#but i was far away in the process

[likeafairytale]

"I always thought that princes got to choose their own destiny. I guess I was wrong." - Yasmeen to Malachai when seeing the pressure he's under

“This is just a myth, nothing else.”

Malachai shrugged, looking at the status of Farore in front of him. The prince wasn't a pious man, but he found himself being drawn to the place quite often lately. The fact that Yasmeen was there during her free time probably play a role in it, for her presence was quite relaxing to him, but he did not want to admit it just yet. As usual, they were silent, they did not need words, they were both content with the silence, which was perfect for Malachai. The man loved his siblings, but they were real chatterboxes sometimes, and the church was the only place here where he could avoid his brother and sister, for none of them would dare disturb such a sacred place. Yasmeen wasn't the talkative kind of girl, and it was refreshing. She wasn't trying to pierce through his shell, it even seemed that she was happy with him being silent.

“I thought that if I was staying in the Fae kingdom, I could avoid my responsibility, but it seemed that I was completely wrong.” He sighed, before looking at Yasmeen who had her eyes on him.

“What are you going to do?”

“What my father want me to do. Meet the ladies he'll send for me.” He answered, but Yasmeen could see that it wasn't the answer he wanted to give her. “I really was hoping that Morgana will reject my father request to send them here.”

“The High Queen isn't threatened by young ladies, even less if they come from the sea.”

“Is that an insult?”

“Not at all, just an observation.”

The prince laughed a little, and he felt a bit more relax now. Yasmeen had this effect on him, every time he was tense, he just needed to spend a few hours with the servant for him to forget what was troubling him. Sometimes, when she wasn't there, he just needed to think about her smile for him to feel better. But right now, it seemed that the young girl's presence wasn't enough to make him forget the discussion he had with his father, a few hours sooner. Triton had had enough of his little game of avoidance. He knew that if his eldest son was so often at the Seelie Court, it wasn't only to make sure his sister was safe, but also to avoid his duty, and the duty he was avoiding the most was marriage.

Triton started to talk about it a few months back, and Malachai did not think much about it. He knew that, as the eldest, he should have been married a long time ago, but with Calypso's ordeal, he succeeded to deflect the situation. But now that things were settled, he knew he couldn't escape anymore. But the High King of the ocean was growing tired of his son's game, and was becoming more insistent in the idea of marrying him. If Malachai did not want to come meet the bachelorette his father found for him, then they will come to him instead. The prince knew that, with a pending war against the fae, Triton wanted to be sure he'll secure his bloodline. He did not know why it was so important for his father, for he knew he'll never give his throne, so having an heir shouldn't be his priority.

“You do not want to see them.” Yasmeen said, which bring him back to reality, and it was more an observation than a question.

“I do not want that, no...” Malachai admit before sighing.

“Why? I mean, maybe you'll find a match among them.” She whispered, and Malachai thought he heard a bit of resentment, and the perspective of that made him smile a little, but he might have imagined it.

“You know perfectly why.”

To go with his words, he slowly and softly put his hand on Yasmeen's one. He thought, for a minute, that she would withdraw her hand, break the physical contact that he was daring to make, but she did not. She even surprised him by squeezing his hand, while looking in front of her. They stay silent, holding hands like children would do when they are in love. This was the only physical contact they allowed themselves to have in a semi-public place, here, in the church. No one ever came here, they knew it, so they knew they wouldn't be disturbed or caught, but that does not mean they weren't careful, they were constantly on the look-out. Even now, when they knew they were at peace, alone, they couldn't help but look behind them to be sure no one sneaked into the church without their knowledge.

The only place they allowed themselves to be open and affectionate was in Malachai's room. And yet, even there it was quite hard for both of them to be truly affectionate with one another, for both of them weren't used to it. Sometimes, the prince was envious to his sister and brother, who were showered with love by their mother growing up, making them more comfortable to express their feelings. Malachai had to grow up in a strict environment, with Triton, who believed that physical contact and love were just weaknesses.

The merman did not let go of Yasmeen's hand, although he knew he should. To be honest, he was craving for more, he wanted to hug her, tell her how lovely she looked right now, and most importantly, that he loved her. He wanted to say those words again and again, but he did not have the luxury to do it outside the comfort of his room.

“Believe me when I say I don't want to do this.”

“I do believe you.”

“But I can't go against my father.”

“I know that.” Yasmeen showed no emotion, like usual, but she squeezed his hand a little more, and he liked to believe she was as annoyed as he was by his father's decision. “When are they coming?”

“In two days.”

“That means we won't be able to see each other as much.”

“I wish things were different. For us.”

“Do you wish I was noble blood?”

“I wish I wasn't a prince.”

The girl looked at him, quite surprised by such words. She really thought Malachai was quite content with his status, just like his sister was, but right now she was seeing a different side of him. A prince with too much responsibility on his shoulders, someone his father was asking too much from. Someone who would never be able to leave the life he wanted and deserved. It was the first time the merman voiced those words. It wasn't the first time he thought them, many times in the past he was wishing he wasn't a prince, at least not the firstborn, but it was the first time he felt comfortable enough to confess it to someone. After that, they stayed silent. They both did not know what to say more. After a moment, Malachai kissed the back of Yasmeen's hand, that he was still holding. He did not want to break this only physical contact they had, but he had too. It's with a heavy heart that he let go of her, before standing and adjusting his jacket.

