#you know the guy who decided fuck the consequences for trying to kill the chancellor

[happycattail]

Wheezing (if I don’t I may strangle someone instead). Got into a debate with an anti Jedi person about the Jedi code. Managed to get it across to them the code doesn’t fucking promote Jedi to become emotionless.

They then decided to take a different angle where they claim the code is wrong because it could be misinterpreted and that many council members misinterpreted to mean you have to be emotionless. I proceed to ask them to name me a council member.

Guess who they named guys? Guess which council member they named as someone who thinks the code means you can’t show emotions and abide by that interpretation?

FUCKING MACE WINDU.

[puddygeeks]

Wᴇ Cᴏᴍᴇ Rᴜɴɴɪɴɢ - Tʜᴇ 100 Bᴇʟʟᴀᴍʏ x OC - Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 19: Aᴄᴛɪᴏɴs Hᴀᴠᴇ Cᴏɴsᴇᴏ̨ᴜᴇɴᴄᴇs

Masterlist

Episode: Contents Under Pressure

Rating: Mature

Summary: During her time in the Skybox, Indigo formed a precious friendship with fellow outcast Octavia Blake, the girl under the floor. At first they thought their departure from the oppression of the Ark was a blessing, but quickly came to rely on Indigo's keen survival instincts. The 100 struggle to meet the challenges of Earth whilst Bellamy strives to lead the wavering teenagers and his irresponsible attitude fuels constant conflict with Indigo. Their only shared interest is in protecting Octavia and Indigo beings to suspect that there is a deeper cause to Bellamy's seemingly irrational choices. As the consequences of his actions mount up around him, he finally begins to confide in her and she discovers more than she ever bargained for. 

Fandom: CW’s The 100

Pairing: OC x Bellamy Blake

LONG TERM ONGOING PROJECT :)

My writing is entirely fuelled by coffee! If you enjoy my work, feel free to donate toward my caffeine dependency: will work for coffee

Warnings: Mature content. Non-consent, language, sex, self harm, suicide, anxiety, helplessness, torture, captivity/confinement, alcohol/drug use.

Chapter Nineteen

I escorted Octavia back to the bottom floor to make sure she got some of the antidote. Then whilst the girls fussed over Finn, I cleaned her wound and dressed it as best I could. Once I’d finished, she insisted on checking on the grounder again. I didn’t fight her, instead opting to check on Jasper and Monty. I spent some time ensuring they weren’t injured from their time out in the storm, before insisting that they change into some dry clothes to warm up and fetching them some food from our limited supplies. Afterwards I made my way to the top floor to check on Octavia, who was cleaning a wound on the head of the imprisoned grounder. As I climbed through the hatch I noticed Miller approaching her, and just heard him speak before he noticed me. 

“You know your brother doesn’t want you up here Octavia, let’s go.” He spoke with authority and I strode over and tapped him on the shoulder. 

“Hi, remember me?” He rolled his eyes at me and put his hands on his hips in impatience. “Yeah, she’s not going anywhere so why don’t you get back to kissing Bellamy’s ass and get out of my face.” I smiled in an overdramatically friendly way and he stared back at me with a tired look.

“Don’t give me shit Indigo, I’m just following orders. She can’t be in here.” He turned to move Octavia and I jumped in front of her, blocking him from touching her.

“I don’t care what orders you have, I’d like you to try having a spine for once. We’re not on the Ark any more, Bellamy isn’t the Chancellor. Surely you realise how ridiculous this is?” I appealed and he rolled his eyes in response. I realised that using reason wouldn’t work as he was too dedicated and decided to try a different tactic. “And if not, then feel free to drag me outta here. But be warned, you saw how it went for the last one of Bellamy’s goons to put their hands on me. Your choice.” I held my position as he looked from me to Octavia, to the grounder and then finally back to me. He sighed in frustration and waved a hand at me. 

“Fuck it, I’ll ask Bellamy to deal with you.” He made his way to the ladder in a defeated manner and I shrugged disinterestedly at him. As soon as he was out of sight, I turned to Octavia. 

“We don’t have long. Here, I’ve still got the moonshine I borrowed for your arm. I can guarantee that whatever they jabbed through his hand wasn’t sterile so I’d get some alcohol on this wound, it might just be enough to prevent an infection if he’s lucky.” I explained my instructions in a rush as I passed the small flask that I’d hidden in my trousers to her and she took it from me gladly. 

“Thanks Indie, I’m glad you’ve got my back.” She breathed as she watched me with a warm smile.

“Always, my girl.” I smiled back. “Besides, this is insane.” I added, indicating to the grounder with a flinch. “We need to do as much damage control as we can. What can I do to help? I’m guessing he won’t let me touch him, can’t really blame him. I can find some extra rags, maybe bring more water if I can ninja back up here before Bellamy.” I forced a teasing smile despite the tension of the situation. She glanced up at the grounder with a tenderness that I hadn’t seen in her before and I watched her with interest. I was still uncomfortable with the strange situation between them but decided not to press on that just now. 

“I don’t know, you protected him and you’re with me. Maybe he’ll let you help?” She thought aloud as she kept her eyes trained on him. I glanced up at him and noticed that he was staring intensely down at me, as if he was trying to get the measure of me.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner, I didn’t imagine for a second that they would do this.” I sighed as we made eye contact. My eyes roamed over the numerous wounds they had inflicted on him and I cringed. “Look, I know this is difficult, but we really don’t have long. Once Bellamy gets back up here, there’s not much I’ll be able to do to stop him. I’ll try my best but…”As I trailed off, he gently nodded at me and I startled unexpectedly. I stared back in disbelief for a moment, before forcing myself into action. I grabbed a fresh damp rag and approached him, gently wiping the blood and dirt from his face. Octavia finished cleaning his hand and glanced over at me. 

