#nack rambles for far too long

[inbetweenknacksandnooks]

Just started the newest ZZZ special episode and... it's giving me 2nd-hand rage.

You know how in cartoons (usually comedy ones) a character will have a bunch of garbage happening around them, but they're not mad because they feel like they 'shouldn't be', so you, as the viewer, get mad for them.

Anyway that's how I feel about Yanagi's story so far.

Yanagi is essentially raising 3 children in the form of her colleagues.

Soukaku is mildly forgivable, only because my personal headcanon is that her mental growth has been stunted one way or another, and it's revealed why Yanagi takes care of her in Yanagi's teaser. So I can forgive that well enough.

But Miyabi is a different case. It's stated that she passed on all the paperwork to Yanagi, and constantly tries to get out of meetings. I know that meetings and paperwork is unpleasant, but you're the CHIEF ffs! Take some responsibility!

While Zhu Yuan had boundaries in the workplace, such as not working overtime when her job was done, Yanagi seems to have the opposite

Miyabi doesn't seem to stop or suggest stopping this kind of thing to keep her health intact either!

Harumasa isn't as bad as Miyabi, but he's not great either, as he constantly wants to slack off whenever possible.

This is the equivalent of having to do a group project with 3 unmotivated people that want to dilly-dally and sidetrack every possible conversation to avoid doing work, and ultimately, you have to take on the whole damn thing by yourself.

I'm not trying to say that the rest of Section 6 don't love or care about Yanagi at all, they obviously do, and if Yanagi had a heart attack from underlying cardiovascular disease (due to her immense work stress), the three would likely visit her hospital bed (if she was still alive, anyway, since women die from heart attacks more frequently, and she's often left either on her own, or with what is basically an incompetent child who wouldn't know the first thing about strokes or those kinds of problems)

But I don't think Miyabi would learn that this toxic asf work environment is the thing killing her, and would go back to not caring about Yanagi staying late after the first month or two of the incident.

I think the thing that peeves me the most, is how all three of them act like whiny children with Yanagi around.

As I mentioned, Soukaku is mostly excusable, since she has stunted mental growth.

But fucking Miyabi, crying about not wanting to attend a meeting, or Harumasa who faked a fucking stomachache to skip work?!

This is your job, not Elementary School! I hope one of your vacation days were snatched!

I make a big deal out of this, because I don't think that anyone should have a parent-child relationship with their colleagues, unless there is an underlying condition wherein you are the person's caretaker (Soukaku)

I would never want a parent-like relationship with a spouse, nor one with a friend. Hell, I don't need a parent-like relationship at all, since I'm an adult.

Likewise, a child's parent shouldn't be a bosom buddy.

I might just be projecting a little bit, or getting too personal, because I never want to have kids ever, and I've seen people with this kind of lifestyle where they baby everyone around them, and get fucked with little-to-no freetime, heightening blood pressure due to stress, and a lot of pent-up feelings because they can't communicate to their friends, because they treat their friends as children, and their friends treat them as a parent.

Anyways, I'm not very far into the Special Episode, so maybe Yanagi snaps somewhere or has an emotional breakdown where Section 6 (specifically Harumasa and Miyabi) can see how much Yanagi is doing, and they help to rectify this, by eventually creating a much better workplace to live in.

A lifestyle like this can't go on forever, and I hope the negative effects are shown.

[dp-marvel94]

Seafoam Sky -Chapter 1

Summary: Danny has dreamed of glowing lights for as long as he can remember. When he almost dies pursuing them, an unknown powerful entity saves him. Now the entity is calling him too, though Danny can’t tell if it’s for good or for ill. He hopes the memories and dreams of being lovingly cradled under the stars are real. But with his parents’ stories about wind spirits that lure mer to the surface and steal their souls… how can he trust his mysterious savior?

Word Count: 4,210

Next Chapter

Also on AO3 and Fanfiction.net

Note:

It's finally here! Happy Ecto-Implosion! A huge thanks to my artist, @ecto-stone whose art inspired this fic. Thank you for being cool with all my crazy ideas and always excited to read my ramblings. Check out the art work here! And thanks to my beta, KindStar This story would make a whole heck of a lot less sense if it wasn't for your help. Thank you for all the constructive comments and all the encouragement. :) And thanks to everyone reading! I hope you enjoy!

The young mer floated in the darkness. Lights sparkled above and below. All around him. He reached, wide eyes awed. If he could just touch-

“Danny! Wake up!” His mom’s voice roughly pulled him out of the dream. 

Startled by the shout, Danny twisted out of his sleep hammock. “Ah! Wha- Umph!” His light-blue flank spasmed, knocking nick-nacks off his shelf and down onto him.

Nose wrinkled, he rubbed his sore side. Where was-

Oh right. His eyes flitted over the room. Rough stone walls, wovened sleep hammock, scatters bits of shell and seaweed. This was his room; he’d gone up for a nap. And..

That dream. He had that dream again. Every few months, since he was a fry, he dreamed of the sparkling lights. Suspended among them, so far, yet close enough to touch. Something in him reached, pulled towards the-

A pounding below interrupted his thoughts. “Danny!” His mom’s annoyed shout. “The door!”

“I’m coming!” The mer-boy finally shouted back, shaking the last fog of sleep away.

This time, Danny anticipated the knock. 

“Get the door!” His dad complained. “Your friends are here!”

His friends! Danny’s eyes lit up. “Coming!” 

He raced down the corridor and into the livingroom, eyes taking in the scene. His mom and dad tinkered with some gadget again, googles fixed over their eyes. 

“I’m going out with Sam and Tuck.” The mer-boy said. “I’ll be back later.”

The adults waved him off casually, not even looking up. A stab of disappointment struck his heart. As always, they had eyes only for their work…

Danny shook his head, dismissing the feeling. He opened the door, “Hey guys.” And swam through.

“Tell us if ya see any wind spirits!” His dad yelled, as the door closed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, where are we going?” Danny’s friend, a purple-tailed mer-girl named Sam asked.

“To the trench.” The boy grinned, eyes sparkling. “You guys have to see it!” Swimming fast, he pulled his friends along beside him. “If you look out over, just after the Dimming, when it gets dark, there’s all these tiny blinking lights. Like thousands of them!” 

“The trench?” Tucker, a yellow-tailed mer-boy with his customary hat of woven, red seaweed, squeaked. “You mean the one where if you swim too deep the weight of the water on top of you alone will kill you?” He raised a brow. “Haven’t there been, like, rabid shark sightings near there?”

“Those are just rumors, Tuck.” Danny shook his head. “And it’s not like we’re going to swim down in the trench. We’ll just watch from the top.” He dipped down, swimming through a gap between two rocks.

The three swam for several minutes more, the blue-tailed mer eventually pulling to a stop just at the edge of the ravine. “See!” He waved excitedly. “I mean, there are no lights yet but give it a few minutes.”

The mer-boy drifted down, settling on the cluster of boulders above the trench. His friends swam over, sharing fondly amused grins at his excitement. Sam took a seat to one of his sides, her dark hair swirling around her head.

“So they’re like the lights in the above world from the stories. The floating ones, up really high?” She asked.

“Stars.” Danny nodded, awe entering his voice. “They’re called stars.”

Tucker joined the group on Danny’s other side. He blinked, disbelieving. “How'd you know that?”

The blue-flaked mer’s eyes drifted to the open water in front of them, gaze far away. His mind drifted…..

A busy market square. A tiny mer crying for his mother. A cloaked man, a scar over one red eye. 

“It will be alright, little one.” A soothing, melodic Voice came from the merman.

Wide eyes traced the painted lines and dots on the stranger’s blue skin. “What’s that?”

“It is a map of the stars.” The stranger smiled kindly.

“Stars?”

Blue fingers followed the silver and gold marks. “The floating lights in the world above. In the world of air and light.” They seemed to shimmer, almost glowing. “They are called stars, child.”

Danny blinked, drawing himself out of the memory. “Someone told me once, when I was little.” 

“My grandma told me she went up there, when she was our age.” Sam leaned forward, purple-eyes sparkling conspiratorially. 

“How didn’t she die?” Tucker gaped. “You dry up and suffocate if you go to the surface! That's what my mom always says.” 

The purple-eyes mer waved him off. “You only really start drying out after twenty minutes, and it takes at least an hour to suffocate.”

“Only an hour?” The yellow-tailed mer scoffed sarcastically. “That’s plenty of time.”

“Exactly.” The purple-tail raised an eyebrow pointedly. 

This earned another scoff from Tucker and the two started squibbling. 

“Bub says the far lights are giant balls of gas, burning billions of miles away.” Sam argued.

“That’s ridiculous.” Tucker countered. “They’re obviously glowing plankton in the ocean above.” 

“What?” The mer-girl’s mouth dropped open, eyes narrowed skeptically.

The yellow-tailed mer motioned, one hand palm down and parallel to his chest. “There’s this ocean, the water below.”The other hand stacked on top of the first.  “The air.” The stack grew, his left hand added above the ‘air’ layer. “And then the other ocean, the water above.” It was as if the parts of the world were rock strata in a cliff-face, one piled atop the other. “Except it’s upside-down so we’re looking at the plankton floating near the surface.”

“You clearly just made that up, Tucker. Everyone knows that….”

The two argued lightly and Danny smiled, just enjoying the banter. It wouldn’t be a hangout section with his friends unless Sam and Tucker gave each other a hard time. And really, they were great for letting him drag them out here. It was quite a swim, and one his parents would not be happy about him making, but it would be well worth it when the lights came out. It wasn’t the stars but it was as close as he could hope to get. And-

“Danny! Look out!” Sam shouted. 

The boy jerked up, but not in time. Something gray and rough slammed into him. Sharp teeth flashed in his vision.

“Rabid shark!” Tucker cried.

Heart pounding, Danny flailed. Jaws snapped, eerily close to his tail. Frantically, the mer jabbed. “Take that!” His finger met the creature’s eye. “Gross!”

The shark jerked away, bits of gore drifting out its wound. But… madness linger in its remaining eye. The creature rushed back. 

“Sam! Tuck!” Danny screamed, floating over the ravine. 

He sprinted away, diving down. Frantic words, shouts sounded. The mer boy couldn’t process. Just flashes of his friends' panicked faces high above, where he had left them. Above?.... He hadn’t meant to swim this far down, below the cliff face.

“Guys! Help me!” He yelled, eyeing the shark still focused on its prey.

Above him, the groaning reverb of rocks shifted. The creature lashed out, inches from his caudal fin. Danny dodged but-

“Ah!” Too slow. Teeth sunk into flesh. 

“Now!” Sam shouted.

Immediately came a heavy boom. Danny turned to look, eyes widening. Oh no. A torrent of rocks fell. One slammed into his attacker, releasing him from its hold. 

“Danny!” “No!” Sam and Tucker reached towards him. But-  

A wordless scream, as the boulder impacted. His bloody flank spasmed uselessly and he spun, head over tail.

The worlds spun, light above and dark below flashing. His friends’ screams…. He couldn’t understand. His breath heaved, heart pounding in his ears.

Deeper and deeper. Darker and darker. Danny spun, mind in chaos. Then-

Glowing lights sparked into existence.

Eyes widened, his heart slowed. The lights all around him… they were so beautiful. 

A tiny fish, lines of glowing green flickering on its side, darted towards him and nibbled at his fingers. Danny flicked it off with a feeble chuckle.. And… his breath choked. 

His tail throbbed. Weakly, he tried to flex it, tried to kick but… the limb screamed, pain radiating down. He gasped. It must be broken. He couldn’t swim.

The realization should have caused panic, especially with the blood leaking from the wound, drifting up, just visible in the blinking light. But-

The blinking light…. Two pale white jellyfish undulated past, tentacles as long as he was tall drifting behind. An octopus, orange and pink small enough to fit in his hand, darted around; glowing spots dotted its skin. Masses of green plankton gently floated.

Danny sank deeper, his mind growing fuzzy and indistinct. The water pressed down on him, heavier and heavier. His tail ached, sensation dimming as his gills fluttered, straining to take in water. 

A colossal fish, long and eel-like with glowing blue dots lining its sides; a glowing spot hovered above its eyes. Miniscule jellyfish flashed different colors. 

Danny’s vision faded, growing black around the edges.

A clear oval luminesced, edges red. Fanning, branching, fluttering clumps, like the coral that rooted on the rocks near home, and yet it drifted in the open water. Lines of tiny blue squares, stretching as far as the eye could see. So many creatures floated around, beings he never could dream of. 

Floating on his back, surrounded by the ethereal glow, Danny reached up, towards the surface, towards his friends. 

Light shone above him, coalescing. White-blue. Golden yellow. Fanning, branching, spread-wide. Expansive but near. 

Something soft and light gently brushed his face. The boy reached back, the luminescence a hair’s breadth from his finger. 

Just like his dream.

A whisper into his mind. Almost a Voice. It was like a song, chiming and sweeping. Light and ringing. Immaterial, ethereal. Like nothing he’d ever heard before.

Danny’s heart pumped, slow and heavy. His gills struggled. One more breath. 

His watery mind barely grasped for understanding but… slipped.

He was dying.

The Voice’s words whispered soft, tender, kind. It was… a desire to save, to rescue. A plea to accept the offer. It just required a small sacrifice, something surrendered…. 

The mer-boy’s throat barely twitched. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t speak. Eyes fluttered, closing. One last moment. One last glimpse.

Against the pale blue, glowing white lines and dots made a familiar pattern. But he couldn’t quite remem…

Heart stopping, Danny exhaled. 

I want to live.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny gasped, twitching eyes darting around, unseeing. 

His mind raced. What? How? He wasn’t dead-

“Danny! You’re awake!” His mom’s voice, quivering.

