#feel free to ramble with me

[bluevaractyl]

This was supposed to be short and fluffy, but it is not at all. Oops. TW: potentially triggering description of being strangled

It's also on Ao3 now

Burning Skies - Starting Fires

Eight pairs of boots made a crisp crunching sound as they trudged through the fallen leaves. Sky admired the different shades of yellow, orange, and red on the trees around them, trying to keep his mind off his aching feet.

The group of heroes had spent all morning walking, following the trail of the Shadow and its followers. They had taken down most of the bokoblins and moblins it had gathered in their last battle, but several had escaped with it through the gate. The heroes had followed as they always did. As always, the Shadow was long gone by the time they arrived. Sky wondered if it was somehow manipulating time to get a head start.

Twilight was currently in wolf form, keeping them on track and occasionally loping ahead, impatient to catch up with the Shadow and only reluctantly staying within hearing range. It was a condition Warriors had insisted on, and Time had agreed with, once Twilight had recovered enough to transform again.

As Sky watched, Twilight charged through a particularly deep pile, sending leaves flying in all directions. Wild and Legend laughed, and Warriors said something teasing. Twilight’s ears flattened and his tail lowered as if he were embarrassed to be caught playing. Sky privately thought the Rancher should indulge more often; the last couple weeks had been grim and focused, and it was wearing on all of them. He smiled, remembering Twilight fondly speaking of roughhousing with the younger kids in his village. He hoped they would get a chance to meet them on this adventure. Visiting home was sure to lighten Twilight’s mood.

Suddenly Twilight’s ears perked up and he stilled, alert. They all instinctively fell silent and stopped walking. Sky looked around, hand rising to the Master Sword, but in all directions, he saw nothing but more empty forest.

Hyrule let out a shout at the same time as Wolfie barked. Sky whirled to see a red keese land behind him and transform into a bat-like monster his own height. It opened its mouth. Sky had a split second to wonder before a fireball was hurtling toward his face. He ducked, feeling the heat of it pass over his head, and charged the creature with his sword drawn and ready.

Sky was distantly aware of more keese dropping from the trees around them and swarming the other heroes, but he kept his focus on the red monster in front of him. Before he could reach it, it leapt into the air, transforming back into a small keese and flapping just out of reach. He jumped and swung when it dipped lower. The tip of his blade clipped its wing, sending it tumbling from the air. It crashed into the ground and transformed again. It snarled at him, opening its mouth to spit another fireball at him, but before it got a chance, he killed it with one swift strike.

Feeling winded from his short sprint, Sky took a moment to slow his breathing. He looked around.

The others were mostly holding their own. A handful of strange, large, red birdlike creatures were hopping around, spraying fire in all directions. Hyrule was handling one, apparently familiar with its pattern of attack. Four and Time were ganging up on another, Wind and Legend on a third. Warriors was struggling with a fourth. Wild and Twilight had their bows out and were focusing on the keese flying every which way, landing scratches on all the heroes and obscuring their vision and generally making nuisances of themselves.

Sky hurried to go help Warriors. He pulled out his whip and yanked a keese from the air where it had been about to swoop at the Captain’s face, letting it smack into a tree. He hastily sidestepped a flaming projectile and called to Warriors, “How do we take these things down?”

Without taking his eyes off the screeching bird-monster, Warriors responded, “It’s not armored, but I can’t get close enough without being set on fire, and it keeps jumping back out of range. Try to flank it so it jumps toward you instead.”

“Alright,” Sky agreed, and began moving around it.

Warriors hadn’t been exaggerating about the fire. Sky quickly tired of ducking and dodging fireballs, but every time he made a move toward the creature, it screeched at him and sent more fire his way. Warriors soon had a charred hole in his tunic from a close call, and Sky’s sword arm had a shallow burn near his elbow. They’d barely landed a scratch on the bird-monster in the meantime. Sky hoped the others were having more success.

