#realized i was sleeping on hsl

[hickeygender]

finished my edit and rewatched it after exporting. i then decided the excessively blue cgi bridge jump (derogatory) was pissing me off SO much that i went back and fixed its god awful filter as much as i could without making the compression obvious. then i color graded the whole vid as well which took an hour bc i'm indecisive and ignorant 🤡🤡 at least the blood and explosions look better, and i don't want to gouge my eyes out as much watching the jump (i adore this movie and everyone who worked on it but girl this isn't the blue man group...)

[chubbydino]

In honor of the completion of HLS, the most hopeful and heart wrenching piarles and maxiel narratives ever, what inspired you bring phantoms and la madrague together and continue their stories?

How long did you imagine the events of HSL before you began writing it?

originally i was going to publish a different maxiel fic but the story just wasn't working and it wasn't sad enough imo. i started daydreaming about PAPM but i didn't want to be entirely in pierre's POV again and i felt like going into charles's would be cheating, since a lot of what i love about PAPM is that we're never in charles's head.

the original arc of HLS had a much darker ending, and the fic was going to be very piarles focused. more under the cut (+ spoilers)

i don't remember exactly what spurred me to bring the two stories together, but once i started thinking about it, it really worked. of course, PAPM has a chapter where max is married to a woman with a daughter, but that was the only retcon i really needed, and it wasn't the important part of that story. i didn't want to develop a whole new maxiel, and then the parallels between max and pierre started showing and i dove in.

originally, pierre was going to regain his memories like he did, but then the side effects would get so bad (essentially his brain never turned completely off so even while sleeping he would be burning his brain and exhausting himself) that eventually he would have to choose between being bedridden but with memories, or choose to forget himself every few months and start over each time. it was going to end with pierre waking up after making that decision, once again not knowing who charles was.

but every time i thought about max and what he was going through, it hurt so much more. pierre's memory loss isn't painful for him, just confusing and frustrating. max was just surrounded by pain and grief and his worldview is so fucked up, and his family is so fucked up, there was just so much to explore. so, i gravitated toward that story. max took center stage and i decided not to add more angst with pierre's original arc--it just didn't work the way i planned, and max's role took on a new life.

i said it in the discord, but max was also supposed to go through with the suicide attempt on the houseboat. i planned for him to wrap the anchor chain around his neck, slip on the deck, then get up and jump in and go to "heaven"... only for us to figure out that when he slipped on the deck, he hit his head and went into a coma and never actually jumped in the water. but one night while i was playing the story out (i "watch" the next chapter before i go to sleep lolol) i thought about mack truck and the accident took shape. that fit a lot better with the story, especially for daniel, who would never have forgiven himself if he found out max actually tried to kill himself (daniel still doesn't know max was planning to, the same way max doesn't know his family went after his money).

the museum scene with daniel was heavily inspired by What Is And What Should Never Be aka S2 Ep30 of Supernatural aka the Djinn episode, when Dean realizes his perfect world is fake and he's actually dying in real life. That episode hit me so hard and every time i watch it, it still hits. I wanted the same type of scene with Daniel finally appearing in Max's world and making him realize what was really going on.

the supernatural elements of HLS aren't particularly supernatural to me. many people i know have seen or experienced something they can't explain. there are plenty of weird happenings in my own extended family that aren't scary, just strange and maybe unsettling. kids also see the world differently and i feel like theo seeing marshmallow or the kids seeing squalo goes along with that. maybe max only sees it because of his grief, or maybe that's the part of the boys that's always with him.

overall, i wanted to end HLS with the understanding that there is no way to completely heal from what max went through. he'll always, always grieve for his babies, but he doesn't have to hold space for that grief anymore. it will always be there, but he's living life despite that. he's carefully choosing daniel, over and over, and now he knows it's okay to do that. his love for daniel doesn't have to detract from his love for his boys. i don't think he ever would have learned that without the supernatural element at play.

camp bluefin is the purest form of max's love for his daniel, not only because he's allowing children back into their lives, but because he's allowing himself to enjoy having a "family" again. <3

[marchiveeee]

Commentary Armin AL ep.1 + An realization

So, before going to sleep yesterday I said I had many things to say about the episode. So here it goes!!!

First of all, I'm so happy to see our gamer boy with us after so long 😭😭😭😭😭 I can't wait for the next episodes and I'm holding myself not to replay the episode since I liked it so much!!!