The boy flinched at the sound. Too loud, too close. His head hurt.

“Son!” Large arms swept him up. “It’s alright. You’re alright. The wind spirits didn’t get ya!”

The mer squeaked, body pressed on every side. For a moment he was back in the ravine. The water crushed him. He couldn’t breathe. 

Gasping again, Danny jerked out of the hold. He fell back, onto something soft and springy. He blinked, eyes struggling to focus. And…

His parents' faces, hovering just over him and frantic, snapped into view. His parents? But-

The memories hit. The glowing lights. The ravine. The shark. His friends…. His friends?!

“Sam and Tucker!” The mer-boy shouted. “Where are Sam and Tucker? Are they okay?”

“Are they okay?!” His mom’s eyes snapped wide, almost bulging. “You almost died, Danny. You could have died! You’re not allowed to go to the ravine anymore. If your friends hadn’t found you…” Her voice broke, sobbing. 

The woman threw her arms around him and his dad joined, burying the boy in his parents’ arms. This time, Danny didn’t resist. He accepted the hug, though didn’t return it. For just a moment, a bitter hurt flashed through him. Oh, of course, they were worried now. After brushing him off this afternoon like always.

He huffed, eyes drifting over the…floor? He had been laying on the floor. A pile of woven seaweed blankets and pillows, stuffed with sea sponges, sat below him. Eyes flitted a few feet. His mom’s shell-decorated seat. Fish-bones needles, for one of Dad’s projects. This was his house. But…

Frantic words and questions bombarded him. But Danny ignored them, mind swimming. 

How did he get here? Why wasn’t he dead? Where were his friends?!

A sudden knock came from his left. 

“Is Danny awake-” Sam’s voice. “Danny?!”

His parents let go and a blink later, his friends were hugging him. This time, he returned the hug.

His heart fluttered, trembling. Finally, his own sob came. “You… you guys are okay.” 

“Of course we’re okay. You… you dork.” Sam squeezed him harder.

“Don’t scare us like that!” Tucker cried into his shoulder. “We thought you were dead!”

His parents’ both rose from the floor, whipping their faces. An awkward pause, the adults’ eyes on his back while he broke down. 

“You must be hungry.” His mom finally said. “Jack, come help me.”

The pair left, blessedly leaving the trio in peace. And Danny hugged his best friends, crying with them for a long while. Then…

A confused question broke through the supreme relief. “Guys! What happened!?” Danny pulled away. “That shark attacked us! It freaking bit me. I got knocked into the ravine.”

“We saw you fall. You disappeared!” Tucker waved his arms. “We were calling your name but we couldn’t see you. Sam was about to go after you but...” He bit his lip, trailing off. 

“Yeah.” Danny didn’t quite register the hesitation, sitting up more fully. “I tried to swim back but couldn’t. I broke something in my… tail.”

The blue-tailed mer’s eyes drifted to his flank, widening. With a thought, the tip flicked, as natural and easy as ever. “Guys… my tail isn’t broken. But… I know… I know it was. I couldn’t even move it without screaming. This is crazy...”

He stared, flexing his dorsal fin. Moving it side to side, up and down, mesmerized by the movement.

“That’s not the only crazy thing…” The yellow-tailed mer hesitated..

Danny looked up at the words, wide eyes flitting between his two friends. “What?”

The two traded hesitant looks. Finally Sam started. “Something… really weird happened after you went over the ravine. I was just about to go after you, when these lights showed up. At first we thought it was the glowing lights you’d brought us there to see. But then they were getting closer and closer. And brighter and brighter and… there was this sound.” Her eyes widened, far away. “It started small. But it kept getting louder and suddenly it was everywhere like.. Like it was inside my head….”

Beside her, Tucker shivered. “I heard it too. Nothing…  I’ve never heard anything make a sound like that before. Never. But… it was like this singing but… high and far away but somehow also really close and…”

The hair on Danny’s arms rose, something distant but so near tickling at his mind. The darkwater, bright light, a musical Voice.

“The light kept getting brighter, like it was gonna burn my eyes. It should… should have hurt but… it didn’t. I couldn’t look away.” Tucker breathed, almost dreamily. “It was so beautiful.” 

Danny’s stomach dropped, a strangely calm dread. He waved a hand in front of his friend’s face. “What happened next?”

The other boy shook his head, snapping out of it. “There was this flash and you were back. You were just laying there, at the edge of the cliff. But… but.” Tucker’s voice trembled. “There was seafoam everywhere. All over you.”

“Sea… sea foam?” The dread rose, wrapping around Danny’s throat. “Seafoam? Like…” 

Numbly, Sam nodded. “Your tail… it looked half gone. And your hands…” She shook. “You were dead. We were sure you were dead and.. And…”

Danny’s mouth was somehow dry. “Turning into seafoam.” He’d been dying. Sinking into the depths, the glowing creatures drifting around him… He’d been dying. He had felt it and…  “I… I was turning into seafoam.” Like any other mer, returning to the foam all their kind had come from. 

But… but that was impossible, Because… “I’m.. I’m not dead, though?” He asked, anxious, hopeful, desperate.

Sam nodded, eyes glazed, almost haunted. “Your eyes popped open and… they were glowing. Solid white.” 

“Your whole body started glowing too. Like light was coming through your skin.” Tucker added, nervously chewing at a fingernail. 

Danny stared at his own hand. This was.. This was all impossible. But… the image flashed in his head…. his veins, pulsing with light from within. Why… why did it feel so right?

“It kept getting brighter and brighter until we couldn’t see you at all.” His red-capped friend continued. “Then there was this whooshing noise, like a million manta rays flapping by, and you were normal again.”

“But there were all these white things around you. They looked like that red-coral at the reef, the branching wavy ones. But not hard at all. They were soft and smooth.” Sam’s brow furrowed. “They disappeared though. They were all gone by the time I came back with your parents….”

The purple-tailed mer trailed off, a heaviness falling over the room. 

Tucker wrapped his arms around himself. “It was freaky, man.”

Part of Danny wanted to laugh- talk about an understatement. But… in his chest, his heart pounded fearfully. He’d almost died, he remembered that. But what had happened to him after?

And yet… again, it scratched at his mind. Light coalescing above him. Immense, reaching softness. A ringing, tender almost-Voice. His heart skipped a beat.

Something had saved him.

Before Danny could open his mouth to tell his friends, his parents burst in. 

“Here you go!” His dad shoved a plate into his hands. “Manatee cheese and mussels. Your favorite!”

Again, a hint of bitterness rose. Apparently he just had to almost die for his parents to pay attention to him. Danny shook the thought away; it was his favorite meal…

His mom joined. “Sam, Tucker. Here’s some for you too.” She handed plates over and the five sat in a circle on the floor.

The blue-tailed mer ate the food, though he didn’t enjoy it. Not with his stomach churning as it was with the adults hovering over him. 

“You’re lucky to be alive, Danny.” His mom’s sad serious eyes fixed on him. “You know you can’t go to the ravine like that. It’s dangerous.”

“Yeah!” His dad stabbed his seaweed salad violently. “Those windy spirits haunt those cliffs. They lure you with their weird songs and spooky ghost lights.” His voice lowered, slow and ominous. “You get closer and closer. You can’t look away and…” 

Out of the corner of his eye, Danny saw Tucker’s widened, fearful. 

“They blind you!” His dad shouted, fingers jerking like a flashing ball of light. “Then they drag you to the surface and suck out your soul!”

Both Danny’s friends gasped, faces pale. They traded knowing looks, side-eyeing him. 

“Don’t scare the kids, Jack!” Mom reprimanded. “No spirit is going to touch my baby.”

“Sorry, Mads.” The other adult rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Meanwhile, one of Sam’s eyebrows rose, a pointed though subdued question.

Subtly, the boy shook his head. And though both friends frowned, neither said anything

“You’re fine, Danny.” Luckily, his mom mis-read the exchange. “What happened was scary but it’s over.“ The woman placed a hand on his arm, an attempt at comfort. “You’re safe.”

The boy smiled, though the warmth of it didn’t meet his eyes. “I know. Thanks Mom.”

The group finished eating soon enough and the adults rushed Danny’s friends out. The trio shared a hug, again questioning looks pinned on the blue-tail. And again, Danny refused. As weird and worrying as what happened to him was, that was not a jar of slugs he was willing to open in front of his parents.

“We’ll talk later.” The mer-boy instead whispered into Sam’s shoulder.

With subtle, understanding nods and parting waving, both teens left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny quickly excused himself to his room. As soon as he crossed the threshold, door closed, he let out a groan. 

“Why?” He rubbed his eyes. 

So much had happened, he couldn’t even begin to process. And of course, his dad had to bring up wind spirits again. It was ridiculous. Everyone knew spirits weren’t real. But…

The sweeping song danced in his head. The feeling of light on his skin, not searing or burning, but… warm and safe. 

Danny twitched suddenly. His back itched, something brushing his skin. He reached under his shirt, reaching for the spot. His fingers brushed the thing, soft like hair but… not. He gripped; whatever it was, the end was hard but light, tapering into a long, thin point. It came away without resistance. He brought it in front of his face. 

The boy gasped, eyes wide and mesmerized. The white object glowed, warm in his hand and pulsing with light. It tingled, the warmth spreading down into his palm. Something sparked in his veins. A flicker, a glow. Blue-white light shimmered through his skin.

With a choked cry, Danny dropped the feather as if he’d been burned. The light disappeared as soon as it left his hand, his own veins going dark. The object fell softly to the floor.

For a long moment, the boy held his breath, just staring. He swam back, slowly leaning closer, eyes fixed. Nothing. No spark, no hit of light. Tentatively, he poked the object. No reaction came.

“That’s dumb.” Danny complained, frowning at it. “ ‘s just a feather.”

The word passed his lips and the realization hit him like those falling rocks. It was called a feather. Usually part of a wing and used for flight. This thing that had somehow been in his shirt, that his friends must have seen around him when he… appeared back at the top of the ravine. It was a feather and…

His heart pounded, breath choked. He hadn’t known what this was this morning. He’d never seen a feather, nor a wing, nor flight. No one told him what they were. But… those words were there, in his head, as easy as any other. As familiar as his scales, his tail, the idea of swimming.

This was a feather. And not just any feather. It was his own.

Panicked, Danny shoved the object away. He stuffed it in the bottom of his chest, under old clothes and blankets. Out of sight. If he couldn’t see it, then it wasn’t there. It wasn’t real.

The boy paced. None of this was real. It couldn’t be. It wasn’t. He just… he just needed to go to sleep. He would go to sleep and this nightmare would be over. No more feathers. No more glowing. No more eerie wind spirits. Which saved his life! He’d be dead if it hadn’t-

No. With a frantic head shake, Danny practically leapt onto his hammock. He crawled in, tossing and turning until an uneasy sleep took him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Great feathered wings stretched over Danny, filling his vision. They reached towards him and he reached back. 

Swirling light and water. The feathers encircled him. The tender Voice sang. A lullaby. Safety, closeness, love. 

Danny trilled back, high and melodic. Something in his chest vibrated. His back twitched, feathers brushing each other. He shone.

Movement. The pressure around him lessened. They were soaring, streaming up and-

A splash, tiny bubbles parted. Danny squeaked fearfully.

The Voice hummed and comfort filled the boy’s veins. 

Higher. Blue surrounded, paler than he’d ever seen. And… light. Yellow and shining, all consuming. 

Awe swelled in his heart. Danny stared at the sun.

The mer-boy woke with a gasp. His tail twitched, an ache deep in the muscle. His back itched; something invisible, immaterial fluttered, dragging in the water.

Danny opened his eyes and the feeling disappeared. For a flash, his heart throbbed, aching with its absence. Then he shook the sensation away. But his body still felt odd, too heavy and too light at the same time. His gills fluttered, taking in water. He breathed, the familiar movement foreign. 

What was wrong with him?

The boy dragged his head up, rubbing his eyes. This was crazy. He was going crazy.

Something green flickered in the dark. His eyes jerked to the object, widening. He reached for it.

Fingers gripped the corner. A piece of green sea-weed parchment, familiar with its squid-ink dye. And yet… it glowed. His eyes flitted over the words.

Beloved child of my wings. I am pleased to know you are well. Not a day has passed and yet I long to see you, precious one. Meet me where the lower water mets the air and we will fly together under the stars. Love, your Abba.

Danny read it one, twice, three times. Slowly bringing it to his chest, the boy’s heart pounded. Joy and terror mixed in equal parts. 

Safety, the feeling of being wrapped in protective wings, haunted him. His dream…. It had felt so real. And… feathered wings. That was what he’d seen above him as he died. An awesome, immense being with wings. 

And this letter…. The honey sweet words soothed him. His own parents hadn’t talked about him with such affection in years. The promise of the stars, always calling to him from his dreams, lured him; he could see them, really see them.

But the intimacy, the familiarity there, from something he did not know….

What, or who, exactly had saved him?

[fan-maniaer]

I have been working on a new au for one of my favorite games of all time. The au is called

The basic idea of this au is to see how much I can change undertale's world while still keeping the bare essentials of what undertale as a story is. This au is still in work in progress, so the only things I have really made so far are the designs for some of the characters. Which I will show off to you now!

The first design is the main character of Overhaul-Tale Frisk!

I haven't really thought of his character at all yet , but then he is an innocent child who likes long sleeves.

So I'll be moving on to the character.

Next up Flowey!

They are a very violent individual, still a soulless being like the original Flowey. Flowey, as a character, didn't change in my au at all, so we will also be skipping him and going to the next character.

Next up is the brother of Toriel himself, Tauriel. (Still thinking on a name, this one is just a place holder.)

