#ghosts is a great low stakes comfort show if anyone needs one of those

[imagineagreatadventure]

Who is your favorite ans least favorite on CBS Ghosts?

favorite is trevor bc i am nothing if not predictable

least favorite is probably carol? like i wouldn't have said that a few weeks ago but they brought her on full time or something (i can't quite tell what's happening) and i'm just hoping it's a temporary arc.

[orange-waterfalls]

Vampire!Reader x Markiplier Egos

ty anon for the request

A/N: YES. IT'S BEEN A WHILE. HAPPY FUCKING HALLOWEEN. I absolutely remembered today is the 1 year anniversary of ahwm absolutely this is not a coincidence what are you talking about ahahahahha. I've been busy w/ school and drawing and general depression and anxiety with the current situation but I'm getting back into it! Vampire reader. That's pretty much it. Rated T, a bit of cursing, mentions of blood, mentions of fangs. A slightly suggestive phrase but that's just Illinois like there has to be at least one with him it's the law. ALSO. NEW RULE? IF I'M DOING LIKE HCS OR SMTHN I WILL DO 6 AT A TIME. I CANNOT BE WRITING 14 DIFFERENT EGOS AT ONCE I JUST CAN'T I'M SORRY. anyways enjoy!

Vampire!Reader x Egos Headcanons

General

Not much PDA

Not much going out in general

You have to cover your whole body when you do, unless it’s nighttime

You spend much of your time inside or in the forest

You’re basically nocturnal

You do drink blood, and you don’t need a lot of it

You drink human blood only if they give permission

You don’t kill people

You know or know of some other supernatural creatures that exist

You are friends with a werewolf. One specifically. You know the one.

Darkiplier

You both are edgy as all hell it’s perfect!

Politely asks you not to bite him

a) because he’s not human and b) because it’ll hurt

You both are very calm and well-spoken. So. not much happens.

However, you are both, in fact, dumb bitches, so things are still entertaining

“My darling, would you like some garli-mmm nevermind...”

You go out with him sometimes on romantic moonlit walks

You don’t have to wear as much then

You make him get a pet, a black cat specifically

He loves it

You named it Darko, Dark for short, and he hates the name

Like he hates the name a lot

It is irrational how much he hates the fucking name

He calls it DA

He never explains why

When you want blood he’ll trap a deer or something

You go into the forest and drink a little of its blood

He’s surprised

“What am I, a werewolf?”

He’ll ask you about supernatural creatures, and how to defend against them

You’re pretty sure he’s an eldritch entity so you aren’t sure why he’s asking YOU

He won’t ask how you became a vampire, that seems personal

He never gets startled when you turn into a bat

He can hear your lil wingbeats from a mile away

Sometimes you’ll sleep as a bat and he just smiles at you hanging from the fan

Fine with you not interacting with others, like he does much of that…

Just likes hanging out in your fucking giant victorian mansion with you

Wilford

We all know that his type is, in fact, edgy bitch

Therefore, you are perfect

Dark clothes? Check

Edgy backstory? Probably

Kinda scary? Oh absolutely

And he loves you for that!

He doesn’t want to be a vampire, but he fuckin loves your teeth

He’ll ask you to bare them and then he’ll do a happy wiggle afterwards

He loves dancing with you, slow or fast

It’s always romantic

He’s basically a god so like. Anything you ask for he’s gotchu

You said you were hungry and he fucking kidnapped someone

You said you were hungry, that was on you

You then explain that you don’t need a whole FUCKING PERSON

He then steals some blood bags from the hospital

“Oh, calm down! They have enough!”

Likes taking you out, so you go on night walks a lot.

You’re not used to social interaction, so he makes sure to steer you away from people

Unless you want to talk to them, then he starts up a conversation and lets you take over

You don’t understand people, and neither does he! It’s great.

Likes when you turn into a bat

He doesn’t know why, it just makes him happy

You made him adopt a black cat

He named it Colonel Whiskers

Loves you and your castle and your weird ass little quirks

Actor

Bite him.

BITE. HIM.

LET HIM BE IMMORTAL

You refuse for the sole reason that he is a dick.

You do get along because you both are, in fact, pretentious

You wear those silk robes around the house, and he gets mad at you

HE is the sexy mysterious one, COME ON!

At least you won’t have an edgier backstory than him…

Likes slow dancing with you

Very much enjoys your Aesthetic

Believes that he too belongs in a Victorian era castle isolated from the world

Loves the dark romance

Is a Fancy Boy

Was fully prepared to murder someone for you to drink their blood

Surprised when you said it wasn’t necessary???

Buys a horse or smthn

Asks about supernatural beings and which are immortal

He asks that a lot

He worries you sometimes.

Hates it when you turn into a bat

You’re small and you fly around and you’re fucking GROSS

He doesn’t. He doesn’t like animals very much. Besides dogs I mean.

