#hi take care everyone !! <3< /div>
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The Allegiance of the Ascended Vampire and the New God of Magic
#bloodweave#baldur's gate 3#bg3#gale x astarion#astarion x gale#gale dekarios#astarion ancunin#yes this is about astarion helping gale defeat mystra and take her place with the crown in exchange for gale helping him with the ritual#the ‘they can make each other worse’ part of their relationship turned to the max#I enjoy them being reluctantly soft for each other more but from time to time I just think about how powerful they could get together#toxic evil boyfriends. take love and twist it up until it’s unrecognisable#I like to think that astarion approached gale with that offer after realising no one else in camp is gonna help him#and that he can use gales own hunger for power which backfired when astarion actually became emotionally invested in gale#and after gale kept his word despite everyone’s concerns astarion changed his plan from not fullfilling his end of the bargain to actually#helping gale kill mystra (mostly so that gale could belong to him and him alone. and letting him take the place as a god bc having a god#at you beck and call is definitely appealing. especially one as eager to please as gale)#anyway what I want to say with this is please please please let me kill mystra i don’t even care if the weave gets destroyed again
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time travel au where liu qingge and shen qingqiu (yuan) end up accidentally traveling a decade back in time before luo binghe was amitted to qing jing peak and before shen qingqiu had his qi deviation, but after their generation has risen to peak lords.
which means, shen yuan realizes quickly, as they're accosted by said peak lords, that he will have to face shen jiu.
as they're being cleared for demonic energy and the likes, mu qingfang of course instantly detects the poison without a cure eating away at shen yuan's meridians. liu qingge pulls a copy of the treatment plan out of his sleeve (shen yuan blushes a bit, did liu qingge always keep that on hand?), and just like in the current timeline, they agree to keep it under wraps.
shen jiu tries various times to get a moment alone with shen yuan, but he never quite manages because liu qingge is there, who is also... nice?? to him?? for some reason?? shen jiu gets a bit flustered at the solemn politeness and skitters off.
it comes out pretty quickly that shen yuan has "memory loss", and thus can't remember anything that's currently taking place in this time. shen yuan expects scorn, hatred and disdain from shen jiu, expects to be grabbed and interrogated, to arouse suspicion.
but shen jiu looks....... sad???
being transported here threw shen yuan's qi off-balance (even liu qingge had to sit down, which means it's bad), and his cultivation is already so unstable, so when the peak lords are all squabbling and arguing and threatening and raising their voice, he can feel his body shut down. he sees yue qingyuan start to move towards him, which, knowing the future yue qingyuan, he really isn't up for right now—but before the sect leader can get to him someone else is at his back, transferring him qi, holding him up gently by his shoulders, then coaxing him up, leading him outside
shen yuan's been fed qi by every peak lord at least once. he doesn't recognize this one. that means it can only be one person.
he looks up. it's shen jiu.
and it's bizarre, getting fussed over by the scum villain, having gentle hands run along his back, his hair, that clear, soothing voice calming him down. and somehow shen jiu knows exactly what to do?? somehow it works perfectly on him?? it's almost as if shen jiu has known him his whole—
oh.
bodies, like homes, hold memories, even if the original occupants are no longer there. it's the milestone marks on the doorpost that chart a child's growth, blurry photographs faded by time, scuffed floors from well-walked paths, and tiny holes in the walls where pictures once hung.
shen jiu takes him to the bamboo house, pours him tea, and asks, calmly, what he remembers from their childhood.
it's not his childhood, so shen yuan doesn't actually remember anything, but the body he's in does. the memories it holds are emotional rather than visual; he remembers being alone, scared, and hungry. he remembers anger, pain. a dark room. loud voices. he remembers his heart skipping a beat when heavy boots stomp his way. the sound of a whip.
he doesn't have to lie. the memories aren't his own, and they're from long ago, which means shen jiu has them too. and, he supposes, this is his only chance to find out what really happened.
but shen jiu doesn't say anything about it. he just nods and stares, intensely. then he asks shen yuan if he remembers yue qingyuan. shen yuan says no, he doesn't. the conversation takes a very strange turn after that. shen yuan can't help but feel a little queasy when shen jiu asks him if yue qingyuan has taken advantage of his memory loss.
"has he come into your home? has he brought you gifts, sweets? does he invite you for tea? did you accept?"
he has. shen yuan doesn't know why that would be a problem, the sect leader has been nothing but kind and helpful and patient. and generous, too.
when he says yes shen jiu looks furious.
liu qingge (his one) comes to pick him up, and his time with shen jiu is cut short. somewhere he's glad, cuddling into liu qingge's back as he holds him while they fly. he feels a little bad for yue qingyuan, knowing he's probably caused a big fight, but it doesn't sit right with him. he wishes he knew what happened.
.
liu qingge, meanwhile, is having the time of his life fighting himself. it's good practice!
#shen bros but its future and past but actually its shen jiu and shen yuan#shen jiu is angry that yue qingyuan keeps trying to get in knowing that sqq can't remember why they fell out btw#i love a protective shen jiu<3#hes still a hissy bitch to everyone else dont worry. i just think he should experience some self love#it would be a healing experience i think#to have him take care of a vulnerable version of himself#something something healing his inner kid#yue qingyuan tries to spoil the new xiao jiu too (he cant help it)#but shen jiu goes mama bear on him (growling biting mauling)#also shen yuan's closeness with liu qingge obvs starts a rumor that they're dating#so theres that too#svsss au#time travel au#svsss time travel au#shen yuan#shen jiu#shen qingqiu#liu qingge#yue qingyuan#shen bros#scum villain#scum villian’s self saving system
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hey guys, serious post here. i'm taking a break from tumblr for a while. i'm just not in a good place mentally rn. i promise i'll be okay, i just need to step away for a bit. i love you guys, take care <3 Romeo will watch over the blog whilst im gone everyone say hi Romeo:
#ill queue some posts for a while too#ill miss you guys <3#thats my cat btw everyone say hi amd pspspps#maybe weird to announce i just dont want anyone to be mad that im suddenly not replying lol#but bye ily drink water and take care of yourselves <3 i'll see you when i get back
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I've been with [Joe] for a long time now and I ain't never seen him fall off, feel sluggish about himself you know? I don't know if he does but I always pick him up too, doesn't matter if he's seeing it or not, I'm picking him up, he's picking me up...
