#I’ll shut up now but anyway

[apoemadaykeepsthehoesaway]

Preface (Unfinished)

-Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)

This book is not about heroes. English Poetry is not yet fit to speak of them. Nor is it about deeds or lands, nor anything about glory, honour, dominion, or power,

-

except War.

Above all, this book is not concerned with Poetry.

The subject of it is War, and the pity of War.

The Poetry is in the pity.

Yet these elegies are not to this generation,

This is in no sense consolatory.

-

They may be to the next.

All the poet can do today is to warn.

That is why the true Poets must be truthful.

If I thought the letter of this book would last,

I might have used proper names; but if the spirit of it survives Prussia,— my ambition and those names will be content; for they will have achieved themselves fresher fields than Flanders.

[troubldteenz]

I really like the Turbo au made by @twinktor-frankenstein so I made smthn :3

this is how I imagined his first step into the arcade went

[fanfic-gremlin-ft-trauma]

Hugs bc these boys deserve one

[ashpkat]

i can’t believe octavian died like… that. of all things in a middle grade kids books series. and everyone was chill about it. literally no one gaf octavian died so horrifically even if it was ‘just’ —and as the readers… we were chill with it too

[virgothozul]

I don’t talk nearly enough about part5 and Mista. He’s my comfy dummy, bless this lil silly man. (wdym we’re talking about a mafia dude who does t0rtur3 and mur43r for a living)

[sharpmouth]

nobody ever mentions patrick bateman getting a boner while staring intently at bono at a u2 concert

[arithechair]

He has absolutely no clue

[qprpbj]

if yall really want whump material why does nobody ever consider an au where curtis bros are born socs and then parents die and they’ve gotta move to the east side and adapt to a totally new lifestyle they’ve never had to worry about before. literally eats DOWN

[cozystars]

the bros now have a new passion to share :)

bonus!

[id in alt]

[wickmitz]

I decided to start talking about Wick and Rocky's relationship because I like their dynamics too, I like seeing Wick scared of Rocky and Rocky being aggressive with him, which is unusual because Rocky is rarely aggressive with anyone, but of course Wick is an exception to rule

Also my mini opinion about their possible relationship, I think that if Rocky didn't have to fight for his place, then he and Wick could become friends, or at least tolerate each other a little, I also see some superficial similarities, their gentlemanly and romantic natures, and their common love for explosions (remembering the quarrymen chapter), but this is my assumption, I think that I don't understand the characters' personalities well, so I can be wrong in this assumption, something like that. So, what do you think about their relationship?

for starters, i cannot thank you enough for this ask! as i’ve said previously, i have many thoughts on these two, so it’s nice to finally be able to share some of them. although given the extent to which i think about them, i apologize in advance if this is sloppy and sort of everywhere … while i’ll try to structure things the best i can, i cannot promise i’ll succeed! but hopefully this is an enjoyable reply nonetheless.

one of my favorite things about rocky and wick’s relationship is absolutely how aggressive rocky is towards the aristocrat ; he is prone to glares and cruel jokes and borderline hissing whenever the man is within his line of sight, or can be brought to a wailing-fit over the mere mention of his name from miss m’s mouth. there is a childishness to it, but a very prominent threat as well in spite of rocky’s usual incompetence. so he goes out of his way to posture around wick, readily lying and adorning himself with the gangster drapes he so badly wants to wear, in the hopes that it intimidates … will even badmouth wick’s family and make fun of his name and rock related obsession to mitzi, and so on so forth! yet all of this is very reminiscent of schoolyard bullying rather than anything too severe, though we as the audience understand rather quickly that rocky would bash wick’s head in with a tire iron if he could. ( translation : if it wouldn’t earn the tears or hate of a certain beloved mitzi may ) and it’s all very intense despite the absence of actual violence! and i understand why many fans see this as unusual for rocky and believe that it’s only wick who makes him act so aggressively, but i’d argue it isn’t really wick at all that prompts such scary reactions from him … and that rocky is a deeply angry character who’s a.) been boiling quietly for a long, long time and b.) has turned wick into a punching bag of sorts for this inner world of resentment and hurt. basically, when he’s judging the well-to-do or poking fun, his eyes don’t look at wick and actually acknowledge him as sedgewick sable ; instead this is a being, something vague and metaphorical, who threatens to upseat rocky’s permanence in the lackadaisy and steal away his savior, and he’s had a hand in the violinist’s misfortune for a long time.

