#and i just need to accept that :////
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Breath of the Sky Ch 11 (SS meets BotW)
Summary: When Princess Zelda goes to the Spring of Courage to pray, accompanied by her appointed knight, a giant magical cog spitting out a goddess is the last thing she expects, but it is what she gets. Meanwhile, the Spirit Maiden Zelda is trying to figure out what the heck is happening and where her missing chosen hero is.
(AO3 link)
Chapter 11: Fledgling Friendships
Zelda walked with haste, her mind so preoccupied with everything sheâd just learned. She was caught in a confused haze, head whirling with too many words and images, to the point that she couldnât focus on a single coherent train of thought. It felt like when sheâd started to recover her memories â her mind had been so utterly overwhelmed with an entirely new life and revelation that sheâd been practically catatonic for a few hours sometimes.
Speaking of being completely distracted, Zelda gasped in surprise when she nearly collided right into someone as she rounded the corner. The person had quick reflexes, taking a step back, and it took her a minute to recognize him.
It was that knight from before. The one with the Master Sword.
âOh!â she said softly, eyes wide. âYouâreââ
She paused, realizing several things at once. First, her interactions with him had been amidst a high amount of stress and emotions, meaning sheâd been fairly rude, and second, she had absolutely no idea what his name was.
âU-uhâŚâ she continued awkwardly. âI donât think I ever actually got your name, sorry.â
The knight watched her carefully, face decidedly neutral as he blinked a few times, and then he said in a soft voice, âLink.â
Zelda stared.
Of course his name is Link, her mind whispered. Link and Zelda, here to save the world from Demise once again. What a cruel joke.
Had the Golden Goddesses even done anything to try to stop this? She barely remembered anything about them, even with all her recovered memories of a life past. Did they even care? Somehow she couldnât figure it out â she felt like a part of her knew they were distantly invested, but she also reasoned out that theyâd left her in charge of everything, which implied that they⌠werenât paying attention anymore.
She didnât even know. All she knew was that she was screwing up this conversation like she had the others.
âRight. Link.â She said, trying to gather her thoughts. âUm. Iâm Zelda.â
The two stared at each other a moment, and then Zelda wanted to smack herself. Hastily, she shook her hands with an embarrassed laugh. âBut you alreadyâI meanâwow okay, I justââ
She sighed, cutting herself off. âIâm sorry. Iâmâthis is a lot. I wasnâtâI wasnât prepared for any of this.â
The strange knight watched her, and his lack of reaction made her a little uneasy. His silence reminded her of her own Link, but her husband was so expressive, she could practically read his thoughts on his face. This one was very much the opposite.
What⌠had they done to him? Was he just like this? No one was naturally just like this.
âI guess it would be confusing to call me Zelda, what with the princess and all,â she said, trying to keep a conversation going. âBut um⌠itâs nice to meet you. Formally, I mean. Because like⌠you know, we didnât⌠I mean we met before, but I never got your name and there was a lot of stuff going on.â
The knight nodded subtly.
Zelda wondered if perhaps this was anxiety, or the same breeding as the other guards who had knelt and not even looked her in the eye. At least he was making eye contact.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, this Link also seemed to realize it, and his eyes widened as he clumsily fell to his knee.
Zelda had to laugh at the maneuver, feeling equal parts guilty and amused. âHey, itâs okay, stop doing that. Iâm⌠weâre going to be working together a lot, I think. Please. Can we just be friends?â
Slowly, the knight glanced up at Zelda, timidness evident in the way his eyebrows were raised and how he hid his eyes under his hair. Zelda smiled, crouching down to be at eye level with him, and the motion made him pull back just a hair, eyes widening.
âI promise I donât bite,â Zelda laughed. âWell. I mean⌠okay, if you asked my husband heâd say I bite butââ
The knightâs face flushed, and Zelda realized what sheâd just said, hastily tripping over herself to explain, âI meanâlikeâlike as in I can be aggressive, butâoh my gosh, thatâs notâIâmââ
Just shut up, youâre making it worse!
âUgh, this is so stupid,â Zelda finally said aloud, smacking herself in the face and rising. âIâm sorry, letâs just try again. I want to be friends, okay?â
The knight watched her for what felt like an eternity before he slowly stood. It seemed like it was the best reaction she was going to get out of him.
âSo anyway,â Zelda continued awkwardly. Trying to have a conversation with this teenager felt like pulling teeth. Her own Link (good grief, theyâd need to find a way to differentiate) had been very quiet and shy when theyâd first become friends, but he hadnât been so understated on top of it. âI was looking for the princess. Do you know where she is?â
The knight shook his head.
Zelda hummed thoughtfully. âWell, maybe we can look for her together? You know this place better than me; Iâd get absolutely lost.â
The knight swallowed, nodding slowly. When nothing else happened, Zelda motioned for them to start walking down the cavernous hallway. A few moments later she realized he wasnât beside her. She glanced back to see if heâd just stayed put, but instead he was following her a few paces back.
"You know... the hallway's big enough we can walk beside each other. You don't have to walk behind me." She noted, waving the space beside her with a smile.
The swordsman took a shaky, fortifying breath before stepping ahead a little faster to catch up to her. He continuously glanced at her, though he kept his face decidedly neutral. Zelda had to chuckle at it â the poor thing was very anxious, wasnât he?
Her smile faded, as she realized her earlier behavior was probably part of the reason. That and, well⌠all the other things.
âIâm sorry,â she reiterated. âI⌠remember how I said I only bite sometimes? When people I love are in danger⌠I mean⌠especially Link⌠I wasnât thinking. I just reacted, you know? Iâm sorry I was mean to you.â
The knight stopped abruptly, making Zelda skid to a halt. He immediately regretted his decision, awkwardly trying to resume their walk and then stopping again when Zelda didnât move.
âWhat is it?â she asked.
The newer Link remained stubbornly silent. Zelda crossed her arms. âI know you can talk, Link.â
The knight shriveled subtly, looking at the floor.
Zelda watched him a while longer, confused. âWhatâs wrong?â
After another shuddering breath, the knight whispered, âItâs n-nothing, Your Grace. I beg your pardon for s-stopping.â
The assertive, stubborn part of Zelda swelled within her, wanting to grab this knight by the shoulders and shake him and say she wasnât going to strike him down if he uttered a sound and that he needed to lighten up. But she held herself in check, smiling instead and holding a hand out as if to a scared child. âWell letâs keep going, then. Maybe you can tell me about the palace?â
This Link watched her hand hesitantly as the realization dawned on him, and he slowly raised his own hand in response. When his fingers delicately folded around hers, he made a motion to kneel again, and Zelda was reminded strikingly of her and Linkâs conversation in the Temple of Hylia.
She quickly jerked him towards her once she had a grip on him, erasing that memory and any attempt to repeat it. The knight stumbled forward, face finally expressing terror and shock, before she caught him easily by the shoulder. Then she laughed. âThatâs better! Letâs go.â
Having his hand in hers was a grounding force for Zelda, and she sighed in relief as they strolled through the hallway. His grip was stiff, though, reminding her that she really should try to ease his worries. She herself was filled with a thousand anxieties, but she didnât want to scare him when he already seemed petrified.
She wondered how knowing his destiny had affected him. What he even expected his destiny to be.
Sheâd ask later. He was far too scared for such a conversation right now. And it delayed the inevitable for a while longer â befriending him meant she didnât have to think about the kingâs request⌠at least until she found the princess.
âSo whatâs your story, Link?â she asked. âMy husband trained as a knight too, you know. A lot of us do on Skyloft. Was it kind of just expected for you too? My fatherâs the headmaster of the knightâs academy, what about your family?â
Before Link could even attempt to answer, his gaze drifted elsewhere, and Zelda tracked it to see one of the colorfully dressed guards ahead. He looked like he was heading somewhere rather than standing guard, but he quickly noticed them. For an instant his eyes were fixed on Link rather than Zelda, and then he knelt.
Wait, she recognized this guard. âHey, youâre the guard who found us in Castle Town the other night!â
âI am, Your Grace,â he acknowledged.
For a split second there was a strange moment where the guard glanced up long enough to look somewhere between Zelda and the knight she was with, and then he looked at the ground once more.
âThanks for the help that night,â Zelda said. âYou know, with answering questions and all that.â
âIt is my honor, Your Grace.â
He reminded Zelda of Impa. Her Impa. He held a very strong sense of duty and protocol but wasnât groveling or petrified like the others. She liked him.
âDo you know where Princess Zelda is?â she asked. âLink and I were looking for her.â
âTo my knowledge, Your Grace, the princess is in her quarters.â
Zelda looked around uncertainly. âOh. Uh⌠do you know where that is?â
âI can take Your Grace there if you please.â
Zelda hummed thoughtfully, glancing at Link. âDo you know where it is?â
The knight swallowed and nodded.
With that settled, Zelda smiled at the guard. âWe got it, thanks! I donât want to bother you too much, Iâm sure you have important duties to attend to.â
She knew better than to wait for an acknowledgement, given how everyone acted around her, so instead she tugged the swordsman along as they walked around the guard. The hallway seemed to be never ending, and it felt like the knight was dragging his feet the farther they went.
Zelda tried to ease his worries, as well as her own, by talking about anything but what sheâd just discussed with the king. âSo how long have you been here? Do you know the castle pretty well?â
âI can direct you, Your Grace,â came the hesitant and quiet answer.
âNo, thatâs notâI mean like have you been here long,â Zelda clarified.
âA few years, Your Grace.â
âOh! So you must be pretty familiar with all this,â Zelda said cheerily. âI could never â this place is so huge. Skyloft isnât nearly this big. Itâs just⌠itâs really amazing seeing what our settlement turns into. I never imagined it would be this big.â
When Link didnât comment, Zelda changed tactics. âSo how long will it take to get to the princessâ quarters? I feel like you could spend a couple days just going from one side of the castle to the other.â
The swordsman stilled, eyes downcast. Zelda watched him confusedly for a moment, prompting, âWhatâs wrong?â
âWeâreâŚâ he muttered. âWeâre going the wrong way, Your Grace.â
Zelda blinked. Then she laughed. âWell, why didnât you tell me, silly!â
As the pair got turned around, Zelda finally decided she really did need to address the skytail in the room. âLook. I⌠I understand this is weird, you know? With the ceremony, with how I acted before⌠but⌠Iâm⌠weâre going to be working together andâŚâ
Zelda paused, feeling vulnerable and not entirely sure she liked it. But if it meant this knight would stop acting so weird, she was willing to speak a little on the matter. âThis place is overwhelming to me. Iâm⌠Iâm scared too. Please donât think that just because your people worship means that I actually am an infallible goddess. Iâm just me, I promise.â
Despite her words, she got little reaction from the knight. Sighing, she looked away, but then she felt the slightest squeeze in her hand, and she belatedly realized it was Link trying to give her something to work with.