Buys you clothes because you’ve been wearing the same shit for fucking EVER

Don’t worry, they’re all black, dark purple, or dark red

Sometimes you decide to go on a walk and he tags along

Possessive bitch

Thinks you’ll leave him if you talk to other people

He scares them or leads you away

Was fine with a black wolfdog you brought home after searching for food

Names it Phoenix, and you call it Nix for short

Is deeply in love with you, but will never say or show it

Yancy

He thinks you’re wonderful!

Originally a bit mean to you

He thought YOU thought you were better than him

He saw the fangs and backed off

He asked about them and you answered, so you got along

Asked if he could be a vampire

You asked if he wanted to be immortal. He declined.

Suggested you drink his blood when you were hungry

You said it wasn’t necessary, but he pushed

Stared at you the whole time

“what’s your issue” “this is very… intimate.”

On that note: has an issue with intimacy

You’re very cold naturally, so you’d want to cuddle

He awkwardly shifts away

Once he gets more comfortable, he might cuddle with you

Loves the silk robes you own, they’re so fucking COMFY

AND THE SILK SHEETS?? Heaven

Absolutely loves all the fancy shit you have

You teach him how to waltz and he teaches you how to tap dance

You have a very equal give and take relationship with everything, it’s great

Neither of you like social interaction

You will if you HAVE to but mostly keep to yourselves

You love Yancy's prison buddies

They love you too

Asked if you knew mothman

You couldn’t tell if he was joking

He absolutely Was Not joking

He sings to you sometimes

It echoes through the place and the Aesthetic man

Hates it when you turn into a bat

Bad. No. Stop. Scary.

A small animal flying at him is a no go

Alternatively: get him a pet dog and he will love you forever

He names it Elvis. Yeah you know why.

Overall loves you and your aesthetic, and you could tell even before you got together

Illinois

Excited but doesn't show it

He's met PLENTY of supernatural creatures

Ghosts, gods, there was a thing with that werewolf one time…

(He has the scars to prove it)

But a vampire? That's new

He doesn’t live at your place because he travels a lot

He still stays there sometimes between adventures

Uncomfortable with how clean it is

You are. An immortal being. And you take the time to clean. What the fuck.

“Would YOU wanna spend eternity in a dusty ass mansion?”

His flirts are often about your fangs

You threatened to bite him and he said “promise?”

Said you could drink his blood, but you said no

“I don’t know what the fuck you got in that bloodstream”

Doesn’t do walks but takes you on adventures

If it’s a cave. And you turn into a bat.

ONLY if you turn into a bat

Sidenote: he fucking adores when you turn into a bat

He just thinks they’re neat

Uncomfortable with how soft everything you own is

NOTHING is soft in nature

Except. Like a lot of things. But don’t tell him he’ll get mad

Doesn’t really want a pet bc he’ll never be home to deal with it

He’ll be fine if you get one though

He wants to name it Nathan Drake he doesn’t care what it is

NERD(see: Uncharted)

Will never EVER wear a fucking suit

He will DIE before he wears a suit fuck you

Dislikes anything remotely fancy

Talks about the creatures he’s met

you get Bard Vibes if ya know what i mean wink wink nudge nudge he's a whore is what I'm saying here

You hang out normally mostly

He refuses to acknowledge his feelings for you

Not after the mermaid incident.

He eventually will, i promise

Magnum

He’s a pirate, he doesn’t care

He’s seen sirens, ancient spirits, probably Davey Jones at some point

A vampire? Low on the list of dangerous creatures

He has a whole ship made outta wood he’s not that worried

You don't really sail with him often

When you do, you're seen as a threat to anyone and everyone

He loves that about you

Warned you not to bite him or he'd stake you

You promised not to and that was enough for him

You get along with the crew fairly well

However do NOT turn into a bat around them

They will not hesitate to shoot

"UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT, MAN YOUR BATTLESTATIONS!

You can maybe do it around Magnum and only Magnum

Doesn't like your house

He belongs to the sea

But can and will steal your sheets for himself

A pirate can have a little silk, as a treat

Offered his crew's blood to drink after a while

You declined because you don't know what the fuck kinda diseases they have

Doesn't really want a pet. He can't tell them what to do.

You bought an axolotl and he loves it a lot

Its name is Delta but he has deemed it Magnum Jr

Can't really. Fit. In any suits you have

He has to go out and get one personally tailored if he wants it

Likes dancing with you

Slow dancing. To Danny Boy.

