#I don't like her personality but I don't like her to betray Twilight

[sophiamarieispinkbunny-chan]

Something bothers me about Fiona/Nightfall…

Okay so in my first chair analysis post, someone reblogged it saying that Fiona/Nightfall might hate Twilight and turn on him as he and Yor get close with each other  and I can actually see it happening. Right now, it’s still less likely but it’s not impossible for her to turn rogue and here’s how the manga suggests it.

She’s the one who usually let’s her emotions guide her despite appearing emotionless, like how she almost endangered Operation Strix through visiting Twilight's home without any consent from her superiors, causing for Yor to doubt her marriage with Loid.

Sylvia, her Handler, told her not to do anything but she ignores it...

She even broke that policy among fellow agents by making an unnecessary contact with Twilight...

And in this chapter, Twilight's statement suggests that Fiona/Nightfall seems to also have a problem losing her cool, letting her emotions control her and that often gets the way in her missions.

In everything she does, what motivates her is the hope to gain Twilight’s affection.

When she does something, it wasn’t because she genuinely cares for peace and other people's sake herself. She just strives for peace because it’s what Twilight wanted. It's mostly displayed in the recent mole arc chapters.

This isn't really that necessary but it's just cringey and uncomfy to me how she says Twilight is like her little toy knife, when Twilight was never hers. I really don't like this part of her personality when she thinks she knows everything about Twilight when she knows nothing about the real him, the past him and the man he's slowly becoming.

So moving on, when it finally dawns on her that she will not ever have Twilight's affection, I don’t know what she could do.

I mean it is hinted when she’s first introduced that she’s the one who’s most likely to betray someone in the agency and it might be a judgmental comment from a hateful coworker but knowing how the plot is moving right now, I know Endo could be throwing subtle details that could mean more in the future. And who knows, she might’ve done it before. When?

Let’s go back to the exchange of Twilight and Franky during Chapter 2 when Loid is finding someone suitable to be his fake wife.

Twilight stated that most of the female operatives in their agency were wiped out during the recent spy sweeps. Female agents we're the one who are mostly wiped out and Franky mentions someone must've ratted them out to the SS.

I think, this might be a wild and far fetched theory but it's not impossible, Fiona/Nightfall was the one who ratted those female agents. Why? She might have received the information for Operation Strix, considering that all Wise agents seems to know about the Operation. She probably eliminated all female agents that might've suited to be Twilight's fake wife.

Cause if you think about, it is really practical for Wise to have the wife be a spy too, it would be really convenient for the mission. However, the candidates they think are capable of being an ideal wife and mother just get outed like that in the SS and this spy sweep just happened to be when Twilight is looking for a wife.

Nightfall might've thought, finally, she could fulfill her utmost desire to be Twilight's wife. Yet Wise has a different idea. Even if she's the only female agent left, she still isn't suitable for the role and I think Handler purposely didn't pick her knowing she has feelings for Twilight and her emotion might get the best of her, thus could compromise the mission. Handler, as a former wife and mother herself, could also think Nightfall can't do the job of a wife and especially of a mother properly. So I have this hunch that Handler purposely gave her another mission at that time so she can't complain about not being picked as Twilight's wife for Operation Strix.

Yes, Nightfall might be on the good side now because she’s helping to maintain peace and she's protecting Twilight. But her main intention why she’s doing this is so subjective and dependent that I think it would really affect her judgment in the future when she realizes reality is different from her fantasies.

[iceunhie]

latibule.

premise. in which all too many intrusions come in the form of one particular shadow guard. (or, moze always looks to you to patch him up. inexplicably, you let him do so anyway.)

warnings: gn!reader, pining moze but he's too edgy to know, one kimi ni todoke inspired (?) scene, treating injuries, banter (obviously), probably ooc, feixiao cameo, based off of the new quest, kinda mid writing

notes: not proofread i have no excuse i just like him okay???? inspired by @luvether's mozeqiu/reader fic (i love ur works ☹️) ty @lowkeyren for the chinese help!

“You're here again, Moze.”

In the wee hours between 1AM to 3AM, it has become a daily occurence for you to tend to Moze's injuries.

He nods. “I'm here.”

Despite having a perfectly (super) capable healer who attends to even the Lady General personally at her behest, you do not know why Moze always ends up at your window of all things during the ungodly hours of the moon's turn, complete with stupid, easily treatable cuts all across his body.

As General Feixiao's Representative Proxy, such work is not your forte—and rarely do you ever employ your few practiced arts in healing; the result often clumsy and sloppy, just enough to treat the few cuts Moze sports.

Still, it has since become routine to patch Moze up, and despite your insistence that he take care of himself more, the ashy haired man never listens, instead ending up at your home. You wonder if he does this on purpose.

Next time, you think, you're never going to open the windowsill for him again.

You open the windowsill further to let him in. Hypocrite, your mind echoes unhelpfully. Great, you must be losing your mind.

“Got into trouble again, hm?”

His expression tells you that whoever he fought wasn't all that—show-off—internally, you roll your eyes. “...Will you patch me up?”

No, your mind tells you, the words are at the tip of your tongue; you're always sneaking in here at night, and making me go through all this trouble.

(Your actions betray a different tune altogether.)

You don't know when Moze started to make you his personal healer despite Jiaoqiu in the vicinity; a moment of worry led to one thing, and now here you are, Moze's budget Jiaoqiu at home. The thought makes you laugh to yourself. Compared to the foxian, your skills could be described as subpar at best.

(Complaining to your own Lady General was no use. Incredulously, Feixiao believed that it was because—

“You're special.” Feixiao says with a grin. “Is it not obvious that it is because he wishes to see you?”

“What?” Looking at her, your voice is a tired drawl of resignation. “....My Lady, it seems your recent exposure to the Luofu's romance novels have dulled your judgement. Shall I call for Jiaoqiu?”

“Wha- Hey, don't call me senile!” Your Lady General deadpans, “Anyway, I'm telling you, Moze likes you!”)

“Why is it always me?” you grumble under your breath, though it doesn't escape Moze's ears.

It's good that you don't expect an answer; if Moze had to be honest, he doesn't know why he always goes to you either.

“Why wouldn't it be you?” Moze says, not missing a beat.

Your cheeks warm, the heat crawling up your neck from his audacious words. Jeez, he really doesn't know his effect on people, did he?

“...Not to mention, Jiaoqiu is asleep.”

Never mind. “Know the shame.”

“I don't wish to disturb Jiaoqiu as well.”

“Oh, so you see it fit to bother me but don't bother with Jiao-gege?”

“You'll live.” Moze blinks. Frowns. “Wait, did you just call him... gege?”

You raise an eyebrow. “Yes, what about it?”

“Since when were you two so close?”

“Mm, since a certain guard stops by my home at twilight hour?”

“....”

Sighing, your hands are nimble against the bandages, looping the white cloth in your palm and dabbing at the corners of Moze's face, gentle. Up close, his face is all sharp edges and harsh lines. Whether he notices how you gulp when you approach closer, swiping the cloth along his lower lip, he holds his tongue, for fear of disturbing whatever it was, permeating between the two of you like a thick haze, afraid of destroying the peaceful silence.

He watches, instead, as you scrub away the little bit of blood on his cheek.

You're talking; something about him being too reckless, taking care of himself more, yet he finds that he can't catch a word of what you're saying, focusing only on one thing.

Your hands are warm.

Heat creeps up to his neck like coiling vines, twisting his stomach, all because of you. Moze's heart thrums, breath stolen away—you're so close, it's unbearable—and he fights to keep himself even remotely neutral. All because of you.

“Moze?”

What are you doing to him? Why does he always come back to you? Is he sick?

“You're burning up.” You press your hand against his neck; and funnily enough, the thought of leaning into your touch crosses Moze's mind—it's maddening how much he wants to do so.

Blinking once, Moze looks to find you pulling away, and before he can think of it, his fingers wrap around your wrist in an iron grip, carefully maintained distance discarded.

“...?”

“Ah, wait, it's fine— Just—” don't pull away.

What?

Moze coughs. “Just continue.”

The night's breeze flows throughout your home; the chuang kou is wide open, with Moze looking less like General Feixiao's most trusted aide and more akin to an obedient dog. It's humiliation, Moze thinks—but when it was you, his dignity could be in tatters for all he cares.

Your eyes soften, just a bit, “If you say so.”

Inexplicably, relief assaults Moze's senses like a balm to his soul. Because the idea of being perceived, heard—by you—affects him in a dizzying, confounding way, and he knows not how to cure such an ailment whose only cure is your presence.

