#if you separate them devastating things will occur

[h3nr31ds]

you cannot separate them or else the world will implode

[morguecuts]

Incase I’m Not Here

five hargreeves has a baby with fem!reader  synopsis: five has saved the world from an apocalypse countless times. after creating a loving family of his own, his constant worry that the end will come again unfortunately became true. word count: 1.5k tags: five is a father, fluff, angst, death, a few sad moments authors note: this is one of my most beautiful, yet devastating pieces. i truly love the idea of five being a loving father :(

  ♱⛧ ⋆ ˚｡ ⋆୨ ୧⋆ ˚｡ ⋆⛧♱ the end of the world was an ongoing tragedy for many years, ruining the lives of billions over and over again, but especially the hargreeves. the umbrella academy, as they were called, spent endless months trying to prevent an apocalypse from occurring. they traveled from timeline to timeline, skipping around decades trying to save themselves and the remainder of earth. 

when the timeline was assumed to be restored, the superhumans had agreed to go separate ways and live their lives. diego and lila created their own family, housing a new timeline version of lila’s birth parents. viktor moved all the way to canada, owning a bar and a gray cat named misty. luther was typically off the grid, except the occasional birthday post for him and all of his siblings. klaus and allison lived together, in a three story house with allison’s daughter claire. 

five hargreeves traveled the world, worrying about the potential upcoming events that would force him and his siblings to reunite in tragedy. he tracked previous timelines, looking for artifacts that hint at a glitch in the system. after the first 5 years of silence, and seeming nothing pointing toward any timeline issues, he began to calm his nerves. 

that’s when he met the mother of his child. she was the light that five never knew he was missing. she ignited a burnt flame deep inside his soul, rekindling the lost inspiration he held for things that were other than research. in addition, her beauty was unmatched to anyone he had ever seen, or met before. her long hair completely covered the back of her body, tracing the outline of her beautiful shape. her perfectly puzzled face made him swoon almost immediately. most importantly, the way that she loved him made him learn to love who he was inside, instead of who people wanted him to be. 

their home was a perfect combination of their personalities. a matte black and white aesthetic, perfectly clean and chic, with a hint of victorian vampire. her feminine touch was visible in all the right places, creating a warm home for the two of them, and anyone else who entered. his headstrong worries of future destruction set up for typically annoying safety procedures, but she didn't mind it. the pair merged together quite beautifully, carbon copies of the other. if five didn’t know any better, which to be fair he actually did, then he would say they were lovers in every possible timeline. 

five was used to living for himself, his siblings, and even the rest of the world. his purpose was always meant to save other people, live for them, protect them. however, now 5 years into the loving marriage with her, he had learned to live for someone who wasn’t superhuman. 

he stood hovering over the clean white bassinet. the small beaded eyes glance up at him, an overwhelming amount of confusion falls over them before turning to love. her small nose scrunching at the sight of him. the few hairs brushed upon her head are slicked down away from her face. her small pursed lips release grumbles and whines at an alarming volume, desiring for the tall suited man to hold her.

“she isn’t going to crumble if you pick her up, five. you have to hold her eventually, she needs to know who her father is.” the child's mother cooed, leaning into his back, wrapping her arms around his waist lovingly. the man sighed into her touch, except it wasn't really there. the air behind him was cold and stiff. his body ached for her, a sense of comfort was quickly turned back into sadness. 

“what if she doesn't like me?” he spoke into the rather empty room. “what if something triggers me to teleport and i hurt her? my only way of protecting her is loving her from a distance.” the water in his eyes glasses over the blue. he reeks of sorrow, insecurity, and fear. 

“you are the one man designed to protect her, my love. don't let what happened in the past make you afraid of what's happening in the present. she’s going to need you, we both know i can't help you anymore. please just pick her up, five.” the voice echoes around him, his eyes narrowing down onto the now sleep filled child. 

he carefully unbuttons the sleeves on his jacket, pushing it off his shoulders and draping it onto the side of the crib. he rolls his white undershirt above his elbows, hyping himself up in the process. the small fragile girl rests on the pillowed surface, her tiny chest rising and falling. his hands carefully wrapping around her body, supporting her head while raising her close to him.

the small being is unlike anything he’s ever seen. tiny hands attached to tiny arms, short legs with the smallest feet. she’s unable to do anything without him. her entire life for the next few years depends on his actions. a small worried smile spreads across his face, admiring the girl leaning against his arms. 

small eyes blink open tiredly, glaring around before landing on her fathers. pure love glistens with the hazel colors swimming around. she makes chirps and squirming noises, slightly frightening five in the process. he takes mental notes on all of her little features. definitely her mothers eyes and lips, but his nose. truly the perfect combination of the two lovebirds. tears form in his eyes when he sees her smile, a miniature yet exact replica that once belonged to her mother. 

a faint knock taps upon the nursery door, the caretaker is chattering unknown words outside. theres a moment of silence before she enters the room, glancing at five with the baby cradled lovingly in his embrace. he turns around at the sound of her appearance, looking into her puzzled face. “there’s been a call for you, it's from your sister in law.” her eyes are firm and strong, holding his gaze causing him to pause for a moment. 

“and what did she say?” he turns his back to her again, slowly rocking the baby back into her peaceful rest.

“a briefcase was found in new york this morning. i’m so sorry, but it’s starting, sir.” she holds her hands together in front of her body, head dipping into her chest. 

“how long do we have?” five knows his constant worrying would eventually lead to this. he thought by spending endless hours hunting down glitches in the timeline, he could find a cause, find a solution, but nothing ever came until now.

“they don't know anything yet. it could be weeks, months, possibly even years. i’ve been told it's not severe, but that doesn't mean that it won't become so.” the sorrow in her voice runs deep, an unfortunate sigh escapes her lips. 

his stillness is deafening, the room has a slight buzzing noise from the house's electricity, but otherwise is completely silent. the babe shifts in his arms, nuzzling into him for better warmth and comfort. it is at this exact moment that everything clicks into place. she is his new purpose, and she will be his future. if anything is to go wrong, he would sacrifice his life for her without a question. nothing will ever be able to cause harm to her as long as he is alive.

his mind races thinking of the possibilities, will she have powers like him? will she be as headstrong as him? will she be accurately able to save the world if he is no longer alive to do so himself? The caretaker takes a step backwards, beginning to leave the room before his voice breaks the silence. “i need parchment, as much as you can physically gather.” his words are cold, and demanding, nothing that he has ever been towards her before. “and pens as well, as many pens as you can find me. i have work i must do before it's too late.” he begins to lie the child back into her bassinet, gently wrapping her back into the warmth of the bed. “yes sir, is there anything else?” the caretaker steps towards the door once more, ready to step into motion as requested. five’s eyes scan over every inch of his beloved offspring, a protective concern washed over his face. “yes actually, the albums from the attic please. i want her to be able to recognize her family when things go south.” his comment is quieter, more personal and calm. the caretaker whisks away, leaving the man and his daughter alone once more.

“you will never be alone” a gentle hand brushes small hairs away and out of her face. rubbing her small, chubby cheeks before pulling back. “i will guide you through everything that i possibly know, you will not fail this world.” his feet step back from the white wooden crib, reaching for the black jacket that was hung upon it earlier that night. slipping into it before exiting the room, heading toward his office.

 ♱⛧ ⋆ ˚｡ ⋆୨ ୧⋆ ˚｡ ⋆⛧♱

thank you so much for reading!

i hope you’ve enjoyed it, please feel free to make any comments or story requests down below. any support is always appreciated <3

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Clark Gable (Gone With the Wind, It Happened One Night)—There's no proof that Clark Gable stripping in It Happened One Night caused the sale of undershirts to take a nosedive, but there's also no proof that it didn't do that. And either way, him saucily undressing for bed in front of a woman who was married—not to him—is too deliciously scandalous to ignore. He deserves votes for this scene if nothing else. He got an Academy Award for this movie! He could play comedy just as well as drama, he earned medals for his bravery as a bomber gunner in WW2, he competed in car races, he has a great mustache and perfect eyebrows for sexy smirking, he's just HOT.

Sidney Poitier (Lilies of the Field, To Sir With Love)—an unbelievably beautiful man, a complete class act. Something about his eyes breaks my heart every time.