This guy is the first big change in my au. Instead of meeting Toriel, the caretaker of the Ruins, you instead meet her brother, the former advisor of the king now defender of humans Tauriel (again still a placeholder name)

Now you might be asking, "Where is Toriel then?" Well, let me tell you!

she's dead..

Now that we got that out of the way, let's get to our next character

Napstablook!

One of the many other characters who were genderswap in the au

(If you're wondering, I used a Spin the Wheel app to decide the characters' gender.)

Other than being the opposite gender she is rather the same as the Orignal Napstablook, so let's move on.

Next up, Sans!

Sans like Napstablook also had a genderswap, but unlike my version of Napstablook, there are some differences between her and her original counterpart other than gender.

Number one, Overhaul Sans perfers barbecue sauce over ketchup.

Number two, she is slightly taller than the original sans by 2 inches.

Number three, she has slightly better stats than the original. Hers are 1 att and 2 def.

She still has 1 hp, tho

number four, she has slightly stronger magic, but she has a little less of a grip on it, unlike the original.

Finally, number five, she is a daddy's girl (due to what you want with this information)

Now, I have covered most of everything for this version of sans. Let's now go to the next character

Next up, Papyrus!

She is similar to her original counterparts, but what makes her different is

Number one she is a way better cook the Papyrus because unlike the cannon one she actually had a nack for cooking at a young age instead of someone trying to use cooking as a distraction from being a royal guardsman

Number two, she is still very nice, almost as nice as the cannon papyrus, but she can tend to get more easily frustrated than the cannon papyrus and will swear on occasion is frustrated enough.

Number three, she tends to make a lot more puns than her Orignal counterpart. And she definitely knows what she's doing.

Number four, unlike the original papyrus, she actually likes the annoying dog and keeps it as a stray pet (She still has her pet rock, too)

Finally, number five, she tends to fly up in the air a lot more often than the original papyrus.

Now that we covered all about papyrus, I think I will call it a day for now. Tomorrow, I will share more characters, but I am too tired to keep rambling on. I hope you find my au interesting so far. I'll be back tomorrow with more to share

[artist-assassin]

ok i need to know more about ellaria STAT. and your thoughts on rosy + the rosymance !!

RRRRR OK OK but ive only played the public demo so far i havent paid for the patreon/closed demo yet, so i have very little information about the Rosymance in general. info dump and stats below

Ellaria is the humorous / cheerful kinda Button, about 5'5", and she calls her brother Nick-Nack in the game but I imagine she will call him any random number of names off the top of her head (based off of when I played Fallout 4 and I would often call Nick any random nickname like Nicki Minaj, Nickle Pickle, Nickolodeon, Nickaroni and Cheese, etc lol). She has some insecurities because she compares herself to her brother a lot, but she tries to tough it out and beat up her bad thoughts bc she's an unstoppable optimist!!! Stubborn to a fault she refuses to back down once she sets her mind to something. Is a very nice person but gets very socially awkward in large groups, and sometimes lashes out when she gets frustrated by how fragile people treat her (the first thing that made her like Instructor Kim was that he didnt beat around the bush abt her zero but didnt treat her like a kid either!! shes like damn finally some respect around here)

Loves Nick so much (i got like a 160% relationship with him in the open demo lol) looks up to him like her personal hero + mentor. Loves her dad even though it's a little bit strained, has not seen or spoken to her mother in 4 or 5 years after The Incident(tm). but she misses her mom a lot she, she's half scared of her mom hurting her and half scared she will hurt her mom.

I chose the pre-prepared name Ella when I first started playing bc I didn't know what the game was about so I wasn't prepared to like.. make an OC for it until I decided I liked it enough lol. But I compromised by just naming her Ellaria and Ella is her nickname. Here are her stats by whatever chapter is the last one in the open demo (8 i think?)

I LOVE AMBROSE KIM... i played as bisexual in my first go as Ella so i had no idea the genders for some charas changed until I checked the Ambrose Kim tag on tumblr lol. but im way more into rosy as a man than as a woman... Mr Kim u can instruct me any day,..

Like I said tho I don't know a lot about the Rosy romance because I only played the open demo, and I know the author says his romance takes the longest to flower because of the whole teacher/student aspect so he's actively trying to NOT fall for button.. well too bad bitch I'm gonna be so respectable and hot he's gonna have no choice.

anyway im gonna get the patreon this week (friday probably) so i can update u on how i feel soon jhgjhlks i also love all of the characters ngl. i would romance all of them in separate playthroughs.

and u didnt ask but ill mention Kali also, my 2nd Wiseman. shes NUTS. i made her to be the exact opposite of my first humorous, cheerful, ready-to-take-on-the-world girl Ella - so Kali is grim and not nice at all and technically still ready to take on the world but more in a "the whole world is my enemy" kind of way instead of the "i wont let anything stop me" ella way. She's VERY resentful about her zero and is one bad look from a ment away from strangling someone

sorry for the long ramble jhagdwj youre the first person who is talking to me about this game that has become my newest obsession (and u were the one who got me into it so UR responsible for this mess) and im happy to share it w someone :3c

pls feel free to tag me in any mind blind stuff u post, whether fanart or oc art or just rambles n stuff i dont care ill love it all. thank u

[falcor-thee-luck-dragon]

Love Cuts Deep

Chapter 10- These Are Strange Times

Summary: Could something positive be truly on the horizon? With the random intrusion of though-to-be-dead Scott Lang at the Avengers Facility, your hope for seeing Bucky again may have yet to be a possibility.

Warning: yeah nothing enjoy the ride

Masterlist

-Five years since the Blip-

Throwing on a dark sleeveless top, you suddenly feel the overwhelming urge to sneeze which evidently causes your little furry companion to startle at the unexpected noise. The furry tigress lets out a meow of protest that pulls forth a humored snicker from you, while the little beast sends you an annoyed look.

Recovering her bearings in a flash, she walks across the short wooden dresser like a model strutting on the runway, her thick mane of mahogany and dark chocolate fur glossy and adequately brushed to perfection, just how your spoiled Main Coon, Silver, likes it.

She purrs happily as she begins playing with Bucky’s dog tags that lay across the small dresser top.

“What are you do..? Oh give me that you little shit.” Silver ignores you until she’s rudely lifted and placed firmly on the carpeted floor before you snatch up the valuable memorabilia. Placing it around your neck where it belongs then glancing down to give her a casual shrug, “Don’t give me that look Silv, I bought you a cool bird feathered cat toy like three days ago. What happened to that?” Silver meows, running her head against your worn out old boots as you smile, “Guess it’s as good as dead huh, you little beast. Now you staying or coming with me to find Nat?” Nothing but purrs of affection.

You lean down to gently rub her head before standing up fully and heading for the door, Silver hot on your heels. Soon you’re both traveling down the hallway until you finally reach the large study. Natasha’s on a conference call with Carol, Rodney, Okoye, and the last two guardians of the galaxy, Rocket and Nebula. And by the looks of it, nothing new has been reported. How disappointing.

Soon they all log off, leaving Natasha alone with Rodney who stays to give Nat a little insight into Barton’s violent whereabouts from the last couple years since he’s been rouge. Apparently he took out a whole cartel in Mexico, so he’s been busy. Definitely not keeping up with those group therapy sessions Steve makes you go to to help cope with the loss. Not that you’ve actually been that consistent with them if we’re being real here.

Quickly enough, Rodney logs out, leaving a tearfully conflicted Natasha as she slouches in her comfy swivel chair. Head in her hands as she holds back the waterfall that threatens to spill within her. You take a step forward, leaning casually against a steel rimmed display area for random nick-nacks. “I’d join you in the fun, but I’m limiting my crying sessions between 1 and 2 in the morning on Tuesdays. So, uh....I brought Silver.” You smile, pointing a finger down to your loyal companion, “Well I guess she brought herself but you know.”

Natasha breaks out into a reluctant grin, genuinely happy to have a bit of positive company within her gloom, “And you didn’t even want her to begin with.” Laughs the red head, “Now I never see one without the other.”

You nod with an almost shy smile, “Yeah, she’s alright.” 

You hear soft movement making its way through the hallway behind you just as Silver meows when Steve casually saunters into the room, coming to stand next to your side as the furry beast paws at his shoes, “What are you here for? Doing some laundry?” You tease at the tall blonde.

Steve smiles at your little jab since he’s not usually always present, doing Captain America stuff and whatnot, “Just here to see some friends.”

Natasha chuckles through glossy eyes, “Well clearly your friends are doing just fine.” Steve knowingly nods paired with a small smile, both you and Natasha look relatively well kept and functional as usual. It’s just, there’s a palpable pain and hidden darkness that always appears to simmer lowly on the surface. Just enough for a skilled eye like Steve’s to notice.

“Exactly.” You add, wandering over to sit cross legged on Natasha’s desk as Steve moves to lean against the display, “But if you’re here to tell us to look on the bright side...”

“I’m gonna hit you in the head with this peanut butter sandwich.” Finishes Natasha with a pursued lipped grin as the 90 year old nods. “Um, right. Force of habit.” Admits Steve, pushing himself off the surface to find a seat next to you and directly across from Natasha. 

The three of you keep to a mutual silence for a long moment until he finally speaks, “You know,” Starts Steve thoughtfully, “I keep telling everybody they should move on...and grow. Some do.” He pauses for a moment as you frown, Natasha looking elsewhere as Steve finally continues, “But not us.”

She shakes her head, “If we move on, who does this?”

“Maybe it doesn’t need to be done.” Suggests Steve, he means well of course, but maybe he’s right after all, its been five fucking years with absolutely nothing to make for it. Nothing of any significant progress or even a possible way to fix what's happened. 

Natasha blinks through bleary eyes of saddened green while you pet Silver’s furry mane, refusing to give in to that notion, “No.” You whisper softly, causing them to look at you, “We can’t, it wouldn’t be right...at least,” You let out a gentle sigh, “at least not for me....before all of this, before I met all of you. I had nothing.” You admit thoughtfully, “Not a soul in the world who gave a damn whether I lived or died. Then I found Bucky, then I found this. This.....family. And because of it, I’m better off now then I was ten years ago.”

They keep a respectful silence as your breaths become shaky, teary eyes now trained onto Silver’s little ears, “And I know they’re gone now, believe me I fucking know it, but I’m still trying to be better.” Natasha nods in deep understanding, a couple stray tears falling down her cheeks as Steve crosses his arms.

“I think we all need to get a life.” He muses, his tone light as he tries to pull you two back from the edge of grief. You give him a friendly nudge at his annoying brotherliness, “You first.” He chuckles as you throw him a playful glare while Natasha checks an incoming call.

“Oh, hi! Hello! Is anyone home?” Speaks a man frantically from one of the security cameras, an orange van behind him, “This is, uh, Scott Lang. We met a few years ago at the airport.....in Germany?” Now you’ve got his attention.

“What the fuck?” You mutter in bewilderment at the blue tinged image of Scott as Steve and Nat share a confused glance, the three of you quickly rising to your feet while Scott keeps talking about who he is, how he got here, and what he’s learned about the world so far.

“Is this an old message?” Wonders Steve as he studies the image of Scott who’s still waving his hands up at the security camera.

“It’s the front gate.” Replies Natasha with a hopeful smile.

——

All you came here to do was shoot the shit with Natasha and maybe make some actual dinner, but here you are, laying across the study’s plush couch as Scott rambles on and on about the quantum realm. Whatever that happens to actually be, you’ve never heard of anything like that before, but then again you didn’t know aliens existed at one point. So perhaps anything's possible.

Silver brushes her fluffy head across your fingers as they dangle over the couches edge while Scott keeps at his long-winded tellings of how he got there, what it was like, that he’s been technically gone for only five hours, and now he thinks there’s a way to enter this new plane of existence and travel to a fresh alternate reality. Like through a time machine type deal, or whatever he’s on about.

Apparently he means one before Thanos. But it honestly sounds like a load of horseshit and gibberish coming from a desperate man refusing to acknowledge that this is the new shit reality. There’s no fucking way that’s even goddamn possible, right? No way. 

Maybe?

Drifting back out of your doubtful thoughts, you swiftly move yourself into a seated position as Scott begins to self doubt. Head lowering as he mumbles about how crazy that it. You start chuckling as he throws you an almost embarrassed look. “Scott.” You speak to gather his attention, “Nat gets emails from a raccoon. Your idea is admittedly a bit nuts, but nothings that crazy anymore considering all the wild shit I’ve witnessed in the past six years. So I don’t know, maybe there’s a way.”

Scott flashes a hopeful smile as his brows furrow in thought, uncertainty seeping right back into him, “So, uh...who do we talk to about this?”

——

“Stark! Miss us?” You shout at Tony as he holds Morgan in his left arm, an Ironman helmet grasped firmly in the right. He gives the four of you a less then enthusiastic nod of acknowledgment before wordlessly turning around and taking a step up onto the wooden porch.

You give Steve a shrug, “He misses us I can tell.”

Soon Tony let’s Morgan go off to play with you as you opt in to be the babysitter slash distraction from the grownups who are currently discussing if time travel and gathering the stones for ourselves is even a possibility, or even a palpable option that can be done. You skillfully listen to everything they’re saying as the little Stark shows off her array of multiple plant-life assortments picked from the local greenery.

“So I got this cone from that tree over there and then I put a frog in a glass but dad said I had to let him go so I did.” Babbles on the five year old as you entertain her constant musings.

You raise a brow, knowing her shenanigans all too well, “Is he in the garden?”

She mischievously smirks, sneakily peaking over at Tony who’s seated up on the porch, before giving you a nod, “Yeah. I made him a little house from some flat rocks I found too. I named him Froggo.”

