#shylock: does something

[lukolathoughts]

A pound of flesh

An English Teacher’s guide

Shakespeare is staple of any good English teacher. My favourite is of course Romeo and Juliet not only because it is easy to teach and the themes of love, violence, death, destiny etc. are as just as relevant today as they have always been. My fourteen year old self still emerges when setting eyes on a young Leonardo Dicaprio. He was truly something to behold as a young Romeo, excuse me as I dissociate for a moment. Ok, I’m back. There are other Shakespearean texts as a teacher that I teach including Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew and my least favourite is The Merchant of Venice. I do not find this play terribly exciting and honestly, neither do my students until we get to one specific part. The character of Shylock demands his ‘pound of flesh’. Shylock's insistence on his legal right to the pound of flesh being in opposition to his seemingly universal plea for the rights of all people suffering discrimination. Shylock feels he is entitled to his pound of flesh and does not shut up about it in fact. But what happens to Antonio if Shylock extracts the pound of flesh? It isn’t a good outcome I’ll say that.

ZG, where are you going with this? Well, today I want to touch on some similarities between literature and astrology in relation to our lovely main characters and adjacents. Yes, we are all fed up and tired of these incessant people and their crazed sub-fandoms. I am firmly still sat on the lido deck with my margarita partying like it’s 1999. The Sag awards was a glorious evening and one which us Lukola’s are holding onto with a death grip. We know what we saw, and we have receipts, and no one is taking that away from us or Luke and Nicola. Even a bit of sneaky half-hearted PR misdirection in the days after will not sway us. Nicola, you can call him your ‘buddy’ as much as you want, but in my opinion buddies don’t look at buddies that way. Luke had literal heart eyes when gushing over ‘Nic and I’ and Nicola looks at Luke like the sun rises and sets with him. So no, to put it bluntly, I ain’t leaving.

Tarot Talk

In tarot there is a card called the six of coins. ‘The Six of Coins is a tarot card that represents giving and receiving, generosity, and compensation. It can indicate a time when you are either receiving help or providing assistance to others’. (https://colibritarot.com/cards/six-of-coins-tarot-card-meanings/0). In the rider-Waite deck, the card depicts a man handing out gifts to two small children, one on either side. He is holding a scale of balance. This card has often appeared in my readings of the relationship between Nicola and Jake especially. I will touch on Luke and Antonia later, as I feel they have darker themes, but in essence in my opinion Luke offers the same things to Antonia as Nicola does to Jake. Money, success, fame, connections, materialism. I find it fascinating that these two younger adjacents are represented often in my readings as the two children in the six of coins card and they are receiving ‘payment’ from an older person in some obvious authority and higher status. Do not misinterpret my words for implications of prostitution or such things of that nature. What I simply see is an exchange of contract to balance the scales.

 But at what cost does this come to Nicola and Luke? What happens to them when this ‘pound of flesh’ that is demanded from the adjacent is fully extracted? It has already taken some toll as we can infer from Luke’s demeanour and behaviour at the Boss event in January. I have mentioned previously Antonia’s energy is like that of a succubus and anyone with a working set of eyes can see the stark difference in photos of him at Boss with Antonia in comparison to his photos and video evidence with Nicola at the Sag awards. It is like night and day, and I mean that literally. When he is with Nicola, Luke is like a ball of light. He cannot help it. She cannot help it. Nicola shines out her light and Luke reflects it back and out the world. I feel sad for those who genuinely can’t see this. But I do think a lot of people saw it at the Sags and it made a lot of people very bloody nervous. Including Luke and Nicola themselves.

As I was writing this blog last night, I noticed the notifications pinging on my discord and yes my friends, that only means one thing. New pap photos from People magazine. With a weary sigh, I opened the chat to see new People Magazine photos of lo and behold - a miserable looking Luke with a scruffy looking Antonia. Major eye roll again. I’m not sure what narrative they are going for at the moment, but this once again proves my point in this blog that Luke looks like he’s had the soul sucked right out of him or like he’s seen a ghost and Antonia is nonchalantly skipping along like she just rolled out of bed. The comments under the People Magazine Instagram post are brutal and I cannot imagine why Luke is allowing repeated hits to his image, brand and credibility for some girl who he appears to not even like. There must be a good reason. It is not love. We know what Luke looks like when he’s in love and this isn’t it. What ultimately does Antonia want from Luke and is he able to give it?

Jakey boy

Let us touch on Jake’s play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennesse Williams. As most of you know I teach drama as well and I as part of my own studies of Drama and teaching, I know Tennessee Williams very well. I was shocked to hear that Jake had landed the leading role of Stanley. I furrowed my brows and thought hmm. Jake is quite young to play Stanley. You need a lot of ferocity and brute physical prowess, as well as being intimidating. But I thought, we’ll give him a chance. He obviously did well in his audition to land the part, right? Well, in an interview Jake did with Exposed Magazine on 5th March 2025, not only Jake seemed shocked he had an audition for the part, but he also seemed even more shocked he actually go it. What flummoxed me was Jake’s ignorance of who Tennesse William’s was and the fact he had never heard of the play. I’ll just give you a bit of context. In the UK you can’t just rock up to drama school age eighteen and hope for the best. At age fourteen you must start GCSE Drama in year 10. It must be one of your options to sit exams in year 11. I know for a fact at 16 I was taught A Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and The Crucible. You study Naturalistic Theatre by Stanislavski. Miller and Williams are good playwrights for this both being American and writing plays that are naturalistic in performance. This ultimately means that the audience is watching a real performance. Actors do not break the fourth wall. After you pass your GCSE Drama, you can either go on to A Level Drama that is further study of playwrights – definitely Tennessee Williams or you can do BTEC Acting or Performance Studies at Post – 16 college. These are less focused on the study of plays, but they are still definitely studies of practitioners such as Brecht, Stanislavski and Artaud etc. My point is, Jake would have had to have do these qualifications to get into drama school where again you study practitioners and playwrights. It is what I had to do to even get an audition at my university. Some Jakehole on X accused me of being ridiculous for implying that Jake would have read every script and playwright going. That is not what I am saying. What I am saying is, he should have heard of Tennesse Williams. He should have known who Marlon Brando as the original Stanley was. Why did he bring artist Jackson Pollock into it? Who advised him on that? Stanley is a Polish immigrant, wife beater and alcoholic. I get that Pollock had some of these traits, but he was flipping rich and highly educated in art schools.

If Jake was so ignorant of the play and his character, then how in the holy moses did he get the part? This is the most half – assed answer to an interview I have ever come across. I hope Nicola was seen disappearing into a hedge somewhere like Homer Simpson. “I don’t know, if I’m honest. I was surprised when I got to audition for the part, and even more surprised when I got the part. I hadn’t seen Streetcar before, so I didn’t have a relationship with it prior to rehearsing at the Crucible.” Jake Dunn. As his mentor, and that is what I firmly believe Nicola is, I bet she was silently livid. It’s no wonder she’s barely said anything about the play. But wait a minute, maybe Jake got the part because he’s such a good actor? Right? Right. Well, not according to most of the reviews that came out last week absolutely slating the kid. “Jake Dunn has the honed torso, surface swagger and below-the-surface anger required of Stanley, but not the sheer brutish charisma. More neighbourhood yob than full-blown Brando, he lashes out at Stella, hurls plates around in explosive bursts of fury and, in the climactic rape scene, is almost comically reptilian as he crawls onto the bed in his strange satiny pyjamas.” On Magazine. Cut to me snorting my coffee everywhere. And this is just one review my friends. What are the reviewers implying?

Did Jake land the role by sheer dumb luck? I find this next point quite hard to write as I want to be clear that I am not accusing Nicola of anything, especially not nepotism. But it has been alleged that Nicola has some connections to the Crucible Theatre and a friendship with the director. That is all I am saying. What cost do these reviews and Jake’s general attitude have towards Nicola’s overall reputation? What cost is that Jakola narrative having on Nicola? Every time I google Nicola; several articles insist that Jake is her boyfriend. I have a few theories about why Nicola has not set that record straight, one being she does not feel she has to, and she will not publicly out her friend without his agreement. In my opinion, Jake is open about his sexuality, and it is clear if you look through his Instagram account.

Astrology

Last Saturday, the fandom went up in arms after Becky from Jake’s friend group posted a Tik Tok video to her public Instagram of the air bnb details for a stay in Sheffield. I was again confused by this act, because who in their right mind makes a TT video of air bnb details and posts it publicly? I was completely baffled. It was deleted almost immediately, but not quick enough. It had the address details on it and the WIFI details. Uh oh, Becky’s in trouble. Also, the video featured a picture of Jake wearing “I love my Irish girlfriend” t shirt with Nicola’s face on it. Lukola FBI were quick and we learned it was an old t-shirt of Camilia’s and the ‘Jecky’ gang was going to be in Sheffield for St Patrick’s day. But the real question was, where was Nicola? Had her safety been compromised by these idiot twenty-somethings? As of this moment there is no evidence that Nicola was there. Nicola has had to suffer through Jake’s performance at least twice, I am hopeful she did not have to endure a third. Why did this anger me so much on Saturday? I felt like Nicola’s image was being used a joke. The ‘Jecky’ friend group are trolling the fandom at this point, and they all think it’s hilarious that their gay friend that has more boyfriends than I’ve had cooked dinners in 2025, is dating Nicola Coughlan. Also, if she was with them, Nicola’s safety was possibly compromised just like Luke’s safety had been in Sorrento. Us Brits do like to ‘take the piss’ as I have stated previously, but who are the ‘Jecky’ group taking the piss out of at this point? Us, Jake or Nicola? Is it even funny anymore?

What I find most interesting from the weekend was Dylan Brady’s post on Instagram on Monday morning. A very good reader friend of mine pointed this out to me after I had discussed with her the image that Dylan took and posted of Jake stood in front of the Crucible Theatre. What stood out to me initially was the bright full moon being revealed behind a rolling cloud. The moon is bright and clearly visible. The Moon card in tarot often comes up in relation to Nicola and Luke and the adjacents. “The Moon is fundamentally a card about misunderstanding. Something remains unclear, making it hard to discern fantasy from reality.” To me the card signifies illusion, and I find it fascinating that Jake is pictured standing in front of such a visible full moon. The full moon last weekend was also a blood moon. There are two other Blood Moons following on September 7th 2025 and March 3, 2026. A total lunar eclipse is often called a Blood Moon as the Full Moon turns a reddish colour during totality. “These three Blood Moon Eclipses will tell a story, a story that usually involves some sort of shedding and release. Blood Moons tend to strip away all that is unnecessary, forcing us to peel back the layers to a greater truth.” (Forever Conscious.com). How interesting that Jake is stood in front of a blood moon on Saturday 15th March. So, could it be Jake’s full eventual truth will be revealed by 3rd March 2026? Did I just hear a collective groan from the Lukola’s? Don’t tell us we have to wait another year! Well, this is Jake’s truth, it has nothing to do with Nicola. She is not pictured here; she is not in Sheffield. Dylan (Jake’s rumoured boyfriend) took the photo.

Another interesting point to note is the statue of Mercury that is pictured above Jake’s head. “Sheffield Theatres today announce the reinstallation of the Lyceum theatre’s famous statue. On Monday 22 July, the figure of the Roman messenger god Mercury – affectionately nicknamed by theatre staff as ‘Freddie’ – was reinstalled atop the dome of the Lyceum Theatre.” (Sheffield Theatres.co.uk.) Mercury is the Roman God of financial gain, commerce, eloquence, messages, communication (including divination), travellers, boundaries, luck, trickery, and thieves; he also serves as the guide of souls to the underworld and the "messenger of the gods". (Wikipedia). The words that are standing out to me are ‘messages’, ‘financial gain’, ‘trickery’. It is in my opinion that the real story of Jake Dunn is this photograph, it is who he is and the person taking it. Mercury is the messenger, and this photograph is sending a clear message. I’m not sure if Dylan is aware of astrology or the moon, but he was definitely intentional in posting this picture with a red love heart no less. He is basically screaming the truth, but certain people still aren’t listening.

It is interesting to note that Mercury was known for his promiscuous nature and for having many lovers and wives. He was not tied down to any one person. I often get this from my readings of Jake and that is why it hard for us as a fandom to pinpoint a definite lover for Jake. He is 25 (too old for my beloved Leonardo Dicaprio), but still young enough to sow his wild oats and live! I was doing the same at his age. If the Jakeholes honestly expect this young actor, with very little life experience to be an eligible match for our Nicola, you are sorely mistaken. Jake is no Lord Debling. It is in my opinion a relationship of transactions. Nicola helps Jake with his career and in exchange he gives her a plausible way of hiding her actual relationship. It is very clever, but no doubt extremely draining by this point for all parties involved.

So how will this saga end? Will Jake and Antonia take all they can from Nicola and Luke until there is nothing left? Will they successfully extract their pound of flesh? What will become of our Eros and Psyche? I wish I knew my friends. I wish I had all the answers. I am unfortunately not psychic, and I cannot predict what Nicola and Luke will do. What I absolutely do know is that we must not blame them in any way. They are human beings, and they are navigating things as best they can. All we can do is be patient, watch and listen and not try to extract our own ‘pound of flesh’ from them as a fandom. Let us be hopeful for our happy ending.

For never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

[mirikitakato]

[Translation] Shylock 5th Anniversary SSR Card: Here, the magic that connects hearts and Card Episode: Something I can tell you because it's now.

I recommend that everyone read the main stories 1 and 2 first because there is little mention of them in the card story.

Characters: Shylock, Murr, Bradley, Rustica, Akira.

Episode 1: Only Telling You

That night, I went to Shylock's bar to return the borrowed glass.

Akira: (This is a rare opportunity. I should ask him for an interview. I can add it to the Sage's Manual later. Hmm? What's that...)

Shylock: Now, open your mouth.

Murr: Ahhh.

Murr gulped down the purple sapphire fragment he was offered. Shylock lowered his eyelids slightly.

Shylock: Murr. What do you think of me?

Murr: I love you!

Faced with Murr's innocent response, Shylock didn't smile or praise his answer, he just frowned.

Seeing his complex expression, I suddenly remembered. Their conversation at the Lunar Eclipse Chateau, and what happened in the botanical garden at Western Country.

Akira: (At the Lunar Eclipse Chateau, Murr gave the same answer, but Shylock smiled...) (After what happened in the botanical garden, does he...have something on his mind?)

At that moment, Shylock's gaze turned towards me.

Shylock: Oh my, Lord Sage.

Murr: Welcome! Come in!

Akira: Ah... Good evening. I'm here to return the glass I borrowed.

Shylock: Thank you for coming all this way. Shall I prepare a drink for you tonight as well?

Akira: That's a tempting offer... but actually, I have another request today. I want to add some content to the Sage's Manual, so could I interview Shylock again?

Shylock: Of course, no problem. It's just that there's a stray cat in the shop tonight, and I was about to end business for the day.

Murr: Meow—woo! I say, are you two going to chat alone again today? I want to join in too!

Akira: I don’t mind, if Shylock is okay with that.

Shylock: I'm a little embarrassed, but...

Murr: But I don't! Sage, hurry up and take out your pen!

Shylock: Really… It's clearly me who's being interviewed, but you're acting like you're the main character.

The expression of helplessness, yet not at all intending to stop Murr, was the atmosphere of the mischievous little cat and his cat owner that I was familiar with and liked.

After the questioning began, Murr kept interrupting and cutting in, and Shylock had to occasionally scold him.

The night deepened at the bar, as the conversation kept going off on tangents.

—The next day.

As I savored a non-alcoholic drink, I flipped through the recently supplemented Sage's Manual.

There was no one else in the bar except me. Shylock went back to his room to get new tableware.

Akira: (Compared to the beginning, there's a lot more recorded about Shylock...)

As I flipped through the pages recording him, the image that automatically appeared in my mind was his complex expression a few days ago.

Akira: (I've learned a lot more about him... but I haven't heard Shylock talk much about his own feelings) (I really want to ask... but Shylock probably won’t want to talk about that...)

Rustica: Hello, the Sage is here too.

Bradley: What's the deal? Where's the barkeeper?

Episode 2

Akira: Rustica, Bradley. What an unusual combination….. 

Rustica: Is it? Bradley and I get along really well. Since we meet at the bar so often, we usually discuss topics like art.

Bradley: Where do we get along? From my perspective, I can't understand nine out of ten things you say.

Rustica: Is that so? I'm so happy that we have one thing in common.

Bradley: Ha... forget it. Hey Sage, what's eating you? 

Rustica: Is something bothering you? Can we help you?

Akira: ....... It's someone else's private matter, so I can't say too much in detail....... ........The thing is, I don't know if I should ask Shylock a certain private question. I've always been relying on him, and I don't know if just listening can help him. Maybe I'm too arrogant.......

Bradley: Ain’t cha always that arrogant?

Rustica: How could that be? I think it's a very thoughtful concern worthy of the Sage. However, it's indeed difficult to pry out his true thoughts from his mouth.

Shylock: I've kept you waiting. Oh my, seems like there are more guests. What are you talking about?

Akira: Well………………

Rustica: We're discussing how to communicate with someone, who finds it difficult to open up, so that they can let down their guard.

Bradley: Pipe-man from the West, what would ya do if it were you?

Shylock: Me?

Bradley: You've been running a bar for hundreds of years, and you've served so many customers as a barkeeper. You should know a lot about this kind of thing.

Rustica: I and Bradley can get along so well here, and it's also thanks to your help. Please tell us, if it were you, what would you do?

Shylock: I'm honored to receive such praise. Actually, I haven't done anything great. Delicious drinks and a little chat... and then, providing a time and space where you can talk about anything.

Rustica: .......That's what he said, Sage.

