#also i must admit this answer is very biased

[beneathsilverstars]

You've established that Odile has rather unhinged taste in people. Do you have further headcanons on that topic?

Hm... Most of the adjacent headcanons that I could talk about here would require a lot of psychological and cultural context. So let's just talk about that context!

As a child, Odile was disconnected from her peers due to heritage, temperament, and latent transgenderism. As lonely children sometimes do, she decided that she didn't need or want friends anyway, and even if she did, it wouldn't be any of these losers! They were always wasting their time on fun and social useless things that she was too weird smart and special to be invited want to do. She studied very hard and excelled in school, did a couple extracurriculars that didn't require much teamwork, and at some point during adolescence realized that unfortunately the Vaugardians were correct about the changing genders thing.

Ka Buan philosophy encourages people to understand themselves, refine themselves, explore different facets of themselves — but not change themselves, because fundamental characteristics simply cannot be changed. Accordingly, gender-noncomforming fashion and binding/padding and nicknames are fine, hormones and surgery/bodycraft and declaring yourself a different gender are not. But Odile wasn't one to let social mores stop her, so once she reached adulthood, she left her hometown and showed up at the city as Odile. And not just any city, but one with a reputation for cutting-edge craft research and certain countercultures.

You can't just show up and ask around for where the illegal bodycrafting is, though. You have to meet people, win their trust, let them introduce you to other people, repeat. Odile... honestly wasn't that great at it. She hadn't had much cause to practice social skills, so she wasn't very friendly or persuasive! But she was determined, thorough, confident, passionate, genuine in her intentions, and newly hot — and you can get away with a certain amount of blunt arrogance when you're hot. You just have to let people assume you're too cool and busy for humble niceties, which Odile did quite easily, because she's always thought of herself as such. So she found her way through the right queer punk circles eventually and completed her physical transition!

And she liked those circles. The people she met and the topics they discussed and the things they did were all so much more interesting than she had assumed any peers of hers could be! But she still considered herself more competent and correct than anyone else around her, because why would that change just because she moved? Her success in transitioning just further proved that she could do anything if she tried hard enough, that she was right all along in assuming her social failures were due not to lack of skill but last of interest. So she ended up in this dynamic where she was impressed by the people around her and wanted to have fun with them and learn more about them, but also thought herself better than them and above such things as kindness or friendship.

And she was in that "holy shit I'm surrounded by dykes and I'm a dyke now too" stage that some queer people experience after they come out.

So, she wasn't interested in boring. She wasn't interested in nice. She wasn't interested in regular people with regular concerns, like the peers who excluded her in her youth. She wasn't interested in romance or committed relationships or being emotionally vulnerable.

And, she wasn't put off by annoyance, because people annoyed her as a whole anyway. She wasn't put off by danger, because she was sure she could handle anything. She wasn't put off by clashing personalities, because it wasn't like she was planning to go on long walks on the beach with any of her partners anyway.

Thus, she found herself drawn to the most exciting people in the room. Interpersonal drama, emotional outbursts, poorly-thought-out-choices, intense obsession, risky hobbies... it was all oh-so thrilling! Of course, she did realize that the people she was attracted to had major, glaring flaws. But Odile was determined, thorough, confident, passionate, genuine in her intentions, and newly hot. If she couldn't fix them, who could?

We know from Odile's optional sidequest that when she sees something suspicious, she dedicates herself to solving the mystery. We know from her presence at Mirabelle's side that when she sees a problem, she steps in to help, because if you want something done right you do it yourself. The one major exception? The topic that has her backing down, giving up, confessing incompetence?

Emotions.

She has long since learned that she is not actually very good at fixing those.

[werecreature-addicted]

to the anon asking about the large amount of sex-trafficking/rape prompts/stories/blurbs, im going to try and give you a real answer

one major factor, is shame

it's a largely subconscious thing, the fact people's sexual fantasies lean toward this aggressive often dehumanizing scenarios.

but its something that has been observed in people raised with very strict social expectations regarding sexuality often having rape fantasies, because it is a way to indulge in their sexual feelings without having to admit to them, in a way.

i, personally, am fat and queer. and while never stated outright to my face, the fact that small children have on several occasions began crying while looking at me in the supermarket line, I would also have to assume im not that much of a looker either

any show of desires for intimacy, physical or emotional, has been laughed at. people asked me out as a joke when i was in school, my father's side of the family openly lamented my appearance since I was a child because my only real value to them was continuing the family line, and that's not going to happen if I'm unattractive and fat

the fact is I have been told my entire life that me being wanted was impossible, if anybody desired me they would keep it a secret out of fear of ridicule, and anybody who would be open about it must have a specific fetish or be using me

I want to be wanted, hell there are times I'm desperate to get catcalled, because that proves somebody finds me attractive enough to express that. (even if the reality of it is objectifying and rude) the basis of these sorts of fantasies are often rooted in being seen as so desirable, so wanted, that any and all restraint goes out of the window. (you know that romance trope line that's like, "are you sure? because once we start i don't know if i can stop." same idea) the tendency towards trafficking and sexual slavery are also rooted in this, but with the added bit of "see, somebody wants me so bad they will spend money on me, to own me. they will fuck me in a crowded room without shame because their desire for me isn't something they're ashamed about, i am a prize, and the fact they get to fuck me is something they will gloat about."

one of the major appeal of monsters is that they wouldn't be bogged down by our social expectations, or they would have ones of their own. there is no fear regarding being wanted despite my looks, because the things about myself I have been told make me unattractive, are things that they openly and voraciously desire. Also, for the fat folks in the chat, wanting to be picked up and tossed around by your partner is largely something we can't have, (BMI is bullshit but mine is nearly double what it "should" be) you don't have to worry about that if your partner is an 8+ foot tall creature that can suplex a sedan

so while in reality, me being stocky and fat is seen as something that makes me unattractive, a werewolf would look at me and go "ah, yes, broad as a brick wall and twice as thicc, he can take it in a tumble."

can you see where the overlap occurs?

obviously there are some generalizations and assumptions based on my own biases here, and everybody's got their peculiarities, but these are themes I have seen throughout my many years too many online

I also just think monster fucker spaces are a little more open to taboo kinks. like wanting to fuck a werewolf who could kill you at any second is already weirder than most people want to go. thank you for sharing your perspective anon.

[heartnoose]

Regarding the times Rin went back into the past, do you think Mephisto’s past outfits were better than his clown-jester present day getup (the one with the striped stockings and bloomers 💀)?

Anon you must be a mind reader or a fortune teller bc I’ve had Retro Mephisto (or M’ephisto, as I call him), in my drafts for a while. Kind of scary, but this gives me an opportunity to talk about that outfit so I’m gonna take it. Also I love how you specified which clown outfit you were referring to. Since so many of his outfits just Like That™.

To answer your question, I do think his outfits shown then are better than his clown suit. But I’m biased because even if it’s so him and probably his purest most unfiltered sense of style, I’ll admit that his jester outfit isn’t my favorite look of his.

If I had to pick some favorites from when he took Rin back into the past, then I’d pick these outfits:

M’ephisto is legitimately one of my favorite styles of his! It was such a treat to begin the time traveling with him in an outfit like this. Very silly but still has some classy vibes. The whimsy of this vibrant brand of 70s/80s aesthetic fits him perfectly, particularly the retro pattern on that right tie. And, dunno why it appeals to me so, but shaggy hair is so cute on him! The fedora/trilby also fits him if I’m being honest haha. I love that he put a Mephisto Pink™ polka dotted band on it. His outfits are always very decorated, but regardless of how over the top they can be he does put thought and cohesion into them.

But of course he tips his fedora 💀

I couldn’t find a good panel of this outfit, but the one here is really good. I like how he leaves his cravat untucked, opting to hold it down with his cape. He always looks good in ruffles and every other kind of pretty embellishment. The pants look way better than his striped tights, too. The cut of the leg coupled with the cape creates a dramatic but elegant effect.

Also, the cape helps to create a silhouette that reminds me of his Gehenna form. Especially with those pants since the wider cut drapes around his leg when he’s in motion. That, along with the solid white that matches his cape, helps to create a more amorphous look at the bottom of his outfit. This is something that his tights don’t really do since they’re so close to his skin, and the colorful pattern distracts the eye and takes away from the shapeless feel of his coat. I am a big fan of his Gehenna form, so I’m sure that influences my love of that outfit.

I clown on Meph a lot, but all memes and jokes aside, he does show a good understanding of style. His suits are pretty, sometimes elegant. The same goes for his yukatas. Even when he dresses strangely he still keeps some coordination going. Most of his outfits don’t look haphazard, lazy, or mismatched, just very eccentric. It is funny tho that he prefers to run around in that jester outfit when he definitely has the ability to put together an actual outfit

[puckpocketed]

caps fan here!

as follower of pld (the few, the proud, the courageous!), i was wondering if you had any thoughts about how he might fit in with our team, assuming he's going to be 1C with Ovi on the left and one of Wilson or Mangiapane on the right, and basically taking the former Kuznetsov/Backstrom spot on the halfwall on PP1. my thinking is that he can easily return to being a 60 point player just by the increase in ice time alone this coming season, and maybe even flirt with 70 if he has a triggerman like big O on his wing.

as someone who knows a hell of a lot more about PLD than i do, is that just wishful thinking because i'm a caps fan? what do you think?

The PLD Post, Part 2: mask-OFF

Hii!! (we are SO brave and SO correct). i am so sorry this took ages to answer, i was trying to decide how serious to be. I will admit, I was hesitant about going mask-off and hitting up the microstats and revealing that i do seriously think he can be better than he was bc that shit is kinda lame ESPECIALLY when defending a clear failhorse. but at this point any rep i have as someone with good opinions must be gone considering how many media scapegoats i've attached myself to (i got a fucking. c.gauthier ask the other day aslkjdkljas) so. mask is coming off. we've hit somewhere between well-considered manifesto and vibe check so . um. enjoy!!

I remain optimistic going from everything I've heard and from what you're saying here! But, big big asterisk. He absolutely needs to take ownership of his lack of engagement. when he speaks in media availability I believe him when he says he wants to change. The will to change is there, idk if it’s possible that any player would be satisfied with their performance being the way his was. There’s a lot that needs to be unpacked about his lack of production, the Character Issues, and what his role might look like going forward. You and any other Caps fan who reads this will have to tell me if the fit is right. Hockey talk below the cut lol!!

So before I start I have to say I know dick all about the Caps except:

You're dragging that old man (Ovechkin) to Gretzky's lawn (record) to set it on fire (break it before he retires)

Everyone is pining away for your very very injured 1C who is also Ovechkin's boybestfriend/perfect set-up guy/work wife

There's. intricate pre-game rituals?

So I'm not sure I can speak to how he will fit with your (our? i AM picking the Caps up fr given every acquisition/draft pick they've made) team with any depth or specificity. also i don't think i'd call myself a PLD expert. like. i just got here !! I haven't been following him since he was drafted or anything!! I have, however, consumed TOO MANY Kings games this past season and I can give you a broad look at what actually happened with them and why I think it didn't work out. I will not be making any overtures about being unbiased. My biases WILL slip through because I think Dubois is a sweetheart and I find the mental exercise of defending him fun <3 I’ll give you stats and observations and I will build a story that runs counter to what the prevailing media narratives say. While I stand by my opinions, they're also just one of many available interpretations of what happened.

character concerns

Everyone will be bringing it up at the first speed bump of the season, the first bad game he has. Please be prepared to have a crisis of faith and also be deeply disappointed in him. god knows I am, like, all the time <3 But... I always want to dig deeper when it comes to dominant narratives, because in following multiple teams I’ve become acutely aware of just how miserably Bad media can be at reporting on teams that aren’t their own.

I hear “Locker room cancer” accusations bandied about and I’ve yet to see anyone produce a primary source for this — podcasters, journalists, even people on nhl broadcasts will throw these words around so casually, assuming they’re correct because everyone knows the story. Some confounding factors in the character narratives arise when you scratch the surface. People who've worked with him speak well enough of him. Todd McLellan called him “misunderstood”, and had nothing bad to say about his character.

Matt Roy, who also just got picked up by the Caps, has recently said he’s a great teammate. MORE proof if you want to hear it directly, Roy went on Dropping The Gloves and had this to say about Dubois (transcript by me):

[on what actually happened] Honestly, I don’t know. I mean if you asked him he would say he had a down year. But it’s nothing like — I feel like the media paints this picture of him, and to me it couldn’t be further from the truth, you know. He’s a great teammate, he’s a great locker room guy, he gets along with everybody. So, in terms of all that I don’t know where the media is getting all this stuff. If I hated the guy I probably wouldn’t have come to Washington. He’s one of my friends on the team and I really think he’s going to have a bounce back year. I think he’s really going to be good for the team.

Matt Roy signed with the Caps of his own free will as an RD, a contested free agent in a sparse market, knowing Dubois was already here. He could’ve gone to plenty of different places. Why the hell would Roy sign here long-term, clearly wanting to play and win, if Dubois was as disliked as some pundits would have us believe??? Credible reports (and not just speculation) point to PLD’s other teammates liking him!! 

And here’s some propaganda; I direct you to this extremely sweet video where he gets asked about assisting on Akil Thomas' first NHL goal (and a bunch of other first NHL goals). He is so, so genuinely happy for Akil, who battled through injuries that set back his development for years. Just LOOK at his smile!! He can’t hold it back. (Others have said this but it looks like a little v. Like :> !!!! HELLO !!)

How does all of this happen when, supposedly, he’s a low-character asshole and a “locker room cancer”? It doesn’t line up for me.

On the other hand, I have seen Dubois cruise. He really can’t seem to bounce back from a poor start, and if you were just looking from the outside in, the scoresheet this year reflects this. The critique is fair; I’ve turned this over in my head enough times. there are less physically gifted, less skilled players, who are working so hard to stay in this league, and Dubois’ poor showing does feel somewhat like, idk, something I’d be mad about usually.

Here comes the “but”. Call this next bit the narrative section, because I’m showing my ass here: I think Dubois gets a lot of scrutiny because of his infamous Shift, which went a specific kind of viral, under the exact right conditions, and it has just. defined his career. And okay… I am not denying that the shift happened, but plenty of guys in this league have taken shifts off. come on. the season is long and they're only human. I’m not excusing it either! It was bad and he deserved his benching. Ideally, he one day becomes a player who always puts effort in. Working hard is one of my favourite traits in any player, and usually this would be enough for me to dismiss him as not worth being invested in.

and yet…. the reactions to his floundering performance feel so much like they’re about expectations as seen through the lens of The Shift. They’re calibrated differently because he went 3rd overall, and he's got this big body, the speed, the skill — it's the fact that he's got the tools and seemingly squanders them. All of this is amplified by the contract he's sitting on and his run of short-term stays on teams. Does he get this much scrutiny if he went in the 2nd or 3rd round? Does he catch this much heat for his low energy performance if that one shift clip hadn’t done all that damage? We’ll never know obviously but . I do wonder.

Final word on the character stuff is that we don’t know what truly went on in those locker rooms and i don't want to give more air time to baseless speculation. What we can examine is the hockey. The hockey tells the truth <3

the 23-24 la kings

Assuming the plan is to give PLD a look at 1/2C while he’s on the Caps, I think he’s a complementary type of player. The way he is right now, I don't think he can drive his own line or pull people up. He works with the calibre of lineys he's got and will produce the expected outcome. That sounds so obvious, but what I’m saying is I don’t think he’s capable of miracles like the best playmakers in the league, he's not about to make your guys look 15 years younger. In this vein, I look at his many first NHL goal assists as a symptom of what kind of linemates he was being paired with all season, and how unstable the situation was. His drop in point production IS more complicated than "he's just a piece of shit". From this article, the best summary I've seen of the Situation PLD was in:

LA acquired a player who had been a top-six center (and at times, winger) his entire career playing with established NHL talent. Yet after investing multiple assets to acquire Dubois and sign him to a significant contract, the team decided to put him in a third-line role where his most common linemate was a first-year NHL player who wasn’t expected to be on the roster in Alex Laferriere. Those two had a revolving door of wingers throughout the season. Moreover, Dubois’ most common on-ice teammates after Laferriere at 5-on-5 this season were Matt Roy and Andreas Englund. Gee, I wonder why he didn’t produce?

Context about Roy and Englund: Roy is a quiet but capable d-man who is defensively geared with a bit of offensive upside (j'adore. does things the right way and is very responsible and good. will throw hits but doesn't chase them or headhunt. I think playing away from the Kings’ more passive system will unlock more of his offensive potential. Matt Roy you will be SO good for the Caps I truly believe mwah mwah); and Englund is a leg weight/goon who, going by every single stat I can pull out, makes his d-partners Worse (with affection <3). Point here is neither of them being on the ice was particularly conducive to a lot of scoring chances.

As I said in my previous post, I think Dubois absolutely needs finishers. At some point there was hype around his shot but I didn't see much of that at all on lak? Eye test says: he was unwilling to shoot, and when he did shoot it felt like there was low/no commitment, no power behind it. Comments on his shooting called him “too deferential” at different turns. That’s just an insulting way to say a guy likes to pass and I truly think it circles back to the expectations thing. Would there be anything wrong with him not being much of a shooter this past season if he was another player? (Can't we just say he passed a lot this season without bringing value judgement into it? leave my failhorse ALONE!!!! like must a man score goals ,can't he be very very sweet and happy for the rookies he assisted ? wailing about it forever.)