“They still haven’t found us.” She muttered in disbelief and I couldn’t help feeling that this was strange. I’d have expected to be dragged from here kicking and screaming by now. 

“Bellamy’s probably stomped off somewhere, you know what he’s like. My guess is Miller’s trying to find him.” I replied, voicing my thoughts as they ran through my mind. “Let’s not waste time. What else did they do to him?” I asked, rushing as I cleared any obvious blood from his skin.

“Bellamy whipped him with a seatbelt.” She answered reluctantly, glancing around at his back and wincing.

“God damn it Bellamy.” I growled under my breath. “Did it break the skin?” I asked, not really wanting an answer. Octavia nodded at me with tearful eyes. “Okay, get some alcohol on the wounds, it's gonna sting but god only knows what oil and crap is on those belts.” I instructed, as she rushed around to his back. I cleaned up all of the blood I could see, then jogged over to grab a bottle of water for him to drink. I gave him enough time to drink, then he pulled away from me. “I think we’ve done everything we can for now Tavi. You should get out before you get caught up here again. I’ll deal with your idiot brother.” I suggested gently.

Octavia looked at me reluctantly, then stared back at the grounder with remorse. After a few seconds of silently debating herself, she finally nodded in agreement. I spent a few minutes clearing up the items we’d used and tried to cover that we’d even been here whilst I had the opportunity. I caught the sound of footsteps and Bellamy stepped into the room.

“Indigo, what are you doing up here?” He asked in an irritable tone.

“I’m just checking on your torture victim. I’m doing what you seem to have forgotten how to do, treating him like a human being.” I spat, glaring at him furiously.

“What did you want me to do, let Finn die?” He yelled, throwing his hands up in a display of exasperation.

“No, don’t do that.” I growled, feeling frustrated that he would even try to fool me. “This was never about Finn, you bought him here before we even knew that he was poisoned. This was about you and your goddamn reckless behaviour!” I pointed at him aggressively, determined not to let him win me over with excuses this time. 

“You’re right, I bought him here for answers, to save all of us! They’re killing us Indigo and I need to know why!” His voice was growing aggressive now and I groaned in response. I opened my mouth to argue but he cut me off. “And then yes, I found out that Finn was poisoned and I did what I needed to. Clarke and Raven escalated it and I let them. Finn is still alive because of that.” He tried to justify himself and I scoffed in response.

“Don’t try to shift the blame Bellamy!” I exclaimed, calling him out for his excuses. “Yes, the girls did their part, I’m not denying that, but that just makes you all wrong. It doesn’t take away from your guilt! You want to be a good leader? You can start by taking control of a situation when people cross the line like they did tonight. You just stood there and let it happen!” I spat and realised that my voice was rising as I spoke. I took a breath and lowered to a disappointed hiss. “Better yet, lead by example - maybe don’t bring in a prisoner and set up a torture chamber in the first place, Christ!” I held my hands to my head in frustration, feeling myself growing impatient with him.

“What do you want from me?” He asked, staring at me with tired eyes and shuffled on the spot. He was clearly uncomfortable with my scrutiny and I could tell from his reaction that he wasn’t used to being held accountable in such a manner.

“I want you to stop behaving like a child! Think. Actually use your brain instead of just charging into the situation and destroying everything in your path.” I yelled and he startled at my words. I took a few deep breaths to try to calm myself slightly, noticing that I was losing control.

“I am doing my best to protect you all, and you and Octavia make it unnecessarily hard.” He spat, causing me to grow furious again. “You can’t keep challenging me in front of everyone, I can’t tell the guys to make an exception every time you cause trouble, it raises too many questions-”

“I don’t need your protection, I can look after myself! I can floor your goonsquad just fine if they cause me problems. You’re not the fucking Chancellor Bellamy!” I was now screaming in fury and he stood stunned on the spot, staring at me wide eyed. I took a deep breath and slowed my breathing before continuing. “You can’t just use your following to do whatever you want, we may need leaders but we all need each other to survive and currently you’re just treating this like your own personal dictatorship. This was not okay!” I indicated toward the grounder as I spoke. “Your actions have consequences, for all of us. From what I know, it seems yours are already catching up to you.” I added poignantly. His eyes grew even wider in shock and his expression was of disbelief. “Octavia and I are a team, we deal with things together. It’s long past time for you to utilise us, confide in us, let us support you, instead of constantly fighting us.” I softened my voice to a reasonable tone and tried to guide him to consider my words instead of just rebuking me.

We stood in a heavy silence as he processed what I had just said and I watched him with interest. I hadn’t meant to tell him that I knew about what he’d done on the Ark, but it slipped out in my temper. It seemed when I was around him that I had just as loose a grip on my emotions as him. Octavia thought it was a risk for him to know that I knew his secret, that he may try to get rid of me, but I never felt in any danger from him. He was unpredictable and, at times, selfish, but I knew in my gut that he wouldn’t harm me. 

“Octavia wouldn’t support the shit I’ve done.” He muttered, almost too quiet for me to hear and I raised my brows in surprise.

“I understand how much you want to protect her. I get it, I’m not sure there’s anything I wouldn’t do to keep her safe.” I empathised, finally starting to cool off.

“You don’t know shit.” He snapped, before quickly reigning himself in. “I can’t talk to you.” He turned on his heel and started back down at the ladder. I finally felt like I was getting somewhere with him, like he was about to confide in me, before he left. I paced around, trying to shake the thoughts from my head, but it proved impossible. I went to the bottom floor instead to check on Finn and although I was relieved to see him awake with Raven fussing over him, I noticed that Clarke seemed distressed. 

“What’s going on?” I asked with genuine concern, despite my annoyance with her earlier actions. I had to put my feelings aside and be responsible, as it seemed that something had happened here.

“Bellamy just left, the storm seems like it’s passing but I still really don’t think anyone should be out there yet.” She stared at the door and I felt my stomach flip. I knew he had a tendency to take off on his own when he felt overwhelmed, but this was not the time to do so.

