#The Point Men 2023

[toastinthegrass]

[dailyrickastley]

Via The Guardian

[honeybyte]

. well,

[summertimemusician]

Linktober Day 7

Sky(loft)

*throws rose* For the First lovers.

Soft and sweet drabble with just the barest hints of tragedy, and more set on Skyloft than anything but I'd say it counts.

This chapter was brought to you by me getting emotional about the First Hero and his fate again due to the rain, the fact I believe all Links deserve to have love and appreciation but specially him. And the fact I think it's an absolute CRIME that we don't get anything more on him and that he and Sky don't get to have what Time and Twilight have, no I'm not bitter Nintendo I just want to talk, y'all can't just keep giving us like four Links before the actual heroes and then expect us NOT to want to elaborate with the crumbs we are given. If you ask me First and Sky deserve to interact and for First to have closure.

Anyway, as always can be read as romantic or platonic, up to y'all, and can be read in or outside and LU context, I just use Sky and First for simplicities sake but if you don't gel with LU then feel free to interpret this as something else, this is all highly self indulgent before I pass the heck out lol

If there was any place in Sky’s Hyrule that you could confidently say you adored with all of your heart and soul, Skyloft would be the most likely pick.

Even so high above it all in a way that would have you catastrophizing had you think too hard about what could happen if anyone ever accidentally fell from the isle even with all of the knights trained to not allow that to happen, you’d be lying if you said that it’s a wondrous mix of empyreal beauty and the comfort of safety and the wonder of touching the sky, a true breath taking haven that could soften even the hardest of hearts with time. Fitting of the warmth of the reincarnated goddess in Sun and the vast nature of Sky’s kindness, for all you knew he could be as frigid as the title of Godslayer demanded.

Looking at the way First let himself be tugged along the isle as soon as they’ve arrived in Sky’s land in a tour just reinforced that notion, you couldn’t help but chuckle a little. First was one of the harder Links to read, even more so than Time or Warriors, but looking at the way the stars of his azure eyes brightened with the fire of life hearing Sky talk about life in his home and about the many people made you feel so, so warm, like finding a nice sunny spot for a afternoon nap.

What could you say? First was such a wondrous person, calm and charming and perfectly polite and oh so kind in the way you knew all of your boys were. If there ever was someone who embodied chivalry and the ideal side of knighthood, he’d probably be the one to come to the forefront of your mind, and you’ve been insatiable for his happiness ever since.

When he first arrived to the Chain, he was as cold as the howling blizzard winds, heart a cold fort left in ruin and remade as best as a single man could for the sake of remaining kind, to do the right thing no matter what, it was a sentiment you knew far too well in your other boys, but specially so in First, who tried so, so hard to distance himself from getting attached. But who you knew loved the sight of the sky, as cold and numb it was in it’s distance, whom cared so so much he would driven himself into an early grave just to make the Surface a safer for the people who’d shunned him, whom after a long, long period of adjustment and effort from the Chain, allowed you to hold him close as he shaked from nightmares at night, allowing you to chase away memories of being held up by cold chains until the impression of them became one with his skin and subconscious, of being entombed and imprisoned in uncaring stone and iron to starve alone, being bitten at by hungry, crawling rats all because he wished to keep his people safe, made sure he could tell that your presence was tangible and real through telling stories from your world and singing him into dreams even through the fortress’s that was his stubborness. Trying your best to make lilies bloom on what looked like a most hopeless winter.

The day he actually chuckled and smiled, safe and healthy and alive in the presence of the Chain felt like the biggest victory you’d ever had.

He deserved to know love and to be loved as much as any of your boys, something real and tangible and that was actually properly reciprocated rather than used to justify an end. So seeing him being able to visit Skyloft with his descendant with a whispering, hidden smile was more than enough for you. And you can’t blame Sky for being equally animated about it, bless his heart, always wanting his people to be happy, always so, so kind, wanting to bring some solace to the older hero but being carefully attentive so his mood was still good

After all they went through they deserved it.

“Oh! There you are, I was just about to show First to the waterfall, want to come with?”, Sky snaps you out from your thoughts, touching your shoulder with a gentle smile.

“Unless something is ailing you, you did look quite deeply in though.”, added First, soft as the warm breeze on the isle in the sky.

You shake your head, smiling as you take First’s offered arm, an instinctive motion when he wished to be close but wasn’t quite ready for any other touch yet, and Sky’s hand in yours, which he swings with a hum, ears twitching, how precious. “Not at all, lead the way.”

