#golden era stones throw

[gebbzsteelo]

#madlib #mf doom #DOOM #sp303 #mixdown #madvillain #madvillainy #golden era stones throw

[caramel-catss]

foundations

gift exchange with @deuynndoodles !!

on ao3

word count: 2k

zelda is sent to the era of the sky instead of to rauru and sonia; totk!zelda meets sksw!zelda

“Link!”

The ground cracks beneath Zelda’s feet, and she gasps. Looking up at Link, her mouth opens to call his name once more, but she is suddenly falling - down, down, down.

He turns, his eyes widening at her yell. Before Zelda knows it, he’s jumped, and they are both falling. Desperate, Zelda throws out her hand. Link reaches back for her. They’re so close, their fingers almost touching-

And then, he is out of reach.

Zelda is helpless as she watches Link fall further away. A warm glow trickles up her body, enveloping her. Because everything is in slow motion, she thinks to herself, This must be my end.

However, Zelda’s end does not come to be. She blinks, and she is drifting softly to the ground, unharmed. A stone ceiling stares down at her, vines growing over it. Sunlight beams through large cracks up ahead.

Zelda sits up, scratching her head. Where is she? She moves her head around, noticing that this place looks similar to the Forgotten Temple. She moves to her feet and brushes dust off her outfit. She hopes that Link’s safe, too…

Something (or rather, someone) catches Zelda’s eye as she ascends the stairs. A pillar had blocked her view when she landed, but this person is now in full sight. It’s a girl, golden hair trailing down her back, wearing pants and a layered shirt. She’s looking out around the temple, so she spots Zelda soon after Zelda spots her.

“Oh!” The girl says. “Who are you?”

“I’m,” Zelda sputters. “My name is Zelda, I’m the daughter of King Rhoam of Hyrule.”

The girl gapes at her, eyes wide. “You’re?”

Zelda’s eyebrows furrow. “Is there a problem?”

“No, well, yes, but…” The girl bites her lip. “My name is also Zelda. I’m…” she stops for a moment, puzzling over how to introduce herself. “...the Spirit Maiden, some call me.”

Also-Zelda’s face falls to a gentle smile, one so familiar it almost feels like a gick in the gut. “You’re the Spirit Maiden,” Zelda gets out. “And your name is… Zelda… so you must have powers of the Goddess…!”

This makes Also-Zelda nervously chuckle. “Yeah, I do… well, really, I’m Goddess Hylia incarnate.”

Zelda’s heart stops. “What?”

“Um, are you okay?” Also-Zelda’s eyebrows furrow.

“You’re Hylia,” Zelda breathes.

“Technically, yes… but  we should worry more about getting you home safely. Zelda, I think you’re-”

Zelda’s body moves on her own. She grabs the girl’s hands, holding them at the wrists. She’s not physically strong, but the weird stone now sitting in her pocket makes her feel powerful enough. Hylia gasps and jumps back, trying to tug herself out of Zelda’s grip.

This is all happening so fast. But if she and Link have been suddenly taken away from each other again, if Hylia’s swooped in to “save the day” by snatching Zelda after that mummified figure destroyed everything… Zelda will take this opportunity to yell at the pathetic Goddess.

“What have you done to Link!?” Zelda exclaims. She squeezes until her knuckles turn white. Hylia’s eyes are wide with panic.

“You know Link?” Hylia’s voice is somewhat steady, but her expression gives her away. Good. Let her be afraid.

“Do I know him? You, of all people, should know how much he means to me!” Zelda hisses. “Where is he! Where did you put him!?”

“I-I don’t know if we’re talking about the same person!” Hylia cries.

Zelda huffs, her anger growing. “My knight, who laid down his life to protect me!? Who I desperately waited for for a hundred years!? Who, despite everything, still came back to help me!?”

“Oh,” Hylia breathes. Her face is suddenly stone-still. “Oh.”

“Do you remember now!? How you let him die, because you chose to be late!”

“Oh, Zelda,” Hylia’s lip is wobbling. “I’m so sorry.”

“You should be! The people of Hyrule… the Champions… my father…” Zelda begins to sniff. “You… they believed in you, and you let them all die…”

Both Zelda and Hylia fall into tears. Zelda’s grip subconsciously releases, and Hylia’s hands wrap around her own face. An overwhelming wave of sadness crashes over Zelda. All those people. All those people the woman in front of her refused to save. But Zelda can’t will up any more anger.

“The curse,” Hylia sobs. “No…”

Zelda’s not paying attention. Her tears drip onto the floor; she can taste the salt on her lips. Everyone. Everyone is dead. And she’s been trying her best to get used to this new reality, but without Link by her side… Without the two supporting each other, she doesn’t know if she can handle this.

She lost him so quickly. Again.

When Zelda finally notices the other girl’s hand touching her shoulder, it had already been there for a few minutes. She looks up, pausing for a second. And suddenly, this girl’s face is not Hylia’s. No, she’s just another hylian, no different than Zelda herself.

“I’m sorry,” Zelda says, ashamed. “I don’t know what… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” the girl murmurs. “It’s not your fault. The Goddess’ blood… it can be a curse, too.”

“Are you really Hylia incarnate?” She can’t help but ask.

“Yes, but…” a slight pause, “I’m not her. I’m Zelda.”

Zelda nods. “I understand.” She feels horrible. 

Also-Zelda holds her arms out, “Hug?”

Zelda accepts. The other smells like… feathers. Feathers, and the very essence of the sun. This sun-kissed girl is just as much of a victim of Hylia as Zelda herself is. Maybe she’s even a reincarnation. And Zelda just screamed at her like she was dirt.

Opening her mouth, Zelda’s about to apologize again, but she’s interrupted.