Bradley: The person involved told you that. Give it a shot.

Akira: Eh......!? Wait, wait, wait......!

Seeing Rustica and Bradley smiling kindly, and then me looking flustered, Shylock blinked.

Shylock: Were you talking about me just now?

Akira: …………… Yes………………Actually.....

I carefully told Shylock what happened until now.

Akira: ....... I understand this is just my wishful thinking. So if Shylock doesn't want to say it, there's no need to force it.......

Shylock: ……

Shylock thought for a moment, then gave me a gentle smile.

Shylock: ….I’m sorry to have worried you. In that case, let's talk alone later. Please come with me to my room.

Episode 3

Shylock: I've caused you trouble. Please, this is calming black tea.

Akira: Delicious...

Shylock: I’m glad to hear that. So, what exactly do you want to know?

Akira: Well……… (It's hard to ask directly when I'm asked "what do you want to know". If I say "I want to hear your true feelings," that's too direct...) ….Hmmm…. What do you think of Murr?

Shylock opened his eyes in surprise.

Akira: (Ah, that was too blunt...!?) Well, never mind what I said just now! I'm sorry, I asked you a strange question...

Shylock: No, it's not strange at all. It's just that I'm rarely asked directly, and I'm not prepared with a proper answer. .........What do I think of Murr, huh...

Shylock propped his chin on his hand and fell silent. Faced with my question, he seemed to want to answer seriously. Finally, as if replacing his breath, his beautifully shaped lips opened slightly.

Shylock: As you worry, my heart is indeed in turmoil. Raising a friend whose soul shattered from scratch is also a first experience for me.

Shylock's smile was faint. It was as if he were holding many chess pieces but didn't know the rules of the game.

Shylock: It's just that, maybe like before… In my own way, I'll light my pipe and take a deep breath, fondly taking pleasure in these conflicted emotions, anxiety, and indecision… ......That's my true feelings right now.

His inaudible sigh shook the ethereal steam of the black tea. I suddenly remembered to breathe after unconsciously forgetting how to do so. Shylock is a man with his own pride. Even if you politely knock on the door of his heart, if he is unwilling, no one can get in. That's why the trust and words he sincerely delivered after being troubled made me feel incredibly happy.

Akira: ........Thank you for telling me. But I'm not going to write this in the Sage's Manual. Is that okay?

Shylock: That's fine... But are you okay with that?

Akira: Yes. I think it must be a very important feeling for you. I shouldn't be the one to convey it to the next Sage. So, please tell that person yourself when you want to and can.

Shylock: ……..

He stared at me with his wine-red eyes, the glance suddenly disappeared into a smile.

Shylock: I’m grateful.  If you hadn't brought it up, I was going to ask you myself. It's precisely because it's you, Akira, who is asking me now, that I can say my thoughts like this.

Akira: Shylock…

Shylock: I want to hear your true feelings too, so can you continue to accompany me?

Shylock smiled at me seductively and asked. And my answer had already been decided.

Akira: Of course, as long as it's with Shylock.

Card Episode: Something I can tell you because it's now

Shylock: Sage, is the glass bottle in your hand new ink?

Akira: I saw it at the market yesterday. The color was so beautiful, I bought it before I realized it. Ah, did you notice?

Shylock: Indeed, it's a beautiful color, like the sky after the rain. It's only natural to fall in love at first sight. I like this color too. If possible, could you use this bottle of ink for the first time to write about me in the Sage's Manual?

Akira: Ahaha, of course. (Shylock's pleading is rare.) (Come to think of it, Chloe once mentioned that Shylock asked Chloe to sew his favorite decoration onto his clothes...) Shylock has a really cute side.

Shylock: .……

Akira: Ah, right, sorry! You don't like being called cute...?

Shylock: ... Me? Why would I not? I'm honored. It's just a bit surprising. That being said...cute... ...What part of me makes you think that...?

Akira: (He always says that I and other young wizards are "cute" but when he's the one being called that, he's actually troubled...) (He's really cute...)

--Homescreen Voiceline--

“Knowing that hearts can change, we still make promises...This, perhaps, is the truest reflection of our sincerity. Please accept them with all your heart.”

[wutheringmights]

A humble request for chapter commentary. At your leisure. Because wow. That was a chapter.

One of these days, I will realize that I should write the commentary as I write the chapter so that it does not take me so much time/effort to make it. Alas, I am convinced that one day people will not want to read my ramblings, and I refuse to do any work that is not absolutely necessary. 

As always, massive spoilers for the newest chapter below. Read at your own risk. 

So this chapter took a massive chunk of time to write, which was not my plan. Last chapter, I was all gung ho about cutting down on my production time and going back to as close to a monthly schedule as possible. That was November. It’s February now.

I really underestimated how busy the holiday season was going to make me. From Halloween up until post-New Years, I think I had two weekends where I didn’t need to shuttle off somewhere or someone wasn’t shuttling up to me. Not a lot of writing time. 

This could have been avoided if I didn’t stop writing mid-week. I’ve complained about this before, but in 2024 I stopped writing during the weekdays. I told myself that it was because I have zero time, but the real problem is that somewhere along the line, I told myself that if I didn’t have two hours to write, I couldn’t write at all. 

Well, I’m over that. I’m squeezing in at least 20 minutes a night as much as possible. I will not let myself make excuses anymore, especially because my mood drops when I’m not able to write for a while. 

I was also experiencing that classic “oh god why is my writing suddenly terrible?” panic, which I solved by forcing myself to slow down and stop trying to just the chapter. I wanted to actually take the time to make what I was writing good. Did this make the chapter take even longer? Yup, but I can’t regret it. 

So here we are. No promises this time as to when the next chapter will come out, but I’m still aiming for a near-monthly pace. Sadly, this might mean that I won’t have the time to write an extra side story this year for the CTB birthday in April (yeah, I gotta really plan this out in advance). I guess we’ll see how I’m feeling in a few more weeks. 

Now that’s out of the way, let’s talk this chapter. 

You can tell that I was having fun trying to figure out what it would be like to have someone else’s emotions messing around with your head. As Jakucho suggested, Link is already so bad at handling himself that having to put in the work for two is a lot for him.

The way breath is used to cope with Proxi’s emotions is inspired by the way breath is used in, like, every yoga video I use. 

I really hope that I’m properly portraying Link as “idiot white dude who is doing his best to be respectful of a culture he’s kinda fascinated by” and that it’s not the prose itself that is ostracizing the real world cultural practices that I’m putting under the Sheikah umbrella. Maybe the fact that I’m using a mismatch of things is already a bad sign. 

The same can be said of my vague descriptions of Kabuki theater. 

The play Link and Proxi see is inspired by two Shakespearen plays: A Merchant of Venice and The Twelfth Night. Merchant has a plotline where three suitors have to undergo a trial to prove their worth to a wealthy heiress, while Twelfth Night has the misadventures of the servants and the skeevy servant rising above his station to marry his mistress.

That later is meant to be a little world building nod to how deeply entrenched the class system is in Hyrule where the idea of a peasant trying to enter the upper classes is discouraged to outright mocked in classical art. If this play was real, the skeevy servant would be one of those comically disgusting characters the audience is meant to laugh at, like Malvolio from The Twelfth Night. 

And of course, the foreign prince would traditionally be a Ganondorf caricature built on harmful Gerudo prejudice-- something akin to Shylock, to keep the Merchant of Venice allusion going. 

Mostly, I imagine that the princess, hero, and Gerudo king are a set of narrative archetypes that appear over and over again in Hylian storytelling, for better or for worse. 

This was a very long worldbuilding exploration for what essentially was an excuse to talk a bit about how the line of succession works in Hyrule, because I realized when I was writing about the role of women that I never actually explained this.

Side note: I have been so fascinated lately by the ways stories establish the presence of a patriarchy in their worlds. Legend of the Galactic Heroes has one of my favorites: using the way characters talk about Annerose as a litmus test. I will now refrain from elaborating on that because we are not here to talk about animes from the 1980s I am obsessed with. 

The secret Sheikah techniques being Judo is 100% because I do Judo and I need to justify spending so much time at practice somehow.

The throw Ayane does is meant to be o-goshi-- one of the beginner throws that is excellent for a short person like Ayane to use on a bigger opponent. Because her hips would be lower than his, he would be pretty easy to tip over them. 

Because o-goshi involves being flipped over your head, it’s kinda a scary way to be thrown in the beginning. Genuinely, poor Link for being thrown like that when he had just learned how to fall (here’s a demonstration of the side fall he would have learned, though he would have started from a squat as opposed to standing at full height).

All that’s to say that: do not throw someone who is not ready to be thrown.

Arlo, a character you may remember from that time everyone ran across a battlefield, was almost included among the gaggle of soldiers trying to navigate across Kakariko. The reason why has everything to do with Icarius. 

For the sake of Icarius development, he assumed a role on the narrative of an unnamed, unremarkable soldier Link was going to have a short rendez-vous with. While that unnamed soldier was never going to be Arlo, I had toyed around with having Arlo be present as the soldier’s disgruntled roommate who got kicked out of the hotel room for the sake of the tryst. 

It’s not plot-vital for Arlo to have met Link earlier in the story; in fact it would be kinda silly if Link kept on running into the same few people over and over again. But I have an impulse to try to use every character, even the more minor and impulsive creations, to the max.

I imagine the Teachings of Din as a cross between a socratic dialogue and the Art of War (though I’ve never read the latter), which is why it’s framed as a conversation between a knight and Din. 

I also remember someone once telling me that old military strategy books like the Art of War has a lot of text dedicated to telling the upper class dudes reading it to treat their peasant armies fairly. I have no idea how true that is, but that factoid always stuck in my brain. I guess I’ll just hope that it’s true. 

I like the idea that if you were to look just at the book, it would seem like Link’s past actions would have been completely rejected by the military as being too horrific. But in practice, despite everyone above him having read the book, no one thought what he did was out of pocket. 

Link and Proxi’s conversation at the table was first referenced during the Fever Dreams in chapter 18. In that version of the scene, Link immediately confesses to Proxi what he did. Back in (checks date) 2022, that was my vision for their relationship. Finally writing it now, it was obvious Link was not ready so I pushed it off for him. That means that I retroactively made that moment in the Fever Dreams go from being a real memory to an idealized version of his past. I think it works, since one of his biggest regrets is his inability to truly confront his past quick enough.

There is also an early reference all the way back in chapter 9, when the Chain first passes through the refugee camp, that Link had helped built some of the homes there. 

Link is someone who doesn’t quite understand who he is and what he wants from life, primarily because he has spent his whole life up until this point trying to be what others wanted. The way he clings to construction work has less to do with his actual enjoyment of it and more with him actually being given a choice in what he does with himself. If he didn’t have an ongoing identity crisis, I don’t think he would gravitate to it at all. After a few months, he would be sick of it and move on to something else, just like a child cycles through different after school sports and activities until they find their passions. It’s a part of growing up he’s never had access to before. 

In a weird way, post-engineer Link’s story is some sort of coming of age story, which makes it a bit less compelling for me to write than literally anything that happened before it. But it’s important. I knew when I started this story that this latter part of the story was going to have a heavier emphasis on growth and healing; still, I really do miss getting to write Link being a horrible person and emotionally spiraling

If I really wanted to go for the dramatics, I would have Link turn the corner on his growth by having him argue with Proxi, or just be dragged into being a better person kicking and screaming. But that wouldn’t feel as sincere as him deciding for himself to be better.

And that’s the tragedy of it, isn’t it? Link decided to be a better person early on, but that desire didn’t get him far enough. Being better than he was isn’t the same as being the best version of himself. Who gets to decide when he’s fully improved anyway?

Ending with Link marching up the next half of the hill was a very heavy handed visual, as well as the reference to spring arriving soon. Connecting winter to depression and spring to happiness is so, so trite and I kinda stumbled into it by accident. But as cliche as it is, I love doing it. There really is something satisfying using old tropes and discovering why they became cliches in the first place. 

Onto the present--

Fun fucking fact: I thought this chapter was going to be super short. Why? All my outline said was that I needed to a) do the Knights of Hyrule shit and, b) Kill Lincoln. I usually have to juggle twenty different plot points. I only had two, and it still spiraled out of my control!

Part of that is just that there were things I forgot would take time to explore, like how Warriors would win the Triforce back (which I will get to later), and the other times there just was a lot of plot machinations I needed to do to get to the important stuff. 

And that’s been a theme with this last third of the story. Chapters 28, 29, 30, and 31 were all supposed to be a single chapter. Warriors and Spirit were going to have their Hot Mess, and the next chapter Lincoln was going to be dead in Castle Town. I just completely, severely underestimated how much plot machinations would be needed to get from A to B.

The Hot Mess all the way to now is about a year of my life. It took be a fucking year to cover one whole point on my story outline. Do you understand why I have been so frustrated about how long this story is taking me? Why I have been pulling my hair out? Does that put any of my feelings into perspective for you?

There was a lot of hubris involved. I think I have everything paced much more reasonably now that I shouldn’t need to add more than one or two, if any at all, extra chapters. 

In massive hindsight, I should have realized that the plot to take control of Castle Town would be more than just a chapter. But I also think I was in denial about how much longer this story was going to be. 

Ugh. 

Anyway, the actual chapter. I should talk about that. 

I am very amused by the idea that Endicott, for all of his faults, is the first person in the Royal Guard to truly take Warriors seriously. Warriors tells him about the black blood, and he not only believes him but is actually helpful. Kudos to you, Endicott. You’re not such a bad guy after all. 

Endicott also had the lovely function of being a good tool for reminding the readers of some lore that they might have forgotten in the long stretch of story since we last dealt with the black blood stuff. I always prefer to have diegetic exposition over textbook narration. 

Which then carried over to Warriors’s briefing while everyone else armored-up. Whenever I have Warriors make a grand plan like that, I always worry that there’s a glaring plot hole that I don’t see myself but a smarter reader would be frustrated by.

There is an extremely stupid bit in this chapter where Spirit puts his foot on the chaise in order to intimidate Warriors into agreeing with him, which Sky sees and copies because, hey, if it worked for Spirit it might work for him. Which Linkle mimics when she tries to convince Warriors to take her side. I tried to have Warriors snap at everyone to stop putting their feet on his chair, but I couldn’t make it work with the pacing. 

Also, shout out to Icarius who has decided that Linkle is his enemy for shooting him in the leg and tries to hurt her with his words. Aka, the dictionary he uses to communicate. 

I also enjoy that despite seeming like it would be the reverse, Warriors has turned into the doting older brother for Linkle while Spirit is the one who calls her a little shit. I wanted to subvert the expectations readers would have for their dynamic when first learning about how Linkle views both of them as her brothers.

I almost cut Time and Lincoln’s truce because I thought I was painting too big of a target on Lincoln’s back. But I kept it so that Time could have a moment of growth, and because I already shouted that Lincoln was on the chopping block by him making plans with Warriors for the future at the end of the last chapter. 

I also enjoy Lincoln’s chapter-long thread of being utterly terrified of the black blood and still deciding to get involved anyways. It’s a quiet demonstration of his courage, and a bit of tragic foreshadowing (more on that later). 

Spirit being snippy with Wild about sharing the horse is such a silly thing to use valuable page-space for, but I also knew that I could not state that they would share a horse without explaining how they got there.

Way later in the chapter, Lincoln asked Spirit why he never said anything about Rudeo not being under the black blood’s curse. But he did here before the scene with Remarque: “There’s a couple of dark spirits. Maybe three.” 

Was he being super clear? No. If Warriors was any less stressed, he might have picked out the discrepancy. But as is, Spirit technically did say something. 

One thing about this chapter is that we go in reverse of the Castle Town plot. We started at the Temple of Time with the wiseman Sevas, went to Colonel Remarque’s post at the wall, then ended in the castle with Endicott. And this chapter takes us in reverse. It looks like I did this on purpose, but as you can probably guess by the one year to cover one plot point debacle, I Did Not.

In the context of my long term plan for Spirit, giving him a moment to pure heroism now-- publicly renouncing his story to save Warriors --is just... he has a lot going on, and a lot of his previous moments of heroism haven’t been kind. This is truly his moment of selflessness, and it really is coming at the perfect time.

In terms of sillier moments in this chapter, I really like how much Warriors enjoyed making the soldiers squirm when they realized they were going to have to figure out how to handcuff a man with only one hand. 

In meeting up with the Knights of Hyrule for the first time in actual years, I really wished a gave all of them more to say and do before the fight. Gaudin and Shigeo had plenty to talk about, but Faiza and Rudeo were kinda pushed to the side.

That being said, I had a lot of fun giving Lincoln a chance to confront Gaudin; it’s been a while since we’ve seen him with peak “I am someone you should not mess with” energy, even if it didn’t lead him far 

In a political view, Lincoln is interesting in that he’s not particularly charismatic or likeable but he doesn’t need to be when his power is very secure; which is meant to contrast how Warriors has spent his entire career being likable in order to have a modicum of power

Sky was an interesting factor in this chapter in that he has this entirely separate grudge against the knights that is independent from what Lincoln and Warriors want; I had to make a decision as to how much closure if any I can give Sky

I landed on having Sky be at the head of the charge, particularly in terms of fighting Gaudin, but never giving him a real chance for revenge-- mostly because as angry as I think Sky is, his heroism streak is stronger than the average person. I don’t think he would allow himself the catharsis of revenge. He’s a master of repression, so give him a few years to realize he can’t ignore or repress his feelings about this.

I am really happy that I squeezed in a conversation with Shigeo, if only to better illustrate how much the black blood’s curse works with a person’s existing mind.

