#launo birch

[hyrule-kingdom-updates]

I had a very important idea earlier and I got to work right away

[incorrect-hku-quotes]

Launo: *Is holding up a sign that says “prom?”*

Siv: Oh my god, oh my god, yes!

Launo: No, no, no, tell Larc!

Siv: Oh, okay

Siv: Hey, Larc, I’m going to prom with your boyfriend!

[decarabiandivorce]

Pride month Lonc drabbles (Link Arcadius Hartell x Launo Birch)  Currently on chapter 3/4 Planned/ Prompted:

1.Crushes/Confessions, Tired, Swords/Blades, Voices, Obligatory Ace Day, Soft/Fluffy

2. Magic/Ethereal, Hold/Forearms, Run, First Kiss, Duel/Battle, Dresses ,Malice/Benevolence,

3. Stay/Dig In ,GIRLS…, Control/Flow, Ambition/Indifference, Simp, BOYS/Fathers' Day, Funky kids, Calm/Serenity, 

4. Uniform, Asunder/Together, Family ,Memory ,Future/Destiny , Milfs/Dilfs, Gender is non-existent, Kingdom/Where?

[luminecho]

Terrako/Harbinger Siv

A @hyrule-kingdom-updates theory

(HEAVY HKU & HWAOC SPOILERS!)

Siv is going to die in HKU.

Well, maybe not. Or maybe he will. Quill hasn’t exactly been clear with us. But there’s a bit of evidence stacked towards him dying (and in a very specific way, too�� but we’ll get to that). Specifically this quote from the “Hearts and Minds and Livers” arc.

[Siv:] I... got this gut feeling...

[Launo:] Oh that’s compelling...

[Siv:] LISTEN. Now’s not the time to sass me, Birch! I feel like, well. I have a very strong suspicion that within the week I am going to die.

[Launo:] EXCUSE ME?!

[Siv:] And... it’s very hard to explain, but I’m quite certain that certain series of events are going to transpire that could maybe possibly harm myself, in the coming week.

This is a very specific piece of foreshadowing that I don’t see Quill putting in without reason. It feels less like a “gut feeling” and more like an omen. As of the current arc, it is still “this week.” Zelda’s birthday is still soon, and the Calamity is presumably going to strike VERY soon. If we trust Siv’s gut and assume that he truly IS going to die, then that begs the question: how will he die?

I’d like to take a moment to point out the very clear parallels between Siv and Terrako in the story so far. Because, if you think about it, Siv and Terrako have a lot more in common than meets the eye. In HKU, Siv has been repeatedly referred to as the calamity’s “vessel.” In Age of Calmity, Harbinger Ganon was the Calamity using Terrako as a vessel, possessing it and controlling its every move, using it to carry out his own deeds. In this timeline, Ganon has not latched onto Terrako, but Siv. The Calamity is using him as a vessel just like Terrako in AoC.

But it really makes you wonder if Siv’s similarities to Terrako don’t run deeper. If it’s even more intentional than it lets on. If perhaps, because of this, Siv will eventually share the same fate as Terrako.

Terrako (the good one)’s fate in Age of Calamity was to be possessed by Ganon, subsequently defeated by Link, before sacrificing himself for Zelda while on his last limbs. It’s, unfortunately, very easy to imagine Siv in this exact same scenario. We know Siv has quite a few people that he cares deeply about— no matter how much he denies it or spits insults at them, no matter how much they betray his trust, deep down, he still loves them. These people in particular being Larc & his family, Zavis, and Zelda.

In a hypothetical future, Siv might have snapped out of Ganon’s control long enough to realize that the people he loves are in serious danger... and he has the power to save them. He might decide to sacrifice himself to keep the people he cares about safe. The possibilities surrounding this scenario are endless, but the situation itself isn’t too hard to believe. The action wouldn’t at all be expected from him right now, not in his current state, but him making this choice as his final act could be a very plausible destination for his character development— for once choosing to put his loved ones above himself.

It’s not too hard to imagine. Especially when you consider the following evidence:

1. One of Quill’s OOC posts a long time ago in response to an ask was this:

Larc is sacrificing the greater good for his kids

Rhoam is sacrificing his kids for the greater good

Ligero is sacrificing his kids for himself

Siv is.......

...Hm.

I wonder what pattern, if any, will go from there.