obviously, rocky doesn’t think wick robbed him of his family twice over and made him homeless, but he is channeling the fear and anguish of those events into his loathing for wick, if that makes sense? it’s easier that way -- to finally have an outlet for everything bleeding inside of you, to be able to bite and claw at something without feeling conflicted or having to take personal accountability for your own mistakes … which is something that i think rocky does struggle with to a degree. he is sort of a finger pointer! his pain has to be worth something, it has to be for someone else ; spending years homeless and losing his last bit of family was for freckle, and the scrambling of his literal brain was for mitzi, and that means he can’t ever be angry with them! well, except that he is, somewhat, but he buries it deep down instead of feeling it. with freckle there is a sense of strain between them -- an air of ‘you owe me’ from rocky to freckle as he uses freckle to appease miss m, and he constantly pokes fun at his cousin too. it’s lighter than his jabs at wick, but there’s a constant pestering, a reminder of how good freckle has it : how he’s got the mom and the house and the job and the girl most notably. i don’t think rocky is intending to come across as mean, and to his credit he hardly does! but it’s rather clear to me that some part of him, some hidden and deeply hurt part, is rather indignant about taking the fall for freckle all those years ago. which he can’t understand, because how could he? he made that choice, he decided to take accountability for something he didn’t do because he loves freckle and knows it’d be so easy to believe this family tragedy was roark’s fault ; the devilish child he was, all troublesome and too broken to properly fit anywhere. so there is a disconnect born here, where rocky can’t comprehend that he’d be angry at freckle, so instead these not so great feelings are placed elsewhere and silently boil over time. and with mitzi … i don’t think he’s angry at her per se, but there is a frustrated and desperate chorus of : why him and why not me, when i’m the one out here dying for you? which is certainly unpleasant. of course, rather than allowing those feelings to be more aimed at miss m, whom he feels unloved by, he ( again! ) represses these emotions and allows them to fester into his greatest fears and fantastical complexes. i think there is a lot of other miscellaneous anger he could have towards others too … perhaps some part of him is sore upon seeing ivy’s normal lifestyle, watching her go to university and knowing that’s been taken from him. or an ache felt when hearing stories from zib and the band and how they used to travel successfully, living as nomads, and rocky is all too reminded of his similar lifestyle and how he couldn’t make it work as effortlessly. people with immense trauma are more prone to irrational anger and jealousy, to viewing everything around them as unfair and believing it’s even more unjust that so many people get to live comfortably while they’ve suffered. a situation that gets more messy when you’re someone like rocky, a man who’s willingly made choices that have harmed himself and wants to continue on with his smiling, bumbling fool of an act. he does not want to be angry, does not want to see it within himself, i think, which leads to an accidental increase of it.

all of this is to reiterate that wick is a scapegoat for rocky and nothing more. it’s why he’s rather hypocritical whenever it concerns the man. for example, it was stated by tracy that he looks down upon wick for his excessive presence at the bar, yet he appears to enjoy hanging out with zib -- who drinks just as often! he makes fun of how all wick ever talks about is rocks, when he himself is prone to poetry rambles that people find irritating or boring, and etc etc. this is also just a human nature thing, to critique someone you heavily dislike and even going as far as to belittle things you love or do in your own day to day because you just hate them that bad! but given rocky’s willingness to befriend anyone, it more so reeks of a dehumanization element. wick is every obstacle in his way, every divine force that threatens to send him packing again, so he is equal parts unnerved by wick’s presence and angry about it. it is mostly a fear response we are seeing, an emotion that’s morphed into long held resentment and anger. so his actions are extremely defensive, with him trying to push wick far away and keep him and mitzi separate, like some sort of animal attempting to ward off a threat that’s come too close to their home. despite the loaded animosity there, this hate has hardly reached its peak … but it shall only grow more intense as things continue onward i’m afraid, since as it stands ( in the comic at least ) rocky is at an all time low … and is ten times more desperate. i’d honestly say wick has become so warped in his mind’s eye that he can only strive towards ‘winning’ over the other man, because that’s all he can see anymore. i think mitzi implying that wick willingly helped her out, the intense head injury, and rocky’s fragile emotional state is exactly what pushes him towards premeditated murder in look-see. i don’t know how people perceive that arc, but to me it’s very clear that rocky actively sought to see the deaths of wes and fish that night. going as far as to lament that he’d be, “very disappointed if ( he ) dreamed them,” and purposefully luring the marigold duo away to have freckle pick them off. while you could argue that this was a smart move, in a gangster sort of sense, there’s still no denying that rocky is oddly chipper about the whole thing and is now seeking death out ; whereas before his methods of vengeance were just, well, ruining people’s livelihood but ultimately leaving them alive. this isn’t to discredit the fact that rocky is going through something! he is in a very muddled and dark place, mentally and physically, but even tracy has said that the head injury hasn’t changed rocky’s personality -- it’s only brought things to the surface.

