’t you have homework?”

“Don’t you?” Riju said. She leaned forward, her hands on her hips.

“I don’t know how she does it,” Daruk said, “but she probably has homework finished for the next six weeks.”

Urbosa grinned down at her sister. “It’s true,” she said.

“Just because you’re already accepted into college doesn’t mean you don’t have to do work.”

“She could get zeros for the rest of the year and they would still fight over her,” Teba said.

“Because I did my homework,” Urbosa said.

“I always do my homework!” Riju whined.

“Don’t you think you’re a little old for arcades, now?”

Riju shook her head and grinned. “I gotta make sure I still have the high score.” She turned to Link. “Come on,” she said. “I’ll kick your ass at air hockey again.”

Revali snorted. “It’s not hard to kick his ass.”

“Shut up,” Daruk snapped at him.

“Link.”

Link looked around him. He noticed Zelda standing outside the black town car that always picked her up. Dorian opened the door for her. She peered at Link over her shoulder before she slid in.

“Um,” Link started. “Maybe tomorrow. I gotta go.” He glanced quickly at Daruk. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Daruk raised a brow but nodded. “See ya.”

He said good-bye to Mipha and waved a had over his shoulder as he made his way away from them. Normally, he and Mipha walked home together, but he didn’t question it when she did not follow him. He hadn’t planned on going straight home, anyway.

“Link.”

It seemed to come from his left as he made his way down the road. Traffic passed lazily by in the school zone. He hesitated at the intersection, then opted to follow the direction of the voice to his left across the street. He followed the sidewalk as it moved down the next street, but the voice did not return. He continued on aimlessly as the road curved through the city until he heard the voice again, almost a half an hour later. This time, it came from his right.

Link looked in the direction of the voice. He was moving away from the center of the city, now, and the roads had started to grow narrower as they wound their way through suburban neighborhoods. He took one of the suburban roads to the right and followed it further towards the outskirts of the city. A bus turned onto the road behind him, chugging along before coming to a slow, squeaky stop just yards in front of him. A group of young children jumped off the last step, chasing each other across yards as they headed for their homes.

“Link.”

The voice moved towards another side street marked with a dead end sign. Link hesitated as he peered down the road. He couldn’t see the dead end from where he stood, but tall power lines loomed close by. He followed the dead end road as it twisted around, ending in a cul-de-sac. There were only two houses at the end, one on the left side, and one on the right. Before him was the start of the woods that would open up to where the power lines stood. And the voice seemed to call him forward into the trees.

He followed an overgrown path as it twisted through the forest, walking only a quarter of a mile where he stood in the tree line. The ground sloped upwards slightly to his left and was leveled off where he stood, and further on to his right until it met a small river. A narrow bridge crossed the river, and a lone car traveled across it. Across from where he stood was another tree line. The woods appeared to be much denser, and if he walked completely through it, he imagined he would come out by the interstate just outside the city. The voice beckoned him across the power lines and deeper into the woods.

“What are you doing here?”

He was halfway across the strip when he heard Zelda’s voice to his right. She made her way towards him, her gaze narrowed on him.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he said. “Were you following me?”

Zelda rolled her eyes. “Why the hell would I follow you?”

“So, why are you here?”

“Why are you here?”

Link hesitated. “Meeting my dealer.”

Zelda’s eyes narrowed further.

Link decided to ignore her and continued on toward the tree line, but Zelda trotted after him.

“You’re following the voice, too,” she said as she caught up to him.

Link paused and glanced at her. “Why are you following it?”

Zelda shrugged. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I wanted to know what the hell it was.” She followed Link as he walked forward once more and they stepped into the woods, following the sound of the voice in silence.

They walked for close to an hour before the trees began to thin around them. Before they knew it, there was a small clearing in the forest where a very large tree stood in the middle. The late afternoon sunlight streamed through its branches, casting the meadow in a golden glow. Before the tree, plunged into a stone pedestal, was an old sword. Though the blade appeared rusted, the hilt shone like new.

“Link.”

“What the hell?” Zelda muttered. “Is that a sword?”

Link ignored her and stepped forward, examining the sword. As he neared, he felt a strange sensation, a pull in his chest, as if the sword itself were calling him to it. He hesitated, peering at the sword, before finally closing the gap between him and it. He touched the hilt carefully with the tip of his finger, pushing against it lightly to see if it would move, but the sword seemed to be stuck in the pedestal.

“Don’t touch it,” Zelda whispered. “We should leave it alone.”

But Link’s curiosity peaked as his fingers wrapped around it. He was filled with a strange sense of power as he gripped the sword. It fit perfectly in his palm, and in one swift movement, he pulled the sword out of the stone pedestal. It gleamed in the sunlight, surprisingly lighter than it looked. Zelda hissed from behind him.

“What did you do that for?”

Link examined the sword closely. The voice had settled, seemingly satisfied that Link had retrieved it.

“What are you gonna do with it?”

Link turned to Zelda and shrugged. “Keep it.”

She narrowed her gaze on him. “Why? What do you want with that dirty old thing?”