Quill was obviously hinting at something, and even as far into the story as we are now, we still don’t know what Quill was talking about. But wouldn’t it be very fitting for the sentence to come after this to be “Siv is sacrificing himself for [the greater good or his kids]?”

2. Larc’s whole thing in “Sibling Fights, Hollow Knights, and Destiny Rewrites” was that he ended up intentionally hurting himself in order to prevent himself from hurting others. I could see this being used as either foreshadowing or a direct parallel to what Siv might do in the future. Again, it’s a very possible line of character development for Siv.

3. Two images tagged “???,” when brightened, showed to have a LOT of text in it, all of which have either appeared in actual HKU dialogue since the images were posted, or presumably will show up soon. This line in particular stood out to me, though:

Please! He didn’t do anything. My family didn’t do anything. It was all me.

Now, of course, we don’t know who’s speaking this. But, if we choose to assume that it’s Siv speaking, that would line up very well with the idea of him choosing to put his loved ones before himself, perhaps standing in someone’s path and preventing them from hurting his family...

Again, it’s entirely possible that this could be anyone else speaking. There’s a lot of other people it could be. But if it is Siv, then that would make a lot of sense with everything else I’ve mentioned.

4. This one is much more recent— a quote from Link’s Declaration during “Like the Eggs and Men Before Her”:

And if I’m wrong, well. Have my life then. But even then, I think we would rather die living as ourselves, and not vessels of someone else’s will.

There’s the word “vessel” popping up again... this line really feels like foreshadowing. Considering Siv is one of the few other characters associated with being a vessel... maybe he would rather die as himself than as a vessel of Ganon’s will, in the end.

So, there you have it. There’s a lot of evidence pointing towards the theory that Siv is going to sacrifice himself in the end in order to save the people he loves. He might get possessed entirely by Ganon, causing the others to have to fight him in order to free him just like Terrako in AOC— or maybe something else will happen. The possibilities are endless when you think about all the parallels, but, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?), the possibility of Siv sacrificing himself seems pretty likely.

There might be more evidence that I’ve missed— feel free to mention it if you know of something! A lot of credit goes to everybody on the HKU Discord for bouncing around ideas for this theory! I’m not the only one with this theory, I just wrote everything I had in my own personal notes into an essay for fun.

[incorrect-hku-quotes]

Young Larc: I got us fake IDs

Launo: To drink?

Larc: No, to vote

[incorrect-hku-quotes]

Launo: I wish you’d just admit when you’ve made a mistake

Larc, stirring his coffee serenely: I prefer it with salt

[hyrule-kingdom-updates]

In a similar vein of thought to the Siv ask, how did you expect people to respond to Larc and Launo (and maybe, ugh, Ligero if you have time)? Did you expect this many people to simp for them?

Well I expected people to like Arcadius. In case you haven't noticed, a major theme of HKU is examining the reasons why we initially like or hate people, and seeing whether those initial perceptions should hold up when new information about them is revealed. So following this theme, I set up a lot of Larc's characteristics to be likeable from the start--his look, his personality, his family--so that it would be better contrasted with other events down the line.

I hope I'm not offending any Launo stans in the chat, but that is also the whole of Launo's function. He was never supposed to be *as* developed/important of a character as Larc. His (an Aryll's) existence was merely to prove a point and support already existing major characters. Launo in this case serves as the personification of everything "good" in Arcadius' life, an indication that not all is broken and lost. Plus, they're one of the only major "ships" that I focus on in HKU, so I'll be damned if I don't shove all the wholesome, angsty, and lovable action I can in there. If you don't love, or simp, for them even a little bit, then I've certainly done something wrong.

I can say with confidence that I never intended for Ligero to be..."simpable" to say the least. In fact, I've always imagined him to be more old and gray than handsome--someone with the ghost of handsome features, but has since relied on more tried and true methods of getting his way.

Of course you were never supposed to like Ligero on the surface level, but I did hope the nuances and details about his true character would be appreciated. Not in a, "he was morally grey and secretly good all along" sort of way, though! More in a: "true evil is not a pure, sickly sweet syrup, but a well prepared, seasoned steak and potatoes," sort of way. Pure evil is always boring, in my opinion.

[hyrule-kingdom-updates]

Link is a pretty good chef and baker, just in an unconventional way the irritates his dad and sister.

