#and the complications are very real as well

[casualevan]

type in a real school district and start off super legit. Tell a long and complicated story about how the woke sjw dei mind virus ruined your kids that sounds plausible and end it with...

"and my mom got scared, and said "You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air" I begged and pleaded with her day after day, but she packed my suitcase and sent me on my way. She gave me a kiss and then she gave me my ticket. I put my Walkman on and said "I might as well kick it"

They will have read an entire ass book only to realize it was all a waste of time at the very last sentence.

Remember: the more difficult you make it for them to realize a report is false, the more useless you make the portal.

[moonyswolfie]

The Golden Snitch

A/N: This is the first time I write for Regulus so I'm still experimenting with his character, but I hope you enjoy this fic!

TW: heights, falling off the broom (if the second can be considered a trigger)

Pairing: Regulus Black x Gryffindor!reader

“AND JAMES POTTER SCORED YET ANOTHER GOAL FOR GRYFFINDOR! TAKE THAT, YOU-”

“MR. LUPIN! ONE MORE WORD –“

“Sorry, Professor!”

Remus Lupin filled in for the usual commentator on today’s match and to say that you were beyond entertained would be a gross understatement. The guy was clearly rooting for your House and kept making snide remarks regarding the Slytherin team, thus receiving constant glares and threats from Professor McGonagall that she would never let him out of detention again if he wasn’t going to take his role seriously.

But you knew that it was all bark, no bite. She was enjoying her House’s advantage just as much.

You shook your head and turned your attention back towards the Pitch, looking for the golden specks amongst your flying team mates and opponents. It was a tight match and everyone was on edge, constantly flying around, therefore making your job all the more complicated. And now that the cheeky ball flew lower, amongst the rest of the students…

There! Wait, how did it get…nevermind. The second you noticed the flickering, you went hot on its trail…

…but the Slytherin Seeker saw it as well and now you were flying shoulder to shoulder between the house stands and under the wooden structures, nearly avoiding getting impaled once or twice. The stubborn Snitch didn’t care to make your mission any easier. You stretched your hand, nearly touching its wings, but had to retract it a moment later due to a poorly aimed bludger.

“Oi! What the hell?! I’m on your side!”

You cursed Sirius under your breath, and he gave you a sheepish look and an apologetic smile. Of course you knew it wasn’t intentional, but the force of the ball could have cost you an arm and as you remembered from last time, mending bones takes a bit of time.

You shook your head and put your game face back on, but sadly, the Snitch was gone. You groaned in frustration and flew a few feet higher in order to get a better view of the Pitch. The score was tight, a 10 point advantage for the Gryffindors, but instead of comforting you, it only intensified the pressure you were already feeling all the way to your bones. 10 points meant that catching the Snitch was crucial and would determine not only the winner of today’s match, but also who would take home the Quidditch Cup.

Easy as pie, huh.

On the bright side though, Regulus Black, the Slytherin Seeker, was also distracted by his older brother’s terrible aim, thus losing sight of the golden ball. You took comfort in knowing you would not be on the receiving end of James’ anger tonight. Not yet, at least.

James Potter was a great captain, very determined and passionate, but he also had a very short fuse. And Quidditch has been a very sensitive topic over the past few weeks. The Cup meant a lot to him and you all knew that, hence why the entire team gave their very best today. No one wanted to disappoint him…or be yelled at for the foreseeable future.

“Careful, Y/L/N, or you might spend the night in the Hospital Wing.”

Regulus’ lazy drawl made your jaw clench and your heart beat faster, but your attention remained on the game. You knew what he was attempting to do and you were not going to fall for it, no matter how much your body was betraying you.

“Why, do you need company after Malfoy’s done with you for losing the game?”

He rolled his eyes and flew past you, heading in the direction of the Hufflepuff stands. You were just about to follow after him when a small glimmer caught the corner of your eye. It wasn’t very obvious and it wasn’t in a place you’d ever spotted the Snitch before, but you had nothing to lose by chasing it. Besides, you could not be sure whether he saw anything real or if he was simply trying to mess with your head.

It was not uncommon for the Seekers to play mind games with each other during the games. Distracting attention and sometimes directing it towards a false target was a technique each one of you learned on your first day of training. Of course, it was all within the limits and rules of the game and neither of you crossed any lines in order for it to be considered cheating or foul play. But you had to have your little fun every now and then.

It didn’t help that over the past three years since you’ve been playing against each other, you developed a little bit of a crush on the boy. You never told anyone, but James and Sirius caught on one day after practice when the Slytherin team entered the Pitch to practice right after you vacated it and your eyes lingered on their Seeker for a little too long. The teasing that followed since was enough to have you sit at the other end of the Gryffindor table at meal times just so you would avoid the two boys’ jokes and kissy noises.

Careful not to catch Regulus’ attention, you headed towards the Gryffindor stands, rushing past the Professors’ box and up the length of the gallery until the tip of the flag tickled your midsection. It was high, a lot higher than you were used to, especially when it involved strategy, however you were sure you could pull it off. You had to. Your whole team depended on you. Hell, your whole House was counting on you. Looking up, you caught the same glimmer from earlier, this time a lot closer, yet not as easy to reach without the other Seeker noticing you.

It was now or never.

You darted for the top of the Slytherin stands, but you weren’t as lucky as you hoped. Regulus was hot on your trail, zooming past startled students seated in the margins. He caught up to you easily, but you knew you could lose him. You took a very sharp corner to avoid accidentally kissing the flagpole, before turning the handle of your broom up. Looking back over your shoulder you watched the younger Black very narrowly avoiding the previously mentioned flagpole, yet stopping right next to it. He saw the Snitch, you had no doubt, but confusion took over your face when he didn’t follow further up. Did he not want to win the game? Did the Snitch move in the meantime?

And was that on his face..concern?

A glance up told you that the ball remained in the same spot as when you last saw it. Then why did he stop?

 You decided not to dwell on it for too long. You had a game to win after all.

Ten feet and you’d have it. Just a little bit higher…

“Where is she going?”

You faintly heard Remus’ voice over the wind and your now plugged ears from the extreme altitude.

Five feet…three…

There!

Your hand wrapped around the Golden Snitch as you came to an abrupt stop, panting but smiling wide. You did it, you actually did it. You stood there for a moment, frozen, taking in the little ball wrapped tightly between your fingers, the cold enveloping your body and making your teeth clatter violently. You were alone up here. It was quieter than below, on the Pitch, but that didn’t erase the sinking feeling in your stomach.

You knew you shouldn’t, everyone told you this on your first day of training. Hell, James made you repeat this one particular rule every single day before practice and twice before each match.

Do not go over the limit. And if you do, for the love of Merlin, do not look down!

But you did.

And you immediately regretted your action.

Judging by the clouds blocking your view of the Quidditch Pitch and the screams that turned to faint murmurs before they reached you, the limit was a distant memory. You had to be at least twenty feet over.

You gulped, briefly registering the bile rising in your throat. What were you supposed to do in these situations?

Right. Slowly make your way back, no speed, holding onto the broom tightly, and no looking down.

Unfortunately, you were terrible at following the rules.

Gripping the handle of your broom tightly, you slowly commanded it to descend. You made it past the clouds after what felt like an eternity, trembling, yet you could not tell whether it was from the cold or the dread enveloping you. You never had issues flying with only one hand on the broom, but then again, you didn’t usually fly high enough to see the stars from your Astronomy charts up close and personal.

The Pitch came back into view and your heart started beating again at an almost normal pace. Almost. There was still quite a distance between you and the top of the stands. If you could just…

The Snitch started flapping its wings inside your fist, trying to escape your iron grip and your focus evaporated. It managed to free itself, before you caught it again, but it was too late. The sudden movement jolted the broom and you lost your balance.

And now you were free falling.

Your could not tell whether your breathing turned erratic or stopped altogether. The wind was whipping at your face, people were screaming from below you, your broom remained airborne for some reason you could not think of right now and all you could do was close your eyes and hope against hope that you will survive this very likely fatal fall. You left your wand back in the changing rooms, a decision that you now regretted dearly as you could have at least attempted to cushion your landing if not slow or stop it from crushing you like a tomato.

You were starting to lose consciousness when you felt two strong arms catching and holding on to you tight, crushing you to a strong chest. Upon opening your eyes, you looked up only to be met with a pair of beautiful grey eyes.

“You didn’t let me die.”

Regulus laughed out loud at your sudden words, the rich sound wrapping around you and calming a portion of your already exhausted nerves.

