#checks word count

[neon-moon-night]

I know it was posted a while ago, but I saw the swap au and found it really interesting. I’m curious about how events took place in the AU specifically why the sealing happened and also how the three of them came to be and becoming the way they are?

oh no i love getting questions about it!!

so this is me and @murderbot's AU and it has a LOOOOOT of headcanons behind it, so much of the swap is based on our interpretation of canon events. these are all also his ideas as we worked on it together!

i'll also give the disclaimer that some parts are better defined than others

gonna get super long (hence why this took so long to answer AAA) so a read more:

SO just gonna give an overview of the swaps:

hollow->ghost->hornet->hollow

radiance<-->grimm

loosely, the mosskin<-->the weavers

notably, the pale king and the white lady are NOT swapped, they remain in their canon roles. this was mostly because we didn't feel like we had any interest in swapping them with anyone but each other, but at the same time didn't think a swap between them would be very interesting. however we actually do have a 2nd swap AU where they ARE swapped, and the three siblings are swapped in ghost->hollow->hornet->ghost order instead, but that's neither here nor there...

there's a few more swaps but these are the ones relevant to your questions

re:your first question about the reason for the sealing...

so a very long time ago, grimm was the sedentary god of butterflies while the radiance was the migratory god of moths. one day the pale king showed up in hallownest, as in canon, and shed his form to live in what is now the city of tears

the way we see his initial settlement is that, the rainy caverns that became the city of tears were naturally rainy from being kept under blue lake. they didn't necessarily have a lot of people living there, bc it's bordered on one side by the mantises, on the other by the bees, and above by the moths (or butterflies, in swap) - all of which have wings for at least one part of their lifecycle. making somewhere with rain not very ideal!

so the pale king setting up shop there wasn't a problem yet. however, he was not a very good neighbor? as we see from the game, he isn't really the type to be satisfied with ruling as one among many...he wants to be without "blazing kin", "only one light shall shine against the dark", etc. and there's also a dev note talking about how the radiance was sealed once because the pale king did not want to rule with any equal, and then the seal with hollow was his second attempt when the first didn't work

anyway...so he has a plan to stop the rain in the city, bc we know it hadn't been raining during its peak. it was basically a dam project for the blue lake...which he did NOT talk to grimm or the butterflies about beforehand. the result was quite a lot of flooding in the lower section of the resting grounds - you know how it has a large gate separating it from the upper section? i figured that whole bit was almost completely submerged.

obviously no one is happy about this. grimm is irritated, goes to "negotiate" with the understanding that the new guy will be an untrustworthy weasel, but gets killed instead! his body is tossed away to rot, and the pale beings have one less obstacle to expanding their kingdom.

all of that so far is basically also my hc for what happened w the radiance in canon with no major changes so far in the broad strokes. NOW is where things diverge

when the radiance died, there wasn't very much she could do about it. when grimm died...he was able to make a deal.

that deal was w the nightmare heart, which we see as something of a separate entity? anyway he was actively dying, was given a deal to get both his physical body back as well as revenge on the kingdom, and well what do you know...

SO YEAH...instead of the infection (there was no external force there, it was more the radiance rotting) there's a parasitic plague instead, hence the infestation from the big doodle sheet i made. something burrows in people's hearts and they get these weird fleshy growths over their bodies...

NOW: the pale king is like ohhh that's kind of bad actually. and for similar reasons concocts the vessel plan...

some context from my interpretation of canon events: i always thought the reason pk needed herrah when there's a plethora of people loyal enough to become dreamers for free, is because the weavers' role was not limited TO herrah. in the hidden station, we see spools of silk that were presumably transferred from the deepnest station (because that would've had to have been built with their approval, when it's so much closer than the tram station they destroyed). there's also incomplete versions of seals in the weaver's den. basically it seems to me like the weavers were involved in weaving dream seals - both moths and spiders make silk, so that could be the connection? so he needed her because the seals could not have been made without her cooperation

anyway...i mentioned that the mosskin and weavers are very loosely swapped. i say "very loosely' because basically the main difference is now greenpath is a place where hallownest has little to no influence while deepnest is more thoroughly conquered. so...the deal is far more lopsided. hallownest could come in strength with demands, possibly in exchange for deepnest's continued independence, a la the deal with the mantis tribe. (in the wanderer's journal it says they made their treaty so their village could retain independent rule)

so the pale king has an extra demand: he wants to imbue some of the eggs with spider silk to produce ones that will be able to weave themselves, w the thought that a vessel that weaves its own bonds might be more effective...? but not all of them were made like that in case it altered the formula in some undesirable way.

thus: we get hornet and hollow

[picture to break this rant up a little]

hornet isn't really herrah's biological child here, but she's one of the vessels whose egg was imbued with silk. hollow was one that was not. she reaches the top first and walks off with the pale king without looking back. hollow falls.

so, hornet is raised as the sealed vessel...to me, duty is always a large part of her character, and that remains the case here too. in my own read of canon hollow, i would not describe them as "dutiful", per se...they are obedient and do what they are told, but the kingdom at large is abstract enough to them that it's not quite a motivating factor for them the way more direct approval from their father is

this is less true for hornet...she is aware she's a being made for a purpose, and in this world, she knows exactly what that purpose is. it is then a purpose she follows with all her heart...she is less self aware than hollow in canon, who knows they are not empty and vehemently denies it. i think hornet is a little better at lying to herself

i said she's no longer herrah's biological child, and that's still true, but it isn't that she had no interaction with herrah. here, herrah is the one who teaches her weaving, and so paradoxically this hornet has more interaction with herrah and more knowledge of weaving than my understanding of canon. herrah didn't have liberty to give her much affection, and hornet doesn't remember her well. but it is a connection that existed and that, to some extent, mattered

beyond this she was generally isolated in the palace and had little contact with anyone who was not a great knight or the king himself.

basically to summarize all this, swap hornet came to be the way she was as a combination of how i see ordinary hornet and how she might react if her life had been a bit more like hollow's. it's never been my preference for swap AUs to completely change a character's personality, but personality is shaped by environment too, so it's important to strike a balance there...

now for someone i haven't talked about much yet: little ghost

[another image to break this up...]

so, ghost...

i preserved herrah's connection to hornet, and just because ghost is in hornet's place doesn't make them a spider. they're instead the full, non-void child of the white lady and the pale king - my idea for why they were born is basically that, after the sacrifice of thousands of eggs and one empty child as their return for that, they decided to have a normal child as well

i think the best way i can sum up swap ghost is "people who willingly kill their own children will not be good parents under any circumstances"

to contrast with canon a bit, i'll talk abt my headcanons there - i see the white lady as having been the one who raised hornet, but she was also a very distant guardian to her. she never considered hornet her daughter, and while she never held a grudge for hornet's birth - i kinda think that, to her, herrah as a mortal is so beneath her it doesn't matter - the white lady was generally neglectful. like, to her hornet was a side project and an amusement, not a daughter.

by contrast, swap ghost is her full child and therefore she takes her parenting duties far more seriously in that regard. the issue is, she still isn't a very good parent! in canon she saw ghost as nothing more than a thing; she ordered them to take hollow's place and suffer eternally "for the good of the kingdom", and even saw hollow as having failed in their cruel duty.

here there's obviously no attempted infanticide against ghost, but she still sees them as someone who should be molded into what she wants out of them and not someone who is their own person. so even small things like ghost's personal preferences are not something they were really allowed to have.

but ghost is not really the type to accept that, so it didn't work out. they were rowdy and rebellious and ran away often, and as a result i feel like they were an embarrassment to the white lady and pale king, such that they weren't brought in public. so they're not as recognizable as you might expect a legitimate princet of the kingdom to be

to explain this doodle...

BASICALLY so. ghost and hornet did not interact with each other. the white lady had her own wing of the white palace when she was there, and hornet was kept in a secluded place as well such that the pure vessel not be "tainted". as a result, ghost saw her from a distance at her public appearances but otherwise did not interact with her

i said ghost was rowdy...they were not permitted in hornet's areas, but that didn't stop them from sneaking in and trying to meet the older sister they never knew. they found her going through nail drills alone in a room and hid to watch, not wanting to be caught. she completed her drills and then looked right at their hiding spot, and said, thoughtfully, "like a little ghost..." and left.

that's the in-universe explanation for ghost's name being ghost - they were given some other name by the white lady, but ghost is what they go by, because they're the first words they ever heard their sister say

to explain their estrangement...

i said they ran away often...they usually got brought back eventually by a royal guard, but this time was different. they went back and found the pale king had escaped into the dream realm without his problem child, and the white lady had left in kind.

they were still a teenager when this happened, and well: it felt very bad. but they also decided that this was for the best, and they had never liked them anyway, and they never liked this kingdom, and so they would just leave - and leave they did. they went to the howling cliffs and decided to find whatever awaited them in the wastes

mato found them before they could do that, and seeing that they were very young, very upset, and very likely to not make it, took them in as his pupil/child. so they're his dad now =) and they learned nail arts

swap ghost actually also knows some spells - they were taught by the white lady themself. but they don't like owing her anything and thus avoid magic as much as possible

and now, finally: hollow

hollow is the abandoned child...hornet did not look back for them, not out of malice, but because she only looked forward and only moved forward. she didn't stop and look back. so hollow fell.

like ghost in canon, they eventually made their way out of abyss, and left hallownest entirely before finally returning, for reasons they themself don't fully understand. they lost their arm out there, which is also why their cloak is ripped on that side; not much opportunity to change it

they're very lonely and, for lack of a better word, much "sweeter" than canon ghost is. canon ghost, much like a child, sometimes kills out of curiosity - they are the type of hunter to use a deadly spell if they cannot catch up with something (maskflies, menderbug), if only so they can learn from the remains. swap hollow is not like that, and actually my friend and i nicknamed them "swallow" - a portmanteau of swap hollow, and also a type of bird, because they like the little bird bugs.

they're also much more open and expressive than canon hollow is, as they've never had their emotions suppressed. they've never been nurtured either, but at the least, they don't possess the blank mask they do in another world. this is also in contrast to both canon & swap ghost, whose flat affect i see as more natural to them.

their journey is also much easier than ghost's because they run into, well, ghost. unlike canon hornet, swap ghost doesn't challenge hollow to a fight. canon hornet spent years and years alone stewing, but swap ghost is far better adjusted than her; an actual parental figure in mato helped with that

swap ghost instead told hollow they were their sibling, and offered for them to travel together

i tend to think of AUs for video games as alternate "games" themselves. a hypothetical game of this swap AU would not play much like hollow knight; it would be more comparable to an RPG with a party, consisting of hollow, ghost, and for a short period of time, grimmchild. (i haven't really said anything about them but. this is so long. so i'll leave them out)

anyway...hollow is overjoyed to have a sibling to interact with. to have a relatively easy time traveling hallownest, with an experienced fighter to essentially take care of them. for the first time in their life, they have company! and ghost is a kind older sibling to them

but...but...ghost isn't traveling with them for no reason

so i said they're estranged from their parents and any bond with them was severed when the pale king and white lady left. that doesn't mean they never spoke to the white lady again...

they eventually found her in her garden. and she, presumptuous as ever, did not say a word about how she had abandoned them; she simply gave her next command.

they were to take the king's brand and take responsibility for the kingdom, as its heir. then, they would find a vessel and they would escort it to the black egg temple, where they would cut the failure down and replace her.

(that's what this is, incidentally)

ghost...did not take kindly to this. insult upon insult, for her to ask something of them like this...they took the piece of shell engraved with the king's mark and tossed it into the sewers

but like. they don't have a better idea. they have no intention of doing this to hollow, so they're traveling with them trying to think of something else. and they do care about hollow, really, especially when they get to know them, and they get the experience of being a big sibling for the first time. but, well...i said they're more well-adjusted than canon hornet, but they're also less honest.

hollow absolutely does learn of this, and to say they're unhappy is an understatement. the two part ways for a time...

this is so long so i'll skip over the interim + how exactly they found out...suffice to say hollow cried a lot when they learned about it, as if happy times with their sibling had all been a lie. well, the two of them eventually reunite and ghost explains that they would never, ever do that. and then...

ghost tells hollow that they should just...leave

this is not hollow's responsibility and not something they deserve to give up their life and their freedom for. and ghost has been waffling, because they didn't know what to do, and they had no plan of their own, but that doesn't matter. they've made up their mind. they would leave everyone - even hornet - to rot before they ask hollow to die for them

the thing about ghost is that duty does not matter to them nearly as much as it does hornet. their family is far more important to them. perhaps this choice is them lapsing in their duty, but - that is a sacrifice they'll make.

i said before i see the AU as a game almost. this is where you could get one ending, where ghost and hollow (and grimmchild) all leave together and wander the world. hallownest is not the only kingdom out there - they will find others. and hallownest will rot and rot and rot, and hornet will not be free

but of course...i think hollow wouldn't want that. and they say no. and they find another way to free their sister, and right their father's wrongs.