And maybe, just maybe, it's why he can never stop returning to you. Let you think him a fool, an idiot—so as long as he ends up at your window, by your side, it's a small price to pay.

“Okay.” he affirms, loosening his grip, (never you, though) finally letting you finish patching him up as you plaster what remains of the white bandages upon his face.

Noticeably, he doesn't let go of your hand.

“Okay.” you echo, and finally, you're finished with your work. The sight of Moze all bandaged up perfectly and finally getting to sleep makes you happier than you should be, the prospect of sleep way too enticing.

“There, all done. Take care of yourself better next time, 'kay?”

He hums, “I'll keep that in mind.”

“You sure you will?”

“Yes.” Moze looks at you, and he looks at you like it would be a sin of the greatest kind to take his eyes of off you; holding your presence in his irises, emulating you deeply onto his pupils, his tendons and his limbs. “I will.”

(How could he ever not listen to you?)

You release him, much to Moze's reluctance—opening the closed chuang kou. The night breeze welcomes Moze, kissing his skin, with the colors of the rising sun beginning to rise, vibrancy in the darkness of the inky night.

“...Moze?” you call, in the corner of your eye, seeing him already putting a foot on the rooftop.

“Jeez, if you wanted to see me that much, just tell me instead of going through all this trouble, really....” you mumble, glad that your back is turned from him, lest he sees the heat dusting your cheeks. You know Moze has probably left, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Well, you'll bring it up another time, then. Something tells you he'll listen, this time.

This time, you don't ignore the flutter of the butterflies in your stomach.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

(“Jeez, if you wanted to see me that much, just tell me instead of going through all this trouble, really....”

In the darkened corner of shadow, a figure slumps disgracefully with a loud thud. Using a hand to grip the side of the wall, nothing can compare to the burning heat crawling up Moze's skin, positively flushed.

Moze puts a hand to his face, slumping further to a near kneel.

It's warm—just like the ghostly feeling of your hands upon his skin minutes prior.

Maybe he'll take you up on your offer.)

a/n: sorry for the long sporadic activity :,D this is what a chuang kou looks like btw

[starryalpacasstuff]

Last Twilight Episode 12;

Like most people, I did not like the ending of Last Twilight. It took me a while to gather my thoughts and find time to write on the episode, but in the meantime, I've been reading what others have had to say about the show, and I have a few thoughts.

As @waitmyturtles talked about here, discussing whether or not Day should have gotten his vision back presents an ethical dilemma. I've seen a few posts of people who dislike the fandom's outrage against Day getting his vision back, talking about how his getting his vision back does not undo all that he learned and did while he was disabled. Setting aside the fact that Day did not grow through the series, (which @chalkrevelations wrote about here) a big problem for me is feeling like the narrative did a complete 180 post-episode 10. A massive portion of the show was spent with Day learning to accept his blindness and learning to work with it, and although we knew that the surgery was on the table from episode one, it ended up feeling like it came out of nowhere in the final episode. One of the main reasons for this, I think, is because the show barely brought up the surgery in the first 3/4ths of the show (I can think of like 2 instances where it was mentioned) and then it's dropped onto us by Mhon and Night crashing Day and Mhok's date, after which everything became about the surgery. Up till the third quarter of the show, I had enjoyed that the story had such a tight storyline, with such clear intentions. But then the show veered into a very different direction post episode 10, which made the show feel completely different to what it was.

As @waitmyturtles says in her post, it could have been so much better if Day was able to actively choose the surgery, and that we, as an audience, got to see him actually consider the various paths that lay before him. For the surgery to have made sense, narratively speaking, the story would have to be slightly different. You don't just spend 10 episodes of a show working towards a theme and then end the show with the exact opposite of the theme. The final two episodes felt like they were of a completely different show (now, doesn't that sound familiar).

While we're talking about feeling betrayed by the narrative, I want to talk about Mee, and Last Twilight the book. They managed to fuck up Mee's story, and I am aghast. The significance of Mee's story, especially the ending, was completely thrown out by the episode, in particular the montage, which had me fuming. What happened to Day understanding what the author meant to convey by Mee's ending while Mhok didn't, because he felt a sense of kinship with the author's daughter, who Mee was based upon? Mee's story had reliably predicted Day's almost to the end, so what happened? They tried to subvert the ending of the novel, with Day 'reflecting' on Mee's story in the background of the montage. But all that it did was completely go against everything that the show and the novel had stood for.

Life amidst that dilemma caused me to forget what it was like to live a normal life, or how happy I could be.

Sincerely, what the fuck? A huge part of Last Twilight was Day finding, creating a new normal with Mhok. Day learning that his blindness didn't make him abnormal. But this completely erases that. It's saying that living as a blind person, Day wasn't living a normal life, nor was he truly happy.

When Mhok finished reading the story to Day, Day understood. He understood why the author chose to end the story that way, because he understood that being blind for the rest of his life wasn't a curse. He understood Mee, understood her joy, understood that she hadn't disappeared, understood that the ending of the book wasn't tragic.

What Day says here, is that he was heartbroken about Mee's fate because he related to her and felt like they shared the same fate, but he realizes that his story doesn't need to be the same as Mee's.

Isn't Day feeling pity for Mee here? Isn't he doing exactly what he broke up with Mhok for, viewing Mee as some tragic figure, when 6 years ago he had understood that Mee was not someone he needed to feel sorry for? I've posted about how important it was that Mee's story's ending was written with Mee rejoicing, rather than being written as a tragedy. It was so important that Day understood the author's intentions, rather than viewing it as a tragic story. So then, what changed? I don't know, this may be a bit of a stretch, but these lines just seem so wrong, and hypocritical coming from Day.

The intended purpose of this message seems to have been hope for a new, better life. But, if Day's blindness was the worst chapter of his life, what was the point of him learning to accept his blindness, to live with it, and what was the point of showing it to us?

Before the final episode aired, I had said that I hoped that we'd get a nod to Mee's story in the end, to add onto the impact and relevance of Mee's story in Day's. What we got instead, was a preachy reflection that went against everything that the first 10 episodes of the show had stood for, accompanied by a useless montage that completely upended the significance of the stories of both the show and the novel.

In the few minutes this montage lasted, it managed to successfully tear down everything that the first 10 episodes had shown us, everything that Mee's story had told us. Borrowing this one from @lurkingshan's tags in this post, how can a creator misunderstand their own narrative so badly?

I hesitate to use the term ableist to describe the last episode. But what I'm getting from this montage is that Day believes that he was neither normal nor happy while he was blind, and believes that it was the worst chapter of his life. Mee's story, one that is based on a little girl who was going blind, is shown as tragic, in contrast to Day's 'happy and normal' life. And that message seems pretty ableist to me. Which also makes me wonder, how much did Day really 'learn' from his time as a blind person? Because from what I'm getting from this montage, it wasn't a whole lot.

[atopvisenyashill]

i have this theory that if more of her children had lived (especially gael), alysanne would have expressed anger at baelon for going along with stealing rhaenys' inheritance.

but at this point she literally only had baelon, so she decided to swallow her pride and support him.

what do you think?

Well we actually don't know if Alysanne expressed anger at Baelon over this; the narrative is largley silent on Baelon's reaction to being named Prince of Dragonstone and completely silent on how Alysanne treats Baelon, Viserys, and Daemon afterwards. Also, Gael dies several years after Baelon was named; in fact, Gael dies two years after Rhaenyra is born, so Viserys and Baelon are already well entrenched in the capital. Alysanne is also not shy about expressing her anger at her husband in this time period and it seems implied she doesn't really express any affection for Viserys during or even after the second quarrel; there's no mention as to whether she returns from dragonstone for the wedding, whether she's there for rhaenyra's birth, whether she had a hand in viserys or aemma's match even - and we still don't know if daemon's match with rhea royce is the result of alysanne, baelon, or jaehaerys either. beyond that, alysanne is actively campaigning for rhaenys at several points so i don't think it's out of the realm of possibility to say she is pissed off at baelon - it's just that none of the biographers give a shit about that aspect of her life, because that complicates her from the perfect mother, perfect queen, who uses soft power, to a woman who is deeply hurt and betrayed by the two men she is shown to be closest by, and that it completely ruins the twilight years of her life.

with daella, alyssa, and viserra all long dead, aemon recently dead, and long barred from seeing saera, yeah, all alysanne has left is baelon and gael, along with maegelle and vaegon, but i do think that's part of the problem; both times, i get the sense that maegelle is like,,,,basically gaslighting her mother into going back to jaehaerys, and maegelle is the only person alysanne really has left talk to, with gael being kind of an eternal child and baelon being part of the reason she's so upset. so i actually kind of disagree here - i think alysanne likely did voice anger at baelon, and baelon, alongside maegelle, basically told her to just get the hell over it, and it took several years of alysanne slowly getting more sick, slowly losing more of her memory, losing her physical connection to her dragon, and probably rewriting her own memories of her relationship with jaehaerys before she finally was broken down enough by the ungrateful brats she had left to "forgive" jaehaerys and come back home, but even then, it seems unlikely she and jaehaerys were at all close past this point, and we get very little mention of alysanne being close to baelon again. i think towards the end of her life, alysanne really was just not in contact with much of her family besides gael, rhaenys, and maegelle, and she's being like, actively manipulated in some heinously elder abusey ways by maegelle on top of being an older mother.