“Will you come tonight? We can discuss a strategy for me to avoid those boring ladies.”

“I'll be there, yes.” She answered with amusement, and he couldn't help but smile.

“With a bit of luck, Aeron will distract them all from me.”

“I do think that he will definitively try.” This time she laughed, and his heart missed a beat to the sound of it. He once again took her hand, before kissing it, making her smile in the process.

“I'll see you around, Meena.” He said before quietly leave the church.

[ryllen]

i thought / m a n / these girls are quite heartless 🤣 when i accepted the quest at /clearly/ inconvenient time to swim & dive

[beneathsilverstars]

anyway related to my "gullible" post i do think bonnie didn't really have a lot of friends / any good friends. i'm taking a watsonian approach to "some of the things bonnie does seem more like age 5-8 than 10-12", and a doylist approach to "everyone in this party grew up kinda lonely and feels disconnected from their peer group"

[persicipen]

the purely technical issue i have with genshin is that they have started to prolong dialogue sections into awfully large bits. it means that if your game crashes or you have to step away from playing or lose connection, you will have to replay a big chunk of unskippable dialogue that you already know, until you get back on track. i really wish we had more stops in between for the game to save and reload safely, even if it’s just teleporting, walking a bit with the character, moving time, anything at all to get out of the dialogue for a break without losing your progress.

[massivementalitynut]

My Connection Lost Comm of White Fang Members by @ogariane

[ventresses]

Star Wars + Moodboards

Clone Trooper: Sister

"What's your name, trooper?" “Sister. It's how my brothers tell everyone I belong."

[cakemoney]

also there was a moment, at the very end when they see evan at the other end of a long hallway, where i was very scared that when they reached each other aabria would say that evan passes right through them. thank god it was only that evan's dick is out

[umii33]

MORE WIPPY’S BC I FIXED THAT ONE THINGY AND I FINALLY ANIMATED THE VERY THING I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO !!!!

[third-doctor]

I feel like I'm going insane. That episode read to me as a lot more tragic than other people are reading it. Yeah they were racist and rich and spoiled and awful but they were just kids. They were all just kids. Lindy was absolutely terrified throughout the whole thing and clinging desperately to what she knew, which was terrible. They could've had the chance to learn and become better but they chose to go die and it's infuriating and tragic because nobody deserves that. Nobody deserves to be eaten by slugs or die of exposure in the woods. Nobody deserves to suffer like that. But they chose it rather than let the Doctor help them because they'd rather stay in their rich white supremacist bubble and he just wants to help and there's nothing he can do.

Maybe it's because one of my core beliefs is that nobody deserves death and suffering. Nobody. Even the worst person on earth can learn from their mistakes and come back and change and everyone deserves that chance. There's no such thing as too late. But they're never going to get that chance because they actively rejected it and to me that's still very, very sad.

[iamthepulta]

As I'm dealing with that, I also want to know about the development of amalgamation within all the African empires.

[touchlikethesun]

if i want to really think about it, the reason i tend to love de-aging fics so much is because it’s about loving someone for who they are at their most honest and most vulnerable, it’s about putting the pieces together on why they are the way they are, and it’s about taking care of someone without the expectation of "getting something" in return. i know a lot of people are uncomfortable with de-aging tropes, which i totally respect, but to me it’s kinda a variation on the "would you still love me if i was a worm?" kind of thinking. would you still love me if i was a burden would you still love me if i had nothing to give you but my presence would you still love me etc. etc. — well-written de-aging fics also do such a good job at imagining what an innocent, less traumatised version of the character would conceivably be like, what aspects of their personality are the result of them hardening over the years and what isn’t. writing kids is hard but writing a de-aged character is even harder, and i consider it a real talent to be able to realistically portray a de-aged character. and then how the other characters react to the de-aged character, what baggage they bring to the situation, how they have to change and adapt and learn about this other version of the character. it’s just that there’s so many layers of unpacking trauma, learning or relearning kindness, for everyone involved, and to me that can’t be anything other than cathartic to the nth degree

[homochihuahua]

Love jaydick and how they love each other.

They'll never have joy over a joined kill...

Jason will take pride in doing the right thing.

While Dick will suffer the misery of doing what needs to be done.

Dick loves Jason in spite of his violence. He acknowledges his lack of understanding of Jason's need to enact such form of justice, and he wouldn't necessary join Jason in his methods. But Dick's love for Jason is so strong he is willing to tolerate, for Jason only.

[tskva-happens]

seems like so far the #1 enemy of the bg3 modding community has been... *checks note* age. just like... any signs of age whatsoever.

[aeolianblues]

pop stars aren't born in the 70s anymore like they used to be. These days they're born in a year uncomfortably close to my own which makes me clutch my chest and cry out

[enden-k]

im so tired of being a sleepy boy

[callixton]

i sort of want to blow up. i can’t be around people anymore i need to be home