He can't dance but that's ok he tries

You talk about land creatures and he talks about ocean creatures

So far he despises werewolves and skinwalkers

He likes spending as much time with you possible

He doesn't much like the idea of a relationship bc of his uh line of work

But he loves you

[mymarvelbunch]

Be Your Own Hero - Steve Rogers x Reader (Part 4)

Masterlist

Summary: Y/N has lost all her family and most friends in The Decimation (I refuse to call it The Blip). Refusing to believe their deaths are permanent, she dedicate years to find a way to reverse it. When she finally finds something that might help, she searches for the Avengers. It’s Steve Rogers x Reader, but there is also a lot of Badass!Reader. Also, Non-American!Reader. If you are American, think of a country you’d have loved to be born into :D

Warnings: none!

Note: Y/Co = your country. Y/Ci = your city; Y/N/L = your native language.

Previously: Romanov asked to speak alone with Rogers, and two left the room. Scott looked at you. “They probably think it’s a trap.”“I’ll bring Wong here if I have to”, you replied instantly. “I spent three years finding a way to bring my family and friends back. I won’t give up now because the Avengers think I’m HYDRA, or whatever.” There must be have been something in your expression that frightened Scott, because he quickly looked away. “I believe you”, he said in a low voice. “I have to.”And you understood. You had to believe in yourself, too.

Part Four

In the end, you did have to bring Wong to the Avengers’ headquarters - without Scott, because Romanov and Rogers didn’t want to ‘risk anything’. At least Uber was cheap.

As soon as you identified yourself as an apprentice from Y/Co, who studied the Infinity Stones under a Master’s supervision, Wong recognized you. He asked you many things and agreed to confirm your story to the Avengers.

“Forgive me for my skepticism, sir”, Rogers said when Wong finished talking. “But I’m curious: if all Y/L/N said is true, why hasn’t any of your sorcerers come up with this idea before?”

“Because none of us had the idea of joining magic and science to do it”, Wong replied instantly. “Had Strange survived, I don’t doubt he’d have reached a similar conclusion. He and Miss Y/L/N are rather similar in that aspect.”

You were pretty sure he was praising you, so you thanked him. “If my task is done here”, he continued, “I’d like to go back to the Sanctum. I have important work to attend to.”

Rogers nodded and opened the door for Wong to leave. You offered to pay an Uber ride, but he said it wasn’t needed. When the doors closed, you turned to Rogers. “So, are you going to believe me now?”

He sighed. “I suppose so. Still, none of us have resources to create a... what you called it? A time heist. We’d need help.”

“So, we go get it”, Scott said. “Where is Tony Stark?”

The following day

Stark’s new home was a few hours away, so Romanov suggested they all got proper rest before getting on the road. You promptly agreed; you haven’t slept well since the day you boarded the plane to Los Angeles, nor eaten well for that matter.

Unfortunately, there was barely no food in the kitchen. Romanov apologized and blamed herself; she had postponed grocery shopping for quite some time now. “You can order something, though.”

“Maybe, if I knew how to. Or where to. I have no idea how delivery works here.”

She frowned. “Just like in any other city.”

“Yeah, any other American city. I’m from Y/Co, I’ve never even used dollars before this week.”

The former assassin raised her eyebrows. “Oh, you’re not from US. Well, neither am I, but I’ve learned how to order food online. What do you want?”

Eventually Rogers and Scott showed up hungry as well, so you ordered two big pizzas. While they waited, Romanov asked you about your life. You told her (and technically the men too) about your former job as a doctor, your deceased family and friends, and some of your journey to get what you were now. At one point, after the pizzas arrived, Rogers started asking about Y/Co, and you animatedly gave him details, glad to change the subject.

You wanted to ask them about their lives too, but refrained yourself. They were only asking so they could judge your character, not to make friends with you. At least, that’s what you believed.

You slept on where used to be Scarlet Witch’s room. There were few of her personal belongings, since she had taken most with her upon running away. Honestly, the lack of decoration was comforting; you didn’t think you’d be able to sleep well in among the reminders of a ghost.

Rogers took Scott’s van to the road, due to the machine inside. The ride was mostly silent, despite Scott’s attempts at conversation. You were all tense; Tony Stark was your best shot at putting your plan in motion.

You arrived in a big wood house in the middle of a small forest. Rich people, you briefly thought as you got out of the van and followed Rogers and Romanov to the house.

You recognized Stark from the news as you got closer. His hair was partially dyed blonde, and he was playing with a little girl. You smiled a little; you had read somewhere about his daughter Morgan Stark, and there she was.

Stark raised his head and made little attempt to hide his surprise. “Hello guys”, he said. “It’s been a while, huh?”

“We need your help, Tony”, Rogers said matter-of-factly.

Stark sighed and asked for his daughter to go inside. Then he stood up to face them - or rather, Captain. “Of course you do”, he said. “With what? And who are those?” He glanced at Scott, but set his eyes on you.

“You may not remember me”, Scott said, “I’m Ant-Man. I was on Cap’s side-”

“-On Germany. Yeah, I remember you now. Thought you were dead. And you?”

“I’m Y/N Y/L/N, Mr. Stark.”