More fun stats from that same article:

#1 on lak for passes that led to high-danger scoring chances, and scoring chances in general <- again, not a miracle worker. did not have finishers who could capitalise on these chances. its so fucked up what they did to my failwife

one of the best on lak in actually carrying the puck into the o-zone. (another reason i quite liked watching him!! transition forwards my BELOVED) everything I've ever observed about him off the cuff holds true here: he draws penalties this way, because he's fast and when he's locked in he is pretty good for controlled zone entries <3

Dubois had a career high in even-strength assists per 60, this is all in spite of his weird linemate situation and his reduced TOI and the power play mess (more on this later). he might have been deferring, but I truly think the lack of stability + good finishers, and ice time held him back from being more productive.

jim hiller

Building off that last point: even worse on the stability front, which I did allude to in the initial PLD Post, was what happened when Jim Hiller took over. You must understand one of the first clues that we were working with a different animal of a head coach is he was NOT afraid to line shuffle, and shortly after he found short-term success with that, they started running 11 forwards and 7 defensemen (you can see where it started precisely if you scroll back in lak lb because you'll find ME yelling about it LMAO). This shortened forward bench resulted in mid-game line shuffling, as in it was uncertain as to who they would be playing with from shift to shift. Hiller is on record saying he thinks it was beneficial, per this article:

It’s all about getting his deep forward corps engaged in the game. That’s sometimes difficult if you’re running four full lines and there are penalty kill or power play opportunities that alter the flow of the lines. Especially for the group of forwards who don’t kill penalties – think Kevin Fiala, Viktor Arvidsson, Quinton Byfield, Pierre-Luc Dubois – it’s an opportunity to get them extra shifts and engage in the game. “Some of our other players who don’t penalty kill, you know they can lose the flow of the game, so they enjoy it more I know,” Hiller said of having 11 forwards in action. “We’ve talked about it a lot. We really just think for our team, the way it is right now, that gives us an advantage getting those players more ice time.”

(and ok sorry to go off about my gripes with how the kings are run but .They were doing this into playoffs. This article was written during playoffs. god. CARL GRUNDSTROM, WHO HAS NEVER NOT PLAYED HARD, PLAYED 25 SECONDS IN GAME 2. all this while they were trying to get people 'engaged'. Idk. Maybe it did work for some players. I wasn’t behind that bench. But sitting one of your most energetic and committed forwards during a series in which you’re trying to come back from being down several games was a CHOICE!!!! also like what if you didn't double-shift QB. what then. And we all know how that series ended. lak coaching/management i am beating you with a pillowcase stuffed with bricks . <3)

Much was made of the Hiller takeover. I liked it at the time. In his first couple of media availabilities post-TM, Hiller emphasised bringing back "fun" to the game for many of the players who were slumping — and a reportedly tense locker room during the big skid that lost McLellan his job. It was all very Ted Lasso of him. Hiller also introduced a new way to rate Dubois for his performance every night, separate from the scoresheet. I made jokes about PLD's very special star-chart, everyone who knew about it was making jokes about it. This merit system was tailored towards communicating with Dubois what he did and didn't do well, and while no one ever went into depth about it we do know a few things:

It measured things outside of +/-, goals and assists, and was likely a score out of 5 per metric.

One of the metrics was about hits/physicality, another one was likely ‘compete’ levels.

He alluded to being measured on penalties drawn?? Or something??

Anyway it sort of … worked?? The change in Dubois was pretty immediate, the moment he was given some clear direction to work in. He played some of his BEST games of the year in the wake of this change. He got involved physically, he was not losing steam, he was drawing tons of penalties because he’s huge and fast and has good hands and IF he puts his mind to it he can truly be a transition monster.

CUE THE LINE SHUFFLING… imo, much of the progress made seemed to be lost, and the rest is history.

NOT saying Dubois is free of fault here. Needing that extra motivation to get physically involved is kinda wild, and I understand why for some people it’s a bridge too far. EYE am here for the laffs though and it's really funny that the communication came in the form of super special individualised performance evaluations/a glorified sticker chart. This is why he’s my temperamental desert flower. Wilting violet. Soggy kitten. <3 and for the record I truly don’t think I’d care if he put up 40 points per szn for the rest of his career. I don’t care because he’s a sweetie and the Bit i do when defending him is too funny. I don’t think I’d care if everyone was right about him — I just don’t actually think they are.

the power play problem

So okay, as per part 1 (my last email <3) we know Dubois thrives net front. It’s where he scored a bunch of his goals on the Jets. Every stat and the eye test supports this. So how come Lak had him stationed on the half wall doing jackshit, if he was on the power play at all?? I will admit I drove myself half crazy studying power play structures and watching LA Kings games back before coming up with a garbled, half-formed idea about how LA runs their PP. I was going to attempt to explain it here — had to do with Kevin Fiala and Dubois being lefties and how that's just an awkward passing sitch — but it turns out more than one person has had this thought and MAN I love being validated by actual hockey people. I fully thought i was making shit up in my head for a good week or two, and was seriously considering scrapping this portion . but it’s SO important for contextualising the production drop, so here goes !!

As early as September 2023 there was a story published about PLD’s role on PP1 — a place where he certainly should’ve belonged as a top-6 guy with plenty of ppg’s under his belt. From this article, which explains the issue very very neatly, and much more eloquently than I could ever hope to:

The addition of Pierre-Luc Dubois was a big one this summer; at first glance, he should be a great addition to the power play. But when digging deeper, the Kings might struggle to fit him onto the top unit. Dubois played mostly as the net front player for the Winnipeg Jets last season, the role Gabriel Vilardi often played for the Kings last season. So, it’s an easy one-to-one switch in that spot, right? Not necessarily. Dubois has all the talents to be an effective net-front player. He has the size and strength to battle in front, with the skill to effectively pop down low and create chances. However, his handedness is a big problem for this role. The Kings run their power play primarily on the left side with Kevin Fiala — Anze Kopitar when Fiala is hurt — which necessitates a right shot down low. When a right shot player pops out on the left side, there’s an easy passing angle for the half-wall player and more options for the player down low. Quick passing is key for a successful power and a left-shot can’t move the puck quick enough down low. They would have to either move too far into the corner or take the extra second to step out from and open up their body to create an effective passing angle. Time that would slow the power play down too much and allow the opposition penalty kill to get back into position. There’s also minimal shot threat from a lefty down low. We saw both Vilardi and Viktor Arvidsson frequently take the pass down low and quickly turn it into a shooting opportunity, something a left shot wouldn’t be able to do.

It then goes on to suggest 2 solutions that aren’t appealing at all:

Flip the power play entirely to accommodate Dubois net front. Not great as they dont have the players for that, and if they tried it they’d be hamstringing Adrian Kempe’s one-timer.

PLD on the bumper position. This one’s hard to swallow because that displaces Kopitar to PP2, there’s his position as captain and the optics of moving him off his spot.

In this article it is once again suggested that LA MUST flip their power play and figure out how to get PLD net front. In this article they point out how useless he was playing on the wall down the stretch, and how the only reason he seemed to be able to produce something was because he’d taken Kopitar’s spot in his absence. This article calls to attention Dubois’ worlds performance, where team Canada utilised him net front.

Big picture, the Fit

Do we see the problem here yet? It’s not the flat narrative I was sold by the national media, random assholes on twitter, and podcasters who don’t actually watch Kings matches!!!! Do we see how weird and messy and complicated it is, beyond “hey he’s just a sack of shit who isn’t trying hard enough”. Rob Blake himself has come out and admitted that they didn’t put Dubois in a position to succeed. And absolutely there was effort required on his end — a different player might have sucked it up and adapted to circumstances, a different player might never have needed that extra bit of communication, a straight up better player might have dragged his less skilled lineys up to a higher level. But the problem has always been two-fold: LA was trying to coach and manage a completely different player to the one they had in front of them and expecting good results; and Dubois was unable to keep competing with all he had in the face of that. I think both parties are at fault here. And I think, given the chance and the right circumstances, Dubois can hit 60 points again.

Okay, circling back to the big question of Fit. Will he be able to work with Ovechkin? Hard to think he could fail with one of hockey’s best goal scorers on his wing, if he does get a look at 1C. People who know the Caps better than I do, does this sound workable? Is Dubois going to be too difficult of a nut to crack for your coach? Your locker room?

And, of course, the power play issue. Maybe Dubois learns to be better on the half wall! Idk!! Maybe it was a matter of coaching and he thrives in Washington running your PP1 from there. For my money… I like him better playing net front or bumper. Do the Caps have the bodies to accommodate this? I did ask someone familiar with the Caps PP to explain it to me so I could try and figure this out but ouuuugh. My head is spinning. Someone smarter than me please jump in. I am TIRED . We don’t know what it will look like, what they’re planning to do with Dubois on the power play. You guys probably have a better idea about what’s possible than I do <3

Conclusion?

PLD is fast, big, a passing threat and a formidable net front presence when he’s given the opportunity and playing his A-game. As far as I can tell, his B-game is garbage </3 His poor performance is more complicated than people think and I’m pretty sure only the LA Kings beat reporters + the 12 kings fans on twitter know this. Most of them still dislike PLD anyway bc his low motor. I don’t blame them, I’m just more inclined to be forgiving because I love redemption arcs and I think he’s a good person. i would love to be wrong about his low-effort B-game LMAO but im trying to be realistic here. I want him to fit in and be embraced by the Caps so bad <3 Your coach sounds like he wants to help PLD succeed and is up for the challenge. The vibes from my friends who follow the Caps are always good, I’ve read through various tags and it sounds like a place that will take him in whether he likes it or not. I might be stupid but I believe in him !!! and I’ve laid out all the hockey bullshit for you to the best of my ability. Given all of this… do you think he’ll do well?

[the-s1lly-corner]

Sending this because I think Tumblr might’ve eaten it, but did you ever receive a request for the TADC crew with a small, but EXTREMELY feisty S/O? Tumblr has a bad habit of eating my asks when I’m on anon I’ve found. 😭

TADC crew w/ a short and feisty reader!

hello hello anon! im so so so sorry for not seeing this sooner :( i truly did not mean to take so long to answer this! rechecking through my inbox, i dont see the original request :( but ill be answering it here so not to worry! getting silly by hopping onto my laptop/computer since its in the dining room rn and this way i can keep an eye on my macarons (literally not baking them, drying them out before i do and i wanna make sure no one touches them)

CAINE:

honestly in the most blunt way possible i think he might actually be into it. he always liked him someone who has a little bite in them (and by always he means like, when he first met you because its highly likely youre his first partner)

if you get all riled up trying to defend him he might comically tug on the collar of his shirt, of which steam will stream out of... doesnt have much of a preference for height, but with you being on the shorter side it makes carrying you around a little less awkward!

POMNI:

absolutely taken aback when you just let it rip one day and you go off on someone (most likely jax lets all be real here for a minute), just stands there appalled before you eventually calm yourself down and turn your attention to her

not to yell at her, she hasnt done anything wrong

honestly... nervous anxious ball x angry defender is probably another trope of mine that i think about every so often, but honestly i love it so so much. thats literally just the embodiment of you and pomni's dynamic

not much to say here unfortunately </3 just that you tend to defend her when things get ugly and you dont tend to stop until the issue is resolved

RAGATHA:

honestly maybe im biased for ragatha because ive grown on her since ive opened requests, but i think that she would be the queen of getting you to chill out when something has you all riled up! is so so kind and doesnt make fun of your height, i mean its not like you or anyone can change it. very good at not making you feel less than for being shorter than nearly everyone else

holds

if you get angry on her behalf and attempt to defend her she would be so so touched, but really most things probably roll right off her back, so she just takes you and walks you away from the scene

JAX:

honestly he thinks its a little funny that you get so worked up over things! probably calls you an ankle biter as a joke, which might make you a little mad. definitely picks you up by the scruff or the back of your shirt or whatever! really any equivalent of that works! jax has an entire arsenal of nicknames for you, all based on your height and energy. he loves seeing the way your face scrunches up a little in disdain when he calls you one of those names. all in good fun, for the most part, but he might let up if its something that makes you genuinely upset...

KINGER:

okokokokok so we dont know anything about queenie (i think, i must admit i dont keep up with gooseworx at all and am only relying off of the pilot) but i hc her to also be more on the feisty side

is this relevant? really it depends, because i think kinger would be comforted by the familiarity of your attitude, but also this could be a gateway for angst because it makes him think and dwell on the loss of queenie.... up to you!

subconsciously kneels down to your height to talk to you; he doesnt mean to be rude! it just sort of happens! thinks your fierceness is endearing in its own silly way!

ZOOBLE:

probably thinks that you can get a little overwhelming sometimes. i mean yeah sure its nice to have someone in your corner whos ready to help you out but zooble seems to be the type to not seek that help out; and in fact i can easily see them getting annoyed by someone constantly speaking for them. so you guys are going to need to communicate and work on this together lest there be a build of resentment

remember guys resentment is a real thing and it can ruin so much !! communicate!!!

that aside, i dont think they would comment much on your height, they really could not give less of a flying fuck

GANGLE:

torn between having her be intimidated by you or having her also find it endearing (and perhaps even attractive? shy person liking the one who always speaks their mind, you know?) while im not writing these to be explicitly romantic, i dont quite totally comfy with the idea of intimidation in a relationship.. though this can be applied to platonic relationships too... hmm... mayhaps a mix of it all? not quite sure! probably goes to you for tips to be more bold, love the idea of someone teaching gangle to grow a backbone

similar to zooble, no comments on your height!

[oceanwithinsblog]

every day that passes we're getting closer and closer to the final episodes of doctor who s14 (or s1, whatever) (i'm also in denial WTH does it mean that this season is almost over ????)

so before i forget (and before the last two episodes drop) i NEED to vent a bit about this season. the following are just my personal opinions (which might change after watching the season finale), please bear with me ^^

first of all - i am so glad doctor who is back !!! i must admit that my doctor who drought lasted for around 5 months as i got introduced to the show back in late summer 2023 and did a speed run of all nuwho seasons between september and november 2023. i got super excited for the december specials !! and i was even more surprised and thrilled when i found out a new season of dw was premiering in may 2024 !! i know i've been lucky to wait for so little to get immersed in a new dw season but i truly, truly missed it and i enjoyed every episode of s14 <3 now i'm sad to think that this is about to end, but it felt so good to finally see the doctor back in action and to get through each week thinking that one of my favorite characters/storylines/universes was gonna be there for me on the weekend <3 i love dw so much <3

#2 idk about you but i fell so easily for ncuti as the doctor and millie as ruby/the companion TT they're both so good, i really appreciated their acting this season and i would also say that it's probably one the (few) things that positively shocked me this time around. i guess it was a bit unfair for me to think that ruby wasn't my cup of tea after watching just 'the church on ruby road' ep because she totally surprised me this season. she's so great! millie's acting is on point, so captivating and funny to watch throughout the show. i can't wait to find out more about her character fr! well, what's to say about ncuti as the doctor .. ohmy oh my .. i don't think i've ever seen a doctor so confident, so flirtatious, so proud in themselves .. ncuti's doctor exudes charisma and i'm so here for it. that's absolutely not to say that the doctor's worries, traums etc. magically disappear (they're still very present and influence their every move), but what i loved the most about his acting is that he goes all the way into it. fifteen may become one of my favorite doctors ngl (say hi to eleven and ten) and i am so looking forward to where they're gonna take us next <3

#3 as for writing, i feel that something's missing ... don't get me wrong, i love rtd's cool nice funny episodes and seeing the doctor face a range of diverse situations (even the most unthinkable ones, e.g. space babies) is just priceless.. but there's some kind of void in it, too. now that i think about it, maybe it's not the writing itself but the length of the season - having less than 10 episodes doesn't really give us much time and space to properly explore the dynamics between characters, strengthen their relationships and make them grow both individually and as a whole. besides, i admit that i'm a bit biased, but i loved (most of) moffat's writing for the seasons he was a showrunner of and i personally would love to see ncuti bringing to life more stories written by moffat (yes..i know he wrote 'boom' for s14). basically, i miss 'old' nuwho seasons of 18+ episodes where we could get even more affectionate to the characters and the adventures that defined their journey through the multiverse T___T

before i move on to my last point, may i also add (storyline-wise) that i wished the episodes were more interconnected with each other? not necessarily with the narration, even just with easter eggs ^^" idk maybe moffat got me used to have high expectations lol (i'm still eager to find out who the lady appearing in all episodes is !!!! may this dw finale give us all the answers we need)