Canon: Link can just turn off his gag reflex which means he has absolutely no bearing on what tastes good or bad—he even unironically likes the taste of charcoal. Therefore while the skills he learned from his dad make him capable of great culinary wonders, he is also capable of great culinary atrocities

Link: This here is a triple layer sponge cake with mango, volt fruit, and chocolate layers, with a layer of caramel drizzled pecans at the top

Launo: Nice

Link: Also I made it in your forge to give it that coal and iron-metallic aftertaste that sizzles on your tongue for a few hours

Launo: I’ll kill you

[hyrule-kingdom-updates]

Just a bunch of old men that I care about

Link

[hyrule-kingdom-updates]

Question about Larc and Launo: Who kissed first and who said "I love you" first?

Launo, to both of them. They held hands ONE TIME while they were on guard duty and Larc immediately collapsed. When Larc woke up he saw he was being CARRIED BACK by Launo which caused him to immediately pass out again. Larc does not have the chops to make the first move on anything

[incorrect-hku-quotes]

Larc: How's the sexiest person here~?

Launo: I don't know, how are they~?

Larc, flustered: I-

Siv, from across the room: I'm doing great, thanks!

[incorrect-hku-quotes]

Launo: Look, we’re under the mistletoe. You know what that means!

Larc: Launo, that isn’t mistletoe

[Later that night]

Larc, waking up at 3 pm: Oh my god, he was flirting with me!

[hyrule-kingdom-updates]

I need to know, does Larc ever curse? Like, would he ever say anything like "What the fuck is that?!" out of shock or surprise? Or would he just say "What is that!?" I need to know because I'm making a comic thing and I couldn't find a single curse word in his tag (that came from him)

He tries not to curse in order to set an example as both a captain and a dad, but he has said it at some point. Usually reserved for situations of intense shock, like that time he was walking down the hall and saw Hestu stealing mints, before noticing Larc, and jumping out the open window, to which Arcadius just whispered "what the fuck."

But yes, cursing isn't usually in his vocabulary.

[hyrule-kingdom-updates]

Spare Larc and Launo hcs?

Headcanons? More like canons

Launo uses Larc’s head like a chin rest. So Larc can just be sitting down trying to read, and then Launo comes from behind and plops his head “Hey whatcha doing down there”

This also plays into Larc being a touch starved fool, so any physical contact will basically send him blue screening, which is great if he’s on a worry filled ramble or something. So Larc is running himself in circles about how the kids are or something, and the *plop* “I...........Where am I again?”

Also also, Launo just really likes the sound of Larc’s voice, so he’s not very picky on conversation topics, he busts like listening to him talk about something he’s interested in. The added bonus of this is that it’s super easy to talk Launo out of anything He’s frustrated or annoyed about because Larc just has to say literally anything and Launo is like “Oh right, I still have my super hot husband, it’s fine”

[hyrule-kingdom-updates]

Can we get some spare Launo headcannons for July?

Launo sucked big time at knight school when he first arrived—he didn’t exactly have any background help given no one in his family was a knight either. He was basically assigned the equivalent of “equipment manager” during the first few months. And when he did get proper actions with a broadsword or a bow, Launo struggled with footwork and precision and all the minute details of a duel so he often got his ass handed to him.

But one the top kids in Launo’s class thought he was cool anyways—that was, one Arcadius Hartell. Pretty, rich, ace with sword, bow, spear, and anything sharp, and pretty much had no flaws or weaknesses. Launo at first thought the guy was just pitying him, the kid who has never won a single sparring match and consistently put on training dummy duty (that is reattaching their heads when they got lopped off)

So it came as a bit of a surprise when Arcadius came to ask something from him.

“How do you do that?”

Launo turned from the training dummy he was working on. “S-Sorry, what?”

“The...the thing you do. With the...thing?” Arcadius pointed to the needle and thread Launo was holding as he was reattaching the dummy’s forearm. “How do you do that?”

Launo scrunched his eyebrows in confuzzlement. “This is, uh, well. It’s just sewing I guess. If this guy were real I guess it would be stitching, haha...” He patted the dummy’s wood shoulder playfully as if joking with a pal—the dummy immediately tipped over, Launo coughed and stepped in front of the mess to ignore it. Arcadius nodded thoughtfully.