“She’s kind of the reason we’re here”, Romanov added. Stark frowned and gestured for them to sit down.

A two-hour explanation later

At that point, they were all in the living room. Pepper Potts had joined them after letting Morgan play in her bedroom.

“I know it sounds crazy and impossible and surreal”, you said at the end. “And it’s probably a poorly written movie plot somewhere. But this... this is a real change. To bring everyone back. Half the freaking universe. Just... please, Mr. Stark. Give it some thought.”

You felt tears threatening to fall, and then a hand on your shoulder. You turned to see Romanov looking softly at you. Behind her, Rogers had a soft look of his own.

Then you turned back to Stark, who sighed. “Look, there is a lot at stake here. I’m well aware of what we lost, but Morgan is not the only child born after the Decimation. Even though you are telling me time travel only creates alternate timelines, there is no telling nothing will truly change here. Are those children’s lives worth the risk?”

You took a breath. “Honestly, I haven’t thought of that, because in my mind they wouldn’t be at any risk. At all. If we play our cards right, people will only notice we did something when people start to come back.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that, we go back in time, get the Stones, come back to same moment we left here, make our wish and voila! Everyone comes back. Your daughter wouldn’t even notice you were gone. No one would.”

A brief silence. “I need time. Not to think whether I’ll do it or not. But we have to find a safe way to travel back in time. We don’t even know if we’ll make it alive. Scott has survived, yes, but we don’t know if we can reproduce it.”

“Actually”, Scott interrupted, “it is possible. I wasn’t the first one to get stuck in the Quantum Realm.” He briefly told them about Janet Van Dyne, who also seemed to have been unable to tell how much time has passed.

“This Quantum Realm sounds like Narnia or something”, you mumbled, but Stark heard you.

“Exactly, Y/N. That’s why we need to make our safety top priority. Only then we map our strategy. I won’t risk anyone’s lives.”

Rogers nodded. “Fair enough. How much time do you need? Do you need any help?”

“A month. Scott’s van has the machine that took him to the Quantum Realm, right? It’s gonna be useful. Don’t worry, I’ll get you a car to drive back to New York. Also, Scott’s experience on the machine will be useful, so I’d ask you to stay around. Do any of you know how to get in touch with Banner? He’d be a great help in this. Also, Nebula and the Raccoon. Is there any way to contact them?”

“The Raccoon?”, you mumbled. Scott look equally bewildered. Romanov, however, was unreadable.

“I get in touch with all of them on a weekly basis. It’ll take a while for them to get here, but it’s manageable. Anything else, anyone else?”

“I’d say our quasi-sorcerer over here, but honestly, Y/N, you look a little sick. I’d suggest you all to use the following month to gather as many allies as possible and get some training done. We don’t know what we’ll find in this time travel thing. We all need to be prepared.”

You looked down at yourself. While you couldn’t notice anything alarming, Stark wasn’t wrong. In the year you spent at Y/Ci’s Sanctum, you did little exercise and ate only the strictly necessary to avoid hunger from distracting you.

Stark stood up to bid them goodbye, but suddenly the little girl ran downstairs. “Daddy, Daddy! Who are these people? Are they your friends?”

She saw you and ran to you. “You seem nice”, she said. “Are you nice?”

Giggling, you opened your arms in invitation. She climbed to your lap. “I don’t know, you tell me! By the way, what’s your name, little one?”

The girl beamed. “I’m Morgan! Are you Daddy and Mommy’s friends?”

You looked around the room. Potts just nodded and gestured for you to keep going. “Yes, we are. Why do you wanna know that, Morgan?”

“Because Daddy and Mommy’s friends are my friends too! Do you wanna play?”

Your face showed genuine sadness. Poor girl probably didn’t have many friends around to play with, given the secluded place she lived in. “Oh Morgan, we’d love to, but we have to get going. It’s a long way to New York.”

Morgan asked to be taken along, because she wants to visit New York so much, but Scott managed to get her attention. Potts thanked everyone, and especially you, for giving them hope, and led them to the garage. 

“You are good with kids, huh”, Rogers commented as you followed Potts. You shook your head.

“Don’t let that moment fool you, Captain. I’m actually a disaster.”

He let out a small laugh, but didn’t reply as they arrived at the garage. “Tony loves cars”, she explained. “It’s a rich men thing. Pick whichever you like.” They left the choice up to Rogers, the driver. The first sentence said on the car after they left the house was spoken by Romanov: “I honestly thought this was going to be way harder.”

You wanted to say it was easy for her to say that when it was you who spent two hours straight talking, with only a couple intermissions from Scott, but you kept your mouth shut. The Avengers knew each other for a decade; the woman could be talking about something else entirely.

“Now what?”, you asked instead.

“I’ll contact all of our allies, as Tony told us to do”, she replied. “Despite the Decimation, we have quite a number of them. Meanwhile, Steve will train you.”

