#wind waker ahh face

[xaeorian]

tfw you’re hiding from your “best friend” in the arctic

[majorproblems77]

A bonus links update means it's time for more comic analysis with me! :D

Hello!

Welcome back? Does that work? Sure does. We had a bonus links update yesterday which means it's time for me to ramble about another comic that I enjoy! :D

If you've not looked at the comic do go and check it out! It's really well made!

Oh, and so it has been said, all comic panels and art belong's to @bonus-links and the artist @ezdotjpg.

Now, grab some popcorn and a drink! And let's get started

Ahh yes, links private island. I love the details on it, the little chairs the hut with the little post box.

And Linebecks ship! It's nice to see it!

Yes, it is! If you dont know the Wind Waker map, if you think about it as a grid it works out diagonally by one square. you can just about see the island from the other one.

I love the fact the fairy is sitting in his hair I'm actually gonna scream it's so cute!

This is the face of a man who is fearing for his life, but can't say so.

Save himmmm

Help me im obsessed with these two.

LOFTS FACE I CANT

I love the fact that his ears moveeeeee. Little puppy wolf man he looks so upsettttt. Give him a hug okay

Pffffffffffftttttt

This made me cackle, this man is a bundle of nerves, (As I assume he's not really seen much Sea and now he's on a boat in the middle of the ocean)

So you know, who needs to face my fears when I can ask the wolf man if it's fun to be a wolf

OMG WOLF I CAN'T

I LOVE THESE TWO

ITS HEEEEEEE!

WAKE!

WAKE BELOVED!!! HE'S HERE! :D

I love Wake's design, the bandana, the tattoos just all of it. wonderful amazing stunning yes

So before I move on I wanna mention these red strings. Having gone back through the comic they seem to appear when something to do with the Curse shows up. Either Loft is talking about/feeling guilty about.

Or one of the heroes appears.

Do we know if Loft can see these strings or are they just for us? Cause if he can see them himself then this must be so damn stressful for him. It's not a, oh this guy came to help, it oh this guy is this time's hero.

I could build a separate post about the red strings as I've got a list of when they all appear and might do that rather than hide it in here.

Let me know if you'd be interested in reading that, if I get enough interest I'll build a post about the strings.

Moving on

Rip ship of red lions :(

Wake is out here already gathering information, Something tells me that Wake is gonna have one of the brain cells in this group. Even if he does pirate vibes it around from time to time.

Linebeck also looks very done with the shenanigans already

Not him asking where they've come from because he's already spotted the master sword. He's not looking at Loft here, He's looking past loft.

His eyes! He's spotted the master sword, Hes spotted the master sword. This panel makes me so unbelievably excited.

Please excuse me for one moment

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YES WAKE IT'S THE MASTERSWORD! HE IS PROBABLY ALREADY SUSPICIOUS OF LOFT BECAUSE HE HAS IT IN HIS HANDDDDD

okay I'm good

And instead of beating around the bush he just straight up asks which I can appreciate. Loft looks so nervous in this panel too. We know that Loft has seen the master sword sink under the waves so I can only assume that he's getting nervous about that.

Maybe he thinks Wake sunk the master sword himself? Rather than stabbing it into Ganon's head.

Bundle of nerves loft my beloved.

Thinking about it more it could also be because Loft knows that this is another hero. Again back to the strings thing...

God i love this man he is wonderful. Also saying it as it is. I love it

Yay optimism! They needed some of that in this group.

Lofttttttt. Poor baby.

Which nightmare are you referring to buddy cause there's several all happening at once, to be honest.

There is a storm on the horizion and they are on a boat

He's meeting heroes who all came after him, who exist due to the demise curse.

He's probably worried about this lot because what happens if they find out the extent of the reasons they are all here/went on their quests in the first place.

It's nice to see the optimism again. Wake you my friend are going to be the optimistic friend of this little team they are building.

I love it

I enjoyed this update, it was fun to read! and it gives me something to think about along the lines of the red string.

Thanks for hanging out with me!

Bye for now! :D

[zarvasace]

I just spedrun your dis!Au and omg im just so much in lovr with it. Im a gonna-be therapist and like, the whole details and lil things and everything in there just makes me so happy-stim bc representation without so much angst and shit related to the disability itself, its just so good!!

I esp love your idea with Four and the whole worldbuilding behind everything like the stuff with Wind!!!

