#whumptober 2020 progress

[triscribe]

Nentanuk Background

When Absul finally managed to pry his eyes open, he stared blearily at a stone ceiling, dimly lit by unknown light-

Light. The wyverns- Tanu!

---

From Wolfen's Rage, Chapter 7:

"Crant retrieved more of the art pieces, stacks growing around her. They differed in styles and technique, making her think they'd been created at points of time far apart from one another. There were a few of Arriv subjects mixed in with the rest, but those all had scorch marks around their edges, as if someone had started to set them on fire only to change course at the last moment. One in particular was more charred than the rest: another youth, of mixed elvish and human blood if the short, pointed ears were anything to go by. He'd been depicted with a soft smile, bright silver eyes have closed, but anything he might have been wearing or doing was burned away..."

From the (in-progress) Guidebook to Playing Wolfen & Warlocks TTRPG, chapter concerning Gods and Divine Calls:

Immosi The upstarts, the revolutionaries, they who stole sacred power and ascended to a higher state of being. Members of their bloodline are bound to Concepts, to Rules, the cautious balance they've worked out between themselves and their proxies. Divided into the Golden, the Azure, and the Crimson houses...

The Golden  Family of the Eldest Brother 

Absul - Lord of Light and oldest son of Shan (the Fateweaver) Call: Light elemental magic  Domains: Civilization, order, honesty...

Whumptober 2020 Entries:

You're Not Making Any Sense It Was An Accident Blood Trail

(So I'm having fun mentally torturing my friend @yogurtbear242...)

[bereft-of-frogs]

six(ish) sentence sunday (I think I skipped a few more there/52)

11 October 2020

“You know what this is?” Pierce asks. With the gag, Loki cannot respond. “You’d think it was revenge, and sure, that part’s going to be good. But you’re the future. You’re an opportunity. For us to make advances we haven���t even dreamed of since 1945.” The year means absolutely nothing to Loki. “You’re our new shot at greatness.”

A pretty speech, Loki thinks.

[I’m up to 15 prompts done for whumptober! Over halfway, if you count all the in-progress fics up, I would say. since there appeared to be some enthusiasm for the fic I’ve long been threatening to write, I thought I’d share six(ish) sentences from that. it’s not the original HYDRA Endgame AU I started a while ago, but it’s a HYDRA Endgame AU that’s a little more pure whump, so I thought it would fit in well for whumptober]

[enigma-the-mysterious]

"I got snot all over your shirt. I think it's ruined now," Aramis mumbled without really making an effort to mitigate the damage by lifting his face from where it was pressed against the fabric.

Athos snorted. "I can think of worse things to have befallen on my shirt."

"Like that time when d'Artagnan decided to smear your shirt with honey as a prank?"

"Precisely."

Out of context Whumptober WIPs

[queenangst]

so,,, how's your whumptober wips doin rn👀 im very eager to read your fics

chapter 1 of fic 1 is being posted in the morning! 

i have a writing and posting schedule set up for myself. for now i’ll share that fic 1 (4 chapters total) will be posted over the following 4-5 days.

[noperopesaredope]

Fics That I Really Like A Lot

So, I just wanted to make a post uplifting some really great fics I’ve read/am subscribed to or still keeping up with. I like to let people know about other creators, and I just wanted to mention some works I think people should check out.

(Note, this post was made on Sep 2, 2021, so when I say something is recent, I mean compared to when I made this post)

Tangled the Series Fics (Mostly Varian Fics):

Walls of Stone (Finished)

Varian and Whumptober 2020 (Series) (Finished) (Sidenote; I really like this author in general, but there is just so much great whump and extreme angst in this series! Says they are but a humble freshman, but I say they are a very skilled freshman!)

How Pneumonia Stopped a Stubborn Alchemist from Descending into Villainy (Finished)

Screw Treasure, I got Trauma (Finished)

Tangled One-shots (Series) (Finished? I Think?)

Voluntary Manslaughter (Finished)

I’ll Always Lend an Ear (Finished)

Drown Your Past, Burn your Future (Series) (Unfinished, but still going strong)

Scars of a Child (Series) (Unfinished)

Unrelenting Silence (Finished)

Where was the happily ever after? (Finished? Unsure)

All our Dreams (Down the Drain) (Unfinished)

Not All Falling Stars Grant Wishes (Finished)

Alchemy Lullaby (Series) (Finished)

Insignificant (Finished)

Second Chances (Almost finished)

The Pawn Decides Its Fate (Finished)

Unsaid Emily (Finished)

Today, Today (Finished)

The Pride in Your Eyes (Unfinished, but still somewhat new)