This is round 3 of the bracket. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage man.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut]

Clark Gable propaganda:

"Listen, he was "the King of Hollywood" for a reason and a suave motherfucker. Also a Major in the air force during WWII!"

"So Clark Gable was the king of Hollywood for a reason but honestly what makes him hot to me is his relationship with his wife Carole Lombard like if she loved him so she can't be wrong. Their relationship is so tragic like they met first when they filmed No Man of Her Own in 1932 and like there was nothing between them then but in 1936 they met again at a Hollywood party and this time things were different. Basically from that moment on they were inseparable and had to carry out their romance in secret until his divorce was finalized (he was separated when they met again at the party) and then they eloped in 1939 when he had a break during filming Gone With The Wind. They had a 20 acre farm together with horses, cows and chickens and they loved to do all those outdoorsy activities together. When they were apart for various work obligations they would send each other goofy gag gifts. In 1942 Carole was on a trip to sell war defense bonds when on the flight back home her plane crashed in the mountains of Nevada. Her death devastated Gable he flew to Nevada and demanded he be taken to the spot where the plane crashed despite the dangers posed by its location. Amongst the wreckage they found a hair clip he had given her for Christmas. Her death forever changed him he became more reckless and signed up for the US Army Air Corps in 1942 and he kept her bedroom unchanged in their home. He never stopped loving her when he died in 1960 he was buried next to her. I know Clark wasn't a perfect person and their is some speculation that she was racing home on that plane to him because she was worried that he was having an affair or something but relationships are complicated especially ones occurring in 1930s and 1940e Hollywood amongst two of the biggest starts at the time. (I just wanted to include this so ya know I'm not just looking at their relationship as all sunshine but like you can't deny the love they shared)

"They had an ineffable quality in romance, the ability to have fun together... they were soulmates who thought life was delicious, and they made everyone's life delicious around them" -Esther Williams

"GWtW is an epic stretching across years so Clark has a chance to show off a whole bunch of different sides, from Hot Outsider to Husband to Father and so on. But his most attractive is his final line of the movie, made only better by the story that he lobbied the Film Industry to ‘Let Rhett Curse!’ And who is more classic 30s Hollywood than this man?"

"Also apparently his name was Billy Gable then Glark Gable before finally landing on Clark Gable. A fact that I cant forget now glark gable lives in my mind now"

Sidney Poitier propaganda:

[with-my-murder-flute]

TLT theory: Aim, Jod, and the second part of the message

My brain is fevered. I feel like I've constructed an elaborate Pepe Silvia corkboard in my mind, and it feels like it makes sense of everything, but I honestly have no clue if that certainty will last very long.

I think I know what the Messenger is carrying. I think I know why John has waited ten thousand years.

Spooky preview quote from HtN chapter 2:

I mastered Death, Harrowhark; I wish I’d done the smarter thing and mastered Time.

Spoilers for Gideon, Harrow, and Nona the Ninth.

BoE's chronology has always been kind of weird to me: Five thousand years after the Resurrection happens, they pop up with intense and detailed knowledge of the 21st century! Jod destroys languages and cultures and societies, but BoE keeps popping up! How.

Originally I thought the continuous thread over the years was a Lyctor who helped them (and the necromantic implant does seem to point that way) but I also think part of it is that the ships that escaped just before Earth's devastation have been showing up one by one, over a huge span of time. That's why Wake says "My long-dead natal sun" and can quote Eminem at length; she spent ten thousand years suspended in time, before re-entering it.

NtN, John 19:18:

They said they’d managed to find some poor dipshit geek who’d fixed the FTL problem of getting locked in the chrono well, you know, moving so fast you were stuck doing quantum wheelies. They’d come up with something where you could oscillate out so long as the ship was attuned to a prearranged spectrum outside. I still don’t understand the maths. It’s going to take me ten thousand years to understand it. I couldn’t follow, but A— could. He said immediately, What is the point if you still have no fucking clue where your ship is going to end up when you shake out of FTL. They said, Aha, but we can track it once it’s out. A— said, It could be halfway across the universe or phasing through a planet. They kept arguing that probably wouldn’t happen [...] They said it was expensive, so twelve ships would go first, with one guiding them out with the beacon frequencies like a tugboat leading a cruise liner, triangulate for Tau Ceti, dump the population, and come back.

I think that AIM's message is the beacon that will call the last of the FTL fleet out of the chrono well. They are "we", they are the first of two parts, because their identity is the person they were before coming the Messenger, and the ships that still haven't oscillated back into three-dimensional space yet, because they are under AIM's personal guardianship/intimately tied to possession of her body.

NtN, John 5:4

I think the only reason I haven’t done it already is that I can’t bear the idea that I wouldn’t be able to touch them—that they’d still be out there …

I think Jod has been at this for so long because he is waiting for an event that could literally take an infinite amount of time to occur. He hasn't killed the entire colonized population yet because he wants something out of them, and it doesn't seem to be labour or devotion or even thanergy.

I think he's looking for the fleet's beacon, in a way that's like lighting a grassfire to flush animals out of hiding and deprive them of shelter. I think he's constantly killing planets and relocating and resettling populations before funnelling them together again, like a distillery trying to heat and separate different liquids as they move from flask to flask, because he wants to finally decant the key to the last ships that escaped him.

[f0rlorn]

kingdom come → treech

treech!tbosas x reader

notes → in which your lover gets ripped away from you, and you’re left with mere memories, a promise, and a locket. feminine intended reader. i am a district seven girly FOR LIFEEE. when i was making a plan for a cato fic on wattpad, reader was ofc from seven ✨

warnings → me giving characters angst alert part two!!! not edited & uploaded via iphone

     “treech!” you giggled as you chased him in the woods you called your backyard. you heard him laugh as he leapt over a stream. attempting to follow him, you slipped, accidentally landing in the shallow water. luckily, you had your rain boots on. the red rain boots with hand painted black polk a dots that reminded you of ladybugs. on the other hand, your ruffly dress was not so lucky, soaked with water, dirt crawling at the hems. treech whipped around at the sound of you splashing, and offered a hand to help you up. you giggled as you took his hand. “thank you, my knight.” you teased, beginning to walk back to your home.

     “anything for m’lady!” treech declared, raising his arm triumphantly. your youth was filled with heartwarming moments like this. days spent playing with treech in the woods when the two of you were kids. and when you grew into your teenage years, long, meaningful conversations filled with laughter and secrets with each other after treech finished working. you had known treech your whole life, best friends for fifteen years and lovers for three, he was a part of you. 

     today, the day of the reaping, your mother had laid out an old striped dress of hers. the once colorful stripes had faded into something dreary, but the dress fit you like a glove. it was common knowledge in the districts that children should dress nice for the reaping. not because it was some momentous occasion, but because what they wear then might be the last thing they wear ever. dressing them up for their funerals, a devastating truth. treech met you outside, and he tilted his hat to you when you stepped out of the door. 

     “m’lady,” he greeted, providing his arm for you to latch onto. “well don’t you look ravishing,” he mused, and you curtsied at his compliment, before looping your arm through his. you were treech’s pride and joy and he made sure to treat you as such. the boy was more than happy to show you off, parading you around the streets of seven. the two of you chatted lightly about the days events as he guided you to the town’s square, located a mile and half from your house. eventually you had to part ways with him, but not before you left a quick peck on the cheek. he wore the kiss on his face boastfully as he joined the group of boys to your left. you smiled, finding your own place in the crowd of girls. the process went as normal, a few small announcements made before the female tribute was reaped. her name was lamina, a beautiful tragedy wrapped in a vest, but not anyone you recognized.

     your breath hitched as they called for the male tribute. it had happened so fast. you had never been this overwhelmed. they called treech’s name. your treech. you allowed yourself to hyperventilate for a few moments before catching sight of the boy slowly walking towards the front of the hall of justice. district seven, being one of the largest districts, had thousands of kids piled into the town square, separated by gender. out of the entire population of seven’s youth, it never occurred to you that your boyfriend could be the unlucky victim to be reaped. 

     struggling to control your breathing, you leaped into action, shoving your way through the crowd of girls to the pathway down the middle of the block. treech, still in shock, made his way down said pathway rather hesitantly, as if in disbelief that he had really been reaped. his eyes were scanning the crowd as he passed, stopping for a moment as he met yours. in an instant, you reached forward and grabbed him, pulling him into a hug before any nearby peacekeeper could intervene.