(and ngl Four and Wind are already my fave characters but here its just even more)

Ahh thank you so much! It really makes me glad that you like it!! I'm a big fan of worldbuilding, it was fun to come up with some silly stuff there. Anyway here's a thing?

Bomb Arrow

276 words, Wind & Four, disability AU (though it's not very present here, whoops), AO3 link here!

---

Chaos reigned down below in the tiny valley, where seven Heroes faced off against triple that many monsters. The tide of the battle looked to be in the Heroes' favor, but Wind knew as well as anyone that it could change quickly and dangerously. 

"We could go down and help," Four said from beside him, "or we could stay up here and give some ranged support. What do you think?" His eyes remained on the battle, analyzing it in the way that only Four could. 

"I think I'm pretty useless either way," Wind grumbled. He gestured to his dominant arm, which rested in a makeshift sling after he'd gotten pushed over by yet another monster. "You could give them more help alone than I could."

Four made a face, carefully avoiding shaking his head. He understood what Wind meant. "Splitting right now would be dangerous and painful. I think ranged support is our best option." He reached around the back of his chair to dig into his bag and pull out his crossbow. 

He hesitated, then looked up at Wind with the gleam of mischief in his eyes. "You have that thing that controls wind, don't you?" 

"The Wind Waker? Yeah." Wind pulled it out, somewhat clumsily with his non-dominant hand. "Why?" 

"I don't have bomb arrows like Wild does, but I do have bombs, and I do have arrows," Four began, and Wind felt a smile growing on his face as he caught Four's drift. 

"That'll work."

The battle didn't last very long once Four and Wind began pelting the monsters below with well-placed bombs, their trajectories and explosions precisely controlled with bursts of wind.

[pocketseizure]

Nintendo Dream Interview with the Developers of The Wind Waker Part 3/8, Original Scan by @oldgamemags

Aonuma: That’s right. Miyamoto would play the parts we’d completed and point out bits that struck him as strange. He had a lot to say about the baton! We had already created the Wind Waker item, but Miyamoto came to me shaking his head and saying, “This is awful.” He was adamant about this, so we brought the music director into the conversation and brainstormed ways to fix it. It took us two or three do-overs to get it to its final version.

Nintendo Dream: What did Miyamoto think was so awful?

Aonuma: How it worked, for example, and what we were having the player do with it. Even if you’re just waving a baton, there are a lot of different ways that this could be done in terms of controls and gameplay. Actually, at the beginning, it wasn’t even a baton – it was a Theremin!

Nintendo Dream: A Theremin… Isn’t that the instrument that makes sounds without you touching it?

[Image Caption: The Theremin homepage, where you can experiment with a simulation of playing the instrument! http://theremin.asmik-ace.jp]

Aonuma: That’s right. You put out both hands like this (his palms are facing downwards) and do something like this (he makes a gesture like he’s petting something), and the sound changes. A movie with a Theremin came out right when we were starting to plan this project. We were thinking that it was really interesting and that we’d like to do something with it, but how would we incorporate a Theremin into the story? (laughs) It’s not like it’s a common instrument. There have been many times during the development of Zelda games when we’ve altered our initial concept, and we finally arrived at the idea of using a conductor’s baton as a result of multiple attempts to find a good solution. “Wind” was one of our keywords for this game, and we thought that “wind” and the action of “waving” would be compatible. This connection is where we got the idea of the player being able to control the wind, which Link would be able to do when he learned the “Wind’s Requiem.” Still, we had to revise our execution three times before Miyamoto was satisfied.  

Nintendo Dream: Did you intend for the C-Stick to be used from the beginning?

Aonuma: At first the player had to use both control sticks at the same time, one for each hand. This was a holdover from the Theremin idea.

Nintendo Dream: I see.

Aonuma: We couldn’t decide which one to leave in the game. Should we use a baton, or should we keep the Theremin, or was there maybe a way to mix the two? We kept both in mind as we were thinking of new and original methods of gameplay, but development kept proceeding without us choosing either one. We finally decided to go with the baton, and after that it gradually evolved into its current state.

Nintendo Dream: Do you think some people might find the Wind Waker difficult to use?

Aonuma: We were worried about that, but Miyamoto assured us that this was the direction we should take. After all, once you get used to it…

[Image Caption: When using the Wind Waker, it’s best not to look at the metronome at the top of the screen. Get a feel for the tempo first, and then move the C-Stick.]