x
#FASCINATED by the 'doesn't matter if he's seeing it or not' statement here#does he mean it doesn't matter if joe is actually feeling down on himself or not?#ja'marr will always be around to pick him up just in case he does?#(which goes back to a lovely conversation i had with annie about how much ja'marr may or may not really understand joe!)#like ja'marr is always observing joe and trying to take care of him. and there are moments where he's like#'yeah he probably needs picking up now! but who knows! i'll do it anyway!'#(and he's probably right!)#OR does he mean 'doesn't matter if he is noticing my efforts of trying to take care of him'#'i'm taking care of him for his sake and i don't care if he notices'#which also makes me feel MANY things#and then of course stating that joe is always picking him up too <3 <3#joe may not be the easiest to read but he's reading everyone else#especially ja'marr#and he knows ja'marr's been struggling and he's been there for him too!#(which is why he was the FIRST to get to ja'marr last sunday during the Incident. no one else even tried!)#anyway! boy oh boy lot's of feelings about this#also the automatic agreement of 'he's an interestingly intense cat' lmao#ja'marr chase#joe burrow#joe'marr
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gojo would kill your work husband. but if he were the work husband, that's a different story
REAL!! he’s such a hypocrite because if someone mentioned you had a work husband, his entire world would stop and he wold devise the absolute worst plans to make sure that your co-worker, everyone at your job, and everyone in the next building over knew that he was happily committed to you
but if he is the work husband, he’s very........ dutiful in his role. there’s a loose office/lawyer au in my head where satoru is your secretary, and for all intents and purposes, your personal assistant, and he’s good at his job, but mostly because he considers his job to be pleasing you. he has coffee for you when you arrive, he moves your schedule around without you asking, he has answers to questions before you can even ask them, he has fresh flowers on your desk weekly, pokes into your meetings to pretend to hand you a file that’s really just maybe a single document in a manilla folder with candy on top of it—he’s made himself your business, your partner; he’s made himself irreplaceable, and he loves to remind everybody of that fact.
he’s also extremely loyal. sure, he could day a week’s worth of work done in about a day, but that doesn’t mean he’ll just use his talents for anybody. he’s your secretary, so he’s at your beck and call, and everyone knows it. they know he’s the best, but also that he’s off limits—not because you won’t share him, but because satoru won’t let himself be shared.
he also extends his duties beyond work, of course. when he hands you a print out of your schedule for the day and you’re confused by the three-hour block of time you have in the middle of the day, satoru just helps you shrug your coat of your shoulders and smiles, ��that’s for the lunch date you have with me, of course!” hanging up your coat in your closet for you, “i’m paying, see you soon, sweets.” and because you’re great at your job, and satoru helps you be great, nobody really questions when the two of you have time for a 13-course tasting menu at 1pm on a tuesday afternoon. and if they did, all satoru would say that you two had a lovely date
#anonymous#he's like donna from suits but worse because he's like if harvey were donna LOL#i have soooooo much to say about him#he doesn't really Have to work he's a nepotism baby supreme#but he met you maybe in undergrad? and he's been obsessed w you since#he knows youre a workaholic so he's dutifully sat by your side all these years through college through grad/professional school#and when you told him you got to hire your own assistant he was the very first applicant#because getting paid to spend his days with you and take care of you? he was already doing that for free might as well make it official#everyone in the office knows satoru loves you except you honestly#he probably has his own masters/JD but elects to be your assistant anyway bc that's so much more fun#what he Really wants to be a househusband but first he's gotta ask you out and propose and all that good stuff (cue him rolling his eyes#and going on about formalities and boring systems and blah blah blah)#also in the office au in my head: nanami (also senior partner) higuruma ofc <3 beloved (managing partner) and TOJI!#WALK WITH ME!#its honestly probably satoru's influence that gets toji into law... as someone who so feverently broke it in the past#idk maybe there's a megumi situation that makes gojo be like yk if ur this good at skirting/breaking the law youd probably be half decent#at enforcing it... or at least helping other people get around it too#and so lawyer toji is born#does he screw around w the rich people who r stupid w their money? absolutely#but you nanami and higuruma just let it be bc he brings in those settlements better than anybody else....#hmmm... i kinda wanna make megumi somebody's associate but also..... yuuta.....#i think i just like sticking yuuta in a tie if im being real#but anyway... satoru is your Work Husband and everyone knows he wants to be your real husband#but they just let it slide bc rumour has it even tho hes just a secretary hes got equity in the firm?? and besides that his heart eyes give#away his hopeless devotion from a mile away#the day you actually start seeing somebody outside of work... oh theyre in for Trouble#satoru x reader#him dragging you out of ur office late at night and u protesting so he just. puts u over his shoulder#and ur telling him to let u down but he's insisting u go home and then nanami pops out of his office#and ur like wait nanami this isnt what it looks like but he's so dead in the eyes when he just sighs
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this is a controversial take but i don’t really think sexual wincest dynamic would be the same as the dynamics they have with girls. mostly because this interpretation tends to ignore canonical nuances that define sam and dean’s relationship, which includes dean’s extreme possessiveness, sam’s willing submissiveness with dean (especially when it comes to physical touch), the fact that dean is the only one with whom sam is able to be physically vulnerable in a way he can’t with anybody else, the fact that dean genuinely loves taking care of his little brother. it’s an essential part of their relationship, and it just makes sense for it to be part of their sexual dynamic too
