#like literally he could not be better

[crazylittlejester]

Faded Sun (click for link to ao3)

Summary: Nightmares weren’t an uncommon occurrence in the life of a hero. However, Time didn’t anticipate how rattled he would be after being forced to face the reality of how badly war had impacted someone he cares so much about. (or: Time, with his adult eyes and current understanding of life, sees Warriors from the end of the War of Eras and is able to for the first time really see just how different he was and just how far he’s come in the past few years)

Time snapped out of his nightmare without a sound, both eyes flying wide open as his breath caught in his throat and his entire body tensed up in fear. The image of the captain’s dead body laying on the ground in a pool of his own blood beneath the moon’s sickening grin was burnt into his vision. He didn’t even know what it was that had killed his brother, there had been no one but the two of them on a large empty plain as the moon sped towards them and the ground trembled beneath his feet.

He’d felt so small, so WRONG, and his hands had looked so tiny as he’d tried to roll over his brother and wake him up, just to be met with cloudy, empty eyes. The captain’s face had looked thin and pale, and the worst part of it all was that he’d hardly looked different from how he had that last year of the war, the only real difference was that his soft blue eyes were glazed over.

Time couldn’t see, for some reason. He was awake but all he could see was the captain dead in the grass and he could still feel the warmth of the man’s KID’S. Hylia, the captain was so young, he was just a child… blood all over the front of him. Tears welled up in his eyes and he blinked furiously, not allowing himself to draw in a breath lest he let out a sob with the exhale.

Something moving his head startled him fully back to reality, and his heart skipped a beat before he realized his face was resting on someone’s chest and the warmth he felt pressed up against him was another person.

Right. He’d fallen asleep curled up against Warriors last night. Time wasn’t covered in the captain’s blood, that feeling was coming from his brother’s warm, living body. He WAS alive, because Time’s head rose and fell with every steady, deep breath that Warriors took. His brother was fine, the captain was safe, it had only been a nightmare.

Nightmares of Termina had plagued him, frequently, and while the dreams still terrified him, they’d slowed as he’d grown older. But that damned face in the moon still scared him to death when it tormented his unconscious mind, and he found himself having to look up to the sky for assurance. It was a quiet, cloudless night, and even with the trees and their leaves overhead, Time didn’t find it too difficult to spot what he was looking for amongst the twinkling stars. Seeing the crescent was usually enough these days to calm him, but tonight it soothed only half of his fears. He hadn’t seen Warriors like that since the war, that sickly looking and thin. It’d rattled him more than he ever thought it would.

Time slowly allowed himself to start breathing again out of fear that if he didn’t he’d pass out, ignoring the way he could hear his blood rushing in his ears. He felt so incredibly dizzy from lack of air, but he didn’t let the fact that his lungs were burning allow him to take large gasping breaths, instead forcing himself to breathe as close to normal as he could manage. He didn’t want to wake the captain, he didn’t want to move a single muscle because he knew his brother would fuss and worry over him if he were awake. It was rare that Warriors got deep, uninterrupted sleep, Time couldn’t take this from him. He couldn’t let his problems trouble the captain anymore, he was an adult now.

Warriors had given up so much for him, taking care of Time when he was no more than a child soldier himself. He’d been the closest thing Time had to a father since the Great Deku Tree, he’d been there for him every time he needed him during the damned war. Every scraped knee, every nightmare, every breakdown, every laugh, every cry, every moment of joy. The captain had been at his side through everything, selfless and strong, and Time had been too young to realize the full extent of everything his dear brother was suffering through. He’d been too young to realize Warriors was just a kid too.

Though he hadn’t been completely blind to the way the captain had deteriorated throughout the course of the war. He hadn’t been oblivious to how his cheekbones became more and more prominent, and how he could feel his brother’s ribs and spine too easily every time he’d been able to hug him, but part of him had needed so desperately to believe the captain every time he lied and said he was okay. Part of Time needed the stability of a false promise, because he’d needed to believe he was safe in a way he hadn’t felt in years.