     “i love you, treech. i love you, i love you, i love you!” you repeated, sobbing into his jacket. his arms wrapped around you tightly, not wanting to let go.

     “i’ll win this, y/n, for you. i’ll see you soon, it’ll only be a couple days, just you wait.” he mumbled his promise to you. you pulled apart, woefully wiping away the lipstick mark on his face, cleaning him up for the cameras. there was no doubt that the entirety of the capital was watching you now. what must they think of the spectacle you had created? were they intrigued? disgusted? at this point, the peacekeepers had made their way to him, dragging him onstage.

     “treech!” you objected, reaching out for him. another peacekeeper lightly knocked you backwards, a pitiful expression adorning his face. the girls nearby, some you recognized and some strangers, held the same expression. none spoke, just stared at you. keeping your eyes on the ground, you creeped back to your spot in the crowd. soon enough, peacekeepers were hauling your boyfriend into the hall, and more were beginning to clear the square, forcing you to make your way back to your place of residence. unbeknownst to you, treech had slipped a token in the pocket of your dress before he was pulled away. it wasn’t until halfway through your agonizing, lonely trek back home that you noticed it. it was a dainty, wooden heart shaped locket. patterns had been intricately carved into the surface, no doubt by the careful hands of your loving treech. you traced the patterns with the pads of your fingers, tears staining the wooden block. 

     you clutched the locket, a newfound hope seeping into you, as you held onto the promise that he would win. for you.

[madameinfinitehearts]

CrocoDad Angst Drabble(?):

(For context, let's assume Whitebeard only gave Croc his facial scar.)

A newly-transitioned Crocodile is waiting for Dragon to return while sitting with their newborn child in his arms.

In that moment, he felt on top of the world. He mentally celebrated his new body and the birth of his son. Of course, he wanted to share that excitement with Dragon, someone who was close to him.

Everything seemed perfect. So how could he have foreseen what would happen next?

Maybe he shouldn't have been surprised. After all, he was no longer the person he was before, especially when it came to his appearance. Without a warning beforehand, Monkey D. Dragon would never recognized him.

Suppose you came home to find an unfamiliar figure lurking in your home, holding your child. On top of that, your spouse is nowhere to be seen. You'd likely assume they were a threat. They did something to your beloved and bow they plan to go after the child you had together.

Naturally, you'd want to stop them... and that's exactly what Dragon tried to do.

The attacks took Crocodile by surprise, pushing him backwards. It hurts. Even if he understood why this was happening, that fact didn't change how painful it all was. Crocodile attempted to explain himself between blows but Dragon was having none of it.

During the assault, Croc unfortunately dropped the poor soul. Thankfully, the child hasn't fallen far but the incident left him crying intensely.

Though he had only been a parent for a few hours, Crocodile was quick to respond to his son's pained cries. He had to reach him - to comfort the helpless thing. That singular thought took the forefront of his mind as he reached his left hand out for the infant. Despite his own pain, he wanted to soothe his child's.

He was only inches away. So close that he could have touched him. But, of course, it was his mistake for forgetting the situation. Before he could even blink, Dragon had delivered a devastating blow... that separated his left forearm from his body. The dismembered part flopped into the floor, landing next to the crying child.

The shock of what occurred overwhelmed Crocodile. He hadn't even realized that he was screaming. He clutched the newly-made stump, attempting to stop the bleeding.

"Get out."

What?

"GET OUT!"

Why...?

"LEAVE THIS PLACE!"

There was no time for more questions. The injured Croc bolted from the room, making his way outside. The cries of his son fading away into the distance behind him.

Why did this happen? What had he done wrong? What should he do?! What would become of his child...? Where... would he go now...?

Well, he supposed that didn't matter at the moment. All he could do for now was run....

[artheresy]

The legacy of a craftsman

The amount of space that Blade and Yingxing takes up in my brain is feeling increasingly concerning. I can't stop thinking about them...

Like now that it's finally not just a leak, has anyone else read Baiheng's Travelogues about the Xianzhou Zhuming? Featuring Baby Yingxing??

Literally the second one devastates me emotionally I can't even explain it. Yingxing being so discouraged by the masters on the Zhuming who are long life species degrading him to the point he, a child, talks about how he'll probably never live to see his parents be avenged after what the Borisin did???

THAT HURTS

And God I can't even,

GOD if I could properly put into words the fact that Yingxing is a craftsman being so important to his character and identity and how Hoyoverse making a point to specify the injuries that occurred to his hands in whatever gray transition period happened between Yingxing and Blade that made him unable to craft weapons again is such a tragic visual to completely severe the two identities, that is ALL you would hear from me ever.

Because see the thing about Yingxing being a craftsman is that all stems from a goal in his past. As a child his home planet was taken over and turned into a weapons nursery, his parents were slaughtered, it became his goal as a child to create technology and weapons for the Cloud Knights to fight terrifying monsters like the Borisin. And that goal ended up defining the rest of his life, going on to become the Legendary Furnace Master on the Xianzhoh Luofu. That ended up becoming part of his legacy with the HCQ. It's clear how heavily important that part of his identity is defining not just his time in the HCQ but his time on the Zhuming, and everything that occurred to him as a child to lead him to that exact goal. His whole past.

And for Hoyoverse to specify how Blade's hands have been hurt to the point of no longer being dexterous, to the point of no longer being able to forge a weapon ever again, as those injuries cannot be healed by whatever Abundance shit he has going on since they likely happened before he became immortal(?). It just... it is devastating. It's something used as a way to severely separate the two of them so people realize they are two different identities on top of Blade already making it clear he sees Yingxing as dead. The way that they went about his hands... it's not merely that he relinquished that identity, which would be him no longer making weapons out of choice. It is that he can't connect to that identity anymore, the change he went through was far too severe. Thus he cannot make weapons anymore, he has been stripped of any ability to.

I'll make like a better post explaining this later, but I believe the use of Yingxing status as a craftsman and Blade's inability after he was revived TO craft anything is fundamentally used as a tie to the separate of identity between them and it's so well used and so tragically used.

Because again, it is not that he lost Yingxing's passion for it or decided on a different path. It is a wall that separates him from being able to do what Yingxing did in the past just as he is unable to connect to the identity his body held before death.

[heroesfixated]

50/50 Heroes Theory - Something Dark Is Coming

Following these posts I made, I would like to present a theory of mine as to what is going on here. This show is so soft, cute and funny, that it's hard to believe at first that something sinister is happening in the background. I will attempt to shed some light on it.

All of the following is just my theory based on evidence found in the episodes. It could be completely wrong, so take it with a grain of salt.

I don't think I need to defend this point too much, but still, let me present this case with the clearest image of this mystery person I could find:

The head shape, the blue hair, the cap... The resemblance is hard to deny - it has to be Mo. Most probably, Mo from the future, traveling back in time, as the figure seems to be a little older.

Another piece of evidence we can look at to confirm this: the mysterious person's appearance in Episode 25A, when Mo and Sam traveled back in time 10 whole years:

Something like this can be possible IF that person is also a time traveler.

Now that we've established that it's Future Mo, another question arises: why? What could've happened that made him go back, and seemingly without his sister?

(Let's ignore that backpack he's carrying for now and the ominous hair sticking out of it...)

Well, for that, let us look at WHO he seems to be following exactly, as that's not as black and white as it seems either.

Out of 50 11-minute episodes and a 22-minute finale, so far, I was able to find exactly 40 instances of Future Mo following our main characters. If we break it down, we will see that 13 of those times, he have been seen following both Mo and Sam together. 1 time it has been just Mo (Episode 1B, when Sam teleported away just a moment ago) and 1 time when Mo was stuck in Sam's body (Episode 7A). As for scenes with just Sam, without Mo around... This character was spotted 25 times. This is not a coincidence.

Another piece of evidence is presented in this sneaky screenshot of the school vents from Epsidoe 9B. If you look closely, you can see a full bag of chips, a picture of Sam with some illegible writing and an arrow pointing at her, and a picture/poster of Mo and Sam's apartment building. That points to someone, most probably our mystery character in question, staying in this school vent.