#i’m not trying to say it’s definite canon bc we all have our own interpretations#but i do find it a bit weird that the fandom uses their scenes with girls as proof that dean is sub bottom or that sam is domtop#because samdean is way more complicated than sxual relationships they have with random girls like it’s not just about fucking#dean loves taking care of sam and he also needs to know that sam belongs to him at all times and sam loves being taken care of by dean#it’s something they need from each other and they don’t/can’t have that with anyone else#plus they’re canonically each other’s exceptions. dean might be subby with everyone except for his brother#and sam might be toppy with everyone except dean#also if you wanna compare ruby to dean then you gotta admit that sam let her softdom him <3#wincest#spn
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I think the reason beckory works well is that tony has a habit of getting self righteous and in his own head about things but Gregory isnt afraid to tell him off or call him out about things. the point of tony in ggy is that nobody ever told him that how hes treating other people isnt good, so that's why he got so bad. but tony would be close to Gregory and have every rational reason in the world to listen to Gregory so when he would say something like "you're treating ellis badly and that's not what a good friend does, you need to do better" hed actually listen and take it into account and improve himself
#everyone in ggy is oblivious but gregory wouldnt be#hed be used to flawed people by being family with vanessa and freddy and best friends with cassie#and in turn tony#so when tony showcases traits of being flawed he cares about him and can look past them bc he knows tony is a good person#but he also keeps him in check when he goes too far#gregory who would fight someone so intensely he would be put in the hospital if someone insulted cassie:#tony you shouldnt resent ellis and say hes annoying just because he doesnt know all about this journalist from the 1920s#i think the concept of Gregory trying to be normal and live a normal life with 3 star fam and actively having to make it happen#is interesting#bc i feel like tony is so abnormal and has become disconnected from reality especially in a scenario where he lives after the ggy attack#that interacting wiht gregory whos so strange and interesting and mysterious but also has both feet rooted in the present and reality#would do him a lot of good#just make him finally take a step back and see the bigger picture and take a chill pill#also its ironic bc gregory is secretly in his head trying soo hard to be normal and do normal things#and it appears so effortless to Tony that it literally fixes him#i love thinking gregory and others relationships as Gregory not really doing anything but he still affects ppl so heavily#like gregory just existing and freddy developing a soul and sentience and finding a will to live and a purpose after dropping lead singer#gregory almost accidentally saving vanessa and just existing in her life being someone she wants to live for#giving her the motivation to get back up and eventually allowing her to heal enough to want to enjoy life by herself#Gregory doing nothing but being cassies friend and it changes her after a lifetime of abandonment#to the point where it makes her happy and fufilled and brings out the determination and bravery in her#and finally gregory with tony where him just being in tonys life not trying hard to help him out and change his way of seeing life#actually does the most to change his life and shows him that he can view things differently and that now#he finds that he WANTS to#pandas.txt#3 star fam#beckory#superstar duo#gregory#tony
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Yeah Poppy was amazing in TBT cuz she was supportive of Branch and all but can we also talk about how she was the first one to accept John Dory and not judge him based on Branch's part of the story but she actually wanted to learn the full story about their past? And the fact that John Dory was getting along with her better than with anyone else during the entire movie? And I loved their friendship so much they were so kind to each other
#i didn't like him when i watched the trailers until i saw the movie and he was taking care of four younger siblings all by himself#until he snapped#and he came back but he couldn't find them cuz they all left#and he wanted to save floyd#and he saved all stuff that belonged to his bros#and he was so happy to see them again but they weren't happy to see him and that made me feel so bad for him#and he was so tired of taking care of everyone he spend all these years alone so that he wouldn't be responsible for anyone again#he isn't the best person out there but he doesn't deserve the slander#trolls band together#john dory#trolls john dory#trolls poppy#poppy#trolls 3
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graduation day 🌸
#persona 3#minato arisato#makoto yuki#lizzy does art#HELLO EVERYONE... i humbly offer a minato in these trying times... are you all prepared for the wave of march 5th art bc aha! im sure not#i looked at the promised day tag on twitter and GAAAH THE WORKS ARE ALL SOOO BEAUTIFUL#truly it touches my heart that soo many people are still drawing fan art for this important day even 16 years after the game has released#this is my second time celebrating it! and i couldn't be more grateful to have met minato and see his story....#genuinely though his growth throughout p3 is sooooo loooovely and it's rlly hard to put in words. but like. god. i love my wife#dont look @ me for calling him that. i have seen other ppl call him wife material in the tags. they're right btw#oh and uh if u want u can look at my art for last year its smwhere in my art tag.... i like to think i hav improved... LOL#anyway thats all i have to say... i will rb and cry and sing to kimi no kioku tmrw since its still the 4th where i live. take care everyon!
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All forms of media (video games, TV shows, art, movies, books, etc) are all meant to be social and/or political commentaries. In fact, I can't think of an example of a recent creation that isn't political in some way. And Baldur's Gate 3 is not an exception. It is political. And if you think it is not, it is because you are not paying attention, or you are failing to extrapolate the lessons of the game into real life. One of the points of fiction and entertainment is to provide us with a safe way to view and interact with the evils of the world. To show us how evil happens to begin with, and how it is allowed at all. If we can see what evil looks like, and how it comes to pass, then we will be able to recognize it in real life and potentially stop it.
No, I'm not saying that Larian made this game to be a commentary of the US specifically. The things that happen in the game are happening somewhere in the world. Right. Now. It is fantasy for some, but reality to many others.