[chiwi-la-capybara]

My top 5 Snape fics!

I wanted to share some of my Snape fics in the hopes that you will share yours with me in the comments or in your own posts. These are my personal favorites that I go back to reread the most. I have my own favorite tropes, so these are all somewhat angsty, hurt/comfort, and you might notice Snape gets bathed in several of these lol. Warning, these fics contain sexual content and are NOT appropriate for all ages.

5. Contempt, by Danpuff (2022)

Snarry

I don't normally like Snarry but this blew me away. This is the best enemies to lover fic I've ever read. The line between hate and love is thin my friends.

Excerpt:

The black and the white material hang open around Snape's thin frame. He's not beautiful anywhere, is he? Pasty skin with marks of discoloration. Old, faded scars. Wiry black hair. Concave chest, prominent ribs, soft belly. Harry feasts his eyes on the ghastly sight and trails reverent fingers down. Down over flat brown nipples and a long raised scar. Over a patch of rough, brown skin. Over coarse black curls. His skin is warmer than Harry expected.

4. The Underground, by me, Chiwi_la_Capybara (2023)

HG/SS

This is a shameless plug of my own fic. But it is one of my favorites.

Excerpt:

Snape licked his lips, looked up at her from beneath heavy eyelids. She looked carefully back at him, at the double wrinkle at the corner of each eye, and the purple semicircles that ringed his lower lids. The long thick black eyelashes gave his eyes a melancholy cast.

There was a certain magnetism about him. She lifted up the blanket and drew close to him, laid his head on her shoulder and anchored him to her. The warmth of his body against hers felt as close to sex as anything she had known in the past five years. He blinked at her sleepily, and his black eyes were two moons. Snape slept with his face pressed into the crook of her neck, his warm breath sputtering over her throat. 

3. Traumlieder, by Rexluscus (2011)

Snape/Luna Warning, Luna is underage in this fic and there's dubious consent on both sides. This one's very smutty. Take this warning v seriously.

Snape being bewildered by Luna is such a joy. Rexluscus is an incredibly writer. They have this tone that's kind of sarcastic, kind of loving, and real perverse all at once.

Excerpt:

Snape dreamed of a creature. It had yellow hair and smelled like a cherry orchard, and it spoke with a voice both exotic and deeply, achingly familiar. Its hands were as delicate and fragile as a doll's, but its skin was warm and velvety as it tickled him below his navel. It was petting him, quieting him, and he was drifting into lassitude—all except for the exquisitely urgent want in his groin. The creature seemed aware of that; it was touching him there now, shocking like the touch of a naked flame, and as ecstasy radiated from his middle and flooded out the pain in his limbs he only now recognised by its absence... A warm breeze tickled his bare skin, and the creature laughed. He thought he could see its eyes somewhere far above him, round and lambent, like watery planets setting in a warm twilight.

2. Exaltation, by Eldritcher (2022)

Dudley/Snape.

I know Dudley and Snape sounds ick but trust me, its strange and wonderful. Only Eldritcher could have pulled this one off. Eldritcher once told me their writing has been influenced by the Greek poet Ovid, and you can tell.

Excerpt:

Harry was not taught to swim. Snape betrays the tell-tale signs of a man who has never learned to swim. Like Harry, Snape does not have fat on his bones to lift him up easy. He steps into the water, because Dudley asks him to. Dudley holds him by the waist, steadying him until he finds his level. Snape is pale, paler than the primroses closing and curling up for the night. It is all Dudley can do to refrain from catching the trembling bony shoulders to massage back the blood into circulation.

1. Self-Slain Gods on Strange Altars, Scumblackentropy (2013)\

SS/HG Warnings for an underage/student Hermione.

This is the fic that really got me into this fandom back when I was a teen. The writing is uneven, but Snape feels so real in this story.

Excerpt:

What, what, what?she asks herself as she slowly, slowly, slowly lets her palm flatten against his damp robes and slowly, slowly, slowly stands on tiptoe. His head pulls back as he tries to hold eye contact, but she never tries to look away. She vaguely registers that he has a long throat. Long. Muscled. Pale.

“You’re wrong.”

How?she asks herself as a strangled, indignant aching noise comes out of his mouth and she slowly, slowly, slowly presses herself into him, and his eyes widen in that way that breaks her heart, and she feels his blood-soaked body hard-angled and warm against hers, and she thinks that maybe she can forgive him.

[yumeka-sxf]

A chronological analysis on Twilight and Yor - Part 18

*This is part of an ongoing post series. If you missed the Introduction/Part 1, click here*

----------

In hopes of finding a way to meet Desmond at the Imperial Scholar's mixer, Twilight sneaks around Eden in disguise. But unbeknownst to him, Anya reads his mind and realizes what he's trying to do. She urges Damian to meet with his father in spite of the second thoughts he has. Twilight hides behind a building, listening as she says she's not even sure if her papa likes her or not, but she's still going to tell him that she failed her test because she loves and believes in him. We don't get to hear any of Twilight's thoughts during her speech, and his expression remains neutral. Even when the kids leave, his first reaction is confusion about why Anya would suddenly say such things, but happy nonetheless that she did indeed persuade Damian to meet his father.

However, when he does finally meet with Desmond later on, it seems that Anya's words may have struck a chord in him. He puts on his most extreme Loid Forger performance during his encounter with Damian while looking for the "lost" keychain, trying his best to find any opening to invite himself to meet Damian's father. And of course, as is typical for him, beneath all the pretending, he does genuinely feel bad about what he has to do. He internally apologizes to Damian for having to cut in on his reunion with his father, but for the sake of his mission (a.k.a. the happiness of many over the happiness of few) it must be done.

Once Desmond finally appears, the pressure ramps up as Twilight has to choose every word carefully so as not to arouse even an ounce of suspicion. He does all he can to find a way for Desmond to agree to talk with him more, but eventually Desmond halts the conversation. However, when Damian expresses his disdain for his father's nonchalant attitude about Anya punching him, Twilight voices his agreement with Damian.

This is probably the most major example thus far of Twilight doing something he personally feels is right even though it could potentially be detrimental to his mission. I say this is the most major example because having a favorable relationship with Desmond is literally all he's been striving for since starting Operation Strix, so he shouldn't take any risk no matter how slight, like showing support for Damian's disagreement with Desmond. Yet, he chooses to take Damian's side over that of Desmond's, similar to how he chose to stick up for Anya and Yor at the Eden interview even though it went against what was best for the mission. While it is true that it's better for "plan B" if Damian has a good relationship with his father, it's also a very delicate subject for Twilight to pursue at that moment, when Desmond had only just met him. Regardless, he's able to steer the conversation in a way that gets his points across but doesn't come off as hostile to Desmond.

He first tries to evoke some kindred feelings with Desmond by talking about the struggles he has dealing with Anya's irrational behavior and how challenging it is to raise a child (perhaps his confusion about Anya's behavior from earlier encouraged him to bring this up).

When Desmond flatly responds that people can never truly understand each other, even their own children, Twilight is taken aback. His darkened expression betrays a hint of resentment towards the other man's pessimistic ideals, but he manages to keep up the Loid Forger act regardless. In typical Twilight fashion, he's able to express his true ideals under the guise of his fake identity – in this case, he uses his cover-up job as a psychiatrist to explain why he thinks it's best for people to keep trying to understand others even if they can only meet them "in the middle" so to speak. He also mentions that even though much of what Anya says doesn't make sense to him, acknowledging her nonetheless creates an opportunity for understanding. And as he's saying these things to Desmond, we can hear what he's really thinking at the time – that he'll never stop trying to understand others.