As Sky leads you along, and you catch the ghost of a smile in First’s otherwise stern countenance and you take in the warmth of the late afternoon sun in Skyloft and the soft, eternal spring breeze. You think there’s quite a bit you’d give to keep witnessing these moments indeed.

The road to recovery was long and arduous, but you’d be there, and you knew the Chain would do their best to be there too.

[fictionaltrvlr]

Mr Perfectly Fine 2.0

[resident-gay-bitch]

Day Seven of @steddie-week - free space / free space / freedom

find the previous day here :)

Fifty years old, and Eddie was doing this. 

He didn’t think he’d ever do this. But here he was, doing this. 

He took a deep breath and willed away his goddamn tears, and he felt Dustin pat him on the shoulder as the music picked up and everyone stood. 

He looked down at himself, fixing the sleeves of his suit and making sure it was buttoned properly, sweeping the long greying hairs out of his face. 

He gave Wayne a very excited smile before turning to face everyone. 

He took another shaky breath, so fucking nervous. 

Down the aisle pranced a little girl, dressed in a pink fluffy princess dress, with her hair done in buns like Princess Laya’s because that’s what she insisted on. She was eight and a half years old, and Eddie couldn’t believe it. She skipped along in her sparkly red shoes - the ones she coaxed Eddie into buying because “they look just like Dorotheys, Daddy!”, and Eddie still didn’t know how to say no to her. She lit up at the sight of Eddie, bright and smiling, she waved at him very excitedly, almost bursting into a run to get to him. Eddie smiled at her and imitated throwing things out of a basket with a wry smile, and she gasped, stopping dead in her tracks. Eddie couldn’t help but laugh. She reached into her little basket and pulled out a handful of confetti and tossed it into the air, and she continued that as she did her fancy aisle walk towards Eddie. 

When she got to him, Eddie dropped to his knee and gave her a little kiss on the cheek, “Good job, Princess.” 

“Thanks, daddy.” She beamed, plucking out some confetti and tossed it in the air over Eddie, “Do you like the sparkles Auntie Nancy put on me?” 

“Hell yeah, kid, you look so cool.” 

She giggled and showed off her sparkly skin some more. Oh, Eddie remembered when they first got her, they were there in the delivery room. They got to name the beautiful girl and everything. Her name was Chrissy, and she channels every bit of the dancer Chrissy used to be. 

She closed her eyes, “Do you like my eyeshadow too, daddy?” She asked, flashing the bright blue that she’d picked that stood out strong against her dark skin, “I wanted to be like Robin.” 

“Looks beautiful, kiddo.” He winked at her, “Now, go stand over there, where we practised, remember?” 

She nodded and kissed Eddie on the cheek, leaving a glossy stain in her wake. She skipped over to where she was supposed to stand, and Nancy, who was in the front row, pointed her from where she’d decided to stand into the actual right place. Eddie chuckled softly. 

He stood just in time to see his other kid making their way down the aisle. They got Alice ten years ago, when adoption became a possibility for them. She was six when they got her, standing tall at sixteen now. She’d just buzzed their hair off the other week, after coming out to them as Gender Fluid. It took Steve and Eddie a little while to properly understand what it meant, but…. He was a cool kid, and they embraced it. They looked so cool in the suit he’d picked out for herself, green velvet with patterns she embroidered themself all over it. 

Eddie winked at him as she went to meet her sister on the other side of the altar. 

And then came Steve. He had his arm looped through Robins, who was giving him away in a lovely silk green dress. Steve looked as handsome as ever, if not more, if that was even possible, dressed in a sweet yellow suit. Eddie blushed very bright, he’d told Steve many years ago that it had quickly become his favourite colour after Steve had tossed that goddamned jumper at his face, and then was wearing that same colour when Eddie woke up in the hospital. Steve looked lovely in yellow, and it matched him so perfectly. It was such a happy colour, full of brightness and positivity, and that’s exactly what Steve had bought into his life. Steve’s wardrobe was primarily yellow these days. 

He smiled so brightly at Eddie, his hand reaching to find Robins to squeeze when their eyes fixed on eachother. Eddie had to wipe away a tear. They reached the altar, and Robin kissed Steve on the cheek and shot finger guns and a wink at Eddie before going over to stand with Chrissy and Alice. Steve stepped up to the altar and faced Eddie with a wet smile. 

