#twilight is sometimes

[occasionallyprosie]

The Look of the Hero

Chapter 2: "Restraint"

Sky didn't expect Warriors to be the one who emerged after Time went to check on him and their still-injured veteran, he expected what the captain informed him and Twilight of next... Why, exactly, was he expected to not make an example of this man who hurt his little brother?

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“How is he?” Sky demanded as soon as Warriors came downstairs.

“He woke up,” the war hero reported, looking over them. “I got him to go back to sleep, and had the Old Man sit in with him.”

That was surprising. Normally, Warriors didn’t relinquish his place in vigil of their injured young heroes until forced, especially not during the night. It’d taken Sky and Twilight hours to convince Wind, Wild, Hyrule, and Four to go onto bed. Lady Purah had given them housing for the evening, she had a rather large house, Sky would wager she was from an old, known family.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked, eyes narrowing. “You’d never give up watch like that.”

He wasn’t the only one who found Legend’s actions in that infirmary extremely out of character, and extremely dangerous. He had, first of all, knelt at the feet of a man while severely injured, and more than that, he left the infirmary without taking so much as a potion.

Sky had never seen Legend act… subordinate, but the way he treated the elder was more like a soldier than anything he’d ever seen from Warriors. It rubbed him the wrong way. He hoped Warriors had good news.

“Elder’s a piece of shit,” Warriors spat venomously. He grabbed his sword from the table. “He hit him.”

Sky froze, he heard Twilight snarl.

“S’cuse me?” Twilight growled.

Warriors met his eyes, both of them looked absolutely murderous. “That’s not even the worst of it, Rancher. He said he trusts us, so I’ll tell you what he told me.”

Sky stood from the seating mat and walked over, waiting expectantly.

“It’s been going on since the kid was on his first adventure, I don’t know how old he was exactly, but I know it’s the majority of his life. Did you know he’s Sheikah by blood?”

He frowned. No, he hadn’t. Other than his eyes, red as blood and flame, Sky would have never guessed.

Warriors nodded. “Yeah, and turns out the elder didn’t like that. He’s worn contacts most his life, apparently red isn’t the color of a hero.” Warriors was glaring at the door, a silver fire burning in his eyes.

“Kit’s not the type to take orders like that,” Twilight pointed out.

“No, he isn’t,” Sky agreed. “What’s the elder got? Power?”

“In a way. He has authority and control.”

They all jumped, their host stood in the doorway to the next room over, beside her was a slightly shorter woman who definitely seemed older too.

“Lady Purah, did we wake you?” Warriors asked, his fury tempered.

Sky glanced at the woman behind Purah.

“No, we’ve been up,” Purah said. “Sahasrahla is the elder, and therefore he has control of the entire tribe. Every Sheikah, from warrior to infant, fall under his leadership and would do almost anything at his command. My… Link is no exception, neither are the shadow warriors.”

“Link isn’t—it ain’t like him to just fall in line,” Twilight insisted.

Purah’s expression softened. “It isn’t, is it? Or is the Link you know just holding onto what control of his life he does have, because he knows that here, he loses it all? There’s a reason I was surprised to see Link arrive with all of you, and it wasn’t because of your conditions.”

“Almost ten years ago, Link was commanded by the elder to hide his heritage and his true self,” the other woman informed them. “Almost ten years ago, my sister lost her only child. One blessed to her by the goddess of life herself.”

“What?” Sky stared at them. “You’re—You’re his family?”

Purah looked away. “Some years ago, there was a little boy I could claim as my own, but in recent years, it was explicitly forbidden unto me to do such a thing.” Her gaze hardened as she looked back at them. “The only soul who can rescind such a thing is the elder, and it need not be the same elder who established such a thing… On a separate note, my older sister here is Impa,” she gestured to the woman at her side, “and is who is set to succeed Sahasrala as the elder, should he… retire."

Sky couldn't believe it. If he understood it correctly, this was Legend's mother. A mother who had been forced to disown her son, who Legend had been forced to no longer acknowledge as family--who even could he see as family? Did he have one? Or did he just become an orphan with nobody to look after him?

Sky looked over at Twilight and Warriors. He wondered if they caught the implications that Purah had set before them. Based on the burning in their eyes, the fire in Warriors and the ice in Twilight, they knew exactly what had been told to them, and what solution was set before them.

"Other than being forbidden from it, did the elder threaten you?" Warriors asked.

