#having the potential to be immensely unhinged as well

[crehador]

i remember also having this feeling during the first season but it’s become so much more obvious in season two that there is something going on in the minato-seiya-masaki-shuu situationship that is being severely obfuscated in the anime and as an anime-only i just find myself in a constant state of bewilderment because their actions seem to suggest they are reasonably Normal about one another while the vibe they give off is that they are very clearly Not

[zishu-arts]

1. What's ur fav avm ep? Or generally ava ep

2. What's ur fav short?

3. And favorite character? Why is that your favorite character?

4. Do u kin anyone? Why?

5. What are your thoughts on King Orange? Personally, I do love the character but I wanna see some controversy. He was forgiven too easily. Do you think that he's affected by immense guilt of his actions? Pls go in detail as much as you wish

6. What are your favorite (hc or not) relationships? Doesn't need to be romantic. Do you have thoughts on relationships between characters that haven't interacted? Or some hc on characters that did (example: I love the hc on Purple and Red hanging out so often that Red goes to visit Purple for advice on PRANKS out of all things)

If I think of something more, I'll send it through!!

1). i dont think i can pick a favorite since there's so many but i love rewatching Lush Caves, Ultimate Minecart Race, The Chef, The Ultimate Weapon (and honestly just the entire KO arc lmfao). For AVA its gotta be The Showdown it's just SOOO GOOD the animation, the concepts, the plot, ahhhh

2). hard once again, but Music Lesson is so goddamn funny

3). THE DARK LORD THE DARK LORD THE DARK LORD (red is my second favorite tho). okay so, honestly it's just the amount of potential and trauma i could give him. i love his character and lore like, the idea of the Mission Code. what does it mean that you've been created for the sole purpose to destroy, and what does it mean that the person you're made to destory become your best friend? like, the existance of that code brings up so much potential and you could literally take it in so many ways. and like, just the story of cho and dark being two people who were coded for a purpose and run away. what...happens to that purpose? what are you supposed to do now? it's very "what am i if not a weapon?" "yourself. isn't that a wonderful person to be?" (i also dont remember where this quote is from). and also, i look at this little bastard and i think ah yes, he is a goddamn maniac. absolutely insane. i can make him as unhinged as possible and i think that's amazing.

i also think it's great that it's so easy for me to just do whatever i want with him like he's some dress up doll. i've got a genderbent version of him. i've got him with ADHD. i've got him with autism. i've got him trans. he's depressd. he has anxiety. he's in love. there's no saving him.

i also like that like. he's dead. he might not be dead. who fucking knows? and he's such an interesting character, is he evil, is he nice, does he care, what does he like? i want to know everything about him and i want to squish him like a little ball

(i alos like that he's very easy to self project into)

4). hmmmm honestly? i only ever kinned like one character (yuki from horimiya) so im not too familiar with actually kinning. if i had to pick, probably red, mostly cause i see him as a hyper possibly ADHD guy who's always running head first into situations without a thought and think damn he's jus tlike me fr

5). KO/MANGO TALK LETS GO !! you're def right, he was forigven too soon, but i like to think or hope that they at least had a bit of bonding. okay well first off i want to start off with: i see a lot of content where we view mango as like around 20 years old which i want to immedately have on the table: what do you mean 20 years old. he's got a goddamn kid that seems to be maybe 8-10, he's got to be at least reaching 40 by the time we actually see him in AVM. and no, 40 is not too old, they can still do backflips and fight ppl (as long as mango maintained a healthy lifestyle with daily exercise, healthy diet, and good sleep).

i love the fact that he went evil because he lost his son, and that he got lost in his anger and started hurting everyone around him. although i do think his and purple's relationship could do with A LOTT of work. their trust was broken over and over again (mostly on purple's end) and im not sure mango particularily remembers how to treat a child well. and did mango ever like,,,yk,,,properly grieve for his son? for all we know, he went home the same day he lost gold, punched his wall a lot, then went straight to working on the staff. now that he doesn't have that drive anymore, i think that's all going to catch up to him. he really needs to properly grieve and mourn and recover before he goes about doing anything else.

he can, in fact however, be a good person/father as long as he's got that under the belt. (which you could def see that he was pretty swag when he still had gold). i personally see him as a raspy and gruff guy so he's also a man of very few words. that also means he probably has a buttload of communcation issues that is gonna affect his relationship with other people. he has got A LOT to work on

i also want to mention how i don't particulary enjoy the "overprotective father that trails their child everywhere". i don't think a lot of people view mano this way either, but i just want it on the table that even though mango would definitely be protective of purple, he won't be weird about it

6). ohhhh okay okay if you've read my fics you know i am in love with the "siblings victim & dark" as well as "siblings chosen and second". i feel like vic and dark are both insane and enable the worst, unhinged parts of each other. and then chosen and second are pretty much polar opposites with "doesn't say a word + yapper"

i also love it when CC treat red as like the youngest hyper sibling bc he really does give off that energy. also I AGREE WITH YOU purple and red together were so cute it was so unexpected but i love that

i also really really really want to see dark and purple interact with each other. mostly because they're probably the two most least likely characters to ever see each other. but i like the idea of dark terrorizing purple and it works because purple the whole time is like 'holy fuck this is that terrorist holy fuck shit oml'

i also want to see purple and mango interact with alan. im not sure if they ever did? but id like to imagine one day alan logs onto his computer and sees these two random sticks on his screen and is like who the fuck are you guys

(my guy desperately needs a VPN)

i ADORE blue + yellow. both in a platonic and romantic sense. they're like skater girl + nerd girl to me. they're so goddamn adorable and i'm very obsessed with seeing them. they hold hands. they're polar opposites. they're always together. they're the duo that if you just see one of them it seems wrong. if one of them is missing, you automatically ask the other one where they are, because they no doubt would know. gods they're so entwined with each other

thanks for the ask !!

[rhiannons-bird]

okay so I‘M FINALLY READING SWORD CATCHER AND I HAVE THOUGHTS

I‘m only about halfway through but I need to rant

- it‘s incredible how well cassie manages to lend a unique voice to each of her characters every single time. she just doesn’t miss does she?

- lin caster is the awesomest girl. i just love her because she reminds me of other cc girls in the way that she is kind of a very typical heroine on the surface but you can actually feel her emotions and she’s very believable & flawed & human and you just can’t help rooting for her + i love her friendship with mariam

- everyone is bisexual & it’s completely normalised i love it here

- lin & conor??? apparently they are the flagship which I know because I took a peek at the tag after they had two scenes together because the ENERGY OMG

- ahh yes, conor 😌 another pretty man with issues who’s in a lot of trouble and likes to cover it up with sarcasm, pompous behaviour, fancy clothes & vanity- you just can’t help but love it

- but also he‘s the biggest prick and i want him to have some sense beat into him by everyone around him

- like he qualifies for a huge growth arc but it could also go downhill and turn into sth ugly

- anyone had a weird sense of déjà vu about him and lin after that one little excerpt about adessa and suleman? like, she’s an ashkar with probably immense magical potential let’s be real i see where this is going and he‘s a prince (future king) with marivent blood 🤔🤔🤔

- conor‘s frat boy posse make my blood boil- especially with the way they talked about antonetta in that one scene 🤢🤮

- falconet is the nicest one by far but he‘s sus as hell i know he’s up to sth 🤨 but i rly wanna like him 😭

- the ragpicker king is just a cool dude who dresses emo and has people murdered on the regular i guess i love him. he’s hot. - kaz energy but also very different at the same time. can‘t wait to see more of him. and there’s def more to him.

- also no, andreyen, i don‘t understand either what people mean about ji-an having an off putting manner i‘m pretty convinced she‘s never done anything wrong in her entire life 💗except for the murder what murder

- kel can only be described as a calmly unhinged cinnamon roll. he reminds me a little of james (especially with his „mask“) but if you orphaned him & janked up the loyalty & sluttiness by a hundred

- like fr he is so confused just running around threatening and/or kissing people wtf 😭✋🏼 he just has chemistry with everyone he interacts with lol

- kel & conor remind me of matthew & james but if there was a big power imbalance and a everything is a little more fucked up 🙃

- generally the way power & power dynamics are portrayed and handled is very interesting i like it

- antonetta has my entire heart ❤️

- I need more of her but as an individual not just through kel‘s pov, so far i’m not very big on whatever is being hinted at with her and kel

- I adore merren just like everyone else, he‘s kind of giving a weird mix of christopher/matthew/wylan and I‘m here for it. plus: autism coded character yeass

- also nice to see some jewish rep. (i did not know cassie was jewish before lol) the ashkar are really interesting (& as far as their treatment by the rest of the world goes at times infuriating😤) to read about and add a lot of depth to the world building.

- i love how we see the complexities of their culture portrayed through lin who on the one hand is deeply ingrained in it and holds/has received a lot of love & care for/from her own people while also having been wronged & ostracised by them and how both can be true simultaneously

- as someone who‘s very familiar with multiple romance languages the languages in this book are incredibly entertaining to me

- SO MANY SECRETS & political intrigue hehehe rubbing my little hands together can’t wait for all this to escalate (because it most certainly will) 😈

bottom line

I’m really glad i finally started reading this.

it took me a while to get into it & I’m still holding out on a final judgement since it seems very slow but i’m a patient reader and i appreciate a good setup.

also I want a creepy black crocodile pool in my house now.

[kiragecko]

Re: Jason's guest appearance in Green Arrow. Honestly I really want to see Mia and Jason meet again years later in a team up scenario purely because I think the vibes would be unhinged

Like... They don't really meet again I'm pretty sure so they're walking into that first meeting of the teamup with the perspectives of

Jason: Oh nice, I'm working with that fellow graduate of the school of hard knocks I talked to years back! I hope she ditched her deadweight mentor and is doing good. She seemed badass, tons of potential.

And

Mia: Oh shit, I'm working with that fuckin weirdo who blew up my school and gave me friendly(???) Murder Advice.

And I just think that holds a lotta chaotic potential!

Also I haven't finished the relevant Teen Titans comics yet, so I'm hoping for a scene where Tim and Mia can go like "oh he tried that shit with you too?!"

That would be SO MUCH FUN! We get no fun scenes in Teen Titans, as far as I can tell. That period of the comic wasn’t very interested in fun. But Jason and Mia!

Jason trying to team up with any teen would be fun, because his perspective is so skewed. But Mia is both stable, and sarcastic, in ways that would play really nicely with Jason’s everything.

Mia: I am only working with you if you give me all the explosives.

Five minutes later: YES! YES THAT RULE INCLUDED ROCKET LAUNCHERS! Give it to me. Now.

20 minutes later: Fine. But I’m setting off the explosion.

Jason does very well with this sort of leader, and enjoys the whole thing immensely. Mia … finds it stressful, but not necessarily bad. She gets tripped up a few times when Jason makes the type of joke Roy would, but then is completely sincere about actually doing it. She expects him to have at least a LITTLE common sense!

