#she doesn't train with weapons because she enjoys it. she does it because its an extension of her theorycrafting

[haellen-o]

"I write ophelia more because haellen is very uninteresting. she is just a boring person (affectionate)"

also me

"So yeah haellen is a pioneer in the field of firearms as well as the first person to make commercial magitek prosthetics and wheelchairs"

[raymurata]

Bellara's main choice and DAV's implicit (or accidental) stance on book burning

Okay, so. Prefacing this with -- I enjoyed the game. I'd even play it again. That being said, one of its biggest flaws is trying to deliver something so morally sanitized it shies away from giving its characters (aside from Solas) and plotlines (aside from Solas's) real nuance. And in the same breath, they end up sending messages that I doubt they intended to send.

Bellara's main decision is particularly annoying to me.

First, I find her arc to be lacking -- She starts the game grieving her brother and blaming herself for his death despite not being responsible for it, then she finds Cyrian again only to grieve him again, so she's back to the start, only this time she has had the guilt removed from her because Cyrian tells her what she needs to hear, and the blame is placed on a big bad evil. Fair, fine.

But I don't like the cinematography of that scene at all. There was plenty of time for Rook and Bellara to react between Anaris grabbing Cyrian's foot and throwing him at the wall. People in Thedas have survived way worse injuries, too, and Bellara literally has healing at her disposal. Why doesn't she even try? His death is clearly plot-driven but it doesn't take her arc forward all that much? But again, that's fine. Not too bad.

But then the choice I have to make for her is whether or not to keep the archive, why? At no point in the game (please correct me if I'm wrong and missed canon information that contradicts me. That would make me way less angry!!!) do they tell us that it was Bellara using the Archive that summoned Anaris, or that it could summon him at will. As far as my interpretation goes, the Archive is, as its name says, the equivalent to a library curated by a comically self-aggrandizing jerk. At no point do we hear it share any actually dangerous lore either, do we? No blueprints for nuclear weapons...

So why does the game choose this wording:

Now, unless the Archive has powers we are unaware of, what this is saying is basically "burn the ancient elven library (it will be safe)" or "don't burn the ancient elven library (it will be dangerous)" and, for a game that is so irritatingly set on giving you only 2024-morality-board-approved goodTM and unproblematic companions and allies... Why does it tell me that burning books is the safe option, ESPECIALLY given that these books are priceless historical artefacts from a marginalized and subjugated ethinic group who have long lost their history to genocide? Like, wut?? Even if the Archive were in fact a dangerous weapon, the game shows us through the Veil Jumpers' vault that they have trained capable scholars and developed (or are developing, with Bellara spearheading it) safe tools to study and keep these artefacts. How condescending is it to tell them that they won't be able to safekeep this one? How pointless? (and her cutest armor AND best skill are locked behind that choice? outrageous lmao.)

And what pisses me off is that they had everything set up already, they just had to deliver it differently. If they told us explicitly that the archive is Anaris' phylactery and that keeping it would mean allowing Anaris to eventually come back? THEN we'd have a real danger. NOW there is a non-fascist risk to maintaining knowledge.

Or what if the only reason Cyrian is back is because Anaris brought him back? What if Cyrian's life is therefore tied to Anaris', and you had to choose between letting Anaris live (perhaps that results in him getting imprisoned in the Archive, tampering with the information in it and destroying its historical value forever, plus Anaris might one day figure out a way out) or killing Anaris for good even knowing that Cyrian will also die again if you do (but then the Dalish get to keep the archive and all the knowledge in it, and Cyrian's sacrifice is not in vain)? Or maybe... The Archive is a spirit, isn't it? Drive home the fact that being tied to that device was a cruel thing Anaris did to it, and keeping it there is just as cruel, even if it would mean giving the elves access to information. Make the wording "free the archive" really mean something here, and the player really think that the knowledge will be lost. Then maybe have it that, if she frees it, it gives her information freely and with its own interpretation of that knowledge, and THEN it leaves (so it's not forever but there is a reward for being compassionate). And if she keeps the spirit in the device, then it is always rude and it gives her information curated by Anaris' point of view, but it is available to all upcoming generations. It'd be real nice and nuanced to pit her compassion against her drive for knowledge. If this were DAO or DA2, you wouldn't make the choice FOR HER. You'd make the choice yourself because you are the leader, and if you chose to keep the spirit, you'd garner lots of negative points with Bellara (and with Emmrich) because, let's be honest, she is written as inherently more compassionate than driven, and she'd resent you making an oppressing choice even if it is well-meaning and good for her people (just like Alistair resents you killing Isolde even if he understands it was a difficult choice).

I just... So many ways it could have been an actually weighted choice, or that it could have affected your relationship with Bellara (and other companions) as Bioware RPGs were wont to do. They had a good set up, but the landing was absolutely bonkers.

[acesw]

Knowing our Arcanists 15: Leilani

Welcome to entry fifteen of my series: "Knowing our Arcanists"! This is a series in which I introduce and tell the stories of our fellow characters in Reverse: 1999. For our second arcanist of the day, we have: Leilani!

I think Leilani is one of the more niche arcanists that tend to be overlooked because of her rarity. She's really adorable and her character is one of the more happy ones I know of. While her story here may be one of the shortest ones we have, its still one worth telling. Lets get started.

Leilani is a Hawaiian arcanist who was born on September 23rd at some point in the (late?) 20th century. It can be assumed that Leilani is Native Hawaiian, but we have very little information to go off from that. Her arcane skill is related to archery, which allows her to perform extraordinarily well with it and shoot multiple arrows at a time.

She grew up in Hawaii as a child and she honed a lot of practices, mainly surfing, archery, and adventuring. But we find ourselves once again at Zeno Academy. Its the dream school of many soldiers in the modern day, and it would be honorable for one to be chosen to be taken in by them.

As it has been said before, modern technology and arcane skill here collide and work close together towards creating great power. And here, we find that Leilani is one of the fortunate young cadets to be taken in by the academy.

However, it doesn't mean that there aren't any setbacks. As a cadet, Leilani is expected to train in the same intense ways as every other soldier does, and use the same technologies as much as she can use her arcane skills.

However, Leilani remains adamant with using her traditional weapons and her arcane skill to fight. This became something that greatly hindered her academic progress, and she quickly became a target for bullying.

One of those instances would be her being often picked for target practice due to her hair. Other times she often got picked on for either: her bubbly innocence, or her carelessness that tends to be mixed with her forgetfulness.

Despite these, Leilani continued to strive with great optimism and high hopes, maintaining her friendly demeanor towards everyone around her. She stuck with her current skills and utilized the few lessons she cared to learn about, and even teach basic archery skills to her peers with ease.

In turn, she asks for help with learning things like military strategies and how to use some equipment for requirement. Her story mainly ends here, but there's still more to say about her.

Leilani is a very cheery and outgoing person who really doesn't have a specific goal to achieve in her life. (a little rare for an R1999 character) She wishes to live happily every day, all carefree and able to do all the things she likes.

She really enjoys with being able to venture anywhere and do any sort of active activity, but particularly likes to surf and finds it as a means of solution to many problems.

Her very friendly and welcoming personality brings a lot of joy to those around her, allowing her to form really quick friendships with her peers and her colleagues. However, it can come to a fault, since many of her qualities is something that's rather unfit to Zeno's standards.

She's often found to be also forgetful as well as be incredibly dense, worsened by her insistence upon using traditional weapons and skills over Zeno's preferences in their trainings. Its often led Leilani to failure, from either underperformance or incidentally misremembering her tasks.

However, it never wavers her resolve, and its admirable that she's able to persistently keep a smile on her face despite them. Even if she doesn't perform greatly in school, she's still a strong unit that just needs a new means to further cultivate her abilities.

Often inspired by her seniors' work and/or ethics, she strives to work hard to not only graduate but to also live her life to the fullest, and make the people around her smile as brightly as she does now.

[silverynight]

A pretty doll

Lemon, explicit

Tanjirou enjoys going on missions with Kyojuro; he learns a lot from him, and the flame hashira uses it as part of the training he has designed since he made Tanjirou his tsuguko.

Although some days he can't say the same for Kyojuro; he's usually tense when Tanjirou is around and the redhead wonders if it's because he doesn't trust him yet.

This time is slightly different though, the mission is a "simple" one so Tanjirou's crow assured him they only required his presence, but once Kyojuro found out, he insisted on tagging along.

What his crow told him was that boys (around eighteen years old) were disappearing from that particular district. Now the place has its own problems, even if they don't count demons; it's more or less like the one Tanjirou went with Tengen a couple of months ago.

He knows what those boys were doing that late at night; they worked in a house that offered pleasure to anyone who could afford it, but according to the report, the place is usually somewhat safe for workers.

"It smells like a demon," Tanjirou informs the flame hashira, as they keep walking among all the people around. It's always a little bit overwhelming for him. "I'm not sure if the demon is here at the moment, but I believe they were at some point. I'm sorry, there are so many scents around, and it's a little bit confusing."

"It's okay. Don't worry, Tanjirou," Kyojuro smiles at him, moving slightly closer as he looks around. "We'll ask them. There have been so many disappearances for them not to know what's going on. I'm sure at least someone has seen something."

Other slayers have talked about this before; Kyojuro is not subtle when it comes to investigation, he outright asks people if they have seen a demon or not and considers it a good sign when they look back at him like he's crazy.

Tanjirou chuckles, but looks away so he doesn't notice; he finds his attitude endearing sometimes.

"Oi, boy... where do you–"

The man can't finish the sentence because Kyojuro bares his teeth at him before he can grab Tanjirou's haori; it's a little bit confusing, he has never seen him treat a human like that. It's been almost a year since he's seen the Pillar that angry.

"I'm sorry!" The man's face pales as he notices that Kyojuro is taller, stronger and has a katana in his belt that he seems ready to use. "I didn't know you had bought him for the night already!"

Kyojuro doesn't say anything to that, but steps in front of Tanjirou as if he's shielding him from the human. It's weird since Tanjirou is sure he can defeat that man without help if necessary.

"What happened? Did he have a weapon?" Tanjirou asks, even though he's sure he would've noticed it.

Kyojuro turns around to look back at him; he seems a little bit embarrassed now.

"No," he rubs the back of his neck as he turns slightly pink. "But he wanted to... buy you for the night."

If he hadn't been to the Red light district that time with Tengen, Tanjirou wouldn't have any idea what Kyojuro was trying to say, but now he does.

"I would've told him I wasn't for sale," Tanjirou mumbles, turning slightly pink.

"I know, I..." Kyojuro pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I'm just... possessive."

Tanjirou tilts his head to the side, even more confused now. Kyojuro looks away, as his cheeks turn pink again.

"Let's begin our investigation."

Turns out the owner of the place and even some of the workers there know about demons, and they're almost sure a creature like that is the one who has been making their boys vanish like they never existed.

"They snatch them when the clients buy them for a whole night and want to take them to a private inn," the owner explains. "Sometimes he kills the clients too, but some have managed to escape because he only wants the boys."

"He?" Tanjirou asks, trying to get as much information as possible.

"All of the clients who have survived said it was a male demon," she nods.

Immediately, Tanjirou turns towards Kyojuro with a smile on his face, even though the Pillar usually smiles back at him, this time he just shakes his head.

"No."

"It's a good idea! I can pretend to be a worker here," Tanjirou stops for a second and bites his bottom lip. "I know I'm not that pretty but if I get some makeup–"

"I can help you with that!" A girl volunteers. "I'm the one who does most of the makeup around here!"

"She's really good," a boy nods. He looks like a doll already so maybe it could work for Tanjirou too.

"You have to be unarmed in order to actually fool him."

"I know, I'll give you my katana–"

"Tanjirou!" Kyojuro cuts him off, looking tense. He hasn't smiled since they got there. "It's too risky."

The people around them are looking from one to another like it's some sort of very interesting and dramatic play they're watching.

"I can take care of myself."

"I know," Kyojuro sighs as he leans closer to Tanjirou. He puts both hands on his shoulders and presses their foreheads together. He looks so desperate, it breaks Tanjirou's heart a little. "It's... I trust you and I know you have gotten stronger, but... I–I am afraid of losing you."

"You won't," Tanjirou smiles softly. "I promise. Besides, you'll be the client who's going to buy me! So you'll be there too!"

Kyojuro moves away, blinks a few times and then clears his throat as he blushes.