That being said, I think the effect would have been way stronger if I had featured Shigeo more prominently in the past like I had intended. Shigeo was meant to be the closest thing Warriors would have had to a friend or ally during his time in the war-- like an older brother figure. The relationship would have fallen apart when Warriors/Link started projecting his insecurities on Shigeo and perceiving anything he did to help as an underhanded attack. I cut this when I realized that Link’s downward spiral would be easier to sell if he was already extremely isolated emotionally without anyone but the engineer to rely on.

The protest outside the Temple of Time-- I had a good time writing that in that it was a little hard to nail. I wanted the protest to be motivated by anger, but I didn’t want to portray it as an act of violence in itself. I didn’t want the story to inadvertently paint protestors as aggressive, even if what they’re protesting is our hero. 

I actually waited until the last minute to figure out their chants since I wanted them to be an emotional punch in the gut to Warriors without being too mean? My problem is that when I wrote the Turncoat Revolt, I was a little peeved that a lot of readers viewed the turncoats as evil because they tried to kill Link, the engineer, and the child despite the fact that politically speaking, the turncoats were right. Yes, you can like these characters but they are on the side of the government that’s ruining people’s lives. 

Then I got over myself and remembered that I can’t really control what conclusions the reader draws from the story. So I kept the chants on the more viscous side.

This was a strangely hard battle to write. I usually can pop off a fight scene really quickly, but this one really gave me trouble. It took me way too long to string together what exactly I wanted each person in the fight to be doing and how to jump the narration from each pocket of the fight.

A lot of readers noted that it comes off much more like a in-game boss fight than any other fight scene in this story so far; I can’t say that was intentional, but it is convenient in emphasizing how out of a normal person’s wheelhouse the black blood is. 

My favorite moments include Spirit tossed Sky his sword; once more, Spirit prioritizing getting the job done right over any petty grievance. A true MVP of this goddamn chapter. 

Rudeo’s death... first, the Chekov’s gun of this story is establishing in Rudeo’s introduction scene that he will die if the sword in his neck is removed. Like, of course this guy is going to die by having the sword in his neck removed. 

As I explored in the narration, Rudeo was meant to be another reflection of Warriors in terms of his struggles to maintain a footing in an oppressive power structure leading him to make bad political decisions. I wanted the irony of Warriors being unable or unwilling to realize that there was someone else in the same position as him. I needed Rudeo to linger in the background for this to have the thematic effect I wanted.

Nonetheless, I really wish I did more with Rudeo before this moment. Yes, he needed to be in the peripheral of Warriors’s life, but couldn’t I have thrown in one conversation before this about what he was feeling?

I was expecting at least one person to realize that Rudeo couldn’t have been infected since he didn’t eat meat, but no one did. I didn’t have any characters bring it up in-story because I thought it was an obvious plot hole but I guess I should have gone ahead and added it in anyway.

Okay, let’s talk the Triforce scene. Ooooh boy. 

This was not in the original plan. I just wanted Warriors to get the Triforce of Courage back, and then move on with the story. But when I was writing that earlier scene where Lana talked to Shigeo, I suddenly remembered how significant the Triforce was and realized that I needed to make the moment Warriors got it back way, way bigger.

I fully believe that no matter how much or how little Legend of Zelda lore you know, there will always be one tidbit that is so bizarre that it boggles your mind whenever you remember it. Mine is the fact that the Triforce is sentient. 

I can’t get over it. The Triforce is sentient and it means absolutely nothing. It rarely comes up, even in regards to how the Triforce judges its holder’s character (not for goodness or what not, but whether you are wise/powerful/courageous enough). It’s so wacky. I hate it, but my god, it made the basis for a really cool scene. 

I love his conversation with the Triforce. I haven’t gotten to write a scene where reality is weird for a really long time. 

The way the green woman couldn’t be looked at, messed with his memories, and put palpable “walls” around his mind and emotions-- it reminded me a lot of eldritch horror, but in the sense of a being from the 3rd dimension being pushed into the 4th or 5th. I like the idea that the Triforce’s realm had to be simplified for him to comprehend it.

Warriors being Farore’s tool is my favorite idea from this scene. It not only adds context to some of Zelda’s struggle with Nayru, but it upsets Warriors’s worldview. He is special, but he’s not loved. This is a man who wants to be appreciated and loved deeply, but even with Farore, he’s been denied that. But at the same time, he should be thankful that he has the freedom that comes with only being the goddesses’ tool. 

Warriors’s declaration that he was going to become a better person no matter what put into words a theme I have been exploring throughout the story: what makes someone an idealized good person is not always realistic. And if it’s not realistic, how do we determine if someone is good or bad?

Plus, if heroes aren’t chosen because they’re morally good people, then what actually makes you a good hero? How do you define heroism when the gods themselves do not view it as a question of goodness?

In a related note, I also got a chance to acknowledge that Warriors being forcefully denied the “ability” to hurt someone isn’t character developement. It’s an excuse, and he still has to consciously decide to change his behavior. 

So after I went through the whole emotional process of realizing that I have to hype up the Triforce way more, I then realized that I had to make a decision about what to do with Dark Link (because the black blood in the original LU comic is obviously him and I will not pretend otherwise). 

My original policy was to not do anything with Dark Link. I wasn’t here to solve LU. I’m here to solve CTB. The black blood has been here as an excuse to propel the characters into the plot I actually want to solve. AKA: the war.

But I also realized that at this point, it would be weirder if I didn’t try to address what is going on with the black blood, especially if it’s been a subplot this entire story and is going to be the reason Lincoln dies. I could have left it alone. This is fanfiction, after all. You could go to the source material to find out about it. But... leaving it alone would have kept CTB very dependent on LU, which means that CTB will continue to fall apart as LU gets more specific with its lore. If I wanted CTB to stand on its own, I needed to provide my own explanation. 

So now I was on the hook to try to explain the black blood, which would mean I would have to provide a Dark Link backstory. 

He couldn’t be unrepentantly evil since that would go against the themes I’ve already established in CTB. But he still needed to have justification to, you know, possess people. And whatever backstory I come up with will have to be conveyed in the shortest amount of time and space possible.

I know I over thought this, and no one would actually care if I did this well or not. But now I cared, so I had to do this right. Luckily, Dark Link seems to care only about the heroes and not any other part of the lore, which provided a good set of parameters to work with

So I landed on him more or else being what remains of the First Hero after he’s reincarnated. Not only does this give him a very solid motivation to go against the heroes (just wants to have the other half of his soul back), but this explains an existing discrepancy in the lore: how could Time’s soul linger on as a living skeleton while the Hero’s Spirit was with Twilight. If the Hero’s Spirit was one half of a whole, where there would be something not reincarnated into the next hero, it could be possible.

I could also make Dark Link more morally gray by establishing that he was never just the dark parts of the First Hero’s spirit, but whatever parts of the hero Hylia didn’t like. 

Actually, this is a bit of storytelling I am very proud of. As we know, the official-to-fanon lore is that there was a romance between Hylia and the First Hero. In my version, whatever romance they had was bordering on the unrequited. Whatever feelings the First Hero had for Hylia could not triumph over the fact he was already married. Even if it wasn’t a love-match, he was so chivalric that he would not betray his legal wife. So when he was reincarnated, Hylia left that part of him behind. 

Side note: I have been listening to a lot of Noble Blood for months now, and I have a growing fascination with marriages based on politics that are affectionate, as opposed to love matches. I have been kicking around a lot of non-CTB story ideas that play around with marrying for any reason except romance, and it turning out perfectly.

I also just like how it’s a play on Arthurian legends, where chivalry, romance, and marriage seems at constant conflict with itself. This time, the knight chooses to remain loyal to his wife instead of the otherworldly beauty in pursuit of him.

And for the First Hero to have this torrid romantic affair while looking average at best? I love it. 

I had Warriors not believe Dark Link’s story because I wanted to leave the door open for a later reader to insert whatever LU’s actual answer for Dark Link is. Officially, Dark Link in CTB is lying if you want him to be.

And finally, beheading him was such a good place to circle back to the whole Orlanda thing. Her death was this surprising moment where I feel like a lot of readers realized things were not okay (somehow?), and so I have been looking for a way to use it as a bookend for Warriors’s growth.

Did I want to do so much with Dark Link? No, and please do not expect any of this to be super relevant for this last half of the story. Everything here was an obligation.

Unfortunately, I also think all of this was interesting as hell and doing a full backstory will be added to the list of CTB spin offs I do not have time to write. 

Also! One last note about the Dark Link scene I almost forgot about. There is an implication that Twilight's soul lingered behind like Time's did. That is because I headcanon Twilight being this ghost wolf that haunts the desert looking for shards of the Twilight Mirror (I think I wrote a drabble about it years ago). And that's how Wolfie managed to be in Breath of the Wild.

Now that all that’s out of the way, let’s get to the real meat of this chapter, which is killing off Lincoln. Yay.

Before I hop into what happens on page, there is a really fun bit of foreshadowing earlier in the story I want to point out. In chapter 19, the Chain minus Twilight, Legend, and Wind are at the Temple of Souls when Lincoln tells Lana about his plans to save the knights. And she provides this warning: 

“You’re just a mortal man,” she said at last. “Careful not to trifle with what you cannot understand, Master Knight.”

This is, coincidentally, the first chapter to contain a character death warning, albeit for Clementine. But yeah, I mostly just wanted to point that out because it’s the first in-story suggestion that this subplot is going to spell his doom. 

What kinda screwed Lincoln in the end was him jumping in to fight Gaudin and help Warriors when he knew he shouldn’t have. As Lana said, he trifled with what he did not understand. 

I didn’t invent Lincoln to die, but as I was first drafting the plot back in 2021, I knew that I should kill him off. As I always do, I explored what the story would look like if I kept him alive, and I actually came up with an alternate ending to CTB that I can’t discuss right now because it contains a spoiler to how I want CTB to end. 

So I knew from the beginning that he was meant to die, and I knew that I wanted to take the reader from hating him to liking him. This is why we meet him before chapter 5, which is the chapter that establishes how Link starts to fuck up the engineer. Link was a bit of an ass before that moment, but Lincoln’s dislike for him seems way more irrational. 

The dual-timeline structure also became really helpful here since Lincoln’s harshest moment with Link, when he was rescuing the engineer in chapter 22, comes afters Lincoln’s proved himself by rescuing Warriors and carrying him across Hyrule. The reader is primed to like him at the same time they’re prime to hate Warriors. 

To be fair, I think what made people like Lincoln the most was him being married to Ganondorf. If he had approval ratings, it would skyrocket. 

As much as I was bitching about taking four chapters to cover one plot point, it did come with time for me to push Lincoln and Warriors’s reconciliation, going from tentative allies to family. Which in turn, made his death all the rougher. 

Okay, back to the plot beats. 

As a lot of you guys pointed out, the first sign that something was wrong with Lincoln was that he let Linkle run off to fight the curse. The second sign, was him calling Warriors son. As mentioned in story, that is a verbal tic that has never applied to Warriors before. If Warriors ever thought something could be wrong with Lincoln, that could have cued him.

I had a lot of different ideas for how Spirit would be involved with Lincoln’s death.

One version of the reveal I really liked was Lincoln having gone off to scout the area, leaving Warriors behind. Spirit would sprint in, demanding where Lincoln was because his spirit had disappeared while a new dark spirit was walking around. In the middle of the conversation, without looking, Spirit would raise his gun and shoot something off to the side. Of course, this would be Lincoln who would have moved out of the way just in time to only be grazed.

Lincoln’s possession really revealed how little he trusted Spirit. If Lincoln had a better relationship with him, he probably would have less readily believed Spirit had betrayed him. 

Also, it is such a Spirit move to try to convince the curse to just leave Lincoln by promising to protect it from the others. As much as he wants to get the job done, the job went from “defeating the dark spirit” to “keeping Lincoln alive.” If he’s got to bend his morals a little to make that happen, then so be it. 

And there is something sad about how Spirit ultimately does like Lincoln enough to betray himself a little to save him, but Lincoln did not like Spirit enough to not be easily swayed into attacking him.

My original vision for the duel against Lincoln would have been Spirit and Warriors teaming up like they did on the battlefield in chapter 23-- Spirit with the sword and Warriors with the shield. The problem is that I gave Sky the Lokomo sword. 

I think Spirit is a great fighter, even if he had to be dragged into it kicking and screaming. I also think he relies heavily on being viscous over real technique. He could probably fight with an unfamiliar sword well enough normally, but he’s also really beaten up and weak at this point. There would be no way he could hold up against Lincoln no matter what I did.

So between that and the fact that Spirit and Warriors have already teamed up before, I decided to cut it. But now I’m starting to think I could have still included it but focused way more on Spirit getting his ass handed to him. 

It’s really hard to sell an original character as being better at something than the canonical characters to the reader, which has always made Lincoln’s skills as a duelist a little interesting to sell. It helps that he’s a guy since there’s way less of a knee jerk reaction to label him as a Mary Sue. Nonetheless, I really wish I did a bit more to show off that Lincoln is one of the best fighters in the story.

You know that line Lincoln dropped around Marigold? Don’t worry about it. We’ll get to that can of worms eventually haha

I could not stop crying when working on Lincoln’s death scene. From writing to editing, I could not stop crying. This is not an exaggeration. I have been pumped to kill this man off, and I still found it deeply trigger.

One reason is that a lot of this scene was based on the emotions I experienced when my mother died. That description of helplessly staring down the inevitability of death-- I know what that felt like, and I splattered that experience across the entire scene. 

I am also very close with dad, who is nowhere near young anymore (my parents had children later in life). Killing off Lincoln forced me to confront a lot of my fears about watching my dad die. When Warriors said that Lincoln couldn’t die because his mother was already dead-- the injustice that you will have to experience the grief and loneliness of losing your parents long before any of your friends ever will-- those are my feelings. 

I know I have cracked jokes about Lincoln dying, but this scene inevitably became something very personal for me. I wanted this to be devastating because the very thought of having to experience a parent’s death again is paralyzing for me. 

Every little moment of his death made me cry, but the biggest triggers were a) Hyrule saying “I’m sorry”, b) Linkle’s various pleading, c) Lincoln asking to wear his ring, and d) Lincoln admitting he’s scared.

The moment with the ring is my favorite. The small, quiet amazement when Lincoln realized that here, at the end of his life, he could wear his ring around his finger-- immediately crushing.

I was tempted to share the line “Can I Wear It” out of context as a “hahaha this is such a simple line but it’s gonna make you cry” post, but I decided to keep mum and not preemptively ruin my own moment.

I intended for one of Lincoln’s last lines to be an blunt realization on his part about where he went wrong as a father, but I cut it because even in death I don’t think Lincoln would be good at expressing himself. 

The line is kinda important for, you know, the themes and stuff (I am so sorry that I keep talking about themes), but I think I can squeeze it into the next chapter.

So Lincoln admitting he’s scared... okay, let me get on my soapbox for a moment. 

The older I get, the more I realize that everyone is terrified of dying. One day you are going to wake up and you are going to know someone who died very abruptly and far, far too soon. It will put a fear of death into you, and it will happen far sooner than you realize. 

By virtue of having older parents and straight up bad luck, I had already been to a lot of funerals before I hit my 20s. Whatever fear I had got worse not only after my mom’s death, but also the deaths of other people in my circle. I had a college professor who died of an aneurysm. She was only in her 30s.

Everyone I know is at least 2 handshakes away from someone who abruptly died. I have had lunch dates with friends where all we’ve done is exchanged stories of really sudden deaths we’ve heard about from other parts of our social circle.

And there’s this point where you this that surely you’re going to get used to this, and death will stop being terrifying once more. But because my parents were older when they had kids, all of the adults in my life are also much older than average. They’re in their late 60s and mid 70s now. You would think they would be more comfortable with death. 

But, no. They are also plainly scared of it. They have similar discussions around the dining room table about the people in their lives who have abruptly died, and the numbers rise every year. It scares them. 

I think we invented this trope of the wise mentor who embraces death as a way to cope. We want to believe that there will be a point where we too will be so intelligent and world-weary that we could accept death with open arms. I’m starting to realize that I am never going to be prepared for death. That is not a fault of my character. That is the natural response.

Nonetheless, it’s still distressing to look at your own father who is only getting older and realize that he’s distressed by the thought of dying. He wants to cling to the world, even when he says he doesn’t. You want him to face it with grace because it will make his eventual death easier on you. But death is never going to be easy. 

He’s not dead yet, but when he will, it’s going to hurt. And I just wanted to have a moment where Lincoln showed that fear of death because it felt real to life. Your loved ones will not go gently into the good night. They will rage, and it’s going to suck. 

One last note about Lincoln’s death-- this scene contains one of my favorite uses of the “he lied” tag:

Warriors swallowed. He took Lincoln’s hand. “It’s like going to sleep,” he lied.

I love experimenting with this tag and finding the most effective ways to use it. This one is my favorite. It says so much about how Warriors views his actions, and it refrains his lying as an act of kindness. I love it. 

Another really small moment I love is Lana kissing the back of Linkle’s head. I love that tiny moment of tenderness.

For killing off Lincoln, I knew it was going to be either Warriors, Spirit, or Linkle. 

For Warriors, it would be a monkey’s paw moment for the reader who probably wanted him to kick Lincoln’s ass back when we all agreed he was being a dick. 

For Spirit, it would have been another moment where he’s been forced to make another ugly, terrible choice because no one else will. Another moment of injustice. 

But Warriors and Spirit were beat out very early on in my plotting process by Linkle. 

I have tried writing my thoughts on Linkle multiple times, but I keep veering into a rant about the way people treat female characters that has absolutely nothing to do with Linkle. I’m going to try to stay on topic. 

