#tl;dr i'm thinking out loud and being weird again sorry

[adlamu]

i was doing some thinking about my writing and, while i've never had, like, one of my stories published or whatever ever, i have been writing for a very long time and it always surprises me when i hear professional writers (ones i admire, anyway) talking about how they had to learn how to write character-first rather than plot-first.

like, i'll sit there going "wait i'm doing it the right way?" because for nearly 20yrs i've always had people up my arse, in one way or another, saying it has to be plot-first and that plot has to be planned meticulously - which has always bugged me because, like, life doesn't work like that and if you're trying to write realistic people in realistic(-ish) situations, you can't just stick characters into a perfectly planned plot and expect them to adhere to it because they just won't do that. in my head, you have to revolve things around the characters so you know them inside out and backwards - to the point where you know exactly how they'd react to certain situations, how they'd be while in the heat of certain emotions, and how they'd act with regard to specific dynamics they have with other characters or it just feels like bonking a square peg into a star-shaped hole, do you know what i mean?

only certain genres (like mystery/crime, for example) really need a meticulously planned plot imo, but you'd still also need to know your characters and how they'd solve that mystery, in what way, and how they'd go about presenting their findings - a dramedy or a slice of life (with bits of spice), or whatever doesn't really need that kind of planning.

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

Hello, I am sorry if this sounds completly random but I saw your tags under a post about Rita Ora on OFMD.

What did Con O'Neill do? I genuinely don't know, this is the first time I see Con being discussed on the same level as Rita Ora.

Thank you for your time. If this is something you do not wish to answer publicly I understand. I tried googling if Con did something controversial but couldn't find anything.

Thank you again, and I wish you a good day or night.

Ok Rita is worse than Con she's on levels of white woman nonsense that I had not conceived. She hopped on a shitty antiblack trend and then, in the time since I put these tags out she publicly in an interview forgot her own husbands Ethnicity (she called Taika Samoan he is Maori) I also am fine with listening to a couple of her songs and she is married to the guy who plays my fav blorbo

That said Con O'Neill is kinda loud about being a Zionist and he made a joke at the expense of Columbians for which he left Twitter lest he become the villain of the week

I want it to be clear that these two things are not the same, but they are like, different levels of the same phenomenon, that phenomenon being "cool art your behavior is sus tho" like I'm way less cool art about Rita and way more your behavior is sus tho about Rita, I would never pay for her auto with my hooking money for example, something i have done for Con (i would never pay for either autograph out of my actual paycheck hooking money is fake to me and my budgeting process is incomprehensible) however I Do Not Trust Con Like That.

Tbf I don't trust any celebrity like that but if you've mostly kept your head down it's a lower case don't trust like that, and for Con it has become a I Don't Trust Like That. And for Rita it's a I DON'T TRUST LIKE THAT.

That said I'm not on the "I can never fuck with this person ever" catagory for either of them yet. I'm not gonna feel weird about a Rita Ora song coming on in the club or whatever. I just think they're both lowercase r racist. I also like Lady Gaga a lot despite her support of autism speaks because if I was a hater of everyone who was ablist or racist or homophobic or sexist I frankly would have no media left to consume, and, you know what, I'll say it, probably no irl friends either. Being an adult who likes things is a constant battle of figuring out when separating the art from the artist is acceptable. If they were traffic lights Vico's green, Con and Rita are yellow tho Rita is oranging rather rapidly, and Jeffree Starr is red and I miss his song queen of the club scene and his fun lipstick colors every day bit i simply cannot fuck with that so i listen to The Medic Droid and use the eyeshadow and clear lipgloss trick instead

TL;DR: behavior I don't like does not mean I drop a celeb right away it means I critically consume their content until I am made aware that their behavior reaches a critical mass

[ohhalefire]

Can we hear more about the story of you and your 23 siblings and how you all found each other??

lol so eventually i do plan on making a whole youtube video on this story, and since i don't want people in real life to ever know about this tumblr, i don't wanna go into too much detail in case someone's ever able to like, cross-compare an eventual video i make about this with this post xD but the tl;dr is this:

sperm banks were 100% anonymous, in the old days. There was no way to find your donor, or your half-siblings, or anybody - or so people thought. But then 23AndMe and Ancestry came along and changed all that.

I met a few sisters, at first. And it was weird - we had the same interests! We were all musicians, all high-energy, and so, so obviously related. It was exciting, but there were only a few of us.

Then I got a message from a guy on Facebook, saying basically "ahahaha 23AndMe says we're half-siblings, do you think some error happened somewhere?" and I was like, "I mean, maybe not - I'm a sperm bank baby, so I've found a few half-siblings so far. It wouldn't be too weird for me. Are you a sperm bank baby?"

And he was like, "...not that I know of."

Well, oops.

But he'd seen my profile picture by then. There was no doubt, putting the two of us side by side, who we were. He is 100% what I would look like if I were an all-American football dude. If my profile picture hadn't been up, he told me later, he might not have believed it, but my face sealed the deal.

And lo and behold: he was a loud-AF musician, too. Just like the rest of us.

