#you got a better offer!!!

[starlightswait]

lolol okay!!!!

[girlsdads]

#ok it’s giving girl dad wearing his daughter’s handmade necklace special for him into work 🥺🥺😩😩

couldn’t stop thinking about this tag of mine, wrote a little smth about it 🥰

The stomping footfalls racing down the hall behind him could only be those of a toddler. Daniel turns and squats just in time for his tiny blonde projectile of a child to come barreling into his chest. The force sends Daniel falling back onto his butt with a surprised oof, his daughter giggling delightedly in his lap.

“Hey, Ellie-bug,” Daniel smiles. “Daddy’s gotta go to work, remember how we talked about it and you promised to be a big girl?” He brushes a strand of hair away from her mouth where it’s gotten stuck in a little smear of jam leftover from her breakfast. Daniel had shown Max how to make it just the way she likes—the pancake batter shaped in the silicone star mold, the silly faces drawn in jelly and jam.

Ellie’s head bobs up and down dutifully, but she makes no move to get up.

Max appears from the kitchen then, looking like a man who’s been fighting a losing battle with the second pancake. There’s a splatter of thick batter on his white t-shirt. He’s holding the spatula like it’s offended him somehow. Daniel looks at him over their daughter’s head, and loves him fiercely.

“She is of course the biggest girl,” Max says. Ellie grins proudly. “Why don’t you give Daddy your present now, then we will finish your pancakes.”

Daniel watches her grey-blue eyes light up like she’s just now remembering why she came running at him in the first place. She reaches a chubby hand into the bib pocket on her overalls, embroidered Enchanté script stretching as she roots around and produces a string of brightly-colored plastic beads. She holds it out to him expectantly.

Daniel takes the strand delicately in hand, wraps it around the backs of his fingers and rotates his wrist to get a good look. It’s a necklace, probably more of a choker given its relatively small circumference, the fat pony beads the only real indication it was made by a child. The powder pink and fuchsia beads are separated by interspersed pearlescent white orbs and clear sparkly stars. Smack in the center is a single number bead, a glittery pink three.

“Jeepers, did you make this for me? It’s beautiful!” Daniel says, and means it. He’s already been wanting to talk to his team about adding a jewelry collection to a future drop, and what better inspiration?

Ellie nods excitedly. “Papa helped me do a…,” she pauses, squints and tilts her little head, searching for the word, “…a pattern!”

“We made it the other day, while you were out with Blake,” Max chimes in. “For good luck.” He sounds almost bashful, like maybe it wasn’t their daughter’s idea in the first place. Daniel’s heart is so swollen it’s threatening to leak out through the gaps in his ribcage.

“How’d I get so lucky, huh?” Daniel muses, softly, mostly to himself. He stretches the elastic over his head, feels the smooth plastic three settle in the hollow of his throat. His pulse thrums evenly against it, grounding.

He flashes his biggest smile at his family. “How do I look?”

“Pretty, Daddy!” Ellie throws herself forward again, wrapping her arms around Daniel’s neck. It leaves him locking eyes with Max, who’s gazing down at the two of them like nothing else in the universe exists. Daniel can never quite get used to that look—still feels butterflies dancing up the back of his throat, his stomach dropped into a glorious freefall.

“Beautiful, Daniel,” Max says, reverent. “Always.”

[canisalbus]

Machete and Vasco are so pomegranate-and-the-hand-that-slices coded. To me.

Pomegranates are seen as messy, bloody, inconvenient fruits. You slice or tear or bite and in return for your effort you come away underwhelmed, disgusted, and stained too deep to wash. The consumption of a pomegranate is a violent act of defilement, for both the fruit and the eater.

But that is because most do not understand how to open a pomegranate. They have little patience for the precise carving. They see no point in coreing the fruit gently, no reason to be reverent as they pull the quarters apart. When done correctly, opening a pomegranate leaves little mess. Your fingers will still stain, your knife will still slick, but there will be no pool of crimson drowning both you and the fruit.

The seeds are only sweet to those who understand the merit of a light hand and intricate slicing. Why put in so much effort for a food so bitter and clearly armored against consumption? Surely it must not yearn to be eaten.

(^insane about silly catholic dogs)

.

[moeblob]

Actual raccoon man ...... (and Brent, I guess. as a treat).

[a-s-levynn]

And I'm still full of the love you want

[waywardsalt]

the only minecraft movie i want to see is the one i found on yt several years ago and have been trying to track down again ever since

edit: i think i finally found the video i was looking for. win

[tjerra14]

help

[mugmegan]

Dyeing Power's hair so they look like siblings to hide her identity.

