#HopeLight

[gamagama0622]

My heart is always with you.　

あなたに心をあげる

[finalfantasyandnerdiness]

Epilogue

Fandom: Final Fantasy XIII Pairing: Hope/Light Rating: G Words: 2.5k Summary: The epilogue and its aftermath told through Hope's point of view.

Hope’s heart was already pounding in his chest when the train he’d been waiting for finally came to a stop. He’d been standing outside the small station for about thirty minutes, and his pulse had been completely out of control the entire time. His emotional state kept switching between joy and terror, rarely landing on anything in between. He’d been dreaming about this moment for an entire millennium. If he screwed it up, he would never forgive himself.

A gentle breeze played with his silver hair, most likely ruining his weak attempt to turn the gravity-defying mess into something more presentable. He’d spent an embarrassing amount of time in front of the mirror that morning, navigating the fine line between too formal and too casual. In the end, he’d left the house in a button-down shirt and slacks, which was a decision he felt somewhat comfortable with. His hair, however, was a wildcard. He didn’t usually care all that much about his appearance, but on a day like this, he’d prefer looking like an independent researcher rather than an eccentric scientist.

At least it wasn’t raining.

The train doors opened, and there she was. Hope watched as she crossed the platform with confident steps, his surroundings fading away until all he could see was her. To him, she’d always shined as brightly as her nickname, but the inner glow she was currently radiating had to be visible to anyone. Her outfit was similar to his, leaning more towards casual but worn with far more elegance.

Warmth bloomed in Hope’s chest. Just by looking at her, he could tell that at some point during her travels, the seasoned soldier had finally put away her sword. When she gazed up at the sky and smiled, he knew that it had all been worth it. He’d nearly sacrificed his life, his soul, and his very existence to make this reality come true, and for that smile alone, he’d do it all again.

Read on AO3

[rainbowserenity]

Re: cliches, "I'll bandage you up" sounds like a good one for Lightning and Hope 🥰

Neither of them had much talent for cooking. Sure, they could boil pasta or throw something in the oven, but anything more intricate was usually handed over to Serah. So when Lightning walked into the kitchen one day and saw Hope surrounded by pots and pans and utensils, methodically chopping some vegetables, she was more than a little surprised.

"What are you doing?" He glanced up at her voice, immediately breaking into a smile. "Hey," he greeted, adding with a little chuckle, "this was supposed to be a surprise."

She smirked. "You don't sound all that mad that I caught you."

"As if I ever could be." He put down the knife and leaned over for a smooch, only their lips touching since his hands were covered in who knew what.

"True." Her eyes roamed over everything that was spread all over the kitchen. "Now that I did catch you, though, you can answer me."

Hope laughed a bit, the sound tinged with nervousness. "It's silly." "Try me." He sighed and went back to his chopping. "One of my coworkers mentioned how her wife surprised her with this elaborate from-scratch dinner for their anniversary last weekend. The way she described it sounded really nice and I just..." He shrugged, his ears turning a bit red. "It just sounded like something nice I could do for you."

Lightning stared at him for a long moment before a little smile quirked the edges of her lips. She moved to stand next to Hope, gently bumping her hip against his. "You didn't have to go through the trouble." "I want to, though. I always like doing - shit!"

She jumped a little as the knife slipped, slicing along the side of Hope's hand. He immediately dropped it and turned on the faucet to run his hand under the water. When it still kept bleeding after a minute, Lightning took his non-injured hand and started tugging him towards the bathroom. "Come on. I'll bandage you up." Luckily, the cut wasn't deep enough to need stitches, so she made quick work of cleaning it and bandaging it up. Hope gave her a funny little smile the whole time, and when she was finally done, he chuckled a bit and said, "You didn't have to go through the trouble." She rolled her eyes a little at having her words thrown back at her. Two could play at that game. "I always like doing nice things for you." She squeezed his hand a little, glancing up at him through her bangs. "Got a problem with that?" "Not at all." He grinned and kissed the top of her head. "Lemme repay you with dinner now, hmm?" "Right." She let him tug her back to the kitchen, where he kissed her again before going back to his prep work. This was nice, she decided. There was something about watching him cook for them that sent a little flutter through her chest. And if dinner ended up being inedible, well, she was certainly nice enough to have a takeout menu at the ready.