But he hadn’t been stupid, he knew his brother was unwell, although seeing him every single day, Time hadn’t realized exactly just how bad the captain had gotten. He’d only been able to recognize whether or not his brother looked worse or better than he had the prior week. He’d been so close to him and spent so much time with him he hadn’t been able to realize that the boy he’d met at the start of the war had faded into someone completely unrecognizable, and he hadn’t fully realized how terrifying of a rock bottom the captain had hit. Not until tonight. Not until his more recent memories of his brother were fresh in his mind and he’d been confronted with just how much Warriors had actually healed in the years it’d been since the war.

His captain, the brother he’d looked up to, the person he’d told Malon all about for the past twenty years, the young man he’d adored…

Time wasn’t even aware of how his fingers gripped the fabric of Warrior’s tunic a little tighter.

His brother had been his hero then, he’d been his whole world. Not in the same way the soldiers looked to the captain and saw a hero, not in the same way the people of Hyrule were able to call him ‘Hero’ as a means to dehumanize him enough so it would be easier to separate themselves from the reality that all the pressure they were putting on the captain had been dropped onto the shoulders of a child. No, Time had looked at him and seen nothing but safety, love, and assurance. Stability amidst the chaos and violence of war. The captain had been everything to him then.

Warriors still was. He was everything. He was Time’s unofficial second in command, steady and reliable as always whenever Time needed him. He wasn’t the whole world, he was the sun, providing warmth and comfort, shining on the others and highlighting their strengths, laughing loud and bright with the most obnoxious jokes.

But he was also just a man. And before that, just a child. During the war he’d been hurting and suffering and pushing it all down, trying to stay positive and upbeat, and Time hadn’t even been able to realize how deep his brother’s pain went. He hadn’t realized how sick and how frail the captain had grown… He hadn’t been able to see how bad it had gotten, how close to death his brother had been worked, how physically affected by his mental health Warriors had been…

That corpse he’d rolled over in the grass in his nightmare... It had been so easy for his mind to conjure his brother dead because he’d seen him with practically one foot in the grave for months, and yet he hadn’t been able to SEE that. He hadn’t been able to HELP. He’d just been useless…

One day, perhaps soon, they’d have to part again. He’d have to LEAVE him again…

The image of his brother’s dead body filled his mind again and the need to REALLY check on Warriors, to see him okay with his own eye became too overwhelming. This time, Time couldn’t stop himself from sitting bolt upright. If Wild up on watch had any reaction to the speed at which he rose, not a word was said.

With his head now tilted down, Time was painfully aware of how his tears were blurring his vision. Beneath him, Warriors made a soft sound of confusion as he stirred, and Time cursed at himself. He was being selfish AGAIN, he’d woken up his brother.

By the time he’d successfully blinked away his tears so he could see again, the captain had woken a little more, and when Time looked back down he found sleepy blue eyes staring up at him.

The immediate relief that flooded into him when he saw his brother’s face made him feel a bit pathetic. He wasn’t staring at sunken eyes or deathly pale skin, Warriors’s sharp cheekbones had healthy padding over them now that Time knew his brother had worked hard to get back. There was color back in his face, weight back on his frame, and he was breathing. He wasn’t dead, he WAS breathing. It was a nightmare, Warriors was alive and he was recovering from his trauma. He was getting healthier. He’d made so much PROGRESS.

“Sprite?”

He felt so incredibly awful for waking the captain up. He was being so stupid. He wasn’t a child anymore, he was acting ridiculous.

“Hey, you’re crying.”

Warriors’s gentle voice pulled him out of his thoughts just before his brother’s hand reached up and brushed a tear off his cheek with a careful thumb. The captain’s eyebrows were furrowed in concern as he searched his face, looking for any signs of Time’s discomfort or pain.

He hadn’t realized how fast his heart had still been pounding against his chest until he felt it start to slow down. The warmth of his brother’s hand against his face spread through him and he let out a shaky exhale. Twenty years later, those soft blue eyes still promised stability and love. Twenty years later, the captain still made him feel safe.

“Nightmare?” Warriors asked softly, letting his hand drop from Time’s face so he could prop himself up on an elbow. He was blinking rather slowly and his breathing was deep and calm. If Time tried, he could probably successfully get his brother back to sleep.