She looked back at the knight and smiled. âWell⌠I guess we should keep looking. Maybe you should lead the way, though.â
The knight nodded, walking ahead with her hand still in his. With their objective made clear, Zelda found herself just as silent as her companion, no longer really able to push off the thoughts that were nagging her earlier. She instead redirected her attention to examining the knight. He really held little to no resemblance to her own Link â he was thinner in build, a little shorter, his hair was lighter and longer and less fluffy, and his demeanor was practically entirely opposite. Yet⌠there was something about him that made her watch him, something eerily familiar and practically magnetic.
Not to mention the sword that rested on his back.
Zelda felt the wind get knocked out of her just looking at the blade. It was still distressing realizing that after everythingâŚ
Why? Why? She had planned it all so meticulously, even had backup plans â for heavenâs sake, Link was the backup plan. He wasnât even supposed to be involved if it wasnât necessary.
Yet everything had failed. Everything.
She had failed in the original war. Sheâd only sealed him away, and at a terrible cost. Sheâd failed in the new plan, to obtain the Triforce herself, if possible, rather than involve Link. Sheâd failed in the backup plan, where Link was supposed to be the one to fix things while she held the seal.
Tears stung in her eyes, and she hastily wiped them away before anyone could notice. Why did Demise have to be a reality they still had to contend with? Why couldnât they just⌠have a kingdom and be happy? Surely there were enough problems in the world without a demon king adding to them?
Perhaps it serves as a unifying thing, she thought listlessly, a small glimmering of hope latching to it. Everyone can get behind defeating pure evil.
If that were the case, though⌠if the entire world was unified in supporting this knight and the princess⌠why did he seem so broken and afraid?
She supposed it was a silly question. She herself had been terrified on her journey. But sheâd had Impa. Link had Fi.
Who did this boy have? Surely he had everyone, right? Was he just naturally this timid? Or was it because she was viewed as Hylia by all?
Zeldaâs musings were interrupted when they stopped in front of a door. The knight hesitantly raised his free hand to knock and then paused, glancing at her and waiting for her to give some kind of signal.
Smiling, she pushed ahead and knocked gently on the door. When she got no response, she started to open it, curious if the princess was even there. The pair slowly shuffled into the room, both a little sheepish (one far more so than the other), and then paused in the entranceway.
The soft snoring from the bed was immediately familiar. The two lumps in the bed told her the rest.
Zelda snorted out a laugh. Of course Link had somehow found his way here to sleep. She was surprised the princess was asleep in the middle of the day though. Her heart warmed with endearment as she whispered, âI guess some traits did make it through all the generations.â
Apparently Princess Zelda was as much of a sleepyhead as Link was.
She honestly didnât want to wake them. She was certainly curious how Link had found his way here and how much he had talked to the princess before theyâd both settled in for a nap, but she also didnât want to disturb the moment. She definitely didnât want to address the issue that had brought her here.
But there was honestly little point in avoiding it. Sighing, she pulled out some feathers from her pouch sheâd been carrying with her, handing one to the knight. As she did so, she saw his stupefied expression as he stared at the pair in the bed, eyes wide and face pale.
âWhatâs wrong?â she asked. âAre you okay?â
The swordsman jumped, startled, and glanced at her, bemusement apparent. His cheeks flushed, and he glanced between her and the bed.
Zelda stared, completely baffled. A thought slowly coalesced in her mind, picturing all the stiff protocol sheâd seen so far. âIs this something to do with manners or something? Because sheâs an important figure?â
The swordsman blinked, and despite his efforts for his stoicism, the disbelief was apparent on his face.
âYouâre an important figure too, so it shouldnât be a big deal to be in here, right?â Zelda questioned confusedly. âI mean⌠you didnât have any issues leading me here.â
The knightâs brow furrowed.
âYou were with her earlier,â Zelda threw out the observation with a shrug. âWhatâs the problem?â
When she got no response, she handed the feather over to him. âHere. Iâll wake up Link, you wake up the princess.â
Zelda went to the bed without sparing him another glance, bending over and inching the feather close to her belovedâs nose. Link was curled into the blankets, his face barely visible, but she still managed to maneuver the weapon into place. As she tickled under his nose, she giggled when he scrunched it in response, his brow furrowing. Link groaned slightly, slinking away and bumping into the princessâ back. Zelda smirked, having already started to wake him up, and decided drastic measures were required. Leaping into the air, she landed on the bed, bouncing right beside her husband as he yelped and kicked in all directions, landing a hit on both his wife and the bedpost.
âOuch!â they both yelled as the princess squealed and fell right out of the bed with a loud thud.
Gasping, Zelda crawled over Link to look over at the floor, where the knight had also rushed to the princessâ side. âAre you okay?â
The princess was panting for air as if sheâd run across all of Skyloft ten times over. Zelda felt a little guilty â she supposed she shouldnât have startled the girl. She was just having some fun with Link.
âSorry,â Zelda said, making the princess freeze. The girl looked up at her, horror in her eyes, and then she registered the knight in front of her and squeaked, pulling a blanket off the bed to wrap herself in it. In doing so, she yanked both Zelda and Link, making them tumbled over each other, but the princess didnât have enough strength to actually get the cloth out from under them.
The knight rose to his feet awkwardly, brow pinched as he looked between the three.
âZelda,â Link whined from underneath Zelda. Both she and the princess looked at him, and it was at that moment that Zelda realized they really needed to work out a naming system for everyone.
In the meantime, she said, âItâs time to get up, sleepyheads!â
Despite her cheer and Linkâs good-natured grumbling, the princess seemed absolutely⌠mortified. She looked at the knight in horror, cheeks as red as Grooseâs hair, and she pulled her nightgown more tightly around her, burying her face in her knees.
Zelda looked between the pair. She was definitely missing something. The knight turned around to look a different direction, staring pointedly at the wall.
Honestly, they were acting as if theyâd stumbled in on the princess bathing or something.
Oh. Wait. Was⌠was finding her sleeping bad in this era?
Just as Zelda was about to ask, the princess rose and rushed towards some stairs, disappearing quickly. Zelda and Link exchanged confused glances. Before she could go after the girl, though, Link followed her, leaving her and the knight alone in the bedroom.
âThat was weird,â Zelda muttered. âIs⌠did we do something wrong?â
The knight turned slightly, eying her in profile. From this vantage point, his neutral glance looked more questioning.
âSeriously, though,â Zelda pressed on. âI⌠you guys act so differently from us. Whatâs wrong?â
Eventually, the knight seemed to realize she was genuinely asking, and he faced her fully. âItâs⌠not proper to see someone undressed like that. Or in bed with... B-butâthat just doesn't apply to Your Grace, Iââ
Here the knightâs mouth snapped shut, like he was trying to explain but was fumbling too much to try and continue. Zelda watched him a moment longer, thinking about it, and then sighed. âOh. Oops. Iâm sorry.â
The room was dead silent, and then Zelda continued, staring at her lap. âItâs just⌠so different here. I didnât mean any offense or anything. I didnât mean to upset her, or you.â
She sighed, glancing up, and smiled despite the knightâs seemingly neutral reaction. âWell, maybe we shouldnât linger in here, then. If itâs going to upset her and all. Can you show me where the gardens are? There were tiny birds there that I liked.â
The knight glanced at the stairs, as if to express his concern for the princess, and Zelda hopped off the bed, waving her hand. âDonât worry about the princess. Link will talk to her.â
Youâre avoiding the actual conversation you need to have, a voice whispered in her mind, but she ignored it. She didn't want to further upset the princess, after all. She'd let Link smooth it over; the pair had seemed to have bonded a little, at least. She could learn about the knight instead. He had the Master Sword. He was important too.
âShow me the way to the garden,â she asked, holding out her hand. âAnd tell me about yourself! Iâll tell you about me.â
The knight watched her before quickly taking her hand, as if he didnât do so fast enough heâd be in trouble. She frowned at it. âRemember I said we could be friends, right?â
The knight stared at her. Zelda sighed. This was going to take some work. But sheâd figure it out.
XXX
The stone stairs in the room led to a hallway that connected to a separate tower. Link had to marvel at the size of this place all over again. The room downstairs alone could act as a house for most on Skyloft.
Never mind the scale, however â something was upsetting the girl, the princess. What was her name again?
Oh, he abruptly remembered. Oh.
Princess Zelda was seated on the ground of the hallway between the stairs and the tower, knees tucked under her chin. Her head barely peeked over the stone railing. A gentle breeze blew by, rustling her soft silky robe and dress, rustling hair into Linkâs face as he carelessly brushed it aside.
Approaching her hesitantly, Link asked, âAre you okay?â
The princess jumped, startled at his approach and his words. âAm Iâwhat are you doing out here, you canât see me like this! Nobody but servants and my familyââ
She stopped abruptly. Link stared at her. The word family bounced around in his mind again, feeling so foreign and magical, bizarre and otherworldly, exciting and terrifying.
This girl was his family. Separated by countless years, yes, but family nonetheless. Link⌠hadnât had that in a very long time. At least not by blood.
âYouâreâI meanâdonât you understand how improper that was?!â the princess tried again, burying her face in her knees. âI canât do anything right.â
âImproper?â Link repeated, tilting his head to the side. âWhy?â
âWhy?â the princess repeated, baffled as she looked at him once more. âWhat do youâbecause itâsâIâm dressed tooâand I was in bed withâandââ
She lost either her nerve or her ability to articulate at this point, shaking her head and plopping her forehead on her knees once more. Link watched her a moment longer, unsure, and moved to sit beside her when she jumped, seeming to realize something.
âI donâtâIâm sorry to be rude,â she said hastily. âI-it isnât my intent to be disrespectful or anything, itâs justâIâisnât it improper for you too? Why were you in my bed?!â
Link furrowed his brow. Her tone had changed, as if sheâd gone from mortified to scared. What was she afraid of?
âŚWas she afraid of him?
Link bit his lip uncertainly, plopping himself onto the ground beside her. What reason did she have to be afraid of him? Was it because of the big fuss her people made the other night? If the words they spoke in their fairytale rendering of his journey were what they truly believed, then they really didnât understand the full magnitude of the situation.
They didnât understand that this was his fault. They shouldnât be showing him any kind of respect. Link hadnât done his job, apparently.
Demise was still alive.
The thought both chilled him to his core and enraged him. He wanted to hunt him down now, he wanted to kill him now, he wanted to run away and hide in a corner and beg Fi to wake up and tell him what the hell he was supposed to do. None of this had been part of the plan.
Not like heâd been privileged to the plan anyway.