Linkle’s thematic (so sorry to bring up themes again) purpose is to give Warriors an opportunity to break the cycle. This entire story is about how maybe that whole system where we allow children to save Hyrule and solve everyone’s problems was not a good idea, and maybe allowing that to happen has devastating consequences. Yes, there’s Warriors and his fucked up bullshit. But there’s also the lowering of the draft age, Kat’s underage prostitution, and so on. Maybe the whole system is broken.

So enter Linkle: she wants to be heroic and fight. She’s very upbeat about it, and there’s a comedic bent to how Lincoln can’t quite stop her from running off and doing whatever. 

My plan was for the reader to start out wanting to see Linkle be some kind of badass, only to slowly realize how badly that would go by virtue of learning more about Warriors’s past. 

I don’t think that was successful. I think the desire to see Linkle do cool things outweighed any other argument. I don’t know if that is my fault or not. 

On one hand, I think playing up Linkle’s desire to be heroic as comedic undermined the point I was trying to make. Plus, my desire to have Linkle involved in the plot meant that she had a lot of moments where she got to do very hero-esque things without consequence.

On the other hand... I don’t think I was subtle in establishing Linkle as both reckless and naive. Lincoln, Warriors, and the like all have moments where they outright explained to her (and the reader) why she needs to stay out of everything.

And most importantly, her pathologic need to be useful in order to earn love is a direct parallel to Time when he was a child. 

I thought I was being heavy handed, but I don’t know. I guess time will tell if I actually did any of this well or not. 

Warriors turned another really important corner in his growth in that he finally doesn’t fall back into his old patterns. Saving the kingdom, or even his political plans, are no longer worth the price of dragging another person into his mess like he did with the engineer and (to an extent) the Chain afterwards.

I almost named this part of the chapter “The Cycle Ends” because it’s such a significant moment for him. He’s clawing his way out, though it comes at the consequence of Linkle’s guilt. 

As explained in the narration, she doesn’t get the luxury of having a grand purpose. She did this and, unlike Warriors, she can’t explain it away. She’s kind of speedrunning Warriors’s arc of realizing that your actions are your own and no divine pact can excuse them away.

I feel like I should have more to say about this. Like a final parting note about this tragic turn in Linkle’s story. Maybe I will in a few days, but I have already been working on this commentary for a week now. I need to be done with this already. 

I don’t know. If you have any insight, let me know! You probably have more valuable to add to the conversation than the bozo who has been staring at these characters for too long. 

[amorest-viesse]

[Magic Connecting Our Hearts, Here and Now] - Chloe SSR Card Story Translation

Ft. Rustica, Owen, Mithra, Akira

Something Amazing All For Him - Chapter 1

[Rustica’s Room]

The early afternoon sunlight was gently filtering into the room.

Fragrant tea and laughter filled the air as Rustica, Chloe, and I enjoyed our tea party.

Rustica: You drew up some new designs recently, didn’t you, Chloe?

Akira: Ooh, can I see?

Chloe: Of course! I just finished them yesterday. Lemme get out my sketchbook and flip to the page…

[Flipping Pages]

Akira: Wow, they’re so cool!

Chloe: I was thinking the Westies could wear these to a fancy ball or something.

Chloe: I was super particular with Rustica’s sleeves. I thought it’d be neat to have them fan out as he spins on the dance floor.

On the next page was Murr’s outfit and after that was Shylock’s. For each outfit, Chloe spoke passionately about the design details he’d added.

Listening to him talk gave me a sense of déjà vu.

Akira: (This is just like when I first interviewed him for the Sage’s Book…)

During that time, all the Western wizards were having a tea party while Chloe showed us his sketchbook.

Akira: (I remember he didn’t make an outfit for himself though because he didn't think he could pull it off.)

Akira: (Chloe hasn’t shown us his page this time yet either. I wonder if he will…)

Rustica: These are all lovely designs. I presume yours is next? Does it match with mine?

Chloe: Um, not exactly. I wasn’t planning on making myself one.

Akira: Huh?

Chloe: I’m not elegant or handsome like Rustica, so I don’t think I could wear something like that. Just making one for him is enough.

Akira: (...Nothing’s changed. I think he’s more than capable of wearing that kind of outfit though.)

As I searched for the right words to say, Rustica smiled understandingly.

Rustica: And I completely agree.

Akira: !?

Shocked by his response, I turned and gaped at Rustica.

However, the love and kindness in his eyes as he looked at Chloe like a precious treasure quickly assuaged my fears.

Rustica: My hair isn’t the same lovely shade of rose as yours, nor are my eyes violet like the stars.

Rustica: I can’t wake up early in the mornings, and I prefer savarin to gratin.

Rustica: Thus, it’s as you say: you aren’t like me at all, and it’d hardly make sense for you to wear an outfit designed for me. I look forward to seeing what kind of design would suit you.

Chloe: R- Rustica. That’s so sweet.

Chloe: Although, I’m not really all that, right, Master Sage?

Akira: No… I agree with Rustica. You can absolutely do it.

Akira: I’m sure you’ll be able to design a beautiful dance outfit that fully accentuates your own charms.

Akira: I’m not as eloquent as Rustica, but I’d love to see an outfit designed for you, by you as well.

Chloe: Waah~ I can’t even imagine myself wearing something so extravagant…

Rustica: Once everyone’s outfits are complete, we should hold a dance party. When that time comes, will you have a dance with me?

Chloe: I…

Chloe looked down at his sketchbook, doubt clouding his eyes.

Something Amazing All For Him - Chapter 2

[Chloe’s Room]

A few days after the tea party, I stopped by Chloe’s room to share some sweets with him. Scattered all over the floor were rolls of fabric.

Akira: Whoa, what’s all this!? Are you making those dance outfits from the other day?

Chloe: Yep! I just started!

Akira: Ooh, I see. Did you make one for yourself…?

Chloe: Umm, no….

Akira: Oh, okay…

Akira: (That’s a little sad to hear, but it’s not like I can force Chloe to do it…)

[Poof]

Chloe: Whoa!

Akira: Is that Mithra’s door!?

[Footsteps]

Akira: Mithra! Owen! Why are you dressed like that?

Mithra: Hello. Please choose.

Chloe: C- Choose what?

Mithra: Who looks better.

Akira: ???

Befuddled, we listened to their story, and it seemed their usual squabbling had taken an unexpected turn.

Essentially, they wanted us to decide who wore their outfit best.

Chloe: I- I didn’t pin you as someone who’d participate in something like this, Owen…

Owen: Don’t get me wrong, I think this is a fool’s game, but it’d make me look even more foolish to run away.

Owen: Besides, the answer is obvious. Clearly, I’m the better looking one.

Mithra: Excuse me? Have you not seen my face?

Akira: (They’re going to fight no matter who we choose, aren’t they? Talk about the world’s scariest fashion show…)

Mithra: Hurry up with your decision, Chloe.

Chloe: Huh!? You’re asking me?

Mithra: Of course. Why else would we have come to your room?

Mithra: Although the Master Sage should answer too since you’re here. Tell him I look better.

Akira: Umm…

Owen: Don't be shy now, Chloe. Mithra can cry all he likes, but you know the only correct answer is me.

Chloe: B- Both of you look amazing! There’s no reason to fight over it…

Owen: Perhaps. …By the way, have you ever experienced how painful it feels to have a ruptured eardrum?

Chloe & Akira: Ee~~k!!

♡♡♡

Chloe & Akira: Whew~...

Chloe and I let out a big sigh. We’d finally convinced Mithra and Owen to agree they’d tied.

Akira: I feel like I’ve given enough compliments to last a lifetime…

Chloe: Me too… I wonder why they came to me of all people…

Akira: You don’t know? I mean, the two of them clearly trust your fashion sense.

Chloe: Huh?

Akira: They were wearing clothes you made, right? That must be because they like how it looks on them. It makes them feel good about themselves.

Akira: With an eye for style like that, it’s no wonder they wanted you to judge their competition.

Chloe’s eyes widened in surprise. He blinked a couple of times as if in a daze.

Chloe: They trust… me?

Something Amazing All For Him - Chapter 3

[Akira’s Room - Night]

A couple days later, Chloe showed up in my room with his sketchbook in hand.

Akira: What’s the matter, Chloe?

Chloe: …

Chloe: Um… I want to start off by saying that if it ever feels like I’m overstepping, just let me know, okay?

Chloe: But… I decided to design a dance outfit for myself.

Akira: …!

Chloe handed me his sketchbook with trembling hands. I took it from him and carefully opened it.

Akira: Wow, this is so cute! It’s perfect for you!

Seeing my reaction, Chloe released his breath. With an unsteady gaze, he began to speak with a shaky voice.

Chloe: I… don’t think I’m anything amazing. I’m not a natural genius, extraordinarily beautiful, or from a good family…

Chloe: But even so, there are people who trust my fashion sense, who think someone as plain and ordinary as me can be amazing, who love and treasure me…

Chloe: And I think it’d be inconsiderate to doubt their judgement.

Chloe: That’s why… I decided it might be okay to think about myself a little and create something amazing that’s all for me…

Instinctively, I reached out and took Chloe’s hand.

Akira: I’m really happy to hear that…

Akira: Thank you for creating such a beautiful outfit for our beloved Chloe.

Akira: I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product!

Chloe: Y- Yeah… Thank you.

Chloe returned my tight grip. Even though his hand was shaking, it felt as warm as a star shining with all its might.

Chloe: …By the way, I’m heading to the bar in a bit.

Chloe: You remember what Rustica said, right? Once the outfits are finished, we should throw a dance party.

Chloe: I didn’t give him a proper answer then, but I have one now. 

Chloe: Everyone should be at Shylock’s bar, so if you’d like to come with…

Akira: Of course, I would. Let’s go together.

Akira: We’ll make sure to throw an unforgettable dance party!

Chloe: Ahaha, I appreciate it. But it’s okay if it isn't super grand or anything.

Akira: Honestly, knowing the Western wizards, I think they'd be more than happy to go all out planning a wild extravaganza.

Akira: They all love you after all.

Chloe: You really think so?

Chloe: I hope you’re right!

Chloe’s violet eyes brightened like a stage after the curtains were pulled back.

Silently, I tucked his smile away in my heart to preserve later in the Sage’s Book along with the events of the upcoming dance party.

The Things I Can Only Say Now - Card Episode

[Chloe’s Room]

Chloe: …Yay! The nails on your right hand are finished!

Akira: Ooh~! They’re beautiful! Is that Saku-chan’s face on my ring finger?

Chloe: Ehehe, you can tell? I thought it’d make a cute accent. Can I see your left hand next?

Akira: Of course. …Speaking of Saku-chan…

Chloe: I can totally paint him again! Lemme see your thumb!

Akira: Hooray! Thanks Chloe! …I love how you do my nails.

Akira: Of course they always turn out really cute, but part of the fun is getting to chat with you too.

Chloe: Wow, really? I feel the same way….

Chloe: …

Chloe: Hey, Master Sage, can I whisper you a secret?

Akira: G- Go ahead?

Chloe: …I love you.

Akira: !!

Chloe: Oh, don’t move your hand! The polish hasn’t dried yet!

Akira: S- Sorry, you just surprised me! Why did you say that all of a sudden?

Chloe: It’s just a little prank! Rustica taught it to me.

Chloe: Apparently, it gives most people a jump to hear “I love you” whispered into their ear.

Chloe: He didn’t mention anything about the timing though, so I just winged that part.

Akira: I… see. Well, it definitely gave me a jump.

Chloe: Ahaha, my bad.

Akira: (He did catch me off-guard, but I guess we’re close enough now that he felt comfortable springing that on me.)

Akira: (In a way, that makes me happy too.)

Home Screen Voice Line

“Having a promise made to me gave me this feeling of being special, and secure. Someday, I hope to be certain enough of my own heart to make a promise to someone too.”

[thesagesjournal]

[Log-in story] A Dance Of Bountiful Blossoms And The Crystalline Banquet ③

Appearing characters: Heathcliff, Shylock

Heathcliff: Hmm…

Shylock: My, what a lovely coincidence seeing you here, Heathcliff.

Heathcliff: Oh, hello, Shylock.

Shylock: Is this pile of papers our newest batch of missions?

Heathcliff: It is. Cock Robin just left it with me.

Heathcliff: I thought I’d check out mine first, but for some reason, I can’t get myself together at all.

Shylock: Well, you’re in luck because I know just what you need in times like these.

Shylock: May I interest you in a brief refreshment break?

Heathcliff: Thank you. …Mmm, this smells refreshing. What is it?

Shylock: Simply a non-alcoholic cocktail with a pinch of herbs to soothe the nerves.

Shylock: …Something tells me your heart’s still aching for the Master Sage.

Shylock: It’s been weighing on my mind, too.

Heathcliff: …Nothing gets past you, does it?

Shylock: It takes one to know one.

Heathcliff: Do you think there’s anything we can do about it?

Heathcliff: The more I think about it, the more approaching them directly seems like a bad idea…

Shylock: I have to agree. What the Master Sage needs right now is some alone time.

Shylock: …Needless to say we’ve already seen how pressuring them at their doorstep will turn out.

Heathcliff: Ahaha, I did hear about Murr and Owen’s attempts.

Heathcliff: Thankfully, Cain and Chloe were there to reason with them.

Heathcliff: Part of me wanted to get involved, but ultimately I decided against it…

Shylock: …

Shylock: Heathcliff. Look at me.

Heathcliff: …

Shylock: Your eyes are a beautiful azure, gleaming with strength deep within.

Shylock: They tell me you’ve already long decided on what you want to do, yes?

Heathcliff: …How did you know!?

Heathcliff: Yesterday, during dinner, I was told to simply hand a request over to Lords Snow and White to handle, but…

Heathcliff: I want to do something more than that.

Heathcliff: I was thinking I could help gather a team of wizards for the mission to save them some time…

Heathcliff: And if that doesn’t work out, then, there must be something else I can do…

Shylock: Of course there is, and I’m positive they’ll appreciate your initiative.

Heathcliff: You… think so? They won’t think I’m being arrogant, will they?

Shylock: Not at all. If anything, it’s evident you’re doing it with the Master Sage’s best interest at heart.

Shylock: The manor will continue accepting missions as usual, and we’re going to need someone like you to make astute decisions.

Shylock: Believe me when I say many of us respect this side of yours, and it’s one of your strengths as a Sage’s wizard and the future head of the Blanchett family.

Heathcliff: Shylock… Thank you so much, you’re too kind, really. Now I feel a bit more confident in my idea.

Heathcliff: …Alright. I’ve decided on it. I’m going to talk to Lords Snow and White.

Shylock: Do you need me to come with?

Heathcliff: I’d be more than thankful for that.

Shylock: But of course. It’s my duty as a fellow wizard of the Sage.

Shylock: Let’s both do our best until the day our Master Sage can smile once again.

[agirlattea]

Mahoyaku Jugoya Voice Lines:

Translator’s Note:

Jugoya literally means The 15th Night

十五夜: 十 = Ju = 10, 五 = Go = 5, 夜 = yoru (ya) = night.

In the year 2024, Jugoya falls on September 17th.

According to Japan Unseen, this is because the historical callender marks Juugoya as August 15th, but the date changes every year using the Gregorian Calendar.

Central Wizards:

Oz: The moon tonight is so beautiful that it is disgusting.

Arthur: Perhaps I should refrain from saying this, however…there are times when I cannot help but admire that large moon…

Cain: I remember you saying this world’s moon is big. What’s it like having a sky with such a small moon?

Riquet: There is a clear view of the moon through the big dining room windows late at night. Would you like to come see it with me tonight?

Northern Wizards:

Snow: The fifteenth night is an evening to drink with the moon as a backdrop… I see, it seems there is yet another fun festival in store for us tonight.

White: Sage, I often see you often gaze up at the moon. I wonder if perhaps the moons we each see differ from one another.

Mithra: Sigh… I really will kill you one day.

Owen: Why is it that the moon is feared by all? …Even though it's so beautiful.

Bradley: If that moon weren’t the “Great Calamity”, I’d’ve loved to try drinking to it.

Eastern Wizards:

Faust: Hmph, tonight seems to be another unnecessarily beautiful moonlight night.

Shino: I don’t think I can enjoy watching that calamity.

Heathcliff: Of course, I love the sight of sunlight filtering through the trees during the day, but the way the moon’s sunlight hits the leaves at night is lovely as well… Ah, “moon’s sunlight” doesn’t quite make sense does it…?

Nero: That's the “Great Calamity”; so pretty you can hardly believe it.

Western Wizards:

Shylock: For the troublesome man whose love for the moon destroyed him, it seems to be a joyful night.

Murr: It looks like the moon is pretty close today. But if you get too close, you’ll be pushed back.

Chloe: Do you think the moon has a family? Two “calamities” would be pretty scary, but sometimes I wonder if it ever gets lonely…

Rustica: Master Sage, I heard the moon in your world is quite small. Perhaps it is still a child?

Southern Wizards:

Figaro: Don’t you think tonight’s moon is abominably beautiful?

Rutile: The moon is shining more brightly than usual tonight. Despite the fact that it’s so beautiful, why…

Lennox: Something so beautiful robbed our companions of their lives… I don’t really want to think about it.

Mitile: The moon looks so pretty tonight! I’m a little scared, but for some reason I feel like making a wish.