OKAY THIS HAS TO END SOMEWHERE SO I GUESS IT'LL END HERE. IM SO SORRY FOR THIS WALL OF TEXT. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING ONCE AGAIN!!!!

[knuckleslove]

You know what? It's actually really hard to just write 100 words.

[forestshadow-wolf]

Soap having to emergency fill in for a demo guy on a mission. He wasn't on demo for this one, he was needed on sniper along with Ghost and Gaz to cover price and the ground team and demo team he was leading. The goal was the blow the entire location skyhigh, but it wouldn't be an easy job. Not with the high amount of enemy soldiers, or the sheer mass and density of the building making it so that they would need to plant charges from the inside as well as the outside.

The demo guy goes down inside while soap, gaz, and ghost can't see them. They'd been keeping the outside backup at bay when price's voice fed through the radio.

"Soap. Our demo guy is KIA, need you down here NOW!"

"Aye, Sir. On my way." The urgency in the man's voice told him that they were running low on time (not that he didn't already know that. He was counting seconds. Always was.) He abandoned his sniper with little fineness, Ghost or Gaz would get it for him.

Ghost and Gaz covered him on his way down. He shucked his gloves on the way, throwing them carelessly to the ground, didn't bother going for cover, they were on a very real time limit with the fixed timer on the charges. It wasn't an ideal situation, and ordinarily they wouldn't have such a thing, but just the night before they'd caught someone tampering with the explosives. It had fucked up the wiring, and the closest to good they he could fix it was a fixed timer because he couldn't get them to communicate with the detonator anymore.

The actual inside of the building was large. Much more winding and dense than breifing said it would be. That was a problem. A big, huge, major problem. Because now they didn't have enough power to blow it all.

And it turns out to be an even bigger problem because when he got to price he realizes that the amount of explosives they had brought wasn't going to be enough in the first place.

"Shit." He hadn't been included in the demo planning, it hadn't been necessary. But now he sees that it was, because whatever calculations had been done were wrong. Even being off by .01 of anything was near fatal with the stuff they were working with.

"What? What's wrong?" Price was even more urgent now.

"There's not enough." He said, setting the first one he picked up, it was further from the last one that had been set before him than he'd have liked.

"Can you make it work?" Price says in, what soap always called, his captain voice. Soap pauses for a moment after that, running mental calculations.

"Maybe?" He wasn't entirely confident to be completely honest, "we'd have to go back and re-do all the ones that have already been set." He curses internally, mentally smiting whoever didn't include him in the demo meeting.

Price sent a soldier off to go collect the set charges, but soap only let them off with very clear instructions on how to do so.

Soap sent price and the rest of the soldiers off without him to finish collecting the data they had been looking for. He worked in silence for a while. If he was lucky (he doubts), it the soldier that price sent off came back with more charges than soap expected, he would be able to just barely make it stretch.

He wasn't so lucky. He sent the soldier after price. He flipped his radio on.

"Ghost, go to channel 2." He switches his own radio to channel 2.

"You solid, Johnny?"

"There's not enough." He was not panicking. Soap doesn't panic. And definitely not on the field. If he did it would be in the dead of night where nobody could find him.

"What's not?" Ghost was calm, solid as a rock. Soap liked that, won't deny needing a win, even if it was as small as Ghost being his normal self.

"Charges." He moves up the hall to work on the next one, "whoever did the calculations did a bang up job, there's barely enough to stretch from the original plan, and the inside is a lot bigger than we thought. Fucking bullshit."

"You weren't workin' with demo on this?" Ghost sounded confused, "I was given an optional attendance." Ah, that explained it. And- GOD-FUCKING-DAMNIT.

"Nae. At this point it seems more like a big fuckin' joke that I'm nae in on, than it does a tactical operation." Soap was seething, it was like the gods had something personal against him, but he kept his head.

"Seems like they all hate you, Johnny." Ghost hummed cheekily. Soap couldn't help the chuckle he let out. Leave it up to Ghost to still be a bastard despite it all.

"Awh, c'mon, L.T. you'd never let them all hate me now would ya?"

"Well, I don't completely hate you if it make you feel better." He could hear Ghost's smirk even through the radio.

"Aye, sir, gets me all warm and fuzzy inside, I'll buy you a drink to keep in your good graces after this."

"Assuming you live."

"Assuming I live." Soap parroted

"Can you make it work?"

"No. Not unless you've got some secret magic powers I dinnae know about, sir." He grumbled.

"Not for you, sergeant." Ghost told him. Bastard.

"Bastard." He huffed, amused.

"You still workin' on it?"

"Aye, I'm gonna blow the supports. If it goes right- better hope that it does- it'll bring the whole top crashin' down." He imitated the well-loved sound of the boom and crash he was hoping for, "if the brass wants it gone though, they'll have to send someone back. Hopefully someone competent this time." He was already halfway through the charges, and that was with a generous amount of spacing that he didn't like too much, but it would do, he had to get around to the other side of the building. He glanced at the timer, seven minutesticking down, he'd have to move fast if he wanted to get out in time, his thumb flipped his comms unit to channel the main channel.

"Price, keep an eye on the time." They all had their watches set to the timer so they could keep track. He switched back to channel 2 as soon as he got an affirmative. "Ghost, mind me at the two minute mark, aye?"

"Copy that." Came the steady manc accented response.

"Ya'know what's on my bucket list, L.T.?"

"What?"

"One day I want an OP that goes smooth start to finish."

"A steep ask."

"I felt inspired." He could hear the shrug in his own voice, and there was a breathy laugh in his ear.

Usually he's excellent at keeping track of his time, but this time he was still running minor calculations to every charge he set, making sure they were in the best spot possible. Which meant that when Ghost interrupted his mutterings with a tense "two minutes, Sargeant.", he had only just started on the last quarter of the explosives he had left.

"Shit." He chewed on his lip, using precious seconds to think. He could see the stairs to the exit at the end of the hallway, maybe 200 yards away, but there was still had 6 charges left. Fuckit, no more time for thinking, his gut's never let him down so far, he trusts that it won't this time either. "You see Price? Is he out?"

He wired the charge in his hands in two paces, placed it in six, started on the next.

"Negative. I've got no visual. I need you out of that building, now, Johnny." Ghost went silent after that, but soap was too busy to worry about that.

Shit.

He was almost halfway down the hall when he placed the next charge. Three charges left. The next charge went on in seven paces. The last two went up on either side of the stairs. His lungs burned as he took the steps two at a time. A glance at his watch showed 48 seconds left. The stairs seemed to go on forever. He would not be making it to a safe distance, he'd be lucky to get out of the building.

"I've got Price, Need eyes on you, now." Ghost sounded in his ear. He had not enough air in his lungs to respond, squeezing every cell of blood of its oxygen to keep himself moving.

10 seconds, he could see the door, it was big, and green, and had one of those push bar handles.

9 seconds, his foot slipped, his knee met the unforgiving corner of concrete, and his ankle twisted.

8 seconds, he caught himself.

7 seconds, pain lit up in his ankle. He kept going

6 seconds, he'd halved the distance to the door

5, he could see himself reaching the door already

4, he had an arm out to catch the push bar

3, he made contact

2, fresh air hit his face

1, he was running. It was like every molecule knew what was coming, like every building block of space was waiting for it. He could feel the charge it in every fiber of his being.

0, he dove for the ground, tucking himself in, harms coming up over his head. He didn't even feel it before it all slammed into him like a freight train. But he knew it was coming, knew it like a sixth sense, knew it like knowing the sky was blue without even looking up.

His ears rang. He hadn't realized before. The ringing in his ears was intense, almost overwhelming. Every thing hurt when he uncurled. His fands were stiff whe he flexed them, it looked like he was piloting a robot instead of his own body, he felt it all but from a distance. The world was bathed in gray. His mouth was dry, it tasted bitter as he smacked his lips together.

Something...

There was something... wrong? Or- he needed to do something? He flexed his fingers again. The world looked frozen. Like even the trees were looking at him, whispering that he was dead. Maybe he was, he couldn't be sure. Uncoordinated movements managed to wobble himself to standing. His back. Something on his back. It hurt. But he couldn't feel it. A hand went to his throbbing, and he stumbled a few step before he collapsed. He was tired. He was breathing but he couldn't feel it in his lungs, knew his chest was moving with it though. Maybe he wasn't breathing. He couldn't feel it. He should breathe, he focused on that. But he was so tired. Maybe too tired. Maybe he didn't need to breathe all that bad. He could just.. he was.. everything hurt. He wasn't breathing, except for his moving chest. It's okay. He'll just.. close his eyes. He'll try breathing again when he woke up again. When everything hurt less. It'll hurt less.

---

It didn't hurt less when he woke up again. It hurt more. A lot more actually. He felt his mouth open with out his command, sound left but he didn't hear it. And he couldn't tell if the incessant, ear-blinding ringing was him or if the world around him had gobe silent in lieu of the ringing.

It was a moment before he realized his eyes were open. The world was still covered in gray powder. Ghost's mask comes into view, it moves like he's speaking, but he's not making any sound. Soap thinks about telling him as much, to turn on his voice, but the world hurts, or maybe he hurts, and either way, it's easier to just close his eyes.

---

A hand smacks his face, he see brown eyes first, gaz's mouth is moving.

A glimpse of green rushing past, but black invades and he lets it happen.

The next thing he blinks and there's white, swishing, lots of it. Coats he realizes. Doctor's. A lot of them. He turns his head, it saps his strength, and the last thing he sees before his eyes close are mouths moving in muted shouts.

He blinks again and he's greeted with blinding white. He's moving. Not with his own two legs. It's fast. It makes him sick. He feels frantic hands on him and then his mouth opens, he feels contents leave him. And then he's being rolled back over. It's too much. He welcomes the dark of unconsciousness again.

---

He wakes slowly, there's a thin stream of air that chills his nose, he can feel cords on him but it would take more effort than it's worth to rip them off, uncomfortable as they were. So a hospital. If it wasn't obvious that was here he was, then it could be the plastic guard rails, or that he could see the edge of a very hospital-esq desk right outside the cracked open hospital-esq door where white flourenscent hospital-esq light leaked through.

It's dark when he opens his eyes. Not terribly so, there's a window that lets in moonlight, but dark enough that his eyes don't burn. There's a figure in the corner of his eye, and when he turns it's Ghost. Slumped down, arms crossed, sleeping. He's wearing one of the balaclavas with the narly faded skull, and the eye black he usually wears looks rubbed off, but not washed off, he can still see evidence of its remains. He looks tired, sporting a twin pair of eye bags the size of a small island, and the line of his shoulders is tenser than usual. He wonders when he got familiar enough with the man to notice his "regular tenseness", but he doesn't dwell.

His throat itches with dryness like he's swallowed a bunch of cotton balls. He's fairly certain he did not do that. There's a glass of what looks like water (or some mysterious other clear liquid) on the swinging side table, he reaches for it, but his movements are uncoordinated, limbs reluctant to listen to his demands. His hand swings a little too far and it knocks the glass to the floor. He watches it shatter, cringing in anticipation of the loud sound, but the sound is muted and far away, like he's listening through a pane of plexiglass. Ghost shoots up in a panic, looking for the danger. He does a quick double take when he sees soap's eyes open, then he notices the shattered reamins of his would-be drink.

Soap can only give him an apologetic look for disturbing his sleep that he looked like he desperately needed. Ghost walks over to him, and it looks like he's talking, but it sounds muffled, again like listening through plexiglass, or like he poured thick ink into his ears. That's not good. He can feel his mouth split into a displeased look. This is very not good. Bad, even.

Ghost leans over him, one of his big hands rests on his chest, he puts a little pressure then lets off. He does it again. And again. In a steady rhythm that soap can't help but follow.

