#in case you guys wanted to read

[moldsporr]

Shoves this at you all then runs back to the cave

[lilybug-02]

Patience and responsibility....that's a promise....right?

Part 27 First || Previous || Next

--Full Series--

An exorcism? In my family-friendly Deltarune? It's more likely than you may think. The backgrounds here were very interesting! Much more complex than how I usually do them (especially that computer).

Player POV:

Feral energy.

[the-judicial-assistants-notebook]

not enough discussion about the gavins' complicated relationship with feminine-coded/beauty products, i don't think.

[xxplastic-cubexx]

cant stop thinkin bout charles and erik readin together on the couch but instead of reading with him charles is listening to eriks thoughts while he reads. Live mind commentary ……..

[fromdarzaitoleeza]

Spring is here , the true beginning of the year , the season where my soul reborns and blooms .

I have made some progress in terms of the person I am becoming, truly in all my honesty all that i have done is to stop caring for everything that once used to matter , the less I care about anything in particular the less I am bothered and the happier i stay. And i really hope everyone here is doing well and I appreciate all the love that was sent.

The problem is I care a lot about everything and i don't even get the bare minimum in return and when i do get it it's too late, so much time has passed by then ,when it comes by then i do not want or need it because it's the not care that came out of love it came out of their guilts. And the longer i wait for it to come by -the more I learn why I don't need it anymore .

I am slowly learning to value myself ,trying to put myself in a position where I can agree that i too deserve all the good things and love even on the days when i have nothing to offer .

Idk guys I am just here to rant and to be stupid

Better late than never they say , I guess it's not too late for me either, I will start my life and live up to what I want & how I feel ,i don't have to care about anything else as long as I feel alive in my bones things will eventually flow, I will fall in love with myself little by little day after day.

I will choose myself instead of choosing others and I will fall in love with my solitude instead of bearing it with me , i don't care if I end up alone if I do end up all by myself I will be with someone who i know has a tendency not to give up .

Life is really short i just don't want to sit and watch it pass by , if I am lucky enough I will have 40 more springs to experience , I have clear boundaries and thoughts in my head now, eventually i will find peace through it I hope so.

Ramdan kareem to people who celebrate it here please remember gaza in your prayers and fastings

[valewritessss]

This fandom is so nit-picky that I’ve seen more criticism on every little thing about wottg (a book that came out 2 days ago) than people saying things they liked about it

Edit: someone has already gotten mad so I repeat this is a joke and not that deep❤️

[myokk]

Eloise and Violette💓💓💓

A continuation of this beautiful scene by @syaolaurant 😇😙💓

[bayetea]

I don't like the judo flip in moa as much as the next guy but in my eyes it's largely the result of rick not taking female violence half as seriously as male violence (a result of viewing women as weaker and inferior to men such that their acts of violence don't need to be taken as seriously) and not so much anything about annabeth herself. like I do genuinely feel that annabeth is a complex heroine and definitely one of the better ones in the realm of ya action-adventure fiction produced in the past 25 years but she is still a girl being written by a man and all I'm saying is that her writing clearly reflects that sometimes (more in tags)

[semi-sketchy]

I know this is beating a dead horse at this point, but I just started thinking about this the other day and...

How many people that were previously enemies has Sonic ACTUALLY befriended?

Like my knowledge of some old games and the handhelds ain't great, but...

There was Knuckles, who I think is the only one in the classic era.

He never really befriended Gamma in SA1, just left him to Amy.

Also he didn't befriend Chaos, just beat the anger out of him.

The next one was Shadow in SA2, although they're still kinda rivals?

I don't think Rouge counts in SA2 since she wasn't really an enemy of Sonic specifically, even in Heroes it's really Sonic and Shadow that start the fight.

Gemerl is a robot who was reprogrammed to be friendly, I wouldn't count that as "befriending someone".

Him and Jet are rivals in every Riders game, this never changes.

Blaze in Rush is someone that fought him and they became friends, so it's clear cut, she counts.

Silver in '06 does as well.

Do we count Shade from Chronicles? I think she had a boss fight. I know very little about that game but it's not canon, right?

Merlina is kinda a grey area? Like they were friends, he stopped her evil plans and was still nice to her. I don't know if in context that meets the criteria.

On top of that I don't think the Knights of the Round Table count. Sonic is there to take the swords and they work together at the end. I don't think there's any hard feelings, but don't know if this counts as "friends".

Sage could be the next example, but she's still loyal to Eggman. I don't think what they briefly shared was friendship as much as Sage wanting to save Eggman.