source : q&a with tracy .

which, yeah! makes sense! head trauma can cause a person to become a wreck emotionally ( think mood swings, irritability, etc ) but it doesn’t completely morph someone either. personality changes may occur, but it’s not like you’re being rewritten entirely, you know? and given tracy’s old statement, it’s clear that ‘personality changes’ aren’t a side effect he’s suffering from. something that adds to my beginning statement, which is that rocky is a deeply angry and troubled person, more so than fans give him any credit for.

however, to touch upon your mini opinion about these two, i actually wholeheartedly agree that rocky and wick could become friends if circumstances were different. they do in fact have many superficial similarities, but one of the more prominent things they deeply share is never really belonging in the groups they frequent. this is more overt with rocky’s character, yet wick faces it too in subtle ways. the well-to-do crowd, seen through the investors, find the gentleman to be lacking in about every place imaginable ; to them he is an obsessive freak who cares too deeply for meager rocks, something they constantly mock him for, while he’s also being noticeably set apart from the rest of them … he seems younger than the investors, more excitable, passionate, and a little less experienced, and doesn’t seem to care for money or reputation as much as them either. there is a constant rubbing between him and them, where what he enjoys is seen as wrong, such as his love for the lackadaisy and his choice in paramor, a grieving widow with extremely dangerous ties. we also know that wick doesn’t have many friends at all, with the only two he has being lacy and church ( church is listed as such on his character profile, in a sort of tongue-in-cheek way ), both of whom work for or with him. they are obliged to hang around, and while they care in varying ways, they are prone to judging him just as much. honestly, it’s not shocking that wick seeks refuge at his chosen speakeasy! but even there he is rather distant from everyone else. he doesn’t speak to zib ever in the comics, nor seems all too close with viktor, ivy, or horatio … it is merely mitzi he is close to, even if he knows of the other people who work there. and, once again, wick very obviously doesn’t fit in. he is not gangster material, could never be an atlas may replacement, much less someone who could get his paws dirty in such an active way. so he has his feet in two different worlds and doesn’t know how to fit into either of them, or which one he actually wants to fit into more. i think in many ways rocky could relate -- these are two very lonely people who wish to belong somewhere and be accepted by some group or another but go about it in all the wrong ways. wick, who is too hesitant to fully commit to what he wants and is worse off for it, and then rocky, who obsessively throws himself against what he wants until he breaks every bone in his body. they also have explosives to bond over, lol, and other miscellaneous things like their taste in women i suppose … but this potential bond adds to the tragedy of lackadaisy, where we see two people who on every level should get along but we’re burdened with the knowledge that it’s an impossibility anyway, because there’s no removing the circumstance of which they’re in.

