#this translation has genuinely been the bane of my existence

[kouyou-translations]

【びす×奏音69「ネクロの花嫁」歌詞】 【Bis × KANON69 "The Bride of Necro / Nekuro no Hanayome" Lyrics】

Original YouTube link Our YouTube lyric video

Kanji, rōmaji, and English translation by kouyou-translations   ↓ ↓ ↓

Kanji and rōmaji

物謂わぬ口唇に　生気を吹き込んで  mono iwanu kuchibiru ni　iki wo fukikonde 今宵「あなた」は甦る　あの頃の姿で  koyoi "anata" ha yomigaeru　ano koro no sugata de

白肌の娘が咳をした「この身体貴方に捧げるわ」  shira hada no musume ha seki wo shita "kono karada anata ni sasageru wa" 白服の医者が囁いた「迎えに行くよ」  shira fuku no isha ga sasayaita "mukae ni yuku yo" 白肌の娘は朽ち果てた　世界の誰にも見棄てられ  shira hada no musume ha kuchihateta　sekai no dare ni mo misuterare 白服の医者は憐れんで　誰も知らない居場所で眠らせた  shira fuku no isha ha awarende　dare mo shiranai ibasho de nemuraseta

朽ちてもまだ美しい顔で  kuchite mo mada utsukushii kao de ふたりしかいない霊廟で医者は恋をした  futari shika inai reibyou de isha ha koi wo shita

それは永遠の恋か　禁断の行為か  sore ha eien no koi ka　kindan no koui ka また逢いたいと願うだけ　それが罪なの、でしょうか？  mata aitai to negau dake　sore ga tsumi na no, deshou ka?

物謂わぬ口唇に　生気を吹き込んで  mono iwanu kuchibiru ni　iki wo fukikonde 今宵ふたりは結ばれる　祝福もされずに  koyoi futari ha musubareru　shukufuku mo sarezu ni

「腐り堕ちた眼孔に青い硝子を…」  “kusari ochita gankou ni aoi garasu wo…” 「破れかけた腕に絹の肌を…」  “yaburekaketa ude ni kinu no hada wo…” 「侵された内臓に綿のガーゼを…」  “okasareta naizou ni men no gaaze wo…” 「宝石で飾った純白いドレスを…」  “houseki de kazatta shiroi doresu wo…”

朽ちゆくたび取り繕って  kuchiyuku tabi toritsukurotte 恋を謳ってまた医者は手を染め続けた  koi wo utatte mata isha ha te wo sometsudzuketa

やがて暴かれたのは　醜悪い怪物で  yagate abakareta no ha　minikui kaibutsu de 「それ」を造り上げた医者は辯駁を叫んだ  “sore” wo tsukiriageta isha ha benbaku wo sakenda

「これは永遠の恋だ！彼女の願望だ！  “kore ha eien no koi da! kanojo no negai da!” 「死にゆくと決めたお前らが見棄てた女じゃアないか」  “shi ni yuku to kimeta omaera ga misuteta on’na jaanai ka?!” 嗚呼　哀しき花嫁　物謂えぬままで  aa　kanashiki hanayome　mono ienu mama de

今宵ふたりは裁かれる　彼女を見棄てた人達の正義で  koyoi futari ha sabakareru　kanojo wo misuteta hitotachi no seigi de 正しいのはだあれ？  tadashii no ha daare?

English

I'll blow life into your lips that no longer speak And tonight 'you' will be revived to how you once were

The white-faced woman coughed, “I offer this body to you.” The white-clothed doctor whispered, “I will see to you.” The white-faced woman began to rot away, forsaken by all in the world The white-clothed doctor sympathised with her, taking her to a hidden place where she could sleep in peace

Although decayed, the woman’s face remained beautiful In the mausoleum that only the two knew of, the doctor fell in love

Is this eternal love, or a forbidden act? I merely wish to see you again, if that’s a sin, for what reason?

I'll blow life into your lips that no longer speak Tonight we will be wed, without anyone’s blessing bestowed upon us

“Blue-tinted glass to fill your decayed eye sockets…” “Silk ribbons to mend the torn skin on your arms…” “Cotton gauze for your damaged organs…” “A bejewelled white dress for you…”

Should she decay, the doctor would simply fix it Professing his love, he continually dyed his hands

In the end, an unsightly beast was uncovered The doctor who created ‘it’ passionately protested

“This is our eternal love! This was her wish!” “Weren’t you the ones who forsook this woman and left her to die?!” Ah, the pitiful bride remains silent

Tonight the pair will be judged by the righteousness of those who forsook the woman Who in this case is truly in the right?

---

You’re welcome to use this translation/transliteration in your works! Just credit us; leave a link to our account/this post somewhere in your work and do not claim you created the translation. Thank you for reading! <3

- Kiyoushi

[crowcryptds]

🐓 bok bok!

[wanderingblindly]

20 questions for fic writers - from the ever incredible @like-pilot-lights!!!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

12! Although I've purged this account multiple times, so god only knows how many there used to be.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

84,147!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently just Formula 1, but my history is... questionable. (Dan and Phil, The Amazing Spiderman, Visual Kei)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? -

Is It Gay to Watch Your Teammate on Tiktok? (Landoscar) - genuinely had no idea this would garner so much interest?????

Middle Child Syndrome (Lestappen) - with love, this fic is the bane of my existence. Pacing whomst? Embarrassing to read tbh.

Rules of Engagement (Lestappen) - domestic fluff, my beloved!

Second Time's the Charm (Lestappen) - idiots in love, my beloved!

All The Stars We Cannot See (Lestappen) - this holds a fond place in my heart

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Always! The neglected youngest child in me craves validation like no other lol. Plus, I like the feeling of community it gives, especially when I see the same people in multiple works ^^

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I am a spineless worm and cannot write angst :)))))

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

uhhhhhh I'd say they're all similar? Ish? Love a "getting together" trope, man.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, and I've never seen hate on any F1 fic I've read! Thank god

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No, but -- according to my old fic archives -- FIFTEEN YEAR OLD LIQUID THOUGHT SHE COULD???? WHY????

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I haven't! Though my gf and I have a running joke of a Yuri on Ice!!! x F1 crossover

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No one's had bad enough taste to claim mine as theirs lol

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes!!! It's still on my AO3 lol, but someone translated one of my Amazing Spiderman fics into Mandarin (it haunts me)

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? no, although

Not formally, but @like-pilot-lights and I basically spam each other in chat until we find the plot so... she's basically my co-author on everything lmao

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

Sebchal was my first F1 love, and therefore will always have a special place in my heart. That said, I think it would be a tie between sebson and sewis? Sebastian is the common denominator, as always, and there's something about... them seeing him grow from red bull to ferrari, the trust and respect? I can't articulate it but god I love them.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

oop the sequel to Second Time's the Charm has been in my drafts for.... ages.... and for some reason just won't come to me. I'll never say I won't finish it though, the idea could hit at any time!

I've also had a lestappen twitch streamer AU in my drafts for ages, but I can't seem to nail down the tone? The characterization, maybe.

16. What are your writing strengths?

If I'm honest, I'm not entirely sure? I don't think I'm consistent enough in my writing to have any strengths. I guess my writing occasionally has a pretty specific style to it, so maybe 'stylizing'? If that's a strength?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I :) cannot :) shut :) up :)

Probably pacing as a result of my obsessive exposition dumping. I also frequently get arrested by the "he wouldn't fucking say that" police tbh.

Oh, and I'm trying to break the habit of writing in a way that sounds good in my very specific mental inflection, which often doesn't translate well when someone else reads it. That's a hard habit to break.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I don't mind it if it has a thematic purpose, but just for funsies? I don't see the value add

19. First fandom you wrote for?

... Visual Kei ... the GazettE had content on livejournal back in the day

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Although I don't think it's my best fic, I have a soft spot for The Sum of Our Parts (sebchal). It was my second fic in the fandom, and it was the piece where I felt like I found my personal tone.

It was also the moment where I proved to myself that I could write more than one fic, that I could still come up with ideas like when I was younger. It was a very... solidifying experience, if that makes sense?

I'm thankful to that fic, despite all its flaws.

I think everyone I know has been tagged? Throwing a few people out there though, zero stress if you don't wanna do it <333 @felixsaysstuff @jennarations @f1-giuki @lattesqueeze

[bellamyblakru]

What’s going on with dk & minghao on twt/tiktok?

broooo. first off, ur so sweet for asking bc im still salty about the situation but seeing this made me happier—so i appreciate u.

ill put what i know about it under the cut bc i went off oops

SECONDLY. okay. i only read it extremely briefly before i got too annoyed to keep reading bc idiotic people are the bane of my existence 💔 BUT from what i osmosis from that was something like dk said a nickname he used to use for himself (i think?) but the translation of it in mandarin was “untalented”? so they were going off in him. (???? though why would they get made about that???) AND then they turned their anger on minghao bc he heard dk say and didn’t correct him or say something (which again. dumb.). and from the lot of them i take it it was just fans on weibo who were taking it as far as like threats to both dk and minghao??

thats genuinely my impression of what happened, but it makes absolutely no sense so im probably missing some plot—HOWEVER, people sending threats to others and their family is quite literally never okay, no matter how fucked up someone ACCIDENTALLY did. i dont mean to be lecturing you im sorry wkskdks its just what i feelin LMFAO

if this IS the gist and its correct, then i dont see how or why they would get mad at dk??? if he accidentally called himself untalented??? shouldnt the reaction be like idk comforting since this man has been putting nothing but sunshine on this earth since debut???

idk. i think so many people take shit too far and much too seriously, especially when it does nothing to impact them. just !! why cant people just be fuckin respectful and decent and kind towards people bending over backwards to make us smile and get through the shit days.

sigh sorry anon i tangent there😭 i dont even wanna know if im missing anything bc i dont give a fuck now when people start THREATENING 🤩 same shit with shua too!! why are some people so fucking toxic and think they could just bully anyone that accidentally slips in the most non threatening ways 😭😭 idols are quite literally human beings too like help

[koraki-grimoire]

Witchcraft in Hellenismos

Disclaimer: This post is non-exhaustive, and though I'll try to equally spread my focus, it will inevitably lean towards the kinds of magik I personally practice.

Often, in modern pagan circles, people are under the impression that Ancient Hellenismos either didn't have or despised witchcraft. This is largely from three causes. The first is simply misreading, or failing to come across witchcraft in the Hellenism they research. Second is only reading about or adhering to branches that didn't like witchcraft (usually due to it being perceived as hubristic) and therefore assuming that's the most popular opinion. Finally, sometimes people apply their assumptions based on Christian and Germanic culture to Hellenismos, and assume it carries the same attitudes.

In actuality, the view of witchcraft was historically more neutral. Witches weren't typically seen as hags, but maidens, respectable men, priests, and more. It should also be noted that, frankly, "witch" is a slightly tonally incorrect translation usually applied to the word "pharmakis."