This is for the latest chapter of the Devour You Whole series by @mistystarshine

[amiharana]

ok I was reading thru your tattoo/flower shop au and I had to share the brainrot.

I hc revali as indigenous (particularly great plains native american) and oh man, what if at some point he very hesitantly brings up with link that he wants to get facial tattoos or something similar that's significant to him but he's nervous?? And Link goes out of his way to learn traditional stick-n-poke techniques so he can be the one to give revali his tattoos?? And it's like super sweet and meaningful for them both and Link feels honored that revali trusts him enough to ask? (and also revali is scared shitless and Link has to stop several times so he doesnt mess up and hurt revali more than it typically would)

like what if though???

ahem (taps mic) Hello can anyone hear me. i haven't written a tumblr ask in ages i feel ancient

first of all, i'm glad to hear that you still think of my tattoo/flower shop au haha it's been way over a year now since i wrote it. i still very much appreciate everyone who drew art for it 🫶 i've had a few passing thoughts about writing it into an actual proper multi-chaptered fic but i've been busy wrestling with school, work, and my personal demons for the past year that it's been quite difficult to even think about writing anything. thank you to anyone who's still here; i appreciate you a lot 🤍

i love the hc of revali as indigenous and i think it really fits in with the presence of the rito people as we're introduced to in the games, but i won't touch on that too much since i'm not indigenous/well-versed in indigenous culture. you know what i Am well-versed in though? these gay ass mfs

i had to reread my own au post for this Lord it's been too long, i wrote back then that i thought of revali as someone who isn't too fond of tattoos and doesn't have a great pain tolerance for them, and i still believe in that LOL. mixing that in with a hc where revali is indigenous is quite interesting, because i would assume that tattoos are an important/frequently appearing aspect of the culture? revali's parents have also passed in this au and he's alone with no family running the shop, so perhaps revali was estranged from his indigenous culture while growing up/at some point and became interested in trying to connect with it as an adult. maybe he came across the topic of traditional tattoos and after researching about it, he became interested in getting one but again because of his low pain tolerance, he thought it probably may never happen. well...

during one of their shared lunch breaks perhaps at a new cafe that's opened up on tabantha street, revali absentmindedly mentions his family and the tattoos. link immediately looks up at him from his food, those lovely blue eyes searching his face curiously.

"traditional tattoos?" he says, cocking his head at revali. revali blinks. well, of course link would have interest in the topic since he was a fellow tattoo artist himself, but the way he was looking at revali was...

"well yes," revali continues. "i suppose i haven't really talked to you much about myself personally, have i? i'm an indigenous hyrulean and my blood is descended from the rito tribe, but i'm not well-versed in my own culture." he mumbles the last few words, looking down at his coffee. "my parents and i lived on reservation land until i was 5 and then we moved away to a bigger city for work. there weren't many other rito there and so i didn't grow up with a lot of other indigenous folk. i don't know much about my family or my culture because of it, and even after my parents passed, it's never come up until now." revali glances back at link, who is now watching him with rapt attention. he looks away again, his cheeks beginning to warm. "i thought it would be nice to connect with my culture by getting a traditional tattoo of the rito tribe, perhaps something small so i can handle it. though, i wouldn't be able to travel to the reservation to find a traditional tattooist because of the shop and neither do i know of any tattoo artists nearby that could do it..."

"i'll do it," link says suddenly. revali looks at him again and blinks. link's eyes are bright and wide, blazing with determination. he's still holding his sandwich in his hands.

"i-i couldn't ask that of you," revali says, heart skipping a beat. "you'd likely have to learn an entire new and unfamiliar technique, and—"

"i'll do it," link insists, placing the sandwich down and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. his eyes are still trained on revali, just as insistent as his mouth is. revali swallows.

"use a napkin, please," he mutters, passing link one. the blond takes it and grins at him. "if it's something that you greatly desire to do... i will assist you in offering as much information as i can. i... appreciate it, link." i appreciate you, he thinks but the words get stuck in his throat. link's smile only grows.

thinking about link who researches rito tribal tattoos for a few weeks and reporting and discussing his findings with revali during their mon/wed lunch breaks. thinking about link who spends countless nights staying up compiling everything he finds into a document, the different types of tribal tattoos and their meanings, researching the materials and tools needed for traditional tattoos, sketching different tribal symbols endlessly for the perfect one for revali in between tattoo sessions with other clients, thinking about where on revali's body it would go, thinking about revali's warm skin under his hands... let's keep it PG link 🫡

the day finally arrives when link introduces the tattoo sketches to revali. link probably shows him a few ideas of a small rito symbol on his fingers, wrist, deltoid, ankle, and even ribs. HOWEVER. i really like the idea of the winged rito symbol across the back of revali's shoulders to represent his wings in canon? so what if. link who sketched a drawing of revali's back muscles with the winged rito symbol and he doesn't mean to show it to revali since it's a much bigger tattoo than revali wanted, but revali happens upon it anyway while scrolling through the sketches on link's ipad.