“If you died, who would I gloat to about winning with my excellent Quidditch skills?”

Your body finally caught up with your mind, processing the fact that you were still alive, and not only that, but also safe and not at all hurt. Your heartbeat slowed to a normal rhythm and your trembling subsided a little bit.

You raised a brow, a bemused smile stretching over your face at Regulus’ words.

“Oh?” you raised the hand that was still clutching the Snitch “sorry to break it to you, Black, but you lost. I caught the Snitch, so I won.”

It was his turn to cock a brow, the rest of his expression neutral save for a small, almost imperceptible twitch of his mouth.

“And I caught you. So I think I won.”

He leaned in and placed the gentlest of kisses on your forehead, before flying down towards the entrance to the Pitch where Madame Pomfrey awaited to check on you and make sure the altitude or the fall did not affect your brain or your body.

This was going to be an interesting rest of the year.

[spirkbitch]

i’ve been attempting to understand for a while why i hate so much that a video of the january 6th insurrection was used in star trek, and aside from how much it confuses the timeline (eugenics wars in the 90s, nuclear winter in the early 21st century, but somehow all sorted out by 2016 and trump was elected president?), i think i’ve found part of my problem with it.

it just seems like an easy cop out to get ‘progressive points’, a quick way for the writers to show you where they stand, without even an attempt to fit it into the timeline in a way that makes sense.

my main issue is that star trek has, of course, always dealt with complicated issues, but it used to be so much more thought out. there used to be metaphors, allegories, explanations that actually made sense (though sometimes it wasn’t spelled out for you) . The Cloud Minders, Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (tos) and The High Ground (tng) are just a few episodes off the top of my head, that deal with similar, difficult, situations. Even episodes like A Private Little War, which clearly hasn’t aged well, was very obviously an allegory for proxy wars, a very real and pertinent issue at the time it came out.

but the thing is, you have to think between the lines to understand them, none of them are so heavy handed as to just directly show a video of a historical event just to say “hey guys this is bad”, like it was only put there to prove the point that the show runners don’t support that.

one issue this brings up for me is, while trying to find others that agree with me on this i just keep coming across the sentiment “politics shouldn’t be in star trek”. if you’ve managed to miss the politics this whole time then i regret to inform you that your skull may be made of lead.

it’s hard to discuss real opinions on a show when so much of the criticism is flooded with “it’s too woke!! why is there politics in star trek!!!”

star trek has always been an overwhelmingly progressive show, (accounting for the fact that it started in the 60s of course) but unfortunately a lot of people have managed to miss that, a lot of the progressive points have ‘aged out’ of the show, and no longer make the point they used to as clearly as they would have had you watched them when they came out. now it seems that writers are overcompensating to drive home the point that it’s a progressive show.

to people who missed how progressive it already was, this makes it look unnecessarily ‘woke’ and like it came out of nowhere, for the rest of us who were paying attention, it seems very heavy handed and like they’re trying too hard to achieve something that old trek did effortlessly.

[suzukiblu]

First, pls know I am screaming in delight at you writing think pink all month. It is my birthday month. Best gift.

Second, I got all caught up on "you're a real Katch" (I think I got that tag right?) and I need to ask (though obv you don't need to answer!) but I keep doing the reading version of peeking through my hands every time Match reminds me that Kara and Clark don't KNOW. So I need to know: do they realize? And if/when they do, do they treat Match kindly and accept him despite his deception? I'm a wimp when it comes to angst >_>

Ps. Thank you for the assurance about non-infidelity in the tim/kon xeno fic. I will happily keep following along and waiting for a wild boyfriend to appear.

well that is appropriate and amusing timing, lol.

In regards to Timkon xeno: yeah I just REALLY hate infidelity as, like . . . a thing in general, it just is SO unpleasant/unpalatable to me, so I figured I'd include that assurance to reassure anyone similarly-minded. Like, I might have written some stuff that edges into gray area "situationship unclear", but straight-up cheating on your committed partner in any situation that does not involve either amnesia, an abusive partner, being completely off your rock on sex pollen, or "presumed dead"? Please miss me with that, emotional betrayal on that level is just not a thing I can get into. Tim sober-mindedly cheating on Bernard is just not a thing I personally enjoy. And like, the only person who IS currently sex-pollen-esque compromised in that WIP is Kon, who just has a lot of complicated feelings about reality rewriting itself without him and is trying REAL HARD not to fuck shit up while also not thinking very clearly and having impulse-control issues.

Annnnnd in regards to "you're a real Katch": vague but still spoiler-ish response behind the cut.

Ninety percent of the angst that is/is going to occur in this fic is internal and based off Match having eight hundred billion shitty past experiences that were sometimes trauma-informed responses from a person who did not understand they were enough of a person to be traumatized and were sometimes inadvertently self-inflicted due to maladaptive coping mechanisms and were sometimes just the Agenda being fucking shitty, and the remaining ten percent is entirely accidental triggering of said trauma and not deliberate, like, CRUELTY on anyone else's part or anything. There is not at any point gonna be anyone being deliberately cruel, except MAYBE an upset/freaked-out Match lashing out at some point thanks to those maladaptive coping mechanisms, depending on how it writes.

[sydsliftingface]

Hey guys! Top surgery is really hard! I find a lot of people sort of skip over how difficult major surgery is to go through because of course it’s worth it but !!!!!! Please!!!!!!! If this is a process you are considering going through PLEASE do all of your prep and research and be very prepared to go through an ordeal fr. This is no joke.

[bobzora]

[wildstar25]

What physical part(s) of Arsay does her partners find the most attractive! Is it the same for all partners or does it differ between them?

(also optional bonus ask of what part(s) of/about Arsay generally do they love the most, physical or not!)

Meanwhile, if you were to ask the same of Arsay:

[zepskies]

So much angst in this one, right? 😅

the fact that this is how he sees their story, yet he's still chosen to be a dirty lying no good scoundrel really grinds my gears. like he needed to forget his name? I could smack him with a frying pan rapunzel style for the same effect lol

IKR? Piece of shit for real. lol I condone the Rapunzel treatment. 🍳

my immediate thought was well try harder 😭 and i did feel bad for a second, then I finished the chapter…i stand by my statement 😅

lolllll I don't blame you for that instinct honestly. He's not showing us that he deserved even an ounce of his wife saving his life and staying by his side.

so real lmaoo her inner conflict tugged at my heartstrings, i'm just glad she's giving herself some grace at least <3 it’s a difficult situation all around the flowers!!! 😩 oh dean :( and michael is truly a classic douche like sir you cannot just magically make it better with some flowers and dinner 🙂‍↔️🤚🏽

Haha Dean certainly gave her a reason to smile. 😏

Yeah she has to work through the complicated cobwebs of this situation in her mind and in her heart, poor thing. 💙 Same thing for Dean too with those flowers, especially when he runs into Michael. Exactly his point too! 😮‍💨

it’s bad enough he’s sleeping with a floozy on the regular but to take his wife’s money as well to fund that is actually beyond ballsy and insane. i hate them, justice for my girl fr 🫶🏽:(

RIGHT?! That would've sent me into contemplating murder loll.

ngl I had to put my phone down for a moment and yell into a pillow because dean, what the hell man 😩

LOL you kinda wanna choke the shit outta him, don't you? (not in the good way) 😝

oh dean, getting stabbed would’ve probably hurt less

lmfao facttts. Dean was not his best here, but yes at least he didn't let her stew in this misery and actually apologized and tried to comfort her, even if it was a bittersweet goodbye. 🥲

oh they’d work on me for sure 😭

Oh SAMe. 🥺

my heart aches, this chapter was so sad 😩 (not in a bad way!!🫶🏽) I feel for all three of them 😔🤍

I warned you guys about the heartbreak in this chapter. 🤭 I'm so sorry to do this to you, hun, but I promise there's a happy ending in store here 💙💙💙

ahhhhhh the cliffhanger! i’m guessing he found something illegal and/or dangerous 🤔 the preview is making me anxiousss, he better not hurt her! 😩

Big cliffhanger, again I'm so sorry! loll But you're getting very warm...

this was a wonderful chapter, very excited to see the drama unfold!!💗💗

Thank you so much, friend!! I'm very glad you enjoyed it despite all the heartbreak, but I can't wait to bring you guys the grand finale next week! 🥰💕

BETWEEN THE CITY & THE STARS - Part 4

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: In the fall of 1945, Dean is having a difficult time assimilating back into civilian life after the War. He’s visiting his brother Sam in New York City, where he’s beginning to build up his law firm. At two minutes to closing time, you interrupt their evening to solicit a solicitor. Your request? You need help in order to divorce your husband.