Just as Sky was beginning to wonder if a fireball to the face might be worth it to stab the thing, an arrow pierced its eye. It let out an awful screech and paused its assault to shake its head in pain. Without hesitating, Sky whipped into a spin attack, striking it twice before it fell dead.

Panting, Sky rested his hands on his knees. He coughed. Abruptly, the scent of smoke registered. Looking around, he realized the forest around them was alight with small flames, greedily spreading across the dry leaves and catching on the trees. Dark smoke clouded the air, unnaturally heavy. Sky could barely make out Time on the far side of the clearing.

A hand landed on Sky’s shoulder, and he jumped in surprise, having forgotten Warriors was still there. “You alright?” the Captain asked, looking concerned. When Sky nodded, he continued, “Let’s regroup and get out of here, then. This is getting bad fast.”

The two jogged to the center of the battlefield where the other heroes were gathering. Twilight looked antsy, watching the creeping flames with a hunted expression. Time seemed to be counting, making sure everyone was there. As Sky and Warriors drew to a stop, he cleared his throat and said, “There’s still a gap to the east. If you have heat-resistant items, I recommend having them ready. Stick together. Let’s go.” He started leading the way to the dwindling gap in the ring of fire. They all followed. Sky fell into step with Four and Wild.

Four asked, frowning, “We aren’t just going to leave this burning, are we? It’s kind of our fault.”

Time didn’t break stride as he answered evenly, “We can try to make a perimeter, but if it gets out of control, our priority is making it out alive.” Four nodded, accepting the sense in that, although he still looked troubled.

Ahead of them, Legend had his ice rod in his hand, and Wild wielded an icy sword, keeping back the flames as they approached. Sky felt the soft wash of magic as his Fireshield earrings activated in response to the heat.

The tickle in Sky’s throat grew until he couldn’t ignore it anymore. He slowed, falling behind, then stopped walking to double over as a series of coughs left him. Each breath only made him inhale more smoke though, and the coughing wouldn’t stop. He stumbled to his knees, eyes watering and lungs burning. The others were speaking, voices raised, but he couldn’t hear them over his own hacking.

A flash of red light in the corner of his eye. Sky shot to his feet and drew his sword in one smooth motion, which was ruined as he then staggered dizzily. Two strangely dressed humanoid figures crouched before him, brandishing wickedly curved blades. They wore blank white masks painted with a familiar stylized eye, only upside down.

Sky raised his sword and hefted his shield, then moved forward to meet them. They both laughed, then raised their hands and brought them together in a complicated motion. With a puff of smoke and the fluttering of red paper, both vanished.

Sky jerked back in alarm and whipped around, turning in a tense circle as he waited for them to reappear. A puff of displaced air and the memory of a demon whispering in his ear had him striking behind him without thought. A cry told him he had hit his mark.

Sky withdrew the Master Sword and whirled around, but his attacker was already teleporting again, bright red blood streaming from their shoulder. The realization that these were real people he was fighting—real hylians—made him hesitate.

Suddenly a flaming skull whizzed toward him. Glad for the chance to fight monsters instead of people, Sky raised his sword and firmed his stance.