I haven't played Superstars but Trip doesn't even have a bossfight, does she? I don't think she counts.

Not looking at the method, just purely if they became friends down the line. Out of all of those, there's 4 total (if you count Shadow, which I do) with 1 it's complicated and 1 non-canon. That's very few when you consider how large the game cast is.

An overwhelming majority of his friends weren't ever hostile with him to begin with, like the Chaotix, Amy, Tails, Cream, Emerl, Big, ect. There's plenty of other cast members that are still have him on their shit list, like Eggman, Infinite (if he's alive), Fang, Metal, Eggman Nega, the Deadly Six...

Now I'm starting to wonder where this idea of it being a frequent even came from.

[yuriyuruandyuraart]

Hi? Gosh how do I even start with this :'D

I know it's been ages since I've last popped up on here. I've been debating when to post this for a while, but I kept adding to my draft more and more and now it's the end of JULY omgg I felt so guilty disappearing with zero updates but then thought my birthday would be the best day to finally address this considering it'll feel less random? idk but Ive always celebrated my bday with you guys and I'd feel so bad answering your kind asks without me at least explaining why I was gone for months.

Truth be told, I was dealing with a lot of stuff irl. health issues and sudden declining grades that left me stumped and drained for months now- along with technical issues like having to replace some parts of my computer that took a while for me to find to even draw digitally, which I didn't have the time for anyway with how tired and weary I felt every day.

I'm frankly shaken up by a lot of shit rn and I don't know how to be active online with this burden on my chest- Especially as it's been a while since I've even looked at utmv related content and my motivation dwindled. I swear I'd hype myself up to post or reblog something- but I'd see just how much I've missed or the overwhelming amount of posts I'd need to go through and I'd feel so swamped with exhaustion and most importantly guilt, for not clearing the air up sooner to reassure you guys that I'm, y'know, alive, and not dead in a ditch somewhere. And I'd procrastinate cause typing it all out is hard and I'd give up halfway every time and it's just not fair to you all!

I thought I was handling it well when I started going out and socializing more, instead of staying cooped up at home on my computer all day. and in the first draft of this post I made months ago I was gonna detail some of the fun plans I had, for my life and for this blog :D but relaxing my strict study schedule and letting go a bit of my tight routine, thinking it was better than wringing myself dry to keep it up, backfired horribly, to say the least.

I know right?? so silly to be hung up on stupid shit like studies of all things! but this is a very important thing for me considering my career plans and the competitivity encouraged by everyone I'm surrounded by, the pressure of keeping up adding to my already stressful days. I had to fix myself up first and I couldn't handle the strain nor interact with people and thinking of jobs and exams sapped my energy so much it's frankly embarrassing. writing this feels so cheesy too and it frustrates me to know I could've come back a month earlier if it weren't for that, but I also know putting all of this into words then would just sound like incoherent venting (not that this is very different tbf) and I wasn't in the right headspace to address my absence, or anything really- I didn't want everyone to see me return when I couldn't muster up a genuinely positive message, let alone talk to anyone with a shadow of my usual cheer

I feel like a complete mess and It drives me up the wall how depressed I've gotten. I debated deleting this blog so many times 'cause the fear of disappointing my audience and my friends, for lack of a more fitting sentiment, made me feel even shittier. I'm constantly thinking if this wall of text is worth posting, or if it's better not to burden you all with all my sappy troubles as if it's the end of the world. Trust me, I'll be fine. I'm not trying to dramatize this situation, but I don't think I'm up to pretending I'm all sunshine and enthusiasm you're all accustomed to.

So sorry for worrying you all! I'll try to catch up, deliver some missed birthday gifts, and answer some asks while I'm at it! Again, I can't state how much I appreciate your support throughout the years. It's frankly a miracle I kept any of you around with how much I keep popping and leaving at random with no warning. I definitely can't promise for my stay to be without a hitch, and if you don't mind an inconsistent schedule you're free to stay of course, but I'm afraid I can't sustain the pace I had when I first started this blog. I'll keep posting art, but lower my activity in the fandom sphere to reduce the strain on my mental health. so fewer rants and walls of text, more art, and less stress overall. Love you all and thanks for waiting for this long <3

[nightfal1n]