[dazed--xx]

❤️‍🩹Only Love(Can Hurt Like This)❤️‍🩹

Summary: I tell myself you don't mean a thing. And what we got, got no hold on me; But when you're not there, I just crumble. I tell myself I don't care that much; But I feel like I die 'til I feel your touch Only love……Only love can hurt like this

Member: Bang Chan x Reader

T/W:1930s Era, ANGST, historical inaccuracies, Prohibition, cursing, mafia, talks of murder, mentions of guns, Molotov cocktail, gun violence, harassment, neglect in a relationship I guess, mentions of illegal activity, life threatening injuries, mentions mafia war. Mentions of Bootlegging, mentions of Shylocking. Sad ending

Word Count: 5.1K

I tell myself you don't mean a thing and what we got, got no hold on me, But when you're not there, I just crumble

The diner booms as the large groups of men laughed over coffee. You leaned over the bar, your chin resting on your hand as your eyes scanned over the crowd as you waited for your customers dishes. Your coworker Jiung whines as his orders came out. Your eyes land on a familiar group of faces in your section. You sigh as your eyes land on your favorite eye candy, Mr.Bang. He sat at the end of his table his midnight locks slicked back in the most perfect way. He watched the group of men in front of him, his arms crossed over his chest as he listened to the other’s conversations. Your favorite customer, Hyunjin, whined about something you couldn’t hear. “You sound stupid…” A deep rough voice bellowed toward the Adonis like male that sat across from him. “How? Be real here! What more does Park expect from us?! He gets himself pinched and we have to take care of the work on the street” Hyunjin snapped back crossing his arms over his chest frustratedly. “We collect the Vig like we’re bagmen.” He growled pointing to the table as he leans toward the freckled faced boy “We take care of his family. He’s got a wife and kids and a mistress and a mistress for the mistress!” He continues as the freckled boy rolls his eyes. A snap is heard cutting the rest of the ranting man's words off. “Mind your manners, He's still the boss. And the boss is the boss what he says goes” Mr. Bang finally spoke, his voice was firm and unforgiving. “You're so worried about Park. Have you handled the Spring Cleaning I asked you to take care of?” his large palm placed itself behind Hyunjin’s neck, pulling him closer to him. Placing their foreheads together “How's the trash business? I heard there was a certain friend causing some problems” Mr. Bang challenged. His aura alone was suffocating. Your eyes couldn't help but be drawn to him every time he'd walked through the front door. His tone was calm as always but you could tell from the fear sitting on Hyunjin’s usually smiling face; this man should be feared.

A familiar ding rings from behind you. “Table 2 order up!” your managers voice calls from behind the window. “You're a line cook now?” you question, your manager Keeho gives you a snide smile. “Sit and spin” he growls as he flips you off. You blow him a kiss as you grab your customers orders of fried eggs with home fries and bacon. You place the plates on your serving tray. You grab a pot of coffee from the counter as you make your way from around the counter. You will yourself not to stare at the alluring man, who's gaze to you feel burning into you as you walk past his table. You come to a table in the corner two very well dressed yet bulky men sat at the table. A bright smile grows on the more rough looking mans face. You place their food in front of them “If there's anything else, I could get for you please let me know” you smile at them, you could feel their eyes scan over your body. The larger man leans toward you a sly smirk on his lips “As a matter of fact..” he begins “I could use a date with you?” he suggests a flirtatious tone. You groan internally as you give him a faux smile as you fill their mugs with coffee. “I don't make it a habit to fraternize with my customers” you respond firmly. “I wasn't really asking…” He growls under his breath. His hand caresses your thigh, you glare at the man. “Well I'm not interested.” his hand begins to grip your thigh “Sir, I am at work…” you growl once again. “I advise you to unhand my waitress, Kim” The familiar firm voice you admired called from behind you a chilling calmness sitting comfortably in his tone. Your heart sunk in your chest as the man stared at your savior, fear in his eyes. You look over your shoulder as the large man lifts both of his hands in a defensive pose. He stammered at the intimidating male as you turn to stagger away from the table. You notice your two favorite customers, Jisung and Hyunjin standing behind Mr. Bang.

Death glares sitting on the groups faces, your mouth hung open in shock for a moment before you give them an appreciative smile and shove past them. You quickly make your way into office that sat between the kitchen and the bathrooms. You take a deep breath feeling embarrassed at the situation. You couldn't believe yourself, you were more shaken up from how close Mr. Bang had stood to you than the men being aggressive with their proposition. Your heart raced as you remembered the way his eyes trailed over your body, it was different for the large men they had stared at you like they wanted to eat you. For some reason, his gaze felt protective, safe, and possessive though you only said the occasional flirty comments here or there.

How could a man of his stature be so intimidatingly sexy?

The sound of the door opening makes you jump. Your eyes land on the culprit, bringing you face-to-face with the reason for your anxiety. “Y-you’re not supposed to come back here, Mr. Bang.” you stammer, he sighs as he places his hands in his pockets; he raises his eyebrow, he looks around the room for a second before staring at you once again. “It's my office…” He states matter of fact, you stare at him bewildered. “You didn't think I came here every day just for the food, right?” He questions jokingly. You shake your head in response. “Never thought about it much, I was hired to serve food not be in any ones business”

“Keeho seems to run a tight ship. Good quality you seem to have…”

“Years of experience…besides I like my job. Pays well.”

“You hear a lot too…”

“Not really..” You shrug.

“Oh?” He raises his eyebrow.

“Like I said, my job is to serve food and mind my business. And What my customers talk about isn't my business” he nods a smirk forms on his lips “You Okay?” you scoff at his question “Those two? They're more bark then bite…” he raises his eyebrow in amusement as he steps toward you allowing the door to close behind him, he caresses your cheek. “You're the first to say that, they're quite feisty when they want to be. You seem to like being in dangerous situations….” this hand glides to your chin his thumb brushes over your bottom lip. Your heart races “Don’t put yourself in danger anymore..” He sighs. There’s something softer in his tone. “With the crowd that hangs out here it would be impossible.” You challenge “besides I don’t make it much of a habit”

“Last week you chased a guy who ran out on his bill…”

“I’m not losing money for an idiot”

“I pay well. A 10 dollar meal won’t break the bank, doll”

“To you…it won’t break the bank to you. Some of us don’t have diners to generate income and have a vig to pay.”

“This isn’t my only business, I have a couple more I can put you somewhere more suitable for a lady.” He suggests raising his eyebrow not pulling away from you. “I’d feel better knowing you’re safe”

“No. Thank you, Mr. Bang. But I love my job here. I love Keeho and the guys. Besides I fought my father to work here, I don't want him to think I'm getting into trouble” you confess.

“Chan…”

“Hmm?”

“My name.” he smiles “Call me Chan, doll. I don't like how Mr. Bang sounds coming from you.” a blush creeps on your cheeks. “I'm not sure if that's appropriate, Mr. Bang” you stifle a shy giggle.

“Why not?”

You freeze for a moment before answering “Well, you own this business. I work at this business. Does keeho call you Chan?” he chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest. “He could…he wouldn't be around long but he could.” he stares at you in amusement. “Besides, all this time you stared at me, don't tell me you only wish to maintain an employer-employee relationship?”

Your eyes widen at his question. You felt nervous, all this time you didn't think he'd noticed you. For him to confront you about your crush…it caught you off guard to say the least. Your heart pounded so loudly in your chest that you swear you could hear it in your ears, almost like a tune on the radio. Your cheeks burn a bright scarlet. “C-Chan…I-I—See I knew you could do it.” he cuts you off bemused. He leaned in close to you, caressing your cheek he connected your eyes “Don't worry about an answer now, as you said earlier you're at work. I'll let you get back to it.” he smirks before pulling away and heading toward the door “See you tomorrow, doll” he pulls a cigarette pack from his pocket, taking one out he lights it. He looks back at you giving you a wink and a wave he disappears behind the door.

Your legs turn to jelly as he exits, and you collapse on the ground. You hold your hand over your heart as if it could steady it. Your cheeks are a bright neon scarlet, a wave of giddiness crashes over you. Chan… you blushed to yourself. Even his name was mesmerizing.

It had been weeks since the office incident and you still hesitated on pursuing something with Chan. He still came in every morning with the same group of 7. You'd bring them coffee and he would find some way to brush his hand over yours. He'd become quite…. persistent all of a sudden. He'd give you a wink and smile the moment he saw you approaching his table. When Jisung or Hyunjin asked about your brother, Chan would hang onto your every word. One thing did change though, now he always paid the bill with you at the counter. He'd find some reason to touch you in some way whether it's by brushing a stray hair away or placing his hand on yours while you talk. You also noticed the larger tips the other boys began to leave. Yet you hesitate.

Over the past few weeks, you began to properly do your homework on one Bang Chan. You had figured that once he told you he owned the diner he was associated with the mafia in some way, Keeho was a connected guy after all. You had assumed Chan was also involved in some way but you never expected to find out he was a Capo. Let alone a high-ranking one placed directly under your father.

A bootlegger by trade, after the government declared war on alcohol. Your father the underboss of the Park crime family, had taught you many tricks of the trade. And for 10 years he ran the largest underground alcohol distribution network. From the moment the idea of prohibition was proposed your father began learning and perfecting the craft of making beer and alcohol. Many of the crime families had to go through your father for their libations, and it had built your families wealth exponentially. But all things must come to an end, and when it did it came with a shakedown.

The feds were swift and ruthless they came early in the morning to whisk your father away for his current 10-year bid. While you and your mother could live comfortably with the money your father left for you. You felt wrong using the money he'd risked everything for. So, you worked, you worked to maintain his vig. You handled his books while your uncle acted as his capo for the crew. During you're research you had learned Bang Chan was notorious, him and his crew making their bones at very young ages. Before you never really paid attention to the chatter about the man you admired from a far; but you couldn't help yourself now.

You now knew how almost every woman who lived in a 2-block radius admired him, and all the men respected him. You learned whatever you couldn't from idle chatter from your uncle and father. Chan had taken the oath after he'd helped win the war against the Choi family. Rumors said he'd been the one to take out the former boss. Your father pointed out how he had a knack for businesses, once starting out as a Shylocker Chan quickly developed multiple businesses from construction, to apartment buildings, clubs and obviously the diner you currently work at.

Of course, there was idle chatter about his vicious and unforgiving temper as well. How every man including him may seem sweet, attractive, and harmless but under that facade laid ruthless cold-blooded killers. You shutter when you remember the cold unbothered tone Chan had used toward those men that day in the diner. You don't even want to think about what could have happened, remembering your father's temper. You had continued to lock your feelings away from the mafioso, knowing nothing but pain could come from entering a relationship with him.

Until one day, he didn't show up with everyone like he always did. You had been floored, to say the least when you noticed his seat empty. You were able to put on a facade laughing with them as you poured them coffee. Growing up around mafiosos, you never felt uncomfortable they were respectful, honest when they could be, and headstrong. But they were men at the end of the day, they were human. Having a high-ranking mafia father you had no choice but to find yourself comfortable around them. Despite the rumors this group always was polite and made you laugh, you laughed along with Jisung's jokes as you took their orders. Your eyes drifted to his empty seat. You found yourself growing more and more upset as time ticked by. The group of boys finishing their meals with idle chatter you'd typically ignore but today you hung onto their every word waiting for some mention of Chan or his whereabouts.

Was he okay? Did something happen?

You found yourself ridiculous but your heart shattered as the boys called out a goodbye on their way out. You give them a faux smile as you wave them off. You make your way over to the table. He didn't show up… you slowly cleaned the table stacking dishes on your tray. You notice a paper sticking out of the bill folder. Curious, you pull the paper from the checkbook and read it's contents.

Doll,

Had a meeting. If it's not too much trouble, I'd still like to see you. I need to see you every day, you see. Meet me at Spark’s steakhouse. 8pm

-yours Bang Chan

I tell myself I don't care that much. But I feel like I die 'til I feel your touch. Only love….Only love can hurt like this….

It had been two years since that day. You and Chan had been together through the end of prohibition. You spent your first night legally able to drink with a bottle of wine on the beach. Feeling the sand between your toes as you sipped from the wine glass, your hand encased in Chan’s. Whilst you felt your relationship with Chan was almost perfect, as he was such a gentleman despite his reputation. Unfortunately, you felt he was too much of a gentleman sometimes. He refused to touch you, even after two years together you both hadn't gotten past steamy kisses and heavy petting. You hoped the alcohol would loosen him up a bit, but as someone who never had to stop drinking recreationally, he could maintain his inhibitions. You, on the other hand, didn't drink during prohibition so you felt quite inebriated.

Chan quickly found out you see an honest and affectionate drunk, as you lazily laid your head on his shoulder. Your arms wrapped around his bicep as you stared up at him with a pout. He pecks your lips softly, raising his eyebrow at your expression the corner of his mouth lifts in amusement. “May I ask what's troubling you doll?” he questions as he brings the wine glass to his plush lips, taking a sip of wine. You stare up at him a longing in your eyes “Why won't you fuck me?” you slur. He choked on the drink, not expecting your sudden boldness. His eyes wide as he pulls away from you slightly “W-What?”

“Why won't you—Don’t ask me again, I heard you the first time…” He cuts you off in a panic. He looks around at your surroundings. “Well…Why?” you question “I really want to…but you always stop.” you pout as you pull your head away from him releasing his arm. “I don't—I wouldn't just fuck you. I love you, you'd be more to me than just some fuck. If I wasn't who I am I'd have proposed to you and make love to you every chance I got. I'd want to do things the right way…”

“But…?”

“But I am who I am. My job isn't safe right now, a lot of people are in a situation and things are starting to look like a war is brewing”

“I don't care about any of that, Chan I just want you”

“I do—sigh—your safety is my priority right now. Usually, your safety would be guaranteed but once I get the call to hit the mattresses…” he trails looking away from you. You hear the way his voice cracks as he speaks. “There wouldn't be someone around to guard me..” you finish for him. He nods his eyes screwed shut for a moment. “Look, if I get the call promise me you won't go to the diner until I get back” he urges caressing your cheek. You stare at him sadness sits in his chocolate eyes. You could tell he was nervous and felt guilty. You nod reluctantly. You feel his forehead press against yours.

“I promise once all of this is taken care of I'll give you everything you desire, doll”

“I love you Chan. I can wait”

Say I wouldn't care if you walked away, But every time you're there, I'm begging you to stay When you come close, I just tremble And every time, every time you go It's like a knife that cuts right through my soul. Only love…..Only love can hurt like this

You were on edge for 2 months. Every time Chan was late, a prick would be sent through your heart. You weren't sure when the war would start but even the civilians could feel it was coming as more and more tension built between Park Jin-young’s faction and Yang Hyun-Sik's faction. The animosity formed when Yang Hyun-Sik made all his union trashmen go on strike until Park Jin-young funded his latest venture. Escalating all the way to the phone call that would send your entire world crumbling down around you.

It had been a normal day, you had been laughing along with Jisung when Keeho called you over to the counter. A serious look on his face when he handed you the phone. You took it hesitantly, your heart shattered in your chest when you heard the corrections officer on the other end of the line explain your father's passing. No matter the officer's terminology you knew. You knew it was a hit, you stood frozen in shock as Keeho stared at you worriedly. His voice was drowned out by the sound of your heart pounding in your ears. You could feel his hand on your shoulder as your eyes traveled around the diner landing on your lover who was laughing with his friends until his eyes met yours. A tear fell down your cheek as Chan stared at you, worry and confusion written all over his face.

The front door bursts open as Yang Jeongin runs straight to Chan. “Boss, they got to Baek Do-Chul last night” He murmurs as he struggles to catch his breath. His words prompted Chan to rush to your side quickly pulling you into his arms. He held you close as you sobbed into his chest. Realization falls over everyone's face, the war had begun with the murder of your father. You sob harshly knowing you have lost your father and lover in one quick swoop. You clung Chan, whispering your pleas for him to stay by your side.

You could tell he wanted to. Oh, how he wished he could stay with you and hold you close forever. You could see the longing to stay and avoid the war on his face. But he took an oath, and without him and his men the Park family could fall. Everything he and your father and all the men around you had worked so hard for could crumble down at any moment. He couldn't do that to his men, the family he had made he would never abandon them. And you knew that, so as much as it hurt you had to let him go. Your heart went through the door with him leaving you an utter sobbing mess on the floor.

But if the sweetest pain, Burning hot through my veins. Love is torture….Makes me more sure,Only love can hurt like this

It had been 6 months since the war started.

6 months since your world fell apart.

6 months since your father had died.

6 months since Chan and the boys had left…

The commission had plenty of sit-downs in regard to the war, with Keeho being sent for almost daily while he was acting as boss for your father after your uncle became another casualty in the war. He had tried to avoid asking you to come back to the diner but he became desperate as he could no longer manage the day-to-day business and run your father's old crew. You had agreed to help hoping to get some sense of normalcy. Though the busiest time you had seen was when Chan and the boys were around. Many people avoided the many businesses controlled by both factions too afraid of the possibility of being in a front-row seat of a mafia war.

The night shift was typically quiet. You had an easy time as the night crew were funny and enjoyed their time around each other. You were cleaning the dining room with the only other closing waiter, Intak. The two of you laughing at the cook, Soul, shouting profanities and arguing with himself from the kitchen when a flash of light caught your eye.

Before you could comprehend what was happening the window beside you shattered. You feel an arm wrap around you as you hear the sound of glass breaking near your feet and you're pulled roughly deeper into the dining room. The part of the dining room where you had been standing goes up in flames. You hear the sound of more breaking glass as Intak yanks you behind him, he grabs the back of your head shoving it down and making you crouch “Keep your head down!” He exclaims as you try to look around. You notice his hand reach behind him, he produces a Colt hammerless pistol from his waistband. You rush toward the back exit as you hear the sound of gunfire. The flames growing more and more vicious engulfing the building in a matter of seconds. You struggled to breathe as smoke filled the room. “Y/N!” you hear Soul's voice call from the kitchen. “Soul!” you cry as a cough builds in your lungs. “Follow my voice!” he exclaims as you hear clattering from the kitchen. “I-I'm trying…” you call, trying to feel your way through the doorway. The room begins spinning as you struggle to breathe you feel a sharp pain radiate across your back through your stomach. You feel your strength growing weaker and weaker as you stagger into the back room. You lean against the wall as you feel a warmth spreading across your torso. Your legs giving out just outside the kitchen. You stare up at the wall a trail of blood following you. You stare down at your torso noticing the sticky red liquid that painted your shirt. The world goes black as a familiar voice calls “Y/N!”

