#it just kinda happened so be cool

[heavy-swing]

FFXIV Write 2024 - Prompt #18 - Hackneyed

Content Warnings: Mild content warning for an injured character, no details of injuries/gore is specified.

Spoiler Warnings: Spoilers through the Doma section of Stormblood.

Summary: After narrowly escaping the wrath of the Crown Prince of Garlemald for a second time, Aelita Tirasch decides that some things cannot go unsaid any longer.

Check it out below or on Ao3:

Under the cover of darkness, they'd all made it back to the House of the Fierce; some in better shape than others. 

Aelita pushed past Gosetsu and Alisaie, an unspoken truce in the air that any admonishments would wait until after the wounded were cared for, which included the shinobi laying limp in her arms.

She knew the way to Yugiri's room by heart, but she had to wait for one of the other resistance members to slide open the door before she could enter, given who she had in her hands. The pain and exhaustion brought on by carrying her for such a distance was starting to catch up to Aelita, but she willed it to the back of her mind. There will be time to rest later. Being here right now is most important. 

Aelita crossed over the threshold and slowly knelt down beside the simple bed that occupied most of the compact space. She had long thought about sharing that bed someday, and in this moment, she was simply thankful that she might still get that chance. She set Yugiri down on the mattress, as gently as she could manage, and gingerly slid the specially-shaped pillow underneath her head, slotting it in around her horns.

She began the process of removing Yugiri's armor, one buckle and strap at a time. Each piece was set aside in as neat a pile as she could manage, trying to keep the space clear so that any healers that arrived would have room to work.

As she pulled the armored gloves off, Aelita paused for a moment to hold Yugiri's hands in her own. They were cold as polished stone, but Aelita welcomed the sensation. It meant that even if she couldn't use magic or cure her ailments, she could at the very least offer Yugiri some of her warmth. 

“I…” Yugiri trailed off into a long pause, clearly still very fatigued. “I… failed…”

It wasn't long before a medic from their group had joined Aelita by Yugiri's side, methodically surveying the shinobi’s body for the wounds that needed urgent attention. He began focusing his magic into Yugiri’s body, the glow of the aether casting long shadows that stretched to the far side of the room. She sat beside him as he worked, nothing to offer in support except for hopes and prayers. It will be enough, she thought. It has to be.

Eventually, the medic slowed the flow of aether to a stop. “I’ve done all I can. Now she must rest.” He rose from the floor, offered a courteous bow to Aelita, and then walked through the still-open door, closing it behind himself.

Aelita didn’t move an inch from where she sat, resolved to stay until Yugiri woke or she could no longer stay awake. She heard the noise throughout the rest of the hideout slowly dissolve into silence as more and more of the other members of their group seemed to finish attending to their duties and retire for the night. And yet Aelita continued to sit in a perfect, watchful stillness, as if a lighthouse on the coastline guiding ships into port.

Eventually, a slight movement broke the silence. Yugiri turned her head just a little, managing to barely open her eyes.

“...A-Aya…?” The words came out so quietly that Aelita thought she might’ve been hallucinating; the exhaustion of the day catching up with her.

“I’m here, Yugiri. I’m right here.” The tears she’d fought off earlier were back in force; her emotions a mixture of relief at seeing Yugiri awake and anxiety knowing that they were still not out of the woods yet, so to speak.

“It’s alright. Our comrades were there to rescue us,” Aelita replied, trying to maintain a sense of gentle optimism. “We all made it. Now you need to rest, okay? It’s very important, love.”

“Yugiri–” Aelita cut in before stopping herself for a moment. “I don't want you to worry about fault or blame. At least, not for right now. There will be a time and place to offer apologies and reflect on what happened, but… for now you should rest.”

Yugiri closed her eyes and offered a barely perceptible nod before falling back asleep. Aelita reflexively let out a yawn, and as she did, made the snap decision that she would stay there tonight, even if it meant sleeping on a floor mat. She quickly removed her own armor, trying to remain as quiet as possible, balling up one of the undershirts and a pair of pants to use as a pillow. A spare blanket from the far side of the room completed her makeshift bed, and hardly even a minute had gone by before Aelita too was fast asleep.

—

Aelita woke up with an unfamiliar dull ache in her back. She nearly rolled over and went back to sleep before remembering why it was that she was sleeping here in the first place, which snapped her fully awake. A quick glance confirmed that Yugiri was still asleep, but the visible rise and fall of her chest was a great comfort to Aelita’s racing mind. With imminent danger past, Aelita began to replay the previous night’s events in her head, when she had a realization.

I accidentally called Yugiri ‘love’, and I was so tired I didn’t notice. Her face grew hot with embarrassment, and she quickly scrambled to un-ball her shirt-and-trousers pillow so she could make a quick escape without risking indecent exposure.