A nurse walks in, and Ghost backs off leaving soap feel a little unteathered, but he's nolonger panicking. The nurse talks but everything is underwater, and someone's poured glue in his ears. He can't help the nervous look at ghost while the nurse keeps on, ghost holds his gaze steady. And then she's gone.

Ghost tries to speak, then he pauses, holds up a finger as if to tell him to wait, and then slips out of the room.

Great. Absolutely perfect. He's gone deaf. Well, that definitely seems like that would be the sort of thing that gets labled as "career ending", a cateer that he was damn good at. Did they even complete the mission he was on? He didn't even know if it was a success. Or even if he'd gotten any one killed. He hoped not. And to top it all off, Ghost had gone. He rationalized that Ghost had clearly meant that he was coming back. And when he did, he'd explain everything. It would be fine. So fine. Completely fine. Aside from the fact that he's probably kicked from the military.

Ghost slipped back into the room, carrying a small whiteboard, and a marker. He'd wrote something on it before turning it to face soap. It was nothing long, just two words. Quick and lethal. "Burst eardrums" oh...

"Recovery?" He felt the words in his chest when he said them, but he wasn't sure how loud he was being.

"Full recovery. Few weeks" he wrote. Soap found he likes the way he wrote. It was a simple scribble.

"The mission?"

"Success. Few casualties. Demo was KIA. Few others"

It was a bitter win, but it was often best not to dwell on it.

"You look like you got run over by a minivan three times." He says with a cheeky smile. One that always gets him a long-suffering sigh. One that he could see but not hear this time.

"Not the one in the bed." Ghost scribbled, and gave him a pointed look. It only served to make his smile toothier before a yawn broke it. Either exhaustion, or pain medication, or a combination of the two wanted to make him sleep, and he wasn't inclined to agree until ghost pushed him down gently, and scribbled "sleep" in black ink.

The morning after was better. Still inky and underwater, but less panicked. Ghost had stayed as well. Gave him a long list of injuries ontop of his missing hearing.

By the end of the week his hearing had improved a bit, words no longer blended into a blur of tv static. And he's told by Ghost that the doctor said it looked like he'd be back a full hearing in the next three weeks or so.

The second week was when the boredom really hit. It he concentrated hard enough he could parse out syllables, some distinct sounds. Nothing very quiet. But the world made sound again. And he'd taken to pestering ghost to wheeling him around the halls since he wasn't allowed to leave. Not until his hearing was back, and he started on PT.

The third week wqs much the same, aside from starting physical therapy. PT sessions weren'tanythingnew to any of them, but it was always a pain in the ass. But the fourth week, he had full sign off that his hearing was back up to 100%, and he's successfully made good progress on his PT sessions, so he was getting discharged, and sent home on medical leave.

Apparently Ghost had followed right behind him, taking leave of his own. And he declared that he was taking soap to his own flat. Soap didn't much and to protest, but he did to hear the amused tone in Ghost's voice when he bickered with the man.

[flowercrowngods]

🤍 also on ao3

It’s just past 3am when Steve finally caves and reaches for the phone on his night stand. His fingers are trembling slightly as he dials Eddie’s number — he knows it by heart even though he never called before. Eddie gave it to him a few weeks ago, making him promise that he’d call if he ever needed to talk.

“Any time of day or night, alright, Harrington? Call me whenever.”

And so that’s what he’s doing now, feeling strangely vulnerable about it. There’s no way Eddie’s gonna pick up. He’s gonna wake him. He’s gonna keep him from his sleep, possibly even interrupting one of the few nightmare-less nights he has.

Steve feels guilty the very second the dial tone meets the silence of his room, his chest heavy, eyes closed. Part of him hopes that Eddie won’t pick up the phone, that he’s in deep enough sleep to miss the call, that he’ll come into Family Video tomorrow and smile at Steve like he always does, none the wiser.

But, miraculously, amazingly, unfortunately, Eddie does pick up the phone. Rather immediately, at that.

“Yeah?” He sounds sleepy, and Steve’s heart falls immediately. He can’t get his mouth to work, only holding the phone to his ear, soaking up Eddie’s sleepy voice and trying to replace the guilt, the weakness, the heaviness of another sleepless night. “Hello?”

Steve remains silent. Can’t quite get the words to work. Fucking figures.

“Stevie? It’s you, isn’t it?”

He nods, stupidly, before saying, “Yeah. Sorry.”

“Hey now, what the hell do you have to be sorry for?” There’s shuffling on the other side and Steve imagines that Eddie is sitting up now, settling in to listen to the sob story of the nightmare Steve had without even falling asleep first. He does that sometimes. Doctor Owens has a fancy term for it, but Steve doesn’t want a label for his insanity. Because if there’s a label, that means it’s nothing special — and that’s kinda the only thing he has left.

But he doesn’t tell Eddie anything about that. Maybe one day. If he sticks around. Gods, but Steve hopes he does.

“If you’re sorry for calling me,” Eddie continues, his voice impossibly soft, “you don’t gotta be that. It’s fine. It’s why you have this number, alright? I’m here.” There’s more silence for a moment, but it’s the kind of silence that leaves him room to breathe. Eddie is good at that kind of silence, despite the fact that he talks so much all the time.

Maybe it’s the constant talking that makes the silences all the more significant.

“What do you need, Stevie?” Eddie asks then, and Steve hides under his blanket, the phone pressed to his ear. “I could come over. Or you could come over, I don’t really care either way.”

“No. Don’t wanna move. And…” No company, he wants to say, but the words get stuck in his throat. Sometimes company and kindness make the bad times worse. They make it more real, and what Steve needs is for everything to be a little less real. Maybe that’s why he’s calling Eddie. There’s no way that boy with his doe eyes and his wide smiles and his gentle voice in the middle of the night is real.

“Alright, I got it.” Eddie breathes deeply on the other end and Steve remembers that that’s a good idea actually, so he follows Eddie’s breath for a while.

“Can we just…” He trails off. Gives up on finding words, cringing at himself, glad that Eddie can’t see him like this.

“Can we what, hm?”

Steve shakes his head and remains silent, knows that his voice will sound anything but strong when he opens his mouth, and every second Eddie doesn’t hear what a mess he is, is important.

“I’m bad at this,” is what he settles on, closing his eyes against the world inside and outside his blanket.

“At what? Sleep? Words?”

Yes, and yes. But it’s not what he means. “Asking for things. I’m not good at that.”

“Hey, neither am I,” Eddie says and it sounds like he’s smiling. Steve imagines it and he hopes, oh he hopes that Eddie is smiling. “Y’know how I told you to call me whenever? That was essentially me just asking for you to call me. To know that… that I’m here.”

“I do,” Steve says quietly, and his body is sort of trembling with the confession. “I do know that.”

“Good,” Eddie breathes. “So what do you need?”

Steve sighs and pretends he’s somewhere else, pretends he’s in a world where asking is easy, where being known comes naturally and not with shaking voice and trembling hands. Pretends Eddie knows him already.

“Can we just… Fall asleep like this? Talking, I mean, though I don’t even know if I have things to say. The silence is more important anyway. You’re good at those, did you know?”

A light chuckle comes from Eddie, and Steve smiles along with it. “I’m good at silences? Me, Eddie Munson? You sure you don’t have the wrong number?”

“Very.” It’s all Steve says, and then it’s Eddie who’s quiet— as if to prove his point.

“Yeah, Stevie,” he says after a beat, his voice making Steve shiver. “We can fall asleep like this. Do you need me to talk to you, or…?”

He considers briefly, but he already knows the answer. He doesn’t need Eddie to talk. Just needs him to be there.

“Nah. Just… Just be there?”

There’s a hum now — the same kind of hum that Eddie always does right before giving him that secret smile of his, when he’s about to touch Steve or give him a new pet name. Sometimes, when the door to Family Video falls shut behind Eddie and Steve is left to deal with his fluttering heart, he likes to believe that this him has been placed into the universe with his name to it.

He wonders if Eddie knows. If the hum tastes like his name, if it makes Eddie’s heart flutter just as much.

“Hey Stevie?” Eddie interrupts their silence after a while and Steve can’t fight the smile on his lips.

“Yeah?”

“Did you know that otters hold hands at night so they don’t drift away from each other in their sleep?” He waits for a moment, allowing for a reaction, leaving another silence for him to claim. He does, but only with a smile as he grips the phone tighter, imagining it to be Eddie’s hand. “This sorta feels like that.”

The trembling that hasn’t really stopped is back now, the air heavy with implications and possibilities. Steve swallows.

“You keeping me from drifting away, Munson?”

“I hope so.”

It’s whispered words across the lines, crossing lines and blurring them. It’s taking his breath away, replacing it with something else, something new, something he has only felt when they were alone, but never this intense. He fills his lungs with it.

“Hey Eddie?”

“Yeah?”

More whispers, more greedy lungfuls of this something new.

“Is it bad that I kinda wanna hold your hand now?”

A beat, a sigh, a careful breath. It makes Steve think that the air in Eddie’s room is sizzling too, heavy and light at the same time. Maybe it’s just as addictive.

“Only if it’s bad that I’m kinda imagining yours in mine right now.”

Steve shakes his head again and doesn’t feel stupid about it now. “I don’t think that’s bad,” he whispers.

“Good.”

Maybe whispers are their new language. Maybe everything else is too harsh for this fragile thing, maybe the world outside Steve’s blanket isn’t ready to see the smile on his face or hear the rapid beat of his heart. He doesn’t mind.

“Tomorrow. Can I hold your hand tomorrow?”

“What do you mean, Stevie, you’re already holding it.” And there’s that smile again that makes Steve huff out the softest of chuckles, hiding his face in his pillow to ground himself against this heady feeling. “Yeah, you can hold it tomorrow, but only if I can hold yours, how’s that sound?”

“Sounds perfect, Eds,” Steve says, just louder than a whisper, and he waits with bated breath if anyone out there in the universe heard, if their bubble would burst.

But it doesn’t. Eddie only murmurs a sweet, soft, “Can’t wait.” And then there’s only silence because they’re both smiling, hearts racing, hands trembling around the phantom touch of warm fingers. They fall asleep like that soon after.

[vulpixisananimal]

"Eaaaasy Sif."

(Isabeau was helping you walk across your room. Stars, your legs still felt so weak, but, still you walked.)

"Oh this is anything but easy." (You joke.)

"-snrk- W-well if you can't walk we can try another day-"

"I can walk! I can!" (You say, pouting. You had made a deal that if you could walk to your door then you'd be healthy enough to finally leave your blinding room.)

"Well if You're sure!! I'll let you try by yourself, ok?"

(You nod, Isabeau let's go of your arm, and you took a step. So far so good. Let's try another.)

(Stardust, you look ridiculous~)

(You stumble a little, but catch yourself. Do you MIND?!?)

(Not at all, actually~)

"Are you alright?!?" (Isa asked, oh forever worrying.)

"M' fine, just, Loop being annoying."

"O-oh! Well let Sif be, alright! They're trying their best!!"

(Oh fine, I'll behave~)

"They say they'll behave."

(Isa smiles, you take another step, then another, just, a few more steps and. . . You trip as you make it to your door and you end up hanging onto the handle.)

". . . Eh, close enough." (Isa walked over and offered his hand. You took it.) "I'll help you downstairs."

"Yay!!" (Say the line.) "Thank you Mr. Amazinglywonderfullfunnybuffisabeau."

"!!!! S-Sif!!!" (He rubs his shoulder, blushing.) "Y-you can't just say that! I have-"

"-The heart of a delicate maiden?" (you wink, cheekily.) "Oh, I know~"

(Isabeau hides his face in his hands. Oh Stardust you flirt~)

(You TOLD me to do it!)

(And you did~)

"A-alright, alright, alright. A-are you ready to go now?"

"Yeah." (You smile.) "Ready now."

(Before you could respond, Isabeau scooped you up like you were a sack of flower. Now YOU were blushing.) "H-hey!!"

"No way you can tackle stairs, Sif." (Isa gets the door with his shoulder.) "You're taking the Isabeau Express!"

"S-stars. . ." (Ok, it wasn't that bad. Isa was big! And strong! And was carying you very gently. You held on less for dear life, but to try and calm your beating heart.)

(What's wrong, can't hanndle the big guy~?)