There is a reason why so many people, most especially women, flock to a character like Astarion. And no, it's not just because he's a pretty bad boy vampire. But because millions of women (and men) in the world understand what it's like to be sexually assaulted. To be enslaved. To be someone's property and a toy. To be used and abused and denied your autonomy. To scream and cry and yell and shout and beg for mercy from the gods. But no one is listening. No one cares. And they say that it is all your fault. Women cling to him because they find comfort in his story and they see a reflection of themselves in him. And they have extrapolated his character into their personal lives to help them heal from their traumas. Astarion is not real. But he represents the millions of people in the world who have been raped.
There are many different ways you can interpret Shadowheart's story, but I always found it to be an allegory for queerness / transness. She knows who she is deep down, but she has been beaten and indoctrinated over and over to believe that who she is wrong. Everytime she exerted a will of her own, she was forced into conversion therapy and had her mind wiped so she can be reprogrammed. And when that began to fail, her god inserted a permanent tether into her soul. To remind her that god is always watching, and will punish her for her sins. Shadowheart rejects Shar because she feels that she is in a safe environment to do so. That those who are around her will not judge her, ridicule her, or treat her like she ha a moral failure for just being who she is. But that rejection comes at a price where she has to choose her parents or chronic pain for the rest of her life. But if Shadowheart does not feel safe to live as herself, she goes into the closet forever and denies herself and has to put up an act for as long as she may live. She forces herself to subscribe to this dogma because she feels she has no other choice, and to be a blind follower means to be without pain. Shadowheart is not real. But she represents the millions of gay and trans people in the world who have been outcasted and abused by religion and the law. Where they feel it safer to deny who they are, then run the risk of the wrong person finding out who they love.
The grove conflict, is a very real reality right now. Innocent people are experiencing a genocide. And the people conducting such genocide have framed these innocent people as evil monsters. These actual literal genocidal lunatics truly to their core believe that they have the god given right to kill these innocent people because they are an affront to their god and that the land they occupy does not belong to them. There are children in the world right now who are burning alive in a genocide because the people who are burning them believe these children to have been born evil. Of course they claim that these refugees are hiding weapons of mass destruction, how else are they going to justify destroying safe places like schools, hospitals, and actual refugee camps? And the people who have the power to do something to protect these innocent refugees, would rather they be tossed out and left vulnerable to their murderers, because that is more convenient than helping them. That the people who can help are purposefully closing their borders, because they too see these refugees as lures for danger. The tieflings are not real. But they represent the millions of Palestinians and many others who are dying in a genocide right now.
And this man is not real, but he is the president elect of the United States. Gortash won. The Absolute won.
And I wish we had a simple and easy explanation of 72 million Americans have tadpoles in their brains and were forced to vote for Gortash. But in reality, not everyone in the Absolute had a tadpole. Not everyone was a True Soul. A mass majority were willing participants of the Absolute. They never once communed with the elder brain and have never received direct orders from it. They saw what the Absolute is, they saw what it can do, and it was not a deal breaker for them. They chose to follow along with it willingly, thinking that the Absolute was here for them. They were not mind controlled, but they were brainwashed in their own way. And for those who are not brainwashed, they simply do not care. They want to revel in the Absolute's cruelty and how it is going to hurt the people of the world because they themselves want to deal the cruelty.
Gortash is a slaver and a tyrant and he is very up front and in your face about it. He feels no guilt, he feels no shame, and he is well aware of how he induces suffering on those around him. And the moment he became Archduke, he slaughtered everyone who got him into power because he didn't want to share it nor run the risk of them turning against him. You may be able to make a deal with Gortash but he was never going to keep up his end of the bargain. Just like an embraced Durge betrays their romance partner, Gortash would have betrayed you (and even Durge). Because tyrants do not share, and they do not step down. Tyrants are not just tyrants only on day one or for just one term. They are tyrannical always and will do everything they can to stay in power permanently. Tyrants do not play fair. They get into power through perceivingly legitimate means. But when you find out it wasn't legitimate, it's too late. They've removed your ability to not only remove them from power, but prevent you from getting anyone else to replace them.
Gortash didn't just come from nowhere. He has been a duke in the city for a very long time. People know who he is and what he is about. The people at his coronation were there out of genuine support for him, knowing exactly who he is and saw no issue with what he was doing because they all benefited from it. The only one at that coronation who was not a willing participate, was Ulder Ravengard (A BLACK MAN). Gortash used a literal puppet government to get himself into power and silenced all dissent.
I do not know about you, but who Gortash represents was pretty damn obvious to me. The game demonstrated how people like Gortash can get into power at all and remain in power. Gortash manipulated people's fear of the world, and he used religion to do it. He implemented the Steel Watch and militarized the police, and to have constant surveillance on the people. Where any slight transgression will be met with hostility, and the people will cheer because they see violence as a necessary means of keeping the peace. Where if you just didn't step out of line, then maybe the Steel Watcher wouldn't need to pulverize you in the street. He uses the media and is constantly pumping out propaganda to love him. He created a problem, news of the problem spread, and then he sold a solution. He promised to keep everyone safe, protected, and made promises of law and order against this unruly chaos (a chaos he created). Where any opposing opinion is othered and regarded as being too radical to be a sane or legitimate opinion. He enslaved a group of racial minorities and used the livelihoods of their children as collateral. And instead of putting the blame on the slaver, radicals like Wulbren put the blame on the slaves.
The events surrounding Gortash and the Absolute have been unfolding here in the States for a very long time and all of this did not just come out of nowhere. This didn't just start happening 8 years ago in 2016, this was decades in the making and there is still plans for more to come. This wasn't an accident, everything is working by design.
Gortash is not real. But Donald Trump is. That should scare you.