[cielleonette]

Hope & Lightning | till the end of time, till the world ends |

I actually felt really bad because I shouldn't dump fuel to the already dumpster fire of emotional angst on these two 😭

[seasaltpop]

i have to say this. y’all i know we like to have this idea of Lightning being dominant in bed but i am throwing a wrench in that shiT RIGHT NOW because lord knows i bet you she’s submissive in bed because she constantly has to take charge outside of it (y’all know what i mean) and being used to taking orders as a soldier and all i can see her falling under a DAMN SPELL with Hope especially if he goes all Director mode on her and knows this about her like, i can see her just loving allowing her mind to go quiet and letting Hope take charge (and we all know he is no stranger to that) do y’all see what i’m seeing!?

[logang7]

[whisperclan-clangen]

Yarrowpaw's Injuries

“This is ridiculous,” Hopelight all but growls as Tempestchaser applies a poultice to Yarrowpaw's freshly mangled tail. “You just recovered from a broken back, and Icystar is already overloading you with patrols! Is he trying to get you killed!?”

Yarrowpaw looks up at her littermate, rage teeming in his golden eyes. She should've been able to become a warrior alongside him and their sister, Slumberhare, but just after becoming an apprentice, had her back broken by a falling tree. It's taken her the past several seasons to recover, and she's so grateful to StarClan that the injury didn't leave her paralyzed. But now...

“It's not his fault we've got a badger in our territory,” she says. “Besides, I asked him to put me on more patrols. I'm behind in my training. This is my fault.”

“For StarClan's sake! No, it's not!” Tail lashing, he continues. “He's the leader, he should know better.”

Before Yarrowpaw can respond, Tempestchaser speaks up. “It takes time to readjust to being back on your paws after such a terrible injury.” Her voice is calm as a clear lake on a windless day, the complete opposite of her namesake, but the twitching tip of her tail betrays her displeasure with their leader's treatment of their Clan's oldest, and currently only, apprentice. “It was nothing but foolish to send you straight to investigate the sett right after returning from border patrol. He should have known better.”

Yarrowpaw feels the fur on the back of her neck bristle. “I'm not helpless! If I say I can take on more patrols, then I can!”

“That's not what I'm saying,” says Tempestchaser.

Pikedaisy, who had been listening in while being treated by Charfeather for his aching bones, chimes in, “This is just the latest in a history of bad decisions from our wise leader.” He flicks his ears, annoyed. “Honestly, he's growing senile, but he's got nine more senile lives left. He oughta retire, and pass those lives onto Riverfur. Now there's a cat who could lead us.”

“Doubtful,” meows Charfeather. Prodding at the herbs he's laid in front of Pikedaisy encouragingly, he elaborates, “He clings onto those lives like a tree branch in a flood. Now come on, Pikedaisy, eat up.”

“Will you all stop disrespecting Icystar!?” Yarrowpaw digs her claws into the bedding underneath her, ears pulled back. “This isn't about him! I should've been more careful. That's all.”

Hopelight growls again, wordlessly, frustrated that almost every cat in the medicine den seems to be missing the point. He turns his gaze from his sister to Tempestchaser, who gives him an understanding, but resigned, look.

“Whatever!” He meows. “I'm going to go give him a piece of my mind. See you later, Yarrowpaw.”

With that, he whirls around and storms out of the medicine den.