Monster (Finished)

You Are Enough (Finished)

An Alchemist’s World (Unfinished, but the first four chapters could definitely work as a standalone fic, so, in my eyes it’s finished)

Too Smart for Your Own Good (Unfinished, going strong)

To find the Sundrop (Unfinished)

There’s More in You (Unfinished)

The Science of Love (Unfinished, going very strong)

Season 2 But Gayer (Unfinished, going strong-ish)

On My Honor (Series) (Unfinished, going extremely strong with consistant updates)

A Prince and His Bodyguard (Series) (Unfinished, going strong)

Rocks, Wolves, and the Moon (Series) (Unfinished, going strong)

Return to Me (Unfinished, going strong)

Perilous Night (Unfinished, possibly discontinued, but worth a bit of the read)

Nomad (Unfinished, author is working on multiple projects, so IDK)

No Reward for Second Place (Unfinished, but fairly new and somewhat well updated)

Oath of the Lawbreaker (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)

New Quest for Varian (Unfinished, fairly new)

My Dear Son (Unfinished)

Insignificant (Finished)

Indentured (Unfinished, same author as Nomad)

Enter the mind, remove the sins (Unfinished, going pretty strong)

Darkness exists to make the light truely count (Unfinished, going strong. Updated about every month or two, with consistency)

Creeping Crystals (Unfinished, but going somewhat strong)

Blood of My Brother (Unfinished, going as one of the strongest in its fast updates)

Cyclorama (Finished) (Companion to Blood of My Brother)

Chemistry in Motion (Unfinished)

Away from Home (Unfinished)

Alone? (Unfinished-ish)

It’s just a mild inconvenience (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)

Gauze in the Wound (Unfinished, pretty consistent last I checked)

Blood Makes the Knife Holy (Series) (Unfinished, but each part could work as their own fics, and it’s still going)

A Progression of Events (Unfinished)

He Needs Me (Unfinished, going strong)

Or So They Though (Unfinished, going pretty strong)

The Long Road Back to Home (Unfinished, hasn’t been updated in a bit, but is pretty long and each chapter could take about a couple months to finish, and even longer if the creator is stuck/has other fics. Still worth the read)

The Road Home (Different) (Unfinished)

Reunion at Sea (Unfinished, going strong)

Elements of Angst (Unfinished, probably updated soon)

Arson (Unfinished, every time it think that maybe it’s been discontinued, it comes back)

Unconventional Family (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)

To find the Sundrop (Unfinished)

Wayward AU (Comic) (Unfinished, pretty consistent)

RWBY (Mainly Oscar Fics):

It’s Venomous (Finished)

Will you stand and be brave or be broken? (Finished)

Oscar Gets Himself a Coat (Finished)

Who You Belong To (Finished)

Imperfect Light (Finished)

Shell (Finished)

Blood on Both Hands (Finished)

Tell Me that I am a Fool (Finished)

If i believed in destiny i'd have to hunt it down and punch it in the face (Series) (Unfinished, can have the occasionally long hiatus, but the creator comes back)

Is Oscar okay? no but the answer is b (Finished)

Running From Memories (Finished)

Rescue Me (Unfinished)

Souls of Love and Bravery (Unfinished, relatively consistent updates)

Revert To Last Save File (but it's the wrong file) (Unfinished, but still going)

Broken Body and Souls (Finished)

Camp Camp:

David’s Family (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)

Horror Camp (A little too much child whump for me, but it’s very whumpy) (Unfinished)

Inconvenience (Unfinished)

Still Here (One of my favs) (Finished)

Hetalia (Mainly America and Canada Centric):

Recovering the Broken Pieces (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)

Hetalia 2020 - WWIII and more (Unfinished)

(More fics in the crossover section)

She-ra (Quite a few Kyle ones):

The Chronicles of Kyle (Unfinished)

Sunflowers (Finished)

She-Ra: In the Wake (Unfinished)

Princesses and co. work through their issues (Unfinished)

What is Heard (Cannot be Unheard) (Finished)

Long Way Home (Unfinished)

The Hollowed of Etheria (Discontinued. For now at least. Author might revamp it)

Hordak and the Orphans of the Horde (Unfinished)

Big Sis (Finished)

Ex-Horde (Finished? Pretty good on its own though)

Prisoner of Conscience (Unfinished, still going strong)

Tales of Arcadia (Mostly Douxie Fics):

The Immortal Bonds (Unfinished, going strong)

I Can Make RotT So Much Worse (Unfinished, going strong)

Not After 900 Years (Finished)

A Different Path (Finished)

Half-Remembered (Finished)

Shattered Timelines (Unfinished, going strong)