#bg3#baldur's gate 3#gortash#us politics#2024 election#i am not going to sugar coat this#we are beyond fucked#this election is not just trouble for americans - but for millions outside the US#there is going to be a wave of repercussions for everyone in the world#i am truly not trying to be all doom and gloom#things will get worse long before they get better - but that does not mean we should give up here lest we want them to win#and obviously the events of a video game are not one-to-one and even i find it an insult to liken gortash to that man#but gortash represents a very real kind of leader and people like gortash are doing very real harm in the world right now#do not underestimate that man#i don't care what funny memes get made about him or how he blunders his words in the next rally#they don't care. his voters don't care. his sycophants do not care.#call him stupid all you want - he took my rights away and plans to take more#hate is not smart. but hate is patient. and that patience paid off today.
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Link sighed, listening to the crickets as he laid in the grass. Sonia was napping peacefully, a gentle, grounding weight pressed against his chest as she laid on top of him. Occasionally he tipped his head to kiss her hair, smiling at the golden curls.
They’d played all afternoon and into the evening, which technically meant she’d missed her afternoon nap. That would likely come back to bite him (or the nannies), but she was sleeping now, right? He couldn’t say no to her, honestly – they were having so much fun, and he… well, it seemed he had little impulse control when it came to his daughter. Perhaps they were both toddlers, he mused with a smile.
His mind wandered as he rested. His recent visit to Hemisi was still weighing him down, frustrating and freeing and terrifying and painful as it was. He didn’t particularly like that he couldn’t remember what had happened after they’d started drinking (surely… surely nothing too terrible—as wild as Hemisi could be, his dear friend also had principles as well… and they’d woken up in separate rooms, fully dressed…), hated that he’d let himself lose control like that, hated it even more knowing that Zelda had likely figured it would happen.
Zelda. He still couldn’t believe she’d—how could she—
Link bit his lip. He didn’t know why he was surprised, honestly. Zelda had been ordering him around since their marriage, since he’d enslaved himself and then made himself thoroughly useless.
He knew he hadn’t been doing the queen any favors. His mere acceptance of the proposal had helped her, of course—the Sheikah had been brought back into unity, the Sage of Shadow had pledged her loyalty to Zelda as a result, the people had seen it as a sign of destiny itself that everything would be fine—but since then… he’d only just recently started to step up once more. He knew that. He wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t like Zelda hadn’t been struggling and trying to rebuild a nation by herself.
But it still hurt that she would start treating him like she did the nobles. Link wasn’t an enemy, damn it. It wasn’t the fact that she’d sent him to the desert that bothered him, it was that she’d had an ulterior motive without telling him, and she’d wanted to manipulate Hemisi as well. He would not stand for that.
Sighing, the king consort rested his hand overtop his daughter’s back, trying to settle himself and only feeling bitter. He’d thought maybe their relationship was improving after he’d finally started helping, after the incident with House Ishita. He supposed he’d been wrong.
Perhaps I’m just not doing enough, an old, familiar anxiety whispered. He ignored it. That anxiety had driven him to tear himself apart his entire life, seeking the approval of others. He was sick of it. He was so sick of it.
It was foolish to assume everything would be fine. Almost four years had passed since their wedding, and neither of them had really been an admirable spouse. But as he looked down at his daughter once more, Link felt his heart soften a little. At least something good has come of it.
His mind betrayed him a moment, thoughts lingering on Hemisi for too long, wondering what it would have been like to have children with her, and he shook his head as his hand slid off his daughter. It did him no good to linger on such sentiments. He knew that by now. Why couldn’t he just accept the position he was stuck in, that he’d put himself in? Why did he have to be so angry, so hurt, so lonely? Fear gripped at his heart as he looked away from Sonia, the same fear that partly drove him to avoid her when she’d been born, because what if he took that hurt and anger out on her? He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. It wasn’t her fault she was born into these circumstances.
He should have never gone to the desert.
Footsteps approached, moving at a pace that put him on edge. It wasn’t quite running, but it certainly wasn’t a casual gait.
“Your Majesty,” a guard called as he approached.
Link sat up immediately, holding Sonia so she wouldn’t be too jostled, face hardening. This couldn’t be good.
“Sire, it’s—it’s the queen,” the guard stammered breathlessly. “She’s collapsed—”
Before the guard could get another word out, Link was on his feet. “What happened? Where is she?”
Link heard council room and then taken to her quarters and moved quickly, handing off his half-asleep daughter to the nanny at the entrance to the castle. It didn’t take him long to reach Zelda’s room, and he saw her laying in bed looking paler than ever, Lady Impa at her side with a hand on her forehead.
“What’s wrong?” Link asked as he approached the bed.
“The healer said she’s sick and worn herself out,” Lady Impa answered.
“I’m f-fine,” Zelda mumbled, looking anything but fine. Her usually perfect curls were plastered to sweaty skin, bags under her eyes, face drawn and exhausted. “You can go, Link.”
Link glared at her. “I’m not leaving. You look awful.”
Zelda’s brow furrowed a little, eyes remaining closed, mouth pulling into a frown. “I’m ordering you to leave.”
Link felt his body stiffen, irritated and hurt. He wasn’t going to leave her while she was like this! But she clearly didn’t want to deal with him, and just her having the gall to order him around—
Link bit his tongue while Lady Impa looked between the royal couple, worry and sympathy in her gaze. It wasn’t her place to speak up against the queen, and she knew that. Link, however, was reaching a point where he didn’t care anymore, where he didn’t want to keep repeating this cycle any longer, and he knew exactly how to get to her.
“You’re keeping Lady Impa from her duties,” Link said curtly.
Impa immediately stiffened. “Taking care of you two is my duty, Link.”