He hummed in acknowledgment as he nodded his answer.

“Wanna talk about it?” The captain fought hard to get through his sentence before yawning.

“Just the same old stuff, I’ll be alright,” Time told him, letting out a breath in relief when his sleepy brother accepted that as enough of an answer. Warriors didn’t need to know how much he worried about him. He didn’t need to know how clearly Time now saw just how far he’d come.

He DID deserve to be told how proud of him Time was, and how much he loved him. And that he DID tell the captain.

“Mmm, I love you, too,” Warriors mumbled as his arm slid out from underneath him and he flopped back against his bedroll with another yawn, letting his eyes drift halfway shut. “An’ I’m proud of ya. Very proud.”

He couldn’t help but smile, and then laugh quietly when his reaction earned him a crooked smile from the captain as his eyes drifted all the way closed.

Warriors was just awake enough to make an annoyed little sound as he opened his arms to the sides in a gesture Time could only guess was a demand for him to lay back down, so he did, resting his head where it had been earlier and throwing an arm around the captain’s middle. His brother wiggled around a bit underneath him, shimmying downwards until he was able to rest his cheek on the top of Time’s head.

“You could’ve just asked me to move if that’s what you wanted,” Time whispered, rolling his eye.

“Mmm, yes, but… that’s words, an’ that’s… work,” Warriors grumbled, and Time didn’t have to see his brother’s face to know he was probably pouting.

“Go back to sleep, Captain,” he said softly, shifting so he was more comfortably pressed against his big brother. This close to him, he could smell the faint scent of oranges coming from Warriors and breathed in the comfort it brought him. The sweet smell of the fruit seemed to almost always cling to the captain. Time had a theory it was because he always brushed his hands off on his tunics after peeling them.

His brother mumbled something against the top of his head that Time couldn’t even hear and he wrapped his arms around him, burying one hand in his hair as the captain held him close. Almost exactly the same way he had when Time had gone and woken him up with his nightmares all those years ago.

It didn’t take much longer after that for Warriors to fall back to sleep.

Time himself was not so lucky. He lay awake for the rest of the night, holding on tightly to his dear captain who slept on, oblivious of his worries.

[inkskinned]

"don't make it political!" .... what proportion of death and suffering must occur before politics are involved. if this isn't political, what is even the point of any politics, ever. of democracy. the words are "by the people for the people." if i am going to be left alone by my elected representatives to "figure it out" - to undergo damage, hardship, fear. what the fuck did i elect them for. what was their job. the entire point is that they handle this shit. this is why we were supposed to be electing leaders.

poverty is political. misogyny is political. gun control is political. climate change is political. how much aid a community gets is political. what the fuck are you talking about. it's been political this whole fucking time.

[lygma-nygma]

Being a batfam fan is funny because people will make a post like “here’s my headcanon-“ and it’s just something that’s directly canon to the story then post about major canon events and get everything wrong.

[sesamenom]

Gil-galad Variations, featuring all the gil galad theories i've encountered.

[izzystizzys]

TW: discussion of something approximating suicidal tendencies but with the usual crack programming of this blog

“Ah, High General Windu”, says Fox, pleasantly. “So we meet again.”

High General Windu raises an unimpressed eyebrow at him, Fox thinks, though it’s getting hard to tell with all the blood rushing to his head. “If I let you go, will you try to throw yourself out of another window?”

Fox makes a vague shrugging motion - or tries to, anyways. It’s hard to tell where any of his limbs are going, hanging upside down in the air as he is. “I am willing to discuss terms.” A bridge will do just fine.

Impossibly, the High General’s eyebrows climb even further up his forehead. “A compromise, then, esteemed Commander.” And so, he righths Fox the head way up in the air, but leaves him floating just above the ground, at which point several painted shells come skidding around the corner followed by billowing robes and screeches.

“WHAT”, says Kote, calmly, “THE BANTHA-KARKED, FORCE-LOVING KRIFF, FOX.”