“Okay, it’s fine, I’ll go get him.” I replied calmly, grabbing a jacket to cover myself and preparing to leave. 

“No, Indigo you can’t. Let me get a group together.” Clarke began but I cut her off.

“No, don’t get anyone. It needs to be just me. Look, it won’t take me long, if I’m out there for ages then you can send people to look for us. Just give me some time to talk to him, please.” I pleaded and Clarke looked sympathetic, nodding gently in agreement.

I grabbed a torch and headed out into the rain. It was much calmer than it had been earlier, but still far from pleasant to be in. It was much harder to navigate the camp now in the dark and rain and the destruction of the storm had transformed it into a challenging obstacle course. I wandered aimlessly through the destroyed tents and fallen trees, before I spotted Bellamy’s large stature in the same clearing I’d found him hiding in the last time he’d stormed off. 

“Bellamy! What are you doing out here?” I called out to him, but he didn’t seem to react to me at all. He stayed rooted to the spot with his back to me and I waited nervously.

“Go back, Indigo.” He replied coldly without even glancing over at me. I ran the rest of the way to him and grabbed his hand. He didn’t put up a fight as he was too surprised by the sudden contact and I dragged him to a small shelter that had somehow survived the storm. We struggled inside, with him reluctantly following me and although we were no longer in the direct rain, the structure creaked and rain dripped constantly through. I stood soaking wet with my hair sticking to my face and waited for him to speak, but he simply stared at the ground in a daze. 

“Why are you out here?” I asked, unable to fathom what could bring him out in this. No matter how he felt, he had to know that this was a ridiculous risk to take and I was disappointed in him for doing this. 

“I needed some time to think.” He replied cryptically and I sighed at his lack of explanation. 

“And you decided that outside in the dangerous storm was a better place to do that than in the dropship?”I questioned, looking at him in total bewilderment. He didn’t answer me, still staring at the same spot on the floor as if it was the most riveting thing he’d ever seen. I sighed deeply and wondered about the space, finding a spot to perch myself. I looked up at him, almost able to meet his eyes now that I was so far below him. “Well, I’m not going anywhere so you may as well talk to me.” I added with a determined tone as I waited. He sighed deeply and looked over to me, still not appearing to be fully in the moment as he battled his thoughts. 

“The situation with Octavia is more complicated than you realise.” He said firmly and as our eyes met he looked vulnerable in a way I’d never seen on his face. I realised that I may have pushed too hard in our earlier argument and waited to see if he would indulge on the true issue that had motivated his behaviour tonight.

“Try me.” I replied quickly. I didn’t move, afraid that I could startle him. I sat perfectly still, even breathing slowly as I waited for him to speak.

“She’s all I have. We don’t always get along but she’s my blood. We’re all that’s left of our family. Our parents are gone and we didn’t grow up close to anyone else; our whole childhood was focused on hiding Octavia so we kept everyone else at a distance to avoid suspicion.” He explained, beginning to pace around as he spoke. “When I found out that she was being sent to Earth, I’d have done anything to be there to protect her.  I didn’t want to lose her. She’s all I have left to live for.” He paused for a minute to stare at his hands nervously and his words immediately struck a chord with me.

“I feel the same.” I replied quietly and he looked at me in confusion. “I may not have grown up with her, but she saved me. I know what it’s like to have no one, you know my story.” I shrugged and he watched me with interest. I hadn’t planned on sharing any more of my past with him, but I felt that it may help us to find some common ground if he understood my bond with his sister. “When I entered the Skybox, I was a broken person. I kept to myself, I didn’t know how to trust or even care anymore. I stayed that way for a long while.” I spoke in a soft thoughtful voice, and my honesty seemed to relax him slightly.

“So, what drew you to Octavia?” He asked curiously as he watched me and I was surprised to find that he was interested in our background. 

“Nothing.” I chuckled under my breath and he raised a brow at me. “She was just another face in the crowd of people who ignored me and that suited me fine. One day, I found out about my mother...I completely lost it. They had to send me to solitary to contain me. And somehow, Octavia managed to find a way into there. She just appeared out of the vents like it was the most ordinary thing.” I smiled at the memory and stared down at my hands. “I think she could hear me crying from her cell. So she just sat beside me and held my hand while I cried. I didn’t think I’d ever want human contact again until then. She sat all night without saying a single word. She just made sure that I didn’t suffer alone and it was the tipping point that made me feel like a person again.” I smiled and looked down to the ground, reflecting on how much had changed since then. 

“She’s always been compassionate.” Bellamy breathed with a smile and I was glad to see that he was emerging from the guarded state he’d been in when I found him out there. “But she said you looked after her?” He questioned and I wondered why Octavia hadn’t told him more about her time in the Skybox since we’d been here. 

“When I next saw her some of the other inmates were giving her a hard time, you know what they called her.” I looked at him and he nodded in agreement. They’d still referred to her as the girl under the floor even when we landed here and I was glad that I hadn’t heard the name since. “I stepped in to defend her on instinct. Before I knew it, I‘d committed what was left of my life in prison to protecting her and preparing her to take care of herself when she got out. I never thought for a moment that I’d see that day with her, especially not on Earth.” I chuckled in disbelief. When I finished speaking, Bellamy was watching me with a hint of fondness. He slowly moved across the space, and settled down to sit on the floor beside me. 

“Did she ever tell you that it was my fault she got caught?” He asked gently and I shook my head in confusion. “I had the stupid idea to take her out, just for one night. She was always so lonely and sad, I wanted to see her smile. There was a masquerade ball and I thought it was the perfect opportunity for her to blend in. I hadn’t long started working as a guard so I thought I could keep an eye on the situation and scare off anyone who started asking questions. Instead, the guards ended the party early and she couldn’t get out without passing a checkpoint. They took her away and I was completely powerless to stop it.” He balled his fists and I could feel the tension in him. I had heard this story before from Octavia, but it was strange to hear it from his perspective. It was plain to see that he carried the weight of his guilt from this mistake even to this day.