And following Sam specifically.

With these assumptions, that it's Future Mo following Sam, we can only assume that something has happened to her and Mo is back to try and fix things, and get his sister back. As to what happened exactly, not much evidence can be found. Except for the only time we get to see his perspective as he is spying on our character in the finale:

(click for better quality)

It is interesting that we get to see his POV in this scene specifically out of the entire show and finale, as if we were meant to draw our attention to it. This scene is about Mo getting too cocky and fame-crazy, while Sam is voicing her frustrations with him and wishing to go do something good, like an actual hero would. It follows them fighting and almost separating.

This suggests that perhaps, this scene is important to our mystery character. Perhaps something similar has happened, a big fight between siblings that led to... all this.

Putting all of the evidence into one cohesive theory, we get the following:

At some point, a big fight between the siblings occurs, leading to something terrible happening to Sam, possibly due to the scepter freaking out, for which Mo could be directly or indirectly responsible. Devastated and determined to get his sister back, Mo goes back in time to stop the accident from happening, only to go back too soon. Now he spends his days following Sam out of guilt and the wish to protect her, while living in the school ventilation shafts, waiting for the day he can fix his mistake and be with her once again.

This is just part of the theory, as I didn't tackle everything (for example, the eye-question mark symbol on his hand, or the very suspicious blue hair poof sticking out of his backpack) but this is my starting point. However, the only thing that can truly shed light on this mystery is season 2 of this wonderful show, which I wholeheartedly hope will happen someday.

[pieridae-art]

Special Lan Xichen analysis post

As I’ve previously said, Lan Xichen is a very flawed person and that’s okay! I want to examine him at several parts of the story and pick apart some of the criticism he gets. So let’s talk Lan Xichen!

Siege of the Burial Mounds: I really like this one shot from the donghua where the Sect Leaders of each sect (NMJ, JGS, and JC) are shown at the siege and beside them representing the Lan sect is… Lan Qiren. Not LXC. Setting aside the perfect storm JGS set up for the siege to occur (I don’t care who led it; JGS is the problem post-Sunshot Campaign about 99% of the time), I think this is because LXC stayed back in the Cloud Recesses with LWJ tending to his wounds post-whipping. Not assuming LXC’s absence, however, the siege was led by JC and orchestrated (because separating the twin prides of Yunmeng and artificially creating tension within the jianghu was a deliberate action) by JGS. Not saying LXC’s participation is okay just because he wasn’t the driving force behind it but imagine if the Lan sect stood against the other sect’s wishes. Standing up for WWX would have been the right thing to do but were the Lans in any position to oppose the siege with their sect in the process of rebuilding? Going along with the siege, to me, is an act of cowardice, not malice. Extra note: we see his capability of defending the Wen remnants when JGS is talking shit about them and WWX but he is shut down immediately and does not speak up any further. This is not a matter of hypocrisy; it’s a matter of fearing the consequences.

NMJ’s death: this is rocky territory. It was a bad idea full stop to force proximity between them hoping everything would sort itself out. But you simply cannot blame him for NMJ’s death because he couldn’t have known. One could argue that he endangered JGY by forcing him to be near someone who tried to kill him several times. I think that’s an oversimplification of the situation. To me, this was a gesture of trust. Trust that NMJ will make an attempt to restrain himself/get better and trust that JGY will aid him in doing so. As we know, this trust is misguided. He’s rather naive to think this would work. But he is humored anyway by two people with bad intentions toward each other. LXC is not at fault for this going south when it was at a certain point inevitable. But he did enable it.

That one line about WWX being LWJ’s only mistake: I get so defensive because honestly I’d have said much worse in his position! Think about what he knows about Wangxian’s relationship leading up to it. He saw his brother devastated that the man he loved was being corrupted and harmed by his cultivation, watched as LWJ despaired over him and fought the elders and got whipped for him. He’s only seen his brother suffer due to his love for WWX. Was saying this okay? No. Consider the circumstances surrounding this line, however. Also criticizing him for this is just plain nit-picky to me lol there’s plenty this man has actually done wrong to criticize him for.

And another thing: stop saying he favored JGY over LWJ!! The entire point of his denial surrounding JGY is that there was no solid, tangible proof that was damning enough for him to outright condemn JGY without some level of unfair assumption! He was trying to be fair about the investigation! Might I add: WWX was the only one who saw NMJ’s head in Jinlintai. Had it been LWJ to see it and approach him I think the story would’ve gone differently! But it wasn’t. And he wanted to have faith in his friend from an underprivileged background constantly facing slander and mistreatment despite doing good things for the world against the jianghu’s wishes because isn’t that what LWJ did with WWX? LXC learned his lesson from WWX’s death, he just practiced it on the wrong person.

What have we learned? Lan Xichen was complicit in and enabled a lot of Bad Things if he was not an active participant, most of it willingly and some of it unknowingly. He’s unfair sometimes. He’s weak willed and lacks the strength to actually stand up for anyone in a meaningful way. He’s naive. In my opinion, he was in denial for a large portion of his story about the harmful effects of his actions.

And I adore him! He’s got the capacity for so much good and he fails to live up to it! He wants to be righteous and he doesn’t know how without putting the people he is responsible for at risk! He thinks he can do conflict resolution and he just can’t! By the end of the story, he is painfully aware of all of this and he lives knowing he did the wrong thing over and over and over again. He got the only outcome he could ever have. I don’t think he deserved his ending but I do think he might have earned it.

[zarvasace]

Here's my silly Linkverse title and timeline! :D say hello to Hearts Linked Together, a Linkverse that won't ever have much content besides character designs!

Character post

Okay a description under the cut. It might get long, I'm unsure how to go about explaining. The four vertical lines are locations, not parallel timelines. I don't take absolutely everything into account (you'll notice a lack of direct Triforce and Ganon stuff) but I like what I ended up with!

PS: I've made a few edits to this and the picture since I first edited. BotW and TotK aren't different Links that was my b. I also added more blue lines to the Gods of the Sky spot to illustrate them moving around.

Important thing to note: the only time travel/time shenanigans in this 'verse is with Hyrule Warriors and Ocarina of Time. And Tears of the Kingdom that too.

THIS BEGINS with aliens. The Zonai and the Minish were the same alien species that settled on the planet of Hyrule to escape civil war on their own. They separated early on and adapted to their environments differently. They both lived in the sky for a while, because Hyrule has naturally occuring skylands, and some of the natural fauna were intimidating. (Monsters, dragons, fey, gods.) The Hylians come from the moon. A small group settled on the planet and struggle to adapt. They lost their technology in the turbulent transition.

The Minish remained pastoral and went to the surface to help the emerging Hylian race. The Minish Cap happens. That Link forges the Picori blade and gathers the elements. (His four copies are spectral.) Shortly after him, Four Swords happens, with the most attention on the cryptid four sword kid who came out to save the world and then disappeared back into the woods. (His four copies are independent but not individuals.)

The settlement prospers, the Minish population decreases, and Hylians spread across the world, into 4 distinct geographic areas. The Zonai, also dying out, descend and intermarry with Hylians, in a different geographic area. The beginning of TotK happens, including the massive Imprisoning War. The consequences of this war are far-reaching and devastating.

The Land of Light and Shadow: this area emerges from the war somewhat unscathed, being on the other side of the world. They continue to build their kingdom. This land is named for the parallel plane that is in close contact with the area, being farthest from the planet's moon's orbital path. Things like Light and Force are also strong here, unknowable forces that occasionally grant powers.

The Land of the Gods: this land is named for the gods that have dogged its history and heroes, and is closest to the moon, which is where these extraordinary individuals get their powers and godhood. The Imprisoning War hit them pretty hard, and one of these moon-touched aliens (Hylia) raised settlements into the air. The First Hero is part of this.

The Land of the Fey is where the Zonai chose to descend, and is hit the hardest by the Imprisoning War. Their small colonies are absolutely decimated and the land is salted. Fey are natural creatures, but aren't always friendly. The Zonai technology and settlements remain high in the air, unreachable and usually invisible. Most non-Hylian or non-Hylian-derived species come from this area.

The Great Sea is a series of islands. They barely hear of the Imprisoning War, and only have a small population of Hylians that grows a bit through the islands.