Link shook his head, ridding his mind of the unexpectedly bitter thought. He needed to focus on the princess, not his own issues.
âIâm sorry youâre upset,â he offered quietly.
âLink saw me in bed! And I was in bed with a strangerâwell, youâre not a stranger, butâbut youâre the Hero of Myth and Legend! The rumors that will flyââ the princess shook her head, her hands reached to her scalp and dug through her hair anxiously.
Was that what was bothering her? Rumors? âYou shouldnât worry about what others think of you. Besides, what are they going to say?â
âWe were in bed together!â
âAnd?â
The princess stared at him again, a baffled expression on her face. âDoesnât that mean something to you?â
Link squinted, wondering what in the world she was getting at. ââŚNo?? Beds are for sleeping, and thatâs what we did?â
The princess stared at him and seemed to give up, sighing and looking away.
âWho cares about rumors, anyway?â Link said, shrugging.
âIt matters what people say about me,â the princess muttered. âYou donât have an entire kingdom relying on you.â
Link paused, feeling the heaviness in her words. He⌠didnât really have a way to fathom it. The highest authoritative figure he knew was the headmaster, and Gaepora had never really cared if students didnât like him. He wasnât a bad man, but he did what he thought was best whether the students liked it or not. Besides, what if he had listened to popular opinion? What if heâd listened to Groose when he whined that Link wasnât good enough for the academy?
Before Link could really ponder the matter more, the princess jolted and looked back at him and shook her head. âIâI didnât meanââ
âNo, youâre right,â Link cut in. âI donât have that many people relying on me like that, I guess. I canât even think about it. Just based on how many people I saw at the party⌠you have a lot depending on you.â
The princess bit her lip, looking down before returning his gaze. âYou did too, I suppose. I shouldnât assume that my problems are greater than yours, that just because Iâm incapable in my duty that yours was somehow lesser.â
âIncapable in your duty?â Link repeated. âIs today really that bad?â
The princess sighed wearily. âNo, itâs⌠itâs not that. Iâm sorry.â
Silence filled the air, only interrupted by the wind whistling past flags and between the stone teeth cut into the railing above them. Link shifted uncomfortably; usually he wasnât bothered by silence, but the anxious and dejected air about the girl was unfitting and he wanted to fix it. He tried changing tactics.
âYour name is Zelda, right?â Link asked, and the princess nodded. âThatâs⌠so weird.â
At the princessâ bemused and embarrassed look, Link hastily added, âN-not in a bad way! Itâs just⌠my wifeâs name is Zelda too. Iâm going to get you two confused if I say Zelda and youâre both with me!â
âShe goes by Zelda?â the princess questioned.
âYes,â Link immediately answered firmly. âShe⌠she went by Hylia before, but ever since her, uh⌠her rebirth, she prefers to go by Zelda. Itâs who she is now.â
âThatâs so⌠fascinating,â Princess Zelda whispered, glancing off to Linkâs left at nothing in particular.
âWell, either way, itâs going to be confusing,â Link said, dismissing the focus on his wifeâs past. He didnât entirely understand it still, but he knew it bothered her. Heâd seen her discomfort during the feast, so he wasnât going to encourage the behavior to continue. âDo you have a nickname? She doesnât. Orâwait, your dad has like fifty names, right? Do you have more names?â
The princess stared at him a moment and then burst out laughing. Then her hands flew to her mouth, her cheeks as red as his loftwing. âIâIâm sorry, n-no, I donât.â
Link thought about it a moment. âWhat about Zellie?â
The princess stared at him. âZellie?â
Link shrugged. He wasnât going to call her something she didnât like, but she wasnât coming up with anything, so he figured heâd just throw it out there. The princess watched him a moment longer, her gaze growing distant as a small smile played at her lips.
Closing her eyes, she seemed to try to center herself. âMy mother used to call me that.â
Oh. Maybe a bit too personal, then. Link was about to say so when the princess said, âI like it.â
Link smiled. âOk. Zellie, it is.â Then he grew somber as he remembered not seeing a female king (was there a term for that?) at the feast. âWhat⌠happened to your mother?â
âShe died when I was six,â the princess answered. Her tone was neutral, polite, but he could tell in the way she was squeezing her hands that it still bothered her.
Link watched her for a moment longer and then looked away. âIâm sorry. I lost my dad around that time too.â
He heard her turn her head to look at him. âYou had a dad?â
Link whipped his head to stare at her. âYes??â
Then he remembered their story from the other night and he laughed. âIâI wasnât made from a cloud, you know! I was born to parents just like you!â
The princessâ face flushed bright red. âIââ
Link waved a hand as he giggled. âItâs okay, itâs what you were taught. I justââ
He couldnât continue, falling apart into a fit of laughter. Maybe he should have just said he actually was made from clouds; it would have been funnier.
Iâll do it next time someone asks.
âSo⌠how did Hylia⌠I mean, did she evenâŚâ Zellie shifted to face him more fully. âWhat happened?â
Linkâs laughter died down, reality sinking into him once more. He cleared his throat a little uncomfortably. âUh⌠she⌠I mean, she chose me, butâŚâ
âIs Hylia your⌠your motherâŚ?â the princess asked, her face pinched in a manner that showed she was disgusted at the thought but trying not to show it.
âEw, no!â Link immediately exclaimed. His reaction caused the princess to flinch, but the girl also looked relieved at the words. âMy mother was a craftswoman, she worked in the bazaar.â
âWhat did she make?â
Link stared off and shrugged, looking back at her somewhat apologetically. âI⌠donât remember what my dad said she made, honestly. Heâs been gone so long, and⌠she died giving birth to me. I never knew her.â
She looked sad. âIâm sorry. To never know what having a mother is like⌠I canât imagine.â
âWhat was your mother like?â
Zellie stared at her hands as her legs slowly slid out and straightened. âShe was⌠wise. Beautiful. Caring and so gentle. She always seemed to know what to do.â
The princess bit her lip, somehow growing even more somber.
âIâm sorry,â Link said quietly. âShe sounds like a good mother.â
âOh, how I wish she could have met you and the goddess,â Zellie said, a sad smile playing at her lips. âI imagine she would have loved it. And⌠yes. She would have loved it.â
âShe probably is loving it,â Link nudged her with his shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile. âWherever she is. Sheâs probably laughing and thinking itâs silly that you were upset earlier.â
Zellie huffed. âIt isnât silly! My position is important, and maintaining dignity is part of it. Iâm not like you, IâŚâ
The princess cut herself off, rising abruptly, before she jolted and crouched beneath the railing to stay out of sight. It was⌠rather silly to watch. Link felt a little bad for her.
âWhy arenât you like me?â he asked.
Zellie continued to face away from him in her awkward crouch, and her shoulders drooped as she sighed. âOh, this is all wrong. I shouldnât be speaking to you this way, I apologize.â
âWhy? What other way should you be speaking to me?â Link queried, wondering if sheâd ever turn around. âIâm just me.â
âYouâre the Hero. Created by Hyliaâor, well, chosen by Hylia, I guess, butâyou defeated the Calamity! Youâreââ Zellie finally did turn, struggling for words. âI should be showing so much more respect to you. Iâm sorry.â
âPlease donât be sorry,â Link immediately assuaged her worries, giving her a gentle smile. âI donât like being talked to like Iâm some fairytale. Iâm a person, just like you.â
âIâm a princess.â
âSo does that mean youâre not a person?â
âNo! No, itâs justâŚâ Zellie sighed, unsure how to continue. Then she huffed. âWhat you did the other night was just because you wanted to, wasnât it? It had nothing to do with dominance.â
Dominance?? âHuh?â
âWhen you sat on the throne with the goddess.â
âI felt like I was going to pass out,â Link explained sheepishly. âI needed to sit. Also, Zel looked upset.â
The princess stared at him. Blinked. And then she let out a shaky breath. âYou⌠oh, youâre still sick, thatâs right.â
âNo,â Link argued. âI was overwhelmed. Iâve never seen so many people, especially not all staring at me.â
âYou⌠were scared?â
Link bit his tongue a moment. Heâd gotten into the habit of saying he wasnât scared, of saying things didnât bother him. Heâd had to. But⌠he felt like honesty was needed here. ââŚYeah. Yeah, I was.â
If you wish to be of help to Her Grace, you must summon a shred of courage and face the trails laid out before you.
Goddesses above. Heâd thought he had helped. Instead, heâd cursed everything and everyone.
Link felt sick. He felt so, so sick. His words hung in the air, held heavily in place in the stillness and silence. The words were swept away, however, when he heard a strange sound from far beneath them, like mechanical whirring and large footsteps. Curious, he rose and looked down over the railing to see a giant robot with legs akin to a skulltulla, its head swiveling as it people stood around it. The princess stood and peeked over, eyes barely above the railing, and she smiled.
âThatâs a guardian,â she said eagerly.
Link felt his blood run cold at the word, and he shook his head. Clearly, this was something different than that. âO-oh?â
âThey were made long ago by the Sheikah,â Zellie explained. âThey helped defeat the Calamity ten thousand years ago. Weâre hoping to reutilize them.â
âThey still work?â Link questioned, squinting at them and thinking of all the broken down robots in Lanayru. âOr are you using timeshift stones?â
Zellie whipped her had to look at him. âTimeshift stones? What are those?â
Apparently not. âThey control time within a certain radius. Itâs⌠how I got here, I think.â
The princess slid to the ground again to stay hidden from the rest of the world, her brow furrowed. âYou came here using a timeshift stone?â
âIt⌠was an accident,â Link offered feebly with a shrug as he sat beside her again. âI was in a mine full of them and there was an explosion.â
âYou⌠you came here by accident?â
âUh⌠yeah.â Now Link was starting to feel guilty. Had⌠had they all actually thought he and Zel had come here on purpose? What was their thought process with that?
We seek your care and protection and favors, And hope you grant them through your sages.
The prayer from the other night lingered in his mind once more, and he felt a shiver run down his spine. Did⌠did they�
Oh goddesses.
He shut that train of thought down so quickly he could practically hear the door slam closed in his mind. This was just an adventure. This was fine. He was fine.
You canât avoid your own failure, a voice whispered that sounded annoyingly like Impa.
His thoughts werenât wrong, though. What was he going to do? If heâd kept avoiding the matter on his own adventure, Zel would be dead, Demise would have won, the world would have ended.
Why hadnât it been enough? Why hadnât he been enough?
âI hadnât planned on being here,â Link said quietly, refusing to make eye contact, dragging the words out of him. âBut⌠I think maybe the goddesses had. To help you.â
The princess was quiet a moment before saying softly, âI suppose Link will appreciate the help.â
Link? He was Link. What?