"what's this one?" revali says pointing at it.

link glances over at the screen and flushes. "oh, i didn't mean for you to see this one," he murmurs. he uses two fingers to zoom in on the image slightly. "i just had an idea for this particular symbol, so i sketched it out because i thought it'd look nice. i know you wanted a smaller one, so we can just focus on the first sketches—"

"it's beautiful," revali cuts him off, voice soft and still looking at the winged sketch. "how much do back tattoos hurt?" and link is jaw dropped, staring at him with hearts in his eyes LMFAOOOOOOOO

thinking about link who actually reaches out to a traditional tattooist from revali's tribe and asks if he can mentor link so he can learn their technique??? maybe link and revali who end up traveling to the reservation together so revali can visit and link can learn directly from the tattooist??? revalink road trip and sharing a bed trope??? link would probably only take a week tops to learn the technique since he's like a prodigal artist and the tattooist is impressed. also revali getting to spend time with and learn more about his culture from others from the tribe who live there 🥺

if revali does get the winged rito symbol tattoo on his back, he probably wouldn't get it as a solid color, maybe link would incorporate more tribal lineart into it like the totk zonai imagery? i've never gotten a tattoo so i don't know if back tattoos or the style of solid color tattoos would hurt, but regardless, link would make revali as comfortable as he can throughout all the sessions 🥺🥺🥺

originally when i read this ask and you mentioned facial tattoos, i thought about link gently holding revali's jaw between his pointer finger and thumb to readjust the positioning of his face in the midst of tattooing him, and revali sucking in a breath at the contact WAHHHH but with the direction i took with this post, i also thought about link laying a flat palm between revali's shoulder muscles, feeling the warmth of his skin and tracing his shoulder blades with a featherlight touch and revali getting flustered but muttering, "are you going to keep me in suspense?"

link traces a line down revali's spine. "are you sure you want to get this tattoo?" he murmurs. "we can still do the smaller ones instead if you want. i know how you feel about it, with your pain tolerance and all."

revali snorts, trying to mask his nervousness. "i've already made up my mind. it's a beautiful piece that you put a lot of thought into and i'm not backing out now. besides..." revali's voice lowers into a mumble. "i wouldn't have gone through with it if it was anyone else. i trust you."

link's cheeks pinked in the sweet way they do when revali catches him off-guard, but he can't take it back. he doesn't want to take it back, because it's true; revali trusts link for this with everything he has.

hhh . AHHHH . i just think. yeagh.

[ganondoodle]

I was at first in love with totk, and I still think mechanical wise, its quite impressive

And when I collected all the tears and saw the "story" I genuinely got upset in a good way (at first), because man! Did they really got the balls to go that far? Is there nothing I can do for her? Now I MUST do all the temples, see how it plays out and --oh, I've got this cutscene already. Why are all the people so dumb about Zelda, I KNOW where she is, Link say something-- Link??

After finishing all the temples and almost falling asleep, I stopped playing the game, looked up the last boss and remaining cutscenes and went "Thats it?"

Watching other people (including you) being critically about so many things, both character and mechanical wise, I've almost startled myself with a realization what the gnawing feeling I constantly had, actually was.

Totk feels like a fanfic.

And don't get me wrong, I love fanfiction, I think its great and important, I adore fanfic writers, I love finding gems, I love reading self indulgent stories, see new spins and interpretation of characters. I love the casual, the passion, the creativity!

But totk gives me the same feeling everytime I am reminded that Fifty Shades is a Twillight fanfic.