"I still think it's risky, but I guess it's our best option."

Kyojuro goes back to the inn they're staying at so he can change his clothes while a few girls and boys take care of Tanjirou's makeup and outfit.

"Your husband is really hot!" A boy comments as he helps the girl with the makeup.

"He's not my husband!" Tanjirou mumbles immediately, turning red in seconds. Although he keeps his eyes closed as the first girl instructed.

"Well, your boyfriend then..."

"We're just friends!"

Why are all of them so adamant to think of them as a couple? Kyojuro is too... amazing for someone like Tanjirou, he's sure they all can see that.

"So you're single then?" Another voice says to his right.

"Shut up! Can't you see the guy with the fire hair is in love with him? If he finds out you're flirting with the pretty boy here he'll kill you!"

There are so many things in that sentence that make Tanjirou flustered, but he decides to address the most important one.

"Kyojuro-san is not in love with me."

"Wow. This one is oblivious!" Says another voice. "Seriously you haven't noticed? The guy is constantly giving you the heart eyes!"

Tanjirou blushes again.

"I think you're mistaken."

"Fine. Keep telling yourself that. You'll see it soon enough. Now open your eyes."

Tanjirou doesn't recognize himself in the mirror.

"Are you sure you don't want to work here after you deal with that monster?" The owner asks. "They'd give me gold for you."

"I'm... fine as a slayer, but t-thanks!"

"Pity."

When Kyojuro comes back he's wearing a yukata like any other customer would, but Tanjirou knows he's hiding his katana somewhere.

The moment his eyes meet Tanjirou's he stops breathing.

"Your pretty husband is ready," the owner says. "We dolled him up for ya. Hope this works."

"I'm not his–"

"Thank you!" Kyojuro says, even louder than usual. It's weird to see him that flustered; his face is probably more red than Tanjirou's at the moment.

"Wait!" The woman stops them just as Kyojuro places a possessive hand on Tanjirou's waist. Instinctively, he pulls Tanjirou closer to him. "Calm down, I'm not going to take him from ya!"

"Sorry..."

"I get it," she laughs before handing Kyojuro something, it looks like some sort of jar with some liquid in it. "This is for later. So you can celebrate your victory together."

Kyojuro looks at it once and hides it in his yukata as he turns even more red than before.

"T-Thanks!"

When they finally get back to the streets, they fall into an uncomfortable silence. Tanjirou wants to ask what's in the jar, but he knows now it's not the time.

"You look beautiful," the flame hashira says after a while as they keep walking around the district, hoping to find some area with less people so the demon can attack them.

"Thank you! But it's mostly the makeup and the kimono I'm wear–"

"No," Kyojuro shakes his head, turning his head towards Tanjirou. "You have always been pretty. You are... the most beautiful person I've ever seen, makeup or not."

Tanjirou wouldn't have believed him if it wasn't because he knew Kyojuro was being completely honest; Tanjirou's nose always knew those kind of things.

"I–I think you're very handsome, Kyojuro-san."

"Tanjirou, I–"

A shadow tries to snatch Tanjirou right then, but he moves out of the way in time, although the kimono and the fact that he was distracted seconds ago make him lose his balance and fall to the ground; he hurts his leg in the process, but he knows it's nothing to worry about.

"You're faster than the other dolls I have taken!" The demon grins. "But way prettier than the others! Come with me and I promise to be–"

Unfortunately for the demon, he's not an upper moon, not even a lower one, and he's dealing with a hashira.

He doesn't get to finish the sentence before Kyojuro cuts his head off; it's a clean, beautiful cut that lights up in flames.

Tanjirou is amazed at the precision and strength in Kyojuro stance despite not wearing the uniform; he looks mesmerizing.

"Are you alright, Tanjirou?"

"Yes! I'm fine, I think it's just a scratch." It doesn't matter how many times he tells the Pillar he can walk on his own, Kyojuro takes him in his arms anyway.

"We'll go back to the inn and I'll take care of your wounds there!"

"It's not necessary!"

But of course the flame hashira doesn't listen to him, at least they got rid of the demon quickly, well... Kyojuro did.

***

Kyojuro walks into the room he paid for and places Tanjirou on one of the futons; they've been sleeping in the same room in every mission they take, but this time it feels different.

"Let me wash my face first," Tanjirou says as he gets up, Kyojuro wants to carry him in his arms again, but he assures him he'll be fine.

When he's back, there are a few candles in the room; it makes it look cozier somehow. He feels better without all that makeup on his face, and he even loosens the kimono a bit so he can pull up the lower part and reveal his injured leg. There's blood, but it's a little.

"See? Just a scratch!" Tanjirou smiles, sitting back on the futon. Kyojuro is already kneeling next to it on the ground, with a bowl filled with warm water and a cloth to clean the wound.

Tanjirou looks at his hands as they move up his ankle and up to his knee. Kyojuro has beautiful hands... sometimes, his fingers touch Tanjirou's skin directly and it makes him blush for some reason.

"I can do it myself."

"I want to do it," Kyojuro assures him as he starts putting bandages around his leg.

When he's done, he stares back at Tanjirou; his eyes look even more like flames now. One of his hands is on top of Tanjirou's knee and it stays there even though there's no need for it anymore.

"Tanjirou. I love you."

Blushing to the tip of his ears, Tanjirou looks back. Is he talking about–

"I'm in love with you," Kyojuro says then, leaning closer; Tanjirou can feel his own heartbeat under the kimono he's still wearing. "I'd be honored if you gave me a chance. Let me court you and try to win your heart, I promise I'll take care of you, I–"

"I love you too," Tanjirou blurts out then; he always knew he felt something more than admiration for Kyojuro, but didn't want to think about his feelings too much because he thought the Pillar would never feel the same.

"Really?" Kyojuro's smile is wide and he's shining with happiness; it's written all over his face in a way Tanjirou doesn't even need his nose to know he truly loves him.

He nods because he doesn't trust his voice at the moment.

"Would you marry me?"

Tanjirou chuckles; Kyojuro sounds so eager already, he can't help but find it endearing.

"Courtship first."

The flame hashira nods, not taking his eyes off Tanjirou's. He looks mesmerized.

The hand on his knee slides a little bit up his thigh. Kyojuro notices that the kimono is sliding down Tanjirou's shoulder; he stares at the exposed skin like he's hungry.

It definitely feels different sleeping in the same room now.

"Can I kiss you?"

"Yes." Part of him knows it won't only be a kiss, but Tanjirou wants this anyway.

The first kiss is on his forehead, right on his scar; Kyojuro is on the futon now and he holds Tanjirou like he's a precious thing to protect. Then, he presses his lips against Tanjirou's cheek, his left ear, the tip of his nose. He's taking his time, almost like he wants to memorize every inch of his skin with his lips.

"Kyojuro-san..."

"I loved you the moment you started talking to me on that train," he confesses in a whisper, prompting Tanjirou to tear up a bit.

But he kisses his tears away too.

Then, the lips travel down the skin of his neck, and Tanjirou can't help but gasp as Kyojuro keeps kissing him until he reaches his shoulders.

He stops and looks up again before cradling Tanjirou's face with his hands.

"You're beautiful," he whispers before pressing his lips against Tanjirou's.

That kiss is different; he moves slowly at first, but it's obvious that he's starving and he's been doing it for a while. One of Kyojuro's hands moves to the back of his neck and tilts Tanjirou's head to the side to have better access to his mouth.

Tanjirou melts when he feels a tongue licking his bottom lip before shoving its way inside; he moans into the kiss.

Kyojuro purrs in approval as his lips move again and his tongue keeps exploring Tanjirou's mouth like it's his now.

The redhead pulls away because he needs to breathe, but he barely gets to do that when Kyojuro is already chasing his mouth again. He starts sucking Tanjirou's bottom lip this time...

"Tanjirou," Kyojuro whispers, nuzzling against the redhead's cheek and hair. "Can we... would you let me... please? I'll take good care of you."

His body shivers in response; he doesn't need to hear the whole question to know what Kyojuro is trying to tell him.

"Yes," he hears himself saying.

The next thing he knows is that he's on his back; Kyojuro is removing the kimono carefully and pressing kisses on his exposed skin.

Gently, teeth sink into his neck; Tanjirou arches his back in response as Kyojuro manages to get rid of his clothes.

"I am very possessive," the flame hashira whispers into his ear, as a warning, before one of his hands finds their way down his thigh. He kisses the mark he just left on Tanjirou before moving to his right shoulder and biting him again. "I hope it's okay."

Tanjirou whimpers as his shaky hands give it a pull to Kyojuro's yukata.

In the room illuminated by candle lights, Tanjirou can see the moment Kyojuro's smile turns into a smirk as he pulls away from him to get completely naked.

He has such nice muscles and he's... hard already.

"Kyojuro-san..." The name gets kissed away from Tanjirou's lips; the flame hashira makes a sound that comes from deep inside his throat as he grabs the redhead by the hips and presses their bodies together.

"Been dreaming about this for a while," he confesses, pulling his tongue out of Tanjirou's mouth and licking his way down his neck. "This is way better."

The redhead buries his fingers in the Pillar's hair as his lips find one of his nipples and start sucking it.

"Ahh!" The sound he makes prompts Kyojuro to smile over his skin; fingers grab him by the hips and his thumbs start drawing circles close to his groin. "Please, touch me."

He's halfway hard and he knows that if Kyojuro moves one of his hands a little bit down–

"Not yet."

Tanjirou whines, giving it a gentle tug to Kyojuro's hair as protest, but the hashira just chuckles before he starts kissing his way down the redhead's abdomen.

He leaves another mark on Tanjirou's waist that sends shivers to the lower half of his body.

Kyojuro ignores his cock completely, only to focus on Tanjirou's thighs.

"Can't believe I finally have these around my face like I have always wanted," he purrs before kissing the inner side of Tanjirou's thigh.

The redhead wants to say something... he wants Kyojuro to hurry up, but then the flame hashira sinks his teeth again; he licks and bites both Tanjirou's thighs until he's sure he's going to end up covered in bruises the next morning.

Suddenly, Kyojuro moves away and Tanjirou whines with need.

"I'm not going anywhere," he assures him before taking the jar he had hidden in his yukata. The liquid looks like oil this time and Kyojuro puts his fingers inside until they're covered in it.

"What's... Ahh!" Hands spread his butt cheeks before two fingers press against his entrance gently.

"Let me know if it hurts," Kyojuro whispers; his hot breath against Tanjirou's groin is distracting, but he manages to reply.

"O-Okay."

A weird sound escapes from his lips as two fingers thrust inside him. It doesn't hurt, but it feels weird.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes," he mumbles shyly as those fingers start moving in and out his entrance. When Kyojuro presses his lips against his balls, Tanjirou lets out a loud and embarrassing moan and it gets a lot worse when Kyojuro starts sucking them.

He adds a third finger and a fourth; Tanjirou's dick twitches when the fingers move faster and Kyojuro's tongue licks his way up to the tip of his cock.

Four fingers curl up inside him and press against something inside Tanjirou that makes him cry right before Kyojuro takes all his cock in his mouth.

Tanjirou moves his hips up as his vision blurs for a second. Then Kyojuro pulls away again.

There are tears in his eyes as he grabs Kyojuro's arm to encourage him to keep doing the same thing he was doing seconds ago; he feels empty without those fingers inside him.

The flame hashira leans closer; he presses a couple of kisses all over his face to calm him down.

"I'm sorry, I don't have much patience at the moment; I need to be inside you right now. The need is driving me insane."

Tanjirou watches fascinated as Kyojuro gives his own dick a couple of strokes to cover it with that clear substance.

Suddenly, Tanjirou is not sure that's going to fit, but he wants to try anyway.

Kyojuro grabs his own pillow and places it under Tanjirou's lower back to lift his hips up a little more.

Both Kyojuro's hands grab his bottom cheeks and spread them wide before the hashira presses the tip of his cock against Tanjirou's entrance.

Not realizing he's holding his breath, Tanjirou's hands grip the sheets underneath him as Kyojuro slams his way inside him.

Tanjirou feels himself stretching around Kyojuro and it burns slightly, until he relaxes completely in his arms.

"You can move now," he mumbles and in fact, he sounds a bit desperate.

Kyojuro chuckles against his ear, but he starts pounding inside Tanjirou, prompting him to let out little sounds, gasps that turn into soft moans quickly.