Only love can hurt like this; Your kisses burn into my skin.Only love can hurt like this, Only love can hurt like this….Save me…..Save me….Only love, only love.

A faint beeping rings in your ears, and your eyes feel heavy as you try to pull them open. You're blinded by a flash of white light. You release a groan as you hold your head trying to allow yourself to adjust to the light. Your throat feels exceptionally dry as you look around the room finding a table with a cup of water beside your bed you take the cup quickly gulping down its contents. Your torso is sore as you notice the familiar figure hunched over your bed. Your heart races as you rub your eyes expecting the figure to disappear “C-Chan…?” you mutter, your hand coming in contact with his hair. You caress his head tenderly. He stirs, his eyes fluttering open. He jumps from his position when he sees you staring back at him. He pulls you into his arms with a call of your name. You wince as pain shoots through your torso. You hear him sobbing as he holds you in his arms “You're awake!” he cries pressing light kisses all over your face. “Fuck! Thank god, I thought I lost you. I thought we were too late. When I saw you like that, you looked like you were dead. I almost died right there.” He rambled as he held onto you for dear life. “I'm okay, it's nothing..” you try to brush it off.

“You were shot!” He snaps “How could you say that? You almost died! You were in a coma for 2 weeks!” you stare at him stunned “Channie—I almost lost you! Why were you even there? You promised me! You promised you wouldn't work there while I was gone! Why didn't you just listen?!” He cut you off, his concern and anger worn on his face. For once he couldn't contain his emotions. You look away from him “I'm sorry. I just I wanted to feel close to you again” you mutter

“It was dangerous! I told you how dangerous it would be!”

“I'm sorry, but I don't regret it”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No Chan. I understand why you're upset right now but you have to understand why I did it. I needed something to feel normal again”

“So you do something stupid and put yourself in danger?”

“What did you expect me to do?!”

“Listen to me, Goddammit!” He growls roughly “I tried! I really tried but I lost my dad and you on the same day! I needed you! And the family came first! You left me! When I was begging you not to, you left!” you finally snap you stare daggers at Chan. “You act like I had a choice. I-I didn't want to leave, doll.” you look away from him crossing your arms over your chest. Chan reaches trying to uncross your arms and hold your hand “Doll please listen to me…” he pleads “I took care of it. The war is almost over. The guy that killed your dad I took care of it. I didn't have a choice, it was an order. I have to listen to the commission.” He argues finally relenting on trying to hold your hand he paces the room. “Oh trust me I know all about it. How the family and your path will come before anything. How it has to be your priority. How no matter what happens nothing comes before omerta.” you scoff “I'm surprised you're even here, how'd you manage that? Since your orders are so important…”

“Don't be like that, doll. You know you're my first priority…”

“Oh am I?”

“Yes! Come on Y/N, don't doubt my love for you because I have to follow orders”

“The only reason your here Chan is because I almost died, not because you missed me or needed to see me.”

“Of course, I wanted to see you every day I was gone. I'm here because I needed to be sure you were okay. I'm here for you…”

“For how long? 2 days? 4?” you question crossing your arms over your chest. He stares at you with a guilty expression. “Tomorrow. I have to leave tomorrow…” you scoff “of course..”

“I-I spent an entire two weeks here! Park told me no matter what I need to go back tomorrow. The war is almost over we have a plan. Just—Just give me some time…” he pleas

“I don't have any more time.” you state coldly, catching him off guard “I don't have any more time to wait for a man who would leave me after what I just went through because of him. I won't wait around for a man who would leave me the moment I return from the brink of death.”

“Y/N please…” His voice cracks as he reaches out for you “D-dont make this hard for me”

“Just go follow your orders.” your tone is full of venom. You can see the pain on his face. “Doll…I-I’m sor—i don't even care to hear it. Go follow your orders Chan. Win your war, but I won't be here waiting for you when you get back” you cut him off. You hear him whimper in pain at your declaration. His eyes well up with tears as he stares at you in shock he rushes to your side, dropping to his knees he takes your hand. “N-No, doll please! I'll do anything. I'll stay. I won't go! Don't leave me..you’re all I have” Tears stream down his face as he begs. You shake your head pulling your hand away from his. “I can't keep doing this. I won't make you choose between me and your oath. Please just go” you state begrudgingly. Chan’s sobs grow stronger as he holds your face in his hands pressing his forehead against yours. “No, please! I'm sorry. I'm sorry please don't—don’t leave me. I can't live with out you, please…I chose you I'll choose you over my oath” he whimpers. His face is coated with tears as you stare at him your own tears falling. Your heart breaks at the sight of falling apart. Your injuries no longer even painful as your heart shatters all over the floor.

Cause only love can hurt like this…

⏪|⏸️|⏩

Taglist: @yangbbokari @havenwithleeknow

[halfincontextmagic]

Event Story: The Crimson ribbon for Désir | CH7

SNOW — Mumu. So based on what you’ve just told, it would mean that painter had gifted the painting to the model.

Klaus. Does it mean you’ve borrowed the painting from the model and put it in this box?

KLAUS — No. Where I found this painting was where I met Sir Rustica and Sir Chloe, in a certain antique shop.

Because…one day, the model left the paintings in his room—. And suddenly vanished.

BRADLEY — …What?

SHYLOCK — He vanished?

SHINO — Without saying anything to the painter, you mean?

AKIRA — Why, would he….

KLAUS — “Why…”

“Did he, I wonder…”

Mr. Klaus choked on his words. I looked up to the above part of the white space, but his words wouldn’t fall.

SHYLOCK — Miracles….

Next to me, Shylock idly played with a ribbon and closed his eyelids, pondering about the sentiment.

Then, his beautiful lips slowly opened.

SHYLOCK — Could it be that the reason why the model vanished was to convey the message of “I wanted you to see me as I am”?

AKIRA — As he is…?

SHYLOCK — Yes.

He’d be just standing, and on the canvas, a beautiful person with the smile of an angel would be portrayed on it.

No matter how many high praises he is given, it’s much the same as someone who isn’t himself is reflected into those eyes.⁹

Maybe he himself couldn’t find the reason for what he was standing in front of the painter anymore.

SHINO — …gh….

They can just…think whatever they want though.¹⁰

SHYLOCK — Indeed, they think whatever they want.¹⁰ All living creatures do.

Something may have changed if we’d spoken to each other but….

We tie a ribbon on the depths of our heart.

There must be many people in this world who will keep on carrying the words they’d wished to gift to someone.¹¹

BRADLEY — …And what did the painter do after the model disappeared?

For a minute, Mr. Klaus was at a loss for words.

After a beat of bitter silence, he said with a sigh:

KLAUS — “…I was told he quit.”

AKIRA — What….

KLAUS — “He apparently lost the meaning of painting. I heard that, after that, he traveled all over the world, as if searching for the model.”

AKIRA — Then…. After that, did they end up meeting each other?

KLAUS — “No. It seemed like the painter spent decades searching for the model but…. Recently, on the day of the Great Calamity…”

“The damage in the city where the painter was staying at was particularly severe, and he was deceased.”

AKIRA — …No way….

In return, a single painting that his body had still been cradling had appeared to be safe.

However, that painting had likely been covered by a white layer by the painter himself—.

And it seemingly ended up reaching an antique shop as nothing more than a white canvas, where Klaus could find it.

KLAUS — “The only hint was his sign that was left in the corner…. I was lucky to be able to find it at all.”

BRADLEY — I see…. Now a lot makes sense.

Bradley rubbed his chin and looked at the sleeping Heathcliff.

Then, he states clearly, in a volume that could be heard outside:

BRADLEY — Leave whatever’s up down here to us. Looks like we can deal with it.

SNOW — “What? Is that true?”

BRADLEY — Yeah. All of you over there just be good and wait.

At the same time he was done with what he had to say, Bradley turned back to face us.

BRADLEY — ‘t was bothering me the whole time.

That faint presence we can feel since we’ve gotten here….

About why there’s Eastern small one’s presence coming from that ribbon looped around the Young master.

SHINO — …What?

AKIRA — Is—Is this true?

SHYLOCK — Yes. Just subtle enough for Bradley and I to notice it however.

SHINO — What does that mean.

I’ve never come to this place. I didn’t know anything about any painter, or painting, or box with a red ribbon.

BRADLEY — We know. I was also like why but….

After hearing that Klaus guy’s story, I get it now.

Looks like the will clinging to the painting inside this box might’ve gained some power with the influence of the Calamity.

And that will found it. An attachment like its own, it found the Eastern small one.

So now it’s trying to deal with its lingering attachment by fulfilling your wish.

Shino’s eyes widened, as if he’d just gotten struck by lightning.

SHINO — Fulfill my…wish?

Don’t mess with me. I don’t wish for a Heath like this.

BRADLEY — ‘That so? But it sure’s going the way you were saying it should before.

With that attitude, I’m sure the Young master wouldn’t ever be ashamed of himself.

From now on, he’ll hold his head high and order you.

Can you really say you never imagined the Young master looking like this?

SHINO — …gh…. That’s true but….

…Not like this….

………….

BRADLEY — Then, just what is your wish?

SHINO — …It’s….

…………. I don’t really know how to say it but….

AKIRA — Shino….

SHINO — ………….

It’s, my fault….

That Heath is like this right now?

Shino stared aghast, at the ribbon digging itself into Heathcliff’s arm.

Shino had gone speechless and stood there, motionless. From the tip of my feet to the rest of my body, I felt myself go cold, at the sight.

I was at a loss for words, and before I could realize, I felt a soft warmth on the cheek of my hanging head.

When I looked up, Shylock nodded to me.

And, as if to prompt my line of sight, he looked to my right….

When I did, Shino was there, turned back in our direction.

His red irises were holding a blazing flame.

SHINO — I’ll prove it myself that this is not my wish.

Tell me, Bradley, Shylock.

How can I help Heath?

BRADLEY — …It’s easy.

Cast a “spell of separation”.

Bradley’s voice was calm. It was as if he’d been waiting for those words from Shino.

SHINO — A spell of separation…. I learned that in Faust’s class at some point.

If I remember right, it was a type of magic to undo curses.

SHYLOCK — Exactly. The spell itself isn’t anything difficult. However….

AKIRA — Is there an issue?

SHYLOCK — The ribbon is connected to Heathcliff so deeply it can control his mind.

To break the spell, a delicate amount of power would be needed.

And this magic is cast with the image of peeling little by little the unwanted things that are sticking to the soul.

Therefore, the feeling of “wanting the original person back” would be the source of the potency but….

BRADLEY — On the other hand, if there’s the slightest thought of “I don’t want him to go back to how he used to be”, the curse’s power will grow.

And if it comes to that, I bet the spell’s gonna carve itself into the Young master’s soul.

AKIRA — Oh no….

(Does it mean that if it fails, Heath is going to stay like that…?)

BRADLEY — Taking that risk into account, I’d say the most qualified to undo the curse would be Pipe drinker out of all of us here.

SHYLOCK — Indeed, to love one the way they are is what I do best, after all.

SHYLOCK ・ BRADLEY — But….

To the fleeting glance from the two of them, Shino responded by cutting in.

SHINO — I’ll do it.

BRADLEY — ‘knew you’d say that.

SHYLOCK — I knew you would say that.

BRADLEY — …Still, I see.

So this is the answer you choose, huh.

TL/n: SHINO LOOKS SO DEVASTATED AND HEARTBROKEN WHEN HE REALIZES IT'S "HIS FAULT" MY POOR LITTLE MEOWMEOW

sorry if you read this when it wasn't ready yet because this app is so ass and posts my drafts on its own at random and i have no say in it

⁹ to clarify, the model felt like regardless of how much people would praise him, what they saw, what the painter saw, wasn't the real him. the tled sentence is a bit hard to read, i'm sorry.

¹⁰ originally, this could have been also translated to “What they think...is none of his business.” or “What they think...is their own business.” but I didn't want it to sound like Shino was defending them, since what he means is “Why should he care about what they think?”. The original says 「何考えても、勝手だろう」, and it's a very Shino way to say "Let them think what they want. It's none of your business. You don't have to care about these stupid people." pretty much. Then, Shylock keeps the same wording when he responds, but in a way that sounds like "it very much is".

¹¹ This one was really tricky. It's supposed to mean "there's many people out there who will keep what they want to say hidden inside them, words that they wanted to give to someone, but aren't, and won't, and they'll keep on carrying those forever." and while I debated between flow and how close I could keep it to original wording, it turned out like this... lol

←CH6 CH8→

↞CH1 CH10↠

✧INDEX✧

[cainluvr69]

"Willfully Playful" Owen SSR Card Story - The Flowerfall Game Hall, With You ~ Invitation for Owen

the recordings for this were provided by known owen yume dante!

✦✧☾✧✦

Cain: Oh, here you are.

Akira: Owen!

Owen: Munch munch…

Mithra: Owen, those people have something they need from you.

Owen: What do you want…? In case you can't tell, I'm in the middle of something right now.

Cain: Are you two eating dinner together? It's definitely that time of night when you start getting hungry.

Owen: This is my tart. I'm not giving you any.

Mithra: I don't want anything but meat, anyway.

Akira: No, we're not here to eat… Owen, it's going to be your birthday soon, so I wanted to invite you to the Flowerfall Game Hall.

Owen: The Flowerfall Game Hall… Oh, that mini playground thing. An old friend of Shylock's made it a fancy place to play around in. I think.

Cain: If you already know about it, that'll make this faster. Akira wants to escort you there to celebrate your birthday. You can get there through this miniature of a door.

Akira: Will you accept my invitation, Owen? I'll escort you properly, so you can have a fun time and stuff…!

Owen: Hmmm. If I get to have fun there, does that mean I can mess it up as much as I want?

Akira: Huh?! Um, it's not mine, so I'd prefer if you didn't go wild in it…

Mithra: Munch. You might as well go.

Owen: Hey. You just took some of my fruit.

Mithra: There's not enough meat and I'm hungry. That little playground wasn't too bad of a place, you know. There was a place that I thought you might enjoy too, maybe. I only saw it while I was riding on horseback through the sky, though…

✦✧☾✧✦

According to Mithra, he'd seen what sounded like a European-style house standing in a dark corner of the grounds. It sounded a whole lot like some kind of scary haunted house-like attraction.

Cain: Now that you mention it, I think I saw a place like that too when we were high enough up. I remember thinking that just that one part of the park looked creepy and weird…

Owen: Oh? And here I was thinking it'd be nothing but kid's toys all lined up together.

Akira: (That's the kind of thing Owen's interested in…?!) Um… If you want to go there, I'd be happy to take you there! I'm a little scared of things like that, but I can ask Shylock about it and get ready for it…

Owen: You don't need to do that. Hey, how do we go to this Game Hall?

Akira: Oh, um, write your name on the invitation and then recite your spell, and the door will open. I do have an invitation already prepared…

I presented the invitation, and with a flourish of magic, Owen pulled a pen out from thin air and smoothly wrote his name down on it.

Akira: Huh?

Cain: What, you want to go there right now?

Owen: Might as well.

Owen grinned broadly at me and Cain, both of us wide-eyed.

Owen: There's nothing I love more than people's faces twisted in fear, screams ripped from their throats. <Cure Memini>

The invitation began to flicker with light, and the door to the Game Hall began to open. The entire area was draped in mist.

✦✧☾✧✦

When the mist cleared up, we were standing in a place that looked a lot like an amusement park, with rides all around us.

Akira: We're really just here now… But I'm glad you accepted my invitation, Owen. Thank you so much. That outfit suits you wonderfully.

Owen: I guess this outfit isn't horrible or anything. Even if it did put itself on me without permission.

One aspect of the Flowerfall Game Hall's hospitality was giving the person invited into it an outit that suited them perfectly.

Owen: More importantly. We don't need anything from the fluffy, frilly place. Where's that haunted house?

Akira: Ah, hold on…!

Owen was on his broom before I knew it, and I was left chasing after him. Before long, however, we arrived at the house we'd been told about.

Owen: So this is it.

Just as we'd heard, this was the only part of the park that the sun didn't reach, shrouding it in a sinister, unearthly air. There were even strange animal cries from something just out of sight.

Akira: This feels really…real… This is the only part of all the fancy scenery that feels out of place…

Owen: Why are you just standing there? Didn't you say you were going to escort me? I'm looking forward it. Come on, let's go in already.

Akira: O-okay…!

Owen pushed me forward, a faint smile dancing on his lips, and I tamped down all my fears and opened the door. The inside of the manor was even darker than it was outside, and there was an unpleasant chill in the air. My eyes darted back and forth over things I couldn't quite see as I took a single, fearful step forward.

Akira: It's pretty dark… Owen, be sure to watch your feet… …Huh? I feel like I just stepped on something soft…

Owen: It's just a bunch of fabric. Maybe someone's scattered clothing?

Akira: Oh, you're right. But whose clothes are these…?

As those words were coming out of my mouth, something wrapped around my ankle.

Akira: ?!

✦✧☾✧✦

I started to panic and looked down--and immediately met the eyes of a face staring at me from within the fabric confines of the fallen clothing. Its eye sockets were sunken and hollow, and its bones rasped hollowly against one another as it opened it mouth.

Skull: Wel…come…

Akira: Waugh!!

Owen: Ahaha. Aren't you so happy? It's welcoming you. Come on, we're still standing in the door. Don't just stand there looking stupid, get yourself in already.