Impa answered that. "He threatened Link. Should we step out of line, he would send the warriors after him. Link has become strong, but when this began, he wouldn't have survived the entire force hunting him. He barely survived the hyrulean army hunting him."

"He threatened us with exile as well," Purah added. "But that was more to keep Link in line than us."

"He... He didn't respond very well when I said his name," Warriors added. Sky looked over in surprise. He what? "Is... Is that another thing forced onto him?"

Oh that elder was so dead.

Neither Sheikah answered.

"No," Purah said eventually, "But children are not usually called by their names by those older than them, a cultural thing, they're known as their parent's child until they become adults.”

"So him being called his name..."

"Would be a damnation," Impa confirmed. "I wouldn't be surprised if it is a point of pain for him, especially considering all he has been through."

Sky took a careful breath. "Captain," he turned to Warriors, "you came down here for a reason."

Warriors nodded. "It may be a bit late for a man of his age, but we need to... talk with the elder."

"Thank Ordona you's was plannin' on it," Twilight said, "ain't no one gonna get away with hurtin' my Kit."

On their way over, Warriors told them exactly what Legend said the Elder had done. Sky was left to try and keep a hold on his temper as they arrived.

Warriors knocked on the front door to the elder's home, the guards had let them through when they insisted on 'important hero business' and stuff.

Luckily--stupidly, Sky corrected--they were let inside and the elder was there to speak with them.

Sky eyed the old man. Sahasrahla, he was pretty sure. First of all, who named their child that? Normally he didn't judge people's names on principle, considering how often he'd had his own name insulted, but Sahasrahla? Really? Secondly... Sky wanted to know if something more physical was preventing Legend from just killing the guy for hurting him and his mother and aunt.

"How can I help you, heroes?" Sahasrahla asked.

"We had a few questions about Link, actually," Warriors said. Sky let him take the lead on talking, and it seemed Twilight was of the same mind. If he tried to control the conversation, the conversation wouldn't last long. "How long have you known him?"

"Ah, most his life, but he is a young man. Hard not to."

A vague answer.

"Do you know anything about his family?"

"I believe he has an uncle and grandparents on the farm east of here, why do you ask?"

A lie. Clearly a lie if the fact that Purah was Legend's mother was true.

Warriors frowned. "Sir, I am going to need you to be completely honest with me. I have three questions for you."

"Of course. Ask away, hero."

"Why did you make Link follow you out of the infirmary while he was clearly injured?"

"Ah, you see, I have been needing to speak with Link about matters of the utmost importance. It was prudent that we spoke immediately, before he took off again. You have been traveling with him, he is quite the fast-paced young man, always running off somewhere new. It was only a few minutes."

Sky tried to restrain his scowl. That gave no excuse to take an injured man from the infirmary prior to treatment, especially not considering, if Sky remembered right, Legend had multiple broken ribs and a sprained ankle, and a deep cut in his arm.

"Mhm, right," Warriors mused. "And why, pray tell, couldn't it wait until he was at least treated for his injuries? Those few minutes could've been the difference between life and death, Elder Sahasrahla."

"Clearly he is fine, and like I said, it was of the utmost importance--"

"You’re kidding," Sky snarled, his patience shattering. "He had two--"

"Three."

"--three broken ribs, that alone requires bed rest for multiple days, even with potions, no conversation is worth risking someone's life to have it."

Twilight spoke up. "Las' question. What made ya think you had the right ta not only strip him of his identity and heritage, forbid his family from claimin' him, threaten them all with each other to force them ta never acknowledge each other... but also raise a hand to him?"

"You think we wouldn't notice the split lip?" Warriors asked lowly, blocking the elder's way of escape. "You think we didn't notice the brand new bruise on his face? How many times have you hurt him like that?"

"You have no right to interfere," the elder snapped, a harsh look in his eyes. "That boy is doing his duty as the hero. The goddess has set certain expectations and as her servants, we must ensure they are met."

"The goddess?" Warriors lunged and stopped Sky from attacking the old man. "You dare--"

Sahasrahla scoffed, as if Sky wasn't being physically restrained from killing him. "I am a servant of the golden goddess, and her will is mine to enforce. Link is a disgrace unto her legacy, and the legacy of heroes--"

"Rancher no!"

Warriors couldn't move from restraining Sky fast enough to stop Twilight from slugging the elder in the face, sending him to the ground.