You could almost feel Rogers’ question as he briefly turned to his teammate, but he said nothing on the subject. Soon you arrived back at the Avengers headquarters.

“You heard her”, Rogers said at your side as you got in the building. “Training time. But first, let’s get you in shape. You do look a little sick.”

Next

--------------------------

I decided to dedicate a part exclusively to training month, so we can have more detailed moments between the two of them. So, part 5 will feature training and recruiting. We’ll see the remaining Avengers coming together to save the universe!

Part 6 will feature major changes in Endgame canon. I want the Reader’s presence to actually change the course of events, not just Steve’s storyline. So be prepared!

Taglist (open!): @autobotgirl15-blog​ @starstrucknature @cheeseburgersstuff​ @aamzter2013

[sdd-blogs]

Warm

@the-delta-42 wanted a Gerudo!Link AU where Link’s parents are the Gerudo chief and a Hylian knight and I figured since I’m doing BOTW fics it would make sense for Urbosa to be his mother, considering the prompt I was given (also i LIVE for Gerudo!Link and i desperately hope they put him in the next game)

—-

She won’t tell her father the knight he’s appointed to her is somewhat pleasurable company.

He’s quiet, though she does not yet know why, and he seems to be in great reverence of not only her but other women, which is respectable. It makes sense considering he’s half Gerudo.

It is odd, though. He’s Urbosa’s son and she’s so proud of him and so uncharacteristically soft around him and being in the same room with both of them makes Zelda feel like an intruder. Alone with Urbosa, she lets herself relax and finds comfort in her strength.

Alone with Link, she dares herself to let her mind wander over his striking blue eyes and dark warm skin and angry red hair. He’d arrived in the common garb, as if expecting Central Hyrule to be just as hot as Gerudo. Or maybe he had not any clothes for cooler weather at all. Whatever the case, Urbosa presented him to the king, her breast puffed with pride, and he stood, looking a little uncomfortable, a little cold, wearing nothing more than the sword on his back and the shoes on his feet and the pants on his legs.

Zelda won’t tell anyone she admires the evidence of Link’s strength. She’s still mad at him, she reminds herself. But his arms are so strong and he’s got muscles just like his mother’s (she’s worked him, no doubt) and when she lets the naive mind of a teenage girl take over she gets lost in want.

He is like what she imagines a dragon to be. Stoic and infallible and constant, watching and waiting for what Zelda cannot try to guess at. He reminds her of fire and life and wind combined into something powerful and indescribable. He makes her feverish because he’s so warm and the air around her is so cool and she doesn’t know whether she wants to burn alive or let the night bring colder air to freeze her.

Every now and then he speaks. It’s low and soft and accented in the way of the Gerudo and humid on her neck and close, dangerously close, to her ear. To warn her of danger–“Get behind me”–or perhaps to tell her to watch her words carefully. Sometimes it ghosts her ears from three paces behind and she thinks she imagines it but then he speaks again and he asks her how she’s doing. He asks her about her day. He does not always expect a reply and often that is all he says, preferring to listen rather than converse.

There is one morning, long after Zelda is done being mad at him, where he digs hungrily and shamelessly into a hydromelon, juice shining on his cheeks and nose. His hair sticks to his face and every now and then he reaches for a piece of meat for protein. Zelda watches, amused. This is a common ritual.

She eats her food in silence, daintily. He inhales his noisily. Like a barbarian. Even her father eats like this without an audience. But Link just seems to be perpetually starving and in need of food.

To keep him from choking, she touches his arm. “Why don’t you speak?”

He stops, and sets his food down, and looks her in the eyes. Then he shakes his head: I do not want to say.

“Please? I’ve never once conversed with you.” She gives him a hopeful look, knowing deep down he’ll relent to her.

He stays still another moment, then shifts and sighs. When he does speak it’s stronger than she would have imagined under the circumstances, and even so he moves his hands as he speaks like he’s signing along with his words, and she realizes he is, and suddenly now she wonders why.

“Being the only boy in the town made me displaced,” he reveals. “It’s not that I was outcast, I just didn’t fit in with the rest of the tribe. I stayed mute till I was eight, and then spoke very little, and at that point everyone was used to me signing my words as opposed to speaking them, so I began to combine the two. I’ve recently taken on that silence again as…with so many eyes on me and so much at stake, I feel it is best to bear my burdens quietly and discreetly.”

Something about that pulls at Zelda’s heart. It’s a sentiment she shares quietly, a conflict she and him hold onto tightly and internally and resolutely despite what could be done to help. Despite what  assistance they could ask for.

It’s a stubborn thing, and Zelda is not surprised to realize it in herself. But to realize it in Link, to have him actually open up and tell her something she was too busy dealing with on her own to see it in him, is another thing entirely. After knowing him the better part of a year it makes sense, considering Link’s unshakeable will, but to know someone else understands what Zelda herself is going through gives her a swift reality check.

