#like yeah dark link is an enemy sometimes

[joshuamj]

Linktober Day 1: Mirror

Prompt list I'll be trying a few days from!

[tragedy-of-commons]

HOMECOMING.

── dan heng x gn!reader

summary: Your boyfriend invites you to spend Christmas break with him and his eccentric (but lovable all the same) family. You oblige.

contains: modern and university au, established relationship, comedy and tooth-rotting fluff, christmas shopping, the astral express fam all make appearances (pre-2.7), setting is very american-inspired (sorry), cringefail exuberant reader, one hurt/comfort scene

word count: 11.4k oops

taglist: @singularity-sam, @mitsvriii, @tetrachrxmacy, @bladism, @mikashisus

notes: for @azuresaqua, written for the @/stellaronhvnters secret santa 🎄 this took all month, but i hope you like it crys!! also this totally looks fine on dark mode. if you think otherwise then ummm SHHH. dividers by @/cafekitsune!

Your phone blares with its usual grating ringtone, startling you out of your reverie.

Scrambling to pick the device up, you’re pleasantly surprised. So much so that you drop the sweatshirt in your free hand mid-fold. The caller ID reads Dan Heng, lighting up your homescreen with his contact icon.

A warmth buzzes in your chest as you look it over, a giggle erupting from your throat. The selfie is of you and him, with Dan Heng looking particularly spacey in the midst of the bustling street.

You’re now considerably less bored. You’ve been looking for an excuse to procrastinate doing your laundry all day, and it just so happens to entail talking with your lovely partner. Not waiting any longer, you clear your throat, tap the green accept button, and press the speaker to your ear.

“Hi, darling!” you chirp, shifting to sit more comfortably, “I miss you. How’re you holding up? Still in the library studying the day away?”

The other line crackles with life. “Hello. I feel the same,” Dan Heng informs you matter-of-factly, his cadence clear as a river. “And no, I’m not there anymore. It was… too crowded for my liking.”

That’s no surprise. Finals are upon the whole campus in a few days, and it shows. There is a distinct, depressing atmospheric pressure that weighs upon your fellow students. 

The scourge of exams, the final boss of the semester, the enemy of mental fortitude and peace. Though Dan Heng loves your university’s expansive library, you can imagine he’d be less enthralled when a hundred tired young adults are populating it to cram.

“Yeah, I can imagine,” you wince. “Well, look on the bright side. We’re almost done, yeah? Soon enough, the library will be solely your domain once again, and you can be a doll and skim the archives in my stead.”

His voice takes on a sarcastic lilt, affection hidden underneath the words like a hard-won reward. You think it’s an indulgence for him. “If my memory serves correctly, I had to smooth things over with the librarian on your behalf. I don’t think it’s a wise idea for you to loiter there any longer, as energetic as you are.”

How cheeky! Honestly, you’re not even that loud. Sometimes you laugh a little too hard at benign things (like the way some book titles sound out of context), or react too vibrantly at the wrong times (like exclaiming profanities after tripping over your own feet), but those aren’t crimes.

Even now, ruminating over this reasoning, you still don't understand how you got banned from the library. Unreal.

“Hey, come on now! I don’t even loiter… I just want to spend time with you, even if studying isn’t something I burden myself with. That guy has it out for me,” you insist, growing smile threatening to split your face in two. “Anyway, I’m not saying this to be rude, but…”

“But?” Dan Heng asks cautiously.

“You normally don’t call first. Is everything okay?”

You mean it when you ask. Though you love your boyfriend, he isn’t the best at initiating longform communication. Sometimes you’ll get a text with a link to a video he found interesting, or he’ll update you with life (mostly just classes and endless papers), and then you’ll respond by quadruple-texting and then maybe calling him. For hours. And then asking to come over to his dorm. And then falling asleep with him. All at your request, which he doesn’t seem to mind.

That being said, it’s atypical that he takes up the mantle, which makes you worry. And if you worry, Dan Heng feels guilty. Trying not to be patronizing, you patiently wait for him to speak on his own terms, humming to yourself idly. You could, y’know, do your laundry, but you’re not gonna do that. Free will is so cool and awesome.

“Yes, everything’s fine,” he assures, words measured. “I just have something I’d like to run by you, but I didn’t want to interrupt if you were busy.”

“I’m never busy! Spill!” Extremely curious, you pluck your phone from your ear and put Dan Heng on speaker. While you’re at it, you also stand up and pace the short length from your bed to the door of your suite, clothes abandoned on the floor. 

“It’s about this winter break. We haven’t conferred on plans yet, but I was planning to ask you if you’d meet my… my family. Of course, it all depends on your availability - don’t feel too rushed to answer, I’d just like to know in advance so I can get things in order on my end.”

Woah, what just happened? You stop walking to think, gears spinning and grinding and pushing all sorts of implications. His family. 

Dan Heng has one, yes, he divulges details every once in a while and elaborates on his mishmash of a homelife when you ask, but you’ve never heard him refer to these mystical figures as family. They’ve always been referred to as my friend, followed by their name. You know them well, committing each to memory despite not having met them yet: March, Caelus, Welt, and Himeko. 

Of course, you pester your boyfriend about them. Nothing too invasive, just remembering the important details. Asking for updates about March’s creative ventures or inquiring if Himeko’s coffee has gotten any more palatable, to name a few. 

In turn, Dan Heng would make a comment about how they also pester him about you. It’s like a big game of telephone - this indirect communication is what you’re used to. It’s kind of surreal to think about actually meeting them after all this time.

Then the joy comes. He wants to share this part of his life with you. Is this the natural next step in your relationship, like all seasoned married couples fondly reflect back on? Dan Heng wants to spend three and half weeks with you, uninterrupted, at home. His home.

Tears prick at your eyes, but you blink them away, grinning like an absolute fool. Does he really think you’ll say no? You’d already do anything to make him happy. Despite being several buildings and crosswalks away from him right now, your hearts feel impossibly close together.

(It’s not like you have anything else planned.)

That thought is pushed away as quickly as it comes. No time for you to be bitter when it’s the season of giving and all things cheerful! This opportunity is nothing short of a blessing… you’re saved from being cramped up inside the inevitably deserted hall for the entirety of break. You’re saved from having to admit to Dan Heng that I have nowhere to go and nothing to do like everyone else. 

Shock, joy, relief. 

“Oh my god,” you laugh, breathy. With a repressed-young-man-trained-ear, you catch a soft sigh of relief dissipating on the other line. “Yes, of course I want to meet them! Dude, this is so exciting! What if I died? What if I blew up the entirety of campus in my merriment? What then?”

He is far too used to your theatrics to react too strongly to them at this point. “...I wouldn’t put it past you. But I’m glad you said yes. There’s just the issue of details to work out.”

Dan Heng proposes different times on different days to leave. Well, he probably went more in depth than that - he likes to schedule and plan for the future, even if he doesn’t always stick to those self-imposed regulations in the end - probably droning on about the cost of gas or something. But you’re way too shell-shocked to respond coherently, muffling squeals and noncommittal hums that give away exactly how much you’re not paying attention.

Digesting about half of the information, you bring up what you have left to do before winter break after he does the same: registration for next semester’s classes, turning in textbooks for certain courses (thank the stars renting is affordable here), and the remaining days riddled with finals. 

Despite how daunting these tasks are for others, you find yourself enjoying the denouement. Guessing on scantrons has gotten you pretty far, and the other obligations can be swiftly eliminated through sheer will and lots of Christmas music. Your Spotify listening history must look like some kind of tinsel-festooned warzone.

This will be your first ever Christmas with Dan Heng. He’s never been extremely festive by any means, but you cajoled him into a matching Halloween costume a month ago, and he is fond of horror movies despite how silly they can be, offering little bits of trivia or his critiques on the film’s score. 

You think this holiday, spent at his home, in his hometown - will be the source of many happy memories. It’ll also, hopefully, be another endless source of teasing. 

Images flit through your mind, the most notable of which being your stoic boyfriend in a truly hideous red and green sweater. You snicker to yourself until your amusement is disturbed by Dan Heng promptly clearing his throat. 

He says your name in that soft way that makes you weak in the knees. You’re under his spell just as much as he is under yours. You should take to reminding him of that more often. “Just to be clear, is this alright with you?”

It’s so much more than alright, you think. Winter, for all of its bitter cold and unforgiving responsibilities, still teems with life as the leaves die. For every day you’ve spent alone during the last two Christmases, you’ll be repaid with one in kind spent with Dan Heng and the people he trusts most.

You’re blessed with the sweet thought that you’re now a part of those treasured, trustworthy few as well. 

You know you’ve been treasured for a long time, but feeling it actualized, solidified in action, is as homey and warm as a burning hearth.

“Yeah,” you breathe. “I am, darling. I’m so excited that I think I’m shaking!”

You tighten your grip on your phone, almost leaving indents in the shitty case, attempting to still your vibrating fingers. His response is a mumble along the lines of you should probably eat something, and I’m glad. Dan Heng can be a little awkward, especially over the phone, but that just speaks of his sincerity. He’s glad you’re coming. 

You scuttle over to the window beside your bed, yanking the blinds askew to peek outside. A glimpse of the first frost coating the student parking lot promises something more. Something magical and childlike.

Joy. You have a feeling you’re going to be extremely insufferable to any and all scrooges (people rightfully sick of dealing with your chipper attitude) in the coming days. Oh well, they can suck it up because it’s the most wonderful time of the year, and you’re in love with the most amazing person in the world. 

You tell him not to worry, which he sighs at, and then the brunt of the conversation is over. The following silence is calm but electric, dragging on for just the right amount of time. A well-deserved respite, you think. 

“I love you,” you confess.

“...I love you too. Touch base soon.”

With that, the call ends abruptly. Your cheeks feel hot and you’re reinvigorated, daydreaming of Dan Heng’s expressions obscured by distance - you want nothing more than to see him, but you know your partner well enough to realize when he needs a break; to realize when he needs his alone time. You would never begrudge him for it.

That was a fucking whirlwind.

You shove your phone in your pocket after nudging the blinds back in place. There’s so much to do, and you’re definitely gonna need another run-down of the schedule (preferably in person), but for now, you’ll let yourself be over the moon and overrun with task paralysis. 

Triumphantly, you turn to flip off your abandoned pile of laundry. Free will is so cool and awesome.

“We are so back!”

You’re so impatient that you’ve started counting the hours.

The final stretch is a lot more boring than you thought it was going to be. Picking a time to check out of your dorm, fixing up any scuffs on the walls from your shitty posters before room inspection, actually passing your classes. The normal stuff. 

Both you and Dan Heng decided that you would leave at around three in the morning on the first day of break. It sounded bewildering at first, and you had levelled him with a look that made him hurriedly elaborate.

“In order to get there at a reasonable time, it’s the best way to go,” he’d said over coffee. “The drive isn’t more than a few hours, but if we leave right after routine inspection, we’d be arriving in the middle of the night.”

Though the mental image of showing up on a quaint little home’s doorstep in your pajamas and waking up the whole neighborhood with your knocking is funny, it’s not funny enough to quell your nerves. 

You’ve noticed, usually in the midst of trying to be productive, that the excitement is weighing heavily on your heart. Your hands are perpetually shaky, you’re sweating disgusting buckets, and you’re sure you look as if you’ve lost your marbles to any soul brave enough to strike up conversation.

That last part came to your attention when Bronya, your desk neighbor in your Interpersonal Communications class, dared ask you if she could borrow a pencil. She barely got the question out before she asked if you were alright. And if Bronya asks you if you’re alright, it means that you must look terrible. 

Sure enough, you are getting less and less sleep, and you’ve been prone to twitching. In retrospect, you probably had that wild look in your eye that screamed I am at rock bottom and it’s in the public’s best interest that I’m contained.

But you’re not at rock bottom! You’re just nervous, and it’s weird when you’re nervous, because such an occurrence is as rare as a blue moon. You’re going to be meeting Dan Heng’s family in a matter of days, and you’re expected to behave as a normal, functioning member of society. Unbelievable. Even the love of your life has noticed the difference in your behavior - he seems disturbed but respectful. 

You recall him asking if you were ill, which you had vehemently denied. Then he kissed you under the thin covers of his bed, and everything was fine for a moment.

But you think you’re feeling better on this day in particular. To distract yourself from the anxiety, you’ve sunk deeper into the holiday cheer. With Dan Heng at your side, you’ve blown off classes for the day to go gift shopping. The outlet mall near your university is always bustling, but during this time of year, you’d think there’s an overpopulation crisis wreaking havoc on your city.

Escalators are crammed with excited children dragging their parents along, there are decorations painstakingly put up in every nook and cranny, and you have a mission to see through.

“Thanks for ditching to help me out,” you preface. “It’d be way too difficult to shop for your family on my own. Just the idea of stress-buying things they may not even like… ugh. Also, wow! I realized you haven’t told me jack shit about them! I’m actually clueless.”

Dan Heng is not amused, but he doesn’t outright refute your assertion. “I suppose you have a point. And I didn’t ditch class,” he emphasizes, ears red. “Psychology got canceled.”

Here, among the sea of people, Dan Heng looks his least confident. While you, the person known for befriending every stray cat you meet, look your best.

The juxtaposition makes you feel fuzzy, and you know in your heart that he would've helped you anyway, even if he had class. He can be so obvious but so subtle at the same time. You tug on the sleeve of his sweatshirt once, purely affectionate. 

“Right. Uh, where do we start? Who’s the easiest to shop for?” you wonder aloud, crossing the stretches of marble and doing your best to peer down the massive store-lined strip. “We could start with March. She’s into crafty stuff, right?”

Your boyfriend tames a cowlick in his dark hair. “Yes. You seem to have a plan figured out already, but she uses up heaps of film while taking photos. An arts and crafts store would likely have the 600 type for her Polaroid. That’s what I had in mind in terms of a gift she’d appreciate.”

“We seem to be on the same page, but that just sounds so… impersonal! Bit of a safe choice, don’t you think? Let’s play it by ear and see what they have. I’m sure she’d also appreciate something handmade. I think I have enough time to DIY a gift; they probably have kits for all sorts of stuff.”

Dan Heng is starting off in the direction of the correct storefront. The display window is easily spotted, plastered with all kinds of paper mache ornaments. “You don’t need to fret. Knowing her, she’ll love anything that comes from you.”

You blink, grinning. “Really? Didn’t know I was so popular.”

“You have no idea,” sighs Dan Heng.

Warmly titled Make n’ Create, the door chimes, signifying your entry. Immediately, you’re assaulted by the smell of candles - a few hundred thousand, you hazard. 

Scents of vanilla and evergreen paired with cinnamon burn your nostrils as you survey the aisles of winding shelves overflowing with endless possibilities. Almost forgetting to return the greeting of the woman behind the counter, you snap out of your stupor and drag your boyfriend along.

Everything looks enticing… your savings account is telling you to be responsible, but your heart is telling you to snatch up and squirrel away any item of interest just in case. You wander the marble floor under the bright fluorescents, humming under your breath. “Hey, we can probably save some time and split up. Could you go look for the film? We’ll definitely get that along with whatever catches my eye.”

Relieved to have something to do, Dan Heng nods and disembarks from your side, perilously weaving between other shoppers buzzing with excitement. He mentioned that he deliberately put off Christmas shopping since you insisted on doing it together, the thought alone satisfying. 

The prospect of scrawling both of your names on the same box, passed off into eager hands. The words will read From: Dan Heng and his partner.

Rounding a corner, the pottery and ceramics section calls to you like a siren. There are stocks upon stocks of white, unpainted Christmas trees and wreaths, advertised as blank canvases to decorate as your own - paint included. Those are cute, but something relevant year-round would probably be received better. 

Impressions, impressions. Your gaze drops lower, dutifully searching…

Aha!

Ceramic jewelry dishes. Same gimmick as the trees and wreaths, but not necessarily seasonal. There are a few different types among the kits - heart-shaped, some with hinges that open and close, even some with music box elements with heftier price tags. 

Your intuition slaps you across the face multiple times. March will love one of these, you just know it! Cautious, you spare a shifty glance from left to right before squealing to yourself. The package in your hand is crisp and promising as you check over the price and instructions.

Dan Heng returns to witness your perfect find. You know this because you recognize the soft padding of his footsteps anywhere (which is not creepy). You turn to see him and the fond look in his eye - and the aforementioned packages of film he’s clutching. 

“Hey, you,” you chuckle. “You found it, great! Anyway, look what I stumbled upon. Do you think she’ll--” “Yes,” he breathes, suddenly decisive. “She will. Especially the heart one.”

Quickly heeding the ever-rare suggestion from Dan Heng, you discard the now inferior package and seize the heart-shaped one. “I trust your judgment. She has good taste, honestly. Thanks for your help, love, I appreciate it. I know for a fact she likes pink, and though my hands are a little clumsy… I’ll make a masterpiece outta this, trust me.”

He exhales through his nose. That’s a laugh if you’ve ever heard one. “You sound so resolute…”

“Duty-bound, if you will,” you grin. “We can move on to the next place if you’d like. Didn’t expect to be done here so fast.”

“...wait.”

You tilt your head, following his line of sight back to the shelves. He seems transfixed on something else there, and a few seconds go by in silence as you’re left to figure out what it is on your lonesome. 

Dan Heng has gotten better at speaking his mind - he was never bad at it, but sometimes words get tangled up in his reticent hesitation. You understand this well. So, you try to determine what’s caught his eye. The understanding you come to is a nice one. The lowest rung of the shelf, almost overshadowed, are more ceramics - no surprise there. But it feels like fate the way that they’re displayed; two sturdy coffee cups with intricate handles, then a miniature raccoon forever inlaid with a devilish expression, practically commanding a paintbrush to make its mischievous grin come to life with color. 

Himeko, Welt, Caelus.

You laugh, loud and bright, grabbing your boyfriend’s hand with a conspiratorial grin. “Four birds with one stone, huh? We’re gonna need a cart!”

Dan Heng is blushing. It’s subtle, not at all burning or obvious to any nosy bystanders, but it’s enough to make your heart sing with delight. You take it he’s glad that you picked up on his thoughts so wordlessly. 

He excuses himself after muttering something about going to get the cart while you smile like an idiot. A lovestruck idiot. A lovestruck idiot with a soon-to-be overdrawn bank account.

…well, not exactly. After you gather everything and go to check out, he insists on paying for all of it. You make sure to argue with him in front of the very amused cashier, reaching a compromise in no time at all thanks to your amazing negotiation skills. He’ll pay for this load (whatever), and you’ll pay for any remaining splurges today. It’s only natural you need to stop by a few more places, considering March has two gifts while the others only have one. 

By the time Dan Heng’s social battery is drained and yours is frayed, you have everything. An apparel outlet that you would’ve never stepped foot in normally now has your patronage; a golden brooch in the shape of a rose (that’s surprisingly affordable) for Himeko, a classy but patterned tie for Welt, and a trendy jacket for Caelus.

You think you’re the most jealous of that last one - it has many pockets and takes up enough space to suffocate a small orphan.

Hauling the bags into the icy parking lot, you suddenly stop in your tracks, feeling the generous weight of your spending in the process. “Hold on.”

Your tired but loving partner heeds your command. “What? Is something the matter?”

“We forgot to shop for each other,” you point out, sheepish and breathy. Seems you’ve both been so caught up in the tradewinds that you forgot. “Should we go back inside?”

“No,” he blurts, “I’ve already acquired your gift.”

Gobsmacked, you almost drop your share of the bags. He’s been holding out on you?! The surprise quickly fades into mushy limerence before it dulls. “Huh? When did you do that? Oh shit, I haven’t gotten you anything yet… dude, I’m sorry, I’ll head back inside, all secret mission-esque and find you something while you wait in the car--” 

Dan Heng shakes his head. “You… you don’t have to.”

The hell? Does he even know how Christmas works? “Of course I do, come on,” you push forward. Knowing you’ve already forgotten where you’ve parked, he strides out in front of you and leads the way, preparing to argue his case. “We’ll put these in the back, and I’ll find you an amazing gift, you’ll see.”

You both reach his little beat-up sedan (which you’ve aptly named Granny), while he fumbles for his keys. He sighs, rolling the frigid joints in his shoulders as he opens the driver’s seat to unlock the trunk. Setting the bags down on the gross pavement is unfortunately inevitable. You throw the thing open, already loading. 

Dan Heng’s rebuttal is almost startling.

“I don’t need an ‘amazing gift’. I have you.”

You freeze. Where did he pull that from? Are you hallucinating again? Is this like the time you stayed up for two days straight to half-ass a dozen unfinished assignments? Or maybe it’s selective hearing… such a line is probably from an old romcom that you’re mentally regurgitating and then projecting onto him.

But you don’t tease or ask him to repeat it. Instead, you choose to fully believe and embrace that compliment, warming your heart and your cheeks. His expression is obscured from your position, but he probably looks the same.

“I’m… really glad you think so, Dan Heng,” you almost whisper.

Before he can say anything else that’ll ruin the moment, you decide that’s your job! and slam the trunk closed, deafeningly loud. 

“But that’s unacceptable! I’ll find you something perfect in the coming days no matter what!”

You hear him sigh before you hear his approaching footsteps. “Try not to stress too hard about it. Also, open that back up, there are more bags.”

“Oops,” you giggle. “Why not ask me nicely, like in that Romeo way you did five seconds ago?”

Your other half rightfully elects to ignore you.

As you finish wrapping up with him at your side, the subsequent ride back to campus is in comfortable silence. The buzz of what’s to come lingers on your mind as you stare out of the passenger window at the familiar scenery. You’ll find time to squeeze in finding a gift for Dan Heng, you’ll make sure of it. 

But for now, what to pack for the impending trip…?

You wake to the sound of your blaring alarm. Scrambling for your phone to make the thing shut up, you’re blinded by the time. It’s 2:30 in the morning, you’re disoriented, and you desperately want to go back to sleep. But when you really come to a minute later after hitting snooze, it all sinks in. 

Your room inspection is over with, your finals have been taken (you didn’t fail any of them, yay), and you have to leave campus with Dan Heng in about thirty minutes. Surreal that you’re awake at this hour, you go about getting ready - this includes texting the man of the hour to make sure he didn’t oversleep.