“So, do you have a special technique or something?”

“I mean, not really, it’s just regular old sewing...”

“But I assume you’ve spent years training on the art.”

“I...uh...I guess? My mom taught me.”

“Oh! So it’s like...an apprenticeship...?”

“...Are you under the impression that sewing is some sacred gift that gets passed down to the worthy or something?”

“.........no....”

The two boys just stood awkwardly for a moment longer, Launo studying Arcadius’ face.

“You don’t even know what sewing is do you?”

“O-Of course I do! It’s the...thing.” He made a sword motion with his fingers, as if wielding a tiny blade. “You stab the stuff and it repairs. With the...” Arcadius squinted as he thought for a moment, “...stool...”

“Spool?”

“Yeah! That! So, look, you’re pretty skilled at everything—“

“I am??” Launo took a step back in shock.

“Yeah! You always fix the equipment, and somehow haul around all those weapons, and make us cool lunches—“

“I don’t know, I made Rubeo vomit last week cause I forgot he hates blueberries...”

Arcadius shook his hands. “N-Not the point. And he sort of deserves it. The fact is you’re obviously leagues ahead of the game—“

“I—Actually I wouldn’t say—“

“—so you just gotta teach me everything you know!” Arcadius pumped a fist and closed his eyes. “How could I ever call myself a knight if I don’t even learn the basics of equipment management! Who will mend the wounded holes in my soldier’s pride if I can’t even fix the tears in my uniform! A mountain’s peak is equivalent to the shallow shore if you have no bearing of the heights you soar.”

Launo blinked. “Are you...okay?”

Arcadius scratched his head. “Aha...sorry. That’s a quote from Aria Nori’s newest volume. Guess I was too into the moment there.”

“Oh! The Zora poet! I’ve read her stuff! I haven’t read her latest volume, but my dad often binds her books—“

“Really?!” Arcadius’ eyes were suddenly star struck. “That’s so cool! This is all the more reason you gotta teach me this stuff.” He waved again at the collapsed training dummy. “Maybe start with the beetle and thread.”

“Needle. D-Do you not know what a needle is?”

Arcadius’ eyes glazed over. “...no...oh my gods that’s not gonna be on the test is it?? I’m so screwed—“

“Nonono it’s not, I’m just...” Launo bit his tongue. Now that he thought about it, he never really saw anyone else in his class do mundane house chore stuff. They were far too busy sharpening swords and bragging about their parents or grandparents or great uncles or cousins that totally were war heroes and high ranking political figures. Sewing could just be a Hateno thing, could it..?

“Can’t you just hire someone to teach you?” Launo started. “I mean, I’m super flattered! Just that, I’m not exactly a master at this, so I’m sure there are adults out there that are more accomplished.”

Arcadius hung his head. “I don’t think my dad would let me...Pretty much everything not sword related he just hires someone to do for me. And he’s super picky about what training I focus on.”

“Well it’s not really official training, it could just be a hobby.”

The boy raised an eyebrow, sounding out the word. “H...Hob...?”

“O-OK, just forget that. H-How about...” Launo didn’t meet his eyes as he absentmindedly kicked the dirt. “Y-You like poetry, right? You can come over to my house and look at my dad’s collection. And when we’re there, I can let my mom...” He scrunched his eyes, trying to nail down the words, “...apprentice you? On the...art, of sewing?”

Arcadius’ eyes were wide enough to reflect the heavens themselves. “R-Really?? You’d do that??”

“I don’t see why not. It’ll be after call and,” Launo’s eyes suddenly sparked, “...You can just tell your dad that you’re training me! Say that you were asked to help your fellow classmates cause you’re already so far ahead from everyone else.”

Which isn’t exactly a lie, Launo thought, bitterly.

“Hmm...” Arcadius tapped his chin, before shrugging. “Might have to tweak the explanation to ‘getting extra credit for top grades by tutoring’ cause I don’t know how he’ll feel about me helping the competition.” He articulated the last word with a mocking, adulting tone. Then he held out a hand. “But I think it sounds like a deal! I’ll give you some pointers, and you introduce me to your mentor.”

“My mom.”

“Yeah, that.”

Launo shook his hand, still a bit timidly, given he now noticed that a few other boys in the training yard were watching the prodigy student interact with the glorified janitor boy.

