#The Wild and the Willing

[oh-jeremy-darling]

Jeremy Brett as Andrew Gilby - The Wild and the Willing (1962)

[lexie-squirrel]

[proxycrit]

Linktober Day 24– ZORA RIVER

Another job wrapped up! Goodbyes are said and our heroes go their separate ways— not quite together, but not quite alone either.

END OF WATER SAGE ARC

(This totk au is called Familiar Familiar! It all started when Zelda did not get whisked back in time and devolved from there.)

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[aslyran]

Visions

[nothatsmi]

Lovely isn't he.

I finished the third book. It's been a few days already but with work and stuff... Anyway now I'm digging through the additional content Nora posted on Tumblr, took me a while to understand how it works but now I am pleased.

I cannot express the emotionnal damage these books have done to me, but I'm not finished drawing any of the foxes. Just saying.

[littlecrittereli]

Have you thought about a situation where CPS has almost taken Chris away? The angst potential for this AU is good

If they were ever close, Chris would have never known about it...

Also shout out to the anon who suggested I call this AU Guardianship AU!! It now has a name YIPPEEEEE

I'm gonna lore dump about it real quick bc I have ideas and if I do not say them I will forget them.

Martin is 9 years older than Chris. Their parents died when Martin was 17 and Chris was 8. Martin got emancipated and was able to take custody of Chris but like all government branches... it's a really long process that basically drags out for Chris' entire childhood. Martin graduates high school early, gets a full-ride scholarship at Duke University while maintaining various jobs and internships. Sounds like a lot? yEAH bro is TIRED. But he's willing to put in the work if it means a better future for his bro.

Of course eventually he becomes apart of the Tortuga crew and things get a lot easier for them both. CPS is still riding his ass about taking Chris with him on these cross-country expeditions but he's been dealing with them for so long at that point it's not as scary.

[teapot-of-tyrahn]

REWATCHING PEARL'S EPISODE AND. I CAN'T BELIEVE I MISSED THIS:

"you two are looking mighty green today... are you ill? are you sick?" and then. pearl pulled out an enchanted diamond sword. a weapon. a threat. she held it for both of them to see as she said: "do you need help? i can assist you..."

she threatens them. sword in hand. threatens to relieve them of their lives. because isn't this how the game is supposed to be played? yellows kill dark greens for their lives. the misfortunate kill the fortunate. that's how it works. that's how it always has.

and then cleo says something she hadn't been expecting to hear:

"here's the question, pearl; do you need help?"

she had never been offered a life in last life; she'd only given them. in limited life her allies never offered her their time; she only took time from her enemies. she's never been offered a life. she'd never been offered help.

"...i would love help..."

she'd never been expecting them to help her. she came in the conversation expecting to take, like she always had, not be given.

"pearl, i'm happy for you to murder me, if required!"

he didn't even hesitate. he was happy to die for her. (later, mumbos words would ring through her head; “if they really loved you they’d get you off yellow.” and that’s what he had offered to do. did this mean scott really loved her? after everything?)

"...why are you both the way you are...?"

why are you both so nice to me? what did i do to deserve you?

[blue-mood-blue]

I have been thinking about the blackening (as one does)…

…and it’s so interesting to me, the penalty Shen Qingqiu is faced with should he not decide to yeet his disciple into hell.

Account termination. Instant death. Sent directly home to his already-long-dead body, and that’s it for the villain of the piece who outright refuses his villainy. The protagonist needs a blackening for the story to continue, and Shen Qingqiu is going to provide it or get written out of the narrative. Either way, Luo Binghe is going to lose him. Either way, this is a turning point.

I wouldn’t claim that this is the intent of the penalty, but it fascinates me that the System has, potentially, backed the plotline into a corner - because Binghe still stands to be blackened even if Shen Qingqiu took the other choice.