After the war, all of these areas and kingdoms are cut off from each other. Their histories proceed separately for a time.

The Land of Light and Shadow: a group of people move permanently into the Dark World. Link to the Past, Link's Awakening. The kingdom grows. Link Between Worlds reveals the budding kingdom in the Dark World. Twilight Princess deals more with them. Four Swords Adventures (+manga in case you were worried) unlocks more of the Dark World's secrets. (These copies are individuals, and remain so after their adventure.) The kingdom prospers and begins to explore, eventually resulting in another near-globalization. Hyrule Warriors happens, doing a little time traveling.

The Land of the Gods: after rising into the sky, Skyward Sword happens. Hylia is the strongest goddess of the time, and manages to send copies of the Master Sword to the three other lands. People settle on the surface, isolated from any other places. Ocarina of Time happens, but does not create alternate timelines. Hylia takes the people and places displaced by the time shift and plunks them at the beginning of the Great Sea's time. This kingdom expands and fractures, and Hylia's time shenanigans weaken her, so she goes to the fey land to recover. (coughcough was bullied away because people didn't agree with her coughcough) And then Majora’s Mask. Din, Farore, and Nayru rise as the land's patron goddesses instead, instigating the Oracle games. Triforce Heroes happens to a Hylian passing by Hytopia (The copies are simply doppels.) These kingdoms remain small but grow strong. They have the occasional battle. They participate in the globalization efforts.

The Land of the Fey: this land struggles to rebuild. They are plagued by monsters. The fey (fairies, great fairies, satori, dragons) understand it's a problem, but they do not have mortal minds. Eventually they call a hero of their own. Hyrule Fantasy (aka LoZ 1) and Adventure of Link happen. This land is geographically isolated and doesn't really run into anyone else, until the migration from the Great Sea brings technology. Spirit Tracks happens. The great kingdom is built, they build the Divine Beasts and the Guardians, and drive back the Calamity for the first time. Hylia rises again, older and wiser and less powerful. Then Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom happen. Only after that does this land reconnect with those outside of it.

The Great Sea: this area is mostly empty until Hylia places the time-displaced Hyrule on one of the larger islands (called antidiluvian, or before the flood). It wasn't a stable island, though, and most of the kingdom fell under the ocean in a great big wave. People rebuild and make their own cultures. Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass happen. They find the shores of the Land of the Fey, and facilitate a migration to that land.

Each of the yellow stars (and the colorful ones in terms of FSA) represents a different Hero.

[delicatemusickingdom]

Book 2 Part 3 Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3: People’s Battles

Despite being daytime, the sky was painted a dark black. Occasionally, cracks of the blue sky would peek out from where the darkness thinned, but the black clouds were just too overwhelming. Even the sun looked like a moon when seen through clouds — hazy and cold.

The black clouds were smoke. The smoke rose up in billows, blocking out the sky above the imperial capital. The scene below was truly fit to be called a ‘sea of fire’. All around, buildings creaked as they spewed flames and smoke, scattering embers everywhere and spreading the scorching heat to other places.

The Grey Alleyways was burning up. The uninhabited labyrinth-like ruins were being swallowed up by the sudden inferno that had erupted from within. 

The streets that had once been a monochromatic grey were now dyed in different colours — the bright red of flames, and the pitch black of charcoal. 

The Knights were slow to act for the uninhabited areas of the district. But when the harmful smoke from the rapidly spreading fire reached the citizens’ quarter, the flood of complaints finally compelled the Knights to move. But when they arrived, what they came face to face with was a huge conflagration, long beyond their control. The Knights were not equipped in any way to deal with such a situation, and could only wait helplessly for the fire to die down naturally. 

Fortunately, thanks to the wide street that separated districts from each other, the fire did not spread to the neighbouring districts. The flames lasted for a whole day, cleanly burning away the section that had once been the Grey Alleyways. If you looked down from the castle walls, you would be able to perceive — clearly yet unnaturally so — the shape of the district emerging from the blackened surroundings. It looked like the remains of a giant beast after being roasted and eaten. 

Later, the Knights stated that the cause of the fire had simply been an accident, despite the fact that several fires had clearly broken out in multiple places almost simultaneously, and no further investigation was done. 

This time as well, the people of the lower quarter could only watch silently as this sudden disaster raged on. Although they had escaped having the fire spread to their district, the smoke and soot had damaged their belongings and affected their health, and the anxiety brought by the sound of the flames burning all night long prevented them from a good night’s sleep. 

When the flames finally died out and the smoke subsided, they could only stare dumbfounded at the blackened devastation before them. 

“Seriously…?”

A mutter leaked out from Yuri’s mouth unconsciously. He had set foot in here several times, and each time he had experienced an unexpected incident. Each time, he had gotten lost, or nearly ended up that way. But now many of its buildings had collapsed, and not even a trace remained. All this had happened in a mere twenty four hours of fire. 

“So this is their way of threatening us.” 

At Jiri’s words, everyone’s eyes snapped to look at her. In their minds, all of them had been thinking about that possibility. Even if ‘they’ were going to redevelop the Grey Alleyways as well, it seemed odd for ‘them’ to resort to such a violent method to do so. The castle walls, which had unfortunately been downwind when the fires had occurred, were now clearly blacker than before. 

“‘This is what will happen to you if you don’t move out’, huh? Now they’ve done it.” 

Jiri slapped the enraged Yuri on the shoulder. The impact made him feel like all sorts of things had been expelled from his body. It was a rough method, but it cheered him up. 

“There’s no need to make such a gloomy face. Besides, I don’t think they’d go out of their way to burn up a fountain that they just repaired. As long as we stick to living around the plaza, it’ll be fine.” 

For a while, at least — Jiri added in her mind. 

“If that’s the case, we’d better hurry up and move.” 

Then it would be best to prioritise those who lived the farthest away from the fountain. Jiri nodded at her husband.

Jiri’s guess was right. ‘They’ had no intention of harming the fountain. 

The next thing they dispatched after the fire were people. 

****

“They’re here.”

Yuri, who had been keeping watch, turned around and whispered. Everyone nodded, with nervous looks on their faces. Some of them were youths about the same age as Yuri, while others were adults, older than him. All of them clutched wooden sticks in their hands anxiously. Only Yuri was different — he had his sword hanging on his hip. Once more, Yuri peeked out from behind the building where he was hiding. 

Approaching from the other side of the streets of the lower quarter were five thuggish-looking men. They were large and burly, and in their hands glinted the bare steel of their blades that they showed off as they walked, giving off an intimidating aura. 

They didn’t seem wary in the slightest, as if they were saying that there was nothing in the lower quarter that could frighten them. Or was that just a front, and they were waiting for Yuri and others to spring their trap? …No, they couldn’t hesitate here. Yuri shook off the doubts that were beginning to form in his mind and focused his attention on the situation in front of him. 

From the shadows, Yuri glanced upwards at the rooftops. From where he was, he couldn’t see the others since they were in his blind spot, and it should be the same for the men approaching from the other side of the street — at least, that should be the case.

He turned his gaze back to the street and saw that the thugs were almost there. Yuri held his breath and focused his gaze on the men, watching as they walked down the cobblestone-lined road.

They had almost reached the intended point. Ten more steps— Five steps— 

Yuri whistled as the signal. 

Hearing that, the five thugs reflexively stopped in their tracks and stiffened. Above their heads, a large deluge of water gushed down from the rooftops on both sides. The water slid down the sloped roofs, ran over the edge in an arc,  and splashed onto the centre of the street, right on top of the thugs’ heads. 

The thugs had been distracted by the whistle and were only on their guard against their front. They were immediately soaked as if they had been caught in a downpour. For a moment they stared blankly at each other, unable to comprehend what had just happened. The next moment, they let out shrill screams and their bodies started to writhe. Their eyes were a bloodshot red, tears ran down their cheeks, and mucus dripped from their noses as they spat repeatedly onto the ground. Their eyes, noses, lips and skin were being assaulted by a sharp, stinging pain. They couldn’t open their eyes properly, let alone speak. 

“Let’s go!” 

Yuri leapt out from the shadows, and at the same time, drew his sword. The others followed behind him, their wooden sticks at the ready. 