For historical attitudes towards witches, we can read works surrounding mainly Medea and Kirke, as well as Hekate if we go past pharmakeia.

But pharmakeia and nekromankia (necromancy) are far from the only forms of witchcraft or magik--which in Ancient Greek would be "mageia" or "goeteia" depending on time and place, but will simply be called "magik" here.

So, with that very long introduction, let's get into types of magik.

Pharmakeia - Herbal Sorcery, Witchcraft

Pharmakeia is perhaps the most recognizable form of magik in historical Hellenismos. As mentioned, it was associated with the heroine Medea, as well as the goddess/nymph/hero (it's complicated) Kirke. This was magik performed using the aid of herbs, and both historically and now blends magik and science. It includes brewing poisons, casting curses, potionmaking, transmutation, and more. Kirke, famously, used pharmakeia to transform men into swine, whereas Medea tended towards poisoning, but both had variety in their craft.

Generally, when pharmakeia is translated, it's done very broadly compared to other kinds of magik. For example, pharmakeia is usually translated, especially in the Odyssey, to "witchcraft" or "sorcery." Pharmakis--the word for a practitioner of pharmakeia--is usually translated to "witch." This often leads to misconceptions of witchcraft in Hellenismos being specifically oriented around herbs and transmutation, when that's only a small piece of the picture.

Nekromankia/Nekromanteia - Necromancy

Nekromankia is far more famous now in its Anglicized pop-culture form, but it was most certainly present in Hellenismos. It's important to clarify that in Ancient Hellas, nekromankia was magik pertaining to the dead, not things such as zombies and raising the dead. In Hellenismos, the maintenance of good relationships between the dead and the living is of great importance. There were plenty of festivals devoted to placating and celebrating the dead--not to mention the monthly Attic holiday Hekate's Deipnon, devoted to honoring Hekate, goddess of nekromankia. So, unsurprisingly, there were witches who gravitated towards this as a craft.

Multiple Hellenic deities were associated with nekromankia, the most notable of which being Hekate, but also Persephone. Though, of course, any khthonic deity--especially khthonic theoi who also had non-khthonic aspects--were relevant, such as Haides or Hermes. A practitioner of nekromankia would be referred to as a nekromanteías.

Manteia - Divination, Oracles

It should be noted that manteia is heavily contested as being a form of witchcraft or even magik in Hellenismos, but it certainly meets the qualifications. The main reason this debate exists is controversy around magik in Hellenismos in general, since as most Hellenists know manteia is so central to so much of our religion, and those who dislike magik are insulted by it being considered that. Additionally, the definition of magik is constantly in flux--it's debated in modern magik circles, and it's even harder to apply a definition we can hardly agree on to an ancient culture with its own independent definitions.

Manteia is, most simply, the power to give prophecies, divination, and the use of oracles. It's the power of the Pythia (Delphic Oracle), it's in the Olympian Alphabet Oracle, it's every single seer and prophecy and divinatory method known to us.

Someone who practices manteia is called a mantis (usually translated as "soothsayer" or "diviner") or a khresmologos ("oracle"), depending on station.

Heliomanteia - Solar Magik

Heliomanteia is hard to find detailed historical information on, but most simply, it's magikal invocation of the sun. This is generally done by attempting to harness the power of the sun, or by requesting the aid of solar deities (namely, Helios).

Interestingly, Helios had many associations with witchcraft and warding off evil. It could be assumed that, due to the qualities attributed to Helios, heliomanteia would be best used to reveal truth, ward off evil, harness the power of fire, promote life, and similar.

Presumably, a practitioner of heliomanteia is a heliomantis.

Goeteia - Magik, Charms

Goeteia (in modern times "goetia") is a term for magik that fell out of style for general magik around the 5th century BC in favor of mageia. It, additionally, was shoehorned into a dichotomy of theurgy (divine, "professional," and virtuous magik) and goeteia (low, malicious, and fraudulent magik). This was largely due to political and social overhaul. The name became associated with fraudulent and harmful magik, and talk of goeteia in Ancient Hellas is a major source most anti-witch Hellenists use.

The goes (practitioner of goetia) was maligned, seen as hubristic and either trying to go against the power of the gods or intending to scam others. Plato famously portrayed them as malicious frauds, and he was not alone. Since the term "goes" is generally translated as "witch," it's not a leap to figure out why this lead to a lot of anti-witch Hellenists.

However, before this (and technically after), "goeteia" simply meant magic, charms, and similar. As a unique practice, and not simply an umbrella term for witchcraft, it can be considered channeling, a relative of nekromankia, or baneful magik, depending how much one leans into the later definition.

Theourgía - Deity Work, Divine Magik

Theourgia (in modern times "theurgy") quite literally translates to "deity work" or "god(s) working." It is ritual, sometimes magik, done with the intent of invoking one or more of the theoi. This was the ritual magik often performed by priests. In fact, it could be considered the mainstream magik of Ancient Hellas--assuming, of course, that one considers it magik.

It's not only historic magik that was central to the religion, but sets historical precedent for the controversial phrase "deity work." The existence of theurgy as the "higher form" of magik in Ancient Hellas is singlehandedly enough evidence to prove the phrase is not and would not be considered inherently hubristic. It should be noted that this form isn't inherently superior, but if you asked Plato, he would disagree.

There are certainly more forms of mageia in Ancient Hellas--For example, I skipped over amulets (periapta), which were almost incontestably the most common magik in a lot of Ancient Hellas, since they could technically fit under some other crafts and because they're the easiest to research on your own. It's a similar case with potions, too.

One important takeaway is the hard line between magik, religion, and science is a fairly recent invention. Pharmakeia could act as medicine, not just sorcery. Many potions were also medication. Frankly, the more women were involved, the more practical it tended to be, with 'spells' often being genuine aids to childbirth and/or birth control. This didn't make them any less magikal, and the magik doesn't make it less real.

And I hope I made it very, very clear, but witchcraft has always been in Hellenismos, and isn't inherently hubristic. That is a myth, and is rooted often in historical (and modern) classism, misogyny, xenophobia, or similar. Always consider your source's incentive to stigmatize before discounting all Hellenic witches.

[cassandraclare]

I'm sorry to hear that your hard work was leaked but I was curious about what happened. I hope the person faced consequences because that was a very selfish thing to do leaking your work like that :(

I haven’t taken action against the person who leaked the book. I know who they are, since they uploaded the page I signed for them, and I was able to match that against my records. 

I haven’t refrained from taking action because I feel sympathy for them. I don’t. It’s beyond shitty behavior to receive an early, signed book as a gift, and to then leak the entire book online. It’s a shit thing to do to the authors and an equally shit thing to do to other fans. However, I don’t want to put myself (and Wes) through the exhausting, grim and expensive process of legal repercussions. It doesn’t mean what this person did isn’t horrible, and it doesn’t mean they haven’t cost the entire fandom any chance of there ever being an early contest giveaway like that again. They did. There never will be. There will be no ARCs of Chain of Iron, either, and you can thank them for that, too. 

Part of what makes piracy such an issue for authors goes far beyond the individual assholes who upload and distribute and translate stolen books. It’s that the whole system is set up to make it incredibly difficult for us to do anything about it. Publishers do little to nothing to prevent piracy, and authors shoulder the entire burden of searching out and reporting illegal copies of their books. And even then, we’re dependent on whether or not the reported website feels like complying with copyright laws or not. Twitter is incredibly slow to respond, Tumblr is about fifty-fifty on bothering at all. They’re legally required to take action, but they also know that the effort of doing something about it if they do not falls on exhausted, overburdened artists who often can’t afford to follow up with a lawyer’s letter.

And like, I get being broke and wanting to read books; there were a lot of books I had to pass up reading when I was broke (I will be forever grateful to the library system of New York and Brooklyn, which is how I read books at all from about 2001-2004.) I was broke enough that I slept on a bare mattress because I couldn’t afford sheets, but I’m pretty sure if I broke into Bed, Bath and Beyond and stole a bunch of fitted percale bedding I wouldn’t have encountered much sympathy if I got caught. 

I talked about this on Twitter before, and I’ll say it again here though I know it will make very little difference: pirating books doesn’t just hurt the author of those books. It hurts everyone at the publishing company, where the margin of profit is razor-thin (and yes, publishers should do more to protect themselves against piracy; I agree there); it hurts bookstores, especially indie bookstores (I remember doing an event at a store that told me, sadly, that they were likely going to have to close because people “came into the store, looked at the books, took notes, then went home and pirated them.”) It hurts libraries, who rely on circulation for funding, and the shutting down of libraries hurts people who actually can’t afford books.

Now, I know is no way to talk people out of piracy; the internet has normalized it, and besides, people will generally do the cheaper, easier thing — you can’t talk people into not doing something they want to do by telling them it’s wrong, in my experience. They’ll find ways to justify it, whether it be that they can’t afford the book or it isn’t yet available in their language or that they find the author “problematic” and this is the way they’ve chosen to punish them. 

The reason I put “problematic” in quotes is because yes, of course you can read and enjoy work that has problematic elements. Pretty much everything has some element that’s going to be found problematic by someone — which is exactly why deciding that it’s morally excusable to steal from people you think are creating flawed work is more than problematic. Holding creators accountable for their work means critiquing that work, not stealing it.

I listen to a lot of political podcasts, and some of them review work by extreme right-wing politicians etc. who have written books that the podcasters find morally despicable but wish to, or need to, review and discuss. Since they don’t wish to give money to the authors, they buy second-hand copies or take the book out of the library. They certainly don’t steal, translate and distribute copies of the books because they genuinely do not like them and do not want more people reading them. That’s what it looks like when you have an actual moral problem with a book or author. 

However, running multiple fan accounts for a book series, naming your internet identity after characters from that book series, and talking endlessly about “your favorite parts” and how this is “your favorite book” entirely invalidates any argument that you’re doing this because you think the books are bad, evil, etc. If you claim a book is actively homophobic or racist but are so desperate to read it that you’ll steal it, so excited about it that you’ll share that stolen copy, so obsessed that you’ll illegally translate a whole book and provide that stolen translation to as many people as possible, and so dedicated to the fandom that you’ll name yourself after the characters in the books and write poetry about them, I have to tell you: the last thing that looks like is that you actually find the books problematic, regardless of what you say to the contrary. It looks like you like them but don’t want to pay for them, because in fact, that’s the case. (Either that or it looks like you’re really into racist, homophobic books, and making sure as many people read them as possible, which is your problem.)