Nintendo Dream: That makes sense. At the beginning you watch the metronome at the top of the screen intently, but once you’ve gotten used to it your fingers remember the rhythm.

Aonuma: I think that aspect of it is almost like the ocarina in Ocarina of Time. If we had more time, though, I would’ve liked to have made the Wind Waker easier to use. It’s somewhat difficult to align the movement and sound. We kept refining this until the end of development, but it’s still not as simple as it could be.

Nintendo Dream: Maybe it’s because it’s difficult that it feels so good when you do get it right, and you feel a sense of accomplishment when you eventually become proficient at using it. Anyone can play a note if they press a button on the ocarina, but the baton has a more analog feel since you can make mistakes. But we want to try playing a Theremin as well! (laughs)

Aonuma: We came very close to using it until about halfway through development! (laughs)

Nintendo: If you did, the game would have been called The Wind Theremin! (laughs)

You Can’t Play the Game without Music

Nintendo Dream: Along with the songs the player can use the Wind Waker to perform, the game’s background music is very good.

Haruhana: It’s wonderful to hear that. 

Takano: This might be because Kōji Kondō was included in the sound division of the development committee.

Takizawa: The music feels like it fits into the game very nicely.

Aonuma: While we were debugging the game, we removed the music completely. We had trouble putting it back in, so we had to go through a whole day of debugging without the music. (with emotion) That was awful! (laughs) We weren’t right at the deadline just yet, but that was at a point when we needed to start wrapping things up. That entire day, we felt like, “We’ll never be able to do this…” But the next day, when we got the music working again, it was like, Boom! Everything was back on track, and that dark cloud just blew away. The music really is that important! (laughs)

Nintendo Dream: It does have a special power, doesn’t it? The Great Sea theme is especially good.

Takano: It really makes it feel as if you’re going on an adventure.

Haruhana: That was the music we used as the background music for the yacht minigame we showed at E3.

Takano: Imagine using such a grand piece of music for a minigame, like, “This is the most epic minigame ever!” (laughs)

(Everyone bursts out laughing)

Aonuma: From the beginning we wanted a heroic piece of music to be playing while you’re out on the ocean, and we wanted it to be a tribute to the original Zelda series theme. When I heard the completed song, it finally became real to me, like, “Ahh, we’re making a super fun Zelda game.”

Nintendo Dream: Did you use a live orchestra for any of the music in this game?

Takano: No, it was all done on a computer.

Aonuma: But that’s happening more often these days, isn’t it? (laughs)

Nintendo Dream: A lot of the background music resembles the music in Ocarina of Time. The shop music is the same, for example.

[Image Caption: Beedle’s Shop Ship, where you can buy Hyoi Pears and other items, has very nostalgic music. There’s a hammock hanging in the back of the small boat so the player can get a sense of Beedle’s itinerant lifestyle.]

Aonuma: It’s not exactly the same song. Of course we created a new OST for the GameCube; but, since we were thinking of the background setting of this game as being connected to Ocarina of Time, we figured we’d go ahead and include some of the same songs. There are a few points where people who’ve played Ocarina of Time will get a good chuckle.

Takano: Even the people on our team grin a little when we put in allusions to other songs in the series.

Aonuma: That’s right, we even used a few songs from A Link to the Past.

Takano: While you’re listening to the music during the opening sequence, it suddenly changes in the middle, and you’re like, “Oh! It’s the Zelda music!” Maybe this is singing our own praises, but I feel like we pulled that off really well.

[theultimateegghead-blog]

Truly Tropical! Some of games best beaches.

The image of a beach is often a sandy tropical paradise. Palm trees, tropical fruit, oceans, birds and wildlife. Of course, let’s not count the blistering hot sand and sunburns. In games, the beach level is often an early level, it symbolizes fun and relaxation as opposed to difficulty. This is not always the case however. I have lived either on or near a beach for the near entirety of my 22-year life. To celebrate where I came from, I present to you a list of beaches in video games! Grab your sunscreen, your umbrella and your towel and get ready to get sandy!