 “No wonder you felt like you had to save her.” I commented, and he glanced over at me quizzically. “You blame yourself for her arrest, so of course you’d do anything to save her from the punishment. I can see why you took the deal to get here. But Bellamy, that kind of guilt destroys you from the inside out.” I reasoned with an assertive tone as I viewed him, before sighing deeply. “I should know. I blamed myself for my mother's death so much that I almost joined her.” I confessed and his brows furrowed together in concern. “You can’t hold onto it, you have to let it go.” I breathed gently. 

“It was my idea for her to go to the party, that decision lies on me.” He stated firmly and I was unsure what else I could do to reach him. 

“And it was her choice to take the risk and go.” I argued, trying to play devil's advocate for him. 

“She trusted me to protect her!” He hissed and I jumped slightly at his reaction. “She didn’t really know what it was like outside of the room she lived in, what the risks were. It was my judgement to make and I failed her.” His voice started to raise again and I steeled myself as I continued to push him to reflect on his own feelings.

“She doesn’t blame you for that, she knows that you were trying to do something kind for her. She told me herself, she takes responsibility for her part in it.” I admitted, recounting some of my conversations about her arrest when in the Skybox. She’d reflected on the events and was able to understand her part in it after some time. “So why don’t you try letting go of at least her small portion of the guilt for a start?” I tried to be gentle whilst still giving the right prompts. I couldn’t just tell him what to think, that wouldn’t change anything. I needed to guide him to question his own beliefs if he was going to change for the better.

“No, it’s my fault. My sister, my responsibility.” He spat, resolute in clinging to the guilt of his actions. I sighed and watched him with a sympathetic gaze. I took a moment to choose my next words carefully, knowing that a misstep here could cause irreparable damage between us. 

“I’ve heard you say that before.” I muttered and he turned his face slightly from me. “It’s something important, right?” I asked gently and he continued to look away.

“Not really.” He deflected. I sat in silence for a while, allowing him time to decide whether he wanted to talk to me about it. He sighed deeply. “It’s just something my mother said when Octavia was born.” He spoke in a tone that tried to downplay his words. I stared at him with wide eyes but he avoided my gaze. I tried to cover my shock and concentrated on keeping my tone even and casual. 

“Wow. How old were you?” I asked in a forced tone of calm but I found it difficult to comprehend. I wasn’t sure if Octavia even knew this and I wondered how it would affect their dynamic if he were to tell her.

“I was seven.” He replied quietly. I struggled significantly now to keep my emotions in check and took a moment to steady myself. I was pleased that he was being so open with me but I feared judging the situation wrong, or crossing a line. I took a deep breath before speaking again. 

“That’s a lot to put on a seven year old.” I breathed, glancing at him with a sympathetic expression. 

“Maybe. But what else could she do? She had to rely on me to keep her secret.” Bellamy sounded defensive now and I knew I’d hit a nerve. “You know the rule on the Ark, only one child per family. It was hard to explain to her that she could never leave the room, or go to school, or have any friends. We didn’t have a father to help, so I helped our mom to raise her.” He explained and I looked down at the ground nervously. I was so deep into this conversation now that it felt like there was no easy way out. I spoke slowly and carefully. 

“It’s an impossible situation...but, you did it. Octavia grew up and she’s still kicking. You can credit yourself for that.” I answered honestly and he scoffed in response, but didn’t say anything else. “Thing is, she isn’t a child anymore. Maybe it’s time to start trusting her a little more?” I suggested gently, afraid of his reaction.

“Right, cause she’s made such great decisions so far?” He scoffed, glancing at me in annoyance.

“Look, I’m not saying let her wander off to live in the woods, but we all make mistakes. You’re not the only one watching out for her anymore, so maybe you don’t need to let your need to protect her be completely your responsibility?” He considered me carefully as I spoke and I hoped that my words were reaching him. “I’m not trying to act like I know her better because she’s your sister, but from what I know of Octavia, the harder you try to hold onto her, the harder she’ll fight against you. Give her a little more freedom and she might just surprise you. Think about it, please.” As he met my eyes, he looked at me in amazement and I smiled. “Now, could we get back to the safety of the dropship?”

[ganymedesclock]

Very great analysis on how bleak the cycle can be. What’s your take on how the cycle works regarding other villains, like Vaati, or Majora?

So I know you asked about the cycle in-universe, led here I would guess from this post, but there’s a noteworthy followup I made in that vein here, and that’s important context to how I feel about a lot of the Zelda rogues’ gallery.

Because the thing is, if you go looking for qualities to hate, you’ll always find them.

Ghirahim invades Link’s space in a way that feels- to me- very gay panic. He talks in luscious detail about wanting to do violence onto Link’s person. He threatens to run through his subordinates.

Zant creeps on Midna at a major part. And, Zant’s very easy for me to relate to and want to defend, because the big other thing used to make Zant seem “scary and off-putting” is his literal autistic meltdowns. They may not be called that by name, but Zant thrashing, bending weirdly, the noises he makes and slamming his head on the floor when frustrated and overwhelmed, as an autistic person, I recognize intimately. I can’t even say it’s that much of a caricature of stimming and meltdowns.

Vaati kidnaps “beautiful maidens”. We’re given plenty of reasons to hate them.

My beef is, a lot of these issues feel petty- not in their in-universe damage done, but petty in a writing sense. 