In side-B Narumi started out not wanting to have his effort known but fast forward into the the present time and he's seen hogging a camera drone, getting mad at newspapers, searching himself on twitter where his subordinate can see, and doing delinquent-style staring with Hoshina like he doesn't mind letting others know he wants attention anymore. Got me thinking about what happened in between. Like having Mina who is also recognized by Isao while doing everything he hates (letting others support her, valuing teamwork, taking responsibility) and even beat him in her specialized category...and such

[5hark-byt3]

Hiiiii I drew Shiver again bc I’ve been in a Shiver drawing moooodddd hiiiiiiiii

[littleplantfreak]

oh to be the person Umemiya Hajime meets and falls for as he’s traveling after graduation

[skrunksthatwunk]

idk if i've discussed it before (i have certainly THOUGHT about it) but someone on my kuwa suffering ep 89 comp mentioned it and i just had to go off about it like. ok. sensui tells yusuke something along the lines of "you heard itsuki" when itsuki's inside the uraotoko, implying that not only can sensui hear those inside the uraotoko, but that he expects yusuke to be able to as well. which means that yusuke Almost Certainly Heard And Kind Of Ignored kuwabara's prolonged mental breakdown and wailing about how much he needs yusuke to live etc. which. guHHH i hate him yusuke you ass but also listen.

the only acknowledgement yusuke gives to this (if any) is when he says something like "sensui you're sooo fucking cooked this plan's going perfectly (my friends are going to get strong and kill you when i die)." he's trash talking to sensui, ignoring the others because, i think, he doesn't want to acknowledge what he's doing to them.

yusuke is explicitly recreating the experience he had with kuwabara's "death" at the hands of toguro, complete with the announcement of intent (and power) to kill, the inability to impede the threat in any way (barring a power-breakthrough), and the target in some way racing towards/volunteering for their death. yusuke learns through doing, and through tough love-style approaches. it's only effective if it hurts. watching kuwabara die like that was devastating to yusuke, but it sure as hell fucking worked. he beat toguro because of that maneuver. so even if he has to (re-)traumatize his friends in the process, this method will make his friends stronger, and he feels confident in that. but he never had to live with the consequences of kuwabara's death, not really. that's something hiei makes clear before they enter the cave as well, that there are no fake-outs ready to make him or anyone else stronger. the only deaths here will be real. the only power gained will come at a high, permanent cost. hiei's warning is an attempt to keep everyone alive, to keep yusuke from being stupid. and then yusuke decides to take that fatality into his own hands, but it's kind of his friends who would pay the price. he's going to make them live through the days, months, years without him, the actual permanency of loss (assuming they survive for that long), something he never experienced with kuwabara (a new facet of that traumatic scenario), AND he's escaping the emotional fallout of this choice through death. he doesn't have to see them mourn, won't get yelled at, won't watch them fail to move on. he's tapping out and choosing to believe they'll be fine.

but i think he feels guilty. just a little. i mean, yusuke couldn't even believe that people cared about him enough to want him alive in episode one. he's staked everything on his friends, which means he still kind of... doesn't value his own life, at least not compared to theirs. but he believes his friends love him and want him around, and we know that because he has to, or else he wouldn't make a plan that depends entirely on that love. he is actively leveraging the care he doesn't think he deserves, trying to hurt them in a way he is intimately familiar with (only worse), for.... what, exactly?

this is kind of my sticking point tbh. i don't think the answer is... super clear, but let's start with what it's not.

yusuke is not doing this because it is the most practical way to save all of humanity; that would be the mafukan, which he stopped. it could be a gamble to save all of his friends? the mafukan strategy would guarantee koenma's death/eternal imprisonment, whereas this strategy gambles all of humanity on the chance that his friends come out of the Easy Break Oven strong enough to avert the end of the world. if the sacrifice of even one friend is completely intolerable, perhaps he'd accept those slim odds and their steep consequences. yusuke tends to take risks like that, especially when he's got fight-induced tunnel vision. he doesn't think things through too much; his schemes are usually dependent on surprising his enemy enough to oneshot them. truthfully, i think this is the closest we'll get to an answer, and it's a more conventional one for this kind of story. but there is another layer i haven't been able to get from my mind.

i think yusuke is gifting each of his friends an honorable warrior's death.