“By the way…” Also-Zelda’s saying. “I think you might have traveled through time to your distant past.”

The hug is shoved apart so that Zelda can give Also-Zelda a bug-eyed stare. “What!?”

“It’s only a theory!” Also-Zelda confirms. “Look, you said you’re princess of Hyrule, right?”

Zelda nods, “I guess I am. Hyrule isn’t much of a monarchy anymore, though.”

“In my time, right now, Hyrule doesn’t exist,” Also-Zelda explains. Zelda blinks.

“You mean,” she says, “You mean it hasn’t been founded yet!?”

“Yes…?” Also-Zelda makes a nervous chuckle. “But we’re settling on the surface right now, and if that’s what the future holds, then… Goddesses, you might be my descendant! You have light powers too, right!”

“You’re the first Queen of Hyrule!?” And here Zelda’s gone again; she’s managed to spew nonsensical insults at not only her ancestor, but her ancestor who is also the founder of her kingdom! Incredible!

“Maybe? Not yet? I don’t know!” Also-Zelda laughs. “Oh, I need to take you to Skyloft! Then we’ll figure out how to get you back home… and where your Link is… I promise!”

“Thank you,” Zelda smiles. “But, um, Skyloft?”

“It’s where I live, half of the time! I was just down at the surface to see what we should do with these grounds,” Also-Zelda replies. “Wait - are you afraid of heights?”

“Um, not really?”

“Perfect, come on!”

And that is how Zelda ends up in the middle of the sky, clutching onto a large blue bird for dear life. If she wasn’t scared of heights before, she definitely is now. The Loftwing, as First Zelda (easier to say than Also-Zelda) calls it, is apparently being slower than usual, but Zelda is already feeling a bit of motion sickness. First Zelda tells her that they aren’t too far from Skyloft, and that she can rest soon.

Zelda is grateful when her ancestor is right. Before long, they jump off and land on a deck. First Zelda rolls into it while Zelda slumps over. She wonders how Link could possibly enjoy paragliding so much.

“Are you alright?” First Zelda laughs, offering Zelda a hand. She takes it.

“Dizzy,” Zelda answers.

“You get used to it after a while. It took me a few years,” First Zelda shrugs.

“Great,” Zelda rolls her eyes. They both giggle.

“I guess I’ll just bring us to my dorm, since Link and I’s house is on the surface,” First Zelda ponders. “It’s this way.”

Zelda follows the other. Her scholar brain immediately latches onto her surroundings, visually checking every nook and cranny. Weird green fruits. Hearts growing on plants. Colorful buildings, and imagery of those Loftwing things everywhere.

First Zelda leads her through a gate, and then into a large building. They walk up the stairs and into her room. There’s a large picture of First Zelda and a tall man behind her, which Zelda assumes is her father. Zelda notices some wooden figurines on the counter. She picks one up.

“Oh, Link made that for me,” First Zelda grins. A blush rises on her face. “He’s really good at woodcarving.”

“It’s pretty,” Zelda comments. “Is it your Loftwing?”

“Yes!” First Zelda smiles. “I didn’t think you’d notice!”

Zelda shrugs and places the bird back.

A knock sounds on the door, and First Zelda yells, “Come in!”

The door opens to reveal a boy with light brown hair, holding two bottles with something orange inside. He’s wearing a green tunic and hat on top of some chainmail.

“Link!” First Zelda lights up. Wait, that boy is Link?

“Hi,” Link (First Link?) says. “I brought you soup.”

“Oh, you are the best,” First Zelda gives him a hug. He smiles.

First Link turns to Zelda. “Who’s this?”

“Princess Zelda of Hyrule,” Zelda knows it’s overboard, but she bows her head. Sure, maybe it’s just to see the look on this guy’s face when she does. “...But now, I’m really just a scholar.”

“She’s traveled back in time to us,” First Zelda says.

First Link blinks. Then he blinks again.

Then, he offers one of the flasks to Zelda, asking, “Would you like some soup?”

Zelda considers it for a moment. “Yes, thank you.”

First Link gives Zelda the soup. It tastes almost like Kakariko pumpkins, and the warmth of home almost overwhelms her. She barely overhears First Link telling First Zelda, “I’m going to go back and get myself a bottle, too.”

“Can I talk to you outside, before you go?” First Zelda says to him.

Zelda can feel eyes turning to her and back. “Yes, of course.”

The pair tell Zelda they’ll be just a moment, then shut the door behind them. Slowly, Zelda places her cup on the desk. She creeps over to the door, and listens out. She’s not much of an eavesdropper, but intuition tells her there’s something suspicious about this.

“...here because of Demise, Link. You and I both know it.” First Zelda’s voice is in a hushed whisper. Zelda can barely make it out.

Silence. 

“When she heard I was Hylia reincarnated, she started yelling a bunch of things… and I, it made me worried about the future…”

More silence. Oh, Zelda realizes. He’s signing.

“I don’t know, either. Or how to get her back there. But her Link… she said he died.”

A pang hits Zelda in the chest.

“...Yeah. I think it was the curse that brought him back. At the very least, a new Link.”

Curse?

“It’s not. It’s not fair, not at all. I’m… I’m so sorry.”

Zelda’s eyebrows furrow.

“Shh, I know it’s not my fault… It’s just, that’s your spirit dying in battle…”

There’s a curse, a spirit, and something about Link being immortal. And First Zelda told her nothing about this.

“Link, don’t say that…! It’s not your fault, either… it’s all Demise’s.”

What else doesn’t she know? Things that might help her know where Link is? How to get home?

“It’ll be okay. We’ll figure this out. I promise.”