The story of him talking it out with his own parents is not mine to tell, but suffice it to say he suddenly had a major fire under his ass to find out everything he possibly could about our sperm-bank family. Within a few months, our little group chat ballooned to 20-something, mostly through his hard work of connecting us all. There was a point in time when we would acquire more than a sibling a day! it was truly a strange time.

And yes indeed: we're almost all artistic, and moreover, almost all musicians. The apples really didn't fall too far from the tree, it turns out.

Again, there's so much more I could get into here that I really don't wanna for fear of the rest of the world finding out who I am, because lol my story is pretty unique, and I don't think it'd be too hard to figure out my identity based on it if I went too deep xD and y'all know how terrified we all are on here about being Found Out but suffice it to say that we all adore each other, and I genuinely feel like getting these extra siblings has only brought extra goodness and wonder into my life. I'm lucky - because I've always known I was donor-conceived, I found that this aspect of my life wasn't at all a source of trauma or rejection, but rather just a source of light, love, and joy.

Also, in case someone does still cross-check this post in future: I wrote 26 sibs in the original post - the number 23 is associated with 23AndMe, which I also wrote about, so I'm so sorry, I know it was confusing - but after a re-count we think there may be 29 of us so far xD Looking for than even 30 any day now!

[syilcawrites]

A prompt (dunno if I should've messaged or sent a note, but eh, I'm used to asks):

Following the defeat™ of Ganon à la Link and Zelda, our favourite pair have settled in Kakariko Village for a bit as a temporary reprieve.

Then disaster strikes.

It starts with spaced-out sniffles. Then as hushed whispers come on the light snorts of a nostril attempting to impede the flow of an oncoming river of muscus. Rising to a crescendo, a throat reddens and sputters in an attempt to relieve an unending roughness that hinders speech and catches on food.

Link has the common cold.

Never has the hero felt so demeaned, so disrespected by the gods. His bones and blood and mind were forfeit the moment he drew the Sword as a child, of that he came to know and accept. But to now be impeded by snot and sebum - no affront could be greater.

So, stubborn as he is, he attempts to go on about his day, training, cooking, collecting - but, of course, fails spectacularly, his condition worsening. Looking from afar, Zelda finds that she's had enough and tends to the matter directly.

Ensue whatever great stuff you wanna write about.

TL;DR: Link gets mildly ill, worsens it by overexerting himself and Zelda has to force him to rest; magic ensues.

Sorry if that was way too detailed or exact for a prompt... I just have so many ideas of my own that I want to write but I just don't have the time right now. Sho, I'm keeping to plans aplently. ☺️

a/n: i loved this prompt and how detailed it was thank u for sending me this it was so fun to write sfauihhaifs sobs... I hope to see your writing someday!!! And hope you enjoy this lil fic (’:

ao3

to chase away a cold

It's been a little over two months since Calamity Ganon had been defeated. Paya had been kind enough to let them stay in her room for the time being, while Zelda recuperated from… well, everything. And it had been quiet around Hyrule since—the significantly decreasing amount of monster attacks had been a blessing for their short trips; they had run into little to no problems, fortunately, ever since they reunited.

But then, it started with a sound that Zelda could only affiliate with to a mouse squeak.

Her wide eyes flit to the ground, where Link was sitting atop of a futon that Paya had laid out for him. He didn't look at her as he continued shining away at his weapons, his back still facing her, pressed against the mattress of the bed Zelda was on.

She shrugged it off, resuming to mess around with the Sheikah Slate in her hands. Perhaps she was just hearing things… it wouldn't be surprising, since she hadn't officially settled into being back in her own body yet—

Zelda's ears perked up as the peculiar squeak happened again. But this time, the bed shook a little. She quickly lowered the Sheikah Slate from her view once more, her eyes narrowing.

"Link, was that you?" she asked, poking his back with her big toe.

He shook his head and shrugged.

Suspicious.

——————————————————————

The next morning, Zelda awoke at noon.

Which was, of course, normal for her. She was never an early-riser to begin with, even before the Calamity.

But Link? He was always up the moment the sun rose. She was a light sleeper, and always heard him get up, despite his best efforts to be quiet. And he never missed a day to leave a couple of fresh wildflowers in the vase next to the bed for her before she would get up to start the day.

But today, the wildflowers at the bedside had been the ones from yesterday—beginning to grow flaky and brown.

And Link was still sprawled on the futon next to the bed, obliviously sleeping away.

"Link," Zelda whispered, leaning over the bed. But he didn't budge. Weird. "Link!" Zelda leaned over a bit further to shake his shoulder. "Get up!"

"Hah?" He flinched, startling himself awake. He sniffled as he looked over at her with glazed, sleepy eyes.

"It's past noon. I thought you were going to help Cado—"

"Noon?" he gasped, scrambling up from the futon. "I told him I'd come by at eight," Link mumbled, fumbling for his tunic and trousers. "We might have to go to the Great Fairy Fountain tomorrow instead, I promised I'd help him find his cuccos today." His voice sounded a bit heavier than she remembered.

She waved her hand at him, shrugging as she stifled a yawn. "It's okay, go help him. I'm sure he's waiting." Zelda quirked an eyebrow up as he sniffled again—he was doing that a lot more recently. "If you need a hand, I can help."

