#please enjoy my attempt

[eisayshi]

Mari sat and waited and waited. Her dress dug in almost as much as the ropes did. She had outgrown it years ago but it was the nicest thing she owned. And they couldn't very well send her to her death in any old thing.

The town had somehow gotten the idea that their sacrifices should be presentable. Mari wasn't sure that whatever was demanding the lives of young girls had the intelligence to appreciate how much effort was put into their funeral attire.

The village guards that brought her forward bantered back and forth with each other, markedly avoiding eye contact and conversation with her. Not that she was particularly in the mood to talk. She couldn't feel much besides her dress and the rope. When she was a child and the older girls started being taken, she didn't feel much then either. It was a distant thing, something that happened to the most beautiful girls first before they started scraping the bottom of the barrel. She supposed it was a compliment that she was one of the first girls in her generation to go. The girls who aged out, who survived, their lots weren't much better. They were almost immediately set to the task of making more girls, with boys who had had to walk the girls they truly wanted into the forest.

Mari had no one who would have to settle for someone else after she was gone. No little sisters to tell herself she was doing this for. Just a mother and father who looked sullen one day and told her to go put on something nice and do something with her hair. Now she was here. Waiting. She mused that maybe the beast didn't have an appetite today. And if it weren't for the ropes, she would've walked back to the village to at least change, maybe get a snack. She'd come right back. No doubt hungry girls didn't taste as good.

It came almost all at once. The rumbling stones on the ground, the shaking of trees that released no birds. Many woodland creatures had cleared out long ago or were far too good at hiding, hence the girls. The rumbling got closer and closer. Then there was the screeching. She expected it'd be a lot more blood-curdling, but no. It was just animal. Terrifying enough to warn prey. Maybe this creature resorted to sacrifices because it was absolute shit at normal hunting. Maybe if it had had a parent to teach it how to be quiet, how to stalk. Or maybe it did know all that and more. Like a scared, desperate town would feed it its choicest cuts if it screamed loud enough.

Mari found herself backing up against the tree. There it was. A feeling. Something aside from the bleak numbness she'd felt for days, maybe for all of her life.

The beast came crashing out of the trees in a show of menace. It reached the clearing and paused right in front of her. She looked at it, it looked at her. God, it was ugly, she thought. Scaly and slimy-looking, serpent-like. It did not head straight for her. It wound side to side, stalking, appraising.

"I'm not getting any younger," she said. "Better get to it before I'm no longer to your taste."

It blinked. In a moment it was lunging at her. It all happened so slowly. She'd had time to blink at least twice before impact was made. And then there was blood. So much blood. More blood than she had ever seen in her life. The creature shrieked and stumbled away from her as the wound between its eyes spurted like a fountain. It waved its giant head from side to side, trying to shake off whatever had wounded it. Amidst the screeching, there was another sound. Mari looked up to the branches of the tree she was tied to in time to see a figure leap off and onto the beast's head, driving the sword deeper.

"Squirm more!" She thought she heard. She watched the thing writhe and thrash about the clearing, the back half of its body coming into view. It's back legs seemed to be so small.

The beast squealed as it's assailant screamed, or was that screaming? It might've been laughing. No, they were definitely laughing. Jovially guffawing as they held onto their sword and pushed it into the creature's head as it wailed. They were still laughing when the thing finally stilled. It took a while, but in time the assailant grunted as they yanked their sword out unceremoniously and slid down the creature's snout, slipping slightly in the pool of blood. They seemed to find their little stumble comical and chuckled to themselves. When they finally noticed Mari, they flashed a smile.

"You're safe now." They said, approaching confidently, covered in blood with a sword drawn. Then Mari was afraid. She began to scream. The stranger rolled their eyes, as though this was a common occurrence. Mari pulled against the ropes, against her dress, against the tree and the forest and screamed and screamed.

"Calm down. It's dead, see?" The stranger kicked the creature's head to demonstrate their point. "No need to fear now. I will loosen your ropes. Please," They raised their hands, "Do not hit me."

Mari panted but stopped her screaming and thrashing. The stranger approached slowly, arms still raised. When they got near she flinched, as they used that same bloodied sword to slice her ropes. The ropes fell around her and she tried immediately to back away but her legs wouldn't support her.