You chuckle, “Oh really, Froggo? I like it, has a nice ring to it.” She nods in delight before walking into her tiny tent to retrieve something new as you catch either Scott or Steve saying something about a time heist, what the hell are they going on about now?

“Y/N! Look at this!” Calls Morgan excitedly while bursting out of the tent to run on short legs over to you who’s seated comfortably in the grass, “I got a cool rock from the lake but I didn’t get to show you last time cause you left early.”

Raising your brows in surprise, though you don’t exactly feel as thrilled as she is, you make sure she knows you care, “Woah! A cool rock from the lake, why Morgan I gotta see this.”

“Look.” She hands you a dull grey rock with a tiny fossil shell indentation on it, “It’s from the dinosaurs.”

Examining the small round object, you nod, “Next thing you know I’ll come back to a whole dinosaur excavation site. Impressive Professor Grant, I’m thoroughly amazed.”

She giggles in excitement, “Y/N I know what that means now.” You give her an inquiring look as she smiles proudly, “That’s from Jurassic Park.”

“And your dad let you watch that, with the big Trex eating the goat and everything?” You tease before handing her the prized object, “Next thing I know you’re going to have a whole dinosaur skeleton in your house.”

“Yeah that would be cool. Thanks ninja turtle.” Cackles Morgan as she hugs her rock, smiling brightly as you throw her a puzzled look before joining in on the laughter. “Okay, now you’ve lost me kid, I can’t say I have any idea what you’re talking about.”

She shrugs innocently, “Dad told me to call you that.” Clearly not understanding what she just called you either. A ninja turtle? The fuck is a ninja turtle?

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” You muse before looking up to the four of them getting closer to a heated discussion, “Alright Morgs let’s go save your dad before he decides never to invite us back for dinner again.” You add, quickly rising to your feet as she laughs before racing past you, on a beeline for Tony.

You choose to stay out of the conversation and instead wait for Steve, Natasha, and Scott to start walking back towards the car. You lean against the metal as Steve round the corner before catching your eye as he goes down the three steps, “Are we banished from the castle? I was kinda hoping not cause I actually like Pepper’s cooking.”

Steve smiles, “No. He’s not gonna help us is all.”

“Damn that’s shitty.” You retort with a tinge of genuine disappointment, you don’t completely believe this shit is even possible. But dammit if you don’t want them to at least try for all it’s worth. “So what now? I’m guessing you bastards aren’t gonna let this go anytime soon. And cause Tony’s out for the count, we obviously need some different brain power.”

Steve nods while walking closer to the car, “We wanna do this right. So, yeah, we’re gonna need a really big brain.”

Scott turns from Steve to point a thumb in Tony’s general direction, face a mask of confused puzzlement, “Bigger then his?”

-

After a less then pleasant adventure to some cozy little diner in New Jersey where the four of you were subjected to Banner in his weird Hulkness body or whatever the hell he is now. Turns out he was most definitely on board for this time traveling experimentation. Of course he was, the weirdo takes fucking selfies with children nowadays. 

So here you five are now, in the giant glass and metal garage of the Avengers Facility getting things ready for whatever nonsense is about to take place next. The back of Scott’s orange van closed for the moment, keeping hidden some reactor core thing behind its doors. Scott in some safety quantum realm suit while Banner and Natasha stand behind a large intricate assembly of high tech equipment in preparation for the events to hopefully follow.

You keep an amused yet genuinely curious stance off to the side as Bruce gives you a thumbs up, nodding, you face Scott who’s walking over to the van. “Okay, here we go. Time travel test number one everybody! Scott get that bitch open!” You shout with a small bout of rare enthusiasm while he opens up the doors.

“Emergency generators are on standby.” Announces Steve as he walks into view from behind some large plastic containers covered in safety rope.

Banner nods, “Good, because if we blow the grid, I don’t wanna lose, uh..” He points a green thumb at Scott who’s getting his helmet ready, “Tiny here in the 1950’s.”

Scott’s head snaps up in an instant, “Excuse me?” He worries.

Natasha smiles while looking down at her touch pad, “He’s kidding.” She sing songs before shaking her head up at Banner, “You can’t say things like that.”

Banner turns around to face a fearful Scott as you snort at the small bout of humor that you did happen to find rather amusing. Then again, you’re not the labs guinea pig, so instead you casually shrug while giving Scott a half persuasive grin and a thumbs up of reassurance, “Bad joke.” You add as Bruce nervously laughs, “Yeah, it was a bad joke.”

Scott nods apprehensively before turning to walk over to the reactor, appearing to believe the two of you, “You were kidding, right?” Asks Natasha as you raise a brow at Bruce in question. Albeit a smidge doubtful he actually one-hundred percent knows what he’s doing.

“I have no idea.” Whisper yells Banner, confirming your suspicions, “We’re talking about time travel here. Either it’s all a joke, or none of it is.” Explains Bruce, suddenly smiling as he lifts his attention back over to Scott, “We’re good!” He shouts with a positive thumbs up of that prominently famous green.

“Oh we’re so fucked.” You mutter humorously while Natasha shares an uncertain look with you.

“Get your helmet on.” States Banner as Scott does just that, “Scott, I’m gonna send you back a week...let you walk around for an hour, then bring you back in 10 seconds. Make sense?”

Scott smiles brightly, waving him off with confidence, “Perfectly not confusing.” He muses with an almost annoyingly positive expression.

“Good luck Scott. You got this.” Encourages Steve while Scott grins proudly. “You’re right. I do, Captain America.” Then just like that’s he’s gone, sucked into the reactor like a crumb into a vacuum cleaner.

“On a count of three..” Begins Banner, “Three, two, one.” Bruce flips some switches as the machine whirs before a second later and there’s Scott. In the body of a teen. “Uh, guys? This doesn’t feel right.” Worries teen Scott as his brows furrow in confusion, clearly not aware of how he looks. This just got interesting.

“What’s going on?” Questions Steve as Bruce urgently flicks more switches. “Who is that?” Wonders Natasha as you snort at teen Scott, snickering at how absolutely ridiculous your life is becoming and the weird shit you’re adding to the list.

“Oh my god he looks so innocent, like before the world hurt him.” You muse as Natasha’s brows raise in bewilderment, giving you a side glance as she focuses back on the person in question. “Is that, Scott?”

“Yes, it’s Scott!” Protests the sassy little 14 year old before whoosh and he’s gone once again while Banner squats down out of view to mess with some more buttons. A hot second later Scott’s back, this time looking significantly different.

“Oh, my back!” Complains the short wrinkly 80 year old man, Steve sending the back of Bruce a troubled look, “What is this?”

“Hold on a second. Could I get a little space guys.”

Steve hastily jogs around Bruce as he makes his way over to you and Nat, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you bring him back?”

“I’m working on it.” Mumbles Banner with underlying urgency as he flicks more switches in hopes of getting a better result, whoosh, and Scott’s gone again before reappearing as a...

“It’s a baby.” Deadpans Steve in astonishment.

You burst with laughter, “It’s Scott! Let’s just keep him this way so we don’t have to hear him ramble about how amazing you are, Captain America.” You tease playfully as Steve throws you a what-the-fuck kinda expression. “Y/N! He’s a baby!”

“He‘ll grow.” Adds Bruce as you shrug in agreement. Crossing your arms as you study baby Scott, “Steve you can change the diapers.”

“Bring Scott back.” Urges Steve as he ignores you and Banners amusement of the situation.

“Alright fine.” Chides Bruce, “When I say kill the power, kill the power.”

Natasha rushes past you while mumbling, “Oh, my God.” As you await for Bruce’s fantastic technological skills.

“And....kill it!” Natasha turns the breaker switch downwards and a moment later Scott’s back, this time fully Scott. Whether that’s good or not is debatable.

He stands there, arms open and face twisted in confusion, “Somebody peed my pants. But I don’t know if it was baby me or old me.......Or just...me me.” Speculates Scott as you snort in amusement.

“It was probably just you.”

He sends you an unsure look that’s half offended yet he can’t exactly counter that claim considering he’s just jumped between three different age groups of himself. Bruce claps his hands together before spreading his arms out wide in excitement, “Time travel!” He shouts enthusiastically as Steve shakes his head before turning to walk elsewhere, “What?” Wonders Bruce, “I see this as an absolute win. 

——

In the following weeks after Banner’s half-successful attempt at legitimate time travel, Tony and Rocket have been toiling away tirelessly on Starks actual time machine since he’s agreed to help fix the mess that Thanos left behind. The Avengers base has honestly never been busier; with Tony, Banner, and Rocket working on the giant machine. Everyone else is going about their business helping when needed and hoping for good news.

So here you are now, in the middle of the night with all light sources retired for the evening, hanging out in the kitchen with a bowl of watermelon chunks in your hand, and greatly enjoying the recently rare peace and quiet. Though soon your silent midnight snacking is disrupted when the sounds of human feet padding on tile reaches your ears from down the hallway. Dammit.

The lights flicker on in an instant, blinding your vision for a brief moment before they adjust accordingly to find the blue eyes of Steve, he yelps in surprise, hand holding his chest as he relaxes once more when he realizes it’s just you. Then he does a double take, considering you’re seated crossed legged on the counter with a bowl of watermelon, “Uh, hey there Y/N.”

You nod, awkwardly taking a bite out of your snack, “Steve.”

He raises a curious brow, deciding to step farther into the large kitchen area, “Huh, never seen anyone eat watermelon like that before, but I respect it.” Says the blonde, nodding towards the chopsticks held in your right hand.

“Yeah. Less of a mess.” He nods before taking a Gatorade out of the fridge, “Mind if I sit?”

“Go for it.” He nods before promptly seating himself next to the marble table. “So, eating in the dark? Your inner night owl keeping you from sleeping again?”

You shrug, “I can kinda see in the dark so....yeah, a bit of a night owl.” You admit with a growing frown, not sure why you suddenly feel so down in the dumbs again, “....guess I haven’t really slept well for some time now....well, now since I think about it actually, I probably don’t get as much sleep as your average person.”

“I get that, yeah....I know what you mean.” Lightly chuckles Steve in understanding, taking a small moment of silence to let his mind think of something to sway the atmosphere away from an awkward tension. Parting his eyes away from his clasped hands, he looks up to meet your stoic gaze, “You think all this is possible? I mean they’ve made some real progress and I guess Tony really knows what he’s doing. Still after all this time I can’t help but find it amazing.”

Pursing your lips together in thought, you let a small sigh emit from your parted lips before answering, “I hope so, cause if not. Well, guess that would be as expected.” You admit with a frown, “Maybe that’s just how it’s supposed to go....a fitting punishment for my lengthy list of crimes. I guess that’s fair.”

“I don’t believe that for a second.” Counters Steve as he sends you a sympathetic look, “What happened to you isn’t your fault, neither is what they made you do, or everything Thanos did to the universe....”

“Yeah, guess you’re probably right....it’s just...just so difficult to move on you know? From all of it, everything swirling in my head, and even though it’s been five fucking years now. I still think of that shit, even worse, I still think of Bucky every single day, I miss him.....I just, I miss all of them.” You admit sadly, setting your snack down as Steve takes a moment to reflect on his own losses.

Suddenly his lips curl into a humored smile as he shakes his head, eyes looking down at the table before they connect with your curious ones, “God he was so different back in the 40’s....Y/N you wouldn’t believe the stuff we got up to, jeesh, the stuff he got up to.” Chuckles Steve as you raise an intrigued brow. 

“Alright Rogers care to elaborate?” You press with a growing smile at the thought of Bucky and learning more about him, “Bucky never told me a whole lot about that time. Considering he’ll probably never get the chance, I think I’d like to learn more about him and what shit you people did back then.”

“Aren’t you from the 1950′s?” Inquires Steve with a humored grin as you wave him off.

“Yeah, yeah, I was a baby back then I don’t remember what happened okay,” You explain, “I was born in 53 alright, and let’s not forget I didn’t exactly have a normal childhood.”

Steve nods, “Right. Fair point.....Okay so..” He laughs, “There was this one time and if you knew me back in the day, of course I was getting in an unsolicited scuffle with some boys who thought it was funny to argue with the paperboy.”

Raising a brow, you begin to smile as his eyes light up, “An unsolicited scuffle?” You muse, “Or is this when skinny Steve got his ass kicked by a couple of mangy dogs?”

“Dogs. Yeah that’s probably more fitting, well you know, of course I had to step in and do something.”

“As expected.” You quickly add as he continues.

“Which I did. And let me tell you they were not a fan. Those assholes ran me for two blocks till I got cornered in some market when who would you know it.....Bucky was there, taking some cute strawberry blonde out for a date while he got groceries for his mom.” Chuckles Steve, blue eyes shimmering with the humorous memories coming back to him about his old friend.

You heart subconsciously swells with the thought of Bucky, “Clever man. Sweet talk your girl while doing something useful.”

“Exactly. I would have gotten a bloody nose if he hadn’t thrown a tomato right at the biggest guys head. That thing coated his hair like red paint, then...” Steve balls his fist as he presses it against his mouth to try and keep himself from losing it with laughter, “...then, his friend turned around and smack! Another tomato right in his face.”

Snickering in amusement, you run a hand down the side of your face at the vivid image forming in your head, “oh Bucky..”

“It was pretty damn accurate too. The other guy booked it down the sidewalk before Buck could get him. Then when he started walking towards us, the other guys took off like a couple of scared birds....fortunately leaving me with no bruises that day.” Says Steve proudly, no doubt thinking fondly on that old memory, “Then of course he told me I gotta be more careful and all that stuff, I said I was fine and he want back to shopping with that girl......huh, don’t think I ever saw her again, well....at least with him.”