(YOU'RE NOT DOING ANY BETTER!!!)

(We'll I'M not so OBVIOUS about it!)

"Last stop comin up!" (Isa says as you two get down stairs.) "Please make sure you haven't left any luggage on your seat!"

(You hide your face in your hands.)

"What're you-" (That was Nille, she paused, then burst out laughing.)

"The Isabeau Express is NO laughing matter Pétronille!"

"S-sure-" (She was trying really hard to stop her laughter.) "Wh. well! Is it a luxary experience, Siffy?"

(You simply groan behind your hands. They both laugh a little.)

"A-alright I'll put you down, if you want."

(You, you really don't want to be put down, actually. This is really nice. You shake your head.)

(Oooooh look at youuuuuuu~)

"O-oh!" (You couldn't see it, but he was DEFFINATLY blushing.)

"Oh wow." (Nille punched Isa's shoulder.) "Look at you two, so sweet I'll get a toothache. C'mon, breakfast's ready."

(Oh Stardust, are you suuuuure you want to be caaaaried through where eeeeveryone can see?)

(Shut up shut up shut up PLEASE shut up.)

"Delivery!" (Isabeau yelled as he walked into the common area.) "Someone order a very tired Siffrin?"

(You braved looking from behind your hands, Mirabel, Odile, Bonnie, and. . . Ramos, where all starting on breakfast. Nille joined them.)

"-Snrk- G-good morning you two!!" (Mirabelle was trying REALLY hard not to laugh.)

"Why are you carrying 'Frin like apples?" (Said Bonnie, they were about to dig into some absolutly delicious looking pancakes.)

"I didn't want him to worry about the stairs!" (Isa responds.)

"And so you decided to carry them instead?" (Odile said from behind a book.) "Or is that just your excuse."

"I-It's not!!!"

"Wow Isa, not like you to make excuses." (Ramos says, cheekily.)

"I don't need excuses!!"

"Y-youcanputmedownnow-" (You mutter, stars, you're NEVER going to live this down.)

(Isa puts you down, finally. You stand for a moment, wobbly, before collapsing into a chair. Your familly claps.)

"VERY well done!!"

"So proud!! So cool!!"

"Quite a show, Siffrin."

"Thank you, thank you~" (You weakly give a wave, Stars, it was good to be around everyone again, even if it was a struggle.) "I've been practicing that performance all week."

"It's really impressive!!" (Mira says excitedly.) "That doctor said you'd be out for at least another week! It really is amazing!"

"Worst case of craft exhaustion she'd ever seen, right?" (Odile continues.) "Goes without saying, but you should be dead, Siffrin."

"I feel dead." (You get a bit more comfortable in your chair, oh stars, food.) "Oh, doctor?"

"Don't remember?" (Mira asks,) "W-well you were pretty out of it- Oh! We didn't tell her anything important don't worry!!"

"I knew you wouldn't." (You smile weakly.)

"Hey let Siffy eat, big celebration after all." (Nille says- oh stars there she goes pilling MORE food onto your plate.)

(Can we PLEASE eat already.)

(You dig in. Yummy!! Super yummy!! Oh stars, Bonnie must have gone all out for this!!)

"W-woah, careful Sif."

"Let them carbbing eat, 'Za!"

"Language."

"YOU'RE language."

(You try not to choke on your food as you laugh. It was nice, being around them all again, REALLY around them all. The past week had been. . . Blurry. You barely remembered anything. Sometimes you weren't you. Sometimes you could barely move. It was all just, so much.)

(But, you were back! You were back here! With good food, REALLY good food. Everyone was happy, everyone was safe, even. . .)

(You swallow your food and put your fork to the side. Right. You need to ask.)

"So. . ." (You look over at them.) "Ramos."

(They sink into their chair a little.) "S-siffrin?"

"Hey."

"Uh, h-hey!"

"So, I gotta say, what you did wasn't very nice."

(They look away.) "Y-yeah, I'm s-"

"But after a week to think about it?" (Joke time.) "I don't really Mind it at all~"

"NO!"

"BAD!!"

"BOOO!!"

"HAHA!! YES!!!"

(Ramos looks at you, perplexed, bewildered, beffudled; then bursts out laughing. Mission accomplished.)

(WOW, Stardust, you ~really~ are that forgiving, aren't you~?)

(No, you're not. But people deserve a second chance.)

(Ramos shakes their head.) "Haha. . . I-I, I am really sorry, Siffrin."

"Oh, we know." (You say, smiling.) "It really sucked, needing to retry the same day over and over and over again, friends memories changing, getting hurt. But hey, we got our happy ending after all."

(Ramos sunk down again, sheepish.) "S-sorry. . ."

"If it makes you feel any better, we've been through worse."

"That's not a good thing!!!" (Mira exclaims.) "Besides, Madame Odile worked really hard to make sure there wasn't any lingering mind craft on anyone."

"That I did." (Odile nods.) "It was more difficult than I thought, how someone changes a mind is much more intricate than changing a body."

"What bout that star?" (You ask.) "It wasn't a wish, was it."

"Well I'm no expert in wish craft." (Odile says while smugly holding up a hand.) "But the emblem only had extremely potent mind craft molded into it. Ramos?" (She gestures to the defender-in-training.)

"R-right." (They nod.)

"I, I got it from someone who came to visit the Defenders house one day. We met, he seemed nice, there was. . . Yeah there was someone with him too."

"What'd they look like?" (You ask.)

(They shook their head.) "Don't remember, I tried real hard, but, nothing. . ."

"You tried your best, and that's ok!!" (Mira said supportivley.)

(They smile, and continue.) "We talked, I must have said something, cause they asked about my Guardian, it was, it was. . ." (They snap their fingers.) "About the Island! North of Vaugarde!"

"Oh." (Yeah, of course it was the Island.) "Do you remember anything specific?"

"N-not really, they asked me a lot, about my guardian, about me, and gave me that emblem, saying it would grant my wish."

"Which was to be strong, like Isabeau." (You say.)

"W-well. . ." (They rub their shoulder.) "Yes and no? I-I mean I did! But, w-well. . . . . . . I was, worried, about, Changing. And how my guardian would take it. A new face, new name."

"O-oh!!" (Mira said, surprised. Did they not explain this to everyone yet?)

(They continue.) "T-they're really nice and accepting!! And said they'd accept me whoever I turn out to be, but, b-but. . ." (They pause, as if considering something.)

". . . Are you sure you're okay talking about it? Rams?" (Isa says, well, maybe HE knew about it. They were good friends, after all.)

"Nono, I'm, I'm ok, with sharing it." (They breathe in, and out.) "I'm. . . I'm from Poteria, and, my parents there weren't, weren't the nicest people. When I found out about Changing and, brought it up to them they. . ."

(There was a cold pause, Mira looked worried, Isa supportive, and Nille. . . Nille looked, well, you couldn't place that look.)

(Ramos continues, finally.) ". . They didn't take it well. So, I cut my losses, and ran away. Don't remember much, untill I met my Guardian, Aunya, they were from that Island, back then people remembered it still. They were my real parent."

"That's. . ." (Mira starts.)

"That's great!" (Nille says.) "Glad you found a good place!!"

"Heh, thanks." (They're smiling.)

(. . . You missed a lot, didn't you.)

(Look at your friends, they're cracking jokes, chatting, smiling like nothing happened. It's been a week, have you even realized that yet?)

(. . .)

(And for us, it was so much more~ We spent so long fighting this. . . This coward, trying to figure out what has happening, why it was happening. I was stuck, here, needing to deal with this while you were struck down with that blinding mind craft!)

(They deserve a second chance? That's what you're going to tell me? After All of MY hard work?!?)

"Siffrin?" (You look up, Mirabelle was talking to you.) "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" (You look down, oh, you were gripping your wrist, your knuckles were pale.) "O-oh, yeah, sorry. . ."

"What's going on, Sif?" (Isa asks. You look away.)

(Stars. . . What do you say?)

(What DO you say, Stardust~ Tell them you don't trust Ramos? Their new friend? Or do you suck it down again. Just wait untill it eats, you, alive.)

". . . It's. . ." (You breathe in, and out.) "Just, hard to believe."

"Huh?"

(You continue.) "That it's, over."

". . ."

"Ah. . ."

"O-oh!"

"It's just, over." (You keep breathing.) "It was that easy, there wasn't any burnt sugar, no twist, no reason to be forced back again. Just, snap that emblem and. . ."

"Well there is still the question of who gave it to Ramos, and why." (Odile adds.)

"Timing, M'dame"

"Ah, r-right."

(You shook your head.) "N-no, no there is still that, just. . . It's just, hard, for us to get over." (Hard to get over how Ramos is just, here.)

". . ." (Ramos fiddled with his utensils before speaking.) ". . . Is. . . Is there any way I can, help with that?"

(You don't respond right away. How? How could they help? It wasn't exactly their fault. Well, it was. But they are sorry, and it seems like they do want to help. Stars, what a turnaround.) "Doubt it. It'll just, take time."

"A-alright. . ."

(. . . Let's just move on.) "A-alright, well, is there anything else I should know Ramos?"

"O-oh! Right!" (They nod, and continue.) "I don't remember if those people who gave me the star told me where they're going next. Sorry."

"You shouldn't appoligise." (Odile says.) "Your mind has as many holes as Siffrins right now."

"Hey!" (You say, pouting.)

(Ramos chuckles.) "I guess, b-but uh, speaking of that, just so you know, full transparency and such. I, do still know some Mind Craft. S-sorry."

(Oh. Ew. You make a face.)

"N-nothing as strong as before!! I promise!!"

"Right, right." (You twiddle your fork.) "Just, no touch."

"Yessir." (Ramos nods.) "That's, that's basicly everything I know."

"Well it's a few questions answered." (Nille says, leaning back.) "Just wondering who those two crabbing idiots who started this were."

"And if they're gonna cause more trouble." (Isabeau adds.)

". . . That's it!" (Mirabelle perks up.) "That'll be our new little quest!! The mystery of the mind craft duo!!"

(You look up at her in shock.) ". . . What?"

"Oh!! I LOVE that idea!!!" (Isa joins in.) "Traveling aimlessly could be so BORING, but a mystery? Oh man, it would be right out of a story book!!"

"You guys are weird." (Bonnie says between bites.)

"I have to agree with the kid." (Odile replies.) "But, the idea is novel."

(Ramos looks like they're about to say something, then stops, looking back down.)

(. . . You're not serious Stardust.)

(What, I didn't even think anything~)

(Yes you did!! Are you insaine!?!)

(Yes, yes we are.) "Do you want to come with us, Ramos?"

"H-HUH!?!" (Ramos looks up, surprised.) "Wh-huh??? What??? Me?!??"

"OH GREAT IDEA!!!" (Isabeau says.) "I think you'd have a great time!!"

"Our first destination could be visiting your guardian." (Odile adds.) "And we'd be able to support you if they do not."

"It would be fun!!" (Mira is bouncing in her seat excitedly.)

"I-I dunno. . . I'll think about it." (Ramos says, looking up at you, then away.)

"Take your time!! It's a big decision after all." (Isa says. He gives you a look of thanks, probably for offering to invite them along.)

(I wish I'd strangled you, Stardust.)

(Try winning next time.)

"But first, Siffrin needs to rest up." (Odile looks over at you.) "And we do need to talk about your health."

(You groan.) "Do we gotta?"

(Yes, Stardust~)

"Yes, Siffrin. (Odile echoes.) "Both physically and mentally."

(You wince.) "R-right, we, we would like to avoid passing out for a week."

"You nearly died, Siffrin!!" (Isa exclaims.) "Please please promise me to be careful with time craft? Please?"

"I-I, whuh-" (You blink. What?)

"I doubt they remember." (Odile looks away from you.) "You had a heart attack, Siffrin, likely from extreme exhaustion. A-and. . ." (She pauses, considering her words.) "Because you nearly died, I had, to stop you from looping."

"Oh. . ." (Like, like before.) "But, wouldn't that have, not been that-"

"Siffrin if you died there where would you have looped back to." (Odile leans over to you, looking you in the eye.) "The moment you woke up. Woke up having a heart attack. What do you think would have happened then?"

(Oh.)

(O-oh. . .)

(You look down, you were holding your wrist again. The temperature had dropped to Sub-Zero temperatures. If, if she didn't. . .)