Emerald Coast (Sonic Adventure) Ah, the first level of sonic Adventure. This level is set on a tropical beach and a series of islands and stone pillars. Four of the six characters have a stage here. As sonic, Tails and Gamma, you race over sandbars and jump from boardwalk to boardwalk. As big you just…fish…but it looks nice at least! Spike traps litter some paths, a lighthouse stands tall and proud on the islands, and a giant whale is in the mood for some sonic food. Overall, as the first true 3d sonic level, it does a good job! The music is great too!

Beach Bowl Galaxy (Super Mario Galaxy) A fun tropical beach that Mario can visit during his intergalactic adventure. This small area is primarily underwater. The surface is of several islands and a cliffside that overlooks the bowl. Underwater there are pillars of rock, some giant eels, and penguins taking fishing lessons. Try to jump onto the rope swing and dive in! Overall this level is small but fun.

Treasure Trove Cove (Bajo Kazooie) Every time I hear about the levels in this game, people talk about this one. This level is a great example of a good beach level. The music fits, the palm trees, the boss crab, the pirate ship… A lot of cool things can be found in this level, including new moves! Now be careful swimming out into the water, because there is a very hungry shark that wants to eat you. On the top of the level is a lighthouse. So this level seems great for exploration and I can see why its considered one of the most iconic beach levels.

Destiny Island (Kingdom Hearts) Ah, where it all began. Destiny island is the first level of the original kingdom hearts. This tropical island served as a hangout for the main characters, Sora, Riku and Kairi. Also some final fantasy characters can be found here too. A small island that serves as a tutorial, Riku was not content with just this small island and wanted to go somewhere else, in a weird twisted way he got his wish. The island was swallowed by darkness, and was only restored at the end of Sora’s first journey. The island would later appear in future installments, but Sora has yet to return to his home. So this island represent the humble beginning to what will eventually become one of the biggest franchises of the past 20 years.

Phon Coast (Final Fantasy XII) The Phon coast is one of the many locations you will traverse in order to reach the end goal in FFXIII. This coast is one of the few places where the main characters relax for a bit. Some hunters have set up shop here and the concept of rare game is introduced here. Along the sandy shores are many treasures and many monsters, be careful because some of them can fly. Even though you will come back here often for the rare hunter quest, the overall beach is often left unvisited. Enjoy it while you can.

Virmire (Mass Effect) This planet is a tropical paradise with massive waterways and cliffsides. On any other day it would be nice to kick back and enjoy the beach, unfortunately today is not a good day. The planet is under siege and its up to commander Shepperd to confront the main antagonist here. The commander and his allies will have to fight their way through an army of Geth soldiers, and even confront a reaper, in order to reach the end goal. In the end the villain gets away anyway… However this battle remains as the most memorable moment from mass effect 1 for me.

The Beach (Donkey Kong Country Returns) The beach isn’t just a level, but an entire world to traverse in the wii game. True to its title, this level is primarily set on a beach. This beach has boardwalks, wooden contraptions, caves and sunken ships. Giant crabs patrol the beach and will attack the Kong duo. After overcoming a barrage from a pirate ship, a giant squid attack and dodging tidal waves you will be able to face the boss. This level is some tropical fun and a good romp.

Ryoshima Coast (Okami) One of the largest areas in the Okami series. This coastline houses a city and several npcs. Cliffs, beaches and trees dot the coast. Initially it is cursed and has to be cleansed in order to explore. The ocean is home to a sunken ship that is said to hold treasures. Unfortunately for everyone, the sea dragon is rampaging and causing havoc. A lagoon can be found nearby too. This place is beautiful and is visited relatively early in the Okami game.

Sunny Beach (Spyro 2 Ripto’s Rage!) This beach is home to some peaceful turtles that are being captured alive by poachers. The majority of this level is underground or in caves, but there is a beach there as well. In this level Spyro will help guide baby turtles to safety and defeat the poachers that want to turn them into stew. Explore every nook and cranny of the underwater portions to find all the gems. Once the level is complete, the baby turtles will be safe once again.

Outset Island (Wind Waker) The beginning of Wind Waker takes place in Link’s home island of outset. This small tropical island is primarily a beach with a forest on the very top. A relatively quiet island that is far away from the more populated areas, and thus it does not see much action. Link’s adventure starts when his little sister is kidnapped by a giant bird that comes to this island. Later on, a mythical creature makes their home here as well. The inhabitants are friendly towards Link as well, giving a sensation of home. This island is also home to a special secret dungeon.