“As are the Sheikah,” Link reminded her firmly as he watched Zelda open her eyes. “I don’t really do much around the castle, in case you hadn’t noticed, except for take care of the royal family. Given that Zelda falls into that category, it makes more sense for me to care for her so you can continue helping others. Wouldn’t you agree, Your Majesty?”
The queen frowned further. Link smiled. He had her and he knew it, and it made him feel vindicated; it was fairly common throughout his life for people to assume he couldn’t think for himself because of his quiet and obedient nature, and he knew Zelda had probably started assuming the same, so it felt good to prove her wrong. Just because he bowed over to her all the time didn’t mean he was a fool.
When the queen couldn’t come up with an argument, Link waved Impa off. “Just tell me what she needs. I’ll handle it.”
His chief sighed, glancing at Zelda once more, and then rose. Link knew that Impa was just as fiercely protective and caring for Zelda as she was for him, if not more so, but if finding a way to essentially get her out was the only way for him to take care of the queen, then he would do it. He’d apologize to her later.
“The healer’s convinced it’s just a bad cold, but given…” Impa stopped, glancing at the queen once more. “She’s… just overworked herself.”
Link watched the Sheikah chief quietly. There was more to it than that. He didn’t push, though. Not yet. Nodding, he thanked her and then sat at Zelda’s side.
“I don’t need anything,” the queen said quietly, tiredly, as Lady Impa looked at them one last time from the doorway.
“Your Majesty,” Impa called from where she was half out of the room. “Please, just… let him help you.”
Link glanced over at his chief, giving a small nod of gratitude, and then she left, closing the door behind her. The pair was silent, and Link suddenly wasn’t entirely sure what to say next. The last time they’d spoken was when he’d snapped at her in the throne room upon his return from Gerudo Desert, and that had been a week ago.
He definitely had no right to be here. But he also knew Zelda, like him, would hardly accept help from anyone. She somehow trusted people even less than he did.
“You know, when I was younger I fell prey to the same issues,” Link noted, leaning back in the chair. “I pushed myself too much, and I… learned it didn’t do me much good to not accept help.”
His heart twisted for a moment, recalling that the help came from Hemisi and Merovar, from Ganondorf. That had been a lifetime ago.
He still wondered if that monster had ever cared at all. Probably not. It didn’t matter anymore, anyway. He was gone, and with his soul split into four pieces, the primordial evil that he’d bound himself to would never return, either.
It shouldn’t still hurt, after all these years, should it?
Link shook his head. Not now. It wasn’t like Hemisi didn’t have it infinitely worse than him. He had no right to mourn anymore.
“Spare me your anecdote,” Zelda snapped tiredly. “I know I got myself into this. I’m not a child.”
“You’re right,” Link bit back. “You’re not a child, yet you choose to act like one.”
Zelda sat up, eyes opening, glaring at him weakly. “I’m not the one who lost my temper last week.”
“I’m not the one who lied to my spouse, manipulating her to make someone else fall in line with my wishes,” Link retorted before realizing this was quickly spiraling in the wrong direction. He took a calming breath, slow and steady. “Look. I… I still don’t agree with what you did. But can we put that aside to just focus on now? It doesn’t matter our opinions on what happened, you’re sick and you need to rest.”
“I don’t see how that involves you.”
“Perhaps because you look like you can hardly get out of bed,” Link snapped. “Perhaps because you probably will not be able to attend to your duties in the morning—”
“I will attend to my duties in the morning,” Zelda insisted, laying back down, voice shaking, and though she glared defiantly at the canopy of the bed, he could see fear starting to trickle in. She looked on the verge of tears.
Link didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how to get through to her. He tried for one of her redeeming qualities. “Look. Hyrule needs you to be strong, but you can’t always do that all the time. The best way you can help your people is to rest.”
Zelda’s lip wobbled, and she closed her eyes as the tears quietly slid down the sides of her face. Link slipped a hand into hers, and thankfully she didn’t pull away.
“C-can… can I see Sonia?” She asked quietly.
Link’s thumb traced along the back of her hand. “In the morning, okay?”
For once, she didn’t argue. But the tears continued to fall.
Link frowned at it, feeling his chest hurt. As much as they didn’t get along, he hated seeing her like this. “I’m sorry.”
Zelda started to sob. Link’s eyes widened a little, alarmed, and he pulled away from her touch to grab a handkerchief for her. Helping the queen sit up, he let her lean against him as she buried her face in the cloth.
“I’m a—a t-terrible mother,” she cried.
Link wasn’t quite sure what to say all of a sudden. Zelda did try to be there for Sonia, but honestly the couple spent so much time avoiding each other that he wasn’t entirely sure how often she saw her. Sonia did talk about her mother, though, so that had to count for something. “She loves you, Zelda.”
The queen cried even harder, losing all composure, and Link finally just wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly.
“I don’t—I don’t know if I—if I can do this again,” she gasped between sobs.
Do… again…? Link stiffened, glancing down at his wife. “Are… are you pregnant?”
Zelda tried to halt her tears and cries, tensing up, but there was no denying it now. It explained her cold, defensive demeanor, her sudden burst of emotion, Impa’s hesitancy to leave. She was not only pregnant, she hadn’t wanted him to know.
Link swallowed, blood freezing.
That had to be the case, didn’t it? They hadn’t been physically intimate since their tour of Hyrule, and that was months ago. She must have known for a while, based on what little he did know of the process.
Unless, of course, she had found someone else to take to her bed, and that was why she had sent Link to be with Hemisi. He wasn’t sure if he should feel insulted or not. But no, it made no sense – Zelda didn’t trust anyone enough to let a man into her life like that. The only reason she and Link had a daughter was out of duty.
So the child was his. And she’d hidden it from him.