". . . T-thank you, Odile."

(She sighs, back to her book.) "Please, just be more careful. Mirabelle, please, I'm done talking."

"O-oh!" (Mirabelle perked up.) "O-ok! Right! So! S-so for one Madame Odile has been looking into some really strong medicine to try and limit craft exhaustion. For emergencies only though!!"

"Ideally we won't need you to loop ever again, really." (Isa mumbles.)

(You nod.) "F-fair, it's, it's really not a nice experience."

(But what if you start looping again~)

(. . . Right.) "Actually, should we get a codeword for if I'm looping again?"

"Oh!!!"

"Smart!"

"Like a secret spy or something?!?" (Bonnie says excitedly.)

"Haha! Yeah exactly like that. How about. . ."

(Loop?)

(. . . Back to the stage.)

"Back to the stage." (You finish, before realizing what you just said.)

"Huh. . ."

"Uh, cute!"

"Oh!!" (Bonnie raises a hand.) "'Cause it's like you're acting? Like in one of those plays?"

"U-UH-" (Wow ok! You didn't expect Bonnie of all people to get that!) "Y-yeah! Yeah cause we're acting things out, yeah!"

(There was a general nod of agreement. A good codeword. Stars, for such a nice breakfast you sure did need to deal with a lot of existentialism and anxiety. You go to finish up your food, glad that's over-)

"Oh! One more thing, Sif?" (Mirabelle asks.)

(HAH!)

(You wince, and finish your bite.) "Uh, yeah?"

"Is, there someone else around? You are saying 'we' a lot."

(Wuhoh. You sink down in your chair.) "O-ohright."

"Around?" (Ramos says from organizing their utensils for the nth time.)

"OH!!" (Mira puts her hands to her mouth.) "U-Uh!! Right, uh, I-I'm sorry I didn't think about-"

"I-if this is private, I can go."

(You look between Mira, Ramos, and the others at the table. Stars, what a thing to jump on you! You did promise you'd be more vulnerable, but-)

(STARDUST! You barely know Ramos! It took you months to work up the courage to tell your family. Are you sure you aren't being mind controlled still~?)

(You massage your temple. Great. Headache.)

"s-sorry. . ." (Mirabelle says, looking down.) "I, didn't mean to-"

"You're fine, loops just being a bitch." (ME? being a WHAT?!? I'm trying to keep you from being an IDIOT Stardust! Stars above you are so DENSE!!) "They're cranky because I'm better at talking to people than them."

(WHAT?!?)

(The others at the table laugh, except Ramos, who still looked confused. You said you'd explain to them another time. Whenever that time might be, if ever.)

(But right now, you were hungry.)

(You needed a rest.)

[shootingstarpilot]

In Which Helix Loses His Godsdamned Temper

A gift for my dear friend @themonopolyhat, who wanted to know how the swivel chair race briefly mentioned in Chapter 11 of like lightning changing hands went down <3

Helix and sleep are passing acquaintances at best.

Not enemies, no- he's not a fool. He's a good medic. He knows sleep is important. Even for the clones, who were conditioned to function on half as much sleep as a human nat-born- toxic byproducts need to be processed. New neural pathways need to be formed. Memories need to be filed away. So of course he makes time for it. He most certainly doesn't need Needle coaxing him away from his desk or switching out his stims or shoving him down onto a cot and sitting on him until he passes out- no matter how much the younger medic might protest otherwise-

But. His point.

He makes room for it. Their moments of true downtime are few and far between, but Helix always makes sure to squeeze in a treasured nap or two when he gets the chance.

Which is why, when he's rudely awoken by shouting outside the medbay door that is not immediately followed by the reveal of some horrific injury, Helix decides he's well overdue to rain hellfire down on whatever hapless idiots decided to work out their post-campaign jitters right outside his fucking medbay.

He pulls the pillow off his head, rolls to his feet, and stalks towards the door, carefully selecting his most threatening expression and arranging it appropriately.

When the door slides open, he inhales-

And then lets the air out again in a slightly anticlimactic whoosh when he comes face to face with an empty hallway.

Feeling immensely irritated, he steps out of the doorway and glances to the left and right.

Where-?

The noise is barely a ripple at the back of his mind, at first. Almost indistinguishable from the ever-present rumbling of the engines.

Then it very quickly overtakes it.

Helix, operating solely on well-honed instinct, flattens himself against the wall just in time for a blur of motion to careen around the corner. They slow as they hit the curve, just enough for him to make out-

Oh, for fuck's sake.

Auks, on the swivel chair, gripping both edges with white-knuckled hands- Wooley, hands on the back of the chair, moving at a dead sprint-

Auks' gaze flickers up just enough to catch Helix's eyes, wild glee melting into a pants-pissing terror. They disappear around the next corner, and Helix indulges in a mental pat on the back when he hears Auks' distant shriek of-

"Go faster!"

Right.

He lets them go. He'll catch up with them later.

After a moment's consideration, he steps into the middle of the hallway, studying the water stain on the ceiling with all the appearance of sincere diligence.

The distant rumbling grows louder.

Hm. He should think about filing a work order with Maintenance.

Underneath, now, the sound of footsteps-

They don't want to let that pipe burst, after all.

"OhshitohfuckCOVER-"

He doesn't move.

A screeching noise, an even louder scream-

A tangle of limbs tumbles past his left, slamming into the corner with a force that Helix deliberately doesn't wince at.

Longshot is the first to sit up, carefully disentangling himself from the pathetic remains of the chair. He doesn't look at all frightened when he looks up at Helix.

Just resigned.

"In my defense," he says, rolling his shoulder assessingly, "I told them this location was a bad idea."

"It was," Helix agrees, poisonously sweet.

Gearshift is the next to emerge, clutching at his face. Longshot pats him on the back. "All good?"

Faintly muffled, slightly more stuffy-

"You broke my nose!"

"I broke your nose?"

"You!" Gearshift amends, pointing at Helix, the effect of his glare somewhat lessened by the blood pouring between his fingers. "What were you thinking?"

"Standing in the hallway?"

"Y-"

Gearshift falters.

Helix smiles at him.

"Do you know how big this ship is, Gearshift?" he says mildly.

"Pretty big, sir," Gearshift mutters.

"Do you know how often I have time to nap?"

"Probably not very often, sir."

"Do you know how loud you idiots were?"

"No, sir."

"This was the third round, though," Longshot adds blithely. "Can't have been too bad if you slept through the other two-"

"Shut your mouth," Helix says pleasantly. "Where are the others?"

Longshot points.

"Right," Helix says, already running through his death-be-upon-you-if-you-try-this-banthashit-again speech in the back of his mind. He jabs a finger at Gearshift. "Stay here. I want to take a look at your nose when I get- stop tilting your head back, do you want to asphyxiate on your own blood? I'll be right back."

He stalks off without waiting for an answer.

The others aren't far off. Two hallways down and Helix can already make out the cheerful chatter, rising alongside his blood pressure.

"-and Auks clocked in at three minutes on the dot, fastest lap yet," Waxer says cheerfully. Helix picks up his pace. "Right, Trapper, you're up- who's your partner?"

Trapper is, however, doomed to a life of loneliness, because it's at that precise moment that Helix rounds the corner and launches into a lecture that will be whispered about among the shinies for years to come.

"-swivel chairs! Fucking swivel chairs, I thought you were all supposed to be soldiers, not tubies running along the godsdamned catwalks-"

Trapper shrinks backwards, ducks his head, and his patient resignation drives Helix's ire to new heights-

"-had the entire ship to be suicidal in, but no, you had to plot out your fucking racecourse directly outside my fucking medbay when I was getting the first sleep I'd had in three days-"

Waxer scuffs his foot against the floor, looking like he's considering taking a step backward, and then thinks better of it-

"-slammed his head into the wall and broke his fucking nose, if he'd hit half an inch higher his brains would've spilled out like soup because you couldn't even think to use your fucking helmets-"

Boil seizes the opportunity when Helix is forced to stop for breath.

"We did have supervision," he points out. "Medical. So, you know- we got cleared-"

"Who," Helix grits out, "the fuck-"

The crowd pulls back like the tide, and Helix stares.

Stitch stares up at him from where he's perched on the edge of yet another swivel chair, white-faced.

Needle, holding onto the back, offers him a wave.

"Integrated supervision," he says cheerfully. "New management principle I heard about, thought we could give it a try-"

A muscle in Helix's jaw jumps.

"You two," he grits out, "with me. And the rest of you-" he snaps, at the rustle of a collective relieved sigh- "pull this banthashit again, and I'll deliver you to Grievous hog-tied on a platter- now, am I understood?"

At the affirmative murmurs, he turns on his heel and strides off, followed hurriedly by his two renegade medics.

The strained silence is broken only by two sets of footsteps for some time.

"Stitch," Helix says, after a moment, "get off the chair."

A pause. Then three sets of footsteps.

Then, so quiet Helix has to strain to hear it-

"Is Gearshift okay?"

Helix closes his eyes and forces a slow exhale out through his nose.

(His head is pounding.)

"Yeah," he says, making a conscious effort to gentle his voice. "Just a broken nose. No other trauma that I could tell. You deal with that when we get back, okay? Run him through the gauntlet. Use your best judgement."

"Okay, Helix."

The silence gains a certain obnoxious quality to it.

"And you," Helix says, considering-

Then it hits him.

"You can put that nutritional learning module to use," he decides. "Kitchens. Run through the new requisition forms with Terror. Help him rebuild a sustainable menu; the routine shipments got changed last week."

Needle does not appear half as peeved as Helix would like him to.

He catches Helix's glare and grins, irrepressibly sunny. "Will do, boss. Terror and I are friends, I like his company."

"Terror doesn't do friends."

"Mm, fair. We're nemeses, then. I think that's the closest thing he has."

Helix's glower darkens.

The rest of the walk back is silent.

They split when they reach the medbay. Stitch heads for Gearshift immediately- and Longshot, who, Helix notes with mild surprise, had stayed with him. Needle peels off for the kitchens, humming under his breath with a nonchalance that makes Helix want to deck him.

And Helix-

Helix heads for his office.

All inclination towards sleep has vanished. He grits his teeth, settles into his chair, rubs at his forehead-

He's sure there's some flimsiwork he can get ahead on.

Later:

After he realizes exactly why Stitch is skittering away from him at every turn-

After he sits him down and patiently explains that the absolute worst punishment he will ever receive- the punishment for the Fuck-Up Of All Fuck-Ups, the punishment if he is found to be unfit for medical work- will be being reassigned to a different unit-

After he sees their youngest primary off to bed, guilt still pulling his shoulders low and dragging at his steps-

Needle comes back.

The first Helix knows of this is when a knock at his office door rouses him from staring at the same page on his datapad that he has been for the past forty minutes.

"Come in," he mutters, and Needle pokes his head through the door.

"Hey, boss," he says, and steps in fully, carefully shutting the door behind him. "New menu's been filed. Double- and triple-checked."

"Mhm."

Needle settles into the chair and sets a cup Helix hadn't noticed him carrying onto his desk.

"Tea," he says quietly, in answer to Helix's questioning look. "Thought you might need it."

Helix grumbles something incoherent, but picks up the drink anyway.

The warmth seeps all the way up his arms, into his shoulders, and he relaxes quite against his will.

They sit in silence for a long moment.

"Things were getting tense in the training rooms," Needle says at last. "They were at each other's throats. Kamei had already dislocated Trigger's shoulder, and he didn't even seem sorry- you know how those two are."

Helix blinks. He does- and- that's right, they hadn't been there, had they?

"This was the first thing I could come up with. I should've thought of the helmets, you were right about that- I'm sorry I didn't. I just wanted to get them moving."

"And of course this was the first thing you thought of," Helix mutters. He sees Needle's expression twist briefly, and guiltily musters up a quirk of his lips. "Sounds like you."

Needle returns the smile, and then his gaze drops to his knees.

"I didn't know you were sleeping, either," he says eventually. "You- you don't usually. I should've checked, I know, I just figured- keeping the medbay on the route would make for easier access if someone did get injured."

Helix takes a sip of the tea.

It's not caf.

But it's-

Good.

"Sorry about that," Needle finishes lamely. His fingers twitch and flicker and jump before he stuffs his hands into the pockets of his scrubs.