The world is there. The faces I know and grew to love are there. But everything is ever so slightly different, uncannily so. Just how some characters talk, how they act, how they were placed in the story. The Zonai appearing out of nowhere, but no, they always had been there you see, they were these super magical advanced people but they all died, the king is so tragic. And you see, the king is super cool and powerful and-- oh I dont get to interact with him outside of the tutorial. Did they try to do another King Rhoam-- but wait, that only worked because we didn't knew he was a ghost-- totk wait stop why do you take him out of the story, why couldn't he be a companion, he IS ABLE TO TALK THROUGH THE ARM LET THE OLD GOAT COMMENT ON STUFF?? If you bring up all this ancient stuff and you still got a ghost lingering, let him talk?? (I never ended up getting Mineru but I smell wasted potential as well)

Im not even mad, I am disappointed. It feels like the devs saw what all the lore hunters got attached to and talked about and then just... took the "cool". All the Zonai stuff could've easily been Sheikah tech, but got just reskinned to look more exciting instead of being its own thing.

Like... at this point I prefer what fans are doing over what Totk gave us. The characterization of Rauru (and everything Zonai), projects like you do of what totk couldve been, the little nuggets of actual highlights and details of love fans find in the game. I found much more enjoyment in these concepts than I got from a 70bucks game. And thats depressing.

I love fanfiction. I dont love it when my corporate 70 dollar, six year development, console exclusive game feels like a story that passionate fan couldve written miles better in a week (and I've already seen much cooler and interesting rewrites and ideas).

Zelda has been a huge part of my childhood and its depressing seeing it treated like that. It always was about the story, the epic, its The Legend of Zelda for crying out loud. To be courageous to enter a dungeon, to be wise and solve all the riddles. To become powerful over the journey you embarked on. Zelda to me is the campfire story you tell to others and go into the woods or the beach and imagine what monsters you would slay. Zelda is not the sandcastle you build in the sandbox and then add dinosaurs and star wars ships because you didn't had any other toys, and just stumble into and over some story to entertain yourself until lunch is ready.

I'd have an oracle of seasons over another totk any day at this point. They should've just make the mechanics of totk its own thing, but I guess they were scared it wouldn't sell if it doesn't have a Mario or Zelda skin straped over it.

Anyways, sorry for the mini rant - love your art, love your thoughts and insights, and I am looking forward to see more of it - Zelda related or not (your original characters look amazing, I adore your style sm)

Hope you have a great rest of the day!

*nods along through this entire rant*

idk how many of my rants you have read but yeah ... yeah ... and the further you think about it the further it all falls apart, the wasted potential of it all and the goddamn audacity of them to do those interviews in which they make it EVEN WORSE is just

i know the expectation for a direct sequel to botw was huge and understandbly so but i really REALLY think it would not have been that hard to make it a good follow up even taking into account that totk was originally a DLC, pretty much all of botws aspects could have been developed further, i dont know what could have happened to make totk have turned out like this .. literally it feels like something had to have gone wrong, its like someone who doesnt know zelda nor botw at all was given a few prompts and then just made some generic fantasy story while the rest worked on ultrahand for 5 years

the technical impressive things ARE technical impressive, but i dont think it was necessary nor served the game well in any way (and i LOVE building games- however totk is neither a building game nor a story game nor a zelda game nor an exploration game nor a sequel imo) but zelda, this zelda, is not made for that and i cant help but think it was mainly to encourage people to make some ridiculous mechs so it can go viral on tiktok (not trying to discredit them, it IS cool what they are doing but i .... have my doubts if zelda is the right place for that)

ill stop there bc i have ranted so much about everything i dont wanna repeat it here again; it just doesnt feel like a real game (derogatory), it feels extra bad bc i was not really into zelda when botw came out and while i did get it as soon as i could (months after release since i just started a minijob and didnt have the money) i only over time grew to love zelda this much again, devouring any theories and anything about it bc i loved it so much- i was never into it like this when a new title was announced and dont own any special editions so i bought the totk collectors bc i was just so damn excited for it after the 2019 trailer dropped (god i want that time back ... it looked so much more like it was going to be an actual sequel) even if i was already worried it wouldnt be good at that point given how much i started to sense stuff i dont like about the newer trailers

i recently sold it at our local gameshop bc it was like a thorn in my side given how expensive it was and how dissapointed i was in the game, i genuinely think that, technical impressiveness aside, totk is the onyl zelda i truly cannot stand (for alot of reasons) and im genuinely worried for the future of the franchise

i bought an Oki (Okami) figurine for what i got back and i feel much happier with that :3

(also on a note, i did finish the game two weeks after release but stopped playing it right then and hadnt touched it since, i also streamed all of what i played and its still up if you want to see my slow descend into madness fjkdhkdhjk though its been a long while since then and i by far did not talk about everything back then, just what my most immediate frustrations were while still playing)

(also the gameplay isnt as good as people make it out to be, so much is so frustrating and punishing to use i am kinda baffled it got through like that and most people call that its best aspect ..... though i guess if the rest is so much worse even mid gameplay can seem good ooooooooh how dare i)

also thank you for liking what i do!!! <3 it means alot to know it is appreciated by someone :D

[vampcubus]

if you let kyojuro eat off your plate you're basically married btw

[blade-that-was-broken]

Can we get more info about your I’m Still Here AU AU?