[borgialucrezia]

sorry in advance if this has already been answered before! i appreciate all your takes on juan and i love reading your tags, and wanted to ask your opinion of the grimy things juan did, like SA, dangling the baby, torturing a child, murdering paolo, etc. (i don't meant this as a comparison to anyone else; we all know cesare was guilty of pretty heinous things as well. BUT, if mentioning them both, juan was like the golden child who as soon as he didn't feel like he was getting the praise or attention he felt he deserved, he did some pretty awful things. cesare was always having to fight to prove himself due to being second fiddle in rodrigo's eyes, so i feel like excuses can be thrown around all day for both of them back and forth, hence why i was hoping to hear your thoughts primarily on juan specifically rather than versus cesare). also, do you really think juan would've defeated caterina and brought down the walls of forli? if so, can you explain why? i feel like even cesare would've struggled were it not for micheletto. hopefully this doesn't come off in any negative way at all, i'm just genuinely curious to hear your thoughts! (i love talking about the borgias but no one close to me has watched it) xx

now that's a good ass question!! and no, don't worry, it's not even slightly negative at all <333 buckle up for the long answer 🙏

first off, i just want to clarify that i *don't* like excusing juan's (or even cesare's) actions because, for me, it's more about understanding why he was acting the way he did :)

now i'll try to answer this in parts:

"juan was like the golden child who as soon as he didn't feel he was getting the praise or attention he felt he deserved did some pretty awful things."

tbh, i've never seen it like this, and i disagree because it's obvious that he feels like he doesn't get enough attention. he always feels inferior to his siblings, like the *real* black sheep of the family. he also feels incredibly isolated, especially after their papacy era when he has no one to be there for him. there's a reason he drowns himself in hedonism!! also, he's terrified that he might not be a "true borgia" since there are rumors about vanozza's commoner husband possibly being his real dad. in the first episode, he was so triggered when a prostitute called him a "bastard," and he aggressively replied to her, proclaiming himself as his father's "favorite" son. despite being "favored" by rodrigo, he still feels like he's not enough because he's aware that his dad confides in and trusts cesare, while all he gets from their dad are reminders that he's only favored because it's rodrigo's wish, refusing to favor the *real* favorite son, cesare, due to self-loathing (cesare being exactly like rodrigo, as if he was a mirror of him, etc.), even though he immensely loves him. meanwhile, rodrigo is always scolding juan and threatening him with replacing him with cesare and shunning him if he doesn't do better, saying that *all* his position and honor could be taken from him in a heartbeat, etc. that's why juan is an absolute blusterer towards cesare because he's a soldier instead of him (even though juan pretty much doesn't give a fuck about being a soldier BUT it's the only thing he has over cesare). and cesare was made juan's keeper by rodrigo, always sending him to pull juan back like some sort of unhinged animal. this deeply affected juan and intensified his insecurities and impulsiveness, but he keeps putting on his façade as he always does.

ok so let's talk about juan's nasty actions:

beating up vanozza's husband, theo: so, as i said earlier, juan is terrified by the idea that his mother's husband, theo, might actually be his father. In juan's eyes, having a commoner as his potential father is seen as a 'threat' to his honor and a disgrace. he is deeply offended by seeing theo being affectionate with his mother and being allowed into the borgia household while abandoning the house rodrigo bought for him. the whole situation deeply offends juan, and it's something that cesare also feels similarly about theo, as he dissed him in season 1 episode 4. however, cesare is not as threatened by him as juan is, as cesare possesses a cooler head and is less insecure about the parentage matters.

killing paolo: so we know how juan clearly remembers the bullying and xenophobic attacks he endured as a child for being a spanish jew in italy. he's still deeply affected by it because even when they triumphed and entered their papacy era, they were still hated upon and not recognized as a superior power because of their ancestry. it troubles juan, which is why he holds his status very dear and makes sure everyone knows he's the pope's son and the gonfaloniere of the papal army, etc. so the last thing juan needs is scandals in the family or someone shaming them, like paolo, for instance. a noblewoman like his sister getting impregnated by a peasant is a huge scandal. earlier, rodrigo taught him through harshness (slapping him, yelling at him, etc.) that he was bred to be a soldier and to protect the family. that stuck in his mind. moreover, getting rid of paolo is something he genuinely thought was the right thing to do, and he protected the family. he even expected praise for it since he often did things to impress and please them. but, typical juan, he acts without thinking things through, never anticipating that he would mess things up even more and disappoint them all. what hurt him the most was that lucrezia hated him for killing paolo, especially when he believed he did it to protect her, so he tried to make it up to her but with no solution (juan's anger at paolo could also stem from his incestuous feelings for lucrezia, and envy consumed him, leading him to find a motive to get rid of paolo, but that's another story.) paolo's murder was an act meant to be *good* but caused a lot of pain, grief, and hatred.

torturing caterina's son, benito: in the previous battle with the french, when juan surrendered instead of fighting them, his family basically called him a useless fool and pushed him aside. despite witnessing his troops being ripped apart by the french's chain cannon, juan was still seriously willing to fight and die doing it. however, lucrezia stopped him and convinced him to surrender because the prospect of him dying upset her, and juan couldn't bear to upset her. anyway, lucrezia was glorified (as she should be) as a savior, and for some reason, cesare was put on a pedestal, even though he did little except chase down ursula and kill her husband while his sister was being abused by her husband in pesaro. juan felt deeply destroyed by this and started spiraling into darkness. then later, given the mission of forli, he decided to do anything to pressure caterina to surrender because he refused to fail again as he did in the first battle against the french. he was even willing to discard his principles and threaten to kill her son, benito, by torturing him. he was determined to win this and bring caterina to rome. however, he ultimately failed due to ludovico's attack, which outnumbered juan's troops.

dangling the baby: one thing about juan is that the more his family, whom he desperately wanted to be loved by, pushes him away, the more he pettily pushes back and hurt them. his arrogance and fake narcissistic nature don't allow him to refrain from clapping back. so, after he told lucrezia that everything he did was for her own good and she still didn't buy it, it drove him mad. as a result, he wanted to provoke her by dangling the baby over the balcony, just to get under her skin. another reason is that, as he mentioned when he was getting high on opium, he was terrified that the baby, giovanni, could be lucrezia and cesare's child, and that the child was a "demon who would devour the world," to quote him. so, yes, he felt threatened by the baby. i mean, juan basically lost his marbles in his final episode lol

attempting to SA the dancer: david oakes described juan's final episode as if juan was already 'dead' the whole time. he was told by the writers to play juan as the antagonist as much as possible, as they wanted to showcase juan's worst actions to deem his death as 'necessary' as they couldn't flourish historical accuracy anymore since juan was supposed to be dead in s1 lol. so, if we're going to explain this particular action, i would say that juan had been suffering from depression and other horrible illnesses, the syphilis is already rotting his brain, and he was already losing his grip on reality due to the constant mockery he endured, including the 'ten more sons' taunt from everyone, including cesare. feeling betrayed and hated by everyone, he told himself he might as well fuck it all up lash out and attack anyone, including the poor girl whom he assaulted after she mocked him.

afterward, he returned to opium to get high again, which led him to see hallucinations. specifically, he saw images of himself and cesare being close and loving towards each other. in that moment, he realized that his salvation lay in affection and love, starting with wanting to reconcie with cesare and forming a brotherhood with him. juan confessed to cesare that he had been in pain his entire life. however, cesare seemed neither to be listening nor touched by his speech because he had already made up his mind to get rid of juan and pursue his own career. while killing him, cesare made it clear that juan was never considered a true borgia, and he stated that they never forgive, despite juan's forgiveness for cesare's constant mockery.

"so you really think juan would've defeated caterina and brought down the walls of forli?"

why not? juan may be physically weaker than cesare, but he certainly has a huge brain. he's the most perceptive character in the show, being the only one who foresaw the events before they happened. he predicted cesare and lucrezia's affair, and it came true. he also warned rodrigo that cesare was trying to kill him, and it happened. like couldn't he have eventually outsmarted caterina and set her up? also, i kinda relied on what david said: "juan laid a successful siege and would have kicked ass at Forli if cesare had let him know... jealousy, huge jealousy." so, yeah <3

so, obviously juan's behavior was constantly and undoubtedly harmful, and it caused a lot of pain and suffering to himself and his family. his actions were driven by a combination of deepseated insecurities, fear of inadequacy, the desperate need for validation and recognition from his loved ones, and a sense of entitlement. he constantly felt overshadowed by cesare and struggled to live up to the expectations and standards set by his father. in my opinion, juan borgia is a complex tragic character who was already doomed by the narrative. all he wanted was his family's validation and love, but he ended up being hated and discarded by them, unmourned. if i ever wanna describe juan with two words, they would be "misguided" and "self destructive"

[sssardonian-ssserpent]

Please ramble about your carnihell Pent 👀

Ahhh, Carny Pent, my beloved deranged maniac of a muse! I actually think he’s the most obviously and overtly unhinged out of all of my muses. Like all of my muses are evil as shit, but they’re like, “yeah I’m evil and I’m fucking proud of it” while Carny Pent is more along the lines of “YES I AM EVIL AND IT IS ALL IN DEVOTION TO THE SERVICE OF MY MASTERS!” Like, he less came into his evil nature of his own volition and was more brainwashed into religious zealotry by a cult that had taken him in when he was at his most vulnerable and most weak, and the brainwashing itself, not to mention the obvious favoritism that some of the Ars Goetia (specifically Purson) showed him due to his potential to be a vassal to them, was enough to cement in him an overwhelming desire to devote every aspect of himself, mind body and soul, to the forces of Hell and everything in it.

Not to say that he is a total victim of Hell either, he has done absolutely abominable things in service to Goetia, and he is a sadistic cannibalistic cult leader that RELISHES in causing immense suffering to those he lured into deals/the traps he litters throughout his carnival, seeking to torment them and slowly wear them down until he breaks them into devoted followers that worship his very image, adding more members to the cult, or winds up tearing out their souls to trap them in an endless void and devouring their bodies if they try to escape or actively try to kill him. He is a vile, vile man that eagerly hides his monstrous identity behind a friendly smiling face and a brightly lit carnival full of games and rides and attractions, and is arguably the most powerful person in the entire cult, not only having ruled it for a hundred years but also having proved to have kept the position even among the thousands of other demons that also have lived and died within the cult, both on Earth and in the depths of Hell. The reasons why he runs the carnival to begin with is because it’s the perfect way to lure in new potential followers, either willing or not, and is also a perfect way to allow his cult to drum up business and money so he can keep everyone fed, well cared for, and happy. A carnival is a community after all! And it’s best to keep the community happy!

[whumpbby]

Hehe, immense potential for angst and reconciliation!

Wei Wuxian of the "dead JC" world is a bit unhinged and a lot more open about his feelings and the moment he has JC in his grasp he needs to know!!

Why did you leave?! Why didn't you wait for me?! What did I do that you didn't... Were you angry at me?! Did you blame me for bringing them to us?! Why did you go back there, Jiang Cheng?!

And Jiang Cheng has no strength for that conversation. He doesn't want to make it worse. So he tries to speak to this Wei Wuxian using the words of his own. It's in the past, please stop thinking about it.

"We never had much to begin with, please leave me in the past."

Which shows how absolutely awful his own WWX is with emotions, because this one looks at him as if JC lost his mind.

"What are you talking about?! We have been brothers in anything but name! I loved you more than anything!"