Helix takes another sip- longer than he'd meant to, this time, and when he looks down he realizes he's nearly drained the cup.

His headache is easing.

"Longshot said that was the third round," he says at last. "How'd you two do on the others?"

Needle stares at him, uncomprehending, for one long moment-

Then a smile like the sun splits his face.

"Oh, knocked them out of orbit, boss."

"Good," Helix mutters. He stands, places the empty mug on the table, and stretches until he feels his back crack. "Right. I'm going to get some sleep, then. You got the shift?"

"Course I do," Needle says easily, and Helix squeezes his shoulder on his way out.

Stitch is sitting up when he emerges, ruffled hair and sleep-fogged eyes sending a pang through Helix's chest.

"Hey, kiddo," he says quietly. "Mind if I join you?"

Stitch squints at him. "Helix?" he says at last. "Needle said you needed to lie down."

"Oh, he did, did he?" Helix mutters, glancing back at the office door. He doesn't even bother to try mustering a glare.

"Uh-huh," Stitch hums, already slipping back into sleep. He curls onto his side and pats the empty space next to him. "Come on."

Helix kicks off his boots and obligingly settles under the blanket, and Stitch shuffles a bit closer and wraps an arm around his chest.

"Needle told me you two won," Helix murmurs.

"Yeah," Stitch says sleepily. A slow smile blooms across his face. "He can go pretty fast."

"Well," Helix sighs. "I guess that's okay, then."

As it turns out, sleep can come easily after all.

[spitblaze]

i dont think you need to be a genius to make up new words and expand the english language. im a certified dumbass, watch this: glimber. poobis. drungle. sneegle. I can do this all day

[arinrowan]

One thing the AI ‘writing’ discourse is showing is just how many people think all being an author entails is sitting in front of a computer and typing nonstop.

[satoruxx]

ok it’s 2 am and i think i finished part 3 of wolf!toji pls be proud of me <///3

[oacest]

"i've waited for a thousand years... for you to come and FUCK ME--!" (x)

[applejongho]

1/176 rows done for guerrilla tapestry my eyes are about to pop out of my skull

[sabbathbloodysabbeth]

"Hey There, Dio"

July 2023 prompt "pool" / 442 words / rated g / tw; Eddie is drunk (don't know if that counts as a trigger) / @steddiemicrofic

Steve glances over the pool table, watching dark curls fall in front of the other man's face. Tattoos stretched out on his skin as he moves his arms out while holding the cue stick aiimed at a dark green ball. Steve lets a soft chuckle rip through his chest when he realizes the guy doesn’t know what he’s doing. Either that or he was too drunk to realize his mistake. 

“Hey there Dio, you're supposed to hit the white ball into the striped balls.” Steve comments amused as he holds the stick against his chest. Snorting as he watches the other drunkenly move around the table to the white ball. 

“I knew that.” 

“Sure you did, pal.” 

Steve shakes his head as his eyes land on the Dio patch on the other’s vest. Tracing the details on the image as he waits for the other to hit the ball. Which never comes as the guy misses and falls face-first into the baize. It was absolutely pathetic and Steve forces himself to hold his laughter back. Not understanding why the other was so determined to play a match with him if he was to wasted to see straight.

Instead of teasing the other like he wanted to, he moves and wraps his arm around the others waist. Sliding his arm underneath the leather jacket as he pulls the others arm around his shoulder so he could help him walk.

“Oooooh, gotta buy me a drink first big boy,” The flirting is new and it causes Steves brain to shortwire with confusion. He did walk in a straight bar right?

“Well good thing waters free then.” Steve says amused. He doesn’t know who this guy was but he was determined to make sure he was safe for the night. 

“Noooo, not water.” The man tosses his head back almost causing both of them to flop back onto the pool table. Steve grunts a little at the amount of weight he has to lift before he gets a better grip on the other to help him walk over to a booth. Being dragged down to sit next to the orher as the man tosses his legs over his lap. Tilting his head a bit, before moving forward and licking the side of Steve’s face.

“Finder Keepers.”

Steve's face scrunches up a bit as he tries to lift his hand up and wipe the spit off from his face. Trying his hardest to be mad at the other whose eyes have grown wide all of a sudden. 

“You’s the most prettiest boy I ever met.”

And oh god tonight, was going to be a long night.

[reineyday]

this akataka bonded dreams fic is getting pretty long for what im used to writing, and it's almost done, but it's not updating 😔 posting in the hopes that i'll find some energy somewhere lol

in this fic, mihawk is called the marine hunter bc he accidentally hunts down too many marines trying to let someone know he wants his bounty poster to say "dracule mihawk" and not "hawkeyes mihawk" haha

[fatalism-and-villainy]

Is our definition of "whump" too narrow if my novella about a man wallowing in anguish and shame over his own violent sadistic sexual fantasies does not fall under it? 🤔

[fever-project]

Succession of the Third Kind - LU AU

The Chain begins to learn about the Downfall Timeline, and the secrets Legend holds. Ao3 Link Here. After the Finish the Prompt thing I did I suddenly got inspired to write this. Well, I’ve been trying to write this before, but the first version was literally just one sentence and the second I just did not like. Focusing on Legend and eventually the doppels once I get to them. The abandoned doppel is the only one here so far.

This is not sci-fi, unfortunately. There are no aliens. Sorry if the title mislead you into thinking that. Four/Vio’s POV.

Chapter 1 - Four’s Successor

The reveal of Four’s ability to split went far better than he thought it would. Vio looked out at how Wind was running circles around Red, his kid curiousness taking full force as he asked them loads of questions. Red tried his best to answer them, but he kept looking at Vio for help. He was the smart one after all.

But Vio preferred to just sit down and read a book, rather than interact with people. Blue was arguing with Warriors and Twilight about something stupid, Time and Sky were off to the side and looking after Red and Wind, and Green was chatting with everybody else.

Except for Legend, who was leaning against the next tree over. Staring at him.

“Are you wondering why I’m not with the others?” Vio asked without looking up from his book, but he wasn’t reading anymore.

“Kinda,” Legend answered, still not looking away from him. Does he even blink? “I’m just thinking.”

“Hmm. Nothing important it seems.”

“You don’t know that.”

Vio sighed and closed his book, looking over at Legend. His face was blank, blinking seemingly manually at odd intervals. Did he always do that or was that a new thing? Hopefully it was a new thing.

“Are you okay?” Vio asked, more confused than concerned.

“Eh, I’m fine. You?”

“Obviously,” Vio stood up, “But you seem like you’re trying not to fall asleep or something. No one’s forcing you to stay awake you know?”

“I think I’m your successor,” Legend dumped out of nowhere. Vio blinked a few times, stumbling back. He knew that they obviously weren’t on the end of the timeline compared to the others, but he couldn’t yet figure out where in the timeline he was. If Legend only just figured it out-

“You have the Four Sword, don’t you?” Vio asked, having regained his composure. Legend slowly got off from the tree, stretching, looking away from Vio. He waited for the veteran to speak, he was patient.

Vio looked back over to the others, the joyous scene continuing from before. He remembered that Four still hadn’t revealed the whole shrinking thing, and wondered about what would happen when he did. They’d probably let him ride on their shoulders, and coo at how small he was. Yeah, that’s what they do.

“Happy at the scene, or that I could be your successor?” Legend asked, making Vio straighten up. He didn’t know he was smiling.

“The scene. And we still haven’t confirmed that you’re my successor.”

“That’s fair. Just depends on whether you’re…” he trailed off, grimacing. He looked over at the others, staring at Time for a bit longer than the others before continuing. “Don’t tell anyone about this,” Legend stared at Vio until he nodded his head in agreement, “But I know of the Hero of Time. He was before me, but I’m not sure if he was before or after you.”

“Well I’ve never heard of him so-“ Vio stopped abruptly. If Legend wasn’t his successor, “-Is Time my successor?”

“Could be,” Legend had the same blank look on his face as he stretched again, “But he clearly never heard of you.”

“But you have?“

Legend makes eye contact with him, briefly. His eyes carry as certain sadness to them as he spoke, “I’ve…been to your tomb.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Well that’s not too surprising, I guess,” Vio waved off the way his stomach had dropped, “Of course I’m dead by your time.”

“So was the Hero of Time.”

“Now how long we both were dead is the important question.”

“I…think you could’ve been dead for longer.”

“Then Time’s my successor.”

“Seems like it.”

“And you’re his.”

Legend flinches. Vio doesn’t understand why he would. Was he just wrong about that then?

“Are you Twilight’s-“

“Third option.”

“Wha-“

“Third. Option.”

Vio’s brain works quickly to figure out what Legend’s trying to say. Twilight is one of the options, Time is also an option, and then there’s Wind. But he obviously isn’t Wind’s successor, and Time and Twilight are somewhat close in time. Twilight and Wind are both Time’s successors from two different timelines, but a third timeline could exist. That was the third option.

“A third timeline!” Vio’s eyes widened, a smile encroaching upon his face as he figured it out. Legend laughed heartily.

“Yeah. I was thinking about telling Time after we all figured out the timeline stuff about both Wind and Twi, but…"

“Something happened to the Time before you.”

“Annnd that’s why I’m talking to you now. I’m just hoping you won’t tell Time.”

“So you’re withholding the information you know about me over my head, so I won’t tell, aren’t you?”

A moment of silence passed. Vio looked at Legend right in the eyes, his blank look annoying him. That’s Vio’s thing damn it.

Unexpectedly, Legend laughed, a sly sort of laugh, accompanied with a sly smile. He had to have picked up on Vio’s thirst for knowledge, his need to know more, he had to. He still didn’t know if Legend had the Four Sword. Or what happened with Time. Or why Legend was in his tomb. Vio needed answers. He needs it.

“If I was Blue I would’ve strangled you,” Vio said a nonchalantly as he could.

“Uh huh, sure, sure,” Legend waved his off as he looked at nails, “Listen, I’m telling you this because I can’t tell anyone else. Even though I’m technically Time’s successor, I feel more like I’m your successor. I know more about you and that sword compared to anybody else here. Except you guys of course.”

“…What do you know about it?”

Another moment of silence passed. How annoying. But he must have a reason for this. Vio sat back down on the ground, letting out a sigh. He returned to his book, and a while passed before Legend speaks again.

“So, why are your names so basic?”

Well that definitely wasn’t what Vio was expecting. Might as well answer this since it’s not like the veteran would answer any questions he had. Not like he had anything better to do. Might get him to open up a bit more as well.

“We were around ten and Red couldn’t think of anything better,” Vio closed his book again, “At least I think it was Red, I could be mistaken. What names would you choose?” Legend scratched his chin, thinking. Whether he was actually thinking or not, Vio couldn’t tell.

“I…would name us after the goddesses,” Legend began, already baffling Vio yet again, “The red one would be Din, green would be Farore, blue would be Nayru, and purple would Hylia, now that I know of her because of those guys.” Legend gestures over at Wild, who was currently running around with Warriors and Red, all of whom had Fire Rods, with Sky, Twilight, and Green chasing after them. “Should we check up on them?”

“Us,” Vio said simply, “Name us.” Legend made a strangled type of noise. A Freudian slip, was that what’s it was called? Vio looked at Legend directly in the eyes again, the blank stare now gone, uneasiness clear as day.

“I never used the Four Sword,” Legend quickly spat as he crossed his arms, looking away from Vio’s inquisitive stare.

“I never said you did,” Vio said with a small smirk, “Who knows, it could be something different, yet similar to my experience. You are my successor after all.”

“…Yeah, I guess I am.”

Their conversation ended there.

▲

“Alright, whose time is this?” Time asked. The group looked around the forest they were now in. It was a pleasant and rather normal looking one, save for the logs large enough for a person to walk through and the random swords on pedestals dotted around the place. The one next to Four was made out of cardboard, for some reason.

“It’s my time,” Legend said. That immediately excited Four. The last time they were in his time, it was brief, only being in his house for a few hours as they met Ravio. Then the black blooded monsters appeared as well as the portal, so they left without even seeing most of Hyrule.

And now Four knows this is his future, one of his futures, at least. He was a little curious about where his tomb would be. A little sacred as well.

But first they needed to get out of the forest.

“We’re in the Lost Woods, north of Kakariko Village. And don’t even bother with the swords-they’re worthless,” Legend said, annoyance tainting his voice for some reason.