One of the issues I have with piracy is that it teaches you to hate creators. You have to hate them, because you’re doing a fucking awful thing to them and you have to justify it. This results in lying about creators — about their process, their translations, their research — as if somehow, even if they were bad researchers, that would justify widespread theft. (It doesn’t.) Those who steal books wind up in a headspace where they are obsessed with the content of the books, and entirely unwilling to accept the reality that those books were created by a real person that they’re really harming. It encourages the mentality that I didn’t create Jem or Magnus or Will or Cordelia: they came from some kind of sparkly outerspace planet and I was just lucky enough to get to write down their adventures. It invalidates the hard work creators put into what they create, and in fact, erases their very existence. The internet attitude toward creators is already incredibly toxic (especially if they’re women, LGBT+ and/or BIPOC) and the feeling of entitlement to free content, and vicious hatred toward those who aren’t providing it (even though a lot of creators, me included, provide a great deal of free content) contributes to that. Genuinely, if you’re stealing someone’s work, the least you could do is not also be an asshole about them. (Or pretend you’re Robin Hood. He stole from the rich who had taken property and goods from the poor, and returned that stolen wealth. He didn’t steal from artists and independent bookstores and use that stealing to benefit himself and his friends. The idea is actually kind of funny.) 

 I understand there is a pressure to be up to date on the books that are being released so as to participate in fandom, and I do get that. Unfortunately, piracy has real consequences that stretch beyond just hurting me and Wes. Because LGBT+ books are pirated at such an incredible rate, and we’ve definitely seen that with TEC, I am left wondering if there will ever be an actual Spanish translation of TEC, or whether the publisher will decide not to bother because it’s already been so thoroughly pirated in Spanish. I have to wonder if there will even be a third book of TEC at all, or whether publishers will feel it isn’t worth doing. And I have to wonder why the people who create this situation so often have usernames that include Jem or Magnus or Alec or Cordelia or Julian or Tessa. What an incredible misunderstanding of those characters, to imagine a world in which Will Herondale or Magnus Bane or James Carstairs would approve of stealing books and harming writers. And why name yourself after a character who absolutely couldn’t stand you? I don’t know. I don’t get it, any more than I get hating someone who provided you with something you claim is your favorite book. 

That was a much longer answer than you were probably expecting or hoping for, and I know I’ll get yelled at quite thoroughly for writing it. Writers always do, when we engage with the issue of piracy. I know most of you reading this acquire your books honestly; most of you are not like this at all. But like most things on the internet, a small amount of people really do have the power to make things pretty rotten for everyone else.

[bokettochild]

Hmmm if you need ideas I always love cultural difference shenanigans so maybe Twilight and Hyrule or Warriors and Hyrule having jarringly different cultures?

I didn't really touch on cultures much, since I'm still learning a lot about the games in general, but here's three boys discussing the educational systems of their respective provinces!

(Asks are open still, if anyone wants a story, feel free to request it! I will try my best! (Crossovers aren't off the table, but I can't promise I'll write them))

From Ordon to Catalia

“So, you’re telling me,” Warriors states disbelievingly. “That you, the Hero of Hyrule, couldn’t even speak Hylian until mere months before you saved the kingdom?”

The traveler nods, a faint flush dusting over his browned cheeks at Warriors’ question.

Twilight shakes his head, a smile on his face. “Who’da thunk it? Chin up traveler, I didn’t even live in Hyrule when I saved it.”

“What?” Warriors turns to him, royal blue flickering with disbelief as he stares from one country hero to the other. “Seriously? Both of you?”

“Well,” Hyrule tugs at one of his curls, eyes glistening with mischief as he speaks. “I mean, Legend saved like, four other countries, and he wasn’t from any of them.”

“But the first country he saved was Hyrule.” Warriors asserts. “And at least he was sent to the other places or something, unlike you two.” The captain stares from one to the other. “Traveling through the kingdom and just happening to run into the Royal Nursemaid?” He turns to Twilight, disbelief still written clear on his face. “And chasing monsters, if I recall correctly. What the heck, guys?”

He can’t help but take a bit of pity on Warriors, the captain has only ever been outside of his Hyrule’s main areas when time traveling, and the poor man clearly has little to no familiarity with the provinces and kingdoms beyond his own home, save for whatever rich and stuffy nobles talk about when royalty from the other kingdoms comes to visit. But even so, Wars lacks the faintest clue of the world outside of Hyrule’s borders, and that's just a little bit sad.

He leans back on the bed that he and Hyrule are sharing, it’s been a few weeks since they were last at an inn and he fully intends on enjoying the plush beds while they can, even if it is a bit too soft for his own comfort. “We could tell you more about them, if you like?”

At his side, Hyrule nods, smile bright if not a bit wistful. “I’m always willing to share about my home.”

Warriors hesitates, caught between disbelief and curiosity.

“I don’t think even Legend has been to Catalia.” Hyrule muses, but Twilight sees the sparkle in Hyrule’s eyes, he’s tempting the captain in a way the both of them know is sure to work.

“That so?” Warriors muses. “Well, I suppose so. Although,” He turns a cynical eye to Twilight. “I’m not sure how much I actually want to know about farm life.”

“Your loss, city boy.” He scoffs in response, a wolfish smile pulling at his features.

It’s nice, he thinks as he leans back further, letting Hyrule pull his thoughts together and Warriors shake off the surprise of their previous words, to just sit and talk with his brothers. Time and Legend have roomed with Wild so he doesn’t have to worry about the Cub making trouble without him there to watch him, and for the first time in a long tie he can just sit down and talk with his other brothers. He doesn’t know why Time let Four assign rooms like this, but he isn’t complaining if the others aren’t.

“Well, what would you like to hear about?”

Warriors frowns, staring at Hyrule for a moment as the Traveler flushes darker under his curls. Maybe the healer wasn’t as ready to talk as he first thought. “How about, your family, what sort of people are they?”

Hyrule stares at the captain disbelievingly for a moment. “You’ve met my mom, remember? And I don’t really remember much of my dad, he went missing when I was a kid.”

“Oh,” Warriors flushes, a strained smile taking over his features. “Right.”

Hyrule giggles softly. “I’m not mad, Cap, just surprised that you forgot. Although to be fair, not many people probably think about it since I look like a Hylian.”

“Yeah, about that, how does that work?”

“Hylian father, I look more like him in this form. We may be from Catalia, but he was there entirely because he was fleeing the destruction of Hyrule. He met my mom in the Aver Forests, where she’d been wandering for the last few years. Great fairies can leave their pools if they so choose, but they do so rarely. Unfortunately, mom had too because of the increase of monsters in Hyrule.”

“What is the Aver Forest?”

“The biggest, lushest forest in all of Catalia!” Hyrule spread his arms wide as if to indicate how big it truly was. “I’m pretty sure it’s just the other side of the lost woods in my time, since it’s so close to the border. It nothing like Hyrule, but it is, was, home.”

“So, did yer ma follow you to Hyrule?”

“Not exactly.” The traveler replies with a small frown. “She came after Hyrule was made safer again. I can’t exactly leave the country freely anymore, so she came to see me. It’s a good thing too, since getting potions is far more difficult than just bathing in her pool.”

“Are potions really that expensive in your time?” Warriors asks, concern flecking his gentle gaze.

“It’s not about the price,” Hyrule frowns. “It’s more that most people don’t know how to brew them, and finding a person who can is difficult.”

“Ah, supply and demand.”

“Pardon, what?” The traveler looks up to the captain in confusion.

“Supply and demand, you know,” Wars states like it’s common knowledge. “When lots of people want something but only a few people can provide it? It’s the reason shops can get away with charging so much for things.”

Both country heroes stare at him.

“Have neither of you ever heard of it?” The captain blinks at them, leaning forwards on his bed. “How is that possible?”

“Not all provinces have a school, Wars.” He replies, chuckling softly at the surprise on Warriors’ face. “For farming communities we focus on animals and plants, don’t need no fancy education to plow a field.”

Hyrule stares between the two of them. “Alright, this might be a Hylian word I haven’t learned yet, but what is a scewl?”

“A what?” Warriors echoes, turning to face the traveler.

“A scewl?”

“A school?” Twilight translates, brow furrowed until the Hero of Hyrule nods in confirmation, after which he relaxes again. “It's a place people go to learn to read and write, and to count and do equations.”

“And here I thought there weren’t any in Ordon?” Warriors teases lightly.

“Get off it, Cap’. We don’t have schools, but we do have books, I know how to read and if I can learn more than I will.”

“Ah, self-taught?”

“Mostly.” He shrugs. “Hylian’s real different from Ordon-Standard, even if they’re essentially the same.”

“That makes no sense.” The captain deadpans, staring at him blankly.

“I mean, even though they have a lot in common, the way people speak and pronounce things, the vernacular and what not, is quite different that Hyrule proper.”

Hyrule blinks at the two of them owlishly. “What are equations?”

A glance is shared between them. “Math.” Warriors answers. “You know, adding, subtraction, multiplication and division?”

The traveler raises a brow, but he's shrinking in on himself in the way he does when he gets nervous. “What are those? Multipulycation and division?”

Warriors stares cautiously at the traveler, gaze gentle but concerned. “Hyrule, do you not know how to do math?”

“Do you know how to count?” Twilight tries instead.

“Of course!”

“Can you combine numbers?”

“That’s counting, but with bigger numbers.”

“Can you subtract it again?”

“Yes.” Hyrule answers slowly.

“Can you multiply?”

The traveler stares at Warriors nervously. “I just told you I don’t know what that is.”

The captain, bless his heart, looks genuinely hurt. “Good grief, what sort of mentor is Legend? Not making sure you know basic multiplication?”

And Hyrule flushes, but his brows furrow as he pushes himself straight, always defensive of his mentor. “He didn’t know, and he’s a great mentor! He’s been showing me how to grow trees!”

“Legend knows forestry?” The captain starts.

“He has an orchard.” Twilight reminds him, light laughter bubbling in his chest at the understanding that crosses Warriors’ face at the words.

“Right.” The captain turns to Hyrule. “How about this, Legend can teach whatever it is he teaches you, but when he’s done with that for the day, you come find me? Math is a wonderful thing, even if it is a tad complex, and it'd be a shame to let you go without knowing it.”

Betrayal makes itself known as Twilight pulls away from the two. “You like math?”

Horror blooms on Warriors’ delicate features. “You don’t?”

“Arithmetic is the bane of my existence and if I didn’t need to know how to count rupees, I would willingly forget it.” Twilight spits out.

“It’s wonderful!” Warriors defends. “Everything makes sense and has a logical explanation! You can count on it having an answer every time.”

One dark brow raises as midnight blue stare back at the captain, unimpressed. “Except when it doesn’t. Except when you have to graph equations but you can’t because they don’t have answers. Except when there’s two missing numbers and nothing fits in together, except when the numbers decide to become letters and you have to spit up the alphabet along with your equations.”

“How much math do you know?” Warriors raises a brow.

“Too much.” He isn’t even ashamed of the shudder that makes his pelt tickle against his cheeks. “Wild is a literal genius at it, and I can’t even number how many time he's decided to use it to explain some hare-brained scheme. Trajectory and angles and-” He shivers again. “No thank you. It’s like he ate a math textbook and just keeps spitting it back up, every time he wants to do something dumb.”

The captain whistles lowly, royal blue eyes sparkling. “You mean he has theories and reasoning behind all that? Dang!”

The glare shot the captain’s way is nothing short of threatening. “Do not encourage him, or so help me, Wars. I can hardly contain him some days as is, he doesn’t need someone else egging him on.”