In her haste, however, it seemed she’d made a bit too much noise, and Yugiri’s eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the morning daylight. Aelita had made it about as far as getting her legs into her pants before she caught Yugiri’s glance and awkwardly knelt back down beside her bed.

“Aelita, I… I’m sorry,” Yugiri began, sounding better than the night before, but still a far cry from her usual self. 

Yugiri’s silence was an unspoken agreement.

“That said, I… I have something I want to say.” Aelita took a breath before continuing. “It's an old cliche, right? You never know what you have until it's gone. That kind of hackneyed thing your folks say to you that you brush off cause it sounds made up. But I… I felt that last night. When you didn't get up. As we ran, I couldn't help but fear I'd missed my chance to tell you something; perhaps the most important thing I could tell someone.” She swallowed, trying in vain to get the frog out of her throat. “I think I… I think I love you, Yugiri. And I think I always have. What scared me so much about what happened yesterday was hearing–” Aelita began to cry, sniffles cutting into her speech. “Was hearing you forge ahead with a plan to put yourself in harm's way for the sake of a better world. And that's a noble cause, so I can't fault you, I just… I want to share that better world with you.” Aelita took Yugiri's hands again, rubbing gentle circles in them with her thumbs. “I really care about you, and I wanted you to know, so that if you do have to make that choice again, there aren't any regrets, or– or things unsaid.”

A comfortable quiet fell between them as Yugiri tried to figure out how to reply.

Aelita gave Yugiri’s hands a gentle squeeze as tears streamed down her face. “It gladdens me to hear, but now that the urgent confessions are out of the way, you really should be resting.” Aelita slowly stood, stretching her back slightly as she did. “I’ll see if I can find you some food and drink for later, okay?” 

“It seems I have been a fool, then.” Yugiri sighed. “I'd set these feelings aside so long ago, almost hoping they'd fade, but… they never quite left me. I told myself I had other matters to attend to, that my people could not wait on account of something so trivial.” She slowly tilted her head to face Aelita and look her in the eye. “And that was a mistake. I should've been true to myself, and true to you. I do care. Perhaps too much, maybe, but I always have. Since those first days we met in Ul’dah, I've always felt better with you near.” She offered Aelita an apologetic smile. “I hope you can forgive me, Aelita, because I love you too.”

Yugiri nodded, content to try and recover before offering any more apologies, and Aelita walked to the door. She stopped and turned to give Yugiri a quick smile before continuing out into the hall.

We’ve both made it this far, she thought as she strode towards the kitchen. Now we can move forward. Together.

[aestheticallynotdeerlightful]

Run silver

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Cleaned up this little doodle from my notes app

(Please do not use or repost my works anywhere without explicit permission from me thank you )

[happi-dreams]

the sillies the goofers the 💥💥

this is offically a hyperfixation now thank you funny bird for your essay

[niyana-the-ambiguous-mobian]

This whole scene with Allen talking to Nolan in the prison was so good on its own merit, finally getting to hear how Nolan himself had internalized everything he did back on earth during the S1 finale had not only affected him, but his son as well, and he feels absolutely TERRIBLE about it.

But that last bit of dialogue he says right before the screen cuts to black caught me so off guard, left me speechless for a moment.....

The way JK Simmons delivers the line, it's a line of honesty but of total surprise as well. The way his voice softly quivers and trails off as he starts to realize this, like he wasn't expecting to feel this way, after everything he had said about her and how painful was for Debbie to even hear those words.

After all of that, he still misses her.

Way to go, JK. You are a GOAT for voice work like this.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

this has been a roller coaster of a design journey but finally I can present you: class swap artificer!adaine and rogue!fabian

[mercurymacaroons]

arrives 15 min late with a latte

......sup

[codgod]

my last sin… is that i hate you.

i. hate. you.

[drawnfamiliarfaces]

hot man hot birdman im so sorry hot fire bird man?!?!

aka glorious gijinka!Tengu Jin design by @hirumi25 has made me 👀💦?!?! because wowie thats some hecking fire design!

and of course i couldnt just not draw Hirumi's Nomi-kun with him too

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

wooooo warlock Wally and his delightful totally normal patron

[robotsafari]

i had a dream where something was off with riku’s shadow…

(this art is so sucks i made this when i was tired and less experienced which ended up making riku look so much skinnier than how i normally draw him post-kh2 can you stop engaging it with pretty pweeease)

[kagoutiss]

green beetle black beetle

[helielune]

people come and people go, but i stay (ghostride)

[moeblob]

Sorry I forgot Hanneman suggested Byleth undress after they show up with a different hair color. And I miss Hanneman. And also while swapping between Houses and Hopes and seeing Hanneman pop up to help in a Hopes paralogue is just devastating since he doesn't ever actually join you at all and I am denied my old man rights.

So I had to draw this. Thank you for understanding.