The beach (Pokemon Snap) The first and arguably the most iconic level in Pokemon snap. This tropical trail has a decent amount of pokemon to take pictures of. Some pokemon won’t be exposed until later on, so this level will be revisited often. The beach is sandy, the ocean has a Lapras that occasionally raises its head. There are grass patches with pokemon hiding within them and some creeks and ponds as well. This level serves as a great tutorial, not fast pace or extremely hectic with who to snap a picture of. It remains one of my personal favorite beach levels of all time.

Ash Lake (Dark Souls) A truly cinematic area, quite a shame its optional. This small portion of the game is primarily a sandbar that connects some giant trees suspended in a large calm lake. Upon your first visit, a large menacing Hydra will antagonize you until it has been dealt with. This area is calm and almost eerily serene, after said hydra is dispatched of course. Be careful going into the trees because basilisk make their homes there. At the end of the long sand bar is one of the last everlasting dragons, who will give you the ability to join a covenant. There is not much to gain from coming here, but the experience alone is worth the time.

Cape Claw (star fox adventures) A jungle peninsula full of boardwalks, secrets and of course, beaches. This location is visited later in the game and is home to some enemy soldiers. Explore through sandbars, waterfalls and ruins to find the treasures of the area, including bars of gold! There is a friendly dinosaur here as well that Fox can talk to. Eventually there will be a temple that needs to be navigated as well. This level, or zone as it would be considered, is a great beach level. Tis a shame people don’t seem to view this game very fondly.

Goo lagoon (Spongebob battle for bikini bottom) Ahh, Goo Lagoon… This level is one of the first levels in the childhood classic spongebob game. This level takes place on a beach and on a boardwalk. You’ll have to navigate over platforms, redirect beams of light and play mini-games a plenty. Be careful though, because none of the characters can swim, so the water, or goo more specifically, is an obstacle. Some new enemies will pop up here as well.

Sentinel Beach (Jak and Daxter) One of the first levels of Jak and Daxter takes place on a beach. Some grassy cliff aligns this coast as well. A waterfall and a pool that is safe for swimming. Some ruins can be found farther back on the coastline. Be weary of the hermit crab enemies. There are some blue eco vaults here to allow some sky-high jumps, use them to explore the rock pillars. Overall this is a fun easy beach level, just take care not to swim out to far or else you might not make it back.

Wam Bam Island (Borderlands 2) One of the most colorful locations on planet Pandora. Wam Bam island would be a vacation paradise, if said vacation was full of pirates, monsters, cannibals and assassins. A giant sea monster resides here, just itching to do battle with the vault hunters. On top of that, some assassins have been hired to take out the dwellers but they… lets just say they failed at their job. The few locals here are just like anyone else on Pandora, crazy. So have fun in the sun. explore an underwater tunnel, fight giant crabs and try not to meat your end by the hands of the locals.

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Well that was fun wasn't it? Hope you don’t feel burned out or have sand in your eyes! Next time we are gonna look at some characters, who you may ask? Well lets just say they all share one thing in common, and that is a love for miniguns.

[ssbuniverse-blog]

SUPER SMASH BROS. UNIVERSE Part 2, Chapter 1: Toon Link’s Awakening

ON THE WEDDING LAKE…

Toon Link and the King of Red Lions can see the steam erupting from the Memorial Springs off in the distance. However, their main priority is the tiny little island they just came across. On the island is a large pink sea shell, large enough for Toon Link to walk through.

“This must be one of the fairy islands Beetle was telling me about,” Toon Link wonders.

“I think so, I can feel the energy shiver into my sails!” King of Red Lions agrees. Toon Link gets off his boat and enters the shell. Suddenly, the sand underneath him moves, he is getting pulled in! Toon Link holds his breath! He can’t breathe in the sand. His right foot dangles. Dangles!? How could that be? His left foot dangles too! Now his whole body is slowly floating to a underground cave inside the island.

Inside is a small pool that glows sky blue. Toon Link walks over to the pool and touches it. Quickly, the pool turns a pastel pink color and something begins to crawl out of the center of the pool. Toon Link steps back. A four armed, pink fairy with no legs floats out of the water.

“Hello young hero, I am The Last Fairy,” she introduces.

“H-hi,” Toon Link stutters.

“Are you lost?” The Last Fairy asks.

“Yes, the whole world has turned upside down. I can’t find my way home. My map is all wrong!” Toon Link explains.