"Easy now," They said. "This must have been a terrifying ordeal for you. But, the beast is dead now. You are saved. Your town is saved. There will be no more sacrifices." They said proudly. She stared at them.

"I-"

"Oh please, if you must thank me," they walked back to the dead beast, "Be good and show me back to your village." They raised their sword and brought it down on the beast's neck.

-

The saddle was more uncomfortable than the ropes. Mari had never been on a horse before. After watching the man separate the beast's head from its body, chattering idly while he did, he offered his hand to her, giving a showy bow. When she glanced from it to his face, still cowering by a tree, he took her hand, gently, to his credit, and helped her to her feet.

"Your village?" He asked. He might have said other words, but she wasn't listening. She couldn't listen. He was still smiling.

He'd put her on the horse and hauled the beast's head unto the cart attached to it. How none of the guards had noticed they were there was beyond her. He still talked idly as he walked the horse out of the forest and into the town. She caught bits here and there, she thought maybe she might have answered him at times. The first thing she heard beyond his voice was the clattering of something to the ground, then a scream. Then there were people gathering around, eyes wide, murmuring in disbelief.

The man called out, "Fear not, humble villagers! The beast is slain! There shall be no more sacrifices!" He stepped aside to reveal the head of the beast. The villagers gasped and the murmuring began anew. The man reached a hand to Mari and helped her off the horse. On shaky legs, she walked with him. "Your maiden is safe, as shall all your maidens be. Go, girl. To your home, tell your family the good news."

Mari looked at him then at the people of her village. And she walked home, just like that. Her mother answered the door wearily at first. Something about needing no more flowers or food stuffs or condolences, then her eyes were wide and she was screaming. She flung her arms around her daughter and flung praises to the sky.

"My Mari, my baby," she cried. "How? How?"

"Man in the woods. Killed the thing. Stabbed it in the head." She murmured. "Only took one sword."

Her father came crying next, demanding to see this hero, to thank him. Mari could not for the life of her remember his name. Had he given it? Had any of this truly happened? Was she alive?

-

It didn't take long for her to realize that she was indeed alive. She knew this because she had kept doing the things she had done before she was supposed to die. Chores, social calls, prayers, and the like. She ate meals with her parents in silence. She didn't know what to say to them. She answered their questions when they asked and pretended not to notice their side-long glances at each other. She thought she might have done that a lot before, pretending. When she went outside, she listened for the whispers. The other villagers always had a new conspiracy about what might have taken place in the forest that day. Her favourite to hear about was that it wasn't herself that had rode back into town. It was some other creature in her form. Maybe she and the monster had switched souls, allowing the stranger to kill it with more ease. And now the monster walked among them, forced to live in a weaker body, to salivate over the prey it could have had. Mari had always had a habit of staring too long at other girls, but she didn't think she particularly wanted to devour them, not in the way the villagers thought anyways. She pretended not to hear them too. Part of her hoped it was true. A child once ran up to her and asked if she was still alive.

"I- I don't- maybe?" She'd tried to answer.

"My mama says you died in your heart because you were supposed to die in your body but you didn't." The child swung his legs absently as he sat on the steps to the well. Mari wondered if she had ever been that small.

"What if I did?" She asked him.

"I don't know. What if?" He looked up at her with large brown eyes. Before she could think of an answer, a woman was calling and he was scurrying away. She watched him go. Maybe her eyes tracked him too long, but his mother saw her, seemed to freeze momentarily, then bundled her child away quickly with her empty buckets. Mari wondered if anyone had ever bundled her away like that, trying to protect her small body from harm. She was no longer that small. No one would bundle her away again.

At a town meeting she attended, people shouted over each other. The only time they weren't looking at her or whispering was when they were shouting over each other. Something about taxes or payments. She'd never had to go to these before. On account of that she might as well have been dead from birth, being a completely healthy and even-complexioned girl. But now that that was no longer the case, she was expected to act just like everybody else, which meant sitting in this stuffy room as everyone yelled at their headman. A middle aged man, with little patience and even less spine stood in front of the crowd.