The other thing I want to say is that even tho I criticized Armin for being so oblivious yesterday, I can't help but be really sad for him. I saw many people saying that being so concentrated on the surprise and forgetting the actual relationship was such an Armin thing to do, and I couldn't agree more with y'all. He always has the best intentions, and seeing how much he went through to try and make it come true just to have his relationship broken up so suddenly (in his pov) is heartbreaking... Just imagine him looking at his bank account and seeing all the money he managed to save and seeing no meaning at all for it... That makes my heart shrink to the size of a pea. [I do have a headcanon/prediction related to it and I'll try to post it as soon as I can]

Now, let me just wipe my tears away for a sec

Okay, so. I have to say that I am....... surprised AND confused, but this is more about me and not about the actual episode. If you guys haven't noticed yet... Although I've said here many times that I'd always had a warm place for Armin in my heart, my love interest has always been Castiel and before the Alternate Life routes started coming out, I've never bothered to play any other route bc I am loyal to my man. BUUUUUT! After playing this episode I came to a realization that choosing the dialogue options for Armin is SO much easier than choosing the dialogues for Cas... I don't know what to think of this, but I have to admit that that gives me a feeling of epiphany....... I started to replay HSL and I was so ready to follow Cas' route again, but now... that might not be the case anymore 🥵

[candysweetposts]

It's been a while since I did an edit from hsl. So for today I did one from episode 21. This one has to be one of my favorites, better than one from episode 18.

My headcanon for this episode:

Some proposed Alice in wonderland because Alice's name is in there, but she insists on sleeping beauty, and everyone shrugged and agreed at the same time. So of course Alice gets to be sleeping beauty and Ren is the charming prince even if he's not so good at acting. Still, in contrast, Alice plays very well, being mostly in the spotlight most of the time. Amber is frustrated because of this and tries to argue with the others about this, but not sure, everybody siding with Alice. She feels overwhelmed and thanks everyone. At home, Alice feels so excited and message her best friend (Anastasia) and her cousin (Christine) about it and invites them to come to see the play. They seem excited and both agree. She reads the lines every night and fantasizes about the play and how will go. She insists on helping everyone with their things, except the outfits because Rosa and Alexy wanted to be a surprise. When presented with the outfit, Alice loves it instantly. She takes some photos with her and the others in their costumes. Meanwhile, Rens feels a bit emotional and a bit shy not only about the costume but the fact he slowly realized that a lot of people will e staring at him. Some other people share the feeling and that makes him feel a little better. The play goes well for the most part and everyone seems to enjoy it. Towards the end of the play, Alice forgets her lines so she makes up some in order to save the play. At the very end, when Ren leans towards her, she actually believed that he will kiss her but he just stared at her, visibly flustered. That makes her get flustered too. After the play, she still has that feeling and thinks to talk to Ren about it someday.

Some trivia:

Alice's and Ren's parents were not present at the open house.

Alice doesn't like any media, place, etc that includes her name and that's why she was against Alice in wonderland. She also changes her name when pronouncing any of those with "the name" or "my name"

Amber kept making fun of how Alice is actually the Alice from wonderland and how they are alike not only because they share the same name but also they have some other similar traits.

Alice participated in another play in the school she used to go to, but that was more of a musical.

Alice's at that time boyfriend was also present and was kind of jealous of the closeness between Alice and Ren.

Alice still has the dress that Rosa and Alexy made but doesn't fit her anymore.

At some point, she sang.

© ChiNoMiko and Beemoov

[mirroralchemist]

February 2019 Writing Update

Nevermind that I’m doing it now in March. I almost skipped it because Feb. has always been a difficult month for me personally. Besides it being the anniversary of my Dad’s passing and my Mom’s birthday if she were still living, this year I had to deal with a death in the family and I was sick. All that triggered my depression so I really didn’t do much of anything other than video games and work. But I managed to find something to show off a little bit.

Word Count: 720 Notes: Still part of my UL AU I’m working on, actually directly after Jan’s update (that probably didn’t get seen because of tumblur’s new standards on content and I try to be as considerate as possible when I write something mature so it probably got hidden). It gives some backstory to what Ami has done in her time away. 