She touches his arm again. “Then you and I are more alike than I initially believed,” she says gently.

He doesn’t say anything for a moment, looking down at her hand on his skin. Then he raises those wild, hard blue eyes to hers and they soften upon landing on her face and they’re bright and warm and he’s smiling, he’s smiling, albeit lightly, but he’s smiling, a real, genuine smile that sends Zelda’s heart fluttering in her chest. He absently puts his other hand over hers, just for a moment, and then he laughs like a dog laughs: his smile wide and only the slightest of sounds escaping his lips and his eyes closed happily, crinkled upwards by his smile.

“I guess we are,” he agrees, picking up another hydromelon slice and raising it in her direction as if toasting to her.

He does not speak to her after that, but he doesn’t need to. The silence this time is friendly and content and Zelda does not feel burdened to mend any old wounds she may have inflicted.

When the Calamity arrives and Vah Naboris falls, Link does not show his pain. Zelda knows it’s there–it’s thick and heavy in the air and every move he makes is sharper than normal–but he does not cry, he does not scream out in anguish and curse the gods for letting this happen.

He’s not even angry with Zelda, and he has every right to be. It is her fault, after all.

When she relays the death of Urbosa, of the Gerudo chief and Champion and mother, to Link and tells him fervently that she is sorry, he only swallows and looks up at her with eyes hard as obsidian and just as glassy, and he murmurs, “It is my duty to keep the princess safe,” and he doesn’t speak another word as he takes her hand and pulls her along through the woods to safety.

Zelda can feel their pain and hears their spirits crying out as each one falls. She’s covered in mud and scrapes and with every step her legs feel heavier and then her hand slips from Link’s and she falls to her knees, letting the rain freeze her to her bones.

Link returns to her silently, kneeling in front of her, waiting for her to talk. She chokes back a sob and tells him it’s her fault and throws herself into his arms, bawling, and after a moment she can feel him shaking against her chest.

He’s crying. Oh, goddesses, he’s crying, and he’s whispering that it’s not her fault, that she tried and she did her best and that it’s going to be okay, but his voice is trembling and he’s hurting so bad inside and for once Zelda cannot bring herself to heed his words.

He dies in her arms. There’s too much blood but there’s enough time to save him if she gives him to the Sheikah warriors who find her in the woods. She’d finally awakened her powers, but the others were already dead.

She’d failed Urbosa, and in doing so failed Link, and he’d bled out in her arms as a result.

Zelda hates herself. She hates the world. She’s a failure, she messed up, she’s flawed and–

Zelda watches the Sheikah carry Link away and the Master Sword gleams at her and suddenly she realizes she can’t keep doing this anymore. She makes up her mind in an instant.

She has to bring the sword to the Great Deku Tree. She has to kill her feelings and hold Ganon back till Link wakes up. Till his fierce Gerudo heart brings him back to her.

When she lays eyes on him again he’s clad in blue and he looks a little older, a little tougher, a little more worn than before. His emotions show more clearly now, ire and determination as plain on his face as the sun in the sky. He’s riding an equally battle-ready dun horse, encouraging it gently to keep running circles around the pig-demon Ganon, and he’s wielding the Bow of Light like he’d been born with it in his hands.

That Gerudo fire is blazing in his heart. He is unstoppable now, and Zelda calls out to him, urging him on.

He hears it and he smiles and he lands the final blow and Zelda lands in the grass, calm and collected and powerful.

And then Ganon is gone.

Everything is suddenly quiet, peaceful. After a hundred years, Zelda’s dress is still stained with mud. After a hundred years, Link still looks at her like she’s the most important thing in the world to him.

He remembers her.

He tells Zelda later that not remembering his own mother did a number on his psyche. He recounts his journey to Gerudo Town and how as soon as he entered the village, clad in feminine clothing (that he happens to enjoy, mind you), everyone stopped and saw and knew. Maybe they didn’t know who exactly he was but they knew he was important and he himself did not know why.

Seeing Urbosa’s spirit in her Divine Beast broke him, he tells her. He’d remembered her by that point and she’d told him she loved him and granted him her power and he’d cried right then and there because it was her.

Zelda hurts for him and sympathizes, her own father lost to something she could not control. She and Link only find consolation in knowing their parents’ souls are at peace.

He also tells of his father, a knight, whom he never really knew till Urbosa brought him, at around ten years of age, to the castle to train. He says that his father was a good man, if a bit distracted and a little too proud of his son for being the princess’ personal guard and her chosen Champion.

Link remembers other, more vague details as time goes on after the battle. He presents them to Zelda as they appear, and he appears excited about such occurrences. It is to be expected.

He takes her to Gerudo Town more than once. He’s the only man Zelda’s seen waltz straight through the city gates without being attacked by the guards, and it’s almost humorous.