He cleverly ends his spiel by proposing that Desmond had in fact done what he had described – decided to take time out of his busy schedule to meet with his son. That would have been a good spot to end the conversation and not push his luck, but instead, in his shrewd Twilight way, he decides to help bring father and son closer by mentioning the speech Damian gave about Desmond for the class project. He even made an attempt to score Anya points with Damian by saying that she was the one who told him about it because she was so moved. From there, he's able to smoothly steer the conversation to Desmond's job as political chairman, from which he then creates an opening for himself to express his admiration for Desmond and an interest in his political party.

Once Desmond confirms that he knows Loid Forger's name and has formed a favorable opinion of him, Twilight wraps up the whole encounter by making sure "plan B" is still an option; he tells Damian that Anya doesn't hate him and asks if he'd try to get along with her.

This whole scene really showcases how exceptional Twilight is at being a spy – his masterful command of deceitful words that he uses to steer people into feeling what he wants them to feel and view things in a way that benefits his mission, but aren't completely against his moral principles either. As I mentioned before, attempting to reconcile father and son's relationship, even going so far as to pat Damian on the shoulder and ramble on about how great his speech was, may have been pushing it a bit for his very first meeting with Desmond. But as we've seen many times before, Twilight is an empathetic person. Even while in the midst of making major progress with one of his missions, like finally meeting Desmond, he decides to say and do what he feels is right no matter how risky. I'm sure he felt bad for Damian after realizing what kind of a person Desmond is. And perhaps he can also relate to Damian due to his estranged relationship with his own father.

Continue to Part 19 ->

<- Return to Part 17

[callester]

Addressing the stereotypical scrutiny received by Nightfall from WISE agents.

"Ruthless", "arrogant", and "icy"

In contrast to most female characters in Spy×Family, Nightfall is known to portray the least facial expression and the contributor to this was none other than Twilight's advice of burying one's emotions deep due to their line of work. From her accustomed expressionlessness and little words, most would be quick to assume the lack or absence of humanity from her nature that thus led to the growing assumption of Nightfall being a "ruthless", "arrogant", and "icy" person. And all that had been rooted from her more silent and reserved nature in comparison to what was deemed "normal" and "acceptable" in a stereotypically viewed community.

Under the influence of Twilight

The feelings that run deep towards Twilight had caused most to view Nightfall's actions from the perspective of desperately reaching out for attention. While appearing as exagerrated as one might conclude all too quickly, her support towards Twilight's vision of achieving peace had enabled her to work tirelessly and meticulously towards the same goal of aiming for the greater good.

Selfish Allegations

These claims were baseless in the beginning and later proved to be completely false through the revelation of Nightfall's thought process. Instead of only recovering the stolen files as ordered, Nightfall had insisted to capture Wheeler out of the concern where he may have memorised all the intel and still posed as a danger to WISE.

Prone to backstab

The backstabbing allegation, too, was denied through Nightfall's view on the said matter when facing off Wheeler in a debate of distrust. While most might once again relate all this to her feelings towards Twilight, it would have been more reasonable to view this as a sense of protectiveness one would naturally possess when faced with a situation as dire as this.

Note: Putting myself into the context of a world like theirs, I don't find hiding my own emotions (even to the state of sealing them off from the surface) as a disadvantage, for every step taken exposes more danger than the previous and allowing internal turmoil to stagger your cool will only lead you to your own downfall. Securing your own stability would be the first step to your own safety.

Reliance and trust had been another crucial matter that had to be considered carefully. Tasked with threading the enemy's line for the sake of peace, one could hardly rely on anyone on behalf of their own safety or livelihood without opening the risk of being betrayed. Fitting this into Nightfall's perspective, the utter faith she had on Twilight had further dedicated her to push for more improvements all so that she could be a reliable comrade when the urgent time comes.

And that concludes the (quite) brief analysis and justification behind what appear to most as a rather out of stereotypical nature on Nightfall.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for being engaged to my former best friend's ex-girlfriend after he cheated on her with the girl who bullied me and was my fiance's best friend?

I(29M) am engaged to the most amazing woman ever (27F) for 7 months now. We will call her Naomi.

You see she used to be my ex long time f best friend's girlfriend (We will call him Marcus) They seem to be a happy couple when they were together and I used to think they made a great couple back then too. There was one problem though, Naomi was best friends with this girl (we call Zoe). Zoe made my life back in our school days a living hell. She didn't like me because I was a redhead and took every opportunity to hurt me or scar me, even put gum and glue in my hair, thankfully my cousin was a hair stylist and got it all off. Once I went off to college I didn't have to worry about her until Marcus started dating Naomi. She still mocks me, but was very subtle about it.

Marcus knew what Zoe did to me throughout our school days and has stood up for me time and time again. Back then, I thought he understood and was my big supporter and a brother I never had (I have 6 sisters) I was hoping him and Naomi would get married and I'd be the best man at their wedding. Naomi was nothing like Zoe, she's a total sweetheart, a literal angel and pretty intelligent. She and Zoe we're best friends since College.

But then on my birthday, I discovered that he was sleeping with Zoe when I went to visit him to go out for drinks. It was like I was in a twilight zone or a horror movie or something, seeing someone who I thought was my best friend on the couch getting it on with the one person who traumatized me and made my life hell. I got angry and yelled at him, demanding to know how can he do this. Marcus try to explain himself and beg me not to tell Naomi, but I was having none of it and left. I don't know why, but I started to cry.

I called Naomi and asked her to come over to my place. Once you saw me, she knew something was wrong because she saw them my eyes were red and I was agitated. She wished me a happy birthday, to which I reply "I wish it a happy one..." when she asked what I meant by that, I told her about Marcus and Zoe. She thought I was lying, but realize that I was telling the truth after she put two and two together why my eyes were red and I was agitated. She started crying and was heartbroken. Marcus was her first boyfriend and he cheated on her with someone she thought was her best friend. We both cried together the betrayals. Since then I have cut Marcus out of my life and Naomi cutting Zoe out of hers.

When the pandemic first hit Naomi didn't have nowhere to go because her lease what's up and she couldn't return home ( She was from Washington) and I offer her a place to stay. To be honest, we were getting along as being roommates. We took turns cooking and did our equal share of chores and pay bills. We even found out we have a lot of things in common and randomly, we just ended up falling in love with each other. I even introduced her to my family, close friends and some co-workers I am close with. On New Years of 2023 I proposed to her and she said yes.

Well, here we are in the present, I found out that Zoe tried to contact Naomi while she was out to lunch with my sister and tried to get her the break up with me so they can be friends again, saying things like I wasn't good for her and that she will help her find a new guy for Naomi. For what my sister told me, Naomi told her " Why? So you can sleep with that guy too? Sorry but I refuse to become friends again with a backstabbing sl*t" And hung up the phone. Now you can see why I love this woman.

Yesterday, I got a phone call from an unknown number. Turns out to be my ex best friend Marcus. Word had gotten around that me and Naomi are engaged and Marcus was furious, asking 'How could I get together with his ex and why would I betray him like that?'

I reply with "Excuse me, who do you think was the one that betrayed me and Naomi? You betrayed Naomi by getting with her best friend and you betrayed me because you knew what she put me through and you knew how she treated me. You are in no place to get angry with me when you were the one that betrayed the both of us first. Second, me and Naomi haven't contacted you in 4 years, how did you get my new number?"

He told me that it didn't matter and said that he thought the two of us have gotten over that already and that he was trying to get back together with Naomi. That's when I said " the only reason you're trying to get back together with Naomi is because Zoe dumped you after she caught you cheating on her with her boss, right? I heard about it from your brother. I guess Zoe wasn't enough for you that you had to sleep with her boss? And that her boss wants nothing to do with you because it was only just s*x for her? Who's to say that you're not going to cheat on Naomi again? It's your fault for letting such an amazing girl go in the first place. You never appreciate what she done for you, don't ever contact me or Naomi again! In fact, don't even come near us, you are dead to us!"

I couldn't help but feel guilty about what I said. I know I shouldn't but I do. Naomi said not to worry about it and smiled at me since we are getting married next month. But, AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[karizard-ao3]

For any famdom.

If you wrote a Mafia type fic what would it be about

At first, I was sitting there trying to figure out how to gently tell you I don't ever see myself writing a mafia au while simultaneously paging through all my latest interests and that's when I realized that you could actually make a pretty good mafia au out of Twiyor from Spy x Family!

I've been kind of hung up about how to fit in Anya, but we'll just jump in and hopefully find a spot for her?