“Don’t blame her, he sounded like a real ladies man back in the day, she probably got too jealous.” You joke with a small brow wiggle before your smile lessens again, God you miss him so fucking much, “Thanks Steve.....he seemed, so different. It’s just when I knew him, when I first met him that is, Bucky was very different.”

Steve’s face looses it’s once vibrant glow, he keeps a steady gaze set on you now, knowing your time with him was such a chilling contrast to Bucky in the 40’s. You sigh, “I think I would have liked to see that version of Bucky just once, but I liked the Bucky I got after everything we went through.....after everything’s that’s happened. Maybe 40’s Bucky wouldn’t even look in my direction, I’d probably scare the socks off of him anyways.”

Steve shakes his head, “No way Y/N, you’d have him wrapped around your finger so fast, not a doubt in my mind he’d do anything for you in a heartbeat. That’s just who he was, a player yes, but a kind one who treated everyone with respect through that famous charm of his.....and you, you’d have caught his attention in an instant.”

Looking down at your hands, you raise the corner of your lips into a small half grin at the thought of Sergeant Barnes losing it all to the dangerous vixen that is no doubt yourself, now that’s an interesting thought indeed. Bucky in the 40′s, how about that.

“Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re not....but I know one thing. That I’m glad to have even known him at all, he was...so special and he didn’t even know it.” You pause for a moment, lips pursing together as you think fondly of your past lover. Steve keeps silent, studying your disheartened features as you gather your words, “So if, if they can somehow do this....if it’s even actually possible to get those fucking stones again. I’ll do whatever it takes, Steve.”

Whatever it takes.

-

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[ashleyswrittenwords]

Correlation Doesn’t Imply Causation

Another Zelink Oneshot

Commissioned by @truffeart :)

Post-BOTW fluff with needless angst mixed in

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It took time for the people of Hateno to warm up to the presence of the Princess with the blood of the goddess. They were folks of the countryside where the strangest occurrences had been the occasional Goron traveller or the time a youngster swore up and down that one of the cattle could speak. Miffed hadn’t covered their wonder when the mysterious young man who had brought the decaying house by the cliffs brought home a wide-eyed blonde who suspiciously met the description of the fabled princess. 

The man had only stayed in the house for short periods of time, typically buying out Pruce’s stock of arrows and visiting the odd scientist at the peak of the village. A wild, insatiable heart for adventure was something to be expected and the older gossip mongers suspected he would bring back a woman from his travels. What they hadn’t expected was his bashful admittance the day after to Ivee and her mother that he was last century’s fallen hero, that Calamity had been vanquished, and that Princess Zelda was resting in his house.

When one person knows something in Hateno, everyone does.

Initially, it was something Zelda worried extensively about. One-hundred years. Would she be out of touch? Even worse, would they see her as a monster? During her excessive ramblings, the latter question made Link do a double take and immediately steer her off the topic. He had been awake for a little over a year and reassured her that the people of Hateno were harmless, but for the first couple weeks he didn’t dispute her flimsy excuses to stay in the home when he went out on short errands.

Actually, he was very supportive of her. Link’s love for cooking had turned into more of a passion and he had easily taken the mantle of the house chef. She could tell he allowed her to do menial tasks like dicing onions so she could feel helpful, and it worked. While out to gather ingredients for meals, he brought back gardening and sewing supplies to supplement her time; even taking her measurements and returning with three colorful Hateno dresses.

And Zelda was thankful, so thankful that after two weeks she let Link introduce her to the people he knew. She had slinked a couple paces behind him, uncomfortable by the stares once they reached the main road. Amira, the wife of the general store owner, had laughed during their brief introduction, “Nack was going around spreading rumors that you glowed in the dark. I don’t suppose that’s true?”

With a wobbly smile, Zelda affirmed that it hadn’t been true. The day got easier after that. People realized they weren’t going to witness anything other than a socially anxious girl and went about their chores as if nothing happened. Of course, she also dissuaded formal titles and told them she wanted to be a normal person for as long as possible before piecing together the kingdom that had already been underway by the Sheikah.

The days went by slow, but the months sped by her. Before she knew it, Link had woken her up to the smell of herbal tea and fruitcake - sweets in the morning had always been her guilty pleasure.

“Happy three months,” Link said with a hum as he set out some plates.

Blearily, she smiled and took a seat at the table to watch him work. “Has it really been that long?”

He barely nodded. “Official this evening.”

She observed him from behind. A soft hum smoothed over their silence and she allowed herself to enjoy this less guarded Link. He talked more often. It seemed to come naturally to him now.

Zelda let herself melt into the wooden chair and thanked herself for making patterned seat cushions. It wasn’t uncommon that she took in her surroundings, comparing what she lost to what she has now. Materially, it was a deficit but never did she feel so complete. There was no real goal other than to just be. 

They ate in a comfortable silence, both still wearing what they slept in.

When noon rolled around, she disappeared upstairs to pull on a deep green dress with sewn in flower patterns and jotted down a list of items to pick up from East Wind. 

“Do you not wish to accompany me?” she asked, tying a rupee pouch to her belt. There wasn't any accusation in her voice, merely simple curiosity due to his affinity to keeping by her side. And, admittedly, she did enjoy his company.

“As much as I do,” he grumbled shortly as he tapped the Sheikah slate repeatedly. “Impa sent a letter last week that travelling merchants were having bokoblin issues in the mountain pass.”

Link wore his riding trousers and a simple Hylian tunic. Without words, they had both understood that she had claimed his Champion tunic to sleep in after days of mending. Her heart sank, it meant the shrines weren’t working today and he would need to ride horseback.

He seemed to read her mind, reaching to thread his fingers passed her ear and through her shortened locks. A commonality after she decided thigh-length hair wasn’t practical anymore.

“I should be back at nightfall. Will… you be okay?”

It was a question born of genuine concern despite the knowledge that she was fully capable of cooking and caring for herself, but he needed that affirmation for himself and she was fully willing to allow him that. When she nodded, he pulled away and she mourned the loss of warmth. Zelda forced the corners of her lips upward. The sight reassured him.

“Be careful,” she chided once he packed a small bag and swung onto his horse. Link looked down at her, grinning as if he knew something she did not. “I mean it. Don’t do anything rash.”

“I know,” he breathily said, “I won’t.”

The manner in the way he spoke sounded like her nagging had caused him great exhaustion, which elicited a playful swat at his leg. 

“Tonight?” she said, sounding more like a statement than a question.

Unwavering cobalt eyes fixated on her. A chaste nod. They didn’t say much more by the time he secured the reins in one hand and urged the horse into a slight trot. Soon he was over the bridge and down the road. By the time she retrieved her basket, he had long disappeared into the Hateno woods.

Autumn made herself known in the tree leaves that were displaced by Zelda’s steps and the chill that bit her cheeks. She fell in love with the season all over again. Ivee’s voice was clear as day once she stepped on the village road. Two people on horseback road passed her towards the inn up ahead. They politely nodded to the woman as she shouted out today’s discounts and carried on their way.

Ivee grimaced at their backs and stiffened at Zelda’s footsteps. Suddenly, with a bright smile, she twisted around to ring out a warm invitation.

Zelda offered a weak wave when the greeter’s face fell. “Sorry.”

The store owner’s daughter waved her apology away with a sigh and continued sweeping away fallen leaves from the doorstep. “Don’t be. Dad’s been on me more about getting newcomers in before the first snow.”

“Is business bad?” she asked, taking a glance about the area. There were more people than usual. 

“Quite the opposite, it’s our busiest season,” Ivee pursed her lips in thought before gesturing towards the door with a scowl. “He’s always like this. Thinkin’ we’re missing out on customers if I don’t lose my voice by sunset.”

Zelda’s shoulders bounced with silent laughter as Ivee leaned back on her heels to wipe sweat from her brow.

“I saw Link leave not too long ago,” the brunette raised her brow. “Seemed to be in a hurry.”

A shrug was Zelda’s answer as she said, “I suppose Kakariko is having a monster problem and, well, you know how he is.”

She grinned wryly, “Can’t ignore a damsel in distress?”

The basket swung with Zelda’s idle swaying and she rolled her eyes. “Oh, no,” she considered, then remembered why she came by. “Have the truffles been restocked?”

“I’m afraid not,” Ivee pouted, “I tried to save some yesterday before they sold out again, but Dad nearly lost his head.”

“I appreciate the thought, Ivee,” Zelda hummed in contemplation. She’d have to do something else for dinner.

The woman looked down, then hazel eyes shot up to hers with an idea.

“Nikki’s daughters go truffle hunting down in the lower forest. Such troublemakers, those girls,” Ivee mumbled the latter notion under her breath. “But now that moblins aren’t as much of an issue, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if you tagged along.”

“I’d love to, but Link has still been wary about me straying too far from the village. I’d rather not give him a heart attack.” And Zelda wasn’t too keen on wandering far without him; the Yiga were still active on the roads outside the village. Until now, they were careful to keep a low profile.

Ivee sighed and leaned on her broom. Wistfully, she smiled, “I wish I had a protective husband like you. You would think I could find a respectable man already, but everyone our age in this town has the maturity of a child.”

The basket in Zelda’s hands froze mid-sway. “I beg your pardon?”

She didn’t seem to notice the change in the blonde’s body language and went on to stare off, “Link is so protective of you. Zelda, you’re lucky to have snatched up a man like that early on. I’m starting to think I’m either horribly unlucky or Calamity Ganon made them extinct.”

Surely her ears weren’t mistaken. 

Husband?

Snatched up?

The woven wood splints of the basket handle dug into her palm, but she carefully guarded her expression - a testament to her upbringing. 

“There’s plenty of agreeable men in the village garrison,” she said, trying to shrug off the odd feeling. “I can make Link put in a good word for you.”

Ivee quirked her lips to the side, “I don’t know, Zee… but honestly I have nothing to lose. Will being into soldier types make me as smart as you?”

They laughed it off and Zelda politely excused herself with a slight stiffness. From East Wind, she picked up grains and milk while making sure to leave a good report to Pruce of Ivee’s behalf. On her way out, Pruce chuckled.

“Send my regards to your better half!”

Her brows scraped the highest reaches of her forehead, but Zelda quickly reeled herself in and sent a bright smile behind her. As she walked down the road with the sales shouting of Ivee behind her, she felt the shock of their assumptions settle into a stark warmth against the chill air.

There were several variables that insinuated… a very misconstrued aspect of her relationship with Link. The tips of Zelda’s ears flared. But, no, she was a scientist and understood that correlation did not mean causation. It could simply be an assumption drawn from Amira and Pruce’s household only. 

“Zelda!” 

She jumped at the hiss, spinning towards its direction and coming face to face with Nikki. The woman gripped her wrist and dragged her around the corner of a house. Then, Amira popped up from behind a barrel.

“You’re good!” she loudly whispered. “He didn’t notice.”

“Who didn’t notice?” Zelda said, making Nikki momentarily panic when her voice was too loud for her liking. The antics of the two women were fairly normal, but this situation was entirely new.

Amira, who was glaring around the bend, appeared again with shifty eyes. “There’s a man going around asking nearly every woman on a date.”

Nikki puffed out her chest victoriously. “You’re lucky. He got distracted by the innkeeper’s daughter. He kept going on about boots. His boots this, his boots that. My goodness, he’s fortunate he didn’t pull that on me. My Nacky would have let him have it.”

“O-Oh,” Zelda exchanged glances between the two of them. “Thank you.”

“Absolutely, darling,” Amira proudly declared. “We wouldn’t want Link running around trying to find the man who wanted to steal you from him, now would we? It’d be bad for business.”

Before Zelda knew it, she was nodding vehemently. “Yes, I know what you mean.”

She most certainly did not know what they meant. At all. Quickly, she bid them a good day and began her way up the slopes to the Sheikah lab. Despite Amira and Nikki’s warning, the boot man never appeared to steal her away.

Purah’s squeaky voice was heard above the ticking of gears as Zelda pushed open the doors. Calculating brown eyes met hers, “I was wondering if you’d ever visit me.”

“I was here yesterday.”

She still appeared to be a child, but Zelda noticed she was taller than the prior day. From her stool, she squinted down into the cavernous body of a small guardian. It had long been deactivated by Link before he defeated Calamity Ganon, and Zelda was set to use it for a better purpose than rotting in a junkyard. 

The Sheikah waved her off, “Did your potion make only my mind older because I distinctly remember Symin being the only one here.”

Symin barely looked up from a diagram, “She was here for four hours, Purah.”

All the scientist did was hum a tune. Zelda helped herself to the desk space she had occupied a day before. Scattered across it were miscellaneous notes in Zelda and Purah’s handwriting. Small illustrations were more prevalent in Purah’s more recent studies. At least her physical form was growing older and the blonde was quick to scribble down her observations. 

Beyond that, however, Zelda grew relentlessly distracted. Any progress was dashed when she remembered how they referred to Link. Three desperate attempts to read through the same paragraph were thwarted by the time she slammed the book shut, unable to get the notion of being married out of her head.

Husband. Husband? That would make her his wife, logically. But what wasn’t logical would be the ability to fathom this idea in the first place.

“Symin,” she suddenly said, catching the larger man’s attention. He swiveled a bit in his stool to face her.

“Do you need another reference?” He was referring to the Guardian mandible in his lap.

Zelda shook her head before choosing her words carefully. 

“What are your thoughts on marriage?”

“Um,” Symin wrinkled his nose and gazed up at the ceiling above. “Uh, I have very little on the subject. Why ask me?”

“Don’t hit on my assistant, Zelly,” Purah’s voice echoed from within the Guardian body she was dismantling. “I’ll tell on you to Linky.”

That made Zelda place her hands on the table and partially stand. The metal parts lying on her skirt clattered to the ground. 