Zelda pulls back from the door. She sits on the bed, pondering. First Zelda also promised to her that she’ll find a way to find Link and go home. But there’s all these things she’s not telling her… granted, they haven’t officially done any searching yet, but judging by the whisper-sign combination, Zelda wasn’t supposed to hear about this at all.

Who are these people? Zelda thinks to herself. How is this girl so like and unlike Hylia at the same time?

But most of all, Zelda wants to understand one thing.

What is the curse?

#caramel writes #tloz #skyward sword #tears of the kingdom #file name: “HATSUNE MIKU!?”

[bits-and-babs]

🗝️

Commander Mills as an explorer/treasure Hunter/guide/expedition leader/bounty Hunter/whatever from a bygone era. Please and thank you :)

𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐒 — 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐒

TreasureHunter!Mills x Goddess!reader

summary: Mills is enchanted to meet you after stumbling across your temple in his journey to find treasure. He's desperate for a way to pay his daughter's medical bills and agrees to pay upfront for taking the golden offerings.

word count: 2k

warnings: 18+ MDNI, suspense, inference of threat, dub-con ((? (seduction through enchantment))) cumming untouched, fully clothed, grinding, forced worship, cumming in pants. Wanted to try something new for this one and really enjoyed writing it!!!

➛ mills masterlist | main masterlist | taglist

Rabid breaths heave from Mills’ chest as he hauls himself over the sheer cliff face. The chalky surface crumbles beneath his hands, the rope he had managed to throw and hook over a stone pillar holding the weight of his body. Adrenaline skitters up his spine as though he’s touched a live wire, every hair on his arms standing on end despite the baking heat of the setting sun at his back.

Buckling his leg over the edge of the drop, Mills pushes on the heel of his boot to pull himself over and away from the death drop below. He wheezes heavily, clasping at his chest with his palm, checking his heart is still throbbing despite how it practically slams up against his ribs. His blood rushes in his ears as he rests his head back on the dusty floor, staring up at the stalactites that hang menacingly from the cave roof. They remind him of the daggers of the local people who had threatened him for trespassing into their lands, and he lets out an incredulous laugh, eyelids slipping shut as exhaustion kicks in.

This entire journey had been treacherous from the very beginning, almost cursed. Mills must have somehow cracked every mirror in his general vicinity, receiving a perpetually multiplied seven years of bad luck. The plane had come down from the sky; he’d been attacked by a particularly overzealous tiger on his way through the jungle, kidnapped by local tribes– if he was fair, he could understand why they were enraged by his presence. But, of course, Mills couldn’t exactly claim he wouldn’t pounce on trespassers in his home, either. Regardless, peril had held a blade to his throat the whole journey, and if he hadn’t been at the mouth of the very temple he had been in search of, he would have turned on his heel and headed straight back home to the sanctuary of his bed.

Over the gasping breaths rattling his lungs and the whistling of the wind through the stone caves, Mills swears he can hear a voice. Sweet words whisper softly in his ear, the sensation of breath tickling his ear, causing a chill to run across his dusty skin.

It has been so long since someone graced my halls.

Lurching upright suddenly, Mills scans his eyes over his surroundings, taking in the pillars that held up the gargantuan temple carved into the rockface to his left. Despite what he could only assume was centuries of isolation, lost to time, the temple still holds a golden, flickering glow of torchlight. Flames dance from the wall brackets built into the stone, the miniature blazes casting a dancing orange hue across the floor.

“Hello?” He calls, his voice ricocheting off the walls. Mills speaks, and the same word repeatedly returns his address; Hello, hello, hello?

Stumbling to his feet and discarding the rope he had clung to as a lifeline. Brushing his hands over his hips, he feels for the handle of his gun in his holster, gripping the weapon tightly as he wanders into the temple, eyes scanning the walls. Ancient inscriptions decorate the walls, chiselled into the face of the brickwork with rudimentary tools. Mills could just about make out certain words, names for goddesses, warnings of dange-

I have missed the company of others.

The disembodied voice in his ear causes Mills to jump suddenly, eyes wide and panicked as he spins on his heel, searching the shadows for the source of the noise. Besides the rushing wind outside that brushes loose strands of hair from his face and the quiet skittering of small stones disrupted by his footsteps, he cannot hear anything more. He’s almost sure that he’s imagining things, that he may have unwittingly bashed his head off the side of the cliff on his ascent– until he spots you standing in the middle of the large open prayer room.

States of the old gods surround you, enshrined in ivory marble amongst the golden sandstone. You wear draping cloth, something akin to a toga, and it sways in the breeze that sweeps your hair from your cheeks. It takes his breath away, your ethereal beauty, his lips parting as he gazes at your enchanting face.

“Ah- Excuse me,” Mills addresses you cautiously, an inexplicable nervousness settling in the pit of his stomach. You are almost too beautiful to look at, the awe fixing in his bones and aching.

“Apologies are nonessential,”you smile politely at him, sandals silent as they walk along the textured surface of the ground. Mills gawps as he watches you almost float towards him, your eyes scanning over the length of his being. Is this a fever dream?

“Might I ask that you state your business?” You query him, and Mills’ hairs stand on end, that nervous energy turning his stomach over. He feels jittery, as though his instincts tell him his survival depends on how he answers your question.

“I- I have been ordered here in search of precious metals.” Mills chooses to offer a half-truth. Treasures were an honest response, yes. But no one had sent him here— no one but desperation.

“In order to pay for your ailing daughter’s remedy?” You hum softly in that voice as soft as silk. Mills’ heart twists, and he might have noted that he never mentioned Nevine if it weren’t for the stinging of tears in his eyes at the mere mention of her. He hadn’t seen her in many moon cycles, persistent on his journey in hopes of finding enough treasures to save her from the disease ravaging her body.