Goddess. That knight. âHis⌠his name is Link too?â
âWell, yes,â Zellie answered matter-of-factly. âMany boys are named Link because of you.â
Nope. This was getting to be too much again. Link rose abruptly, growing dizzy. Words left him, and he hummed when Zellie also shot to her feet and held a hesitant hand out to stabilize him.
I suppose Link will appreciate the help. Ha! As if someone who seemed so capable could possibly need a failureâs assistance. He had Fi now. Link wasnât needed. He was replaced.
Well, of course you were, this is a bajillion years in the future, idiot, he thought. Then he sighed. It didnât matter. Whether there was a Chosen Hero or not⌠heâdâŚ
Heâd failed. Heâd failed.
âI⌠I think heâs down there with Her Grace.â
Glancing over the railing, he saw Zel and the knight looking at the guardian. Fi was strapped securely on the knightâs back as if she belonged there.
Because she did.
Heâd gotten sick earlier just looking at him, just thinking about all the ways heâd gone wrong, all the ways heâd dumped his failures onto the knightâs shoulders. It was no wonder the knight acted as if he were the scum of the earth.
He was.
Link wanted nothing more than to jump down there and be with his wife. He wanted nothing more than to go home and pretend he hadnât learned about any of this. But how could he possibly avoid the truth of the future heâd doomed?
I suppose Link will appreciate the help. No. No, he wouldnât. There was no way Link could help this knight.
Youâve already failed before and still gotten back up, he reminded himself. You completely failed Zelda and stillâŚ
Still what? Succeeded? Triumphed? Clearly not.
Link just⌠needed to be alone. He needed to get away. He pointedly looked away from Zelda and the knight, looked away from the princess who was watching him, and turned on his heel, disappearing down the stairs and letting his feet take him anywhere, anywhere to get him out of there.
XXX
âWow,â Hylia breathed as she looked at the guardian. âThese things are incredible. And so big!â
Link watched her hesitantly, still trying to get his heart rate under control. Despite the goddessâ casual demeanor, he still wasnât quite able to shake the fact that he was talking to a goddess. There had to be some kind of protocol he was completely messing up, but she hadnât shown offense and had insisted on casual interaction.
Of course, he wasnât entirely sure what she considered casual interaction, so it was best to just stay silent unless prompted. And even then⌠goddess. He didnât know what to do.
Goddess! Maybe he shouldnât invoke her while he was thinking about her.
This entire day had been one disaster after another. First heâd been so distracted heâd nearly gotten himself injured while sparring with Mipha, worrying his dearest friend, and then heâd run into the Hero and had somehowâwell. He didnât know. He didnât know.
Running into Hylia herself had not been in the plans for the day. Heâd just wanted to find Zelda and talk to her. Heâd just needed someone to parse his thoughts and worries with.
Of course running into the princess while she was in bed with a man was how this day was going to go. The impropriety of it allâthe one good thing was that the only witnesses seemed completely clueless that it was wrong. Not to mention, if Hylia casually talked about running into the princess in bed alongside her immortal spouse and her current Hero, no one would question anything about it.
That didnât make it any less embarrassing, though. And he felt bad for Zelda, too. The girl worried so much about protocols and how she was perceived.
âSo they helped defeat DeâCalamity Ganon in the past?â
Link nodded. Again, he wondered how she didnât know this. How she didnât know anything. He didnât dare question it, didnât dare try to parse out how a goddess of time wasnât aware of what had happened through the ages. That felt sacrilegious to even think about, let alone ask her. Despite how seemingly normal she was trying to act, how much he truly wanted to ask about it, he wouldn't dare.
He had planned on asking Zelda, though. But he supposed it was a moot point now.
Link stared at the goddess longer than he probably should have, but⌠her attire caught his attention. Sheâd been wearing it when sheâd first appeared. It was just like the Heroâs, like the ancient traditional garb from the stories and tapestries. He wondered if the Heroâs attire was fashioned after her own, then, when sheâd created him. It looked nothing like the statues, and it was far more practical.
It was a uniform. It was armor. He could see the chainmail. Hylia wasnât just a gentle, benign goddess. She was a warrior. It was an aspect of her that heâd never really known or realized, and he wasnât entirely sure what to make of it.
If sheâd been a warrior, too, why had she needed a Hero? Or was it ceremonial? Was she a goddess of knights and soldiers and he hadnât known? Maybe that was why she didnât know what was happening â maybe she wasnât a goddess of time at all.
Somehow, imagining her as a goddess of knights made her more approachable than a goddess of time, but he had to remind himself that she was still a deity nonetheless. He shook his head subtly.
Hylia turned on her heel, a hand to her chin as she hummed thoughtfully. âOkay. So in the past the guardians, divine beasts, a hero and a princess defeated Ganon. They didnât use the Triforce at all. But that still doesnât fix the problem. He just keeps getting sealed away.â
Hylia narrowed her eyes at the ground, and her face grew stormy. Link swore he could feel the atmosphere chill at the sight of it.
âDamn that demon,â she swore softly. âDamn him.â
Link swallowed, shifting uncomfortably in place.
Hylia sighed, seeming to remember he was there. âSorry. We⌠he just⌠itâs a lot to take in. I know that youâre looking to me for help. Iâll⌠weâll figure it out.â
Figure it out? Did she not know what to do? Hylia herself didnât know what to do?
Link had so many questions.
"I wonder if Fi still has any of him sealed away in the blade,â Hylia thought aloud, staring at Link. "Or... perhaps since she's drawn... that's the part of him that broke away?"
Fi? Was he supposed to know who that was? Link looked back at her, fear making his palms sweat, wondering if she was expecting a response. Great goâgood grief, he sincerely missed the days when the pressure on him was just to fight and destroy, not to provide answers and information.
Hylia stared at him too long, and he felt his mouth go dry. Was he supposed to say something?
âYou must be a very good knight,â Hylia commented. âYou seem to take your duty very seriously.â
Linkâs heart skipped a beat. He felt pride swell in him while simultaneously being crushed down by the expectations behind it. It was an honor, truly, butâŚ
Hylia laughed suddenly, poking him so hard he nearly fell over. âBut lighten up a little, Link! I understand this is serious business, but it doesnât have to be all the time!â
Link gasped as he took a few steps back to catch himself. Hyliaâs mirth faded, a worried expression crossing her face.
âThereâs just⌠itâs scary,â she said softly. âAnd we have to focus and fix this and stuff. I get that. It was like that on my journey too. But⌠you canât always be scared. You shouldnât be. There was so much to enjoy when I was finding my path. I hope⌠I hope we can do the same, you know?â
âYouâre scared?â the words spilled out of his mouth before he could catch them, and he knew, he knew he was going to die right there on the spot. What was he thinking, questioning a goddessâ
âYeah,â Hylia replied immediately. âYeah, I am. Iâm⌠sorry if that scares you too. But itâs true. I⌠we⌠we were supposed to protect you from this. I donât understand why it didnât work. Link beat him. I got my spirit back. We won.â
Got her spirit back? What did that mean? AndâŚ
Link stared at Hylia, watched her as she hugged herself and looked at the ground, on the verge of tears. She looked so alone.
He couldnât not do something.
Reaching out, he put a hand on her shoulder, catching her attention, and said, âWeâll figure it out. I promise.â
Hylia held his gaze, and for the millionth time that day he felt like he was going to die on the spot. What the actual hell did I just say oh Golden Three aboveâ
Hylia smiled, eyes shining, and she wrapped him in a tight hug. âThanks. Youâre right. Weâll figure it out.â
Link stood awkwardly in the hug, not really able to return it, but she was squeezing him so tightly he was fairly certainly heâd pop something out of joint if he tried to move anyway. It⌠felt good, actually.
Well⌠the goddess had initiated it. So it wasnât bad, right?
Hylia let him go with a sigh. âI guess I should actually go talk to the princess now. I figure Linkâs calmed her down, at least. Maybe you can talk to him?â
Link froze. Oh. Oh, no.
âCome on!â Hylia said with a laugh, dragging him out of the courtyard. âLetâs go find them.â
#I'm still eh about this#but I think it's because I can't fix their relationships in a chapter#and I just need to accept that#they're all stubborn blorbos#writing#breath of the sky#breath of the wild#skyward sword#breath of the wild link#breath of the wild zelda#botw link#botw zelda#skyward sword link#skyward sword zelda#ss link#ss zelda#abel watching hylia hold his son's hand knowing full well she claimed another hero named link in every way possible: *having a heart attack#champion: *also actively having multiple heart attacks*#he really is just Anxiety isn't he poor thing#I swear he has a personality good grief#but someone who is so scared that they actively just choose not to speak or emote in public has got some SERIOUS anxiety issues#just saying#at least zellie finally got her nickname#her and cloud will get along much easier than the links getting along with each other I think#and good old zel breaking the ice with champion#or trying to at least
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she's singing in another room and my dog is asleep at my feet. my grandma asked me why i haven't found a man yet and i laughed. oh, you know. i like my house clean.
my girlfriend is also my man is also "my partner" if i'm in a professional setting. yesterday we went to a ren faire and a man mimed at me - you're together? and at my delighted nod, his baffled, you're gay? made me laugh. a woman with rainbow hair said i love the two of you together. you're both so beautiful it's absurd.
my dad introduced my partner as my "..... friend. or whatever" the other day. he knows we're dating. in the same way, i was never able to get my sister's husband to stop saying that's gay like it's 2008. he still uses the word fa***t, and my sister's defense of him has always been well, he's just kidding.
my lover and i dance to old music in a tiny kitchen. we judge new music together and take food critique very seriously. we watch love is blind before we fall asleep and agree that if they had a queer season, it would be bloody but also make for excellent tv. of fucking course queer people would know someone for only 2 weeks and agree to get married. what are you saying.
at a bar with friends, a man puts his hand on my wrist. got a boyfriend? and yes, i do have a boyfriend, she's amazing. i am texting her while i wander around a gas station named after geese. i am visiting a swing state for a wedding. in the candy aisle i overhear: she's actually like a lesbian it's disgusting. two teenage girls with packaged sandwiches in their hands, giggling. no literally, like. i'm not, like. okay with her being there while we're all, like, naked and changing.
my girlfriend and i tailgate, drink gin and cider out of cups. from the frat group beside us, a man corrects himself with one of his friends: bro, i mean, nonbinary entity, and it makes everyone around him laugh, myself included. he razzes his friend the same way i would have killed for at 19 years old - like nothing happened, he continues: you apply sunscreen like an alien. he does a little sassy (and fairly accurate) dance interpretation of the motion. his friend is laughing so hard they're crying.
i am lucky, i live in a safe neighborhood in a safe state. my masc passenger princess comes up from DC. i drive her for an hour to where all the leaves are a violent arrangement of color. we walk along the trails, letting autumn into our blood. in this part of the state, there's a lot of pickup trucks and trump signs. when we chastely kiss before getting into the car, i accidentally make eye contact with a woman holding her child's wrist. she looks disgusted. she looks fucking pissed.
two hours later my girl and i are eating dinner on a patio, soaking in the last warmth of new england sun before the chill of winter sets in. we are giggling and trying to talk through plastic vampire teeth. at another table, i see a young woman sit up straighter. i watch her watch us. she blushes and takes her partner's hand from across the table. shy, like the taste of evening has just become something deeper.
it's worth it for this moment, i think. my lover is still humming the same song she's been singing for four days straight and i don't want to kill her for it. her guitar is beside my bed. her toothbrush is in my bathroom. in a few moments i will make us lunch. we are lucky enough to have found each other. it is lucky enough to be in love.