Oh I got one better.

I’m Still Here AU AU- Feel I Belong  

Branch woke up coughing up water and one of his friend’s worried expressions filled his vision almost entirely. He blinked once, confused, before suddenly turning to the side in the sand to vomit out excess water. He let out several more coughs and it took minutes for him to actually hear what was being said to him. 

“Thank goodness, ya alright?” The accent of his friend Holly was always prominent, especially with her people but it often got thick and sloshy when she was worried. Branch closed his eyes and sucked in a large breath. 

“No,” he heaved. “But I’ll live. Is everyone else okay?” 

Holly paused and looked around before grabbing Branch’s hand and helping him upright. “Darnell is holding Synth. He’s freaking out. Minuette is kind of hurt and a bit water logged but she’s conscious and coherent.”

“And she can hear you!” the familiar voice of the classical prodigy shouted, annoyed. “She’s fine! She just can’t fly at the moment.” 

“What happened?” Branch asked before he realized the words were coming out of his mouth. They were on a beach, water gently lapping the water towards them. The sea looked fairly calm but there were tiny pieces of the destroyed boat Branch had built stuck in the sand and floating in the tides. He stood up, his brow furrowing, with Holly by his side, using her flank to help keep him upright if his balance wavered. 

“We kind of got shipwrecked,” Holly admitted with a frown. 

Branch wilted. He kind of figured that the boat he had built was destroyed, considering they were on a beach and he had no memory of how they got there. But it still hurt. He had taken a lot of time to make that thing and he was so proud of it. “Do we know why?” 

Holly paused and glanced away. “We saw Hard Rock come out of the water with their angler beasts. The Techno trolls were attacked.” 

Branch’s head spun towards her, eyes wide. He had never heard of another tribe outright attacking another. Angler beasts were only for the largest population of Hard Rock Trolls, splinter groups and sub genres were not only not allowed access to them but training them without the proper tools and process was practically impossible. He knew what Holly was implying. “Is everyone okay?”

“Branch…” her voice went sympathetic and soft. “They’re gone.” 

“What do you mean, they’re gone? Where did they go?” 

“They were taken!”

Branch tore his gaze away from her towards the sound of the new voice. Synth and Darnell approached from the water’s edge, the former with a fiery gaze Branch had never seen in his friend. Synth was a Techno Troll who, like all of his people, loved to party more than just about anything. And that was saying something. But despite their differences, he was also one of Branch’s closest friends.

Their group spanned several different genres and had a wide range of characters that just so happened to be friends now. It had taken years of time to get the point of friendship that they were all at, but they had gotten there. It had been a simple thing. They had orchestrated a get together, partially to celebrate the creation and ultimate test of the boat Branch had built. They wanted to be able to hang out closer to Synth without having to take the long journey underwater. 

The boat worked, they were in the middle of the ocean, and were having fun just chilling out, talking and playing a couple card games. Branch’s brow furrowed as he tried to remember what happened. 

“Synth?” 

His friend was in tears and angrier than Branch had ever seen him before. Synth was not one to get angry or upset, a lot of times, things just kind of rolled off his back. It was part of the reason he and Branch got along. While Branch had a tendency to overanalyze and overthink, Synth did not and took things more at face value, which Branch learned to appreciate. Synth spoke what he meant and although it could be confusing at times, it worked out well for them. But seeing him so upset like this was more than just a little shocking. 

“Hard Rock Trolls,” Darnell filed in, stomping a paw in the sand. Their friend group had a lot of diversity, which wasn’t particularly common with the tribes, as they often tended to keep to themselves. It had mostly been by accident, them finding each other and could probably be also partially blamed on the traveling Branch and his brother did. It was easier to befriend other tribes when you traveled while living, rather than just settling down in one area. 

“Yeah, Holly said Angler Beasts came out of the water. What happened?” 

“Synth and I went to check it out afterwards, since we weren’t hurt. It’s further away than expected,” Darnell continued. “Some of the structures are broken apart. Everyone is gone. The rock trolls took them.” 

“But… why?” 

“I don’t know.” 