so, in case it needs saying, yusuke, kuwabara, kurama, and hiei all (at least once, if not several times) exhibit a desire to die in combat in a way they deem noble to give their lives purpose (usually by self-sacrifice, but sometimes by another metric of honor, like hiei's duel with shigure and his desire to die in mutual defeat against an evenly matched opponent; or even kurama's decision to fight shigure in his human form, displaying a sort of passive suicidality via placing being true to himself in this (somewhat symbolic/inconsequential) way over survival). they need to make their lives count for something, because they feel guilty for being alive (kurama and hiei feel guilty for their past actions (hiei's is most evident in his distance from yukina, though that's not its primary reason), hiei, kuwabara, and yusuke have all been ostracized and made to feel like burdens on/unwanted by their caregivers and general society; all four of them have felt profound isolation even from their loved ones (yusuke and hiei are rather obvious; kurama can never tell his mother about the majority of his life nor what she truly means to him in the context of it; and kuwabara is separated from his peers for his spiritual awareness and his "stupidity" (plus his parents aren't around? and he is Desperate to define manhood/manliness through a broader pop cultural one which includes the warrior sacrifice thing bc he has no male role models BUT that's for another post) (i will admit kuwa's the most tenuous one here irt isolation)). they want to die for a cause so badly it's actually physically painful to me. it is passive suicidality, and they define their lives and identities by their relation to, engagement with, and skill at doing violence, etc. they live to die by the sword. anyway. nobody talks about it but i think it's very important to understanding what yusuke's doing here.

because i think he knows that about himself and his friends. they're kindred spirits. at the very least he knows this about kuwabara, who literally made a speech about this before diving into toguro's fingers In The Event That He Is Recreating Explicitly. he is dying nobly like they all want to on the chance that they'll get to break out and fight sensui rather than dying without even getting to take a swing. it's about his pride and theirs. but i don't think yusuke necessarily believes they'll win. he knows better than anyone how strong sensui is, and how wide the gap is between sensui and team urameshi. his stated position that humanity is doomed and that he doesn't care about its fate is, i think, not completely genuine, but if we take it at face value, he's not killing himself so that his friends can survive the end of the world. something's going to come around and kill them eventually. he's doing it so they can survive long enough to fight sensui. he needs them (specifically kuwabara) to be strong enough to free themselves to begin round two. but he's given up on their side winning, on humanity surviving, on his own victory---why should he think his friends are capable of winning? this could be another case of yusuke's fight-blinders. it could be another gamble, more blind faith put in his friends. but honestly it reads more to me that yusuke's giving them a chance to die together on the battlefield. them winning would be great, but it's not his goal. it's a pipe dream.

he knows he's going to be killed. they're probably going to be killed, too. but to make it so they last a little longer against sensui, to make the odds a little more even, so they are killed not like livestock, but like worthy fighters, he'd die a little faster. it's the best kind of death someone like them can have; and he'll deprive himself of it just to make their ends a little sweeter. even if the road to that is far more bitter.

but it's not like yusuke's friends know what he's thinking or agree to it, and he can't exactly make his case for it in the moment. he's making that choice for them. whatever his intentions, whatever odds he thinks they have of beating sensui, he's kind of sealing all of their fates. so how the hell is he supposed to acknowledge kuwabara screaming at him not to die, trying desperately to express what yusuke means to him in what could be their final moments together? this plan is going to hurt his friends terribly. it is already doing so, and he can hear it. his choices to stop koenma from using the mafukan and to die for his friends' strength are both selfish in some way, no matter how you read the scene. if yusuke comforts kuwabara, he might not get strong enough. if he twists the knife, well... how could he forgive himself? and either way by responding he would have to face them all and say yes, i'm doing this regardless of your feelings (with the intention of hurting you). so i think he does what he often does. he avoids it. he lets that emotion glance off him and his bravado and his one-liners so he doesn't have to deal with the fact that he's hurting people, that he's scared and guilty and unsure of himself. that he's about to die again, about to put kuwabara through the grief he saw at his wake again, only worse; about to put his quieter friends through something similar.

yusuke is confronted with the responsibility one has to the people who care for them, and he runs from it in an attempt to give them some small peace. just like when he died before and thought hey, at least my mom and keiko won't be burdened by me anymore. because the only thing he can really do for them is die.

[ghost-bard]

Love being an arcane warrior in dao i love swinging a giant maul around and being in armour but also casting walking nightmare and horror on my enemies i think swords are cooler but the affect of a maul is funnier than big sword in my opinion. I have like 3 affects (at the minimum) going on at all times and then i do an aoe chug some lyrium just in case and bludgen some guy to death. What.

[skyward-floored]

*shuffles in* the people wanted to see it, so I’m posting it. Here’s a scene from an oc Link story, the Hero of Sages. He’s got six sisters, in case you didn’t know.