Despite the pain and tears half-obscuring their vision, the thugs realised that, without them knowing it, the people of the lower quarter had appeared in front of them. They were too confused to discern how many of them there were, but they could tell that their attackers outnumbered them; that the youth leading the group was holding a sword, and that the others were pointing the tips of their sticks at them. They barely even realised they had been ambushed. 

They could have endured the pain and drawn their swords. But while they were blocked from the front, there was no one at their backs. When one of them realised this, he started to run, and the rest followed after him in a stampede. After all, there was no reason for them to risk their life in a show of stubbornness — they didn’t even stop to consider if it would anger their employer. 

Making inarticulate noises of pain, the men staggered as they ran away towards the citizens’ quarter. Yuri didn’t take his eyes off them until their figures grew small in the distance, and then he finally relaxed his shoulders and let out a deep breath. 

It was their first time doing such a thing, but it seemed to have gone well. From the rooftops on the left and right of the street, a dozen or so residents showed themselves and waved at him. Every two or three people held a large wooden bucket in their hands. That was where the water from before had come from. 

Almost simultaneously, a short cheer rang out from the streets and rooftops. They finally realised that they had won. 

Yuri looked at the people around him who were holding their sticks. They were all sweating out of nervousness, and some of them were still trembling. It was understandable. Aside from Yuri, very few of them were familiar with wielding a weapon — so much so that he was put in command despite his youth — and they didn’t have weapons to begin with. They were all worried about what would happen if the thugs persisted in fighting them. 

If push came to shove, Yuri had been prepared to step forward and face them head on. But even he had not fought a human before, and was not confident that he could take on all five opponents at the same time. 

“Whew. I feel like that just took a few years off my life.” 

One of the men who was holding a stick said with immense relief. 

“The ‘pesticide’ water was quite effective… After taking that much damage, that should keep them out of action for a while.”

Yuri poked a puddle of the water on the ground with the tip of his boot and said. They had mixed into the water all kinds of spices and irritants that they could get their hands on in the lower quarter. It was probably not life-threatening, but there was no doubt it would be extremely excruciating if it got into the eyes. 

“But this isn’t the end of it. They’ll probably send someone else over soon.” 

Another adult said gloomily. Yuri grimaced, but he didn’t argue. He knew full well that it was a valid point. 

Those thugs didn’t seem to have come from the capital, but from another city instead. They had appeared in the lower quarter a few days after the Grey Alleyways had been reduced to ashes by the inferno. 

It was clear their goal was to hinder the residents’ relocation to the area surrounding the fountain plaza. They destroyed vacant houses and took up residence in unoccupied buildings in the plaza. But rather than resorting to force to carry out the redevelopment, it looked like they were aiming to put psychological pressure on the residents instead. There were clearly too little of them if they really wanted to demolish the entirety of the lower quarter. 

At first, their actions seemed to be in accordance with what was stated in the proclamation, so Jiri and the others had refrained from interfering with them. But despite that, none of the residents had moved out of the district. And so the thugs must have received new orders, because they finally started interfering with the residents’ moving of houses, even tampering with the buildings that the residents lived in. 

Now that the residents themselves were being put at danger, the people of the lower quarter had no choice but to get rid of them. 

The residents had discussed ways of chasing the thugs off while avoiding bloodshed as much as possible, and today, these methods were being executed all over the lower quarter simultaneously. Right now, Jiri and Flynn were probably executing the same plan in their respective assigned locations. 

But the residents of the lower quarter were unaccustomed to carrying out such violent methods, and it weighed heavily on them. And there was no guarantee that repeating the same method would work again. Eventually they would reach a stalemate, and before that happened, it seemed unavoidable that many heavy sacrifices would have to be made.

How were they going to get out of this difficult situation they found themselves in? Like one of the adults pointed out earlier, even if they chased away five men, another five men would be sent to the lower quarter right away. Or maybe the next time it would be ten men instead, or even a hundred men. 

The euphoria from the success of the operation faded away, and Yuri raised his head to look at the sky. If only the answer was written there. 

But of course, the sky was only the sky, and there was no revelation to be found up there. 

****

“He probably won’t give up.” 

They were at ‘My Home’ eating dinner at the table, when Jiri said. Hanks was absent, and she was the only adult there. Yuri, a few people older than him, and the children sat around the dining table, eating.  

“I don’t know what his ultimate goal is, but it seems like that Godonan person is incredibly obsessed with the fountain.”

All around the lower quarter today, their counterattack had ended successfully. Despite that, no one was in the mood to celebrate their victory, because they all knew it was only a temporary one. 

Godonan’s name was now well known throughout the lower quarter. Flynn had ended up telling Hanks and Jiri about what the Scholar had told him — after agonising over it, he had come to the conclusion that keeping silent would count as a betrayal as well. Though after that, the thugs that had appeared kept calling out Godonan’s name with no intention of hiding it, and it wasn’t long before his name became well known in the lower quarter. Godonan’s title was no longer that of head of investigation, but that of the administrator for all of the districts in the lower quarter. 

But either way, that didn’t mean Flynn’s anguish had disappeared. Today too, he hadn’t said much. Trying to talk to him only resulted in the bare minimum of responses, and it felt like his mind was somewhere else. Even now he was eating in silence, acting all depressed. 

The situation was dire, and showed no signs of improving. 

“But we can’t keep doing stuff like what we did today. We have to find a way to stop them, for real.” 

Unable to suppress his frustration for the bleak future that lay ahead of them, Yuri said. Jiri popped a piece of chicken into her mouth and crunched down on it, bones and all. Despite being food she had made herself, rather than savouring the taste, it seemed more like she was taking out her anger on it. She chewed on it for a while until she was satisfied, and then swallowed. She looked up at the ceiling and muttered. 

“Yeah…”

Yuri, Flynn, and the other children present all stopped what they were doing and waited for Jiri to continue. 

Suddenly, the sound of a door rang out. Everyone’s eyes snapped to where the sound came from. 

“Hey, hey, is this really the time to be eating leisurely?” 

Jiri turned to glare at the speaker, but her gaze had no heat in it. 

“Did you forget the rules, Jareth? Those who don’t come back on time don’t get dinner.” 

“Nah, I’m good, Aunt Jiri. I’ve already eaten.” 

Jareth only shrugged lightly without a hint of guilt on his face. In front of the children — who, disturbed by the disquieting aura he was giving off, stayed silent — Jareth walked over to the dining table and picked up one of the plates of food. The bracelet on his wrist made a harsh, jangling sound. 

“Ha, same as always. I’ve eaten better food.” 

Saying that, he put the plate down, and looked around at the children. 

“Don’t you guys want to eat something better?” 

“Jareth,” Jiri said coldly. “That’s enough.” 

But Jareth ignored her as if to say he didn’t care. He walked around the room until he was in a position where everyone could see him, and then he turned around and spread his arms wide open. 

“Let’s get out of this crappy place, everyone. Let’s all go to the ‘other side of the wall’ together.”

“What are you talking about?” 

Jareth shook his head smilingly at Yuri’s words, as if demonstrating his immense patience and tolerance for the dim-witted Yuri. 

“Didn’t you read the proclamation? They’re giving us a ton of money and we get to start a new life, y’know? We can go to the citizens’ quarter, where there won’t be cracks in walls or leaks in roofs. Where we won’t have to worry about getting water. Where we can get proper jobs and buy whatever we want to. Where we won’t be ridiculed.” 

“It’s not like our lives will magically get easier if we move to the citizens’ quarter. And besides, the idea of living near the nobles or the Imperial Knights gives me the creeps.” 

“You just don’t get it. Either way this whole area is going to be demolished. It doesn’t matter if you stay behind or not. Do you know what’s buried under here? More stuff like that fountain. They’re going to dig them all out and make them usable again. There won’t be a trace of the lower quarter left.” 

Jareth paused to wait for everyone’s response, as if saying, Now that I’ve said this much, you understand, right? The children looked at each other anxiously. But the one who spoke was Jiri. 

“‘So accept the money gratefully before you end up crying tears of regret’… Did Godonan tell you that?” 

“This has nothing to do with Lord Godonan. I’m saying this for everyone’s sake. So please, Aunt Jiri, don’t insist on being stubborn. If you and Grandpa Hanks say the word, I know everyone will obey. It’s not too late. We can still make it if you do it now.” 