To your satisfaction, he responds swiftly. To your horror, he mentions that he’s ready and waiting. Unfair, in your opinion - why is he always punctual, and why are you always late?

You look in the mirror at your haphazard reflection. Not too shabby; just a leisure t-shirt and some sweatpants, pulled together by the thickest jacket you have since it’s grown even colder out. Your bags are already packed and practically bursting at the seams, loaded with your essentials, and of course the presents for Dan Heng’s family. 

You spent all of your free time crammed between everything else painting the ceramics while he wrapped and made everything else look pretty.

(You almost got crudely mixed pink paint on your dorm wall - well, you did just a little bit. Luckily it came off without the need to go sprinting to the nearest hardware store in pursuit of a cover-up job. That would have been bad. Very bad. Also, you left the primary suite door open to ventilate, and at least three students walking down the hallway witnessed your perfectionism-driven breakdown. Also, your suitemate hates you now.)

All of that’s over, though. Making sure you have everything once, then twice, then three whole times - you decide it’s finally time to go. You lug everything out of your dorm, down the hallway, into the elevator, and wait as it descends.

You check your phone, updating your boyfriend as the cabin grinds to a halt on the ground floor. Outside is nothing short of beautiful, if not hypothermic.

Snow falls in tiny flurries that make the dark cement purgatory look like a dream. The floodlights leave some corners of the parking lot shadowed, but illuminate Dan Heng just right. You spot him and his old ass car smack dab in the middle of all the empty spaces, just about everyone having vacated already.

“Hi, darling,” your breath syncs with the air as a wispy cloud. You kiss his cheek. “You ready?”

“I have been for the better part of an hour,” he informs you, perhaps a little grumpy from waking up so early - or it could just be that wry sarcasm rearing its head.

You find that Dan Heng is neither an early bird nor a night owl, oscillating between the two like nobody’s business. He’s up when he needs to be, including now, softened under the touch of your lips. 

And so, without much fanfare, the road trip commences. It’s notably different than the other times he’s chauffeured you around - so silent and grave. It kind of puts a damper on the Christmas spirit you’ve so painstakingly adopted, but you think twice about cranking the radio. He is the one driving, after all.  

You offered to switch with him halfway, and to his credit, he thought about it. But then Dan Heng politely shook his head and muttered something about bad weather and hydroplaning. Whatever a hydroplane is, you aren’t sure what it has to do with you being untrustworthy behind the wheel. 

The pleasant blast of the heater, the occasional robotic warbling from the GPS app, and the noise of the light drizzle outside are your more talkative companions. You’re getting antsy; you feel it in the bouncing of your leg and how you mindlessly chew on the dead skin of your bottom lip. 

Should you try to ignore it? Put on your headphones and tune out? The thought is appealing. 

Instead, you pipe up a few minutes before you’re due to turn on the interstate.

“Wanna get coffee?” you singsong. “I mean, you especially are going to need the caffeine to keep awake. Sleep deprivation is, like, the number three reason people get into car crashes.”

Dan Heng huffs in amusement. You’re glad that got some kind of reaction out of him, glad that the stoney silence has been broken. But if you’re being completely honest with yourself (which you really hate doing), this detour suggestion is just an excuse to delay the inevitable. For all of your joy, lingering anxiety chips away at your trademark smirk. 

You decide to bribe him just a little. “I’m buying.”

He turns into the nearest place without any further prodding. The coffee, which you have successfully paid for by the way, is nice. The searing light of the menu options, clambering over Dan Heng to place your orders as loud as you can because you know it’s hard for them to hear anything - fleeting memories of taking orders at your high school part-time job and all that. 

As you take the cup holder tray from your partner, ferried through the drive thru window, he speaks up, much to your chagrin.

“You’re nervous,” he says, leaving no room for doubt. You continue to situate the drinks and glance into the side view mirror, taking a sudden rapt interest in the line forming behind you.

You decide to lie. Maybe he’ll be merciful and let you work this one out on your own. “Me? Nervous? Whatever gives you that impression? Perhaps you needed the coffee more than I thought… poor Dan Heng, so tired that he’s hallucinating…” you whistle.

Gaslighting, unfortunately, doesn’t work. Persuasion check must’ve rolled off. Dan Heng says your name, soft but stilted in a way that makes your heart ache. He rolls out of the drive thru after checking the rearview mirror, his knuckles white around the steering wheel. They gain their color back after he realizes you’re staring at them.

“I’m nervous too. Extremely.” You’re back on the highway, and you fiddle with the GPS to get yourself back en route, taking in his words as they come. Dan Heng is being candid with you; encouraging. “Going back home is always an… ordeal.”

You deflate a bit, conflict warring on your face. Considering how flustered he gets when you dote on him, albeit within his limits, you can’t imagine how exhausting being fussed at from all angles would be. Not like he’s a kid, but that he’s returning home after another semester of being independent.

“Yeah, um, I can imagine. I don’t know much about that stuff, but it’ll probably be amplified with me coming with you. We’ll get through it together and have a great time.”

You say it to convince yourself more than him, but it works. Perhaps that was his plan all along?

“Yes,” agrees Dan Heng. “We will.”

The interstate stretch, predictably, is the most sizable chunk of the trip. Temptation whispers in your ears tantalizingly, the idea of a nap or two at the forefront of your sleep-addled mind. The soft pitter-patter of the rain against the windshield battling with the snow makes it even harder to resist.

So, you doze soundly in your reclined seat, nice and warm. You think you feel a hand, cold and calloused, brushing against your cheek, but fighting it would require waking up to demand he focus on the road! It retracts, and you’re out for a good long while.

You know that for a fact, because when you wake up, dawn is encroaching. The stars are still visible against the bleeding horizon. You feel much better, even if Dan Heng suppresses a smile at your expense - you seriously must look wrecked from a few simple hours of rest. Geez.

You yawn, waking up to chat. Your boyfriend looks unruffled, cool eyes scanning road signs for a place to apparently fuel up.

He tells you that there’s only about an hour or so left, the ETA checking out. Nerves flood your system, but after a deep breath and stepping out to stretch your legs, you feel better.

“Who knew you were so good at pep talks,” you tease, if not to hide the fact you’re completely enamored with him. You fill up the tank after he cuts the engine, purposefully yelling so he can hear your words through the rolled up windows. “My man, the motivator!”

You hear his ensuing groan, claiming mental victory as the pump dings. Easy. 

Staring at the signs of his hometown, a foreign sense of wonder engulfs you as you split from the interstate. Has that diner been there since Dan Heng was a kid? Did he even spend all of his childhood in one place? Should you ask, or is that too invasive? 

The trees lining the grassy outcrops are tiny and thin, likely just having been planted by the city. How much has changed since you’ve started monopolizing his time?

Your questions spill out, and he does his best to answer them - but he also seems nostalgic, wistful and pained. Your earlier revelation rings true; you don’t know much about Dan Heng’s past.

That’s slowly changing as he tells you some stories, though his words are messy and create a muddled image in your head. You don’t push too far, chattering his ear off in response to keep things lighthearted. 

(Maybe you’ll be more open about yourself too. Maybe.)

Then you careen into a residential area. It’s more suburban than you expected for a city-town hybrid of this size, streets of apartment units and then gated communities of houses. You whistle because you’re almost there, you can feel it!

“Which one is it, huh?” you pester, practically pressing your face against the glass. “Come on, pick up the pace a little!”

“I am not keen on getting a ticket this far in. A few more turns.”

True to his word, a row of townhouses come into view. They’re not massive, but the few you see are brimming with character. Full, decadent awnings and aged brick matched with just the right colors to make your brain happy. They look lived in, filled with memories that you’re eager to digest and, hopefully, be a part of.

Dan Heng pulls into the driveway of the oldest-looking one and parks. The GPS drones on, informing you of your arrival. Your anxiety has almost entirely abated at this point, thank the heavens and stars, and it’s near time to face the music with open arms.

“What a nice place! I guess we should greet them, and then start unloading?”

He nods. It’s still cold out, but less so than at school. Stepping out onto the pavement gives you a little thrill, and you trail behind Dan Heng, stuffing your hands into your jacket pockets as you stare at the front door.

It has a little brass knocker in lieu of a doorbell, and you reach out to grasp it on instinct. Your hand brushes his that had reached out at the same time.

You wiggle your eyebrows at him. 

He sighs and finally knocks after you reel your grubby hand back. It all comes down to this - kind of anticlimactic from someone else’s perspective, but paramount from yours. Who will answer the door?

The answer is immediate: Welt. The thing creaks open, revealing a tall, older man with graying brown hair and glasses. He’s utilizing a cane and looks exactly like you imagined, distinguished and fitting right into the scene with his creme turtleneck and kind eyes. He regards you both, first Dan Heng, then you. 

“You’re here early. Welcome back - and I see you’ve brought them, as promised,” Welt’s voice is warm, and you get the feeling the small smile he’s wearing is quite rare. “Come in, we’ve been waiting on you two. It’s an honor to meet Dan Heng’s esteemed partner.”

You’re utterly awestruck, responses forming on your tongue only to dissolve into garbled nothings. As you robotically follow inside, you watch as Dan Heng falls into an awkward-looking side hug with Welt - quickly averting your eyes so they can have a moment. Then, you can’t contain it anymore, speaking to your heart’s content.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot - well, not a lot, but enough,” you ramble unapologetically, taking in the decor of the foyer, “and I’m really excited to be here, you have no idea. Are those Ray Bans? You have a lovely home!”

Your boyfriend, wetting his chapped lips, communicates silently with Welt. You think it’s something like a greeting, a familial synergy you can’t quite grasp yet. Maybe it’s a warning: I am dating an idiot chatterbox, please be nice to them. 

That seems unlikely; necessitates further observation. This is just like Animal Planet. 

“Thank you, I recognize your sincerity. It’s a rare trait, these days,” he mutters mostly to himself, probably reminiscing on some mysterious past. He goes on to curtly answer your more frivolous questions while leading the two of you deeper inside. Dan Heng squeezes your hand and you share your own telepathic glance with him. 

This is going well!

The interior of the living room is striking, bearing the marks of age and care. You recognize most of the furniture as antiques - leather couches and loveseats with beautiful upholstery, a sage grandfather clock standing tall near the stone fireplace, and overflowing bookshelves that’d satiate even the most voracious of readers.

Paintings adorn every wall, not a square inch left blank. The mantle boasts many trinkets and baubles of various cultures, some of which you recognize - and some of which you don’t. Those could definitely be a great conversation starter! 

So charming, so quaint, so rich in history! You’d wax poetic and stare at each nifty little thing until your eyes bled if you could.

“Darling, I didn’t know you were so well-off! Maybe I should start calling you Mr. Old Money.” “...please don’t.”

Welt hides a chuckle in his gloved hand before surveying the room. “It seems everyone is doing their own thing. I’ll go get Himeko, she must be in her study,” he throws a look over his shoulder, uttering your name with just the right amount of phlegm. “Welcome. Don’t be afraid to make yourself at home.”

And you’re left alone to breathe for a short minute. You run your thumb over Dan Heng’s knuckles reverently, pondering aloud. “He’s so cool! He’s an animator, right? I’ve heard you mention something like that before.”

He nods. “Indeed. He’s worked on various pitch bibles for all kinds of IPs, but he’s more content on assuming quieter roles in the industry, or so he’s told us. His passion is what carries him, not the spotlight.”

“...that’s a great way to live,” you marvel. The air feels vulnerable after that, the nature of something as intangible as family running through the undercurrents of the house. “Do you think he’s right for being so humble?”

“It is not my place to comment, but… I can say that I look up to him,” he admits, giving your hand a shy squeeze. “Himeko is similar. She’s--” “--enthralled to finally meet your acquaintance?” 

A new voice cuts in. Himeko is also a vision, donning a winter shawl that wraps around a sepia-colored dress with tights, topped off with a beret. She looks absolutely stunning, and you’re overwhelmed with the urge to compliment her profusely. She stands at a comparable height to Welt, expression softened with mirth.

“It’s long since overdue,” Himeko extends a handshake which you take. Your jaw must be scraping the floor, which Welt and Dan Heng see fit to ignore.

She whips a ruby curl out of her face to scrutinize you - shit, you probably should’ve worn something nicer. First impressions and all that!

She greets Dan Heng with a hardy embrace after letting your hand go. He stands rigid.

“I was beginning to think he was making you up,” she teases. “When you both settle in, we have a lot to catch up on. Can we help you with your bags?”

You grin at your boyfriend, nudging him with your elbow. “Whaddya say, huh?”

He nods, shoulders slumping as if he’s made it past some great obstacle. 

“Great,” Welt interjects, heading back towards the front door with Himeko in tow. Dan Heng turns to you, voice akin to a whisper.

“March and Caelus are probably in their bedrooms or,” he sighs, “conspiring elsewhere. If you’d like, you can go on and look around while we deal with the luggage. It’s a lot to get used to, and you’re better off getting your curiosity out of your system.”

You gasp, splaying a hand over your heart. “You say that like I’m some unruly child! I’m not going to break anything…”

Dan Heng gives you a look.

“...this time,” you begrudgingly add.

Before he can hurry after them though, you gingerly (roughly) grab him by the collar and give him a smooch. It’s over as quick as it began, and you barely get a glimpse of his scandalized visage before you set off to explore. 

The adjoining hallway leading you out of the living room is painted stark white, all kinds of framed photographs hanging on display. Most of them are noir shots of famous people; movie stars, historical figures and the like. You stop in your tracks to look each of them over.

Some aren’t so impersonal. For example, there’s one of Himeko standing in a train station, posing on the platform with a massive and austere steam locomotive behind her. There is also a gray-haired dude at her side, pointing at the train with an exaggerated expression of shock. Caelus. And the photo’s signature - March 7th. 

Right on time, before you can continue snooping, you hear the distinct noise of bickering further down the hallway. You grin, sensing drama like a blood-sniffing shark. 

The muffled racket becomes clearer as you approach what is probably a bedroom door, and you hesitate for only a second before not-rudely throwing it open. You can deal with the consequences later. After all, this sounds more like banter than a serious argument - you would know!

The first thing you see are two figures with their backs turned to you. Pink and gray hair hunched over a desk - Caelus sitting and clicking furiously with March pointing at the one of the three flashing monitors, posing a threat to this hell of a gamer setup.

“You actually suck at this! Log off already, Dan Heng and his guest are going to be here soon,” she chastises as Caelus huffs, him dying moments later (in Pac-Man of all things). “Seriously, this is as boring as watching paint dry. I don’t know how you have so many viewers…”

You blink, scrutinizing the monitors again. Yes, there’s Pac-Man, but there’s also a live chat that seems to be going crazy, dozens of messages burying even more dozens of messages. There’s a facecam too, framing all three of you - wait, three? 

Oops. You’re live on Twitch.

“March is just a grade-A hater,” Caelus declares to his audience, “always betting against me. I’ll have all of you know that I, Whisperer of Dumpsters, Toilet Destroyer--”

A groan. “Not this again.”

They seem oblivious to the fact that you’re here, and you clamp a hand over your mouth to suppress a laugh. Clippers must be going nuts right about now…

Dan Heng never mentioned that Caelus took this career path - but then again, you can imagine he was trying to avoid the headache of you pestering him with stream references. Either way, you’re here now, and you’ll be damned if you pass up an opportunity this golden.

“They’ve been keeping me in the basement for three years!” you yell, causing both of them to jump and turn in bewilderment, “They’re frauds, kidnappers, liars--”

“We’ve been what?!” March shrieks. She’s either 1.) quickly adjusting to your improv and playing along or 2.) now wholeheartedly convinced that you’ve been held captive here under the floorboards.

The chat lags from how fast messages are coming in, and Caelus cackles maniacally before mashing a shortcut on his keyboard to switch to a Be Right Back screen. What a performance, and you also burst out in laughter, not unlike his. 

“Well, you certainly uh… made an entrance,” March grimaces, looking only slightly mortified. That sourness fades into a friendly smile as she scratches the back of her head. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. Oh my god, c’mere!”

Caelus stares at you with beady eyes as she bounds towards your form in the doorway, engulfing you in a giant hug. You feel like crying again. This was supposed to be unserious, but you can’t help but already feel at home. 

“It’s nice to meet you too. Your hair clips are so cute!” 

You exchange pleasantries for a moment before you hear creaking. Caelus has stood up now, an unreadable expression on his face as he approaches slowly - like molasses slowly. One menacing stomp in front of the other like he’s trying to intimidate a bear. You tilt your head curiously while March spins around to look at him.

“What are you doing?”

“Group hug. Bring it in,” he answers cryptically.

March wrinkles her nose. “Why do you sound like that? You’ll creep them out!”

Caelus turns to you, looking for confirmation. Immediately, you understand what you must do. This chemistry you share with this kindred spirit should be studied in a lab under a microscope.

“Collective embrace,” you parrot. “Bring it in.”

“...so you’re both weird, huh? Just great.”

You respond by smushing both of them in a crushing hug, a chorus of giggles echoing off the walls, all three of you being the perpetrators. 

This year’s holidays are off to a great start.

Things surprisingly don’t drag on. 

What that means is a little hard to quantify; nebulous like carbon monoxide. You can’t see it, you can’t taste it, but it certainly takes its toll. 

The first day comes to a close after a shared dinner, a feast, really - you’d never seen so much food in your life and you scarfed it down like a starving man in between conversation on every topic under the sun. You’ve fallen into the swing of things so naturally, and while that’s good, it’s a little too good.

You’ve never considered anxiety to be a formidable foe in your life. You carry conversation, pass the cornbread, spice up everyone’s lives (sometimes at the detriment of your reputation), and most importantly, you do it with a smile.

But after a night or two spent in Dan Heng’s almost spartan bedroom, tossing and turning, you’re starting to believe you’re in more trouble than you thought previously.

The nerves are easy to suppress when you’re bouncing energy off someone else, lost in the moment, because you do truly enjoy the socializing - but that feeling lingers.

And when you’re left with nothing to do, staring at the ceiling with a vengeance on the third night of your stay, all of the doubt catches up. It gains ground until your heart thunders in your chest.

You’ve learned that Himeko is buddy-buddy with the department of transportation, doubling as an engineer and cartographer. She’s even had a part in restoring defunct trains to their former glory, spearheading many vacations along the way. 

(You don’t deserve to be privy to such a meaningful story.) 

Caelus can’t ride a bike. Neither can you. Upon coming to this seismic revelation, he offered to take the plunge with you in an attempt to learn if you were interested. You agreed before he could even get the full sentence out. 

(You’re only good at goofing around.)

March insisted that you be a temporary proofreader for her own university essays, most of which being on topics you could never wrap your head around in a million years.

Shenanigans ensued until you ended up denouncing higher education as a whole, choosing to believe in her own freestyle structure rather than whatever hellish rubric was being peddled. 

(You’re too airheaded to help in a normal way.)

You’ve even grown closer with Welt. You two listened to the crackling of the old gramophone in his respective study, chiming in with your own thoughts on his archaic but classic music taste. There was a little bit of discussion on media preservation, your earnest passion pairing well with his own. 

(You’re coming off too strong.)

But you feel the worst about the man sleeping next to you. 

You’re supposed to be in your highest spirits, but Dan Heng has gotten good at spotting your tells. The tightness of your smile comes off as overjoyed to your new friends, but strained to him. The guilt of possibly ruining it all is unforgiving, tightened about your neck like an evil scarf.

He knows something’s up, and you know that he knows. It’s on you for not being forward about your struggles - hell, you’ve scolded him countless times about how he clams up about feelings and all that mess. You’re just a little bit of a hypocrite, then. What would you even say on the subject?

Sorry I’m such a buzzkill? Sorry I haven’t been more open with you? Sorry that I’m the actual wors--

You muffle a sob, burying your face in Dan Heng’s pillow. You just need to calm down, even if that means getting snot on his nice shams. You hiccup, and to your muted horror, the mattress creaks with movement.

Voice rough with sleep and alarm, Dan Heng calls out to you. You tense but otherwise refuse to lift your head up from your comfy sanctuary, chest rising and falling in snappy bursts.

You can’t face him like this, so tangled in everything you feel. You feel so unbelievably guilty, even if a more sensible part of you knows you’re just overthinking.

“Please look at me.”

If you’re making comparisons, Dan Heng must be the wind. Gentle and mild like a calming gale, never a torrent eager to knock you off your feet. No, he is sobering like a wayward breeze. His plea is so soft, and you only hate yourself a little bit for giving in and meeting his eyes.

His hair is sticking up in every direction just like yours. It’s not a foreign sight - you’ve slept in the same bed at least a hundred times, but the worried frown tugging at his lips is new. You sniffle and wipe your face, words a jumble of nonsense.

“Try to breathe. It’s going to be alright,” he swallows, Adam’s apple bobbing. “I’ll wait.”

That last part might sound impatient in some other context, but right now, it’s resolute - it’s a promise. He’ll wait until you’re ready, however long that will take.

You crumble, shakily inhaling and exhaling until you sit up to mirror his stance. You fumble to embrace him, which he accepts readily - not unused to your spontaneous acts of affection. 

However, there’s a stutter in his movements. He’s not used to seeing you so put out, you hazard, unable to even produce coherent speech.

“I love you so much,” you gasp.

“...is that what this is about? Or is there more?”

Dan Heng strokes your hair through your tearful explanation. You know you don’t make a lot of sense right now, but it’s all you can manage. He still listens with scholarly attention to detail, not doting or prying. He’s here. He’s here for you, just like you are for him.

The dam has burst. “Have I ever told you about my family?”

“No,” he admits. “Do you want to?”

So you tell him enough. You only paint a vague picture; recounting endless disagreements and fighting, being kicked to the curb and ostracized, scrambling to pick up the pieces of your barely adult life before being thrusted into college all alone with no one to watch out for you. You’ve only dropped hints beforehand - after all, who wants to reopen old wounds? 

Silence can be just as powerful of a response as spoken words. Dan Heng understands, you know that already, but the way he holds you is compelling evidence alone.