"The kid said not to hurt him!" Warriors reminded them, pushing Twilight back, and that was the only reason Sky didn't immediately follow Twilight's punch with his own. "He said not to hurt them--Sky."

Sky stood above the elder, whose face was becoming covered in blood from his broken nose. He was beginning to push himself up, clearly stronger than his age would suggest.

"Sky, don’t--"

Sahasrahla froze as the Master Sword was embedded into the wood beside his face. Sky crouched down to look him in the eyes.

"You are so lucky that Link asked us not to hurt you," he said lowly. "But don’t take this act of mercy and respect for Link as grace and allowance to continue what you've done. Because this? This isn't the will of the goddess."

Sahasrahla laughed, strained and a bit panicked. "Really? You’re not even hylian. How can you claim to know the will of the goddess better than the Elder of the Sheikah?"

"I am the Chosen Hero of the Goddess, I forged the Master Sword, traveled through time, defeated the demon lord in combat--I killed the god of hatred. You want to talk about knowing Hylia and her will? If my wife was here right now, I would not be the one daring you to try my patience here, she would. And she would be far less merciful than I."

Sky saw the blood drain from Sahasrahla's face.

Good.

"I am human, yes. But you know? Hylia still chose me, she chose my spirit to be her hero. And," he nodded over at Warriors and Twilight, "she chose my spirit again, and again, and again. These men are my descendants, not in blood but in spirit, and so is Link."

Twilight, no longer held back by Warriors, came closer and crouched down. He snarled, teeth bared almost feral-like.

"And if ya can't tell, we happen ta be just a bit protective of the younger ones. Ya hurt him, Sahasrahla. We don’t take kindly to child abusers."

Sky felt his lips tug into a sort of vicious grin.

"No we don’t," Warriors agreed. "So consider yourself lucky that Link--"

The door slammed open.

"Stop! Don’t--"

"Link wait!"

Sky looked back, Legend--in just his black tunic, no shoes, arm wrapped in bandages, leg wrapped too--stood in the doorway, wide eyes flicking from Warriors, to Sahasrahla, to the Master Sword, to Sky, and then to Twilight, and back again. They stopped on Warriors.

"You said you wouldn't hurt him," he said.

Sky never heard Legend sound so... small, so young.

Purah ran up beside Legend, grabbing his hand. "Link, please. They wouldn't kill him--"

Time also came up the steps, stopping at the top a few feet behind Purah and Legend.

"Captain, you said--"

Warriors crossed the entryway and reached for Legend, Sahasrahla tried to move but Sky shot him a sharp glare and Twilight snarled, silencing the man.

"I know," Warriors soothed. "I did. We won't kill him, we won't hurt him badly either--The Rancher's temper got the best of him, and the Chosen's a bit... threatening. It's okay though. We won't kill him."

"There's worse fates than death," Legend said quietly, Sky barely heard him.

He felt a bit bad, and looking over at Twilight they shared that little guilt. But from what Warriors had said, what Purah and Impa said, and how Sahasrahla spoke...

"I know, I know, kid. You said you trust me, right?"

"I-I do, but--"

"Then trust me. It'll be alright. We have it handled... We won't kill him this time--No, listen to me."

Legend shut his mouth.

"Listen. You do understand that what he's done, what has happened, to you and your family, is wrong, right?" Warriors asked gently. "We can't just let it slide, kid. We won't kill him, not this time, but we'll make sure he understands that we can and will do so if he doesn't fix his act."

"Captain..."

Warriors gestured behind Legend's shoulder, Sky saw it and saw Time quickly move forward, pulling Legend back.

"Just trust us, go back to your home, get some rest... it'll be handled by morning."

"You... You swear you won't kill him?"

"Not this time, only if he refuses to learn," Warriors promised.

Sky watched Time try to pull Legend back, but the younger hero didn't budge, still staring past Warriors at them.

Purah was the one who got him to move. She pulled him by the hand and he startled, looking at her. He didn't hear what she said, or understand what shapes her mouth made, but what he did know was that Legend looked close to tears as he gave them one last glance and let her pull him away.

Warriors had gone rigid though, he closed the door again with a nod to Time, and turned slowly.

"Sky."

Sky nodded, he pulled the Master Sword from the wooden floor, Sahasrahla looked terrified.

"Wait! Wait you can't--"

"We can." Sky corrected coldly. "We will. The only reason we haven't is because Link asked us not to."