"You're adorable," Kyojuro kisses his cheek as he keeps thrusting his hips at a pace that's agonizingly slow.

"Faster," Tanjirou whispers, grabbing the back of Kyojuro's shoulders.

"Not yet. I want to be inside you as long as I can."

Tanjirou pouts, which prompts Kyojuro to kiss him on the lips before thrusting his hips in a different way.

He hits the spot, prompting Tanjirou to moan desperately; he wraps his legs around Kyojuro's waist to steady himself when the Pillar hits him there again.

But he needs more, more pressure until his vision turns blurry.

"Harder," he says this time, not recognizing his own voice.

"Why are you so bossy out of the sudden?" Kyojuro smiles, pressing soft kisses against his face.

"Faster, harder," Tanjirou lets out an obscene moan, nails digging in Kyojuro's back. "I want to feel you tomorrow too."

Kyojuro's breath hitches, and he stops, prompting Tanjirou to sob. His eyes become darker as he bites the redhead's bottom lip, shaking with desire.

"I love you so much," he mumbles before doing exactly what Tanjirou wanted all along: he starts pounding faster and harder.

Kyojuro's strength is impressive; Tanjirou feels that with each thrust his whole body moves against the futon. The noise of their bodies rubbing against each other becomes the only thing they can hear in the room besides their heavy breaths.

Tears slide down his cheeks as Kyojuro hits him again in that sweet spot; Tanjirou sobs his name as the room starts vanishing... nothing else matters but the waves of pleasure that make his toes curl.

Kyojuro groans against his ear before biting it as he slams harder inside Tanjirou.

"You can't leave me now, Tanjirou," his voice is darker, deeper and he realizes Kyojuro wasn't lying when he said he was very possessive. He just hid it really well before. "Not after I got a taste of you. I won't let you go. You're mine now."

Honestly, Tanjirou thinks it's hot.

He pulls out, prompting Tanjirou to tear up and let out a needy whine.

"Kyojuro-san, please!"

The flame hashira grins down at him before kissing him on the lips, his tongue moves like it's claiming him too as he turns Tanjirou's body a bit so he can lay on his side.

He lifts Tanjirou's right leg up carefully and thrusts his way inside his entrance. This angle is way better because Kyojuro can pound deeper and hit Tanjirou's spot in a way that takes his breath away.

"I can see how well you take me, Tanjirou," Kyojuro moans. "I can see how much you can stretch around me."

He pulls completely out, only to slam back inside Tanjirou, making him sob and moan; it sounds obscene, they're making too much noise, but he's too lost in his own pleasure to care.

The pace becomes faster as Kyojuro closes his eyes and whispers Tanjirou's name like it's something sacred.

Like he couldn't live without him.

"Kyojuro-san!" Tanjirou's vision starts turning white as the hashira hits his sweet spot harder, but he doesn't stop, he doesn't give Tanjirou time to think as a wave of consuming pleasure takes over him and he screams the Pillar's name one more time.

He doesn't stop thrusting into him even as Tanjirou comes; his breath becomes heavy and erratic.

"You're... ahh!" Kyojuro groans in pleasure as Tanjirou's hole clenches around his cock a couple of times with the aftershocks.

Suddenly, Tanjirou feels warm inside as Kyojuro comes in him. He doesn't collapse, but he pulls out before giving Tanjirou another kiss on the lips.

They're both sweaty and covered in cum, but Kyojuro takes another cloth he brought earlier and the bowl with water to clean them both.

Tanjirou's glad he's doing all the job because he can't move at the moment.

Kyojuro puts his yukata back on, and with the happiest smile on his face, he tells Tanjirou he's going to bring something to eat.

They haven't had dinner yet.

After a while, Tanjirou manages to sit as Kyojuro comes back into the room with what it looks like a mountain of food and clean sheets.

The flame hashira finishes his portion in a couple of minutes and then sits closer to Tanjirou and starts pressing soft kisses on his exposed back while Tanjirou takes a couple of bites of his last onigiri.

When one of Kyojuro's hands slides under the sweets and dangerously close to Tanjirou's groin, the redhead turns around to look at him.

"We need to sleep."

"Just one more time, Tanjirou, love... please."

After he finishes his dinner Kyojuro fucks him again, this time against the wall. It's amazing how easy it's for the Pillar to lift Tanjirou as he pounds inside him without mercy.

They take a bath in the morning, and Kyojuro helps him put his uniform back on. Unfortunately, the flame hashira has to carry him all the way back to the Rengoku estate because Tanjirou can't walk.

And it's not because of the injury on his leg.

Taking advantage of the fact that Tanjirou is in his arms now, Kyojuro keeps pressing kisses all over his face until Tanjirou giggles.

***

"Tanjirou, are you alright?" Senjuro looks up at him with worry as he leads them inside the estate; they found him sweeping right outside the main door.

"Yes," Tanjirou mumbles, blushing when he notices Shinjuro getting closer to them. "It's just a scratch on my leg, nothing to worry about!"

"It must be more than that if you need to be carried all the way here," Shinjuro observes, looking a bit worried.

However, he frowns when he notices Kyojuro's proud smile on his face.

"Can you take me to my room?" Tanjirou asks then, fighting the urge to cover his face with both hands.

"But you agreed to move into my room!" Kyojuro pouts, obviously not knowing how to be discreet at all. Maybe he just doesn't care.

Shinjuro looks again at Tanjirou in Kyojuro's arms and then smiles, suddenly amused.

"So you're dating now?" Senjuro asks innocently.

"Yes, we are."

"We'll get married soon!" Kyojuro says out loud, like he couldn't wait to tell them.

"Listen, if you're going to share a room now, I suggest you take the one at the other side of the residence. The one farther away from Senjuro's," Shinjuro says. "For everyone's sake."

"Of course!" Kyojuro grins, nodding, as Tanjirou groans in embarrassment and hides his face in the curve of the hashira's neck.

Fortunately, Kyojuro takes pity on him and takes him to their new room.

Despite everything, Tanjirou is happy that the mission brought them closer together.

"I can't wait to make you my husband!"

"I can't wait either, Kyojuro-san."

***

Patreon

[burningcheese-merchant]

Here is more lore and funfact abt Choco Powder since you asked

- He has the same wish granting power like Mystic, if it was anything his powers are more unstable. Because of this, mystic forbid him for ever using his powers for another person, she worries that he will end up like her, and the fact that Powder is so similar to her doesn't help.

- He is a very quiet but observant person, the type of person who will observe you wanting something and then the next day ur getting it. His love language especially to the people closer to him is gift-giving, it made him feel fulfilled.

- he meditated to relax, he learned it from Mystic. If he gets pushed over the edge he relaxes with sparring in the citadel's training area, he got it from Dark Cacao.

- he is very studious, mostly in the art of healing, and generally, as a prince it is important for him to be knowledgeable.

- he met dark Choco many times in his childhood, guiding him and teaching him, he never found out he had a big brother (mostly in childhood and teen years) so he thought Dark Choco is just a wondering soul

Dark Cacao sometimes slips and called Choco's name instead of Powder's

- he enjoys listening to other people, maybe Pepper Jack can yap to him and he will just sip tea and listen closely

- While he doesn't look like it, he actually is very empathetic but his way of handling sadness is not really healthy (Pepper Jack is the first person to notice this but doesn't know how to

I apologize if i yap too much abt Choco Powder, my brain goes overdrive every time i hyperfixated on my ocs haha

Been dying to answer this! I gotta get to all the other adoring fans in my inbox (/j), but I don't want to leave my friend hanging any longer. I'm really happy you're telling me more about Choco Powder, I want to share my thoughts!

I wonder how they first discovered that he inherited her powers? Did he hear someone say "man, I wish I had a good cup of coffee right now" as a baby and poof, he was waddling over to give them a coffee? Lol. I understand why Flour would want to keep him from using them, she knows the potential consequences... but is that really the wisest course of action? Would Powder not only end up more tempted to use them, specifically because he was banned from doing so (as kids and teens often are with things they're told are "forbidden")? If he's so similar to her, then she would know best how to approach the topic with him, I think. Like... a former drug addict warning their child against doing drugs, for lack of a better analogy. If anyone can get through to them, it's the person who already went down that road and faced its consequences. (Perhaps this is something Cacao can try to push? Maybe it could be something he and Flour argue about, even. "I don't want our son to get hurt or hurt others" VS "You are risking a self-fulfilling prophecy through your actions. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. This is not the right way, we cannot stifle him like this, there must be some sort of compromise")

I figured. He seems like that, at first glance (great job conveying his personality through his design btw, I might not really be an artist but I do know a good character design tells you what a character is like before they speak). With the gift-giving... perhaps this can be encouraged as a "healthier" outlet for his want to use his wish-granting powers? Especially if the gifts are handmade. It would teach him the value of hard work and gifts coming from the heart as opposed to something bought in a store, as well as allow him to "grant wishes" in this way without the risk that might come with using his powers. (I wonder what he'd give Jack and Paneer? haha)

How does sparring with Cacao go? What weapon(s) does Powder like to use? He doesn't seem particularly violent at first glance (but looks can be and often are deceiving, of course); how much enjoyment does he really get out of these duels? Is he a skilled fighter? Is this a way he bonds with his father? Does Cacao congratulate him for his efforts? (Now I want to contemplate Pepper Jack VS Choco Powder lol)

A fellow egghead lol. He and Jack could hang out at the Golden Cheese Kingdom library together (it's where Jack likes to go a lot). And the healing thing... Paneer may or may not have a knack for that, too. But that's for me to address another time hehehe

How fascinating! So Dark Choco never really returns home in your canon, is that the implication here? When and how does Powder find out who he is? What is his opinion of him before and after discovering this? Does Choco know who he is? What does he think of having a brother? What does he think of Mystic Flour being in their father's life at all, never mind having a child with him? So many avenues to explore here haha

That sounds kind of awful tbh lol. Does Cacao apologize for the Freudian slip? How does it make Powder feel? I can't imagine Flour is particularly happy when it happens...

Oh, I'm sure Jack wouldn't mind that lol. He's not necessarily a chatterbox (that's a bit more his sister), but he'll gladly engage people in conversation if they seek one with him. And I don't think he'd be too bothered by Powder being more of a "listener" type (but he will want Powder to say something every once in a while. Just to check if he's really listening to him)

What's unhealthy about it? Does he withdraw from others? Try to suppress it? Stress-eat lol? And I'm sure Jack would notice, he is highly observant as well (and he would try to think of a way to help, he's very caring). (Jack doesn't handle his own negative emotions very well, either... and that becomes SUPER apparent in a particular story arc I have planned)

Thank you soooo much for indulging me and giving me Choco Powder lore! He's really cool and I like him a lot. I hope you share more about him with all of us soon!

[pigcowboys]

hcs for percy x child of athena!reader that’s like, badass and super good at fighting/using knives/swords/other weaponry/ in a fight but is like super emotionally closed off?

-bitey anon (if that’s not taken)

pairing: percy jackson x artemis!reader

summary: headcanons for percy with a reader who's a child of artemis.

warning(s): slight mentions of blood, cursing, weapons (even if that even counts lol!), established relationship and sickeningly sweet fluff.

a/n: OMG HELLO BITEY ANON!! its not taken yet!! this is such a cool request i hope you enjoy what i did, sorry it took a moment!! and im so so sorry to anyone who's sent in a request!! i swear i'm trying to finish them all :( life is just..lifeing rn.

requests are currently closed!

okay so first of all i HAVE to talk about the beef percy and artemis must have.

like yo who is this guy? and why is he interested in her child? her only child too.

she's like that one person who's secretly praying on your downfall and really doesn't care if you two know it.

she most likely warmed up to the idea of you two dating over time because, to be honest - she likes percy.

would never say it to his face though, he has a big enough head.

BUT ON TO THE DATING!

hmm percy with a more closed off s/o is kind of hard to imagine.

hes so expressive and open i feel like he'd try his hardest to get his s/o to open up.

would NEVER push you to do anything though - he'd never wanna make you feel uncomfortable, after all.

"good morning my beautiful demi-god, how'd you sleep?" "like a rock., those bed are so fucking hard" "i may have a solution to your problem.."