You nod, approaching Mills ever so slowly. Something in the very back of his mind, a whisper of instinct, warns him to retreat from you, but as your hand lifts to cross the small space between you both, he yearns to know what it would feel like to be comforted by you.

“I understand your pain, dear one. The agony and suffering of our children is a painful weight to carry,” Delicate fingers brush up the bare skin of his forearm slowly, the touch itself soothing and easing some of the emotional pain that grips his mind and blurs his vision. “There is bounty here that may ease that burden.”

Relief lurches up Mills’ throat in a sudden sigh of relief. It sounds a lot like a sob, emotions coming so easily to the usually steeled hunter in your presence. It’s almost startling to Mills how the tears spill down in cheeks so quickly, even with the overwhelming consolation.

“I just request something in recompense,” you whisper, your breath brushing across his cheekbone and warming his skin like a summer breeze. He melts into your affections as you continue to stroke at his bare skin despite his better judgement, body seemingly craving the solace it finds in your connection. “Something that may atone for the loss of my most prized possessions…”

“Name it,” he murmurs, eyelids heavy as he watches your eyes alight with mischief, the glow in them not unlike the flames that light the surrounding room. “I’ll do anything for you..”

The words sounded odd coming from his lips, not quite what he had meant to say. Mills opens his mouth to correct himself; ‘for my daughter’. But, instead, a gasp of pleasure pushes past his chapped lips. Your eyes scan across the pinch in his brow as Mills’ body throbs with an overwhelming sense of bliss, his jaw falling slack as you gently tuck strands of his ebony hair behind his ear.

“What is-” He chokes out, leaning slightly into your touch despite his internal drive to push away. Instead, the very atoms of his being pull towards you, fear and ecstasy twisting in the pit of his abdomen as you hold his gaze, your perfect brow arching in query.

“Is?” You urge him to continue, but Mills’ mouth fails to form around the words- or do they dissipate in his mind before they even fully form? He has lost the ability to speak entirely, eyes rolling back as arousal flits from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. His cock strains against the seam of his trousers, twitching and pulsing.

“I do enjoy how delicate people are,” You whisper to him, voice as soft as cotton, “You break apart with my touch, burst at the seams at my command.”

Mills’ knees buckle beneath him at the sound of your mirthful chuckle, moaning pathetically at how the seam of his trousers’ crotch presses against his throbbing balls. Already his cock is weeping precum through the tan fabric, leaving a dark, wet stain.

“Mhmm,” you smile to yourself, lifting the skirts of your toga as you bend at the knees, balancing on the balls of your feet. Mills, grinding his hips against the fabric of his trousers, looks up at you. His eyes are stinging with tears, the immense arousal. “Is it pleasurable? Does it engulf you, that heavenly feeling?”

He wants to shout stop, wants to beg you to release him from the enchantment you seem to have cast upon him, but instead, his head tilts forward in a nod, body seemingly working against his mind and prostrating before you in an act of worship. He can feel your eyes on the back of his head and can practically sense your prideful smirk as the pleasure grows significantly.

“Ohh–” Mills whimpers and it’s pathetic. Almost like a wail, the sound bounces off the smooth walls, a dissipating melody of his own whinings. He tries to spread his legs wider, hoping it will relieve some of the building pressure, but his hips have a mind of their own and begin to rock against the inseam that lays flat against his cock. The friction itself causes a gut-wrenching groan to burst past his lips.

“You may give it to it,” he hears you advise from above, “This is your reparation, the promised payment for my treasure.”

All at once, his arousal surges, and Mills finally releases any and all reservations. It floods his body, the almost unbearable bliss that rocks through every nerve. He can’t help but fall victim to the burn and the sting. He has no doubt he looks utterly pitiful at your feet, hips rocking against the air and body trembling as his balls pull up tight.

“That’s it,” you whisper, silky smooth voice running down his spine, pooling in the pit of his stomach and poisoning his sensibility, “That is perfect.”

And it is, God, it is. Mills is entirely pliant as the darkness takes hold of his mind. It seeps in, creeping into his consciousness and chasing out the light. As his cock drools and his hips pick up their pace against the tightness of his pants, his eyes roll back into his skull. Oblivion swallows him whole, blissful pleasure utterly obliterating his cognizance. It’s an inferno, blackening his insides and charring his skin with a devastating heat as he cums in his pants.

When the obscurity releases him, there is no sense of self or mindfulness. Instead, he’s completely detached, his body trembling and alight with enormous sensation, and his mind inundated by you. You, only you. Your pretty fingers clutch his chin, and you stare adoringly down at him as you push his hair out of his face again.

“You are a treasure, yourself, my dear,” you whisper to him, shaking your head as you pout slightly, “I can’t find it in myself to release you.”

In himself, Mills also can’t find it in himself to leave. He couldn’t remember why he had entered these hallowed halls. Had he even come from the outside? As far as he could recall, he had always been here, on his knees before you in worship.

And that’s where he intended to stay. Anything else would be sacrilegious. He wouldn’t dare defy his Goddess in such a way.

join the taglist here:

@pansa-1-san , @safarigirlsp , @heart-atttack , @crybaby-blue-blog , @queeniebee , @lumberjack00fantasies , @wingedgothapricot, @glassbxttless , @Ghoulian13 @junepurrr

#commander mills x reader #commander mills #commander mills x f!reader #commander mills x you #commander mills fanfic #commander mills x female reader #commander mills smut #mills x you #mills x reader #adcu #adcu smut #adcu x reader #adcu fanfiction #adcu community #adcu fic #adam driver #adam driver x reader #adam driver x y/n #adam driver x you #adam driver smut #adam driver fic #જ⁀➴ mail: received #✩‧₊˚ 6k follower celebration ˚₊‧✩

[mudora]

unnnghhh, I just need to get this out of my system before it gets stupid.  I promise, it is a -very- silly and light criticism of current totk discourse revolving around the three Goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore. Honestly I shouldn’t even be negatively affected by just some fun theories being thrown around, but clearly I’m bothered by it for some reason. And I can likely explain why. (This isn’t to stop fun fan theories from being made or me being an old codger and saying NO to fans, because that’s completely rude. If those developments are genuinely exciting to you, I getchya.) 