Dan Heng’s family is wonderful; being part of it makes you feel a little sick inside, somehow made worse by his ministrations. “It may be unfair of me to say, but… I think I know how you feel. My life before I came to live and travel with everyone was lonely. Lonely and painful, and you don’t deserve to feel that way. Ever.”

When you don’t respond, he continues. 

“But I’m now content to call them my cherished companions. And you,” Dan Heng emphasizes, syllables unsure despite his best efforts, “are one of them as well. We haven’t pried too much into what is painful, but I’ve always felt like we’ve never needed to. That was my mistake.”

He makes a point of thumbing the residue of your episode away, an apology in and of itself. Of course he blames solely himself, you muse, biting back a playful reprimand that wouldn’t land well right now. Your breathing regains a semblance of normalcy as you muster up enough gusto to respond. 

“No, don’t be silly. I want to talk to you more about our lives before each other, I think. Together, y’know? I-Isn’t that just so romantic? Being emotionally constipated doesn’t do either of us any favors.” 

Your tone has lightened, enough for him to notice and furrow his brows in concern. Given, you rebound at the speed of light, never wishing to linger on the bad - partially because sadness is unpleasant and uncommon, but mostly because you feel like you’re unable to. That’s just how you are. However, the way he looks at you is encouragement enough to move forward.

You feel better, you do, but your eyes are still red and puffy. The night outside is still cold and unpredictable.

“Whatever you need,” Dan Heng nods. He can only be so sworn in his promises - so determined - before you crack a smile.

“Alright, easy on the white knight talk,” you chuckle. Realizing how close you actually are, there’s a pause. You can smell the mint of his shampoo, and your arms are tangled with his in some kind of human knot that’d have Houdini sweating. “It’s weird…”

He stares at you, unimpressed. “I thought you wanted me to talk to you in a ‘Romeo’ way.”

You only huff, unable to come up with a retort for once, which is fine. You wipe your face again and drag him down with you back onto the bed, which he allows, because Dan Heng is too good for you and also happens to be a complete pushover. At least you can use your frazzled, unstable emotional state to get what you want.

Case in point: you spoon him. The covers assume their original position after you wrangle them to behave, holding him close from behind. A little part of you does this so he can’t see if you start up the waterworks again, but he doesn’t need to know that.

“It’ll be alright,” Dan Heng reminds, surrendering to your whims as always.

The dust settles and you’re inclined to believe him. There is still much time left, with Christmas day being the focal point of your visit, and you’re starting to get sleepy again. That’s always a good sign; sleepy, relaxed, and with a head drained of pressing worries - at least for the present moment.

Your eyes close, bereft of tears as you murmur your agreement.

To your surprise and horror, this house didn’t have a Christmas tree. It’s not like it mattered that much, but it was still shocking nonetheless. With a building exploding with life, there wasn't an evergreen decked out in ornaments or a pine covered in lights to tie the room together.

Honestly, where were they going to put their presents? 

However, you forgave this transgression a day or two later under the condition that you would be allowed to pick one out. Everyone seemed to be fine with it, with you offering to cover the cost this close to the 25th - and your determined expression that would’ve been pointless to argue with. Santa Claus works hard but you work harder.

Caelus and March jumped to go with you, much to the others’ relief, and that was more than enough hands on deck for you to hop in Caelus’s car and drive to the nearest tree farm in the dead of winter, borrowing some mittens and a cute knitted hat from March so you wouldn’t become a human popsicle before your 30s.

Uh, you did get a bit lost. You had to interrogate the shit out of the GPS and one poor local to get there; the latter was not your fault by the way! Caelus just so happened to be carrying a bat and had a concerning look in his eye. That put you in good enough standing to make it there, even if the selection of trees were picked over, leaving only the runts on sale.

All three of you turned away with your hands empty, opting to make a last minute shopping trip to the mall to buy a fake one. You were against it, but your suggestion to buy three small trees and place them really close together was vetoed. “Majority rules” is totes unfair…

But the mall trip turned into a lot more when you actually got there. Both of them ganged up on you with a reminder that you haven’t gotten Dan Heng a gift yet! Honestly, you could say you regret confessing that to them earlier, but you totally needed to hear it.

Imagine you, waking up on Christmas morning with nothing to give the love of your life! Deplorable, unforgivable, and tragically heartbreaking. 

And you had a council there to help you; people that know Dan Heng just as well as you do. 

“He’s so hard to shop for,” March had groaned, flicking through racks of clothes with a dark aura surrounding her. “Trust me, I’ve tried in the past. He always says he’s fine with anything, giving me zero hints…”

“Maybe get him nothing,” Caelus suggested after, more occupied with trying to steal coins from the nearby wishing fountain. Like one does. “You could run him over and he’d thank you politely.”

Similar experiences there. He’s always been more attuned to your wants than his own, which you’ve been trying to get him to work on at his own pace. Unfortunately, the place was about to close for the night since you already spent the day gallivanting around.

The burly mall security guard looked dangerously close to kicking your trio out, with at least one of you kicking and screaming, so you had to leave empty handed again. 

The others assured you that you’d find a present in time. You decided to go with the flow and hope that the heavens above would drop one into your lap by the day of.

Spoiler alert: they didn’t! Because Christmas day is now here, and it all seems hopeless. Well, aside from the fact that you’re all settled around the coffee table and a big, burning fire is roaring in the fireplace. 

There’s still a smile on your face as Welt and Himeko tear open their presents with wise, softened gazes. You can’t let your own mistakes ruin the moment, after all.

“Truly, thank you both,” Himeko croons, looking over her respective mug and brooch with awe. “I was prepared to perhaps play up the excitement a bit, but… I’m very impressed. Dan Heng, you’ve picked well.”

He flushes. “They helped me,” he nods to you.

“No,” she laughs, “I meant you picked a good partner.”

Before you can stammer out a reply, Welt chimes in. He’s inspecting the quality of his tie with muted gratitude - his new mug seems to only serve as a reminder that he has to drink Himeko’s coffee out of it. Hey, at least your heart was in the right place!

“I have to agree. Both of you must have collaborated seamlessly to shop for our preferences.” 

Caelus, wearing his big ass jacket that you and Dan Heng bought him, sprawls out across one of the couches like a housecat. “This is a lot better than what you got me last year, Cold Dragon Young.”

Dan Heng bristles and you burst out laughing at the expression he’s making. “Cold Dragon what?”

“Ignore them,” he pleads, lips twitching upward just a smidge; a ghost of a smile. Dan Heng really does like the teasing more than he lets on. 

March was almost reduced to tears by the jewelry dish you painted for her - which is more of a jewelry box at this point - but she recovers from her reverie and endless thank yous to giggle at your partner’s expense, something that’s swiftly turning into a group effort. “One time, we all got roped into fistfighting these bad guys in a club, and after Dan Heng took care of them--”

“I was left with no other choice--”

“--then that became his ring name. Cold Dragon Young!” she finishes. 

Himeko and Welt exchange an exhausted look. You immediately decide that the moniker is going to become his contact name in your phone until the end of time. You also start wheezing (and also kind of blushing) at the idea of Dan Heng, the near-pacifist, duking it out with someone. “S-Sounds like you guys have been everywhere…”

“...we have,” your boyfriend clears his throat. You sense a topic change, or even a segue, drawing your attention. You sit up a little straighter and wipe the comically-induced hysteria from your eyes. 

He’s looking at you expectantly with some of the earlier heat coloring the tips of his ears. The room lulls into silence as he makes his way over to the tree to retrieve a box from underneath the branches, wrapped in pastel yellow with no bow.

Dan Heng hands it over, and when your skin brushes against his for a fleeting second, you feel the clamminess of his palms.

“Oh, me next?” you blink. Shaking the thing a bit too aggressively, listening for any indication of a bomb (just in case), you get a good feel of its weight. Light and mysterious. You’re too busy making mental guesses that you don’t notice Welt shepherding the others out of the room.

“Yes. I hope you like it,” he watches as you tear open the wrapping paper and the box itself. Dan Heng is so beautiful it’s almost criminal, unintentionally batting his lashes in a way that has you swallowing drool.

You scoff. “Of course I will!”

Inside the box rests… two tickets? Your mind jumps to movie tickets first and foremost, but that’s obviously not the case; the ones here are golden with faded ridges and accented with red, sparkling as you fawn over them. Then you read the printed text lining the bottom of the thin cardstock.

The Astral Express. They’re two boarding passes.

“No way,” It’s the name of the restored steam locomotive in the picture, the very same one that Himeko told you about working on during the height of her career. “Does this mean…?”

Dan Heng drinks in the surprised part of your lips, scratching at his neck. “You mentioned that you wanted to travel. I, and the rest of us, thought you’d like to accompany us on a trip. If you don’t want to, that’s perfectly fine,” he promises. “I can get refunded, and we’ll all stay. But it’s scheduled to start the day after tomorrow and last until the new year.”

You don’t want to cry again, even if they’re happy tears, so you launch yourself into his arms as a welcome distraction. You may be imagining it, but you think you feel him slump in relief. Again. How long will it take to get it through his thick skull that he could never disappoint you?

“Duh, of course I want to! Darling, what kind of jerk would I be if I said no and made everyone cancel their plans? Oh my god, oh my god--”

“You m-may want to breathe.”

His concern is so genuine - that’s not even meant to be teasing. You scream into his shoulder, already thinking of nights spent in velvet cabins and days spent watching the cross-country scenery go by on the silver rail. With good food. Lots of it. 

“I’m breathing,” you huff, in fact, short of breath. “Thank you, Dan Heng. I love it so much.”

You pull back, box and tickets still safe in your grasp despite your earlier flailing. The magical moment fizzles, your joy stunted as guilt emerges. “But I… I didn’t get you anything. I’m so sorry, we shopped all over, and everything’s been so hectic…”

He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “I meant what I said.”

“Huh?”

“When we were shopping all that time ago,” he clarifies. “I don’t need anything but you. And with the others coming along,” Dan Heng gestures to the tickets, everyone else’s likely stowed away somewhere safe, “It’s the best gift I could ask for, more than I could ever want.”

You don’t rebut him this time.

The guilt has all but vanished, and you pull Dan Heng into a tender kiss. This has, no joke, probably been the best break of your life so far. Not to mention you have a whole new trip to look forward to, with a whole new family at your side.

Just as you think this perfect moment is unshakable, hoots and jeers break out from behind you. You whip around, dazed, and Caelus is cheering both of you on like his life depends on it.

“Wooooo! I told you they’d like it, dude! May your love burn bright for years to co--”

…then March clamps a hand over his mouth and hauls him away. 

Dan Heng is so embarrassed that he chokes on a laugh. You make sure to join him in kind, the present moment also holding the infinite possibilities of the future.

thank you for reading! it means the world to me 🎅🎁 on ao3

[sillyzel]

✨The Amazing Digital Circus Hunters AU

The players in the circus are playing Caine’s game, “HUNTINGG” or maybe, uh, they’re like bounty hunters with powers..

Each player has unique abilities and can be used when they’re “hunting” for stuff in Caine’s game! Just-, Just that, simply.

(More under the cut)

Each of the players have unique abilities. Or, yeah, weapons. They use the weapons to help hunt stuff, of course. OR to KILL stuff. Players are kill-able but will respawn. Cuz, why not? If you’re an NPC, maybe you might just, die, yeah, die.

What are they hunting for?? Duh, it’s like, for ranks or smth. Higher u rank, more powerful u become, but when u get killed by anyone, well u gotta start over again. Who knows what u can achieve if u keep that first place…

OK!1!1!1 MORE ABOUT THE PLAEYRSZSZ

Pomni - Police… with a sword.

Pomni is… yeah, that. Why? Bubble just thinks it’s cool. Yeah, she does have a gun too. Pomni’s sword can get longer and shorter, but it is limited. Sword can electrocute some bozos, but needs charging after 5 uses of electro-power thing blah blah. Gun? Normal police gun.

Ragatha - Bare hand fighter, most of the time.

She is, a bare hand fighter. KICK AND PUNCH, yeahhhhh, but uses the spear sometimes. She keeps about 3 spears in her back. Rather than using the pointy part, She usually uses the wooden part more. Pointy stuff has poison. It stings and it hurts making the area that got cut/stabbed with that feel numb. Possible cramps, ig…

Gangle - Chainy chainy stuff with a slim cutter on it’s end.

Gangle’s… weapon, can cut OFF your limbs… BUT that’s rare! Only if she did it right. Usually only cuts deep… nvm, it depends if she is using it the riiiight way! The chain can go longer, with limit, of course! Making the chain go shorter takes more time.

Zooble - FIRE STAFF MUAHAHAHHA 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Zooble. I can say Zooble is like, an alchemist? Only if it’s fire-related. Basically, ya know, Staff with fire magic. BUTTT staff might lost its control sometimes. Zooble can use the staff, whenever. There’s always a “water-looking” bottle attached to the stuff. That thing is minimizing the chances of the staff to lose control. Also minimizes the fire a bit. Zooble can take it off, for about 20 minutes while using it. More than that, it burns the whole tent.

Jax - PEW PEW guns

Some sick guns. Yeaaahhh let’s goooo!1!1! 2 small guns and 1 big gun. 3 in total. The two smaller guns work differently. One works very fast and shoots 3 bullets at one click. One just shoots one per click, doesn’t deal much damage, but will make the enemy feel not-so-good and pass out, sometimes. Big gun? Fast, big bullet. Uses are limited. Only 3 times a day.

Kinger - DARK MAGIC GUY?!?!?

Exorcist? Dark magic? Whatever. Magic book. Yeah, he uses magic book to make and control magic. Just like Zooble, Kinger’s weapon can lose control too. Rarely. Magic book has no limits. The magic just- won’t work well if it’s closed. Quite hard to keep it open, y know.

BONUS - Links Abt this thing yes.

I have a feeling it’s not gonna be so “noticed” by other people, but I enjoyed making it while boredom.

[willownwisp]

starry skies, blue eyes

ii. loving you and the little things you do. (re4r!leon x gn!reader)

author's note: no proofread i work and die alone. i write and called it a day,,, hehe,,, hurrah for second entry of leon valentine's advent !!!! this is actually two parts bc the fic on the third day follows the events after this fic. <3

cw: SFW, SILLY IDIOTS IN LOVE !!!!! part 2 of ree's leon valentine's day advent.

The baby blues melt into pink hues against the watercolor bloom skies as the sun slowly sets.

Leon presses a kiss to your temple as you both hike side by side to the camp site.

"Stay close, baby. It's getting dark soon. It's my bad, we should have gotten here earlier."

You blush and shake your head, it's not like he was at fault. Leon is a man of action, ask him what needs to be done and it is done. Perhaps it's drilled into him to obey and follow orders, or that after a turbulent run as a DSO agent, he just wanted to get away. Desperately so that the minute you impulsively chatter how romantic it would be to have a camping trip, he's on his ass getting ready that same day.

"No, lovey. It was spontaneous anyway. It's kinda more romantic, yeah?"

You giggle at him, linking your arms around his thick ones as it flexes underneath your touch as he guides you to the spot.

This playfulness earns you a sigh from him. Not one out of frustration, you know him. Know how his trauma operates in the way that there is a small cork in his heart that needed a bit loosening up before he shows his tenderness, it was a sigh of fondness from him as he pulls you close.

"Of course, baby."

He'd reply with a half-smile because you're adorable. The light to his life that seeps warmth in the cold crevices of his being. There was something in your spontaneous nature. Your laidback demeanor, and playfulness that had lured him in. A breath of fresh air.

It was almost night after that small hike, and you're currently faced with your mortal enemy.

Forgetfulness and a knot. A freaking knot.

You wanted to impress Leon by offering to be the one to set up the tent as he leaves you for a little while to gather wood for the fire.

How hard could it be to set up a small two-person tent?

You ask yourself, and this was your downfall.

Upon Leon's arrival, bringing in wood for the fire, he sets the wood down to roll his neck before removing his jacket. His muscles flexing underneath the fabric of his muscle fit turtleneck and you gawk at him like a horny teenager while pretending to be busy "reading" the manual for the tent.

Leon turns to you, oblivious to the fact that you were eyeing him.

"Do you need any help, baby?"

He asks, blue eyes and the softest gaze and fuck if he isn't the prettiest man on earth.

"Psh. Who? Me? Nah, I can do it lovey. People used to ask me for help with these you know. I'm like an expert."

A bald-faced lie, and you even had the audacity to throw a boast. In your defense, you do have the experience. The faint memory of your childhood suggests you do.

"I used to be a Scout, you know."

You give him a wink as a reassurance and he chuckles, an amused smile graces his lips as he pets your head.

"Wow, I didn't know I was in the presence of a camping veteran. I'm in your care, baby."

He replies with a playful wink, matching your energy before he turns to start the fire, busying himself with lighting up the wood and setting up the camp site.

Meanwhile you stew in the fact that you're screwed, and yet instead of helping yourself, your gaze wanders to that of your boyfriend.

You've always known that Leon is dependable. He's brilliant like that even if he doesn't see it. That seriousness in his sapphire eyes, the way he moves around to check for any hazards and dangers around the camp site. He was walking all over, completely engrossed with his tasks. Setting up the portable mini gas stove on the ground. You were just… staring.

You've always known you love him, but sometimes there are moments when you look at a person and that feeling of love washes over your being, because that's him. That's your boyfriend. The only Leon in the world, there with you. In this space, breathing the same air.

Your reverie is cute short when he calls out to you.

"Baby."

"Huh?"

You respond quite taken aback and Leon quirks his eyebrows at you.

"Are you okay? I've been calling you. Is there something on my face? You seem occupied."

He asks and you clear your throat before shaking your head to try and find your voice.

"Oh no, just… nothing."

You clear your throat again, but Leon's eyes narrow at you.

"You don't know how to set up the tent, don't you?"

He asks with a playful smirk on his lips and you respond with an over-the-top gasp of horror.

"Why I never!"

You huff and turn to tug on the little poles on the tent.

"I swear I still remember how to tie my knots!"

You exclaim before Leon looks at you and just… laughs.

A laughing Leon Kennedy is a treat, because you get to see him throw his head back in laughter, his dirty blonde hair delicately framing his pretty face and from up close you could see the mole on his neck. He was always so majestic.

You blush in embarrassment, but mainly at the fact that you were absolutely whipped for your boyfriend you can't help but admire him a like a living artistic sculpture.

"Baby."

He continues after he laughs, his arms wrapping around your waist as he hugs you from behind.

"You don't even need knots for that, all you have to do is put the poles in those holes."

He grins, looking down at your pouting face before snickering and kissing your cheeks.

"Aww, is my baby upset?"

He asks, tilting his head to get a clear view of your sheepish face, now blushing and huffing at him.

"Come on my Scout, let's put this up together yeah?"

He pulls away from you to give you a boyish grin, the look in his blue eyes is enough to get you to soften as you pick up the poles, with present pout.

Leon looks at you and he melts at how adorable you are.

Perhaps this is what makes life a little more light and a little more bright. The small things like the way you pout and the way you're already red-faced at light teasing. He doesn't say a word but only grabs your chin to plant a chaste kiss on your lips.

Short and sweet as he smiles.

"I love you. Let's go on camping trips more often."

You smile at that and nod. For Leon, this is what makes life bearable. Silly moments like this and the love that you two share.

[aegon-targaryen]

Ghosts That We Knew

Zelink Week Day 2: Fading | TP Zelink | read on AO3) | @zelinkcommunity

Link dreamed of a golden wolf.

He bounded through a forest of mist, weaving through the towering trees that stood guard over this ancient place. Link’s paws kicked up leaves as he raced to catch up. Snatches of sound caught his attention from time to time—music, voices, a child’s giggle—but he kept to his course.

Yet the bright coat of his quarry disappeared from view, and when he slowed to a halt, he found himself in a clearing he would recognize anywhere. A sword waited at its center. He was padding forward to answer its call when the golden wolf emerged from the fog, his single eye glowing with crimson sorrow.

Turn back, he said with all the terrible gravity of time. Go and do not falter, my child.

Link sat up sharply, grasping his surroundings with the speed of someone shaped by deadly times: Ordon, safety, a sword within reach, Zelda in his bed.

Zelda in his bed. A foolish grin tugged at his lips. They’d spent plenty of nights together in the castle, but something about having her here was so enthralling. She was stirring now, rolling over to face him, and he tried to wipe the stupid look off his face.

“Link?” she mumbled sleepily. “Did you have a nightmare?”

“Just a weird dream,” he assured her, laying back down under the dark oaken ceiling of his treehouse. Dawn and the journey back to Castle Town were still a few hours away. As always, a part of him longed to stay, but at least he would take with him the memory of Zelda dancing under the harvest festival lanterns, of Ordon welcoming her the same way they’d welcomed Link when he was only a lost little boy.

“I had one too,” Zelda said. “The scribe’s meeting minutes transformed into a Chu that terrorized my Council.”

He laughed. “You would dream about meeting minutes.”

“Now tell me about yours. It’s only fair.”

Go and do not falter, my child. Those words had been with Link when he dealt Ganondorf the ending blow, the final mercy, just like he’d been taught. “Well…did I ever tell you about the Hero’s Shade?”

“I don’t believe so.”

“He was a spirit, I guess. Sometimes a wolf, sometimes a skeleton in armor. He brought me into some…other realm and taught me some of his techniques.”

“The Hero’s Shade,” Zelda mused. “He called himself that?”

Link frowned, trying to remember. “I’m not sure. But it felt right to me.”

She was quiet for some time, though he could practically hear the gears of her mind turning. Eventually she reached through the darkness to touch his cheek and said, “Can you go back to sleep? Or shall we take a walk?”

Wide awake now, he followed her outside, where the harvest moon bathed the sleeping village in its silver glow. Other than the crickets singing in the tall grass, Ordon was quiet in a way Castle Town never was. Link loved his tiny room above Telma’s bar and his work in the Resistance; he’d even grown to love Hyrule Castle, because Zelda was there. But coming home was always like drawing his first breath after days underwater.