“Oh, trust me,” Gloved hands raise in a non-threatening motion. “I just want to pic his brain, maybe he can help me tutor the traveler here.”

And Twilight almost asks him not too, almost begs that the captain not, before realization hits. “You know, that is actually a good idea.” He smirks. “I’m surprised.”

The deadpan look he receives is well worth it. “You wound me.”

“Were your skin not so delicate, I wouldn’t.” He returns, smile stretching wider. “But that aside, if Wild is busy tutoring Hyrule, he won’t be off blowing things up, and if Hyrule gets a better education out of it that's even better.”

“I’ll ask him about it.” Hyrule answers, eyes lighting up in a way that looks innocent, but considering the kid is Legend’s descendant there’s a very good chance that it isn’t fully. “Maybe he can teach me some tricks while he’s at it.”

“No!” The voices ring at once, but it’s already too late, Hyrule is tapping his chin and muttering low under his breath as a wide smile stretches over his face.

“What have you started.” Twilight whispers, horrified.

“I’m sorry.” Warriors returns, just as grim. “I won’t tell Legend if you don’t.”

[yubsie]

Fanfiction tag game

Thanks for the tag @kanerallels!

how many works do you have on Ao3?

18 (includes one podfic I contributed to)

what’s your total Ao3 word count?

35,309 (Guess who mostly writes oneshots!)

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

She Likes Umbrellas (Discworld/Sandman crossover, 115 kudos, Death/Death)- Discworld!Death throws a party, meets Sandman!Death and they discover they’re against all odds capable of having romantic feelings

How to Detect When Your Captain’s Expecting (Star Wars: Rebels, 80 kudos, Kanan/Hera)- Ezra figures out that Hera is pregnant... and so has literally everyone else

How Ezra Got Banned from Recon Missions (Star Wars: Rebels, 66 kudos, Kanan/Hera)- Ezra catches Kanan and Hera kissing. Everyone else is confused because they were already married when he came on board. I swear I haven’t built an entire brand on Ezra’s poor observational skills.

That Can Be Enough (Star Wars: Rebels, 66 kudos, Kanan/Hera)- Sabine immediately assumes Kanan and Hera are married upon joining the crew. Kanan and Hera decide maybe they should do that actually.

Baby’s First Petition (Star Wars, 48 kudos, Organa family gen)- Tiny Leia brings Bail a formal petition against the horrible injustice that is naptime

do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I usually try to! Comments make me happy and I want to engage with that. Sometimes I forget, but I’ve been pretty good about it lately.

what’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Most of my stuff tends to end pretty happily as long as you don’t think about death doing them part eventually. Maybe How to Detect When Your Captain’s Expecting since I AUed away most of the doom?

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I guess probably Hand Me Downs. The angst isn’t inherent to the ending, but knowing just how much things are not going to work out with Leia’s baby looms a bit more over it than some of the other eventual doom. It’s hard to write “Building a better galaxy for our children is hard but it will be worth it!” type narratives post-RotJ when we know the sequels are going to happen.

do you write crossovers?

Mostly with Sandman because the Endless are just... endlessly crossoverable. I’ve written Sandman crossovers with Discworld (see above), but also Doctor Who, Harry Potter and Firely.

have you ever received hate on a fic?

Nah, the drama I got wrapped up in was on the TF.N discussion boards, not directly on any fanfic.

do you write smut? if so, what kind?

I have one piece of Adama/Roslin smut from BSG floating around on Livejournal somewhere that never got cross posted to AO3. It’s pretty vanilla. It’s not really something I tend to get struck with ideas for.

have you ever had a fic stolen?

If I did I never found out

have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but someone did a podfic of How to Detect When Your Captain’s Expecting which was really neat.

have you ever co-written a fic before?

Started to once but it never got very far. 

what’s your all-time favourite ship?

It’s a tossup between Kanan/Hera from Star Wars: Rebels and Zoe/Wash from Firefly. I have a dynamic I like and I promise it doesn’t HAVE to end in death!

what’s a wip that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I mostly write oneshots these days. The fic I wrote way back in the day about Wes Janson’s childhood will haunt me forever but it’s something I wrote way too long ago to ever touch again.

what are your writing strengths?

I’m really good at writing dialogue and I have a distinctive narrative voice to the point that several friends are pretty sure they could pick my writing out blind.

what are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions are the bane of my existence, if I’m not careful I end up with a bunch of disembodied eyebrows in a blank room. Also somewhat related, fight scenes are the devil.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Look I used the same PDF of Chinese phrases as everyone else in the Firefly fandom.  I’m fine with it in a genuine bilingual scenario as long as people switch languages in a way that rings true for bilingualism. 

I don’t tend to use Mando’a but that is entirely my Feelings about one Karen Traviss seeping through.

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

Technically it was Digimon, but the first ones that actually got posted online were for Star Wars.

what’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

Ask me to pick a favourite child why don’t you? She Likes Umbrellas and How to Detect When Your Captain’s Expecting have both left me with the need to follow up from them (Full blown Kanan lives and establishes a very different Jedi Order AU to come) so they might be the best answer.

I do like being tagged in these things but I can never figure out who to tag in turn so... have fun?

[rockethorse]

I was tagged to do this meme by @roguebotanist ! Sorry it took me so long!

1. If you could travel one place in the world where would you travel?

Probably be to the USA to visit all my friends there, and my partner's extended family! I'm planning to go to Japan again soon with my partner, too, but because Australia is closer to Japan, that's a lot more attainable than visiting the states. So if I had magic-genie-travel-vouchers, I'd definitely pick the US. Just... maybe not for a few years, lol. It's a dream of mine to be able to take the two of us on a kind of foodie driving tour down through different American states, visiting a bunch of people we know, and tasting all the stuff we see on Instagram, LOL.

2. What do you do in your free time away from Sims?

I draw, cook, dabble in writing (I'm not very good but I really enjoy it), translate/subtitle videos from Japanese and close caption videos/podcasts in English, and work on eventual-someday comic ideas. I also keep meaning to get into gardening and sewing - I have all the equipment, but the attention... not so much.

3. What other games do you play besides The Sims?

Animal Crossing, Pokemon (even though I still haven't finished SWSH), Stardew Valley, a little bit of Slime Rancher (highly recommend, I think a lot of y'all would really like it), and the Ace Attorney series though I haven't played much beyond the original trilogy even though I really like it. Since we got our Switch I started playing Zelda BoTW too, which is my first real "gamer" game and I really, really liked it, so I'm sort of dabbling in more games of those kinds of genres that I used to be intimidated by.

4. How tall are you?

5'11"/180cm, last time I measured.

5. One random interest of yours?

I collect/love to pore over retro cook books with really terrible photography. I have a small collection of them. Some of them are genuinely good and others are hilariously bizarre. I daydream about starting a YouTube channel some day and I think about making a week's worth of breakfast/lunch/dinners from these old books and recording the process. My current favourite is all about what you're supposed to like to eat based on your star sign, from the 1990s. There's a lot of the word "moist".

6. Current favourite bands/artists?

“Current” is hard to say because if I actually manage to get attached enough to an artist/group to specifically like them, they become my favourite for a loooooonnnnggg time. So I would have to say my "current" favourites are exist†trace, Go-Bang’s, BARBEE BOYS, and Yes.

7. Something you’re looking forward to?

I'm looking forward to getting my life back together now that I've finally been able to finish a really stressful irl project, lmao. I'm looking forward to having enough money saved up to hopefully travel to Japan as early as next year and surprise my friends there. I'm looking forward to breakfast tomorrow and painting my nails :9

8. Current favourite films?

I have the same problem with this as I do music, LMAO. I really liked Birds of Prey! The most recent new-to-me film I saw that left an impression on me which I can remember was the Ghibli film "Only Yesterday". If you're a little older and a bit stressed about the pressures of adult life then this movie is a real treat. Also saw Big Eden for the first time semi-recently with my partner and was really sweet and pretty funny. Now that I think about it, it had a lot in common with my cook books.

9. What food could you not live without?

I was thinking of all the foods I love and would hate to go without, like tofu (for real), but I'm actually watching my diet right now and as it turns out I can apparently live without a lot of stuff, LOL. But I'm trying to eat "healthier" not just change weight and the only thing that's really tripped me up is the idea of forgoing sugar-free drinks. I knoowwww Pepsi Max probably isn't """good""" for me or """a substance human beings should consume""" but I grew up on it, I drink a sugar-free energy drink every second day (used to be every day but my heart said don't do that), and I like black coffee but even that has its limit. So I guess the answer here is "terrible, bad, laboratory-constructed soda", lmao. Can’t live without it, questionable if I can live with it.

10. Favourite series (book or movie)?

If I'm allowed to pick a TV series then this is where I slide in and say the 2003-4 Sailor Moon live action series (shoutout to Lady Bane for making excellently niche Sims 2 content for it, too). If not, I'm stuck again with not really knowing and not wanting to say Harry Potter since I haven't really engaged with it for a million years. Hey! Maybe you guys should recommend a new book or movie series to me! Especially if the book is available as an audiobook, because I have more patience/attention for them than reading these days.

I don’t know who to tag because I don’t know who’s already done it - let’s start with @afro-sims-for-you, @didilysims and uhhhhh @katatty-main​ ? Plus anyone else who follows me and wants to do it! Tag me back so I can read ‘em :0

[takaraphoenix]

Buffy dir the ask Game

Aaah! *^* Thanks for asking, I had hoped that may come up! xD

Answers under the cut though, because this turned into... literally 3k words worth of fangirl rambling. That’s what happens when you make me talk about the things I love the most. *ducks head*

Top 5 favourite characters: Spike, Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris, Rupert Giles

Other characters you like: let’s make that five more then! Daniel Osbourne, Andrew Wells, Cordelia Chase, Anya Jenkins, Drusilla

Least favourite characters:Dawn Summers by a landslide

Otps: Spike/Buffy, Tara/Being Alive, Willow/Tara, Xander/Cordelia, Xander/Anya, Giles/Joyce (I always wanted Giles to become Buffy’s dad, officially and legally ;-;), Cordelia/Buffy, Giles/Spike, Oz/Andrew (LISTEN, I love Oz, I hate that he left and only came back once to see his girlfriend his now a lesbian. I wanted him to return for good and I wanted Andrew to be explicitely gay and not just Word Of God gay)

Notps: Xander/Dawn - like, her crush on him was cute and all, but that season 8 really had to make THAT canon was… not necessary… Also Giles/Buffy is really the only Hard No ship I’ve encountered in this fandom, otherwise even when I don’t vibe with a ship, it’s more a shrug and keep scrolling

Favourite friendships: THE GOLDEN TRIO. Xander-Willow-Buffy. I love them

Favourite family:The friends we found along the way. Seriously, the Scooby-gang absolutely counts as a family. Joyce and Giles are the parents, Xander and Willow (who supposedly have parents but we never meet them and they don’t seem to care much) are as much a part of this family as Buffy ;^;

Favourite episodes: HAH! The one show where I can actually name them, without having to cross-check what the episodes are called and what happens where! xD

Once More With Feeling: clearly. IT’S A MUSICAL EPISODE. And it is so good. The singing is so good. I immediately bought the soundtrack and I listened to it on a loop for months. Then the content! The Spuffy is so good, the Buffy angst, everyone gets an adorable moment and then that ending that kills me

Tabula Rasa: I love this episode. It is so whacky but again also with angst, because that Willow/Tara is murderous

The Body: I mean, in a masochistic kind of way do I love this episode. It is… it is so heartbreaking. I’ve seen it like twelve times now and I still cry every single time. How vulnerable Buffy is, the Tara-Buffy friendship, Anya has one of my favorite moments when she confronts what death means. This episode is an absolute sucker-punch

Favourite season/book/movie: Season 6, hands down. Other TV shows always try to one-up it - so they fought demons in season 1, how about they fight SATAN HIMSELF in season 3? The escalation is very rapid in most supernatural shows nowadays. That Buffy took a step back and spent essentially a whole season on character development and friendships and human issues? Also two of my favorite episodes happen in this season, so that makes it all the more special to me!