And Jiang Cheng didn't...didn't know how much he needed to hear these words. It's not his Wei Wuxian, not his, but... But maybe...

"I had to cut your body down from the gates! They strung you up like a piece of meat between your parents!" Wei Wuxian's voice breaks at that. "Please tell me... Why would you make me do it? What did I do that you made me do it...?"

JC knows that. Knows what that kind of doubt does to a person. And that's the only reason (not the tears flowing down Wei Wuxian's face, no) he finally breaks and tells him.

I'm also thinking that - because this WWX didn't lose his core, they are both basically carrying the same golden core and it starts to cause problems. The cores start to act up. And when WWX finally pins JC down and takes his pulse he's like "What's this?! Why is your core...?!" And so JC tells him why.

JC didn't know what he expected from this version of his shixiong, but it wasn't a dark smile and "At least he wasn't completely useless." What. "At least he gave you this. You will carry a piece of him with you, a small piece of us to keep you warm." He didn't...think of it that way before.

But oh no, they have to do something for the cores to settle and WWX is "Well, dual cultivation it is! I will be gentle, shidi!"

JC has to come to terms with a lot of feelings very fast! (I think in that verse there's no Yanli and, instead of Wen Ning, WWX has a fierce corpse Wen Qing to do his bidding;)

I think now that the thing is a bit of a chase - whenever Wei Wuxian enters a world, JC is kicked out of it - and that will keep happening until they both solve their feelings towards each other and come to the same conclusion. Only then they can meet.

So, like, when WWX enters the AllAlone! WWX's world, JC gets kicked onwards to another one.

As for the verse where JC is not in Lotus Pier...he'd be horrified. Absolutely horrified and humiliated and angry and guilty... He brought it on himself, after all. That his own Wei Wuxian managed to gift him his golden core seemed like a curse - until he came here and saw what could happen instead.

The him form this verse is small. Sickly. Pale and exhausted. The wounds form the disciple whip didn't scar on him - they don't seem to be healing at all. He's a sect leader in name only, never seen, kept under lock and key in his own home. Cared for by the brother that doesn't want to let him go. He's not even...angry anymore. Just exhausted.

But he keeps going, because if he gives up, then his Wei Wuxian will break and he can't stand that thought. So he goes through day after day in his golden cage, and pretends it's not killing both of them slowly....

When he's sent to the omegaverse it's a relief (Not only because that Wei Wuxian started to look at him with considering eyes, and started to ask a lot of questions about the core transfer...) Until he discovers that the three kids running around came from between his counterpart's legs. Gasp. Horror.

...at least in this world it was Lan Xichen who took him to bed, not Wei Wuxian.

Hehe, I am thinking that JC got tangled in some shenanigans that keep following Wei Wuxian, and in effect got sent to some other dimension where everything is the same but isn't.

And now WWX has to go and retrieve him - and for that ends up going through quite a few realities in a "Where isy my shidi?" adventure that places him face to face with a variety of Jiang Chengs and his own feelings of shame, guilt, love and anger towards his shidi.

He sees a Jiang Cheng who have lost their core and a one that didn't, ones that reclaimed his sect and one that was enslaved by Wen Zhuliu as some sick standin for his mom. One that saved Yanli and sacrificed his sect and one that never forgave Wei Wuxian (ohz so that's how his actual hate feels) and one that got over WWX's death and forgot (and that's how indifference feels, Wei Wuxian hates it!). There is a reality where JC didn't get a replacement core and Wei Wuxian was the Jiang Sect Leader who kept him under lock and key (and that Jiang Cheng was miserable, but didn't want to run away, as long as his Wei Wuxian loved him still...).

There is one where Jiang Cheng is married to Lan Xichen and they have kids??? (Wei Wuxian hates it! Hates it! Hates it!!! ....just can't explain why... His shidi would never...right? And what does it mean Jiang Cheng gave birth to the kids?? Oh gods, he never wants to have Lan Xichen sit him down for a sex talk ever again>_<!!! The alpha/omega sex sure is something!) That world unsettled him the most. How is it that Jiang Cheng is happily married here? How is it that Lan Xichen chose him to marry??? Doesn't he mind the awful personality and constant anger? His shidi is very pretty and great, and strong, but he is just like his mom and... Lan Xichen almost slaps him in the head in that universe. Which is scary, because Lan Xichen never gets angry to Wei Wuxian's memory. And on account of a joke? Wei Wuxian doesn't get it.

"If you stopped looking at him and trying to see his mother instead of the boy you grew up with." The big alpha tells him. "Then you'd understand."

And uh, yeah, that one kinda....stung a bit. Maybe that reality wasn't that bad - for Jiang chengttonhave someone who cared for him and understood him. For his shidi to have family again, one that loved him as he should be loved even if it didn't include Wei Wuxian. Even if his shidi had to birth babies and take that monstrous Lan pillar...(he hated it, hated it, heated it!!!)

It's still better, however, than the one reality Wei Wuxian stepped into that just... Didn't have Jiang Cheng of its own. One where he died at the hands of Wen Chao, where the Sunshot Campaign never even got off the ground, because their Wei Wuxian burned the Wen to the ground and salted the ashes. There's no Lan Sizhui there, no Wen Ning. Wen Quing died under his hands like all the others. There's no Yunmeng Jiang. Just Wei Wuxian full of rage and the world that lives in fear of him. What a miserable existence.

He left that world as fast as he could, sick to his stomach.

On the quest to reclaim his precious shidi.

[lotus-pear]

omg he's doing the greatest showman thing🥺🥺 also rant under the cut so if you want to read my thoughts on him and how the plot of genshin will continue to implement him into the story, read on :)

i literally cannot be the only one who never saw childe the same way again after this scene because my man is literally fucking UNHINGED at this point, he is doing anything and everything to get that gnosis that his tsaritsa ordered, and willing to use every single card up his sleeve to make it happen

kill the traveler? fine. lose my life? okay. fight to the point where you're literally sprawled on the floor, struggling onto your knees gasping and exhausted and still trying to fight even though you know, he knows, that he will very well lose his life? that's what her majesty ordered me to do, and i will carry it out.

looking at it this way, the other harbingers never so much as mentioned the tsaritsa, and if they did it was only once to say they were sent on her orders.

perhaps childe is extremely loyal because he came to her with nothing, yet she still granted him his title and his immense powers.

we already know that childe will do anything to please his queen and is more than willing to sacrifice himself for her. hell, as soon as the traveler tries to interfere with her plans and stop him from retrieving the gnosis, he straight up challenged them to a duel to the death, even though the tsaritsa never asked for any of the harbingers to assassinate the traveler.

ANYWAY, what i'm getting from all of this is that childe may be more than the eleventh harbinger in this sense. after all, he was a major character in "farewell, archaic lord", and i think it's safe to assume we will definitely see more of him before chapter eleven, in snezhnaya. perhaps his loyalties to the tsaritsa, one of the main antagonists, will finally be factor thing that ends his life and removes him from the plot completely. maybe the other harbingers do away with him since he is the youngest and weakest of them all and the tsaritsa favors him so much.

or maybe it's the traveler that finally murders him because although they have the potential to be friends, childe cannot betray the one person who granted him everything over someone that he just met. the traveler's ulterior motive is to reunite with their only kin, and they wouldn't stop at anything to see their sibling once more. things may get violent in snezhnaya, and i can guarantee there will be a final fight with the cryo archon.

does childe decide to help the traveler and betray his queen? or does he stay loyal to her until the very end? only time will tell as the rest of the acts get released; all i pray is that hoyoverse doesn't do away with such a complex and beautiful character for the sake of the plot

[emletish-fish]

Frankly, I feel Amanda should've been way more conflicted about helping Tory. Like, she should be like, "Yes, these kids deserve better influences, but on the other hand, Tory here twice committed premeditated assault on my daughter and she's broken into our house".

(For Tory to be redeemed, and any sort of reconciliation to happen, she needs to learn to be empathetic to those she's hurt, and she needs to be shown acknowledging why her prior behavior was wrong)

It's a YMMV with the how people see the Mom-Triangle. If you found it unsatisfying, that's valid.

I also think the reason why everyone's mileage varies so much with the mom triangle will depend on whether people have a solution based outlook (what will solve the problem/get the best outcome is the priority) or a more punitive punishment orientated outlook (has the wrong-doer being punished sufficiently is the priority).

I unironically love it as a storyline. It was refreshing for me to see a female-centric storyline that was in many ways kinda removed from the karate drama and was instead focused on the relationships between women, and the role of a good female mentor/mother figure.

(I'm trying not to make too many predictions for season 5 aside from 'it will be batshit insane' BUT I think we will see Tory torn between two very opposing view-points, role-models and example of womanhood between Amanda and her new female sensei, (who in many ways will embody a potential cobra-kai embracing future that the old Tory would have aspired to. Whereas Amanda is presenting a much more compassionate example of adult womanhood and shows Tory that it is possible to be both powerful and peaceful).

I do think Amanda showed sufficient ambivalence towards Tory and some uncertainty about helping her during their second interaction at the dealership. It's implied that Amanda backed off helping Tory then and only resumed to do so after the girl approached her. During their third interaction, she is careful to give Tory space and only encourages her to seek help but makes no overtures of direct involvement until Tory asks.

I think, given the time-constraints, more time on Amanda not wanting to help Tory wouldn't have served much purpose.

Season 4 was an immensely crowded season, story-telling wise. With such limited time, I don't quite see what having Amanda pile on the Tory-sucks-train beyond their first two interactions would serve.

Because TV is a visual medium - so we already know that Tory has severe anger issues. We've seen her do unhinged things. We know that Tory is an angry and messed up kid in a terrible situation - so Amanda spending more time complaining about her misdeeds only be re-hashing what we already know, which isn't the best use of screen time.

Also, in the storyline, if Tory didn’t receive any help, there would be absolutely no driving narrative force for her changing her behaviour for the better.  Without Amanda;s intervention, then Tory would most likely continue feeling like the entire world was out to get her and lashing out accordingly.

Amanda meets Tory when she directly confronts her at work, taking full advantage of their power-imbalance and contributing to Tory getting fired. Yes - Tory gets herself fired by her angry outburst, (Tory having anger issues is well established), but Amanda can see she had a role to play in lighting the dynamite and feels contrition.

Amanda can choose to continue being shitty to a girl who already has an immensely hard life (that Amanda just made a whole lot harder) - but what would that ultimately serve the narrative? Seeing another adult bullying Tory/assert their power over her wasn't necessary for me. It's not something I would have found satisfying as a viewer.

We've already see Tory be sexually harrassed, propositioned and financially bullied by her landlord, fired without ceremony by her boss, and mocked cruelly about her dying mother by her aunt (her only living blood relation). We know money is extremely tight, her father is absent and her family had periods where they were starving and had food denied to them by cruel bosses (who also then fired her sick mother). It's implied she was sexually assaulted by an unknown adult male and had to physically defend herself.

(like enough already.)

As a viewer, I did not need to see another Adult mistreat Tory.

Tory has definitely made A LOT of mistakes. So Many. All the Mistakes. But when we look at her life, it's not hard to see why she's gained a 'It's a dog-eat-dog world' kind of cynicism and a layer of anger armour as she goes through life.