#writeblr#wlw#i often think about like.....#being happy in a gay relationship is sometimes so odd#bc u can forget how stupid ppl are.#bc ur so USED to being gay. and u forget other people GENUINELY ARE homophobic#so it's like. girl pardon?????#but also there are moments where it's like. ohhh the kids are alright#like watching someone razz someone else.... so fucking wholesome#âlemme get this bitche's pronouns before i make gentle fun of themâ .... i would have KILLED for that.#THAT is how u know ur accepted#not just tolerated#..... when ppl are like. sure ur nonbinary congrats but WHAT is this fucking sunscreen application#ps idk if "razz'' is a real word but someone asked what it means -#i've always heard it as being a term for 'gentle & friendly teasing'' which like#i personally notice more from my guy friends but is like - when a person isn't#LIKE ACTUALLY teasing u (it's nothing personal/mean) they're just laughing w/you about something#my friends often put on a little voice and call me an anemic little bitch#like 'ooooo the anemic little bitch is cold??? does she need a mouse blanket#bc she's SOOOO SMALL AND ANEMIC???''#and it doesn't hurt my feelings (it makes me laugh very hard) bc 1. i actually called MYSELF that first#and 2. i'm not sensitive about it!!!#a proper razz is when you are ALSO in on the joke - i ALSO think it's funny#for some people i personally find that when they razz u it's when they love u -#they've noticed something genuine about u and love u enough that u know they're not being mean#this is cultural and personality based of course but i'm hispanic#if someone isn't making fun of me it means they hate me . obviously.
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Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".
[plain-text version of this post can be found under the cut]
Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"
And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".
Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.
At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.
So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!
Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!
Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!
Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.
Plain-text version:
Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".
Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"
And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".
Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.
At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.
So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!
P.S. Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!
Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!
Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.
#hlep#original#mental health#my sympathies and empathies to anyone who has to rely on this kind of hlep to get what they need.#the people in my life who most need to see this post are my family but even if they did I sincerely doubt they would internalize it#i've tried to break thru to them so many times it makes my head hurt. so i am focusing on boundaries and on finding other forms of support#and this thing i learned today helps me validate those boundaries. the example with the milk was from my therapist.#the example with the towing company was a real thing that happened with my parents a few months ago while I was age 28. 28!#a full adult age! it is so infantilizing as a disabled adult to seek assistance and support from ableist parents.#they were real mad i was mad tho. and the spoons i spent trying to explain it were only the latest in a long line of#huge family-related spoon expenditures. distance and the ability to enforce boundaries helps. haven't talked to sisters for literally the#longest period of my whole life. people really believe that if they love you and try to help you they can do no wrong.#and those people are NOT great allies to the chronically sick folks in their lives.#you can adore someone and still fuck up and hurt them so bad. will your pride refuse to accept what you've done and lash out instead?#or will you have courage and be kind? will you learn and grow? all of us have prejudices and practices we are not yet aware of.#no one is pure. but will you be kind? will you be a good friend? will you grow? i hope i grow. i hope i always make the choice to grow.#i hope with every year i age i get better and better at making people feel the opposite of how my family's ableism has made me feel#i will see them seen and hear them heard and smile at their smiles. make them feel smart and held and strong.#just like i do now but even better! i am always learning better ways to be kind so i don't see why i would stop
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Eddie is such a good father. It takes a good parent to give their child the space they need but still invite someone in who can be a safe space so that Christopher is talking to someone. Giving your child that time speaks volumes of who he is as a person and a father.
He doesnât want to bust the door down he wants Christopher to open it. He wants the privilege of being allowed back in and he recognizes that he needs to earn it. That he cannot force it upon him. Until then heâs going to do what he can to provide Christopher the support and trust that he probably feels like heâs missing from his dad right now.
#eddie diaz#911 abc#omg omg omg#911 spoilers#this gone hurt. this is going to HURT.#Christopher Diaz#I actually have so much to say about this. we havenât even touched on Chrisâ feelings#he JUST got the closure he needed to accept that his mom is gone but that she did love him#that letter was supposed to mark the beginning of healing that wound#and he goes home to see her face right there#Iâm screaming.
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need our simon to come home from deployment IMMEDIATELY đŤśđź | p1 p2 p3 p4
your older bf!simon comes home from deployment at dinner time on a tuesday.
herb alpert on the kitchen radio, knife tearing through a bunch of parsley, garlic and onion simmering on the stove behind you.
simon can hear it- smell it through the mail flap.
smells like home.
your ears prick at the sound of the door swinging open, the hinges alerting you to a secondary presence. back tensing for just a moment before you hear steps you could pick out in a lineup.
he sees your fluffy slippers first, then your little shorts, then his t-shirt. finally, heâs met with wide eyes and the kitchen light hits the curve of your face so nicely.
simon could cry.
you already were.
âoh my god, siâ
he doesnât really want to touch you with his outside clothes, tactical gear smelling like the back of a cargo plane and youâre so soft and lovely heâs afraid he might mess it all up.
but thereâs nothing stopping the way you leap at him across the kitchen and swing your entire self around him and heâs forgetting what heâs wearing and heâs wrapping his arms around you like he knows you wonât break.
his tongue is immediately in your mouth and heâs taking one gasping breath and filling his nose with the scent thatâs overwhelming him.
simon realises right then that the house smells like dinner but you smell like home. you are home. heâs home.
when he finally lets you let him go youâre telling him to leave all his gear by the washer and youâll sort it all out tomorrow but right now he needs to sit down so you can feed him.
heâs back in the kitchen with a sweatshirt and shorts on and heâs never found his own clothes so comfortable. maybe itâs because he can smell you on the fabric.
youâd only been cooking enough for one but at this point, youâre so happy to have him home that youâre plating up the whole thing for him as he sits at the dining table.
his chair scrapes back along the floor and heâs patting his thigh, simon eats his tea with you curled up in his lap telling him everything heâd missed.
apparently, old-mate next door broke up with his missus and it was quite the scene.
apparently, they finally finished the roadworks on the junction at the end of your street and there was no longer a blur of orange cones on the drive to work.
apparently, there was going to be a barbecue at the house down the street and the two of you were invited. you might make a salad to take with.
you couldâve been reading him the phonebook and simon would be a happy man. his hand was holding under your thigh and your face was in the crook of his neck.
he was home.
dishes done (together) and tea steaming on the coffee table in front of him, simon isnât sure this couch has ever been this plush. he could melt into it, as long as it was just like this.
bare feet up on the ottoman and one arm wrapped around your side as your head lay against his chest. you could hear his heartbeat and he could hear the football youâd recorded for him whilst he was away.
deployment was fucking rough, seen and done things he didnât even want to think about. but this is what he comes home to.
you.
you who curls up in his lap and idly twirls the drawstring of his shorts round your finger.
you who offered up all of your food to him to fill the pit thatâd been growing in his stomach over the weeks.
you who couldnât give less of a fuck about the football on tv but watches in quiet contentment for the sake of being closer to him.
you who doesnât ask once about what happened while he was away but will always listen without judgement if he needs to get something off his chest.
ideally, simon would like to give you the world in return. then again, he doesnât think even thatâd be enough.
instead, he takes you up to your shared bed and, miraculously, he doesnât fall asleep as soon as his back touches the mattress.
he could, very easily, but instead he pulls you down on top of him and gets his lips back on yours. the kiss when he came through the door had been passionate but itâd been fleeting.
simon had kept it like that, knowing if he spent a second longer with your tongue on his then heâd have you over the kitchen bench and that wasnât what he wanted.
really, he wanted this. the full weight of you on top of him and your hips rolling messily against his as his hands went up underneath your his shirt.
he wanted to run his fingertips along your bare back and feel skin so soft he almost couldnât remember the things his hands had done just last week.
he wanted to map out every spot, every freckle, every ridge across your shoulders and commit it to memory so the next time he had to up and leave he could trace you like a constellation in the night sky.
truthfully, simon didnât want to leave next time. he wanted to get the call from price and tell him that he was sorry but he couldnât do it any longer. he now had something- someone to live for and he just couldnât gamble odds like he used to.
he wasnât entirely sure heâd still hold the sentiment on the other side of blowing a load so simon put those thoughts in the back of his head and decided heâd work them out on tomorrow morningâs run.
right now, simon felt the soft skin of the inside of your cheeks and your spit tastes like the nectar those gods harped on about and heâs pulling hard on your hips as he rolled something hard between them.
you were moaning, whimpering, whinging into his mouth while you ground yourself into the hard line of his cock. raging erection didnât even cover it and his head was tipping back as a-
yawn, deep and all consuming broke from his throat.
simon was fucking knackered.
exactly what he didnât want to happen was happening in front of him, you were sitting up and cooing at him so fucking sweetly.
âsi, youâre exhausted- weâll go to sleepâ
strong grip around your waist was anchoring you to the spot so you couldnât climb out of his lap like you were currently trying.
âsweetâartâ
you could hear it in his voice, he couldnât even lift his head off the pillow. you conceded, however, letting him rub soft little circles into your hips.
âjusâ gimmeâ one and then weâll sleepâ
laying back down against his chest, you felt the air woosh out of him as you relaxed your body on his. face fitting into the crook of his neck like you were made for him (you were) with a hand running along his collarbone.
âweâve got tomorrowâ
you knew it was futile, he was already slipping your shorts to the side. head tilting just a little to press a kiss to the top of your head.
âand i need you tonightâ
settled.
you felt one large hand lift you up as his other freed his cock out his shorts. just enough, just enough to get the job done because any extra effort was going to render him unconscious.
bringing a hand to his mouth, he spit in his palm quickly before rubbing it along the head of his cock. deep groan rumbled beneath you as you felt him pressing against your entrance.