"percy you've been caught like 6 times trying to sneak into my cabin.." "7th times a charm."

bro he probably fell in love with you the first time he saw you fighting.

you two were probably on some random quest and you had gotten ambushed by a couple of monsters.

he wanted to the boyfriend-y thing and help fend off the monsters so he could impress you.

he was doing great for little till you joined in and started helping him fight as well.

literally could NOT keep his eyes off you, you were so cool!!

he was going to make some really cool and suave quip while you were fighting to see a smile or something when he was hit in the face by a particularly angry monster.

attack sent him flying back a bit - totally made him scuff his shoes.

was happy you were able to finish off the monster that hit him but was slightly embarrassed that he got hit.

though, he did enjoy you feeding him some nectar per his own request.

i think he'd be like obsessed with the way you fight.

i mean, how couldn't he? you look so cool when you're doing all that swinging and slicing..he's so proud of you.

may or may not have been victim of a slice to his cheek from getting to close to you while you were training but seriously doesn't count it as you being reckless - he needed to be more careful.

"holy shit — are you okay?" "uhh..probably..? why is there something on my face?" "i think i..nipped you." "nipped me?" "you're..bleeding." "oh."

percy's a great guy but i feel like he'd also worry like 10x more about you because of you being slightly closed off.

checks in with you like every few minutes even if you've already told him you're okay.

you'd be woken up at like 12 pm from his texts alone.

always calling to make sure you're okay while he's away from camp half-blood on a quest or just hanging out somewhere on his college campus.

you do love that he's so caring!

you just..hate getting that stupid notification sound every few hours.

he'd be crushed if you ever told him that though so, you just deal with it.

honestly i don't think he'd care too much if you were closed off - it's all the same to him!

your aversion to speaking up while not stop him from going out of his way to surprise you with different gifts or with random hugs.

may or may not sniff your clothes slightly when he does hug you.

don't tell him you notice it, he'd die.

"what's that?" "a plushie, for you." "..why?" "didn't you say this was your favorite animal?" "oh..perce.. "

though, i feel like the only time you being closed off would be a problem would be when you two have an argument.

he's very open to hearing your side but hates when you don't let him know you have a problem

how else is he supposed to find a way to help?

overall though, you two would get along just great!!!

invites you out with him after you're done training whenever he can just so he can spend time with you.

doesn't even matter where you two are going.

yeah no, he thinks you're so awesome.

[finisnihil]

I feel like we as a fandom have misunderstood Jingliu a little bit. Like, she's usually characterized by fanon as like this stern, serious, no-nonsense woman who never smiles and has no humor when that's very much... Not the case?

Like yeah we usually see her with this very cold and stoic attitude but ultimately it's born out of two things: Focus and Mara.

Before the mara, we usually see her in situations where discipline and seriousness is needed. Training young Jing Yuan for military work, steeling herself to kill a mara-infected friend, etc. Those are situations where you need to be focused and on guard.

Post-mara meanwhile, it's literally canon that the mara feeds on emotions and memories. She keeps her's under control using the blindfold and Luocha, but fluctuations in her emotions can make her lose control. Blade is the same way too, when he's not in a situation related to his past he's just kinda chilling, because with Kafka's help, he can keep his emotions and memories under control.

There are times we see Jingliu unwind, like in Ichor of Two Dragons, where when Dan Heng remembers them all drinking together, Jingliu playfully goes "want a rematch? I'm always available!" at Jing Yuan teasing Yingxing and Dan Feng for being sore about losing to her in a match. She's passionate about swords because its her hobby, she enjoys it, that's one of her main parallels with Yanqing.

She isn't some cold and unfeeling monster, she was a woman who lost everything she loved and then lost her humanity. Blade was lucky he was found by the Stellaron Hunters, who see him as human even when he sees himself as just a weapon and try to be gentle and compassionate with him because they care about him. Jingliu had to run after Jing Yuan nearly killed her and wandered by herself for centuries, in pain and lashing out like a wounded animal, until she met Luocha.

We don't see much of Luocha and her dynamic. She sees him at the reunion and says "Take this man away" sure, but she follows it up with "This does not involve him". This is a situation with people who could make her Mara flare. She could be harsh with him because she doesn't care for him or because she's trying to protect him. Maybe she just can't extend the energy to worry about Luocha while trying to keep herself and the situation under control.

Jingliu was a kind woman and if Blade can continue to extend little forms of kindness and love with the SHs, I think she can also care about Luocha just as much. They are in this together for better or worse, and she has to put some trust and faith in him to let him accompany her this far. I'm sure we'll see more of their dynamic going forward, but it's clear she looks upon Luocha with understanding and sympathy, because as she says in one of her voicelines, he's like her and they're both lost and lonely people finding solace in each other in some way.

The overall point is, I wish there was more Jingliu content where we see her laugh, smile, and reach out for somebody because she wants to experience human warmth and connection again.

She wasn't always the mara.

[tinyowlthoughts]

EC Theobromine Notes

Been thinking a lot about this crew of dorks the past month and working on a 'first' story, where Max met the crew in the usual unconventional-but-conventionally-human-way. Since Chocolate and Bluffing are still getting notes (Who are you people?!?!?! (and I'm glad you're enjoying it :3c)) I figured I'd share my own notes about the crew:

Max Species: Human Age: Early 30s Pronouns: They/Them Position: Navigator Appearance: Androgynous human of short stature Fun Facts: They were not officially assigned to the Theobromine (story coming soon!)

Taurvin Species: Scrofa Age: 350 Pronouns: He/Him Position: Captain Appearance: Towering (10 foot tall) bipedal bear made of lava and molten rock Fun Fact: When calm, Taurvin's skin appears to be obsidian plates formed together. When angry, the lava that is his blood begins to glow, making him look like a volcano on the edge of bursting, and smoke will emerge from his nostrils. He has been known to smoke out a whole pub when losing trivia night. His right arm is a prosthetic, that closely mimics his own skin, so not many notice it, even among his crew.

Gorvan Species: Stakad Age: 201 (Just achieved legal drinking age for his species) Pronouns: He/Him Position: First Mate Appearance: Fluffy bipedal with four arms, two horns, a long prehensile tufted tail, and a perpetual expression of confusion Fun Fact: Is the second-most compassionate on board (after Elaana) and makes a point of ensuring all the crew members are comfortable and have what they need.

Elaana Species: Lepida Age: 20 Pronouns: She/her Position: Medical Appearance: Bipedal insectoid with moth wings, antenna, and large, compound eyes Fun Fact: Lepida cry pollen, which sets off allergies among other crew members at times; thus, she rarely cries outside of her quarters, wanting to spare her friends the distress (and runny facial orifices). Low-key crushing on Lenzoill.

Epitak Species: Corvi (distant relative of Zads, from the same planet) Age: 1248 Pronouns: Ze/Zim Position: Engineer Appearance: Bipedal crow with a crest of feathers on zeir head that give away zeir emotions; wings sprout along zeir arms Fun Fact: Has several hidden stashes of shiny objects aboard the ship, ranging from tinfoil left over from cooking to jewels he, er, 'liberated' from unappreciative shop keepers.

Dhaca Species: Snallygaster Age: 42 (He has not read the Hitchhikers Guide, and does not understand Max when they quote it at him) Pronouns: He/They Position: Biologist & Chemist Appearance: Three-foot tall reptilian with a single, large eye, multiple tongues, leather wings with claws, two arms, and no legs Fun Fact: He cannot fly with his wings, though they can give him a boost when jumping, and the claws on the end work as an extra pair of hands when he is experimenting. He has blown himself up more than once, luckily his scaly skin serves as pretty good blast protection. He has an entire crate of back-up glasses that regularly has to be restocked.

Lenzoill Species: Bubalus Age: 22 Pronouns: She/Her Position: Head of Security Appearance: Bipedal water buffalo with horns and a long, whip-like tail Fun Fact: Is a complete badass with training in multiple melee combat styles, ranged weapons, and melee weapons. Her favorite is an energy sword (that max compares to a lightsaber, though its more comparable to a broadsword made of energy), but in a pinch her sharpened horns can be used when charging. Is less competent with emotions, not due to any meathead trope but because her race is not as socially advanced as others and still holds prejudice views against non-traditional relationships. Being gay, she keeps her emotions to herself in order to protect her families reputation. (She'll figure it out eventually, no worries.) High-key crushing on Elaana but doesn't know how to act on it.

Qhals Species: Acinonyx Age: 19 Pronouns: He/Him Position: Linguist Appearance: Feline centaur with short fur, spots, and the cutest little floofy ears that give away his emotions (as the youngest crew member he gets teased relentlessly) Fun Fact: Qhals is comparable to a cheetah for several reasons - his spots, his ability to get along with a wide variety of species (aka there's no such thing as strangers, just friends he hasn't met yet), and his ability to mimic most vocal languages, and understand almost all of them! He is a true polyglot, and even without his translator implant can usually pick up on the gist of foreign languages through universal constants, body language, and charades. (Max asked him about something called 'autism' once, but apparently Acinonyx often have special interests that vary and becoming hyper fixated on something isn't unusual. Max squinted and asked about something called 'trains', which Qhals admitted to not being familiar with, though he did start info-dumping on a trolley-like system common in his home planets capital. This, for some reason, set Max giggling.)

Ir'ith Species: Zad (distant relatives of Corvi, from the same planet) Age: Nobody knows - old, though. Pronouns: He/Him/Not Late For Dinner Position: Quartermaster/Cook Appearance: Bipedal raven with a wings attached to the back, separate from the arms, forward-facing knees, and feather crests alongside his head that serve as ears Fun Fact: Nobody remembers him being assigned - he just showed up one day and took over as quartermaster and ship cook. Taurvin and Gorvan know his papers are forged, but he's the only one onboard who can cook, and he hasn't been threatening/dangerous, so they've let him be. Unlike Epitak, who can only glide, Ir'ith can fly.

Extra Facts:

Except for the human and snallygaster, all species names have Latin roots. (Google Snallygaster if you haven't, they're incredible. Top 10 cryptid.)

Scientifically, cheetahs are not in the same family as other big cats! They are in the family Felidae, the same as housecats, because they can't roar, and can purr. They can also chirp, chitter, and trill. Qhals can do all of this, plus hiss and growl when he's annoyed. He can yell, but unlike other feline-esque species, he can't roar.

Acinonyx are also very touchy species - they do cuddle piles, greet others with cheek-rubs, and will wrap their tail around friends/family/partners/etc. absent mindedly. This extends to other species as well, and it is not uncommon to find Qhals wrapped around somebody in the common areas while they do work/nap/watch the space equivalent of YouTube/etc.

The other feline species on the Qhals planet of Dae (which are heavily reminiscent of human feline species because a human is writing this) range in size from the large, striped Gris who excel in gladiatorial sports to the tiny, spotted Ailurus who are renowned trackers, hunters, and trappers (and who will stab you if you make fun of their height). Unlike the Corvi and Zad, there is no hierarchy between the species and subspecies, but instead a dependency on everyone to do what is needed to help society flourish. That's not to say racist, speciest pricks don't exist, but when everyone has knives for claws, they tend to keep it on the downlow in public.

Traditionally, on their planet, Zad are subservient to Corvi, due to size and power difference. While Epitak is larger than Ir'ith, the latter has never once deferred to the former, and in fact seems to take great joy in denying Epitak any form of traditional respect.

Few Bubalus leave their planet - while they are content to trade, they are a very insular species and prefer to stay home. The countries of their world are divided into different communities with different dialects, traditions, etc. The one Lenzoill was from had set traditional gender roles and ideals for what a young female who can bear children should do. Infertile females are often shunned and sent to relatives in other communities who are more open minded.

In this story/setting, Humans are very much a 'recent' species (less than 200 years of integration), and thus there are still many rumors and such about them. They are not often seen in the far reaches of space (making Max an anomaly for many), and are known as a violent, bloodthirsty species who are willing to do whatever they must for survival/riches/clout. Very much a space orc ideal of them, which Max is 10000% willing to use to their advantage when their friends/crew are in trouble. (There's no way that will ever backfire. Nope. Never.)

There is this awful art piece of them, which I plan on redrawing eventually now that I have a better idea of how I want them to work. Not anytime soon - Summer Reading Program is in full swing and I barely have time to blink, let alone draw - but hopefully within the next few months. I'm also working on an 'origin story' of how Max joined the crew, and their reactions to it, and have a stockpile of ideas to work on in the future when I have a chance.

