absolutely beautiful. thank you for sharing this story. it was everything I needed.

this is one of the most beautiful things I've ever read. bravo.

Well this is a superb example of an emotional free-fall. Damn that whole section of Yang's introspection is magnificent, then you give a tiny glimmer of improvement in the closing of their fight, and they you drop the most savage bomb of all time to end the chapter. I don't think I've ever seen those last seven words put to print, but they make an uncomfortable amount of sense for Yang's character. Boy does that do my boy Tai dirty though. God he probably even know's she feels that way too. Oh shit now I'm thinking about how he probably brought up Raven in the first place because he knows Yang is looking past him towards her mother. Ah shit, now I hurt my own damn feelings.

Well Tai is one hell of a dad. Also, that dream was very painful. Nicely done. I'm very happy to see more of this idea. This moment of transition in Yang's character was always a powerful wellspring of thoughts and ideas back when season 4 was fresh, and I still had hope for character development in the show. This chapter brought back some of that excitement. That's an awesome feeling to recapture!

Mystery ghost Raven appearing in dreams? Makes sense for what is basically an edgy mid-thirties magical girl. You know I'd have forgiven quite a bit of the mess that was seasons 5 and 6 if Rt had had the guts to give Raven a transformation sequence. That'd be absolutely in line with the "just thrown everything in" approach take by the writing staff.

While this fic mostly stands apart from your other works in your LoA Universe, I find one parallel between Yang's situation and that of JN(P)R via a quote from a book I read recently.

After losing his wife to cancer, C.S. Lewis (best known for The Chronicles of Narnia) wrote a book called A Grief Observed where he just wrote about his grief, his struggles in the aftermath of losing his wife.

The quote goes "The death of a beloved is an amputation."

Yang can put on the prosthetic, she can even go back to fighting and face down Adam, but she'll never have her arm back. Even with a prosthetic, she'll never be a two–armed woman again.

In the same way, JN(P)R can make new friends, they can cling on to old ones, but nobody will ever replace Pyrrha. Even if they form a new team, they will never be Team JNPR again.

That's not to say all their situations are hopeless and they should give up, and it's not to say that they should all just get over it. It's more to say that no matter what they do, their all lives have changed fundamentally. Now they have to live on and deal with the change.

I'm wondering how many parallels we might see between Yang's situation in this story and that of the characters in What We Call Home.

P.S. I think you're doing very well describing Yang's PTSD. It's very believable.

Goodest dad Tai in full form here. Shame baddest mom Raven still has such a deleterious effect on this wholesome home. Just like with the recent forced inclusion of Blake, Yang really deserves better women in her life.

Oh now this is nice and heavy. The titular metal hand finally makes it's appearance with suitable weight.

Finally someone acknowledges how rough Yang got it in Volume 4's beginning. Like everything else with her character, the RT crew just decided to brush over it. Really great internal monologue throughout.

Okay that ending line was powerful. The whole things good, but talk about ending strong!

Moar. Want a lot moar. NAO!

I had this in an open tab on my phone for too long, putting off reading it.

I absolutely love Yang, I don't know if I can handle you stripping her soul bare the way you did with Pyrrha.

I'll definitely read it though, I'm a glutton for punishment. Even if it hurts me to read it, I know I'll enjoy every second.

Yuuusssss I'm excited for this! After the fantastic job you did with LoA I have a feeling this one here will be another wild ride! Do you have a schedule in mind for updates?
As always, keep up the amazing work, can't wait to see what you have planned for this next!

Nice thought making the color red a symbol, both of her obligation to Ruby and her failure against Adam (who wears a lot of red himself) like that! That thought never crossed my mind whenever we've talked about Yang.
Good job balancing description of actions against the narrator monologue that angst pieces often get tied to following!
-WP

Oh now this is a promising thing to return home to after lunch. Food for the belly begetting a feast for the eyes. Seriously though, I'm glad you're talent for introspection is being focused on Yang. The show certainly wasn't willing to give her any screentime to get over being mutilated, much less what your track record shows you'll deliver!