âlift yâtop up, sweetâart- wannaâ feel yâon meâ
you did him one better, leaning up enough to slip the shirt over your head and onto the floor. forcing him to hold his arms up for just a second, you pulled his sweatshirt off and discarded it in the pile.
bare chest to chest, you could feel simon shudder beneath you. snaking one arm under his armpit and the other around his ribs, you snuggled in tight as you felt him slip right in.
thatâs all he wanted.
weeks of photos, videos, imagination to go off of. this was all he ever wanted. you so close to him that it was entirely possible to imagine the two of you as one. that there was no version of reality without you together in it.
lazily rolling his hips up into you as you met him halfway, rolling yours back down to share half of the load. simonâs arms wrapped around your back, keeping you close and keeping you moving against him.
âsorry love, sânot gonnaâ be a long oneâ
you could only respond with a whimper, gently nodding your head into his neck as your lips press soft little kisses into the skin. you didnât need a long time, you just needed him.
unable to help yourself from noticing the couple new scratches heâd come home with, your fingers idly traced along them as he sucked in a breath at the feeling.
what you wouldnât give to keep him home and keep him safe.
a thought for another day as you felt yourself constricting around his cock, grinding yourself into his lap as firm muscle rubbed against your front.
tiny little gasps flitted from your mouth and into his ear, you could feel his body tensing up beneath you. it wasnât just with sheer tiredness, you knew this man like the back of your hand.
left hand coming out from under where youâd buried it behind his back, you ran the tips of your fingernails down simonâs chest. you stopped at his nipple, gently scraping along the peaked flesh until you heard him.
âneed yâto cum right now fâme pleaseâ
slipping your other hand between the two of you, you let your fingers wander against yourself until you could feel the tide breaking in the pit of your stomach.
body clenching involuntarily, your mouth dropping open against his skin. no doubt drool pooling against his collarbone as you came with a pathetic whimper. hips bucking a little crazy in his lap as his hand ran the length of your back.
âgod thatâs it, sweetâartâ
simon went rigid, gripping you tight like you might go somewhere as the dams broke and he filled you up. hot and sticky and dripping out of you and onto the waistband of his shorts.
he fell so still the only way youâd know he was still alive was the rise and fall of his chest beneath you. his arms were already starting to fall limp around you.
coming back from the bathroom, slipping off the rest of your clothes and adding them to the pile. simon wasnât asleep, there were no snores, but he had been rendered totally immobile.
pulling the remainder of his clothes off for him and settling in beside, you pulled the sheets up over the both of you as his arm began drawing you in.
draped across him, you could feel his lips pressing against the crown of your head.
âmâgonnaâ rock yâworld in the morningâ
you snorted a little laugh, nuzzling in closer as his breathing starts to even out. no use in replying, snorings about the only answer youâre going to get.
not that youâd mind.
he was home.
#im sorry i went for realism- weâre not getting crazy out of him the first night home#i just need him so carnally i would accept anything he had on offer#older bf!simon#simon riley smut#simon ghost riley smut#ghost smut#simon riley x reader#simon ghost riley x reader#ghost x reader#simon riley drabble#simon riley blurb#simon ghost riley drabble#simon ghost riley blurb#ghost drabble#ghost blurb
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blink and you'll miss it moments around skyhold....
#solavellan#solas#gotta put out some tender stuff to balance the chaos target team leader solas has caused.#look i just need to go feral in the tags for a moment#okay the fucking. what's he call himself? the great adversary of her people's mythology....falls in love w a woman being forced into a role#not unlike his own#i t makes me c r a z y#like at one point he's all ooooh we're elves need to make sure the humans trust us to ensure safety. gives them a castle......#then he's all ''ooh you cant change the way your legend is getting out of hand. might as well accept it''#but he disapproves if you lean into it/call yourself the herald.#he approves of you fighting against the status quo. encourages sera to sow chaos and has a VERY interesting convo w her about power#''what lop of the top?'' ''yes.'' ''well what's that do except make room for a new top to come and fuck it all up?''#at which point he fuckin STUTTERS and is like. oh fuck. you're right. my bad. and then he shuts up in quiet contemplation#he's clearly wrestling w himself. and Ohmygod the felassanstuff.#like the Guilt. the Regret.#haunting that fucking rotunda.#and yet he's so in love w lavellan if they go that route.#like clearly some stuff was missing/fumbled in game. but like#how he fuckin screams for the inquisitor at the well?????!?! OK BOI?!#im just. the dread wolf. great adversary of the dalish pantheon.#turns out to be some somber grim guy with a fatalistic sense of humor who hates tea and greatly values free will#pina art
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Manfred Von Karma did not burn Phoenix's letters to Miles.
Like, I'm not even saying this to defend Manfred's character (though the fanbase does get a little crazy with what he actually did and didn't do) I'm saying this because that's not canon. I'm not sure it was even possible in canon.
Phoenix didn't write letters to Germany. He didn't know Miles was in Germany, let alone Von Karma's address. He didn't even know who Von Karma was until Edgeworth told him about Manfred in Turnabout Goodbyes.
In the game canon, Miles just stopped showing up to school one day. All Phoenix seemed to know was that he transferred schools suddenly. He didn't know why or where to. Remember, Phoenix didn't even hear about DL-6 until Turnabout Sisters when Maya mentioned her family's involvement.
Even in the anime canon (I haven't watched the anime in a while so I might be off about this) where Phoenix and Miles get a chance to properly say goodbye, Phoenix still doesn't have a direct means of contacting him. His best way of doing so was dedicating a song through the radio using Signal Samurai codenames and hoping Miles would hear it.
Phoenix mentions trying to contact him several times when explaining their relationship to Maya, but this was after finding out Miles was this "Demon Attorney". Miles would have to be at least 20 at this point in time, living back in California with at least a few trials under his belt. With how young he reached success, it's not impossible Miles was living on his own at the time. Even if he wasn't, I doubt Manfred was going through this grown adult's mail.
No, what the game seems to be implying is that Miles ignored Phoenix. (Maya even says, "I guess he didn't want to hear from his old friends.") And I don't think this was out of hatred or anything, I think Miles just wanted to forget his past entirely because even the good memories of his childhood would be bittersweet at best.
And to be honest that makes it even more tragic to me. Why do we need Manfred to intercept their connection when Miles' trauma and guilt complex is already doing that?
I like to think Miles knew Phoenix would be asking questions if he ever responded to those initial attempts at contact. Questions he of course doesn't want to answer because they'd at best open old wounds or at worst risk his childhood friend finding out he might have committed patricide.
I also like to think he knew Phoenix of all people would stubbornly try to find the answers Miles wouldn't willingly give because he literally mentions Phoenix always being "single minded in his work" and "always seeing things through to the end". If anyone was going to press and bring those uncomfortable and painful memories out in the open for the sake of "helping him", it would be Phoenix Wright.
Why do we need Manfred to take away all that complexity and tragedy? That is such a waste!
#also Manfred didnât know who Phoenix was#even when they were opposing council he didnât recognize him outside of court#yes it's fine to bend canon when writing fanfic of course#but like it's so overdone and accepted as canon#just...guys there is so much angst and amazing character study RIGHT THERE#why do we need a villain to do something so petty when there's enough angst in canon characterization#god if i could write maybe I'd make a fanfic about this fhfhdh#feral yapping hours#manfred von karma#miles edgeworth#phoenix wright#wrightworth#narumitsu#ace attorney
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I wholeheartedly believe that the last thing that should be said in response to aspecs hating their identity is "don't worry! Aspecs can still do X, Y, and Z" and I'm so fucking serious about this.
The least helpful thing you can do to someone who have not accepted their aspec identity yet is give them ways to compensate for it. If an aspec person is upset over not being able to enter a romantic relationship, the last thing that should be done is to tell them they can still enter one or instead enter a QPR - not because that's not true but because that is quite literally going to stunt their ability to accept their aspec identity. Telling them they can instead enter a QPR when they're upset over the lack of romantic relationships is at MOST a bandaid for the main issue. Instead of them coming to accept their identity and accept who they are you have instead handed them an amatonormative alternative on a silver platter that allows them to pretend they still fit into amatonormativity without every deconstructing it. This is how we get QPRs getting shoved into an amatonormative framework - these people NEVER got over the "I'm sad that I'm aspec" phase because they were handed alternatives instead of given actual support in deconstructing their internalized aphobia, self hatred, and amatonormative biases.
#text#aspec#aro#aromantic#ace#asexual#aroace#I'm not saying that bringing up the fact that aspecs can still interact in certain ways to be Bad or Wrong btw#I'm not saying we shouldn't talk about how some aspecs have sex or some have partnerships or whatever#but more just that the only response to people complaining about certain issues shouldn't only be âOh but you can do xâ#someone who is mourning the fact they dont fit into amatonormativity shouldn't be told âoh but you can fit into amatonormativityâ#Like idk maybe there should be a discussion about how many people use favorability and partnering to avoid properly healing?#maybe there should be a discussion about how often people only accept aspec identities based on how closely they fit amatonormativity?#maybe there is a discussion about how other aspecs play into that and never actually leave their âsad to be aspecâ phase#the fact so many can only âacceptâ their aspec identity when they are told that they can still partake in amatonormativity#like idk i feel like discussions can be had here and i think these sorts of discussions need to be had#especially if we ever want to be on the same page when it comes to dismantling amatonormativity
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the older and weirder i get the more i'm beginning to realize that i was actually a very cool kid who had no shame or fear until i was taught that i'd be punished for it and everything since then has been a slow uphill battle to get that part of myself back
#đ#like man i was so unbullyable until i let myself be bullyable#not blaming myself because i was a kid but fuck i shouldve listened to the girl who told me i needed to stop caring#about what other people thought about me and being so desperate for their attention#she meant it in a horrible way because her point was that i was inherently unlikable and should accept that#but she was technically right she just had the wrong intentions
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"chilchuck isn't a twink, he's a DILF!" now i get why you're saying that but i feel like you've maybe forgotten what chilchuck tims canonically looks like
i'm sorry but this man is a twink. also DILF isn't a body type it's a status (and technically, an opinion) so he can be both
"but he's middle-aged!" look at him. look with your eyeballs. his age has nothing to do with the fact that he Looks Like That. he's a twink. the sooner you accept this the less angry his fandom will make you
edit bc this post has become the bane of my existence:
FAQ
Q: wtf do you mean he's a dad? he looks like a kid. A: he is 29 years old, and a half-foot. half-foots are dungeon meshi's halflings, or hobbits, or whatever you want to call them.
Q: wait, if he's 29, why the fuck are you calling him middle-aged? A: half-foots have an average lifespan of 50 years. chilchuck was originally drawn with grey hairs (you can see that in the manga fullbody) but the mangaka gave up on that over time. he's middle-aged for his race.