In the Fullness of Time (Unfinished, updated recently)

One Last Time (Unfinished, updated recently)

Tales of Arcadia Watch Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (Unfinished)

Crossover Fics:

Sold (TTS/HtTYD) (Finished) (Author is really good at angsty oneshots that should be made into full fics)

Varian’s Mysterious Transport (TTS/Infinity Train) (Unfinished, unexpected updates)

Of Rocks and Robots (TTS/Big Hero Six) (Series) (Unfinished, very consistent)

(Like the moon) I'll sway the tide and lead you astray (TTS/HtTYD) (Unfinished, haven’t read in a while)

Heathers and other fandoms react to stuff (Multifandom Crossover Fanfiction) (Unfinished, confusing update schedule, not every fandom gets much spotlight, still incredibly fun)

Chemistry in Motion (TTS/Big Hero Six) (Unfinished)

The Weight of Both Worlds (Hetalia/RWBY) (Series) (Finished) (My favorite fic ever)

Infinity (Hetalia/BNHA) (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)

G8 china in UA, 1-S class! (Hetalia/BNHA) (Unifinished, possibly dicontinued)

That Which Makes Up This Land (Hetalia/ATLA) (Unfinished, author is editing and reposting all their series, which could take about a year, but it will be back)

A Waterbending Quirk (ATLA/BNHA) (Unfinished, going strong)

Other Fics:

Earth is Odd Enough (Sanders Sides) (Unfinished)

UA Faculty Tiktok OCs (BNHA) (Webtoon) (Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63lWYueDsek&t=208s, she’s amazing) (Unfinished. The Tiktoks, on the otherhand, are very much still going)

Harry Potter and the Lack of Lambsauce (Harry Potter) (Finished)

Grinch x Tony the Tiger (You know) (Unfinished)

Flowey is Not a Good Life Coach (Undertale) (Finished)

It Wears a Mask (MCU Spiderman) (Finished)

A Different Fate (Harry Potter) (Finished)

A crack in the glass (eye) (ATLA) (Finished)

Identity Saga (MCU Spiderman) (Series) (Unfinished, author is very dedicated to fic and is incredibly determined to finish it, so highly unlikely to be discontinued)

Bakery Enemies AU (Miraculous Ladybug) (Comic) (Unfinished, going strong)

Authors I Like:

AquaQuadrant aka @aquaquadrant (probably know them if you’re in the Varian fandom. Ridiculously talented)

bethhigdon (in the TTS fandom and the Big Hero Six fandom, but also other stuff)

Cate_9xBlue aka @cate-9xblue (known best for their TTS fics)

Royalsciencenerd (Writes amazing TTS Varian fics)

HoneyxMonkey aka @honeyxmonkey (Writes TTS fics and talks a lot about Tales of Arcadia on their blog. Has some great ideas)

Sand_wolf579 (Has a large and varied catalogue)

ExploretheEcccentricities aka @exploretheeccentricities (Lots of TTS fics)

ShadowSnowdapple aka @shadowsnowdapple (RWBY Oscar fics that are amazing)

Widowfics (Great TTS writer)

AMax76 (Wrote the amazing Blood of My Brother)

violetsaren_tblue (has some great TTS fics I like)

Time Traverser (Excellent Hetalia America and Canada Fics)

Aloneintherain aka @captainkirkk (Just started reading their stuff, SO many excellent Spider-Man fics)

So yeah, just giving some appreciation for all the fic creators out there and their creations!

[basicallyjaywalker]

Welcome!

My name is Rook, I am a trans man and use he/him pronouns, and I've been obsessed with little lego ninja men since I was 9 years old and CN's advertising got me to watch the Green Ninja reveal episode. This blog is the product of that special interest taking over my life in 2020.

Here are all the creative endeavors I've undergone as a result!

150 Follower Fictravaganza!

Optional fics due (for prizes) October 15th! Winner will be selected afterwards.

Click here for the collection of completed fics!

Fanfics:

Recognition (Pixal | Fluff | Canon-Compliant | Completed) (Made for Ninjago Fic Fest 2024! Please check out all the other awesome works here)

Starry Eyed (Mana (Lloyd x OC) | Fluff | AU | Completed)

Whumptober 2023: Ninjago Edition (Multi Character | Whump | Canon & AUs | Completed)

Arms (Bruise | Hurt/Comfort | Canon-Compliant | Complete)

OC Info Sheets:

In progress! Doing a little revamp <3

Other stuff under the cut!

Tags

Personal:

#rook's lego addiction: any lego sets i get and build will be under this tag + me just doing lego shit in general

AUs and Fic Planning:

Stay tuned!