"Alright, alright," he tried to settle the crowd. "The adventurer set us back a few but we'll survive. We'll have more hands now that we're not losing them every week." He laughed.

Then she began paying attention. She raised her hand and once noticed, the room hushed. The headman's eyes slid over her purposefully, looking for anyone else to hear out. No one spoke above a murmur, chastising her for attempting to speak but also curious as to what she would say.

"Yes, Miss Mari," the headman finally relented.

She put her hand down, momentarily wondering if she should stand, and decided not to. "Um. What if it comes back?"

"I'm sorry? What if what comes back?" He asked. Mari took a sharp breath and the room seemed to flinch.

"The monster," she said evenly. "What if the monster comes back? Or a new one? Demands sacrifices?"

"Ahem, well. We managed so far, haven't we? Anyone else-"

"But you just said we need hands. What if no other adventurers or slayers come by?"

"Well, we can't very well afford another one of those, can we?" He laughed nervously.

Then she stood, sharply, scraping her chair legs against the hard floor. "Then can we do it ourselves?"

"What? Kill that thing? Miss Mari, it was quite fearsome. I'm not sure-"

"I saw it. It was lazy. It had no instincts. Maybe because we fed it so much. But a new one, if we didn't feed it, would probably be smaller. Sharper and faster, yes, but if we all-"

"We can not put so many people in danger. None of us is a skilled fighter."

"We could be!" Her breath quickened. "We could. We could. If we tried. If we trapped it. We could lose a few of us at once instead of many over time. We could-"

"Miss Mari, that is barbaric! Speak not of such things."

"But-"

"It has been weeks, Miss! We've made allowances for you but you cannot continue to behave this way. Sit down at once."

Mari did not sit down. She stood, staring, the sound of blood rushing in her ears. She looked down to see blood touching her feet, a pool of it slowly soaking up through her shoes. She left the meeting hall in a whirlwind and ran. Past the well, past the shops, past the gates, and past the trees, she ran. She would apologize for the mess of her shoes later but for now, she had to run. She did not pay attention to where she ran until she finally stopped, crumbling to her knees and taking ragged breaths.

"Barbaric," she panted. "Barbaric?"

She looked up ready to shoot a scathing retort and froze. In front of her, the slowly decaying body of the beast lay headless, motionless. Huge chunks of its flesh gone missing. She was suddenly aware of the noise of the forest. Birds in the trees, creatures skittering around. Outt of the corner of her eye, she watched a fox saunter over to the carcass and take a piece of it. She didn't move, it didn't seem to notice her.

She screamed. Bloody and raw she screamed. Angry and hungry she screamed. The fox flattened its ears, seemed to think about growling, then ran into the bushes.

"One. Fucking. Sword! It took one sword! One man with one sword! Hundreds of girls and it only took one sword!" Hot tears flowed down her face as her voice ripped out of her. She fell to her hands and knees and tore at the ground and screamed into the darkened earth. Hoping the beast would hear her from beyond the grave. "You took so many of us! They gave you so many of us! And all we needed was one bloody sword to end you!" She fell face first into the shallow pit she had dug and continued screaming. She laid there till it was dark again, her screaming devolving into hoarse sobs.

"One sword. Just one sword. He was laughing.”

Nobody came to look for her. She eventually dragged her body back to her home. She slid in like a ghost and ignored her parents' concerned questions. They did not touch her. They did not come near her. She went to her bedroom and looked around it. She looked down at her shoes. Besides the dirt, they were completely clean. Not a drop of blood on them.

She sniffed and rubbed her nose with her arm. "Fine, then."

She was gone the next morning. Like the ghost she had become. No one said anything, not out loud anyways. Even though the wildlife had returned to that forest, no one dared to step in, for fear of what they might find or what might find them. It was often whispered that the only thing missing from the home that day was an ax.

Hey anybody going to talk about rescued sacrificial maidens. Like yes a guy with a fuck off sword turned up and so you're not getting fed to the dragon/water creature/mountain spirit/vague embodiment of all things scary and you get to go back home, but is that really home? Your mom hugs you and your dad says he's so happy you're alive and you know that when they said they'll do anything to keep you safe they didn't really mean it. They have a feast prepared and you get to taste what they cooked for your funeral, help wash the dishes after. And it's selfish to think that between the whole village with everyone in it and you they wouldn't pick the lesser evil but it still leaves an emptiness in your chest, knowing exactly how much your life is worth. And the neighbors smile at you awkwardly and the neighbors' kids yell "hey! I thought you died!" because they don't know not to do that yet and maybe you did. Maybe you did.