“It’s cool.”

Zelda rolled her eyes and turned her back to him. “I don’t hear the voice anymore.” She peered over her shoulder, her gaze on the sword for a moment. She turned her gaze to meet Link’s. She opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it, turning away to walk back through the forest.

Link let the blade rest against his shoulder as he followed Zelda through the woods. He asked the question she had decided not to ask. “Do you think… Do you think the voice came from the sword?”

“You’re insane,” Zelda muttered. “Someone was just fucking with us.”

“Why would someone do that?”

Zelda shrugged. “Maybe they committed a murder with that thing and they wanted to frame you.”

They were both quite sure that that wasn’t the case, but neither particularly wanted to talk about the strange voice and the fact that it was only the two of them that could hear it.

“I can’t believe I wasted my afternoon coming out here,” Zelda muttered. “I should have been studying for that test.”

Link snorted, and Zelda narrowed her eyes at him over her shoulder, turning her nose up at him.

“Some of us actually want to have a future,” she said to him. She pushed herself gracefully over a large, fallen tree, while Link stumbled over clumsily behind her, dropping the sword in the old, rotted leaves.

“You're the princess of Hyrule,” he commented as he got back to his feet. He dusted himself off and picked up the sword, then continued to follow her out of the woods. “You can have any future you want.”

Zelda stopped and spun on her heels angrily. She opened her mouth, then closed it again as her gaze landed on the sword in his hand. She pinched her lips together, huffed through her nose, and turned around to continue through the woods. “I guess. Besides, you know, being expected to take the throne.”

“Doesn't sound like a bad deal to me.”

“Who said I even wanted any part of it?”

Link hesitated. He examined the ground as he walked, being careful not to trip on any hidden roots. “You don't?”

“I don't know,” Zelda muttered.

“We can trade.” He looked up and grinned at her as he met her gaze. “I'll drive all the nice cars and you can deal with my sister.”

Zelda raised a brow at him. “You have a sister?”

Link shrugged and kept walking, taking the lead. “You're too high maintenance for her.”

“Excuse me?” Zelda trotted to Link's side. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Link grinned, too happy to be getting under her skin. But instead of answering her, he just shrugged.

They stepped out of the tree line, the warmth of the sun greeting them. Link let the sword rest against his shoulder once more and waved to Zelda over his shoulder as he stepped away from her, moving across the field. “See ya.”

It didn't take him long to get home, but the sun had dipped below the distant mountains enough to cast their world in a quiet twilight. The air had cooled, the streetlights had turned on, and birds began their delicate, nightly calls to the emerging crickets. Link held the sword carefully behind his back as he slipped through the front door. To his relief, neither his sister nor his father were in the kitchen.

He closed the door softly behind him and made a quick stop at the fridge. He peered inside, searching for something to satisfy his grumbling stomach. He reached his arm in, jumping at a voice and bumping his head. He looked over the door of the fridge to the young girl that stood on the other side, a wide grin on her face.

“You missed dinner,” she teased.

“Did you save me any?”

She rolled her eyes. “Dad wouldn't let me. But...” She pulled a container from behind her back and held it out to him.

“I've trained you well,” Link said, straightening and closing the refrigerator door.

“Don't be late again or Dad will kick your butt.”

Link raised a brow as he peered into the container. “Is that what he said?”

Aryll giggled. “He said you're a no good lazy dumbass and he's gonna kick you to the curb.”

“Don't say dumbass, Ary.”

Aryll rolled her eyes. “Dad says you're gonna drop out of high school and do nothing with your life.”

“That doesn't sound like a bad thing. I like doing nothing.”

Aryll's face hardened in child-like seriousness. “Dad says -”

“Do you listen to everything Dad says? You know he hates me.”

Aryll crossed her arms. “No he doesn't, stupid. He just wants you to be a better person.”

“You sound just like him.”

Aryll peered around him curiously. “What's that?”

“Nothing.” Link pushed her aside and walked around her, being careful to keep the sword hidden from her.

“You're hiding something!”

Link walked backwards and grinned. “Non'ya business.”

“I'm gonna tell Dad!”

“Go head,” Link taunted. “And I'll tell him that you were the one that ate all the cookies.”

Aryll gasped as he rounded the corner into the hallway. He trotted hurriedly up the stairs, down the hall, and slipped behind the door into his bedroom. He tossed the sword carelessly into his closet, stripped out of his shirt, and dropped onto his bed with a heavy sigh. He tilted his head towards his alarm clock. It was only seven, which left plenty of time to ignore his homework and take a nap.

[strungoutheart]

SOHAE2: Safety Pins and Broken Hearts

first  ||  prev | next Strung Out Heart, Angel Eyes (Book 1)

[strungoutheart]

SOHAE2: Safety Pins and Broken Hearts

first  ||  prev | next Strung Out Heart, Angel Eyes (Book 1)

[strungoutheart]

SOHAE2: Safety Pins and Broken Hearts

first  ||  prev | next Strung Out Heart, Angel Eyes (Book 1)