AN: Now we get into the aftermath of the night before, with all the insecurity and heartbreak to go along with it. 💙

Jacklesverse Bingo24 Prompt: Historical Epic

Song Inspo: “Danke Shoen” by Wayne Newton

Word Count: 4K

Tags/Warnings: Mentions of cheating, angsty angst, trauma/PTSD, and a cliffhanger…

✨ Series Masterlist

🎵 YouTube Playlist || Spotify Playlist

Part 4: Complicit

Sam would give Michael one thing. The guy damn well knew how to drink.

He didn’t stop all night, throwing back whiskey like it was cheap beer. His words began to slur, his movements sloppy, but he was still coherent. When he got up to visit the men’s restroom, Sam got up as well. Maybe he could get Michael talking.

Sam stopped the other man from tripping into the urinal. The two laughed it off, with Michael thanking him before he unzipped to finish his business. Sam did the same.

After washing their hands, Sam looked over and noticed Michael’s gaze lingering on his own reflection in the mirror. It was becoming a rough sight—his blonde hair no longer neatly coiffed, purplish rings under his eyes, the stench of alcohol clinging to his skin and clothing.

“You all right there, Milligan?” Sam asked.

Michael ran a hand over his face, sighing when it didn’t get any better.

“Fine,” he replied. “So, Winchester. What did you say you do for work again? Something about your own business?”

Sam nodded. “I started up a law firm.”

That much, he had to be honest about. It was all too easy for someone to look up his name in the directory.

“Sounds like a good outfit,” Michael said, with an incline of his head. “Every lawyer I know wears a Rolex.”

Sam chuckled, glancing down at his father’s watch. “Well, I’m not quite there yet.”

“Someday soon, I’m sure,” said Michael. He bumped Sam conspiringly on the shoulder.

“And you?” Sam asked. “What’s keeping the lights on at your place?”

Michael raised a hand to sort through his unruly hair, a dirtier blonde in this unflattering light.

“Well, you could say I’ve inherited a business of my own,” he said. “I run a meat packing plant down in the district.”

Sam’s attention piqued. There had been a meat rationing during the war, even some rumors and propaganda about “meatleggers,” black market operators.

“How’s it been with the rations?” Sam asked. “Been hard to even find a good carton of eggs lately.”

Michael gave him a slight smile. “Been on the turnaround, actually. I’ve been able to make some connections with vendors outside the city. A little grease on the palms makes a little go a long way, if you catch my drift.”

Sam slowly smiled and nodded. A little grease on the palms, huh?

“Do what you gotta do in the times, ‘s what I say,” Sam agreed.

Michael snorted. “Now you’re talkin’. That’s all we can do, you know. Try to make a thing work, with whatever scraps we get. Try to stay afloat.”

“Try to stay alive,” Sam rejoined.

Michael made a low sound of approval. He became more contemplative, crossing his arms as he once again glanced at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Sam’s gaze on the other man was perceptive, gaining ever closer to what seemed to be eating at the very core of him. Whether Sam actually believed what he was saying or not, each of his words was a test, a subtle nudge.

“You know,” Michael said. “I was shot down in France.”

Sam sobered further. Leaning against the counter, he retrieved two cigarettes and a lighter. He didn’t often smoke, but he thought it might keep the other man talking. He handed one over to Michael, and he took it gratefully. They lit up together and coiled musky tobacco smoke into the air.

“Where?” Sam asked.

Michael snorted, huffing a bit of smoke. “Lord knows. But when I woke up, I had stitches from here to here.”

He gestured to the back of his head, all the way to above his brow. It explained a small, but noticeable scar near his temple.

“And I had an angel standing over me,” he added, his eyes growing heavy. Guilty. “A bona fide angel. She’d stitched me up, she told me. She also told me I was lucky to be alive. The doc wanted to toe tag me and be done with it, but she thought I still had some fight left in me.”

Michael shook his head. “The next chance I got, I married her.”

Sam’s brows rose. He knew you had been a nurse, but he hadn’t known this part of your story.

“A wartime romance, huh?” he said. Michael quirked a smile.

“She was my anchor,” he said. “After it was all said and done, she followed me here, held my feet down to the ground. Sometimes she had to hammer me down, ya know.”

He hesitated, his eyes somewhat glazing over. He stared over Sam’s shoulder at something only he could see.

“But sometimes…sometimes an anchor just feels suffocating,” he said. “Sometimes, you need to forget your own damn name. Forget that your entire life and mortgage is in a warehouse that might as well be a freezer full a’ dead cow meat. And still, it smells a hell of a lot better than lying on a dirty cot—where the last guy who had your spot probably got his leg sawed off.” 

Michael considers the cigarette in his hand for a long while before he takes another puff.

Sam exhales smoke as well. He spent the last three years behind a desk, but he sees the same shaken core in Michael Milligan that he too often sees in his older brother.

“You know, Winchester, there’s two kinds of men,” Michael said, just a hint of a slur in his voice. “The ones who pray to live…and the ones who beg for it to be over.”

“And what kind of man are you now?” Sam asked. His tone was loose, but his gaze was sharp.

Michael snorted. He dabbed the butt of his cigarette on the inside of the sink before he threw it away.

“I’m the guy who can’t die,” he muttered.

He rolled his shoulders, as if to let the weight of his words and everything that came along with them to roll off his back. Then he pushed his way out of the bathroom, leaving Sam considering more than just half a cigarette.

That night after Dean left, you slept in the guest room instead of your bed. You couldn’t even bring yourself to sleep next to Michael when he stumbled in at four in the morning, especially now that you had seen his game with your own eyes. 

However, you also felt complicit yourself the next morning. You felt…ashamed. You took your vows seriously. You had never in your life thought you would be someone so brazen. You never thought you would dishonor your husband as well as yourself.

And yet. All while you got ready for work, hearing Michael’s snores from the other room, your mind was filled with warmth and memory—of Dean. His smile, his voice, his eyes, his lips, and of course, his hands. You couldn’t decide which of them was your favorite, but his hands were high on the list. 

You shouldn’t have let him in, you reminded yourself. You nibbled on your lower lip while you prepped the coffee maker. You should have told him goodnight at the door and saw him off. You should very well not have invited him up to the apartment, let alone drank with him, or let him touch you…

You paused while the sound of percolation and the smell of fresh coffee filled the kitchen. You looked up at yourself in the small mirror that hung on the wall. The woman looking back at you was conflicted at best.

Yes, you felt guilty. But at the same time, you didn’t. Was it really betraying your marriage if your husband had been doing far worse, and for God knew how long?

No. This wasn’t a marriage. This was a sham. A mockery of the very thing.

You frowned angrily and almost slammed the carafe on the counter when the coffee was done. Forcing yourself to take a few steadying breaths, you allowed that hate and anger to slowly drain out of you, and you smiled.

You marveled that you could smile at all, but it was only thanks to Dean Winchester.

What the hell am I doing?

Dean stared at the two bouquets of flowers. One was a bound bunch of red roses, the other was wildflowers and other colorful ones he didn’t know the names of. He was having a hard time deciding, namely because he didn’t know what kind of flowers you liked.

Because after all, he barely knew you.

He sighed down at the roses. They were pretty, but expensive. He could imagine your surprise, followed by your smile—the one that actually lit up your eyes and changed your whole face, made you sweeter, almost shy.

I’m buying flowers for a married woman.

The thought managed to make him pause, with a rough exhale of breath. The truth was, he’d crossed the line with you. More than once.

The hard part about it was, he didn’t really care. He did wonder if you cared.

He wondered if you’d be embarrassed to see him again. He wondered if you wanted to keep last night a memory, and nothing more. He wondered if he was better off booking his train home now, and leaving some kind of note for you with Sam. Dean didn’t think he wanted to see that look of mortification on your face, the whiskey finally cleared from your mind to see what he really was: a man with no job, no commitments, and very little prospects on the horizon.

“Ah, ‘scuse me,” a young man said from Dean’s left side.

“Oh, sorry,” Dean said, making way for the guy. He wasn’t quite as tall as Dean, lithe, blonde, and blue-eyed. He grabbed an arrangement of blue and yellow iris flowers from the case and took it up to the front. The florist seemed to recognize him.