Current talk is that at least in BoTW and ToTK, the dragons that are roughly named after the three goddesses (not my assumption) (and are referred to as she) by the Goddess statues, are Zonai who consumed their stones. So at least in this universe that BoTW and ToTK decides to be in, these goddesses were mortal in some way or somehow turned their secret stones into the triforce or... something along those lines. I don’t inherently like this line of thinking, for a few reasons. Sort of the same reasons I don’t inherently like the idea of Zelda basically being the Virgin Mary figure in skyward sword and onward. It’s just opinion, and shouldn’t affect your fun times. And for some dumb reason it bothers me and I just want to explain why. The Golden Goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore, were not sideliners when it comes to the entirety of Zelda lore. They made the world, full stop, and possibly other worlds that also appear in the Zelda series. They -made- the kingdom of Hyrule, and left the Triforce behind after their creation was complete. They have no official appearance in any game (these are not the oracles), but their hand is -felt- in certain ways. Even if their presence is subdued, they still call the shots on their creation. Just like them, their respective Triforce Pieces represent their philosophy. Din is most comfortable in their Power. Nayru has ageless Wisdom, and Farore gives courage to all she holds dear. Together, they represent The Legend of Zelda’s whole philosophy: As one, they are perfect, working in tandem. Apart, they are still powerful, but become imbalanced and that imbalance throws the world into chaos, as it has time and time again since the Triforce’s original separation in Ocarina of Time. The Goddesses Themselves continue to have namesakes within the series, which is where the Dragon’s names in BoTW and ToTK will become more familiar. At least since Twilight Princess, the Light Spirits that protect the world of reality from shadow, are named subtly after their creators. Faron (Not Farore), Lanayru, (Not Nayru), and Eldin (not Din). They bear the responsibility of protecting creation and the Sacred Realm from the shadow the Twili created, and naturally were eventually banished to the Twilight Realm due to their sacrosanct acts. This is, as far as I remember, the first time we hear of these names. They were created by Din, Nayru, and Farore, but they themselves are not the gods incarnate, and never were. They simply had a purpose, and carried their namesake due to who mothered them into existence.  Now, again, I don’t really subscribe that much to a timeline, and never really have regardless of the “Official” timeline existing. BotW and TotK feel wildly different in terms of what is included in them. We at least know there are *stories* of the Hero of Time, the Hero of Winds, the Hero of Twilight, etc, etc. or they are at least vaguely mentioned in ancient rites and likely moldy tomes that haven’t seen the light of day in thousands, if not tens of thousands of years. Most of this ancient era has come and gone, to the point where the Sheikah tribe of old developed frickin computers with magic powers, and by the time THAT was featured in BoTW, it was already ANCIENT Sheikah tech. But with the events of ToTK, I’m completely complacent in thinking this could be a completely different -universe- then the actual “Official” timeline.  Much like how Termina exists, It’s not really difficult to imagine several different Hyrules existing in many alternate realities, dimensions, planes, what have you. And just because the Zonai exist does not inherently mean the Triforce and the Goddesses don’t also somehow exist in this set universe. I don’t believe the Goddesses would suddenly decide to become Zonai, when perhaps they are the ones who created them anyway, much like the Hylians, the Gorons, the Zora, etc. And even if there are multiple Hyrules, The Goddesses literally made it. I doubt, in any timeline, plane, reality, dimension, that fact would somehow be different, as they are literally the ones responsible for its actual existence. The Zonai, after all are said to be -descended- from Gods, and are only seen as gods themselves due to how these Gods GIFTED these guys with Secret Stones.  This of course, brings us to the dragons in question: I do understand where people believe these three dragons could be the Goddesses. Though the Zonai consider the process of Draconfication forbidden, I don’t really think it’s as forbidden as we think it is. Where I differ from the current discourse, however, is that I don’t remotely think Din, Nayru, and Farore were somehow Zonai, and partook of their sacred stones and it became the triforce. This just doesn’t make sense with the very little we have to go on, for a lot of  reasons. 1, we have to presume Din, Nayru, and Farore already exist, and have existed for Milennia. Otherwise, the Kingdom of Hyrule -would not exist-. Neither would the Hero, Neither would Princess Zelda, Ganondorf, etc.  However. I have a theory that the Dragons are the God forms of the Zonai. Though they are a bit goat like, they also share... quite a few draconic traits on their own, no?Sharp teeth, hair that more serpentine dragons have from Japan and China. They came from the literal sky and wished to bring their bounty to the races of the land. The Zonai -revere- dragons and dragon kind. The Secret Stones themselves obviously don’t just turn Zonai into dragons, as we can see from Zelda consuming hers. I presume, that these gifted Secret Stones likely come from the God-like dragons that the Zonai likely descended from. When swallowing a stone, you are inheriting the power of presumed God-hood as defined by the Zonai. You become immortal. You lose yourself. Because mortals and Gods are profoundly different. Now, whether or not Dragons are capable of becoming mortal on their own is a good question I can’t answer, but I suspect the Zonai have -way- more relation to the concept of the dragons then they do Din, Nayru, and Farore. The same goes for the Dragons that are already within Hyrule: Dinraal, Naydraa (Wtf that isn’t even close to Nayru), and Farosh.. These guys have way more in common with their other namesakes, the light spirits of twilight princess, then they do with the actual Golden Goddesses. And they presumably also share something with their Light Spirit Namesakes. They are guardians of the springs of Power, Wisdom, and Courage respectively. However I picture this relation to be more of these dragon gods wishing to protect creation from ages long past. Perhaps these Dragons never became Zonai. Perhaps these dragons are Zonai who wished to fulfill a purpose in protecting these springs. But being the Golden Goddesses themselves? I highly doubt it. There is plenty of room within the Zelda universe to have the Golden Goddesses remain as such, and to have other gods and spirits fulfill myriad roles deemed important to the Cycles.  If anything, I would say the Zonai are an interesting addition to the many races of Hyrule, and their story is a more compelling one, when viewed in a lense that encompasses their relationship to dragonkind. Not God-kind. Or... at least DragonGod Kind. I also feel like viewing it this way is -way- easier to swallow then somehow relating the Secret Stones to the Triforce. These are their own unique goodie. ToTK, more or less, is a lesson that the Triforce has already taught many times, but through a different lens. Might and Power can obviously come from many different things in Hyrule, and a DragonGod’s essence? Well.  How could Ganondorf, one who seeks power with relentless force, resist?  In her Wisdom, Zelda chose to seek this power to protect her Kingdom from the plague she so feared.  And Link, once again, is the edge of the sword, stuck within the power struggle. Yet his courage and valor lead to the destruction of the Demon Dragon.  I don’t know about you, but the Goddesses are definitely watching. And not as dragons. 