Think about what that would look like, to him. He’s at the Immortal Alliance Conference, and everything is going wrong. He’s been outed as a demon, and not just a demon - the top tier of demon, as bad as it gets from the perspective of a righteous cultivator. His beloved teacher, the person who has been kindest to him and opened his home and heart to him, is standing there with his sword in hand, deciding what he’s going to do about what must look, to him, like a horrific betrayal. Binghe is apologizing. Binghe is begging for his life.

Shen Qingqiu hears him. Maybe it shows on his face, or in his voice, that he already knew; maybe there’s no hint at all, but Shen Qingqiu is suddenly talking quickly with an abrupt sense of urgency that Luo Binghe is having a hard time keeping up with. Telling him he’ll be wonderful - telling him he’s the best. Telling him the world will be his, with emotions cracking through that aloof mask that Binghe has never seen on Shizun’s face before, and it’s terrifying for reasons that Binghe cannot identify.

(He will, later. When he has time to think, he’ll realize it sounded like a goodbye.)

And then Shen Qingqiu is bleeding. And then Shen Qingqiu is on the ground. And then Shen Qingqiu is dead. There’s no countdown for Binghe - there’s no System, there’s no warning, there’s no answers.

Luo Binghe is a heavenly demon in the middle of a conference sabotaged by demons. Luo Binghe is alone. His fellow competing disciples are scattered, some dead or injured. The Peak Lord of Qing Jing Peak, the second in command of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, maybe the only person he loved and who loved him back, is dead at his feet. No one will believe him if he says it isn’t his fault.

(He can’t believe it isn’t his fault.)

What choice does he have but to run? The last heavenly demon the cultivation world went up against has been sealed under a mountain for years, and one of the people responsible for that is probably looking for Shen Qingqiu already. They’ll be looking for him, too. There isn’t anywhere to hide; there isn’t any time to mourn.

There isn’t even enough time to ask why. Why again.

There is no closure waiting for him, because there is nothing to explain what happened. It just is.

It would be a different kind of blackening, certainly - less intense, probably, less of a warping, desperate thing. But how many times can one person have all the love and safety in their world torn out from under them before it starts to show? Before they just don’t allow things like love and safety to touch them, because that’s the better option?

Interesting to consider that, simply by offering the choices it did, the System rigged the story to guarantee that Luo Binghe would end up in hell (deliberate or not).

Interesting to consider that, even if Shen Qingqiu made what might have seemed like a kinder choice, there was every chance it wouldn’t have been.

[thequibblingking13]

Fearne Calloway, the woman that you are

(Zoom for better quality bc this file is big as fuck)

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Prompt: Either Time and Malon have announced they're having a baby or Malon has just had a baby and they're introducing them to the chain when Time finds some big insecurities from one of his boys he doesn't expect; Wild. Thing is, Time (and to an extent Malon as well) is the only parental figure he knows. Any memories of his parents are long gone along with any record of who they might have been so Time acting in a familial manner means a lot to Wild. But he's worried now that the man is an -actual- father that it means he'll be withdrawing that affection from the chain (himself, really) in favor of focusing on his child. Time goes above and beyond to prove him wrong.

Sky glared grumpily at the postman as he delivered mail to everyone. Legend snickered and elbowed his friend, making the usually cheery knight even more sour.

“Chin up, Sky,” Wild chuckled. “Nobody can outrun that guy from what I can figure. At least that’s what the old man says.”

Time didn’t even flinch at his mention. It wasn’t new - he tended to tune out the younger ones what they got rambunctious. But something about the intensity of which he was looking at his letter from Malon caught Wild’s attention.

“Everything okay?” Twilight asked, also picking up on it.

Time glanced at Twilight, eye fixed on the younger man, then back at the letter. Then he closed both eyes and smiled.

“It’s fine,” he said quietly, folding the letter.

“That looks like more than fine,” Warriors noted, wiggling his eyebrows. “What are you hiding, old man?”

“Is Miss Malon okay?” Wind asked, poking his head over Warriors’ shoulder, having been sitting on the ground behind the captain, who had plopped on a stump.

“She’s fine,” Time replied warmly. Then he sighed a little, gentle cheer dashed by a cool, worried gaze.