Darnell was by far the most important of their group, at least in terms of tribe status. Not that he would say that. He was the lone prince of the Funk Trolls and although everyone knew it, he would never tell anyone he was more important. Although everyone knew that too. Next in line to take care of an entire tribe was stressful as it was and it was hard to find friends within a tribe that knew that. People treated royalty differently; they always had. 

But since none of the rest of them were Funk Trolls, they didn’t have that expectation or attachment to the tribe. He actually became Holly Darlin’s friend first - a situation neither of them talked about - and although hesitant at first, he latched onto Branch and the rest of them. 

“We need to get Mini some help,” Holly insisted, now at the tiny Classical troll’s side. Her wings were sopping and would continue to be so for quite some time. Everyone knew how long it took for her wings to really dry out. It was another reason why the boat idea was brought up. “She’s hurt.” 

“I’m fine, honest,” Minuette tried, sitting in the sand. There was blood dripping slowly down her arm. 

“You can’t fly like that and we all know Classical trolls don’t really do much in the terms of walking,” Darnell pointed out. 

“I can learn!” 

Yeah, that sounded like her. 

“Not immediately,” Holly huffed with the light roll of her eyes. 

“You’re crazy talented, Mini but seriously, you really can’t,” Branch agreed as they got closer. “Holly, can you carry her?” 

The country troll nodded and proceeded to scoop the little troll out of the sand, placing her on her back and giving her quiet instructions. “Of course.”

“We have to go and help my people,” Synth insisted. 

“It doesn’t sound like there is much we can do yet,” Branch grimaced. He hated saying that. It felt so callous. “We need to get Mini some help, in case that wound on her arm is worse than we think, then we need to figure out what is even going on, make a plan and then go help.”

“That’s… a lot of steps.”

“Do you think the other tribes will be targeted too?” Darnell asked worriedly. It made sense that he would immediately be concerned for his own. It was the way he was raised. Put the tribe first and foremost. Branch knew, no matter what, he’d make a great king one day. 

“I don’t know,” Branch admitted, truthfully. He had no idea what was even going on. The Rock Trolls didn’t really interact with anyone - even less than the other tribes. Aside from Branch’s group and his brother, most tribes didn’t really hang out or talk much with one another but the Rock Trolls even less so. He wondered if there was bad blood there. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. We have no idea what is happening, much less why. One thing at a time.” 

“Where do we go?” 

“Into the island,” Branch continued, glancing around. “Getting around through the beach looks hard, for any of us that can’t swim like you, Synth. And Minuette is in no condition for that.” 

“What do you think we’ll find?” 

“I don’t know,” he confessed, truthfully. “We just should get away from the water. Darnell, can you lead? I’m going to try to bandage Mini’s wound. “Just start straight through and see where we end up.” He grabbed a medium sized knife out of his hair and passed it over to his friend. It wasn’t very large like his brother’s machete, so it wouldn’t cut through everything but with a bit of work, it would get through some obstacles. 

The group dove into the jungle with Branch walking beside Holly with the classical troll on her back, trying to clean the wound on her arm and wrap it. “Thanks, Branch,” she said, quietly. 

“You okay?” 

“I… I knew Rock was loud and crazy but… the way they came out of the water…” she whispered, shivering. “They… they must have had all the Techno trolls inside.” 

“It’s going to be okay,” Branch tried to assure, attempting to put confidence in his tone. 

“Do you think they’ll go after Symphonyville too?” she asked soft and scared but low enough that Darnell and Synth wouldn’t hear. 

“We don’t know what is happening yet,” Branch continued. “Get some sleep, okay? We’ll wake you when we find something.” 

“I don’t…” Minuette opened her mouth to start but Holly let her back buck in a quiet reminder. “I don’t agree with this.” It was barely fifteen minutes later when she was fast asleep and Holly dared to speak. 

“If the Rock Trolls do go after the others, Classical is closest to Techno.” 

“I know.” 

“It won’t be long until they hit Lonesome Flatts.” 

“I’m aware. We don’t know what is going on.” 

“It’s easier for you, your family is all hidden away and-” 

“Holly, you are just going to freak yourself out if you keep this up,” Branch swallowed. She wasn’t wrong. Branch only lived with one another pop troll and the home he and his brother lived in was rather hidden away. “I get it and I care. We just have no idea what is going on yet and we can’t do anything. Not yet. But that will change.” 

“I’m just worried.”

“Me too.” 

“Hey guys? I think we found something?” Darnell called back. The group got close together again on a ridge overlooking the far beach on the other side of the island. Music was playing and a giant sandcastle was plopped in the middle. Color swirled with flags and towels and other decorations. Movement was all around the sand and although they looked small from the distance, Branch knew the beings were giant.