And the hero with the fuck-off sword rode off into the sunset the way they always do but you're still here and you herd the cows by the cliff where you were tied up in your cleanest clothes waiting to not be alive anymore and sometimes you think that would be easier and when you don't come back one day, you can imagine it's a relief for everyone involved. Maybe you'll be the new thing to haunt the mountain, or maybe you'll follow down the road and listen for cries that sound like yours did. Either way, there's little left to fear. You know exactly how much your life is worth.

[bunnyboy-juice]

handsome heartthrob femmes anyone?

[doodlingfoolishness]

When the Pabu Island Players decide to put on a play about the Bad Batch, some… ah, liberties are taken. Much to the consternation of some of the audience. Yes, who doesn’t need a shameless ripoff of one of the best episodes of Avatar, Bad-Batch-style?

[tsukkishimwah]

I Met My Ex-High-School-Crush-Slash-Unresolved-Situationship After Six Years And He’s Hitting On Me!? (Part 1)

[ediyo-15]

i decided it was time for the laurent portrait tm redraw and i was trying to do that black and white challenge but now the saturation won’t go back??

[operationslipperypuppet]

every (fen)rose has its thorn. join the rooks today.

[sysig]

Don’t be silly! Okay, be a little silly (Patreon)

[one-flower-one-sword]

well I know what you want from me you want someone to be your reflection, your bitter deception setting you free won't you come and dance in the dark with me? show me what you are, I am desperate to know nobody better than the perfect enemy and I know what you want from me you want the same as me my redemption, eternal ascension setting me free

for @bladesmercy's fic The Fear of Falling Stars

[screechingcheesecakecheesecake]

ALNST au doodles... (didn't draw Takano and Ijuuin lmao)

[neiptune]

hi miss v!! 🥺 i hope you're having a wonderful day/night <3 this event is rly cute 🥺..,, could i request "you could be the one that i keep" and sanemi? thank you.,, giving u a little smooch.., <3333

sanemi shinazugawa x you could be the one that I keep

“I honestly can’t believe you” Obanai is not put off by your scowl in the slightest, if anything he’s fighting back a smile.

“I remember mentioning the night out”

“You never mentioned drinks being on Tengen” you hiss and this time he does smirk.

“Not our fault your man can’t hold his liquor”

His words light a fire in your stomach and you feel blood rushing all the way to your cheeks.

“He’s not��”

“Yeah, yeah, not yet because both of you are goddamn idiots” his gaze suddenly shifts from your eyes to something behind you.

“Hey” the greeting is soft, he’s always softer when he’s drunk “finally decided to join us?” you know he only has a hand on your shoulder to balance himself and you’re certain his lips feel too close to the shell of your ear only because he’s doing a terrible job at not tripping over his own feet.

“I’m here to drive you home” well, it’s not like you’re being any better at playing off your self-consciousness as annoyance.

You expect protests, outrage, a little tantrum even, but all Sanemi does is huff through his nose and glare at Obanai.

“I told you I’m fine” he slightly sways and the grip on your shoulder tightens.

“Sure you are” his best friend clicks his tongue and flashes him a smile “we’re gonna leave too in a bit and there’s only so much space in Kyojuro’s car”

The lie is so blatant is offensive, really. Sober Sanemi would’ve kicked his ass.

“Fine” drunk him sleepily mumbles instead, before he puts his entire arm around your shoulders “take me home, then”

Such simple words have your insides churning. Glaring one final time at Obanai, you walk past him and towards the exit.

As you navigate the crowded bar, Sanemi barely registers the hollering coming from the table he was sitting at until you showed up, his friends yelling for you to join them. He stumbles slightly against you, far too distracted by the fruity scent of your hair and the arm you have secured around his waist.