#4 i would have never thought i would write this (mainly because i would have never thought there could come a time when these gadget weren't going to be used as much) BUT I DEARLY MISS THE TARDIS AND THE SCREWDRIVER WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM ?!?!?! i loved previous doctors goofing around with their sonic screwdrivers and running in the tardis allowing us (the audience) to find out more and more about the endless number of rooms in it ... why does it seem like fourteen doesn't love their tools ?? why don't they show them more throughout the season ?? this is like classic items that can't miss in the episodes so WERE IS THAT SILLY GOOFY STUFF ?? also, as much as i enjoy fourteen and ruby going on adventures in different time periods etc. why aren't they EVER showed inside the TARDIS travelling and waiting to get to their destination ?? i'm just very nostalgic (i took this very personally, i'm sorry i'm just angry at rtd)

well - i guess that's it! if you've read this far, thank you for reading me <3 let me know what you think about it and what you're expecting for the next couple episodes of s14 <3

ps. i'm very hopeful that rogue will be a recurring character <3

pps. ncuti gave the queers the most fruity doctor ever (no shade to all previous doctors, you've served and delivered and we love u immensiely) <33

[pebblysand]

Hello hello! So i finished reading ch 22, and i have a lot of thoughts, but one that I kept thinking about, and i don´t know if this was intentional or not, is Robard's character, and how it reminded me of jkr, and her public opinions and persona these last years. How she gradually (and not so gradually, lately) became a transphobic bigot, basically. And i always thought "how did you get there, jk? where you always like this? or you became like this because of the way people harrased you over some tweets?" (i actually don't know, i hadn't read her twitter for years up until today out of curiosity, and... 😬) I kind of felt that with robard's character, i loved that, really. Felt, like most of your story, very realistic. Anyway, i wish you a great weekend full of delicious food, drinks, and whetever you consider fun 🤠

hello! thank you, i'm glad you enjoyed!

this is such an interesting question and one that i've meaning to post about for a long time but have been - i must admit - a bit of a coward about, lately. addressing JKR on tumblr one way or another is always a sure way to get anon death threats in your inbox, an experience that i've had in the past and wasn't keen on repeating. but i think this needs to be said, and it needs to be said publicly.

so, to answer your question, no, this wasn't per se intentional. i didn't set out to have a parallel between robards and JKR, although now that you mention it, i think my thoughts about JKR may have permeated his storyline subconsciously because yes, you're totally correct, there is definitely a parallel there. and, i think your question of: "jo, how did you get there?" is probably one of the most important unaddressed questions of our time.

i've been reading a lot of takes on tumblr lately. metas and purported text analyses that say stuff like: "umbridge is represented as being feminine and having a high-pitched voice, therefore JKR hates women because she thinks femininity is evil" or, "hermione is ugly and therefore JKR hates women because she thinks women have to be ugly to be clever/successful," or "JKR didn't say dumbledore was gay until after the books came out, therefore she is homophobic," etc. and, while i think people are free to disagree with me and i don't want to single anyone out, i think these takes are at best misguided. at worst, a bit dangerous.

misguided because frankly, reading the text and JKR's actions in that way is, imo, demonstrating a complete lack of understanding of history, the publishing industry, artistic creation and symbolism, and overarching themes of the work. it's taking elements of a narrative completely out of context and making them fit into a specific agenda. this idea that: HP is a terrible story, the author is evil, has always been evil, and anyone who still enjoys this work is a bigot. it's an insane take to have when talking about one of the most popular and critically acclaimed coming-of-age saga of the twenty-first century. hermione is a very feminist character. umbridge is also a very feminist character. they are both, of course, subject to the implicit biases of their times and have to be read and studied critically within that framework, but failing to understand the intentions behind their creation shows - again, in my opinion - a very dire lack of media literacy.

having said that, if those takes were just plain wrong, i wouldn't mind them as much - after all, i'm a massive believer in people's right to be wrong. but where i think these takes really pause a problem is that as i've said before, the underlying goal is to prove, by taking things completely out of context, that JKR was "always like this." i personally think that's a terribly dangerous argument to make.

because, the truth is: she wasn't always like this. JKR was a feminist. she was a leftist, a militant. someone who wrote one of the largest odes to love and tolerance and respect that our generation has known. she called to vote labour, advocated for social policies, gave huge amounts of money to incredibly good causes, and was an inspiration and model for thousands of young girls and women worldwide (myself included), both through her own success, and through the strength of the female characters she created. she had her flaws, of course. her belief that motherhood is the ultimate goal is problematic. her urge to take down pornographic fanfiction that involved her works in the early 2000s was unfortunate. but generally speaking, she was not always a bigot. she became one. and that is essential.

i think we too often see JKR as the cause of the problem. and, these days, it's true, to some extent, she is the cause of the problem. she funds abhorrent organisations which tragically seek to undermine trans rights, she uses her twitter platform to spread awfully bigoted ideas and is now slowly falling into antisemitism. but i think what we miss with the above is that she isn't just the cause of the problem, she is also a symptom. just like women who fall into MLMs are both perpetrators of financial abuse to the women in their downline, but also being abused by the system themselves.

JKR is the most famous and tragic example of a trend i've personally seen happen around me time and time again, of formerly left-wing people in her generation and older, slowly falling into conspiracy theories, bigotry and racism. of people who used to be sane moderates (either on the right or the left) now sliding further and further to the right.

i think it is very easy to dismiss these people by saying "they were always racists" or "they were always homophobic/hateful of women" when, in fact, that is not true. were they flawed and were some of their opinions imperfect? sure. but at the core, these people were progressives in their time. but they totally missed the train of modern progressivism. worse, they’re now actively going against it. and by saying they were always like this, we are steering away from studying the real cause of the problem, asking why these people became like this (as you put it: "how did you get there?") and looking for a solution, instead of writing them off as crazies.

i think regarding JKR, we can have conversations about how/why she became like this, although i think a lot of people online are not yet ready to have this conversation. i personally doubt there is a single cause. having read the ink black heart recently, i think two things appear clear to me. 1) she is chronically online to a truly terrifying degree, and this is coming from me, another truly chronically online person. 2) she has reached a level of fame and fortune and isolation that means she is now surrounded by yes-sayers, and is not exposed to much contradiction. i also think it is undeniable that there is a world of difference between the beliefs she expressed in the 2020 essay, which were misguided and potentially harmful, but not hateful, and the current state of her twitter account. as someone who has experienced death threats from trans activists before, i do sympathise with the fact that it’s hard to build empathy with people who yell in your mentions that you should die (in my case, simply for writing HP fanfic). whilst i obviously have managed to maintain empathy and understand that in some ways, this extreme reaction is the unfortunate pendent of the hate trans people and activists themselves receive and the work of a very loud minority, my experience is nothing like the scale of what she experienced. whilst i still think she was slipping into transphobia way before the onslaught of hate she received, i can’t imagine this helped.

but again, i think what is important to understand and realise is that this phenomenon goes beyond internet hate, and goes beyond JKR herself. i always think of my mum's best friend when i think of this. she's eighty-three now but in her day, was a hardcore, bra-burning feminist. she was childfree by choice in a time where that was not an accepted choice, and is one of the strongest, most open-minded people i used to know. yet, a couple years ago, i went to her house on holiday and she explained to me straight up that she'd fired her cleaner for wearing the hijab, saying "i don't want people like that in my house." and, of course, this is abhorrent (and also illegal) but like JKR, like millions of people, she didn't use to be like that. she became like that. and it is fucking dangerous, in my opinion, to pretend like these périple were always these worthless bigots, instead of asking the right questions. "why?" and, also "how can we get them back?"

and, you're right: robards's trajectory in castles is a bit like that. because i think i’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and again, because i’ve not expressed these thoughts out loud, they might have influenced my writing. and whilst robards in castles was always a bit more on the conservative side, he was someone who fought in the war. he was someone who fought with harry to open the muggle unit, etc. but somewhere along the way, he took a right turn that, again, millions of people in the real world have taken. and there is such a strong drive, right now, to write these people off. to think they are not worth the light of day, and are completely unsalvageable. and, there is such a strong pressure from a very vocal minority of millennial and gen z liberals to just cut ties with everyone and everything problematic. these injunctions to hate JKR and everything she's ever produced, to get rid of your HP tattoos, to stop writing fanfic, is the same as the injunction people make to stop talking to and cut off your racist relatives. and, if you don't do these things, you're a Bad Person™, a Bad Liberal.

first of all, this is frustrating because this sounds a lot to me like a "holier than thou" mentality that has plagued my catholic upbringing. this air of superiority about who is or isn't more of a sinner drives me nuts, and frankly, i've no interest in living in a "perfect" world of only interacting with the most "pure" individuals and materials amongst us. i find that these people are transposing values of fundamentalist religion into the left-leaning sphere in a way that is deeply grossing me out. i do not need a morality lesson, i certainly do not need to be told how to be a Good Liberal or a Good Feminist.

but i also think that this idea of just dismissing the way older generations are slowly falling into the traps of the far right and of bigotry as "they're just old" and "they should just die out" is also deeply misguided. because, again, this is preventing us from looking at the root cause of the problem. and, who's to guarantee that the disease won't spread further? i find it deeply optimistic and borderline deluded to think that we can just let boomers die out and that Everything Will Be Fine. bigotry and racism are a gangrene that spreads and slowly permeates every layer of society. i would know - i grew up in a region of france that was always far-right leaning, and i've watched that disease spread and spread to other regions, other branches of society, in the past twenty years. and believing that this won't touch younger generations, or permanently change the way we think, is a fallacy. we're seeing it happen in france right now. bardella, the new far right leader, is 28 and is now reaching french gen z on tiktok, and it's fucking working! more and more young people are voting for these candidates. and what's the plan here? are we just going to let them die out or further ostracise them too? write them off as permanently morally corrupt? send them death threats to change their mind like so many people did for JKR and her people?

it would be awfully presumptuous of me to pretend like i have the solution here. i don't. and whilst robards isn’t a character that is important enough for me to give him a redemption storyline, it doesn’t mean we should stop trying in the real world. and, trust me, i know it's hard to continue interacting with these people. as i said, i grew up around them and have struggled with holding back screams all my life. when my mum's best friend said what she said, it took everything i had in me not to just walk out. but we've got to keep trying. we've got to keep loving. i still love her. she's still one of the most important, foundational people in my life. and i still love JKR, in a way. i hate what she's saying, but i still believe a change is possible. or else, we're just giving up on humanity.

[arizonaconservativegal]

Thanks for replying. I didn't think to check here until after work. I believe that you truly believe that your side isn't that bad and I'm under some sort of media hypnotism. Maybe I am and have turned into an elitist snob. I just don't get how you don't see conservative Christians as problems- you are aware when they talk about "religious freedom," they're usually only talking about the right to be obnoxiously Christian in public, right? I know very few conservative Christians whose idea of the religious freedom of others is "I don't want to ever see or hear about it and if you expose my kids to it I'll throw a huge fucking fit." These are the people who fight against evolution and sex ed in schools. I don't get it, man. But that's whatever, we're not going to agree. But...I really do hope you're right.

Anyways, what's your favorite Star Wars era? Do you prefer pre- or post Disney EU? I really like pre-Disney EU so I'm biased towards them and I am weird because I actually really like the New Jedi Order era. (And the pre-Filoni Clone Wars.)

Thanks for talking, even if it wasn't pleasant.

Matt-the-Atheist

Hello again Matt-the-Atheist. I'm actually enjoying our little chat.

Frankly I don't mind if people want to be obnoxiously Christian in public. I'm actually fully in support of their right to do so. That's cool with me. It hurts no one. And suggesting that it's a bad thing if they do so sounds kinda "I don't want to ever see or hear about it and if you expose my kids to it I'll throw a huge fucking fit" if you ask me.

As for people who fight against evolution in schools, that's a pretty tiny minority - I've literally never met one. I might grant you the point on sex ed, to an extent - that does tend to be a point of contention because if you ask ten people (Christians or otherwise) what the appropriate curriculum would be for any given age group, you'll get ten different answers.

Far more importantly though: Star Wars.

My favorite era is definitely that classic OT rebellion era and I'm also really fascinated by the fall of the Republic / early days of the Empire. I probably lean a bit more towards the pre-Disney stuff overall but there's plenty to love and hate about both timelines so I just pick and choose what I like from each and mash 'em all up together in a way that makes no sense to anyone else and ignore the rest and I'm perfectly happy lol.

Oh man New Jedi Order? I applaud the effort to do something different but I must admit I had a hard time with those books. I'm not really sure why. I did really like the legacy era after that though, much more than I expected. It's a fucking trip but it was fun.

Do you have a favorite character, canon or otherwise?

[lilasamaaa]

REQUESTS ARE CLOSED FOR NOW. When they open again, you'll be able to click here to send some over!

Feel free to ask for anything, and I'll write it with great pleasure if I feel comfortable with the request and the themes! (Also, I'm a 55 girly at heart, so know if you ask for some Carlos the answer will always be yes. Not biased. Just saying.)

I've been writing for years, and I must admit I love substance and beautiful prose. So, on this blog, you'll primarily find traditional fully written fiction rather than SMAUs. I can (and will!) write those too if they're requested, but be aware that I can't promise it'll be any good!

Also, I very much dislike the use of "Y/N", which I find disruptive and which, in my opinion, doesn't help immersing in a story. I try to avoid using it as much as possible, except in cases of absolute necessity, so don't be surprised by my use of "she" or "you" instead.

Here's the list of people I currently write for. Click here to go to my masterlist and read the pieces I've already written.

You can also click here to know what pieces are coming next!

Next to the names are the number of pieces already written for each driver :)

• Alex Albon (1) • Pierre Gasly (1) • Lewis Hamilton (3) • Charles Leclerc (5) • Lando Norris (4) • Esteban Ocon (1) • Oscar Piastri (3) • Daniel Ricciardo (1) • George Russell (3) • Carlos Sainz (8) • Yuki Tsunoda (1) • Max Verstappen (5)

I have nothing against the other drivers, I'm just not comfortable writing for them, but this can change in the future!

[loustat-0]

While I admit I am biased because I love Loustat and Daniel/Armand first and foremost, I am trying not to be negative towards Loumand (which I don't like very much in the books) and appreciate its role in the story, but the Loumand shippers (the ones that have popped up since S1 anyway) are making it difficult and I find them exhausting. I feel like so much of the extreme Lestat hate and takes like Daniel is too old to be a love interest or become a vampire seem to be coming from that corner along with other things. I also can't believe they actually like book Armand considering the way they feel about Lestat. I can't believe they would like any of the characters to be honest.

Hi anon . First of all I need to say I'm not a TVC expert I watched the show first & then read some of the books selectively 😅so I hope what I answer makes sense . 💜

Okay so all of the book readers already know that all of the vampires are horrible in their own ways & that's because most of them have a horrible past both as a human & vampire . That of course doesn't justify what they later but that clarifies why they're acting the way they do .

And I think from Ep 5 it is right to hate Lestat but I don't understand the hate towards old Daniel he literally didn't do anything to Louis or Rashid / Armand except to get something true out of their stories like a real journalist . And I need to mention here that I myself am a Armandaniel & loustat shipper first & in heart just like you . 🥰 The hate on Old Daniel is not justifiable for the show viewers bc I myself can't find a reason to hate him YET😐

And as for people should hate Armand or Loumand as much as they hated Lestat & loustat , I think that can't be decided by the show viewers only 🤷🏻‍♀️ cause they haven't seen any bad side of Armand towards Louis , they haven't seen their relationship in Paris or after Paris . And they hope Louis & Claudia are finally free of their abuser. So I give them the right to want that because they have no idea & it's a journey for them & new discoveries for them . And not just about Loumand about loustat too because Louis canonly considered loving Lestat more in the second half of the book so if the show runners know what they're doing & consider to take a darker path as JACOB said in an interview then we will definitely see Loumand to the extent & also loustat to the extent. 😊

And for those people who know about Loumand & Armand of the books & still love & adore them together I think that is also fine BUT AS LONG AS THEY DON'T HATE LOUSTAT FOR THE SAME REASONS 🙄 . If they hate Lestat for the manipulation & lies & withholding information then they must hate Armand or Loumand for the same reasons . 😉 Or even Claudia Otherwise their reasons for hating Lestat & loustat isn't justifiable to me . 🤷🏻‍♀️

And I want to add I don't hate Armand I didn't like Loumand though . I love Armand & Daniel their relationship makes more sense to me than Loumand . Although I have to add Loumand as great friends in later books makes so much more sense. I think Louis & Armand can calmly talk together & talk sh*t behind Lestat's back all they want .😂 I think they need each other simply because the way we all need someone in our life when we're tired of our relationship & our family & sometimes ourselves . Armand is probably Louis's escape from anything intense & Louis is probably Armand's scale of what he does as much as Lestat hates that Armand accepts that from Louis I guess . 🙂

Over all I think we should respect each other's favorite ships without judgement towards the person who ships other ships . And I think Loumand was & is the necessity of the story individually or as I myself think Loumand is a means to loustat . So if you're worried about how S2 might not be your favorite season because of Loumand then I can offer you to just enjoy the ride because you'll find something else interesting to like about season 2 . But as a respect for the actors & to the hard work they did I will definitely support S2 because they all worked really hard & I think that wouldn't be really nice to them to stop watching S2 because I don't like Loumand in the book . Who knows I might come to like it on the show . 🤩

Let the tale seduce you . 😉❤️

[gofancyninjaworld]

OPM Manga Update 234 Review: King, Evaluated

Summary

I'm not going to really bother with a summary for this chapter. It's a really simple story -- Atomic Samurai challenges King to show him his strength, overthinks it, and lets King off the hook. And goodness knows people have told and retold it to a nonsensical degree. So let's move onto the meta, shall we?