Hearing that Ghirahim controls the bokoblins through threat of force is basically meaningless. We can’t really be all up in arms that Ghirahim is threatening to stab bokoblins because in that cutscene alone we tear them apart en masse ourselves. We can have the excuse that they’re our Enemies, but they’re Ghirahim’s subordinates, but really, how much of an excuse is that? Yes, there’s a difference between stabbing enemies and stabbing allies, but The Legend of Zelda is not a work that has any kind of moral high ground to point fingers about dehumanizing people. We’re not even dignified a response from the Bokoblins. You could omit Ghirahim’s threat entirely and nothing about that scene’s weight or context would change.

Zant getting uncomfortably up in Midna’s space is just supposed to be a cruelty that make us feel more justified when Zant dies in a comparatively graphic and painful-looking manner. They are not used as meaningful characterizing moments. It doesn’t illustrate that Zant wields cultural power over Midna, because in their dynamic, both make clear that Midna was the favored one- she was chosen to rule- while criticizing Zelda, she alludes to having a life of luxury herself (since she’s projecting her own issues onto Zelda in that scene) while Zant at least perceives himself as having lived a tortured life and Midna doesn’t contradict him or call him a liar, merely insists that he was power hungry and that’s why “everyone” felt justified turning away from him.

It doesn’t indicate Zant really wants Midna because it seems to just exist as an opportunity to set up Zant attacking her for siding with the light world. It doesn’t even really indicate Midna’s character growth because she doesn’t seem to seriously consider Zant’s words and she never suggests in the past she might’ve gone along with him.

The thing about The Cycle and it’s cruelty is that it’s something that exists halfway in and halfway out of the fourth wall. Hyrule can’t stay at peace. It can’t be stable and happy. It has to be imperiled because they want to keep making games.

The villains in the Zelda series are created to fill a role. They’re boss fights. In that sense, they’re trophy bucks to be hunted down for our entertainment. You could arguably say the same thing about any video game boss, but, I would argue, a well-written game gives you reasons to find opposing this character meaningful.

The Zelda series does not do this.

The Zelda series mostly gives you some cheap heat excuses and a lot of vague words about how someone is Evil or Diabolical. Next time you fire up a Zelda game, just, stop and pay attention to the cutscenes and look at just how much of a given character’s crimes are: 1. vague, 2. only ever stated by other characters who already hate that character, 3. make no sense as a strategic move unless you intuit or assume a lot of information the game never tells you.

It’s really easy to assume in the average game that Ganondorf- or Vaati, or Skull Kid, or Zant, or Ghirahim- is running wild killing people and burning the countryside. But if you actually look at it, there doesn’t seem to be a clear thesis to who’s hurt and who isn’t.

Why do the Zora get frozen? Why is Valoo’s tail attacked? Why does Zant attack Hyrule’s light spirits but doesn’t seem to spread the twilight to Snowpeak or the Gerudo Desert when they’re seemingly unprotected?

So the end result is you get split one of two ways. You either trust the Experience of the game- that tells you the entire countryside is suffering because of Vaati- and thus, you come up with explanations and cruel attitudes Vaati has that clearly explain all of his behavior- or you don’t, and then you sit there going “man Ezlo I know you’re salty over being turned into a hat and all, but isn’t it a little fucked up that you’re this willing to talk about your underage orphan apprentice like maybe it was an inevitability he’d go mad with power and there’s nothing to do but forge a sword and kill him?”

The game wants you to assume there’s no way to talk down or negotiate with any of these people. It tells you that there will be Dire Consequences if this person’s actions are not stopped.

But Vaati’s a child who wants power and doesn’t even seem to have a clear thesis of what he’s doing with it besides that he just vaguely wants to be ‘in charge’. 

But Ghirahim seems to have never thought of himself as anything but an instrument and his parting comments to Link suggest that he is only, just, starting to actually feel any real standout emotion towards him beyond annoyance, and that emotion is not rage or revulsion but curiosity. He only really acts out of loyalty to an entity that on-screen, hurts him and literally dehumanizes him- turns him into an immobile object. Something we’re told is a tragedy when it happens to Fi.

But Zant talks at great length about how miserable he was, and Midna insinuates “everyone” hated him and thought he was shifty and untrustworthy, and in his own memories, he was sobbing alone and immediately latched onto and literally worshiped Ganondorf, for... telling him he was important and offering to give him power.

Much is made of Skull Kid’s loneliness and ultimately they’re just a kid, go easy on them, they were tempted by Majora- but we have no idea what Majora itself is, besides that they’re a mask, and in the entirety of Majora’s Mask, many discussions are made about how masks are the product of spirits filled with regret, and one must work with them to bring them peace- and Majora itself speaks in a childish manner.

Chancellor Cole, you can argue, even looks more like a “real evil” in that he’s a scheming bureaucrat who uses his position as a respected adult to talk over and endanger Zelda and Link, and even he’s thrown away by Malladus when the latter needs a free body.

The most in-universe explanation, going by just what Nintendo’s official lore tells us, is that Demise’s hatred seeks a suitable vessel, and Ganondorf is just its ‘favorite’, and it’ll happily latch onto anybody else in a position to screw over the heroes. But that raises a lot of questions and leaves a lot of things unaddressed.

So it comes down to a question of, what do we decide here that we trust? How many of these guys would stay enemies if we had any capacity to talk to them and understand their problems? So many of these guys feel like they’re trapped or hurting or miserable or just had a completely unspecified “hunger for power” because that sounds threatening, but the people who desperately want to feel strong are usually people who, for some reason or another, feel denied, repressed, or looked down on.

Basically, the characterization is vague, and mostly, we’re assured they’re evil by other people in the game. To me, this comes across untrustworthy, especially when, in effect, a lot of these characters talk or act like they were (or are shown to be) wronged somehow, and when the game seems to act as if your only options are “let them do whatever they want” and “kill them where they stand” with a clear insinuation that the murder is the right and proper choice.

Which is kinda the whole problem. The average Zelda game spends however much time it dedicates to the main villain, trying to tell you to kill them. This is at odds with Link as someone who engages with and helps a lot of people. And often “however much time it dedicates to the main villain” is not that much time at all! You’re often just, like. having a fun little happy adventure with a scattered handful of interjections of “so everything is the fault of this one guy, and, uh, you should stab them.”