The breeze outside is cool. He actually knows he’s long gone from the way he can feel the thumping of the music from the bar right inside his stomach, from how breathing suddenly takes more effort. Must be why he stumbles forward until he’s leaning up against your car as soon as he spots the familiar honda civic, a soft laugh escaping his lips when he opens his eyes and sees the way you’re looking at him.

“M’okay” he assures, flushed cheeks and pale eyes “I apologize for being a nuisance”

It’s just that I feel I could swim through the sidewalk right now so I need a moment, he mentally adds.

You giggle and Sanemi forces his eyes to focus because he doesn’t want blurry vision to keep him from witnessing the beautiful way your eyes crinkle.

“What?” he asks, mirroring your smile by muscle memory.

“Nothing” you shrug and the oversized coat you’re wearing almost swallows you whole “I like it when you’re drunk and talk like that”

“Like what?”

“All formal and solemn” you giddily grin underneath the streetlights and Sanemi rolls his eyes. It’s a mistake, because his stomach contracts from a pang of nausea right away. He feels dizzy and hates the fact that you’re there just as his designated driver, he hates that the alcohol currently buzzing through his veins has him already reaching the stage where he’s about to throw up. He wishes you would’ve showed up when he was still two drinks in, the thinking about you enough to just fucking kiss you if you were here stage.

“Come on, let’s go” he’s having a hard time standing without swaying so you inch forward to open the passenger side door and help him climb onto your leather seat. You feel the warmth radiating from his body as you buckle him in and Sanemi has to dig his nails into his palms to keep his hands from grabbing you by the waist.

It’s a quick drive to his apartment, he rents a place close to downtown. He’s spent the entire ride in silence, just looking at you and being quick to turn his attention to the dash whenever you’d glance at him to make sure he was still awake. Right as you park before his apartment complex, Sanemi rolls down his window and just rests his head against the seat, eyes closed.

“We’re here” your fingers lightly drum on the steering wheel. He knows it’s the middle of the night and you’re probably aching to go back to bed already, but he wants this moment to last just a bit longer. Your perfume smells too nice and your voice is too gentle for him to simply get out of the car and crawl back to his empty flat.

“Nemi?”

“Yeah. I won’t fall asleep, don’t worry. Can we just stay like this for a second?” he doesn’t need to open his eyes to know that you’re getting comfortable in your own seat. His heart swells with relief at your little sure.

“Wanna tell me how much you had to drink?” your tone is playful but he scoffs nonetheless, opening his eyes once more. To avoid looking at you, he pulls the latch of your glove box to the left to open it. Vehicle paperwork, receipts, $10 in quarters, a lipstick and…

“Can’t believe you kept this” he mumbles to himself as he takes the little keychain he’s bought for you at a fair so many years before, when you still barely knew each other and he already knew how big of a problem you were going to become.

“M’not like you, I keep everything” you smile.

Sanemi scoffs.

“I could keep you” he thinks to himself “you could be the one that I keep”

Thank god he wouldn’t dare speak those words out loud.

Or would he?

You let out a suffocated gasp.

[vinnigami]

Nuwa and Shohei are so t4t bi4bi . they're like team rocket but goth. do you understand

Please say Yakumo next time. i forgot he has a full name and was here for 2 hours thinking you meant Narumi DSRK. i get it though they kinda look like every t4t bi4bi m/f couple ever

[youandthemountains]

had to try to illustrate this beautiful exchange by @immortaljailor from ch. 2 of Snapshots

[rockintapper]

ummmm. blorbo cover time

cecils voiceclaim made by the ✨illustrious✨ @watashime-ciel [UPROARIOUS CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]

[221buckythesoldier]

jayce and vi haters to me are like coworkers who inexplicably have one-sided beef with you

[sysig]

I think they’re the same guy, somehow (Patreon)

[guy-with-the-sleeping-princess]

Hero of the Historia *:･ﾟ✧

I may have been crafting my own Link build behind the scenes with the help of @r4vioandrupees, @serysem, and others within discord so hopefully you enjoy him! I'll place him under a cut so everything doesn't make your dash too overcrowded

(Original build/concept art)

He also has glasses he is supposed to wear which i wouldn't have thought to add till later thanks to @hyruledwarriorr

(Glasses art + doodle of him in them)

The hero of the Historia takes place as the Link, known here as Link Dotour, after the Hero of Twilight and thus firmly places him on the child timeline. Despite being needed in Hyrule he originated from Termina as a relative, or descendant, of both Kafei and Anju thanks to "The Grasshopper" as our Link knows him. Seeing as he grew up in Termina and not Hyrule (until the age of 7 or so for reasons) he moreso heard of The Hero of Time by the nickname his great aunt Romani called him by.