Link took another steadying breath as so many different thoughts washed over him. He bypassed that initial realization, just thinking about the fact that she was pregnant again.
Could either of them handle that?
He supposed they had to. Their actions had created the baby, after all. His actions more than anything – although Zelda had never said no to his advances, he had always been the one to instigate them on their trip across the kingdom, a means of physical release from being paraded around like a doll.
This was his fault.
Well. Technically, Zelda had been the insistent one for their first child, had always been the one to push for the matter. So… he supposed this evened things out?
Her first pregnancy. Sonia. Link hadn’t even looked at Zelda since finding out she was pregnant, not until that awful baby shower. He hadn’t looked at his daughter until six months after her birth.
Link swallowed, overwhelmed, and held her more tightly. “You’re not doing it alone this time.”
Zelda glanced up at him, fear dissolving into pure, utter vulnerability. She was so exhausted. He felt all the worse seeing it. Link tried to smile, and it only made her cry once more, burying her face into his neck.
Link hushed her gently, closing his eyes, heart racing, reeling at the fact that this was how he found out, that she was actually willing to hide it from him. Just how broken was their trust if…?
He should know better. She’d manipulated him anyway, time and again, steadily growing subtler and seemingly more sinister as a result. How was this any different?
It involved their child. That was how it was different.
Link hadn’t been involved with Zelda’s pregnancy with Sonia. He’d been too lost in himself. Perhaps that was why she hadn’t bothered to tell him. It stung either way, even more so because Lady Impa clearly had known for a while; she’d been glued to the queen’s side for weeks.
He swallowed, swallowed the hurt and frustration, the regret and shame, the fear of bringing another child into this chaos, and rested his cheek against her hair. “Get some sleep, my queen. I’ve got you.”
#writing#Imprisoning war#hero of power#imprisoning war zelda#legend of zelda#These two are so messed up lol#But they’re trying#Let him help you Zelda#Link will definitely not overwork himself and place his value in taking care of everyone else because of this#As angry and hurt and lonely and bitter as Link is he isn’t heartless so he’s trying to be helpful <3#Even if neither party particularly loves each other#Sicktember#because technically it’s a sickfic#HA#I didn’t write from Zelda’s POV tho darn#Maybe next time#Skye time travels through the queue#Zelda’s still very hurt that Link wasn’t there for her during the first pregnancy#Neither of these morons know how to TALK
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DAY 10: EMPATHY - Lost little pearls of light. Tiny fires in the dark.
YAY YIPPEE a collab piece with @euclydya!! it drew the LOVELY linework and i finished the colors/shading!! wah im incredibly happy i got to do an art collab with y'all, thank you so much my beloveds :D!! <333 <222
without overlay!!
#disco elysium#empathy#de empathy#disco elysium skills#skilltober#skilltober 2024#de skills#voliart#im still going back for the INTs but im posting this one on the actual day because its IMPORTANT!!#everyone look at how Euclydia posed him isnt he so pretty?? i love the hand over his chest he's so peaceful <33#esprit: Euclydia#empathy has the transparent crown because he was the signature skill in my run!! but my headcanon harry's signature skill is volition :3#so voli will have the actual skill signature crown but empathy is my personal choice <33#surprisingly this has nothing to do with the two transparent skill points. that's a whole separate thing that's spoilers for Swept Up hjkjg#a lot of quotes i wanted to use were not empathy quotes so i couldnt use em!! ''I'm glad to be me -- an incredibly sensitive instrument.''#'''A blue forget-me-not; a piece of the grey sky'. Unofficial: 'For a moment there was hope'.'' <- i do not condone moralism hgkjg#hgkgj i hate that my fave's a centralist man but i GET IT. he empathizes with every ideology so he just won't choose. like not pulling the#lever in the trolley problem. too scared to hurt anyone so not taking sides. guy who cares too much! if i make a decision someone gets hurt#best to leave it to a committee of people so no one's at fault! :) <- NO!!! EMPATHY!! THOSE PEOPLE WILL GET HURT ANYWAY!!! DO SOMETHING!#augh out of tag space but this GUY. I HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT HIM MAN. kisses his forehead. please have opinions my darling hgkjg
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Anyways. Academy era designs
#koschei has curlier hair normally but this is drawn in an era where he’s NAWT taking care of himself so his hair hasn’t been washed in like#a week#I draw him with his hands bruised up from rapping the back of his hands in beat with the drums btw#and the eye bags because he CANT sleep with that racket in his head#also. theta has a lot of freckles and moles and koschei sometimes gets a pen and connects them like a connect the dots#just trust me alright trust me so hard#theta has a body that we’d call afab but theta’s always been more comfortable with male centric terms so everyone just perceives him as a m#although I so she/he theta. theta she/he truth#but pronouns ≠ gender so it’s okay#anyways anyways#thoschei#doctor who academy era#koschei oakdown#theta sigma#doctor who#the deca#(well. two of them)#aura’s posts#our art#idk how long the academy has people for like what age they graduate but they’re meant to be the timelord equivalent of like 18ish here#no one talk abt my Gallifreyen. just don’t even#heaven’s art<3
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the thing is that Dorian told Orym that he didn't have to save everyone. But it was too little too late, now wasn't it? (I'm not blaming Dorian for that. I'm just saying)
By the time Dorian tells him that he has already sold his future. He's already thought extensively how to kill his entire family if he has to. He's tied in so many knots.
Then he keeps getting hit by these freak outs. Chetney gave him a scar across his face. Letters went after him first. Laudna attacked him then proceeded to gaslight the absolute shit out of him for defending himself.
He sold away his future for these people and they couldn't be bothered to ask him about the deal he made with Nana Morri. Ashton stood between Laudna and Orym. Defending Laudna. And no one stood beside Orym. No one got in between them in defense of Orym.