“You’ll short out your helmet mic”, Fox advises him, sagely. Fondly, he thinks back to decimating his own on only his second time in the newly-christened official Coruscant Guard Scream Closet. He’d just received the comm about the Zillo Beast being transported to 000, and made sure to take his bucket off thereafter to improve the quality of his closet time.

High General Windu’s face does something complicated between sympathy and constipation.

Because the Galaxy doesn’t hate Fox enough already and Cody wasn’t enough on his own, Wolffe elbows his way through their batch to plant himself in front of him, shoulders squared and shaking with repressed rage. “If you try that again, dickhead”, he begins, in a low growl that quite frankly sounds more cringe that intimidating, “I’m going to resurrect you and then kill you again.”

“Ah, Wolffe”, Plo Koon says, in his deep, shivery timbre, “Remember our conversations about effective conflict resolution and communication of needs?”

Wolffe’s eyes narrow at Fox, because all non-Guard are sweet summer children who walk around buckets off on 000 like absolute lunatics. Fox prays they never have to find out why that’s a bad idea. “I feel”, his ori’vod presses out between clenched teeth, “that if you make me watch you throw yourself out of another window, I’m going to jump after you and strangle you on the way down, you little bitch.”

“That’s fair”, says Fox, and watches High General Kenobi bury his face in his hands. Wolffe twitches in place and makes an aborted groaning noise, the hypocrite.

“Excuse me, High Marshall Commander Fox, but I fail to see what’s so dire about this situation that the Jedi High Council and your brothers cannot help you solve”, says Windu, the only sane one left on this Force-forsaken bloated corpse of a planet. Behind the gaggle of Jedi and ori’vode already gathered in front of Fox, the rest of them come veering around the corner in a commotion that’s quite frankly embarrassing. High General Yoda is mounted on Skywalker’s back like he’s a race-Eopie, which is Fox’ only consolation.

He got up this morning at 0300, bleary-eyed and with a pounding headache as always, and all was right in the world. And then Fox got called into the Jedi High Council’s chambers and was ceremoniously informed that in the wake of Chancellor Palpatine’s unfortunate demise (hah), and through the emergency state of the Senate, as well as several invented promotions foisted on Fox to make the delegation of any and all paperwork less shady, he was now next in the chain of command and-

Well, Fox is the acting Chancellor, in short.

Haha, he had said, and been meet with several seconds of silence, until it got both awkward and exceedingly painful. Wait, he’d said. You’re kriffing serious.

Kriffing serious, we are, had said High General Yoda, and thus Fox launched himself out the first best window with a maniacal cackle of, you’ll have to catch me first!

And catch him, High General Windu sure did.

“The will of the Force this is”, Yoda interrupts Fox’ train of thought. He scans him thoughtfully from beneath his wizened brow, and hems to himself. “Shake things up, this will. Determine the fate of the Galaxy, this shall. A feeling, I have, that a good Chancellor you will make. A better one, hmmm.”

“That’d be high praise, if not for the fact that a dead lemming would make for a better Chancellor than the last one”, says Fox, drawing and indignant gasp from Skywalker. He doesn’t bother with either that or the green goblin’s cackle, lost in the deep sense of resignation that settles over his shoulders like a suffocating blanket.

“Alright, then, get me Thorn on the comm. As my first act in office, I’m firing all the Jedi. No offense, but you’re kind of a disaster. Then, someone get me to the Chancellor’s office, I’m calling Dooku to let him know the war’s off. And please get me Judicial, they’ll be up all night working on my datafolders - I’m having the Senate arrested.”

“Who - is - arresting - “, Bly pants, hands on his knees from where he’s just come sprinting around the corner with his Jedi.

Underneath his bucket, Fox smiles a smile that’s all teeth. “The Senate”, he says, sweetly, wondering if he’s just imagined the shiver that’s gone through the room. “I’m suing the Senate, and taking them all into temporary custody for abuse of sentient rights.”

[rawrsatthetree]

I’ve seen people compare Julian Devorak to Astarion, and honestly I think you’re all embarrassing wrong.

Gale Dekarios is Julian Devorak.