At first Jareth sounded offended by Jiri’s words, but by the latter half of his speech his words sounded like a sincere plea. 

Maybe he was genuinely concerned about the future of the lower quarter in his own way. But the way he passionately advocated for them to move to the citizens’ quarter was undeniably like that of someone from the ‘other side of the wall’. From the perspective of the lower quarter, he looked like nothing more than a spokesperson for the nobles. 

Noticing the looks everyone was giving him, Jareth stopped talking. His friendly smile vanished, and a look akin to desperation appeared in its place. 

“Idiots. They all reacted the same way. They’re all hopeless idiots that can’t be saved.” 

“Jareth, wait.” 

But as if to spurn Jiri’s words, Jareth left, leaving behind an atmosphere of indescribable awkwardness in the room. Without taking his eyes off the door, Yuri spoke. 

“Don’t tell me, is he going around and repeating what he just said to everyone?” 

“It looks to be that way. ‘Lord Godonan’, he said.” 

Jiri’s words were mixed in with a sigh. She looked both exasperated and sad at the same time. 

“Now then, inadvertently or not, Godonan’s objective has been revealed to us. It looks like it won’t be just the fountain, but everywhere around here that will be redecorated — to suit not our tastes, but the nobles’. That’s some immense capriciousness.” 

“……Isn’t this just Godonan’s personal agenda? That he’s taking advantage of the census to hijack it?” 

Flynn, who had been maintaining his silence up until now, spoke up. 

“That’s a possibility. But even if that were the case, we have no proof to back it up.” 

Only if we play by the rules, right, Yuri began to say, but then stopped himself. This wasn’t something they could talk about in front of the children. 

“If we report it to the government authorities or the Imperial Knights, they might perform an investigation.”

“Are you serious? The government officials are his pawns. In the first place, they’re the ones investigating what’s going on down here in the lower quarter. As for the knights, do you really think they’d do anything for us?” 

As Yuri said that, he remembered the friendly and good-natured knight uncle he had met in the past, but he pushed that thought aside. He couldn’t imagine there were many knights like that uncle. And besides, that uncle was — most likely — no longer there. 

“…Even so, we won’t know until we try.” 

Flynn glared at Yuri. Suddenly, Yuri felt like he recognised that look in Flynn’s eyes. What was it? He didn’t know, but it reminded him of a different memory. Of rain. At night, in the rain. When a blond boy paid the knights a visit for the sake of his mother. The two of them, drenched in rain. 

Back then, too, Flynn had known it was pointless, but he had still bet on that one-in-a-million chance. He couldn’t help but do so. And now, he was showing that same emotion on his face. 

“Yeah, maybe.” 

Yuri looked down and said quietly. Jiri looked at the two of them thoughtfully, but said nothing. The children didn’t know what to say or do, and continued eating in silence. 

Conversation at the dining table ceased, and only the sound of eating could be heard, filling the room with an ominous atmosphere. 

Prev | Index | Next

[goalexstark]

Ok so one aspect of Ben’s heel turns that is interesting and I hope gets explored in the upcoming miniseries (Steven foxe actually likes Ben and is the one writing it) is that they both occur in reaction to his autonomy being severely violated.

Yes I will elaborate

His turn as the jackal comes from Warren physically torturing him to death multiple times and forcibly bringing him back against his will and his current status as Chasm comes from beyond violating his mind to the point where his own face in the mirror is something he can’t see. (don’t even get me started on how “he willingly trusted them” is a dubious claim at best. They would have had to calibrate that helmet specifically for his brainwaves and they’re a corporation. They would not do this if they didn’t think they could get away with it.)

This all leads into what I think keeps driving Ben into these heel turns is : an inability to admit when he isn’t in control. In order for him to actually heal (and not just have the symptoms fade), he’d have to actually process and face what’s been done to him for what it was. Which also means he would need to rely on someone else. that’s a tough ask to make of someone whose formative years were spent on the run alone without a consistent support system. who has had his trust taken advantage of on a pretty consistent basis. I’m mostly drawing from some of the lost years and the clone conspiracy tie ins (there’s literally a bit where ock calls him out on how the “cellular degeneration is to keep you in line” thing is bullshit to make him seem in control of things in issue #20. Also reading issue #24 and #22 with lost years issue 0 in mind makes it a great way to close out Ben and warrens relationship.)

His need to seem in control also drives his worst actions during both events too. At the end of clone conspiracy instead of admitting what actually happened, (ock’s vindictive bullshit causing Ben and everyone else to start decaying to dust) his need to seem in control causes him to double down and spread it in the vain belief that he can just revive them later.

Dark web has this too, though it’s harder to see since wells is a shitty writer who needs Madelyn to be the “hero” of the event (don’t get me started on how suspiciously similar Ben’s hallucination and the nightmare that caused her to make that deal are. Seriously don’t) after Ben’s tree rots, just when he’s been abandoned and (at least to him) soon to be discarded and locked up, Janine arrives with Madelyn’s scythe. Right there js the key to keeping them from being separated, from being locked away and forgotten. Peter might have his memories but they’ll have the city and a whole dimension. If they surrender, they’ll be arrested and separated at best so why not go all the way?

All of this leads to the upcoming two issues. ASM #47 and #48, followed by the miniseries (which will hopefully get a full series). Based on the covers and previews, Ben and Janine have reunited and have someone supposedly there to help Ben with his memories who Janine doesn’t trust. Based on the recap text, they likely have to use Peter for part of the restoration. Issue 48 only has the cover but unlike issue 47, Janine is nowhere to be seen. Based on the previews and the fact that the cover shows spidey and Ben fighting, I’m assuming the process fails and something happens to Janine, peter tries to talk but fucks it up (seriously though he sucks at talking to Ben and Janine) and Ben fights/lashes out at him but loses, leading into Chasm curse of Kaine.

Chasm curse of kaine will likely involve his efforts to continue after this devastating defeat. He’s likely to double down and play up the “monster with no remorse or conscience” angle (think faith in 5 by 5) but Kaine knows him better than anyone, even Peter. If anyone can see through Ben’s bullshit, it’s him. Cue them doing an enemy mine (bc they’re bound to have at least one instance of it.)/Kaine helping him get Janine back.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that there is a route to take his character that can make it work. Maybe not perfectly, but there is a way to tie things together and make a path forward to something new.

[therealslimshakespeare]

What got you into writing/how long have you been writing?

What’s your writing inspiration?

Do you write in silence or need background sounds? Like music?

Do you struggle more with dialogue or detail?

Any tips for someone who wants to write fanfiction?

How do you differ all your OC’s so you don’t rewrite the same characters over and over?

Do you do research?

— from someone who would love to write their own stories lol but yours are great!

My darling. So many apologies for how tardy I’ve been in replying to this, I really wanted to give it due thought because I’m quite touched you’d even ask.

1: I’ve been writing since I was little, my mama was always reading me classics and my greatest ambition was to be some kind of author every bit as colorful as their characters, a la Oscar Wilde. 🥳

2. Writing inspiration? Oh that’s a hard one only in that I could cite a million things and chat your poor ear off, but to be boring and also frank -I just love stories. I think they’re so inspiring and healing and necessary for making sense of things, or else resigning to things that can’t be explained. I love to study love and how very human and fallible and also indestructible it is in its many forms. I love to dig through tragedy and find the refining purpose of it, I love to take characters through hells I’ve been through so that I can imagine their triumphs, too, and my own through them. If this can happen to -name your hero- then I’m no smaller for it happening to me, if -name your hero- can get through it and be loved and admired by a whole fandom? -I deserve the same commendation from myself at the very least. Stories are essential and fun and I never ever imagined I’d have a little group one day liking my own where we could all scream about these things together. I’m legit so humbled each time I log on here and find y’all ready and waiting and interactive. The community of it, that’s the biggest drive right now, tbh. What a sweet season.

3. I usually write in silence, or else at any chance where I have a moment, so that could be public transport or lunch breaks or in the loo during family holidays, ha. However I do find music to be an inspiring mood setter for writing later that day. Especially as i juggle many ongoing projects at once, the genre im listening to before may very well influence what gets worked on.