[saibh29]

Survival 101: Tracking (Part 3)

Pairings: Bellamy / Reader

Warnings: Bit of Blood, swearing (probably knowing me) 

A/N: Once again guys i’m amazed at all the lovely words about this story. I have changed the name from ‘Sawyer’ to Y/N and will eventually get around to editing the first 2 parts to be y/n. Hope you all enjoy part 3!

A rescue party has formed to find Jasper, but something is stalking you in the woods.

@angelaiswriting @georgiagrl1990 @selldraug @angryares @thenovarose @mindofthescattered @punk-rock-5-sos @no-other-names-availible-blog 

Survival 101: Earth (part one) Survival 101: Wristbands (part two)

*******

“What are you doing here Clarke? They’re dangerous criminals, not people who you can just order around”

You smiled to yourself at Wells words as he continued to try and lecture Clarke, scandalised at the idea of being around these so called dangerous criminals.

“Don’t throw stones in glass houses Jaha, you’re as much a criminal as the rest of us” teasing Wells had always been fun, he was so stoic and uptight about everything.

He eyed you in disgust. “I was including you in that statement Y/N”

“I know you were Wells” you smiled sweetly going back to tracking your previous movements. You knew Wells about as well as you knew Clarke. The three of you had all been in the same class at school. It had been a perfect circle of friends, the Chancellors Son, the Chief Mechanics Daughter and the Councillors Niece. All destined for great things. That reputation had come crashing down pretty quickly recently. What with your arrest, then Clarkes and finally Wells.

Wells had been one of the boys in your class who’d turned on you instantly when the charges had been placed on your head. He hadn’t even questioned the validity of them, simply believing that as always the system was right.

“Hey what’s the rush?” Bellamy shouted running up to Clarke. You stopped as well turning to watch as he tapped the gun against his thigh “You don’t exactly survive a spear through the heart”

“Put the gun away Bellamy” Wells was trying to sound threatening and like his father, however all it did was make Bellamy look pissed off.

“The spear didn’t hit his heart” eyes turned to where you stood at the front of the group. “Well it’s true, Jasper screamed when they moved him. If the spear had hit his heart he’d have died instantly, therefore, no screaming”

“Y/N’s right. We don’t have time to waste”

Bellamy picked up Clarkes wrist squeezing “As soon as you take this wristband off we can go”

You had to give it to Clarke she didn’t let on at all that he was intimidating her. Instead pulling her wrist free and shaking her head stubbornly. “The one and only way that the ark will think I’m dead, is if I’m actually dead. Got it?”

“Brave Princess”

You would have cut in if Bellamy was actually going to hurt Clarke but as it was you didn’t need to interrupt.

“Hey why don’t you find your own nickname?” Finn wrapped an arm around Clarke pulling her away “Call this a rescue party? We need to split up cover more ground. Clarke, Wells come with me. Y/N…”

“Yeah yeah, I get trigger happy and idiot sidekick. No problem”

Finn smiled gratefully at you as he led Clarke away leaving you with Murphy and Bellamy. “Shall we?”

“You’ve got a wristband on too sweetheart”

“So I have” you smiled at the two of them “and that’s where it’s staying as well”

“Yeah and what are you going to do to stop us if we decide to just take it?”

The smile slipped from your face as you looked at Murphy. He really was an ass. “You could try Murphy, but I promise you it would not go well”

“You don’t scare me” he smirked “Mother killer”

You flinched slightly at that and before either of them knew what was happening you had Murphy down on the ground, kneeling on his chest with your knife pressing against his neck. “Want to say that again Murphy?”

He’d gone pale under your blade. Obviously he wasn’t used to the people he bullied sticking up for themselves.

“Y/N!” Bellamy grabbed your shoulder pulling “Get off him. Y/N!”

Retracting your knife you leant down close to Murphy’s face “I didn’t kill her”

He nodded hastily “sure, whatever you say”

Taking your knee off his chest you stood moving away from them as Bellamy helped Murphy back to his feet.

“Come on, we’re falling behind” you didn’t wait for an answer just took off into the forest again.

 *******

When you caught up to the other three Finn and Clarke were getting out of the water, Wells stood on the edge glaring at them like a father with disobedient children.

“Looks like someone was having fun?”

Clarke looked suddenly guilty as she gazed over at you, Bellamy and Murphy. Before anyone could say anything else though a low distant moan came floating through the tree’s on the other side of the river.

“Is that…?”

“What the hell?” Murphy was at this point definitely not looking as shit eatingly cocky as he had been doing earlier.

“Now would be a good time to take out the gun” you suggested as Bellamy frowned down at you.

Clarke didn’t wait as was becoming a habit simply barrelling forward unthinking of the consequences.

“Clarke!”

Well’s ran after her followed by Finn and then much more reluctantly you, Murphy and Bellamy bringing up the rear. It wasn’t difficult to follow the low groans. Whoever it was making those noises was in a lot of pain.

You had somehow managed to end up at the front with Clarke as the tree’s around you suddenly cleared bringing you into an empty circle of grass. In the centre was a large pale tree, branches reaching to the sky in deformed patterns. Hung on the tree was Jasper. Arms spread eagle and tied their by his waist and wrists. He didn’t look conscious but he was definitely the one making the noises.

“Holy fuck” your fists clenched as you stared at him hanging there.

“Jasper. Oh my god”

“Clarke be careful” Finn warned as she walked forwards uncaring of what may lay beneath her feet. “Clarke”

You threw your arm out to the side stopping Bellamy from taking a step forward. Looking down into the grass you could see it, you had to look hard but the grass beneath your feet, well parts of it weren’t actually grass.

“Stop” you warned as he looked at you frustrated “Just look at your feet”

“What?”