"No, you're still recov—" Suddenly, Link's face contorted up in a way that she had never seen before—he whipped around and sneezed into the crook of his elbow.

"Did you catch something?" Zelda asked, shifting off of the bed to place a hand on his forehead. But with each step she took closer to him, he took one away from her as he shook his head fervently.

"I'm fine," he insisted, pulling his cloak over his shoulders, still facing away from her.

Suspicious.

——————————————————————

Zelda sat outside on the steps of Impa's home, eating pickled plum with her as the both of them watched Link run around Kakariko, trying to find Cado's precious, missing cucco's.

"It is beyond my understanding as to why Link even tries," Impa scoffed, handing Zelda the plumpest pickled plum of the batch. She still didn't have much of an appetite, but Impa had been as observant as she always was, and usually only offered Zelda bite-sized foods that she knew she wouldn't have trouble eating. "Cado loses his cuccos as least twice a month."

"Maybe we should build him a bigger fence," Zelda murmured, giggling as she watched Link wrestle with a cucco he was trying to drag over to Cado's little coop. "They wouldn't be able to fly as easily."

"Those little buggers will always find a way," Impa scoffed, shaking her head. "And—"

A loud sneeze caused the both of them to flinch—Link's well-fought battle against the cucco ultimately failed, and Zelda watched the aftermath of it with pity. He stared in defeat as it scampered away, back into the bushes.

"Link's been a little weird, hasn't he? He hadn't even stirred by the time I was awake," Zelda inquired, plopping another pickled plum into her mouth, chewing slowly. His jog was a little slower than usual, and he had to pause every five minutes to catch his breath—that never happened before.

"He's been staying up a little later than usual, hasn't he?"

Zelda nodded—he wanted to take her to several locations that were a bit further than their usual trips, so they had been mapping out the most efficient way to go about their mini excursion. While Link was an early bird, Zelda was more of a night owl… it did make sense that he would be a little off recently, with a shift in his sleeping schedule.

After he spoke to Cado, probably to apologize for not getting them all today, Link stumbled—he stumbled—a bit on his feet as he made his way to the cookpot, since dinner was just around the corner.

Suspicious.

——————————————————————

By the time Link went into the room to retire for the day, Zelda had already situated herself on the futon. She was lying on her stomach, humming, as she plotted out the last of their destinations for the upcoming trip. She craned her head to the door when she heard it creak open; he looked even worse than earlier.

"How was your bath?" Zelda asked, sitting up.

"Good…" he said, sniffling, a little confused. He pointed at her, quirking an eyebrow up.

"You're sleeping in the bed tonight—and!" Zelda pointed at the cup of tea sitting on the desk next to the bed. "You should drink this up before you go to sleep. The trip can wait until you get better."

"What do you mean? I'm fine," he muttered, rubbing his nose.

"Link, having a cold is a perfectly normal thing to catch—and you just made it worse by trying to hide it. Which you were terrible at doing, by the way." Zelda grabbed the cup and held it out to him, waiting. "Plus, I added some extra ingredients that I think could possibly increase the potency of the medicine—"

"I'm not sick," he said, shaking his head with noticeable effort. "I don't need it, I'm fine. I—I feel better than I've ever had before, actually." He sneezed—and the cough that accompanied it sounded just as painful.

"But I made this specifically for you," Zelda muttered, lowering the cup a bit. Before she could continue to convince him to drink it, he had already grabbed it out of her hand and taken a large gulp out of it.

"You didn't put something weird in this, right?" Link asked, sniffing it. At least he tried to sniff it, but his nose was closed up. She laughed at his scrunched up face as he continued to try to smell it.

"It's a secret," she said, patting the top of the bed. "It's been a long day, you should rest."

He took one more long gulp before handing the cup to her with a satisfied sigh, his smile a little woozy. Zelda quickly grabbed it from him and stared into it—he had drank the whole thing in two gulps. He was supposed to drink it slowly.

He flopped over on top of the bed, burying his head into the pillow.

"This bed is really comfortable," he said, his voice muffled as he rubbed his face into it.

"Hey, you're going to get snot all over my pillow if you do that!" Zelda scoffed, tugging at his sleeve as she twisted around.

"It smells like you," he murmured, looking at her with half-lidded eyes as he strained to keep them open.

"Oh? And how do you know what it smells like if your nose is clogged?" She brought her arms over the bed and folded them together to rest her cheek against them. She had never witnessed him getting sick, even before the Calamity. And to see him acting a little aloof brought warmth into her chest—even though he hadn't recovered every memory, he still treated her with familiarity, which she appreciated. She was afraid of being thrown into a world so familiar, yet different.

But he stayed, even though he didn't have to.

"Hmmm... I can just feel it," Link muttered as he closed his eyes, pressing deeper into her pillow.

"You can feel what my pillow smells like?" Zelda snorted, trying to hold in her laughter. Instead of responding to her, he began snoring.

Zelda would have to remember that including a few sprinkles of nightshade acted as an excellent way for someone to fall asleep quickly.