This is before he’s a hero, but not too long before, maybe a few weeks? I’m also trying to figure out how old he is, maybe eleven or so... I’m still working things out. But have this scene in the meantime.

————————————————————

“C’mon Berry, the cuccos need tending!”

Link frowned as his sister pushed a basket into his hands and began shoving him in the direction of the coop, bracing his feet and pinwheeling his arms as she pushed.

“But it’s your job to do the eggs,” he said, struggling against her hold, “and the cuccos hate me!”

“I’ve got to study,” Iris huffed, pointing towards the coop. “Grandpa says I need to focus more on history, and that means I don’t have time for chores right now. So cuccos. Go.”

“But I did them for you yesterday! And I already have to hang the laundry ‘cause Lily is busy!” Link protested, but Iris wasn’t swayed, turning away to head back to the house.

“Sorry Link, you’ll just have to do both. I’ll make it up to you later!” she called behind her as she jogged away, and Link drooped.

Their grandfather had always worked on studies with his sisters, but in the past week, he’d been practically obsessive about it, constantly pulling them away to have them listen to him lecture or read or whatever it was they always did. It seemed like they did practically nothing but study lately.

Leaving Link alone to do all the chores.

Link sighed and dragged his feet as he walked to the cucco coop, looking at the birds with a nervous frown. The cuccos had never liked him, and he usually avoided their coop like the plague.

Which is why this is usually Iris’s job, not mine!

Link swallowed, and edged his way inside the coop, stepping around the birds as he tossed food on the ground. He quickly collected their eggs while the birds were distracted, only having to suffer a few pecks from the stubborn remaining few.

He’d almost finished gathering them all when he accidentally stepped backwards, right onto a cucco’s foot. The bird shrieked in anger and leapt at his face, and Link spent the next several minutes yelling as he tried not to get clawed to bits by the entire flock of swarming birds.

He finally managed to escape the coop, slamming the door behind him and panting as he clutched the basket of eggs to his chest.

“Whew...” he gasped, then jumped as a cucco made a hissing sound behind him.

Link stuck his tongue out at it, then winced as the motion made his face ache. He wiped at his cheek, frowning at the blood on his hand, then sighed as he remembered one of the bigger birds had slashed him with one of its claws. Not to mention all the smaller scratches the birds had left on his hands.

Great.

Link dropped his now-bloody hand, and walked up to the house to drop off the eggs, steps heavy. He could faintly hear his Grandfather talking in the other room when he set the eggs down, but didn’t linger, turning around and walking back out of the house.

He certainly wasn’t going to get any help here.

Link pushed their gate open and headed down the hill and into the village proper, cheek stinging with every step. He would have been grumpy enough without the scratch, but every throb was a reminder of the repeated busyness of his sisters. It seemed like he’d barely seen any of them the past week, and the multiplying chores were only adding to his grief.

“This is all that dumb monster’s fault,” Link grumbled to himself, hiding his cheek as he nodded hello to some of his neighbors.

He headed straight for the general store near the village entrance, brushing off stray feathers from his clothes as he went. Nobody much was really around at the moment, which Link was immensely grateful for, since he didn’t want anyone to come out and start fussing over him, and doubtlessly laugh at his unfortunate cucco injury.

The way this week is going, that would be about right, he thought with a sigh.

Link finally reached the store, and paused to look up at the sign like he always did, eyes trailing over the colors one of his sisters had helped paint. Then he walked inside, the door jingling, and saw his oldest sister sitting at the counter, marking something in a book.

“Del?” Link asked, and she looked up, immediately zeroing in on the blood on his cheek.

“Oh Berry, did the cuccos get you again?” she asked in a slightly exasperated voice, and Link nodded as she hurriedly stood up and came around the counter. Del tilted his cheek up, studying the scratch with a worried frown, then went back behind the counter, gesturing Link to a stool. “Those birds just have it out for you, don’t they?”

“They never peck Iris,” Link grumbled, still a bit annoyed at his other sister.

Del sighed, and pulled her own stool up beside his, pouring something on a cloth and reaching out to clean his face and hands. It especially stung on his cheek, but Link held still while his sister cleaned the cuts, her motions quick and practiced. Del then put a bandage on his cheek, and smoothed it out, making sure it would stay.

“There you go. All done,” Del smiled at him as she leaned back, and gave his unhurt cheek a pat. “They should heal pretty quick, even the one on your cheek isn’t too deep. Just don’t mess with it.”

“Thanks Del,” Link said quietly. She sighed again, looking him over.

“Been a hard week, hasn’t it?” she said, brushing some stray dust off of her apron.