“That wasn’t very convincing,” Four whispered to Twilight.

Time glanced around at the group, now that everyone had honed in on him. Then he seemed to come to a decision, huffing a little and saying, “Since none of you seem to know how to mind your business, then I’ll tell you.”

Warriors scoffed, “I’ll have you know I am perfectly capable of minding my own business until gossip is involved.”

Hyrule laughed. “It’s pretty funny listening to people’s drama in town, honestly. But I hope there isn’t drama in your house, old man.”

“There isn’t,” Time assured him. “But there will be someone new living there.”

“Is it that Ingo guy you got mad about?” Sky asked, tilting his head to the side.

Time outright laughed. “No, Sky. No. It’s… Malon’s pregnant.”

The group went silent for a long while before it burst into excited chatter. Warriors was the first to congratulate Time, with Sky coming shortly after, followed by Four and then everyone else in quick succession. Wind excitedly asked about baby names, Sky interrogated him about what course this journey might take now, if they should find a way to return to Lon Lon Ranch—

That was probably the point that Wild felt his stomach twist into knots.

He didn’t quite know what was wrong, at first. He congratulated the old man alongside everyone else. This was a great occasion, after all. But Sky mentioning how maybe Time would want to visit Malon really made Wild realize…

Was he going to leave the group now?

Wild… didn’t want him to leave.

It wasn’t that he was particularly close to Time, more so than the others. Wild was closest to Twilight, after all. But… something about the eldest Link was… comforting. Guiding. Wild couldn’t put words to it, except that… it reminded him of… he didn’t know. He just… he couldn’t remember anything. He didn’t know anything. But the Hero of Time became a staple in his life the last few weeks, a father figure of sorts (and he knew he wasn’t alone in this—the worried disappointment that Wind was trying to hide, the way Legend suddenly became aloof as if already distancing his heart from the matter, the way Sky took four steps away from their leader after running up to him to congratulate him—these were all indications of the same sentiment) when Wild could hardly remember any family at all… and he… was going to lose him too.

He supposed the only true constant in his life was Zelda.

It wasn’t as if he didn’t know this journey would come to an end, but he hadn’t expected their group to lessen during the journey. It had been horrifying when Twilight had almost died - now Time was going to just leave them? Leave him?

Wild found he couldn’t speak after his initial words of cheer for the old man, and he started to slink away into the woods. He wandered aimlessly, shivering a little, feeling far more alone than he had in a while. He tried to cheer himself up with some kind of logical argument—even if he does leave, you still have the others, you have your brothers, you have Twilight—but none of it quite filled the hole that was quickly forming.

At least this time he’d have a chance to say goodbye.

Wild eventually made his way back to the camp just in time - Warriors had been readying to search for him, and he didn’t want to cause such a fuss. He avoided Time for the rest of the night, settling in to take first watch as everyone else went to bed.

He hadn’t expected Time to sit beside him.

“Something’s bothering you,” Time said. It wasn’t a question, but it was held in the air like an invitation.

Wild sighed. “I… wouldn’t worry about it. We’ll find a way to get you home, old man. Wouldn’t want you to miss your actual family.”

There was a period of silence, only interrupted by the crackling of the fire. Wild felt a strange ache in his chest, a longing for someone he could no longer remember. He shriveled into himself a little, shoulders slumping, letting time pass by as he looked into the flames.

“Link… I’m not going home.”

Wild didn’t register the words for a moment, still lost in his own mind and thoughts, before he blinked and glanced over at the older hero. “Wait, what?”

“My place is here,” Time explained quietly, almost what seemed gently. “I would never abandon all of you like that. I love Malon dearly, but she isn’t my only family.”

Wild wasn’t sure what to say to any of this, but the hope in his heart couldn’t be ignored, and he burst out, “You’re not leaving us?”