“It seems as though the world has turned upside down. I have lost all contacts with my sisters.”

“What happened?” Toon Link protests.

“I am afraid I do not know young hero. But I know someone who does. To the east the Hyrule Temple lays floating above the water. Find it, I am sure that the history inside the walls of the castle will help you,” The Last Fairy instructs.

“Thank you,” Toon Link responds.

“But before you go, take this!’ The Last Fairy hands Toon Link a golden compass. “This will help guide you in your journey. It points in the direction of the great royal family. It will lead you to the Hyrule castle.”

“The one that floats above the sea?”

“Exactly. There you will find the true meaning of The Hero.”

“Thank you,” Toon Link thanks again. Suddenly, he is floating again! The sand has disappeared and he is now inside the giant shell. He walks out and sees the King of Red Lions waiting for him.

“Where are we off too?” King of Red Lions asks.

Toon Link looks at the compass, it is pointing east. “East!” Toon Link says. He looks up and sees a giant airship near the parapet in the distance. For now he needs to focus on reaching the Hyrule Castle. The hero hops aboard the King of Red Lions and with a flick of the wind waker they are off!

AT THE HYRULE CASTLE…

Toon Link is under the shadow of the huge Hyrule Castle. The King of Red Lions guides him, almost in a trance. They navigate through the long columns of the floating castle on the Wedding Lake. Such a grad temple seems out of place here. Almost as if it was placed here for no reason. Toon Link had visited this place before and it has never been so mysterious. This time through the temple was different. Toon Link knew how to navigate through the passages and go to the spot where he could talk to the king.

Toon Link goes to the lower chamber where he found the master sword. Toon Link looks at the stain glass windows that depict the hero’s tale. The hero in green will be born to face the evils the world faces. With the power of the triforce he will be able to defeat the evil dark lord and restore peace in Hyrule.

“Ah, long time no see, hero of time!” The King, in his human form, appears out of nowhere. “What do you see here, Link?”

“It’s the hero’s story…my story!” Toon Link explains.

“Ahh, but it is not your story my boy, it is the story.”

“What do you mean, King?”

“Think about it!” The King sat in silence while he watched Toon Link peer at the story. Outside he could see the waves of the ocean manipulate the colors on the window.

“I don’t matter,” Toon Link states.

“Well of course you matter! You’re the Hero!” the King boasts.

“But if this is the story, then I, Link, don’t matter. Because someone else will be in my place.”

“Precisely,” The King smiles. “It is a tale as old as time. Good versus evil. One prevails for a moment. Then the other finds a way to slip into power again.”

“If I don’t matter, but the story does, then why am I here?” Toon Link ponders.

“Did you see the waves as we were riding them? And that airship? And that weird flying dinosaur we saw earlier?”

“Yes.”

“We are in a different world, a world where I believe this same story exists, and where the forces of good,” King Hyrule points to Toon Link. “And evil will face off in one final battle!”

“The final story…” Toon Link mumbles. “What happens to everyone else when the final battle is over with?”

“I’m sure many other stories will fill in the place of what was once there.”

“Hmm…” Toon Link is quiet for the first time since they entered the castle.

“Follow the golden compass, Link! Follow the story!”

Toon Link pulls out the compass. It is pointing straight towards the airship. Whatever story, Toon Link is following it wants him to make friends with them.

<< < > >>

[arty-ffxiv]

😴 !