"But even that ain't gonna protect you forever," Twilight added. "Ya hear him? This time. So listen up."

"You'll resign," Warriors said, walking back over to them, "you'll retire from being the elder. Them, you won't bother Link again, you won't bother him or Lady Purah. If they speak to you, you will respond kindly, otherwise you do not bother them."

"Understand us?" Sky demanded, sword still hovering over his face. "We have our ways of time travel, don't think we won't come back to make sure you're staying in line."

Legend had paced the entry hall, waiting for them to come back. He knew he shouldn’t have said anything, but he thought—He said they wouldn’t hurt him! They had no right, no reason to injure Sahasrahla like that. Especially looking like they did, the way Sky had been glaring at the elder, the way Twilight snarled at him, he knew first hand that Twilight’s ire was not fun to be on the other side of.

“Link—“ Purah tried to make him stop, make him rest, but how could he?

They were trying to fix his problems, in his era, and likely making things worse. They were heroes, revered and respected, especially by the Sheikah who were ecstatic to learn they were in the company of the Anointed, Chosen Hero of the Goddess. But would that prevent those same people from attacking them and defending their elder? Not to mention…

The door slid open, and the three older heroes returned. Legend forced his emotions down to level a glare at them.

"He gave his word," Warriors said. "If he doesn't adhere to it..."

"Then I'd be more than happy to force his hand," Sky offered, a dark look in his eyes.

"You're all idiots," Legend snapped. “Why would you--What even--Why?"

Twilight snorted, he moved over and squeezed his shoulder as he passed by him. ���'Cause you're our kid brother, kit. It's s'our job to protect ya, t'do what we can to make your life better. 'Course we ain't able to do much, but what we can do, we will do."

“You—" He floundered. How did one respond to that?! “What does threatening him even help?!”

"Either he resigns or..." Twilight shrugged. "Like the Captain said, we'll handle it. Ya Ian’t gotta worry about it."

"I'll worry about what I want! You can't just-just—You can’t…”

“Why not?” Sky asked, unclipping his sailcloth.

“Because! Y-You’re—“ he was getting flustered.

Twilight was still behind him but he could see how Purah and Impa looked concerned, the former more obvious than the latter. Sky and Warriors were in front of him, Warriors taking off his armor—why had he gone wearing armor if he wasn’t going to fight—while Sky gave him a rather sad look.

“You’re not supposed to be…”

“You’re not supposed to need help?” Warriors said, far too much understanding in his eyes. That same look that had Legend agreeing to trust him. “Everyone needs help sometimes, kid. It’s harder for us heroes, everyone expects us to be perfect and fit into whatever they think the hero should be, so we think we can’t accept help, but that’s exactly why we should help each other while we can. Nobody is ever going to understand the struggles of being a hero like another hero can."

Legend clicked his jaw shut, clenching his hand into a fist. He heard footsteps retreat, but he honestly didn’t know who left the room.

“Like the Rancher said,” Sky hummed, “we’re brothers. Brothers of bloodshed, by arms raised, through hardships… no matter what, that means we got your back, and that anyone who hurts you will have to face the consequences of their actions.”

Warriors added, “Especially when you refuse to administer them yourself, and they show no remorse for what they did to you.”

He stared at them. Sky stepped toward him and to his surprise, wrapped his sailcloth around Legend.

“Zelda would have killed him.”

His jaw dropped, but a piercing, electric look stopped him from saying anything.

“He hit you, he threatened you and your family to control you, had my Zelda been here and seen how he didn’t even feel regret for his actions, not even a little bit… Idiotic men in power hurting the good-hearted kids just trying to do what was right…” 

There was a slight glaze in Sky’s eyes, something that was a little offsetting. He didn’t look all himself, his eyes—normally a soft blue—were far paler, nearly an icy frosted blue. In the same moment, they returned to normal… Those eyes though… that was the look of a hero, he realized. The soft kindness, the flickering, undenied righteous anger, the power and assurance…

Sky had the look of a hero.

“Zelda would have killed him on the spot, and the only reason I didn’t do the same is because you asked us not to kill him… I’ll only extend that mercy once.”

Legend bit his tongue, looking down briefly before dragging his eyes back up and just nodding. He didn’t trust his voice, he wasn’t sure he trusted that their actions would bring any positive results and not just horrible consequences, but he trusted them… and that would need to be good enough.