I actually think this direction, showing that Amanda also had violent anger issues but was able to work through them, is a much more positive one. Amanda is showing Tory here are other options aside from violence and compassion isn't weakness. She treats Tory gently, and considering how harsh Tory's life is, just being treated kindly by an adult without ulterior motive causes a huge change.

Tory's outlook completely shifts from 'No Mercy - there are no rules' to 'No. I won't cheat to win.'

What we didn't know at the start of the season is that Amanda had a rich history of Violent Teenage Rage and could see part of herself reflected in Tory's anger issues. Amanda identifies with Tory as a result. And she knew from experience the best way to break a pattern of violence and anger is with its opposite, kindness and understanding.

Rather than fighting fire with fire, Amanda chooses to try and take the heat down a notch.

Young!Amanda was treated with compassion and guidance, so she was able to grow past her anger. She's still feisty and assertive, but her rage no longer consumes or controls her.

Tory does not have anyone to show her this kind of compassion and guidance until Amanda comes along.

(For Tory to be redeemed, and any sort of reconciliation to happen, she needs to learn to be empathetic to those she's hurt, and she needs to be shown acknowledging why her prior behavior was wrong)

I don't think Tory needs to reconcile with Sam to be redeemed. Tory's attempts at being a better person should continue whether or not Sam eventually forgives her.

It would be great if the girls can eventually bury the hatchet, and Tory definitely should apologise to Sam at the very least - but I also don't think her 'redemption' should revolve around Sam.

You've said that Tory needs to learn empathy, but for me, considering absolutely no one in her life treats Tory with any sort of empathy, this will be a hard thing for her to learn on her own without any kind of lived experience or role models.

(This is not a dig at Tory's mom, who we've never even seen, but her illness has thrust the full weight of keeping a family of 3 running on her 16/17 year old daughter. Tory is responsible for earning rent money, preparing food, paying bills and supervising her brother. No matter how warm and loving their relationship, the physical reality of Tory's situation is unchanged).

But who else could teach Tory about morals and ethics and how to make amends and live a better life? Kreese? Her creepy and inappropriately sexual landlord? Her spiteful, greedy addicted aunt?

I will say that Tory suffers from very uneven writing, depending on what the writers want to do with her in that particular scene (eg her yoyo-ing concern about her family is very dependant on her proximity to Sam), and this can hurt her character arcs as she engages in some inexplicable dramatics for the sake of The Dramas!

However, showing that Tory will respond equally as emphatically to a positive role model in Amanda as she did to a negative role model in Kreese, is actually a really interesting step. Tory has an incredible amount of respect for Amanda and really takes onboard everything she says.

She isn't immediately a better person and she still makes bad choices, but overall, she shows that she is extremely receptive to Amanda and is beginning to absorb her world-view.

Learning the importance of conducting herself honourably in a fight was something Tory clearly learned from Amanda, (not Kreese or Silver). Amanda wanted BOTH girls to be able to move on and find peace and they were never going to be able to do that if Tory cheated (something she was later pressured directly to do by the other adult she respects the most).

It was easier for Tory to believe in the importance of fairness when she finally had a taste for it herself, when she wasn't broke and overburdened by the weight of caring for her family, when she didn't feel like there were no rules in life. Amanda helping her was instrumental in Tory growing. Finally getting a bit of sunlight helped her bloom.

Tory's life has been very unfair, and she's a poverty stricken and vulnerable young woman who easily embraced a 'no mercy' mindset because that was how she had always been treated, so this worldview slotted neatly into her lived experience.

Amanda showing her mercy caused her to re-evaluate her deeply held convictions. Tory's actions in the final prove that, at her core, Tory does want to be a better person and live a better life.

[dangermousie]

I’ve picked the reread of Mistakenly Saving the Villain as my comfort read, am on ch 2 and guuuh, it’s so good!

I have read a gazillion web novels by now, het and danmei, and Song Qingshi remains by far the most well-adjusted, sanest, common sense-filled web novel protagonist I have ever come across. I adore Yue Wuhuan’s compellingly fucked up self with his pride and horrific background and unhinged edge but SQS is the reason this novel makes my heart sing.

Hurt/comfort is my favorite ever set-up but unlike a lot of people in it for pure whump, the best part of that set-up for me is healing and finding happiness and this novel delivers that so in spades.

Also, due to the nature of the narrative, the amount of sensitive and triggering topics and potential narrative pitfalls is immense but it manages to avoid every single one without hitting a false note. Even secondary characters are treated as they should be (a storyline involving the novel’s supposed original protagonist is one of the highlights of the novel for me, tbh.)

Anyway, so excited to reread!

PS If you somehow weren’t around for my first read-through, a very brief and unspoilery summary would be modern medical student Song Qingshi, who died of ALS, wakes up in a world of a trashy danmei novel - his job (though it has been garbled by the System so not all the details are clear) is to rescue the novel’s mistreated protagonist shou. SQS, who was so busy studying that he knows zero about romance or novels or tropes or anything, instead rescues Yue Wuhuan, a minor character whose horrific fate was only there to make protagonist shou realize the perils of his situation, and the story goes from there. Yue Wuhuan is neither sweet, nor wholesome, nor shou, and is more fucked up physically and emotionally than can be imagined but...well.

Anyway, this novel is AMAZING!!!!

[crehador]

brother crab's winter 2024 parting thoughts: high card s2

WHAT THE HELL

HIGH CARD IS GOOD?!

tl;dr very flashy and aesthetic, consistently good in that regard, but the story was not always gripping to me. however, with the ultimate payoff in the last three eps, totally worth it imo

full review:

wow wow wow i'm kind of glad i fell way behind on anime and had the last three eps of s2 to binge all at once because hoooly shit i enjoyed that immensely

at no point did i think high card was bad, but it definitely had moments where it didn't fully grab me. there were times when it felt like all flash, no substance

and it's definitely not perfect, i have some serious and fairly significant gripes with it. mainly i'm really bummed that leo, wendy, and vijay never really got fully fleshed out. i mean i get it, finn's the main character and chris is the thinly veiled love interest also important so obviously they're going to take up most of the time, but i really feel like the other members of the crew had so much unexplored potential (especially wendy and vijay, because leo did sort of get his moment as a factor in the old man yaoi situation)

speaking of which THE OLD MAN YAOI!! man there were a lot of moving pieces in this show, and sometimes they came together in messy ways (or didn't really come together at all... some bits do still feel pretty disjointed and jumpy to me, tbh)

but overall the payoff of the s2 finale was absolutely worth it to me, particularly since it dealt with my favorites of those moving pieces: the old man yaoi and the sudden YANDERE ONIISAN ARC

i find myself really wishing the show had gone harder on both of those threads sooner, but like... honestly i'm not disappointed with how they played out. the whole theodore and ban thing could not have been more tropey (YEARS of loathing only for a "the one i wanted to protect all along was... you" and then dying for each other like HELLO yes an absolute tropefest BUT TROPES THAT I LOVE. GOOD FOR THOSE TOXIC DOOMED YAOI MFERS)

tilt has always been fascinating to me right from the character design and i am more or less satisfied with how things played out for him too, though i kind of wish we'd had more of this development spread throughout the series. i guess it was there, but... i dunno. in some ways feels like there could have been More (but i may be biased)

like you gotta feel bad for him, it's a sad story, but also that extreeemely creepy unhinged yandere oniisan "i have been stalking you i literally have a wall with giant blown up photos of you i hate the other guy who is calling himself your brother" sequence was SO FUCKING DELICIOUS LIKE WTF??? stunned and absolutely blown away by how hard they went on that, what a delight

(ironically it makes me think about how unhinged matakara in bucchigiri?! just doesn't work while unhinged tilt in high card works super well, but this is not about bucchigiri?! so i won't get too into that)

i am still admittedly just. kind of like. idk. i go back and forth on finn and chris, as characters and as partners. i don't dislike them but they aren't always all that compelling to me. sometimes they definitely are, but sometimes they just fall a bit flat to me. this probably isn't an issue with them as characters, though, just a matter of taste. i occasionally found the chemistry between them lacking as well, but sometimes it was really on point

same feeling about the crew dynamics in general. i looove a good like heist crew or spy agency crew, whatever it is, when the dynamics just click. and sometimes they didn't, here. i am too sleepy to articulate it properly right now but it just felt like there was something missing, some pieces not really fitting together. i didn't dislike any of the characters, but just... i guess wanted more team shenanigans? maybe there was no time for that but it would have been nice (like this is one show that could have done with a few filler and/or fluff episodes, imo!)

anyway. christ. my eye emoji-ing at tilt based solely on his character design finally paid off after two gay ass seasons lmao. good night

[terrence-silver]

I can see Terry’s and John’s training with Kim Sun-Yung in Korea just very much going the route of Pai Mei from Kill Bill; don’t know why. I think everything about it would be...very spartan, almost.

Like, yes, he trained Captain Turner years ago, but he is extremely exclusive who he trains, and the vetting process is immense and he certainly doesn’t train any unnecessary foreigners --- viewing it as a diluting of a respected and ancient cultural artform --- well, not unless they’re twice as worthy and twice as talented and twice as hardworking and twice as fierce as anyone else for him to even seriously consider it. Why does he have this standard? Purely because he can --- and so, before they’re even taught in the first place, John and Terry just go through an onslaught of tests and rigorous pre-preparation tasks that ensure that Kim Sun-Yung actually sees if these two have what it takes to learn under his school’s roof and he might just nit-pick them first for the sake of it and reject them a few times to see if they’re tenacious and devoted enough to keep returning. Does he want them to beg? Maybe. Is this something they really, truly want or is this just an adventure for them? The fact that their commanding officer used to be the now deceased Captain Turner doesn’t do much in way of their admission into the dojo, in fact, it might just make their case more difficult (Captain Turner did die and that’s a bit of a disappointment and a testament to his weakness and inadequacy) --- unhinged soldiers being shown deadly techniques is something Kim Sun-Yung might feel reluctant to do. Not without good cause and massive potential, that is. He very much wants to be impressed. GI’s on a break come here constantly, like it is a damn tourist parlour away from the battlefield and the Sensei doesn’t have any patience for it and he finds it disrespectful. This is hallowed place of tradition and learning, not a joint or a bar. That is something Terry and John learn. This is a brotherhood.

Their training might’ve been incredibly long.

The ultimatums huge.

The trial period is even longer. One of the pre-requisties involves them learning Korean. Sensei Kim Sun-Yung wants to be asked to teach them, politely, in Korean. Not English, even though he speaks it perfectly (and possibly chooses not to, again, because he can). No. A Korean art-form, in Korea, from a Korean master, demands a Korean request. And so they do just that, self-teaching themselves however best they can --- off of the street, if they must. Maybe he’s displeased with their pronunciation and grammar at first, so he sends them out, to learn some more --- better this time --- and return, instilling a sense of discipline in them. No half-assing it. Once they pass that test,  they’re instructed to hand-craft their own gear. A skillset they would’ve picked up from the war. Hand-sew their own Gi’s. Their own weapons. Acquire their own bandages, in the off chance they’re allowed to actually use any, instead of handling the pain. Whatever is requested of them ---- and take care of the same. They haven’t earned their stripes yet (and he is consciously twice as hard on them for being outsiders, yes), so they make their own equipment or get none at all --- it is that, or they train naked, like animals. This is a lifestyle, after all, in a hierarchy that is won, not given. More than just a style of combat. This demands dedication. Immersion. Sacrifice. Speaking the language the master speaks and eating the food the master eats (if he deems you deserving) and punching rocks until your knuckles bleed, and sleeping outside, on the ground, like a dog, if a lesson wasn’t learned properly --- exercising meticulously, from dusk ‘till down, and it involves pain. A lot of pain. And they haven’t even started their journey as actual students just yet. They’re still in the trial period. In fact, the trial period alone is a training all of its own. Think Mr. Miyagi’s wax on and wax off technique, but excessively cruel to the point of torture. But, once they’re in the dojo, accepted, they’re in for life. No turning back.