“Oh, Michael! Been a while since I’ve seen you,” he said.

When the florist asked about you as well, the mention of your name rang between Dean’s ears. A feeling like inky claws raked through his chest; he raised his head from the roses and finally recognized Michael Milligan. He was the same man Dean had spotted in your wedding pictures hanging on the wall last night, right in the foyer.

“She’s all right,” Michael chuckled. “Truth be told, I’ve been working late this week. Hoping to surprise her tonight, take her out to dinner. Somewhere nice, you know.” 

“Oh, really? Why don’t you take her to that nice steakhouse off of Broadway…” the florist twittered on as he continued to ring up Michael’s order.

Anger and disgust prickled under Dean’s skin, his fists clenched at his sides. More than anything, he wanted to turn around and lay your husband out flat. If he thought one little bouquet and a Salisbury steak was going to wash him clean, then he was an idiot as well as a selfish bastard.

But Dean knew, deep down, that Michael would be just as justified to throw a swing right back at him.

So Dean left the flowers, the flower shop, and the entire busy street and all its blaring sounds behind.

During your lunch break, you quickly made the trek over to Sam’s office. He’d called you this morning with a story that only confirmed everything you’d inherently felt, and yet, some of it still managed to shock you. 

You didn’t even have the patience to wait until after work, but when you got there, he reassured you. It had taken him a few rounds of poker and discreetly following Michael and Dolores after they exited through the back of the club…but Sam had gotten the evidence not long after. They weren’t exactly discreet in the alley. Or in the nearby motel.

You had the envelope in hand filled with the pictures he’d developed from his camera.  

“You don’t have to look,” he advised. “I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“No, I want to see it,” you said. You took the pictures out, and your expression didn’t change as you look through them all. Each position captured was more compromising than the next between Michael and Dolores Daye. Apparently, he was paying most of her bills as well with your combined household funds. So part of your own money was financing his exploits.

“I’m sorry,” Sam said. He was sincere, with those hazel eyes of his.

You nodded and gave him back the envelope. “What’s next?”

“I went ahead and filed the petition. I’ll take this right to the clerk’s office myself.”

“How long will it take to be over?”

“As long as Michael plays along, should be quick. A few months at most, after he’s served the divorce papers and signs them,” Sam assured.

A few months? That wasn’t quick enough in your book, but you agreed with a nod. You got up from the chair opposite his desk. You hesitated there.

“Oh, I meant to ask…how’s your brother?” you said.

Sam began to smile, but he tempered it. “He just called before you came in. He let me know he was stepping out for a walk.”

“Oh, really? Did he happen to say where?”

You not only found Dean in Central Park, but close to the very same bench you two had sat on yesterday and talked the night away. He was surprised, but he smiled when he saw you. Your pace quickened, until you were hastening over to him. He welcomed you into his arms. He bent his head towards yours, stopping just shy of kissing you. Instead, he pressed his forehead to yours for a moment.

“Well, look who’s here?” he teased. “How’d you find me?”

“I stopped by Sam’s office,” you said, holding onto the lapels of his coat. A cold November wind pushed at you both, ruffling your clothes. “The paperwork is on its way. Soon enough, I won’t be a married woman anymore.”

He tucked a wild strand of hair behind your ear and smiled, but it didn’t altogether reach his eyes.

“How soon is soon?” he asked.

“A few months, according to your brother.”

Dean nodded, taking a deep breath. “That’s good…but, I need to head home for a little while.”

That made you pause, tilting your head in confusion. Though you supposed it made sense. He was only here visiting his brother. He was planning on going home eventually.

But surely, that was before we… You lowered your gaze.

“Back to Lawrence?” you asked. Again, he nodded.

“I need to take care of some things, figure out my next move,” he said.

You pulled away from him to brace yourself, and not just against the cold. “Well, when will you be back?” 

He stayed quiet, worrying you even more. There was a deep pit forming in your stomach, churning with unease.  

“Dean?” you prodded.

He stepped back in to grasp your arms gently.

“Sweetheart…the truth is, I don’t have much to offer you,” he said. “I don’t have a business to inherit from my folks. I don’t even have a job. I’m a man who was about as useful as a jackhammer, until the war ended.”

You frowned, resting a hand against his chest. “Dean Winchester, that’s not all there is to you.”

“Really. When did you figure that one out, in the whole week you’ve known me?” he asked. It was harsher than he meant to be, but he couldn’t help the words that were spilling out of his mouth. “Didn’t that get you in trouble the first time? I’d a thought you would’ve learned your lesson by now.”

You snatched your hand back, hurt filling your eyes. You turned to walk away before he saw your tears. You should have known. You should have known a man like him would never be serious. Not about you. 

As soon as he let the words go, Dean realized what he was doing. Yeah, he was frustrated, but it wasn’t aimed at you. It couldn’t be aimed at you.

God knew he didn’t want to hurt you, or for you to hate him. He really couldn’t stomach either thought, so he relented and reached out to grab at your hand, before you could get too far. 

“Wait,” he said, managing to pull you back to him. “I’m sorry.”

You tugged your hand to try and free yourself from his grasp. 

“You know what, maybe you’re right,” you said, your voice wobbling with anger, dismay, and tears. “Maybe I ought to stop letting a man get even an inch into my heart. At this point, it’s my own fault.”

“Stop,” Dean demanded. “No, it’s not.” 

He pulled you back into him, but you looked away from his imploring gaze. Your breaths grew shallow while you tried in vain to stop yourself from crying. It damn well broke his heart.

“It’s not your fault. I’m just an idiot,” He cupped your cheeks and wiped your tears as they fell. “But you…you deserve to be happy. With a man that can take care of you, protect you. A man who has a little more of his life figured out.”

“You’re just saying that so you have an excuse for toying with me. So you can keep chasing skirts,” you said, pushing at his chest. “Yes, your brother told me about all your little exploits.”

Dean took the blow, both proverbial and physical, with a raise of his brows. He guessed he couldn’t blame you for that one. Still, the disdain behind your words stung. He allowed you to break free of him.

You stepped back and straightened your clothes. You took in a deep breath that did nothing to calm you, and you uttered a humorless laugh.

“I suppose it makes sense. Why would you want anything to do with me?” You gestured down at yourself with a dismissive hand. “A-a walking mess. Even when I am divorced, that’s how people will see me. Damaged goods. I don’t even know how I’m gonna tell my parents.”

You covered your face against Dean and the rest of the world, and after weeks and months, you finally allowed yourself the one thing you hadn’t since your first inkling that your husband was being unfaithful. You finally allowed yourself to break.

The first sob shuddered through your body, followed by hot tears. You squeezed your eyes against them and wiped at your face in vain.

Dean broke too, in his own way. He gathered you into his arms, where he shushed you gently and pressed a kiss to your forehead. 

“I wasn’t giving you an excuse,” he said.

Despite how much you wanted to push him away, the deep, steady timbre of his voice pierced you and soothed you at the same time.

“I meant every word I said. I may not be the right guy for you, but don’t you dare take a scrap of what anyone else might say, you hear me?” he said firmly. “You’re beautiful. You don’t suffer fools like me, and you’re better than that sad sack excuse of a man deserves.”

You looked up at him with watery eyes.

“You’re a lot of things, Dean Winchester, but you’re not a fool.”

He shook his head, not wanting to argue with you anymore. He just kissed you, deeply, thoroughly, the way you always imagined a kiss should be.

Except that you realized…this was goodbye. So you took advantage of every second of it.

You met him with as much as he gave and reached up to touch his cheek. It felt a little rough under your fingers, just like you remembered. You would probably always remember that feeling, long after you left the park.

That evening, you packed as many bags as you could. You put together the savings you’d been collecting for a few months. It had been at your coworker Jess’s advice, ever since you started feeling the inkling that something wasn’t right in your marriage.

After you were all packed, you took one last, long look at the space you had tried to make your home. With one last tear trailing your cheek, you stepped out of the apartment. You took the bus uptown, where you later checked into a hotel. 

When your husband finally got home from work, he would find a one-page letter written in your own hand. 

For once, Sam was actually home in his apartment. He was helping Dean take his suitcase to the front door after calling a taxi to come shortly. Sam wasn’t happy about it though.

“You don’t have to go so soon, Dean,” said Sam.

Dean gave a humorless laugh. He grabbed his coat from the rack and threw it on.