[friedesgreatscythe]

btw I am BACK IN LOVING HOPE ESTHEIM HELL because of Themis FFXIV and oh my GOD do I have a type and I am dying goodbye

[lunanoc]

Shipper tag game

tagged by @sunriseverse (thank you for tagging! <3)

What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care about anymore?

uhh probably sakura/syaoran from cardcaptor sakura? very original i know i continue to be Very Basic. to be fair i was 13 and i’d just discovered what fanfic was so there’s that. now it’s more of a nostalgia thing? they’re cute but yeah not much else

Which ship would you consider your first one?

probably sakura/syaoran or link/zelda from the legend of zelda, again very basic but technically i discovered fandom through zelda forums so

Your first fanfic was about which couple?

still sakura/syaoran, and yes it was terrible because i was still like 13

Do you remember the first couple you saw fanart of?

i honestly have no idea but i’m going to assume it was probably link/zelda just because of the forums (i keep repeating the same two ships over and over rip)

Have you ever gotten into ship discourse?

no. not in a public setting anyway. i tend to keep to the ships i like and steer clear of the ones i don’t, and if for some reason i come across one i don’t like enough times that it starts to annoy me i’ll bitch about it in private because i’m a big believer that occasional bitching with your friend group is healthy, or at the very least while not tagging it/censoring it so it’s not going to end up somewhere the people who do ship it can see it

Did you use to have any NOTP or have one currently?

i don’t think i ever had genuine notps before dmbj really, at most 99% of the time it’s not really what i’d qualify as a notp, more just ships i don’t really care for? but i don’t have any strong feelings about them either way. dmbj fandom is particular for me in the sense certain spaces and people have pushed certain ships onto me enough directly or indirectly i just immediately get annoyed whenever those ships pop up so i avoid them like the plague now. i’m not going to say what they are (even if if you know me you probably have an idea) but they do exist

Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read?

pingxie from dmbj the brainrot is very real 😂 though for lack of food i mostly read chinese language fics these days (reminds me i should also make myself some more food one of these days too)

Currently, do you have any OTPs?

absolutely no one is shocked it is once again pingxie my beloveds who’ve had me in a chokehold for the past two years now atp i am literally here forever help

Is there any couple that, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

uhhh you know what i was going to say not really but actually. and it’s weird i have such strong feelings about this since i never hardcore shipped them anyway but ichigo/rukia from bleach i just refuse to perceive that is not the endgame

Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

not really? if anything the closest i can think of is zhongchi/tartali from genshin that i initially didn’t really understand the appeal of but i got curious and ended up liking it. i’ve drifted away from it now because i don’t really enjoy the genshin fandom in general, and i don’t agree with a lot of the takes on them but that happened i guess

Do you have any ship that, in the past, would've been considered normal but now you would be cancelled over?

honestly i can’t really think of anything besides hopelight from ffxiii? and i guess kaeluc from genshin but i also don’t super actively ship those it’s more of a casual thing. oh wait i thought of this coming back but i kinda vaguely like ardyn/noctis from ffxv also casually but that is definitely cancellable over material oops

What is your favorite crack ship?

i don’t do crack ships really because i’m Very Basic and have zero imagination so i need substance to connect dots 😂

What is the couple you read the most fanfics about?

i can’t tell if this is past or present tense so i’ll just answer both. if it’s purely the amount over time it’s probably a toss up between destiel from spn and soukoku from bsd. if it’s currently what do i read about it’s pingxie

What do most of your ships usually have in common?

this is such a loaded question, weirdly a lot of them start off with differing degrees of antagonistic or challenging/playful relationship going on (on the surface anyway) and it progresses from there, and the care is both intense but not so easily expressed. there are clearly exceptions to this exhibit a: pingxie but those tend to pop up more for some reason. this is not discourse by any means but for example it’s why i preferred klance over sheith and that’s all i’ll say about voltron because that’s a can of worms i refuse to open ever again. what i’m saying is sometimes i wonder why i’m not a heihua person because on paper that’s what i should be and yet here i am with the old married couple 500k slowburn of a ship instead 😂