That is when the actual pain starts.

Even the pain is not something everyone is worthy of.

In fact, John and Terry earned this special right and they asked for it.

The request was granted.

[wri0thesley]

This is gonna sound so stupid, but the idea of a new La Squadra member who is book smart but a complete dumb ass at everything else gets to me. Like they can do math and have so many science/history facts and could probably recite Shakespeare by heart. But the moment you ask them when the last time they ate was they just blank out. They are fully capable at their assassin job, but they can't tell if the guys hate them or not because what are social cues. Like. I would love to see how the boys react to that type of a person. I don't know it that made sense at all.

under cut for length!

♡ Risotto honestly kind of gets this himself. He’s the kind of man who throws himself whole-heartedly into the one thing that he thinks needs to get one, at the expense of all of the other things - up to and including remembering to do things like eat. He’s not particularly good at social clues either; he kind of makes up for not knowing these things by being so tall and broad and intimidating, so people don’t tend to bother him. He still sometimes wonders, when the rest of La Squadra aren’t around, if his team actually like and respect him. They do, of course - but Risotto still feels like he’s wading through syrup around them. So he understands this new recruit better than some of the others do - although he’s a little baffled by their spouting of random facts when they get nervous. He’s much more likely to go all-over quiet than he is to ramble. 

♡ Formaggio likes to poke and needle at them, because he thinks it’s funny when people blow up. He reads social clues really easily; he’s a people person. But, as the ‘heart’ of the group, he’s good at watching out for when he might be pushing them too far. If he notices they haven’t eaten or haven’t slept in a while, he won’t go out of his way to cook for them or push them into bed - but he might offer a slice of the cold leftover pizza he’s eating, or move up on the sofa and say ‘hey, come and have a sit down, I’ve got a blanket!’. He wouldn’t like it if you pointed it out, but he’s actually surprisingly caring. 

♡ Illuso, like Formaggio, likes to poke and needle. Unlike Formaggio, he’s not quite as sweet about it - he may very well push you too far because he thinks it’s funny. He’s learnt social cues by watching people and he can tell when you’re uncomfortable or at your breaking point, and he’ll continue to push it just that little bit further until your eyes fill with tears. He tries to laugh it off as just normal team stuff; it’s actually just that he’s kind of an asshole. That being said, though, he’s actually very impressed by your intellect. Intelligence is something that he values in other people. You’ll know he trusts your smarts, at least, if he comes to you for help trying to crack some patterns or puzzles in a mark he’s working on. 

♡ Prosciutto is frustrated by you. You clearly have plenty of talent; your work as an assassin leaves a favourable impression on him. He appreciates people who are whip-smart and clever and subtle when it comes to the art of murder. He just doesn’t understand how you can be so bad at everything else. He tries to take charge of you, barking orders to remind you that you should eat and sleep and don’t forget to stretch before going out in case you end up in a fight! If he sees someone who has potential and is at risk of not using it to its fullest, he can’t help but want to make them be better. Congratulations; you’ve received a mentor in life skills and human rapport. Unfortunately, Prosciutto isn’t the most patient mentor to be saddled with--

♡ Pesci’s scared of most new recruits of La Squadra, and you’re no exception. He finds your intellect frightening and intimidating. Prosciutto never outright says that he doesn’t think Pesci is smart, but Pesci picks up that feeling from the raised eyebrows and sighs of the other members of La Squadra. Still. Pesci will make friendly overtures to you if he notices that you seem out of place in La Squadra - he remembers being the newbie all too well. He’ll listen to your facts and be dutifully impressed by your skills. Pesci wears his heart on his sleeve, at least, so you’ll know that he doesn’t hate you. If you can befriend him, he’s a loyal friend to have. 

♡ Melone at once has similar problems to you and very different ones. He tends to be overbearing; he doesn’t quite understand other people so he tries to be overtly friendly instead of pulling back, often making him come across as creepy and unhinged. Whether he is those things or not is up for interpretation - whichever it is, you’ll soon find that (like Pesci), he’ll be very friendly towards you and seemingly wear his appreciation for you on his sleeve. He’ll be even more friendly as he finds out that you’re good at your job, as he sees how clever you are. The two of you are very likely to find a common ground in facts and numbers and figures and debate, all of which Melone enjoys immensely. Surprisingly, he also cares about the mundane things like if you’ve gotten a good night’s sleep - that kind of biological process to do with the running of your body is of an especial interest to Melone! And woe betide you if you’re a good candidate for his Baby Face; you might not even understand what Melone is asking until it’s too late. 

♡ Ghiaccio is a very difficult case. He’s frustrated by people who he thinks do not act cleverly or intellectually - and you clearly have the capability for it, even if when it comes to social situations you falter. He tends to get very angry at you for exact same kind of stuff that he does himself. Only, where you’re shy at hold back for fear of offending someone or your teammates hating you, Ghiaccio is physically incapable of doing something such as ‘holding back’. Expect your relationship with him to run hot and cold, depending on what the current thing he’s steamed up about it - but when it’s running well, the two of you make an amazing team. 

♡ Sorbet and Gelato like to watch you trip up, because it’s funny. They don’t go out of their way to bother you too much, though - the two of them know that the way they are with other people is hardly what most people would call normal. If they have to work with you, they roll their eyes at one another and harshly correct you when you look about to make a social faux pas that’s going to cost them the target, but otherwise they’re very likely to let your existence peacefully happen. They’re glad that you’re a competent assassin, but they’re not the kind to throw out praise for no reason. They’re a little too concerned with one another to be too bothered about your little foibles. 

[mergeman]

For Mergeatrois

Not bad right. In most families I'd be considered a success. Not my family though, Im the freak. So I come from the royal pred family, my mom is one of the few female preds and anyone of her lineage can sire more females. Me, Im not a pred whatsoever, can't extend my jaw, can't engorge my cock, and can't shove anyone up my ass. My elder brother Richard (Dick) he's next in line to be the Supreme Alpha of the Preds.

The one thing that has kept me alive is that I can potentially have children that will carry on the family legacy. Otherwise my brother would have finished me off long ago.

Well enough background today is the day my brother will be formally presented to the community. Which to the outside world looks like a bodybuilder convention in balmy Palm Springs. I have to be very careful to stick close to my father as we wonder around the grounds, if I stray some pred might mistake me for prey and vore me.

My father resents my presence as Im a constant reminder that he produced a deficient royal.

More and more huge men started to surround my dad to congratulate him on my brothers ascension. All these hot bodies made me uncomfortable so I dipped into a hallway and immediately ran into him.

Even amongst preds I could tell he was special. He looked at me, took a breath and flared his nostrils as he inhaled my scent.

"Your something special " reverberated in his deep bass "not prey but no pred hormones ".

I began to realize just how helpless my situation was and that in a few moments I'd be dead. His piercing jade eyes held me in place as he put his enormous hand on my shoulder.

"I'm Adam and I can help you become more then you are"

No Shit. I thought I'm about to become this beasts next meal. He placed his other hand on my head and bent down till his face was even with mine.

"Im a Merger and if you want I could change your life forever".

FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. I was literally in the presence of the pred version of the boogeyman. Mergers were supposed to be a myth or legend. They were the only creature capable of consuming a pred and they never leave any evidence. Now one was right in front of me.

"How would you like to be a new Merger?"

What the hell was he talking about 'new merger'. My body was trembling so much that I felt I was causing a mini earthquake.

He continued with a voice that sent shivers down my spine "Boy you are special, the one thing a Merger can't do is have children, but we can share our gift with those preds who cannot vore".

My head snapped in surprise and my whole body became still as I looked at the Adonis in front of me and uttered the single word:

"How"

The smile that lit up Adams face was like the sun emerging from the clouds. He took a small knife that had been concealed in his pants and knicked his forarm. Crimson blood started to well up and change into a slivery substance that looked to be the same consistency as cum.

"Drink"

I leaned over and tentatively placed my mouth around the wound. I extended my tongue to taste it. The flavour was indescribable, it was as if ambrosia and nectar were orgasming. I clamped my mouth to his muscular arm and began to suckle in earnest. I could feel the liquid as it entered my body, down the throat and into the stomach where it was being filtered into my blood and dispersed to every cell.

Adam pulled his arm away and I was left standing there mouth open wanting more. My body started to vibrate as each cell was subtlety changed. I was distinctly aware of how every part of my body was connected together.

"Look at me"

I tilted my head towards that voice the felt like thunder.

"You now have the gift of merging, each merger is slightly different though one constent is that whoever you take reality will warp around you to be a new person". "I'll let you figure out the rest but I suggest finding someone soon". "Good luck."

He then turned around and exited the hallway. I checked my watch and discovered it had only been 3 minutes. If I didn't feel the rush of power coursing throughout me I would have thought it was a daydream.

The door opened and the silhouette of my father filled the opening. He just shook his head and motioned for me to follow him. I wanted to reach out and test my new abilities on him. I hesitated something inside told me that he was not the one. So I just retreated to my father's immense shadow and walked behind him towards the stage.

On the stage was Richard basking in the admiration of his brothers in vore. I could only stare. He was My prey. I scurried pass my father and before anyone could stop me I threw myself at my brother and gave him a hug. As soon as my skin touched his the process began. My form started to melt and turn silver and I used my new liquid body to cover every crevice of my brother. I was vaguely aware of the panic in the crowd as 'merger' was shouted. I was more focused on my victim. He had unhinged his jaw and was trying to vore me but it was to late. I was now the apex predator and he was mine to enjoy.

The liquid I was composed of began to turn acidic and eat away at Richard until there was nothing left. When the last bit of him became me, my gelatinous body began to glow and reform. I was not who I once was. I was still me but I was also Richard. I could feel his confidence and entitlement seep into my personality as new memories began to emerge. I fought. I didnt want to be a stranger I wanted to be.

I awoke on the stage. Reality was still warping around me. My father was coming towards me as the last ripples radiated out. Now he was my older brother and I had a pair of twin neices he was introducing as the next Alphas. I excused myself rushed to the restroom to find a mirror. I was older, more muscular, my entire being screamed confidenc. On the inside I was still me but a better version of myself.

[amerrierworld]

Oh, brother

for the request: Galadriel and her brothers

Summary: Galadriel’s surprise birthday bash! Modern AU 

Characters: Galadriel x Celeborn, a whole lot of Silmarillion and LOTR elves :D

Word Count: 1.9k

Warnings: none really, family fluff, annoying older brothers. a whole lot of blondes. 