“These remind me of my first attempts at making a sword,” Four remarked, poking one of the swords, and it wobbled like paper. Actually, this one was made out of paper. Why? Who would do this?

“How likely are we to get lost in these ‘Lost Woods?’” Wild asked, leaning over Legend, who scoffed.

“Not likely, it not that big,” Legend grabbed Wild and went over to grab Hyrule, pulling them both along. “Just follow me, I know the way out. We’ll be in Kakariko in no time at all.”

“Thank you Legend,” Time spoke, “Don’t wander off you lot, just follow the veteran.”

And so they did. Four held the back with Twilight and Wind, Warriors and Sky near Time, and Wild and Hyrule were with Legend.

The vet lead them through the logs, the occasional fucking crows being the only monsters they encountered. It was a nice and short walk all things considered. Four could see Wild pick up a few swords that were made from actual sword materials, and Four got a couple as well. They were shoddy, to put it nicely. But he could probably salvage something if he had the right tools. Soon enough they were out of the woods.

“Alright guys, we’ve made it,” Legend announced once they all filed out. Four could see the village in the near distance. It would likely take less than an hour to get there.

“Woohoo!” Wind cheered once he stepped out, “When are we going to your house Leg?”

Warriors snicked, as he always does when someone calls Legend ‘Leg’, “Yes Leg, where is your home and your rabbit-themed friend?”

Legend groaned, “It’s east of the village. Let’s just stop there and restock or whatever.” He slumped over as he made his way towards the village, mostly ignoring how Wild and Hyrule tried to talk to him.

“Do you think he’s okay?” Wind asked as he leaned over to Four and Twilight.

“He could be tired,” Twilight looked over at the vet, “But he has been acting strange lately.”

“Yeah! Ever since…” Wind trailed off as he looked over at Four. “I-I mean who knows when he started being a grump you know-“

“Wind, it’s fine,” Four sighed, “It’s…a bit complicated.”

“He’s your successor isn’t he?” Warriors suddenly appeared behind them, causing them all to jump.

“Gah! Wars!” Twilight lightly slapped Wars’ arm, glaring at him. He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head nervously.

“Whoops, sorry,” Warriors said with a smile, “I just saw him talking with the purple you for a while, so I assumed you must’ve had an important conversation.”

“Like Legend being Four’s successor?!” Wind looked very excited at the thought, before his face scrunched up, “But when are you guys in the timeline? Probably before Time, right?”

Four shrugged, putting on the best poker face he could. Which was much easier when it was just Vio doing it.

“How about we talk about this after we find a place to rest,” Twilight reasoned, “Also, we’re falling behind.”

The four of them rushed to catch up with the others.

Four soon figured out he was right about it not going to take too long to get to Kakariko. The streets were lively, the people were nice, although a one did run away from them-from Legend. Legend proudly stated that the woman had once reported him to the knights after he was framed for kidnapping the princess, when he was ten years old nonetheless. Now she was way too scared to even go near him, and everyone seemed to hate her. Four also hated her now.

Everyone restocked on their resources, and Four visited the blacksmith with Legend and his posse. The blacksmith and his family were very nice, not looking down on Four like most blacksmiths usually do. Four and Wild gave him the swords to to melted down, which wouldn’t give much useable materials because of the way they were made. But Four didn’t really mind that. He and Wild payed the blacksmith, they all said their goodbyes, and went out to find the others.

Four and Legend didn’t speak to each other the entire time they were there.

Night soon arrived, and with it, the gaggle of heroes arrived at Legend’s house.

“I’m home Ravio!” Legend called out as he opened the door. Immediately, Ravio’s little bird, Sheerow, flew right into his face. Some Links-especially Wars-laughed at how much Legend was taken aback by it.

“Mr. Hero! You’re back!” Radio called from within the house, “Come in, come in. Oh! And I see your family has came along again as well.”

The group headed in, and noticed that the place was a lot neater. It looked like there was slightly less stuff, but most of it was there, either organized in neat boxes or large, nice display cases. Everyone immediately started to wander about, each trying way too hard to stop themselves from touching everything. Four did not know why they were like this. Four did not know why he was like this.

“Did you move my stuff?” Legend sounded like he was trying to hold back his anger. His hooded friend shrunk back, holding his hands up in defense. Sheerow was now perched on top of his head.

“Listen, listen. I can explain, alright? I simply reorganized everything because I kept tripping on everything,” Legend shrunk back this time, a bit embarrassed, “It’s simply safer this way.”

“Some stuff is missing,” Wild muttered. How he noticed, Four didn’t know.

“Oh! I put some things in the basement. I also made a basement!” Ravio said cheerfully, Sheerow chirping along.

“I wonder if there’s anywhere to sleep,” Sky asked.

“I wonder too!” Ravio said, still somehow chipper, “I have made myself a cot to sleep on,” he gestured over to the dark purple mattress at the uppermost left corner of the room, “I don’t know where your bed went Mr. Hero, but I forgot to ask you before you left.”

“You didn’t find the attic?” Legend asked. He was fiddling with a yellow cape with red accents.

“There’s an attic?”

Legend sighed as he strode towards the upper right corner, slinging the cape on. In a swift motion he pulled out his sword, half-swording it and hooked the cross-guard onto something. A quick pull and a set of stair fell down to the floor.

“That’s the attic,” he stated simply. A couple of them oohed and aahed. “Now, I’m going to sleep in my room. Have fun!” In an instant, Legend jumped up, higher than usual and it quickly clicked in Four’s mind that it was because of the cape.

Everyone was surprised, no being able to react in time to stop Legend from going up into the attic and pulling up the ladder, cackling like a mad man as some of them-mostly Ravio, Time, and Sky-tried to get him to stop and be normal. It didn’t work as Legend was successful in locking the attic door behind him, and no one could unlock it.

Four noticed something on the wall near the door hatch. He resolved to check it out later.

“…Well,” Ravio twiddled his thumbs, “I can make some room for some sleeping bags! Free of charge, since your Link’s…family.”

“I don’t wanna sleep in a sleeping bag again!” Wild and Wind both whined.

“Ravio,” Warriors snapped to get his attention, “Is there any space in the basement?”

“Well, yes, but it’s cold down there. I uh, I can-was going to move these boxes down there, but if some of you help, I’ll give you all discounts for future purchases!”

“Well-“ Time began before being quickly cut off by Wars.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t we help? Come on men! Let’s assist our merchant friend.” The rest of the Links sighed. Of course they would help but it not like they wanted to move boxes all night before they could go to sleep. It’s not like it would take too long with all of them working together, they just wanted to go to sleep as soon as possible.

Legend was a lucky man indeed.

After clearing enough space, everyone obviously went straight to sleep. Ravio was the only with the bed, and it was clear that he felt a bit bad about it. Would’ve felt even more bad if Warriors didn’t keep encouraging him the whole time. What was the deal with that? But nobody really questioned him, because fatigue was starting to get to all of them.

But Four couldn’t sleep. He said he’d go out for a walk before he did and no one objected. In reality, he was going for a bit more than just a simple night walk.

It didn’t take long to find one. A Stump Entrance. A Minish Portal. Jackpot.

Four stepped on the stump and shrunk down, falling in between the cracks of the wood. He had missed jumping on the mushrooms within these Stump Entrances. The tiny stones that once framed the portal door with were worn and chipped, maintenance having stopped long ago.

But the Minish were here, he knew it. Where they’ve gone now, he didn’t know. He at least hoped that they were still around long after he was dead. They were no longer in Hyrule, or this part of Hyrule. As he made his way back to Legend’s house, he wonded how Ezlo was doing, what could’ve happened to him. He thought about Vaati, who once was a Minish as well. Did Legend know about him? Had he ever even heard of the Minish?

These thoughts continued once he finally got to the home. There was a small door near the front door, big enough for only Minish to go through. At least they were still here when the house was built, at the very least.

Four had to be very careful when traversing around the home. It was like a maze to avoid his sleeping companions, to not wake him up. After a terrifying time of almost getting smacked by wondering hands, he finally reached the corner the attic door was at. And Four silently cheered when he noticed the very worn engraved steps going up the wall, with a tiny hole up on the top. He was very glad for his Grip Ring, but he still almost fell down numerous times. But he eventually got to the attic.

The first thing that pulled his attention wasn’t Legend, no. It was a mask that he’d only seen before in the hands of Wild. Four now understood why Legend thought it was one of a kind. And now he understood it really was dark magic.

It was covered by a glass case, hanging upon the top of wall. Shaped like triangle, fitting perfectly between the roofs. The dark magic still seeped through, barely, but Four could feel it in his tiny form. He forced himself to look away, for fear that it’ll convince him to try to covet it’s power, like how Time had once described the legend behind it. The old man knew more about that mask than just that legend, even if tried to make it seem like he didn’t. Why did Legend have this mask? And how did he get it? Was it all connected to Time?

Four turned his focus to Legend, the scene before him being a surprising sight. He was sitting on a wooden stool, a stone statue the same size as the vet in front of him. It looked like him too, except for the outfit and hair being much more simple and blocky. It was chipped in various places, and Legend was repairing them at a rapid pace. It must’ve looked a lot worse before he started working on it, Four knew.

The statue had an odd mask on where its face would be, two large hollow holes for the eyes and a smaller one for the mouth. There was…an aura, around it, that Four could sense. Not really an actual aura, per se, but a feeling, a feeling that made it seem more than just just a statue. Like it was alive, yet resting, somewhat similar to an Eyegore Statue and yet very, very different. It was like it was in a deep slumber, like it was never alive to begin with yet it’s heart was beating proudly.

An odd sight for Four’s eyes.

Four wandered about the attic, looking around Legend’s quaint room. The closet was slightly ajar, enough for Four to see what was inside even if he wasn’t Minish size. But if he was normal size, he wouldn’t be able to jump inside of it. There were a lot of colorful outfits inside, and he felt a bit overwhelmed. The closet was also much bigger on the inside, like an actual walk-in closet. Legend really did love his magic items huh. The outfits were also probably magic items as well, due to the fact that Four couldn’t ever imagine Legend wearing full body tights. One of them was the ugliest thing he’d ever seen, and the other was clearly based on Tingle.

There was also one that looked a bit like Time’s armor, with a mask hung next to it that had the markings that Time had on his face, except the red markings were under both of the eyes. The eyes are painted to be entirely white, an odd, but important choice to note down in Four’s opinion. But it was yet another thing related to Time, Legend’s actual predecessor. Yet he told him that he felt more like Four was his predecessor, despite having so many things connected to Time. He still hasn’t found the Four Sword. And despite his efforts, he couldn’t find it within the closet. He did, however, find a number of different tunics in different colors. Most of them green, but there was a certain set of tunics that caught his eye.

The tunics were simple, each having matching, lighter shirts of the same color. There was a swirl on the belt buckles, reminiscent of Wind’s. There was a red one, a green one, a blue one, and a purple one, the last one looking newer compared to the rest.

Before Four could question why that was, Legend suddenly opened the closet. The tiny blacksmith quickly ran to hide underneath one of the many different robes. Peaking from underneath the robe, he saw Legend grabbing the purple tunic he was just looking at and walked out. Four scrambled to follow him as quietly and sneakily as he could.

Legend thankfully didn’t notice the tiny hero behind him as he walked over to the statue, now fully repaired in such a short time. Or it could’ve been a long time, spread out across many months or many many years. He put the clothes onto the statue, an anxious look on his face as he did so. Four was also a bit anxious, deciding to wait this out before tying to figure out what exactly was going on.

Legend cheered silently as he finished dressing the statue. Four found himself cheering alongside him.

“Looking good Hylia,” Legend whispered with a wide smile, “Hylia. Yeah, that’s a good name for you.” He sat down on his stool, examining the statue from there. Four inched his was towards the hole near the door, since it seemed like Legend was almost done with this.

“I just need to figure out how to make you like the other two,” the other two colors, Four noted, “But I don’t really want to go back to Hytopia. Hmm…” Legend bit his lip as he thought about what to do. Four was finally at the hole, standing in front of it. Without a warning sign of any kind, Legend glanced over to the attic door, to where Four was.

The both of them froze. Legend definitely noticed the colorful little speck that stood out like a sore thumb against the wooden floor. The vet’s eyes were wide, but didn’t move much other than that. Four didn’t want to move at all, his mind racing on what to do now. Legend kept staring at him, wide-eyed and unblinking, for the longest time. What was less than a minute felt like hours as Four became more and anxious about what his friend would do.