Side note: Nathaniel calls her Princess as a nudge to her playing the princess in the Sleeping Beauty play in HSL. And that part in a later episode when he calls her his Prince Charming, it just stuck in my mind he calls her Princess as a pet name. It’s a complete coincidence that my OC couple who totally influenced me pursuing Nathaniel in MCL and who I based my Candy off of, her husband calls her Princess too. Honestly it was lol

I shot straight up. I let out a deep breath. I looked around my surroundings to realize I was in my dorm. The darkness of the room showing that it was fairly late at night. The only sounds were the slight shuffling as Yeleen moved about in her sleep. My body felt really damp, Running a free hand through my hair, I noticed how damp it was too. Slowly, I recalled that I had fell asleep after nearly passing out in the alley.

And then that dream….

Heat flushed on my face as I recalled the dream in detail. How did I even get to that point of having those kinds of dreams? I thought I had repressed those urges. Apparently not. I’ll just blame it on the fever. Yeah, the fever made me loopy. I got out of bed, being careful to not wake up Yeleen. I don’t want to undo any of the small progress we made to be civil to each other. Gathering my sleepwear I went into the bathroom. A quick glance at the mirror revealed I was in worse shape than I imagined. My skin was still pale, but the sheen of sweating out my fever made it look sickly. The slightest hint of color only came as the result of my dream. I quickly got undressed and stepped into the shower. As I cleaned the sweat off, my mind still didn’t stray from the dream. The feelings of hands all over me; the feeling of being desired.

I wouldn’t have minded if it became a reality.

At the very least it would be with people I had more than a physical attraction for; something different from back then.

I shook my head at the absurdity of it becoming true.

Nathaniel and Castiel hated each other that much to be down for that sort of thing. Even if I offered myself to share.

I rested my head against the tile. Thinking about that period of time brought an ache in my chest. I thought I was dealing with my emotional lows the best I could at the time. But in retrospect, I was being selfish. Thinking about it, I was a hypocrite for blowing up at Nathaniel the way I did when I saw him with that woman.

A few years earlier I was dealing with my own loneliness the same way.

I shouldn’t have expected him to meet my own internal expectations of our past when I didn’t do that when I left…

I finished up my shower in somber silence before dressing in my night clothes. I went to my bed to change it to fresh sheets. Once I finished, I noticed the quick flashing of the flashlight on my phone. I had a text message it seemed. I unlocked my phone and went to my messaging app.

My eyes widened at surprise that it was Nathaniel.

‘I hope you slept well Princess.’ came the message

I felt my face flush at the words. Especially at the nickname. I noticed that the message was sent while I was still sleeping. I was touched that he did that much. Not that Nathaniel wasn’t an inconsiderate person, but it still felt awkward to message him like this now. I got into bed and turned towards the wall so my messaging wouldn’t disturb my roommate.

‘Thanks.’ I quickly texted back, ‘Sorry if I stole time from you.’

Quickly a soft ping sounded.

‘It’s okay, since it’s you.’ he had replied back, ‘I promised I would look out for you to someone. Regardless of circumstances I intend to keep that promise.’

I stared at the message in silent surprise. I read the message over again. A smile spread across my face as my chest felt a bit of a flutter. I’ve come to realize that maybe things weren’t as different as I thought.

‘I appreciate it.” I wrote.

There was a few more minutes until I got a reply back.

‘Of course for you :). It’s late go back to sleep. Sleep well Princess.’

A yawn reminded me that it was indeed late and I needed actual sleep. I locked my phone before laying back down under the covers. As I slowly went back to sleep, I just hoped that I wouldn’t have any more weird dreams.

[hearthandseyes]

Pixelmator Photo for iPad

This will take awhile to get to the point so if you’re interested, buckle in for a winding, drawn out reason about why I’m not switching to Pixelmator Photo as much as I want to.

I’m an avid Lightroom CC user. I have never used Photoshop, not because I don’t want to but because I’m too stupid.

In the past I was an Aperture user and it never clicked. The catalogue was too confusing to me. Again, stupid. When it was discontinued I switched to Lightroom and have done well with it since. Adobe later released Lightroom Mobile (now the cross-platform Lightroom CC) during the time I had adopted a heavy iPhone/iPad travel workflow and I grew up with the program. Lightroom was straightforward and essentially offers the simple tools that I used in the darkroom- dodging and burning, with digital exposure and color edits.  Plus a little more.

I have had a strange fascination with Pixelmator for years.  Many times since 2012 I’ve tried to use Pixelmator which is a layers based graphics editor. The price was right and they were an Apple only product that worked to make the most of the Apple hardware. They even released a mobile app with some of the core features.  But again it’s a layers based editor and if I couldn’t figure out Photoshop this wasn’t going to help me. I looked often for tutorials to learn the software but they weren’t available like they are for Adobe products.