“I’ve gotta get back to the house. It’s already been empty too long,” he said. Three years too long. “Fact is, I’m just getting in your way here.”

He couldn’t quite meet Sam’s eyes as he went to the door, but Sam stopped him with a pressing hand on his arm, tugging him back.

“Hey,” Sam said, his brows furrowed. “That’s not true. Where’d you get that idea?”

Dean raised his brows. “You mean the way you’ve haven’t been home more than a few hours a night? The way the only time I see you is if I go find you at that office. You should open up a Bed n’ Breakfast there. You’d make a double killing in this town.”

Sam wilted. “Dean, we opened the firm barely a month ago. I’m just trying to—”

Dean laid a hand on his shoulder, relenting.

“Hey, look. I’m not judging you, Sammy. I’m not,” he said. “You’re building something. I know that. I just need to go figure out how to do the same, whatever that means for me.”

Sam stared back at him, still with that frown. His guilt and reluctance to see Dean go was reflected in his eyes; those sad puppy dog eyes that used to get him out of almost any punishment with their parents when the boys were young. Before.

The corner of Dean’s mouth kicked up into a smirk.

“Don’t worry. I’ll see you again soon,” he said.

“How soon is soon?” Sam asked. It was something their mother used to say to John whenever he called late, promising he’d come home after long days in town buying supplies for the farm.

“The divorce papers will be served to Michael Milligan,” Sam added, pointedly raising his brows. “She…could use your support.”

Dean’s smile faded at the mention of you. His hand slipped from Sam’s shoulder.

“She’s got a strong head on her shoulders. She’ll be all right,” he said. He heard the honk of the taxi outside. He grabbed up his hat, set it on his head, and took up his bags. He turned back to Sam at the last moment. “I’m sure you’ll look out for her.”

It was somehow both a question, and an imploring charge. Sam sighed, but he nodded in agreement. His brother could be so very stubborn. Once he got an idea of what he thought he needed to do, there was almost no talking him out of it.

Sam opened the door for him and walked him out to the car, helping him with his bags. Before Dean could get into the cab, Sam stopped him. Their gazes met, but in that moment, no words were needed.

They pulled one another into a firm hug.

I’m sorry. I should’ve been there more for you.

Don’t worry about it. It’s already forgotten.

Dean released him first with a smile, and a heavy pat of Sam’s shoulder. He turned and climbed into the cab’s backseat. Afterwards, Sam watched the yellow cab take his brother away to the train station, feeling a weight in his heart that wouldn’t subside.

He would never know that Dean felt exactly the same way. Except that impossible weight felt a lot like your hand, gently laid over his heart.

Dean took up his suitcase as the train pulled into the station. He stepped up onto the platform and retrieved the ticket from his pocket, but he paused, hearing a familiar voice shouting his name.

He turned his head and saw Sam rushing to meet him at the platform.

“What’s the matter? What’re you doing here?” Dean asked in surprise. He didn’t like the wary apprehension written across Sam’s face.

“I just took a closer look at Milligan’s finances,” he said. “Before you go, there’s something you might want to know.”

AN: Come on, we needed at least one cliffhanger in this series! 😘 What do you think Sam rushed over to tell Dean? What did you think about their "goodbye," as well as her and Dean's goodbye? ...And are you ready for all the drama that's about to go down? lol 

Next Time:

Except the loud, insistent knock on the door broke you out of your thoughts. Straightening up with a frown, you set down your glass and went over to the door. Maybe it was Housekeeping coming up to bring you the fresh towels you asked for. The ones that had been laid out in the bathroom smelled musty.

You opened the door to a tall frame taking up room in the doorway. It was Michael, standing there both disheveled and steaming mad. He held your letter crumpled in his left hand. 

“Michael, what—what’re you doing here?” you gasped and stepped back. He followed you inside the room and slammed it shut. He looked around at your open suitcases in disbelief, then finally at you.

“What’s this supposed to mean, huh?” he demanded to know. He shook the flimsy piece of paper at you.

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[dayurno]

if you have Thea hcs

pls share

we are so strapped for her content

YES here are a few random ones

- i believe in thea big sister realness……. i think she has a younger sister around neil’s/jean’s age that she grew a bit apart from during her time in the nest. thea is 6 years older and spent most of her sister’s growing years away from the family entirely; there are awkward missteps and thea missed quite a lot in the pursuit of exy. that being said, they are going to be sisters forever and they have all the time in the world to get along again, which they eventually will

- in the same vein i think thea’s relationship with her parents is a little wonky. i hc her as very suburban & upper middle class, and before exy she used to actually be a gymnastics champion from ages 5-14. she quit gymnastics against her parents wishes to play exy, and then cut contact with them for the entirety of her college years, so they (and her mother specially) are not at all fond of the sport. thea’s sister is still doing gymnastics though!

- i believe…. i really do believe…… that thea is a paramore fan……. i think she was first of all emo in highschool because she grew up in a very predominantly white community and the emo kids were the most willing to hang out with her because they were all social outcasts, so she absorbed their music taste and never quite let go of it even as she grew older. paramore debuted in 2004 which is i believe thea’s first year in the pros post-college, so she got into them and never looked back

- she really really really likes it in houston. i think the nest was very brutal and shocking to thea in many ways and she had no idea how to navigate the sudden isolation of being a raven, so being out of it and in the pros feels like a breath of fresh air to her immediately. i think she quite enjoys living alone and going to bars and indulging her teammates sometimes, so long as it doesn’t get in the way of exy. she’s not very outgoing but she is known to be a good conversationalist among her teammates :)

- she wants to travel a lot……! i keep going back to her dream of climbing mount kilimanjaro and i think she really wants to see the world. thea’s whole life has been very small: first she lived in a gated community as the overachieving eldest daughter, then she got into the ravens and lost almost all her freedom, and then she was contractually obliged to stay in texas for all of the exy season. thea’s been curious about the world outside for as long as she’s been alive and i think that’s part of why her and kevin had so much to talk about even through notes — she’s fascinated by the places he’s been to. it’s also why she’s so interested in jean too, i think! take my girl to france……………

- she’s indeed Very scared of growing older. thea’s around 25 at the point of canon and she is already scared of falling off and being left behind career-wise; time goes by fast and she’s all too aware of how little of it she has and how many more things she wants to do with her life. she’s a big personality like that to me…! she’s been telling people she’d be a star athlete ever since she could speak and now that she’s achieved that there is still. so much left to do. so many places to see. so much work still! thea is very ambitious & likewise very scared of not fulfilling her dreams

[symphonicsoul]

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ There's a sigh and a bit of a tip of his head at the question as his lips tug down into a small frown.

"No, you were right. Kumo is a nickname. Some of our friends gave it to him, it means Cloud in their language. Makenshi is a bit of a complicated name too but it is also not his real name. His name is White Cloud. Translated of course. I don't speak his language so I don't know how to say it in his tongue but the translation of it is White Cloud. That's the closest I can give you and -

- That's what Kaze calls him. Ah -" He pauses as he sets himself up straight and raises his hand above his head.

"Kaze is an extremely tall man with dark skin and red hair. Kumo calls him by his full name. His name is Black Wind, but we just call them Kaze and Kumo instead. They don't seem to mind. Kumo is very fond of the name actually. I'm sure he won't mind if you use it."

He's shifting again as he moves to get himself up off the floor, so he can organize some of his tools on the counter while he waits for the Misterican to return.

"Kumo is a bit of an odd man. He's not human, for starters. He's what's called a Misterican and far as we know there's only him and his family that's here left. We haven't found anyone else yet. He has a bad habit of over-extending himself and speaking when something is harmless.

Like calling you out. He doesn't mean any harm by it. It's just common in his culture to do that kind of thing I assume. He's painfully honest and he has a good heart - he's just - guarded. He was in a really bad situation until a couple years ago. He's been in Wonderland for a really long time but he hasn't been with us more than a couple years.

His execution isn't always the best but he has good intentions I promise. You can ask him about anything in the whole of Wonderland and he's the one that will give you a straight answer. He's bit older than me so he's seen parts of Wonderland I've never even been too. So if there's anything you want to know, I'm happy to help how I can but Kumo knows Wonderland extremely well. He's been here a little more than half his life at this point."

Ling can't help but flinch a bit at Makenshi's voice, not having noticed him come back. He wants to glare at him for calling him out on his lie. Did he have to say that? He couldn't pretend to be innocent and not say anything? How did he even know?