Akira: D-don't push on me like that…wahh, those paintings are laughing!

I was surrounded on all sides by frightening phenomena, but I still pressed forward, timidly though it was. There was a blood-red door laying in wait for us at the end of this dark and decrepit hallway. Even its very form, the curves of its handle, the carvings in the wood, was ominous. I was on edge. More on edge than I'd ever been before.

Akira: Ahh… There's definitely something lurking behind this…

Owen: Are you scared?

Owen tilted his head, watching me carefully. His mismatched eyes gleamed with a dark light, one that threatened to swallow me up.

Owen: I'm having a lot of fun right now, you know. If you say you hate it here, are we going to turn back?

Akira: …N-no…it's fine…

And then I heard a sound from above us--and when I looked up, something was falling from the ceiling.

Akira: …Watch out!

Owen: !

The second after I grabbed Owen's hand and pulled him out of the way, several skeletons swung down from above us, hanging suspended in the air.

Akira: …Huh? I thought they were going to hit us…

Owen: …Ahaha! You were the one who told me to watch out. Should someone as cowardly as you be saying the one saying that here? …But that's a lovely expression on you. Pale, desperate, and completely pathetic.

Owen's face drew close to mine, like a snake scenting its prey. His voice was as sweet and heavy as honey as he slowly, slowly reached his hand towards me.

Owen: Let me see that face as much as I want today, okay?

With a smile as seductive as an anglerfish's lure, Owen pushed the bloody door at my back open.

✦✧☾✧✦

Akira: Haah… Haah… We're finally out…

Owen: Oh, that was odd. What was that last scream? I haven't even heard anything like that from a crazed hen.

Akira: But, but, a severed head rolled down the stairs, and it startled me…!

Owen: You're such a wimp. If you get so scared by everything that comes at you like that, you'll need an extra heart for when your first one gives out. Oh, what a laugh. Just remembering it is getting to me.

I could see tears in the corners of his eyes. It felt like his laughter was more…open and genuine than it usually was. All his defenses were down.

Akira: (I don't think I've ever seen Owen laughing like this before.) (It was a heck of an adrenaline rush, but I'm glad I committed to doing this…)

It was pretty scary, but I was still happy to see Owen enjoying himself from the bottom of his heart. It made me want to say it to him one more time.

Akira: …Happy birthday, Owen. I hope this year is a wonderful one for you.

Owen: …

When Owen turned his gaze to me, something white started falling from the sky.

Akira: Ah…

Owen: What is this. Flower petals?

When the Flowerfall Game Hall had satisfied the heart of the person who'd been invited into it, the exit door would open, and this rain of flower petals was the cue. We were wrapped in a pale mist, our vision fading to white.

✦✧☾✧✦

Mithra: Oh, they're back.

Cain: Woah, they are! Welcome home, you two.

It took hearing Mithra's voice for me to realize we were back in the dining hall. Cain rushed over to us, looking worried.

Cain: I was starting to get worried you'd never come back. Um…did everything go okay?

Akira: Ahaha. It did, somehow…

Owen: Hm?

Owen tilted his head to one side and looked me over.

Owen: They didn't come back with us. And they suited you so well.

Akira: What do you mean by "them"…?

Owen: You had so many hands gripping onto you. On your shoulders and your arms. Hands of bone, and hands of flesh and blood.

Akira: …What?! Y-you're kidding, right…?!

I felt the blood drain from my face as I swatted at my arms and shoulders to make sure nothing was there, but Owen just grinned at me, looking as satisfied as he would stuffing an extra helping of dessert into his mouth.

Owen: Well now. Who knows?

Sub Story: The Whereabouts of the Stolen Meat

Akira: Oh, good evening, Owen. I see you're eating alone tonight.

Owen: What do you mean, "tonight".

Akira: When I came to give you the invitation to the Flowerfall Game Hall a while ago, you were eating with Mithra… I feel like I see the two of you together a lot.

Owen: That's just coincidence. That time he was only there because he was trying to steal the fruits off my fruit tart. So the next day I stole the meat he was going to have for dinner as payback and we almost killed each other about it. It's not like I'm ever around him because I want to be.

Akira: You two do tend to try to kill each other if you're around each other for too long…

Owen: Well, you know how it is. But about when we tore a hole in the roof, the twins suddenly popped out. They said whoever started it was the one in the wrong, so Mithra was the only one who got lectured about it. And he made that face he always does when he's like, "Hahh?" It was so funny.

Akira: Ahaha… That sounds like a very lively dinner. By the way, did you eat the meat that you stole, Owen? Although I honestly can't really picture you eating that kind of thing…

Owen: I would have, but the idea of eating something Mithra had been rubbing his grubby hands all over is disgusting. Who knows where he's been and what he's been touching. So I gave it to Sir Knight.

Akira: You gave it to Cain?

Owen: Yep. It's more like I forced it on him, actually. Like how you throw stuff into the trash? Like that. It's what he's there for. He gave me some sweets from a new shop in the capital as thanks. He acts all upright and proper about the weirdest things.

Akira: (He says that, but he looks pretty happy about it…) (Knowing he enjoyed himself at the Game Hall and that he had another good day right after makes me happy too, though.)

[inviberu]

fallen

In which Faust goes through the process of realizing that he does, in fact, like you.

— Faust x Sage!Reader

i. denial

People often saw Faust as a straightforward wizard; a no-nonsense type of guy. When it came to love, many assumed that he wasn't the type to beat around the bush. It would be a lie to say that their claims were false but there was a little misconception—getting to that point is an entirely different story.

Today, Heath noticed something different with Faust. Perhaps it was a little mean to admit this but he couldn’t help but nudge Chloe and whisper to his ear after sparing his mentor a glance. “Doesn’t he seem… a little different today? He’s smiling.”

“Eh? Really?” Chloe tried to be discreet and turned his head to glance at Faust but Heath was quick to grab his head and turn it back to the way it was facing before.

“Too obvious!” He had a panicked expression on his face, silently exclaiming and hoping that Faust didn’t hear or see anything that might prompt him to come closer. Chloe muttered a small apology and tried to get back into his normal demeanour. Heathcliff let out a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived when all of a sudden—

“I can hear you two, you know?”

“F-Faust-sensei…” Caught red-handed. Heath averted his gaze quickly and Chloe started fiddling with his fingers nervously. “We weren’t doing anything bad, really!”

“Relax. I’m not accusing you two of anything.” A warm smile followed by a chuckle. The two young wizards stared at him blankly, trying to comprehend the sight in front of them. They looked at him and then at each other—their expressions were saying: Huh?

Heath decided to bite. His curiosity getting the better of him, he just hoped that the question wouldn’t be answered with hostility from his end. “Faust-sensei, you’re smiling a lot today. Did something happen?”

“Huh… Do I need a reason to smile?”

“I suppose not but… It’s a little unusual if it’s you.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” His tone was annoyed but his expression was anything but that. He still had a grin on his face, a little reminiscent of a friend teasing another. That made Heath and Chloe even more baffled—that was one rare expression.

Chloe decided to bite next. His curiosity also got the better of him. However, this time, his question was more straightforward than the last and definitely something Faust wasn’t expecting. “Is it related to the Sage?”

“... Huh?” His expression immediately fell as he cleared his throat.

Oh, bullseye. The two thought.

“What nonsense. I wonder what gave you that idea in the first place.” Truth be told, Chloe only overheard such information when he was hanging around Shylock’s bar. It was the twins who started blabbering about Faust’s love life, saying stuff like: Oh…! Faust is so hopelessly smitten with the Sage!

Chloe thought that Faust didn’t need to know so he kept his mouth shut and thought of another excuse instead.

“You seem really close. Plus, you always look happy whenever you’re with them!” Heath nodded along even though it was the first time he had heard of such a thing. He was doing a really good job hiding his surprise—he’d have to pester Chloe for more details later.

Faust just shook his head, denying the claims with a vexed expression. “You must be imagining it, there’s no such thing.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“Heath. Don’t jump in.”

Heath let out a nervous laugh. Faust’s tone was stern but there was something underneath that made him want to prod into the matter more. “Are you sure you aren’t just in denial?”

There was a prolonged pause from Faust.

Oh, he definitely is—the two of them thought.

“... There’s no way.” The two of them fought the urge to say something in response after seeing his troubled expression.

ii. anger and bargaining

Anger wasn’t the right word. Distraught—yes, maybe, that’s a better word to describe the way he was feeling. After that little interaction he had with Heathcliff and Chloe the other day, he’s been thinking about it nonstop.

He never thought of himself as the reckless type (after a certain point) but right now, he was considering doing something as reckless as turning back time. He shook his head—even if he wanted to, there was no way he could so he was left lingering and pondering over his own feelings.

“It can’t be like that—there’s simply no way.” He tried reasoning with himself. If anyone saw himself talking to himself in the courtyard right now, they would think that he’d finally lost it after all those years of solitude.

“Hey, hey! Whatcha doin’ out here?” Faust froze. Then a groan escaped his lips. Of all the wizards that could’ve walked in on him while he was having his dilemma, it just had to be one of the most annoying in the bunch.

“... It’s nothing.��� He cleared his throat and tried to iron out his scarf just to seem like he was doing something else rather than talking to himself. “I should be asking you the same question.”

As usual, Murr ignored his question and continued talking much to Faust’s displeasure. “Is it love problems?”

He cursed under his breath, how did this wizard always manage to hit all the sore spots? He looked away, his mind searching for an excuse to throw at him but what came out was a meek and pathetic attempt to deny it.

“No. It’s not love—it’s definitely not love.” Faust insisted. Murr wasn’t even talking anymore but he just kept going as if he was going back to the time he was talking to himself. “It’s gratitude. It must be something platonic. It’s highly unlikely that it’s romantic.”

“Now you’re just trying to convince yourself.” Murr giggled, wrapping an arm around the Eastern wizard’s shoulders. Faust shuddered at the sudden contact but didn’t do anything to stop him anyway. He continued, “Why make things even more complicated than they are?”

“It’s not so simple that I can just—”

“It’s love! Everyone, Faust is in lo— Mmf!?” Faust had never moved so fast before. The panic that overtook him eventually settled after he slapped his hand over Murr’s mouth. He hated the way he could tell that the insufferable wizard was smiling underneath.

“Don’t announce that! What if someone hears you!?” Slowly, he inhaled and removed his hand from his face.

“Ehh? If it really wasn’t true, you wouldn’t be as frantic as you are right now. You could just easily clear it up later if someone misunderstands!” That smirk on his face was as infuriating as everyone else described it to be. “It must be true if you don’t want anyone else to know!”

“What sort of logic is that?”

“Dunno, but it makes sense to me.” He laughed. “C’mon, don’t be shy! The sooner you accept it, the sooner you’ll feel better about it.”

Faust couldn’t believe he was about to take love advice from Murr of all people.

iii. depression

“Faust, it’s been a few days. The Sage is getting worried.” Faust got up from his bed groggily. He could barely recognize that voice with the way his mind was still clouded from his sleep.

“... Cain?” He’d stop responding if he turned out to be wrong.

“Yes, it’s me. Are you alright?”

“Argh… Yes. You can tell the Sage I’m fine.” He pushed back his bangs and let out a sigh before putting his glasses back on. If he was being honest, he’d been sleeping a little bit too much for the past few days.

“You sure? The Sage wants to see you, you know?” If he was being honest, again, they were the last person Faust wanted to think about. Ever since he had that conversation with Murr, he was so distraught to the point that he shut himself inside his room and started overthinking everything.

After a long pause, he responded to Cain. “Tell them I’ll see them soon.”

Of course, that was a lie. He was just going to spend more time wallowing on his own before he could finally reach the final stage—acceptance. He heard footsteps walk away from his doorstep and he breathed out a sigh of relief, thinking that he could finally go back to lying down.

That is until he heard a loud thud outside.

“Ow, ow, ow… That’s one sturdy door you got there.” Faust jumped up and opened the door immediately after hearing Cain’s pained voice. There was no way the reliable Central Knight would try to break down his door by running towards it, right?

Unfortunately, he was met with Cain kneeling down on one knee and clutching his arm. The single thought that went through his head was none other than: What the hell?

“Of course it is. I put a curse on it so that it couldn’t be opened—actually, no, that’s not the point. What possessed you to run into the door!?”

“The Sage told me to bring you over at all costs. I’m just following what they said.” There was no way the Sage would issue that command, there was no reason for them to make such a demand. Of course, unless—

“Uh, Faust? You’re kinda spacing out.”

He didn’t know anything for sure yet. Though the thought—the possibility—that it’s the exact same case that he thought of was enough to make him feel warm. He hasn’t even answered Cain yet but he was already drifting away with his thoughts.

“Faust?”

“...”

“Faust…?”

“...”

“Faust!”

“H-Huh!?” He snapped out of it. A light hue of pink dusted his cheeks as he pinned his gaze away—was he so engrossed in his thoughts to the point that he couldn’t hear Cain calling out for him?

Oh, this is bad.

Really, really bad.

There was really no use denying it at this point. The answer was painfully clear.

This is—

iv. acceptance

“Sage, did you want to see me?” They turned their head towards his direction as soon as they heard his voice. Faust felt his heart beat a little faster. From nervousness or anticipation—he didn’t know. He couldn’t be bothered to think about the little details right now. He had much more pressing matters to attend to.

Such as how he was going to deal with the Sage.

“I did! You’ve locked yourself away in your room for a few days, I couldn’t help but get worried.” It was concerning how happy Faust felt when he heard them say that they were worried for him.

Seriously, I should get a grip on myself. He couldn’t afford to get distracted—he had to let it out before it consumed him whole. He shook his head and tried to put on a normal expression but the corners of his lips kept curling into a small smile.

“So you sent Cain to break down my door?”

“That wasn’t intentional! In the first place, I wasn’t the one who told him to bring you over—it was Murr who gave him the idea.” Inside his head, Faust was groaning. Outside, he couldn’t help but grin.

“Really? So you didn’t want to see me?”

Ah, was that too forward?

“It’s nothing like that. I do want to see you—” His brain stopped listening from that point on. He really couldn’t stop the way his eyes lit up and the familiar pink dusted his cheeks once more.

He took a step closer as he tried to ignore the way his heart was about to leap from his ribcage. Maybe it was reckless, maybe it was too straightforward but nobody ever said he was the type to beat around the bush after he came to terms with the fact that he’s fallen.

“In that case,” his face was close, “I’ll make sure to not stray too far from your sight.”

“You don’t have to go that far…”

“It’s what I want.” He admitted. “Don’t think that I decided all of this just for you. It’s for me, too.”

“Huh?”

“I want you to look at me.”

Maybe he’ll regret acting like this later on, or maybe he won’t. Though all he was certain of was the way he wanted them to go through the same cycle as he did before they would end up with the very same conclusion: I’ve fallen.

[srovtl]

(Lilac Smoke's Delicate Lit) Shylock SR Card Story Translation

A surprise for that person - Episode 1

Shylock: Trick or treat.

Heathcliff: Shylock. I'm sure that's a word from Master Sage's world, right? Either a candy or a prank... was it?

Shylock: So you know? As you said, it's a word used in an event called Halloween.

Shylock: I was looking at the lanterns the kids made earlier, and this word suddenly came to mind.

Shylock: So... trick or treat, which would you choose?

Heathcliff: Well, I had some biscuits with me a while ago, but Shino and the others ate them...

Shylock: Oh, so you don't have any sweets with you now?

Heathcliff: Uh, yes. Does this mean I'm going to get pranked?

Shylock: Indeed… If you don't have any sweets I guess there's no other way.

Heathcliff: ………

Shylock: ……….

Shylock: Fufu, don't be so stiff. I'm joking.

Heathcliff: Haha, Oh good. I was a little nervous, wondering what kind of trick you'd play on me.

Shylock: You might be relieved a little too fast.

Shylock: In exchange for the trick, may I ask you a favor?

A surprise for that person - Episode 2

Shylock: I want to pull a surprise on Master Sage for Halloween.

Shylock: May I try out the trick I've come up with for that purpose on you?

Heathcliff: What, on me?

Shylock: Yes. To ensure that the trick I'll play on Master Sage will be a success.

Heathcliff: I see, so you want to practice on me. I'm a bit nervous about trying out the trick Shylock puts his all into…

Heathcliff: I'm always indebted to Master Sage and you Shylock. If there's anything I can do to help, I'll do it.

Shylock: Thank you. I knew you'd be kind and say that.

Shylock: Well, I'll take you up on that offer... 《Inviebelle》

Heathcliff: Wow... the sparks have turned into a black dog...

Shylock: Now, put your hand out in front of it.

Heathcliff: Like this…?

Heathcliff: Wah...! The black dog turned into Candy!

Shylock: the trick is a success.

Heathcliff: What, on me? But you said you were joking earlier...

Shylock: Have you forgotten? I'm a Wizard of the West.

Shylock: I love to play tricks on people, and to surprise them.

Heathcliff:…..!

Heathcliff: Thank you for your wonderful trick, Shylock. I'll treasure this candy.

Shylock: Yes. Please enjoy the sweet treats along with the memories of your prank.

What I want more than sweets - Card Episode

Shylock: Trick or treat.

Akira: Here, have some candy!

Shylock: Oh my, you're well prepared. Thank you for the cute cat shaped cookies.

Akira: You're welcome. I've been carrying candy around with me lately.

Akira: Since I told everyone about Halloween the other day, people have begun starting their conversations with me like that more often.

Akira: Shylock, do you like "Trick or Treat" too?

Shylock: Yes. How will the other person react to the "stimulating two-choice" and what outcome will they choose...

Shylock: I think it's a very interesting custom to be entertained so much with just one word.