What you absolutely hate in a ship?

i wasn’t sure about what to put here but @sunriseverse is right, anything that fundamentally changes either of the characters for the sake of the ship or a trope. fanfic by nature is ooc to a degree anyway, but there’s a difference for me between when people make the effort to understand the characters and how they work/would work together, and when they either reduce them to two-dimensional cardboard cutouts for the sake of smashing them together, or make them out to be something they’re not. even more so when it then becomes the Universally Accepted Fanon Characterization

tagging @shaish, @tatchling, @tiesanjiaoshenanigans, @kelly42fox, @thatlittlemouse and uhhh honestly anyone else who wants to do it

[witchblade]

hard to think of an extremely common final fantasy ship worse than hopelight or whatever it's called

[gamagama0622]

Academia🏢 AF4xx

[finalfantasyandnerdiness]

Bedroom Hymns

Fandom: Final Fantasy XIII Pairing: Hope/Light Rating: M Words: 3.2k Summary: “It’s a simple question,” she said, struggling to keep her voice even. “How long have you been carrying around a damn god in your head?” A confrontation, a confession, and a complicated midnight conversation. Read on AO3

Excerpt “How did this happen?” she whispered. “I thought I saved you.”

“You did save me. You did. You just…” He sighed, dropping the final layer of his elaborate façade. “You didn’t save him from me.”

Lightning shuddered as his presence suddenly seemed to grow, proving just how much he’d diminished himself to keep his secret safe. His gaze did nothing to ease her discomfort. The color of his eyes rarely lingered on a singular nuance for long, constantly shifting between different shades of green. In the cool light of the moon, his irises had settled on an eerie jade.

“He underestimated the complexity of a human soul.” Hope’s lips formed a cold mockery of a smile, giving her the horrifying impression that he was no longer speaking to her alone. “Even though he knew that chaos was a force beyond his control, he still brought a piece of it into himself. He was arrogant enough to believe that he could contain it.”

“But he couldn’t.” Lightning would never forget Bhunivelze’s reaction to experiencing emotions for the first time. He’d lashed out like a child, letting the fear of his own terror drag him into a pit of despair.

He’d deserved every moment of his torment.

“He couldn’t,” Hope confirmed. “If left untethered, chaos will devour everything it touches. It’s like a virus, and Bhunivelze didn’t realize he’d been infected until it was too late. A small drop of black is all it takes to turn even the whitest of white into gray.” He scoffed. “He spent a century and a half on making sure that his vessel was pure enough for him, but in the end, he was just as tainted as the rest of us.”

[rainbowserenity]

hey im writing a hoperai fic but have a question I need help brainstorming with,

in the new world, what profession do you think Lightning would pursue? And Hope for that matter?

I love when people still ask me OTP stuff even though I'm braindead due to capitalism <3333

for Hope, I've always pictured him as some kind of scientist/researcher, but not the test tube sort - he'd work with technology and be a computer genius since he has that big sexy brain, and of course there's no use in letting it go to waste~

as for Lightning, I think it depends on the AU or situation...sometimes I think she'd enjoy being a soldier again or running a boot camp or something. but then again, she initially became a soldier out of need and not necessarily desire, so I can see her straying away from that

I think she'd actually be happiest in some career that helps people, like a social worker or something. whether she realizes it or not, Lightning needs someone to take care of, so she'd be good at it. I can also see her doing something that's physically active, but I'm brain dead so I can't think of anything specific lol

there is, of course, always the model route too, since she IS a Louis Vuitton model ;D

[cielleonette]

New year, a new journey awaits...

Maybe a kiss on the forehead?

because train always means a new journey in the game so why not?

[seasaltpop]

thats it. im writing the dominant Hope and submissive Lightning fic. Enough is enough.

im only a little worried about making sure any lore mentions are correct but otherwise were DOING THIS SHI