Favourite quotes:Okay, so, full disclosure I love the musical episode but I listened to Rest in Peace THE MOST. And the lines “I died so many years ago, you can make me feel like it isn’t so” just completely wrecks me. Like, there’s a whole lot of memorable quips in this show and the line “I’m the thing that monsters have nightmares about” is ALSO absolutely outstanding

Best musical moment: When Buffy says “I think I was in heaven”, just the way her voice breaks, the reaction on everybody’s face? This silly musical just outed her biggest secret, the thing that’s going to hurt everyone around her with guilt and the thing that’s wrecking her life. That moment is so good

Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: William Pratt. Getting explicit flashbacks to flesh out Spike’s past, to meet the man he used to be and see what he was like. Also genuinely every any flashback about the Fanged Four. This is something I KEEP yelling about in all the supernatural genre shows - if you have centuries old characters then USE THAT. Show me their past! Seriously the wasted potential of flashbacks around Magnus Bane on Shadowhunters is downright insulting. But Buffy? Every time it explored more, showed me more, I fangirled so hard. Also genuinely when Buffy slept with Satsu in season 8 - like, I know there were no grand romantic feelings but Buffy Summers had sex with a woman and… c’mon, Buffy’s not 100% straight, she just isn’t, I stand by bi!Buffy

When it really disappointed you:When some greedy asshat decided to do a comic reboot and retcon Willow into being Out And Proud in high school and be Gay All Along. Fuck. You. Like, yeah, sure, obviously am I all for out and proud teenage rep! But not at the cost of erasing existing rep! Not when it’s a retcon that actively erases an “I took longer to realize my feelings and be true to myself” lesbian, because those exist and are valid and deserve to be seen too and by retconning her into being out in high school, instead of having boyfriends in high school and only coming to terms when she is in college and actually MEETS her first lesbian to realize that this could be her truth, by doing that, you’re effectively sending the message that only Gold Star Lesbians are valid and genuinely fuck you for doing this. Also, from what I’ve heard that comic reboot effectively erased Drusilla’s insanity and victimhood to have her be an evil mastermind villain and… no… that’s not the character anymore then; a huge point of Drusilla was that she was a victim, most specifically Angel’s victim, that he broke her completely so we can see the bad and depth of Angelus’ worst days, it’s important for the plot even if it makes you uncomfortable to see a woman be a victim, in her case her victimhood and her insanity are literally what make her her. You just created a new character. There is some really wrong SJW bullshit going on in there and it’s dumb. If you wanna tell new stories, do that. But don’t take this existing beautiful story and slaughter it for your own whims what the fuck, I genuinely loathe that this comic exists and I’m glad that the TV show thing is going to be a spin-off sequel and not an actual reboot because don’t fucking reboot Buffy

Saddest moment: Joyce’s death, definitely. But also when Giles decides to leave, that breaks my heart every time

Most well done character death:ALSO Joyce’s death

Favourite guest star: I… really don’t know, like I don’t know who’d count as just guest, when looking at the cast list most the ones I would have said are technically recurring characters and then it’s also not really asking for the character but the actor, huh? Retrospectively probably Wentworth Miller, because he has become an actor I like a lot so seeing smol!Wentworth in Buffy is adorable

Favourite cast member: James Marsters. If tumblr existed back when Buffy first aired, all my Dominic Sherwood obsession could be fully translated onto him. He was one of my three first actor obsessions and he still remains that, to this day

Character you wish was still alive: ANYA. There was no need to kill Anya off in the finale, I wish season 8 could have had that happy, good Xander/Anya content… ;-;

One thing you hope really happens: I am so excited and afraid of the sequel spin-off. That could be so great (or a disaster and that’s the part that frightens me), but what REALLY needs to happen is that Sarah Michelle Gellar guest stars. Of course not as a regular, it is supposed to be about a new slayer. But I need them to then also acknowledge what has been before. Maybe others could guest star too, cameo occasionally (though it would be hilarious if Andrew was a regular and like a… guide to the new kid). Ideally, I would get to see every Scooby at least once in this spin-off but what really needs to happen is that Buffy Summers appears in it

Most shocking twist: When they killed off Buffy… and there was another season. Like. This was pre “everybody dies and is frequently brought back from the dead, death doesn’t stick” TV era (actually, it is the mother of that trope, really), so that was… really a shocker.

When did you start watching/reading?: Ironically, during my least favorite season. Season 4. The initiative was the most bland and obnoxious plotline, Riley/Buffy is a ship I really don’t dig and I was a teen so American college was Weird And Confusing and also uninteresting. However, I had been DYING to watch that show for three years and been deemed too young to watch it so it was really exciting that my mom finally allowed me and also I WAS right on time for the lesbian coming out and that still to this day blows my mind because Willow and Tara were the first lesbians I got to see on TV and it still means the world to me. I then got caught up on reruns, watching the first three seasons, but even on rewatchs, plot-wise season 4 is the weakest for me

Best animal/creature: Miss Kitty Fantastico, by default? xD I think she is the only animal in the whole series… and she just kind of… disappeared too ôÔ°°°

Favourite location: THE LIBRARY I LOVE THE LIBRARY SO MUCH

Trope you wish they would stop using: Mmmh… I… I mean, when rewatching this as an adult, I gotta admit the early Angel/Buffy is very uncomfortable. Back when I was Buffy’s age and younger I thought it was the coolest thing that this vampire loved this teenage girl, but as an adult I have come to re-evaluate all the 16/17 year old girl getting together with a 100+ year old vampire because that most definitely is a very concerning age-gap and… not necessary. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always also hold love for them because I loved them back when I first watched it too and I think they have a fascinating and epic tragic romance, but… media’s gotta stop pushing the idea that centuries old immortals find high school kids romantically and sexually attractive; it’s not a good look

One thing this show/book/film does better than others: Clearly sell me on the canon romance, if you look at my list of OTPs where nearly all of them are canon. Also THIS IS PROPER FOUND FAMILY YO. I’m so tired of shows pretending to be “the team is a family” and then it’s all just deceite and distrust and miscommunication and tragic. AND where this show 100% outdoes… literally everything else I have ever read and watched is the mental health. Buffy died and came back from the dead and instead of just shrugging it off and doing business as usual, we spent a whole season on her depression and dealing with the aftermath of it. Same goes for Willow and her grief over Tara and her addiction. Bad things happen to the characters and it’s not just used as a cheap ploy for more drama, they have ramifications and are being dealt with.

Funniest moments: When Tabula Rasa made everyone assume new identities and everyone thought Giles was Anya’s sugar daddy and Spike’s actual father? Also the time that Giles kept himself a pet-Spike in his home because no one trusted Spike yet (reasonably so). And honestly, countless more - this is one of the funniest shows I ever watched, the quips and one-liners are absolute killers.

Couple you would like to see: Huh. Can I go really vague and say that I would like to see a wlw couple with at least one lesbian in the spin-off sequel? Like, obviously do I hope that this new iterations brings more rep to the table - LGBT as well as POC because if I have to admit one flaw in my favorite show then that it’s very 90s white - but even among that, I really hope there will be at least one lesbian character, who gets to have an on-screen romance

Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: As mentioned above, I hope Sarah Michelle Gellar and others join the cast at the very least as guest stars.

Admittedly, I also would murder to see Dominic Sherwood play a vampire on this new show.

Those two would be the ones I’d love to see join the cast. However, I kind of got lost in an entire fan-cast here, so have my pitch for what I’d love the spin-off’s cast to look like. I have no idea what age-range it’s going to be though. Probably teenagers again, but I kind of hope early to mid twenties.

My dream cast, which isn’t going to happen because she already has a lead role in a TV show so she’s too busy, but I’d LOVE to see China Anne McClain as the new slayer.

And, okay I admit this is Marvel based type-casting, but I’d LOVE to see Lyrica Okano as the witch friend (the group needs a witch friend).

Sarah Jeffery for the Cordelia-type role. The bitchy cheerleader - but she’s actualy a closeted lesbian who joins the team when she accepts her own identity and befriends the group.

It’s probably also type casting to make David Castro play another brooding vampire, but listen he’s about the same age as China and he would give off good Angel vibes to her Slayer?

Jane Lynch as the Watcher. But not a soft dad like Giles, more the grumpy, annoyed mom who now has all those irritating children running after her even though she is just trying to teach her charge how to be a Slayer.

Favourite outfit: EVIL DOPPELGÄNGER WILLOW’S VAMPIRE DOMINATRIX OUTFIT *^*

Favourite item: I love the dumb axe. Like, I think it looks WAY too modern to be this ancient tool, but dang it’s pretty

Do you own anything related to this show/book/film?: my phone-case, all seasons on DVD, the soundtrack of the musical episode on CD, I probably still got my old bedsheets somewhere. I do wish I had more merch, in a different time I probably would have spent all my money on Buffy figures, but those weren’t available way back when and now that I have access to the internet’s treasure-hunting-sites, I… have learned to… mostly… manage my money better than mindlessly buy merch (though if Funko Pop finishes that… Rock Candy series with all the main characters, I will definitely buy those. As it stands, there’s only Willow and Buffy available right now…)

What house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: I would definitely not be a slayer. Maybe a witch??

Most boring plotline: The initiative. Seriously. I’m HARD anti military and this bullshit of college soldiers policing the supernatural world was… boring and weird. Got even weirder when it turned into Frankenstein at the end

Most laughably bad moment: ooof that puppet episodes had quite some intentionally cringey moments

Best flashback/flashfoward if any: ALL OF THEM. NOT A SINGLE NOT GOOD FLASHBACK THERE. GIVE ME ALL OF THE PAST

Most layered character: Spike. Fight me on that. Seriously, his past as a human, as a vampire, his present, his will to gain a soul, his dynamics with all the Scoobies, I love him. To be fair, Buffy is also the most layered character though

Most one dimensional character:huuuh… Dawn? I mean, seriously she is just every teen angst trope crammed into one, with zero tolerance for what the only slightly older adults may be going through, they even made her shoplift for attention, I swear she could have only been more of a cringey teen trope if she also Cut For Attention… -___- Like. She… She got slightly better with time, but out of all these multi-facetted characters, she is definitely the flattest

Scariest moment: Puppets creep me out so the puppet episode was definitely scary for me. Also the Silence I mean damn that was an amazing episode but it was creepy as fuck

Grossest moment: mh… I can’t think of one, really. I’m unsure if there were any really gross moments

Best looking male: Spike!