Fanon and Lore:

#mt's notes on elemental powers: are my notes on my interpretations of elemental powers, both the ones I made up and canon's! (currently a WIP series)

Watch Me Watch Ninjago:

#rook rewatches skybound: my skybound rewatch, watch me lose my shit

#rook rewatches possession: my possession rewatch! watch me lose it over characters and not writing this time

#rook rewatches hands of time: my hands of time rewatch! not very intense tbh

I did not liveblog the other seasons but if/when i do a rewatch i might!

Other blogs:

gonehyperfixating (general fandom blog)

chesspiecesquish (stimboard blog, currently inactive but looking to restart it)

Lastly, a standard DNI applies. Racists, homophobes, transphobes, xenophobes, terfs/"gender critical feminists," misogynists, islamophobes, anti-Palestine, basically if you're a bigot you can disrespectfully fuck off

[pandora15]

WHUMPTOBER 2021 MASTERLIST

I am participating in Whumptober this year!  I will be updating this post with links to tumblr and/or AO3 for each prompt as the month progresses, so if you want to keep track of all of my Whumptober fics, this is the post to check!  I’ll be keeping this post pinned throughout the month, if that makes things easier for you.

I will be posting a fic every day in October (hopefully) at 12 PM EST, and then reblogging at 8PM EST, unless there’s a change in schedule!

Click here to view the prompt list for this year.

If you’d like to see my Whumptober masterlists from previous years, here is 2018, 2019, and 2020.

PROMPT FILLS

Day 1: “You have to let go.” - Tumblr

Day 2: Choking - Tumblr

Day 3: “Who did this to you?” - Tumblr

Day 4: “Do you trust me?” - Tumblr

Day 5: Betrayal - Tumblr

Day 6: Bruises - Tumblr

Day 7: Numbness - Tumblr

Day 8: “Definitely just a cold” - Tumblr

Day 9: Tears - Tumblr

Day 10: Hospital - Tumblr

[quietlyimplode]

Mine: (also tagged under #my fic) do NOT repost my work anywhere (don’t be that person, a reblog is better and far more kind)

Whumptober 2023 Masterlist - AO3 - The Language of Flowers and Silent Things

Whumptober 2022 Masterlist - AO3 - Leave Everything But Your Bones Behind

Whumptober 2021 Masterlist - AO3 (Survival Guide) (The Way Home) (For here what is, what is must be)

Whumptober 2020 Masterlist - Rescue Me

-

Marching On - Avengers (2012) - AO3

different names for the same thing (part 1)

different names for the same thing (part 2)

——

Completed Series (How Natasha came to Shield)

Travel Through The Shadows With Me :

https://youtu.be/0pgyrD236wM (video for the series by a very talented friend)

Part 1: Summon Your Courage (Natasha & Clint)

Part 2: Invite your demons to tea (Natasha - with a side of Clint)

Part 3: Kiss the Dread

Xx

.

Black Widow Fest 2024

Black Widow Fest 2023

Black Widow Fest 2022

Black Widow Fest 2021

2.47 // nightshift

Excavate - Moments in Time - All the drabbles and one shots that have no place anywhere else

Clintasha Advent 2021 Masterlist

Clintasha Advent 2020 Masterlist

Short Ask Game (drabble fic)

Contained

Hard Luck - Natasha x Reader (to be placed on Ao3)

Gone

Bad Things Bingo (1) (2)

--

Clint/Nat

Leave everything but your bones behind (team fic/Clint/Nat implied)

The Judas Tree (Natasha & Clint/ Maria & Nat)

The Way Home (Clint/Nat)

Impenetrable (Nat/Clint)

Don’t let me fall (Clint/Nat)

Watch the sky (Clint/Nat)

Ok I believe you but my tommy gun don’t (Clint/Nat)

The Progressive and Cultural Learnings of Natasha Romanov - Ao3 (Clint/Nat)

Ten Thousand Hours (Clint/Nat)

Light Shadows (Clint/Nat)

Next Step (Clint/Nat 100 word drabble)

--

Natasha & Yelena

For here what is, what is will be (Nat & Yelena)

Night Drive (Yelena & Natasha)

Forged (Natasha)

Teach me how to be at peace again (Natasha. Yelena)

--

Tony & Natasha

Survival Guide (Tony & Natasha (Pepper/Tony and Clint/Nat))

Cosmic Love (Clint/Nat/ Tony & Nat)

The Way Through (Nat & Sam/ Maria & Nat)

Silver Linings (Nat & Steve & Tony/ Clint/Nat)

A Universal Truth (Nat & Tony/ Clint/Nat)

A mark, a mission, a brand, a scar (nat&tony, Nat& Steve and Clint/Nat// avengers as a team??)