Meta: Cognitive Biases Ahoy!

I hope that no one is sitting here thinking of Atomic Samurai as stupid. Tempting as it is, ONE is showing here a set of pitfalls that even intelligent people fall into. Heck, some of them are pitfalls that people fall into precisely because they're intelligent. Shall we go through them?

The easiest one is confirmation bias. You see this all the time. Our love of finding out that we're right is so strong that it's been necessary to create a whole discipline in the sciences to prevent us from fooling ourselves -- and we still do that, alas. When faced with a phenomenon, we make up some suppositions of what might be happening… and unless we're very, very careful, we try to prove that it's the case, rather than it's not the case.

Atomic Samurai (and his disciples) have the thought that King is really strong, and while Atomic Samurai correctly notes that he's seen nothing in person to evidence King's strength, his go to is to try to confirm that King is strong, not try to see the opposite. Because of that, when given ambiguous evidence, heck, even negative evidence, of King not being seen to so much as draw the sword, he jumps to the conclusion that King must be at least as strong, if not stronger, than the swordsmen so skilled that they can cut objects such that they rejoin themselves, rather than King did nothing. It's not stupidity. It only looks that way because we've been given the answers and believe ourselves smart -- that's not smart of us.

We love confirmation bias because it does not involve us having to challenge what we think we know, which can be upsetting. We don't like to find out that we're wrong.

Speaking of things we don't like to see, there's a second thing at play, one that the proud really fall prey to. We really hate having to admit ignorance and would rather confabulate than go, 'I don't know.' If admitting ignorance to ourselves is hard, admitting it in front of our peers is even harder. Since Atomic has plenty of pride, and his disciples are not much better, when King started bullshitting about atmospheric conditions and the effect that fighting would have, rather than look ignorant, they pretended that they knew what King was talking about.

Lucky for King, eh?

Well, let's talk a little about King and his luck. If King is bullshitting like his life depends on it, that's because it does. The reason King has managed to survive for so long is that he's never, ever, not even once, fooled himself into believing himself to be in possession of any powers. So far, he has been lucky, that much he knows. He also knows that 'good' isn't the only flavour that luck occurs in. So when he's in front of a threat, he's not pretending to be terrified, he is. And that honest terror makes him look and sound scary.

Just scary enough that people think twice about whether they really want to push their luck and test him, given that there really is a hero out there who annihilates everything at a single blow and they've been told that guy is this 'King' fellow in front of them. If King had the nonsense to believe in his luck, he'd not be as scared -- and the facade would fall apart.

Believe it or not, that's all I really have to say about this conflict.

Just a few more bits to mop up.

First, I really like that there's a framework for the apple not noticing that it's been cut. Given that it's not possible to keep things a surprise given that many readers of the manga have either read the webcomic or know someone who has, I like how ONE has solved the problem. Rather than pretending that a no-longer-a-surprise is nevertheless a surprise, he's given it roots and incorporated it into the story. And the sword not noticing that it'd been drawn? I laughed. Sorry if you cried.

Second, speaking about vulnerability, it's interesting that Amai Mask did not lose face by showing that he too could be scared, could fail, could be vulnerable. We get to see Atomic's view of it and he has found real respect for Amai Mask for being able to admit all those things publicly, and then find a way to pull himself together and keep fighting. It's both neat in itself, because it takes real courage to be publicly vulnerable, and it's neat because it's precisely what neither Atomic nor his disciples could do when faced with King: admit their own doubts and ignorance.

Since I'm writing this with the benefit of more chapters, bet on it that I will be returning to the matters of Sweet Mask and King, but for now, we shall leave things here.

[moony7drac]

Whos everyone favorite sibling >:D

I used to have a simple, straight to the point answer for this one, but then they started to develop more... (If you get what I mean).

Short answer, the most common/ best-known combo's, are Ludwig and Larry, Iggy and Lemmy, Roy and Wendy, and Morton and Junior.

As for the longer, more complex answers,

I'm gonna respond to this one as if the answer comes from the Koopa themselves. (Much more fun that way).

Every time you see "Ian", that's me. (I needed another person to kind of interview them, and since this is my AU, we're using my main OC).

But, as to not make this an unskippable ad, I put a "Keep reading in here". So, for the long answers, go down below.

Some of their answers are longer, and others are pretty straight foreward.

(Also, I colourcode everyone in what they do and say. There are a few letters which are somhow not coloured, but I swear, I edited this like, 4 times already, but they keep showing up. So, please forgive me for that, as that is truly Tumblrs fault).

First up, Ludwig and Iggy.

I think Ludwig and I are the most biased with this question...

My favourite is Lemmy. I mean, he's my twin brother. How can I not?!

And mine is Larry. During our time out on the streets, (time between losing bio parents and found by Bowser), Larry was really, really young... He started seeing me as his parent, and, well... While he definitely also is my little brother, he also feels like my son sometimes... How weird that may sound...

So, yeah... Of course, my favourite is my twin, and Ludwig's is his "son"...

Ludwig leaves to go back to what he was doing before answering this question.

But, honestly? Ludwig is a very, very close second...

He's always been there for me when I was feeling (more physically) down... And, well, he's my favourite science buddy!

(I also really love Morton. The sweetheart looks up to me, and is always there to help. His curiosity for what I'm doing or making is also really admirable, even if he doesn't understand it. Plus, his hugs are the best. (The title "gentle giant" didn't come from nowhere, after all...~)).

The camera switches over to Ludwig, who's walking through the halls back to his room.

To be completely honest, while Larry is probably my number one, I can't deny that Iggy had that spot before that...

He truly cares about everyone's well-being. After all, he has healed my fingers a lot of times, whenever the piano fallboard fell onto my fingers...

Plus, while I am not going to admit this to his face, his hugs are actually pretty calming. Somehow...

Lemmy

Iggy. I mean, of course I dearly love all of my siblings, but, well...

Iggy's my twin... It's really, really hard to beat that.

Roy

Roy flicks his eyes back and forth and sweats a bit at first at hearing the question.

He then folds his arms over his chest and turns his head away.

Pff. Like I have a favourite.

Ian: O, really? Then why do you seem to enjoy their presence so much?

What about the Just Dance battles against Ludwig? Or the study sessions with Iggy? Being Lemmy's spotter during new acrobatic stunts? Being the one to help Wendy when she has a new idea for clothes... Or sparring against Morton... Playing sports against Larry... Or, and don't try to deny this, having those fire breathing contests against Junior?~

Roy sighs as his shoulders sag a bit. He grumbles before he answers.

If you must know... That's exactly why I don't have a favourite.

Roy blushes a bit as he looks away again.

I can't choose...

Wendy

Well, I’m not sure… Roy is probably my favourite, but he is also very much a menace for me.

A few seconds pass.

Actually, so is Junior...

How about this, as they are both as well at the top as at the bottom of my list, they both 50/50, and therefor count as one.

Ian: Yeah, okay, I can work with that... But, give me the explanation in return.

Deep sigh.

Roy has pretty much always been my older brother, you know? While the other three also always have been there for me, Roy was there for me on a different level. But, we also fight quite a bit...

As for Junior. While he's a spoiled little brat, he does, admittedly, have artistic talent. It's often that I explain a design I have in my head, and Junior is able to draw it pretty correctly.

Morton and Larry

Hmm... Can I really only choose one?

Ian, off camera, "Kinda, yeah."

I suppose...

Morton suddenly perks up and smiles.

My favourite younger sibling is Junior, my favourite older bro is Roy, and my favourite big bro is Iggy! There! Just one!

You can't be mad, he did give just one... Just one for different categories...

As for mine, Ludwig.

Larry chuckles and rubs the back of his neck.

It's actually been that way since hatching...

Mom and dad had told us the story of the day I had hatched...

Apparently, I had been crying pretty much since I got out of my egg. Iggy and Lemmy were already home at that point, and the rest weren't trusted enough by mom and dad to safely hold me...

But, no matter who held me, I just wouldn't stop crying...

But then, Ludwig came home. He had been doing some after school stuff, which is why he was late. Mom had pushed me into his arms, becoming frantic about my crying, and trying whatever she could. But the moment I was in Ludwig’s arms, I apparently immediately stopped crying.

So, yeah... Ludwig's my favourite... and he has been that since my hatching...

Lastly, Junior

Morton! He's always there when I need him. He's always willing to make me food or carry me around on his shoulders.

Small bonus bit, just cause I can-

Roy: Wait! How do you know about the Just Dance battles and the study sessions? Those are secrets between them and me!

Ian: I have my ways~

Roy: Growl. Just... Don't tell anyone about that, capiche? No one is supposed to know that Luds and I play Just Dance, nor is anyone supposed to know that I like biology...

[eleanorfenyxwrites]

The Man From Y.I.L.I.N.G.

Chapter 10: "Places, Places"

This is where I really begin deviating from the movie, for anyone who's keeping track of that sort of thing 😉

--//--

YILING WEI AIRSPACE – NORTHBOUND

Nie Mingjue squints against the setting sun cutting in through the cockpit dome of the black-painted Shenyang J-6 he’d been ferried into with barely any time to process the plethora of information he’d just been given.

“What do you want us to do?” he’d asked back at the Jiangs’ office in Yiling, well aware that he would do whatever it was if it meant he could escape with Huaisang afterwards.

Wei Wuxian had smiled that soulless smile that’s somehow even worse than Jin Guangyao’s most threatening and said, cold as a winter mountain wind, “I want you two to swat a couple of very pesky little mosquitoes for me.”

... -.-. . -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

BURIAL MOUNDS — INTERROGATIONS — LEVEL 7

Nie Mingjue studies Wei Wuxian’s business partner (Wei Wuxian had called her ‘Qing-jiejie in the office, but Nie Mingjue obviously has no desire to do the same) where she’s sitting across from him in a futile attempt to gauge her thoughts on…well, anything really, but her expression is as cool and inscrutable as it’s been all day. It’s irritating to be on the receiving end of her dark, knowing haughtiness when without it her face could otherwise seem kind, but he’s also willing to admit that he’s, perhaps, a little biased considering he still doesn’t understand who she is besides someone Wei Wuxian trusts — far from a ringing endorsement in his books.

They’ve been measuring each other up for roughly five minutes in total silence, nothing but the sound of dripping water somewhere to break the electrical humming of the caged, bare light bulb above their heads, when she finally speaks. “You understand that Wen Ruohan must be stopped. How do you want to do it, Chifeng-Zun?”

The word that springs to mind first is ‘violently’, but he’s pretty sure that’s not really the answer she’s looking for. When he doesn’t reply immediately, trying to figure out what it is she’s actually asking, she glances at the door over his shoulder and clucks her tongue in something that could reasonably be impatience. Judging by how quickly they’d whisked him and Jin Guangyao down a hidden tunnel and up into the heart of the Burial Mounds (which is apparently inside Yiling Mountain) their newest employers are on some sort of time crunch. Nie Mingjue can’t help but feel that that’s hardly his problem, and he has no qualms about being a little less than cooperative under the current circumstances. Not enough to put Nie Huaisang in danger, of course, but just enough to make sure they appreciate his cooperation properly when he decides to give it.

She fixes him with a glare again and prods him for an answer. “What are you going to do? Fly straight to Nightless City, guns blazing? Or are you going to surprise us all and make some attempt at subtlety?”

Nie Mingjue clears his throat and tries to decide if he’s impressed or irritated by the dismissal in her tone, the open judgment.

“I’m not sure subtlety will work in my position,” he says, leaning more towards irritation, he thinks. “Considering what Wen Ruohan has made of me and how long I’ve been his best pet project there isn’t a soul in Qishan who wouldn’t betray me on sight.”

Nie Mingjue does his level best not to think about the first years he’d spent in Wen Ruohan’s service; the number of times he’d attempted escape is perfectly equal to the number of times he’d been dragged kicking and screaming down to the old palace-turned-’hospital’ for a fresh dose of whatever cocktail they pump into him that turns everything hazy and agonizing for indeterminate amounts of time. (The number of times he was tortured is, thankfully, much higher than the number of times Nie Mingjue has had to see his brother tortured as well for his insubordinations.)

If she clocks his irritation with her holier-than-thou attitude she doesn’t let on. “As you say,” she acquiesces with an elegant nod that somehow gets under his skin a little more. “Sneak into the complex then go guns blazing, then?”

“It’s very Wen,” he snorts without humor.

“It’s very Nie.”

Her eyes are clear and guileless as she says it, and something about her demeanor stops Nie Mingjue’s irritation in its tracks, his shock a railroad tie strewn across the line.

“What?”

“You aren’t Wen, Chifeng-Zun, no matter what…my uncle-“ Nie Mingjue’s ears are suddenly ringing but he forces himself to listen “—has done to you. You and your brother may be the last, but you’re still every inch a Nie. It’s past time for my uncle to be reminded of that.”

Nie Mingjue swallows hard around whatever emotion is trying to choke him. If it isn’t anger he doesn’t have the time to feel it now, so he forces whatever it is down to be considered…later. Sometime. Definitely.

“How did you end up here? If Wen Ruohan’s your uncle, what happened to make you want to do this?” he asks to distract himself, uncaring if it’s not exactly the politest thing to ask, or the nicest way to ask it. If he doesn’t die in Qishan (which he’s willing to acknowledge is a pretty big ‘if’), the likelihood that he’ll ever see her again after his mission is over is slim to none, so what’s the point in niceties?

She takes so long to answer that he’s nearly certain that she isn’t going to.

“Wei Wuxian saved our lives,” she finally says, her voice almost too soft for him to hear. She continues, a little louder, “You’ve seen what Uncle does to those under his power, and that even his own sons aren’t exempt, though at least they tend to be his last victims. I worked hard to earn his favor and keep A-Ning safe — I know you understand that desire, Chifeng-zun, to sacrifice anything necessary to protect a little brother that the world seems set on hurting. We were surviving, but…”

Nie Mingjue waits with what would likely seem to be uncharacteristic patience for her to continue. He frowns in confusion when the next glance she shoots him looks..guilty.

“I was there when you were brought in. I was Uncle’s favorite protégé at the time. Within a month of our arrival he had made me his head doctor.”

Nie Mingjue’s vision turns hazy around the edges, blood-red that pulses along with his heartbeat thundering in his ears.

‘Doctor’ means something entirely different in Nightless City than it does beyond those walls. ‘Doctors’ in Qishan don’t heal, they ensure that their victims survive whatever punishment Wen Ruohan decides they must be subjected to, whether they want to survive the ordeal or not.

Nie Mingjue has spent a large portion of his life at the mercy of Wen Ruohan’s ‘doctors’, and he’d barely escaped their clutches with his mind intact.

“Did you —” Nie Mingjue chokes on every possible word he could say that wouldn’t even begin to encompass what was done in the torture chambers known only as the ‘Fire Palace’.

“No. I left before he could order me to break you.”

Nie Mingjue laces his shaking hands together in his lap and grips tightly enough that his knuckles turn bone-white, fingertips aching from the bruises he’s pressing into the backs of his palms.

“But you did- to the others—” he says when he can string the words together in the correct order, and without shouting them.

“No. Never. Uncle was struggling with his health at the time, he asked me to treat him and help him hide it. It was..my reward for keeping my head down. He wouldn’t hurt A-Ning, and I was untouchable so long as I behaved. I’ve only ever wanted to heal, it’s my family’s legacy. I did what I could to help, but I had to work carefully and in secret.

“Wei Wuxian got us out, me and A-Ning and my family. He keeps us safe, and he really is doing what’s right. It doesn’t seem like it now, but he’s fixing what he can, and he has plans for the future that no one else would even dream of, things that will harness evil to do good. That’s why I’m here, Chifeng-Zun.”

Nie Mingjue isn’t sure how to really…process all of this. It sounds like she truly believes it, that Wei Wuxian is a man worth following for whatever noble cause he thinks he can achieve with creating a monopoly on all nuclear technology in the world, but Nie Mingjue can’t really say he sees it. It sounds good, of course it does, but he’s heard plenty of pretty words in his lifetime; he’ll need evidence, but before he can go demanding the Yiling Laozu prove himself, he has to finish this mission while their goals are, for the moment, aligned. And while yes, he isn’t sure about the big picture, there’s no doubt in his mind that Wen Ruohan needs to die for a better future for everyone, not just himself and Nie Huaisang.

“So if we go in ‘guns blazing’ as you say, what will you do? If you refuse to hurt anyone, what use are you to me?”

She shoots him a glare and he swears he sees the silver flash of something wickedly sharp between her fingers as she folds her arms tightly across her chest and crosses one knee over the other, her entire posture radiating a sort of deadly calm.

“You and I know Nightless City better than anyone besides Uncle. I still have top level clearance on all the security systems as Uncle thinks I’m being kept a prisoner here — I’ll be the last person he’d think to guard against. I can get you inside and try to keep as many doors between you and the guards locked tight; it’ll be up to you to find Wen Ruohan and finish the job.”

There’s really nothing else for him to say besides, “Fine.”