“They are huge,” Minuette whispered, leaning off the side of Holly’s back. Her voice was trying not to tremble but Branch understood the fear. “Are they…?” 

Branch knew what question she was trying to ask. “No, they aren’t… grotesque enough,” Branch shook his head. All of his friends knew about the dreadful Bergens and the horrifying things that they did to Pop Trolls. Branch had been so upset when he never went back to the Tree but over time, he got over it. It took a lot of talking but also he had settled into his new life eventually as well. That made it easier. He liked his life and his friends. They were different but they still fit together. Like a puzzle. 

Branch loved puzzles. 

“They look… okay?” Darnell’s voice cracked, a little, uncertainly. Branch took a pair of binoculars out of his hair and passed them to his friend as the Funk prince gave him back his knife. “But you’re the plan guy, B. And you have more experience with giants. You don’t think they are friendly?” 

“Do you want to take that chance?” 

“Good point,” Minuette agreed. “But how? This is an island. If we can’t get help from them, how do we get off?” 

“Look! There is a ferry,” Holly said, pointing across the beach on the other side of the area. Branch squinted at the boat that was docked at the end, swaying gently in the tide. He didn’t see any giants on it. 

“It looks automated too,” Darnell added, looking through Branch’s binoculars.

“So we just need to get across this… what is this?” 

“Uh… the sign says Bruce and Sons,” Darnell said, looking around. “I think this is some sort of vacation spot. A resort, maybe? They seem to be just kind of chilling out.” 

“Maybe they won’t notice us.” 

“We should try to be stealthy when we can,” Branch added. “Try not to attract any attention yet. Synth, why don’t you swim around. You’ll get there before us. Maybe get a look at the Ferry and how it works.” 

He nodded. “You got it bro.” 

“Minuette, you’re gonna have to hold on tight sweetie,” Holly added. “In case we get a chase on our hands.” 

The classical troll nodded. 

“Try to follow me. If I say, run, you run,” Branch said and jumped down, making his way towards the beach and the people. They almost made it too. The giants weren’t really paying attention and the four of them tried to stick to the shadows anyway. Or, at least, what little shadow there was in the raging sunlight. Branch didn’t know if he tripped or made a sound or what it was but he heard a loud gasp and saw a giant’s eyes and attention on them. 

“Oh! A troll!” 

And suddenly the news was parroted around like an out loud game of telephone. “A troll!” 

“Trolls!”

“There’s more!” 

Holly’s mad dash was on. They didn’t check to see how many were chasing but they ran. Branch motioned for Holly to run ahead. Country Trolls were much faster runners than other types and she listened to him, racing across the sand towards their destination. “Darnell,” Branch called. “Go.” 

“Dude!” 

“Get that Ferry going!” 

He hesitated but tore off after Holly, faster than Branch could go. “We won’t leave without you!” It was barely moments and then suddenly, Branch was left alone amidst giants. 

“Tell the boss!” 

Branch ran across the sand with a renewed fury and determination, dodging beach balls and the giant feet of the residents. His heart was pounding. He hadn’t been around Bergens for years but the fear of them still remained. And though these weren’t actually Bergens, he had no idea if they shared their taste for Trolls and their happiness. 

“Bruce!” a giant’s voice called. 

Branch paid no mind, eye on his destination closer and closer.  He could see his friends waiting, eagerly staring. “Start it up!” he yelled. 

They looked alarmed but Darnell obeyed, scurrying away and out of sight. Bare seconds after, the ferry began to move, slowly removing itself from the dock. For a moment, he was sure he wasn’t going to make it. 

“Branch!” 

“Holly!” he shouted and threw himself off the dock, extending his hair. In that moment, she threw the lasso she kept on her at all times, the rope curling around him the second his hair did the same. 

“Branch!?” A voice called. 

It didn’t sound familiar and he didn’t have any time to figure it out as he crashed into Holly on the deck of the ferry, hitting the wooden floor hard. He had made it. Branch sucked in a deep breath, his head pounding in fear and adrenaline. 

He made it. 

[fideidefenswhore]

the downfall and execution of a tudor queen (2023) / the boleyns: a scandalous family (2021) / the king's pearl: henry viii and his daughter mary (2017), melita thomas / anne boleyn (tv miniseries 2021) / the mirror and the light (2024) / elizabeth (1998)

[spotaus]

Thinking about Orchid and her connection to my take on Gender (because this was meant to be about her and the Crew but it just devolved into a character analysis kinda??? More trauma-dumping maybe???) This is very much an oc/personal rant so feel free to ignore it 🫡

So, Orchid started off as a character I didn't really think much of (hear me out this is going to be relevant) because I wanted to add a 'girl' character but didn't know what to *do* with her, y'know? She was always going to be the strongest one there, she had the odds stacked in her favor with her parents. She was always going to be the gloomy side-character to match Reset's energy. But I think she's gone through every stage of Generic Woman I could possibly find.