Q: hey, doesn't that look like a little angry face on his boot in the manga drawing? A: yea kinda
#as a proud member of the chilfucker fandom i think we should all accept his canon appearance even if we draw him way different#if you can only love him if he looks like a hobbit do you really love him at all?#by all means draw and think of him however sparks joy for you. but this is who he is in the manga and anime and you need to accept that#i love all chilchucks but i just love him in general. ideal man#chilchuck tims#tox.txt#edits made because the tags on this post are my villain origin story#i have now muted notifs!
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I'm ngl i kinda wish people wouldn't look at a character I create, see that they're mean, and then immediately assume by default they're actually super tragic and a sad woobie. And I'm not even saying this to be like "people need to appreciate 2-dimensional villains!" because I don't agree with those people either.
It's like if a character is a jerk, it either needs to be justified with a sad backstory, or they need to be a saturday morning cartoon villain. it can't just be a part of their personality.
#txt#like the amount of people who seem to think scylla is going to be revealed as this poor battered puppy who needs love is... a Lot#there's not much to really indicate it. its just expected for some reason.#and to be clear i do really enjoy both interpretations (if handled well).#i definitely think powers fits the former and luvart fits the latter.#but we gotta accept that sometimes a jerk character is just. a jerk. they may have their own reasonings for it. but it doesnt need to be#tragic or unfounded. sometimes people are assholes for cultural reasons or different views. whats cruel to us isnt cruel to them. etc
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Bingqiu roleswap where disciple Shen Yuan knows he's gay, and figures out that he has a big huge crush on his handsome Shizun, but also concludes nearly at once that he's not going to be drawing Luo Binghe's eye any time soon. Firstly, Luo Binghe is notoriously straight. Secondly, even if he weren't, he wouldn't go for his scrawny untalented nerd of a disciple! Shen Yuan's not bad looking, not before or after transmigrating, but he's neither a beautiful nor a hot manly man, and he assumes if Luo Binghe were into dudes he'd be into the same kinds of twunks that Shen Yuan likes. Guys on his own level, etc etc.
Plus Luo Binghe hated the original disciple Shen, and only started to warm up to the transmigrated version after Shen Yuan got injured in front of him trying to stop the other disciples on the peak from killing a small animal. For some reason, Luo Binghe brought Shen Yuan medicine. He got even nicer after Shen Yuan distracted the skinner demon by trying to convince it to take his skin instead of Luo Binghe's, and then again when Shen Yuan successfully fought off a demon invader -- though initially when Luo Binghe volunteered him for that job, he thought it was an assassination attempt. His heart was in his throat when Luo Binghe nearly took a poisoned blow for him, but luckily he reacted more quickly and got hit by the thorns instead. His heavenly demon blood took care of the poison, and he managed to convince everyone that he narrowly avoided getting cut at all.
Shen Yuan's careful not to read anything into it when Luo Binghe finds out about his, erm, uncomfortable dormitory situation and moves him into the side room, or when he completely messes up trying to make dinner and Luo Binghe takes over cooking and bans him from the kitchen (he swears he's not actually that bad at cooking, he just never had to use a kitchen without a microwave or an electric hot plate before...)
After all, it's not like Luo Binghe is cooking for him, he's just making food he likes and letting Shen Yuan eat it too! Because he's nice! He's way nicer than the book gave him credit for being, see, clearly Shen Yuan was correct in signing up for his defense squad, "top ten worst villains of all time" his ass that poll was nonsense...
Unfortunately, though, the plot's still gotta plot. Shen Yuan is heartbroken when the Immortal Alliance Conference rolls around and his shizun stabs him and throws him down into the Endless Abyss. Heartbroken, but not surprised. After all, it was always going to go this way, wasn't it?
But at least, now that it's done, he has some agency in how he reacts to it. He's changed the story enough that he doesn't need to go get revenge. Maybe Luo Binghe's still the villain of his story, maybe that was inevitable, but some heroes let the villains get away. Don't they? It's all part of that noble, breaking the cycle of abuse type stuff. He can be that kind of hero. He can let it go. As long as he avoids Luo Binghe altogether, it should be fine, right? It's not like he's obligated to turn people into human sticks. He asked the system, he's definitely not!
Technically he's not even required to conquer the demon realms. He just has to get out of the Abyss and the be sufficiently cool and/or tragic. Conquest is just one means of doing that, and not even Shen Yuan's preferred, since he doesn't exactly want to rule over anybody. Going around the demon realms beating up some jackasses and rescuing some damsels in distress and becoming sworn brothers with Shang Qinghua, one of the current demon kings, is suitable. He definitely doesn't want to marry any of the damsels he encounters (thank fuck the system lets him off the hook for that!)
But eventually he has to go back to the human world. Not only is it mandated by the system, but he also misses living there. The demonic realms are in many ways better than expected, plus a lot of the monsters are really cool, but he misses the weather and plants and the people he's more accustomed to being around.
He misses Qing Jing Peak, if he's being honest with himself. Shizun's cooking and the bamboo forest and the crisp mountain breezes, the comforts of home.
Not that he can actually go back there in specific. Of course not. If he did that, Luo Binghe would try to kill him, or else the system would try and make him kill Luo Binghe. Bad ideas all around. No, he can't go back to Qing Jing Peak, but he can go find someplace nicer than the demon realms at least. He just has to keep a low profile, which shouldn't be hard since the original goods did that even while actively scheming to kill his former master!
Except.
Everywhere he goes, suddenly Luo Binghe is also there?!
Good thing Shen Yuan thought to take a page out of the book of Luo Binghe's actual love interest, Liu Mingyan, and start wearing a veil. He just didn't want any randos who might have seen him at the Immortal Alliance Conference or on any of the other missions his shizun sent him on to recognize him. But one minute he's investigating a strange case in Jinlan City, and the next the streets are full of Huan Hua cultivators (Shen Yuan has no intention of joining them, that's the path the original took to getting revenge! He doesn't want revenge!), and then Luo Binghe and Sect Leader MBJ and Peak Lord SHL show up, and SY is ducking down alleys and hiding behind columns, just trying to stay out of the way until the lockdown on Jinlan lifts and he can leave.
Except...
Luo Binghe really isn't acting like himself?
He looks like he hasn't been eating or sleeping well. There are dark circles around his eyes, and something almost melancholy in his countenance. And he's dressed entirely in white, none of the usual Qing Jing greens and blues anywhere to be seen. Of even greater concern, he's being reckless. Shen Yuan can't stop himself from rushing out when he sees his former shizun get infected by a sower demon.
Luckily, it's been some years since the last time they saw one another. Shen Yuan's gained a few inches in height, so he's almost at eye-level with his old master now, and though he's still more slender than bulky he's picked up some totally new styles from training the demon realms. He doesn't move the same way he used to. With that, plus the veil, it's enough for him to quickly swallow back his words as he grabs Luo Binghe and quickly administers a cure for the sower infection.
Well, he has one of course. He wouldn't need it himself, heavenly demon blood and all, but his time running around playing hero in the demon realms meant he rescued a lot of humans from such fates. Which is hard to do if you don't have a cure to their afflictions, but between him and Shang Qinghua, sourcing such things was almost easy.
Luo Binghe looks at him like he's just seen a ghost. The other Cang Qiong sect members are alarmed by SY suddenly accosting one of their own and of course find him suspicious, so he runs away right after, and then he has to lose Sha Hualing's pursuit in the city.
But what else could he do? He manages to evade the system's attempts to railroad him into meeting Gongyi Xiao, avoids the rest of the Cang Qiong crowd, and drops some of the cure through the current Qian Cao peak lord's window to get the incident sorted out. Then he flees and puts a good amount of distance between himself, Jinlan City, and every righteous sect he can think of.
The only problem is that after this point, Luo Binghe is everywhere.
Any time Shen Yuan stays in one place for longer than a few days, Qing Jing disciples start turning up. Any time he takes a job hunting some cool-sounding monster or pursuing some interesting tome of knowledge, the better to satisfy the system, it seems like Luo Binghe has selected and gone after the exact same target! Which is especially annoying because back when SY was a disciple, Luo Binghe was always assigning him to do this stuff. Since when does his chronic homebody master have an interesting in six-tailed scorpion lemurs or ancient spiritual kilns?
What's weirder, though, are the rumors.
It seems like any time SY stops at some well-populated place and asks for the latest gossip, he has to hear about how the Qing Jing peak lord lost his beloved disciple during the Immortal Alliance Conference, and mourned like a widow, and now wanders the earth in search of solace for his grief. Seeking something, possibly even the ghost of his dear disciple.
What nonsense! Luo Binghe threw SY into the Abyss himself. He had to do it, it was the plot! And also his obligation as a righteous cultivator, confronted with a "dangerous" half-demon. Does it sting? Yes it stings! That's why SY wouldn't just forget it! Despite logically knowing it's pointless, is there some part of him that wishes his master would have chosen differently? That thinks he should have known that no matter what kind of power Shen Yuan had, he would never use it to hurt people recklessly, or harm innocents, or especially not harm... well. It's pointless, his blood condemned him, and if there is some part of Luo Binghe which regrets what happened, it's doubtless just that he unwittingly harbored a monster for so long.
Which is fine and Shen Yuan would leave it at that, if the guy would just let him!
But no. Instead he has to deal with Luo Binghe turning up and asking him questions, trying to get him to talk (SY has no hope of disguising his voice, if he says anything he's not even sure it won't crack as he comes perilously close to tears instead, so he just stays silent), and then asking for his name, asking if he's mute, asking about his background, his sect, his kin. Is his a righteous cultivator? Where did he get that sword? (NOT Xin Mo, thanks, he used that thing once and then tossed it back into the Abyss before the portal finished closing behind him -- he knows a poisoned chalice when he sees one, although knowing the plot twist about that sword from the novel sure helped.) Where did he learn those forms? Is he... does he have a safe place to go home to? Someone to tend his injuries? Make sure he eats his meals?
SY, of course, stays silent. But it's difficult. Not only because Luo Binghe asks, but because he still looks... bad. Sunken, sorrowful, desperate almost. Shen Yuan can't figure out if he knows or not. Maybe he's unsure, maybe he's looking for SY to give him a sign, so that he can figure him out and then flip a switch and try to finish the job he started.
That can't happen. If they fight, SY will win, and he doesn't want to hurt Luo Binghe.
But even if Luo Binghe's not a heavenly demon, he is a highly accomplished cultivator, and it seems he's got his own breaking points to reach. Eventually he corners SY and gets a hand on his veil, and for a moment SY is sure he's going to rip it off, see his face, and confront him all "I knew it was you, you twisted evil demon, you won't escape justice a second time" and he feels a deep, icy terror close around his lungs--
Luo Binghe lets go of the veil before he can lift it.