She can’t tell if he’s happier in the desert or Central Hyrule. She works up the nerve to ask, and he tells her that the desert will always be where he feels the most comfortable. She doesn’t blame him, he grew up there.

But then he looks her in the eye and smiles, and he tells her softly, “I am, however, happiest with you.”

It’s an intimate thing, a gentle confession found on his breath and in her ears but lost to the world around them and she smiles back at him and it’s at this time that she realizes he reminds her of the sun.

[anthonyreadsthecards]

Hey so I saw you talk about Escaflowne are there other anime that you like and would recommend?

I mean...yeah but I’m what the kids call a “filthy casual” when it comes to anime. I don’t really watch a lot anymore. I think last year I watched like two or three? I can recommend what I like but I’m just gonna warn you now you’re in store for a lot of Magical Girl anime. Read for more if you dare.

So I feel like the first and most obvious anime I would recommend is, of course, Sailor Moon. Now while I don’t normally care for anime that are over a minimum of 13 and a maximum of 30 Sailor Moon is one of the few exceptions. Stacking up at 200 episodes the series has four seasons and overall it’s pretty damn great. Yes there is filler and yes it is a bit dated but people don’t give Sailor Moon enough credit. Our main character Usagi begins the series a little self-absorbed and a huge cry baby but ends with the biggest heart out of everyone and sacrifices her life, more than one occasion I might add, to save the world and those she loves. Plus everyone has a Scout that they can relate to (Neptune is bae) and everyone has their favorite arc (Saturn/Mistress 9 or Nehelenia arc). And while people complain about the filler those episodes are used to round out all of the characters and give each girl their moment to shine. Unlike Sailor Moon Crystal but I’m not getting into that rant today. I prefer the japanese dub because that’s all I really had since the DiC dub was all we had in the States at the time but there is a new dub from Funimation that is very faithful to the original script so whichever you prefer on that end. We also have two movies which are great

Another 90s classic would be Cardcaptor Sakura. I unapologetically love this anime despite it not having aged well in terms of writing. Sakura Kinomoto is our main character who accidently releases the mysterious Clow Cards and she must find and capture the cards or else they’ll wreak havoc. Season 1 is all about capturing the cards and Season 2, the better season imo, is about Sakura becoming the new master of the cards. So the writing is a bit...problematic and this is mostly due to CLAMP’s, the writers for the show and manga, wanting to take the concept of love and seeing it from multiple angles in all of their works. Cardcaptor Sakura is no exception...however there is a lot, and I do mean a lot, of relationships that show age gaps between two characters. Sakura has her crush on her brother’s friend Yukito she’s ten and he’s in high school, Sakura’s dad was a fresh out of college high school teacher when Sakura’s mother was like sixteen or seventeen and they got married after she graduated, and then there’s Rika, Sakura’s classmate, who has a crush on their homeroom teacher and it’s just...sigh. There is a good episode in Season 2 when Yuki finally breaks it to Sakura that she’s way too young for him, besides him having eyes only for her older brother, Toya, and Sakura realizes that she doesn’t love Yuki in the way that she thought before and it’s really good. Nothing is sexualized, everything is cute, and the characters are allowed to feel and express themselves which is you know great. There is also two movies as well as the sequel to the show the Clear Card Arc but I don’t recommend the sequel mostly because nothing happens and it’s mostly used to show how cute Sakura and her boyfriend are...which is a lot I’m not gonna lie they are incredibly cute and I love them. That being said the rest of the series is full of low stakes questions not being answered and a cliffhanger ending and who knows when that’ll get resolved (I’m not bitter I promise). So yeah stick with the OG anime. There was no redub of the show so I would just recommend the Japanese dub.

Revolutionary Girl Utena is one of my favorite anime of all time. Seriously when I’m super depressed I binge the whole show. This show has a lot going on symbolically and that’s like crack to me. I love deciphering hidden meanings in shows and Utena has that in spades. The show subverts a lot of tropes and gives me so many feels. The show is about Utena Tejo who dresses in the school’s male uniform instead of the girl one. She is a tomboy, good a sports, and pretty decent with a sword come to find out. She duels one of the student council members for Anthy Himemiya the Rose Bride. Anthy, who is just another student at the school, is passed around from duelist to duelist and is treated however her owner sees fit. After winning Utena treats Anthy like a friend and protects her from other duelists so that Anthy can be free to make her own decisions. It’s so good. Like really good. My main complaints come from the loooong walking scenes to the dueling area that we go through every episode but honestly it’s worth. The characters are well written, not all likeable but well written, the animation is pretty, the jokes from the gossip girls are dumb and I love them, and the overall story is just great. We even get queer characters. There is a movie retelling the events of the show but it’s...well...different. I would stick to the anime.