When Pixelmator Pro for the Mac was being released last year I was fully ready to make an attempt at using it and abandoning Lightroom. 

Why would I leave Adobe? I don’t like that I’m boxed into one system. I pay 20 dollars a month for the photography Creative Cloud account with 2 TB of data. I have to be very careful with that catalogue as I go because 2TB isn’t a lot for a full and active catalogue over years, even with mindful archiving.  And I’m managing two different photography catalogues- Lightroom and Apple Photos.  Finally, the way you import photographs into Lightroom on the iPad or iPhone is plain silly, but that’s really on Apple and we’re not going to get into file management on iOS because that’s a dead horse for now (until some future iOS iteration).

But the big reason was: “minimalism”. 

Over 2018 I started doing a deep dive into my life again. A significant breakup, several moves, and a job change made me evaluate everything. I adopted minimalism around 2009 when I started paring down my belongings and moved into a small loft apartment. When I moved to Rhode Island in 2011 I sold almost everything I owned then put an add on Craigslist to come get the rest for free and people swooped in en masse. I kept things lightweight as possible but things creep back in. My digital files were a mess. Papers kept following me around the country. When I lived on the Rez it was like Little House On The Prairie and I bought enough supplies and things to fix anything and felt I needed a lot of comforts. “Things” piled up. Tools, paint, gardening tools, furniture, home gym equipment, entertainment. By late 2016 I was maintaining 3 addresses over 3 states with homes and ‘stuff’ in all of them, a lot of it duplicated. Then I had to pack up all of the places and put them into storage and nothing makes you realize how crazy your life is than rampant disorganization, poor sleep, and putting your hands on every single thing you own. I literally started having recurring dreams about boxes of papers.

While I was traveling I couldn’t manage my physical things but I could manage my finances and digital assets. I was shocked by how many apps and pieces of software I owned or had a subscription to. I made the spreadsheet that showed monthly recurring charges and a lot showed up and were pared down. And this drew my eye to the Adobe subscription. It has jumped up from 9.99 a month to 19.99. 240 dollars a year every year. I can afford it and I use it aggressively but did I need it at that price?

iOS has become my main platform for doing everything. The iPhone alone can do most things you need and when you need the luxury of a bigger screen go to an iPad. When I watch or read reviews of any iPad people talk about how it can’t replace a computer and it makes me nuts. What does anyone do on a computer besides browse the web, shop, message your friends, watch YouTube and Netflix, and check email, and write (in that order)? iOS is fine for 99.99 percent of people except working graphics and video professionals, engineers, architects, and  medical professionals (because medical software is the worst on earth and just can’t function on anything except a 12 year old Windows PC). I find working on an iPad is far more efficient than working on a Mac both digitally and physically. The ergonomics of touch with a Smart Keyboard are just better than keyboard and mouse (there is a reason the keyboard is so short- it’s so you can reach the screen easily). I edit photos with a pencil. I manipulate windows and screens like Minority Report. When I want to read something my ‘computer’ turns into a book/magazine/comic book/magical future tablet. I believe that my next Mac upgrade will likely be the last traditional computer I ever buy.

That aside over when I evaluated my tools, a lot of software like Word and Ulysesss, Byword, Simplenote, Evernote and OneNote, were abandoned for free, excellent software that came with my devices. Notes and Pages took over drafting, writing, and note collection. iCloud Drive replaced Dropbox, Music replaced Spotify. It kept everything neat, my data and privacy were secure and organized in one place, and I took the time to master the software. Where I had limped along on Excel for decades, I buckled down and did the full Lynda.com Numbers course and for the first time spreadsheets stopped being mysterious things nerds used to optimize their lives and instead became easily accessible tools that helped me solved real problems. A lot of this was also pushed by many of the privacy concerns arising in digital ecosystems (Facebook, Google, apps sending data out that users are unaware of, etc.).

But besides managing my day to day life and writing what do I use my tech for?

 Photography.

 Could I get rid of all of these photo editing apps? I adore shooting and editing on my iPhone and I seriously considered selling all of my cameras and becoming an iPhone only photographer. But different working opportunities continue to present themselves and so I kept using ‘real’ cameras and instead focused on addressing the software. Snapseed left. It’s a terrific app but I can do everything in Snapseed with Lightroom, but better. And I don’t trust Google anyway. All of the other silly one off apps disappeared too. They were niche cases and often all I needed was to dig into Lightroom to figure out how to replace them. But could I replace Lightroom with free Apple software?