I'm so happy this story keeps getting attention, and that so many people like it! The EC Theobromine is definitely going to have more adventures. : D

(PS: I keep putting 'he' instead of 'they' for Max, if you see that in a story please let me know so I can correct it. Max is nonbinary and I sometimes mistype and don't catch it during writing/editing.)

[slocumjoe]

What do the companions do/wear on their days off?

omg this is such a good prompt...

Companions' off-day

Cait;

What she does; Relax as much as Cait can relax. She might clean her gear, or practice her aim at the shooting range, but Cait takes her quiet moments where she can get them. Though, her idea of quiet isn't actually...quiet. She likes the bar scene, telling stories of her and Sole's exploits. Cuts back on booze after the Vault, but still takes a soda to toast to her own badassery.

What she wears; Tank tops, baggy pants. Soft shorts, sweats, lounge wear. Assuming she feels totally safe, of course. You can tell her comfort level by her pants of choice. Her normal leathers? Uncomfortable. Jeans? Open to relaxing, but unsure. Cotton or fabric? It's lounging time, baby.

Curie;

What she does; All sorts of things. Curie dips her fingers in everything she can. She bakes, she runs tests and experiments, she works at the clinic, she tends to animals, she gardens, she does this and that and that and that and...a very busy bee. Curie is never not doing anything. Berry-picking, trying her hand at weapon crafting, kickball; Curie's days off are full of activities and learning.

What she wears; Colorful clothing, fun patterns. Floral button-up blouses with high-waisted pants and sneakers, flannel overshirts with comic graphic tees, long dresses and skirts. She really likes dresses. So swishy! All her clothes are dirt-stained at the knees.

Danse;

What he does; Train, tuneup his gear, patrol, repeat. Danse doesn't have much outside of his military life. There isn't a buffer for him. He doesn't have an off switch like that. After BB, this worsens. Doesn’t eat, sleep, or stop doing. The other companions intervene and force him to take a break, but it's uncomfortable for him. Eventually they take turns keeping Danse busy for his own wellbeing. Cait spars with him, MacCready takes him shooting at the range, Preston has him gardening, et cetera.

What he wears; Work clothing. Overalls, jeans, tighter shirts that won't snag on little bits of machinery.. His boots are forever caked in mud. Used to like Tacky Old Man Patterns and brighter colors, but After BB, wears dark, form-hiding clothing, like thick sweaters and coats. Gets a lot of body image issues. Starts wearing hats to hide/shadow his face.

Deacon;

What he does; If really relaxing, Deacon is most himself. He reads, tailors his clothing, listens to music and radio shows. When Deacon relaxes, he isn't doing anything but enjoying media. It's not often he gets to relax. He'll also play with makeup and his wigs, trying out new potential looks. It is genuinely fun, even if for work purposes. Likes helping Curie and Piper with their makeup.

What he wears; Hoodie, sweats, crocs. Comfy, nondescript. If he's relaxing, he isn't being Deacon, Railroad Spy for a bit. He's just Deacon. And Deacon wears crocs and a hoodie with a weird graphic on it.

Gage;

What he does; Depends. Is he still a Nuka World raider, or domesticated by a Minuteman Sole? If former, uses the off time to run his own little investigations into everyone else, keep tabs. Works, basically. If domesticated, sits on a porch with a smoke, watches the sheep (settlers) go baa (tend the fields, run their shops, guard the settlement, etc). Whittles as a hobby, makes intricate wooden animals. Teaches Shaun how to do it. Kids take to him, weirdly enough. Also plays harmonica, but only in private.

What he wears; Tank tops, dark jeans, and his usual shit-kicker boots. Raider gear is messy, but its every-day practical. Has a furlined jacket he dons if cold, but he avoids it because something about a furry coat collar makes woman irresistibly attracted to you, and he prefers to lay low.

Hancock;

What he does; practices knife tricks, reads, writes, fiddles with his gun (never happy with the recoil), plays video games on terminals or Sole's pipboy. Babysits Duncan, plays video games with him. MacCready doesn't need to know Uncle John has a higher score in Zeta Invaders than him. Often goes 'campaigning', asks people about their thoughts on leadership and community.

What he wears; Pants, boots, no shirt or a very loose shirt. Has cut the bottom off of dresses to make the top a shirt. Gives the bottom to Curie to make into skirts.

MacCready;

What he does; Shooting practice, video games, comic books, puts models together, and most curiously, draws. Rather good at it. Draws his own comics, but most his impressive work is his diagrams of wasteland critters. He does it to help his head remember weakpoints, point out openings in the middle of chaos. Plays toys with Duncan shamelessly.

What he wears; Warm clothing, mostly, no matter the weather. Thick sweaters, soft slacks, jeans...practical, but comfy. Dislikes silky fabrics, loves thick socks. Wears his hat everywhere.

Nick;

What he does; Loves activity books, especially number-based puzzles. They're kind of hard to come by, and he feels bad filling them out since they're not in production. Piper and Nat make new ones for him. He's also good at the piano, and when he can find a functioning one, likes to just sit and enjoy the music. Tries to teach Danse piano, but good God, that man couldn't carry a tune if he glued it to his hands.

Wears; Nick is an old man. He's always in the slacks, the suspenders, the button-up dress shirt.

Piper;

What she does; Makes Nick's puzzle books, for one. She likes racking her brain to find a challenge, look for little details to catch him up. Enjoys reading, obviously, but writing tends to be a work thing. Piper likes writing, but when you do it for work, doing it to relax feels like making a paradox.

What she wears; Jean shorts, graphic tees, and baggy tank tops. Wears flip flops and crocs. Puts her hair in low pigtails since its a bit too short to go all the back in one tail.

Preston;

What he does; Tries his damndest to relax, but he just can't. He's always all nerves and waiting for the other shoe to drop. He's cooking a new recipe, or patching up his coat, or making maps. Really likes cartography, scary accurate. It takes a lot to really get him to let his guard down. After Blind Betrayal, takes Danse under his wing since they're in similar boats. They talk a lot of history.

What he wears; Sweatpants, soft shirts and flannels, warm clothing. He's easily cold, especially his hands and feet. Wears gloves and thicker socks often.

X6-88;

What he does; Trains. If forced to take up a standard method of 'relaxation', will take up art, weapon crafting, or try his hand at Nick's and Piper's puzzle books. Sometimes he blows through them with a scoff, other times he gives up and asks the solution. Fascinated by those trick, brain teaser puzzle toys.

What he wears; Dark shirts, dark pants, dark boots. He's never not dressed nicely, cleanly, and formally. Even his sleepwear (once Sole demands he treat himself to his very own wardrobe) is elegant in a way. The sunglasses stay on, always.

[aingeal98]

hiii i consider u a cass expert and since this has been eating at my brain for a few years at this point; do you have any thoughts on the way cain's poor excuse for parenting impacted cass on more of a cognitive/developmental level? like children need stimuli of all kind that she clearly didnt get even outside of literacy and social interaction and i think its super interesting to explore how cass has complicated relationships with things most people take for granted (like... did cain allow her to have any toys? to play any games other than the "two for flinching" thing? does she struggle with the fine motor skill needed for writing bc she really didnt have smth similar? omg is she ok?? i want to peel her like an onion so badly) sorry for brain vomiting over here i have thoughts and feelings about cass cain and its incurable

Anon you've come to the right place for incurable thoughts and feelings about Cassandra Cain! And you raise such a good point like there's no way Cain's abuse didn't leave her with more than just aphasia, illiteracy, cptsd, all the emotional issues... OK well he left her with a lot of stuff but still! You're definitely right that there's more. I'm no expert but one thing I know how to do is ramble about Cass, so:

In flashbacks we see young Cass doing a jigsaw of a rose in the dojo Cain's raising her in, which makes me think he did want to find ways to make sure her cognitive skills functioned even without words. Of course this is just me theorising but in terms of toys I think he would have carefully selected things that would stimulate her brain and improve her motor skills even without reading and writing. The image of David Cain carefully buying Jenga and Operation and making sure all the packaging with words on it never reaches Cass is now permenantly stuck in my head so thank you for that.

I do think she was definitely deprived of a lot though, and things like the jigsaw were clearly meant to be filler stuff for her before the actual fun games like "getting shot and dodging the next few bullets". I don't think Cain would have ever wanted Cass to be relaxed and comfortable enough to actually fully enjoy playing with toys, you know? If she was actually able to find things like jigsaws meaningful and fulfilling then his conditioning of her to associate getting shot with "fun game of dodgeball" wouldn't have been as successful. Cass may not have liked two for flinching but she did love the fighting and the dodging. Any thoughts of "why am I in pain when I could just be playing Jenga" would have never been allowed enter Cass's head. Which would be easy enough because (understandably so given the isolation) Cass looked up to Cain and got joy and fulfilment from seeing him smile. He doesn't care if she finished the jigsaw other than getting angry/worried if she fails. Whereas being able to assemble and break apart a gun while blind makes him light up with happiness/pride. So naturally, even with Cain making sure her brain isn't TOO different for her not to be able to function as the perfect weapon, she would still be deprived of important cognitive skills and stimuli.

The writing specific fine motor skills would definitely be impacted imo because while her training makes sure her hands can work a massive variety of weapons and probably permenantly injure a man in multiple places with each finger, writing is such a specific task that only comes naturally to us because we learned it so young. It can be learned later in life of course but the natural act of holding a pen and writing would feel so alien to Cass. And that's before you factor in her dyslexia like no wonder we only saw her pick up a pen once 😭 Cass being able to write the alphabet with any sort of ease and lack of intense focus would be a massive accomplishment given David Cain's fuckery.

And just in general being so isolated for most of her childhood would have impacted her brain so badly like even without the autism Cass must have been in overstimulated sensory hell after leaving Cain. So many voices talking, which she'd never heard before. So many smells and sounds and new textures and sights that are too intense for her eyes to handle. She missed out on an entire world and only got to start experiencing it when she was 8, that's got to have a longterm impact. I think as well as autism Bruce and Barbara had her tested for adhd due to all the symptoms she displayed. Doctors aren't clear if she actually has it or if its something different brought on by her upbringing. She spent nine years homeless and travelling so she's more adjusted than she was at the start but there's still times that the whole world just goes blurry and whoops panic attack time need to find an empty place and hide.

I'll stop here so I don't rant forever but thank you for giving me the chance to yell about head. canons and theories. Cass is indeed the most fascinating onion, and the layers are endless. Feel free to rant in my inbox whenever you want I love hearing other people's thoughts on her!

[itsclydebitches]

Hey, first ask but I’ve been following you for a while now, got here from seeing your post on a RWBY Reddit(notsurewhichone.) cus I’ve enjoyed all your recaps and reviews.

And I just want to ask your thoughts about Semblances in RWBY. Specifically how no one in the show…like really reacts or thinks of the implication of what someone’s Semblance says about their personality. You’d think Huntsman would be more wary of partnering up with people whose Semblances are linked to emotions when they fight Grimm. Like that’s easy bullying there

so while cool, you’d think some people would feel off about working with others depending on their Semblances.

Realistically we all know the answer why, RWBY’s never been the best(when they tried) at World Building and not every teenager likes to read into everything(most do, I won’t lie.)

Welcome to the inbox, anon! :D

Semblances—and their lack of development—have been a frustration of mine for years, ngl. Honestly, I've got no problem with stories keeping their World Building loose for the sake of things like combat creativity. Just want your characters to have cool powers without unpacking precisely how that's possible and the larger impact it has on the rest of the world? Go for it! That's a perfectly acceptable way to craft a story (depending on the genre + focus) and it gives fans plenty to play with without feeling like they're missing an integral part of the canon. RWBY's problem has always been in introducing these complex aspects and then not doing anything with them.