Best looking female: Doppelgänger Willow. Don’t judge me. Also Evil Willow. Okay you can judge me a little

Who you’re crushing on (if any): Never really had a crush on any of the characters

Favourite cast moment: That was… pre-internet times, we didn’t get immediately swamped by posts and videos and photos of the cast, there was very little access to these things so I was never really exposed to that

Favourite transportation: THE RV. I loved when they were on the run for half an episode and just all lived in an RV together :D”““

Most beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): I really don’t know

Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you:It’s a very well-rounded series and I was never actually left with major questions

Best promo: The best promo it had was running in our living room so I could carefully sneak a peek when going to bed and thus want to watch the show :D”

At what point did you fall in love with this show/book: When Willow/Tara happened. I didn’t even know that I’m a lesbian back then. I was like 10 back then. This was literally the first time I saw two women be together. Back then I didn’t know what about it amazed me so much. Cue in 12 year old Phoe slowly realizing “oooh I’m a lesbian that’s why the lesbians spoke to me”. But yeah, being the first show to show me lesbians exist, that was when I fell in love and then I got to watch the whole show and it is just such a perfect show that it was impossible not to love it

IN DEPTH FANDOM QUESTIONS

[thistangledbrain]

Day 16!

“Work/school”

Well...EDS robbed me of my ability to work 3-4 years ago, but I can tell you about prior stuff.

I started off going to college right out of high school, but realized I was just burning through money, because I had no idea what to major in - I have *too many* interests, and most of them don’t really translate to a well paying job...not enough to warrant the expense of the education, anyway. If higher education wasn’t so expensive in this country, I would be one of those people who just sort of...collects degrees, though. I daydream of that often...but, thanks to my oldest son, I’m sort of vicariously gaining a bit of higher ed in Physics, one of my *favorite things evarrrrrrr* (but I trip so badly over the math, so idk if I’d ever get far, myself). He sends me pics of his notes, video clips, and when he’s home, we love to sit down while he walks me through all the equations and the processes (and when he explains them to me, it helps him get an even deeper grasp of it sometimes, so it’s good for both of us ☺️). Quantum physics/mechanics and theoretical physics are 🤯 to me, and I can’t get enough! Astrophysics is pretty damn cool, too. One of my favorite things ever is when we nerd out together on this stuff. I remember when he was in high school and first started being interested in it...I was so excited I could barely contain myself (I was already very much obsessed with these sciences), and watched with delight and excitement as his passion grew. I remember he brought home this like 10-15 question beginner physics quiz he took when he first started, that he handed to me. “Can you answer these?” he says, as he hands the paper to me. “Fuck YEAH I can!!!” So I excitedly went down the list - there was only one question I wasn’t sure about (and I think it had to do with thermodynamics but I don’t quite remember)...I just remember HE got so excited that I was already familiar with stuff (like particles and waves), and it was in that moment that we just...gained this incredible connection that still makes me feel all gooshy inside. Physics isn’t the only science that gets me excited, but I’ve written enough about that for now 🙃...

So. Yeah. Maybe someday I’ll win the lottery, go back to school, and probably just stay there LOL...

You guys have already heard me ramble about the Marines, so I’ll leave that part out...

So my work history is similar to my school history, I guess. Rather scattershot. Since I know my keenest interests won’t make me a ton of money (without a degree) or aren’t really necessarily *career* choices, I’ve been fairly comfortable with...idk. Trying things out that I wanted to do, because being rich and having “things” just doesn’t...well, I personally don’t understand the draw, and it has never been a real goal. I’m flying high if I can pay the bills on time LOL...I have to leave the rest of the financial planning to someone else, because I just...don’t...care enough. The things I care about in life *require* money (what doesn’t), but obtaining personal wealth just to have more of it/more “things” baffles me (you can do your “grind” to have your “fat stacks” - my interests lie well outside of material gain, and this is something we just won’t connect on. Your Birkin bag and sweet ride mean positively zero to me as far as how I look at you as a person...except for the fact that I think it’s bizarre for someone to spend tens of thousands on a purse or shoes, and I question their logic lmao). I’m not sure I’ll ever know what it feels like to just want to be rich, and damn near kill yourself to obtain that big house and nice cars and designer clothes or whatever. I like nice things too, but frankly I’d rather actually live my life? I’m not gonna be here long...it makes zero sense to me to break myself for the material gain of “things” (and people who do that, actually upset me a bit. I feel like they’re missing the point....or, it makes me sad to think that their existence is so empty that things like labels and status symbols are what they’re hyperfocused on, what matters the most to them). That being said, I DO enjoy the *immaterial* gains - respect, love, making animals and humans happy and whole, growing my mind, sharing my experiences and knowledge for the benefit of others. This probably sounds way too candy coated and cheesy to believe, but it’s easy to prove through my actions. This is *genuinely* what matters to me.

My first couple jobs were not my speed, but I did learn a lot about how companies run (from an administrative & bookkeeping standpoint), and that’s been sort of my “fall back on” career, since - but it makes me really, really unhappy to be stuck behind a desk, even if the work is fairly interesting or challenging. I’ve also been a horse stable manager, an exercise jockey for race horses (shattered pelvis ended that venture though), worked in an exotic pet store (I LOVE reptiles!!!!), and dabbled in nearly every trade in the construction industry (I am the quintessential “Jack of All Trades, Master of None”)...eventually landing in a position that I was very comfortable with - superintendent/jobsite manager for a smaller residential company. The job was always different from day to day, so I had little time to get bored. I guess that’s the big hangup - i don’t like being bored at my job. (I don’t like being bored, period, but rarely am...even though I live out in the middle of nowhere and don’t have gainful employment anymore. I have tons of interests involving animals, art, and building/creating, plus I love to read and learn. Or take walks through the woods and photograph tiny environments. Train and rehab dogs. Remote train and help people as far away as the UK. If I’m bored, I’m probably just being lazy.)

I’ve realized - and come to learn that many auties share this with me - that working alone or with a very small group of people is ideal. We all have our different strengths and interests, but jobs that keep our brains engaged and keeps us out of “general human traffic” are much preferred. I often wonder how many auties are also actually add/adhd, or if it’s just another facet in our prism. 🤷🏻‍♀️ It’s both a bane, and a boon, depending on the situation.

You’re HIGHLY likely to come across *a lot* of Auties in STEM fields...or lurking in warehouses and stockrooms, content to be left alone with their thoughts or music while they sort and pack. There are also a crapload of autistics in the creative arts - writing, music, acting, painting, and so on. You are UNLIKELY to find many auties in mundane tasks that require little thinking, long term.

One of my favorite bits from a Temple Grandin lecture was something about how over half of NASA would be gone without autistics, and back in caveman days, it wasn’t the social gabby gabbies around the campfire who were thinking up new tools and weapons - it was us antisocial weirdos off to one side whose brains *just never shut off*. 🤷🏻‍♀️ This is why I struggle to understand the people who think autism is some sort of ...horrible plight that’s descended on the human species. You’d be screwed without us, and I don’t care if that sounds arrogant, because it’s true. We might be weird and make you uncomfortable sometimes, but we do some DAMN cool shit. We just might prefer to do it in ways that don’t make sense to you. It doesn’t HAVE to make sense to you - WE don’t have to make sense to you (and we probably won’t anyway, so why do you keep trying? Try just accepting instead).

I’ve been slowly collecting links to Autie blogs, artistic works, scientific contributions, and so on. When I’m satisfied that it’s a broad cross section of who we are and what we do/contribute to society, I’ll share it...but in the meantime...

We might be more comfortable within certain parameters (like, “can I please keep the fluorescent lights off in my office”), but shoooo lawd, don’t sell us short on anything else. Just cut us loose and let us do our thang. ☺️

[demigodofhoolemere]

I’d previously made a post about wanting Thor to be friends with the Guardians, but the thing I really can't get out of my head is Loki finding friends in them. They could be the support system he desperately needs (Thor is great, but only one person, and he lacks the advantage of being able to relate to most of the things Loki's gone through). They'd have no prior judgments of him, they just know he helped them take out Thanos and that's what matters, so if he needs a place to stay and people to be with, their doors are always open. Their ship is all about giving troubled people second chances.

Peter is so friendly and energetic that it'd be like having a younger, more exhausting Thor around. And because Loki's just as alien as the others, a lot of pop culture references would need to be explained to him ("Tell me, does Quill ever talk sense?" "Not really, but you get used to it." "...Ah."). Being team leader, Peter would be the most welcoming and always sure to include him in things, making sure he knows he has friends here. If Loki could be prodded into opening up about Frigga, Peter could try to relate to him by talking about his own mother, which also opens up the world of father issues. Peter could teach him that sometimes the family you choose for yourself is more important than what's in your blood.

Drax could also relate to personal loss, having lost his wife and daughter at the hands of an enemy. I think Loki wouldn't think much of Drax at first, and Drax probably wouldn't be incredibly fond of him in the beginning either (especially when he learns that he worked for Thanos, because he gets tunnel vision and Loki would have to explain the situation), but I think Drax's warrior spirit would be reminiscent of Thor and the Asgardians in a way, and Drax loves a good laugh, which Loki's wit would easily provide, so they'd grow on each other in a weird way in the end. They'd work surprisingly well together in a fight and they could shine their daggers together.

Gamora would be able to understand his past with Thanos better than anybody else, and since they're both private people they wouldn't feel the need to delve into talking about messy feelings, but they'd both know that they can have that understanding and acknowledgment in each other. She is also the last of her people, so she could relate to his feelings about Asgard being gone, and help him to realize and appreciate that he's at least lucky to still have some of his people and culture left. And as Loki watches her relationship with Nebula like a mirror of his own with Thor, and sees the two of them awkwardly try to reach out for each other, he could also come to understand Thor better and appreciate his never-ending compassion for Loki despite everything he's done.

If Nebula is on the team, she and Loki would butt heads because their personalities and various temperamental issues would clash, but they would have very obvious common ground and they could be totally bitter about Thanos and family problems together. Since their moralities are more skewed than the rest of the Guardians, they'd be the wild cards in a fight (however Loki would probably think she lacks finesse, as she's usually pretty ruthlessly violent, and even though he can be, too, he'd rather do it quick and clean whereas Nebula has been known to “take too long”), and they'd be more willing to just do what it takes to get a job done and cross lines that the others might not.