C’arta was hiding inside the Sanctum Song’s foyer, wrapped up in a blanket on the Ul’dahn-style couch as she stared up at the giant decorated tree in the corner of the room. The chilly air that signalled the beginnings of the Starlight celebrations didn’t agree with her and despite residing in the desert city-state she found that she couldn’t leave her lodgings without wearing her heavy winter gear.If I wanted to see snow, I’d have moved to Ishgard, she thought with a grumbling sigh. She took a deep breath and inhaled the unfamiliar scent of pine. From across the room she heard footsteps- light and sprightly- and she turned to see who it was. Syrena was adjusting her golden earrings as she walked, her long crimson skirt flowing behind her. Given the flair of her attire C’arta assumed she was preparing for a performance tonight. Syrena looked up to meet Arta’s eyes as if she’d felt her staring, and she smiled amicably.“You look nice and cosy there, Arta. I hope they aren’t charging you board to rent the sofa.” She winked and laughed as C’arta got to her feet, keeping the thick blanket around her like a cape. From within the folds of her blanket-cape Nugget waddled out, making a beeline for Syrena.“I hope not! Your outfit looks lovely, by the way. Are you heading off to a party, or a performance?”“Thank you! Both, actually,” Syrena leant down and petted Nugget, “I’m performing at a Starlight party in one of the other wards. If you’ve not got any plans, you can come along?” C’arta’s face lit up like the shining lights on the tree behind her.“Oh, that’d be great! Are you sure?”“Yeah, it’ll be fun.”__Arta watched on in awe as Syrena danced, spinning and swirling her coloured poi around her. She’d swapped out her usual fire poi for two brightly coloured orbs that were lit up inside; the green and red light trails made the crowd ‘oooh’ and ‘ahh’ appreciatively. Every eye in the room was focused on the lynx-eared Miqo’te. As the music reached its crescendo, Arta felt goosebumps tickle her skin. She’d never seen a performance quite like Syrena’s; her own tribe’s dancing style lacked the same flair, opting instead for ceremonial, and the dancers she’d seen performing in the streets of the city looked like beginners in comparison.As the song wound down, Syrena took a bow and the room filled with a roaring applause. Still giddy from watching her perform, Arta got to her feet and clapped before letting out a few high pitched whistles of appreciation.__Syrena found C’arta over by the bar after the performance; at her approach C’arta’s ears swivelled and she called,“Bartender! Another drink, please, for my friend here!” She turned to grin at Syrena as she settled onto the stool on her right.“So, what did you think?”“Oh, Syr, you were amazing! I shit you not, I got goosebumps.” Syrena laughed as the bartender passed her the drink, and she and Arta toasted.“To a wonderful Starlight Eve!”__Perhaps she shouldn’t have drunk so much, C’arta realized groggily as she wandered around the drunken remnants of the party. It was well past middle-night and most of the well-to-do partygoers had left; a group still danced by the orchestrion while others watched on, though Arta felt that the party was winding down well and truly. Time to go back to the Sanctum’s Song.Poor Syrena. After her performance, she’d had so many drinks ordered for her by admiring folk. She’d easily out-drunk Arta, and was- somehow- still dancing, if not a little less gracefully than before. C’arta approached her friend and put a hand on her shoulder.“Come on, Syr. I think it might be time we left.”“Aww, but I’m still having fun! Come on, dance with me!” Syr laughed, and Arta’s feet hurt at the thought.“Syr, I’ve been dancing with you for the last three hours.” She reached out and took Syr’s hand, coaxing her away from the other dancers. They were nearly clear when one Miqo’te man, who was clearly sloshed, called,“Another round! Drinks!”“Ooooh,” Syr purred.“No.” Arta declared firmly, pulling Syrena free from the crowd.__Once they were outside, the chill air quickly made Syrena sleepy. They’d chosen to walk to the party, but Arta was worried Syrena would be too tired to walk back home; even now, Syrena was yawning and swishing her tail in a slow circle.“Want a piggy-back?”Syr must have been either very drunk or tired (or both,) since she didn’t ask any questions and accepted Arta’s offer. They set off, Syrena giggling and saying,“Go faster! Run!” While Arta laughed, grateful that the cold didn’t seem as bad like this as she grumbled,“I’m not a freaking chocobo,” Syr make a gurgling ‘kweh!’ before she fell quiet.__They were nearly home when Arta felt Syrena’s breathing pattern change. Her breaths came slowly and deep, and C’arta couldn’t help but smile ruefully.“Of course you’d choose to nap now,” She laughed softly. She spent the remaining minutes of the journey moving quietly and carefully to not waker her sleeping companion.When she reached the door to the Sanctum’s Song, she opened it to find Siyoh placing presents under the Starlight tree. Her silver eyes met C’arta’s, and then glanced up to see Syrena. A grin began to work its way onto her lips.What an interesting start to Starlight Day, Arta thought as she recruited Siyoh’s help to get Syrena to bed.Ahh sorry it took so long to respond, @cinnamon-suncat! My original idea was shite, and this one took a lot of reworking before it seemed good enough to post. I hope you like it! (And how could I not include @siyoh-mari in here somewhere??) Ahhhh I wish Tumblr worked on my pc so I apologize for the shitty formatting (thanks tumblr moblie)