#totk #totk spoilers #I honestly could have shortened this #but all well #just my two cents #please follow your own musings as you see fit #Just don't scream at me if you don't agree its totally okay to not agree

[ditipatri]

This year's Saturnalia is coming soon, which calls for a moment of devotion for its main, though not only, Divinity, the Titan Saturn. Initially an agricultural Deity of abundance and good harvest of Roman and Greek land, Saturn is most well known for being the keeper of Time and the Titan who ate His children.

However, He is a much more complex God, or Titan, than that, and in this post I'd like to cover His cult across Greece and the Roman Empire as well as offerings, gifts, and activities that can be devoted to Him. 

Saturn, or Cronos, has quite a number of myths spoken of him as well as a lot of versions as to how the Deity initially came to be. The most well-known and popular story about His early years is that of Uranus and Gaia, who the Greeks considered to be His parents; and Him, Their youngest child. Accordingly to this myth, it was Cronos who cut off His father's genitalia, which, falling into the sea, both birthed Venus and created Sicily, the region that was called fertilissima, or "most fertile" land. The sickle, after being used for that, fell on Earth and formed the Strait of Messina, the sickled shape of which was believed to remind one of the God's tool and weapon.

The story of Cronos, after emasculating His father and taking reign over the skies, is quite well-known. He was given a prophecy that one of His children would dethrone Him in turn, and to prevent that, he consumed all of them, but Rhea, determined to save at least one, provided Him a wrapped stone instead of little Zeus. Years passed, and children grew safely in Their father's stomach, seeing that They were immortal, locked up until Zeus, raised by Metis, fed Cronos a mixture of wine and mustard that made Him throw up all of His consumed children. After the Gods waged war on the Titan, he got chained up in Tartarus alongside those who helped Him. Zeus overtook Olympus, ending the cycle.

The Roman legend seems to decode a different part of Saturn's self, story, and power. While the Greek story focuses on the aspect of Saturn as a primordial Divine ruler over all that exists, the Roman tale speaks on Him as a joyful king of the era long before humankind; the mystical Golden Age. Seen as a God, in the Roman myth Saturn is the Deity of abundance and rich harvest, celebrated alongside Dis Pater, Proserpina, and Ops during the annual festival of Saturnalia in December. His very name, Saturn or Saturno, derives from an Ancient Indo-European root sat which has the meaning "life giving", "prosperous" (hence "sated"). Saturn in the Roman Empire is a benevolent, all-giving Deity that received an enormous amount of respect and worship, even having His own Temple at the Capitolian Hill in Rome. This was a sign of utmost respect as only those Gods that were seen as Rome's protectors and keepers received an aedis, a dwelling place, in the capital.

Roman mythology saw the Age of Saturn's reign as a time of utter joy as no slavery existed back then, according to the Romans. People and Gods lived together, with mortals not aging and happily spending the days in drinking and partying. When the time of Death came, they fell into a happy slumber. To celebrate this memory, Saturnalia was introduced. Saturn was praised together with Ops, his Divine wife. She was seen as responsible for the fruits of the Earth as well as a protectoress of abundance alongside Her husband - and the Mother of All. This was also reflected in her name, Ops, or Opima (hence "opulence").

Thus, one can witness the radical difference between Saturn and Cronos, who must not be mixed up despite their mutual identification as the same Deity seen differently. Cronos is a gloomy ex-king burdened by defeat to his own son, locked away in the Underworld as a way of punishment. Roman Saturn, however, is a much more positive power: a benevolent king of the mystical Golden Age, the leading Deity of Saturnalia, the happiest time of the year, and a keeper of mystical golden seeds one can find if they discover His tomb under Lazio.

Saturn was so beloved in Rome that His constant presence in its life is depicted in local stories and myths, too. For example, in the story of Aeneas, when he and his crew land in Etruria after the fall of Troy and travel to Lazio, they find Evandro, the ruler of the land. He, having arrived to Palatine Hill long before the Trojan war, says that the indigenous peoples there were already praticing the cult of Saturn.

The myth of Roman Saturn usually ends with Saturn being exiled by Jupiter, who then takes up His role as the King, and thus brings a change of season and a cycle of aging into the previous Golden Age.