They passed by their sleeping horses and continued on to the Light Spirit’s spring. This place always felt different at night, cast in a strange glow unlike either the sun’s heat or the moon’s gleam. Zelda’s boots sank into the white sand as she wandered along the water’s edge.

“I know you don’t like to be called Hero,” she said quietly. “But—you are aware there was one before you?”

“Yeah.” Link had worn his tunic, carried his weapons, walked in his footsteps. “I figured the Shade had something to do with him.”

“He lived hundreds of years ago, but perhaps some part of him…lingered, as ghosts sometimes do.”

He’d seen plenty of ghosts as a wolf, but only one had spoken to him. Without asking a single question, the Shade understood who Link was and what he needed to learn. He’d understood the enemy, too. “He faced Ganondorf, didn’t he? Before the Sages sent him to the Twilight Realm?”

“Yes. The hero’s story is largely forgotten across Hyrule, but he was close with an ancestor of mine. She kept a journal, if you���d like to know more.”

Link couldn’t help but remember the curse Ganondorf had uttered with his last breath: The history of light and shadow will be written in blood. There had been so much weight to those words, a sense of that history reaching back further than Link could conceive, a sense that it would continue long past his lifetime.

The full force of it felt suddenly awful here in this spring, where fate had come roaring out of the forest to claim him last year, where he’d returned as a wolf and killed his first shadow beast in the same spot where Ilia used to bathe Epona. His predecessor had been hurt in the same way. All that sorrow had been evident in his rusted armor, his heavy sword, his single crimson eye.

Yet he hadn’t been alone. Link looked at Zelda and remembered hearing her name in passing as a child, thinking to himself: I know her. Remembered meeting her eyes in that tower, feeling like the sun had broken through stifling twilight to clear away any doubt: I know her.

“There was another you,” he breathed. “And there was another me.”

Her brow creased thoughtfully, such a familiar expression that his heart twisted in his chest. “I hadn’t thought about it that way, but…yes.”

“It happened before. Will it happen again?”

Zelda drew closer, glowing like magic in the spring’s unearthly light, her dark hair spilling loose over her white nightgown. She touched the scar on Link’s cheek and said softly, “Not for a long time, I hope. But if it does, we will face it together.”

.

.

.

After breakfast came the hardest part of home: saying goodbye. While Uli stuffed Link’s saddlebags with as many snacks as possible, Beth tried to convince Zelda to bring her back to the castle and make her a princess. Rusl lost the battle with his wriggling toddler and handed her to Link, who was happy to bounce her up and down on his hip until she settled.

“She likes you more than me,” Rusl grumbled.

“Hey,” Link said, tapping the Triforce on the back of his left hand. “I already had this when you found me in Faron, right?”

Rusl raised his eyebrows. “Yes. Are you wondering about your birth parents?”

“It’s all right if you are,” Uli said, pausing her struggle with the saddlebags. “I only wish we were able to find you some answers.”

Link was wondering more about the wheels of time, the Goddesses who spun them, and an ancient ghost who called him my child. “No,” he answered, ruffling his little sister’s hair before he handed her back to Rusl. “You gave me everything I needed.”

Uli inspected his face with a smile, then turned to hug Zelda, who accepted the embrace with her slow smile—the kind that bloomed so uncertainly across her face, as though she was afraid someone would come and take it away. But she held onto it this time, beaming at Link over Uli’s shoulder, and the sight made him happy enough to lessen the pain of leaving.

.

.

.

Tucked away in a forgotten corner of Hyrule Castle was a graveyard accessible only to those who knew its secrets—at least, that was what Zelda said as she waved the illusory entrance away. It felt like stepping into a different realm blanketed by silence and thick grey mist, where there had just been sunlight and clear skies on the other side of the wall.

Since the Twilight, the crooked headstones had been straightened and the rubble cleared away. The thought of her coming here alone to weave her magic through her family’s resting place made Link proud and sad in equal measure.

“I’ve…actually been here,” he admitted sheepishly. “I was looking for a key to get me inside the castle, so…I burrowed under the wall. Sorry.”

Zelda’s mouth twitched. “Don’t be. My mother, at least, would have found that amusing.”

She halted under an enormous oak tree, its branches reaching far enough to brush the courtyard’s stone walls. Link still remembered the words inscribed on the tombstone, because they’d itched at the back of his mind on his first visit: The cursed swordsman sleeps beneath the sacred tree.

“He’s buried here?”

“I don’t believe so,” Zelda replied, pulling a weathered book from the pocket of her cloak and flipping through until she found a certain page and handed it over. “This is what my ancestor wrote.”

All they found were broken pieces of his armor, the journal said. People keep telling me he could have survived. But I am old enough to prefer hard truths over false hope. He’s gone. I know it in my soul. 

Tears sprang to Link’s eyes. “Where did he die, then?”

Far away, said a voice that creaked like the branches of the old oak, and they turned to find the golden wolf behind them, his image blurring and reforming into the spectral skeleton who had trained Link. Too far.

“It’s you,” Zelda breathed.

The Shade’s gaze snagged on her face as she drew closer, and he went still, his sword hanging loosely from his ruined fingers. His translucent form pulsed in and out of being with every breath. Princess, he said in a faint whisper.

Zelda had been queen for some time now, but she just smiled at him sadly. “Have you been here all this time?”

His red eye shifted to Link. I returned when the beast did. It should never have fallen on anyone else.

“No, that’s…” Link’s throat was tightening. When Zelda touched his arm, he swallowed hard and continued. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault. You made me strong enough to win.”

And now you have won. Stay the course. Leave the sword where it lies. Do not falter as I did.

“I—I never do, thanks to you.”

Stay with her, the Shade insisted. Treasure her. Be there long enough to say goodbye.

Zelda raised her head suddenly, digging around in her cloak pocket. Link only caught a brief glimpse of what she produced—a painted miniature of a golden-haired woman—before the Shade choked out a sound that was undoubtedly, devastatingly human.

“She treasured you too,” Zelda promised. “She felt you go, and knew it wasn’t your fault. She…she wrote…” Her free hand brushed Link’s, tilting the journal towards her so she could read aloud. “I buried those pieces of armor in a garden we both loved. The cursed swordsman and all the weight he carried will rest here. But the rest of him is free. I can feel him in the earth, in the wind’s song, in the beat of my heart.”

“She was right,” Link realized. “You’re what he left behind. But the beast is dead, and we’re—we’re going to be okay. You can rest now. Is that why you’re here? Because you’re ready to rest?”

The Shade stared at him in wordless disbelief.

Zelda wiped her eyes and kept reading. “Neither of us were strangers to regret—how could it be otherwise with the lives we’ve led? But we had so much sweetness, too. It was worth the sorrow. I hope he remembered that at the end.”

I did, the Shade whispered. Of course I did.

“She would want you to find peace,” Zelda told him gently.

She…she would. Yes. I believe it’s time.

His form was blurring around the edges. Link blinked hard, finally allowing his tears to fall, and searched himself for the right words to give the spirit of his predecessor, who had fought so hard and lost so much, who had returned to help him take down their common enemy.

In the end, all he could say was, “Thank you.”

The Shade looked down at the portrait, then at Link and Zelda, huddled together in the graveyard with tears in their eyes. Write a happier story, he told them as he faded slowly into the mist, replaced by a golden wolf that bounded towards freedom.

Wind gusted through the courtyard, so sudden and so strong that Link wrapped his arms around Zelda to keep them both anchored to the earth. When he raised his head, the tears had dried on his cheeks, and the Hero’s Shade was gone.

Zelda brought the portrait closer, turning it around to study the golden-haired woman. Though the only crown she wore was a simple circlet of rubies, there was something in her proud shoulders that made it clear she was a queen. Her forehead was creased with worry lines, but her smile was bright, and her eyes…

Link took Zelda’s face in his scarred hands, meeting her gaze: the color of an early morning sky, after the dawn dwindles and a new day begins. No wonder he’d known her so instantly, so naturally. And that was before he understood what it was like to love her, to be graced with the trust she found so hard to bestow, to unravel the parts of himself only she could understand.

Maybe she was thinking the same thing, for she pressed a soft kiss to the scar on his cheek.

“I wouldn’t choose anything else,” Link breathed when he finally found his voice. “I—no matter what happened before, or what happens next…”

“I wouldn’t either.” Zelda held the portrait close to her heart, and though her eyes were her ancestor’s, that small, precious smile he’d first fallen in love with was all her own. “She was right. It was worth the sorrow.”

.

.

.

[inkovert]

Writeblr (Re)-Introduction

« A B O U T »

Hello there! Call me Ink (she/her pronouns). I'm a black female writer in my late 20s. I've been on writeblr since 2018 (according to my ~ archive ~) and I've probably made a couple intros since then, but nothing quite as organized/formal as this so - here we are!

I primarily write contemporary/literary fiction (which I know isn't super prevalent on writeblr so happy to bond with any fellow litfic writers). I enjoy writing deeply introspective, character-driven stories (I think because, I'm learning, I'm a deeply inspective person lol) so if that's your cup of tea then check out my WIP(s) below :)

Links/places to find me (if you are on any of these sites, pls connect with me! I'm actively looking for other writers to follow)

Wattpad

Instagram/Twitter: @rianeblackwell (my writer pen name!)

Random things about me/how I run my blog

I'm a dual-degree bio graduate student so I spend my days pipetting shit in a lab

outside of writing, I enjoy reading (when I have the patience and bandwidth for it), watching anime (fav: fruits basket; currently watching: one piece), (guided) painting, and...sleeping?

I am ask game and tag game friendly! Though it may take me time to respond to tag games.

You will typically find me posting my random thoughts about things (tagged: inkoverted thoughts) - as I said I am introspective af so this constitutes like 90% of what I post. my writing you say? yeah we're still working on growing the gonads to post about that consistently or at all :^)

Because I have so many thoughts, I just started a writeblr discourse series called Spilled Ink (tagged: spilled ink) so that I'm not just shouting into the void and can (hopefully) have people talk back to me and share their opinions

I am always down to talk! seriously. a message in my ask box will never fail to brighten my day so come talk to me about anything and everything.

« W I P S »

Again, unlike most on writeblr (I feel like such an oddball here sometimes), I do not have a trillion WIPs to list and advertise. I'm very much the person that prefers to focus on one WIP at a time. That said, I do have one main WIP and a side-WIP that I started out of spite (and haven't touched since):

My Dearest Enemy (YA literary fiction) | WIP intro | WIP tag | read on wattpad

a coming-of-age story about a 17-year-old aspiring artist whose artwork is deteriorating as she struggles to come to terms with the death of her father a year prior. as the story unfolds she meets a series of new people who force her to contend with the bleak reality she's settled for. the emotional journey that results opens up her world, and ultimately unearths a shocking truth.

Untitled Romance WIP (Contemporary fiction) | no tag or intro just yet

a story about a black female physician assistant living a life of self-sabotage as she jumps from one unfulfilling "relationship" to another. she's been convinced, by society and past experiences, that someone as "dark" as her needs to settle for any form of affection she can get. fairly tale love stories with happy endings don't happen to people like her. But when her crush from high school who unknowingly started her streak of self-sabotage suddenly reappears in her life, she has to decide whether it's worth giving him another chance.

[phantomskeep]

Putting the "Fun" Back in "Funeral" - Chapter 1

AO3 Link | Next Chapter

Chapter One: Furries, Cannibalism, and... The Goonion?

Danny sometimes wished he could travel through time. Don’t get him wrong! He knows the danger of messing up the time stream (Dan, Desiree, and Clockwork all taught him that much) but there are still times when he would sit on top of a building, staring at the stars, wondering what he would change given half the chance.

Currently, however, he was debating on his life choices while very much not on a rooftop.

White gloved hands shakily grasped broken concrete, slowly lifting his beaten body out of a crater in the middle of some random street. The latest ghost who had decided to try their hand at using Danny as a punching bag was one that he hadn’t encountered before. His usual roster of ghostly enemies still came by, of course. They all visited Amity Park at least once a week - if not more. However, the ghostly entity that Danny was currently facing? He had never seen them.

It was something that had been occurring more and more often. A random ghost would show up, declare a challenge against Danny, and inevitably lose.

As Danny raised himself out of his impromptu resting place, he considered the being before him. Dark, void black skin and fur greeted him. The ghost’s face was an odd cross between a horse’s and a dog’s - a long, block-shaped snout with a mouth reaching right up to under their dark red eyes. Pointed ears flicked wildly back and forth between a long mane that reached just up until the collar of the ghost’s thick golden necklace. The ghost’s choice of clothes baffled the white-haired man greatly; black dress shirt and bright, gaudy golden skinny jeans? Really? Who died and thought that was a good fashion choice?

Yeah, Danny was just as baffled.

The other ghost looked down at the young halfa, “I cannot fathom how you are the one Hotep described to me.” He sneered, clearly mocking Danny. “The great Akuris will easily defeat such a pathetic child.”

Danny gasped, mock-offended. “Well, Mr Tall Dark And Barks A Lot, I will have you know that at least I don’t dress like an accountant in the middle of a mid-life crisis.” He smirked before resting a soul-piercing green glare at the larger ghost floating above where Danny stood. “Or would it be mid-afterlife crisis?”

With that, Danny leapt back into action. He swung a powerful punch directly into Akuris’ long muzzle, causing the dark ghost to be pushed back. Amity Park’s ghostly hero did not relent on his assault, though. Danny followed the other ghost’s backwards momentum to bodily slam into his opponent’s soft belly in a move he often saw Dash pull during his football practices. The twenty-year-old halfa quickly grabbed the Fenton thermos off of his belt loop, taking the opportunity to finally capture the winded ghost.

A great sigh left Danny’s body as he hovered in the air, surveying the damage leftover from the fight between the two. It was well around two in the morning, judging by the placement of the twinkling stars. With a jolt, Danny remembered that today was the day of his coronation - exactly five years after he defeated Pariah Dark.

Originally, Danny had been told he was technically king of the Ghost Zone in the aftermath of the battle. The young ghost had argued with the mysterious time-themed ghost named Clockwork who had appeared and was successfully able to get a five-year grace period of kingly procrastination.

Since then, Danny had grown up a little bit. He defeated his alternate evil self, discovered new powers, traveled through time on Clockwork’s request, graduated high school, took a “gap year” to focus solely on fighting ghosts, and successfully never let his parents or the world know about his ghostly half. All in all, Danny considered it a successful time.

All good things must come to an end, though, the half-ghost thought as he kept staring dejectedly at the stars so far away. He knew that even though he probably should tell his parents what was going on, but the fear of everything going wrong lurked in the back of his mind. After the events of Dan, the young man pulled away from his parents’ bit by bit. It was grief that drove Danny to rip out the most vulnerable parts of himself, after all. If he had nothing to grieve about then he would never be pushed into doing something as drastic as destroying the world, right?

Jazz disagreed very heavily with his mentality, but he was fine with that.

Another sigh left the poor halfa’s body, and he re-hooked the Fenton Thermos to his belt loop. He might as well go back home to continue to lick his wounds before he had to, unfortunately, be crowned king. What a shitty Tuesday.

༼ つ ╹ ╹ ༽つ 

Later that day, at exactly three in the afternoon, Danny Phantom walked through the ghost portal in his parent’s basement. It felt almost like he was walking towards his own death - a quiet, somber affair with very little fanfare. Danny had made sure no one knew what he was up to; Sam, Tucker, and Jazz all had their own lives to worry about. He was sure that the three of them would give Danny the ass-kicking of the century for making them miss such a big milestone in Danny’s life, but…

Well, from the walk-through of the coronation his ghostly mentors laid out for him, Danny was sure this would not be a pretty affair.

Danny pulled himself from his musings as he stared into the deep green abyss in front of him. The young, white-haired ghost tilted his head forward, letting gravity take hold as the man fell into the Zone like a sort of twisted, backwards Baptism.

Useless lungs pulled in the ambient ectoplasm streaking through the air of the Infinite Realms. A parade of ghosts were waiting for him on the other side, lines of his soon-to-be subjects chanting his name. Ectoplasm-green eyes darted across the various ghosts lining the young king’s path, quickly registering those he knew and didn’t. Many of them wore clothing from various different eras, some seemingly dressed to impress their new ruler. Danny spotted one ghost in particular wearing what looked like a bedazzled bathrobe next to one whose long hair seemed to be braided into their dress. Some of the others who were cheering him on were more animal-like than Danny had come to expect, or were even completely non-humanoid. The odd shadow of a ghostly whale loomed over Danny as he turned his awed face upwards to watch the giant creature sail easily overhead with Young Blood’s pirate ship alongside it. Many loud cheers were heard from the ghostly child’s crew and large booms echoed across the infinite green surrounding them as cannons were fired. Smaller marine afterlife followed closely behind, easily marking the trail Danny had to follow to arrive at his official coronation spot with their different, bright colors. 

Even though Danny had gone over what he was supposed to do with his council, he still hesitated a little in the face of all the excited residents of the Zone. He knew, logically, that many were excited for him to take the crown. King Phantom’s reign was projected to be one of peace among the Realms, after all. However, seeing it? All of the souls - passed or created - of the Ghost Zone cheering for him?

Well, it made his core swell with a frosty sense of pride-I did this-they are safe-protect my people. It filled him with a feeling lighter than air and full of confidence, like he was actually making a good choice for once in his half-life.

Danny slowly started moving forward, waving at the Zone’s inhabitants, talking to those he knew. Pariah’s old castle had been slowly moving closer to where the Fenton Portal usually floated in the great expanse of the Realms. What used to be a two-hour flight was now closer to a little under an hour’s walk. So while Danny originally complained to Frostbite about how he didn’t want to slowly make his way there, he realized now the giant ice ghost was probably right when he said Danny’s stroll from his old haunt to his new one would seem faster than ever. It certainly didn’t feel like much time had passed at all when Danny finally laid eyes on the large, ugly castle that was going to be his.

Danny’s first order as king? Tear that eyesore down. Ew.

The thought made the young king snicker quietly, before slightly turning his head to eyeball the thousands of ecto-entities at his back. He scanned the ever-growing crowd under the watchful eyes of his various mentors. He could pick out Ember, Lydia, even that ghost who fought him that morning - Akuris? -, and so many more of his various frenemies watching Danny. 

The young man picked his methodical float back up to his new haunt. He could just barely see the figures bobbing at the front doors to the royal eyesore, though he could pick each of the Ancient ghosts out easily. Danny felt his core thrum nervously inside his chest, seeming almost like a heart with just how harshly it pulsed. Underneath his gloves, the white-haired ghost felt sweat start to form. But Danny kept making his way down to the landing where many ghosts were waiting for him to be officially crowned as king.

Danny really, really hoped he wouldn’t make an absolute fool of himself.  

As Danny looked up at the stoic figure of Clockwork, the various Ancient Ghosts fanned out beside the Master of Time: Frostbite had a goofy smile on his large face, Pandora wore a proud smirk, Ghost Writer was almost sneering at him as the smaller ghost floated next to his peers. Vortex was grudgingly gazing at the inhabitants of the Realms with his large arms crossed, and, finally, Undergrowth was completely ignoring Danny. Fright Knight, while not an Ancient, was standing alongside the various mentors Danny had throughout the years. Behind the Ancients floated many of the Observants, who gazed upon the Zone with an air of collective anticipation.

Taking a small step, Danny finally presented himself to the various ghosts looming over his much smaller figure. The halfa gave Clockwork a nervous smile, only to receive a tiny nod from the much older ghost. With an awkward about-face, Danny fully faced the entirety of the Ghost Zone steadily. He felt it when Clockwork stepped up to be next to Danny, the Ancient staying in his middle-aged form to address the Infinite Realms and her inhabitants.

“People of the Realms,” Clockwork started, his voice booming over the quickly quieting chatter. “Today is a new dawn for us. Five years ago, Danny Phantom defeated King Pariah Dark through single combat - sealing the King back into his Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. This was a task that the Ancients ourselves struggled to complete in years past,” the blue ghost paused, resting a comforting hand on Danny’s (totally not shaking) shoulder. “And as our laws state, upon the defeat of the previous Ruler of the Realms the new King must take the final step into rulership by consuming all that remains of the preceding Crowned Head.”

Even though Danny knew it was coming, hearing those words out of Clockwork’s mouth made him shudder all the same. When he turned to face Clockwork the young halfa could feel Clockwork’s concern radiating off of him, even as he still went through the process of accepting the box holding Pariah Dark’s core from Frostbite. Danny tried to focus on the box - dark red with black trims, how nice - instead of what he was about to do. This was another part of the whole “you’re going to be king” schtick that Danny complained about greatly.

Eating another person, even if that person was technically a ghost, just felt so wrong to the halfa. Unfortunately, as Clockwork opened the sparsely decorated box, Danny was about to have to become a (technical) cannibal.

Yay.

The white-haired young man cupped his hands like he had practiced weeks prior. Clockwork gently lifted the swirling pearl to place in Danny’s waiting hands. Pariah’s core, despite holding one of the nastiest beings Danny had the unfortunate luck to meet, was honestly a thing of beauty. Dark reds dueled with lighter pinks, with small bubbles of fire and electricity leisurely swirling amidst it all, deep inside the older ghost’s core. Danny almost wanted to shake it to see if it would swirl like a snow globe.

Danny hesitates for a second, glancing up at Clockwork. The ancient being floated patiently, deep red eyes boring into Danny’s own. Ectoplasm-filled air passed through the halfa’s chest as Danny carefully rolled the pulsing core onto one gloved hand, slowly bringing it to his mouth. A shudder racked Danny’s body as he quickly dropped the warm rock-like core onto his extended tongue before hurriedly swallowing it whole.

For a brief moment, Danny only felt the dizzy sensation of nausea before a blinding surge of raw power burst through his chest. His core was practically vibrating with uncontained energy and felt like it was going to push through his chest like some sort of alien baby in a shitty horror movie. The sharp sensation of pain took over Danny’s entire world, his eyes open but unseeing.