Shylock: It seemed like not only me, but Murr was also calling out to everyone.

Akira: Haha, I'm glad you both enjoyed it!

Akira: Then I think I'll prepare some more cookies. Murr's pranks seem quite stimulating...

Shylock: Oh, then there's no need to worry.

Shylock: It seems he's been asking everyone original two-choice questions like "restrictive love or lonely freedom."

Shylock: Instead of sweets, please give him a stimulating answer. There are many different forms of love and definitions of freedom.

Shylock: What answer will you choose, Master Sage?

Akira: (What? When did it change to the day where we ask the ultimate choice?)

Homescreen voice line

I guess everyone has already run out of pranks and candies to hand out. I've prepared something special for you… would you be willing to accept it?

[mirikitakato]

[Translation] Shylock Christmas 2024 SSR Card: Intertwine fingers with crimson desire

Why does this Card Story sound like a big flag lol

Characters: Shylock, Mitile, Akira (cameo: Murr)

Card Story: A future together with wine. 

Episode 1 

One day, we visited the "Exhibition of Desire and Wish," an exhibition showcasing "things someone gave to someone else." 

Akira: So everything here was a gift from one person to another... 

Shylock:  Indeed. Every box we look into tells a story of the giver's feelings, making one ponder the background behind them. 

Mitile: Shylock, Master Sage! You're here! 

Shylock: Oh my, is something the matter? 

Mitile: Actually, I want you to see this... 

Mitile held out an empty, dark green wine bottle. Some kind of writing was etched into the center of the bottle. 

Mitile: This's inside one of the boxes. It's unusual to have an empty bottle as a gift, right? I thought you might know something about it, Shylock. 

Shylock: This is… 

Shylock blinked and carefully took the bottle, examining it closely. 

Shylock: ...How nostalgic. I saw a guest showing this off at Bennett Bar before. 

Akira: So it is a rare wine? 

Shylock: Indeed, something this precious is likely one of a kind in the world. See how the name, year, and date are engraved here? This shows the name of the guest’s child and the year the wine was made. Regular wines only have the year, but the date is included here because it was bottled on the day the child was born. 

Mitile: So that's what the date means...! 

Shylock: He said, "I will give my newborn child a wine from the year they were born..." then held this unique bottle like a precious child. 

Episode 2

Shylock traced the writing on the bottle with a long finger, as if recalling a memory.

Shylock: It’s been a while since I thought of his face. Mitile: If that bottle is here and empty... Akira: That must mean the father was able to give the wine to his child when the child grew up, and they drank it together. That’s a heartwarming, wonderful gift. 

Mitile: It really is… This makes me remember the time I received a gift from my father. 

Akira: Oh! You have a similar memory, Mitile? 

Mitile: I do! My father gave me a picture book he and my brother made together, with me as the main character... I still remember him saying it was a one-of-a-kind gift in the world. 

Shylock: That’s wonderful, Mitile. A gift filled with their feelings is irreplaceable. 

Mitile: Yes! I read it so many times it got worn out, so I’ve put it away now… But even without having it here, I remember everything about the pictures and the story. 

Shylock: Hehe, seeing you treasured it that much, they must have been very happy. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful memory. 

Akira: Shylock, do you have any memorable gifts that you’ve received? 

Shylock: Let's see… I was born into a wealthy family, so I received many gifts over the years. However… when it comes to memorable ones… including those from my parents, there aren’t that many.

Shylock smiled, looking completely nonchalant. 

Mitile: I see… 

Shylock: Even so, it’s not like there’s nothing at all. For example…a certain someone’s unconventional knowledge and conversations from time to time left quite an impression on me. 

Mitile: A certain someone? 

Shylock: Haha. Now, who could that be? 

Shylock playfully put a finger to his lips, as if posing a riddle. 

Shylock: Master Sage, do you have any memorable gifts? 

Akira: Hmm, let’s see… When I was in my original world, I received many gifts… But the most memorable ones aren’t the luxurious gifts… surprisingly, they might be flowers or letters I received as a child. What made me happy wasn't the price or how flashy they were, but the fact that they were given just for me. 

Mitile: Ah… I feel the same way! Even if it’s something ordinary to others, something made just for you is really special. 

Akira: Yes! I pressed the flowers, and I kept the letters in a file, rereading them sometimes… 

Shylock: It’s because the price of the gift doesn’t matter…  What remained in your heart isn't the value of the gift, but the giver’s feeling when choosing something with you in mind.

Mitile: You might be right… But isn't that the same for you, Shylock? 

Shylock: ….Me? 

Mitile: Yes. That's why you said the knowledge and conversations you shared with that certain someone were more enjoyable than the gifts you received, right?

Shylock: ………Haha, indeed. It seems I felt the same way as Master Sage and Mitile. 

Episode 3 

Mitile: Talking about memorable gifts makes me want to give something to someone too! 

Akira: I know what you mean! This makes me want to give something to everyone in the manor. 

Mitile: I want to give something too! But I wonder what they'd like…

Mitile/Akira: Hmm… 

They pondered while looking at a pile of gifts. 

Shylock: Choosing gifts that everyone in the manor will like is quite difficult… How about the wine we talked about earlier? 

Akira: Wine? 

Shylock: Yes. For example, we could engrave the date Master Sage arrived in this world on the bottle. 

Mitile: Sounds stylish! That would be a memorable day for us too. But I can’t drink alcohol yet… 

Shylock: Haha, there’s no need to be sad about that. We won’t open the wine now, but when you, the youngest in the manor, come of age. 

Mitile: …! Really? Shylock: Of course. I’ll remove the alcohol for Master Sage, Lord White, and Lord Snow. I'll serve it to everyone at my bar. 

Mitile: Wow, I’m so happy…! 

Akira: That’s a wonderful idea. (That would make a really memorable gift. But…) (Does that mean he wants us all to be together until the day we open the wine?) (I’d be very happy if that could happen…) 

I looked up and met Shylock’s gaze, which made my heart skip a beat. His smile was as alluring as ever. I pictured myself greeted by his smile when I walked into his bar that day.

Akira: ……….. 

Mitile: I’m already looking forward to that day! Shylock… Um… After you serve everyone the wine, can I buy the bottle? I want to remember this day, the day I think about gifts together with you two. 

Shylock: Of course you can. For me, the memory is enough. 

Akira: I agree. Please make it one of your treasures, Mitile. Even if we can't share the object itself… The memories associated with it won't disappear and will never fade. 

Shylock: Then let’s start preparing as soon as we get back. As the one who came up with the idea, the three of us should find our favorite bottle. 

Mitile/Akira: Yes! 

While thinking about a future that hasn’t yet taken shape, the three enjoyed endless conversation. All silently wished for a future, where they could laugh together with a glass of wine at Shylock’s bar, remembering “that time.” 

Card Episode: A Red and White Gift for You 

Akira: Thank you for inviting me today. So, you wanted to see me about...?

Shylock: Actually, I wanted to give you a present.

Akira: A present...? Are you talking about the wine bottle from the other day?

Shylock: No, it's something different from what we discussed at the exhibition.

Akira: This is...? A red and white cocktail?

Shylock: In your world, around this time, an old man named Santa Claus would dress in red and white and deliver presents, right? I came up with a cocktail based on that story.

Akira: (A glass with a sugar rim, containing a mixture of red and white wine...) How beautiful...

Shylock: 《Invibelle》 I just removed the alcohol with magic, now I will add this leaf to finish it.

Akira: Wow... The sugar looks like snow, and the leaf is like holly. It's like a Christmas drink from my world!

Shylock: Please enjoy it.

Akira: Thank you! ...It's delicious! The wine inside is also sweet and light.

Shylock: Hehe, I added a bit of my sugar as a secret ingredient. Do you like it?

Akira: Yes, very much! Thank you for such a wonderful present. I have to repay you somehow…

Shylock: No, don't worry about it. The simple pleasure of your company is a priceless gift, Master Sage.

== Homescreen Voiceline==

“Master Sage, please leave your door and windows unlocked tonight. A certain wizard is eager to become everyone’s Santa Claus and deliver presents. He might just stop by your room as well.”

[stanestreet]

Strulovitch looked long into his guest’s fierce, melancholy eyes. His own were undistinguished, a pearly, uncertain grey, the colour of the North Sea on a blustery day. Shylock’s were deep ponds of pitted umber, like old oil paint that had somehow – not by restoration, more by inadvertent rubbing – regained its sheen. They were dark with that Rembrandtian darkness that holds light. Ironic that when Strulovitch looked into them he felt as though he were in the crypt of a church. We are not the slightest bit alike, he thought, except in what we feel for our daughters. So what was it Gentiles saw that told them they were both Jews?

Shylock knew, from the intensity of Strulovitch’s scrutiny, what he was thinking. ‘No we aren’t remotely alike,’ he said. ‘Not in appearance nor in the manner we have lived our lives. You don’t keep a kosher house, you don’t attend synagogue and I’m prepared to wager you don’t speak a word of Hebrew. So what does it mean to say we are both Jewish?’

‘I’m more interested in what it means to them. What do they see that unites us?’

‘Something older than themselves,’ he said.

Howard Jacobson, Shylock Is My Name (2016)

[kanerallels]

Listen. It's about the fact that Ms. Baker (an English teacher) is married to a man named after a character from Shakespeare's plays (and maybe that's why she loves them! Or maybe they're the reason she first had interest in him)

But it's not just any Shakespeare character. Oh, no. It's Tybalt, from Romeo and Juliet

And it's probably unintentional-- probably just a random Shakespearean name

But Tybalt in the play dies fighting

And Tybalt in the book goes missing in action, presumed dead, fighting in the Vietnam War

BUT he comes back! He doesn't die, unlike the play's Tybalt. And that makes me think of this part

Unlike Shylock, Tybalt isn't trapped. He can be something else, he doesn't have to die. He's not trapped in the script of a tragedy. He can come home, and he does

[thesagesjournal]

[Voicelines] April Fool's Day 2025

Oz: I stole your candy. I am that cat’s father. I burnt today’s pancakes… Only one out of these statements is true. …Take a guess as to which one… It’s easy to tell? I thought this could be a good opportunity to teach Arthur how to discern lies…

Arthur: Murr said the best way to tell if someone’s lying is to look them in the eyes and pay attention to how much they blink. Could you tell me something so I can test it out? ...We’ll be having omelettes for dinner from now until the end of time? Why, Riquet will be overjoyed!

Cain: Never thought you'd ask for a high-five, Owen! Gimme five~  …Is this… your arm? Nahhh, no way I’m falling for that.  I know you way too well. You never let anyone see you when you’re hurt. …Hey, come back and take your arm! I don’t need it!

Riquet: Master Sage, is it true we’ll only be having omelettes for dinner from now on? I overheard you and His Highness talking just now. …Oh, I see. I suppose you are allowed to lie today... But, honestly, that’s good to hear since I love all of Nero’s cooking!

Snow: ‘Did you hear? White and I are debuting as the Saucy Duo of the West! Shino explained to us what it means to be an idol, and with our unmatched cuteness, we'll take the world by storm... Hohoho, how much of that is a truth or lie, we shall leave to you.

White: Did you hear? White and I are debuting as the Saucy Duo of the West! Though unmatched in cuteness, we'll take the world by storm with our hidden adult charm... 'Tis what Figaro told us sells these days. Hohoho, how much of that is a truth or lie, we shall leave to you.

Mithra: The legendary super idol Mimi, is making his debut! A round of applause, everyone~... The twins set me up for this. They talked my ear off about it, but this is all I remember. ...Do you know what an 'idol', Master Sage?

Owen: Come on, Master Sage, give me five~ Why so serious? I know you want to. ...Owie! Why did you do that? My arm, you ripped off my arm... Owchie... Aw, quit shaking like a leaf. There's not even blood gushing everywhere.

Bradley: Ya can’t stop sneezin’? …Haha, very funny. Now quit mockin’ me and grow a real sense o’ humour… Hah, are ya bein’ fer real? Well damn, das too bad. Want me to pat yer back or somethin’?

Faust: I see someone's enjoying some nice mollycoddling in your lap. What an adorable little kitten. ...Did I say something out of line? Why are you looking at me like that? ...Whoever told you that cat's me has an awful sense of humour.

Shino: Your world can be a surprisingly brutal place. What do you mean people torch you for telling a lie? Lighting someone on fire, starting with their pants, is insane. That sounds straight from a Western or Northern wizard’s handbook.

Heathcliff: Sigh, I simply can't keep up with everyone's lies today. Earlier, Lord Oz told me he had a cat son, and I just didn't know how to react! ...I hope I didn't offend him.

Nero: Not all lies are bad, ya get me? It all depends on what and when yer lying 'bout. A lie can keep you and yer friends away from the cruel truth, or keep a conversation from escalatin' into a full-blown brawl. Though, I could be lyin' to ya right now with this mumble-jumble.

Shylock: I think I'll refrain from drinking today. ...My, is it really surprising? While it does depend on my mood, it wouldn't be a first. Although, I can't say I’ll last long once night rolls around. We shall see whether this ends up being a truth or lie by the end of today.

Murr: Didja know? I'm actually a cat! When I was a wee lad, Murr Hart cast a transformation spell on me and turned me into him! That's why Shylock calls me a cat all the time, and why I occasionally me~ow! ...Don't believe me, Master Sage? Ooh, and why's that? Got any proof?

Chloe: Since today is all about tricks and lies, Murr said his bit was that he wasn’t gonna do any! Isn’t that hilarious? …Wait? You think he could’ve been lying to me!? N-No way!!

Rustica: Earlier, Shino told me my pants would catch fire if I were to lie. Then, Owen said you ripped his arm off… Everyone is coming up with such elaborate tricks. Perhaps I should find something to set aflame or rip apart as well. …It’s not a competition?

Figaro: What if I told you the whole “Sage from another world” thing was a complete lie? …Aw, don’t look so sad. I was just joking. Believe me, I’m not going anywhere.

Rutile: Hello, Master Sage. Aww, isn’t that kitty on your lap the cutest? …Although, um! I actually came here to tell you that that cat is Mister Faust! There were, um, some things that happened with the Northern and Western wizards… And it’s the truth! Really!

Lennox: Would you like to go out with me later, Master Sage? I found a shop in the capital the other day that I think you might like. …No, this isn’t a lie. I really would like to take you there.

Mitile: Master Sage! I… Um… Sorry, I came up with a lie for you, but I completely blanked out just now… Ugh, I knew I should’ve called the Western wizards for help!

[byneddiedingo]

Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper in Maestro (Bradley Cooper, 2023)

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Matt Bomer, Gideon Glick, Maya Hawke, Sarah Silverman, Vincenzo Amato, Michael Urie, Greg Hildreth, Brian Klugman, Nick Blaemire, Mallory Portnoy, Yasen Peyakov, Zachary Booth, Miriam Shor, Alexa Swinton. Screenplay: Bradley Cooper, Josh Singer. Cinematography: Matthew Libatique. Production design: Kevin Thompson. Film editing: Michelle Tesoro. Music: Leonard Bernstein. 

The Aussies call it "tall poppy syndrome." It's that tendency to try to undermine or underestimate the achievement of anyone who excels. And I think we saw it directed at Bradley Cooper when the first big wave of negative publicity came out from a critic from the Hollywood Reporter who saw the trailer for Maestro and called the prosthetic nose Cooper wore to play Leonard Bernstein "ethnic cosplay." The word "Jewface," analogous to blackface and "yellowface," labels for white performers pretending to be Black or Asian, was tossed about, as if Cooper were somehow guilty of antisemitism, or even depriving a Jewish actor of the role. Defenders came to the fray, including Bernstein's family, who indicated their approval of Cooper's choice, and others who pointed out that Cooper wasn't playing a negative stereotype, or even a character like Shylock or Fagin, but an authentic musical genius. But the damage was done, and the controversy continues to be a kind of scrim through which we watch and assess the film. I think much of it stems from the fact that Cooper is one of the most exceptional talents of our time, recognized for excellence as an actor, director, and screenwriter  -- a tall poppy indeed. He has a total of nine Academy Award nominations in all three of those fields plus producing -- for Todd Phillips's Joker (2019) and Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley (2022). He won a BAFTA for the music of A Star Is Born (2018), for which he wrote and sang several songs, and for which he also won two Grammys. He was nominated for a Tony in 2015 for his performance on Broadway in The Elephant Man. (One of the critics of the prosthetic nose observed that he wore no disfiguring makeup for the role of John Merrick, suggesting that if he's that good an actor, he should have played the role of Bernstein without the help of makeup.) All of this is preface to saying that Maestro is an exceptional film that only adds luster to an already distinguished career. It has been labeled a biopic, which is inadequate. Biographical films are usually distanced from their subjects, dramatizations of events in a career. Maestro is more intimate than that, a portrait of a man and a marriage. Cooper goes beyond mimicry of Bernstein in a serious effort to suggest the social and sexual and artistic tensions seething within the man. If I have to voice a criticism it's that he doesn't quite bring it off -- it's a little too much for any actor or screenwriter to achieve. But Cooper shows us the depths even if he doesn't plumb them. He wisely lets us have our own thoughts about something even Bernstein probably couldn't define about his sexuality: whether he was gay or bisexual, or whether that question is stupid and irrelevant. Carey Mulligan's performance as his wife, Felicia, brittle and burning, is a perfect match for Cooper's. If they don't have the chemistry that Cooper had with Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook (2012) or Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born, that's partly the point: The marriage of Lenny and Felicia was one of unresolved tension. Hence the epigraph for the film: "A work of art does not answer questions, if provokes them; and its essential meaning is in the tension between the contradictory answers." I have the feeling that Maestro will be remembered and studied for years to come.