Yor: Mafia princess/ assassin. She carries out all the biggest hits for her crime family. The Briar parents were the heads of a big mafia family and were killed by a rival gang who, like, framed it on the Feds or something (please be gentle with me - I do not really watch mafia movies. I don't know how it works). Anyway, that is why her younger brother, Yuri, HATES the Feds. Actually. Stop. Her parents were not the heads of the Family but maybe the top hit people, and they trained up Yor in the business but not Yuri, who was too young when they died. Sadly, he never really picked it up because Yor didn't know how to explain it to him, but he does just fine breaking knee caps and roughing people up and shit.

Twilight: A Fed. He's undercover. He's joined their group. The mafia boss wants to do a heist or some shit? Does the mob do heists? This one does. For the heist they need a man and a woman to pose as a couple on a... cruise ship? Or perhaps Yor has to carry out a hit but to get close to the target she has to look like a family woman? Their roles are kind of reversed for this one: Yor needs a husband for her mission and Twilight needs to go along with it to conceal his real career. But maybe he doesn't know she's the family's hit person yet. He's too low on the totem pole.

Anya: ??? They... find her on the ship? She stows away in their bags? She's decided to sail off into the sunset from whatever tragic backstory she's secretly harboring and sneaks onto the ship and into their cabin, where they find her. They're like, "Okay... Sure. I guess a kid would help sell the ruse." Also, they don't have much choice because people have already seen her and she called them her Mama and Papa.

Plot: I do not know. Shenanigans ensue. We can kind of draw on the canon cruise arc a bit if we wanted. Secrets are revealed. Trust is betrayed. Yuri somehow ends up on the boat. In the end, the Forgers enter the witness protection program and everyone lives happily ever after. This does not sound like a mafia au at all. I am so sorry.

[sweet-lemonad-rose-sapphire]

I haven’t posted here in YEARS, but I wanted to take place in @linked-universe-discord Weekly Prompt, so I was GOING to share this using AO3 but I didn’t know there was a queue to get in, so this was plan D! I’ll share the link whenever I’m able to post on AO3, but until then… Here is my first ever shared fanfic!

Weekly Prompt 210: Lyricstuck

(Basically create something using a song and LU/LoZ)

Song: I Know I’m a Wolf by Young Heretics

(YouTube Link):

Lyrics:

Dear rabbit, my legs are getting weak chasing you

The snow fields wouldn't seem so big if you knew

That this blood on my teeth it is far beyond dry

And I've captured you once but I wasn't quite right

So I'm telling you that you'll be safe with me.

Oh rabbit, my claws are dull now so don't be afraid

I could keep you warm as long as you can just try to be brave

Yes I know I'm a wolf and I've been known to bite

But the rest of my pack, I have left them behind

And my teeth may be sharp and I've been raised to kill

But the thought of fresh meat, it is making me ill

So I'm telling you that you'll be safe with me.

So rabbit please stop looking the other way

It's cold out there so why not stay here

Under my tail.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This FanFic is a “What If the Shadow Crystal not only turned Twilight and Legend into animals but, due to its dark origins, gave them their animal instincts as well…?”

ENJOY!

Cw: blood, injury, and possible death scene

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Legend pulled hard on the Shadow Crystal’s broken strap. “I understand the use you get out of this thing, but it’s changing you, and not in a good way!”

Twilight tugged the other side closer to him, a flash of fury filled his mind at Legend’s words. “It’s more than its use! It’s all I have left of her!” Her. Midna. When Twilight found that the Shadow Crystal had been left behind, he knew he would have to protect it. Keep it close. It was his only way of feeling close to her.

Twilight’s and Legend’s seemingly unending tug-of-war continued, but Legend held new sympathy in gaze. “Look, I understand. Really, I do. If I had something… anything… left from Koholint, I’d react the same way. But… this is causing you to lash out, and we’re worried it’ll only get worse. You have to stop using it!”

Deep inside, Twilight knew Legend was right. Ever since he’d gotten better from the mysterious sickness that had almost killed him, he’d been feeling more and more like he was losing control. He was losing patience with the others more easily, and had nearly started a fight with another traveler for disturbing a hunt while he was in wolf form. Just ten minutes ago, Legend had offered to come with him while on patrol. Twilight thought he’d wanted to help, to make sure his brother was alright after suffering not too long ago, but instead, he’d been betrayed. Betrayed by the person he’d called a brother.

With one last tug, fueled by rage at the thought of being betrayed, Twilight grabbed the Shadow Crystal directly. He would be stronger in his wolf form after all. What he wasn’t expecting was for Legend’s attempt to stop him, only to touch the Crystal at the same time.

—————————

Legend felt his body meld and shift as it had once before. The time he’d turned into a pink bunny. Sure enough, when his body felt stable, he looked down to see his hands had became pink paws once again! He growled to himself. He looked up, expecting to see Twilight’s amused face, but instead, saw the form of Wolfie!

Can the Shadow Crystal change two people at once?! he wondered.

“Hey… uh… Wolfie? I know you said it was possible to turn back after wielding the Master Sword, but how do you do that, exactly?”

Although Legend knew he was talking to Twilight, he still felt weird expecting an answer from a wolf. However, upon watching Twilight a few moments longer, Legend sensed something was off, even for his wolf form. Twilight seemed to be scratching at his face as though something had landed on it. He was growling slightly as well.

“Is uh… is something wrong there, Rancher?” Legend took a step closer to him.

Upon hearing this, Twilight’s wolf form tensed up, hair raising up his back. Seeming to have forgotten about whatever was on his face, he slowly looked up, right into Legend’s eyes.

This wasn’t Twilight. It couldn’t be! This wolf’s eyes were berry red, while his were grayish-blue! And they glared at him! But everything else—the fur, the symbol over his forehead, even the shackle on his front leg— it was all Twilight.

When those red eyes glared at Legend, he could feel his own fur stand on end, his long ears flattening against his back, and every part of his body telling him to run!

Run! Run! RUN!!!

But this wasn’t right… Legend couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt such fear looking into the eyes of a beast. He was no coward!

The wolf took a slow step towards him.

RUN!

Legend’s own thoughts seemed to dissipate with each quick breath he took. His small heart beating fast in his chest, thoughts were becoming less human and more animal. More prey-like.

RUN!!! RUN!!!

————————

The wolf’s ears twitched. Something was nearby. He slowly raised his head, forgetting about whatever had hurt him, and only seeing a small, pink bunny.

Hunt!

Something in the back of his mind made him hesitate. He shouldn’t hunt this bunny, right? But… why? It was dumb prey that had gotten too close!

He took a step towards the little creature, the movement causing the thing to cower low to the ground. Its eyes seemed to change color, too. Only for a moment from blue to purple to blue again. Once again, the wolf felt that tug, almost telling him to stop.

HUNT!

The instinct of an animal is almost impossible to ignore.

————————

The wolf lunged at the bunny as soon as he ran, its sharp fangs grazed his flank, just missing him!

RUN! RUN! RUN!

The bunny’s mind raced as fast as he ran. He could hear the wolf’s powerful paws plowing through the snow behind him. His hind leg stung from the wolf’s miss, causing him to clumsily fall to his side. He closed his eyes tightly, expecting the end, but nothing happened. Slowly, the bunny opened his eyes.

Then suddenly Legend remembered who he was!

“What in Hylia’s name was that about?” he wondered aloud.

The wolf—or Twilight—seemed to be confused too. He looked almost dizzy, but his eyes had returned to normal.

“Link?” Legend began, hesitantly, putting nicknames aside. “What happened?”

Twilight’s eyes, still normal, widened as he looked at Legend. He slowly lifted a paw up to his muzzle, rubbed it, then stared at the bloody smear that appeared on his paw. He looked mortified.

Legend looked at his side, examining the near-bite. It didn’t look so bad, but a thin line of blood had begun to fall from it. He looked back at Twilight who had closed his eyes tightly and clenched his teeth.

“It’s… it’s alright,” Legend said. “It’s only a scratch! I know it wasn’t really you that—“

Twilight’s eyes snapped open. They were bright red again!

Run! Run! RUN!!!

The bunny didn’t hesitate this time. Following his animal instincts, he ran for his life!

For a long time, the bunny and the wolf ran on an endless plain of snow. No place to hide, no time to burrow, no chance of escape! But on his right, the bunny saw a forest.

The first thing he did when entering the forest was dive into a bush. The twigs poked him on every part of his body, but his fear kept him from noticing.

The wolf had fallen behind enough to where he seemed to have lost the bunny, who watched as the wolf sniffed the air. But a little ways behind the wolf, the bunny thought he caught a glimpse of something golden.

What are you doing?!