--

Clint/Nat/Laura

Movie Night (Clint/Nat/Laura)

First Meetings (Natasha/Laura + Clint)

Promptathon Fic (Clint/Nat/Laura)

Five Christmases (Clint/Nat/Laura/Yelena)

--

Clint/Nat/Bucky / Bucky/Nat

Outrun the Night (Clint/Nat/Bucky)

Après Moi (Bucky/Nat)

--

Natasha & Steve

Flicker Beats

--

Wanda & Nat

Grief is a thing with fangs

x x x x

Natasha Romanoff Masterlist of Fic Recs - Version 2.0  - Page 1 / Page 2 / Page 3 / Page 4 / Page 5

Masterlist of @whumptober2020

Drabbles 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11

[enigma-the-mysterious]

187 words

"The bad guys won't stop coming at you when it starts raining," Aramis chuckled.

D'Artagnan's breath caught in his throat. He bunched up his fingers to keep his hands from trembling.

Sprint no. 1 - 7:00 - 7:20 p.m.

@lonelyislanddaydreamer @enigma-the-mysterious

Go!

[ruinedrainbowpooka]

Me: >hasn’t finished Whumptober 2020

Also me: So I have two fics in progress that hit over 31 Kinktober prompts and I’m gonna do Whumptober 2021.

Also also me: Uhhh eventually I’ll have all this done

BUT HEY! I’M WRITING AGAIN \o/

[theoldguard-recs]

He guys! Do you know any fic where we get to see Joe and Nicky's reactions to Andy's mortality, maybe have a talk about it with her, help her with her gun bound or just being protective of her after that??

Hello!! I am so sorry it took this long to reply; if this kind of fic is still of interest to you, I ran a quick search with some different tag combinations and found the following. Please note these haven’t been read thoroughly, only skimmed to see if they might be of interest to you; your mileage may vary and please read the tags / use discretion!

If anyone else has recs, please feel few to add them to this post!

On the Threshold of Eternity - Ailendolin - Complete, Teen, Graphic depictions of violence, ~17 000 words. 5 + 1 fic. “Andy’s mortality changes everything for the team.  Or: Five times Nile sees Nicky taking care of Andy after she becomes mortal, and one time she sees Andy returning the favor.”

just to keep you warm, just to bring you home - JuliaRose12 - (podfic available - recorded by perfectsymmetry18) - Complete, Gen, No archive warnings apply, ~12 000 words or 1-1.5 hours listening time. “In hindsight, Nile is almost surprised by how little Andy, Nicky, and Joe hide from her.Or, Nile learns, one person at a time, all the little ways that Andy, Nicky, and Joe comfort and care for each other when things fall apart. And as it turns out, the things she learns make becoming part of this family easier than she ever would have imagined.”

Progression (Years 25, 26) - Squintern - Complete, Gen, No archive warnings apply, ~6000 words. “Best case scenario, you keep running jobs with us for a few more years until you finally admit your failing stamina is too much of a hindrance in the field and gracefully live out the rest of your life waiting for us to come home -- Or, three conversations about acceptance.“ This one seems more about emotional processing

Old - WarriorOmen - Complete, Teen, no archive warnings apply, ~3000 words. Hospital fic. “Andy is just so goddamned old.. Maybe it's not as sad as it sounds.”

Good Old-Fashioned Healing - aravenwood - Complete, Teen, no archive warnings apply, ~1000 words. Field medicine, bullet wounds. “Andy’s not ok the first time she’s hurt after losing her immortality. None of them are.Written for the Whumptober 2020 prompt "field medicine".

stay, don’t leave me - demonicneonfishy - Complete, Teen, no archive warnings apply, ~1000 words. Febuwhump, concealing injury. “She’s not used to the constant pain, and at the same time it’s become an old friend in a matter of days.” 

Some tags I found useful were the “Mortal Andy” or “Protective [character]” while searching, and hurt/comfort filters! The platonic Andy & Joe or Andy & Nicky tags also helped somewhat. I hope some of these might fit the bill or help you discover new fic!

[bereft-of-frogs]

Six(ish) Sentence Sunday (????????/52)

18 October 2020

“Who’s there?” he asks again. The top book again lifts up and drops down on the pile with a soft thud.

Loki narrows his eyes. “I do not know who you are, or what you want, but you’d best leave before I’m forced to banish you.” He’s not sure he has the power within him now to banish the spirit, but hopes the threat is enough. The book does it again, lifting up and dropping down. “Show your-”

The book flies across the cell, slamming hard into the opposite cell wall. The pile of books collapses and the subtle pressure of a presence vanishes.