Several things happened in quick succession. A red flash, and a glint of steel darted toward his right side. Sky twisted, deflecting the blow. The skull struck his outstretched arm. The Master Sword dropped from his suddenly numb fingers. A muscular arm wrapped around his torso, pinning his left arm to his side. The person holding him bellowed something, and the world dissolved into red.

~~~

Teleportation was a nauseating experience. As soon as Sky’s feet touched the ground, his knees buckled and his stomach rebelled. The only thing keeping him upright was the arm still tight around his chest.

Head spinning, Sky looked around, trying to process what had brought him here. Instead of a burning wood, he was now in a large, empty room lit by torches. The ground fell away into a dark pit on all four sides of the room. The only door was set in the wall high above his head. Wherever this was, he prayed that he was still in the same era.

Flashes of red signaled the arrival of more enemies. Most were lanky and muscular, but he saw one that was much larger, broad-shouldered and imposing. This one was apparently unarmed.

“Good work, Kurou,” the bigger one said in a deep, masculine voice.

The broad chest against Sky’s back vibrated as the one holding him replied, “Sheikah’s play. Got him swordless, too.” The lack of the Master Sword’s comforting weight on his back suddenly sunk in. Dread filled Sky. How was he going to get out of this without Fi? What did these bullies want with him?

One of the skinnier hylians—were these Sheikah? That couldn’t be right—came forward, holding something. Before Sky could get a good look in the flickering light, he was spun around to face the one who had grabbed him. He realized with a stab of dismay that this one was big too, and probably could have thrown Groose with one hand. Still, Sky wrenched free and drove one knee up. He threw his elbow into the guy’s chest, since it was all he could reach. They chuckled, darkly amused at his pitiful attack.

Someone caught Sky’s arms and jerked them behind his back, forcing him to his knees. He tried to twist free. Another struck him with the pommel of their weapon, and he finally fell limp with a gasp, blinking dazedly. His right temple throbbed with pain. Fireflies flitted across his vision.

A light pressure against his throat drew him back to awareness. His sailcloth was gone. The scratchy texture of the rope now encircling his neck sent his senses scattering. He instinctively tried to raise his hands to it, only to find them tied together behind his back. Panic bubbled in his chest.

The rope wasn’t tight enough to cut off his breathing entirely, but already the restricted blood flow to his head was taking a toll. He could feel his pulse steadily climbing, throbbing where the rope touched and pounding in his chest. His breathing hitched on each exhale. He was growing more lightheaded by the second. He gaped his mouth in a futile attempt to take in more air, even knowing it wouldn’t help.

Suddenly someone yanked on the rope, jerking Sky backward. Cruel laughter echoed around him as he choked, gasping uselessly for air. He thrashed on the ground where he had fallen. His head and wrists ached from landing on them, but the pain was nothing to the overwhelming terror drowning him as he suffocated. His already blurry vision darkened. The tingling in his hands and chest increased. His chest spasmed. His strength faded. Everything went black.

…

He woke up gasping and coughing. His lungs heaved for air. His heart hammered in his chest. Everything was too loud and bright, so he squeezed his eyes shut and focused on struggling to breathe. After an eternity of wondering whether he was about to pass out again, he managed to get his breathing somewhat under control. He lay shaking and shuddering on the ground, trying to reorient himself.

The scratchy rope was still around his neck, but his captors must have loosened it again after he fainted. He could hear their sneering voices around him but couldn’t make out the words. Either they were speaking a language he didn’t know, or his head was muddled from the lack of oxygen. He tried not to dwell on that possibility.

He lay in the same position he last remembered, so he guessed he must not have been out for more than a few seconds. He had scarcely thought this when something hard slammed into his stomach, winding him. He coughed breathlessly, curling around his aching middle, and cracked his eyes open to glare up at the figure looming over him. The unnerving, expressionless mask hid their face, but there was a smile in their voice as they spoke.