We could have easily gotten a version of the story where semblances are just generic powers that people unlock with no overtly textual connection to the characters' personalities... but we didn't. Once RWBY introduced the concept of semblances reflecting one's soul, yeah, the viewer expects something to come of that. It's the same with introducing the concept of grimm being attracted to emotion (they could have always just been free-roaming monsters), with one family's semblance being hereditary (just give Winter a similar-but-not-identical semblance that helps her train Weiss), and some semblances being passive (that never needed to be a thing, period). Those ideas raise a ton of questions that the show never capitalizes on and, worse, the show flat-out ignores the questions it does begin to unpack. Why doesn't Weiss have any thoughts about her semblances given her complicated relationship with her family? Why isn't anyone else hesitant to fight beside Qrow given his bad luck? As you say, why aren't those with semblances powered by extreme emotion, like Yang, considered potential liabilities in a fight? Is using her semblance worth it if it just attracts more monsters to deal with? Why not position her as the tank-like member of the team precisely because her powers tend to draw agro? There are so many missed opportunities but, as said, what's worse for me are the moments where the story overtly acknowledges these possibilities and then goes on to drop and/or contradict them. Nothing demonstrates this better than Ironwood's semblance supposedly being an integral part of his fall... and it doesn't exist outside of Word of God. RWBY's not iffy about its World Building, it's endlessly distracted. I'd take a story that flat out ignores questions the viewer might think up—we know what the story wants to focus on and recognizes that we should just leave the rest to fanfic—over stories like RWBY that continually introduces cool ideas and then drops them for the newest, shiniest one.

Another potential snag? Weapons. It's Crescent Rose that we're first introduced to, not Ruby's speed ability. It's Crescent Rose that she spent time building at Signal, inspired by her Uncle Qrow, who in turn was inspired by Maria. It's Crescent Rose Ruby hugs while gushing over others' weapons, saying that they're the glimpse into who they really are. At the start of the series semblances are secondary to weaponry and honestly? I think that worked a lot better. As awesome as some semblance moments have been, for me RWBY's combat shines within the weapon choreography and it's images like the tiny child standing with this giant scythe that are truly iconic. If I were re-writing the series I'd do away with semblances entirely, leaving just aura as a temporary shield and putting the emphasis back on weapons: the versatile, historical tools that the characters have control over. After all, it ultimately tells us much more about them if we get to see what they choose to fight with, rather than simply being told what fantasy genetics handed down to them. The fact that Volume 9 was supposedly this journey of self-discovery and semblances played no part in that for the team highlights how insignificant their connection to the World Building really is, but I find it equally frustrating that the characters' weapons have become insignificant props. Ruby lost Crescent Rose and isn't reacting to that? Who cares. Jaune broke the sword handed down to him through generations of huntsmen and apparently never tried to fix it? Who cares. Weiss' rapier is now literally one of the few remaining pieces of Atlas left in the world? Who cares! The story no longer treats these weapons with respect, so I can't treat them seriously as a means of characterization. That goes double when RWBY pops in once every two-ish volumes to insist that yeah, semblances are totally meaningful to these characters too.

[sandinmybed]

Please tell me about prophecy and the seventh sign and any other movies/media that explores the dynamics you're talking about I wanna hear!!

WALL OF TEXT!

For anyone reading this who doesn't know what this is about, I am recommending movies with religious themes that are not like... NICE religious. These are more along the lines of "Angels do not have free will and exist to do God's bidding - God's will frequently involves horrible, horrible things. Source: the Bible." My mother, who was raised to be devoutly Protestant and is now a devout atheist with religious trauma, loves movies like this. She calls them "nasty angel movies" but in general she likes things with religious themes that aren't preachy - and in fact might be the opposite. She likes media with the premise that God (of abrahamic faiths, particularly christianity) is real, but not benevolent. i'm struggling to define this genre because it's late lol

so, The Prophecy (1995)! fucking great movie. it's told mostly from the perspective of a detective who was previously training to be a catholic priest but lost his faith because of horrible visions. Christopher Walken portrays the angel Gabriel who has come to claim an extremely evil soul as a weapon for a second war in heaven. he is NOT a nice angel. i THINK the angels are upset that God has focused all His energy on humanity? but i may be misremembering. anyway this evilest soul ever has been placed temporarily in the body of a little native american girl who immediately becomes ill and is looked after by her teacher mostly, and Gabriel is looking for it and he's the villain of the movie, basically. it does have potentially uh,, slightly 90s ideas of Native American spirituality? possibly problematic/stereotyping? but i'm british and know almost nothing about native americans so i can't tell you if it's egregiously bad, or if its just a bit cringe. but the movie itself is really really good imo. also, Viggo Mortensen as Lucifer. Can't really go into that too much without spoilers, but he's INCREDIBLE. He makes the entire film.

I personally loved it because Gabriel is the angel who told Mary she would be giving birth to the son of God, right? most children raised in Western Christian nations are familiar with the Nativity and angel Gabriel above all others. But he's not a nice guy here - he's a servant of God, and he's mad about it. He uses humans as tools, kills, he's horrible lol. Interestingly, wikipedia seems to suggest that most people thought it was bad but it's gone on to become a cult film? idk i think its great.

Seventh Sign (1988) I didn't enjoy as much (personal opinion, my mum loves it) but the concept is really good. Basically, signs of the biblical apocalypse are happening and mostly being explained away, but they're happening. Leans a little bit into Hebrew theology too. A woman (demi moore) is pregnant with a baby, but there were a limited amount of souls in heaven, and now the first baby without a soul is soon to be born, and it's hers.

My mother also recommends Devil's Advocate (1997) which I've not seen myself but the main actors are Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino so I reckon it must be good lol. From the wikipedia it seems to be more of a horror, so if you have triggers I'd search on "does the dog die" (i've heard it's good for spoiler free trigger warnings) but according to wikipedia: "Based on Andrew Neiderman's 1990 novel of the same name, it is about a gifted young Florida lawyer invited to work for a major New York City law firm. As his wife becomes haunted by frightening visions, the lawyer slowly realizes the firm's owner, John Milton, is in fact, the Devil."

She also likes Constantine and Legion but i've not seen either nor talked to her about them so can't say anything about those lol

also this is a series and not a movie but I NEED you to watch Midnight Mass. it's by the same director who did The Fall of the House of Usher and the Haunting of Hill House and it's just absolutely incredible. It's a single series and it's about a village of like, a hundred or so people that's dying because small village. it's quite a religious town, the centre of the community is the catholic church, and the aging and senile priest has gone on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He doesn't return, and instead, a younger, unknown priest returns with new enigmatic sermons and then he performs actual miracles - he heals a girl in a wheelchair, for example. I don't want to spoil this but weird shit starts happening and it's a horror series again. My mum particularly liked (hated) a character called Bev Keane, she said she reminded her of her mother. The most miserable, awful, religious zealot, who never actually says anything cruel - she hides her awfulness behind scripture and religious quotes and is impossible to argue with or accuse of anything because she serves god! she's awful in such a hard to define way. Honestly the whole series is fantastic, and it's so well done. its one of those series where its impossible to make a sequel because its done perfectly. can you tell i liked this one

Also i think everyone on tumblr knows this one, but Good Omens. Obviously not a horror show like the others, and the "bad angels who are meant to only do god's will" thing is taken much more lightly here, but still worthy of inclusion imo. The book and the series are different, but not hugely. Humorous take on the apocalypse, and a demon and an angel who've been watching over earth for 6000 years and have decided actually, they like earth, and they dont want it to explode because heaven and hell are actually full of pricks and they dont want to deal with them, theyre too busy enjoying earth. so they decide to stop the apocalypse. they're not very good and it all goes a bit wrong a few times.

Final "religious themes" rec is Small Gods by Terry Pratchett, who also cowrote good omens and it's not actually about christian religion or angels but I think it's worth a mention because it's about a young monk called Brutha who is training in the city of Omnia, a religious city state on the Discworld that is devoted solely to the worship of the Great God Om. The church of Om run the entire city and everyone is a believer, the church is ultimately powerful, and everyone lives in fear of upsetting the church. And then the Great God Om is dropped from the sky from the talons of an eagle, and lands in a garden in the main church citadel - because he's a tortoise. He's been stuck in the form of a tortoise for years because he has no power anymore, because in Pratchett's discworld, there are many many gods and they only have power if someone believes in them. Om has just one believer - Brutha. Brutha is the only person in the ENTIRE CITY who actually believes in the god they claim to worship - the rest just believe in the system, in the religion and in oppression, because that's very real. Brutha knows more about Omnian religion than Om does, because to say Om was an absentee god is putting it mildly. it was the first discworld book i read and it's what got me into the series, it's absolutely great. Also really, really funny as well as reorients your worldview a bit. Pratchett is good at that

okay i need to stop, I have work in the morning, but hopefully this enormous wall of text wasn't too much for you!

[phoenixesse]

Future's Present

I wrote this drabble because I love the champions and their descendants so much, especially Revali and Tulin. I HAD to write something for them, and here it is :) Please enjoy!

Please note that there are totk spoilers for all four of the Regional Phenomena main quest parts.

Despite the insistence of those at Lookout Landing, Link does not decide to travel up north to the freezing Hebra region first. He instead travels east to Kakariko Village, intent on visiting an old friend, reminiscing on a journey long past. 

Zora's Domain was naturally the closest from there. The muck had plagued them and their swimming abilities, so when Link arrived to help, he was tasked with seeking out the Zora Prince. 

He hadn't been to Zora's Domain in some time. There was really no way to tell how long it had been between when he and Zelda explored the castle, to when he woke up, after all. 

When he arrived and washed off the statue in the main area, Mipha did not greet him. Instead, a beautiful new carving of him riding Sidon to Vah Ruta was in its place. 

There's a sting of melancholy. 

It really shouldn't be there. Link's had his time to grieve, moreso than so many others were given the privilege. 

He doesn't think he could ever love Mipha in the way she did him, but at least he could hold onto her kindness like she'd held onto him with her grace.

It's hard to admit he misses her. All of them.  

-

He was told Sidon was located on Ploymus Mountain, stopping the tainted water at the source. When Link arrived, he paused, hand falling from where he'd been holding his weapon. 

The Zora had created a beautiful place named 'Mipha Court' in his time away, to honour their fallen princess. Somehow, Link knew she would've adored it. 

At the highest point, following the blue stairs with the water that flowed down them, was Mipha's statue. He looks over to the East Reservoir Lake, close to where Ruta used to be. 

There's an apology on his lips he can't say. He looks over to Sidon, hyper-focused on his task. 

He's glad she's been honoured to the highest degree and loved just as much as when she was alive.

-

He treks through the Eldin mountains next, embracing the not-so-scalding temperatures this time around. While visiting the back of Death Mountain, he notices the Lizard Lakes, reminding him of memories everyone wants to forget. He looks up higher on Death Mountain, only noticing a shrine waiting for him. He takes in a long breath. It was going to be no easy feat to reclimb all the way up. 

-

It's off-putting to see so many Gorons unravelled by their new food discovery, and even worse when Yunobo is completely unlike himself by seemingly his princess's cause. 

Luckily, the mask he's wearing breaks after a brief scuffle, and Yunobo is more than happy to fight. 

As they walk through the city on their way to cure whatever had plagued Death Mountain, the Goron Stone Memorial sits repolished, lights glowing in the eyes of each warrior carved. Daruk sits in the middle of them all, continually overlooking Goron City. 

"Do you think it looks alright?" Yunobo asks. "I had some help from my guys at YunoboCo, and I think it turned out pretty good!" 

Link nods. Protector, indeed. 

Daruk was a man of strength and heart. To see him stand as tall as he did on Rudania eases the ache in Link's heart ever-so-slightly. 

-

In the wake of another round of re-exploring Hyrule, Link wonders how easy it will be to travel to someone grounding. Having made up his mind, that's how he ends up all the way across the continent at the Gerudo Hideout's doorstep. His Ascend ability comes into great use, and after explaining his harsh methods, he's redirected to Riju's location. 

Her training seems to be having mixed results. She wields lightning as easily as Urbosa once did, but her aim is only truly guided once Link shoots an arrow to the correct destination. 

Her pride in her abilities is clear, heralding them with the passion Urbosa once did to protect the people important to her. 

The desert is once again shrouded in sand, making many areas unchartable. A certain camel stirs in Link's mind. The tower to see the map (when he could) sat right beside where it used to be. Before his long trek through the Gerudo Desert, he had sat on the steps, looking over it. The dragon that started to reside there made the spot look so small in comparison. 

After catching up on the reason for Gerudo Town's vacant state, Link learned of new enemies that came to swarm the Gerudo, and they seemed to have very few vulnerabilities. Riju's power of lightning is useful indeed, being one of the only things able to strike foes down. 

When the town is saved, she insists on following an old legend to dispel the sandstorm and kill off the Gibdo, hopefully for good. While preparations are being made, Link departs by her bedroom, happy to see her beloved sand seals upkept. 

He passes her diary on the way to the courtyard, eager to hear about the spoils he'd won. However, a few lines catch his attention in passing, and he stops. 