So they both tutored each other: Larc, in the art of knowing what sewing magic was (Larc bringing the most expensive and ornate needle Launo had ever seen, even though Larc claimed he just found it in his father’s closet) and brewing delicious broths (“Wait, you have to stand around this pot for hours and cook this stuff?? I thought you just made soup in a bowl! You know, like how servants take off the silver cover on the tray and the soup is already there?” “We...dont have waiters or anything...so our method of cooking different.”) Meanwhile, Launo was able to make some progress with knight training—keyword, “some.”

“Don’t make your stance so wide.” Arcadius shoved Launo’s back foot with his boot. “Keep your feet closer together, you only want enough distance so that your front foot can hover an inch off the ground while your back foot stays planted. Any further, and you’ll topple too easily.”

Launo adjusted his stance as instructed, and readied the rapier again. He set his jaw. “OK. Come at me!”

Arcadius nodded. He picked up the wooden sword and swung (a bit slowly and wide) at Launo’s side.

Launo immediately shoved his rapier point left to counter his attack, but instead moved with such force and vigor that he practically fell onto Arcadius’ blade.

Arcadius chuckled, dropping the sword and helping Launo up again. “You don’t need to use to much force when you swing. In fact it’s better to work with simple quick movements with any rapier or piercing sword, since the damage is done by the tip, not the weight.”

“S-Sorry...” Launo mumbled as he got up again.

“Don’t be! Oh hey!” Arcadius suddenly went back around towards the pile of weapons and pulled out a claymore. “Actually, maybe a sword like this will work better for you! You won’t have to worry as much about holding back, or being finesse. All the power is in that downward swing—!” Arcadius swung the sword into a nearby log to demonstrate, nearly cutting it asunder.

He offered it to Launo. “And don’t let the size fool you, it’s not actually that heavy. Large weapons still need to let soldiers be quick enough to parry and block attacks.”

Launo turned the claymore around in his hands, studying the blade and handle.

Arcadius gestured to the log. “Well, go on! It’s similar to the grip I taught you with the broadsword, but this time you use your other hand in the bottom to support the weight as it turns on an axis. Try that downward swing I showed you!”

Launo paused for a moment, thinking. Then, he planted his foot down, and swung the claymore down with all his might, aiming for another soon-to-be piece of firewood.

The claymore whistled as it fell, and it cut into the log deep—about halfway. Yet, still not nearly as deep as how Arcadius had done it.

Nonetheless, he was hopping with joy for Launo. “That was awesome!! You did great!!”

He sighed as he left the claymore in the log. “No I didn’t...”

“What are you talking about? That was probably the best blow you’ve done all night!”

“Yeah! And it’s not even a quarter of the damage that you did with your swing!”

“Well, it still took me a while to—“

Launo gestured to the other log. “It’s been how many weeks?? And I’m not even CLOSE to being as good as you, much less being a top student...” He plopped into the dirt and laid himself out like a starfish.

Larc stood over him, confused. “Why would you want to be a top student?”

“BECAUSE I SUCK ASS, DUDE!” Launo held up his arms, exasperated. Larc, on instinct, stepped back and held his hands close to his chest as he fiddled with his thumbs and mumbled an apology. Launo immediately sighed.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound like I’m mad at you. You’re really great, Link. You’re so nice to me and you’re talented and I’m so grateful, but I’m just...” He shifted in the dirt again. “I don’t think I could ever be like you. I’d even dare to say it’s impossible.”

Larc stilled, playing with his thumbs, before daring to step closer and sit in the dirt beside him.

“Can I tell you a secret, Launo?”

He was quiet, but he nodded a yes.

“I think my brother’s a stronger fighter than me.”

Launo furrowed his eyebrows confused, but he continued.

“He just never takes his knight training seriously, because of my father. But I bet if he really tried, he’d be great at it.”

Ah. So that’s what he meant.

“But I AM trying.” Launo whined. “I guess compared to you it doesn’t seem like much but—!”

“Nono! Sorry that’s not what I meant!” Larc quickly cut in. “I just...” He trailed off.

“...There’s a reason I have to be the best.” Larc finally said. He was looking out into the woods, but Launo felt that he wasn’t really looking at anything in particular, maybe deep in thought. “There’s a reason I can’t settle, I can’t rest. It’s really important that I get this all right. And I guess that makes me admirable to most people but...”