Astarion is Count Lucio

[s0fter-sin]

soap's whole deal being sniper and demolitions gets me going bc on the surface they sound so different but when you get into it, you realise it's bc soap's smart

sniping is all math; calculating distances and wind interference and bullet drop. something i think people overlook is he was listed as a sniper first so it can be implied that he's better at it than demolitions. he does more sniping in both campaigns than demolitions work; in capture or kill, ghost specifically calls on him to take down the aq snipers

and demolitions is math with a hit of chemistry; knowing what mixes with what, knowing how much to use, recognising environmental factors and adjusting accordingly. it's not just about the boom; so much work goes into contained/ planned explosions. especially when having enough power for a breacher charge and not bringing down the whole building is the difference between mission success and failure

the chemical bombs he makes in alone can't just be any old cleaners, they have to have the correct reaction to each other; he just knew off the top of his head what would mix with what to create what reaction. he would also potentially have to recognise them by sight/smell bc they would’ve been written in spanish

soap would also have to know architecture; recognising structural integrity and weak points so he knows exactly where to plant a charge to bring it down and how it'll come down

he has an incredible soldier's mind people just forget that bc he's sociable which itself is a skill

we know he tends to buck against orders he doesn't agree with like when he pushes back against ghost in capture or kill and shepherd when he tells them to release hassan

he gets closer to people and sees if he can trust them and that's when he follows them without question. really think about how he talks to alejandro and rudy; he asks about their home and alejandro's family and rudy's relationship with him. those aren't questions you ask a stranger after a few hours of knowing them. that's not even touching on his relationship with ghost

he also deliberately brings people of higher ranks down to his level; talking informally with ghost and giving him a shoulder punch, addressing alejandro (a colonel!!) by his first name and rudy by his nickname despite literally just meeting them. he personalises all of them and it’s in direct opposition to the reason most characters do that; it’s not due to insubordination or lack of respect, the more he respects and trusts someone, the more casual he is with them

he digs into people; he wants to know what makes them tick and that determines if he can one, trust them and two, follow their orders. once he decides that, he's the ultimate soldier; he bleeds loyalty which makes him vicious when that loyalty is taken for granted

he isn't naive or bubbly or insecure; he's an incredibly smart and aware soldier. he's aggressive and bloodthirsty and loyal and intuitive and i love him so much

[vaguely-concerned]

thinking about not only the specific people lucanis pulls in to represent the 'locks' in his psyche, but the storytelling that happens in the structure/order of them. the underlying ideas are presented something like:

the lucanis who went into the ossuary never came back out again; he died down there (the boy caterina raised is gone forever) -> you're putting yourself in danger doing this (by being close to me), you should leave because I can't bear it if you get hurt because of me -> it doesn't matter even if we do try this, it won't work anyway (again because of me) ('you know what he's like, you can open the door but he won't walk through it' :'( oofie doofie) -> what if the real secret is that there was never anything but the monster in here from the beginning. you should leave, there was never anything here worth saving in the first place. (implicitly: what if I deserved what happened, all along.)

it runs pretty cleanly from outward-oriented attachment anxiety ('caterina won't even want me back like this, she won't recognize me (the same way I no longer recognize myself)) and gradually deeper inwards until we reach self-image and self worth. or you know, the harrowing basic lack of it lol.

"careful -- they'll know we're not right," spite says in one of their first scenes... but clearly, some very deep part of lucanis has feared or suspected for much longer than that that there's something inherently not right at the core of him, way before any demon entered the picture. and the voice he gives those lines to is the person who should know him better than anyone in the world, who he has loved more than anyone in the world -- and who deliberately chose to hurt him so horrifically anyway. 'It's better if I'm just a monster and deserved what happened than it is to allow for the idea that the brother I love doesn't really exist and maybe never did'. it's better if he's fundamentally flawed in some way that needed fixing to help him survive, and that's why caterina chose to hurt him again and again -- out of love. (this one I think he might have a very sad wakeup call on one day if he ever ends up with the responsibility and care of a child of his own in some way and realizes just how alien the idea of ever intentionally hurting them for any reason is to him. oh buddy. also interesting that he keeps caterina as the outermost lock -- there IS a distance he keeps there that he hasn't with illario. he doesn't resent her 'anymore' he says, but he also keeps her carefully further away from his deepest self.)