“Welcome to the Yiga Hideout. I hope your position here has become clear, Hero.”

Sky gritted his teeth and kept silent, mind whirling. Yiga—why did that sound familiar?

The Yiga chuckled and mused, “When we followed the wretched Champion through that portal, we were unprepared to find him traveling with eight companions. It turned out splendidly in our favor, however. He’s quite loyal, you see. Once he finds our note, he is sure to come charging in to rescue you, and we’ll finally be rid of him.”

Sky’s heart sank. He’d been the weak link in their group and gotten himself captured, and now he was bait. Unfortunately, the Yiga were right about Wild—the impulsive Champion wasn’t exactly known for his caution. Their encounter with the iron knuckle had proven he disregarded orders when someone he cared about was threatened. Sky could only hope Time or Warriors could convince him to work with them this time.

The Yiga straightened and turned away but kept talking. “He’s always outwitted us in the past, but not this time. This time, his reckless courage will be his downfall. Once we have him, we won’t need you anymore, and we’ll hand you over to our ally. He’s been very eager to meet you.”

Sky froze. Ally? Who were the Yiga working with? They weren’t even from this era, how had they already made friends?

“Who—” Sky asked, breaking off to cough painfully. His throat burned. Attempting to swallow sent fire blazing through him and set off another coughing fit. The Yiga watched impassively, waiting.

Once the fit finally subsided, the Yiga crouched over Sky. It replied, “I believe you’ve made his acquaintance before, actually. He was especially pleased when we told him we had managed to separate you from the Blade of Evil’s Bane. Apparently, you caused him trouble with it when you last met.”

Sudden clarity made Sky’s heart skip a beat. The Shadow. The Yiga, whoever they were, were working for the Shadow. And the Shadow wanted to meet Sky.

[oobbbear]

I want to post this here too because I’ve seen it happen a few times

Please understand that there are cultural differences and language differences, if you see this happening let the person clarify what they meant, that person might just not be familiar with words the western side of the internet use

[maskofredacted]

Batman AU where the batfam is an extension of Gotham’s will so they can’t leave the city without taking a piece of it with them

Bruce, ever practical, has a batarang made from a steel piece off the bat signal (not that he’d be able to throw it but it’s a backup nonetheless)

Dick, Jay, and Tim have made it Robin tradition to carry pebbles in their pockets (the justice league has come to associate the soft jingling of rocks with the arrival of the Dark Knight)

Steph finds pretty rocks and quartz to crack open and share with Cassandra- and they cycle through their newest finds (cass does keep a shiny piece of obsidian in her utility belt, it was the first one Steph gave her)

Duke keeps a corner from a road sign in his pouch, the reflective yellow paint matches his theme- (what better representation of the city than perpetual construction)

Damian reverently carries a piece of deep green sea glass from the harbor. The color reminds him of his mother, and he finds the beauty fitting. (The irony that the only way for him to leave his new home is an echo of the reason he’s there in the first place is not lost on him.)

EDIT: LOOK AT THE REBLOGGED VERSION WITH MORE CONTENT ITS WORTH IT I SWEAR

[lazylittledragon]

ok someone please correct me if i'm wrong but am i weird for thinking those 'audiobooks don't count as reading' posts are ableist as fuck????

[lucabyte]

On autonomy, and what it means to be Obliged to Help.

Bonus:

[somnimagus]

My page for @sheikahzine; about Impaz's duty to her village, empty of people and full of memories.

[id in alt text]

[shepscapades]

Thanks to artfight, I’ve finally finished a detailed, official dbhc cub reference! :D

(I’ve put his Artifight description below the cut, which has a more detailed explanation of his timeline, lore, and aesthetics! >:3)

-ˋˏ ༻ ❁  OVERVIEW ❁ ༺ ˎˊ-

Name: C.B.F.N.4000 (Cub) Pronouns: He/Him Species: Android Height: 5’9’’ Associated Visual Themes: vex, ghosts, explosions, mischief, scientist aesthetic, potions, potionmaking, sleepy/tired aesthetic, conspiracies

-ˋˏ ༻ ❁  ABOUT ❁ ༺ ˎˊ-