... -.-. . -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

QISHAN WEN AIRSPACE

Not long after they had nothing left to say to each other, Wei Wuxian had come to fetch him and Wen Qing from what Nie Mingjue can only assume was meant to be an interrogation room, and in the few minutes it had taken the rusted old cargo lift to take them up to the airplane hangar near the peak of the mountain that houses Wei Wuxian’s Burial Mounds, his newest employer had outlined to him his flight path as well as the way to sneak past the Wen agents monitoring the Nightless City airspace.

Nie Mingjue had squeezed himself into a cockpit he barely fits in, Wen Qing had climbed into an identical plane beside him (with much less difficulty), and though their helmets contain a short-range radio frequency to talk to each other if need be, they’ve spent the entire flight to Qishan in silence.

When the sun is nearly gone behind the horizon, nothing but a sullen red glow off the bottom of the lowest clouds, Wen Qing waggles her wings to signal the start of their descent and Nie Mingjue breathes slowly.

In.

Out.

In.

Nightless City looms far beneath them through the dusk, already glittering with the thousands of lights that give it its moniker. It’s teeming with activity, shadows of transport vehicles moving through the sprawling city-complex and enormous, shapeless forms only visible from here when they obscure or reveal another glimmer of light through the gloom.

Flying roughly a hundred vertical feet apart stacked one on top of the other to better avoid detection from the agents monitoring the Wen airspace, Nie Mingjue and Wen Qing circle a wide berth around the city, high enough that no one seems to spot their black-painted crafts darting amongst the wisping clouds that always ring the crags of the long-dormant volcano that guards the northeast flank of the old palace complex.

Nie Mingjue squints through the dark of full night as they round the back of the mountain, searching through the sudden darkness for the hangar Wei Wuxian had described in his briefing — a nigh-impossible task without the glitter of the Wens’ base to guide them.

“Chifeng-zun,” Wen Qing’s voice crackles in his ear for the first time since they took to the sky, startling him out of his ruminations.

“What?”

“The entrance to the hangar is marked by a pair of red lanterns, near the top third of the mountain. Do you see it?”

Nie Mingjue scans for them as quickly as he can — they’re heading straight for the sheerest cliff at an alarming speed to be hurtling at a solid wall of rock, so if he doesn’t find it in the next five seconds or so he won’t have anything to worry about at all anymore.

“Spotted,” he reports as Wen Qing pulls up to fly at his side with a scream of her engines and in sync they aim straight for the minute pinpricks of red in the expanse of deep black — pinpricks that, within moments, become over-sized cherry-red lamps hanging from the cliff face hundreds of feet apart. And then suddenly he’s rocketing past a solid line of more of lamps marking the path of the hangar’s landing strip, dotted along the walls that are far closer than he’d expected as he flicks the switch to engage the air brakes and drop the tailhook in the hopes of avoiding smashing into the back of the hangar, wherever that is.

“Arresting wires ahead,” Wen Qing says tightly in the scant seconds before their wheels meet polished stone with an earsplitting screech and their planes jerk to a simultaneous halt hard enough to rattle Nie Mingjue’s bones, the tailhook thankfully doing its job and catching on the cables stretched horizontally across the hangar exactly for that purpose.

He kills the engines through muscle-memory alone and forces his shaking hands to disengage the dome of the cockpit first before he tugs his helmet off over his head, Wen Qing doing the same from what he can see by the sullen red glow of the lamps lining the wall. If she feels as shaken as he does after that landing she makes no sign of it, rather climbing surprisingly gracefully from her plane and dusting herself off a few times and tugging on the thick canvas of her flight suit to resettle it, quite as if she pulls stunts like that every day. Nie Mingjue unpeels himself from the seat and attempts not to kick anything important on his way out, and when his feet are on solid ground again he sucks in a deep breath that only shakes a little while he’s still hidden behind the belly of his plane.

Wen Qing’s thick-soled boots (she’d traded out her stilettos for something more sensible before they’d left Yiling) thunk quickly as she crosses the space to one of the side walls and, after a few long moments of some muttering he can’t quite make out, lifts a lever with a metallic clunk that heralds a flood of bright light through the hangar, the same sickly yellow glow as the miner lights in the Burial Mounds.

“I would welcome you back to Nightless City, but something tells me that wouldn’t be well received,” Wen Qing says as she crosses to a row of lockers further down the same wall and opens the first with a clang to reveal that it’s full of racked guns. “Instead I’ll welcome you to the armory. Take your pick.”

Nie Mingjue shakes off the last of his nerves and strides over to join her, glad to be back in much more familiar territory. He’s well-versed in the sorts of weaponry Wen Ruohan is willing and able to provide, after all, and he arms himself as he would any other mercenary assignment nearly on muscle memory, slinging a pair of automatic rifles over his shoulders and supplementing them with as many pistols as he can reasonably fit on his person.

As Nie Mingjue slots a Type 64 into a holster on his left thigh, Wen Qing raises one sculpted eyebrow to say, almost idly, “You know, when I said ‘guns blazing’ I didn’t mean quite so..literally.”

“Shouldn’t have suggested it then,” he shrugs.

“Hm, I suppose not. Well — I’ll be parting ways with you just beyond the hangar doors.” Nie Mingjue nods and shoves another identical pistol into the holster pressed into the small of his back. “Give me a two-minute count before you head out, and if you hear any alarms just keep going. Uncle should be busy in the Fire Palace if things have gone according to plan. I’ll do everything I can to keep your path clear.”

Nie Mingjue nods again and holsters a fifth and final pistol under his arm, followed by a quick check to make sure he can still reach each one unhindered by the others. He straps two slim blades to the insides of his forearms beneath his sleeves just to be on the safe side and checks the spring latches to unsheathe them, testing the balance of the blades when they slide silently into his palms.

Wen Qing returns the nod he gives her to indicate he’s ready once the knives are once again safely tucked away, but when she turns to go he reaches out to stop her with a hand on her forearm. “What will you do if they catch you? You say you won’t hurt anyone, but you know they won’t hesitate to kill you; you’re a traitor.”

Wen Qing turns her head just enough to meet his gaze over her shoulder, and he nearly withdraws his hand at the steel in her wide, dark eyes.

“I have my ways,” she says with a cryptic little smile that holds no real mirth, a dark joke he isn’t in on, and then she’s gone, slipping her slender wrist from under his hand to stride across the hangar to the door that opens into the warren of tunnels channeling through the mountain and straight to the palace on the other side.

Nie Mingjue counts the seconds that tick by and lets it calm him, his heart rate and breathing slowing, steadying into something nearly meditative.

One, two, three, four — inhale.

Hold.

Exhale — nine, ten, eleven, twelve.

Again.

At the two minute mark by his reckoning, Nie Mingjue steps forward to follow Wen Qing’s path out the door and into the empty maze beyond.

The door clangs shut behind him with a strange feeling of finality, and the ensuing silence carries the crushing weight of the mountain with it. Nie Mingjue strides forward with purpose, his head held high as the walls of his old prison close in on him once again.

... -.-. . -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

JINLINTAI – MAIN FLOOR

“You were aware of the consequences of disobeying me,” Jin Guangshan sneers. It crawls under Jin Guangyao’s skin and settles there, oily slick. 

It is, in a word, revolting.

“I didn’t disobey you,” he argues, knowing that it’s pointless. The words are a little muddied by the blood in his mouth and the ginger way he’s trying not to worsen the teeth his goonish cousin has already knocked loose with just a few solid backhands — two strikes on the left and one on the right, a molar and an incisor aching and wiggling a little too much for comfort.

Quick as a flash, his father’s boredom disappears into a fit of violent rage, and Jin Guangyao is simply glad that there’s still one last piece of furniture still standing upright for his father to send toppling end over end. The heavy oak table crashes against the wall mere inches from where Jin Guangyao is kneeling and by now it’s purely instinct that keeps him still, refusing to flinch.

(Without any furniture left for Jin Guangshan to abuse it will be Jin Guangyao’s turn next when anger gets the better of him, though his father typically takes pains not to touch him directly with his own hands unless there are no other options.)

“I expressly forbade you from failure!! What is that if not disobedience, and yet now you lie to me directly! You’re nothing but a shameless, pathetic wretch, and yet I’m the fool for having expected anything more than the most damning ruin of everything I’ve worked so hard for!” 

“I didn’t fail, father!” Jin Guangyao protests through his bruised lips and the bile climbing up the back of his throat. “I had no choice but to let them capture me, I needed them to trust that I would cooperate!”

Jin Guangshan’s face turns an intriguing shade of maroon as he roars, “There isn’t a lunatic alive mad enough to trust you!!”

The echo of his shouting reverberates off the stone walls around them, making it sound strangely tinny and far away even as it deafens.

Jin Guangyao forces himself not to flinch away from the densely-packed folder Jin Guangshan flings with every ounce of his strength straight at his face next, but unfortunately his aim is nothing if not accurate. He breathes through the searing indignity of it and the instantaneous bruised ache blooming across the bridge of his nose as the folder slaps onto the ground at his knees, the contents spilling out with a rustle like crows’ wings.

“Father please–”

“Guangshan, enough.”

Jin Guangyao exhales slowly again and ducks down into a deep kowtow without daring to look up at the only person in Lanling capable of criticizing Jin Guangshan without immediate repercussions. Madam Jin’s voice is as sharp as the beloved set of knives she keeps on her person at all times, and as her heels click across the gold-inlaid floor Jin Guangyao could swear he already feels the sharpest of her blades slicing into any and every soft piece of him, exacting the price of his perceived failure in pounds of flesh and drops of blood.

“There’s no sense wasting your breath to scold this ingrate,” Madam Jin continues when she draws level with Jin Guangshan and comes to a stop. Jin Guangyao forces his hands to stay pressed flat on the floor despite the mere inch or two she leaves between the points of her stilettos and the tender vulnerability of the backs of his palms.

“But he–”

“Don’t argue with me!” Madam Jin snaps. “I told you the moment you bought his miserable life that you’d be better off spending that money on yet more whores to stick your sorry prick in rather than the son of one! If you insist on continuing to make a mockery of me and this family then you may as well continue on in the way you always have rather than find a new way to menace this household. Now look where he’s gotten you!!”

“I can decipher the notes,” Jin Guangyao takes his life in his hands to say, an embarrassing plea that he knows he has no choice but to make. “I can tell you precisely how to get into both the Jiangs’ compound and the Yiling Laozu’s Burial Mounds, I’ve been inside them both more than long enough to draw the routes from memory. I’ll return everything they stole from you and deliver more — every scrap of Wei Wuxian’s work can be yours if you let me live. There isn’t enough in that folder alone to get everything you want, but there’s enough for me to fill in the rest!”

“Useless!” Madam Jin spits and steps on his hand as he’d thought she might, though thankfully with the ball of her foot rather than the heel. It’s only crushing pain as she grinds his palm into the floor with a savage twist of her ankle, she doesn’t even break the skin (or a bone), and he’s had far worse from her before. “You’ve done nothing but disgrace the Jin name with this disaster of an assignment, how dare you attempt to pull yourself out of your own grave now!!”

“Calm yourself, furen. Zixun.”

“Uncle.”

Jin Guangyao’s newly-loosened teeth ache from the pressure of his clenched jaw.

“Get this filth out of my sight. A day or two downstairs will be enough to fix this latest disaster, I believe, so long as the Jiangs are stupid enough to truly believe he can be trusted.”

“Yes Uncle.”

Jin Guangyao allows himself to be hauled too roughly to his feet, bruises already aching in his upper arms from his cousin’s grip. No matter – he’ll live for at least two more days. Those two days are likely intended to be days of neglect and the emotional torture of being left underground to rot rather than being run through the usual battery of physical abuses, which will leave his mind free to work without the distractions of pain management or maintaining a suitable mask to show his tormentors.

He shoves away the primal, twisted relief of their ‘mercy’ in favor of forcing himself to begin planning his next step, and the one after that, and after that — he must plan for as many possibilities as he can. Nothing in this life is guaranteed, and it’s been proven time and again that there’s not a soul he can truly trust to help him.

... -.-. . -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

LANLING — RIVERSIDE MUDBANK

“Here, give him this. Maybe it’ll buy you some time.”

Jiang Wanyin holds out a thick sheaf of papers, shoved haphazardly into a nondescript folder and a little waterlogged, as if soaked in the daring escape Jin Guangyao has (ostensibly) made from the Burial Mounds and the clutches of the Jiangs to return home. He flicks the folder open just long enough to scan the contents and find that it contains not only a detailed blueprint in miniature of the entire facility belonging to the Jiang siblings — including the warren of underground tunnels that dip beneath Yiling and head all the way west to the Burial Mounds and beyond, where they twist northward and disappear into the old mines, though they are at least unlabeled — but also a decent amount of Wei Wuxian’s notes on nuclear technology appended onto a stack of the most important research notes Lan Wangji had stolen from right under Jin Guangshan’s nose last year.

“And you’re truly prepared for my father to have this information?”

Jiang Wanyin is visibly grinding his teeth as he jerks his chin towards the file. “I don’t want it in Guangshan’s groping hands any more than you do, but my brother’s the boss on this one. Wuxian’s notes are all in code, he swears no one can crack it so it won’t matter who sees them. They just need to buy the story long enough for you to get to work.”

Jin Guangyao glances at the notes again and finds that yes, at least at a glance they seem like incoherent gibberish. He decides it’s likely best not to mention that Wei Wuxian has instructed to have his encoded notes handed over to one of the best thieves in the world. Jin Guangyao has yet to find a lock, or a code, or a safe he couldn’t crack; Wei Wuxian is either that foolish, or else trusts far too easily.

Either one suits Jin Guangyao’s purposes just as well.

“Alright. I’ll let you know when I’m finished.”

“Fine. We’ve got someone in there keeping an eye on things for us, you’ll find out who it is if you end up needing help.”

Jin Guangyao hunts Jiang Wanyin’s flint-hard gaze for any sign that this agent of theirs has been instructed to help him or to monitor him, but they’re running out of time before their ruse is discovered and under the perpetually irritated mask he wears Jiang Wanyin is surprisingly difficult to read  without sufficient practice — he doesn’t have the time to suss out the truth.

Before Jin Guangyao can come to a conclusion one way or the other, they part ways without another word. Jin Guangyao ‘stumbles’ up to the glittering towers of Jinlintai from the muddy, shadowy banks of the river and a newly wrecked Jiang Shipping speedboat, and Jiang Wanyin slips back into his disguise as a humble fisherman slowly paddling his way downriver — back towards Yiling and his Sandu hidden behind a bend in some reeds — in the evening gloom.

“Well, look who’s finally graced us with his presence. You never learn your lesson, do you?” Jin Zixun sneers within moments of Jin Guangyao staggering within range of the floodlights illuminating the immediate area around the faintly-humming fence. “Stupid fucking bastard.”

“On the contrary, Zixun, I’ve learned this and many other lessons perfectly well,” he replies — and lets his cousin punch him straight in the nose.

... -.-. . -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

JINLINTAI – BASEMENT LEVEL 3

Jin Guangyao stumbles into the room Jin Zixun shoves him into, his cousin clearly anxious to stop touching him at the earliest opportunity. Well, the feeling is mutual, and Jin Guangyao makes a little point out of dusting himself off with a noticeable grimace of distaste and putting his wrinkled jacket to rights (though in the interest of making a convincingly difficult escape from the Jiangs, there’s far worse wrong with his suit than a few errant wrinkles).

“Stay here,” Jin Zixun barks.

“What an asinine instruction; it’s clear I have no choice.”

Jin Zixun just sneers at him — it’s his default, to be fair — and slams the door shut extra hard on his way out. Quite frankly the number of deadbolts and chains he sets before the echo of it has even died out  is both comical and insulting, especially considering the room that was made to function as an impromptu cell for him is just that – impromptu. Unbeknownst to his family (except for Mo Xuanyu), he’s broken out of it more times than he’d bother trying to count at the present moment. In order to hold him for any significant length of time it would have had to have been designed to do so in its original construction, but considering how old Jinlintai is, and the fact that it was never designed as a prison, the room is far from impenetrable.

Still, he’s tired and there’s nothing pressing that he needs to do at the moment now that he’s set his first few pieces in motion, so he lays down on the pathetic little pallet bed in the corner and settles in to think.

Wei Wuxian’s instructions had been simple, trusting him (and, he presumes, Nie Mingjue) to accomplish their tasks in whatever way they think is best. Or, perhaps, letting them take the revenge they want to take, rather than attempting to dictate how it should be done. A small mercy that, considering the nature of how he’d decided to claim their allegiances for himself.

At that, his thoughts turn inescapably to thinking about what sort of condition Mo Xuanyu is in now; he hopes that Jin Zixuan is taking the responsibility to watch over him seriously. He may trust Jiang Yanli and her brothers as much as he wants, but he must understand that Jin Guangyao is more than a little reluctant to do so as well. And that’s not even taking into account Mo Xuanyu’s personal fears regarding anyone in direct power over him and his family, which Jin Guangyao feels are perfectly justified considering his childhood in his aunt’s house, only to then receive so much worse in Jinlintai after he was promised a better life if he joined the organization. If nothing else, he can at least be reasonably assured that his little brother isn’t spending the night in a cell or one of Jin Guangyao’s less-than-comfortable hideouts in Lanling, which is more than he’s been able to say in years.