He doesn't miss the way Cid says Makenshi's name and the guilty look on the other's face. What's he supposed to take from that? Was Makenshi a lie and Kumo his real name? So why is he being called out on lying if...Damn it all. He has no idea what to think.

Ling sighs quietly and takes the orange and crackers from Cid. He goes slow at first as a precaution. He doesn't want to throw this up later if he has another-

He pauses at Cid's request for Makenshi-Kumo to get Edward and Kain. He's gone before Ling can even ask if he can go too, to get out of the doctor's office, to see Ed as soon as possible. His safety.

Then his mind does a complete 180 and doubts creep up on him. What if this is all a trick? The request to get people Ling knows could just be something to placate him so Cid can get his hands all over him.

He groans and goes back to his orange and crackers, trying to push those thoughts away and focus on what Cid is telling him. Something about Makenshi-Kumo having hypersensitive hearing. It explains how he knew about the lie, although he still doesn't appreciate being called out. He'll have to be more careful in the future.

Part of him wants to ask if what's going on is a trick while they're waiting, but if it is a trick, the doctor won't tell him that. He wants to ask if he can sleep soon too, but there's something else nagging him.

"What's the story with Makenshi, doctor? Is that not his real name? When you called him Kumo, I thought that might have been a nickname of some sort. Was I wrong in my assumption?"

[anghraine]

I honestly feel a lot better about having posted anything at AO3, even things I won't finish, and there's something that warms my heart about posting fic for The Borgias in 2024.

I was actually deciding between two different WIPs to represent that "phase" between my undergrad years and grad school. The other one was the prologue to a Legend of Korra/Star Wars fusion in which Noatak/Amon is Korra's father and this is revealed in S1 (I think it was going to be Tarrlok who figures it out first, lol) and it actually affects the plot and it isn't just the LOK canon plot with minor adjustments—the fusion with SW was meant to be more than vague I-am-your-father inspiration. In any case, I only ever wrote the prologue about the Noatak/Senna quasi-romance that led to Korra's existence and never even got to the sheer comedy of Korra as Tarrlok's niece :(

But the Juan and Lucrezia as dysfunctional twins one-shot is closer to being a whole fic (in a side-story way) and I did like being able to add one more to my Borgias oeuvre—and getting at least some part of that AU on AO3 after all the time I spent on it!

[emile-hides]

Hi I'm the one who requested the Jancy caregiver and tbh the fact that Rosé and Grandma were already there is what gave me the courage to send mine <3 so thank you! And you're so right about both of them btw

I'M SO GLAD I SENT THOSE REQUESTS IN!!!!!!!! Just knowing there's another Agere Drawtective out there brings me so much joy <3

And no one asked but here's the full rundown on my Drawtectives Agere headcanons:

Rosé was the one who got them all into it and explained it to them. She's a Younger Teen/Big Sister regressor, specifically around 14 years old most times. She likes to treat York as a baby brother when she's regressed and do his hair and nails, and he just lets her. She doesn't really need a caregiver and did fine on her own for years, until she met Jancy and completely changed her mind she loves her cranky aloof mom <3

York doesn't get it but he doesn't need to get it to engage with Agere. He himself probably qualifies as a Little Brother Dreamer. He doesn't mentally regress, but he likes acting as Rosé's baby brother and finds a lot of comfort in not being expected to talk or read when she's regressed. He's yet to make the connection between finding comfort in these activities and missing his real older brother.

Grendan falls into that grey area between Pet Regressors and Therian/Otherkin types. She's not a puppy like most Pet Regressors, he's more of an Old Dog type. The kinda dog that just lays there while you poke at it and tie it's fur in ponytails, the perfect babysitter type dog. So Grenda is both a Therian Companion Caregiver and a Pet Regressor at the same time.

The three of them only ever regress together, usually Rosé is the trigger, getting caught up in old habits or silly teen girly things and dragging the other two in with her. Their favorite place to regress is their shared apartment and Jancy's office (when Rosé doesn't have work to be doing of course)

Jancy is super observant and obviously knows the difference when the trio have regressed, but she barely treats them any different. She finds Rosé likes praise and showing off York, so she'll applaud at whatever weird hairstyle she's done for him and compliment her work, but the other two are perfectly fine with the normal way she speaks to them. Probably because Jancy is the type to speak to a baby and a dog like one would a police officer at a crime scene.

Eugene is the only one I can't figure out, I feel like he'd get the most out of regression, and sense he's their son I feel like the crew caregiving for a really tiny Genie would be very cute, but I dunno it doesn't click in my head. Maybe he just doesn't know about Agere yet, or that it happens to him. He's just unaware about himself in a lot of aspects.

I think Caregiver Felix would be very cute though...

[vaguely-concerned]

when I'm done with this playthrough I'm making a compilation of '*tender yet gently exasperated/concerned and helpless rye voice* taash...' b/c it's something that is actually so personal. to me. he just says their name in such a Way that he doesn't with anyone else

[junemary]

Fengcui are ridiculous. They're fully making out at this point but they REFUSE to acknowledge it out of pure spite they NEED to get the upper hand the other one must be the one to confess first!!!! Can you imagine? Sticking you tongue 5 inches down someone else's throat and still have the guts to say to THEIR FACE that they're coming onto you and you don't get it- have they fallen for you? Ooh how interesting, maybe elaborate on that? No? Well fuck you then. And then they do it again. And then they sacrifice themselves for each other MULTIPLE TIMES. Only to share the most disgustingly sweet romance that is CLEAR to everyone around them yet it remains!!!! Unspoken!!!! Even to each other!!!!

[jull-reblogs]

I’m glad you’re looking forward to my replies :D

Putting it on the sign in Port Bordemer would make sense!

I get you, learning about other cultures is fascinating! And I’m happy to help with French. I can see how learning about your origins came as a surprise to you, I guess it can change your perspective ^^

This Snapper Marrondine sounds like something I’d like to taste, I love chestnuts too! But I guess almond trees could also grow in the south of Hyrule, maybe somewhere around Gerudo Desert. The Gerudo could use them to make typical oriental pastries.

Haha don’t worry, I understand that it can be difficult to keep track of all the changes I’m making in my rewrite. I guess it’s easier when you pretend that TotK doesn’t exist (and I’ve gotten very good at that 😇).

Well, to me if the Hylians were so defenseless the Yiga would have had no trouble taking over Hyrule before Link woke up. So either they were not that interested in attacking Hylian settlements, they couldn’t for some reason, or the Hylians were able to defend themselves. So why would the Yiga be in a better position to threaten Hyrule now that Link has greatly weakened them and Calamity Ganon is defeated? 

That’s why I think the Yiga are more likely to hide and lick their wounds after BotW than to start attacking again, and they probably won’t show much of themselves before Ganondorf returns. Link/the Sheikah are also likely to give them chase after BotW. And how many are they, anyway? Link probably killed quite a few of them already (even though the game always showed them teleporting away), and I found their numbers a bit ridiculous in TotK compared to the amount of NPCs. They’re like one quarter of Hyrule’s population 😆

As for the monsters, in my understanding they should disappear for the most part after Calamity Ganon is dealt with, and then return with Ganondorf.

About the size of the Hylian population, it is extremely low in BotW but I assume that the game doesn’t show us the total population that survived the Calamity, otherwise the numbers would be quite ridiculous. If Hyrule was a real medieval European kingdom its population could be up to a few millions before the Calamity, so even if 90 % of the Hylians died or fled the kingdom (and that’s huge!!) we would still have a few 100 000 survivors. I guess it would make a lot of things possible when it comes to rebuilding Hyrule.

But BotW only shows us a few hundred NPCs and I understand that doubling or tripling that number without an explanation might not be a very elegant solution (even though that wouldn’t have bothered me had it happened in TotK). That’s why I’ll have Hylians returning from exile as an excuse to introduce new characters and make the rebuilding effort more plausible (though of course it would take some time for these people to arrive). And yes, I want the other races to help ^^

A tavern would be a good option, or a place like the underground shelter in Lookout Landing. I guess it will depend on the importance of these characters and their associated side quests. And yes I was planning to use the quarry and have Mabe rebuilt! Though most of the buildings would be timber-framed as stone would mostly be used for the cathedral, the city walls, the castle, or military buildings. 

To be honest I’m mostly working on ancient Hyrule and Zelda’s quest in the past at the moment (and it’s a bit complicated haha), and then once I’ll be done I’ll move to present Hyrule. As of now I have a few ideas but it’s not very detailed yet.