They both couldn’t believe they were here, doing this. 

This life, the one they had now, seemed impossible all those years ago, but they stuck together anyway. They stuck together, and now Eddie could give Steve his dream. Now they could have normal, in the most unnormal way possible. 

They were so happy. 

Marriage for them only became legal two days ago, and in that time, Nancy, Steve, Robin, and their girls had worked double time to set up the perfect impromptu wedding. Eddie offered to help, but they all insisted he didn’t because he and Steve would just distract each other with sappy flirtation, and Chrissy insisted her dad had zero taste. Alice promised that if Eddie could find someone to marry them, he’d pull for some metal to play during the reception. 

Eddie asked Wayne… immediately. 

They both spent five hours sitting behind Steve's computer, trying to figure out how to get ordained online, because Alice said it was easy. It was not easy. Eddie was old, and Wayne was even older. They’d called Scott over to help at one point, because he was super smart and a scientist, but he couldn’t figure out the computer either. 

Alice ended up getting it done in ten minutes for them when she got home. 

He called them a bunch of “old fucks”, and the three of them went off on a tanget about “this damn younger generation, they think they know everything! I bet you don’t know how to use a VHS tape.” 

Alice didn’t give them a bar of it, the sassy kid they were. 

Wayne started his speech, and Eddie took his fiance's shaky hands. They had smiles pinned to their faces the whole time, because how could they not. 

“Now, do you have vowels?” Wayne asked. 

“I gave mine to Steve last night.” Eddie said, and Wayne pulled a very dissatisfied face, “Ew, no!” 

There was a laugh from the crowd. 

“I wrote him a song and performed it, you oaf.” 

Steve laughed, “It was very sweet.” 

Eddie smiled bashfully, still feeling like the twenty year old he was when Steve first swept him off his goddamn feet and carried him off into the sunset. 

“I’ve got some.” Steve muttered and squeezed Eddie’s hand’s as he cleared his throat, “Twenty five years ago to this day, you and I got ‘pretend’ married, as we called it.” 

Eddie sniffled as he laughed. 

“I gave a very long vow to you then, so… I’m gonna keep this one super short.” Eddie laughed again, oh how he loved this man. Steve smiled, croaky with wet eyes as he shrugged, “I told you, that night that you proposed, the same thing as I’d told Robin earlier in the day, that you couldn’t give me normal. That I’d gone my whole life with this dream of a wife and six kids- but then I met you, and ‘normal’ seemed like the worst fucking idea on the planet. You were… such a fucking weirdo, and you still are, and I love you so much for it, Ed’s.” Steve smiled and shook his head, “Why would I wan’t ‘normal’ when I can have every bizarre day with you? Every morning I wake up and wonder what weird shit was going to happen today, and everytime I am so delightfully surprised by it. I wanted you, and only you, and that’s all that mattered to me.” 

Eddie was ugly crying again, and Steve had to wipe away his goddamned tears that were tinted black from his eyeliner. 

“I was happy with it being just us, with our silly little fake marriage, for the rest of our lives- because it was real to us. It was more than enough for us.” He smiled, “But then we got Alice, and Chrissy, and we got more than I could have ever asked for… and now I’m here,” He sobbed a little too, “and were getting married for real. And I love you, from the moment you shoved me up against that boathouse wall with a bottle to my neck, to right now, to forever, I love you.” 

“I love you too.” Eddie sobbed, and they kissed, even though they weren’t supposed to yet. 

They heard Chrissy shout out, “Ew!” and it made them break away with a laugh, and it gave them a strong sense of deja vu to that time in the hospital, when Dustin woke up to the pair of them having a moment. 

It fits very nicely in this moment. 

“Getting a bit ahead of yourselves there, boys.” Wayne nodded.

They laughed. 

“Hey, kiddo.” Wayne looked over to Chrissy and winked, “You got somethin for ya dads?” 

Chrissy gasped and looked up at her big sibling who reached into their pocket to hand something to the little girl. She skipped over with the box and handed it to her grandpa with a bright smile, “Happy wedding, dad and daddy!” 

They loved this damn kid. 

She skipped back over to her spot, and Alice gave her a big hug and smiled up at their dads. 

Wayne held open the ring box, and Steve reached in to take the silver band, and Eddie took the gold one. The same bands Eddie had bought twenty seven years ago, they held too much meaning to switch up. Eddie slid the ring onto Steve's finger for a third time, and Steve slipped one onto Eddie’s, and they were holding hands again. 