It felt like hours had passed by the time the young half-ghost’s thought process was restored. He groggily blinked, attempting to focus on the present. Strength flowed through Danny’s veins - which he dutifully ignored in favor of looking up towards the oppressing castle behind himself. The keep itself was barely shaking, little pieces of rubble spilling into the greenish fog surrounding it. A pulse rushed through Danny’s core and he was in awe as he watched the depths of the Zone light up in tandem. A shaky hand reached up to clutch at the stylized letter displayed on the halfa’s chest - Danny could feel the Zone around himself. Trying not to panic, knowing that Clockwork said this was totally normal, young Danny, he managed to give his mentor a shaky nod.

The other ghost continued on with his speech, like the last few minutes hadn’t happened. Taking a large, glowing green skull ring from the steady hands of Undergrowth, Clockwork spoke. “With the core consumed, King Phantom will bear the Ring of Rage with a fair and just hand.”

Danny held his quivering right hand forward, watching as the older ghost slowly slid the ghostly artifact over his ring finger. Holding his breath, Danny waited. He fully expected the ring to reject him - who would put him in charge of an entire realm, after all? When the sharp sting of electricity never came, the halfa let out the smallest sigh of relief. His eyes met Clockwork’s own, earning a smile in response.

When Danny casted his gaze back onto the ectoplasm colored jewelry, he was shocked to note the colors and overall shape of it had changed. Before he had the chance to further inspect it, he was interrupted. 

“The Ring of Rage is coupled with the Skeleton Key,” Clockwork continued as Ghost Writer presented the glowing key to the other ghost, “and is used to access the many realms connected to our own. The Key allows our Crowned Head to reach any of his subjects in their times of need.” With that, Clockwork waved his hand in front of the artifact. When the key was back in Danny’s view, he could see it was attached to a sturdy-looking chain. The young man ducked his head, letting Clockwork slip the necklace over his head.

Clockwork turned to face Pandora, who was holding a flaming green crown in her hands. He gently took the headwear, before meeting Danny’s eyes. “And finally, to fully become Ruler of the Infinite Realms - Land of the Dead, the Eternal Plains, the Place Between, Heaven and Hell - a crown built from the fires of her core must be placed onto the brow of the Realm’s Chosen. King Phantom, kneel before the people you are to rule and accept this great burden for them. Feel their cores with your own, their obsessions alongside your own, and the Realm will fully accept you as her Crowned.” Gingerly, Danny dropped to his knees like he had practiced. He bowed his head, closing his eyes and waiting for the Crown of Fire’s weight.

When the warm metal touched his head, Danny felt the Zone shudder. As a bright light eclipsed Danny’s form, he could feel the metal on top of him change. In fact, as the young king tried to focus on his newest headgear, he could tell he was no longer wearing the white hazmat suit he died in.

The light faded and Danny took stock of himself. Monochrome rubber had turned into fancy-looking black pants tucked into armored white boots, a tight-fitting white shirt with his logo in black blazed across his chest, and a heavy-fitting cloak wrapped around himself. Danny wanted to inspect himself more - but the feeling of the Zone pulsing through his core brought Danny’s attention to the cheering of the thousands of ghosts around himself.

Danny was flooded with the feelings of happiness-hope-rejoicing-euphoria from around him. The Zone quaked, pulsing purple lights blooming across the infinite green void surrounding its inhabitants. A smile cracked its way across Danny’s face, and he didn’t even try to hide it as he faced his subjects. The speech Ghost Writer drilled into his head fled Danny, and for just a second he floundered. Before he could drown in the bottomless pit that was his brain, another pulse of pure hope shot through his veins.

Feeling like he was drugged, Danny spoke around his smile. “When I was a kid,” he started, “I never could have imagined becoming the King of anything. All I wanted to do was go to space, to see the stars watching over me.” He let out a laugh. Usually, these days, when Danny laughed it was world-weary and bitter. Now, high on the feeling of hope, his laugh was one of joy. “Now look at me! Look at yourselves! We’ve all come so far - and I promise to protect each and every one of you. I will be your star - your light in the dark, your guide to a better future.”

“You are the people of the Infinite Realms, and it is my promise to forever keep you all safe.”

The ghosts of the Zone cheered for him. Pandora flanked Danny’s right side, Clockwork on his left. A cold presence at his back told the new king that Frostbite was behind him. Danny could only assume the other Ancients were also surrounding him, but he didn’t dare look away from the mingling bodies before himself. As one, the Ancient Ghosts let their cores hum, speaking in a language known only to those of the Zone. Before him, Danny’s subjects joined in until a swelling song of hope-peace-happiness-new era flooded his senses, leaving the young halfa to float endlessly in the feeling of pure acceptance.

That day, as a chapter of the Ghost Zone’s history ended and a new one began, a song of hope touched the many universes attached to it.

ヾ( ･`⌓´･)ﾉﾞ

Jason’s day was going pretty okay, so far. He woke up a little before noon, made himself some breakfast, worked out for a few hours, and managed to read an entire three pages of a book before he got a call from his siblings about a potential drug bust. A majority of them had recently began working on chipping away at the increasing amount of drug trading going around Gotham. Ever since Red Hood had taken a step back from his self-appointment crime lord duties, other criminals have been attempting to fill in his shoes. It usually ended in one of Gotham’s various vigilantes drop-kicking said criminals into a wall, but still. Criminals were the worst kind of weed.

So with a grumble that was half for show and half pure annoyance at being interrupted, the man suited up and made a stealthily exit out his window. Apparently he had a pre-”Curbstomping the Newest Pain in His Ass of the Week” meeting to attend with a handful of the Wayne family.

Jason can only hope he doesn’t get stuck with the annoying ones for this.

His day was still going pretty well after the initial run-down of the game plan when he and Dick, who was decked out in his Nightwing wear, finally landed on top of a warehouse’s unstable roof. They were near the edge of Crime Alley and Robbinsville, closer to the docks than Jason’s usual patrol routes brought him. Based off of Oracle and Red Robin’s joint intel, a large shipment of illegal drugs was being delivered to the Iceberg Lounge sometime after dusk. The issue came up when the question of how the drugs were going to be transferred from wherever they were stored to Penguin’s business front.

Which is where the Batkids came in, apparently.

“Comms check,” Oracle started. “Nightwing, sound off.”

“Comms confirmed, reading you loud and clear!” The older vigilante chirped from where he was stretching lazily. “Red Hood?”

Red Hood sighed, speaking up. “All good. Red Robin?”

“Also reading loud and clear. Orphan?”

Three taps cut across the comms, letting the other four know their sister could hear them all. “Awesome,” Oracle started. “Plan A is ready on Red Robin’s signal. Remember - do not engage.”

Hood slowly rose from his crouch, shaking his hands out before letting them rest on the many holsters strapped to his body. “How many times is she going to say something like that?” He stated, words practically oozing sarcasm. “Every single time we somehow manage to still end up in a shoot-out.” 

The crime lord could practically see Red Robin’s eyes rolling, “And who’s fault is that, Mr. Emotional Support Guns?”

“Shut it, Replacement,” the Hood growled.

He lazily turned to look at Nightwing, a challenging grin hidden behind the red helmet protecting his face. “Race you, Dickface.” Hood stated before turning east and leaping off the roof in a burst of speed. The helmeted man ignored his brother’s sputtering protests as he tried to keep the small gap forming between the two while they parkoured to the docks in one of the most eastern parts of Gotham.

Jason wanted to laugh, to revel in the feeling of messing around with his older brother. Despite all the bad blood still looming between the rest of the Wayne clan (adopted, blood, “family friends” or otherwise) and Jason, he wanted to make up for his past mistakes with the rest of his family.

Does this mean he fully forgave Bruce for never avenging his death? No.

But did he see the man try. Dick told Jason about the full-body cast their father put Joker in as soon as Batman could. Which was more than Bruce ever told Jason, but whatever. All of the Bat’s kids know he’s emotionally constipated on the best days.

Things were still awkward between all of them, though. Jason talked more to Dick than the rest of the Bat Clan, mostly because he was the only one between the original three who actually apologized. For being a shitty older brother, for not being there, for not realizing Jason was back earlier. Really, the older man practically apologized for everything under the sun one night while Jason stuffed his face full of fries and tried his best to not be emotional. He still needed to talk to the others about everything that happened.

However, that meant emotions and Jason? Jason didn’t do emotions.

He was a cold-blooded semi-retired Crime Lord. Anyone who said he had any emotions besides pure, seething rage was a lying liar who lies.

Even though Jason’s head was practically higher in the clouds than his body was, he was abruptly reminded that he was doing some epic parkour when Nightwing finally passed him.

“You’ve gotten slower, Hood!” The older taunted as he did a theatrical flip between rooftops.

Red Hood let out a frustrated noise, all previous thoughts of his family forcibly shaken from his brain when he rolled onto a gravel-topped roof. 

The man could tell by the state of the buildings around him that they were getting closer to the docks. Red Robin and Orphan would be further north than Nightwing and himself. The intel collected had stated there were two locations being used that night; one was a dunce, the other had the actual goods. Red Robin originally wanted to only focus on the location with the actual drugs, but Nightwing was able to convince him to also hit up the secondary location for information. So, that’s what they eventually agreed to do.

Hood looked forward, eyeing Nightwing as the other slowed to a stop at the edge of the last warehouse’s roof before the high-chained fences of the port stood. “You ready to bust some kneecaps?” Hood quipped as he walked up behind his brother.

“But of course,” Nightwing playfully scoffed, “hopefully we got the drug side of things.”

“That’s a sentence that would worry most parents.”

Even with the domino mask covering the older vigilante, Hood knew he was getting side-eyed. “And you suddenly care about what parents think?”

“Not the time, Wing.” The crime lord practically growled. He knew that was a remark aimed at the sort-of hostility between Jason and Bruce. And he was going to be the adult in this situation, thank you, Dick, and ignore what his brother said. “Let’s go ahead and get this over with.”

“Alright, alright,” the other pacified, “time to get our sneak on.”

Hood rolled his eyes, even if they were covered by his helmet. He aimed himself towards the edge of the street between the two vigilantes and the fenced in areas. With a quick drop and a well-timed roll, Red Hood was in a secure shadow cast by the metal warehouse. With a near-silent grunt, Nightwing joined him. The two shared a nod while Nightwing let Oracle know that they were about to enter their targeted site.

The larger of heroes quickly moved across the small, broken down street. Nightwing was half a pace behind him, and the two easily vaulted over the tall, barbed fence unsuccessfully keeping out unwanted civilians.

Silently, they hurried deeper into the heart of the port, easily dashing between long shadows thrown between towering cargo containers. Hood only slid to a stop when Nightwing held up a fist - a silent order to stop. A few months ago, Jason would have completely ignored his brother’s signals and simply shoved his way past him. Now, however, Hood stilled just behind the smaller figure. With a hurried gesture, Nightwing grappled as quietly as possible onto the dulled metal stacked around them, Red Hood quickly following.

Hood watched as five figures turned into the alley the two had just been. Kevlar-covered fingers caught Hood’s attention in swift commands to spread out and attempt to follow the people below them. A quick nod of a helmeted head showed agreement and Hood silently stalked his prey from his perch on top of sea-touched metals. Nightwing slowly slinked the opposite direction, going his own route to cover more ground.

The five people, dressed in stereo-typical “Goon in Hiding Garb” (as Dick helpfully named it so many years ago), continued on their journey between the containers. Their silent observant kept close watch on them, doing his best to listen in on their conversation. A fit of frustration ran hot and angry through Hood’s veins when he realized that, in order to clearly hear what was being said, he would have to plant a bug of some sort.

Which meant he would have to get closer. And Jason? He really did not want to do that.

However, since Hood was such a nice person, he would put his frustrations to the side in order to successfully plant a tiny Batbug. He was just that nice.

Hood waited until his unsuspecting targets rounded another corner to take action. Once the end of his grapple line was securely hooked, the helmeted man quietly slung down to the concrete-covered ground. After releasing the grapple’s hold, he continued after Penguin’s goon squad. He carefully peeked around a corner, took aim, and quickly threw a small robotic Batbug after them. He watched only long enough to see the tiny piece of technology successfully bounce and latch onto one of the goon’s shirt before ducking out of sight. Hood tapped the side of his helmet to turn on the listening device and stood still as voices flooded into his ear.

“-and like I was saying, Sal, some days it’s better and others it’s worse.” A woman’s tone was the first Hood could make out. “Just do what the bossman says, take your cut, and keep your head low. So long as you try to not break a lot of laws you’ll be fine.”

A younger man’s voice followed behind the woman’s, “I don’t know… The pay is good, yeah, but I’m not too keen on being someone’s punching bag.”

Hood could only presume this boy was Sal. While the man wasn’t one to put stock into guessing ages based only on the sound of their voice, Red Hood found it very difficult to even begin to think this kid was of legal age. It wasn’t that surprising, but it did make Hood’s heart ache and begin to feel a wash of rage ebb into his mind.

“Don’ listen ta ol’ Tracy, kid,” a third voice joined, this one with a thick Narrows accent. “Jus’ get the money ya need ‘n get out. Boss ain’t gonna fault ya for tha’.”

There was a small pause in the goons’ conversation and Hood took this opportunity to glance around the corner again. The five of them were further down, far enough where he could confidently follow within the shadows without being seen.

“... Thanks, Mark,” the kid’s small voice made the Pit Rage lingering in the back of Hood’s mind swell once again. Kids shouldn’t be joining the many villain gangs that lined Gotham’s streets so young. He knew it was hypocritical for the Red Hood, once most feared crime lord in Gotham to be saying, but he practiced what he preached. Kids that came to the Hood for help were given it, no questions asked. He did what he could to make sure no child in the Alley went cold or hungry. Red Hood protected his people.

The Penguin did not.

It was this knowledge, that Cobblepot was openly risking the safety of these children, that set Jason off. The leather protecting his hands creaked as he clenched his hands. He was shaking as he desperately fought to keep the rage from creeping into his vision, mentally warring with himself. Blue eyes blinked behind white lenses, still tracking the hazy figures through the toxic green fog swirling before him. 

He needed to keep following them. At a distance.

Jason honestly wasn’t sure if he could control himself if he got spotted and put into a confrontation.

Quickly grappling back onto the top of the many containers surrounding him, Red Hood continued to follow the people he was eavesdropping on. The five continued to chatter as they unknowingly led a temperamental vigilante straight to the heart of their operation.

Nightwing was keeping tabs on another group he had spotted, if the quiet commentary he was filling the comm line with was any indication. The group Nightwing was following was heading in the opposite direction of Red Hood - meaning that it was likely the older pair who had pulled the short straw of the night.

Which only caused Jason’s frustration to grow. The man really, really wanted to punch something now.

However, Jason was experienced enough in the art of “conceal don’t feel” to not let the raging emotions burning his inside explode outwards. He kept on task, easily keeping up with the small figures below him in an awkward half-crouch.

It was when the small group made it out of the corn-maze inspired cargo storage system that everything went right into the shitter. A massive, green-painted ship swayed gently in the tide, her mooring lines quietly creaking with the strain of keeping such a large vessel moored. Red Hood quickly attached his grapple to a parallel line of containers stacked in the direction Penguin’s goons were heading in. The near-silence of the night, however, did nothing to hide the shocked gasp as the feeling of absolute peace overcame Jason halfway through his leap to the other side.

The worn handle of his grapple gun slid out of Jason’s grasp as he plummeted to the quickly-approaching concrete. Luckily, the man was able to twist enough mid-air to land across his side. Unluckily, he landed directly behind the previously stalked squad of goons.

A quiet, “shit” was all Hood was able to say before the raggedy bunch turned to face him. The man quickly jumped to his feet, pulling out his dual pistols in the same movement. He did his best to try to compartmentalize the growing panic in his chest. Hood kept reaching for the giant void so often full of swirling rage and finding nothing.

He fired rapid shots at the scattered goons, striving to not shoot the smallest one. However, for all of Hood’s training, nothing could have prepared him for being in the middle of a firefight while actively seeking the very cause of all his problems.

Shooting a well-aimed bullet through a hispanic-looking man’s knee, Red Hood rolled behind a sun-bleached blue container. The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps made Hood whip around, coming face-to-face with another three of Penguin’s goons. He could also see two suspicious figures booking it down the ship’s gangway. Hood knew he could handle a fight like this, widening his stance and taking lazy aim at the hostile figures. His first shot went wide when a pulse of hope-settled-forgiven rushed through him, leaving Jason’s eyes useless and his legs shaky.

A bullet piercing through the body armor on his shoulder was barely enough to bring the man out of his head, leaving Jason to realize he was about to be surrounded if the feed from the Batbug was to be trusted. The distant phantom feeling of lounging in the sun, on his favorite chair in a giant, book-filled Wayne Manor library made Jason realize something was wrong. What should have been pain was only half-baked fuzzy feelings of warmth and comfort. It was enough to cause Jason to shoot wildly around himself, bringing a hand to clumsily tap on his helmet. When the man finally heard feedback from someone else’s com, he drunkenly slurred to whoever was listening.

“I-I need b’ck’p,” the hooded man said, firing a shot that went through a goon’s abdomen, “‘m drugged?” Jason couldn’t help but giggle as a smaller body got closer to him, turning his near-unresponsive body to slam the other into unforgiving concrete. An armored boot smashed the goon’s head against the ground. “Hemlo to ya’, too!” Jason laughed as the voices of his siblings flooded his ears.

Another burst of gooey happiness reverberated throughout the crime lord’s body, causing his vision to blackout again. He turned to see a woman with a gun pointed at him. She was the last one left, Jason blearily noticed, her friends’ broken bodies scattered across the ground around him. When did that happen? Jason doesn’t remember them playing, he thought with a frown. It was only when a black-clad individual backflipped into Jason’s narrowing view that he realized Dick had shown up at some point. 

“Big Bir’!” Jason cheered as his brother smoothly took down the last person playing. “Ya go’ ‘er!” His vision went dark again, but the feeling of something rapidly tapping his cheek brought the world back into focus.

“Hood, Hood can you hear me?”

Jason groaned in response, weakly pushing at his brother with heavy arms. “Shhhh,” he hissed, “‘m try’ng ta l’sten!”

Dick’s masked face, darkened with spots of speckled blood, danced with black spots around his vision, “Hood, what do you mean?” The older one asked.

Instead of responding, however, Jason’s body decided that talking was too much work. A peaceful feeling overtook him as he fell unconscious to the increasingly worried voice of his big brother, and a song of hope sung deep within his being.

( ुᴗᵨᴗ)ु.zZ

A/N: Hello! Please pardon any bad writing, it's been one hell of a hot second haha. Anyways - this has been an absolute labor of love from me. I've had this chapter finished since mid-February but a combination of my jobs, schooling, and a big editing block made it hella late. That being said, huge shoutout to my two betas @the-archer-goddess and Aerois! Legit could not have done it without you guys <3

Taglist: @vixen-uchiha @apointlessbox @mentalcarebear @asphyxia778 @horribly-lost-and-gay @may-rbi @blacksea21090 @kyrianclawraith (Hope I got everyone! If you want to be added to or taken off the taglist feel free to ask <3)

[skibasyndrome]

Hey Simon 💜,

1, 2,4, 36, 39, 41, 46 and 47 for the fanfic ask :)

Hope you have a lovely weekend!!

Hi Sophia 🥰 Thanks so much for sending in an ask! I'll try my best to reply with the tiny catalog of read fics I have available haha.

favorite fanfic of all time

I cannot possibly answer something as... final as this lmao. I'll just name my recent faves again (sorry for tagging you guys again):

The most beautiful boy by thelovelysarcastic (not on tumblr? idk?)

Treasures and Treachery by itsme_hi_imtheproblem/@iwouldnevergetintofanfic

Ivy by unfortunate17/@unfortunate17

2. favorite writer of the fandom

You see... now I have a very similar problem, lmao. Toooo many amazingly talented people whose writing I am obsessed with, to possibly decide, but I'll give a few definite faves:

@earlgrey-lateatnight (RubyIntyale), @ungaroyals (embracedthevoid), @unfortunate17, @darktwistedgenderplural, @iwouldnevergetintofanfic (itsme_hi_imtheproblem), @stretchoutfics (strechoutandwait), ... (and I'm sure I'm already forgetting people and fics arghhh)

4. the fanfic you would recommande for somebody not in the fandom

Honestly? All of my favorites.

But I actually did send a link to you can stay by origamifrogs/@princewillesothermom to my bf @alkalinetrios yesterday because I was like "I don't care that you're not involved, you HAVE to read this". (it's beautiful and heart-wrenching and a masterpiece)

36.   your favorite trope

So if we're learning one thing here today, it's that I am highly indecisive. God, I love so many tropes. I think it'd be easier to ask which tropes I don't like, I guess?

But I definitely love a good slow-burn, a good friends-to-lovers or enemies-to-lovers or strangers-to-whatever-to-lovers with everyone suffering from being painfully in love. I guess I just very much love reading about them falling in love and being dumb about not noticing that it's mutual lol. Yeah I think that's it, something like mutual, very lovesick pining.

39. a trope you would like to see (more) in the fandom

Oh idk, I don't think I have enough of an overview to really say something I missing, but as a never-fully-recovered former emo kid I'd love to see some more of the stuff the MCR fandom had for example, like idk... vampires obviously, but also ghost stuff or like tragic angsty historical fics or idk. I guess just some dark stuff? For funsies lol.

41. How do you choose the fic you read

Firstly it's gotta be Wilmon-centric, then I look at the word count, and compare that to how much time I have lol, then I read the summary and idk? I guess either the writing style needs to catch me immediately or it needs to be some original premise. Or a retelling of one of my favorite scenes, that also catches me lol. So I guess I just base what I want to read on the summary. Oh, or a trusted mutual/friend recommends it!

46. did you stay awake up to an veeeery unreasonable hour to finish a fanfic

Yeeeeeeep, very much do that, probably too often. Sometimes my eyes will be falling shut, but I tell myself I gotta push through, there's only x chapters left lol

47. WIP or not WIP

Yes WIP!!!! I love WIPs for soooo many reasons, most of all because it's such a fun journey and because the waiting just kind of heightens the excitement for the next chapter!