There was something about Time’s expression that Wild couldn’t quite read. The older hero’s eyebrows seemed to relax from their previously stern position, face softening, eye looking Wild over. “No, young one. I’m not leaving. What we will do, though, is turn back towards the town. I want to write to her. I want all of us to write to her. We’ll have to keep tabs on how she’s doing far more often.”

“Why all of us?” Wild asked.

Time reached forward, messing with the teenager’s hair as he smiled. “If I’ve had to parent all of you, then you’re certainly earning the right and responsibility to ensure your new little sister is alright.”

Wild yelped a little at the gesture before laughing a little, swatting Time away. “Sister, eh? You think it’s a girl?”

“Goddess, I hope so. I have enough boys to take care of.”

Wild’s laugh nearly woke the entire group at that remark. When he’d settled, Time smiled at him, laying a hand on his shoulder. The gesture was reassuring, a physical representation on the promise that Time hadn’t spoken. He didn’t need to. What he’d said was enough.

The ache in Wild’s chest didn’t squeeze quite so hard. But he yearned for the contact, and so he leaned forward a little, just a little, just enough to be perceived without invading the man’s space. Time understood the motion for what it was, and he smiled a little more, pulling Wild into a hug. For the briefest moment the champion felt a little silly or embarrassed at the vulnerability he’d just shown, and then he decided he didn’t care - if he truly viewed Time as a father figure then he should be comfortable showing such insecurity around him. He’d done as much with Twilight.

Twilight. Time’s descendant. Between being viewed as a brother by Twi and a son by Time, Wild actually… he really…

He let out a shuddering breath, and Time’s hand swept up and down his back slowly.

For the first time in as long as he could remember, Wild actually felt like he belonged in a group, in a team, in a family. He could imagine the Champions smiling at him, and the tears finally did fall.

[mochiwrites]

okay, now that I've sat with the first wild life episode for more than 24 hours, I'm throwing my thoughts on the grian, skizz, mumbo team into the mix

it is. incredibly funny how the most paranoid guy on the server (mumbo) finds himself teamed with two of the most loyal people on the server (grian and skizz). like, grian and skizz are such ride or die people. skizz is just naturally a good hearted dude, willing to risk anything and everything for his teammates--even willing to die to help them succeed. grian is an incredibly loyal person once you've earned his loyalty and trust, and he doesn't take that lightly, he's with you until the end. these two are truly some of the most loyal people in the life series. so I don't think mumbo has to worry much about being betrayed

I think a lot of the alliances thus far are.... incredibly unstable and shaky, and I'll be very surprised if most of them last through the whole series (the only exceptions to this being bam boys, treebark, and potentially gem and joel), but I think if this particular team is going to stay together, it's going to be because of skizz and grian

mumbo is like this small shaking wet cat of a man who jumps at every shadow and clearly trusts his team as far as he can throw them LMAO. which, given his previous life series experiences, I really don't blame him JHGJFHGFKJGHFJ but I think skizz and grian can center him, earn his trust and lessen the paranoia, give him some real, genuine loyalty.

and I mean, skizz and grian are just a great pair in general, lets be honest xD

I think if the three of them fall apart, it'll be because mumbo's paranoia gets the best of him and he isn't able to trust skizz and g at all.

[lexie-squirrel]

[dredgesnails]

etho "what if your snail has a really cool name, like geminislime?" and "i think you're the mount g..gem of the server" slab really has a way with words sometimes

[socksandbuttons]

I HAD TO DRAW SOEMTHING DOWN FOR MY DUDE!!! I have Thoughts about all all this but good god this mans been rally thru it, they both have. AND YET HUGS ARE SO FAR AWAY. Don't worry Solar, you get hugs later. I'm just gonna assume his moon wrote down that note for him.

[beaft]

i must admit, the "man or bear" debate is confusing to me. i have been hiking in the woods several times. on all of those occasions there have been other people in the woods with me, some of whom were men. i would have felt significantly less safe hiking in those same woods if i thought there were bears around. is this hypothetical man in the woods just some random guy, or does he have ill intent towards me specifically? i feel like i'm misunderstanding something.