[ganondoodle]

(zelda comic rough draft)

im still unable to draw anything ... except for really slowly getting the chapter 2 rough draft further for some reason, another screenshot from page 59

[throwawayasoiafaccount]

Why do you think the tides have slightly turned from "Elia deserves better than Rhaegar" to shipping her and Rhaegar together? Like what is the psychology behind these people because I've seen some of them like/reblog anti Rhaegar posts while also shipping Rhaegar x Elia at the same time.

hey anon! my thoughts are a bit messy, but i’ve done my best to explain them coherently :)

so, rhaegar was the best man anyone could have when elia was alive, and most people want the best for their favs. he was considered the most handsome, didn’t have a bad personality, and he was crown prince—meaning elia was almost queen, which is often seen as the greatest role a woman can have. the narrative also treats rhaegar as a beautiful, tragic, haunting figure, and elia actually had this very aesthetically pleasing man all to herself at one point! she was married to him, had children with him, and her life was so close to perfect! but rhaegar just had to go and ruin it. 😠

for many elia stans, if rhaegar hadn’t fallen in love with another woman (they want him to have been a completely different character), then everything would’ve been perfect, and elia would’ve had the best, most desirable life. however, that’s not what happened—elia met a very tragic end, and as a result, these stans feel double the bitterness. because of this bitterness, they blame rhaegar for everything (even though it’s not logical to do so), but he’s just too ‘perfect’ to let go of. so, for years these stans have made rhaegar revolve around elia, filling his tag with posts about her out of bitterness. so, i do believe that this obsession with rhaegar x elia has always been there, but i think it’s become a more favorable stance on the elia stan side of the fandom because of a mix of reasons.

plus, rhaegar is one of the few canon relationships we know elia had, since she’s not much of a character. because of this, and the fact that most people don’t like to stray too far from canon, most elia stans are forced to focus on rhaegar, which has created an echo chamber. basically, if a sentiment about elia and rhaegar’s relationship becomes popular, then the whole elia stan side of the fandom will likely regurgitate the sentiment. (also, this desire to stick close to canon is likely why the elia x arthur ship was so popular. while it’s a total crack ship, it had good aesthetics, and since elia and arthur at least knew each other, it allowed the stans to create their perfect fanfiction whilst sticking it to rhaegar. but remember, elia was actually married to rhaegar and had children with him, so while arthur is cool, rhaegar was always ‘top dog,’ meaning arthur would never be able to match up to rhaegar to most elia stans. also, the arthur x elia crack ship is likely her second most popular ship, which just shows how little elia stans have to work with, so they’re always forced to eventually return back to rhaegar for a lot of things.)

however, even if the elia x rhaegar ship gains more popularity, these stans will never stop hating rhaegar because he wasn’t ‘perfect’—and he wasn’t perfect because he didn’t love elia. plus, rhaegar loving another woman and supposedly kidnapping her is what began the war that led to elia’s tragic death. that’s bitterness times 1000. and while i don’t actually blame rhaegar for the war, i do think that this is how an elia stan sees it. i also don’t view rhaegar’s complex relationship with elia as a bad thing—it’s actually a very realistic take on an arranged marriage between two decent people. but most elia stans will never be able to get over the fact that they almost had everything, which is why many have it out for lyanna, as they consider her a thief who ruined their ‘perfection.’

tbh, that might be why so many elia stans are so obsessed with the idea that rhaegar only got with lyanna because of the prophecy—they don’t want to believe that rhaegar actually loved a different woman and not their perfect self insert elia. that’s a bit mean of me… but i don’t know what else one would call the ‘elia’ elia stans have created.

now that i’ve laid all those thoughts out, i’ll try to explain why the tides seem to be turning… i think it may have something to do with the ‘targaryens are all evil and bad’ sentiment losing popularity. i think this shift has occurred due to a mix of factors, such as years of fandom fights and fandom cycles leading to the targs being more liked now than before. it helps that canon doesn’t actually condemn the targs/favors them quite a bit, and the influx of new targ fans from HOTD has also contributed. this combination of reasons seems to have shifted the way the mainstream fandom discusses all the targaryen characters, including rhaegar. so, with this shift, it’s only natural that some elia stans/elia x rhaegar shippers—who’ve always been there—are using this opportunity to push their agenda. while these stans still hate rhaegar and see him as the bad guy, they just can’t let go of him. and as the mainstream fandom moves away from the anti targaryen sentiment, these smaller corners of the fandom, which tend to be echo chambers, are also affected, which has therefore led to a rise in rhaegar x elia shippers and the ‘shifting tide’ that you’ve also noticed.

[sonknuxadow]

this is probably an unpopular opinion with the amount of "everyone is married with kids" type future aus people make for sonic characters but i cannot see sonic getting married or having a kid ever. if he did somehow end up with a kid hed be the worlds first transmasc absent father or however the joke goes