Reaching out with your foot you pressed lightly where he’d been about to tread. Under your touch the ground caved in revealing a pit of lethal looking wooden spikes. “Watch where you step”

He nodded having paled under the tan of his skin, looking vaguely sick. You started off again in adjacent directions trying to get to Jasper.

When Clarke screamed you were to far away to do anything but gasp in horror. Bellamy however wasn’t, he’d caught her. Hanging precariously from her wrist as she swung over another spiked pit.

The boys raced to Bellamy helping a shaky Clarke up out of the pit to collapse on solid ground.

“”This place is a minefield” Clarke looked up at you from her position on the ground. You knew the look in her eyes meant she agreed with you and you also knew what it meant she wanted you to do. “Stay here, I’ll cut him down”

“I’ll help”

“No!” You didn’t need any help from Wells, refused to accept any help from the Chacellors son. “Stay with Clarke. Watch them. Space Walker follow me”

Finn nodded as Wells helped Clarke back up to her feet.

“Step where I do Finn. Carefully”

“Right behind you”

Keeping one eye focused on where you were going and the other on the floor you made your way to the tree. At the base you grabbed the first branch hauling your body up off the floor into the tree. You scaled it quickly with Finn beside you.

“Jasper?” his eyes were roving madly around under his eyelids and his skin was hot to the touch. “He’s burning up Griffin”

“There’s something on his chest. A poultice?”

Take the knife you cut Jaspers wrist free handing it over so Finn could do the same.

“That doesn’t make sense, why save his life only to string him up as live bait?”

“Maybe what they’re trying to catch likes its dinner to be breathing”

You looked at Finn who had gotten Jaspers other arm free. He didn’t look like he agreed with Bellamy’s words. They didn’t make much sense to you either.

“I don’t think that’s it”

“No” Finn looked around the clearing, a chill running down your spine “maybe what they’re trying to catch is us”  

 "Hurry up Finn” you urged balanced in the tree with Jasper’s arm around your shoulders trying to keep him up as Finn sawed at the ropes around his waist. As it was though you were probably a similar weight to the gangly Jasper and holding him there, a dead weight in a tree, wasn’t the easiest task you’d ever tried.

“fuck” your foot slipped and catching yourself meant ripping open your arm on a sharp piece of branch.

“Y/N?” Bellamy shouted taking a step towards the tree. His sudeen concern for you was disconcerting.

“Y/N?” Finn repeated.

“I’m fine” you insisted gritting your teeth as you moved once more pulling Jasper up with you. The growl that echoed around the clearing made you all jump. “Finn hurry the fuck up, now” you ordered as he started sawing manically at the ropes. The growl came again this time closer than before.

“What the hell was that?” Murphy was spinning around like a gone wrong childs spinning top trying to figure out where the noise was coming from.

“Grounders?”

From your position in the tree you could see exactly what it was that was stalking towards your group.

“Bellamy not grounders” you shouted down to him “Cat, big cat. Gun Bellamy get the fucking gun”

The animal was growling consistently now as it charged towards you all. You watched in almost slow motion as Bellamy reached for the gun only to find it gone. The black body of the massive animal launched itself through the air at them. Out of nowhere gun shots rang out as of all people Wells had pointed the gun at the animal and pulled the trigger.

The cat squealed reeling around and diving back into the undergrowth.

“Bellamy stay still” you whispered watching as the cat slunk around the grass circling them.

Your heart was literally in your mouth as the cat jumped once more, Bellamy flinched and the gun shot its last bullet. The cat screamed and fell to the floor, Wells had gotten it right between the eyes. Dead.

Finn got the last rope undone and between the two of you somehow managed to get him back down to the ground. There was blood dripping down your arm now and you were fairly certain that the cut was deep enough to need stitches.

You laid Jasper down on the floor as Clarke knelt down beside him laying her head on his forehead. Jasper was still groaning softly to himself. Gripped in the jaws of what seemed like a fairly advanced fever.

“We need to get him back to camp” Clarke was pointing at Finn and Murphy “you two, help me with him.”

Surprisingly Murphy didn’t argue about his job role simply helping Finn with Jasper.

“We should take that back as well” you pointed at the dead cat “food”

Wells handed the empty gun back over to Bellamy and silently went and hauled the cat up onto his shoulders. The group of you then moving back towards the forest. It was going to be a long walk back and not wanting to talk to any of them particularly you hung towards the back.

“That’s deep” Bellamy was looking at your arm having come up beside you.

“Thank you Sherlock” you muttered but you did accept the ripped piece of his shirt that he handed over letting him tie it tightly around your forearm. “Why are you helping me all of a sudden?”

“Because there’s no profit to me for you to die or get an infection”

“Classy” there was still blood oozing from around the makeshift bandage.

“How did you see that pit?”

You looked up at him surprised at the sudden note of sincerity in his voice. “What you mean the one you nearly fell in and got skewered?”

“Yeah, that one”

You shrugged “I spent a lot of time with my uncle doing Earth skills, tracking and all sorts”

“Yet he still threw you in the skybox”

You tensed at that “why are you such a dick Bellamy?” you asked him. “What exactly did I do to you in the 48 hours we’ve been here to make you so hostile?” when he didn’t answer you just sighed. “Of course now you choose to go silent”

“I’m a dick because I have Octavia to think of” he said softly, he’d taken a long time to answer you and you’d almost forgotten you’d even asked that question to start with. “She needs me to protect her, to look after her and I can’t do that if the Ark…”

“You can’t do that if the Ark comes down can you?” he shook his head at you “Bellamy what did you do?”

It was the same question you’d asked before and he stared back at you in the much the same way “I think you’ve already figured out the answer to that question”

Your eyes moved to the gun resting in the band of his trousers. “Yeah I have”  

You walked in silence for quite a bit longer until Bellamy snorted almost getting to a laugh “She isn’t going to be happy that we left her behind”

“She’ll get over it” he didn’t need to tell you who he was talking about.