though i like to believe that despite wick’s fear of rocky, he maintains a kindness towards him regardless. i think his worries about rocky are rather surface level … he doesn’t know the boy at all, really, and thus can’t make heads or tails of him, hence him believing the lie in balderdash. so when i’m feeling particularly self indulgent, i like imagining a world where they’re forced together and sort of ‘stuck’ together ; to which rocky finally breaks and exposes his wounds to wick, in every sense of the word, and wick finally gets him. the aggression, the possessiveness of mitzi … it is all fear and desperation and a profound sadness, things he’d sympathize with. if rocky was able to explain that he loathes wick because if he saves the lackadaisy then mitzi won’t need him anymore and that it’s not fair that wick gets to so easily fix things when rocky would give his soul for his home, for her, and how wick could render every sacrifice he’s already made for naught by smoothing things over with some greenbacks and he can’t lose this, he just can’t --! … which, well, wick is too kind of a man to be able to do anything except feel awful, even though it’s not his fault at all. here we have two people who could coexist! and they should, since rocky logically can’t do every speakeasy job ( band member, rumrunner, mitzi’s shadow, also the guy who gets the money for the hooch ) by himself, just like how wick can’t save the lackadaisy with only his cash and limited booze stash. it’d be a joint cooperation, a collaboration between them, both equally important in the grand scheme of crime’s every turning wheel … but rocky’s rage and fear won’t let him see that, and likely never will. still, in scenarios where everything ends up alright for the lackadaisy and the people involved in it ( which is not how canon will go, by the way ), i fancy wick and rocky getting better within their relationship. rocky will always be prickly and quick to upset around the other man sadly, but perhaps he could see wick in a softer kind of light. or at least understand vaguely enough that he isn’t out to get rocky, so to speak. and then maybe wick learns that pancakes soothe rocky’s ire and poorly makes them anytime he wishes to talk to the man, and other fun things like that! but you should have more confidence in your character analysis skills, because you were spot on ( at least in my eyes ) about them potentially getting along if things were different. it’s certainly a fun aspect to play around with, and is important to note when discussing their relationship so you can fully understand just how warped rocky’s perspective on things are. and how unstable and traumatized he is too, of course </3 sidenote, but i also hope that throughout everything i’ve said here, or anything i’ve said before on my blog, that my love for rocky and my own sympathy for him comes across well enough. while he’s deeply flawed and i have no qualms discussing said flaws in depth, i also don’t think of him as some insane freak who’s evil at his core or anything like that. honestly, i adore analyzing him so much as a character because of how far down his issues go! he’s very well written, i’ll say, as is wick and many of the other characters, but i digress.

once more, thank you for the ask! i’ll end this here because i fear if i don’t i’ll start going in circles, since their relationship is so vast and very important for rocky in a character sense. hopefully i shed some more light on it though! i love these two to bits and pieces and i wouldn’t be half as invested in lackadaisy if their dynamic wasn’t so monumental -- at least to me.

[http-byler]

☆ YOU ARE NEVER COMING HOME ☆

[agirlwiththoughtsandnegativity]

I know one of people’s favourite ways to make fun of swifties is to say our only defense of taylor is to say “you only hate her because she’s a woman!” (or “a man can laugh a woman can only chuckle”) but the thing is you guys DO hate taylor swift because she’s a woman. why do you think taylor swift is another celebrity punching bag, someone who anyone can say they hate with no actual reason? why do you think she’s not seen as a “real artist” by so many people? It’s because she’s a woman, and her fanbase is largely women and young girls. make fun of swifties all you want but the truth is woman are not taken seriously. art made by woman is seen as lesser. any woman as popular as taylor swift must suddenly be called talentless and dragged down, because people literally do not believe a woman can make it as far as she has on her own talent.

[hplonesomeart]

Hey. Sorry about the inactivity, but pretty sure no one cared that much anyways lol. Been a looooong time since I kept that distant from Tumblr…at least now I know I’m able to survive without checking posts every day/being chronically online! I’ve got an intense love-hate relationship with this lifestyle I’ve dug myself into. Think I’m getting a little bit better with the balance even if school isn’t really giving me an option. Got a load of work I need to keep catching up on if I don’t want to disappoint my professors. We’ll survive somehow. Here take a quick batch of Puzzle doodles k bye

[fanfic-gremlin-ft-trauma]

don’t know if anyone’s pointed this out before but if zukka actually got married then Katara would be Zuko’s sister in law. do you even understand how powerful that is ?? do you understand the sheer terror they would put in everyone because oh no oh spirits, there’s two of them and they’re siblings.

[ashthewaterghoul]

Yk that thing from the bts of Pirates Of The Caribbean where the inspo behind Jack’s dreadlocks was like he just found random shit and tied it into his hair?

Yeah, that but with Swiss.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Golden Mercy Ch 2 (Hyrule Warriors story)

Summary: When Ganondorf returns during Hyrule Warriors, he’s on a mission to make things right, though what that means is beyond everyone around him. Kidnapping the Hero of Hyrule and telling him he’s protecting him from the Queen is not what anyone expected, and nobody can quite figure out what his ultimate goal is. Link sure is confused, though, and… starting to realize there’s more to Ganondorf than just being a monster. Zelda, on the other hand, is quickly spiraling with panic and fear over losing her friend and Hero, as well as trying to protect her kingdom from such a threat that was so dangerous the previous Hero split his soul into pieces to prevent him from ever returning.