I was only saying the masks look weird on Hylians, I know they are of Mesoamerican influence (sorry about that). They’re just not what I expected at all. And I don’t know, they don’t even look Zonai to me. Like I don’t see Rauru wearing something like that, but maybe that’s just me? 

Haha your interpretation makes sense, I hadn’t thought about the role reversal. But even without it I too disagree with the whole colonizing/imperialism discourse. Sure I found that TotK’s story was handled in a very clumsy way and Rauru asking another king to join his kingdom is quite condescending, but I guess the intent was to depict him as a benevolent godlike being trying to unify the different tribes and to offer his protection. There’s no evidence that he used violence against any of the tribes or would have done so against the Gerudo had they kept rejecting him (in fact Rauru is the one defending against Ganondorf). The tribes accepted his rule because they believed he was a descended from the gods. 

I’m not saying this is a good story and I can see why people dislike it (I do too). I just don’t think Rauru is the monster some fans are claiming he is, and that TotK Ganondorf is a victim of oppression.

I read somewhere that Ganondorf was inspired by Acala/Fudō Myōō (I had forgotten the name and it took me some time to find it again haha). Is that the mythological being you were referring to?

Well yes in my version the ancient Sheikah would have a design closer to SS Impa ^^ And you’re right about her still being alive 😉 At first I was hesitant about including her because I wanted to avoid having two characters named Impa/two versions of her in the same story, but her presence makes so much sense that I had to. She plays a very important role in my timeline and it makes things easier if Flora can meet her instead of only hearing about her.

You’re right I don’t consider the amiibo weapons to be canon, and I never bought the other items from the Bargainers except for the Depths Set and the Dark Link one (I find enough Bomb Flowers and all on my own haha). So yeah I didn’t care much for them, but maybe that comes with my general lack of interest for the Depths. But what you’re saying about the Sheikah would have made things more interesting! I wish Josha would uncover that kind of lore about the statues.

I agree, I was expecting a Sheikah to take after Mineru and become the Sage of Spirit (but I thought Purah would be the Sage rather than Paya). Though I would also have loved to see a Shadow Temple in the Depths, it would have been so perfect.

Oh you’re right the Miner’s Set could be shaped for a Mogma’s head! And that fits perfectly with what I’m doing 😇

Now to be honest I’m not planning to include the Depths in my version. There will be an underground map with galleries and settlements built by the Mogma, but not this entire reversed Hyrule with Light Roots and everything else. So I didn’t plan on keeping the Bargainers either but I’ll see if I can do something with them ^^

About the Fishmen I checked the Japanese text to see which of the two translations is the most faithful:

過去に赤獅子の王に世話になったらしく [Link]に情報を流し協力する ただし、的外れな情報が多い 万年、肩こりで悩んでいるが 肩こりは、肩を冷やしたらいけないことを 知らないようだ

As I expected I can’t tell if it’s plural or singular, that’s up to interpretation. The part about the cold is present in the original but if I’m not mistaken there’s nothing about old age, 万年 means something like for a very long time/for eternity.

Haha yes I remember reading about that Spanish name for the Fishman somewhere, it’s quite funny. I think Poiscom and Neptunos could be actual names as well, but it’s really ambiguous. The German Neptunos is especially interesting to me, it’s similar to Zephos and Cyclos (they have the same names in German).

I don’t know about keeping Heroes away from the Master Sword, the Links always find it at the right time and no one could have taken it before Wind anyway. To me it makes more sense that the sword was hidden from Ganondorf himself. He can’t take it from the pedestal but he could try to destroy it/undo the seal, as he was trying to do by killing the Sages.

I was talking about the monsters that live on the Great Sea and threaten the Hylians rather than the ones frozen in the castle ^^ If “the gods” could make sure that the Zora wouldn’t be able to live in their magic waters, it would have made sense for them to do the same with the monsters if they wanted to protect their people. But maybe you’re right and “the gods” couldn’t do so because the monsters are made of magic, I don’t know.

But I wonder if the Zora (or a Hylian wearing a Zora tunic) could really reach Hyrule if they dove to the bottom of the sea, I was always under the impression that there was a magical barrier of some sort. Hyrule only gets truly flooded after the King’s wish on the Triforce, and Hyrule Castle has pools and waterfalls which shouldn’t be possible underwater. Link is also moving around just fine. It’s as if the kingdom was under a dome (or maybe the castle only), and to me it doesn’t look like the Zora could reach it just by swimming. 

Wind sure drowns quickly but he has the exact same stamina in fresh water. I can’t remember if the water in Forest Haven is deep enough to swim but on Dragon Roost Island you can swim in hot spring water and the timer appears as well. Sky and Wild also have stamina wheels and they don’t swim in magic water (but sure they’re not sea island kids so they’re less likely to be good swimmers than Wind).

Ganondorf does say something about “vast seas no one can swim across” though, but it’s in contradiction with what I just said about Link being able to swim in the Great Sea as in any other kind of water. He’s also talking about Tetra’s dreams when he makes that comment and is the only one who ever mentions that, so maybe it’s not to be taken literally? At least I don’t think there’s enough evidence in the game alone to come to definitive conclusions, so I believe there’s room for interpretation. And yours is perfectly valid, it’s just not the theory I prefer ^^

Ah yes I forgot to specify but I don’t really want Yunobo, Riju and Sidon to be Sages this time. Since Tulin’s was the first quest I did I was expecting the other Sages to be new characters as well, and I ended up being disappointed that they reused the same cast on top of having the regional phenomena quests at the exact same four locations. I might keep Tulin as the Sage of Wind but I think I’ll do things differently for the others, and I’m adding Shadow, Forest, Light and Earth as well. Also yes Yunobo not having Daruk’s Shield anymore made no sense, and Sidon’s power was kind of useless.

I’m not completely opposed to giving my Sages magic, I just don’t know what form it could take yet. Maybe it will be similar to what we saw in TotK, maybe it won’t. But the purpose of these Sages is not to help Link fight, it’s more in line with previous lore where they were guardians of the Sacred Realm/the Triforce and their true power only activated when they were all awakened by Link. So they could have magic of course, it’s just not what defines them.

I’d also prefer for Link to get new powers/abilities in the dungeons rather than after beating the bosses, so he might not inherit them from the Sages. But I don’t know, I still need to think about it. As I said I’m mostly working on Zelda’s part in the past at the moment. Otherwise yes I think they’re going to stay in their respective temples to protect them and meditate/pray after Link helps them. And echolocation is a really interesting idea for the Sage of Water or Sidon!

Yes Flora’s mark was shining but she’s also supposed to wield Hylia’s power, it could just represent that. I don’t know we’ve never seen anyone use the Triforce like that before. All I can say for sure is that she doesn’t have it my timeline 😆

Oh that’s interesting, people usually assume that Hyrule was founded by Sky and Sun or their children. How much time do you think passed between Skyward Sword and the War of the Bound Chest?

One of the reasons this Zelda will become Queen is because her parents are the Sages of Time and Light and already act as rulers without being crowned, and they also know that Hylia will reincarnate in their bloodline because of Flora (Sonia knows they’re related as she does in TotK). The Imprisoning War just happened and they know the kingdom will need a princess with the power to seal Calamity Ganon.  

Thanks, I’m definitely having fun with this story! And I can’t wait to share more.

Well in Ganondorf’s case being Demise’s reincarnation kind of condemns him to wish for the world’s destruction for no other reason than because this is what demons do, as it doesn’t really make sense for a mortal man to desire such a thing. I prefer to think that he’s just a man consumed by his hatred and thirst for power until it turns him into a monster, it has much more meaning in my opinion. I think it’s a bit different with Hylia and Zelda because their motivations make sense both for a goddess and a Hylian princess, they’re only defending their people/their world against evil and it feels less like Zelda is robbed of agency to me.

People also tend to write Ganondorf as being manipulated by Demise ever since we learnt about the curse. I’ve seen countless stories about him being a good guy or trying to get his redemption until Demise makes him his vessel. As much as I love Hero’s Purpose by MajorLink, that’s what happens in this story and it makes Ganondorf a victim who can’t get his redemption despite trying to. What’s the message there? I much prefer the idea that Ganondorf is turned into a demon by his own hatred rather than because it was a fate he could never escape. 

I understand that you’re fixated on the whole Gerudo situation, things are a bit weird and we never got any real explanation. But I like that they’re such a unique race and I find them really interesting as they are.