Send me a fanfic ask

[barramundi]

my twilight princess journey: enemies to lovers apparently

A few days ago I beat the legend of zelda: twilight princess for the first time ever!! and man...... i am not okay (positive)

I've always been a HUGE zelda fan, ever since I was a little kid. i literally can't remember a time I didn't have zelda in my life. so much i used to spend all day long playing majora's mask with my older sibling and i remember how i knew there were other zelda games but i thought all of them would look like oot/mm... and then twilight princess was announced. and i thought that was the most beautiful game I had ever seen. i fell in love with midna and i thought link was just so handsome and cool... unfortunately i never owned a gamecube and apparently my sibling was not really interested in twilight princess, so... time went by and i never had the chance to play it.

and then, back in 2012, 10 years late, 14 year old me heard of the wind waker for the first time. i immediately fell in love with the art and i HAD to play that game. i owned a Wii at the time and i remember feeling disappointed realizing WW was for the gamecube but then FEELING EXCITED REALIZING THE WII COULD PLAY GAMECUBE GAMES. i fought really hard to be able to play the wind waker. and i did!!! i played it way too much probably. i always say it's at least my top 2 zelda. sometimes even top 1, only losing to majora's mask.

and twilight princess remained unnoticed........ until I noticed it... negatively

back in the day people used to hate a lot on the wind waker because of the graphics and art style. and what they would compare it to to say the graphics sucked?? twilight princess. "TP good dark mature awesome!!! WW bad stupid kiddy game!!" UGH i was outraged. i had to stand up for my favorite game!!! before i even noticed, i already hated twilight princess.

i had some (bad) reasons like being under the impression that TP was trying way too hard to be dark and gritty and realistic and that it took itself so seriously it made it look stupid. and i would compare it to majora's mask's effortlessness in creating a depressing but beautiful atmosphere without having to be visually dark. "TP wants to be MM soooo bad it's embarrassing hihihi!!!" oh shut up you never played it, weirdo!!!!

anyways, fast forward to may 2023. nintendo releases tears of the kingdom and with it apparently the end of the old zelda format. i was so devastated and sad... ever since botw, i was hoping for a new old-fashioned zelda game; and now it would never come... but still i was longing to play a zelda game. i wanted to GET THROUGH DUNGEONS, SOLVE PUZZLES, DO COOL SIDEQUESTS FOR FUNNY CHARACTERS!!! but i didn't want to play the ones I had already played again... i wanted something new... but what!!!

i looked at twilight princess, twilight princess looked at me.... i thought "welp... i guess I wouldn't be able to run from you forever". and off i went to hyrule... or rather, to ordon village

at first I was sincerely shocked by how much TP felt like the wind waker. same engine, similar combat (but greatly improved), same sound effects, the yellow rupee... i was jokingly saying it was the wind waker's evil twin lmao

when i got to the first dungeon, it finally hit me: through all these years, what the FUCK did I think twilight princess was gonna be other than... *SHOCK*... A NORMAL ZELDA GAME?????

A VERY GOOD ZELDA GAME???? T-THE BEST ONE????

remember all that talk about trying way too hard to be dark and gritty?? dude. what the fuck. this game is fucking adorable. midna is SO cool in a sweet way, the songs are great and honestly this is my favorite link ever. i always looked at him being marketed as a MANLY MAN THE MOST AGGRESSIVE REALISTIC LINK GGRRRR LOOK AT HOW DEEP HIS VOICE IS!!!! reality: he is the cutest link. literally the cutest most adorable link. bless him forever. i want to hug him so bad............. i am going to pass out (positive)

also midna and zelda. they are dating.

so yeah, there i was having an absolute blast with this game. it has the best dungeons I've ever seen. (except for lakebed temple. i hate lakebed temple. good thing arbiter's grounds is the best dungeon in the entire franchise.)

anyways I got to temple of time and then my PC fucking gave up and i had to go get it fixed; i lost all my progress and cried myself to sleep but then i pulled myself together and went through it all over again. and i would do it again. because i love this game. i finally beat it 5 days ago and i can't stop thinking about it. might just as well start another run honestly

twilight princess has now surpassed most zelda games I've played and is comfortably sitting under majora's mask and the wind waker as my 3rd favorite zelda game. but there is a twist: i haven't played MM and WW in years and i kinda needed to play them again just to confirm or change my ranking. the problem is that i just don't feel like playing them. 'cause i just want to play twilight princess!!!

so yeah, with a new personal record of 17 years of delay, it still feels kinda weird to say that twilight princess might just be my favorite zelda game ever. 🙏

that's it bye

[bluesdesk]

Hello!! I know I’m really inactive but I've joined the CTCGiftx2024! My giftee, @najikasunart, wrote some prompts that I tried to mix (hopefully into something that makes sense XD), and damn I really loved working on the resulting fic!

I think it might be one of my best fics so far, if not the best! Here it is!

Sky and Wild centric! Hurt/Comfort, nobody dies, there's some blood! And some happy moments at the end, 8008 words :D

You can also read it here, under the cut!

Words (and their consequences)

Sometimes a bad choice of words can cause one to be hurt. Other times, those words might destroy who happened to hear them. The latter is way rarer, but when it happens, it's really difficult to get those words off the mind of a scattered person. The heroes know it well. One time they were talking about magic, at the beginning of their adventure, and Warriors, not paying attention to his words, and still mad at Cia, said that dark magic was the worst and everyone using it should be damned. Twilight took it really badly, and decided he'd keep his wolf form a secret. Four got silent and left the conversation. Legend took a couple of rings off his hand and put them in his bag. Warriors noticed, and gave them his most sincere apologies, but Twilight couldn't get past that and kept the secret until he could, until the damn lizalfos almost killed him.

Of course, the heroes aren't perfect nor do they know everything that might hurt another companion. They try their best to avoid any topic that could be triggering, but battles can be exhaustingly hard, and make the chain forget.

This time, they were fighting against Dink again, that had chosen to shapeshift from lizalfos to Dark Twilight. Days had passed since they left the unknown Hyrule, they had other smaller battles, and traveled through a few portals. Twilight had recovered enough to fight but he surely wasn’t in perfect shape. The monster, now a dark silhouette, had passed days in contact with Twilight, a part of it getting into his system and studying every single inch of him, until Hyrule’s magic was too much for it to handle and it left the body allowing the rancher to heal. Anyway, Dark Link had enough info at that point.

The battle took place in a vast field, no sign of recent civilization, the grass looked wet and a bit slippery. They hadn’t gotten the chance to look around and recognize the era, as they hopped off the portal and found Dink standing there, eyes red, holding what looked like a sword behind his back, and with a horde of blue and red bokoblins behind. Sky felt like something was oddly familiar with that weapon, and realized in shock the Dark was holding Demise’s sword. If Ghirahim was there too, the battle was going to be a bloodbath! With a scream, badly sounding like a “hyaaa”, the Dark unleashed the other monsters, before Sky could say a word. They were from his era. They were in his era.

And so it began, the heroes trying to come up with a plan as fast as they could, Sky instructing them, shouting while fighting, on how to handle those monsters. In the meantime, Time and Twilight were the closest to Dink, as it was mimicking Twilight’s movements, Twilight’s best movements, from when he didn’t even have a scratch. The two heroes had noticed, and chose to defend themselves rather than attack, to at least tire it and distract it from attacking the others, who were fighting the secondary enemies, moving as fast as they could to reduce their number and then help with Dink. Warriors went closer to Sky to confess he somehow knew the demon lord and the imprisoned, yes it wasn’t the right time for that but he felt the need to tell him what he faced must have been at least terrible. Sky had only enough time to reply with “yeah”, and then back to swinging his sword, parrying with his shield, and mostly concentrating on the goal: clear enough monsters to go help Time and Twilight, and maybe face Ghirahim if he was still in there.

He hoped Ghirahim was at least asleep like Fi.

A blue bokoblin targeted him and he dodged the attack, then proceeded to cut through its skin. It attacked again in vain, Sky already knew their tactics. With the last swing of Fi, the bokoblin fell on the ground, screamed, then disappeared, leaving only black blood behind. That wasn’t any news for them, of course, given the fact Dink was right there. Another blue bokoblin, another precise sequence of attacks.

And then another, another…

Until someone screamed. One of them. Warriors was next to the chosen hero and wasn’t hurt, Time and Twilight were still around Dink, Hyrule was running towards a bloody Wind. Wind’s right side was bleeding! Sky rushed there to help, those monsters were from his era, they should have all targeted him, not Wind! He was there quickly enough to stick his sword into the abdomen of a red bokoblin, luckily that was enough to put it down. He proceeded to cover Hyrule as he carried Wind away to get medication.

Less heroes, but less enemies, he thought. Just one, precise stab, and an infected red bokoblin was gone. The others were having a harder time with them, maybe it was Fi’s power to be unbearable for the monsters.

He continued slashing and parrying until he felt like he was going in a loop, something was wrong. Giving a better look at all the area, he noticed the number of monsters had remained exactly the same. They were respawning… Ghirahim could do that, he once spawned them to prevent him from reaching Sun!

Hyrule ran back to the battlefield, Sky signed him to take his place, while he turned around and joined Time and Twilight, informing them they needed to destroy that sword first or all their efforts would be in vain.

Warriors heard that and joined them. Now four heroes were against Dink, Wind was out and the other four were slowly moving behind to be back to back with the first quartet. They’d defend them as they tried to destroy or damage Demise’s sword. As Sky imagined, Fi was fighting her own battle against Ghirahim, both still into their respective weapons, both half asleep, but they were there.

While Time, Twilight and Warriors attacked Dink, Sky was trying so hard to hit the sword and shatter it.

But the Dark was swift. After several times he was losing hope… then saw a feeble blue light coming from the Master Sword. Was Fi helping him somehow? He concentrated. Just one, precise, fast motion. Now!

The Master Sword clashed with its counterpart so hard everyone heard it. The weapon fell from Dink’s hands, the tip into the ground. When he gave Demise the fatal blow, the sword fell in that same way, then disappeared. He thought he had destroyed it along with the demon deity. And this time, it disappeared too. Was it enough? He didn’t know, but took the chance to swing Fi directly at Dink as it was unarmed.

Dink dodged and laughed maniacally, as the sword reappeared right in front of the hero’s eyes.

Sky couldn’t believe it. The following blow sent him out of the battlefield, right where Wind was resting, his back hit a tree and he screamed in pain, both for the impact and for the blood coming from a dangerous scar on his chest. Luckily, he had an enhanced red potion. His condition was so bad, he had that potion that could be used twice, and drinking only half meant his recovery would be full but take one hour at least…

He swallowed it all.

It took him ten minutes to be able to walk again, too long minutes, in which Warriors was hit on the head, lost consciousness, and was rescued by Legend. Yes, Sky should have waited more for the potion to have full effect, but he didn’t care, he had to get back there. He couldn’t make another “brother of the sword”, as Wild liked to address them, get hurt like that! Yes, when he met Legend and Wars on his way back to the field, he had a spare normal red potion he could give the captain. No, he didn’t have another one besides that. He only had a last resort he had never used during this adventure. Only one. Immense power, invincibility, then total exhaustion. He hoped he could avoid using that.

When he got there again, Hyrule scolded him for getting up too soon. He needed to rest, or he wouldn’t heal properly, and anyway he would be vulnerable as he wasn’t at his best! Sky knew he was right, his back was still hurting, but now it didn’t matter, he didn’t have time to listen to him, so he turned away and faced the other heroes and… Dink? Where was it?

The faces of the others turned from confusion to horror when a scream reached their ears and Sky turned around again to see Hyrule with a huge cut right where Twilight got his. The Dark had taken advantage of that short discussion to attack him easily. Sky and Legend shielded him from the other monsters as the traveler healed himself, his magic was just enough to make the wound not fatal, he then fainted, and Legend carried him away, next to Warriors and Wind who were slowly recovering but in no shape to fight. Without the healer, Wind, and Warriors, and everyone else getting tired, the hypothesis of a defeat was getting closer.

Dink reappeared next to Time, who managed to parry without getting hurt. Sky had helped Wild with the bokoblins while Legend was out of the battlefield, then went back to join Twilight and Time as they circled Dink. They were tired but they’re excellent fighters, and with a lot of concentration, Sky managed to make the Dark unbalanced by hitting Demise’s sword other times, and the other two took advantage of that moment to impale it with their swords, causing the dark to scream in a voice that sounded like Twilight’s but distorted and horrific. It laughed maniacally again, and the sword went floating above everyone. It had really woken Ghirahim up. Sky got ready. Everyone looked up for a moment but Twilight took a second too long, he was so tired, almost at his limit. For the lack of dark blood, Dink turned back to its formal lizalfos shape and hit Twilight right on his still healing scar with its heavy tail. The pain and exhaustion were so strong the rancher fainted. Without looking back or stopping at all, Dink had run away and disappeared in the forest around the field.

Legend, Four and Wild noticed the bokoblins weren’t spawning anymore, and went back to reduce their number. Time took Twilight and brought him away, feeling his rage increasing. Of course he would heal quickly this time but damn it, it still hurted. And moreover, they had 4 heroes unable to fight! This was the worst battle ever, and it could go even worse. Wind and Warriors were awake and reassured him they were going to be fine, Wind’s side had a huge scar instead of a deep cut and blood, but his strength was yet to be restored. And Wars had a huge bump on his head, and Hyrule and Twi were k.o.

In the meantime, the moment Sky was sadly waiting for happened. Demise’s sword emanated a disgusting red light, and in no time the heroes were facing the man with a pale skin, a red cape, and a strange hairstyle. Ghirahim’s target was Sky of course, but the chosen hero was ready and blocked all his attacks. He knew him too well to commit any mistake. Time came back, he was furious. Sky looked like he was keeping up well. Like the other time, he could help the others with Din’s fire. Then, everyone would be free and they’d all concentrate on Ghirahim. It could work. Maybe the fire would startle the enemy a bit too.

So Time went for it, a sphere of fire emanated from his sword, magical fire, that destroyed all the smaller enemies without hurting any of the heroes or the nature around. Ghirahim though didn’t even flinch, instead he quickly left Sky alone and targeted Time with his red diamond shaped blades. Time was on his knee, about to stand up after using the spell. Sky was quick enough to notice his enemy was about to change the target and shouted “shield!”. Time took the mirror shield and protected himself from all the blades… except the one stuck just above his knee. He held back a scream of pain and stood up when the magical blade disappeared. Ghirahim laughed and walked closer and with his hands was about to create another set…

When his arms dropped and his expression changed to anger and pain. The Master Sword firmly in his shoulder, Sky holding it tightly with both his hands.

Everyone knew that wasn’t enough but the damage was surely high. Ghirahim lost his temper, leaving Time alone and turning back to Sky with a crazily furious face. “I never imagined you’d become this quick”, he said with his voice sounding way more metallic and serious. “But you know I can do much more than this!”.

Everyone watched as Ghirahim changed shape, color, and nature. Almost everyone, except for Sky and Warriors, had been questioning how a human could appear from a sword, now everyone knew ghirahim’s true form. Legend, Wild, Four and Time walked closer to help Sky, but Ghirahim sent them away with something like an energy wave, as a circular gate made of diamond shapes appeared around him and Sky. Legend and Wild tried to run into it, jump over it, damage it, but nothing worked, it looked like they had an invisible tall wall all around. They realized they could do nothing but watch. Legend went to check on Hyrule and the others, he and Twilight were slowly regaining consciousness. The others looked for any potion, or fairy, or anything that could help Sky after the match in case he got hurt (again) and realized in shock they had no red potions left. Nor stamina. Only some magic ones, Hyrule would most likely use them to heal the others but he still wasn’t ready.

Four’s mind felt so divided and it wouldn’t shut up. His worries, sometimes Green’s, sometimes Red’s, for his friends clashed with Vio’s and Blue’s questions about Ghirahim. Was there a way to defeat it? The sword itself? Or was it going to disappear again and reappear later to doom them all? If it could be destroyed, why hadn’t Sky done it during his adventure?

Wild had some meals left but nothing with enough healing qualities, he surely couldn’t give him a ton of like… apples, to reach the properties of a potion. He was getting terrified. Ghirahim was no other than a demon god’s servant, assistant, and weapon. Ghirahim’s master was the source of all evil. And Sky was already tired and hurt, and he had no potions and nobody could help. If he allowed himself to loosen the guard for a millisecond, Ghirahim would kill him with nobody able to stop it! Were the heroes going to lose a member for real this time? Was he about to lose a brother of the sword again? He needed to stay calm and avoid acting like days ago, he had promised Four he wouldn’t lose control again.

And Sky and Ghirahim were fighting. Sky's movements were precise, but certainly not his best. Maybe he was just so tired. After long minutes of swords clashing Sky felt the exhaustion and the pain increasing rapidly, Ghirahim laughing, that disgusting noise making the situation even harder and more hateful and he damn knew he wouldn’t win like that, he would collapse. Why did he feel pain again? Did he get new injuries? He quickly found himself unable to do anything useful, he was just defending himself. He couldn’t move enough to attack. He was getting slow. The others outside the gate were watching the show breathlessly.

Sky’s last resort was there, the white colored potion. He hesitated a bit, while dodging a set of diamond blades. He had to drink it. He’d destroy Ghirahim, and get his damn rest. When he got the potion, Luv and Bertie told him to be extremely cautious and only use it when he had no other option. He’d be too exhausted to fight at all after the three minutes of invincibility, he had to be sure to defeat the enemy in that short time.

He couldn’t wait anymore.

He gulped it all in one sip, and in no time felt his energy coming back, his strength increasing, his skin getting thicker. A diamond blade was thrown at him, it met his arm, stopped and fell, like it had impacted on a wall. No scratches, no pain. Sky felt like a superhero. Three minutes were enough. He charged at Ghirahim, Fi was pointed towards the enemy’s huge diamond on his bust. This time, it was Ghirahim trying to defend himself how he could. Could a sword spirit feel fear? Sky didn’t know. Three minutes.

The others were all watching, Time could almost see himself wearing the Fierce Deity mask and fighting Majora in Sky and Ghirahim. They were all surprised and even Wind got closer to the gate to watch.

Finally, they heard a scream, and glass shattering. They all stood up as the gate disappeared, and looked at Sky, the most furious he could be, standing still with the Master Sword in hand. At his feet was Ghirahim, with his diamond broken. Sky was taking deep breaths that slowly turned into panting, almost wheezing, and then a smirk. He had really done it! He couldn’t believe in himself, he had destroyed it!

The three minutes were ending. The others didn’t know anything about the potion nor the side effects.

In no time Sky felt like he had been struck by lightning, his movements got so slow and then he couldn’t move, he was just… standing there, unable to do anything other than breathing. His right arm, with Fi, was slightly shaking. He realized he couldn’t control his body.

His relief and satisfaction instantly turned into terror. What was happening to him?

Like his fight with Demise, his enemy had gotten a fatal wound. Right in the chest. But somehow, for he didn't know what force, the enemy still had the strength to pronounce a last sentence.

Ghirahim lifted his head, and a forced laugh came out of his mouth. Sky wanted to stop him, give him another final blow, end him once and for all. But he couldn't move. Even his voice felt stuck there, and now his hand was visibly shaking and he still couldn't do anything about it!

And Ghirahim started talking, Sky couldn’t concentrate.

Was he stuck there? Was he going to cast another curse? Was Sky going to die right then because of all the potions he took in a relatively too short time?

Wild appeared in front of Sky, furious, with the Master Sword in hand, that he quickly pressed into Ghirahim’s already broken diamond with all his force, enough to make Fi stick in the ground beneath him. Ghirahim's sentence ended with a choked wheeze, in the middle of a curse he was about to cast but then lost all its value. In no time, only a broken and powerless sword was left, that Wild put into his slate for later.

Wild must have taken Fi from Sky's hand, though the chosen hero hadn't noticed, or felt, anything.

Only that his head was spinning and the pain from before he took the guardian potion had come back stronger and he felt like falling but his knees didn’t bend at all.

Wild quickly and quite scarily turned his face to Sky. Oh Hylia he was so angry. He looked so done.

“Why didn't you finish it?”

He raised his voice.

“SKY. WHY didn't you finish it??”

Sky was really trying to answer. His voice came out so low it looked like he was whispering.

“I…”

The world got blurry. Everything had happened in like 2 minutes. From when Sky stopped moving to when Wild talked. Was he slowly losing consciousness, was he slowly fainting? Sky felt like he was going to fall any second now, he just wanted to rest, to move, to scream. But Wild didn't seem to understand, maybe from the outside Sky looked better than how he really felt. Wild spoke again.

“You what?? It could have cursed us! Or killed you!”

And yes Sky now really felt like he was a failure, if he and Ghirahim were alone that monster would have cursed everyone and then killed him with the remaining strength! Sky knew it! A failure! And he needed to scream and the world was spinning and his ears were ringing so loud, he was about to faint and Wild was right there in front of him literally showing him how easy was his one job he didn’t do!

“YOU DESTROY THINGS NOT ME!”

was the only thing coming out of Sky's mouth, sounding so broken, and so loud.

“AT LEAST IT'S A THING! YOU CAN'T EVEN DO THAT!” Shouted Wild. He had snapped again.

And after that, Sky finally fell. Heavily on the ground, pale.

Four reached Wild, his eyes so blue, and looked him right in the eyes, getting mad at him for losing his temper again. Wild came back to senses, Fi still in his hand. He left her on the ground and quickly kneeled down to help Sky, rambling, a sequence of “Oh Hylia” and “I’m sorry” escaping from his mouth. How hadn’t he noticed anything? Sky had been right in front of him, surely already pale and dizzy and unable to move, and he hadn't noticed anything! He let his anger towards Dink, Ghirahim, his own failure and fear to lose another one, and who knows what more, win. And of course he wasn't angry at Sky at all, he was extremely worried he could get killed or cursed by his enemy in its last moments that he didn't really look at him and notice Ghirahim wasn't the main problem there. The same had happened with Twilight. Four had helped him again. This time, though, Wild had snapped back to his senses much faster. He could help.

Sky's heart was beating… too slow. His breath wasn’t normal. Something was so wrong there, pure exhaustion couldn’t make one so messed up. He alerted the others and Legend quickly ran to Hyrule.