(AO3 link)

Previous // Next

Chapter 2 - The Oncoming Storm

The majority of the coronation celebration was outside, as the castle was still too damaged to house such a party. It did mean it was an easy place to hide from the crowds, though, giving Link a break.

The Hero of Hyrule was easily recognizable in his garb, gifted to him by General Impa during the war. It was strange to think how much had changed since then, how the war was now over, how the princess had just been crowned queen. Link was proud of Zelda, was happy that it was over, but sometimes wandering among the common folk and being gawked became too much, even though he had grown far more accustomed to it.

He hadn’t quite figured out how to handle everyone looking at him as a symbol of victory.

He was always looked to, wasn’t he? When the Triforce of Courage had first claimed him, Impa had known his destiny was far grander than he’d realized. He’d tried everything in his power to live up to that expectation, to the proud green and blue that he wore. And he supposed he had lived up to it, with a few hiccups. But… somehow, he’d hoped, when it was all over, that perhaps all eyes would not be on him anymore.

He certainly was naïve, he supposed. It wasn’t as if the attention wasn’t validating, of course. But still… he hardly knew wha to say to so many. He knew he’d have to step up, to figure out how to navigate this new battlefield of sorts. It wasn’t as if he would be stepping back anytime soon. Hyrule still needed help.

Link leaned against a cold stone wall, disappearing into the shadows cast by a pillar beside him. He didn’t stay hidden for long, though, when he heard the sound of chainmail and metal shoes, and he turned to see his queen.

Link knelt automatically, wishing Proxi were here to verbally acknowledge Zelda so he wouldn’t have to. He wasn’t entirely sure how to acknowledge her now, after all.

“Hello, Link,” Zelda greeted with warmth, motioning for him to rise. When he did so, she smiled at him. She looked… tired in the moonlight.

During the war, they’d held a camaraderie. It had helped that she’d hidden her identity initially as Sheik, making her just a fellow soldier instead of the Princess of Hyrule. After her secret had been revealed, it had created a bit of a tension between the pair, but the war had pushed them together so much it had seemed to finally lift.

Until the war’s end. Until Zelda had started to look at the capital once more, and had started to try and reel in her people as much as the enemy. As soon as her duties had expanded from war to ruling, it had reminded Link of who she was, and though they still were familiar and friendly to each other, it was… he didn’t know. There was something strange to it now, a new knowledge between the two that created awkwardness.

He missed just being friends.

“We have a long road ahead of us,” Zelda noted quietly, looking down. The cheers and festivities from outside seemed so far away. “So much has been lost.”

Her words made his heart ache. Link had seen more battlefields than he could count, and he’d lost so many soldiers. Hyrule had lost many of its people. The one good thing was that the majority of the war had been in open fields – though some attacks had been on settlements and villages, most hadn’t involved civilians. But Zelda wasn’t wrong – they had much to do, and Link was eager to help, even if he wasn’t sure how.

After all… he was a soldier. He’d spent most of his life preparing for battle, and he’d grown up forged in the flames of war. The war was over.

The war was over.

So what was his purpose now? What was he supposed to do?

He shook his head subtly. He’d trained to be a knight in a time of peace. War may have forged him into a man, but he still knew how he could contribute. It was just… far different now, after everything.

Zelda fiddled with something around her neck, showing him a necklace. He’d seen it once in a while, when Zelda had been in more casual attire between fights. It had a locket on it, with the Sheikah eye on the outside. He’d never seen what was inside it, though.

“My parents gave me this,” she said, staring at it with sad eyes.

Link felt compelled to say something, heart moved with grief. “I’m sorry.”

The queen bit her lip, squeezing the locket in her palm. Then she smiled at him, motioning for him to come closer. He did so obediently, and she gently placed the necklace around him. He stared at her, surprised and confused.

“You are the Hero of Hyrule,” she said, her smile remaining, but her tone became more formal. “I was right when I thought it was you. You have proven yourself time and again, Link. As the Hero of destiny, you are my Hero. I want you to have this and remember that.”