Mantis could be like a much-needed therapist, helping to soothe his unstable mind, and though Loki would initially think her fragile and childish, he could come to appreciate her skill set and her genuine kindness towards him. Because her empathy allows compassion and understanding to come naturally to her, she would care about him and his wellbeing like she does her other friends, and because she could feel his emotions she would be able to understand his problems and be patient (though sometimes he would probably need less patience and more of a kick in the pants from someone like Rocket to get him to see straight).

Loki and Rocket, oh my gosh... the battle of wits would never end and they would be the bane of everyone else's existence. Other teammates beg them to shut up because they can't deal with this combination anymore. It’s a total rivalry over who's smarter or who's a better pilot, but the two of them grow to appreciate each other because their wits are so closely matched, they both enjoy mischief and both work with technical minds, and they'd probably have insulting nicknames for each other that end up being used as terms of endearment (not that they'd let each other know that they think of the other in friendly terms). They would totally challenge each other to increasingly more difficult and risky feats of mischief just to see which one of them can achieve the most and get away with it the longest.

Frankly I don't know what the heck his relationship would be with Groot, but I do know that I need to see a) Loki trade insults with a tree, made funnier by the fact that we don't know what Groot is really saying unless translated therefore coming off like an R2 and 3PO dynamic, and b) them actually having a serious conversation about something and all you hear is Loki getting deep with a teenage tree who only ever says one thing in response. Because you only get one side of the dialogue all of their conversations sound like "I am Groot." "You can say that again." "I am Groot." "No, you don't have to actually... I just mean I agree with what you said." "I am Groot?" "Yes, precisely."

Sometimes Thor visits to see how his brother is doing. Loki dares Rocket to try and convince Thor that he needs his eyepatch for something really important. Peter has to warn Thor never to fall for this, and Nebula irritatedly informs him that Rocket has asked for her arm more times than she can count. Thor is always amused, if not a little confused, by the constant antics on the ship, but he's glad that Loki seems to have found that sun for himself, that he gets to be his mischievous and cunning self while using it for better things, and that the Guardians have proven to be good for him and have helped him heal some old wounds. In return Loki has begun to learn what it means to really have friends and awkwardly tries to provide the same support for them, albeit terribly ineptly, though he firmly denies any such effort when Thor brings it up.

Family bonds and mutual healing is all I want, really.

[hannahchronism]

7, 11-15 >:3

7. Favorite author.

I don’t know if I have like, a single favorite author so much as really liking specific works by different authors? I don’t know. 

BUT, on a similar thought: A few years ago (maybe only one? maybe more like three? Passage of time is not my forte okay) I reread Peter Pan because I hadn’t read it since I was very young and I was just. Curious. Time passes and I get curious of my perception vs. what the thing was really like THE POINT BEING- I really loved how like, immersed the perspective in that book is. Not like J.M. was a character but not like he was reigning over it indifferently either. There’s this sense of like, campfire story where he’s got all the information and he knows what everyone was thinking because.. almost like, you think, he interviewed them after? And then also he just straight up flat out gives you his opinion on it all. And then I (re)read the Neverending Story ((which is also my favorite)) and it’s like that too, a bit (which may or may not be attributed to the way it was translated to English?) but I had this moment like...I can do that? And I feel like it’s really bled into how I view writing like It’s my story to tell and I will let you know when I think that all my characters are being idiots, goddammit. And I love? that? so much?? I love when there’s a sense of subjectivity from the author not as a character but as the person who wrote it, y’know? because like... I mean isn’t that the reason to write? To put a little of yourself out there in some way?

EDIT: I’m a dumbass who forgot her own fav, it’s Neil Gaiman. Especially Stardust and Neverwhere.

11. Describe your writing process from scratch to finish.

Lord, okay.

It’s not so much a “process” as it is a “...well that happened.”

Approximately 60% of the time, it starts with sudden (and I mean struck by lightening sudden) inspiration of a hyper-specific thing, a scene or phrase or character action, that spirals out from there. I’ve had plots, drabbles, entire characters, and an entire book dawn on me this way.Most of the time, I’ll start by commiting that thing to paper (or a word docutment) and, usually, work forward from it. If I get stuck going forward, I go back to where I started and start working backwards. If I get an idea for what may happen next, I’ll put that down and then try to bridge the gaps to get one flow, either rising or falling, and then try to take it the opposite direction to give it resolution (which...doesn’t always work if I’m to be honest.)

Like [You’re A Shit Liar] -which is..kind of a bad example because it’s obviously not a complete thing- started with that phrase exactly and I worked it entirely backwards from there. The [sandstorm] drabble that I spent for fucking ever on started in the middle, with the “we can’t outrun the storm” piece, then went backwards, to the end, back to the middle, and all the hell over before I actually finished it- there’s at least three different version of it, including the one I almost posted where she left anyway, which would have led to this reunion one that I .. really like and punch myself regularly for rendering it null (to be fair, it’s unfinished. OH FUN FACT THO that’s the one where I had the idea to try and end it with them running into Red ((the “kiddie-porn” thing lmao.))) Ironically enough, [Beginning] was one that I started at the beginning and then followed through to the end with only minimal back tracking.

Ultimately though it’s really not a process and I really do mean to build one. It’s not that I think this is a “bad” way to write, per se, it’s just that I feel like it’s not efficient and it leads to a lot of getting distracted and winding up with things that feel disjointed sometimes. I need to work on forming solid ideas and outlining them before I start working, I think.

12. How do you deal with self-doubts?

I lock them in the closet and pretend they don’t exist or else nothing I ever wrote would see the light of day ever. Honestly there is never a time when I’m not just drawning in doubts, so it’s really just come to a point of me ignoring them. You can tell when I’m really nervous about posting something because it’ll have a big stupid disclaimer in front of it, probably, or entirely too many tags below it - that’s me trying to either defend it or derail the criticism before it starts to form tbh

13. How do you deal with writers block?

The bane of my existence- at this point in my life, I don’t really “deal” with it, I just have to? suffer until it goes away??

I guess, if this counts, I switch away from writing or even thinking about writingand do something else for awhile until I feel like maybe it’s not a problem anymore. Sometimes standing in the shower for like three hours helps?

14. What’s the most research you ever put into a book?

Actually not for a book, the most research I’ve ever done for writing is the research I’ve (over the years) done for Tech. She was really the first character I ever put any genuine thought into, and the first one to recieve any research, really. It’s mainly been focused on the truma(s) of her childhood and I could probably stand to do even more/refresh the research I’ve already done, but by and large she’s been the one to recieve the most informed traits, for lack of a better way to phrase it. Lu comes in at a close second, though the research I’ve done for her has been more broad and shallow than the focus points I’ve devoted to Tech.

15. Where does your inspiration come from? 

Oh everything. Music has always been a really strong influence though, and finding songs that fit into themes is always the best feeling on the planet. I also really love pulling from my favorite books and movies, and -when it comes to the emotional side of things- my own experiences tend to get mixed in pretty heavily. 

Also I’ve always really loved really classic theming (sun & moon, traditional fairy tales, etc.) and also really direct imagery and I feel like that shows up a lot too.

[bastardsunlight]

Written by the ancient Sheikah, the archives of creation have been lost to history, until now:

Transliterated from the ancient tongue, which is somewhat subjective in nature

[ ] indicates translator’s best effort at deciphering

( ) indicates translator’s addition for clarity

// // indicates translator’s personal thoughts on the subject

To know the history of the Hero and of [Demise] is to know the history of the world, of light and of shadow. Evil has no place in this most innocent [dichotomy]. Without shadow, there can be no light. Without light, there is no shadow. The “land of the gods” has been called such for [eons], but there are gods in all lands, light and dark. When life comes, death follows. There is no existence without [void]—no presence without absence. Long and long have the people of the land of light, (Hyrule and the surrounding baronies), worshipped the golden goddesses of the [Triforce]. These three in one become Hylia, for whom the holy land is named. But there is another. There has always been another. //remarkable, this lends itself to my theories regarding the ancient Sheikah tribe and the possible schism that caused the royal family to turn on them in the early days of the kingdom, before the “split”—more on that later//

No presence without absence. //such profundity in old writing is the very reason I got into this profession in the first place. My family hardly approves, but I’ve got so much to learn, it’s easy to forget their scorn!//

In the first days, when Din’s strong arms churned the soil, Farore’s living breath stirred the wind and life-giving rain, and Nayru’s heartbeat brought the [sun] up over the eastern horizon, the seeds of life came from these three golden goddesses and their companion, he of death and the void. It is said that his seed produced all [sentient] life. And so life and death danced, hand-in-hand, as must they always. //could this be the missing piece of our beloved Triforce?//

To accompany the fertile soil, the [Fierce Deity] made the deserts and stony mountains, where little grows. As a companion of Farore’s blessed breezes and rain, he brought about winter gales and times of drought. For Nayru’s gentle sun, he formed the [septic] moon, whose cold light gives rot where the sun [preserves]. When the gods created the beasts and people who even now walk the plains and mountains, who soar the skies and swim deep in the seas, they gave both life and death in one union. //”Fierce Deity” added, as I could think of no other name to call the fourth godhead in our false trinity. Thank the gods the old zealous ways have died out or I’d be lynched for this! Anyway, I spoke with a salesman recently, a purveyor of masks, of all things. He told me the tale of a particularly dangerous mask, one that was obtained by the Hero himself in a strange nothing-land (his words, not mine), in order to defeat a great evil. He referred to this mask as the Fierce Deity. Gives me goosebumps just considering it.//

And so the land of light was born.

The goddesses grew restless, disenchanted with the death brought by their necessary partner. They [conspired] to rid themselves of his presence, hoping this would allow that which they created to flourish, unhindered. One dark night, while the cold moon hung over everything, and the [Fierce Deity] slept, the three golden ones chained him and cast him out of the land of light. Because they were vain, the goddesses desired a way to see him and so the [Mirror of Twilight] was created, Din using her blazing arms to melt sand, Nayru, her view of the moon to set a frame for the structure, and Farore, the chilly breath of winter’s wind to cool the great glass. And so through this, the golden ones observed their cast off [mate]. //how cruel. A panopticon of godly proportions.//

Again, the three grew restless. They were bored without their [mate], and frustrated that the pieces //literal translation here, could mean chess pieces, or how the goddesses might have viewed the people of old Hyrule… scary// of their world, [sentient and otherwise], continued to die. What the gods put in motion, not even the gods can stop, especially the particular forces of life and death, the strongest [polarities]. Stubborn as they were, the golden ones refused to start over and give up, deciding amonst themselves to instead create a new companion. To make a [mate] for themselves, the three goddesses took from what which the [Fierce Deity] had contributed to their world, pulling sand and clay from the deserts for a strong body, moonlight to chill hot blood, and that pulled from the undrinkable oceans, made salty by the tears of betrayal. The golden ones thought to remake their [mate] with as much of him as was left in this world. //even knowing what I know, this doesn’t seem like the wisest choice at all!//

The being which rose from this had no name, and did not require one. He was a toy for the goddesses, to serve at their whim and pleasure. Time was created and [eons] passed with little disturbance. But the creation of the goddesses began to learn, grow, become strong, and with that, came curiosity and a genuine need to know why he had come to be. With knowledge came bitterness, fear, and rage. The one with no name sought to build (in secret, presumably) an army and a great power, to conquer the goddesses and usher the [Fierce Deity] back into the world of light.