Loki has never been afraid of ghosts, but now, in his cold and quiet cell, a chill travels down his spine.

[spoopy]

[enigma-the-mysterious]

Porthos could remember feeling this helpless only once in his life; when he had returned to his tiny shack and found his Maman unmoving, unresponsive. He had cried then, he cried now.

(Whumptober WIP extract)

[embyrinitalics]

Whumptober 2020 No. 8 — “Don’t Say Goodbye”

Masterlist Word count: ~2020 Universe: Ocarina of Time Pairings: Zelink Rating: K Themes: Character death, grief, loss, time travel Read on ao3

---

Link held Zelda in his arms the day she died.

Her lips were too pale, her pulse too faint, as she rested her head on his shoulder. She felt so fragile and feather-light it made his stomach twist.

“I have loved every moment of this,” she whispered, her eyelids heavy and her smile distant. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“Rest now,” he said, laying his cheek on her hair.

But she knew better. She always knew better.

“I’m sorry we have to say goodbye,” she sighed, her eyes vibrant and glistening to the last, and he tried to swallow his heart down out of his throat.

“Then don’t say goodbye.”

She took her last breath in his arms, and then she was gone.

They buried her alongside her mother and father in the Temple of Time. Dignitaries came from all corners of the country to pay their respects, and the kingdom declared an official period of mourning. Bards and minstrels wrote songs. They said she was the fairest, kindest, wisest ruler Hyrule had ever known. They said she would never be forgotten. And Link spent the whole ordeal fingering the blue instrument in his pocket.

Because there was so much he would change. He wouldn’t have let her put him off when he said she seemed more tired than usual. He would have brought doctors to diagnose her condition earlier. He would have torn her from her work and forced her to rest when she insisted on being stubborn. He would have brought her to the healing fountains when she was still healthy enough to travel.

He would have saved her life.

So, one night, riddled with grief, he brought the Ocarina to his lips and played.

There was a rush of magic, every molecule in his body palpitating as they scrambled to compensate for the displacement. But outside of the way he couldn’t seem to catch his breath, nothing seemed to have changed. He was still in their room, in the dark, the town outside the window glimmering with stars and lantern light. Maybe, with the Sage of Time gone from the world, the Ocarina had lost the powers it once had.

But then there she was, standing in the doorway in her night slip, splashed with candlelight as she set down her chamberstick.

“What’s the matter with you?” she asked, braiding the end of her hair with a bemused smile on her face. “You look like you’ve just run a mile.”

He crossed to her and kissed her, breathlessly, reverently, whispering her name wherever he could in relief. She slipped her arms around his neck, her braid tumbling loose and forgotten, and smiled against his mouth.

“What’s gotten into you?”

“The date,” he breathed, hands biting possessively into his waist. “What’s the date?”

She told him. It was five weeks before the day she died. That wasn’t much time.

He had all the castle physicians brought in, even though it was close to midnight. They all took turns measuring her pulse and feeling for fever and checking her throat and her eyes while Link paced like something feral at the foot of her bed.

They told him she was in perfect health.

“You’re not fine,” he had hissed, after she put a stop to his near-violent tirade and dismissed the terrorized doctors. “You’re sick. And you’ll be dead before autumn’s end.”

She crawled under the covers and coaxed him into bed beside her, and he put his arms around her and told her everything. He told her how quickly her condition had progressed. He told her how the country had mourned. He told her how he was going mad with grief, and how he had come back to save her and to save himself. He told her over and over again how much he loved her.

She went with him to a fairy fountain the next day, bathing in its healing waters and letting the fairy spirits sprinkle her with magic. She ate well. She rested often. She cut her workload in half, and then again when Link still wasn’t satisfied. They spent every waking moment together, and the rest nestled in each other’s arms.

But exactly on time, her symptoms appeared, and just as the trees turned bare, she was gone.

He laid a kiss on her forehead, whispering apologies and promises, and played the Ocarina again.

The next five weeks were more disciplined than the first. A cup of blue potion with every meal. Bathing at the fairy fountain as many nights as they could get away. Even visiting the Great Fairy more than once, asking for magic, or wisdom, or a miracle. But she still declined, her life draining inexplicably away and Link forced to watch it again, powerless to change it.

“I’m sorry we have to say goodbye,” she said, like she always did, and he was still listening to her last breath as he brought the Ocarina to his mouth.