Aperture was discontinued by Apple in 2015 (and it was definitely not free). The people who fully embraced it loved it, probably in the way people love Final Cut Pro. It was a different beast than their consumer product iPhoto which most people were familiar with and used without issue, mostly for collecting their images but also for doing basic editing.  Apple replaced iPhoto with Photos (minimalism) with the emphasis on the iCloud Photos library and cataloguing. But on MacOS they were sneaking some Aperture features in on later releases like curves. It seemed like they were beefing up the Photos app for greater things and these features seemed to be mirrored onto the iOS versions of the app. With the release of the iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil it seemed like any week Apple would release some brushes but they didn’t. Instead you were stuck with very basic global edits (and of course stupid filters) and didn’t even have access to the MacOS features like HSL.

But you could open photos in other apps. Like Pixelmator for iOS. And... it didn’t work. It was a garbage dream and ultimately nothing was able to replace the features I used all the time in Lightroom CC, specifically: editing metadata, the gradient and radial filters, and dehaze. Add to that geometric perspective correction and the fact that on the Mac Lightroom CC was adding in Photoshop/Lightroom Classic features like panoramic merge and more.

When Pixelmator announced they were releasing a photography (vs graphic design) focused app, and that it was for the iPad I was thrilled. I signed up for email updates and trolled the web periodically for information. When it arrived (at the phenomenal price of 4.99) I had already preordered it. I downloaded it and got to work straight away. I love that it uses either Photos or Files for the catalogue (easier to manage and takes out a step used in Lightroom). And that’s it for the good. It uses Machine Learning. They want you to know that. They’ve pushed the hardware in the iPad. I believe it. But their big focus is on automagic edits and cropping, filter presets, and global edits. Honestly I can get that from Photos.app.

There are no brushes, no focal dodging and burning, no radial or gradient filters. It’s 2019, the iPad has this amazing Pencil, and neither Apple nor Pixelmator are taking advantage of it. If I cannot dodge or burn specific areas of a photograph, I am doing worse than I was in the chemical darkroom in 1997.

Photos.app needs to also beef up for me to use Pixelmator, specifically adding brushes and filters and one or the other needs to add the ability to batch edit photos.

In addition they need to add an iPhone app because I often edit only on my phone.  

 We’ll see what Pixelmator adds in the future.  I’m sure I’ll still be paying attention for some reason. 

Originally, about 6 months ago, this article was going to be about how I was going to switch from the yearly subscription of Adobe to Pixelmator but every time I tried to move my workflow over with serious photography I stuck with Lightroom CC because the tools are so strong.  Without those tools I’m not going to use another photo editor. And I know there are others like Affinity Photo. For some reason I’m not interested.  I just had this weird obsession with Pixelmator.

So that leaves me with what this article is about. I started deleting the original version of Pixelmator off of my iOS devices and Mac because I just don’t use it. Pixelmator became the thing to remove. It became an exercise of giving up the goat and not worrying so much about digital minimalism as using a tool that works and I that lets me be an artist.  When I’m working professionally I can’t imagine not using Lightroom. And I use Lightroom CC which is considered ‘light’ anyway (but that’s foolish and something I should address later if people want me to). They’ve also recently added the features I wanted like stitching panoramas so for me it’s feature complete. It’s just the duplication of catalogues, online space, and the monthly fee that drive me crazy.

I’ve been making attempts of various strength since 2012 to use versions of Pixelmator and I’m not sure why it has seemed so important to me. I don’t need to use an app that makes global edits to a photo when I need to brighten eyes or increase the contrast in select areas of landscapes. I just need to use Lightroom.

[sobdasha]

I WISH YOU WOULD WRITE A FIC WHERE LINK TEACHES OLD HYLIAN AT EAST CASTLETON PREP WHERE HYLIAN MILITARY HISTORY TEACHER ZELDA HARKINIAN ALSO WORKS

((the problem with answering these asks is that I have to save them in drafts so I can edit the formatting before posting, but reblogs in my drafts are sorted by the time I sent them to drafts and asks in my drafts are sorted by “this was originally sent to you 3 years ago, so we’ll file it 3 years back instead of making it the most recent thing you sent to drafts” ffffffff guys))

***

When Shad gets afancy letter that says he’s being awarded that grant he’s beenapplying for for years, they all pitch in for a little party in thefaculty lounge. Link kind of wishes they were sending Shad offproperly, at a bar, but he does the best he can by pitching in somepunch that is made of pumpkins.