Link found himself entirely lost for words. This locket had been a gift from her parents – it seemed wrong for him to have it. But her words held a depth and meaning to them that made his heart skip a beat, it gave him the same shivers he’d always get when people spoke of his destiny to save the world.

Perhaps that was the chasm that had grown between them. They could no longer just be war buddies anymore, he supposed. She was a Queen, and he was the Hero.

He wasn’t just the Hero, though, as she said. He was hers. Lana had said it as well. Two souls, eternally bound together.

Bound together.

Link swallowed, uncomfortable all of a sudden. He wished he had time to actually consider what that meant. It was strange, really, how their primary enemy could be so obsessed with him over reasons he still couldn’t fully comprehend. Yes, he was an attractive man, he knew that, but the idea behind the Soul of the Hero… and his greater destiny…

He’d tried to talk to Lana about it once. She’d been as uncomfortable to address it as he was. They hadn’t gotten far before they’d been interrupted anyway. Now that the ceremony was over and Lana had departed, he doubted he’d ever get that chance again.

Zelda sighed, looking away, taking a step towards the window. “Over one thousand years ago, an ancestor of mine nearly destroyed Hyrule. He accused the Sheikah of becoming too powerful with their technological prowess, fearing their betrayal. He attacked the Gerudo, our allies, over a past war and the whiff of treachery. He nearly destroyed the people’s faith in the monarchy entirely.”

Link paused, blinking, wondering where this was going. Zelda continued, “All it took was one bad king to nearly ruin the kingdom. His wife tried to pick up the pieces as best she could. She named their daughter Zelda, a name that hadn’t been given to a royal since the days of the Sacred Diplomat and the Imprisoning War. It brought a sense of duty and hope to it. People thought that maybe danger was coming as well, with a bad king and a princess named Zelda… but nothing happened. The princess took the throne and was a good queen, and she helped try to patch up the mess her father had made.”

When she didn’t say anything else, Link walked up to her, prompting a response, and she smiled sadly, looking at her reflection. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? The difference one monarch can make. She helped rebuild the kingdom, just like her previous namesake. She became known as Zelda, the Healer. Her life was proof that the Imprisoning War’s seal had worked – a time where a ruler who bore such a name lived while Hyrule was in peril, and not once was there a threat from a demonic force.”

Her smile faded. “Yet I almost let a sorceress release him again. I am the first to bear the name since the Healer, and the kingdom has fallen into ruin under my care.”

Link’s eyes widened, and he took a small step forward. “Zelda—”

“I am a queen of bones, ash, and rubble,” Zelda said sharply, glaring at him, tears in her eyes. “I did this, Link.”

“You fought for your people, you defeated Cia,” Link argued. “You had faith in me when even I didn’t. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have the Master Sword, the kingdom would still be at war.”

Zelda’s sharp look softened, and she sighed. “Destiny was on our side, yes. As it always is. It was silly of me to ever doubt it at any point. The goddesses look out for their people. We will fulfill our divine duties together, Link.”

Well, at least she seemed to be feeling better. But what destiny awaited him now? Hers was obvious, but Link… would he simply remain a captain in the military?

Zelda turned to face him fully, reaching out to hold the locket as it hung around his neck. “You are my Hero. Fate has interwoven our lives together, time and again. Together, we will rebuild Hyrule. The last Hero joined with the queen, as the goddesses dictate. Cia knew it to be true, and when she defied it she failed. Even Lana knows it. How can we go wrong, then, with such ties between us?”

An unfamiliar feeling sank over him, like icy water pouring over his body. Zelda wasn’t supposed to be someone who made him feel this unsafe, feel like Cia was whispering in his ear while he stormed her castle filled with idols of himself.

Link swallowed. He wanted to argue a little, to clarify what he thought she was implying. There was no way the two of them could—she surely wasn’t suggesting they married, was she? They were friends, but that—such a commitment—

Was that what was expected of him, as the Hero of Hyrule?

Zelda nodded to herself, sighing. Then she smiled, seeming almost relieved. “With the dreams and everything… I’m glad it was you, Link. I’m glad it was someone I knew and trusted. You’re a good man.”

Link tried to smile in return, feeling somewhat ill at ease with her cryptic words but still somehow comforted by the warmth of her tone. “I’ll always be here for you, Zelda.”