4. Detail!! Dialogue can be challenging but I hear it so clearly in my head most of the time that it’s not hard. Details can devastate me.

5. Ooof, I still feel like I’m a baby at it, this is only my second fandom to dare for. I’d say for sure write what you find inspiring instead of what appears to be wanted, i firmly believe that’s the only sure way to keep up any inspiration and the niche will draw its own crowd, one’s who will like it all the better for its specially crafted world. Also, for dialogue -replay and replay dialogue from the character before you write. Are they terse or do they ramble? Are they sarcastic or earnest? Do they have a word they repeat often? -I noticed the other day how Rosenthal uses “you know?” often in the show. Also, sometimes switch up sentence structure from character to character, it helps feel like hopping brains without a fully jarring POV change. All these are things I’m currently working at myself, but that’s the best I’ve got for advice.

6. Oh boy I’m still figuring this out myself. Three things come to mind as little helps I use- first off, read real biographies, it helps tremendously with crafting fully dimensional fictional people. Two -have a maturing arc for your OC during the story, separate from whatever adventure or romance that occurs, this will make it feel less like a inserted person into the broader story. Three, choose a personality type or something similar to both keep them separate from the next but also to ensure their virtues have corresponding vices.

7. I do research a lot. But I find that it’s a fine line for myself of when that drains all creativity or bravery. Im massively indebted to so many mutuals who generously share their own with me.

[hekateinhell]

we don't talk about Riccardo at Trinity Gate often enough, what's his role there? How does it go? What happens when Marius visits?

Three questions in one, I love it. 🥹 Let's break this into two parts:

What's Riccardo's role at Trinity Gate and how does it go?

These are the three mentions of Riccardo at Trinity Gate that we get in the last trilogy:

The other ghosts hung back. And one of them, a very personable young male, rather husky, with dark olive skin and curling black hair, appeared to have been weeping. I couldn’t help notice that Armand was almost directly behind him and rather close to him.

Armand went with them, his arm around the dark-haired ghost, the ghost who had been weeping, and the door was closed.

And that male ghost who’d come to Trinity Gate, bringing tears from Armand, the one called Riccardo?

By my read, it feels intentional on Anne's part to have what appears to this big healing moment for both Armand and Riccardo's spirit occur at Trinity Gate. Trinity Gate is where Armand and Louis started healing, separately and together. It's where Daniel goes to give his relationship with Armand another go.

To wax poetic: Trinity Gate is a place of solace and second chances. They're vampires, they have forever (or they think they do) to fix what went wrong. But immortality is going to be pretty lonely if you keep putting off those difficult conversations and keeping others at bay! (*ahem* Armand and Marius; Armand and Lestat; Marius and Pandora).

Wow, so deep... 🤧

What happens when Marius visits?

SPEAKING OF MARIUS.

I know we (me) talk a lot about Armand's trauma and why XYZ explains his behavior, and how he's grown so much through XYZ so he's not the original toxic, manipulative villain that Anne wrote in IWTV and TVL, (drop an AR/VC quote for citation), it's my fave character development arc, blah blah....

BUT I don't think we (me) talk enough about Marius's trauma and how that informs his behavior and why it can also explain XYZ. Mostly because I don't have a reason to do so -- it doesn't usually factor into the things I obsess about when the vampire ADD kicks in.

I think it's necessary here though, if we're talking about Armand, Riccardo, and Marius. We know in B&G that Marius referred to Venice as his "Perfect Time"; we know how deeply he loved the boys in his care, how much he wanted to provide for them and offer them a good life; we know the guilt and devastation he felt following what happened with the Children of Darkness, and how he blamed himself for not destroying Santino when he had the chance.

I posted it here before, but like imagine how Marius felt when/if he read TVA and found out exactly how Riccardo died? Marius loved all the boys. Yes, Amadeo was special and the love was very different, but they were all Marius's children in a way. By his own account -- his responsibility; he loved them, he tried to save them.

I went off on a tangent but back to your question... I think that Riccardo's presence could also serve as a balm to Marius's soul the way it does Armand's. Of course it's not the same -- Riccardo being there for Armand is more in line with forgiveness, forgiveness for the horrible way in which he died. Riccardo being there for Marius looks more as just a simple comfort, a reminder of that Perfect Time. And I think that, in turn, can serve as a common ground for Armand and Marius to mend their relationship further and heal the old wounds that span five hundred years.

One thing I noticed in B&G is that Marius never once referred to Armand as "Armand," it's "Amadeo" all the way through to the present day. Someone once made a comment somewhere that Lestat and Louis need a common muse, a common ground, to have any kind of functional relationship. I think Riccardo, at least temporarily, could be part of that common ground/common muse for Armand and Marius. He could help bridge the gap between Amadeo and Armand for Marius, as well as the gap between the Marius of now and the Marius of Venice for Armand.

*I don't even know if I answered your question and I'm sorry, I've just been emotional over Marius lately and I blame you 100%. 🫠

[more-better-words]

This was supposed to be a one off thing, but this is part three! And now I'm thinking there's going to at least be a part 4! I blame all of you for this! (you know who you are)

(thank you friends ☺️)

Parts 1 and 2

It had been occurring more and more often lately - whenever Trip and T'Pol parted company, one of them would offer the other their right hand, first two fingers extended, and they would briefly touch their fingertips before going their separate ways. It was a quick gesture, sometimes so fast you had to be looking for it to see it happen, but when it happened as T'Pol rose to return to the bridge, Malcolm saw his in.

"So what's that about?" he asked, cultivating a casual air as one would a bed of flowers. Trip, his fork halfway to his mouth, shrugged.

"It's a Vulcan thing."

"Obviously."

Trip, chewing, did not seem inclined to expand, and Malcolm realized this wasn't going be as easy as he'd hoped. "So I take the answer to my question regarding your intentions has changed?"

"Last time I checked, you're still not her father."

Malcolm fixed him with a narrow, reproving look. "Oh, come on! If you can't tell me-"

"What's there to tell, Malcolm?"

"Well, the hand thing is new."

Trip sighed, setting down his fork. "Look, things were...complicated with me and T'Pol, and-"

"Understatement," Malcolm muttered into his coffee cup. Trip glared.

"And they're not now! At least...not that kind of complicated." He glanced down at his plate, a little smile stealing across his face. "We're good, her and me. Really good." He looked up. "And I don't wanna jinx it, so you'll have to forgive me if I leave it at that, okay?"

"Alright." Malcolm raised his hands in surrender. "You've made your point."

"Anyway," Trip said, gathering up his dishes, "I got a list of re-calibrations as long as my arm waitin' for me down in Engineering, but if I get 'em knocked out, I should be done in time for the movie tonight. It's The Sea Hawk, right? Swashbuckler...right up your alley." He grinned. "See ya round, Malcolm."

Malcolm leaned back in his chair, stewing. The direct approach had been his best bet to get a clean, aboveboard win, and that had just failed miserably. And Hoshi had a powerful weapon on her side, one that Malcolm knew was capable of devastating results - Little Sister Mode. She'd bat her eyelashes and it'd be all over. No, if he wanted to win this, he was going to have to resort to dirty tricks.

There was nothing for it. He was going to have to get his best friend blind drunk.

[mackmp3]

scrolling your blog is like talking with an old wise family friend that you only see once every seven years that was your great aunt’s unofficial ex husband and they’re no longer together but they’re still in love and he starts a conversation with you that consists mainly of him telling a story of his youth in a way that completely alters your way of thinking and his voice reminds you of cicadas and he smells like cigarettes and cinnamon and you desperately wanna know what kind of music he listens to and it occurs very suddenly that you understand the reason why your great aunt married him and why she’s still in love with him decades after their separation and you think you might’ve fallen a bit in love with him too and when he dies a few months later you don’t shed any tears but a part of you is devastated that you’ll never get to tell him how much he’s affected you and you’ll never be able to remember the exact words exchanged during that conversation in a living room with dull pink carpet and warm laughs being passed around like a memory but you’ll remember the way he spoke like every word was his last and he was gonna make them count no matter how seemingly insignificant they were to someone who had the time to spare

atlas thats the loveliest thing ever oh my gosh i. i cant even put in words how sweet that is thank you <3 thank you <3