Something in the back of the bunny’s mind stirred, uncomfortably.

You are a wielder of the Triforce of Courage! Be brave, Bunny Brain!

Legend shook his head out of the fearful trance. That was right! What the heck was he doing acting all cowardly like that? He was NOT going to be another Ravio!

Legend looked outside his leafy shelter. Wolf-Twilight’s eyes were still red, but they had been able to return to normal not long ago. Legend could still save his brother!

Run! Run! Run!

His animal instincts were going haywire. He closed his eyes and stepped out of the bush.

Shut up!

————————

The wolf licked his lips as the little, pink bunny emerged from a bush.

This poor thing doesn’t understand anything, does it?

The wolf was ready to pounce when the bunny sat up on its hind legs. It was squeaking at him. Only… something wasn’t right… The bunny wasn’t squeaking.

The wolf heard something behind him, he quickly turned to see what it was. He thought he saw something golden, but it vanished before he could catch a good glimpse of it.

Could it be…?

Twilight snapped back to who he was.

VET!

He looked back at the little bunny who was Legend. How could he have lost himself like that!? He remembered that, not long ago, he was warned against using the Shadow Crystal, before wielding the Master Sword. He’d thought he would be safe from turning evil. Was that no longer true?

Legend’s arms were out, almost like he was going to embrace him. “It’s me! Link, it’s me! Don’t forget who you are! I know you can fight it!”

Twilight whined, being unable to speak in his wolf form. He wanted to apologize, to tell Legend that he was right, he should’ve just let Legend take that darn Shadow Crystal!

Hunt.

The powerful voice returned to his mind. Twilight shut his eyes from the force of it.

Hunt!

He could feel his whole body tremble from the effort to keep the wolf in him at bay.

“You can control it!” Legend’s words were fading in and out. Twilight felt a soft paw touch his leg.

DON’T DO THAT! Please!

HUNT!

Twilight clenched his teeth harder. Then the wolf felt the bunny’s soft fur. So close. And the smell of fresh meat.

BITE!!!

————————

RUN!!

Legend was trying so hard not to listen to his bunny instincts. Trying too hard.

He didn’t see how close the wolf’s teeth were until it was too late.

————————

Twilight heard another wolf’s howling not too far away. There was something soft in his mouth.

He felt faint and sick as he dropped the small creature. The howl had stopped him from biting too hard, but the damage had already been done.

Legend’s bunny form fell limply into the snow, which was already turning red around him.

No… NO!

The world seemed to be spinning around Twilight, causing him to nearly lose his footing. Legend’s pink fur was becoming dark and wet!

Twilight hardly took notice of the other wolf until it was right in front of him. He snarled at it, thinking it was going to run off with Legend, but quickly stopped when he saw it was none other than his own mentor: the Hero’s Shade in his own wolf form.

But this couldn’t be Time, not the Time they’d been traveling with this whole time, anyway. This had to be a phantom, like before. It’s form slightly transparent and glowing.

Twilight’s ears flattened in shame as he met the other wolf’s disapproving eye. It lifted its paw and gently placed it on Legend’s trembling body. The moment the Golden Wolf made contact, Legend turned back into his human form.

Twilight didn’t have time to feel relief, for the Golden Wolf came closer to Twilight, its large form towering over him.

Twilight sunk low to the ground. I messed up, I know I did! I was supposed to protect him!

Twilight felt his body change back to its human form as it had countless times before. The Shadow Crystal fell away into the snow, the strap broken, split into two stretched parts.

The Golden Wolf gave one last glare at Twilight before picking up the Crystal and walking away. It’s form vanishing, seemingly into mist.

Taking away Twilight’s most useful tool in battle.

Taking away Twilight’s only treasure from Midna.

But Twilight wasn’t worried about any of those things at the moment.

“Rancher?”

Twilight jumped to Legend’s side as soon as he heard his pained voice. He was alive! “Careful, Veteran. Don’t sit up.”

Twilight examined Legend’s wounds. Although they looked bad when he was in his bunny form, the wounds looked even worse now that his clothes were soaking up the blood.

“I knew you could break free from… that curse.” Legend's voice was fading as he closed his eyes, looking far away.

“Link, you need to stay awake!” Twilight could feel his own body shaking, and not from the cold. His throat tightened. “This is my fault.”

“It was… the wolf. Not you.” Legend’s voice was hardly audible.

“But you told me to stop using that darn Crystal! I was too attached to it to know what was best. I became the wolf!”

Legend didn’t respond, his breathing slowed, but he was also shaking. The snow!

Twilight took off his Wolf-pelt jacket and laid it over Legend. He didn’t want to look at the bloodstained tunic any longer. Tears fell from Twilight’s eyes, tears of guilt, shame, and fear. He wiped them away

Right now, he had to save his brother, and he had to find help fast!

[draftmlpfim]

rating mlp fim popular ships

not including mane 6 x mane 6 ships, i did that here

source

soarin x rainbow dash 0/10 - she's a lesbian people

octavia x dj pon3 6/10 - i love their friendship a lot and i know people really like this one, but idk i lean friendship w it

bon bon x lyra 100/10 - need i say more

derpy x dr whooves 2/10 - again, love the friendship but i don't personally see it romantic

celestia x discord 1/10 - toxic exes 100/10 but i've never really understood the appeal

spike x rarity -10/10 - cute as a bit and works for spike's motivation sometimes but hes a fuckin baby dude

discord x fluttershy 0/10 - send me hate mail idc i hate this ship. throughout the show discord countlessly betrays the mane six over and over, i dont care if he thought it was the best thing to do. this ship, IMO, enforces pushover fluttershy just letting him be friends with her over and over despite him being the worst. i know theres a timeskip before they're "established," but even then i don't think he could have matured enough to be in a relationship with her. plus gay man x lesbian energy

fluttershy x big mac 5/10 - cool in concept, like one of the mane six dating big mac is a funny idea but idk if it works for any of them

shining armor x cadence 9/10 - would be a 10/10 if i didn't hate flurryheart's stupid face sm

soarin x braeburn 10/10 - idk who tf came up with this idea, but i really like it, also might be bc i love soarin

spike x applebloom 0/10

spike x sweetie belle 0/10

spike x twilight -1000000/10

spike x anyone 0/10 - hes a fuckin baby

[garden-ghoul]

OH MY GD PERENNIAL HISTORIES... I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YEARS... I blacked out and when I returned I had transcribed this conversation

PP: I know what y'all believe about Perennial. Which is interesting because to my memory Perennial was... not the Adversary so much as the outsider. Never part of the Fleet. Always just flittering around. Ah... I don't think she was really even with the Collaborate, the other big Divine group. When we were with the Divine Fleet we weren't the only Divines in the galaxy. We built the Fleet because we thought it was the most sustainable, the longest lasting form of relationship between Divines and different types of people. If we had let ourselves go to war we would have died, or they would have died or both. Instead we found unity. But we were not the only Divines in the world and others took a different path. And she wasn't part of either camp, She just sorta showed up one day. So now I wake up and she's the center of the damn galaxy. It's a surprise.

F: Back then, what did she want?

PP: She wanted to learn everything. We had a policy as part of trying to make sure people could join the Fleet which was that we had little knowledge we wouldn't share. We wouldn't share private info, but when it came to knowledge about the galaxy and math and the way of the world... and she consumed that info voraciously. For a Divine, even, which was confusing. Because most Divines come knowing the world. They're built in it and of it. It's like she came from somewhere else. Big galaxy, so... And then I lost track.

PP: Didn't ever join the Fleet. We left the Fleet to start palisade, to start all this. As far as I can tell Perennial never hooked up with anyone in the Twilight Mirage or became part of all that, she just sorta floated somewhere else. And then the Divine Clash happens and she betrays the Divine Principality, supposedly. And then (gestures into the sky referencing the Perennial Wave, her home in the center of the galaxy) Why's she on your mind?

F: What's the best way to put this... to break free of Clem I had to replace that chain with something else. So it's not a... chain. But I'm connected to Perennial in a way I don't fully understand. It feels more like I'm a port on the river.

PP: You haven't tried talking to her?

F: She hasn't reached out to me... It's been very busy around here.

PP: I mean, how can you say she hasn't reached out to you? Look at you.

F: How do you go about doing that?

PP: I have to admit, I've never been on the other side of it.

F: Is there like, etiquette??

PP: There's the etiquette you make with one another. In my experience. I had a number of elects in the time of the Fleet, and I had my preferences, I had my foibles, but everyone had a diff way about em. There were thinks I'd excuse from one that I wouldn't from another, and things I would encourage from some that I would despise, find presumptuous, from others. You feel it out.