Amused with their worshippers and the world below as they were, the nameless one’s plan almost succeeded. //Demise’s first incursion//

He marched his armies right up to the very gateway that led to the [Sacred Realm]. Unguarded as it was, due to the hubris of gods, this was not difficult. When the three golden ones emerged, however, the slaughter began and, for the first time in their eternal lives, they understood what it was to bring death. It gave them no pleasure and they sought to slay their creation. The nameless one escaped, barely, disappearing to a far off desert, unknowing what fate had been set before him. The golden ones understood, however, that they had created an immortal. Without the [Fierce Deity], there was no death. Their new plaything could not be killed! //I hate to say I told you so, but…//

Rather than admit their mistake and invite him (the Fierce Deity) back to the land of light, the goddesses once more conspired to create another immortal, with more care and consideration to the consequences. So many of their faithful had been killed in the incursion upon the [Sacred Realm], the golden ones were desperate to make certain such a thing never happened again. From the light of the sun, the warmth of summer breezes and life-giving rains, from the fertile soil and all the life it promised, the goddesses created the Hero, giving him the form of a gentle-eyed youth. Where their nameless [replacement] mate had been large and angular, and hard, the youth was small and soft. Within a gentle shroud, the heart of a warrior beat, however, hard and strong, pumping warm, living blood and filling eyes, blue as the sky, with the spark of wild, eternal life. //the author must have seen him, the Hero. I can’t imagine what that must have been like//

The nameless one gave himself a name which is unspeakable, but means the end. To write his true name is to defy him, to speak it is to summon, so it is written. [Demise] rose from the shadow of the goddesses, angry and unrepentant, jilted and [abused]. His evil grew and reached to all corners of the land of light. This was the first evil in the world, a need for destruction born of vengeance and hatred, undiscriminating and uncaring. Maddened by his wounds and enraged at his lost, [Demise] reached out to the land that would be Hyrule.

It was then that the goddesses became one, Hylia, and raised her favored people into the sky to save them. At the same time, they sent their Hero to fight the beast, [Demise] and seal him with the blade of evil’s bane (the fabled Master Sword). When the Hero returned to [the sky land] (the ancient kingdom of Skyloft), he was battered, close to death, but victorious. The people asked their beloved goddess, who now walked among them, if they could return to their land so far below. Hylia told them that the land was still tainted with evil and that her champion, the Hero, was as yet unprepared to finish [Demise].

What Hylia left the people with was hope and the seed of her power. The child would be named Zelda and so too every girlchild thereafter who also bore the [ichor] (blood of the gods) which flowed within the golden ones. With Zelda came a teaching, an instruction to be vigilant for the return of [Demise] and of the Hero. Time passed, as time does, and the goddesses wrought the chains of the Hero’s entanglement. Along with Zelda, each race was given a [totem of power], which would be passed to the one amongst them regarded as the [sage]. //the word directly translates as “vessel of the gods’ will”, so I’ve taken some liberties here// Together with Zelda, the [sages], with their scrying pools and far-reaching wisdom //a spy network, maybe? Could the Sheikah have been involved here? I have so many questions// kept close watch over the land below, knowing that the rise of evil would herald the coming of the Hero.

[bastardsunlight]

Written by the ancient Sheikah, the archives of creation have been lost to history, until now:

Transliterated from the ancient tongue, which is somewhat subjective in nature

[ ] indicates translator’s best effort at deciphering

( ) indicates translator’s addition for clarity

// // indicates translator’s personal thoughts on the subject

To know the history of the Hero and of [Demise] is to know the history of the world, of light and of shadow. Evil has no place in this most innocent [dichotomy]. Without shadow, there can be no light. Without light, there is no shadow. The “land of the gods” has been called such for [eons], but there are gods in all lands, light and dark. When life comes, death follows. There is no existence without [void]—no presence without absence. Long and long have the people of the land of light, (Hyrule and the surrounding baronies), worshipped the golden goddesses of the [Triforce]. These three in one become Hylia, for whom the holy land is named. But there is another. There has always been another. //remarkable, this lends itself to my theories regarding the ancient Sheikah tribe and the possible schism that caused the royal family to turn on them in the early days of the kingdom, before the “split”—more on that later//

No presence without absence. //such profundity in old writing is the very reason I got into this profession in the first place. My family hardly approves, but I’ve got so much to learn, it’s easy to forget their scorn!//

In the first days, when Din’s strong arms churned the soil, Farore’s living breath stirred the wind and life-giving rain, and Nayru’s heartbeat brought the [sun] up over the eastern horizon, the seeds of life came from these three golden goddesses and their companion, he of death and the void. It is said that his seed produced all [sentient] life. And so life and death danced, hand-in-hand, as must they always. //could this be the missing piece of our beloved Triforce?//

To accompany the fertile soil, the [Fierce Deity] made the deserts and stony mountains, where little grows. As a companion of Farore’s blessed breezes and rain, he brought about winter gales and times of drought. For Nayru’s gentle sun, he formed the [septic] moon, whose cold light gives rot where the sun [preserves]. When the gods created the beasts and people who even now walk the plains and mountains, who soar the skies and swim deep in the seas, they gave both life and death in one union. //”Fierce Deity” added, as I could think of no other name to call the fourth godhead in our false trinity. Thank the gods the old zealous ways have died out or I’d be lynched for this! Anyway, I spoke with a salesman recently, a purveyor of masks, of all things. He told me the tale of a particularly dangerous mask, one that was obtained by the Hero himself in a strange nothing-land (his words, not mine), in order to defeat a great evil. He referred to this mask as the Fierce Deity. Gives me goosebumps just considering it.//

And so the land of light was born.

The goddesses grew restless, disenchanted with the death brought by their necessary partner. They [conspired] to rid themselves of his presence, hoping this would allow that which they created to flourish, unhindered. One dark night, while the cold moon hung over everything, and the [Fierce Deity] slept, the three golden ones chained him and cast him out of the land of light. Because they were vain, the goddesses desired a way to see him and so the [Mirror of Twilight] was created, Din using her blazing arms to melt sand, Nayru, her view of the moon to set a frame for the structure, and Farore, the chilly breath of winter’s wind to cool the great glass. And so through this, the golden ones observed their cast off [mate]. //how cruel. A panopticon of godly proportions.//

Again, the three grew restless. They were bored without their [mate], and frustrated that the pieces //literal translation here, could mean chess pieces, or how the goddesses might have viewed the people of old Hyrule… scary// of their world, [sentient and otherwise], continued to die. What the gods put in motion, not even the gods can stop, especially the particular forces of life and death, the strongest [polarities]. Stubborn as they were, the golden ones refused to start over and give up, deciding amonst themselves to instead create a new companion. To make a [mate] for themselves, the three goddesses took from what which the [Fierce Deity] had contributed to their world, pulling sand and clay from the deserts for a strong body, moonlight to chill hot blood, and that pulled from the undrinkable oceans, made salty by the tears of betrayal. The golden ones thought to remake their [mate] with as much of him as was left in this world. //even knowing what I know, this doesn’t seem like the wisest choice at all!//

The being which rose from this had no name, and did not require one. He was a toy for the goddesses, to serve at their whim and pleasure. Time was created and [eons] passed with little disturbance. But the creation of the goddesses began to learn, grow, become strong, and with that, came curiosity and a genuine need to know why he had come to be. With knowledge came bitterness, fear, and rage. The one with no name sought to build (in secret, presumably) an army and a great power, to conquer the goddesses and usher the [Fierce Deity] back into the world of light.

Amused with their worshippers and the world below as they were, the nameless one’s plan almost succeeded. //Demise’s first incursion//

He marched his armies right up to the very gateway that led to the [Sacred Realm]. Unguarded as it was, due to the hubris of gods, this was not difficult. When the three golden ones emerged, however, the slaughter began and, for the first time in their eternal lives, they understood what it was to bring death. It gave them no pleasure and they sought to slay their creation. The nameless one escaped, barely, disappearing to a far off desert, unknowing what fate had been set before him. The golden ones understood, however, that they had created an immortal. Without the [Fierce Deity], there was no death. Their new plaything could not be killed! //I hate to say I told you so, but…//

Rather than admit their mistake and invite him (the Fierce Deity) back to the land of light, the goddesses once more conspired to create another immortal, with more care and consideration to the consequences. So many of their faithful had been killed in the incursion upon the [Sacred Realm], the golden ones were desperate to make certain such a thing never happened again. From the light of the sun, the warmth of summer breezes and life-giving rains, from the fertile soil and all the life it promised, the goddesses created the Hero, giving him the form of a gentle-eyed youth. Where their nameless [replacement] mate had been large and angular, and hard, the youth was small and soft. Within a gentle shroud, the heart of a warrior beat, however, hard and strong, pumping warm, living blood and filling eyes, blue as the sky, with the spark of wild, eternal life. //the author must have seen him, the Hero. I can’t imagine what that must have been like//

The nameless one gave himself a name which is unspeakable, but means the end. To write his true name is to defy him, to speak it is to summon, so it is written. [Demise] rose from the shadow of the goddesses, angry and unrepentant, jilted and [abused]. His evil grew and reached to all corners of the land of light. This was the first evil in the world, a need for destruction born of vengeance and hatred, undiscriminating and uncaring. Maddened by his wounds and enraged at his lost, [Demise] reached out to the land that would be Hyrule.

It was then that the goddesses became one, Hylia, and raised her favored people into the sky to save them. At the same time, they sent their Hero to fight the beast, [Demise] and seal him with the blade of evil’s bane (the fabled Master Sword). When the Hero returned to [the sky land] (the ancient kingdom of Skyloft), he was battered, close to death, but victorious. The people asked their beloved goddess, who now walked among them, if they could return to their land so far below. Hylia told them that the land was still tainted with evil and that her champion, the Hero, was as yet unprepared to finish [Demise].

What Hylia left the people with was hope and the seed of her power. The child would be named Zelda and so too every girlchild thereafter who also bore the [ichor] (blood of the gods) which flowed within the golden ones. With Zelda came a teaching, an instruction to be vigilant for the return of [Demise] and of the Hero. Time passed, as time does, and the goddesses wrought the chains of the Hero’s entanglement. Along with Zelda, each race was given a [totem of power], which would be passed to the one amongst them regarded as the [sage]. //the word directly translates as “vessel of the gods’ will”, so I’ve taken some liberties here// Together with Zelda, the [sages], with their scrying pools and far-reaching wisdom //a spy network, maybe? Could the Sheikah have been involved here? I have so many questions// kept close watch over the land below, knowing that the rise of evil would herald the coming of the Hero.