“Come on, you need to get some rest,” Warriors said softly, he couldn’t find it in him to fight against them.

[xyl4-4444]

Dumping these doodles bcus Twilight Forest is STILL a GOATED Minecraft mod

[luckylectio]

A fairy's aid ✨

[edwardsdeathcabcd]

i've said it before but it will forever and always make me insane that jacob's ending is to join the cullens for the sake of bella not having to give anything up. they find out jake will be immortal & tied to renesmee forever, so bella gets to smile & say "my family is finally complete! ^-^" but jake already HAS a family. he has a father and 2 sisters. quil, embry, seth and sam are like his brothers. jacob and leah were planning to run away together. he's always been welcome in emily's home, sue has been a family friend since before his birth. bella abandons her mortality by choice because she feels no connection to the people around her, but jacob has really strong bonds. it's clear that every character we meet in la push is like family to him, he's an active member of the community. jake would've graduated high school and been a mechanic, would've grown into a young man. a good friend, a fun uncle, a present son. he's set up to have such a rich life. and he's just magically compelled to give that up. beyond his control, he loses sight of everything, because his high school crush's baby is now the singular most important thing to him. he's perpetually 18 with his perpetually 18 year old girlfriend, running around vancouver or alaska or wherever with the girl who friendzoned him at 16 & her in-laws (who were antagonistic to him for months). and i'm just supposed to say omg yay now he doesn't have to let go of bella! everyone is happy! it's complete madness

[batshaped]

trick(xie) question

[transformativeworks]

This 24h Poll Doesn't Matter.

.. unless you want to help Mod Remi win in the work!chat.

[linderosse]

The Founder’s Call— Part 4

Sun channels a bit of her inner goddess. Meanwhile, Flora continues to walk that fine line between success and danger. :)

Prev | Next

Masterpost

A/N: I’ll be posting to Instagram as well! If you like my content, please consider supporting me there!

[wawapiggy]

am sick today, had to stay home from school

so i’m projecting my sickness onto the chain by drawing them sick

[luna-loveboop]

Time. Worried about Wars.

Time. Worried about Wars. Time is worried about Wars- Time has to be so freaking scared for Wars I-

Warriors is going into his first dungeon which has challenges for how he should deal with it, and Time is stressed. Ima rant about it

At this point (update Entrance) Time is obviously... well, terrified. His concern for mr. stubborn after his injury is obvious and he wants to make sure it does not happen again

And his concerns are valid- they are all now painfully aware of their lack of skills in working as a team. And they are heading into a dungeon- where that instantly results in stuff like this lol

And then Wars openly says that he has never done this before

The group is obviously uhh concerned that he hasn't done this or had any dungeon experience

'No dungeon experience?' / 'Has he even seen certain monsters before?'

Time wanted to stay in a group for safety- but they have to split up. Dungeons are cramped and messy and small, and Wars is used to fighting on a battlefield - not this sort of setting

And they still joke around about it- and Wars instantly starts analyzing.

'Tell me. Give me the intel' / 'This isn't practical'

Honestly Wars' response to this is pretty cool- it's totally in line with who he is as a captain and hero. He instantly starts thinking about it and treating it as a different type of battlefield to figure out strategy. Also I think it's pretty cute that he said 'intel' even if he's grumpy about asking the others for advice and what a wallmaster is

Wars can handle it and learn what a dungeon's like- I think it'll be fun to see him go through his first dungeon :D

But. He's still never done a dungeon before. It will be interesting to see how that develops in this arc... and let's not forget he's pissed the shadow and his emo sword off before. This isn't where he fights best and Wars is particularly vulnerable in a major way.

Time was already stressed about mr. stubborn Twilight, but hearing that the captain, that Warriors isn't prepared for this is. Extra scary. I just think he must be really concerned for him- for all of them. And now mr. reliable is in a learning position and not a leading one

Their faces fjdkfsjdksjsk

But these are his boys and he'll have to trust that they'll be ok. Therefore I think this was Time's thinking:

Time, thinking: "Dungeon. A dungeon oh this is dangerous- no one can get hurt-"

Wars: "can't say I've really been in one"

Time, absolutely sobbing internally: "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE RELIABLE ONE"

.