In the meantime Wild tried to wake Sky up, but nothing worked, and he started crying. The downfall duo came back and the healer examined Sky. His wound from Dink had closed in a too forced way, too soon and thus too badly. His back looked bruised and hurt, like if a vertebra or 2 were in the wrong position and pressing against his skin. He was full of fresh smaller cuts, almost the same one Time had gotten from the diamond blade. But the main problem there was inside. A cocktail of potions, as Hyrule defined it, taken in a too close time and all super powerful. They had acted like poison together, the guardian potion made the process slower until the magic effect lasted, and then it quickly got him, because that clear potion itself left the hero without any strength to resist. Sky had been poisoned by the potion he had taken, and he had taken them to get back to fight Dink and Ghirahim, to save his companions, to prevent them from getting hurt. Did he feel like everything was his own responsibility?

Hyrule used his spell, luckily none of Sky’s injuries were infected, but he had to work hard to fix what the potions had done, and he wouldn’t wake up for hours until he regained some strength. If only he had rested when he got hurt the first time he wouldn’t have been in that situation.

____________________________

Sometimes a bad choice of words can cause one to be hurt. Other times, those words might destroy who happened to hear them. The latter is way rarer, but when it happens, it's really difficult to get those words off the mind of a scattered person. That had just happened

____________________________

Sky found himself in a void area. He was floating. Yeah, that looked pretty much like his prophetic dreams, but il felt vivid. A light lit up and Wild was talking in the distance, he couldn’t hear him. He needed to reach him, but he found himself unable to move, like before. He was floating there, just watching.

The void turned into a beach and a kid, probably 12 years old, in a light blue shirt and curly blonde hair approached him. His rolled sleeves showed arms full of scars, he was crying. He looked at Sky and seemed to have found a little relief. “Please stranger! My sister has been kidnapped, I must save her but it’s hard! Please help me!”. Sky wanted to help, that was Wind, during his first adventure. The kid looked so scared. But Sky couldn’t move. After he didn’t know how long, the little Wind went away, disappointed.

He had failed him.

And then he heard a small voice calling him. Another kid showed up, he was younger, 10 years old at best. He had freckles and curly brown hair. “Sir… I got lost, I’m scared, I don’t know how to go back home and there are monsters all around. Please help me!”. The black void was now Hyrule’s land, and the hero was just a small unarmed kid. Sky really needed to do something! But he couldn’t! And little Hyrule left with nothing but sadness on his face, into a too dangerous, desolate land. Sky still didn’t know how he survived.

He had failed him.

And then the land shifted into a field, and a forest in the distance. Another little kid showed up, blonde hair, long ears, and already a sword and a wooden shield in hand. He was on the verge of tears. When he noticed Sky he too felt relieved and ran into him. He was asking for affection, he had just lost his father and left his siblings in the forest, and his sister Saria made him understand he wouldn’t come back. He asked for directions, for a hug, for company. And Sky didn’t answer. The kid ran away, sobbing. “This is unfair! I just want to go back home!” Was the last thing he said before he and his land disappeared into the void.

Kids. They were just kids. He wanted to cry but he was stuck there and couldn’t even do that, that feeling was the worst he had ever had. Wild reappeared in sight and Sky regained his speech, like if Wild was controlling his abilities. Wild came closer, and said he wasn’t doing anything wrong, he was only showing him the truth: he couldn’t do enough, he was too slow, back then with Demise and recently with Ghirahim, he had let the demon curse everyone and the repercussions had echoed in all the eras, forcing teens and kids to endure endless suffering. Then, he disappeared again, leaving him floating there.

And then other kids and teens appeared, he tried to interact with them, to talk, but they couldn’t listen. They asked him for help, he answered, they either couldn’t hear him or were disappointed at his answers. And they were all his current companions, reversed to their age on their first adventure. Wind, Hyrule, Time, Legend and Four were so damn young. And Wild appeared and introduced them as they walked.

He had never had such long dreams of that kind. But that oniric Wild, he was right. Sky had failed them all and wasn’t worthy of being with them. They were all in danger with him around, he’d slow them down and they’d end up getting cursed or killed because of him! He wasn’t meant to hang out with those real heroes, he couldn’t even kill his own enemy! He needed to go away before they found out about the curse, or they would never forgive him. Yes they’d be questioning his absence for some time, but then they’d realize they’d be faster and generally better without him getting in the way.

After some time, probably hours, Wild reappeared in front of him. This time, he could not only see and hear him, but also feel his presence, he looked so real. His hands were covered in flames, and he was slowly going closer. Sky quickly found himself on the floor, able to move his arms and hands again. He mumbled some incomprehensible sounds and tried to defend himself as the oniric Wild hovered his flaming hands around his face and, as soon as they made contact with his cheeks, he screamed.

____________________________

That woke him up. He was terrified. He was sweating, he was panting, he was panicking, he was…

in a bedroll and Wild, the real Wild, was in front of him, cupping his face with warm, absolutely not burning hands. He had cooked something, since there was an amazing smell of food. In fact, he noticed a steaming cup of pumpkin soup laying right next to Wild. Sky’s breath was going back to normal as Wild guided him in inhaling and exhaling, and the others all stood up and came closer to see him finally getting up after…

“You’ve been knocked out for 3 days” Hyrule said, getting closer and kneeling down to check on him.

Sky looked around while Hyrule checked his wound. They weren’t in that field but somewhere else entirely.

“We’re in a new era, still unknown to us. We’ve traveled through a portal shortly after the last battle”.

Sky realized the others had carried him around, defending him, wasting their potential for him, while he was totally useless. On the other side of the bedroll, Wild was patiently waiting for Hyrule to finish, with the soup now in his hands. He looked like he had understood Sky’s intentions, and told him everything will be alright, no need to worry. Hyrule, instead, chose to be more direct, telling him he should have taken one potion and then rested like everyone else did, instead of taking not one, but two enhanced potions together and then rushing into battle when his body wasn’t ready and then taking another absolutely not healing potion that erased his already lacking strength and had side effects his body still couldn’t bear. He concluded by saying the situation was worse than he imagined, if it took not hours but 3 days to heal. He was fine now though. He just needed to stay away from danger and potions for a few days to heal completely. Wild gave Sky his soup and Sky stared deeply at it, telling Hyrule “you will never see me do that again”.

Hyrule looked satisfied, smiled at him, patted his right shoulder, and walked away to inform the others about the situation. Wild had to go too, but after standing up he stared, worried, at Sky eating his soup. Something about what he said was extremely strange, if it was any other hero saying that, Wild would have thought the boy had secretly planned to do something extreme. But Sky would never do that, he was always so sunny, bringing happiness… unless he was in a fight with his worst enemy that nearly killed him and then someone even told him he was useless. Damn. Sky looked fine though, enjoying his soup. Maybe it was just him worrying too much. He walked towards the others, who were sitting on some logs and bedrolls around a fire with a pot on, and asked if anyone wanted more soup.

____________________________

During that day, Sky had been acting quite normally, only a bit thoughtful, less smiley. He and the others had a training session, walked around in search of a town, found a spring of fresh water and filled all their water bottles, finally found a small village and bought arrows, potions and food. They asked around for monster sightings but the people there knew nothing. They booked a room in an inn and prepared to spend a relaxing night for once. Of course, everyone thought Sky was still recovering from that battle that hurt him physically and mentally, and didn’t question his lack of smiles and laughs.

Instead there was a deeper reason, he had to escape. That night nobody was taking shifts, as they were all in the safety of beds. Sky had been questioning himself many times during the last hours if it was the right thing to do, he loved his companions, but every time the thought of them being slowed down by his presence, he was more convinced he had to leave the heroes. They’d thank him later. If it wasn’t him, if Wild or Legend or Four were fighting Ghirahim instead of him, they would have ended it sooner and less pathetically and they surely wouldn't have frozen in front of it and maybe they wouldn't even have needed the guardian potion. Ah yes, the only thing he managed to do in all of it was poisoning himself apparently.

But Fi… the others were her masters too, he couldn’t bring her with him. It would be like stealing everyone’s most valuable weapon. Yes that Master Sword was his, the others had their own in their own times.

In their own times, not there. Was he really going to leave without her? Maybe he’d go back, maybe when everything had ended he’d join the others back to take Fi and bring her home with him. Or maybe not, maybe Fi was destined to travel with those real heroes. After all, Ghirahim was dead now, wasn’t it? Demise was gone too, and Sky’s other tools or a simple sword were more than enough for the smaller monsters in his era.

He was losing a too long time there thinking about it. The right thing was obviously leaving her with the group! So, Sky took his other tools, a few food rations,his sailcloth, and a potion… no, no potions. Hyrule had told him he had to avoid potions for some days. He finally closed his bag and, as quietly as he could, left the inn. He wasn’t heard or seen by anyone.

____________________________

Everyone slept so well that night. Twilight woke up early to watch the sunrise, without any worry, just for that day. The rancher hadn’t paid attention to the silhouettes of his companions sleeping in their beds, why would he have to anyway. They were all warm and safe and the village was lively, really no sign of any monster, he had started to question why they were there, maybe Hylia was giving them some rest, or maybe, like the other time, the enemy was hiding in the woods. Twilight was sitting on the steps of the little stone staircase leading from the ground to the entrance of the inn, just looking around and enjoying the peace. There was a round square with a fountain in the center, and the buildings were around it. All around, there was a field and then a forest. They were most likely high in altitude, probably on a mountain valley, as he could see the silhouettes of mountaintops, and everything was made of wood and stone. It was really peaceful.

Twilight was later interrupted by Four, looking quite surprised.

“I thought Sky would have woken up after all of us, instead he got up before me and Hyrule! Hyrule wanted to check on both of you, but Sky isn’t inside. Were you two together?”

Twilight’s face showed pure confusion. Nobody had opened or closed that door before Four that morning.

“Strange, there’s no chance he got up before you and went for a walk. And if that was the case he should be here now already. But I assure you he’s not inside the inn. The Master Sword is on his bed though.”

After some minutes in which the two stared at each other in total confusion, Hyrule and Wild showed up.

The first two informed them about the situation and as Hyrule joined them with a confused face, Wild realized his concern from the day before wasn’t unfounded and quickly alerted the other 3 and rushed in to wake the others up. There was no time to lose. Maybe Sky hadn’t heard his apologies, maybe everything that happened had impacted him more than what everyone could have imagined.

The 8 heroes were all in the bedroom. Silent. Looking at the Master Sword and then at each other, all ready with weapons and shields and tunics. Though usually, Sky would have charged them all with optimism and energy and they would have taken the path all together smiling and laughing at someone's horrible joke. Time couldn’t understand how they had ended in that situation, yes he and Wild had had that messed up discussion but was that alone enough to cause Sky to react that way? Maybe, everyone realized, he had been told he was useless before, maybe in his quest, by someone important, and that had left a huge scar that had been reopened. Wild had a similar story, if someone told him he was a failure, if one of his companions died because he wasn’t fast enough or good enough to save them, he would have done the same, like he almost did when Twilight was hurt. Of course, not because of that single episode, but because of everything behind it. Maybe, the scar had never truly closed and Sky had forced himself to be optimistic and happy to avoid showing them he felt like he wasn’t enough. If that was the case, the chance he would do something extreme was higher. They had to find him as soon as possible!

They didn’t know that place nor where to look. Their initial research was inconclusive. They looked around the village, in the nearest woods, they took the opposite route of the day before, they asked some villagers, but nothing. Where had Sky gone? Was he really that far? They even divided and searched in groups, but came back to the inn with nothing. It was already afternoon, in about 3 hours the sun would have setted. They were getting tired. They absolutely didn’t want to leave Sky alone, but they had no idea on what to do.

Wild took the Master Sword and held it eye level. Sky had said Fi was way more than a voice. She was a companion… and a guide! Maybe she could help, if she was still there.

They couldn’t talk with her or see her, but maybe…

Wild walked to the center of the square, near the fountain, and held the sword with both his hands. He started moving it aimlessly, upward, downward, forward. He needed to understand how to make it work.

Then, he noticed a feeble blue light appearing for a moment then disappearing, something was happening. He swung it again and again and noticed the light appeared always when held horizontally. The others noticed too and came closer. Wild held it firmly, forward. The light was there, but so dim, almost nothing. Slowly, he started turning around, completing a segment of a circle. And then a semi circle, still nothing more happened. The others looked surprised and confused, but they felt there was something right with what Wild was doing. And after another bit, a visible blue light lit up.

They didn’t know what it was, how it happened and what it meant. But maybe Fi was really trying to show them the way, they could follow her direction, it was worth trying.

For maybe the first time after he woke up in the shrine, Wild was not only following directions, but also giving the others directions. He had been in charge of using the Master Sword as he had found out how it worked. Nobody else’s Master Sword had any ability other than being able to seal darkness and channeling energy for a spin attack, so the heroes were all extremely curious. Even Time found that interesting, and Legend and Four were trying to understand the magic and logic behind the ability.

The path they took was full of obstacles, but of course the shortest. Fi was guiding them towards the forest, the dense vegetation and tall fir trees created patterns of lights and shadows, that reminded them they now had about 2 hours to find Sky before they found themselves traveling in the dark. The ground was slippery and some slopes were steep, and yet they were almost running, the sword giving them hope.

Wild couldn’t deny that looking for Sky, with him as the leader, was making him feel useful and put aside his own recurring thoughts about his failure. Maybe being alone for so long had enhanced those, and now adventuring with some companions was finally making him see the truth. He couldn’t say he was totally over it, or he wouldn’t have lost control when Twilight was dying and when Sky was about to be cursed, but he was surely healing. After that adventure, when he’d eventually go back, he needed to explore his land with Flora and help every citizen. That thought made him smile softly.

Four and Legend, walking next to him, noticed it and asked if he sensed they were getting closer. Wild answered the smile was for something else, but they surely were, every step in the right direction was shortening their distance. Or at least, they hoped so. They chose to believe in Fi’s light, that, they had noticed, was somehow getting brighter.

They couldn’t believe Sky could have walked that far by pure force of will. They were taking a huge shortcut, with Fi’s help, and they had already taken 2 hours to get where they were. They still hadn’t found him and they only had one hour. Twilight checked his amount of oil for the lantern, Legend and Four checked their own tools. Wars used to have a lantern during his quest but it broke, luckily Legend said he had another one in case they needed more light. Nobody was surprised by his statement. Classic Legend.

Then, Four noticed something. There were monster footprints on the muddy ground. Lizalfos, most likely.

So there were monsters in that era! Monsters they had to catch and destroy before crossing another portal. Near the monster’s, a human pair of footprints was imprinted on the ground, coming from the right, turning and going straight ahead. And the Master Sword was pointing right in that direction.

Did the monsters take Sky? Or did Sky chase them? There was only one way to know.

The heroes were running, now with the footprints and Fi’s help together following the path was a piece of cake. Maybe they were still on time. They were getting a bit worried, but Sky was the best at fighting, yes his shape wasn’t the best but he could make it. As they got deep into the forest, they noticed it was full of fireflies. The sun had set now, but thanks to the little creatures they could still see quite well.

They stopped abruptly when they heard the noise of swords clashing and monsters screaming. They were all on top of a small C or gulf shaped cliff, about 2 meters tall. On the ground below them were 3 green lizalfos, armored and with what looked like a huge arm guard, one with its spiked tail already cut off and black blood dripping from the open wound. The man the heroes were looking for was right there. Sky was fighting the monsters alone with his whip, beetle and bow.

The heroes, ready with their swords and bows, were ready to jump down and help. Wild had Fi with him and he of course wanted to give her to her master!

But Sky made eye contact with him for a brief second before dodging a tail attack, and be it because he had Fi in hand, or because of the fireflies, or because he had understood he and Sky were extremely similar in a way, Wild got the message. They had to stay there. He turned back and looked at the others.

“Everyone stop!”

The others looked at Wild extremely confused, but did as he said. Four asked why, Warriors stated he wasn’t going to leave a companion in danger alone.

“I wouldn’t either! But that’s what he wants and what he needs. If we jump there and kill even one of those infected monsters for him, he’d feel like we think he isn’t good enough. Instead he will defeat them all!”

Wild turned back at Sky and swung the Master Sword to make him notice it. Sky raised his right arm, after hitting one of the lizalfos with the whip, and Wild threw him the sword, which the chosen hero catched perfectly from the handle. He smiled, and nodded in gratitude. As he slashed the monster, Wild continued.

“I made him feel useless. That probably hurted him way more than we imagine. Like talking about my own failure, it still hurts even now, you’ve clearly seen it. He probably needs to prove himself, and me, he can do this, fighting without our help. I don’t want to steal him another opportunity to end an enemy for good”

The others agreed with Wild. Sky was perfectly capable of defeating 3 infected lizalfos on his own, and if that could make him feel better, if that could heal his pure soul, then it was the right thing to do.

The monsters screamed.

In few, fast and precise moves the lizalfos were all nothing but black smoke, blood, and a bunch of tails and horns. Wild was the first to jump down and immediately threw himself on Sky to hug him tight. It was finally time for him to give the hero his formal apologies, apologies Sky knew were the truest and most genuine he had ever heard. Of course he hugged Wild back and reassured him he felt better now, he had been so mad at himself for having failed again and those lizalfos were all he needed to release the anger. The others reached them shortly after, after letting the two heroes have a moment for themselves first.

They all hugged Sky and Wild or gave pats to their backs, and then promised to remember they were all valuable, worthy, and strong enough. Wild joined them promising that he’d be extra careful and try his best to not snap again, and Sky followed. He wouldn’t escape again. He would always try to remember he’s worthy, and in case he felt like the day before, he would discuss it with the others.

“Look, Hyrule said your body isn’t even at its best, and yet you managed to keep up with 3 empowered lizalfos without the master Sword! And those looked huge and armored!” Wind said.

They walked away, back to the village and the inn, chatting and smiling, with their lanterns all lit on, and a bunch of fireflies following them, attracted to the light.

Maybe the heroes could spend that night enjoying the peace of that village, the sound of water coming from the fountain, a warm dinner, and play their instruments, or maybe they could get the rest they all needed. Either way, they had to spend it carefree.

____________________________

The day after, as they were walking in that forest again in search of other footprints or monsters, Sky noticed a dark figure moving swiftly between the trees in the distance. Wind quickly took his telescope and saw Dink opening a portal. As the heroes rushed there, Wild stated that Sky, other than being the best swordsman ever, also had a sharp eye. They all smiled, someone laughed.

With positivity and optimism, they all got into the portal, ready to chase and fight Dink again.

[cgi-heart-eyes]

dndads incorrect quotes

long post ahead

the teens:

Scary: I hate you sometimes.  Normal: Well according to this picture Link drew of us holding hands that's not true.  Scary: Normal, you drew that.  Normal: It doesn't matter

Scary: I just watched Normal jump off of a spinning chair. Luckily, they weren't hurt that badly. But the whole time, Link was screaming for help, which caused Taylor to run in to help Normal. Just note that all of this happened in the span of six minutes.

Scary: Self care is actually getting into fights with randoms in dark alleys.  Normal: No, self care is stuff like taking a bubble bath, or putting on a lot of makeup if you like it, or taking a nice warm nap!  Link: Self care is the burning heat when rage washes over you!! Self care is when you feel the bones crack under your powerful fists!! Self care is the fear in your enemies’ eyes!!!  Taylor: Lmao self care is taking your birthday cake just so I can eat the frosting.  Scary: If you touch my birthday cake I’ll make you eat your hands.

Scary: I think Taylor was right.  Normal: I'm surprised they haven't marched in here to say 'I told you so.'  Link: They wouldn't do that.  Taylor: You're right, Link. For once in your life, you're 100% right. I would never say that.  Taylor: *turns around, the shirt they're wearing says 'Taylor Told You So' on the back*

Scary: Normal, I'm sad. Normal: *Holds out arms for a hug* It’s going to be okay. Link: Taylor, I'm sad. Taylor, nodding: mood.

Cop: You’re receiving a ticket for having three people on one motorcycle.  Scary: Shit.  Normal: Wait, three?  Cop: Yeah?  Link: OH MY GOD TAYLOR FELL OFF!!

Scary: Why are your tongues purple? Link: We had slushies. I had a blue one. Taylor: I had a red one. Scary: oh Scary: Scary: OH Normal: Normal: You drank each other's slushies?

Scary: There is no future. there is no past. do you see? Time is simultaneous, an intricately structured jewel that humans insist on viewing one edge at a time, when the whole design is visible in every facet.  Normal:  Link:  Taylor:  Everyone Else At Scary’s Surprise Birthday Party:  Normal: All I asked was if you wanted to cut your birthday cake first.

dads:

Ron: Why are Henry and Darryl sitting with their backs to each other? Glenn: They had a fight. Ron: Then why are they holding hands? Glenn: They get sad when they fight.

Henry: How did none of you hear what I just said?  Darryl: I’ve been zoned out for the past two and a half hours.  Ron: I got distracted about halfway through.  Glenn: Ignoring you was a conscious decision.

Henry: Everyone, synchronize your watches.  Darryl: I don’t know how to do that.  Ron: I don’t wear a watch.  Glenn: Time is a construct.

Henry: So my therapist was talking to me and she said that I really just need to break down my walls and let people in.  Henry: So I’ve decided to break the fourth wall.  Henry: *looks at camera* Hi there. I use humor as a coping mechanism.

Henry: Physically, yes, I could fight a bird, but emotionally? Imagine the toll!

Henry: I’m this close to falling in love with Darryl. Glenn: Your fingertips are touching. Henry: Exactly.

Glenn: Bad news—Ron locked themself outside of their own house. Glenn: Good news—we didn’t have to wait around for a locksmith. Glenn: Bad news—Darryl finds it very concerning that I know how to pick locks, and tried to unlock my Tragic Backstory(TM). I was too embarrassed to admit that the reason I learned it was because, at thirteen, I figured that was the kind of skill that would impress cute guys/girls/enbies. Glenn: Good news—a cute guy/girl/enby saw me do it. Glenn: Bad news—it was Henry, and since they’ve already seen me fall out of several trees, cry because I saw a fawn that was just too damn small, and knows I can ride a unicycle, they’ll never think I’m cool no matter what I do. It’s too late. They know.