However, this is where the story of Saturn and Janus begins. Saturn for the Romans was one of the Deities called Numina, powers that had no established forms and of whom we so far discovered close to no myths. Those powers included such well-known Godly presences as the Lari and the Penati. Saturn belonged among the Numina and was regarded as the protector of the fields, thus receiving praise for good harvest.

According to the Roman myth, after exile He settled in what would later become Southern Italy, specifically in the region of Ausonia in Lazio. Here, He and His brother Janus founded mythical cities of Saturn, called Saturnalia as the festival created later on will also be named. They were benevolent rulers, and Their people knew of architecture, as well as law and justice. Allegedly, it was Saturn who granted Janus His gift of foresight.

After Janus was deified by the Romans, Saturn became the center of the festival of Saturnalia, which in itself is so grand that it deserves each own post to be spoken of, which I will of course provide.

To speak of the cult of Saturn, we must first talk of His representation within the common perception. Now, His main attribute was a scythe, which represented both His inherent status of an agricultural Deity as well as His later association with Death and Time that brings it; much like a reaper of souls. Crow was his companion bird, which became associated with both Greek Cronos and Roman Saturn. Interestingly enough, this came from Latin as the term for crow, cornix, sounded similar enough to Chrono. The Greeks took up the spelling and turned Cronos into Chronos, thus associating the two. Chronos, also, means "Time", which was what led people to believe He was the personification of Time itself.

The cult of Saturn has been noted to exist in multiple parts of the Roman world. Precisely in Sicily, where the Deity was first documented, and in Northern Africa during the Roman rule of the lands. Due to the nature of the Cult itself, we can't say much about how exactly Saturn was praised at the very beginning of His worship, though we can enumerate some general aspects of the cultic activity.

From what we know, the cult in Sicily associated Saturn with the Punic Deity named Baal, or Baal-Hammon, who represented agricultural power of abundance and was a gift-giving God. He was praised along the Northern part of Africa and was known to the South of Italy and Sicily. In the cult of Baal-Hammon, animal sacrifice was practiced, which, while distributed very unevenly across the Roman Empire of the time, seemed to be a generally typical feature of the cult. In Caltabellotta, Sicily, according to Ancient sources, Baal-Cronos was honored with human sacrifice. Aside from Italy and North Africa, another place of dwelling of the God is said to be Mount Scuderi with a mythical tomb in it.

Saturn in North Africa received handmade wooden and stone-carved altars, or stelae, that would be dedications of vows from those who made them. These could be made by individuals, groups of individuals, or whole templar communities if a temple existed. The dedication of the stelae was often preceded by a "visitation in a dream", ex visu, as proven by multiple texts of the votive rites of the time. These stelae were sort of a promise from the mortal giver to the God Himself; and a place of commemoration of Him and the gifts He would grant the loyal. The stelae depicted the God, His companions, a miniature of a worshipper performing a sacrifice, and a lot of other decorum. Young lambs were sacrificed to Him all year long, according to bone analysis and texts found.

It needs to be said here that Roman cults split into sacra publica and sacra privata: public and personal. Public cults involved some sort of common activity of the people and provision by the state, such as the state paying for the temples, while private worship meant that the God received personal dedications of an individual. As mentioned befor, it is said that Saturn did not require an official dwelling place, such as a temple in the city; he still received one as, supposedly, the Romans did not want to "let go" of such a benevolent protector. His statue in Rome had covers draped over His feet as a symbolic gesture.

The biggest celebration of the God is Saturnalia, an Ancient festival that has roots in the archaic era. It is said to also have involved human sacrifice of the chosen King of the Saturnalia, though it's hard to provide proof for such claims. However, we know for a fact that animal sacrifice, spoken of by multiple Roman authors, was made during the festival at the biggest temple of those built in Rome - the Temple of Saturn. This temple was located at the Roman Forum; it dates back to the early Republican era. Until the end of Republic, it was used as a treasury that kept in bronze plates with engraved laws, Senate decrees, army insignia, and a scale for weighing metal. Metal reserve (gold, bronze, silver) of the state was also kept there right up until the coming of the Empire.

Aside from being praised as a keeper of Rome, an agricultural God of Sicily as well as North Africa, and a mythical King of the age before humanity, Saturn was also associated with the so-called Genius of Palermo. There, in Palermo, the people believed in the presence of a God that depicted civic virtues and cultural identity of the locals; He was depicted as a bearded man with a snake feeding off His chest. A manuscript found in the area suggests this God to be Saturn, "God of earth and time, father of time and father of the Gods and men”. Additionally, a statue of the God was found in Palazzo Pretorio with an engraving on its side that said, suos devorat, alienos nutrit: devours his own, feeds the foreigners. That, if we remember the myth of Saturn consuming His own children, also created a link of Genius of Palermo to this God.

Saturn had a lot of faces and a lot of interpretations. His cult was both what we could call intense, as it involved human and animal sacrifice, and liberating as He brought along one of the happiest and oldest Roman holidays. Now, this is the God that, in my opinion, deserves a lot of attention, adoration, and worship. If you would like to learn of ways to honor Him that I want to offer, then it's time to pass on to the ways of ritual rites in honor of Saturn.

Nepenthes Itea Virginica Eucalyptus Cinerea Pine Cones Fritillaria Meleagris Carnations Portulaca Ilex

Figs Dates Honey Nuts Gilded Cakes Passum Liquamen

Crows Goats Deer Stars Snakes Sun

Lovage Asafoetida Coriander Mint Marjoram Oregano

Crow feathers Snake skin Aged animal bones

Swathes Garlands Wreaths Harpe Sickle Sundial Clock Teeth

Balsam Evergreen Cardamom Cloves Fresh Pine

Taking a break from work if you work otherwise during the year, going on a vacation, or somehow else finding time to relax and unwind.