Well, mostlypumpkins, And it’s mostly not Ordona cider (which isdefinitely mostly pumpkins), and it’s after classes anyway, so it’sfine.

They are celebratingthat Shad, lucky bastard that he is, will be spending the fall termon a mostly-funded vacation right adjacent to the famous DeathMountain Goron Hot Springs, while the rest of them, like Link and hiswatered-down cider, will still be here.

Ilia said that Linkought to get out of rural Ordon and see some other bit of the world.Ilia, who went off to become a doctor but remembers to write her dadand visit regularly and how come Rusl and Uli say they haven’t seenyou in months hmm?, said that Link had better go and makesomething of himself.

So he went and gothis teaching certificate and has made himself a lot poorer, mostly.He misses Ordon, where he could find free food lying on the ground,or swimming in the streams. Here in Castleton you have to pay for itif you pick it up, or risk causing an inter-kingdom fishing rightsdispute with the Zora if you drop a line in the river. So instead ofturning up at Rusl and Uli’s house for dinner, these days he orderstakeout and listens to the delivery persons say “Oh goddessesI’m sorry!” when he absently signs thanks while collecting hisfood.

Fado, who stayed inOrdon not making anything of himself and instead making cheese, isapparently putting away heaps of money.

So Link, who needsmoney and hates enjoying sleep times, finishes his punch so his handsare free to tell Shad that he’ll take over his Old Hylian class whileShad is on sabbatical.

***

Link doesn’tactually know any Old Hylian. But, he reasons after the fact, howhard can it be? After all, Link already teaches HSL, so that meanshe’s a linguist like Shad, right? He’s practically an expert already.

Plus, Link is goingto have the exact same textbook to learn from as his new students,except he’s going to have a head-start and he has theeven-bigger answer key. He literally can’t go wrong.

Besides, Old Hylianis a dead language (which has been reincarnates into Modern Hylian)so it won’t hurt it too much when a bunch of teens brutally murderit. They’re already doing quite a good job on Modern Hylian and it’sstill limping along just fine.

And it’s not likeanyone speaks it anyway, aside from nerdy archaeologists andhistorians (note to self: ask Sarge about it?). So all Link reallyhas to worry about is the writing aspect.

Yeah. It’ll be easymoney.

***

Somehow the rumorgets around before Link gets his ass in front of the school board.Reportedly, so many students have been asking Guidance Councilor GorCoron about the Old Hylian class that they might have to divide itinto two sections.

The school boardapproves Link to take over on the spot.

***

Link has just enoughtime for a proper power nap at his desk between his first Old Hylianclass and his Hylian Sign Language class. But Sarge has a break atthe same time which she usually takes in the faculty lounge, to takeadvantage of the tea kettle while she grades or lesson-plans or readsbooks that have nothing to do with historical military campaigns.

The thing about“Sergeant Snowpeak” Zelda Harkinian, with her no-nonsensedress suits, and her stern librarian bun, and her sensible militaryboots, and her severe black-rimmed (actually fake, she admitted toLink, the lenses are plastic but, well, the frames looked the partand she’s always admired the image of a woman in uniform) spectacles,and her baton that’s ideal for pointing to the blackboard or rappingon a desk, and her old-fashioned bathroom and hall passes…the thingis, she’s quick to make a joke. She has a very small laugh, so youhave to watch for it. She’s thoughtful, she thinks about thingsbehind that serious face, and she’ll come up to you with a deadpanand witty response to a joke you made a week ago.

Zelda takes off herboots sometimes in the faculty lounge; there was a big run in thefoot of her nylons once, and she laughed about her toe poking out.She washes the dishes left in the faculty sink, but she hums whileshe does it because she likes things tidy. She walks just a littleheavier than she needs to, so her boots will ring out in EastCastleton Prep’s halls.

(She has it on goodauthority that the sound of her boot heels approaching can send moresensitive students into tizzies of anxiety. So her first term, on theday of final exams, Miss Harkinian thoughtfully removed her bootsbefore striding to the classroom. The sight of her suddenlymaterializing in the doorway, test papers in hand, somehow didnothing to calm her students’ nerves.)