as far as I could tell the only note in the mind prison that's fully hidden and needs to be uncovered is the sad painful helpless stupid little truth that even after all this, even knowing what happened... he still loves his brother. is there anything illario could ever do that would make lucanis completely stop loving him, do you think? sometimes the trouble with unconditional love is that it is, well. unconditional, even when some terms and conditions probably would have been in order haha.

that's the pattern you see there again and again; he would rather destroy and abandon and imprison himself at every turn than let go of love, even when it's just scraps, even when there's only ever enough of it to hurt him. it's only when rook shows up and as it were takes his hand and walks along with him that he can entertain the idea of changing the story of what walking out the door might mean in the end.

[aroaceleovaldez]

Nico and Percy's dynamic through the series is eternally funny to me, because it's just. like.

Percy's having a constant mental struggle between his fatal flaw of loyalty with a promise he made to Bianca to protect Nico, versus his Big 3 kid desire to maim other Big 3 kids / Poseidon descendant urge to totally maim Nico specifically. He hates Nico so so much. He thinks Nico's annoying and weird at best, and creepy/sketchy when he's older. The only positive thoughts Percy has towards Nico are "He's Bianca's brother and Bianca was my friend and I owe her/He's Hazel's brother and Hazel is my friend and would kill me if I was mean to him," "He's a powerful asset and useful ally (if questionable)," and "He's kinda pathetic and I feel maybe a little bad about it." Percy has multiple occasions throughout the series where he strongly considers - and on one occasionally actually goes through with - throttling Nico.

Meanwhile, Nico is following around Percy like a lost puppy. He explicitly can never bring himself to even dislike anything about Percy no matter how hard he tries. He has a whole bit in BoO where he's mentally going "UGH he's so stupid BUT IT'S ENDEARING HOW DARE HE." He's totally smitten. He's making deals with his dad for Percy. He's making convoluted plans to help Percy stand a chance against Kronos. During the entirety of BoTL it's like he's playing tsundere - "I'm helping NOT PERCY SPECIFICALLY with this quest! Me helping Percy would be SILLY because I DEFINITELY HATE HIM." Then he proceeds to show up to Percy's birthday party to basically ask him on a weird date and spend the entire next book scrambling around trying to help him or protect him or impress him. And Percy could not give less of a shit.

Just. That dynamic is so funny to me. Percy is the founder of the Nico Protection Club in that he's the one they're all protecting Nico from and meanwhile Nico is throwing himself at Percy to the point where the literal god of gay love calls him out on it.

[sporeclan]

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Leaf-bare again and we're already off to a bad start :')

[vaggieslefteye]

HUSK, Hotel Bartender & Concierge | 1x04 - Masquerade

"Oh, I FORGOT — you're the wise-old bartender who's seen it all! Get the fuck over yourself and pour me a real drink."

[lloydfrontera]

'lloyd is very weak now and needs to marry so he'll have someone to protect him'- lloyd has the only grandmaster on the world following him around like a puppy. he has the most terrifying motherfucker on the world wrapped around his little finger. he has the one person in the world who can hit an absolute in the head and get away with it swearing in his heart to protect him no matter the cost over and over again.

lloyd made javier watch him die twice right in front of him just to keep him alive. there is no power on existence that could make javier allow anyone or anything to even think about harming lloyd again.

lloyd is fine

[tea-cat-arts]

I simply think this fandom doesn't give Wei Wuxian enough credit for the various ways in which he saved Lan Wangji

[foolsocracy]

What could he have meant by this

[littlelightfish]

I would like to remind people that Chilchuck hasn't seen his wife in 4 years.

So he maybe wasn't there to see his daughters become adults, but he was there for the majority of their childhood.

When he left, Mayjack and Flertom were 12, and Puckpatty was 10. They reach adulthood at 14, so maybe yes, he was absent when they were still kids, but that doesn't mean he didn't maintained contact with them afterwards as far as I know. The thing he uses around his neck was a gift from Flertom, and he was using it when he met Laios's party.

[nebulousfishgills]

BRYNDEN RIVERS MY MAN