“You already donnit, but ah… you may kiss the groom.” Wayne grinned, and gave Steve a little wink before stepping over beside Eddie’s groomsmen. 

Eddie didn’t hesitate before grabbing Steve and giving him the kiss of his life, dipping him just as he’d done at their non-official wedding all those years ago. Chrissy started gagging at the sight again, and Eddie started laughing into Steve's mouth, and they could both hear Alice trying to shut her up. 

And when they stood back up, they were married. For real. They had two beautiful kids, and the house Eddie had bought for Steve (which had rendered Steve in tears and then they had some of the best sex of their goddamned lives whilst breaking the place in) that had a garden, and an open kitchen, and four bedrooms, and a study, and the bed they shared every night. 

They still had their bad days; day’s Eddie felt so horrible in his skin that he couldn’t be touched, Steve still got migraines that could render him useless for days, and a lot of the time they fought, though, over little things like the dishes or laundry or what time the kids were supposed to be picked up that afternoon, and some days their fights were a little worse. But they were together, and they were happy, and they had a life and a family and a place of their own. They had a home with each other, and that’s all they needed. 

They could drag each other to Hell and back, Eddie didn’t care, just as long as they were together. 

**

thank you for joining me on this years steddie week! it is currently 10.30 in the morning and i have not slept because i've been writing the entirety of my steddie week all night. seriously don't know why i do this to myself, anyway.

if you'd like to read my other steddie week submissions you can find them here :)

\/ here's some dodgey art for you to look at \/

[anytimebitchess]

Y’all remember this?

Now it’s this:

[feraltwinkseb]

August 27, 2023 - Zandvoort, Netherlands Source: Dan Istitene - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images

[luckyshinyhunter]

🎶🎧🎵That euphoric feeling when you listen to a song from a soundtrack or album!🎶🎧🎵

[touchd0wn-boy]

not to get weird and emotional about it but i'm actually gonna be so sad once the album is out because waiting for it with all of you—the highs, the lows, the 'single definitely this week guys' every week for the last ten months, the coachella meltdowns, running blinkblr in shifts, the hornyposts, the liveblogs of our beautiful girlfriends who are 3 pixels tall—was legit the most fun i've ever had on this site. i love you blinktuals it's been an honor serving with you. let's keep being weird

[toastinthegrass]

[stars-and-birds]

okay i think i explained it well in the replies to this post but for those of you who think the Barbie movie ending was stupid and was bad writing because the Kens weren’t equal in barbie land… you just didn’t understand the movie. the movie isn’t called, for one, “Barbie and Ken”. it’s not “Barbie and Ken Land”. Barbie wasn’t made with boys in mind (ofc it’s fine, great, for boys to play with barbie, but that’s not the point). barbie was created to inspire little girls and show them everything they could be. the movie makes this clear in the opening sequence. Barbie’s we’re created to inspire. not Kens. Kens were never the point.

barbie land was created for barbie. making it barbie-and-ken land would take away the whole idea of it, and frankly the point of Ken. Ken was just created to be Barbie’s boyfriend, literally nothing else. at the end of the movie he starts to learn a little more about himself, and the movie implies that as time goes on maybe Ken’s will have more power. it’s a great ending.

(also, if you didn’t notice, Barbie Land was worse after it became Ken Dom. like the Kens were happy in Barbie Land, but they were corrupted by the idea of a patriarchy— Ken and Barbie’s stories mirror each other like that, both showing what it’s like to grow up— but the Barbies were miserable. this is shown because of how they’re taken out of their trance, by Gloria pointing out the injustice of what they’re going through. but i digress)

[akkivee]

i also think it’s pretty tragic not a single hypmic man made on the top 100 yumes of 2023 but equally groundbreaking is that my other man made top 50 lmao

[harleybarbarahandler]

i’m ngl that one scene from babylon where the director grabs nellie’s face and forces her to spit her gum out does make me feel Things

[secretagentsagainstwhatever]

simon fucking farnaby /pos

[chronic-ghost]

this isn’t even about pedro pascal just a series of thoughts i’ve had about rising media trends and perhaps the unintended impacts of evolving cultural perceptions as the pendulum swings back and forth between progressive ideas and conservative agendas that ultimately puts the boundaries of individuals (not just celebrities) on the altar of capitalism 

(also i’m bad at graphs so excuse the background i thought it looked pretty)