CBFN4000 is an au version of MCYT Hermitcraft’s Cubfan, set in my DBHC (or Detroit Become Hermitcraft) AU! This au is inspired by the 2018 game Detroit Become Human, but not because it really has anything to do with DBH—I simply yoinked the android mechanics and incorporated them into the world of Hermitcraft. It began as a S8 au, and has roughly followed the hermitcraft timeline up to the present! 

Cub was the last android made during Season 8. While many of the hermit androids were made at the beginning of season 8 and a few were made for season 9, Cub was finished and activated mid-late Season 8, around the time when Hermits started noticing the Big Moon. Cub’s model ended up being a sloppy experiment in deviation, as Doc suggested they try to transfer deviancy to an android upon activation to try and avoid traumatic situations that might cause an android to deviate violently or upsettingly, such as Etho’s, Tango’s, or Mumbo’s experiences. While this went relatively well initially, it clearly wasn’t very thoroughly thought out, as Xisuma (who is normally so adamant and detail-oriented when it comes to assuring the androids’ safety with experiments like this) wasn’t truly himself due to external manipulation and mostly left a relatively young-deviant Doc to carry out the project himself. 

Cub, though adjusting to sentience rather well at first, very quickly became wrapped up in the Big Moon happenings on the server, new personality and inexperience to emotions like fear and ignorance completely overwhelming his young system. He became obsessive over the implications and consequences of the Season 8 Moon Apocalypse, joining the Mooners and spreading his conspiracy theories religiously throughout the server as he descended into madness. The insanity was like a virus to his programming, pervasive and all-engulfing, and Cub’s final attempt to free himself from the Moon’s impact with the Earth—to launch himself on a llama into space via potion-powered TNT(insane btw)— left his hands and feet singed and cracked to ruin.

The experiment, considered a horrific failure by a deeply shameful—and more awake—S9 Xisuma, left Doc and Xisuma with the decision to reset him for the new season, and they ended up pairing him with a hermit like they had done with the other androids until they had found deviancy enough to pursue their own projects. So, at the start of season 9 and fresh after a reset, Cub was paired with Scar. Naturally, because Scar is… Scar, Cub deviated almost instantly after being given to him, and very quickly adopted the iconic lazy, stoic, amused attributes normally associated with Cubfan. Scar’s tendency towards mischief and general shenanigans grew instantly on Cub, and the two were an immediate inseparable pair. So much so that when Scar began rambling one day about his Season 5 Hermitcraft Shenanigans (where deals with the Vex may or may not have been involved), Cub immediately stated he was interested in being in on it. Whatever “it” means. It’s unclear if Cub also made a deal with the vex or became connected to them in some other way, but… well, he got Doc’s help to trick out his eyes, hair, and back to best fit the part. Scar is very jealous that he can't magically make himself have the same features to match.

Cub is closest with Scar, but he gets along just as well with any of the other hermits! He’s close with Jevin and many of the other redstoners like Etho and Doc, who are the other two androids I’ve put on artfight!

-ˋˏ ༻ ❁  EXTRAS ❁ ༺ ˎˊ-

Cub's eyes can light up in the dark, and he’s the only android who has edited his programming so that the default state of his LED is white, not blue. It still will go yellow and red if his processors are working particularly hard, but he’s replaced the blue setting on his LED with white to better match the Vex vibe. Cub has all of the vibes of a fae. If that’s anything <3

[kourota]

⸢This story is for just that one reader.⸥

[whathorselegs]

All the names Chuuya and Dazai call each other in the Fifteen light novel

Note: This is not every time they insult/make fun of each other. For example Dazai tends to say things like he'll put a curse on Chuuya to remain short whilst he grows tall, more than name calling. However this list is only name calling.

Dazai about Chuuya:

Kid

Pip-squeak (Uses more than once)

Little fairy

A child

Schoolboy (Uses more than once)

Little man

Filthy dog

Chuuya - He calls Chuuya by his name for the first time in the arcade, Chuuya then tells him not to use his name. After this Dazai repeatedly says his name over using nicknames.

Chuuya about Dazai:

Kid

Surprisingly gutsy kid

Little shit

Little punk

Dumbass

Lil twig

Mummy boy (Uses more than once)

Little wimp

Bandages

Idiot