They hovered. Dorian said Orym should keep the sword. Chetney told Laudna that Orym lost more than the rest. But when Orym started back tracking. When he started to second guess himself. NO ONE fought for what he wanted. NO ONE told him it was okay to want to keep the sword and that he should if it was important to him.
Orym is constantly bending. He is constantly being the bigger person. He has forgiven so much and the poor thing is falling apart at the seams about it. It just isn't fair. He is getting the brunt of the damage because he's a tiny tank. He's constantly goading enemies to attack him and not anyone else.
And idk whens the last time he breathed. The last time he relaxed. When's the last time he felt truly safe with the people around him? Because he was sleeping in an inn surrounded by the people closest to him and he felt his life force being sucked away from him
IDK I just think orym deserves a nap and another spa day. I JUST THINK ORYM DESERVES EVERYONE GATHERING AROUND AND SAYING EXACTLY WHAT THEY LOVE ABOUT HIM AND HOW HE MEANS SO MUCH TO THEM AND THE GROUP
#silver sending stones#this is a rant#orym of the air ashari#istg#they need to treat him better#he doesnt deserve all this#he doesnt deserve to have his feelings ignored#like i laudna a lot#i love all of them a lot#but it was so obvious that she just wanted to eat the sword#she didnt care about its history#and yeah Delilah lied to her. Delilah manipulated her too. im not discrediting that.#but instead of having that discussion in the morning. with everyone there. she chose to wither and bloom. an aoe spell. to TAKE it from orym#then no one asks whats the difference of her eating it and orym wielding it#they skirt around it but never press her#idk the amount of times oryms had to walk away from his family really hurts me#idk im just v sad#cr 3#cr 3 e 95
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Keith walking into the holding cell greeting all the regulars by name while Lance is sobbing lamenting that his life is over and his future is ruined (they were like. Trespassing or some shit he’s going to be fine)
lance: (actively dry heaving in the corner, on the verge of a panic attack as he imagines having a permanent record)(actually what does a permanent record even look like?)(omg is he going to have to go to COURT? like in JUDGE JUDY?)
keith: remy, this is lance. lance, this is remy, she’s my favorite alcoholic :)
#voltron#klance#honestly I imagine they got caught trespassing while ghost hunting#if they’re in Texas then they will most likely get a full on misdemeanor on their record. Texas is very big on property rights.#trespassing can quickly elevate to criminal charges in texas it is actually very serious. do not trespass in texas.#meanwhile in Maine trespassing can be just an infraction & not added to your record#like sure they're teenagers so they could get their records sealed or expunged when they're 18. but like. the garrison would know. not good#sorry i just like talking about the law#speaking of which let me go on a tangent#i do think keith frequently gets charged with trespassing. at his own shack in the desert.#and so now he is Really good at juvenile law specifically because he is constantly arguing with cops#keith: this is not trespassing. my dad owned this property & he died unmarried without a will.#keith: i am literally his child and i inherited this land after his death YOU CAN'T ARREST ME FOR TRESPASSING ON MY OWN PROPERTY.#cop: okay well the house is all burned down it's a safety hazard#keith: I AM NOT IN THE HOUSE I AM IN THE SHACK WHICH MEETS MINIMUM SAFETY REQUIREMENTS. GET FUCKED.#cop: okay but you're out after curfew--#keith: is this a game to you? drag me in front of that judge i DARE you. you want to take the ORPHAN to court over CURFEW?#keith: you want to arrest my parents? WHAT PARENTS? everyone in this county knows me as the son of a hero firefighter.#keith: a hero firefighter who died in the line of duty btw. in case you forgot. since i'm an ORPHAN who has no one who CARES about CURFEW.#keith: my dad is dead my mom is gone my brother disappeared in space im 0 for 3 parents-wise. drag me before a judge. make my fucking night#sometimes i answer an ask or make a post specifically so i can do my own separate thing in the tags#i just like talking about law. i'm so excited for law school u guys#keith#lance#lance: (freaking out)#keith: (relaxed because he knows a really good lawyer who specializes in juvenile law)#shitpost#ask#anonymous#otp: we are a good team
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for a guy constantly stuck as the butt of the joke (and in the unrequited love torture chamber) I think he deserves the dub of someone ANYONE confessing to liking him no matter how big the crush or how long ago idgaf it should've happened to the greatest dude ever kuwabara
#idccccc gimme kurama randomly dropping that bomb on Kuwabara after a study session#yeah i think im irrevocably in love w/u and i dont mind at all. ill see you next tuesday 👋🏼#yusuke finally getting his shit together years after they're out of school#and kuwabara is like now? in the waiting room for my colonoscopy?? also i already knew#''you KNEW?'' ''just cos i got bad taste doesn't mean i should act on it!!'' ''???''#some random kids from school maybe a girl he'd protected during his patrols of his territory#a guy that sits behind him in class that fell head over heels during his study arc in episode 3#HELL HIEI EVEN. sitting outside on a tree on his property leaving the occasional demonic relic on his windowsill#kuwabara is like who tf keeps putting rocks here. he keeps em tho#basically i think anyone and everyone in their silly little verse is completely capable of loving kuwabara#he loves kittens and calls himself a warrior of love and is 6ft and NOBODY ever said hey i like you#okay cool on that note togashi we're boxing 👊🏼👊🏼👊🏼#qeued post#kuwabara kazuma#yu yu hakusho#yeah yeah he got popular in highschool but WHO CARES? NOT KUWABARA#he literally doesn't take that shit srsly istg he doesn't think anyone's genuinely interested in him#i could talk about how kuwabara's only truly comfortable in the unrequited role bc it's all he's ever been allowed#but that's a whole nother post
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