Art by @linkeduniverse au :))

:)

Hey, don't worry too much about it I'm sure it'll be fine :) (mostly)

[bokettochild]

I like to think that Twilight and Legend just... carry crap in their mouths

They don't really think about it. In their beast forms, it's the only way they can actually move things on their own, and it works! So, even though as hylians they still have hands, there are times when they don't have enough hands so they just... put whatever item they don't need as much in their mouth. It's not just things like clothes or items though.

One time Twilight just straight up bit down on his sword hilt so he could use his hands for something else, and Warriors had to witness Twilight supporting the weight of a whole ass sword with just his teeth and not even struggling that much.

They also put dubious items in their mouths sometimes, and even Wild sometimes has to wonder why.

To them, this is natural, this is normal (it is their normal) and they sometimes forget that they can actually use their hands to hold shit sometimes. Like, when they're in a hurry, Legend just grabs something in his teeth and darts off, because running takes all your limbs sometimes, and he's forgetting he only needs two for that right now.

Most of the gang have no clue what this is, and despite calling the two on it, they don't stop. Sky is the only one who doesn't think it's all that crazy, because it does sort of make sense, knowing what he does.

[beannoss]

Something I think about a lot and wonder if maybe gets overlooked in Twilight’s story and as vitally indicative of his character is actually in the very first chapter:

Anya isn’t needed for Strix. Twilight decides to adopt her anyway.

[Spoiler warning: Mostly this post deals with early chapters already in the anime but there is reference to chapter 62, which has not yet been animated and will be in season 3]

Twilight decides it — “I’m going to rework the mission so it doesn’t involve a child because that’s too dangerous” and he’s 100% right! Donovan Desmond is canonically a far right warmonger with fascistic authoritarian aims. His government made liberal use of the SSS — a group to mirror the Stasi — who continue to operate in morally dubious ways (much more likely they’re actively morally reprehensible, though we’ve mostly only had rumours of that so far). From what we can tell, Desmond is at best an absent father and likely actually worse than that: if that's how he treats his own children, imagine how he might treat others. And the timeline seems to indicate that the experimentation performed on Anya was done under Desmond's government — even if Twilight isn't aware of experimentation on children, he is aware of both human and animal experimentation under Desmond's government. Taking all that and also the complexity of Strix's aims, undoubtedly there were other things that could be done, more straightforward if not necessarily easier.

So. Why? Why entertain the change at all? And then, having entertained it, why go back when the reasoning is indisputable?

On the Doylist level, I think Endo wanted to ensure that Anya had some agency within the set up — Endo also does this with Yor. It would be much harder to be on Twilight’s side fully, or to trust him on an ethical level/take him as any sort of moral authority, if he were just straightforwardly using these two people. To have them be active and consenting participants (arguably to actually be affirming the arrangement: Twilight sets it up, but Anya and Yor actually make it happen) even if the audience only knows the depth of their knowledge/motivations/etc currently, shifts the power dynamic in important ways.

But it also the set up tells us important things about Twilight. He is largely impatient, cold, detached in chapter one. His overarching feelings towards Anya are, I think, real annoyance, real confusion, and real impatience. He just doesn’t understand this damn kid and it turns out she’s a person which is frankly unacceptable — he’d needed and anticipated an automaton, ideally of himself in miniature form. (Though I think one could ponder whether Twilight was, in many ways, an automaton himself at this point, but that's maybe for another meta 🙃)

He’s not entirely unmoved of course — we're given to understand he’s affected when Franky tells him how many times Anya’s been adopted and returned, and isn't amused by Franky's joke about names. Franky's comment — "Just don't get attached" — reinforces this. The prospect of “the future” perturbs Twilight when he’s reading the parenting books. His initial reaction to Anya’s kidnap is horror. All these are true too.

Then there’s also this, from earlier in the chapter:

It’s exposition, yeah, and it’s also exposing. "Hopes" and "joys" are very specific words to describe those events. It could simply have been "A marriage? An ordinary life?" but describing them as such — hope for marriage; joy in ordinary life — expose something of what Twilight feels about those two experiences and, on the flipside, they expose what he deems he's lacking. No hopes of intimacy; no joy in (an ordinary) life. There's an argument as well, of course, that he's being ironic but I don't think that actually invalidates the above analysis. Drawing attention to 'hope' and 'joy' at all are revealing, regardless of Twilight's tone in thinking of them. I think it's also interesting this panel, taken in conjunction with a pair of panels in chapter 62, Twilight's backstory. The above is almost a pulled out version of this below panel of Twilight's recollection of his childhood, and of course the returning image of not just a rubbish bin but a rubbish bin on fire when it comes to disposing of his identity:

Back to Strix. Both his final interaction with Karen and the whole everything of the framing of Strix is making Twilight think (and feel, ahem) things that he hasn't for some time. Twilight decides, I’m reworking this. It can’t proceed this way. Not because Anya is a pain in his ass, not because she’s not as (apparently) intellectually advanced as he’d originally thought, not even because he thinks he can find another child who would better be exactly what mission parameters called for. No:

And what changes his mind is Anya asking to come home.