 “So, you think we’re married too?” She was louder than she usually was with a tone of finality. 

Symin nearly gawked, “You aren’t?”

“No!”

“You aren’t?” Purah echoed, popping her white head of hair out of the sea of wheels and cogs.

“Purah you should know this!”

“Zelly, you must know old women don’t poke their noses into other people’s business! Consider it an educated guess.”

Zelda groaned, falling back into her seat with her head in her hands.

The researcher’s assistant beside her shifted awkwardly in his seat.

“Well,” he started, then stopping and starting again. “It must have been another dramatization when the story began spreading across Hyrule.”

“What’s the story say then?” she said, defeat in her stature and embarrassment on her cheeks. “I might as well know how it was told.”

Purah had fully reemerged now, her clothes stained from oil. She wriggled onto the table. “Something something, before the Princess’s birthday,” she sang, “the goddesses something something and under the watchful eye of Hylia they eloped or whatever.”

“We eloped?”

“I don’t know!” Purah threw up her short arms. “That’s what the bird said!”

“Look,” Symin steered her away from his mentor. “Maybe it’d be best if you got home and explained it to Link before he hears it from someone else.”

She considered it. He was right. Zelda should rip the bandaid off early on, then the awkwardness could pass faster.

Right? 

“I will say, I was hurt that I wasn’t invited,” Purah pouted, handing Zelda her basket. “But remember that when there’s a real wedding.”

She didn’t have the emotional energy to argue at that point.

It had been hours since she had ascended the cliff and now the impending sunset brought dropping temperatures. The clouds over the sea hadn’t lightened her mood either.

By the time Zelda returned home, night had fallen outside and it caused her to assume that Link was wise enough to spend it in Kakariko. He knew she didn’t like the thought of him riding past dusk.

She waited until small bubbles manifested over the sea of oil and melted the butter for her mind to wander. It wasn’t… imposterous to make inferences based on their interactions. After all, they had known one another for over one-hundred years (with all minor happenstances abiding). Perhaps it was only natural that they developed their familiar bond.

Zelda had difficulties with darkness and he, with sleep, so it wasn’t an uncommon occurrence that she made herself a space amongst his makeshift pallets by the hearth, nor him in her bed in the loft. How many times has that happened?

Many times. Most nights.

The heat on her face was quickly blamed on the simmering risotto base. Gradually, she stirred in the rice and spices, copying the movements she’s seen Link do before. 

Besides, sleeping together - no, merely sharing the same proximity - was born of necessity. There were plenty of activities a married couple performed that they didn’t. Nikki and Nack called one another the most egregious nicknames. Zelda nodded to herself, stirring the contents of the pan with fervor. That was something they never did.

They were comfortable roommates. Who slept together on the occasion.

And who shared lingering touches when words didn’t suffice. 

She was wary to confess the feelings she harbored for those small moments when he’d brush the side of her cheek and down the length of her hair; the only times she regretted her dubious haircut. And maybe she did enjoy the opportunities to remind him to shave by cupping his cheek in her hand. Thrill wedged itself in her heart when he leaned further into her touch.

Discomfort sat at the bottom of her stomach. Zelda frowned deeply. The familiar sensation of impending disappointment ebbed at her.

The door at the head of the room clambered open, revealing the sheets of rain falling from the heavens. Boots stomped a couple steps on the hard-wood and the door shut more gently than it opened. 

“I’m sorry,” a chilled, but deeply familiar voice said. “I’m late.”

Zelda sat back on her haunches, taking Link in as he peeled off his sopping cloak. His shoulders shook as the rain had long set into his clothes.

“Link,” she whined. “Hylia above, what have I told  you about riding in the rain? Especially in this weather!”

“I know,” he grinned wryly at her from across the room. “And I nearly rented a room, but then goddesses told me you were cooking tonight.”

She would have chastised him further and ran to grab him an extra change of clothes, but her previous thoughts pounded in the back of her brain and the steady bubbling of risotto kept her in her place.

“You’re too much for me,” she huffed, barely looking at him. “Can you check to see if this is done?”

Suddenly, his breath was right next to her ear. “I’ll move out anytime you want me to.” 

A pause.

“It’s perfect, Zel.”

Her hand stilled in its stirring. There went the nickname criteria.

Zelda caught his eye and his amused expression deflated slightly. She blinked, “This is your house.” 

A small crease formed between is brow. “And?”

“And,” she emphasized, “you’re going to catch a chill in your own home if you don’t change.”

Link didn’t move immediately and she could feel his stare, but eventually he relented to her nagging. She could hardly hear him shuffle about the room once his boots were removed. When Zelda pulled the pan from the fire, he was descending down the loft in a simple cloth shirt and trousers.

“Did I do something?” he said, idling by the foot of the stairs.

That had made her brow furrow and her frown to deepen. 

“No,” she nonchalantly answered, throwing down a potholder on the table with more force than needed.

He eyed her from the cabinet and pulled out a couple plates.

“I am fine,” she copied his stare and could tell the question was on the tip of his tongue. Still, he held her gaze from across the room. Zelda pressed the appropriate silverware onto the placemats.

“Link, stop that. I’m fine.”

When he closed the distance to put the appropriate plates on their mats, he hadn’t yielded to her reassurances and took note on the way she stepped away to give him extra room.

Annoyance wormed into Zelda’s chest and she dimly noticed that this manner of interrogation was used before.

“Have I done anything?” Link asked again, genuinely this time. “Because I’m sorry if I worried you.”

It was a wonder how this was the same man who could take on three lynels at once. She only knew because she’s seen it. The fire was there when he stared down Ganon after a year of waking up from a century of slumber, it hadn’t stifled the flame in his eyes. But now, he was careful with her. The blue of his eyes was soft, gentle and fully willing to apologize when there was nothing he did wrong.

“No,” she said, forcing herself to match his demeanor because it wasn’t fair for her own troubles to affect him. “No, you haven’t.”

His follow up question didn’t need a voice.

“I heard something in town and,” she stopped to let her stiff shoulders sag. “I don’t think you’ll like it.”

Gods, she sounded like she was a child about to admit to breaking something. As she said the words, she realized that the idea itself hadn’t bothered her. What had bothered her was his potential reaction. 

Zelda could say they were friends, even close friends, but lovers? Spouses? The pull of her heart at the thought scared her.

Disappointment. There would be disappointment in his eyes that would leave her  to hurt.

“They think,” she paused. He tried to take her fidgeting hands in his, but she pulled away and left him dumbfounded. Zelda didn’t like that expression at all on him, only making her more flustered in what to do. 

“Who?” His tone was gentle, like calming a spooked horse.

Zelda breathed in a large breath, “This morning. Ivee and- and Pruce and… Nikki and Nack...”

She trailed off, searching the floor and Link for words.

“The townspeople?” 

Tentatively, she nodded, not quite able to spit out what she needed to say.

Now, he was fully confused. “What do they think? Zelda, I promise you they don’t judge you for what had happened.”

The Calamity. Of course he would be thinking she was worried about that with how aloof her mannerisms suddenly were. Assuming he guessed right, his small frown upticked to sympathy.

“They’d never pin that on you. If anything, they warmed up to you more than they did to me.”

He began to tell her about the odd stares he got when he began reconstruction of the house. All the stories that would typically make her laugh, but all she could do with stare at their feet.

“They think we’re married!”

The words that flew from her were unequivocally hers yet her ears could hardly believe it. Link’s lips fell into a small “o” as he took a step back. Shock barely registered on his features, and it made her regret saying anything at all. She hated the way his eyes left hers.

Unsure of what to do, she watched him pace to the opposite wall and back. Never did he meet her gaze in turn for the rafters above. A hand brushed through his damp hair.

He swallowed the remnants of his tales, more softer with a certain disbelief, “Married, huh?”

Her quiet response affirmed him.

If this had been any other situation, she would have poked fun at the way he was behaving. Nothing about him exuded the certain confidence he so often employed in front of her. Lucky was a word she would have used if she managed to confound him like this.

“Ivee was the first to mention it in passing,” Zelda placated. “I thought it was a simple misunderstanding until Pruce then Nikki then Amira until…”

“Until it wasn’t so simple,” he finished for her. She smoothed a piece of hair behind her ear with a nod.

They fell back into a quietness. Some of Link’s shock gave way for, what she assumed, a reluctant acceptance.

The risotto was growing cold and neither had the stomach to point it out.

Zelda wasn’t ignorant about her feelings. However, she knew she was a coward. Before the Calamity, she had an understanding of why his name suddenly filled up the pages of her diary. Back then, Link had a silent charm to him that let her be herself for a short moment. It enraptured her. But she also had an excuse to never admit it. 

Now, she had nothing to hide behind. No Calamity Ganon was going to drag her away from the man who was obviously embarrassed to be seen as her husband.

“Married?” he asked again, as if she hadn’t confirmed it for the umpteenth time. He was leaning against the table with his hand rubbing his neck.

“Yes, Link,” she was growing frustrated. “They think we’re… you know.”

Then, he looked up. “Is that a bad thing?”

Link’s eyes swept the room at her startled reaction. “Well,” he said with a raised brow and a small shake of his head. “If you’re completely against it then I am too, but-”

Then, to her absolute surprise, he shrugged. “It’s not horrible.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying,” there was defensiveness in his voice, “that other people assuming I’m married isn’t the worst rumor in the world.”

Now Zelda was thoroughly convinced he had stumbled upon a pub on his way home. “You do realize that it would mean I would be your wife.”

His shrug was more grandiose this time. “And I would be your husband.”

By then, the room was much dimmer. The fire lacked wood and Zelda hadn’t had time to think about lighting candles. She could make out his features, but could hardly read them.

“So, you’re not mad?”

Link wasn’t leaning on the table anymore. The action made her feel closer to him. 

“Why would I be mad at you?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Not at me. The rumor.”

There was hesitation in his movements, but he crossed the little amount of space between them. “Honestly? It makes sense why more people haven’t outwardly hit on you.”

That comment made her let out a short laugh.

“But no,” he said; she could hear his smile. “I’m not mad… not at all.”

Link’s approach was slower than usual, but she opened up to his enticing pulls that evolved into a gentle embrace.

There were many doubts Zelda harbored. Most old, some new. To her, they were indistinguishable. Yet, all were forgotten, if only for a little while when he held her close in his arms.

When she bunched the cloth of his shirt in her hands, she felt him shiver. 

“You’re going to catch a cold,” Zelda muttered.

All he did was hold her closer. 

[hideawayintheimaginationworld]

Hello Freddy and Handeemen Friends Chapter 1

Another big day of filming has officially come to a close for those who worked at the studio where a popular kids show named Mortimer’s Handeemen was filmed. The show had a cast of four puppets teaching kids and engaging them in the segments, it would film episodes over six days a week for about five hours per day with lunch breaks and “staged” rehearsals happening in between.

Mortimer himself was very aware of things going on, he was capable of his own thoughts and expressing his feelings like the other puppets who had evolved from being operated by puppeteer to being fully independent and going about on their own accord, just as long as they listen to their creator Owen Gubberson, which was an agreeable enough condition.

Mortimer in between filming and rehearsals liked reading the paper, that why if he went to the front reception and couldn’t find the paper where it should be on the desk, he would get irritated. Today such hasn't happen so he was happily reading the newspaper while having tea with milk and sugar.

He had come into the annual six month TV reviews in the kids category he saw his own show was now rating second below a show called Freddy Fazbear and Friends. He was annoyed, he had seen the name before, from what he understood and heard, the show was about four friends who were different animal types like a bear, bunny, chicken and fox, they had unique adventures about their world and the human world.

He didn’t quite know how Freddy and Friends had suddenly become so much better than his show, it was educational too but not exactly as entertaining, maybe because they had more merchandise than them, and they had a big friendly bear, that seemed to fascinate kids, despite Mortimer knew bears in reality were actually quite vicious and should never be approached in the wild.

Maybe a word with Owen wasn’t out of order, maybe he could suggest an idea to ensure kids were watching his show and not Freddy and Friends.

Owen was often busy and finding a spare minute to talk to him wasn’t easy, he was almost always writing scripts, ideas and talking to other cast members. Usually he would only have a few minutes in between tasks he was doing to be able to have a short conversation.

“Greeting Owen! Could I have a moment with you to have a word with you alone?” Mortimer asked him.

“Well of course, what is on your mind Mortimer?”

“It’s come to many attention that-”

“Excuse me Mr. Gubberson?” Mortimer saw a female human in the doorway, he knew she worked at the front reception as he would see her every morning at the desk answering the phone when it rang and even handing the paper to Mortimer, “You have a phone call from Henry Emily, said it's about the concept you said, he said he can only speak to you now due to the recording schedule,”

“Oh shoot, sorry Mortimer, this phone call is important, I'll get back to you once I'm off the phone,” Owen spoke.

“It's fine to attend to your business!” Mortimer understood perfectly well why the phone call was important. Any phone call Owen needed to answer was very important due to the schedule. Owen walked away and the woman vanished from the doorway.

So whilst waiting for Owen to conclude his phone call, Mortimer went to see what Riley Ruckus was setting up in the science experiment set.

Owen walked pass all the sets and entered his small office which was situated at the back of the building. The room had blue prints and episode cards all over the walls, and a desk full of post it notes he had written, all ranged from ideas of episodes to things he needed to do like “Talk to Riley about allowing her to walk Roscoe around the studio”. On the desk was a corded telephone, he lifted up the receiver and spoke, “Front Reception please transfer my current call to this one,”

“One moment Mr. Gubberson” The person on the other end replied.

“Hello?”