Riju speaks of her worries about The Upheaval, which comes from a place of little surprise. Her uneasiness continues into thoughts of Zelda and himself and their disappearance. She talks of the fortifications in place for Gerudo Town and how much she believes she can do against their new enemies. It ends with her speaking and leaving for training, advice Zelda once gave her at the forefront of her mind. 

"Oh, Lady Urbosa, if only you were here with us. Watch over us all in these dark times, and keep Zelda and Link safe..."

Link turns away, wandering outside to the courtyard. She's just as quick-witted as he remembers, which comes as no surprise but is a relief nonetheless. She also seems to be the only one to mention Urbosa, her importance still weighing on her mind. 

Her fury, her passion; he sees it so clearly in Riju. Urbosa's legacy was well placed in her hands.  

If there was only one person to keep the memory of such a woman alive, he's glad it turned out to be her.

-

The Hebra region is cold, much more than usual. The locals he's come across all tell of a never-ending blizzard, one that has broken the Rito's bridge and put their community into a heavy drought from food and shelter. 

From the Lucky Clover Gazzette, Link looks forward to the shrouded village. The Gazette isn't far, luckily. It's crowded and homey, with very few travellers and a story-hungry manager, but he's taken a few jobs from there, and it seems to be an alright place. 

He huddles by the fire, waiting for morning. He breathes in the cool air and the smell of smoke. He's finally arrived at where he was supposed to go in the very beginning.

After gliding over the bridge to arrive at Rito Village, Link explores what seems to be the vacant spiralled suburb. Snow piles mound from every surface, and all the rooms are empty.

The shops are still open, run by the children of the village. 

"The adults are gone," They say. "They went to find food and shelter. We're okay running everything while they're gone, though!"

Link thought being the sacred knight was a weighted burden at sixteen, but even then, he was chosen for it. There was always no hesitance when the thought occurred that he'd do alright. But these children? Running a whole village on their own? It makes him feel a tinge of guilt for not saving Zelda already, and putting this in their hands. Wasn't this something he was born to do?

He finds Tulin, Teba, and Saki talking on a certain landing covered in snow. It's indistinguishable from every other place in the village at this point. 

Tulin must be around twelve years old now, claiming his independence with his promising, above-average skill set. Another kid with the weight of their world on his shoulders. 

When he notices Link from afar, his eyes light up with glee and excitement. It makes him wonder why it took so long for him to get here. 

Tulin has grown, that much is easy to see. Teba sighs and shakes his head once his son eagerly takes off on his next adventure. He tells Link that he can't leave, his new mantle as chief connected to overseeing the village in its darkest hour. 

So Link follows, trekking up another mountain and into the mouth of a large cave. 

Tulin's gone far, far ahead, exiting out of the other side and glaring up at some monsters. His tenacity is admirable, but it could be seen as foolhardy. Many of the Rito through the cave praised Tulin for his skill but sighed regardless, his lack of cooperation becoming a further frustrating trait. It's an echo of a person Link once knew, this child training to become a champion but seemingly held back by an inner flaw. 

Tulin's excitement is still palpable, even once he tells Link his bow was stolen. With his power to control the winds and Link's skill as a halfway decent archer, Tulin retrieves his bow, happier than ever. 

As he inspects said item, his smile fades, and his expression downturns. 

"Link? I don't think I should've rushed off like that." He clutches his bow closer. "They all warned me, and I didn't listen. I just thought that because I had some better skills, I wouldn't need anyone else's help. I just didn't want to see them hurt, especially when they're all working so hard for the village."

Link's eyes widen, and he wonders if a certain loner would've said the same thing if he'd been this age. 

He places a hand softly on his shoulder, rubbing it in what he hopes is a comforting gesture. Tulin peeks up with broad eyes. He dashes into Link's stomach, wings wrapping around his back. 

Link hesitantly places both of his arms around the boy in return. 

"You know, I really think I get it now. Teaming up with you was so fun! And it makes things a lot easier too." Tulin pulls back. "I think I'm ready. Let's go to the Sky Islands and save Princess Zelda!"

As they fly over, the catharsis settles, and the blizzard seems a little less harsh. 

-

The Sky Islands in Hebra are a gigantic collection of ships based on an old myth that was very questionably true until now. Sheets of cloth line nearly every one, creating a space to bounce from ship to ship. As they near the eye of the storm, the wind grows harsher, and even the paraglider has trouble flowing through the gusts of wind. Tulin is just as strong here as he is on the ground, the only tell of struggle through his squinted eyes. 

Finally, as the storm reached its apex, one last ship stood in the way. As Tulin bursts Link forward, he latches on to the side of the ship, eventually able to pull himself up. With one more bounce, the clouds clear, and finally, finally, the far edges of the horizon sing in prominence. 

The two fall, eyes marvelling at the sky between one held breath- one held moment of stasis and the next. 

Vah Medoh had been one thing but was so secluded in comparison. Even though Link had travelled through the sky so much already, he understood Rito's love for it only then. 

The center of the storm housed the ship of legend in all of its splendour. With five turbines to activate throughout the three floors of the ship, they were going to be there for some time. 

But it was eventually done. 

Another of Ganondorf's creations, Colgera, waited for them from beneath.

Link and Tulin were blown into the sky as the giant monster attacked. 

By utilizing a combination of well-placed arrows, Tulin's gusts, and dodging the spikes and tornados thrown their way, the monster fell in defeat. 

Tulin, upon touching the sacred stone, becomes acquainted with the Imprisoning War from his ancestor and told the same as the other sages. 

'The Sage of Wind', they'll now call him. A title heavy for a kid, but accepted wholeheartedly of his own volition. Another guardian has been born into Rito Village.

He looks at Link with pride he's only seen very a few times before. He won't let him, or any of the others, down. 

-

Link stumbles by a woman as he makes his way to the top of the village upon their return. She makes passing, polite small talk with him, mentioning Vah Medoh's perch. She says it casually as if it's not a bad thing to remember. 

It makes him breathe a sigh of relief as she wanders away.

-

Teba is overjoyed to see the two of them when they return. As their conversation about the Stormwind Ark dies down, Teba turns to his son, unclasping the bow on his back. Tulin looks around in surprise. 

"I did tell you that this bow would be yours someday when you came into being a warrior." 

Tulin nods, his wings gently wrapping themselves around the bow. Link sees his eyes travel down the blue ribbon attached, and feels his own breath catch. 

"Dad... thank you," Tulin says. "I'll prove that I'm a worthy enough warrior to use it." 

A small gust ruffles the trees nearby.

Teba nods, Saki behind him smiling. Tulin finally turns to Link.

"I think I'm going to look into the Stormwind Ark to figure out what

happened to Princess Zelda, so I might be gone for a while. But that doesn't mean I'll be gone forever, so come back soon, okay? I might have new information for you!" Link nods. "And don't feel like you're ever alone. I'm the Sage of Wind now, and my avatar will be supporting you for as long as I can!" 

Link blinks, a small smile peeking through. He was going to be undoubtedly an unforgettable ally.

-

The adrenaline from his final adventure before the last battle finally wears off as everyone departs for the highest point of Rito Village. 

There's no one else around, and the snow has finally melted the village's cold exterior and could finally be inhabited again. 

Link turns his head to a sign a little ways away, noting that the Rito had polished it from his last visit with a red and white feather-like trim. 

It reads: 'Revali's Landing'.

The pattern on the wood from it has not seemed to age. The Rito symbol sits proudly, even still, a shining beacon of hope for those who come across it. 

How fitting that a bow passed from a great warrior, to a fighter and chief, and finally to his proven son was received in that very place. 

The Rito did not speak of Revali, it seemed. They, like the rest of the world, had moved on in small ways over one-hundred years. 

While his name may not have been spoken, it was softly known. From how well-kept the landing was to the passing of a torch. Tulin had the same force of a gale, and the power few Rito could harness would not go to waste in his care. 

Even with such sentiment, Link couldn't help but feel a tad sympathetic for Revali. He would've hated not being mentioned more. He would've hated his sympathy. Link could laugh.

He doesn't.

He kneels down and runs a hand over the largest part of the Rito symbol. A sudden thought comes to him, and he sorts through his bag. 

The sun starts to set, and pinks and blues flood the horizon most over the Hebra and Tabantha regions. Link leans up against the post of the landing, limbs too tired to find a proper campfire. 

He drifts off to sleep, finally a pseudo-peace lightly blanketing his mind. 

-

In the middle of the landing site, three Blue Nightshades lightly ruffle through the wind, steady. 

I had forgotten you a lifetime ago, but in this one, I won't allow that memory to be lost.

EXTRA:

Link blinks awake, the full moon high in the sky and darkness shrouding the atmosphere. He stretches, briefly regretting his decision to sleep on the wood. 

The flowers he'd placed sit peacefully, untouched. Maybe he'd backtrack a little with the idea now in mind. Maybe put some Swift Violets in the middle of Mipha Court? Or Sundelions in front of the giant Goron Statue? Or even Electric Safflina on Riju's desk? 

A pitter-patter of footsteps worms its way around until the source is at his side. 

"Sorry, I didn't wake you up, did I?" Tulin asks.

Link shakes his head.

"Phew, that's good. Couldn't sleep?"

Link parses with the thought for a moment. He tilts his head from side to side with a sheepish half-smile. 

Tulin smiles, taking a seat next to Link. "Me neither. I mean, I'm so glad to be the Sage of Wind! But... I guess I've never really thought about what that meant. More exciting new adventures for sure!" He looks to the moon. "I know we can protect Hyrule. It's just a matter of time!"

Link nods quickly, smile stretching. 

"It's nice to see the sky so clear again. You can actually see the moon!"

Link agrees. He hopes Tulin notices. 

They sit in silence for a few more minutes, Tulin's eyes still on the sky. 

"I like the flowers, by the way," Tulin says softly. "I'll make sure they won't get hurt while I'm around."

Link nods appreciatively. 

"You know, I actually met Master Revali once before. It was a long time ago, and I don't fully remember what happened because I was so young, but I ask Dad about it as often as I can, because he was there too!" Link stares, wide-eyed. "Dad told me I accidentally followed him into a portal back in time, where the calamity was stopped, and no one died!"

Tulin's eyes glow. 

"Master Revali saved me that day! He's really just as great as everyone said! And a lot nicer once you get to know him." Tulin chuckles. "I have his bow now. I told him one day I'd be worthy of it! I wish he could've seen me master it!"

Tulin falls back onto a post with a yawn. 

"Link, do you think- since you knew- ugh, actually, never mind." He shakes his head. 

Link tilts his head to the side in a questioning look. He hopes it's comforting enough for Tulin to keep going and be unashamed of doing so. 

"It's kind of a stupid question." He laughs awkwardly. "Like I know dad already is, and I don't have to prove anything to anyone but- do you think that... Master Revali would've been proud of me?" 

Link's eyes widen twofold, and for one of the very few times in his life, he acts on an impulsive emotion alone. He reaches behind Tulin, clutching him in his arms. He shakes his head up and down vigorously, unsure if the kid can even feel it. 

"You really think so?" Oh no, he sounds a little sad. "Thank you, Link!" Tulin laughs openly instead. "Thank you so much!" He reciprocates the hug, a wide smile pressed into Link's upper shoulder. 

When they pull away, the moon has already lowered significantly from the start of their conversation. Tulin yawns again. 

"I'm guessing you're going to have to leave tomorrow morning? Lots of stuff to get ready for the final fight, right?"

Link finds himself reluctantly nodding. 

"That's okay! I know you and everyone else are going to do awesome, Link!" Tulin yawns a third time. "I'd invite you to where we live for the night, but there's not that much room. Do you mind if I stay out here tonight?"

Link shakes his head.

"Awesome." Tulin leans his own head against Link's shoulder. "Good night, Link. And thanks for everything."

Sleep comes to the pair far easier this time. 

-

At the same time, for the briefest of seconds, the water calms in every lake. The rocks and lava silence their thunder. A faraway bolt of lightning strikes an enemy. A light breeze ruffles through a trio of flowers, the chosen knight, and the Rito's upcoming greatest warrior. 

Riju writes another entry into her diary, the next day looking even more promising. 

Yunobo says goodnight to every Goron still awake after a hard day at work. 

Sidon watches a shooting star fall from afar from the King's throne, attaching every single hope he has onto it.