He spent the next five weeks studying in the library, researching symptoms and illnesses and treatments and cures. He spent the five weeks after that gathering all manner of strange ingredients, eyeball frogs and odd poultices and Great Fairy’s tears, carefully trying to work out a cure—did she feel any stronger? had her appetite improved any? was it any easier to breathe?—but nothing ever changed. He started the next cycle by asking her what he should do, hoping in her wisdom. She told him to stop playing with fate. But he couldn’t leave well enough alone.

So he played the song again, and again, and again, and watched her die again, and again, and again.

It wasn’t long before he lost count of the songs, the weeks, the deaths, the restarts.

“You need to let me go,” she had told him once. More than once. Sometimes rosy-cheeked, curled up in her night slip in his arms on that very first night. Sometimes pale and weak, on the very edge of death. He always pressed a lingering kiss to her hair and told her the same thing.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t.”

So the weeks bled into months, and they bled into something else. It was the same scenes, the same days, the same arguments, the same grief, endlessly repeating in a cycle he couldn’t vanquish and that he wouldn’t break. It was a strange way to live. Zelda said it wasn’t living at all.

Link stood by the window, staring through the spangles of dust glittering in the sunbeams and fingering the Ocarina in his pocket.

“What are you thinking?” she asked, her voice small and feathery.

“You die tomorrow,” he murmured, tracing the smooth, reassuring porcelain with his fingertips. “I was thinking about what I’ll try next time around.”

“I see.”

He turned, glancing at his wife where she was cradled in a veritable cloud of white pillows. “I’m sorry. That sounded callous. I haven’t given up on you yet. I’m just…”

She reached for him before he could finish, ushering him over wordlessly, and tangled her fingers in his as he sat on the edge of her bed.

“You’re tired,” she said. “I can see it in your eyes.”

“A little. Nothing to worry yourself about.”

“How long have you been doing this? Trying to change the future?”

“I don’t know,” he murmured. “A few years, maybe.”

She arched an eyebrow at him, like she could sense how conservative an estimate that had been. “And how many times have I tried to talk you out of it?”

He smiled grimly, leaning to press a kiss to her forehead. “Too many times. If it’s all the same to you, can we skip it this time around?”

“I can’t remember the last time I played that ocarina,” she sighed wistfully, and he nodded.

“It’s been a very long time.”

“Can I play it?”

“What makes you think I have it?”

She scoffed weakly. “You never let it out of your sight. And you’ve been fingering it in your pocket for the last half an hour.”

He produced it, smirking, and laid it gently in her hands. She cleared her throat, setting the mouthpiece to her lips. The note came out shaky, and she had to cough before she could try again.

“Let me,” he said, but she shook her head, setting her lips against it again.

“You don’t know this song.”

He didn’t. It was melancholic and aching, full of beautiful refrains that lingered on long, low notes and ended in a climbing dissonance that never resolved. It sounded like grief. It sounded like the piece of his heart that was still screaming from losing her the first time. It sounded like being lost. Like being lost in a cycle that wouldn’t end.

He looked away, towards the sun streaming through the window, not sure he could stand to listen to the rest. Not sure he could stand to hear how it ended.

And then he heard the porcelain crack.

His eyes jumped to the instrument in her hands, to her eyes, blue as the summer sky, vibrant and glistening to the last, as she struck the last, resonant, high note of the dissonance, as high as the Ocarina would play. Then light poured out of spidery veins that spread from the windway to the toneholes, and it shattered before he could so much as shout.

The porcelain rained down in bits and pieces into her lap, and Link dove as if to catch them, panic rising in his throat. He traced the jagged edges, trembling, knowing there was nothing for it. Knowing that what the Sage of Time had chosen to destroy could not easily be put together again.

“No,” he begged, pawing at the fragments, desperately trying to piece them together anyway. “Goddesses, Zelda, what have you done?”

“Please don’t waste our last day together being angry with me,” she whispered, her mouth twisting as she tried to force a smile and tears tumbling down her face.

He swallowed fury and panic. She was right. She was always right.

“No, no, of course not,” he breathed, gathering her hands up in his and pressing a long, lingering kiss to her knuckles. “I’m not angry with you. I’m just…”

Lost. I’m lost without you. Please don’t go. Please.

“I’m sorry, Link,” she whispered. “I can’t stand the thought of you doing this to yourself anymore. I just can’t. Please understand that. I want you to live your life.”

His lips pulled down and his brow peaked, eyes shutting too tight as the weight of it struck him, as he finally gave way to tears and told her the truth.

“I can’t. I don’t know how to live without you. I don’t want to know how.”

“Yes, you can,” she said, reaching up to cup his cheek in her hand. “Find the courage.”

“I’m so sorry, Zelda,” he quavered bitterly, covering her hand with his own and holding it close. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you.”