F: I don't even know what to say. How do you say 'thanks for saving my life but also are you just as evil as the person you saved me from?' How do you say 'what do you want with me?' I don't wanna ask that, that's fucked up! I just spent a lot of time and energy getting away from someone that's the only question I cared about the answer to!

PP: What's the actual question you wanna ask then?

F: I keep hearing people talk about the wheel. Okay, when this happened, there's also a ghost who shows up sometimes. Do you know who Gur Sevraq is?

PP: The preacher in the Temple? Far as I can tell they're alive and well, unfortunately.

F: No. Not the real one. From his writings that I've read, I've got the real one, but he's all mixed up. But one of the few things he's said to me that makes any sense is, she wants to stop the wheel from turning.

PP: I mean, that makes sense.

F: Sure, but if I want it to make sense it depends on what the wheel is.

PP: What's the wheel you wouldn't want to stop spinning?

F: Like, life? In general? Happiness, joy, self-determination?

PP: She would have stopped them already if that was her goal, right? You worked with the Witch In Glass for how long? If raw damage was the intended output... Maybe what she's trying to say is, try some new shit.

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

Looking Back: Spirit Tracks over 10 years later

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks was my very first official video game ever. I was first introduced to LoZ through my cousin. So, for Christmas, I was gifted with a DSI and Spirit Tracks plus Phantom Hourglass. Since the first time I popped that cartridge in, I knew Spirit Tracks was going to be something special. I was mesmerized by the world, the music, and the characters. As I played more and more Zelda games like Ocarina of Time, Spirit Tracks became that fun, little game I played as a child. However, that little game always had a special place in my heart. Playing it now, for the first time since I lost my original DS and copy of the game in 2019, it still remains my favorite.

The world: The world of Spirit Tracks to me is breathtaking. This world feels so real to me. There is so much to explore. Yeah, the train can be tedious, but aside from that the map is huge. Skyward Sword feels so limiting in what you can explore. And don't me wrong, I love Hyrule field, but even that feels small to me at times. Twilight Princess has the best Hyrule field of the older games. Spirit Tracks has so many places to explore. Although the villages aren't, I still appreciate the unique design of all of them.

The dungeons: While the dungeons or bosses in this game will never be as grand as the Ancient Cistern or spooky as Arbiter's Grounds, I still adore them. To me, they are what dungeons should be: challenging with fun puzzles. And that's the key word here: fun. These dungeons do a great job implementing the puzzles and items collected. I love how the Tower of Spirits continues to get challenge your puzzle-solving skills. The bosses also are just fun adventures for Link to take on. They don't need to be crazy or super grand because this game is meant to be a fun, little adventure.

The characters: We could argue which game has the best characters for hours (it's Skyward Sword stop arguing). That being said, I say Spirit Tracks has some really great characters. The Lokomos are all unique, Cole is a delightful little menace, and Byrne stole my heart. Thanks the the side quests, we do get some pretty fun interactions with the various npcs throughout the game. I love the teacher who has to disguise himself to get out of the castle. The rabbit man and his wife make for a cute romance story. And Ferrus is just a jolly man who loves trains. It's a great cast.

This game also has one of my favorite versions of Zelda. Just like with Skyward Sword, Spirit Tracks does a great job setting up her relationship with Link. Their relationship is so genuine and wholesome. They're friends who may pursue a romantic relationship when they're older. It's that good. They also gave Zelda a personality and stuff to do other than show up for the first and last few minutes to dump exposition. Y’all want playable Zelda? Well, here she is! She's adventurous, funny, caring, and feisty. There's so much life to her. She helps Link as much as she can and is a way better companion than Navi ever could be. Zelda is amazing. Her interactions with Link are stellar. I also love that the game shows just how much the two of them love and care for each other. Link and Zelda are perfect.

And yes, Byrne was my first fictional crush. It's his design I tell you. I love broody, tall men. It's that simple. But also, he does have a great arc. He becomes evil because he wanted power. Yet, he still had a soft spot for Anjean. After he's betrayed, he realizes the horrible truth and decides to help the heroes. Thanks to Anjean and Zelda's forgiving nature, they take Byrne in and help him. In turn, it is he who helps Zelda reclaim her body and gives his life. He's wonderful *sigh*.

The music: Spirit Tracks has some of the best Zelda music in my opinion and it's sad that it gets overlooked by like... every other game. I will be brutally honest, I genuinely don't remember any of the music from BotW or TotK. I'm sorry, that's the truth. But, I always remembered Spirit Tracks' music. From the upbeat title theme to Byrne's unique leitmotif, the music has always been fun. Cole's theme is one of my personal fave villain tracks. I love the music changes as you ascend the Tower of Spirits. I love the Lokomo songs even if the flute mechanic was a tad annoying at times. I love the Demon Train's intimidating theme. The Dark Train's leitmotif was the og anxiety bringer way before the guardians were even a thing.

The Story: I also adore the story of this game. When an ancient evil strikes, Link, Zelda, and co. must rally to save the day. I like that the train in this game actually has a meaning. It's not just a means of transportation; the tracks have magic in them that protect the world from demons. It's simple but effective. There are fun side quests that are optional but yield satisfying rewards and nothing feels too repetitive. In short, it's great. One thing I really appreciated was that Zelda couldn't just enter her body right away. She had to focus her power. It makes the game more interesting. And it’s one of the only Zelda games where she basically dies. This game has stakes!!!Byrne's death shows that there are consequences for one's actions and sacrifices that must be made. Saving the world isn't an easy path. Overall, I think it's a fun and effective story.

The Downsides: Obviously, it's not a perfect game. The flute mechanics are frustrating at times, especially when playing the Lokomo songs. I can't begin to tell you how annoying it is when you play everything right and the game still says retry. The train can also be a bit tedious. It does take time to get from place to place. At least the game isn't rushing you. Thankfully, the portals and force gems help make the journey more bearable. Finally, Malladus isn't that memorable of villain when compared to Demise or Ganondorf. Even Cole is more memorable and he's the secondary antagonist. The design of him sucks and isn't screaming "demon king" at all. That being said, Malladus' actions do standout. His murder of Byrne and using Cole as a vessel without the latter's consent are legit great moments. It does establish his cruelty and willingness to do whatever necessary to win. Also, Possessed Zelda is freaky.

If y'all made it to the end of this post, congrats. I know I'm in the minority when I say Spirit Tracks is my fave Zelda game, but I'll defend it nonetheless. It's a cute and wonderful game. I'm excited to replay it again in the near future. For now, I'll continue to listen to the music. I love this game so much guys.

[thebleedingeffect]

Please I'm begging you please talk about the timeline I need to know

HIIIIII OKAY I'M SORRY THAT THIS TOOK SO LONG. I GOT DISTRACTED WITH SOME OTHER STUFF BUT I'M HERE NOW ^-^

So!! Hyrules curse timeline is really, really fun for me to think about simply because time is not relative for all the time periods when the main events of the story transpire! For example, Warriors and Wild are still very much in the thick of their journeys when Sky, Twilight, and Time are all done with theirs. Because there's some time fuckery going on- thanks to Cia and Lana- none of the time periods are happening at the *exact* same length of time as the other.

But! Alot of hyrules curse timeline comes down to my own interpretation of the length of time that each of their adventures occur. For example: at the beginning of botw, in the cave of resurrection, Wild is around 17, but by the end of the game, he's 18. My personal interpretation is that the events of botw take around a year! And that there's around a 3 year gap inbetween the events of botw and totk. That allows more than enough time for hyrule to settle and for rebuilding efforts to truly get underway. Zonai artifacts also begin to be found in that time, and research on them had only just begun to flourish when totk begins. At the beginning of totk, Wild is around 21 and he actually *would* be close to the end of his adventure before Cia steps in.

Right before Cia arrives, Wild has done all four temples and the only thing he has left to do... is collect the master sword. Wild actually doesn't know that the light dragon IS Zelda before everything falls apart :( he never learns the truth before he's abducted. Funny thing is that Wild was actively going through the depths, trying to find the way into the lost forest, only to be helplessly cornered :( it really does not help that his run in with a gloom hands in the area only exhausted further.

Wild is captured nearly at the end of his adventure.

Warriors is captured in the middle of his.