But then something even worse happens. Because Shen Yuan's handsome, peerless, noble master breaks down. He falls to his knees, begging forgiveness, sobbing, clutching at his head like he's being driven to madness.
It all spills out of him, then. How he pushed his own dearest disciple into the Abyss, which obviously SY already knew, but also how he was apparently qi-deviating the whole time, and his senses could not differentiate between one kind of demonic "threat" and another. How he realized what he'd done only after he regained his senses hours later, and rushed back to the place where the tear to the Abyss had opened, but could not find a way in after the one he lost. How he had betrayed and thrown away the only person who cared about him, and couldn't even explain that he hadn't intended to. How he would accept anything, any punishment, hatred, penance, or revenge, if only he could see his disciple's face once more.
SY is stunned.
Apparently, Luo Binghe hadn't rejected him for his demon blood?
Not only that, but beforehand, he seemed to have valued Shen Yuan a lot more than Shen Yuan would have credited.
Is it a trick? Is he lying? SY would have guessed so, would have assumed that Luo Binghe's plan was to lull him into complacency only to turn on him once he finally had confirmation. But somehow, he just... doesn't think this is an insincere display. His old master is too cool for this stuff! He has too much dignity to just throw it away on a scheme! There are other ways to get what he wants.
Even if it is a lie, Shen Yuan is tired of running. He's the hero. He won't actually lose, and if it comes to it, it's still in his hands to decide if he wants to spare Luo Binghe or not (he does, of course he does, even if this whole spiel is an act). Plus he's got a backup plant body in one of Shang Qinghua's greenhouses if all goes to shit.
He takes the veil off himself.
Luo Binghe, teary-eyed, stares at him as if his face is the most beautiful he's ever seen.
Shen Yuan nearly puts the veil back on. His cheeks heat up. Dear Shizun, aren't you an immortal master? A noble peak lord? Isn't it your calling to vanquish demons? Get up off the dirty ground right this minute! Where did your dignity go? Shen Yuan did not spend all those nights doing the laundry to watch his teacher dirty his knees for no good reason!
There's a quaver in Luo Binghe's voice as he points out that Shen Yuan was terrible at doing laundry. Luo Binghe had to redo it the day after, all the time.
Shen Yuan chides at him that he should have made one of the other disciples do it then.
Luo Binghe just laughs, and stays on the ground, until finally Shen Yuan has to physically pull him up. Muttering about how he's being ridiculous, what's he crying for, why's he been moping so much, doesn't he know that handsome face should never look so bereft? Then he realizes what he's saying and shuts his mouth, but Luo Binghe just looks happy for the first time in years. Since the Abyss. How is it possible that SY, who actually had to slog through that awful place, can still smile more than Luo Binghe, who didn't?
They're standing so close. Holding on to one another. Almost as if... as if the scene's tone is... well...
Oh what the hell!
Shen Yuan closes the last little bit of distance between them, and kisses Luo Binghe.
#svsss#scum villain's self saving system#bingqiu#long post#of course the plot probably interferes further then#turns out that while luo binghe was desperately trying to get sy back he accidentally woke up sy's father#who for this au let's say is sj instead of tlj#sj does NOT approve of this match and also hates all the righteous cultivators (and demons... and everyone mostly...)#but he is also busy trying to resurrect yqy or something#kidnaps sy like well I missed the chance to raise you and actually that's probably for the best but now I need your blood#for Reasons#luo binghe is not a fan of this turn of events#reverse holy mausoleum arc when SY is mostly unconscious except to sometimes throw out advice and LBH is dodging traps and villains#the pining-over-the-dead-shizun arc is probably AFTER the holy mausoleum and lbh self-destructs to rescue sy from sj's plans#sy refuses to accept this outcome he decided luo binghe was NOT to die he didn't need a redemption arc he was FINE sy DECIDED#but luckily they're in the holy mausoleum so sy grabs a resurrection artifact of some kind#has to spend a few years restoring and maintaining lbh's corpse before he can get the to actually work but it's fine#he's fine everything's fine he's GOING to get lbh back lbh is NOT ALLOWED TO DIE#luckily unhinged sy results in way less collateral damage than unhinged lbh#so mostly he just fights off mbj's attempts to honorably recover his shidi's body and offer him a proper burial#while camping out in the holy mausoleum and arguing with sj's detached body parts#y'know normal healthy behavior
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Wow Dale... There were miscalculations? And who made those miscalculations HMMMM???
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#fop#fairly oddparents#fop a new wish#fairly oddparents a new wish#fop nature au#dev dimmadome#dale dimmadome#fop dev#fop dale#art#digital art#fanart#comic#I am so addicted to making Dale squirm with the discomfort of his actions and then refuse to change or grow at all#The passive ass way he describes how Dev got hurt#No ''''I messed up'''' No direct apology just âMistakes were madeâ YEAH AND WHO MADE THOSE MISTAKES DALE#âthis is a correctionâ god on some level he is learning from his mistake. Trying to make it right but he is allergic to actually apologizin#And Dev will never get that closure he needs because he just CANT find it in himself to say SORRY#Dev finally snapping too... ough.#Years and years of accepting the most basic bare bones acknowledgment from Dale and he is Not having it anymore#God I hope the final page fucking kills you guys
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alhaitham and kaveh as 'friends' - full circle
kaveh lying and using âhis friendâ as a scapegoat for supposedly taking his plans is so um INTERESTING!! given his past references to Alhaitham, and that he was just talked with Alhaitham the scene before, this reads as a direct reference to Alhaitham, meaning that their relationship has come full circle from where we were initially introduced to kaveh
in the archon quest, paimon asks if Alhaitham and kaveh are friends, to which Alhaitham deflects, denoting a negative
but they are denied a friendship status definitively in alhaithamâs story quest where paimon directly asks kaveh if Alhaitham and he are friends, to which kaveh says although they used to be, they arenât any longer
the game has repeatedly shown that Alhaitham and kaveh possess a deep understanding of each other, only it is their miscommunication and inability to compromise that causes the rift between them. Their character design is based around mirrors, and this ultimately poses the question of whether the two can align their beliefs, whether they can achieve a harmony
overcoming this rift between them begins in a parade of providence, where kavehâs cycle of self-detriment in his excessive altruism due to his past guilt is particularly focussed on, with alhaithamâs reaction being saddened, and concerned, for kavehâs mindset â not because his beliefs or philosophies are âcorrectâ over kavehâs, but because of his belief that kavehâs mindset negatively impacts him
Alhaitham posits that the issues between them are no longer about the âcorrectnessâ of their respective philosophies after looking into sachinâs influence over kavehâs father, in order to potentially provide kaveh closer, insinuating a more personal reason for the rift between them
Itâs after this that a notable shift is seen in their dynamic, with cynoâs second story quest going out of its way to show a flashback in the intimacy of their home, and additionally showing the two voluntarily working together for the first time since their past, abandoned thesis
Their working together demonstrates this harmonisation of not only their personal, scholarly beliefs, but also their reconciliation as people, which can be seen in the twoâs closeness, where they previously were separated due to strife â a closeness that is commented on by other characters
In nahidaâs birthday event this intimacy is furthered even more, with kaveh wanting mehrak, an important helper companion, to be able to recognise alhaithamâs voice â as of now, this appears to be the only other person, besides himself, whom kaveh has programmed this feature for. Kavehâs regard for mehrak, established in this scene, then carries over to Alhaitham, demonstrating how kaveh perceives the importance of their bond (i yapped about this more here!)
Going back to kaveh indirectly referring to Alhaitham as his âfriendâ, where this was previously denied, shows a fulfilment Alhaitham and kavehâs narrative arc :âââ) I am so!?!?! Happy for them well done guys, you got there in the end <3
#haikaveh#kavetham#alhaitham#kaveh#genshin impact spoilers#FULL NARRATIVE ARC FULFILMENT!!!#its the way i simply dont believe this is real like we have overcome the angst era of haikaveh and now we are in the domestic era#i know we've just been fed but im HUNGRY?? i need more of them#theyve harmonised their opposing ideologies and theyve accepted who they are as individuals on a personal level... guys im so weak#i love them they make me ILL
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triple masterminds ?
#danganronpa#danganronpa thh#kiyotaka ishimaru#mondo owada#chihiro fujisaki#mastermind kiyotaka#mastermind mondo#mastermind chihiro#chishimondo#fanart#eyestrain#in my head taka and chihiro are the main masterminds while mondo is kinda along for the ride#maybe because of a promise he made to them at some point#idk i just wanted to draw a cool picture iâve not thought too much beyond that#mondos hair looks like battered fish i really need to figure out a better way to draw it#maybe i should just accept him as he is. chicken nugget wig and all
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hope you feel better soon!
I am riddled with ailments, but I stay silly!
#ask#non mdzs#My health journey has been: Hernia -> acid reflux -> Vocal pain due to aforementioned reflux -> chest infection.#I'm terrified to know what's about to hit me next. Please let it be something kind. PLEASE.#The consequence of living with linguists is that you'll wake up with a wacked up voice -#suddenly you're sitting you down in front of a program called something like Praat having your shimmer and jitter levels calibrated.#They gave me a GRBAS of 33012. I have a fun thing called a pitch break where a whole octave just does not exist.#My vocal pain was bad enough I ended up seeing a speech pathologist and that whole experience was super neat!#I learnt a lot about voice - to be honest I might make a little comic on it after some more research. Fascinating stuff.#For example; your mental perception of our voice modulates the muscles of the vocal folds and larynx.#meaning that when you do have changes (inflammation = more mass = lower frequency)#your brain automatically attempts to correct it to what it 'should sound like'. Leading to a lot more vocal strain and damage!#And it gets really interesting for trans voice care as well - because the mental perception of one's voice isn't based on an existing sampl#So a good chunk of trans voice training is also done with the idea of finding one's voice and retraining the brain to accept it. Neat!#Parkinsonial Voice also has this perception to musculature link! The perception is that they are talking at a loud/normal volume#but the actual voice is quite breathy and weak. So vocal training works on practicing putting more effort into the voice#and retraining the brain to accept the 'loud' voice as 'normal'.#Isn't the human body fascinating?#Anyhow; Now I have vocal exercises and strategies to reduce strain and promote healing.#Which is a lot better than my previous strategy of yelling AAAH in my car until my 'voice smoothed out'.#You can imagine the horror on the speech path's face. I am an informed creature now.#I'm my own little lab rat now. I love learning and researching. Welcome to my tag lab. Class is dismissed.#I'll be back later with a few more answered asks </3 despite everything I'm still going to work and I need the extra sleep.#Thank you for the well wishes! And if you read all of that info dump; thank you for that as well!
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