She can hold herliquor, but she can’t carry a tune. She never learned to cook forone, because that would be a waste of good leftovers. She thinks thatHylian Military History is a crucial subject that teaches teenagersabout strategy and critical reasoning and logical thought, aboutpracticality and consequences, about wilderness survival skills, andwill help them become somewhat-sensible young adults.

Sarge worked withathletics teacher Ashei one year to host an archery tournament forthe Feast of Din, and she shot an apple off Link’s head withouttelling him first that this was why she’d ushered him up to thepodium.

The thing is, inshort, Link has a huge crush on Zelda Harkinian. He likes her.He is, in fact, completely smitten, although he hasn’t realized he’squite so far gone despite the fact that he regularly tells the catsat Impaz’ shelter What Sarge Did Today complete with little sighs.

So it’s a bit of ashame she doesn’t feel quite the same way.

Link did ask Zeldaonce if she’d like to “embrace diversity,” but she didn’tseem interested.

***

Zelda quite likesShad, don’t get her wrong. But, she admits to Telma, if only he’dgotten a grant that let him spend the whole year onsabbatical…

This is surely ablessing from the goddesses. Not that Zelda would wish undue stresson Link but, for all his enthusiasm about taking on Shad’s OldHylian, he seems to be finding the subject very hard going. And ofcourse Zelda has a bit of expertise to share–after all, the seminaltext in her field, Sword in Hand, is originally in OldHylian–so he can come to her with any small questions…

…And he does.

Almost every dayLink catches her in the faculty lounge for a few minutes ofconjugation here, or pops into her empty classroom for a bit ofdeclension there, or accompanies her on her walk home for adiscussion of the merits of this translation over that.

It’s not as thoughshe needs an excuse to get to know Link better. She already knows himquite well. But a little bit of extra time is…nice, since they’realready good enough friends that Zelda knows he’s in a committedrelationship with Old Cat Lady Lifestyle.

The cats, thedrinking, the napping all the time, the surprisingly full socialcalendar that Zelda can’t quite squeeze into…in other words, allthe hallmarks of spinster-dom.

It’s just a bit of ashame, seeing as he’s the only slightly-rumpled and generally-mussything she actually doesn’t mind looking at.

In any case, she’stried gauging his interest, and it’s just not there. Anytime shetries to feel him out with a pick-up line, he deflects with acorrection on her grammar or a compliment about how her signing iscoming along. Clearly, Link’s completely satisfied with theirrelationship exactly as it is.

So Zelda will be,too.

***

This is the one,Midna had said, grinning wickedly. This is absolutely stupid enoughto work on that dumbass, Midna had said, with evil glee.

All sorts ofoptimistic hope flowered in Zelda’s chest at the sight of thatparticular expression on her ex-girlfriendcurrent-long-distance-BFF’s face. This had to be good.

So Zelda caught Linkin between classes and asked him, “Am I so beautiful you’respeechless?”

Link repeated itback to her, tweaking the body language a bit to make beautifula little sassier, waited for her to sign it again, and then gave hera thumb’s up and walked off.

***

(Link wished hewere the one she was saying that to, but oh well. He supports herhappiness! Zelda’s his friend, after all.)

***

One of the girlsstays after class, all the way from Hylian Sign Language nearly up toOld Hylian round 2, getting Mr. Link to teach her, painstakingly overand over, how to ask the girl she likes if she’ll go to the Nayru’sDay Dance with her. It’s going to take 5 minutes at the start ofclass tomorrow, she informs Mr. Link, and also a lot of glitter.

In Link’s day–ohgoddesses, he’s old now–they just slipped notes or asked withoutthe performance art. Actually, Ilia usually just informed Link thatthey would be going together to share on the ticket cost. But kidsthese days seem to believe a gift is customary.

Link is old, though,so he just slips Zelda a note.

“I can’t readyour handwriting,” she tells him. “Oh! By the way, I signedup to run the concessions stand at the dance. Perhaps you’d like tojoin me?”

***

Heads bent overcandies and little bags of popcorn and assortments of soda, with thecash box between them, Link asks Zelda to help him brainstorm somereally evil ideas for his Old Hylian final exam. Link isn’t much intodifficult tests, as a rule, because they involve more work to grade.But he doesn’t want Shad to think he’s been slacking.

Link asks Zelda ifshe’d come over to his place for dinner one evening, you know, tokeep working on the exam. Since he needs so much help with it. And tothank her. For helping.

***

She says yes.