“Hello Henry” Owen replied

“Owen! I do apologise for not being able to get back to you until now, having twin kids and running my own television show is hectic!” The voice on the other end replied.

“How are your children anyway?” Owen inquired just being generally curious, he had no interest in being a parent himself but he saw what joy it brought to other people.

“Good… I mean I do lose sleep but they're normal kids….. So I thought about our cooperation!” Henry spoke.

Owen was surprised, “You did…..? Forgive me, I thought you forgot….”

“Like I said twin children and a show, I have barely no time on my plate! Anyway, my wife has the in-laws to help her and we can get the crew set up by tomorrow! We're just putting the final touches on the next episode!”

“So…. We can do the friendship day special?” Owen asked.

“Of course! I think the kids will love it! Two different shows coming together and doing all sorts of wonderful friendly activities!” Owen sensed, as he knew Henry quite well, that he was smiling.

“Really? We can do it here?”

“We'll all be there on Saturday! So everyone can get acquainted! I look forward to it Owen!”

“Me too! I'll see you on Saturday!”

“Goodbye!” Henry ended with a cheerful tone that suggested he was indeed beaming from ear to ear. Owen put down the phone, he himself was quite happy, this could bring a lot of attention, but then realised he needed to address the puppets about this. Only him and Henry knew about this idea as far as he knew, maybe Henry already told them what exactly would be happening.

Riley was showing Mortimer how she had invented a cute sock puppet rat that could glow in the dark that would help kids who were afraid of the dark. Riley always came up with such ingenious concepts that amazed Mortimer, and she had such an indescribable passion for it, she'd ramble for hours without taking a single breath if she wanted to. Owen walked into the set where Riley's lab was set up, and saw the design she drew up on chalk board, he took a minute to look at all the writing Riley had placed on the chalk board and nodded.

“Are you interested?” Riley inquired noticing his attention being on the design.

“It’s simple and cute,” Agreeing with what Mortimer was saying about it, “I see the concept you're creating, I need to have a word with you two,” Owen said.

“Should Roscoe stay?” Riley asked gesturing to her large dog, Roscoe was asleep on the ground, curled up near the heater, one of his favourite place to sleep at any given time.

“He can come if he wants,” Owen responded walking out the set, Mortimer and Riley followed.

“Nick Nack! Daisy! Can you come here for a minute?” He yelled in the general direction of their dressing rooms.

Nick had appeared from his room, holding a paint brush, obviously he was in the middle of painting, whereas Daisy just appeared from her room humming a little tune. All stood in front of him, waiting for what he’d say, so Owen finally spoke, “So you know how we always so something special for Friendship day?”

“Of course!” Mortimer's favourite episodes were when they did Friendship day specials, so many interesting storylines and many friendships could be created between the kids in the episodes, better than Christmas. Friendship was important to every child.

“Well I did something really good, have you heard about Freddy and Friends?”

“Yes and I was going to inform you that they're ranking better according to the summary of the last six months,” Mortimer had finally told him what he read.

Owen had ignored his comment it seemed as he continued, “Well you know a guy called Henry Emily? He use to work in the studio as my understudy so he could understand how to create a TV show, he's creator of Freddy and Friends. I just got off the phone with him.”

Where would this lead? Everyone was wondering.

“He’s going to bring Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy down here to the studio! We're going to cooperate and make a crossover Friendship day special that shows unity across different shows! Isn’t it a wonderful idea? It's unique!”

Silences.

“I beg your pardon?” Mortimer asked in a seemingly extremely annoyed way, the tone instantly caused Owen to carefully think his next few responses.

“We do a lot of fun things but they're all kind of the same concept, I consider Henry a great acquaintance. We need to keep kids engaged, I have a rough plan for each segment which will include things like a joint painting between Nick Nack and Bonnie, who is also really artistic. “

“I do apologise, but I refuse to share with a giant rabbit, No, it won’t happen, he is not allowed in my studio,” Nick had snarled at the very idea.

“Bonnie is also a very clean rabbit, he won’t make a mess if that's what you concerned about,” Owen answered, he wanted to make sure he was answering any questions they asked.

“How would you know that?” Mortimer asked in an accusingly tone.

“I sometimes…. Watch it with my nephews, you know… you haven’t actually met them…. Maybe you should meet them, and my sister also… They enjoy the show, they are the biggest fans of Foxy… They also watch this show, but it's mainly because your shows are on different times, this show is on Tuesdays and Fridays at 4:00pm, their show is on Fridays at 6:00pm.”

“I do see that reasoning, how old are your nephews?” Mortimer questioned, this was his first time hearing of these kids who were related to Owen.

“Five and twelve. Would you be okay if I invited them to come into the studio?” Owen did wonder if he could let them come by when they weren’t in school as they appeared intrigued by his show and the characters.

“If they don’t disturb anything, they are welcomed!” Mortimer nodded, always having a unspoken policy of allowing children on set just as long as they behaved, “But back to the problem at hand-”

“Mortimer, I don’t see any problem,” Owen said. He honestly couldn’t see any problems that couldn’t be solved.

“I don’t think we would get along,” Mortimer countered, “We’ve never met and one of them is a bear Owen! Bears in real life are vicious!”

“They might surprise you, even if you might have nothing in common with them, but some friends just don't have anything in common but they still like talking to one other, just… try and see if we can all get along, they'll be here on Saturday after filming, alright?” Owen asked.

They muttered in agreement.

“And if anything is very wrong, we can just shut down the idea,” He suggested, Mortimer nodded at him and both him and Mortimer felt some reassurance.

[tencrowleyhardy-protectionsquad]

so today i learned that in the book crowley stays in his snake form during that whole first conversation and had a good thought so here we go.

(before i get arrested for plagiarizing or smth the first conversation is kind of just from memory of the scene in the show and book and isn’t really my own, but everything else is)

"Well, that went down like a lead balloon."

Never in his existence has the angel seen a talking animal. Aziraphale knows it's not a real animal; no, this is a demon. And that confuses him more because angels and demons never spoke. And yet here he was, staring into the inquisitive amber eyes of a snake that isn't a snake.

"I'm sorry, what?" Snakes can't roll their eyes, but the angel gets the sense maybe this creature would have if he was able.

"I said, that went down like a lead balloon."

"Oh. Yes," Aziraphale replies awkwardly. The serpent doesn't notice, or doesn't mind that awkwardness at all. Instead, he stretches his long form lazily and continues on as if nothing in this moment is out of the ordinary.

“I think it was a bit of an overreaction, to be honest,” he announces, as though demons had the capability to be such a thing (they do, but it’s a rarity and Aziraphale knows next to nothing about his celestial counterparts). “I mean, first offense and everything. I can’t see what’s so bad about knowing the difference between good and evil.” In the distance, the exiled humans walk further into the empty wasteland. Aziraphale tears his eyes from them and goes back to staring at the strange little creature beside him.

“It must be bad,” he states. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been involved.” A fair point, really, but the use of the word ‘must’ is enough to suggest he speaks as a person who can’t see either, like a student who rambles off the textbook answer when the teacher suddenly calls on them. The snake persists.

“You’ve got to admit, it’s a bit of a pantomime,” he pushes. “Great big tree in the middle of the garden with ‘do not touch’ in big letters, not very subtle of the Almighty, is it? I mean, why not put it on top of a big mountain, or the moon?” It takes Aziraphale a moment to get over the absurdity of putting a tree on the moon. “Makes you wonder what She’s really planning.”

The snake is right; for a moment, the angel wonders. But he doesn’t like that and shakes his head, sighing as he crouched down. Talking down to his peculiar visitor isn’t very comfortable on his nack, and so he picks him up and takes note of how he slithers a bit in his hands before settling down.

“Well, er.."

"Crawly."

"Well, Crawley. Best not to speculate, really,” he muses, shaking his head again. "The great plan is not for us to question, it's ineffable."

"Ineffable," the demon repeats, and Aziraphale gets the feeling that, if he were able, the snake would be rolling his eyes again. He huffs.

"Yes, ineffable. You can't second-guess ineffability. As I always say, there's right and there's wrong, and if you do wrong when you're told to do right then you deserve to be pun- er-" The snake stills, and for a few embarrassing moments of tense silence the angel and demon busy themselves by staring at the flowers and departing couple respectively. Then the snake's eyes narrow curiously and look back to the one still holding him.

"Didn't you have a flaming sword?" Aziraphale's face twists and he immediately looks away as the snake curls around his arm and flicks his tongue out.

"Er-"

"You did, didn't you? It flamed like anything!"

He is met with uncomfortable silence.

"Lost it already, have you?" The response to this is nearly unheard.

"... I gave it away-"

"You what?" The snake's eyes widen, and the angel finally meets his gaze again. Snakes don't smile, but if he could this one just might be in this situation.

"I gave it away!” The damned snake looks so amused. “There are vicious animals out there and she's already expecting! So I said 'here you are flaming sword no need to thank me now go'." It's a good thing he did, it would seem, because at that moment the man was using the sword to protect his small family unbeknownst to the concerned angel. "I do hope I didn't do the wrong thing." If the snake's answer is sarcastic, Aziraphale doesn't notice.

"Oh, you’re an angel. I don’t think you can do the wrong thing," Crawly drawls. The angel relaxes.

"Oh, thank- thank you," he breathes. "It's been worrying me all afternoon." The rain clouds are rolling in, and the Earth prepares for it's first shower. After watching them in silence for a moment, Crawly speaks again.

"Funny thing is, I keep wondering if the apple thing wasn't the right thing to do," he admits. "A demon can get into real trouble, doing the right thing." Large eyes peer up at the angel in clear amusement. "Funny if we both got it wrong, eh? If you did the bad thing and I did the good thing?" He laughs at this, and for a moment Aziraphale laughs too, until he fully comprehends the question.

"No, it wouldn't be funny at all," he huffs. The first drops hit the earth, and the angel's wings are enough to shield the snake from the rain as they watch the first humans disappear from sight.

The first time it rains, it storms.

For the first few hundred years, Aziraphale stays in the garden, and each day he's sought out by the demon Crawly. The snake does a lot of talking, and Aziraphale vaguely listens as he tends to the plants all around him. After ten years, he starts engaging in conversation, often carrying the snake around his shoulders or wrapped around his arms. The pair talk about plants and stars and whatever else comes to mind. At some point, Aziraphale becomes comfortable in Crawly's company, though he tells no one. He doesn't have to; the demon already knows.

For a demon, Crawly has his positive quirks. He likes plants, for one. Aziraphale often finds him happily slithering among the branches of blossoming trees, commenting on their color and size. His words sometimes are harsh, but there’s a fondness in his amber eyes that is simply unmistakable.

He likes the cosmos, too. He speaks of them with what Aziraphale recognizes as admiration; a surprising thing for a demon. There’s such familiarity in his words. On this subject, he can ramble on for hours, and as times passes Aziraphale finds himself happier and happier to just listen. Some nights, after telling the angel about one nebula or another, Crawly falls silent and stares into the sky with such nostalgia it brings an ache to his companion’s heart. Aziraphale suspects once upon a time this snake built the very stars he seems to love so dearly.

It's a good three decades in before the question comes up. Aziraphale is sitting under the foliage of a large tree, Crawly curled up on his lap, and it hits him like a pound of bricks.

"Crawly?" The sleepy snake looks up, appearing to blink the sleep from his eyes.

"Mm?"

"What do you look like? Other than a snake, of course. Surely this isn't your only form?" The snake pauses, mulls it over for what feels like a long time.

"That's true, I have another form," he confirms.

"I would like to see it," the angel states. Crawly hesitates a few moments longer before slithering off Aziraphale's lap and changing shape right there. Within seconds, a more human-looking being stands before him, long red curls falling down onto bony shoulders. He's still long and thin like a snake, Aziraphale notes, and his eyes are as golden as ever. Large black wings stretch for a moment before he tucks them against his back and sits down again.

"Here I am."

Something about this being is strangely familiar, like that feeling you get when you pass a stranger who maybe wasn’t a stranger in a former life. In this moment, a feeling takes root in the angel. He will not know the word for it until much later in time, and it will not blossom into that word for another few millennia, but in this moment the seed is planted and something begins. Many years later he’ll look back on this moment, hands laced together with those of someone impossibly dear to his heart, and he’ll laugh at his own oblivion. But for now, he smiles faintly.

“Your hair is lovely. Quite the color you have. And the length! Quite admirable indeed.” The expression on Crawly’s face is rather complex, but it goes as fast as it came and instead he grins.

“It is, isn’t it?”

That night, under the sparkling stars, Crawly talks about a far-off planet, and Aziraphale braids flowers into the auburn curls. They resemble a galaxy all their own, in his eyes.

[winemum-ignis]

yoo, im vibrating like we know nothing about ignis?? & im ready to learn more like ive seen theories like he was groomed to be next if lucis line fell, he was a nif agent and his use ran out and etc. like does he only have an uncle? was he nobility or a commoner picked off the streets & groomed into nobility since theres never meant of scientia line like amicitia? why him? imagine each dlc is gonna get more depressing and ignis dlc is gonna hurt so bad. aaaah sorry 4 ranting i just love ignis

ohohohoOHOHOOOH anon you have opened up a whole can of worms bringing this to my inbox and i lowkey love you for it. Never apologise for ranting to me about Mr Scientia ♥  This means it is my opinion o’clock o/ 

I’m going to apologise now for how long this may well end up because as I am pretty sure you have all picked up by now, I have A LOT of thoughts and feelings about Ignis Scientia. and i have zero regrets and could talk for days about him if given the platform. I will try my best to keep it to a reasonable length though.