It’s…incredible, to be lying in a cell in Jinlintai knowing his own life is hanging on by a thread but fearing very little knowing his siblings are somewhere Jin Guangshan can’t easily reach them. No matter his opinions on Wei Wuxian as a person, there is no denying that he’s turned Yiling into something of a haven for those running from cruel men stronger and more powerful than them. Few dare to infiltrate the Yiling Laozu’s domain, and those who do don’t do so lightly, or without forethought. He doesn’t trust Wei Wuxian very far, but at least far enough to take his family away from here.

That’s not nothing.

Perhaps it would be best to get this done quickly. Perhaps he can give Wei Wuxian that much courtesy, at least.

Jin Guangyao grinds his teeth and turns to lie on his side, his back to the rest of the room as if he can pretend so easily that he’s somewhere else. Anywhere else.

He drifts off into a light doze, undisturbed but waiting, waiting, and with the ease of years of never truly resting his eyes pop open in the darkest hour of the night before dawn begins to blue the horizon, in a darkness so deep and black it feels like a physical presence weighing him down. It doesn’t matter; Jin Guangyao knows all of Jinlintai like the back of his hand, and his father’s attempts to discombobulate him by shoving him somewhere far underground where he can’t see, can’t be heard even if he screams, barely register as unpleasant anymore. He stands and strips out of everything unnecessary — shoes, socks, belt, jacket, shirt, anything that could make noise or brush against something he isn’t intending. It’s not as good as his ‘sneaksuit’ as Jin Zixuan had dubbed it, but he can fix that as easily as getting into one of his hiding spots to change into something more appropriate for stalking through the maze of Jinlintai.

Dressed only in his trousers and his undershirt, Jin Guangyao feels his way along the back wall of the room and stretches up onto his toes as far as he can to reach the grate covering the ventilation duct near the ceiling. The first time he’d broken free of this room he’d had to fashion a tool to take the cover off, but his father’s security is as lax as ever it would seem — two screws he’d hand-twisted into place opposite each other to keep the cover on the last time he’d been held in here are apparently convincing enough to escape Jin Guangshan’s notice. Jin Guangyao rolls his eyes as he removes the screws easily and the grate falls straight into his hands without a sound.

Hauling himself up into the vent takes barely any effort at all, as does finding the junction that leads to a hallway a few turns away from his cell, though once there he doesn’t immediately free himself.

Here, at least, there are emergency lights glowing: long, sallow greenish-white rods that paint everything with a sickly pale glow, the few shadows in the corners of the ceiling stark black in contrast. Jin Guangyao hides and waits, ears strained for the sounds of the night patrol making their irregular rounds. They won’t check his cell, he knows, as Jin Guangshan had stipulated that Jin Guangyao spend at least a day on his own — if not two — in an attempt to break him, but that won’t mean anything if they catch him walking free.

Eventually he hears them, two sets of boots walking not quite in sync and he sidles closer to the grate, silent and watchful as the guards round the corner, one of them fighting a losing battle against a wide yawn.

“Wait here for a second.”

“Where are you going?” the first guard asks behind his hand, mouth still wide open.

“I want to go check on Jin er-gongzi.”

Jin Guangyao feels the blood drain from his face. This is against protocol, against the orders Jin Guangyao knows his father has given. Why does she care enough to go against Jin Guangshan in his own domain?

“Eh?? What’s the point?”

“He’s a world-renowned thief, you’re not worried at all that he’s going to find some way to escape?”

It is, at least, a very fair and pertinent question, Jin Guangyao has to give her that. Of course he’s less inclined to be charitable considering there’s about to be a city-wide manhunt for him and he’s hiding half-naked in a ventilation shaft with a single, very obvious entry-point and only so many places he could have gone.

There’s nothing much he can do now, though, as the guard in question is already making her way back around the corner and he has no hope of beating her back to the cell, let alone dressing again and getting back on the pallet to prove his innocence. Jin Guangyao forces himself to breathe deeply and silently as he waits, stuck in place until the guards leave, one way or another. He can hear the clanking of the deadbolts on his door echoing down the concrete hallways, and the slight creak of old hinges. He holds his breath, expecting a shout or some other indication that she’s found the room empty except for his discarded clothes.

The door clangs shut again, each lock carefully thrown back into place. The guard’s steps are even and calm again as she returns, and Jin Guangyao wonders if he’s hallucinating when she reports, “He’s asleep. Let’s go.”

“Whatever,” her companion yawns again and falls into step at her side with a little shuffle of his boots. Jin Guangyao holds his breath as they pass beneath him…and just catches the thumbs-up the second guard holds behind her back before the pair turns the corner. It would seem he’s spotted his mysterious ally, no trouble necessary. (He chooses to feel nothing about the fact that apparently she really has been placed here to help him, not to ensure his good behavior.)

He waits long enough to be certain that they’re gone before he gets to work removing the grate, slowly and methodically finding every screw to loosen until he can apply enough pressure to pop the thing off with an echoing clang!. This grate, at least, he puts back in place to hide his escape for as long as possible before he hurries to the nearest stairwell.

Skulking through Jinlintai by little more than the light of the moon (once he’s above-ground again) is instinctual at this point, bare feet whisper-quiet on the tile as he darts from shadow to shadow. For all that he’d come to it later in life rather than being raised in the sprawling complex, he’s had all the reasons in the world to want to learn its every secret, and that knowledge serves him well now. Getting to his nearest hiding spot while dodging the teams of guards making their rounds is simple work, and though there’s evidence of Mo Xuanyu having made use of the space recently his brother had at least been thoughtful enough to replenish any supplies he’d taken, and to leave Jin Guangyao’s spare clothes and weapons untouched.

Once properly clothed and armed, Jin Guangyao pauses for a little mental flick through his many ideas for just such an occasion as this. Never had he dreamt he’d actually get the chance to clear his path of his monstrous family so thoroughly and without consequences, but he hasn’t gotten as far as he has by not planning even for impossibilities.

Poison feels appropriate, he thinks. Wei Wuxian hadn’t instructed him to make it painless, after all. And isn’t Nie Mingjue always calling him ‘Little Viper’? He has no idea how true that can be.

Jin Guangyao leaves his hiding spot again after the next patrol passes and he strides with purpose through the halls of Jinlintai, heading for his own room with its well-hidden lab tucked behind a false wall built of solid steel and concrete. No one will come looking for him in his basement cell again for at least 24 hours — more than enough time for what he has in mind.

... -.-. . -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

YILING CITY — 莲花 VILLA

“Everyone’s made it to Lanling and Qishan. We just have to wait it out now,” Wei Wuxian reports to Wen Ning and Jiang Yanli in the latter’s kitchen, his voice pitched low under the burbling of several pots on the stove and the cheerful (if slightly subdued) chatter out in the main room. 

“I can’t help but feel that a-Xuan and Yu-didi deserve to know what’s going on,” Jiang Yanli sighs.

Wei Wuxian shares a one-eyebrow-raised glance with Wen Ning, but his traitorous best friend simply smiles gently at him in his usual way. For good measure he mouths ‘Yu-didi??’ but Wen Ning’s answer doesn’t change except to add a shrug, so Wei Wuxian shrugs it off as well. They’ve got bigger things to worry about and the Lans will be here any minute to join them for dinner. Best to get all talk of murder out of the way before they arrive, considering how distasteful they find it, even when they acknowledge its necessity.

“I’ll leave that decision to you, jiejie, I’m sure you’d be more sensitive about it than I would. I’ve got to focus on making sure everything’s in place to snap up the spoils when they’re dropped at our door.”

“How long do you think they’ll need?” Wen Ning asks and steps up to the stove to take over stirring duty with ease when Jiang Yanli steps away to check on something in the icebox.

“Those two? No more than 48 hours I’d say,” Wei Wuxian shrugs. In truth they’ll probably need less than that, but Wei Wuxian considers himself a pretty generous man. If it were him (he wishes it was him), he’d be savoring the opportunity to torment his tormentors; to kill slowly, to make them afraid and remember in horrifying detail every hurt they’ve caused, every innocent life they’ve taken. Wen Ruohan, in particular, he’d like to grind into a paste beneath the heel of his boot, but Lan Zhan had put his foot down on that one, and Wei Wuxian is nothing if not a dutiful husband.

(Wen Ruohan has sons though, with hands just as bloody as their father’s, and should Nie Mingjue not think to get rid of them first in the feverish bloodlust of pursuing his chief torturer, then Wei Wuxian will simply have to take on the unsavory work of cleanup duty, that’s all there is to it.)

Jiang Yanli sighs softly as she returns and gently takes the wooden spoon back from Wen Ning. “They’ve both been through so much, they’ve more than earned the right to carry out their revenge however they see fit. I imagine it’ll be quite the mess to clean up when they’ve finished.”

“Probably,” Wei Wuxian shrugs. He doesn’t particularly care about messes, if he’s being honest. “Or it’ll be a damn good warning that we won’t see others abused and stand idly by.”

“Maybe,” Jiang Yanli hums. “Ning-didi, could you call the boys in here please? Dinner’s ready.”

“Mm!”

Wen Ning steps out of the kitchen and Wei Wuxian meets his sister’s eyes, perfectly well versed in all her elder-sisterly manipulating ways. Whatever she wants to say next is meant only for him, so he’d better listen. 

“When this is finished, promise me you’ll slow down, A-Xian.”

Wei Wuxian drops his eyes to the comfort foods simmering away on the stove, to the massive pot of rice on the back burner that always seems full whenever it needs to be. He watches his sister’s delicate, caring hands tending to each dish with expert precision, always taking care of others with more gentle, mothering love than any of them had been shown in their childhoods, and his throat suddenly feels tight.

‘When this is finished’ she’d said. But Wei Wuxian doesn’t know that it ever will be. The entire world is clamoring for weapons, for defenses from everyone else’s weapons, for the strongest guns and the biggest armies, and they’re all careening towards nuclear disaster faster than he can try to stop it. When Wen Ruohan and Jin Guangshan are dead very little will truly change, not in the grand scheme of things. There will always be more work to be done, and no one he really trusts to do it except him and those closest to him, but even he knows they can’t go on like this forever. Jiang Yanli is about to start a family. Wen Qing and Wen Ning’s grandmother is nearly too old to care for their youngest cousin, and sending sweet little A-Yuan away from his family to be raised is untenable; it’s far from impossible that Wen Qing will insist on raising the boy herself with Jiang Cheng and how could he ever refuse them that chance?

The world is barreling ahead without them and the work is multiplying faster than he can take care of it… Wei Wuxian is so tired, and so is everyone he loves.

“A-Xian. Promise me.”

Wei Wuxian musters up a smile for his sister and leans down to kiss the top of her head.

“Alright, jiejie,” he caves. He always does, for her. “When this is over I’ll take it easy for a while. Between you and Lan Zhan I don’t think I’ll have much of a choice.”

Jiang Yanli’s laugh is gentle, the high, sweet burble of a tiny stream. “Are you accusing us of conspiring?” she teases with a sparkle of mischief in her eye and Wei Wuxian laughs, a real one like so few people can bring out in him anymore.

“Aiyah, aren’t we all conspiring, all the time?” he counters. He glances over his shoulder at the sound of a few greetings being called out from the living room and he turns like a flower to the sun just in time for Lan Zhan to stride into the kitchen, full of purpose. Wei Wuxian’s happy greeting dies on his lips at the sight of him, and though he still receives his customary hello kiss it’s tinged with whatever unsavory news Lan Zhan has for him.

“What is it, what’s wrong?”

“Wen Qing lost Chifeng-Zun,” Lan Zhan says, terse. “He’s alive, but we do not know for how much longer.”

“Is she home?”

“She called on the long-range from the plane, she is not being pursued. She did all she could, but the Wens were waiting for them.”

Wei Wuxian grits his teeth and resists the urge to storm straight back to the Burial Mounds, to lock it down tight and start a manhunt for whatever rat has found their way into his ranks this time.

“Where are Xichen-ge and Lan-laoshi?”

“Shufu is monitoring the channels for any further messages...xiongzhang left for Lanling.”

Wei Wuxian raises his eyebrows at that, but, well…he supposes that if he had the choice, yeah, he’d probably want to save at least someone he cares for from a trap, even if it’s a suicide mission. (In fact, he already has, and his extended family stands as the living, breathing proof of that.)

“Is A-Cheng aware?” Jiang Yanli asks. “If the same thing has happened in Lanling-“

“No news yet from Jinlintai,” Lan Zhan reports. “We must wait for xiongzhang’s report.”

They sit with that for only a moment in silence before Jiang Yanli rallies, as she always does, and smiles softly.

“Alright, so we wait. Come on, sit down. The time will pass faster while we eat something. Boys!” she steps past them to call, no hint of her worry in her voice, though it’s in the tense set of her shoulders. “Come on, let’s eat. You two especially are far too thin, sit, sit down.”

Mo Xuanyu and Nie Huaisang both still carry a hint of their distrust like a shield, their eyes darting around, clearly waiting for a trick of some kind as they step into the kitchen, a united front presented by two deeply traumatized young men in yet another hostage situation. Wei Wuxian offers them both his most charming grin and hurries to help Jiang Yanli set the table and project an aura of normalcy that he’d wager has been missing from their lives for entirely too long, if either of them ever even had it to begin with.

“Ning-didi, come sit,” Jiang Yanli calls when Wen Ning hovers alone in the doorway, shuffling his weight from foot to foot. Wei Wuxian can see it in his eyes — he knows something’s wrong and he won’t be able to settle until he knows what it is; he’s always been sensitive like that.

“Actually,” he starts nonchalantly, before Wen Ning is forced to come up with some excuse to avoid having to eat on a nervous stomach, “Lan Zhan just told me a little birdy’s flying south for the winter as fast as her wings can carry her, and I think she’ll need to eat when she gets here. Maybe a little mouse..or a rat. Don’t you think, Lan Zhan?”

“Mn.”

Wei Wuxian ignores the confused stares from each of his guests in favor of focusing only on Wen Ning, his wide, dark eyes seeming to take up his whole face as he begins puzzling through the little ‘riddle’. Since the day they met, mere months before the outbreak of war, Wen Ning has always understood him in a way that even Wei Wuxian can’t entirely explain, and time has only improved their ability to know each other down to their cores.

After a stretch of contemplative silence, Wen Ning blinks and resolve hardens his gaze. He says nothing, simply nodding once shortly and turning to leave, the front door closing softly behind him.

Wei Wuxian starts eating with pleasure, as happy as ever to get the chance to sample his sister’s cooking while she’s in town.

“Here, try this,” Jiang Yanli breaks the anxious silence to say, soft and gentle as a feather as she places the choicest pieces of spiced and roasted vegetables in the boys’ bowls, Mo Xuanyu first and then Nie Huaisang. “I’m sure you must be hungry after all of this, it’s a lot of change for you all at once, poor things.”

Wei Wuxian meets Lan Zhan’s fondly exasperated gaze and gives him his most winsome smile until his husband relents with a little huff and starts eating as well. At the unspoken signal they all begin to eat and forget, at least for a few hours, anything that’s happening beyond the bubble of peace Jiang Yanli has created just for them.

[gremlins-hotel]

As the resident Alfred authority (imo) what languages do you think he speaks?

Dude I am very flattered you think so, but I would argue that there are way more accurate depictions of this war criminal on Tumblr :sob: But hey! you're giving me an excuse to drag out my headcanon document.

So, to start with a bit of an indirect answer, I think he speaks near-exclusively in idioms, references, baseball metaphors, and aviator slang. I admit I tend to give him a Souther vernacular. It is mostly borne of my own patterns of speech, but also, for some reason, a large number of people claim the southern accent sounds kindly. Personally, I don't understand why. But I think Alfred - all about charisma - tends to code his speech in this manner. Now, it probably doesn't work on others that know him and his tendencies, but it works enough to make others put down their guard. Makes a man more amicable to negotiations or in listening to his demands.

To give you the direct answer: it kinda changes. I have a list, but I don't take it all that seriously. I think most of the Nations are borderline polyglots anyways. However, apart from English, here are some mainstays I play with:

ASL - Alfred subconsciously will sign along to his own words when he gets into a speech. He is already someone to speak with his hands (more like his whole body). ASL is his default in many situations where his voice chances to fail. On a side note, he also occasionally uses bits and pieces of other sign languages that he's picked up over time.

Spanish - Specifically Mexican Spanish and the dialects from his closest neighbor (apart from Mattie), María. Especially in my region, if something is not in English, it will be in Spanish, if not available in both. My view here is biased.

French - It's usually Cajun or Québécois-flavored because of Mathieu. He does not speak French often and it tends to come out rusty. That, or he purposefully mispronounces it to be a dick.

German - People forget he knows (a very standard) German and to be fair, he doesn't whip it out in most settings. But you must remember that there is a long history of Germans in America, just as there is a long history in the Anglosphere.

Russian - I feel like I don't need to explain this one much. Speaks it fine, but let's just say that his Cyrillic handwriting is piss-poor.

Honorable Mentions - These are some of the languages that change when I come back to my headcanons document and beat at it with a bat. There are other vernaculars and dialects of English that he may be familiar with given his family. I like to think he knows a fair bit of Italian, as well as Polish and Czech. Mostly in reference to major demographics of the immigration booms, though certainly, they weren't the only ones. I know many say he's probably learned or currently learning Japanese, which I can see.