His friend almost giggled, letting out a breathy laugh. “I’m glad destiny brought us together.”

Link felt his smile grow strained. Although he shared the same sentiment, the heaviness of the implications nearly crushed him. He wished desperately that Proxi were there as he lost his nerve. Zelda sighed, patting him on the shoulder.

“We should probably get back to the party,” she sighed. “I’m glad you wanted a break too. I thought I was the only one overwhelmed.”

Link did find he could speak to that. “I’m surprised. You… I mean, you grew up with this.”

Zelda glanced away, moonlight cascading through torn curtains, creating patterns on her face and hiding the rest of her in shadow. “I always had my parents before. It’s… different now. When I’m the only one. Besides… I… I chose to hone my skills as a warrior for a reason. I knew I would be in the spotlight eventually, but I… never enjoyed the thought of it.”

Link felt his heart clench, and he unconsciously fiddled with the locket that now sat in his scarf. “You’re not alone, Zelda.”

The queen remained motionless a moment, processing the words, before closing her eyes and smiling. “Yes. I’m not alone.”

She smiled at him once more, all the warmth of a merry hearth radiating from her and filling his heart. “Let’s go together, Link.”

As much as he didn’t want to rejoin the party and the scrutiny, he’d do so for his friend. As much as he was not keen on being gawked at, he felt safer with her. But a touch of unease still made his stomach churn, her words from earlier clenching in his heart and twisting it.

Destiny had tied them together. And he… was grateful for it too, truly. But… Link had… he’d always wanted to help. But perhaps… he didn’t know. He just…

Why did he feel like he didn’t have a choice in this? Why did Zelda act like she didn’t have a choice in this? She was relieved that Link was the Hero, as if… as if she’d been fearing her life would be interwoven with someone she wouldn’t like, as if she had no say in the matter over her own fate.

He didn’t know. He just… he didn’t know.

What did it truly mean, he wondered, to be the Hero of Hyrule? What lay ahead now that the war was over?

The war that had been fought because of him.

Because of him.

Link suddenly felt cold dread freeze his blood, and he stopped as Zelda continued ahead. Cia’s obsessions, her whispers, her desire still made his skin crawl. He felt like he didn’t even have control of his own body, his own being, and…

You are my Hero. Fate has interwoven our lives together.

Link stayed hidden in the shadows, hugging himself, suddenly cold and alone.

XXX

General Impa watched the festivities from afar. She wasn’t uncomfortable in the crowds, but she wanted to keep an eye on someone.

Queen Zelda reemerged from one of the castle entrances, looking far more content than when she’d entered, and the Sheikah woman sighed a little, relieved. She figured some time with Link would help cheer the girl.

Impa had watched Zelda grow up. She’d served the king and queen faithfully for ten years, and had been the princess’ guardian in that time, tasked with the highest honor a Sheikah could ask for. Zelda had always been a good and cheerful child, enjoying her time by playing music, having imaginary tea parties, and, eventually, training both her magic and combat abilities. It had been a strange turn of events to Impa when the young princess had asked her to teach her how to fight. When questioned on the matter, Zelda’s response had simply been, “I want to be brave.”

Impa could still hear the little ten-year-old’s voice as if it were yesterday, could still hear her rebuttal. “You don’t have to hold a sword to be brave.”

“You make me brave,” the little princess had replied, as if that explained everything.

The general watched the queen now, how she squared her shoulders as if marching onto the battlefield. Even now, she still held fear in her heart. Impa knew the teenager was insecure, knew that she’d fought hard to protect herself from her own anxieties, how the beginning of the war had nearly destroyed her, and she knew she would triumph over that fear now. Zelda had survived the war, the terrors and mistakes and victories and losses. If she could handle that, she could handle being queen. The people loved her, and she had Link and Impa to help her.

There would be hardships, Impa knew that. But with the conflict behind them, she knew that whatever the future brought, it would be easier in comparison. Zelda’s nightmares that had scared her throughout her childhood were over.

Far from the festivities, blades clashed amidst the desert sands. To the north the white sorceress sat alone in her destroyed home, head in her hands, body wracked with pain, heart wracked with guilt.

And, just like that, the cursed cycle forged anew as amber eyes glared into the ruins of the desert.