He looked down at Launo, still spread out in the dirt. “I didn’t really choose to be a knight, unlike you. I didn’t actually choose to be the best, and I don’t get why so many people do train to be at the top out of their own violation. It really...sucks ass.” He articulated the last part in Launo’s tone, and they both giggled.

“So...I guess that I’m trying to say here is that...” He thought one his words a moment longer. “I think so many people are afraid of trying new things, because they fear not being the best at it, not being at the top. And I suppose ambition is good but...” He tilted his head and shrugged at Launo. “As someone who’s supposedly at the top, I would say I envy anybody that can make progress that their proud of. You choose to be a knight, and you’re training for it out of your own strength and courage. That’s more than I’ll ever have, so you should probably get off the ground and realize that soon.”

Launo’s eyes widened, a bit unnerved by how uncharacteristically blunt Larc was being.

“In my opinion, anyone that aims to be better than everyone is stupid—maybe that’s just me, but...I would think that if I was you, I’d be proud of any progress I made. If I was more skilled than I was yesterday, that’s really all I would care about. Why would I care about being the top of my class? I would kill to just be satisfied with being a better me.”

There was silence as the boys took in Larc’s words. Then he suddenly stood up. “G-Goddess Hylia, sorry I’ve been talking for so long, I didn’t realize how late it was getting.” He went to collect his things. “You can keep the claymore, I think you’d be great at it, just...”

Larc packed his swords and backpack, before turning back to the flopped out Launo. “...I think you’re really cool, Launo. So don’t tap out for my sake—I’m not the person that matters in your training, am I? So don’t give up for any silly reasons like that.”

Launo perked his head up to meet his gaze. While Arcadius was usually serious and controlled during training at school, Larc always seemed to have genuine excitement about swords when it came to him. The bright smile on his face caused his cheeks to warm and he immediately flipped his head back to hide it.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Launo!” Larc ran off into the night, a cobblestone streets in the distance swallowing his figure.

“See you...” Launo whispered.

He lay in the dirt a moment longer—his mother would probably berated him for the stains again—when he finally got up and looked at the claymore in the log. He walked up to it and observed it further, it was another a sixth of the way deep. He glanced at Larc’s log, which was nearly split in two, and sighed. Then he glanced back at his own work.

“Well, it’s better than when I first started I guess...” Launo mumbled.

No one responded.

The boy let out a huff, and gripped the sword again in his hands.

“But I can do better.”

By the time Launo was 16 he was finally beating his classmates with ease, specializing in longswords, axes, and hammers. And while he definitely still “sucked ass” in things like archery and lance work—to which some boys still teased him for—he found overtime that he no longer cared about what they thought. They had their strengths, and he had his. And to top it off, absolutely no one in the academy could make a lemon cookie like him. So at least he had the best in show for that angle.

Even years later, after certain incidents transpired concerning House Hartell, Launo always welcomed Larc to his house for “training.” Although after a while, it would be hard to still call it that when a large chunk of time is really just spent running their fingers through each other’s hair.

“But we’re friends, right?”

“Yeah.”

And even years after graduating as part of the top ten in his class and working as a knight, some of his old classmates would tease him for being the “rich boy’s lap dog,” Launo would find that he still really didn’t care—after a punch or two was thrown, of course. He found that his new lack of anxiety and concern heavily stemmed from that night, when Larc had told him about his envy for choice and satisfaction. Thinking back at the memory of his handling with a sword and his happy little smile once made Launo blush so hard his father teased him about it for the rest of his life—his mother claimed he went so red he would fit right in with the tomato stew. One of these days, Launo would pay Larc back for the endless teasing he got from his parents. And pay Larc back he would, indeed.

I mean, he already had the ring.

[hyrule-kingdom-updates]

...Sometimes malice is just malice, Arcy, and there’s nothing to gain. Sometimes the bad stuff is bad, and you find a way to let yourself be happy anyways.

You can't go torturing yourself trying to assign meaning and logic to it all, because...because then you'll do something stupid, like you're doing right now. You'll waste your life asking the wrong questions, and never giving yourself the chance to heal, to be here, and happy with your family. You sell yourself short by defining yourself by only the pain. You can make the choice to stay, and be ok.