If there was one thing Galadriel couldn’t stand, it’s surprises. She likes to know when things happen and have everything planned out. If she had the choice to foresee the future, she totally would.

But Celeborn wasn’t like his wife. And he really couldn’t refuse three ruthless blondes from barging into his home to throw a surprise birthday party for Galadriel, their baby sister. They would’ve broken the door down anyways.

It was a weekday, so of course Galadriel was working. Celeborn had taken the day off to pick up the cake that Galadriel had chosen for herself, and pick Celebrian up earlier than usual from school to help get a few decorations. The decor included a handful of balloons, and some party hats, which were mostly for their daughter than for Galadriel herself.

The door practically shook in its hinges at the sudden knock later that afternoon, making Celeborn jump. If it had been Galadriel, he would have been worried, but she had said she was working late. So who on earth...

“Celebooooooorn!”

“Oh... great.” Celeborn sighed and cursed internally. He set his laptop aside next to where Celebrian was colouring and hurried to the door, bracing himself.

“Is that Uncle Angrod?”

“Sadly.. yes,” Celeborn grumbled. He opened up and nearly fell back at the sight of three grinning faces. They were carrying large plastic bags and a few gift bags, and he immediately regretted opening the door.

They pushed inside, with Celebrian jumping into one of her uncles’ arms without any preamble, and Celeborn had a looming sense of dread about why they had shown up randomly at their home.

Finrod was the eldest, and the more approachable of the three. He explained their plans to set up a surprise party. 

“You know she hates surprise parties! The actual birthday dinner is this weekend, you know that!”

“Yes, yes, we know, but we figured we’d do something different this time.”

“Why?!”

“Galadriel works wayyy too much, Celeborn,” Aegnor huffed, flopping down on their couch. His blonde mullet was sleek and straight, and Celeborn caught a section of pure white that shot through one side of his hairdo. Another last-minute dye job, no doubt. “You both work way too much. If you’re not going to do anything about it, then we will.”

“She’ll kill us all.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Come on, help me with the disco ball.”

“The disco ball?!”

-

Galadriel knew what was going to happen the minute she pulled up to her home. If the half a dozen extra cars in the street didn’t say anything, the flashing lights from the living room window gave enough away. She sat inside her car, genuinely debating if she should speed away and just come back in the morning, leaving Celeborn to deal with the aftermath of what looked like an attempt at some sort of party.

But then she remembered her chosen cake and pursed her lips in defiance. She had been very excited to eat it, and curl up with her own  family to just watch a silly movie the rest of the night. She’d find a way to enjoy her birthday, even with her nagging extended family.

But the first person who greeted her at the door wasn’t her husband or any of her relatives. It was Gandalf, with a butterfly painted on his cheek and a top hat on his head. He had a juice box in hand and pulled her into a hug when he saw her in the hallway.

“Happy birthday, dear friend!” 

“Oh, Gandalf. What have you done?”

“For once, this idea wasn’t mine. I was simply invited.”

“I’m sure you arrived on time.”

“I always do!”

He promised there’d be no fireworks this time; when he had set off his pyromaniacal schemes last, poor Radagast’s hedges and flowerbeds had burned to a crisp. 

In the kitchen, Celeborn was nursing a wine glass filled with apple juice. Galadriel didn’t see any alcohol opened anywhere, which did help relieve her stress. He saw her come in and his face scrunched up in an apologetic expression, and it made her laugh.

“My love.. I’m so sorry-”

“Don’t start, Celeborn. What’s done is done. I suppose I’ll be forced to enjoy my birthday now?”

He grimaced and sipped his drink a little more. “If it helps, Celebrian is enjoying herself immensely.”

“Oh, is that right?”

“Orodreth is here. I promise everything is family-friendly, even if it is a little... wild.”

“Was the disco ball Aegnor’s idea?”

“Yes.”

“Of course.”

Galadriel’s siblings were all successful, hard-working people. At least, when they were on their own. Once you put the three brothers together, all hell would break loose. Despite their sheer differences, they were able to put things together and become a team. Often to the dismay of their younger sister who had to endure the torture.

Finrod was the eldest, and therefore the most responsible. He was a successful CEO who took his time to travel and explore every corner of the world. He was stern-faced, and defiantly defensive of his family and his life choices. 

Angrod was the middle brother, and the most outlandish. His passion could lead to anger very quickly, but it made him the most emotionally expressive. His son was practically the sheer opposite of him. Orodreth was a little older than Celebrian, and very soft-spoken and quiet. He was incredibly gifted and intellectual, but you would never be able to read his face and discern that yourself.

And Aegnor was the unhinged youngest brother. As an artist and creative thinker, he explored one medium of art to the next. Galadriel believed he had a lot of potential, and being the two youngest they bonded and got along very well. But she had no idea where his life would lead him. One week it would be pottery, the other it would become architecture. But he was kind and encouraging, which made him the most favourable to babysit Celebrian out of the three uncles.

But once put together, all precedented rules of their characters went out the window.

Eldalote was in the bathroom giving people painted faces, and Galadriel assumed that was where Gandalf got his colourful butterfly. She knocked on the door and came in on Orodreth getting a big fish painted on his forehead. Her daughter was watching diligently next to her aunt as she painted. She had a large flower and heart on one cheek, and a party hat tied snugly on her head.

The minute she saw her mother she squealed and ran into her arms. Galadriel picked her up swiftly, and suddenly felt she  couldn’t be mad at her brothers anymore. Nor could she be mad about them getting ahead of themselves and starting the party before she got home. It made it easier to blend in rather than have all the focus on her as soon as she had opened the door.

“Hello, sweetheart,” she nuzzled her daughter’s unpainted cheek who began babbling about the party thus far. Orodreth said a shy hello and wished her a happy birthday. Galadriel wondered how her idiot, reckless brother had ended up with such a diligent and sweet son. Nonetheless, she gave him a hug before Celebrian tugged her back to the living room, where the main socializing seemed to be happening.

The three elder brothers were plotting in a huddled group near the disco ball, and as soon as they saw Galadriel, they swarmed her. Aegnor set Celebrian on his hip, and Celeborn rushed to Galadriel’s side, still looking a little forlorn and guilty for letting the party get so rowdy.

“Sister! Happy fucking-”

“Hey! There’s kids.”

“Sorry. Happy freaking birthday, sis. Do you like our party?”

“I hate it.” Galadriel crossed her arms, but her eyes were twinkling. “You know how I hate surprises.”

“Hey, that’s why we’re not giving you a speech, alright? You should thank me.” Aegnor bumped Finrod with his fist. “Fin was planning on drawling on for forever if we hadn’t stopped him.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Finrod rolled his eyes, but he gave Galadriel a quick side hug. “We know you never celebrate yourself, Galadriel. So this is for you. We practically had to tie down your husband to let us decorate.”

“I mean, clearly.” Galadriel looked at the overwhelming amount of  paper decorations and bright balloons. “He’d never allow it to look so hideous if he could help it.”

“You wound me, sister,” Angrod clutched his chest. 

“Your cake remains untouched though,” Celeborn pointed out. “That’s the one thing I was able to protect. The rest of the house.. not so much.”

“Oh, well I suppose that’s alright,” Galadriel sighed. She watched the small group of friends and other people in her life gather in the living room and other spots in the house. The music was cheery but not blaring. And from the looks of it.. people brought their own dinner items, like an impromptu potluck.

Elwing and Earendil came over to greet Galadriel with happy smiles and a congratulations. The couple were constantly glued to each others’ side, and Galadriel was glad to have another set of seemingly sane parents in their social circle.

Their twins, Elros and Elrond, were sprawled out on the carpet with Lego and toy cars. Elrond’s face had been smeared with cupcake icing that he had scarfed down, and Galadriel watched, amused, as her daughter went over to him, tutting like she often would. She had a napkin in hand and proceeded to wipe his face, effectively smearing the icing even further onto his cheeks. 

The sight made her chuckle, and the initial stress she had seemed to finally leave. She supposed she could enjoy as much of it as possible. 

“To be fair, this party is looking to be the best I’ve ever had.” She looked around, slipping her hand into Celeborn’s. “Food I don’t have to pay for. No idiot college friends or condescending relatives. Kids who are actually enjoying themselves? I’d rank this in the top five, boys.”

“Then our work here is done!” Aegnor declared, bouncing Celebrian who giggled happily in his arms. “Now let’s get that cake.”

“Nuh-uh,” Galadriel wagged a finger at him. “That’s for me and my family alone. There’s enough food for you behind you. Go on, you swine.”

Aegnor stuck out his tongue, and she swatted him. He went off to explore the dishes that were laid out on the dining table. So did the rest of the group; going to get their faces painted or wolf down whatever fatty snacks were in reach. Galadriel turned to her husband and gave him a firm kiss.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t defend our fortress, my lady,” he sighed. She rolled her eyes. 

“It’s quite alright. I’m not angry. Maybe because I was met with a very gleeful Gandalf at the door rather than my overbearing siblings. Besides, we didn’t even have to cook.”

He laughed. “I knew that would be the thing to win you over.”

A/N: I love these guys ;-; This is my character interpretation of Galadriel’s brothers/family in a modern AU. I posted this out of order for CB’s birthday- I finished it over a week ago but then I realized how close it was to the 14th so I just waited! I hope you enjoy my loves 

[quillandink333]

Scarlet Carnations ~ Part IV

BotW Link X Zelda ~ Detective AU

Rating: T

Word Count: 5.1k

WARNINGS: death, murder, loss, trauma, blood and gore, terrorism, organized crime, self-harm

Summary: Inspector Zelda Hyrule, assisted by the faithful Constable Link Fyori, is infamous for cracking the most confounding of cases in a town dominated by crime. Her latest assignment is to solve the murder of her own godmother, Impa Sheikah, the late CEO of Sheikah Tech. Incorporated, while staying under the radar of the dreaded Yiga organization.

Part I • Part II • Part III • Part IV • Part V • Part VI • Part VII • Epilogue • Masterlist

It was nine o’clock in the morning, two days after I’d made my arrest, and Paya’s trial was in its opening stages. I was watching from the gallery. Normally, as the one running the investigations, I would be the first witness to take the stand, but today, for whatever reason, the lead prosecutor, Urbosa Sigatur, planned to summon me second after Auntie Purah. Urbosa was far from a stranger to me, however. She and I had collaborated on several cases in the past, and she shared with me many of my own ideals. She’d once even known my mother before her untimely demise. And so I decided not to question her judgment, however unconventional it may have seemed.

The prosecution’s opening statement had been based on the fact that the stolen Sheikah Slate, along with a bloodstained bullet, had been found in the defendant’s room, which, until recently, hadn’t been searched as it had been deemed irrelevant to the case. With these conclusive pieces of evidence, she’d stated, the defendant had been charged with both the theft of the Slate and the murder of its owner, Impa Sheikah.