Okay.  So.  *cracks knuckles*

EDIT: wow that is a wall of text I will put in a read more here to save your dashes from my incessant ramblings ☆⌒（＊＾∇゜）v

First off I have a very sinking feeling that there is a reason we know so very little about Ignis and his background because SE are cruel and have basically already said that the Ignis DLC is going to shit on us from a great height the most out of the three so I wouldn’t be surprised if they pull something out the bag that will just.  yeah. 

So all that follows is just my opinion, and will probably all be null and void if/when we get more info but you think that’s gonna stop me? I think not!

Any family he has outside of his Uncle I do not believe is in Insomnia, if they are even alive.  I am positive I read something somewhere about how he is originally from somewhere outside of Insomnia/Lucis hence his different accent to the rest of them, however I can’t seem to find this anymore so I may have been imagining things, but i feel it is most likely.  

No matter where they were from, I believe his Uncle was established in Insomnia with his place as an Attendant of the King and he was sent to go and live with him for any of multiple possible reasons. They recognised from a young age his skills, there were better opportunities and education in Lucis so he went, was enrolled in the gifted school program and originally was being prepped for the same job as his uncle.  Alternatively, his parents were dead or ill and unable to look after him so, shipped off to the only other family they had to be his legal guardian.  And what I believe to be the last option they were in a Nif controlled area/under threat from them and they didn’t want their son to be caught in such an area so somehow got him out and sent him over to Insomnia.  Or any combination of the above. and i bet you they are all wrong. 

But now a slight detour to if it does involve the latter option in anyway I am going to put my theory of origin location forward; Tenebrae.  One and the most obvious reason; the accent.  It is the only place where we have seen multiple people from their with a British accent in particular the Recieved Pronunciation. Another theory I have; Noctis was sent there to recover from his accident 12 years ago which to me hints that maybe the Tenebraens have a more natural nack for the healing arts.  Maybe it is just more of a prominant thing there but I think that accents quite nicely to how Ignis is the main support for the group; he is the only one with specifically healing abilities and techniques (not excluding that in I want to say episode duscae he full on had ‘cure’ as an ability so…). While Tenebrae was seized by Nifleheim a while ago, Fenestala /manor remained independent so what if one or both of his parents worked in the manor under the Oracle?  They would see what the Nif’s have done to the rest of the territory, want better for their son, there has always been that bond between the Oracle and the Lucis Royal Family plus they had a brother over at the Citadel; it would be entirely plausible that they sent him there to try and safeguard his future knowing Insomnia’s defences etc.  He went at a young age so they would have gotten him out before the Empire seized full control with the attempted attack on Regis twelve years ago.  

Idk to me it just makes sense but that could just be me. Also, this is just what I think is the most likely of different area’s we know about, there are so many out there we don’t know about and more than likely a more viable location ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And as for grooming, I am not sure how much of that was done externally and how much he actually brought it on himself.  I firmly believe that if Noctis never got married and something happened to him and he left no heir apparent that, if he was still around, Ignis would probably take what would be the Kings position. ( I can’t say ‘he would be king’ because that is a lineage thing and he doesn’t have it and I don’t think he would want the title) But I think he would do all of the kingly duties just with a different title just for the sole reason that there is no one else qualified to do it all.  He knows the expectation of what has to be done, and above that he knows how to do it.  He would lead the ‘royal’ council and see that what had to be done was done.  

BUT, I don’t think that was ever the primary intention on anybodies part, more just a happy coincidence.  

So either way however he got there, he is in Insomnia more than likely with the intention of becoming one of the King’s Attendants.  So they get him started, turns out this little blonde kid is hella intelligent and intuitive so yup, there he goes into the Gifted Education programme.  This much we know happened.  He is the dog’s bollocks, the bee’s knees, and on top of that little Noctis really takes to him and vice versa and they become adorable little citadel buddies.  All of this has happened before Noct has had his accident so we are talking Ignis is no older than 9/10.  

The incident happens and Ignis see’s just how shaken the little prince is and takes it upon him to try and get him back to his former happy self.  He starts going above and beyond to do things for him and this is picked up on and I think this is the point where they enhance his intended path.  He is special so they begin introducing to his education things that would be beyond that of an Attendant, that’s when they are looking at more specialised skills and guess what, he excels at that too.  There is this kid, not even a teenager who is so selfless in the things he does for Noctis and the thing is, they don’t even know the half of it; the things he does for him that they don’t know about i.e. how he takes the fall for Noct every time he follows him out on his escapes from the citadel, the fact that he learnt how to bake solely to try and put a smile on his face.  They’ve seen the potential, so they push it a bit, try and see how far it goes.

A few years down the line, Noctis is supposed to be attending all these meetings and crap and learning how to rule a kingdom but guess who is doing most of it on his behalf?  That little blonde kid who appeared in Insomnia to live with his uncle.  A few more years and he is all grown up, perfect human being,  full on adviser to the heir, strategist extraordinaire, knows all the ins and outs and workings of Insomnia who, if push came to shove in a dire situation, would be fully capable of leading.  Happy coincidence that nobody ever would have expected to happen 15 years prior. 

And I am going to stop this here as I already spent muuuuuuch more time on this than I intended but I just had to get it out!  He just.  He makes me. щ(ಥДಥщ)  Uuuughhhhhh he gives me so many feelings and I know it will only get worse with his DLC.  Look what you have done to me SE, look at the monster you have created. 

[inbetweenknacksandnooks]

Uh, I got Jane Doe in about 23 pulls...

Whoops.

Now you might be wondering, "Nackersin, how is this a 'whoopsie' moment? I want Jane Doe! And lost my 50/50 🤬🤬🤬"

Let me explain!

Note: This is a long, silly-stupid rant. Just scroll past if you wanna vote for my dilemma.

First off, it has to do with how I lost Zhu Yuan. Lost the 50/50 for Von Lycaon at 50-or-so, and got to pull 68 before the banner ended.

At the very least, I'm happy I was able to get Nicole to Max Cinema!

Then about 5 pulls later, on the next banner, I got Qingyi.

Now, I do like Jane, I squee everytime I see her teaser and trailer, I think she's pretty dang cool, and amazing!

Anyways, Jane's banner has a higher chance to get Seth and Anby. Seth is whatever, he's neat, and I like his too-lawful-good-for-this-awful-world ness. He's silly, but he's not a character I connect with real well, and, while his fighting style is creative, it's not very fun and/or useful to me.

But you know the S-ranker I do wanna get?

ANBY!!!!

I have her at Cinema 2, and would really love to max her out! She's wonderful, and she and Nicole are always together on my teams and is always the first (along with Nicole, since I got her C6) I give special care and treatment to.

I've been absolutely WAITING for Jane's banner to get my 'lil fingies around her C6! I only have 4 more of her to go!

It's a 25% chance to get an A-rank character on banners, but you're guaranteed to get one for every (10???) Signal Searches you do.

There is a very slim chance you'll get an A-rank not seen on the banner.

So, the stage is set to get Anby!

1st search was normal, I got Seth.

For the next one I got Corin... okay...

Then...

Oh no... I got an S-rank with my searching.

If I got Jane Doe, I'd have to end the search for Anby early!

I got Seth for the A-rank, and I hoped I'd lost my 50/50 to rationalize rolling on Jane's banner more, but...

I'd just won my 50/50, and I could no longer go searching. I hadn't even gotten 1 Anby!

So. Here's my dilemma.

Should I keep rolling until I get Another Jane Doe (and hopefully get Anby C6)

Note:

Getting Anby to C6 is my main goal, but my brain hates thinking about missed opportunities, so if I got C6 before getting an S-Rank, I'd be thinking about how close I must be to getting an S-rank, and I wouldn't want to miss it! Hence, why I talked about getting another Jane Doe.

If this option in the poll is taken, I would not be rolling past getting another Jane Doe, so as to not 'push my luck'.

Or should I just stop right now and wait until another Anby-involved banner pops up? I don't have any S-ranks I care to save for as of now.

I have around 10,624 polychromes, which is enough for 88 tapes, almost guaranteeing that I'll get another S-rank if I have the average luck of S-rank per 60 searches.

[inbetweenknacksandnooks]

I might not have finished the new story yet, but I focused on The Mystery of Arpeggio Fault and aaauuhh! I love it so much!

I'm VERY biased because the TV Mode grew on me so much that Hollow Zero is one of my favorite things to do in ZZZ, and SOLDIER 11! RREAAAH!! WE (I) GET TO SEE SOLDIER 11! AND SHE'S IN HER NATURAL HABITAT! MY BABY BONFIRE!

I screamed and squee-d in joy for like 5 minutes!

I'm also not exaggerating when I say that I screenshot every single bit of Soldier 11's dialogue!

She's actually slightly more casual in her wording (mostly in that one-time instance where she said, 'Yeah.' Instead of a more direct, 'Yes.', and calling the Bangboo a, "smart little guy" making her a little less ridgid than I thought she would be. She also uses the word, "minor hiccup" instead of "minor setback"

Though, it could also just be because she's at ease with us, and not on edge, since she's worked with us before on Mole in the Hole.

She also insists on being called, 'Soldier 11' instead of Ms. Dispatch Officer

Apparently, one of the reasons why she constantly forgets your "name" is because she wants to concentrate on more important things.

In one of her Voiced Trust events, near the end, she does properly say your MC's codename, meaning that this whole mission would take place before that trust event, after Mole in the Hole, and after she gains enough trust with you that she allows you to handle breaking bad news to the Bangboo (either that, OR she relies on other officers from her squad to relay emotional information to others, rather than herself, as she might already know that she's just not good with those things.)

Also, she says this:

(I'm just adding this to gloat over, she's just so cute!)

I've just started the 3rd stage, and I just wanted to talk about how much I love Soldier 11 and how much I'm happy that she's here!

My dialogue examination skills are rather poor, and this is likely inconsequential dialogue that doesn't directly let you know if Soldier 11 would use more general, or less stiff wording with those she's close to, or if the people working on her dialogue for this patch just didn't think about how she might say it. Either way, this is my heacanon now!

Also! One last thing:

I'm starting to think more and more that Anby and Soldier 11 aren't completely clones, and are more similar to sisters...

I know that most people either think that they're sisters, or clones, so I believe this might be evidence for the former.

[inbetweenknacksandnooks]

I don't think I've ever gotten so defeated on a pull before, Zhu Yuan! Noooo!

I ended up losing my 50/50 around 50 pulls in and got Von Lyacon. Did I want to get him? Yes, but not on a special banner

Okay, fine... but that just means Zhu Yuan is guaranteed next round!

Unfortunately, 68 more pulls in, and she hasn't had any hope of showing X'[

Am I salty? Very. But I'll at least have a plan to save up for Zhu Yuan again...

[inbetweenknacksandnooks]

Oh, hello there

General Info:

Hello, this is a sideblog where I can post whatever I want to my heart's content, it's like me being an anon, since I haven't told anyone about this blog.

I'm not sure how often I'll come to check on it, but I'll likely do 2-3 times a month minimum.

I'm 18 years old, female, and am going to start college real soon, so life may be busy and draining during this blog's lifetime sometimes.

Please DNI if you are homophobic, transphobic, or a man since I want this to be a safe space for the people I cater to (primarily women).

If you decide to ignore the message above me, then I guess you can be a lurker or something, but if you give any sort of comments or asks that make me uncomfortable you can and will be blocked.

If you are a male-lurker, then don't interact with any of my DNI if you're a guy posts. This is because those posts are usually a bit more spicy in nature and involve graphic or heavily suggestive lesbian/womenXwomen content, and I don't want men to fetishize those posts, so stay away from things marked as Men DNI.

The people I cater to tend to be women, lesbians, sapphics, MTF, and AFAB. So long as you're pretty chill, and don't come around hating a bunch of the things I stand for, you can feel free to message me and have a good time reading up on my stuff!

I won't be doing any kind of Male!Reader things, and will usually have it be Fem!Reader or GN!Reader, since I'm comfortable with that, and I know how to write for them.

I won't be writing about dudes from fandoms I'm interested in. This is a WLW blog, after-all.

I'm not very good at writing for characters, so most of my things are definitely OOC, though I try my best to make them accurate.

I'm also probably not going to write much smut or anything, and if I do it'll probably be angst rather than fluff, or it'll be non-graphic, mostly focusing on the POV, rather than the sensations or anything in detail.

Oh, speaking of which:

I'll likely mostly just be writing angst and fluff. I love both, angst has a tendency to get me sad irl if I think about it too much, so I probably won't be writing too much angst in a row. My angst will also usually have happy endings and fluff in them towards the middle and ends.

Fandoms I write for (and current interest status)

Honkai Star Rail (High Interest Level)

Zenless Zone Zero (Decently-high Interest Level)

Links and other important junk

Rules

Umbrella Masterlist

HSR Masterlist

ZZZ Masterlist

Common Tags + What they mean

#Nack's Lists = My Masterlist + stuff involving my masterlist

#Nack's [Abreviated Fandom] Canons = These are my headcanon works. The abbreviation will be in the middle, such as #Nack's HSR Canons, being my headcanons for HSR character(s).

#Nack's Reposts = things I reposted. I'll likely have additional comments in the form of tags there, too. Usually contains ramblings and/or squee-ings.

#Quick Nack-cess = Things that I want to be "quick access". Usually things I'll want to go to to regularly check on. Mostly personal indulgences.

#Nack-dates = My blog updates. Usually important as it notifies changes or fixes.

#Nack Rants = me ranting. Sometimes it's a lot, sometimes it's not.

#Nack Fics = Fanfics I made.

#Nack has Peeks = Peeks of fanfics I'm currently drafting, or neat things that involve them.

I put most of the tags listed here at the bottom of this post so that anyone can click on them and navigate the content.

My lovely Anons~!

🔺️

There's not many as of now, if you want to become an anon, just ask!