Glenn, explaining why they are not allowed to cook: I put the noodles in the pot and put the pot on the stove and turned the burner on high. Turns out you don't put noodles in marijuana and I almost burnt the whole house down.

kiddads:

Lark, to Grant: I mean, I get complimented all the time- Sparrow: starts cackling Lark: I do! Sparrow: laughs harder

Grant: Yesterday, I overheard Lark saying “Are you sure this is a good idea?” and Sparrow replying “Trust me,” and I have never moved from one room to another so quickly in my life.

Terry: Why don’t you go talk to them? Grant, sarcastically: Oh. Yeah, sure. Terry: What? So you go tell them they’re cute, what’s the worst that could happen? Grant: They could hear me.

Nicky: Sweet dog you got there. Police: Yes, this is our new drug sniffing dog. Nicky: Still training huh? Police: What do you mean? Nicky: Nicky: Never mind.

Nicky: "What are you into?" is such a broad question, like do I reply with a TV series or choking?

Grant: I am going to cry. I’m going to cry until I can no longer physically cry anymore because all the water in my body is gone and I die from dehydration. Terry: Are you okay? Lark: Did you actually just ask them that? Like, you need that to be answered otherwise you won’t know?

Lark: You've got to act tough, Sparrow! Show 'em you can't be pushed around! Show 'em they can't mess with you! Sparrow: Right. Yes. Tough. Got it. Sparrow, standing up on their stool and slamming their hands down on the bar: I'LL TAKE A CHOCOLATE MILK.

Terry: Watcha got there..? Sparrow: petting a ostrich A smoothie.

i’ll probably add more at some point, this was really fun to make!

[eziojensenthe3rd]

Midnight Gaming: Untitled Zombie Game

So I played Stubbs the Zombie past midnight, checked socials to find.... not much to talk about that isnt just bad news... so lets skip the news for the day.

Its a lovely day in Punchbowl and you are a horrible zombie

So Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel without a Pulse was a game released in 2005 for og xbox and pc, got average reviews and has been remastered and released by aspyr media for modern platforms. I enjoyed this game on the old pc version mainly cause it was game where you played as a zombie eating the brains of the living and growing your own horde. So seeing it get a remaster and available to folks nowadays is very nice to see.

So yeah, you mostly eat brains and make it through levels which are mostly linear with some open sections but for the most part you are more or less being directed foward. And of course as you eat brains, former humans become zombie allies that can assist in some ways, you can have them go forward and soak up bullets as you follow behind letting you close the distance and they can distract enemies while you flank and get them from behind for a backbite. You can also whistle at zombies you're looking at to get them to head towards you like some sort of grim version of pikmin. It certainly looks like it when I see my zombros swarm someone.

A lot of the voicework in this game is also just great, given its trying to go for a comedic vibe it does help with the dark theme of devouring people. Hearing folks panic and exclaim "eating brains is way not cool daddy-o" or "dont eat me no no noooo" does gets a dark chuckle from me. It might be why the game takes place in a retro future city in the 50s just for the sake of the comedy. You have barbershop singers on jetpacks using rayguns while singing about killing the zombies. How the hell did this get average reviews???

Of course since you're a zombie yourself, you dont have access to guns or weapons but you do have some abilties to help you out. For one being your ability to regenerate health which also doubles as a narrative reason for how your abilties work. Your gut grenade is your best ability having a max of 3 charges and lets you throw a major organ at enemies that can stick onto them and can be detonated at your command. Your very own hand can be thrown and controlled, giving you an opportunity to possess nearby humans. Grab someone with a gun and you can start shooting at their former allies and help clear out several threats. Since your hand ability is the easiest to recharge, it can be a pretty effective ability especially on the insane difficulty. Your head can be used like a bowling ball and rolled towards groups which can damage and infect enemies it rolls into and of course it explodes too. And finally, you can fart which is generally useful to stun groups of nearby enemies opening them up to be feasted on.

A lot of the strong points of this game is leading a horde of zombies, dealing with enemies you come across and taking out priority targets that can be a hassle to your undead buddies. Thing is there are some issues with the game mainly due to its length. A normal run for me lasted 4 hours according to my steam playtime so it ends up feeling a bit short. Sometimes when you end up stunning an enemy and go for a brain dinner, you end up tearing their arm off to use as a weapon because whoops you were beside them and got a different prompt, which can be useful at damaging but eating brains is how you're able to recharge your abilties so this gets kinda annoying at times. Also that simon says boss battle at the police station.... went on for too long and it sucks.

Speaking of that boss battle, the game uses some newer versions of old 50's songs such as earth angel, mr sandman and lollipop. Im gonna leave a link to that so you can go hear it if you want.

Honestly, i dont see much games that let you play as a zombie and cause havoc. Theres games where you create or control a horde of zombies like infectionator, games that are versus zombie players that you end up joining when you die like zombie panic or games that just has you play an undead character but not causing an apocalypse like medievil or sonny. Theres gotta be some other game where you play as a zombie leading an outbreak on humanity like a reverse dead rising. I feel like a lot of Stubbs is a game that has only scratched the surface of what it was trying to present and it be great to see more of that explored and built upon in a sequel, in a literal or spiritual sense.

So thanks for reading todays midnight gaming. Feel free to leave feedback and game suggestions. See you all tomorrow.

[marenwithanm]

Just because I'm bored with my days (and because I like your AU) I was wondering what animals you would assign to the Links so I can draw them as such :) that's absolutely not because I can't draw humans

Ouaaaa that's so sweet! (Also I totally get ya I can't draw animals at all so I'm the oppsoite🤣) also, sorry this took me so long. I sat there and put waaaaay too much thought into this.

First of all, the obvious one is Pinkie as a pink bunny rabbit! He's a sweet little guy who's happy to do a little mischief but scampers off at the first sign of conflict. Also, y'know, it's Link's dark world form in A Link to the Past.

Second, Leaf is a wolf (because of the heros shade form in Twilight princess). But like he's not very big yet so he's basically a happy little puppy. The type of dog who's so eager to help you that they just end up getting under your feet and tripping you by accident 🤣

The rest are harder cuz I have to come up with them myself lol. Let's see, Ocean I would probably say lobster, cuz that's what's on his shirt but also personality wise he fits! Lobsters are generally resourceful in finding food and making what they have work. Also, lobsters are usually overshadowed by more well known sea predators like sharks, but with their hard outer shells and powerful claws, they're pretty good at defending themselves and driving away predators. Something about how Ganondorf doesn't see Link as much of a threat but he manages to overcome with fewer resources despite it all. As an alternate animal, I also think that sea otters fit him well because they're so so expressive, but also curious and intelligent social animals.

I would say Wood is a deer because they are constantly on the look out for danger, survive in sometimes harsh conditions, and are generally pretty quiet. Deer are also some of the least trusting animals out there so there's that too lol. When playing the first Zelda game, a big strategy is to try and sneak around enemies when possible to minimize damage taken. But make no mistake, like a deer, when put into a corner Wood won't hesitate to attack! The only thing that doesn't really fit is that deera tend to function in group units, and Wood is very solitary (at least as of the first Zelda game)

Finally, Rock. I wanna say mouse to reference the minish, but I don't know that the personalities fit. He can be a bit too standoffish and aggressive to fit with a mouse. Actually, I might say he's a cat (which is funny cuz they attack you in minish cap lol). Cats have a pretty wide range of personalities, but I'd say Rock would be the type to bear claws first until he starts to warm up to the area. He can be very sweet and happy to help take care of younger, smaller animals in the right situation, but he can also start to feel cornered and get more aggressive.

As a bonus, Aryll is of course a seagull bc of Wind Waker, but also because she's talkative, pretty fearless, and perseveres through pretty tough times.

You're welcome to assign different animals if you have any that you think would fit better, but yeah there's my picks! If you're still interested in drawing them, I hope you have fun!

[spinningbuster98]

(I had to put the last cutscene as a seperate video because the two levels had exceeded the PS4's 1 hr recording limit. Oops)

Ok so now I gotta talk about V. Oh boy

V is unquestionably the weak link of this game, he's the character that nobody wants to play as and in a way he was kinda designed to be this way.

V has a very unorthodox and experimental playstyle which the developers knew was going to be divisive so they gave V the least amount of mandatory levels of all the characters: would you believe that we're already almost done with him? Yeah he only has 3 mandatory levels plus a boss rush. So luckily he doesn't drag the game down a lot

So the point of V's gameplay is that he's weak.

Not only is this communicated to the player through him receiving more damage than the other characters but through the simple fact that he can't fight on his own: he has to rely on his 3 familiars.

The way this works is that V has 2 main familiars: Shadow, the black panther and Griffon the bird who won't shut up.

Shadow represents your melee attacks meaning that when you press the melee button it's Shadow that's gonna do the combos

Griffon on the other hand represents your ranged attacks with his lightning strikes

When they're summoned on the field they will automatically gravitate towards the nearest enemies but if you lock onto one they will attack that one exclusively

Now let's get this one out of the way: to give credit where it's due: this actually works

There's nothing broken, it all controls fine etc They actually made this stuff work, the worst I can say is that the familiars have kind of a range around V outside of which they will no longer properly receive commands and if they go out of this range they will sometimes stop attacking and try to come back to you.

...it's just that it's not the most fun playstyle in the world y'know?

First off: it's kind of a mess. Look at this: there's so much shit on the screen you gotta focus on: you gotta keep an eye on both familiars, on the enemies and on V himself as you move him around trying to avoid enemies and it's very easy to get confused and lose focus of the action

Moreover V's familiar just don't have nearly the same amount of moves or variety as Dante and Nero

When a familiar is defeated it reverts to a ball of darkness which will eventually resurrect though you can speed uo the process by standing near it

The familiars can't defeat enemies per se, only put them in those dazed states which the require V to go to them and finish them off essentially preventing the player from just staying away from the action all the time

Your Devil Trigger is actually just V summoning his third Familiar: Nightmare

Nightmare is slow as fuck but hits like a nuke, acts 100% independently from V (though is very aggressive) and is completely invincible. Not only that but if your familiars were knocked out they will be revived upon summoning him and will also become invincible

Another mechanic which I used to sleep on is the ability to sacrifice parts of your DT gauge to put Shadow and Griffon into their own Devil Trigger states, which will not only make them stronger and more durable but also make them indipendent for a while

While your familiars are attacking you can have V read his poetry book which isn't just for show: if you do this while comboing you will regenerate DT gauge much faster.

The general gameplay loop with V is to read that book as much as possible so you can get enough DT gauge to either power up Griffon and Shadow or just summon the Win Button that is Nightmare

V is absolutely the worst character to play on DMD and that's not only because he himself is more fragile and his familiars get knocked out every minute but because, unlike Dante and Nero, his Devil Trigger...doesn't regenerate health

And since on DMD levels don't have any Green Orbs and DMC5 does away with consumable healing items (kinda, more on that at a later time), the only way to heal yourself as V is hoping that defeated enemies drop green orbs. The devs certainly knew this because you can buy some upgrades in the shop that can increase your chances of getting green orbs from defeated enemies...but it's still rng

These two levels on DMD are pretty determined to kick your ass, dishing out some real heavy hitters pretty consistently, especially those goddamn Behemoths (those huge slug like monsters)

I actually kinda like the first boss, he used to give me trouble until I realised that you can just spam Griffon's charged lightning attacks until you stun him and then go crazy with Shadow and Nightmare. In general he feels like a boss designed for V

The same I can't quite say about the second boss

He's way too fast for V's familiars, way too tanky on DMD, and when he starts manipulating time to either speed himself up or slow you down I swear the only way to dodge his attacks is spamming the side dash which contains an absurd amount of invincibility frames and is easily spammable, meaning that even if he attacks you mid-animation it will just pass through you. Yeah he's probably the only boss in the game that I can say that I hate

Gotta give credit to V though: he has some of the best taunts in the game

[mz-elysium]

vtm: wormwood ; clan bingos of povs

[link to blank bingos]

Monroe

Ashley

Hawthorne

Charlie

Jack

Lex

Masika (new!)

rest of the bingos and commentary under cut bc uh this got kinda long lmao

Monroe

ofc Monroe got a bingo. God Complex might be strong, but definitely Saviour Complex. Does wayy too much shit. Also, had a weird bit where he genuinely had quite a bit of respect for LaCroix as an enemy...before he was killed. Shame. Also, had a lot in common, as disgraced childer of unsuccessful military backgrounds.

Hard no’s: *claps hands*, Loyalty > Approval (Monroe not-so-secretly craves being admired), Owns a Crown (but he DOES own a sword...), Undisputed (uh yeh, very in dispute)

Ashley

b-b-bingo. Maybe a bonus bingo, since he does eat food in text sometimes, but I never gave their char sheets merits. 

Hard Yes: Red Lipstick (any colour, dark or sparkly preferred), Never Makes Art (comically useless at it), Siren, Narcissm, Would Sparkle, Anne Rice (literally Spike and Lestat)

Hard No: Humanity 8 (cackles in Humanity 4, which is him on an upswing), Rotten at the Core (...maybe, but he does have some redeeming factors)

Hawthorne

Unsurprised that she got no bingo, and was denied by Leather Jacket! ahh loser. Atypical Brujahs don’t get bingos. Urban Ventrue ghouls don’t make good Brujahs, who figured.

Hard No: Leather Jacket, Motorcycle, Good Music Ended in the 90s (um, actually the 80s, but she would listen to almost anything), Respects Smiling Jack, Brawl 5 (not anymore), Bros Before Sects/Obvious Anarch (fuck the Anarchs)

Charlie

Bingo, and not even a free-space one. Probably the hardest one to fill out, though. Charlie’s Cobweb radar is decent and she can sorta make sense of it sometimes or use it to harvest info, but never that useful.

Also, her Great Ideas are mostly unrelated to her Malkavianisms and mostly due to just being a wiseass and smart guy.

Hard Yes: Paranioa, PREMONITION, “Did anyone else hear that?”, Don’t “ugh, a Malkavian” me!

Secretly, she likes that Bedlam calls her a fish. She knows its true. She just grew legs one night and crawled out onto the shores, but she has a natural habitat somewhere that she can’t go back to. Not that anyone wants to hear stuff like that.

Jack

Jack’s earliest drafts were Brujah and that might still show a bit. He’s not as rough and tumble wilderness dude. More City Gangrel. He has the leather jacket and wants a motorcycle.

But he is a dirt boy animist and part-time rock sorcerer in love with his shapechanges, so maybe he’s Gangrel enough.

Hard No: No Driving License, Becketts (Jack never knew Beckett enough, but he would probably be put off by his obnoxious snide British-isms), Smells Funny (he bathes!), Survival 5

Hard Yes: DONT pet me (sore spot, as a Gangrel), Wants a House in the Woods (kinda has that...), Hell yeah NATURE

Lex

Ahhh, a better Brujah gets better shapes and multi-bingos AND doesn’t need the free-space. Such a Brujah. Very Brujah. Too poor for a new leather jacket and probably burned their old one 8yrs ago.

Hell No: Surprisingly High Humanity (middling, at best), Quotes Philosopher (you kidding me, they can barely quote themself), Motorcycle (lives in SOMA)

Hell Yes: Everything is Political (risks them friendships), Fuck off (just...everyone), Band T-shirt, Good Music Ended in the 90s, Starts Combat, Obvious Anarch (see above)

Masika

New POV. A very Tremerey Tremere, apparently. Very excite about her.

Hell Yes: Smartass (more of a deadpan), Getting Lost (new girl!), Secret Reads (probably, but more of a Discworld and Dark Tower girlie), Absolutely Terrified of Fireball (zero combat exp), SUSPICIOUS (fellow Tremere are always up to something, but not her!), Misses the Pyramid (Tremere loyalist)

Hell No: Oops, Forgot to Ward (never forgets, never oops), Secretly Wants a Gargoyle (a WARCRIME? a breaking of the sacred montmartre pact??? never!), Guilty of Most Things (has never done anything wrong in her entire life)

[cherrybunch]

[Before I start just warning..:]-It's inspired on those Underverse AU at the list<3!!🌟__(First)-[Undertale by:Tobyfox] [backstory].🌟__(Second)-[Xtale by:Jakei peñaloza] [Only the scene how cross use the overwrite to restart everything make cause his AU disappear..I guess??].🌟__(Third)-[Dream tale by:Jokublog] [Only the sad story of passive!nightmare and the tree

"CHIMERATALE" --AND FULL INFORMATION ABOUT ECLIPSE SANS--

--Information about eclipse sans--

(Full name:) Eclipse sans

(Nickname:) •Etlipse(Inky's nn for her) •clipse(Without 'E' in it)

(Author:) •Eclipsesans231 from tiktok. •Horrorswife231 in YouTube.

(Links:) Fandom wiki (Still pending)

(Role:) •Serious as always. (But hyper when inky,cross and epic was around)

(Weapons:) •Double knife/dagger with a sign of moon and sun. •Spell book. •Forbidden Arrow.

(Age:) •502 yrs old.

(Status:) •Alive.

(Martial status:) •Single.

(Prounce:) •Her/she.

(Residence:) ???

(Occupation:) ???

(Likes:) •Books •Friends •Waffles •Doodle sphere •Dressing(French fries sauce)

(Date of birth:) ???

(Place of birth:) •CHIMERATALE. (A Fantasy au)

(Species:) •Skeleton(A Female one)

(Gender:) •Female

(Height:) •5'5

(Weight:) ???

(Hair color:) •N/A

(Dislikes:) •Blood •Backstabbing •Violence •Gore •Loneliness

(Ship list:) •Killer sans •Horror sans •Cross sans •Fresh sans •Fell sans

(TRIVIA:) •She have a Hemophobia (Fear of blood, Agoraphobia (Fear of situations in which escape may difficult) and Autophobia (The fear of being alone or lonely).

And because of the trauma she got she always stunned or having a deep thoughts,After meeting inky eclipse threat him as her own brother even though sometimes they both fighting because of the hobby eclipse had(She love eating inky's drawing XD).

Eclipse have a weakness too when she got controlled by her negative side(or negative energy) she's out of control and the worst thing she can destroy everything around her. Chimeratale is a genocide too but she's the opposite of inky and cross.

(Relationship/Related:) •Dream sans(Second older brother) •Passive nightmare(Oldest brother)

•Ah yeah eclipse sans was the Younger sister of dream and passive nightmare..In chimeratale dream and passive nightmare was not enemies..In dreamtale eclipse didn't exist exept in other au.

(Weakness:) •Phobia •Panic attacks •Negatibe thoughts •Someone badly hurt/injured. •Her brothers death.

(Abilities:) •Gaster Blaster: (Ofcourse as a one of classic's Au she can summons a gaster blaster). •Spell book: (Remember chimeratale was based on fantasy the ree on her au was 'The tree of mana',Meaning of it her au was based on power humans and monsters know how to use magic(witchcraft and wizard stuffed). •Forbidden Arrow: (Eclipse can summon a dark lavender arrow just like dream,but she using her negative energy). •Double dagger: (She using this if it's needed especially if she's on hand to hand combat like killer and horror.)

(Profile:) •Current Appearance: •Old Appearance: (Eclipse in episode 1 to 3 she's wearing a jacket with a hood made by wolf skin, there's a gray furr and a big cross besides her head, she's wearing a long dress not actually a dress).

(Her current appearance was when she was wearing a long dress not actually a dress XD..the color of her clothes was lavender signing of passive nightmare's color and orange signing color of dream she wearing a crown too having a symbol of moon and sun at the bottom but it's only a half)

(Personality:) •Eclipse was always acting serious and her mood so easily to swing..except if she's with cross and epic who always annoying her around XD, even when she's with inky…Well when inky,epic and cross they seeing eclipse as a happy and childish and annoying skeleton but when the other sanses seeing her was different because they're seeing her 'SOULNESS' or she doesn't have any emotions just like inky is.

(Appearance:) •Eclipse wearing a fantasy outfit because eclipse au was based on fantasies where they're living in a Castle,ruling the humans and monsters,she have a both moon sign on her cheeks her eyes was awkward to look though because she have the both symbol of dream and passive nightmare.

(SOME EXPLAIN THINGS ABOUT ECLIPSE SANS:)

•First of all eclipse was inspired by eclipse from FNAF(Moondrop and sundrop), Collector from owl house and Eclipsa from the star vs the forces of evil.

•Let me explain about eclipse sans so they called her as "THE GUARDIAN OF BALANCE" because she caring inside her the both energy the positive and negative energy imagine the yin and yang sign.

(Negative:) •The moon sign was the negative.

(Positive:) •The sun was the positive.

•Then of we mix them.. Negative + = Balance Positive

{BACKSTORY:}[SUMMARIZE]..

•During the solar eclipse in her au the Moon cry(As they say in the legend that when the moon cried the tears of the moon and sun forminginto a soul)(Actually the moon tears was inspired by the legend of zelda(My fav. game XD)… After the moon tears falling down passibe nightmare catch the tears that successful form into a soul..

when she born the village was celebrating like welcoming her,in the other hand passive nightmare and dream thinking a name for her and because she born during the solar eclipse they named her Eclipse sans..

Until a big argument happens between the humans and monsters that cause of a war and the war cause of dream and passive nightmare died leaving behind eclipse sans, actually they died Infront of eclipse as their soul disappear into the air,before they died the last three humans/wizard died along with them that's how eclipse is the only monster who survived.

Eclipse thought she will be died there and never be happy anymore or she will be lonely forever.. until she didn't expect to meet a another skeleton

A skeleton just like her and that's ink,ink was bored on his doodle sphere so he decided to visit all theau to look at it if it's going fineuntil he accidentally came on Eclipse Au..And he surprised about what happened in there alot of chaos,death bodies of humans and you can tell too that monsters got defeated too because there's no one alive in her Au as he thought..

Ink stay there for a 3 hours hoping that someone was survive when ink decided to go in the castle he passes by eclipse's room he walk backward once again when he heard a noise someone is crying…when ink open the door there he is..he saw eclipse she's crying..

<3<3<3<3<3