Despite the triforce of courage being drop shipped to Termina he eventually moved to Hyrule along with his godmother,she spoke of the Hero of Twilight as the Rancher she once knew. With that he was gifted a cat, Seraphina, to keep him company despite moving farther away from any family he knew besides her.

But in doing so he was gifted with the catalyst to his first quest at 7 years old as she would eventually run and get lost within the same woods the rancher once explored and find a mansion built over the temple of time. Within it he would find a decayed form of the Master sword he kept calling "Miss Fi" as she could talk to him in glitchy spurts, a key instrument, the Temporal Trumpet, and the corrupted forms of Twinrova. (this adventure's style is supposed to be JRPGMaker horror a-la Mad Father or The Witch's House) The Master Sword would end up decayed thanks to time. Keep this in mind as this will be a running theme.

(The Temporal Trumpet + A list of features and notes, the rifts only happen in his 3rd adventure)

His second adventure did not happen till he was 14, giving him time to rest and hope he was done with all the revivals and visions, as you would have seen on the last adventure, every continue was canon as he died but never stayed dead as to make sure he would not fail. As for the visions, Hylia sent him clips of the past, and future, heroes of every branch to catalog and let him learn from their mistakes.

(The Swords of his adventures + misc daggers he keeps hidden on him)

The Second adventure would catch him off guard at a carnival when Vaati decided to come back to play around, letting him fall into were the Magic Sword of the Hero of Hyrule was kept. In doing so it led him to a maze of underground caverns controlled by the wind and hidden safes of the last two pieces of the triforce. With them down there it led the two on a mad chase to get to get to each piece first which resulted in Link eating the pieces right in front of Vaati so he could not swipe them. Alongside his escapades this is also where his Zelda comes in (as designed by @individualperson8756), searching for him as to make sure the king couldn't due to a useless war with a nation not even on any heroes radar. The King wanted him as a trophy piece, to bolster their bark in a way, but Zelda knew the kind was out of his mind and Link was needed elsewhere, albeit not eating ancient relics, Despite that she was an enemy at the start until she could get it through his head that she was trying to save him from a common one. He also acquired two key items, the Loft Wing to glide with the cavern's winds and the Breeze Baton, which should look familiar, to control them for himself (This adventure's style is supposed to be a more classical LoZ game in the vein of Minish Cap)

(Loft Wings + Breeze Baton concepts and notes)

His Third adventure happens a close while after at 15, but he turns 16 during it, seeing as it is his latest it is still a work in progress with the item still being unnamed but i do still have some information laid out. It would be more of a D&D inspired party system adventure including a friend he picked up in his second adventure and his Zelda. They would also be going up against a broken down Ghirahim alongside him switching out the sword + Shield style for a dual-wielding sped up style of combat, that would remain his style for the rest of his time as an adventurer. Seeing as it is more of a party game he would be bringing many of his past items with the Temporal Trumpet causing them to chase Ghirahim throughout the timeline and through the battles Demise's curse brought onto the Hero's Spirit until finally getting to end him with Miss Fi.

I also do have an idea for a section where Chronicle, his Zelda, gets the party thrown in jail for starting a fight but of course it is still in the starting idea/concepts phase.

Seeing as there are Party Mechanics and Link doesn't use as many magic items as he does melee, he would instead use an item that boosts others' magic and their abilities as seen here for the 3rd adventure's new Key Item.

(Unnamed item concept + notes, the other eye color in the lower gem belongs to @r4vioandrupees' Link Legacy)

That is all the Information/concepts i have on him for now! if you need any more or would like to ask anything please let me know! He is still very much a work in progress as you can see so please excuse any of the gaps in the stories or data ^^' and thank you for reading to the end!