One of the important parts of this to me is this:

He seeks consent.

This moment is a keystone, I think, to understanding Twilight. It’s also more telling than he maybe realises. Twilight is decisive — we all laugh because he spirals at the drop of a hat when his daughter or wife look even mildly upset but outside those (also very telling) scenarios, he makes decisions and he pursues them. Often he makes decisions quickly. He’s a dab hand at it; it’s a large part of why he’s as good a spy as he is.

He’d decided to change Strix.

Anya asks him, in essence, not to.

So, he doesn't.

But it's wild that he entertains keeping her request at all — why? Why even entertain it? It’s dangerous; it’s impractical; there are too many moving parts outside his direct control; Anya isn’t the sort of child he’d wanted for the mission if he’d spent any time thinking about what a child might actually be like; Strix is in many ways an extremely long shot anyway, Desmond could just stop attending for reasons unknown and unrelated; etc.

So, yeah, why? Maybe because of this —

In conjunction, I often think of this moment in the cruise arc:

Twilight first naming the feeling as lonesome, and secondly tacitly conceding that he perceives Yor as a companion and that that relationship is important to him, something to be missed. What makes this for me though is that Anya calls this out "Papa's you're so sappy" and Twilight's reaction is that of someone caught-out. He doesn’t say “nuh-uh!” but he may as well have. Essentially, something landed a bit close to home, hm? Maybe some of that hope for marriage? A soupçon of joy of an ordinary life?

Twilight’s loneliness underpins many of his decisions with his family — probably without him being fully conscious of it. I think he is at least somewhat conscious of it, but also if he looks too closely... Well, best not to. I could fill this post, I think, with images that demonstrate his loneliness throughout the series; that sorrowful/pensive close-up of his eye(s) is one of the abiding motifs for Twilight throughout. I'd probably start with this one from Twilight's backstory arc:

Anya's request plays directly off his loneliness. Still though, he doesn’t immediately capitulate — he emphasises Anya’s choice. Is she sure? The last day has been scary for a child (and for him, but he's ignoring that part) and Twilight, in his increasing recognition that Anya is a person, is probably aware in the back of his mind that he hasn’t exactly been warm or welcoming or at all patient with her. Things that people respond to — he's otherwise excellent at manipulating people, so of course he understands this. So. Given she'd just had this scary experience, given he hasn't exactly been great with her: Is she sure? She wants to come home — with him?

I think the moment may get a little lost because Anya says something riffing off his own earlier thoughts and self-revelation (featuring that shadowed, lonely eye motif again!)

Were this a post about Anya, I’d talk about how it’s an important character moment for her as well by way both of demonstrating her agency/choice and also that she isn’t nearly as dumb as Twilight thinks (and the audience, maybe, also thinks).

But in my view, she didn’t actually need to say anything about it making her cry. I think she could simply have said yes in that moment and Twilight would have agreed.

Twilight’s an unreliable narrator; he’s disconnected from his heart and that shrouds his own motivations from himself — something he actually also concedes in this chapter!

And it shrouds from us just how much he actually understands himself. He’s also a master of deflection. Easy to assume or say that bringing Anya home is just to align with Strix. Nothing more to see here; nothing else going on. But also that ripping off of the mask in the panel above — and the literal 'riiip' sound effects — also indicate to us that this is an unveiling to himself.