A blissful peace settles over Hyrule. Even though there are many challenges yet to overcome, for one night, everything seems like it might turn out okay. 

[loopy777]

What was the yangchen scene that infuriated you so much?

I'm glad you asked!

(I say as if I didn't leave that last one as bait.)

But I'm warning you, the explanation is going to be underwhelming for my level of rage. I'm just so sick of this kind of thing. Spoilers below the cut for both Dawn and Legacy.

In Dawn, the weapon Yangchen had been chasing the whole book turns out to be a trio of Combustion Benders working for the villain. This is treated as something completely unheard of, and no one is even capable of speculating how it might be possible.

In Legacy, Yangchen follows up on this and eventually tracks down the training site for the Combustion Benders. It turns out that the villain hadn't just been trying to churn out Combusters, she was training and researching several different possibilities. Yangchen doens't learn the full extent of what was going on there, but she does encounter the following:

The Combustion Benders

A girl whose bare-handed blows can incapacitate limbs and disable Bending

A chamber with a shackling chair and the remains of a circular metal track that would allow something to travel around the chair; elsewhere in the book, the villain speaks a code phrase and brings a reluctant subordinate completely under her control, compelled to follow her every command

Just- would it have been too much to have one slushing thing that wasn't taken from Aang's adventures? I'm almost surprised there weren't a pair of hook swords at the site or something about lightning-bending or lightning-redirection! By the time Avatar fiction is finished and the franchise is finally dead, do you think there will be one single thing in all of AtLA that won't have its history revealed in a story about a previous Avatar? Just like how everything Korra experiences needs to be explained in a story about the maturing gAang, everything in AtLA needs to be tossed out as chum for fans who can't be trusted to just enjoy a good story.

Combustion Bending can't have just been something that happened over there, it had to be part of Avatar History (TM). Chi-blocking can't just be a rare skill, it had to have been developed by a think tank run by an Avatar's arch nemesis. And Koh forbid Long Feng or the Dai Li actually invented some aspect of their brainwashing themselves- no, it turns out they lifted everything, right down to using a light on a circular track, from a textbook that was written four to five hundred years before they were born.

It's just so, so tiring. It's one thing when the garbage has to toss out this kind of fan-service in order to distract from its terrible character writing, but why does even the good stuff like the Yangchen novels have to devolve into this lack of creativity? It adds nothing to the story and took me straight out of what should have been a harrowing scene.

But Loopy, you say, what harm does it do? Lots of people like to have their fans serviced in this way, so maybe this is just a You thing, and it doesn't necessarily hurt the stories it's in just because Gene Yang was terrible at it.

Well, 'you,' I'd say that it actually does do harm, even in the hands of a good storyteller like F.C. Yee. See, one of best parts of this franchise is the sense of history it evokes. In most fantasy, thousands of years can whizz by with no change in culture, geography, language, technology, or education. But in Avatar, things change. The Fire Nation wins wars by developing new weapons. The Water Tribes go up and down in health and power depending the conditions of the world. A whole new nation is developed as a result of colonization, which itself spurs rapid development of technology. When we jump back to the beginning of time, the very world itself is made to look like a moving historical painting. And, as we increasingly explore the franchise, we find that each Avatar comes of age mostly by dealing with the problems left behind by their predecessors.

And every time something from AtLA or LoK is shoved into contrived circumstances in another era so we can have a pointless fan service moment, we chip away at that unique aspect of this franchise. We make each era more like all the others, so that no matter what Avatar you're dealing with or what era of history you're in, there will always be a Chi Blocker (TM). It takes something we all fell in love with due to its uniqueness and turns it into a formula. Instead of a scene that works by itself, we have a round of Spot The Reference.

And it happens in so much fiction these days. People used to make disparaging jokes about how every character in Star Wars, even the stupid nameless walk-on roles, has their own book. But at least it was their own book, and not the story of how it turns out Anakin Skywalker was best friends with this random alien decades before they randomly walked across his son Luke's path. We measure a storyteller's suitability to contribute to a franchise based on how much of a fan they are, not because being a fan might lend them insight into what made that franchise great in the first place, but because they can pack their stories full of continuity so that it turns out the entire history of an entire world turns on 20 people spread across a single family tree by the time subsequent generations are done marrying each other.

I'm just so sick of it. And being ambushed by it in 'Legacy of Yangchen' just made me groan, especially since I was enjoying the story so much.

Please, let's have a little self-respect as fans, okay?

...

I warned you this was going to be underwhelming.

[eomma-jpeg]

Wait wait talk about millynai version of the undine au

YOU DO NOT NEED TO ASK ME TWICE

SO squid here (@noaafishfieldguide) introduced me to the idea of an undine (sea creatures similar to mermaids) and an alternate mermaid au essentially to sea foam (WHICH EVERYONE SHOULD READ BY THE WAY) where vash is the mer,,,, and it dives more heavily into fantasy !!!!

so squids original version of the au involves amnesia and is vashmeryl centric AND it involves an unwanted engagement between Milly and King Nai (the story has Milivio as the end goal)

but me.... being me decided what if that engagement was unwanted but,,,,, then they actually spent time together,,,, and then they fell in love

soooo here are some fun millynai undine au ideas (a story squid and i lovingly call along the ocean floor)

Milly is a half-elf princess of a riverside kingdom

Nai is the undine king of the neighboring ocean kingdom

Milly, the poor girl, is the youngest of a bunch of siblings, so naturally most of her older brothers are kind of duking it out to try and win the crown

Milly just anticipated to live her life in semi obscurity because shes the youngest of ten and doesn't have shot at the crown or at being bothered

she just wants to enjoy her life with her friends, make the kingdom a better and safer place, and do right by those around her

that is,,, until her brothers get the grand idea to marry her off

milly's older sisters (and some of her brothers) were all married-- some arranged-- but milly never intended to be married to a royal,,, but at the most recent political meeting and discussion they announced her engagement to a foreign royal

milly wasn't consulted, informed, or even told WHO IT WAS GOING TO BE

and because they know milly will be unhappy with this sudden change of plans, they keep her essentially under house arrest

milly sneaks out to clear her head and is just,,, so frustrated !!!

the marriage isn't an awful prospect to her. its not that big of a deal because her whole goal in life is to help the kingdom, and if this is what it is then so be it,

BUT THEY DIDN'T EVEN CONSULT HER

they didn't talk to her or get her opinion on which arrangement might be best AND THEY HAVENT EVEN DECIDED WHO YET,,, JUST THAT THEYRE GONNA MARRY HER OFF

milly also knows if the marriage pays off and the kingdom benefits, whoever suggested the idea is guaranteed the crown

so on her walk to clear her mind on the river banks, milly is angrily stomping about and kicking dirt and water,,,,, only to see something in the dark of night

and its a body

she rushes over to help the man, but she is ill prepared !!! to do that !!!

milly is a princess not a nurse !! she's well trained in the political and diplomatic arts ! (and maybe some martial arts) but not saving a man

and yet,,, she does all she can anyway

then,,, she realizes she recognizes this man,,, he's the king from that undersea kingdom.... THE ONE THAT WAS COMING TO VISIT THIS WEEK

so milly tries her best to help him, blah blah blah she breaks his rib, he yells at her and passes out again, and Milly wraps him up in her dress and carries him back to the castle

CUE MANY SHENANIGANS

This is the main idea for the first chapter (which i have written lol) but here's the subsequent plot ideas

nai is trapped in the castle with an injury hes having trouble healing by himself (some dumb magical weapon that he was attacked with)

eventually he gets better (meryl drops by to fix him) and returns to the sea

and then promptly returns with his twin brother........ who turns out to be the one betrothed to Milly

Milly and Vash play nice but they both don't,,, they dont want this

BUT because of the engagement and new relations between the kingdoms,,, the twins hang around for a few weeks,,,

and Milly gets to see Nai

well,, she finds him in a variety of places

mostly her places,, but she doesn't mind him hanging out there. those secluded spots in the garden or by the river are nice for a reason

but milly is the only one nai kind of knows in the castle, so they subconsciously drift toward one another during boring meetings and diplomatic mounts

and milly ofc goes to visit the undersea kingdom and i have a whooooollllleeeee design planned out for undine milly do not worry

but yeah,,, milly and nai tend to hang out with one another,, despite the fact that milly and vash are the ones that are engaged...

and uhhh perhaps nai starts to develop some,,, feelings,,,

because milly may be silly and naive sometimes but shes strong and convicted and kind and she knows the ins and outs of her kingdom and she is incredible at those political meetings and her hair and her lips and... and.... oh no

and sooooo he decides to speed up the wedding process so that he can be rid of those feelings

but it doesnt work....................

and then theres a ball to celebrate the couple and the unification of the kingdom and oh gosh the wedding is so close and milly is just going to be out of reach and even though she'll be family it wont be the same and I-

Nai takes milly out into the hallway during the ball to talk with her

Milly,,,, is exhausted

the night has been long, everyone is trying to talk with her or dance with her or congratulate her and while she is a social butterfly, she has a limit for political pleasantries

and now nai is trying to talk to her but he seems so flighty and nervous and she cant figure out whats going on

and then,,, he says "Don't... don't marry Vash"

and milly is SO LOST because he is the one whos been moving up all the dates and insisting that they get married ! nai would have them married right now if he could but he cant and...

oh

oh

it clicks in Milly's brain

and she confesses, "I don't want to marry Vash"

and then nai kisses her

and suddenly all those previous moments where he was acting weird and she felt those strange flutters in her guts are all aligning and she cant believe how happy it all makes her

AND THATS ALL YOU GET,,, BUT THIS IS TOO MUCH ALREADY BECAUSE I HAVE A PROBLEM

but lets just say you can look forward to hidden relationships, secret pining, military coups and broken families, as well as Milly looking hot in a flowy white shirt AND as a mermaid

[kathuman]

I've been doing this on Twitter but I thought I'd add my responses here too!

Day 1: This is Katts! She's about 30 years old, uses she/her, and is currently a member of the Research Commission

Day 2: Katts primarily uses dual blades but is also proficient with a bow! She prioritizes speed over strength in hunts and finds heavy weapons cumbersome. She always prefers to capture vs kill. I almost never draw her with her weapons so this bunny pic is all I have ^^;

Day 3: Katts likes to tailor her armor to the situation as much as she can but these are two of her most common hunting sets (however she wears a full helm in the field). For casual, day to day wear she is usually found in this modified version of the leather set

Day 4: This is Archimedes, Katts' palico and long time friend! He's a silly little guy but a surprisingly good judge of character and isn't shy of showing what he thinks of people. He's become a proficient healer as Katts is a reckless hunter. He will bite you if you hurt her

Day 5: Its gotta be Paolumu! After all they're soft, pink (or purple!), and grumpy XD Katts finds them cute and funny!

Day 6: Katts is very enthusiastic about botony! She love plants and flowers and keeps notebooks of the research she does in her free time. She's also interested in teas and likes to make her own blends (though this is slightly limited now that she lives in Seliana)

Day 7: Katts mom passed when she was young and she is estranged from her dad. She was raised by her grandmother, who trained her to be a hunter, though she passed when Katts was in her early 20s. She had few friends growing up and later made only a few acquaintance in the guild. It's not all bad news though! Since joining the commission she's made a few close friends, notably Alexst and the FTL, as well as the handlers and Tracker, etc. She's also developed a sort of father/daughter relationship with the Admiral who was slightly acquainted with her grandmother

Day 8: Katts generally prefers to hunt with just Archimedes but she often finds herself out with Alexst too! Honestly she IS willing to hunt with others some of the time if asked but won't initiate it herself

Day 9: Katts has difficulty parsing/accepting her feelings and an incredulity streak about love a mile long. She tends to push back when it feels like she's getting closer with these two out of fear and nerves. I ignore that and draw her smooching both her boys though :)

I enjoy the dynamic she has between both. The FTL is a more steadfast, reliable man and she really needs stability. The two of them often butt heads because she's reckless and overworks but that also helps her reign in those tendencies.

Alexst is unfailingly sweet and just totally candid about his feelings which let's face it she needs a lot. He's ridiculous and dumb which keeps her from staying in her own head too much, after all you have to keep an eye on him so he doesn't try and adopt a jaggris again

All three of them balance each other in fun ways I think! But, again, any sort of relationship would take a while to build so things are friendship only with a smattering of awkwardness for ages ^^;

That's what I'm up to now, I'll keep adding more as I go!