“Don’t be, my love.” She mustered a watery smile. “It just wasn’t meant to be.”

He gathered her up into his arms gently, and she tucked herself under his chin, resting her head on his chest the way she liked. He shuddered at the hauntingly familiar sensation of her shallow breaths, of her hand resting too softly against his neck, and leaned his cheek against her hair.

“I love you,” he said, and he felt her sigh.

“And I love you. I’m sorry we have to say goodbye.”

“Then don’t say goodbye,” he whispered, the words falling from his mouth like the last leaves of autumn.

She took a breath. And then she went still.

He held onto her for a long time, still not ready, for all his running, to face the end of the song. The resolution to the dissonance. He just didn’t have the courage.

It was a fitting punishment from the gods that only now, when he was powerless to alter it himself, did time diverge from its unchangeable course.

It had taken her a day early.

[gumnut-logic]

A Nutty 2020 recap

Okay, 2020 was a doozy of a year, both personally and world wide.

In Australia, it started with the continent literally on fire. My wisdom teeth packed it in and then I stepped on a bee and ended up with a foot infection that crippled me for a week. I had dental surgery which I woke up in the middle of and a week later COVID hit the planet and we’ve been in March for most of the rest of the year. Work became an emotional challenge that literally broke me in places it had never broken me before - and I had it easy compared to the rest of the world!

But! During all this, there was Thunderbirds and Thunderfam and thank goodness for that.

We saw the end of Thunderbirds Are Go :( but boy, we revelled in it and met Jeff and continue to explore the possibilities this amazing show left us with.

Scrolling through my archive shows just how active we have been. Admittedly it is through a lens of me, but there is just soooo much stuff created by the fandom, it is frickin’ amazing! So much fic and art and screenshots and gifs and wow, it is such a colourful journey looking back.

As for me...

The other day I had one of my nieces in my studio and was showing her how I did my stamping. She is only little and quite innocently informed me that her Dad says ‘Auntie Nutty never finishes anything’. Some of you may know me well enough to know that I have an issue with this very statement which has haunted me since childhood. I suspect I have an undiagnosed case of ADHD and it has been a battle throughout my life to keep my focus on something long enough to finish it. I have developed techniques and strategies and have made a lot of progress.

So, to my father who started this stigmatism and my brother who is apparently still holding the damned flag, here are a few stats on how I performed in 2020.

I started 65 stories in 2020 (including We’ll Be Home for Christmas which was partly written in 2019, but I’m claiming it for 2020 anyway). That number only includes fics above a thousand words because I archive smaller ones differently and can’t be bothered adding them up.

Of those 65 fics, I finished 53! Fifty-three complete fics ranging from 1000 words all the way up to 68,232 - my second longest fic ever.

I currently have twelve WIPs on my plate from 2020 plus The Hero from 2019. (there are a few from the previous two years, which I’m not counting right now, but then I’m not counting the completed ones either :P ).

So bro and the person who commented on one of my fics complaining that most of them were unfinished, you can go stick that in your craw and smoke it :P

That is a total of 374,808 words in one year!

Apart from fic, I also completed seven TAG artworks and three moodboards.

All the while holding down a day job and running my own business and being a mum (my poor wild children whom I neglect) and a wife (poor, poor hubby). So there! ::gets haughty at imaginary father person and crosses arms in defiance::

But I couldn’t have done it without the support of our wonderful Thunderfam ::hugs you all madly:: I won’t name names, but you know who you are and I love you all for it.

In 2020, we launched FabFiveFeb, International Rescue Relief, WorldWindows, Sensory Sunday and a second Fluffember. We had Pen & Ink Week and Whumptober. We have created sooooooo much this year. A year that saw the end of the latest reincarnation of our favourite show and saw so many challenges on a RL level. I know some of you literally waded through shit last year ::hugs you soooo, soooo much::

So despite 2020 being a bucket of worms (and that is insulting worms, cos worms are quite fascinating), we, as a fandom, and me as a writer, have both achieved quite a bit. And to draw on the tiny rays of sunshine from a very stormy year, we should be proud of what we have achieved despite it all.

And excuse me while I give a few pertinent family members the finger :P

Nutty

(complete with both Mummy and Daddy issues)

[enigma-the-mysterious]

237 words

Athos appeared by his side just as he finished putting the stirrups on Fidget.

"Adam says a musket ball hit Aramis on the shoulder and he fell from his horse. The attackers converged on him and Adam used the distraction to escape from there."

Whumptober Wordsprint #3 (:05-:25)

@aini-nufire @enigma-the-mysterious @bzr35

Okay, guys, I guess we’ll do another one