I've actually already written how Warriors is captured- but I haven't talked about just how long the war has been going up to that point! So, in my personal interpretation, I believe the conflict in hyrule warriors is actually extremely short, as well as extremely violent. Before Warriors is captured, the war has barely been going on for a bit more than half a year and is very short in terms of how most wars go. It's just that this war has been so costly, so bloody, and just overall vicious that it feels like it's been much longer than it actually has been :( it doesn't help that for as much as hyrule is suffering, Cia barely experiences any of the same consequences. Most of Cia’s army is made up of monsters and most of her front lines are made of monsters and they're the ones taking the brunt of casualties, which doesn't really matter considering she can just bring them back to life.

The sole exception is the growing population of soldiers who have betrayed hyrule and have instead joined Cia. Funnily enough, most of the soldiers don't actually fill out the immediate front lines and instead form the defense. Cia purposely does this to inspire loyalty and the feeling that she actually cares for their survival, unlike the princess of course <3 let's not talk about how Cia effectively massacres any remaining soldiers still loyal to Zelda and takes over hyrule. That's a whole other thing <3

Sky and Twilight are both captured after their adventures, but roughly at the same amount of time afterwards funnily enough! Around 2 years have passed for the both of them by the time the events of the story begin :] though Sky is in much better spirits compared to Twilight... Twilight is currently struggling through some really bad abandonment issues and the fact that he feels so incredibly different from the life he left behind :( and just isn't able to rejoin Ordon like he did before. Sky, on the other hand, has been faring better, but he's still struggling with the loss of Fi :( though there are much less bitter, angry feelings on his side of things.

Now, for the extreme outliner of the entire story... Time is not captured by Cia until 15 years after the events of majoras mask. In my personal interpretation, I've always liked to imagine that oot link was around 12 during the events of both oot and mm. After majoras mask, he returns to hyrule and finds Sheik once more, after finally healing through his wounds just enough that he wants to continue and make something with his sibling </333 Time RETURNS to hyrule for Sheik and the promise that he would eventually come home. In those 15 years, he actually grows up and becomes an adult and the prince of hyrule. By the time of hyrules curse, he's around... 27 or 28, he's fully grown and has experienced both the life of a royal, a hero, and a forest boy, all of which have followed him until now.

Personally, I really like to imagine that by the time of the beginning of hyrules curse, Time has mostly lost his resentment for having so much of his childhood stolen because he was able to live through a new one with Sheik. He no longer feels like an adult trapped in a child's body and has actually had time to GROW and feel like a HUMAN BEING! There's still lots of trauma, sure, but before he's captured by Cia, he's had lots of opportunities to at least come to terms with most of them.

Which brings the timeline to this! ->

Cia captures Warriors first, kickstarting the entire story -> countless soldiers still loyal to hw zelda and impa are instantly killed in the the ensuing blast of Cia’s attack -> hw zelda, impa, and Lana are forced to retreat and figure out just what it is that Cia has done and where Warriors is

Warriors is put into a statis of sorts while Cia continues to hunt for the remaining heroes -> Volga joins her side once more -> Cia begins to collect the remaining heroes

This is the official order that they're all captured: Warriors -> Sky -> Twilight -> Wild -> Time

Cia captures all of the heroes inbetween arriving to hyrule castle and managing to win over hyrule -> She is crowned the queen -> all of the heroes are dragged to the furthest reaches of hyrule castle where their memories begin to be slowly fractured and molded -> Linkle arrives to hyrule castle -> Linkle joins Cia

This is the rough catalog of events before more time stuff happens! Or as in, hw zelda, impa, and Lana fucking jump over to wilds time desperately looking for help and safety because their world is completely taken over now :( Cia has... taken over everything there and nothing can leave or enter without her knowing, and it's there that they're all being held.

Uhhhhhhh alot more shit happens but that's like,,,, so fucking long,,, I still cannot believe that Wild gets his memory messed with for a SECOND TIME-

[epitaffia]

❛   wink .

what ... what was she doing ? was there something in her eye ?? or perhaps ... a glance teetering along the lines of caution is cast behind themself, half expecting for some stranger to be there & her winking eye to be code to that ( which makes not a lick of sense, no she's flirting, or maybe there's something in her eye- ).

" hm.. " freckles paint an expression of confusion & irrtance difficult to hide. instead, jaw stiffens & head cants away from her ( sweet, judgmental ) gaze. some days the mind were blissfully quiet, while other days such as this one it was painfully difficult to string coherent thoughts together. which seemed to be a daily occurrence these past few days, apparently ... ever since their admittance of feelings for her. everyone had something to say.

seconds tick into what feels like an hour of gazing aimlessly into the garden fading into darkness as twilight transitions into night. " forgive me, i- um.. " diavolo's voice is painfully quiet, clammy hands folding together 'pon lap betraying the anxious heart ( what was there to be so afraid of ? pathetic ... she's really nice, & safe- ) a deep, steadying breath fills lungs & is slowly released into the warm night, & when they speak again, it is with a concerned tone & lack of sardinian accent, " is your eye okay ? is there something in it ?? " doppio asks, looking to her intently now with wide worried hazels ... which gradually narrow with vague suspicion, " or are you flirting ? i've heard people wink if they're flirting, which is really weird honestly ... i don't get it. " a pause, in which silly suspicions shift suddenly into apology. accent returning yet lacking articulate tones , " ah- not to say you're weird, of course ! you're a very nice person ... if i'm being honest ; it'd be a pretty sad life if you weren't in it. you mean so much to me ... to all of us. " @steavia

[cadybear420]

My Top 3 Worst Choices LIs (this list is subject to later change or expansion)

🏅Honorable Mentions:

Nick from HFTH: He got on my nerves for the first part of the book, but at least he became more tolerable later.

Everett/Yvette from SB: Copy-paste emotionally closed off LI with copy-paste backstory of being betrayed by a shitty ex. But I didn't completely hate them or find them terrible.

Julian/Julia from SB: I liked them but they clearly just existed to be a "backup" for just in case we don't like Everett/Yvette. You could have removed them from the story and nothing would change.

Will from TCATF: I liked him as a character, but him being into Dom was completely out of nowhere and they clearly only added it in to have a token mlm romance in the trilogy.

Rory from HSS:CA: I liked them well enough, but they felt very lackluster as a character compared to Ajay and Skye, and to OG HSS's LIs. The other LIs in these trilogies all have some form of personal growth arc, but Rory just seemed to fall short of that. There was also really no need for the entirety of Book 1's conflict to revolve around MC's forced crush on Rory.

Logan from ROD: Of all the LIs they could have made the "main LI", why him? Why not Colt? Cause I remember a hell of a lot more about Colt's relevance to the Mercy Park Crew than I do that of Logan's. But to be fair it has been a long time since I last played.

🥉Third Place:

Reagan from Surrender.

Reagan acting predatory to MC, texting her a photo of a riding crop and "Have you been a good girl or do I need to punish you" within 10 minutes after first meeting her sours the story and the character.

That plus the fact that MC suddenly wanting to be a sub is completely out of nowhere (and also hypocritical on behalf of the writers who claim it wouldn't make sense for MC to want to dom right away), making a scene that can be read as Reagan coercing MC into BDSM and being a sub. Which just goes against the whole point of MC's story revolving around escaping a toxic spouse.

🥈Second Place:

Kit from Untameable.

I'm in the unpopular opinion in that I don't find most customizable LIs to be completely devoid of personality. But Kit is the literal textbook definition of "personality devoid customizable LI". The childhood backstory for MC, Kit, and Austin is incredibly weak and I have no idea why MC would be so into Kit.

And the story does a terrible job of trying to convince me that Kit is a player too. There are like two scenes ever where Kit gets swarmed by gals/guys but from what I can tell, Kit doesn't really care much about hooking up with any of them. People call the story wlm-coded but honestly the "high stakes" and "forbidden romance" is just so forced, it doesn't even matter how gender-coded the story is cause it will be nonsensical even if you play as wlm.

🥇First Place:

Bastien from Wolf Bride.

It's not so much for possessiveness and kidnapper behavior and him being all "herp derp MC and I are magically bonded we must do breeding". I mean, don't get me wrong, I fucking hate seeing these kinds of LIs pushed on us so much, but it's kinda what I expected from this kind of book (I mean, look at that cover). So I could just give it an eyeroll and a "Ugh this is such a cliche Twilight/romance YA novel trope", and not dwell on it so much.

But what really made me hate him was accusing Morgan of betraying the pack to help Sayre, despite being witness to Morgan calling out Sayre's abuse of her. And they try to excuse it with "Oh this is just how wolves get when they're both fighting over the same mate" ok sure, Bastien's still an asshole tho. And sure Morgan did shitty stuff too but at least it was addressed and she got a redemption/atonement.