So I you know how I mentioned I like symbolism in my shows? Well one thing that I really like is when it symbolism that involves fairy tales. Princess Tutu while funny when you say the title is another great show with darker things going on in the background than one would assume. In the show we follow Duck, yeah that’s her name, an actual duck that transforms into a young girl due to the machinations of the mysterious Drosselmeyer the author of the fairy tale we are in. This anime deals with ballet which I love and uses dance and music to help Duck purify the hearts of those who have been taken over by darkness. This show gets a bit dark over the course of the series but the hope and light that comes from it by the end is so worth it. 

Ok this is the last magical girl anime I promise. Puella Magia Madoka Magica is amazing, dark, subversive, and soul crushing. I love this show, again, for the symbolism, the characters, the music, the animation, and for how much it makes me cry. There are a lot of allusions to Faust and things get darker well before they get happier but they do get happier by the end of the series. Unless you watch the sequel movie The Rebellion Story and then you’re just left with bitterness and tears. The show was an actual show but then was later split into three movies, just the same show with more details in the animation, but personally the show was just fine with me. 12 episodes long you could get through it in a weekend. Just make sure to bring some tissues along and plenty of comfort food. 

So if you have an interest in RPGs and fantasy but don’t want anything to serious or heavy I would recommend Slayers. In this show we follow Lina Inverse one of the strongest mages of her time and we watch her blow up a lot of things. By episode 2 she gains her first, and constant, follower Gourry Gabriev a dimwitted but talented swordsman who is very sweet and endearing. This show doesn’t really have a plot except Lina and Gourry trying to make money so they can eat and Lina stumbles upon a quest where hopefully she’ll get some gold. This show is mostly an action comedy and boy does it deliver. This show had five incarnations and I still haven’t seen all of it in it’s entirety but it’s pretty great and has a lot of memorable characters. 

 If you want to watch something to mellow you out that also gives you that folklore and fantasy feeling then you should watch Mushishi. We follow Ginko, a mysterious white haired man, who studies and deals with Mushi, spirits...sorta. The show is set in the Edo era...I think and it really gives off this folklore and almost ghost story vibe. Like this would be stories that your great-great grandpa would tell you about when there weren’t so many cities and everything was trees and fields and there was a strange magic to everything. This show is by no means scary. I was really zen throughout most of it. Travis Willingham does great as Ginko and his cadence really helps with that mellow feeling. 

 Romeo x Juliet is what I would recommend anyone that is interested in a love story with a bit of war, destiny, and a whole lot of Shakespeare. This show is set in Neo-Verona which is a slightly futuristic but at the same time not. Lord Montague, Romeo’s father, has murdered Juliet’s family, the Capulets, and rules over the city with an iron fist. Juliet is a badass sword-wielding vigilante and Romeo is a soft cinnamon roll who needs to be protected at all costs. I really loved this retelling of the the classic story and I really hate Romeo and Juliet for reasons I’m not gonna get into as this list is already so long. The interpretations of the characters are different and unique and that alone is worth watch. If you know anything about Shakespeare you’ll catch the references to all of his other works, the bard himself even pops up in the show which was wonderful, and the even include several scenes where people speak in iambic pentameter, especially Ophelia. My only complaint about this show is the main musical theme which is “You Raise Me Up” by popular by Josh Groban and as a person who really doesn’t like Groban this was almost a deal breaker for me. Thankfully the song is sung by women in English and in Japanese and, when used appropriately, it really made the show feel as dramatic and epic as the original play. 

So if you like Dynasty Warriors, hyperactive cute boys, explosions, adorable father-son moments, a rivalry that borderlines on romantic relationship, and a bad guy who literally travels with ominous music and a death storm then Sengoku Basara is for you. Ok so when I first saw this show I was surprised how quickly I fell in love with it. Like it’s so stupid with how campy and action packed it is and I loved every second of it. We follow historical Japanese soldiers and fighters in their quest to defeat Oda Nobunaga the Demon King. Like most of these people actually existed but we gave them elemental superpowers and pumped up the action to the extreme. I don’t have much else to say except it was a wild and fun ride from start to finish. 

And I think that I’m gonna end this with Fate/Stay Night:Unlimited Blade Works. Having seen the original Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero I can say that UBW has enough from both series for people to find something to love. Also you don’t need to have knowledge of any of the other works to get into this series as it is a retelling of the original story. You say Fate/Stay Night was originally a visual novel with three routes. The Fate Route, the Unlimited Blade Works Route, and the Heaven's Feel Route. The first route is considered the “best route” as pretty much everyone survives it, the second there are some casualties but overall it is the actual best route because one of our main characters, Shirou, isn’t a complete idiot this time around, and the third and final route is super depressing and holy shit who wrote this? UBW is full of action, historical figures...again, great animation, great fight scenes, and a pretty good story. 

And that’s my ten sort of broad animes that I would recommend. I think that you’ll probably find something that you like in all of this especially if you like magical anime. 

Take care