“Ever since Pip came through yelling about that monster he saw, Grandpa keeps making you guys do nothing but study,” Link moped, his annoyance suddenly sharpening. “And Iris keeps dumping her chores on me and Poppy keeps being all snappy and Coriander didn’t even want to hear about the kittens I found yesterday!”

Link slumped in his seat, flicking dirt off his boots.

“All this for one dumb monster,” he mumbled.

Del’s face creased for a moment, but it didn’t last long, and she gave Link’s hair a ruffle.

“Monsters are dangerous,” she chided, pulling a stray feather from his hair. “And there’s rarely just one. Pip got lucky.”

“I know, I know,” Link grumbled.

Del gave him a little smile. “Hey. I know you’re getting frustrated Link, but Grandfather will ease off on our studies soon. He’s just... worried. He wants us to be prepared.”

“How will you guys studying help with that?” Link asked with a frown.

Del hummed, and Link saw something weird in her eyes again. “It’s always good to be prepared, Link.”

Link sighed, and Del ran a hand over his head again, her face thoughtful.

“I think what you need is a pick-me-up,” she decided, and turned back towards the counter, blue skirt swishing. “Be right back.”

She walked off into the back room, and Link rested his unhurt cheek on his hand, idly kicking his feet as he looked around the store. He’d been spending a lot of time in here lately when he wasn’t doing chores, since Del was the only one of his sisters who wasn’t studying like crazy. That was only because she worked here and earned money they needed though, and she still had to study. Just not as much as his other sisters.

Link suddenly wondered if he could convince them to get jobs too.

The bell on the door jingled, and Link looked up to see a sandy-haired man walk in, face hopeful as he looked around.

“Hi Russ,” Link said, and the young man looked over at him, eyes catching on the bandage on his cheek.

“Cuccos get you again, Link?” he said with a sympathetic look, and Link nodded glumly. “Sorry to hear that. You’ll get the better of those birds someday, I bet. So uh, is Mr. M in, or is Del working today?” he asked casually, and Link held himself back from grinning.

“She’s in the back room,” he reported, and Russ nodded, surreptitiously smoothing his hair down.

Link muffled his laugh. One bright side of spending lots of time in the store meant that he got to see Russ pretend he had a real reason for coming in every day. Aside from seeing Del, that is.

“You know Russ, you could just ask her to marry you,” Link said mildly, and Russ choked, dropping the apple he’d picked up to inspect. He hurriedly retrieves it and set it back on the stand, throat bobbing as he cleared it.

“W-well, I uh—”

“Russ?”

Russ quickly turned back to the counter at the voice, smiling as Del came back out of the storage room. “Hey, Del! How’s the store been?”

“About the same as yesterday when you asked me the same question,” Del said with a knowing smile. “What is it you need today, Russ? More sugar? New belt? Don’t tell me your boots wore out again.”

“No, they’re great. I just need some flour,” Russ said, casually putting his hands in his pockets.

“Again, huh?” Del asked with a raised eyebrow, and a twinkle in her eye. “That’s the second time this week, Russ. You and your pa must be eating an awful lot of pancakes.”

Russ laughed a little loudly. “Yeah, we uh... yep.”

Link couldn’t hide his snort that time, and Russ gave him a look. Del looked over at him as well, her eyes still twinkling, and she abandoned Russ for a moment to walk over to Link.

“Here,” Del said, and handed him a small container. “Consider yourself picked up.”

Link took it curiously, and pulled the lid off, gasping as he saw the dark, shiny contents.

“Blackberries?!” he gaped, and Del smiled, nodding. “But they’re not even growing yet! How’d you get them?!”

“A trader came through with some the other day, he said they grow faster where he’s from. I think he used magic,” Del said in a lower voice, “...but that’s just me. You can take the whole container.”

“Thanks Del!” Link grinned, and his older sister ruffled his hair again.

“Anything for you, Berry. Now go finish those chores, I’ll be back home later,” she said with a shooing motion, and Link nodded.

He hopped off his stool, and after saying goodbye to her and Russ, wandered out of the store, popping a berry into his mouth. The equally tart and sweet flavor burst in his mouth, and he couldn’t stop from skipping a little as he began to walk back home. With the flavor of his favorite berry in his mouth, he was suddenly feeling much more optimistic.

Del was right. Grandpa would calm down and ease off his sisters with their studies soon, and things would go back to normal.

Link smiled as he popped another berry in his mouth, having no clue just how wrong he was.