and no one even knew, it was really only you

[elementalhero]

Another meme ganked from redbrunja!

Pick a paragraph (or any passage less than 500 words) from any fanfic I've written, and comment to this post with that selection. I will then give you a DVD commentary on that snippet: what I was thinking when I wrote it, why I wrote it in the first place, what's going on in the character's heads, why I chose certain words, what this moment means in the context of the rest of the fic, lots of awful puns, and anything else that you'd expect to find on a DVD commentary track.

/derp derp derp

IN OTHER NEWS: YGO ABRIDGED 43 AND 44 ARE UP!

Comments

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

She's never seen a Sharingan up close, she tells him, and he places one palm to each side of her head and lets her have a look.

She knows they're red with black patterns just from hearsay, but never knew that the red looks like blood drying on the surface of the moon, the three tomoe pitch-black holes in the center of the universe. She could swear they shift as she watches, too slowly for her to catch but just enough to make her feel a little dizzy upon staring, pinwheeling in an intangible wind. The harder she tries to pin down their movement, the less she can tell, and the dizzier she feels, until she thinks maybe it's an optical illusion and his pupils are just dilating, inviting her in...

She notices, suddenly, that they're standing much closer than when they'd started out, that his hands have shifted slightly and one of his thumbs is softly stroking her lower lip, that her hands have inexplicably wound up on his shoulders, that her heart is pounding and she's hot and cold all at the same time.

"Interesting," she breathes, and they're so close that she can feel her own breath ghosting across his face.

from Fugue

[hungrytiger11.livejournal.com]

I look at the apple and recoil. It’s smeared with red. I must have nicked myself deeper than I thought. “Shit—”

He looks down and grimaces. “Oh, sick. Here, give me that.”

“What are you—”

He reaches down and snatches the peeled, blood-smeared, half-eaten apple from my hand. He licks the blood off, takes a bite, and then hands it back to me. “There. All better.”

I practically throw the apple across the street. “You’re disgusting.”

Shisui practically falls out of the tree laughing. “Oh my gosh, your face, Itachi—” Still laughing. “I don’t think I’ve seen you make a face like that—ever—”

I slide out of the tree. “Whatever,” I call behind me, moving as if to leave. Predictably, Shisui follows.

“Aww, come on, don’t be mad at me,” he whines. “If you’re hungry, I’ll get you another apple—”

“Shisui.” I’ve stopped, and he bumps into me.

“What?”

I turn. “Are they really that worried about me?”

“Itachi, you’re kind of important.”

Maybe I should be a little more careful.

“I’ll be at the next meeting. I promise,” I tell him. “Regardless of what comes up.”

He grins. No, he beams. Ruffling my hair, he says, “I knew you’d come through, Itachi.”

It makes me feel a little better. Calmer. Having a definite course of action does that.

Later, I find out that Sasuke’s supposed to be entering Academy that day.

To hell with my life.

From night terror

[strange_quark]

I... think this is under 500 words. Maybe.

Being a traitor didn’t matter. Being a villain didn’t matter. His death at Sasuke’s hands would have taken care of that. No one would mourn him, as no one mourns the wicked—he would reap as he had sown, and Sasuke could finally live. His unattainable redemption would come at the mercies of fate and the avenger of his clan. The blood of all the Uchiha was on his hands forever, but this—

This was beyond unforgivable.

No matter how long Itachi lived, and no matter how painfully he died, nothing he could do could ever make up for this.

This... this abomination was his final sin to bear.

“So,” Orochimaru said, bringing out a kunai and smiling horribly, “it’s nothing personal, Itachi-kun. It was simply...” His smile widened as he prepared to deliver the last verbal blow.

“...his last request.”

--

The knowledge that Sasuke was still alive was both balm and terror to Itachi. Comfort that Itachi still had a chance, not to redeem himself (an impossible task), but to atone, at least. Terror that any day could be his last, whether falling to Orochimaru or someone else, it didn’t matter. Sasuke had to be there to watch his brother fall.

Itachi’s greatest fear was dying alone.

--

The third time Itachi had the nightmare, he rolled over and went back to sleep.

He deserved to live in fear.