He nodded looking over at you and taking your shoulder holding it so you stopped walking. “Thank you for whatever you did for her, for looking after her when I couldn’t”

“You don’t need to thank me” you insisted trying to ignore the growing pain in your arm.

“Are you ok?” he almost seemed concerned as he looked at the blood still coming from your arm.

“Aw Bellamy do you suddenly care?”

“And you say I’m a dick”

You smiled “I’m not a dick, I’m just sarcastic” with that parting statement you left him to his thoughts to catch up with Clarke. You were nearly back to camp and darkness was starting to fall around the trees. “Griffin. I think I might need stitches”

She looked down at your arm, raising her eyebrows as she saw the makeshift bandage around your forearm. “Making friends Y/N?”

“Don’t be a smart ass Clarke” you warned her, she smiled at you taking your arm and unwrapping the bandage pressing gently at the edges of the cut.

“You’re right, you do need stitches and it needs cleaning out. I’ll do it at the ship”

“Thank you”

*******

The lights of the camp were rapidly coming into view, a girl’s voice shouting they had returned and the murmurs of teenager’s voices as they stared at Jasper.

“He’s alive” Clarke declared “I need boiled water and strips of cloth for bandages.”

Octavia ran over to you all, bypassing Bellamy to come and stand in front of you looking concerned. “Y/N are you alright, what happened?”

“I’m fine O” you let her hug you resting your forehead against her own. “Just a scratch”

She didn’t look convinced but you kissed her forehead and listened as Bellamy came forwards having taken the cat off of Wells.

“WHOS HUNGRY?”

You fought your way around suddenly screaming and cheering kids following Clarke into the drop ship. She checked Jasper over quickly, leaving a supremely grateful Monty watching over him.

“We don’t have any anesthetic” she said softly to you as she held up a needle and thread taken from the meager first aid supply box from the drop ship. “If I don’t close it though, you’re probably going to get an infection, sepsis… anything”

“I know” holding your arm out to rest on your knee you turned your head away “do it Clarke”

You were almost grateful that Clarke didn’t argue, simply taking your wrist in her hand, she pinched the skin together and started stitching.

It hurt like nothing you had ever felt before, the needle biting through raw skin and the thread pulling like broken razor blades.

Halfway through you stopped her turned your body and neatly threw up behind the bench you were sat on. You had cold sweat covering your skin but you put your arm back in place for Clarke to continue.

It wasn’t long after that Bellamy appeared in the entrance to the drop ship. His eyes met yours and held then flicked to where Clarke was dipping a needle in and out of your skin.

There were tears in your eyes and you had gone a sickly yellow colour but you were sitting there, perfectly still.

It was a show of stubbornness and courage that Bellamy hadn’t witnessed before. He didn’t know how to respond to what he was seeing so simply nodded once at you before leaving again.

“Y/N. It’s done” Clarke laid a hand on your shoulder as you swayed beneath her touch. There was a fresh bandage over the wound and Clarke had cleaned the blood off of your skin. “You did well”

There was honest respect in Clarke’s eyes as she watched you get back to your feet. “Thank you”

“You need to eat and rest. You’ve lost quite a bit of blood”

“Alright”

“Y/N?”

“What?”

Clarke looked uncomfortable all of a sudden but underneath the blonde and innocent look she was just as strong as any other person here. Gathering her own stubbornness she met your eyes “You didn’t kill her did you?”

“What do you think Clarke?”

“You loved her, everyone knew that. Your father as well… he wasn’t a nice man. We all knew that but no one ever said anything…”

She trailed off and you carried on. “No, no one ever said anything” you didn’t want or need to drag up anymore of your past so instead grabbing your jacket off of the floor and pulling it back on you followed Clarke out of the drop ship.

Finn was sat on the drop ship ramp staring out at the fire and what was happening in front of you. Clarke didn’t see it straight away “He’s stable for now but without medicine…”

There we go, now she’d seen it. Seen what Bellamy and Murphy had organised around the cooking body of the cat.

“They’re taking off their wristbands for food? No way. I... I won’t do it” she looked over at you “Y/N needs food Finn, she needs rest and I won’t let them take off her wristband for it”

Finn stood “You alright?” he asked glancing down at your arm.

“I’ll live”

“You don’t have to take them off”

You watched finding Bellamy’s eyes as Finn marched up to the fire where skewered pieces of meat were keeping warm. He took two in his hand and simply left. Murphy grabbed him as he turned.

“Whoa, whoa. Wait! What, you think you play by different rules?”

“I thought there were no rules?” Finn said quietly, making you smile.

Bellamy didn’t look happy as Finn came back over handing you one of the skewers of meat. The kids around the fire had gotten restless at Finn’s display of defiance, the first one who came forward though got Bellamy’s fist smashed into his nose.

His angry eyes snapped back up to yours, all you did though was slowly lift the meat to you mouth taking a big bite and chewing slowly. Fair enough you were pissing him off now for no reason but it was so easy.

“Y/N?” you looked down at Octavia who had come up beside you.

“O where’s your wristband?” you hadn’t noticed earlier that it was gone.

“Monty took it off” she said absently rubbing at the bare skin of her wrist “he thought maybe we could use them to communicate with the ark, but by the time it came off… it was already dead”

You calmed down at her explanation, happy at least that no one had forced her to take it off. “Here” you gave her some of the meat you had, Octavia happily digging into the food.

Bellamy was still staring at you over the fire, as you shared the food with his sister. He’d shot someone up on the ark, of that you were now certain. He didn’t want them to come down here because he’d once again be separated from his sister and this time for good. Unfortunately even though you didn’t exactly like the idea of the ark coming down to Earth you were sensible enough to realise that you needed it to.

Which put you very firmly on different sides of an ever widening divide in camp.