[occasional-drabbles]

I'm Not Him - Chapter 9 - Horseplay - A BOTW Fic

Finally getting to the fun parts! And this is the longest chapter to date.... by far. Enjoy! :D

Read the Fic on AO3 Here!

Quick Summery of the Fic: This is basically a ‘What If’ Fic. What if Link had actually died in BOTW, instead of being resurrected? The Hero would have to be reincarnated… into someone who isn’t Link.

Chapter Warnings: None that I can think of? Ask to tag

First  |  Previous | Next

Leaving Kakariko for the third time, Kibo was finally ready to make proper progress on his quest. Despite how daunting of a task it is, his excitement made it difficult for him to wind down enough to sleep last night, Impa having insisted once again that he stay at the inn before he left. So as he walked out of the village, he reviewed the notes he’d made in a notebook he bought at one of the stores. 

He plans to go to the Lost Woods first and foremost, hoping that he’d be able to get the sword that seals the darkness. If he manages that, he has a feeling it’ll be easier to handle all of the other tasks laid before him. If having the sword makes it easier to convince people that he’s the Hero… that’s just an added bonus. 

It would help if he got a horse to travel across Hyrule a bit easier and much faster, especially since there’s plenty of stables everywhere, and close enough to key points of his trip that he doesn’t have to worry about it being in danger. However, that also means ensuring that it has what it needs for different weather, and that it’s got enough food. Right now he’s still having to ration food for himself … At least he doesn’t have to worry too much about whether or not he has the know-how to care for a horse, since he learned back in Hateno growing up. It’s a very useful skill, after all!

You could always ask at the stable, there’s always people who travel and would be able to give you better insight.

“That’s true…” Kibo mused, glancing up from his notebook occasionally to make sure he wasn’t going to end up walking off a cliff or anything. “Though, they’ll also be biased, since it’s a horse stable… Then again, they’ll care about the horse’s well being too…” 

Nodding to himself, figuring that simply asking really would be the best course of action, he shifted his backpack to his side so that he could put the notebook away. “So first thing’s first, Dueling Peaks Stable to look into getting a horse, and then from there I can worry about going to the Lost Woods to get the sword that seals the darkness. After that, I can figure out what order to tackle the Divine Beasts…” 

One step at a time, Kibo

The Princess’s reminder was honestly necessary, as much as Kibo was at least attempting to pace himself. 

“Can you tell me what to expect when I get to the Woods?” Kibo asked, tilting his head slightly despite not having anyone to physically look at. 

There was silence from the Princess at first, though the connection was still there. Kibo was content waiting for an answer as he walked, figuring that she was trying to figure out what is relevant or not. 

I must admit, I am unsure if anything will have changed, or what trials will await you on your way to the sword that seals the darkness. I left the sword in the care of the Great Deku Tree, before I went to face Ganon. It is not a simple task to reach him, however I am confident that you will find your way.

That sure sounded…  strange . There wasn’t very much to gather from all of that, but he figures he can try prodding at her a bit more once he gets there. Maybe it’s hard to explain without him being able to see it?

Fortunately, trying to think of what the forest might look like managed to keep Kibo occupied until he could see the Dueling Peaks Stable in the distance. Though, the peaks themselves, massive and imposing, were far more impressive. Some part of him almost wanted to climb up the mountains, to see how far he could see from up there. Though, the mere idea of being so high up dissuaded him just as quickly. It would be way too easy for him to slip and fall and bust his head open or something. 

Instead of dwelling on that fact, Kibo chose to turn his attention back towards the stable. He noticed a… building? Structure? A structure surrounded by some sort of brush or barrier, just across the path from the stables. It didn’t look like anything he could recognize…

Actually, scratch that. It honestly kind of reminded him of the Shrine of Resurrection. 

You are correct. That is one of the many shrines, found all throughout Hyrule. I do not know what that one contains, but they are such fascinating structures. You can access them with the Sheikah Slate. It’s such a fascinating process. I wish I had been able to dedicate more of my time to researching them…

Kibo found himself a little startled by how… wistful the Princess sounded. 

“Well, hopefully you’ll be able to, once this is all over.” He offered. All the more motivation to try and help her, so that way she can do something that she enjoys. 

The Princess chose to go quiet as they approached the stables, giving Kibo the ability to focus on the people there. 

A few dogs were running around, seeming to be playing with the few children living there. A traveler sat at the cooking fire just outside of the stable, seeming to be working on a stew of some sort, and one of the stablehands was tending to the horses in the paddock. There was also… what Kibo figures is a merchant, with a backpack practically 4 times his size, in the shape of… beetle? A few other people were wandering about, doing their things, but he didn’t pay them too much mind for now. 

After some thought, he went to the stablehand that was tending to the horses, a girl a bit older than him, if he had to guess. She had an odd amount of colorful accessories on, compared to most of the people he’s seen who work with animals. It was weird. 

She must’ve heard him walking over, her pointed ears twitching slightly, but she didn’t turn to face him. “I’ll be done with the horses in just a minute,” she reassured “Then I’ll be happy to see what you’ve got for me.” 

Kibo blinked, then tilted his head. “What I’ve got for you?” He echoed. 

The girl jolted at the unfamiliar voice and finally turned to face him instead of focusing on the horse she was checking the bridle of. “Do you not have mail for me to take? Or are you expecting something?” 

Poor Kibo was still confused, even as a few things started to click into place. “No, I just had a few questions about horses… You take mail?” 

She nodded, grinning as she turned to him properly, putting her hands on her hips confidently. “Yup! You’re looking at the best mail-woman in Hyrule!” She beamed, her tone lighthearted and playful. 

“Oh! I think I’ve heard a bit about you! You take letters and packages and travel all across Hyrule, right??” Kibo asked, starting to match her energy. Looks like he really did choose the right person to ask, then! 

She nodded, giving a small two finger salute and a wink in response. “That would be me! My name’s Cava. What’s yours?”

“I’m Kibo.” He answered easily, adjusting his hold on the straps of his backpack. 

“Nice to meet you, Kibo.” She beamed “Well, why don’t you set down that pack of yours and sit down for a bit? Once I’m done with tending to these cuties, I’ll come find you so that I can answer your questions. Sounds like a plan?” She offered

Kibo considered the offer, nodding. He’s not in so much of a rush that he can’t give her a couple more minutes to finish up. It would be rude to rush her, after all! So he went to find somewhere to sit, setting his bag down just inside the inn. He almost sat down at one of the tables, but caught sight of the man with the giant backpack again, his curiosity getting the better of him. 

After setting his backpack down, he went over to the man, fidgeting with the strap of the Sheikah Slate again. “Um, excuse me, sir?”

The man looked up, brightening. “Ah, I don’t recognize you! You must be a first time customer! My name’s Beedle, but you can call me, well… Beedle works just fine! I buy and sell just about anything and everything!” He introduced, clearly energetic too. Looks like everyone at the stable is pretty chipper today. 

“Anything?” Kibo echoed curiously “Even monster stuff?”

Beedle nodded. “Yes, even monster stuff! I especially like insects and beetles, though.” 

Kibo gave a slow nod of understanding before dragging his bag over and sitting on the floor in front of Beedle, starting to rummage through his bag to find some stuff to sell. Mostly he just has pieces from bokoblins he’s fought, horns and fangs, the only remnants after they poof into whatever mist they come from. 

The back and forth of Kibo finding parts to sell and Beedle telling him how much they were worth was plenty enough to occupy the both of them for the better part of an hour. Enough so that once they were done, Kibo was startled to find Cava sitting in one of the chairs nearby and watching them. She was sitting backwards, so that her chest was against the backrest, her arms crossed on top and supporting her chin. 

When she finally had Kibo’s attention, she grinned and stretched out. “Done selling your stuff?”

Kibo nodded, thanking Beedle again as he closed his bag again and nudged it off to the side again, ensuring it was well out of anyone’s way. 

“Question time, then?” Cava asked, earning another nod from Kibo. She didn’t bother standing up for now, instead shifting to sit in the chair properly as Kibo took the chair opposite her at the table. He dug out his map, setting it on the table. 

“I think the most important one, is… I’m going to be doing a lot of traveling all over Hyrule, to all the big places. Rito Village, Zora’s domain, the desert, and Goron City.” Kibo started, pointing to his best approximation of each location on his map. 

Cava hummed as she listened and nodded, leaning forward slightly to look at the map as well. She did gently correct his pointing once or twice, but only when he was too far off from what he was naming. 

“I know it would be faster if I had a horse, but… I don’t want to have it getting hurt or anything, and I don’t know how hard it is to take care of a horse while traveling.” Kibo admitted, his eyebrows furrowing. 

“Well, it’s definitely not easy .” Cava admitted “But fortunately, there’s stables relatively close to each of those places.” She said, getting out her own map to show him. She had marked hers up a lot more than his was, circles scattered all across the map to indicate stables. “So if you want to use a horse, then you definitely could. You can use them between stables, so that will drastically decrease the amount of time you’re walking on your own two feet. If you have a fast enough horse, then you could run away from pretty much any of the dangers you’re most likely to find while on the road. Or you can always hop off once you notice a threat to keep the fighting away from the horse, unless you could learn to fight on the horse, but that’s risky depending on how you fight.” 

Kibo listened eagerly as she spoke, nodding along. “That makes sense… I know how to hunt at least, but I’m learning to use a sword too…” 

“Ah, a fellow archer!” Cava beamed. “If you want then, I can give you a few pointers on how to shoot on horseback!” She offered. 

“I mean, I’d need to have a horse to do that, wouldn’t I…?” Kibo asked. He may be excited too, but it’s kind of hard to learn to fight on horseback… without a horse . So unless she’s willing to let him fight on the back of her horse…

Cava snorted, lightly smacking her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Right, right. First step is getting you a horse. Fortunately, there’s almost always a group of horses not too far from the stables. We tend to feed them when we have a surplus of feed, plus I just like spending time with them, so they don’t wander too far unless there’s danger.” She explained, standing up and stretching out. “So! Why don’t we go catch you a horse?”

“Just like that?” Kibo asked, standing up with her despite his skepticism. 

“Just like that!” She confirmed, grinning down at him. “We can go together, and I can try to catch one for you if you want, but it’s better if you try to catch it yourself. Otherwise there’s the risk of the horse not respecting you or listening to you.” She explained as she led the way out of the stable and towards the nearby stone ruins. 

Kibo trailed after her, still uncertain. “But… how ?”

“Do you know how to mount a horse?” Cava asked, earning a nod from Kibo. “So all you have to do is sneak up on whichever horse you want, and mount it! Some of them are more calm and won’t panic too much, those tend to be the easiest to tame. Though, they aren’t usually the fastest either. Others are more wild and stubborn, and you have to soothe it to get it to listen to you. Then your best bet is to hang on for dear life, and pet it until it calms down and gets used to you.” She laughed, her voice getting quieter as they began to approach. 

“That somehow sounds so easy and so hard at the same time.” Kibo pouted, looking at the pack of horses. There were about five of them to choose from, but… he didn’t even know what he was looking for in a horse. Did the coat color matter? He couldn’t tell if any of them were more or less muscular than the others… 

Cava snickered, moving to sit on some of the rubble casually, surveying the field. “Just follow your heart with this one. Give it a try yourself, and if you need me to, I’ll help.” She reassured, thinking for a moment before grinning and offering him her hand, just her pinky outstretched. “Promise.” 

Kibo blinked before grinning, accepting her pinky with his own. “Alright. I can live with that.” He decided, fidgeting with the sheath of his sword thoughtfully.

His sword was so loud that it would give him away while he’s sneaking, but he’s not sure if he should take it off… He doesn’t know how dangerous it is here. 

“I can watch over your sword, if you’re worried about it.” Cava offered, having a similar train of thought. 

After a few more beats of consideration, Kibo relented and took off the belt that held the sword, propping it up on the ruins beside her. With that situated, he looked towards the horses again, slowly starting to approach. 

He didn’t bother trying to completely crouch, since that would make it too difficult for him to jump up enough to get onto the back of the horse, but he still hunkered down a little to draw less attention to himself. Though as he approached, something felt… off . The hair on the back of his neck began to stand on edge, but he didn’t see anything strange. 

Just as he began to hunker down further in preparation for jumping on the nearest horse, something shifted in the grass just under him. 

Two chuchus sprung up from the grass, startling Kibo into falling backwards with a startled yelp, scrambling backwards. Not so much from the chuchus themselves, but from the now panicked horses, who began to scatter with cries of their own. 

All but one of the horses. A rich brown horse, with light hair. Instead of running like the others, it almost seemed to double down, squashing the chuchus underneath its hooves. 

Cava hadn’t even had the chance to start running towards him with his sword before the chuchus were nothing but jelly on the ground once again, the fierce horse trotting off in borderline satisfaction. 

“Are you okay??” Cava asked worriedly as she jogged over to Kibo, offering a hand to help him up. 

He easily accepted the offered hand, standing up and looking himself over. “Yeah, I’m okay. I didn’t get hit or anything. Just spooked.” He answered honestly, looking up at her, then back over at the horses. “But I know which one I want, now.” 

Cava followed his gaze, quirking a brow. “It’s not going to be an easy one to tame. I think that’s the first time I’ve even seen a horse almost enjoy fighting a monster.” 

“I like a challenge.” Kibo answered without even looking at her, grinning eagerly. 

With that, he hunkered down to try again. 

And again. 

And again. 

Despite how many times he was getting thrown off, he brushed himself back off and went right back at it. Cava had offered to help, but he refused. He’s determined . 

The determination paid off over an hour later, as he successfully settled on the horse’s back, guiding it over to Cava by its mane. He had a huge grin on his face, alongside the dirt and a few scrapes, to say nothing of his poor hair or clothes. 

Cava got off of her perch again, hands on her hips and his belt over one shoulder. “Well I’ll be, looks like you did it! You managed to out stubborn her.” 

“I’m nothing if not stubborn.” Kibo responded with a laugh, admittedly blobbing a little against the horse’s neck. As fun as that was, it was exhausting . 

Snickering, Cava motioned for him to follow her back to the stable. “Come on, let’s get her registered, and both of you need to clean up. While you clean yourself up and deal with those scrapes, I’ll get her cleaned and set up with some gear, all that good stuff.” 

“Are you sure?” Kibo asked, feeling bad she’d be doing so much of the hard work for him. 

“Positive!” Cava reassured with a grin, getting the horse to follow her even without Kibo prompting it. “You did the hardest part with taming it, and everything else is really basic. Just brushing and things like that. I’ll show you how everything goes on and comes off later. And you can always stop by at a stable if you need help with anything.” 

Well, she’s not wrong . So Kibo didn’t fight it too much harder, giving another tired nod. “Okay… thank you, Cava.” 

“No problem, Kibo.” Cava hummed, offering her arms up for him to stabilize himself as he gets down, which he gratefully accepted before she shooed him off to get cleaned up. 

By the time he was done and just needed to patch up some of the worse scrapes, Cava was almost done putting a saddle and bridle on the new horse. 

“Feel better?” Cava asked playfully, looking over to him. 

Kibo felt his face flush in embarrassment at the tasing, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “A lot, yeah.” 

“Then get over here and help me with this.” She motioned him over, having him hold the saddle in place while she worked on buckling it. “Have you decided on a name for her yet?”

“I think so.” Kibo answered, snickering to himself. “I wanna name her Truffle.” 

“Truffle? Like the mushrooms?” Cava echoed curiously. 

Kibo’s snickers grew louder as he nodded, even though she couldn’t see it. “Yup! But also ‘cause it sounds like ‘trouble’.” 

It didn’t take more than a few moments of consideration before they were both laughing at the suggestion, Cava standing up again once satisfied the saddle wasn’t moving. “I think that’s a perfect name for her. Why don’t you go let the stablekeep know, and I’ll get her set up with some food and water. We can make sure we get some food for ourselves too, then we can worry about teaching you to fight on horseback, if you’re still interested in that.” 

“Yes please!” Kibo nodded eagerly before going to do as instructed. 

By the time Kibo had finished the registration paperwork, Cava had a fresh stew in the works for everyone at the stable. 

“So, Kibo, why are you traveling all over? Any particular reason?” Cava asked curiously, trying to make conversation while waiting for food. 

Kibo hesitated, unsure how to answer. As understanding as Lady Impa had been, he has a feeling most people would react just like his parents had… Dismissive and doubtful. 

“I just… want to.” He settled on, glancing at her for just a moment to see if she bought it. 

Based on the new furrow to her brow, she didn't. But she didn't pry, seeming to accept that he didn't want to tell her the truth. 

“Well, you're in for a treat.” She hummed, stirring the pot casually. “I haven't gone into the various towns myself, since they're too far from the stables and I try to keep on a predictable routine, but what little I have seen is absolutely beautiful. Each race has such a unique style! The weather extremes can be a bit of a pain, though.” She pouted. 

“I've heard a bit about it, like how non-Gorons would catch fire in Goron City without elixirs or special armor.” 