Is it stated in the game that young vai are not even allowed to send letters to their fathers? I can’t remember. If so that’s… terrible.

Well, why would young vai talk to older men outside of close relatives anyway? Telling children not to interact with strangers is pretty common, it’s not that weird to me.

It’s okay about the Sand Goddess haha! I’m not saying this theory is perfect anyway, I’m just trying to piece things together and getting contradiction helps.

About the monsters not being an issue all the time, I was thinking of the memory where Link gets hurt after fighting a bunch of Lynels and Bokoblins in BotW. Here’s what Zelda says:

“It seems that, not only is the frequency of these types of attacks on the rise… but the scale of beasts we are facing as well. I fear that this is an omen which portends the return of Calamity Ganon.”

So maybe there are always monsters around but not in such large proportions, and not the most powerful types. We also know that Calamity Ganon resurrects them with the Blood Moon, and TotK Ganondorf was able to summon an army when he became the Demon King. To me that means the monsters need a powerful source of malice to multiply.

I don’t know about the War of the Bound Chest, there might have been a villain that simply didn’t get mentioned. For example what if Ghirahim wasn’t the only demon lord and another took his place after SS? Besides I know you disagree (and it’s also how canon is) but I still have a hard time including Minish Cap in the main timeline. It’s so different and clearly has it’s own lore.

I see what you mean about the Gerudo having male children, but then I wonder why they simply wouldn’t have Gerudo boys. It makes even less sense to me than them having no boys at all?

What you’re saying about the possible genetic takeover of the Gerudo and them already looking bad makes sense. I guess my solution to both these problems would be that in a realistic setting the Gerudo would rarely marry their children’s fathers. Honestly marriage sounds like a bad idea both for them and the men they choose, unless they go against the rules and don’t send their daughters to Gerudo Town. But I believe the majority of them want their daughters to be raised by Gerudo, and at the same time would prefer to avoid that terrible situation that Rhondson, Hudson and Mattison faced. 

I mean I wouldn’t want to marry a man knowing that I’ll have to choose between him and my daughters in a few years, and the man in question likely wouldn’t be interested either knowing that our daughters will be sent away and I might leave with them. Why would a Hylian man choose this life instead of marrying a Hylian woman and being able to stay with his family? He would need to be madly in love with his Gerudo vai to the point of never considering life with another woman.

That’s why it’s much more plausible to me that most Gerudo would leave their city to find partners and then return to give birth and raise their children there. Some men might even travel to Kara Kara Bazaar in order to meet with vai, and since they would not marry them they would still be available for Hylian women later. But of course something like that is not really suitable in a game aimed at children so it’s better to say the Gerudo are looking for husbands.

Oh that’s interesting! I didn’t know that could happen with monozygotic twins. I’m a dizygotic twin myself, I have a twin brother ^^

You’re not discouraging me, don’t worry! Your perspective is interesting and you often bring up things I didn’t consider :D

@aikoiya The post was getting long again so here's a new one!

I knew you were going to answer that saying "this is unfair" isn't real life logic haha (and I agree that life hasn't been fair to Sky and Sun anyway). It's just that such an ending would probably leave me feeling unsatisfied and even a bit robbed, and I think it would require a lot of other changes to be made to the story in order for it to work properly. But anyway you're right, as things are now this would just be happening behind the scenes so what I'm saying doesn't really make sense. But just thinking about it changes my perception of SS in a way I don't really enjoy, so it's not a theory I favor.

Yes in that setting I'm pretty sure that the other Sun would not make herself known to Link and Zelda and would let them have their happy ending. But I think Zelda would likely suspect her existence and know that something is wrong. I guess even Link could notice that the Temple's doors are suddenly open and would ask Impa a few questions.

I had no idea Tingle called Farore the Goddess of Wind in WW, so I went on a little quest to see if I could find the same quote in the French version of the game. Apparently it's in Tingle's description of Outset Island and I never had the chance to play with the Tingle Tuner mode. I can't find the same quote in French anywhere and I don't even know if this was included in the HD remake (I guess I'll have to wait for a Switch version to find out… if they ever release one). This has me wondering if this quote isn't something exclusive to the English version, but I can't be sure and I'd like to know what the original Japanese text says. The French wikis mention that Farore is the Goddess of Wind in WW but don't provide any quote, it just looks like the pages were translated from English but that they couldn't find the same quote in French. It's really frustrating!!

Anyway that's a bit weird because WW already establishes Zephos as the God of Wind, and he seems to be a minor deity compared to Farore. The way I see it, wind is just the element that Farore tends to be associated with, and since a lot of myths might have been lost with Hyrule in WW this could just be a mistake on Tingle's part. I mean this is the game that gave us the Golden Triumph Forks haha.

I'm not limiting Nayru/the Golden Goddesses to a singular domain, quite the opposite ^^ To me Nayru being the Goddess of Wisdom includes different concepts such as order, law, science, magic, etc., and even time (since she's introduced as the creator of the world's fondamental laws), while calling her the Goddess of Time doesn't include all of that. That's why I wrote that I found it a bit restrictive. But sure she could have both titles, the same way Farore could be known most commonly as the Goddess of Courage and also called the Goddess of Wind in some situations.

Oh I didn't think of the blocks from OoT! I would say though that they don't really use any time powers, they're just random blocks that appear or disappear for some reason when Link plays the Song of Time (it's just as absurd as playing the Song of Storms to open holes in the ground haha). But yes they were blue and associated with time, and of course Nayru is too. The difference with Hylia in my theory is that Nayru created the rules of time (if that makes sense) among other fundamental laws, while Hylia's power specifically allows her to manipulate time and foresee the future. In a way I see Hylia as Nayru's spiritual daughter who inherited some of her powers over time (and that's why the color purple she's represented with is very close to blue).

The Master Sword has also been depicted as either blue or purple though, so that asks the question of the true color of all of these things! Nayru is definitely linked to time so it makes sense that the timeshift stones are in Lanayru (and Hylia also doesn't have a province named after her).

"From the edge of time" could definitely just be a poetic way to say that Hylia kind of recorded a message for Link before dying haha. But I find it interesting that she would phrase it like that, I like to see it as a clue.

Well if Zelda simply sent Link to a point further back in time, wouldn't there be two Links existing at the same time in the Child Timeline? But sure Zelda creating a brand new timeline also raises a few questions that kind of... make my head hurt. I'm not sure what happens exactly, I've always wondered! All we know is that Link finds himself in the Master Sword's chamber with the Door of Time already open, which hints at things happening in a different way this time (because he definitely doesn't have the three spiritual stones and the Ocarina of Time yet since this is before Ganon's coup, and the ending seems to imply that this timeline's Zelda doesn't know him yet). That's why I believe Zelda might have done something a bit more complex than sending him to a point further back in time, but there's no way to be sure. The Triforce of Courage is also visible on Link's hand during the ending, and we also know thanks to TP that the Triforce is still separated in the Child Timeline despite Link and Zelda preventing Ganon from entering the Sacred Realm this time. So maybe Zelda isn't able to change everything? It's complicated haha.

Anyway, whether OoT Zelda creates a new timeline or just sends Link further back in time, that's still huge time powers and that's not something Link is able to do by playing Zelda's Lullaby.

I also believe it is more likely that Talon inherited the ranch. True, Talon might not always have been so lazy, but maybe if that was the case the game could have hinted at hit. All we know is that he leaves his daughter alone with Ingo and only comes back after Link deals with the situation, which does not make him look so great. And he only promises to work harder after that.

I'm kind of bad with names so I'm impressed you're going through all of that trouble to rename the settlements!!

I haven't gotten to developping the technology that much yet, but I'm really interested in seeing what the different races could do with it! I love the idea of using the Sheikah to infiltrate the Yiga bases. I wish TotK had done something like that and shown the Sheikah helping Link that way.

Same, I was so excited when I heard about these pirates… and then so disappointed to find nothing more than a bunch of bokos with no backstory.

Vignoble is not related to noble (though I kind of make the association in my mind, especially since vignobles are sometimes called châteaux).

Yes I thought you could maybe use clos! Aquaticlos is funny, it can work! Though maybe you could use the same logic as for the raisins (I love this Raisins de Terre idea by the way, it makes sense!) and say that what the Zoras call a clos already refers to something that's underwater, since that's probably the case for most of what they cultivate.

I don't mind helping you with French, I'm glad to do so! You put so much effort and thought into this, it's really interesting.

[skitskatdacat63]

Orb...

+ process kinda