The stolen object was the most central piece of evidence in the prosecution’s case. It had once been a target of my own immense interest, even before its theft. But that had all changed following its recovery. The riddle, though having been solved by means of professional reprogramming, still made little sense to me if any. “Carnation” was its answer, according to Auntie Purah herself. Much to my dismay, the secrets that the riddle had supposedly kept hidden had turned out to be nothing but my own fantasy. Every last piece of data that had once been stored in the Slate had been deleted, meaning the possibility of proving a motive for its theft was next to nonexistent. The only thing left in its memory was a diary entry, written by Auntie Impa the day before her murder. This in itself, however, held the potential to serve as a lead to her killer’s identity, at the very least.

The diary entry, as projected onto the courtroom wall by the Slate, went,

“Today was the first day of Zelda’s holiday visit. It is hard to believe that the last long term visit she paid us was already over a year ago. We have all missed her dearly. She seems as interested in my sister’s work as ever. It brought me joy to see the two of them bonding over their shared passion once again.

“However I must admit, I would still love for her to also spend some quality time with Paya some day soon. I sensed some resentment coming from her directed at my dear granddaughter. Perhaps it is something to do with that boy. Either way, it seems their relationship has hardly changed since she left the nest.

“I cannot say for certain whether anyone will ever be able to read this, but I have faith that Purah will figure it out. I am no good with machines like these, but I believe in her. At any rate, I hope she is the one who gets to read this message, but in the event that it happens to fall into the wrong hands, I will sign off here.”

With this, the prosecution’s argument, though a bit scattered across several different points, seemed sturdy enough so far. That Auntie Impa had seemingly known that her life would be taken the following night after writing her final message, combined with the fact that she’d received no threats from the outside world up until then, was one of the strongest pieces of evidence in our arsenal.

Paya’s defence lawyer, one Revali Twii, had made several attempts to dismantle her argument by claiming she had no possible way of knowing whether or not the victim had received a threat from outside the estate by phone. These attacks were easily deflected. As a foreigner to this city, Mr. Twii had been unaware that, thanks to the Sheikahs’ company, household phones here were all equipped with recording devices. Naturally, Ms. Sigatur had already listened to each recorded call since a month before the murder and had detected no discernible threat in any of them.

And yet in spite of all that, the argument shifted heavily in favour of the defence when it then carried out his cross examination. With how confidently Urbosa had stated her case, I never could’ve imagined how easy it would be for the opposing side to shatter it into countless, tiny pieces.

Mr. Twii’s primary line of questioning was a solid one, to say the least. He concurred with my deduction as presented by Ms. Sigatur that the parlour indeed was not the true scene of the crime. However, he claimed that the real crime scene could not possibly have been the defendant’s bedroom either. His basis for this was the gunshot. Paya’s room was in the same hallway that the sleeping quarters of the current witness, Auntie Purah, as well as myself, were in. Mr. Twii had her testify about the sound of the gunshot that she’d heard. In addition to the fact that it hadn’t seemed loud enough to have come from the very next room over, she’d only heard it once: from the parlour.

No doubt he intended to question me about the same thing when the time came for me to take the stand. I’d been itching to speak my mind and set things straight so badly that I’d had to cross my legs just to keep myself from getting up too soon by the time court was finally adjourned for a half-hour recess.

Now the prosecutor and I were together in a private room reserved for witness prepping. Normally I did just fine testifying on my own, but in this trial, everything was at stake, and I couldn’t seem to stop my heart from racing no matter what I tried. Thankfully I had Urbosa here, and simply talking with her had done much to calm my nerves already.

“You’re originally from out of town too, aren’t you?” I noted, thinking back on her performance.

“That I may be, but unlike that lawyer, I’ve spent enough time here to know of the perils this city is facing, and who’s been holding it together in spite of all that.”

“Right.” My lips rested against the curve of my index as my leg bounced restlessly underneath the table. “That schmuck really doesn’t have a clue, does he?”

“No, not likely. Though he’s quite the formidable opponent, I must say.” She leaned back in her chair, looking pensive, but not the least bit agitated. “My case took quite the beating out there.”

My heart rate was starting to pick up again. “You don’t think you’ll...lose...do you?”

“Who, me? Lose?” She let out a hearty bout of chuckles. “Young lady, are you quite sure you know who you’re speaking to?” I returned her laughter halfheartedly, unable to shake the foreboding feeling lying at the pit of my stomach. Urbosa cleared her throat, preserving her calm smile. “All jokes aside, I wouldn’t worry even if we do end up losing this one. The true criminal is still out there somewhere, and there is no such thing as a perfect crime.”

“I suppose...” Perfect crimes may not have existed, but neither did perfect investigations. If they ruled Paya out as a suspect, then only one other, “safe” option would remain.

“Alright, out with it. What’s on your mind?” Her hand had landed on my shoulder as she’d reached across the desk, over my half empty glass of water. “And why are you so set on getting Paya convicted, if I might ask? Sibling rivalry is one thing, but this is...”

I avoided her perceptive gaze, staring intently at the latch on my bag. What could I possibly tell her? “It’s just,” I stalled, eventually settling for a vague, “I’m running out of time.”

After a long pause, she leaned back, letting go of my arm. “I see. Well, whatever it is, know that I’ll be on your side no matter what, little bird.”

Oh, if only she’d known.

“So to sum up, you were outstandingly negligent in your investigation of the defendant’s bedroom.”

My jaw unhinged at what I’d just heard come out of the attorney’s mouth. I’d just finished giving him an explanation of my findings in as much detail as I could, during which time he’d been surprisingly polite, until now.

“You likely saw the Slate along with the bullet and made your arrest right then and there. You didn’t even stop to consider the possibility that you hadn’t found all there’d been to find in that room, did you?” I opened my mouth to respond, but he cut me off again. “In fact, I’m willing to bet you didn’t even attempt to look for the murder weapon.”

“Excuse me, Sir,” I retaliated with chest puffed up, “but my team and I searched the property from top to bottom, repeatedly, for two whole weeks, and—”

“Yes, I am well aware. However, you failed to complete a thorough search of this so-called ‘true crime scene’ before you arrested Ms. Sheikah. Do you deny it?”

I was floundering for words. Why bother questioning me if he merely intended to cut me off and answer his own questions? “I-I...”

“Objection.”

All eyes fell upon the prosecution. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

“The defence is harassing the witness, Your Honour.”

The judge gave a slow, considerate nod of his head. “Objection sustained.”

Twii gave Urbosa a subtle but unmistakable side-eye. I thanked her silently. “Speaking of the murder weapon,” he continued in his signature, holier-than-thou tone, “I have here Exhibit F: a list of traits possessed by the elusive firearm responsible for the victim’s life.”

This wasn’t good. The list in question had been compiled by the prosecution based on traits of the fatal wound revealed by the autopsy, as well as other traits shared by the two bullets that were found at the estate. It contained information like its .38 caliber and that it had likely been fired twice at point blank, to name a few examples.

“My question for you, witness, is the following. What did you find during your ‘investigation’ regarding the weapon?”

This was fine, I kept telling myself. He still had yet to present the most fatal piece of evidence in the record. “As I’ve said before, none of our searches turned up any sign of it, other than what’s listed on that piece of paper you’re holding.”

“Is that so?” The sarcasm rooted in his voice had me sweating bullets. “In that case, Ms. Hyrule, I’d like to turn your attention to this passage here at the bottom.”

That was “Inspector Hyrule” to him, but of course, he couldn’t care less for such trifling things as common decency.

But when I read over the passage at which he was pointing, my throat closed up.

“Allow me to read it aloud for the court.” He snobbishly cleared his throat. “And I quote, ‘The murder weapon and the circumstances surrounding it strongly suggest an Octoric M&P revolver,’ end quote. I’d also like to add that this particular model is favoured by the district bureau of police, who issue them out to many of their detectives for self-defence.”

I gritted my teeth, annunciating each word as I spat, “Get to the point.”

The smarmy bastard was hardly even phased by my unmasked hostility. “Now, now, Ms. Hyrule, you’ve no reason to worry,” he waved off. “After all, I have no intention of accusing you.”

When he spoke that last word, my heart stopped, and deep down, I knew it was over.

“Firstly I wish for you to clarify a few things for me, as you were one of the first to discover the scene of the murder when it happened.”

I gave a slow, strenuous nod, losing strength in my knees by the second, but standing my ground all the same. “Go on.”

“The defendant showed no sign of having a gun on or anywhere near her person when you arrived, correct?”

“Correct,” I lied.

“Good. Now that we’ve established that the defendant was unarmed, I’d like to present another piece of evidence.” He laid out flat a second sheet of paper on the stand in front of me. “Exhibit H. This is part of a record kept by the precinct where the witness is currently employed, alongside the rest of her team. It details a list of the firearms given out to detectives each day, as well as the time when each one was issued and when it was returned to custody at the end of its designated officer’s shift.”

And there it was. I’d known all along that it had only been a matter of time until he’d bring out this piece of evidence, but, evidently, I’d failed to prepare myself mentally for this. Perhaps a part of me had hoped not to be on the stand when it happened. All I could do now was hold my peace and pray that it wouldn’t get worse from here.

“This page corresponds with the day before the murder. Now, Ms. Hyrule,” he addressed, summoning a swarm of butterflies in my stomach, “I’m sure you’ll recognize this badge number here. Would you please read it aloud for me?”

I swallowed my nerves and did as he’d requested. “FB7732Z438LL.”

“Thank you.” He flashed me that shit-eating grin of his. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the number belonging to one Constable Link Fyori, the witness’ very own investigative partner.” A few whispers drifted through the gallery following that announcement. “One who reads this will also notice that, after his revolver was issued out to him the morning before the murder, it was never returned to the precinct’s custody thereafter. In fact, it is still missing to this day.”

With this, the whispers grew in number, creating a din of distrust that had the attorney smirking from ear to ear.

“Objection.”

The whispering dissipated. Twii’s shoulders sagged as he hypocritically shot Urbosa a look that said, “What now?”

“Mr. Twii, how is this relevant? Unless you have definitive proof linking Constable Fyori to the crime, I see no point in bringing it up.”

The judge gave a pound of his gavel with a bone-chilling shake of his head. “Overruled. The court will allow the defence to continue, provided that it has good reason.”

My mouth fell open, and so had Urbosa’s.

“Thank you, Your Honour. I was just getting to that, my good prosecutor.” Now even she seemed on edge. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut through with a knife. “I may not have proof as things stand currently. However, that is about to change. You see, I have reason to believe that our witness here is covering for someone.”

The courtroom broke out into an even louder din of murmurs, as if I couldn’t clearly hear each backhanded remark the members of the gallery were making at my expense.

The pounding of the judge’s gavel echoed throughout the room, and the whispering ceased once again.

“You must be mistaken.” I stood as tall as I could with how close my legs were to giving up on me. “I happen to be one of the most trusted detectives in the force. Why do you think I was put in charge of this case despite being one of the first on the scene?”

“Ah, but that, dear witness, was your superiors’ fatal mistake.”

Damn that solicitor. “What do you mean?”

“Although my client has elected not to testify to the court, she has let me in on a certain piece of information—one that I believe will make the jaws of everyone here drop to the floor.”

Surely not. Surely even she wouldn’t dare stoop so low.

“Inspector...” The attorney looked me dead in the eyes. The air was suffocating. “What do you have in your briefcase?”

Everyone was staring at me and murmuring amongst themselves, more raucously than ever before, like I was the one on trial.