Cava groaned and nodded. “Yeah… even just at the stable it's so hot that it's almost suffocating, and that's still pretty low on the mountain compared to the city.” She confirmed. “Do you know where you plan to go first? I can help you make sure you have what you need.” She offered

“I'm… not actually sure.” Kibo admitted, getting out his notebook again. “I want to stop at the Lost Woods first, but after that I don't know…” he mused, absently tapping at the book. 

“Well, Rito Village is the furthest away, so you could start there so you're working your way back this way?” Cava suggested. “Or if you want to start closer to here, Zora’s Domain? Plus the Zora don't have such extreme weather. Just… constant rain.” 

“That still sounds pretty extreme.” Kibo pointed out, quirking a brow. “But you're right about going to Rito Village to get the farthest one taken care of. Plus then less backtracking…” he mused out loud, looking at his map too. “What would I need for Rito Village?”

Cava hummed, leaning back slightly as she thought about what she usually ends up needing. “It's always snowing on the way there, so you'd need a lot of warm clothes. And make sure you have enough food too, and some flint, since it's harder to hunt and forage there.” She answered, her head tilted. “And if you can find one, a tent or something for shelter is good, but not mandatory.” 

“That's… a lot.” Kibo frowned, eyebrows furrowing. He's not even sure where to get half of that stuff. Would there be any clothes stores on the way there? Especially ones that sell warm clothes? Does he have enough clothes he could layer up to make up for it?

“It is, but that's what I usually need to get to the stable, if nothing else.” Cava shrugged casually. “You could focus on making elixirs if that’s easier for you though. I noticed you selling a lot of monster parts to Beedle, after all.” 

“Do you need monster parts for elixirs?” Kibo asked. 

Cava nodded, a little surprised that he didn’t know that. He’s even less prepared than she initially thought, and for such a grand trip as all around Hyrule? And it seems like he’s unsupervised, too? 

After a few moments of thought and stirring the pot again, she nodded to herself resolutely. “How about this, Kibo. When do you plan on heading out to your next destination?”

“I want to head out for the Lost Forest tomorrow morning, I think. Around sunrise.” Kibo answered. “After that I’ll probably go on to Rito Village, since it’s the furthest away.” 

“Will you pass by this stable again, follow the paths?” 

Kibo nodded. 

“Then I’ll put a little something together to help you with traveling. Tips, ideas of what to expect where, things like that.” Cava offered with a grin. “My parents made sure I had as much information as they could offer before I started to go all around Hyrule, so it’s only fair I do the same for you!”

Kibo lit up at the idea, sitting up straighter. “Really? You don’t mind?”

“Not at all!” Cava reassured. “It sounds like you’re not super well prepared anyways, so I might as well do my best to help you along.” 

“Thank you so much!” Kibo beamed, not having expected so much support, especially with so little expected in return. 

Cava reached over to ruffle his hair playfully, laughing as he tried to bat her arm away. Though with that settled, she started to dish out the stew for the both of them, as well as the people who were meandering over to get some. 

“Once we’ve let the food settle, I’ll teach you a little bit about horseback archery, and then you can rest for the rest of the day. Sound good?” Cava asked as she finally started to fill her own bowl. She looked up to Kibo again, only to laugh when seeing he already had his mouth stuffed full of stew. 

Trying to ignore the deep flush of embarrassment, he nodded in response. Honestly, he wouldn’t mind if they worked on it until dinner, but he figures she’s right. He did get thrown around a lot today, so he needs to take it easy where he can. He needs to make sure he won’t end up so sore that he can’t move or anything, after all. 

After finishing their fill, cleaning up after themselves, and going about their own business for a bit, Cava finally grabbed Kibo for more training. Grabbing some boxes and barrels, she managed to set up a make-shift obstacle course for them to use. 

“First thing’s first, you need to get used to working with Truffle without fighting. You may have done the hard part of taming her already, but to be able to fight and ride you need to be able to guide her without your hands.” She explained, leading him and Truffle out to the makeshift course. “So for now, just have her walk through the path twice, circling the barrels. Then at a trot twice, and so on.” She instructed, watching Kibo climb on to Truffle’s back. 

“Alright, that sounds easy enough.” 

It was not, in fact, easy. Truffle was easily distracted, and if they passed too close to Cava, she would detour and attempt to eat Cava’s hair until she got swatted or pushed away. Kibo couldn’t help but think of all of the times that he, or the other kids in Hateno, would intentionally be difficult like it was a game. Go figure, the horse with the most fight in it would enjoy the same kind of ‘game’. 

By the time Kibo managed to get Truffle to walk the two laps, Cava was snickering to herself. “Okay, I think you need to focus on just riding with her first. In the meantime, just leave Truffle a small ways away when you’re expecting a fight. Though, we should probably see how fast she is, so you can know your odds of running away from a fight too…” She mused, tapping her cheek thoughtfully before again shoving Truffle’s head away from her hair again with a lighthearted laugh. “Let me go get Tara, and we can race!” She beamed, running off before Kibo even had the chance to react. 

“Guess she’s itching to do some riding too, huh…?” He mumbled, giving Truffle some absent minded pets. 

Truffle just let out a snort in response before following the track one more time at Kibo’s urging. 

It wasn’t long before Cava was trotting over to him on a black and white patchwork horse, the horse’s mane braided with large beads where the ties were. She maneuvered to be next to Kibo and Truffle, humming. “Let’s do something pretty simple, how about we go around that thick tree over there and back to the stable?” She suggested, pointing to the tree she was talking about. 

Kibo looked at it and nodded, shifting on Truffle’s back anxiously. He has no clue how this is going to go… 

“Ready…set…go!” Cava counted down, quickly urging Tara on once the race began. The two of them took off almost instantly, Cava hunkered down with a huge grin. 

“Let’s go!” Kibo encouraged Truffle, taking off after them. While the response wasn’t near as quick as it was for Cava and Tara, Truffle still reacted quickly. She even seemed to be faster than Tara, catching up to them despite the small head start. 

Glancing over at Cava for a moment, Kibo noticed her reaching for something as they approached the tree. She let go of Tara’s reins completely, while he still had a firm grip on Truffle’s. 

Cava pulled an arrow out of the quiver built into Tara’s saddle, guiding Tara using only her legs. Reaching the arrow up as they rounded the tree, she let out a triumphant laugh as she speared an apple with it, even as Kibo and Truffle surpassed them. Carefully settling the arrow in her lap she picked Tara’s reins back up, urging her faster to catch up. Kibo still managed to beat her back to their starting point, if only barely. 

“That was amazing!” Kibo cheered with a grin, slowing Truffle to a stop as he looked over to Cava. 

Cava grinned and stopped next to him, carefully taking the apple off of the arrow, wiping the arrow off on her pants and putting it back where it belonged. “And you still beat me!” She beamed, grabbing a knife next to cut the apple in half. She offered one half to Kibo for Truffle, then leaned forward to give Tara the other half. 

Kibo accepted the half, watching how she fed Tara before trying to mimic. It was harder for him to reach, and he nearly ended up falling off of Truffle’s back, but he still managed! Truffle still kind of nipped his fingers, not enough to hurt though! Just a little spook. Tara was much more gentle when eating out of Cava’s hands, even seeming to be extra careful not to hurt her. “Yeah, but you did a cool trick! Truffle kept trying to wander off.” He pouted, watching her. 

Cava snorted “I’ve also been riding horses ever since I was little, and I’ve been riding with Tara for a couple of years now, even before I started to do the mail thing.” She reminded, petting Tara’s neck affectionately. “I’m sure that you and Truffle will get to that point too in no time. It just takes a lot of time, and trust.” 

“Time and trust… right.” Kibo nodded. “I’ll do my best.” 

“Your best is all anyone could expect.” Cava reassured, stretching out. “As fun as that was, you should probably go work on winding down for the night. If you want to leave early, you’re going to want to make sure both you and Truffle have plenty of time to rest.” She reminded. “I’m going to take Tara for a few more laps, let her get the energy out. We’ve still got another day here, so I’m sure she’s itching to keep moving.” 

Kibo couldn’t really argue with that, nodding in agreement. “Sounds like a plan. Have fun, and be safe.” 

Cava gave him the same playful salute she did earlier as an acknowledgement before she and Tara trotted off to go burn some energy. 

Kibo turned his attention back to the stable, hopping out of the saddle and taking Truffle to the paddock, getting her situated and taking off her saddle and bridle. He gave her a quick brush down before sitting down to work on notes. Things that he’d need to make sure to have on hand, and what he remembers about taking care of horses. 

After he finished listing off what he could think of, he realized how quiet things had been in his head, so he absently poked at the Princess’s presence in his head. 

It appears as though you have had quite the eventful day.

“Good, you’re still there.” Kibo mumbled, keeping his voice down. While he could probably just think his responses instead of saying them aloud, it felt like their thoughts might get too jumped up for him to keep track of. Though, he’s ever mindful of how crazy he’d sound to these people who didn’t even know him. 

You were enjoying yourself, I had no intention of interrupting. But I am still here for you.

He couldn’t help the small, grateful smile as he looked blankly down at the plain leather cover of his notebook. “Thank you.” After some consideration, he tilted his head. “Have you ever ridden a horse?”

Of course, it was part of my training. I was taught from a young age. Though, I was not taught the same skills that that young lady displayed. I quite enjoyed riding, though I didn’t get to do it as much as I wish I could have.

“Another thing to add to the list of things for us to try and do after this is all over, then.” Kibo decided, opening his notebook again to start making a list. 

Study the Shrines

Ride horses for fun

You don’t have to…

“I know I don’t have to, but I want to. Especially since you don’t tend to express your own interests.” Kibo countered. As far back as he could remember, as much as he’d ‘spoken’ with the Princess, he knew… frustratingly little about her. Her goals and hobbies, things like that. She’d told him stories about the Hero, and the Champions. But he knew so little about her . “It’s only fair I try to learn more about you, when you already know so much about me.” 

Zelda couldn’t argue against that logic, since well… he isn’t wrong. She focused so much on the others, on their accomplishments, and the path he would be following. Her personal interests seemed inconsequential. They have a common goal, and would never have likely even met if not for their destinies intertwining. If not for this never ending cycle. What need was there to bring personal preferences and hobbies into the fray?

Thank you, Kibo.

“Of course.” He hummed, closing his notebook again and yawning. 

You should heed her advice and get some rest. It’s quite the trip to the Lost Woods.

“I don’t wannaaaaa.” Kibo whined playfully, even as he put his notebook away to get ready to sleep. While he did have money now to pay for a bed, he figured he’d still sleep out by the fire and save it for now. He’ll probably need it for other things, like clothes. And food. 

So fireside nap it was! He’s starting to get used to this, for better or for worse. 

[borom1r]

MWAH @theshakespearetrash sent me another whole entire ask meme over DMs (link) for whenever i wanted to do character questions.. answering abt remake!John Ryder bc i am currently filled w/ the urge to gnaw on him...........

1) do they have allergies?

no. doesn’t even get seasonal allergies 😑

2) what foods will they not touch?

HM. Ok like we’ve talked abt, I don’t think he conceptualizes himself as like. A Whole Person? so I think ultimately he’ll eat anything that’s put in front of him/he can get his hands on. he’s not picky but he also just doesn’t consider his own preferences. food is food is food.

3) what kinds of music do they like?

AHHHH. okay. again the whole “doesn’t conceptualize himself as a person with preferences” thing, BUT. I am a weird little man with a Hitcher self-insert who DOES have preferences >:3

if Ken is driving he is ALWAYS blasting the stereo so John absorbs a lot of music just from being in a vehicle with Kenneth. he will admit to enjoying certain CAKE songs bc of Ken (specifically thinking of Satan Is My Motor bc I think John would find it amusing)

4) how are they around new people?

charming + disarming :) (do not let him in your vehicle)

5) do they speak in an accent?

not a particularly distinct/placeable one, but he does have a very soft voice. I’m biased for sure but I love listening to him speak lol

6) have they tried learning a new language?

the movie’s set in New Mexico, I expect he knows conversational Spanish just for convenience

7) how many languages do they know?

we’ll call it one and a half. English and enough Spanish to appear trustworthy and get a ride

8) what is a song that will always make them cry?

make him CRY????? nothing lmao

9) how do they cry? heaving? silently? sobbing?

he doesn’t. he’d go animal panic mode or just completely shut down before he’d cry.

10) how do they dress? for practicality or fashion?

100% practicality. dresses to blend in with the scenery— the most distinguishable thing abt him is his coat, which is easy to shed and then he’s just another dude in the south wearing a button-down and jeans and work boots.

11) what is the first thing they notice about a stranger?

ohhhhhhh this is. interesting. I dont think he does necessarily? notice anything, I mean. in the sense that yeah he doesn’t consider HIMSELF a whole person but he Does consider himself above others. Predator and prey. I think his sort of base analysis of a stranger is “would they be good to kill” and from there he just stops storing information

Kenneth only gets the grace of Being A Person in John’s mind because Kenneth is a fucking nutjob who got turned on when John threatened to kill him. sth sth overlapping flavors of crazy sth sth the inherent intimacy of having a trailer park tire fire to burn evidence

12) what is their humour like?

morbid and violent lmao. finds it amusing to toy with people

13) do they have scars? what caused them?

I imagine he has quite a few little ones. Just from the nature of murdering people in cars, like there’s a wholeeeeeee lot that can go sideways there, but he’s so.. mm, skilled at what he does that there’s not much risk of him getting anything large/obvious. May have some bigger scars on his arms/legs/torso which can be easily hidden, tho. I imagine he has a lot of scars on his knuckles tho :3 (kisses them. mwah)

14) do they wear jewelry?

a wedding ring, to appear trustworthy. doesn’t wear anything else

15) are they a frivolous spender or a miser?

definitely not frivolous and I think he does spend decent stretches of time laying low, working odd jobs and saving up enough that he CAN fuck off for a while and go on a murder spree across the highways. he’s skilled enough that he’s obviously done that before (I.E. the spree we see in the film) and doesn’t have any concerns about moving between kills, so he must have money for motel rooms/paying for rides if necessary/buying food/etc. + naturally if this was ALL he did with his life he would’ve been caught wayyyyyyyy fucking sooner.

16) do they prefer luxury or practicality?

practicality but I also think generally he just doesn’t. care? a luxury hotel and a shitty rundown motel are the same to him: a roof over his head and bed to sleep in.

17) who would they quote?

HMMMMMM. no one. Ken tries quoting movies at him and John doesn’t recognize ANY of his references. which spurs a bad movie marathon lmao bc what the fuck do you MEAN you’ve never seen a Troma film???????

18) what could make them change their mind?

nothing. wretched need to see things through to the bitter bloody end, even if it’s at his own detriment

19) who is the first person they'd call?

in canon? no one. silly little “I ascribe to the alternate ending where Grace beats the shit out of him but doesn’t check if he’s dead, so sure he survives with a TBI” self-insert universe? Ken ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🩹

20) how are they around animals? do they have pets?

oooooooo I think he is surprisingly gentle particularly with violent animals. he and Ken absolutely have a rescue rottweiler

21) what is their favourite childhood food?

AGAIN. man does not have favorites. freak being made entirely of layers and layers of masks wallpapering a hollow void inside him < said w/ all the affection in my heart

22) what is something they've never told anyone?

HRM. extremely good question actually. I think, before Grace, he never told anyone he wanted to die. bc that truck scene, where he is actively trying to get Grace to shoot him in the head? he sounds so goddamn earnest. I think part of him, consciously or not, has been looking for someone strong enough to kill him.

23) childhood friends?

doubtful ❤️‍🩹

24) what are habits they've picked up from other people?

everything ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 his entirely personality is a patchwork of masks stolen from victims just like his aliases

25) what are their guilty pleasures?

does murder count if he doesn’t feel guilty about it lmfao?

26) what is something they're staunchly against?

NOTHING LOL. explicitly in canon kills kids and obviously there’s uh. the motel scene, too. luckyyyyy for him Kenneth (and me, by extension lmao) found that whole motel scenario hot. I’m so sorry lmfao there’s sth wrong with me for real

27) do they speak a certain way? do they use contractions? popular turns of phrase?

nah. nothing distinctive, bc the point is to be entirely indistinct

28) can they fall in love? what does it look like? does it differ between people -- friends vs family?

HRM. in canon? sort of. I think he can fall in obsession, but not necessarily love. or at least, he’d have no idea how to process love. he is obsessed with Grace and wants her to understand him, so therefore he needs to make her a monster Like Him.

with Kenneth, I think at first he sort of treats Ken like an amusing pet lmao. it’s definitely not love. after Ken hauls his ass off the side of the road post-shotgun beating? it gets.. closer to love. maybe John wouldn’t define it that way, but he also couldn’t live without Ken, sooooooo

29) what would they rather die than do?

live :) unfortunately he’s never found anyone worthy of killing him (before Grace)

really tho I don’t think he cares about anything enough to be bothered. he’s happy to get his hands dirty

30) what is their biggest mistake? one that they look out to never do again.

nothing?? teehee. at least nothing in canon. self-insert verse, definitely tangling with Grace lmao. that very much sinks in as a regret once Kenneth finally convinces him that 1) Ken really cares and 2) there are no ulterior motives to that care. the dawning horror of “there is one (1) person in this world who loves me and I almost died before I ever realized they did actually love me (all of me).” I think John has to stew on that one for a bit