At first she was angry and abrasive (think Fell!Sans) where every other word was a curse and she was likely to throw the first punch then laugh as she kicks her enemy while they're down. This was when Reset was a cartoonishly self-centered villain whose goal was simply to prove others wrong. Then Orchid became a sort of sisterly figure. This was short-lived, but she was the one comforting people who Reset would torment, but would ultimately follow his orders, because at this point he was actually a danger and sadistic. And then there was the phase where the story mellowed out and she became the token Goth Girl who, yes she was strong, but was heavy on the 'whatever' energy. Then there was her Era of deep self-loathing and anxiety about her worth that held her back and made her a much more timid and meek character who would only lash out on occasion.

Now, Orchid is the best of those iterations I've written yet. She's calm, level-headed, and a natural leader. Her father raised those traits into her. But she's very reactive, and can be silly, and when she's comfortable it's likely that air of importance transforms into something more comfortable and familiar. She laughs loudly and grins wide, she likes loud video-games but loves to read in the quiet. She's extremely disciplined, and normally no one can get through her tough exterior besides her best friend, Reset. She does what she does for her own enjoyment, sure, but she's thought of every angle and makes her choice to help Reset and control the others with her whole chest. She still worries she won't live up to her invisible expectations, and that and her loyalty are her two driving forces.

I know that Orchid is important to me because she's the longest-running female oc I've had. I have a rough relationship with womanhood/girlhood and I know looking back that Orchid recieved every ounce of my distaste for being a woman that I could shovel into her. That never made her less of a character, she was actually always one of my favorites, and rarely was she a 'punching bag oc'. I just... projected onto her a lot. And she's a good sign of how I've learned who I am. I've decided that my own femininity is something I could live without. I'd rather not associate myself with it, and I'd like to leave it in my past, focusing on a future where I'm not tied down with any gender roles or expectations. That won't happen, but I've come to terms with it myself. Orchid though? I figured out through her that I don't have to hate women characters. My own distaste for my circumstances doesn't mean I have to push it onto my characters (on God I've never expressed anything rude to actual people, that'd be rude as hell and uncalled for, but I have a bad habit of disliking fictional women in media). So, Orchid is a well-roubded character finally. She has motivations abd goals and a *lot* more depth than I ever expected her to. She's happy with being a woman, she's content. She's not treated differently for it in unfair ways by those she cares about, so she doesn't mind it. She likes to wear pretty outfits and lets Reset add bows to her ribbons. She doesn't let being a woman hold her back in the slightest.

So, yeah. Orchid is one of my babies. If I ever leave this Fandom behind for good, she's one that's coming with (Ichor, Orchid, and Pretender all have human designs I can use elsewhere lol-) but in the meantime I'll just rotate her around in my brain for a while longer.

If I'm right, she's been with me for nearly 5-6 years and I went through a *lot* with her as an outlet. So, she's kinda just like an old stuffed animal. A lil ripped, matted fur, maybe a stain or two, but there's a story there and that makes it important beyond belief.

[wammyhoe]

When will you update the fanfic whiskey in a teacup🙏 Its well missed

I'm surprised (in a super good, heartwarming way) that you guys still ask about it. It's been on hiatus for about 6 months now, and I'm really sorry for the delay.

I've been incredibly busy, but I'll try to find time to update it soon. The story has become more demanding than I originally expected, and I don't want to post just to "keep it going" with endless fillers that would detract from the story.

Mello is trying to reach his goal but is conflicted about his feelings for the reader, and she has her own challenges to overcome as well. They both need to resolve their individual issues to be together, and I want to execute this well. I aim to keep him as in-character as possible, which is really challenging in a romance story. I've accepted that the Mello I’ve developed might be a bit out of character, which leads to a lot of asks (that I frankly just delete bc ugh, get a life?) criticizing my portrayal, as if those commenters know him personally.

Anyway, my experience in the fandom has been mixed lately, which is unmotivating and mostly disappointing. But I appreciate your support and interest, and I hope to post the next chapter soon!

ily!!! take care 💜💜

[morningmask27]

Honestly I'm also not fully happy with what they did with Whis this book