In my view, Twilight agreeing to Anya's request, deciding to go back to original mission parameters, actually shifts his motivations, subtly. Now he’s committed not only to the original mission goals, but also to Anya. He needs Anya to succeed at Strix, not only for Strix's sake, but also because otherwise the mission will end and she’ll have to go back to the orphanage, and he’s just agreed with her not to do that (not right away, in any case). I don’t think at this point he’s thinking it’s forever — his thoughts throughout the manga indicate he still expects the Forgers to be temporary. I don't think the shift in motivation is necessarily even conscious, but given the set up, I think something inside Twilight recognises that agreeing to bring Anya home is a compact, jointly engaged. Mostly all this has become subsumed into Strix: he makes decisions. He pursues them. He deflects, even from himself. Of course it's just for the mission; this saved him the trouble of reworking it, of figuring out something else. Nothing more to see; no need to think any more on it. And to be fair to him, Strix is very high stakes, resting pretty solely on his shoulders, so of course that is, objectively, motivation enough. Why even consider beyond that?

But I personally think that to the extent he's aware of it at all, there is something else going on, that he wants to have Anya for as long as it takes him to work something else out for her. If that's the case, then of course, we have Occam’s razor: the simplest solution may be the best one.

Maybe Twilight should just keep Anya himself, eh?

[Image description: gif from Spy x Family season 1, episode 1. Twilight and Anya have just found out Anya passed her entrance exam and are overjoyed. Celebratory, Twilight picks Anya up and swoops her into the air as they smile at one another. End image description]

[cantareincminor]

Liars and Killers

Thank you to the amazing @unhappy-sometimes for this beautiful birthday gift! She asked me what my favorite scene in Orpheus is, and I may have word vomited all my favorite scenes at her while trying mightily not to spoil the fic (too late).

Spoilers under the cut:

From Ch. 32 "Liars and Killers":

"...I’ve wanted to tell you for so long, but I don’t deserve to. The words feel so cheap and dirty coming from a liar like me.” “Just say it, love. I don’t see a liar. Do you see a killer when you look at me?”

Orpheus has a lot of emotional highs and lows, and this chapter is one of the major turning points in the story. All the Project Apple stuff, Garden lore, etc. came much later in my planning. But I had known from the start that I would write the catharsis of Ch. 32. When I finally arrived at it, I was so happy. The happiness of creating something deeply meaningful to myself, and hopefully to readers.

I love how @unhappy-sometimes portrays emotions in Twilight, whether he is enamored, annoyed, freaking out, or an emotional wreck. And she always makes Yor look so soft and caring. This moment came together beautifully in her art.

Thank you again friend!!!

P.S. Making fun of myself here...the wording I chose belatedly reminded me of this:

[cerulean-crow]

I present to you: “I have not been feeling my art at all for the last year, so I am going to draw a bunch of Twilight’s until I start liking what I am looking at.” Finally finished.

Some close ups under the cut

This lovely Twilight is a redesign by @rare-apples. She is so very pretty and I love her so I had to include her <3

Thea Sullivan from @bixels and @tulliok’s Grand Galloping 20’s au! Once again, I am obsessed, so I had to include <3

In a similar vein to Thea- this is Penumbra, a character based on my Twilight from an old mlp rewrite/au that spiraled into kind of being its own thing.

These two are my personal favorites from the lineup. They really popped off with pirate Twi’s design and edgy Twilight has won my heart

I like these as well. Retro Twilight was a bit of painting practice and the sombra eye look is just iconic

[edwardsdeathcabcd]

I think what really drew me in to twilight when I was a teenager is that, despite the epic vampire whirlwind romance, the teenagers actually do feel like they have REAL lives, and it’s a real shame that that doesn’t translate to the movies (bc a movie with pointless scenes of the main character making enchiladas & doing homework would be crazy boring). I like that Edward enjoys skipping class to sit in his car & listen to Linkin Park CDs, I like that Bella spends her weekends doing laundry and drafting her Macbeth essay, and on sunny days she lays out a blanket to read in her backyard. I like that she drives to her best friend’s house after school to watch him fix cars and do homework together, I like that they have joint family dinners that are just eating spaghetti on fold-out chairs on the deck. I like that her friend group piles in mike’s mom’s van to go hang out at the beach, and when she brings a camera to school they all start a “picture war.” I like that she has a part-time retail job and sits at the kitchen table filling out uni applications with her boyfriend. It definitely loses that quality around eclipse when the focus has to stay on the actual plot, but I like that twilight & new moon feel pretty grounded in what introverted lower-middle class small-town teenagers are actually doing.

[kenvamp]

Hii, your art is so cool and pretty!! I love your use of colours!! If your requests are still open, can you draw Four and Twilight/Wolfie?

Thank you, and I hope you have a good day!! :3

bro got caught doing small guy activities 😔

[divyasoup]

broken mirror