“N-No, it’s—it’s not what it seems,” I wavered. Then mustering my shattered courage, “You!” I pointed my finger at Twii. “Prove to me that the defendant wasn’t lying. I demand to see proof!”

But my demands were met with silence. Even Urbosa was looking at me with cold contempt and disappointment.

“Bailiff.”

An officer appeared from the sidelines. He seized my bag.

“Wait, stop!”

I tried to wrest it from his grasp, but he was too strong. I watched helplessly as he opened it up, reaching in and revealing the murder weapon for all to see.

“No...!”

“Bailiff, what is the number engraved on that weapon?”

He seemed to recite the number in slow motion, twisting the knife with every digit. “FB7732Z438LL.”

“No, please!” I screamed. “It wasn’t him, he’s been framed! Please, Your Honour, you have to believe me!”

Amidst the roar of the crowd, I saw the conclusive shake of the judge’s head. With a pound of his gavel, he said, “I hereby order the immediate detainment of Link Fyori under the charge of first degree murder.”

I met eyes with my partner but half a second before I saw him be dragged out of his seat with brute force.

“No!”

“As for this witness, she shall receive her sentence after being questioned by the police for the concealing of evidence, contempt of court, and perjury.”

I cried out when an overwhelming pain shot through my arm. My family watched from the gallery in either horror or disgust, or a mixture of both perhaps. I tried with all my might just to get the bailiff to stop hurting me, but it was futile.

“Your Honour, just a moment please.”

With the judge’s approval, the man’s grip on my arm lightened up. The one who’d spoken had been none other than that wretched defence attorney.

“Inspector, if you don’t mind, I have one more question to ask you.”

I held my breath, bracing myself. Though there wasn’t much he could say at this point that could possibly make the situation worse.

“Why?” he finally asked. “Why did you feel the need to conceal such a critical piece of evidence?”

My entire face boiled over with heat. I looked around, taking in the courtroom’s atmosphere, and my whole being was filled to the brim with indescribable anger and shame. Barely able to swallow the charged whimper lodged at the cusp of my throat, I choked out the words, “No comment.”

The trial had ended while I’d still been in the middle of interrogation by my own peers. I was lucky enough to get off with a fine, but it was because of that hour-and-a-half-long lecture that I only found out about Paya’s “not guilty” verdict after the entire courtroom had been cleared out. This was no surprise to me, of course, but still a disappointment, to put it lightly. What was a surprise was that no one, not Paya, nor Auntie Purah, nor even Urbosa, had bothered to wait for me.

That was fine. They could think whatever they wanted of me. I’d simply have to redeem myself by proving Link’s innocence in his trial.

It was to this end that I made my way to the district’s Centre of Detention.

When Link appeared behind the iron bars of the visitors’ room, he was already sporting a worn and faded prisoner’s uniform, surely having just undergone an interrogation of his own. Though, from the looks of him, his had been considerably more thorough than mine.

I cleared my throat. “Hello, Link.”

“Hello,” he replied.

Deathly silence filled the air. The harsh ticking of the clock on the wall behind me was slowly starting to crawl under my skin.

“They, uhm...didn’t go easy on you, eh?”

He shook his head, eyes wandering without aim.

Why did it have to be so hard to talk to him sometimes? He’d never been so unapproachable back in our days as teenagers. Though now, I supposed, recent events were only making things even more difficult for me than usual.

“Look...” I took a deep breath, shifting in my seat. “I’m sorry. Alright? I couldn’t cover for you forever. They were bound to find out eventually. Please, don’t be upset.”

“What? Zelda...” His demeanour morphed from listless to urgent, almost apologetic, as he struggled to find his voice. “Why would I be upset with you? I never asked you to cover for me in the first place.”

“I know.” Now it was I who couldn’t bring myself to look him in the eyes. “I just knew that you couldn’t have possibly... I mean, you would never—”

“I didn’t.”

He’d caught me with my mouth hanging open, when he’d cut me off.

“I didn’t kill her. I promise you.”

Of course he hadn’t. It was obvious, even though the revolver had borne no fingerprints and, with the gloves that he always wore, he wouldn’t have left any. What motive could he have had? He was an amnesiac, and even if he hadn’t been, he still wouldn’t have had a reason to kill my godmother.

I took out my pen and notebook, the only things left in my case that hadn’t been confiscated. “Tell me what you know, Link. Everything.”

A beat. Then he straightened his posture and began to explain his side of the story. As it turned out, my intuition had been spot on. This whole mess was the design of the Yiga organization. Link told me about his encounter with them before the murder. They had blackmailed him into surrendering his revolver to them, after which he would never see it again.

Though, even without a hint of deceit in his tone or manner, I had questions about the means by which the Yiga had blackmailed him. He had virtually nothing to lose. Didn’t he?

In any case, I honestly had considered showing him the gun that I’d found on the scene that night, but somehow I’d had the distinct impression that he’d known nothing about it, despite the very object in question belonging to him. I’d thought perhaps someone from the organization had switched out his weapon for another without his noticing. It was no secret that even the police bureau was infested with their ilk. In the end, I hadn’t been far off the mark.

The whole time he spoke, he had his head lowered, hair falling in front of his eyes, as if something were holding them back from meeting mine. Then he muttered, “When I had my encounter with the organization, I...remembered.”

His limited annunciation meant I had to take a moment to decipher the syllables of the last word he’d uttered. Then they sank in. “Wait. What? You mean you...” It felt beyond strange to even speak the words after so long. “You got your memory back?”

He lowered his head further. Was that a nod?

My mind went back to what he’d said to me on that one occasion in the office, not long after this whole mess had first begun. “Link, you...” My hands curled into themselves around the strap of my satchel. “All this time...why didn’t you tell me?”

“I couldn’t,” he pleaded. “It would’ve been a hindrance to the investigation.” I hated to admit it, but he was right. Dropping that bomb on me would only have thrown my conscience deeper into its already tangled web of turmoil.

Amidst all the questions swirling in my mind, one suddenly appeared, eclipsing all the rest. “Why did you disappear back then?”

At this, he finally looked up and met my gaze. But when he did, his eyes were wide, almost trembling. His look seemed to cast the whole room into a great, looming darkness.

“Oh, it’s...it’s okay if you’d prefer not to talk about—”

“No,” he exclaimed. “I must.” But the way his shoulders came up to meet his ears and how rapidly his chest rose and fell told me it wasn’t going to be an easy story to tell. “It was the Yi—” He choked on his words. “The...organization.”

There it was again. The name of the group I’d been chasing without rest ever since their appearance eighteen years prior. “I knew it...” I mumbled without thinking.

He steeled himself, then continued. “That day, my father was picking me and my sister up after school. Normally we would’ve ridden home with him in his automobile, but that morning, he and I had planned to surprise Aryll by getting...I think it was ice cream, on our way back. Anyway, we decided to walk home that day. But...” His face darkened yet again. “But then...”

Pressing him for more details would have been beyond cruel. I could only imagine the horrors that those blackguards had put him and his family through. “How many of them were there?”

“I’m not sure. All I know is that they had us outnumbered.” I nodded along, without thinking, as he continued his tale. “They were all armed with what looked like military grade shotguns, and they wore those masks with the inverted Sheikah family crest... I’ve always known that I’d seen that image somewhere before.”

No one knew why the organization had chosen this symbol for themselves, though I personally suspected it to be a show of opposition.

“Anyway, after they sh...shot father,” he struggled, a hand coming up to his now quavering lips, “they must’ve felt threatened by Aryll and me, because the next thing they did was...shoot her, too.” The way his tone had started to oscillate and how his face had drained itself of colour made my stomach churn. His anguish was so clear, it was devastating. “One of them had said something to the ends of, ‘We can’t have you scamps telling on us.’ But before they could...’shut me up’ as well, I fled.” Another pause. He kept on breathing. “I was too terrified to notice which way I was going. The whole time I ran, they kept firing at me. They were too reckless to aim properly, though, mind.”

“Well...that’s lucky, at least,” I tried. This was met with a sigh of reluctant agreement. “Still, how did you make it out of that with your life?”

“They stopped chasing me when I made it out of the back alleys and into the open,” he explained. “I suppose they couldn’t risk revealing themselves.”

Now it all made sense. Seven years ago, when he’d vanished without a trace, it was as though he’d never even existed in the first place. No one could get in contact with him or his family, and yet, no one batted an eye about it. It had seemed I’d been the only one who’d thought of it as anything less than perfectly normal. Just like when my mother had lost her life.

“We never had the chance to get ice cream that day.” He looked all but ready to burst into tears with that sentence. That was the moment I realized, no matter how drastically the last seven years of hell had changed him, there was still a fragment of that playful, hollow-legged sixteen-year-old left deep in his dark, forgotten core. If there was a way to bring that bright-eyed child back out into the light, I would find it, even if it spelled my demise.

Even so, there was one thing left that had yet to be explained. “What about your amnesia?”

“Ah...” His brow furrowed in thought. “I don’t know what caused that, to be honest with you.” He seemed to be racking his mind, but to no avail. “By the time those thugs finally gave up, I didn’t recognize my surroundings. I remember trying to find my way home, but I suppose I just ended up getting myself even more lost from there.” It was no wonder. The street names in this town were of little help in navigation, and it wasn’t hard to understand why he might have been apprehensive to ask for directions in such a bustling and hostile environment, especially after what he’d just been subjected to. “So I fell asleep in the streets that night,” he concluded with a shivering exhale. “The next morning, I woke up without the slightest notion of who I was.”

My heart took a plunge at the thought of his young self curled up in some alleyway, like a baby bird who’d fallen from the nest. “It must have been some sort of mental defence mechanism,” I conjectured. “That’s the only explanation I can come up with.” He slowly nodded his agreement. “After that, then, I suppose the rest is history.”

“Indeed...”

The visitors’ room fell into a deep, reflective silence, one nothing like that which had had me gasping for air moments ago. I watched the weary feelings of dread swim in his once bright blue eyes, tearing him apart.

He’d spent five whole years in that cold, cramped ward without even a name by which to call himself. And now we were back where we’d started. He may have regained his memories in the end, but at what cost?

I no longer felt the need to hunt down those who had wronged me. Now, my only desire was to slip between the bars that stood between the two of us and whisk him away to a far off land, where no one would ever hurt us again. But I pushed the impossible daydream aside. Even if escape were an option, we’d only be running straight out into range of Yiga fire.

“After your trial tomorrow...well, at the very least, I’ll lose my badge,” I smiled waywardly. Then, letting it fade and rolling my shoulders back, “Until then, I swear, I’ll do everything within my power to prove your innocence. Then we can go out for ice cream together.”

His eyes shimmered with unshed tears when he looked up at me then. Now that I thought about it, this seemed like the first time I’d ever seen him come close to crying, even in the time before the incident. Of course, he’d seen me in tears countless times back then. I wondered if he remembered them.

“Zelda...?” My name had started to leave his lips with conviction, but weakened on its way out. “There’s...something else I should tell you.”

“Anything.”

Just then, I caught him straightening out the cuff of his black-barred sleeve, concealing the fair skin of his wrist, out of the corner of my eye. “Never mind.” He again cast his gaze downwards, muttering an inaudible, “It’s nothing,” under his breath.