Legend inhaled sharply as he pressed his lips together, leaning back and closing his eyes.

“Well then,” Legend spun towards the statue, leaning forwards, propping up his head with his hands, “I suppose I could figure out something with the Four Sword. That could help. But that’s something for another day, don’t you think?”

Four fervently nodded, but he didn’t think Legend could see that. Either way, he then ran out out the attic, slowing his fall down with his Roc’s Cape. He was able to glide away a good distance, soon able to go through the small door, go to Minish Portal, turn back to normal size, and return back to house through the normal door. As quietly as he could, he wormed his way into his sleeping bag.

He couldn’t fall asleep. All he could do was wait for night to pass, and process what just happened.

His shadow was definitely laughing at him.

[ofindigoskies]

while I do agree that it is funny to assume the characters in the fell xenologue are simply personality flips I also think it would be so much more fun to take it as an examination of the characters, what changed to make them different from their counterparts, and how it reflects on the ones that we know in the main story

so with that said….. here's my essay on why despite the fact that it looks like personality flip with no basis, alternate Alcryst (Altcryst) is actually not that unbelievable, just a version taken to the extreme due to the nature of the alternate world

"must I do everything for you, my pathetic excuse for a brother"

a good example that it is not simple swaps can start with Celine, I have seen many point out that the alt version of her is not necessarily a personality swap, just her ruthlessness to do whatever it takes for the benefit of her people taken to the extreme in a harsher world

"if they must suffer in order for our people to live, so be it"

(and this is just from her B support with Alear)

Celine cares deeply for her brother, and by extension the nation of firene.

(A support with Fogado)

Now this version of her has grown up in a world where peace isn't a norm and has to be fought to assured, pushing her ruthlessness to achieve it to the front.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if alt Fogado turns out similar to alt Celine

(A support with Celine)

ultimately they are willing to do the extreme for what they believe is for the benefit of their family and kingdom, but since they have grown up in relative peace, they do not often have to act on it and as such this side is rarely shown.

Due to the world fell xenolgue presents which is much less peaceful, this tendency and side is pushed to the forefront. This I believe can be applied to Alcryst as well

(images you can hear)

From just one line, it is already a shocker that 1. Altcryst is extremely harsh and 2. he is demeaning alt Diamant (not giving Diamant a funny nickname sorry)

regarding the first point. (slapping alcryst like a car) this guy can fit so much rage and hate in him. This negative energy in general is primarily seen directed towards himself but we have seen it directed at others before, mainly towards those he does not respect and consider his enemy

(chapter 11 where being a hater overrides respecting diamant)

this cold brutality also can be seen in his introduction scene, he has an aggressiveness that is quite fitting for a country of might, and has a very attack first, apologise (profusely) later policy

this is also seen towards Ivy and Hortensia who used to be his enemies and he does not drop that attitude towards Ivy until their C support when he realises that she no longer needs to be considered a threat

Camilla notes in her bond conversation with him that he is different on and off the battlefield. She also says that they are similar in their duality of kindness to their allies but lack of mercy to their enemies

(from their A bond conversation)

this is especially shown in how his critical lines are quite different from how he normally speaks, in the eng version this comes across as him being confident and assertive and in the jp version he comes across as being steadfast and serious. (I enjoy both and I'm not trying to pit them against each other but think there is enough difference to point it out)

I was going to insert clips but tumblr doesn't allow more than one video per post :/ you can look at the eng version here and the jp version here

notably, Alcryst's attitude and manner of speaking while in battle is similar to the personality Altcryst shows in the trailer. This leads me to believe that this is the aspect of Alcryst more prominent in the universe

so while Alcryst is a sopping wet cat, he has absolutely the potential to snap and bite, the gap moe is vital to his characterisation even

which brings us to the second point, that Altcryst does not seem to have those boundaries and is able to berate even alt Diamant. so. why?

first let's look at why Alcryst has low self worth in the first place, and why he puts Diamant on such a high pedestal.

Conveniently, Alcryst's B support with Fogado lays it out because Fogado straight up was like hey Alcryst can you tell me about your childhood so I can understand why you are Like This

which, in short, Alcryst was born with a significant age gap between him and Diamant, and as such grew up hearing everyone praise Diamant and compare him negatively in regards to Diamant's achievements, ultimately making him internalise it as having no worth at all. which. uhm. why are you comparing a child's achievement to someone probably in their teens.

(support B)

Alcryst has put Diamant on such a high pedestal that he is flawless in his eyes. (this also isn't helped by Diamant's own issues that is afraid of showing weakness) He seems to have his world blown when he learns that Diamant actually has fears and weakness.

(Support B with Diamant)

It is important to note that Alcryst in fact does have a good relationship with his family, we see Diamant and Morion be nothing but supportive towards him and his mention of his mother in his support with Saphir imply a good relationship there as well.

the impact that outside influences can still have on someone should not be underestimated though. I imagine this dissonance of being doted by his family and criticized by outsiders (who are likely nobles and private tutors who he still interacts a lot with) complicates his feeling of self worth and exacerbates his imposter syndrome

and the thing is that Alcryst is actually pretty skilled! It is straight up stated in his Ally notebook

(from serenesforest)

and in his A support with Diamant he scores 8 out of 10 in their archery competition while Diamant scored 9 out of 10

(A support)

which, you can take at face value like Alcryst that Diamant performed better than him, or note that it is actually pretty impressive for him to be so closely matched with Diamant considering their large age gap and thus the amount of experience they have

he is also very strategic that is noted in both his solo and paired endings, as "brilliant yet humble strategist" and "unrecognizably composed and powerful force in government" respectively. he also seems to naturally note the strategic effectiveness of areas he's in based on some of his exploration quotes

(from serenesforest)

lastly... regarding inner strength...... Alcryst may be far more stronger in it than Diamant. He is more decisive than Diamant, who is more hesitant and struggles with self doubt and his readiness for the throne. Ironically this may be due to the expectations Diamant has experienced since young, leading him to be far more reserved and careful due to potential repercussions. Meanwhile Alcryst already thinks he's at the bottom and as such has no qualms making a potential mess to fight for what he thinks is right. Basically:

diamant: oh I asked for no pickles :/ ah well

alcryst: EXCUSE ME !!! he asked for NO pickles !!!!!

this particular decisiveness is actually what makes Morion say this:

(chapter 8)

actually this whole part shows a pretty important glimpse into what kind of enviroment the Brodia Bros grew up in so I'm going use my singular video embed on it.

(girl I did not notice the promos at the top until I downloaded it and clipped it on my phone I am not going to bother redownloading another video)

someone out there in Diamant Nation has probably dissected this more thoroughly than me but when Diamant expresses his worries, Morion does not outright dismiss it, but still brushes it away, not taking it very seriously. Morion is still a pretty good dad! both his sons clearly love him deeply but he also unknowingly contributed to a lot of their mental health problems, which Morion himself likely acquired from the environment of Brodia as well. he straight up says that he does not fear death, but fears being known as a king who runs from battle.

Diamant is similar to his father in that way, carrying a fear of not being a proper ruler and king for Brodia. Diamant struggles to uphold the values he was taught with but to instead use it to bring peace and separate it from a nation that uses it to wage war. and amidst all that he worries and worries and is told yet again that fear has no place in Brodia.

and despite all of Alcryst's low self worth, he does not hesitate or worry, he is decisive and quick to make harsh decisions. He does what he believes needs to be done, including dealing the killing blow at their father to spare Diamant from the guilt of having to do so

(and the tone of voice he says this in both eng and jp is the same one in his crit lines and therefore what Altcryst uses YESSSSS I am COOKING)

also this is a bit [guy with conspiracy theory strings] moment here but it may very well reflect in how they work as units as well. fe engage's gameplay encourages the player to go on the offense, which Alcryst excels at, Diamant on the other hand is has sol and geared more for defensive play (and the sol barely activates due to his low dex oof) while alcryst with luna that scales off his high dex is activating it every other attack. this is also an excuse to link a funny video I found

so!!! due to the environment Alcryst was raised in, he grew to believe that Diamant was better than him in any way and as such placed him on an incredibly high pedestal. He in return perceives himself as having very little worth, when in truth is very skilled and possesses many traits that one could argue are very "Brodian"

well what kind of enviroment did Altcryst grow up in?

we can see that Altcryst is harsh to alt Diamant, Diamant is no longer on the high pedestal our Alcryst has placed him at (or arguably never there at all? there's not enough information to know)

so what's going on with alt Diamant? from the trailer, the way he speaks sounds much meeker to the Diamant we know. from a surface glance of that, it might be assumed that the brothers simply swapped personalities, but you have already read my argument on why the world is not a simple swap, just a change of circumstances that brings sides of the characters we know that is not so easily seen pushed to the front. and the same can be said of Diamant, who we've already seen struggles with anxiety, self doubt, and hesitance on his readiness for the throne.

Morion notes that Diamant has increased worry lately, from what I can assume is from the threat of a full war. I don't find it difficult to believe that alt Diamant, who grew up in a much less peaceful world, will be much more anxious. as such, the anxiety and fear that Diamant keeps buried is brought to the forefront in this world.

Altcryst interestingly says "must I do everything for you" implying that he believes he can do a better job than Diamant and take over the task, that he has done this multiple times before, and maybe even a frustration that he has to do so. If it's difficult to imagine Alcryst believing he can be better than Diamant he actually achieves this in their A support!

in this context he follows it up by saying

(which is another important part of Alcryst's character, that he will push past his boundaries for the sake of his loved ones)

there's no direct connection, but I do find it interesting how he says this after he realises that Diamant isn't as perfect and flawless as he thought

going back to Alcryst and Fogado's B support, this very interesting idea is brought up:

and Alcryst's response to why he wouldn't is:

which poses the question of, how would Alcryst have turned out if he realised much earlier that Diamant isn't as flawless as he thought?

well the fell xenologue is right there

half joking, while I do think that is part of the reason, the other reasons that I have mentioned play a role as well. along with the fact that due to the restless state of the world, Altcryst is put into "battle mode" more often bringing out that side of him more

okay so here comes my own interpretation that has less of me pointing back to canon and more of me going a bit delusional (I say as if I am not over 2k words deep in this)

In this world with more prominent conflict, alt Diamant is unable to cope with it like our Diamant can. As such, the worries and anxiety that our Diamant already hides is brought to the forefront for alt Diamant, making him come of as much more meeker than the one we know.

Due to this Altcryst does not place alt Diamant on such a high pedestal that our Alcryst does. I won't be surprised if the comparison still happens though, because it was already illogical in the original world. However, instead of taking it lying down and internalising it, Altcryst instead channels the rage and anger that our Alcryst is already capable of to prove them wrong. and from the competency already seen in our Alcryst, this is entirely doable.

I also believe that due to the state of the fell xenologue world, there are more conflicts thrown at them. and compared to Diamant's hesitance, Altcryst's quick thinking decisiveness often leads to him stepping in and taking charge. (much like how alt Celine is more ruthless in this world and alt Alfred, while reluctant and hesitant, still calls for the invasion to Brodia)

"must I do everything for you"

and while Altcryst's harshness to alt Diamant probably adds to alt Diamant's list of Problems (tm) it is likely a compounding addition. with their large age gap alt Diamant didn't grow up with this and likely developed his meeker personality from the other factors previously discussed

I still think that Altcryst cares in some way for his brother. much like how Celine and Fogado's ruthlessness is tied to the love for their family, Alcryst's capacity for rage and lack of mercy is strongly tied to how much he cares for his loved ones

(rotates this comment from their A support in my head in contemplation)

IN CONCLUSION

the fell xenologue world is not a simple swap but the aspects of the original counterparts that were not so obvious being brought to the front due to the harsher world they are in

the aspect that is brought out in Alcryst is his rage, brutal competency, and cold decisiveness

due to not placing Diamant on such a high pedestal, Altcryst does not suffer from as much lack of self worth and is able to channel his rage more easily (because this guy cannot cope properly in either universe)

Alcryst's capacity for harshness and lack of mercy goes hand in hand with his capacity to love, and I think Altcryst still cares for alt Diamant in his own way

thank you for coming to my TED talk

no seriously if you read all of this thank you so much