Twisted freak

Little suicide-obsessed- (he's cut off before he finishes this one)

Sly dirtbag

Slimeball (Uses more than once)

Crafty son of a bitch

Sly bastard

Demon

Weasel

Dazai - He calls Dazai by his name for the first time during their fight with Rimbaud when they agree to work together to defeat him. However, he still mixes in name calling along with using Dazai's name.

BONUS - Names Chuuya uses for other people:

Old man - Hirotsu

Old fart - Hirotsu and the Old Boss

Doc - Mori

Bastard - Mori

Piece of shit - Mori

Damn octopus - Mori

Gramps - Random GSS member

Dumbass - Shirase

Ma'am (Ane-san) - Kouyou. (She also calls Chuuya 'Young man' just before this. They both disapprove of being called these.)

Boss - Mori

Randou - Rimbaud (as far as I could see Chuuya mostly used his name, though I may have missed a nickname)

A thing I noticed with Dazai is that he generally calls people by their names. He calls Hirotsu, Mori and Kouyou all by name. With Mori it sometimes feels like that's the insult, he knows he can get away with disrespecting him this way, so he doesn't call Mori his Boss. Similarly he only starts calling Chuuya by name after he's told not to. He also prefers coming up with imaginative insults/scenarios rather than name calling, though he's not above it, so his list is a lot shorter than Chuuya's.

Chuuya however, uses nicknames for practically everyone, they just get more polite the more he respects them. Mori goes from 'Bastard' and 'Octopus' to 'Boss', once he gains Chuuya's respect. Rimbaud felt like the exception because Chuuya kept calling him Randou during their fight.

I also think it's interesting that Chuuya calls most adults something to do with being old/older. I don't know whether it was intentional or not, but to me, this emphasizes how Chuuya is used to being solely around other children. Even Kouyou who is only nineteen, is labeled as older to Chuuya, probably because there were no Sheep her age. In both the anime and the manga they are all depicted as younger teens around the same age as Chuuya.

Ane-san is also a mafia title, so it could just be that, but I do think Chuuya is genuinely not used to being around adults and that not meaning danger.

[h0nkshroom]

gently places these in your hands and cartwheels away into the night

[melit0n]

Some cryptid photos of Vessel (+ ii) that I've collected over the past week. The fact that almost all of them look like they came out of trail cam footage is absolutely sending me

[chalkrub]

thank you for a great art fight! here's some of my final attacks. had a blast, already missing it - see you next year!

[xxplastic-cubexx]

what kind of underwear do you think Erik and Charles wear (i'm not asking this to see them half naked) ((please believe me)) (((PLEASE)))

My Personal Belief is charles is a briefs guy while erik's a trunks guy. trunks/briefs kinda couple because i can

and idk just a lil bonus or somethin. as i do.

[littlecrittereli]

Wanted to doodle some comfort bros to balance out the angst of my recent posts lol

Hey pookies! Just wanted to say I really appreciate all the love and support I've been receiving lately for Decoded! I always love your comments/asks/fanart/memes, it genuinely has been bringing me so much joy and I'm so grateful for it <3

I know I said I had a lot of art to post (and then proceeded to post none of it LOL) I'm just a little overwhelmed rn with some life stuff so sorry for the wait! I also have a lot asks that I haven't gotten to and I apologize for that as well!

Trying my best to keep up, but I haven't had a lot of time recently. Art's gonna be a little delayed, but don't worry Chapter 8 is still gonna come out this Saturday as scheduled!

[taperecorder-gizmo]

Sillydemon/Sillydemonic

Specifically a demon-kin/-gender that feels very silly (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

Specifically a demon-kin/-gender that feels like multiple silly demons (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

Flag design made by me/xenogender coined by me

Demons belong to @ink-the-artist and them only!! Demon designs are not mine!! I was given permission to use!!!!

feel free to use btw my fellow demon companions!!

[carcasscounty]

Hey I know already about like two people have mentioned this already, but Curly's name could possibly be a reference to Laika, the soviet space dog and first living animal sent into orbit, who ended up tragically dying in space due to Overheating

Her other name was Kudryavka (Кудрявка), roughly meaning "Curly" or, more specifically, "Little Curly"