Treating yourself to something you don't usually indulge in just for the occasion of celebrating the God, as long as it's safe.

Cooking for the sake of sharing the food with others or gifting it to others as well as cooking for or with Him.

Taking time to prepare and wrap a gift for Him, with natural materials used if possible.

Preparing gifts for somebody else or Him, if your skill and budget allow you to.

Dedicating the time of day for the worship of Him and scheduling the day so that each hour is devoted to a new devotional activity.

Praying your troubles away to Him, talking about your problems with Him, and asking for His protection.

Creating your own votive imagery of Him; it doesn't have to be anything expensive and can be made out of anything.

Performing in His name, public or private, or visiting local city fairs.

Commemorating your family's elderly members; this can include contacting them or spending time with them if they watn that.

#◴◦╧╧ ⧖ ╧╧◦◶ #theoi #helpol #greek gods #roman gods #roman polytheism #hellenic polytheism #religio romana #saturn deity #cronos deity #saturn worship #cronos worship

[silent-sanctum]

For fellow mbti enthusiasts, can we talk about how Araki unconsciously wrote Jotaro's character development as a true ISTP so well throughout parts 3 to 6?

Also interesting for the "dudebro" part of the community to say Jotaro has no personality / personality of a brick wall, when in the PDB database, he's the most discussed Jojo character in regards of identifying the nitty-gritty details about his personality and how it was developed with every part.

And honestly I don't blame them because hear me out--

Cue cognitive functions analysis below the cut:

In Stardust Crusaders, we all know he mostly uses his dominant and auxiliary functions Ti-Se during this part: He is very observant with his surroundings and is often using all his senses to take in the world., and when he decides to act on something (like let's say battling against enemy Stand users), he often relies on logic and on what makes sense so he could figure out how to beat his enemies.

While Ni is there, his preference to use Se more is seen in his method of getting rid of the problem, which is his fists. If the enemy can be dealt with a series of hard-hitting punches, then you bet he'll often be throwing punches.

His Fe is highly underdeveloped in this part as indicated by his choice to be a delinquent who won't give two shits about people he doesn't care for, but for friends and family, it's there underneath his nonchalant and rude façade, hidden because he's uncomfortable expressing his feelings to others.

Fast forward to Diamond is Unbreakable and Golden Wind era, Jotaro's tertiary Ni is developed as he matured into an adult. While he still uses Ti-Se to pick up details in his surroundings and use logic to back-up the processed information, his Ni is prevalent through his more cautious and analytical nature. He is now able to recognize patterns in the enemy Stand Users and connect them together to form a cohesive result (e.g., narrowing the murder suspect with a jacket, using his knowledge on animal behavior to find the rat, outsmarting Kira's father)

In Golden Wind, he sends Koichi to investigate the existence of Giorno instead of going there himself since he knew ahead of time that Joestars are able to detect or sense fellow Joestars.

Then lastly we reach to Stone Ocean and Jotaro's inferior Fe is developed as he hits 40 years old. He is more open and vulnerable when conveying his feelings to his daughter (e.g., "I've always cherished you", "You've grown, Jolyne"). Fe is also present during the 2 instances of him sacrificing himself to save Jolyne even if it meant his or the universe's doom, because as Pucci said after a moment of Jotaro screaming in terror at the knives falling on Jolyne, "Your only weakness was your daughter."

Ironically enough, by developing his inferior function and his whole cognitive stack in general, it led to his death and the death of a universe.

And as a result of his more prominent Fe, dudebros will term his vulnerability as "hE gOt nERfEd", or "mAN pArt 3 JoTAro cOUlD bEaT pUccI nO prOBlem", and some other bullshit like that.

#jojos bizarre adventure #jotaro kujo

[mossyxkorok]

Zelda’s (New?) Power in Tears of the Kingdom

As it’s been discussed, Tears of the Kingdom has its particular continuity issues, but I want to discuss an interesting connection that I found throughout the games. In TotK, we, along with Zelda, learn of her new power, the power over time—at first, to me, this addition seemed a little random, especially considering the plot of last game was about her not being able to harness her power. Not that the ending scenes of BotW weren’t epic, but I thought it would’ve been nice to see more of her hard work pay off. Yet maybe, this power isn’t exclusive to Zelda in TotK?

In Breath of the Wild, we know she kept herself and Calamity Ganon sealed in stasis for 100 years. Could this be the first time we saw her implement her power over time? Ostensibly, she was using her light magic, the only magic she was aware of, to repel Ganon and keep it at bay, but doing so for 100 years, maybe she was also exerting her time powers. Additionally, During the cutscene “Sonia is Caught by Treachery,” Zelda freezes the knife Puppet Zelda/Ganondorf throws for an extended moment before sending it back. Perhaps in a dire situation, she could restrict the passage of time for much longer. The secret stone helped send her back tens of thousands of years, but on her own, she could have been capable of manipulating time in shorter amounts before she even knew it.

We’re no stranger to time travel throughout the series, especially when the Master Sword is involved. In Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, the Master Sword rests in the Temple of Time, and in Skyward Sword, the blade is essential in creating a Gate of Time. The Zelda in BotW/TotK has a close relationship with the Master Sword as well. In TotK, we are shown that the Temple of Time had a predecessor that was sent to the heavens, perhaps this is where the users of time magic would practice? I only reached that inference through the Master Sword being transferred between Link and Zelda at the altar outside of the ancient Temple of Time. Nevertheless, there’s an established connection between light and time.

Lastly, there’s the relationship between Zelda and the goddess of wisdom. This is one that the series has seemed to forget, but the three golden goddesses still exist in some capacity in the BotW world, with evidence from the three dragons, the names of the springs and the ancient Zonai interpretation of the Triforce. It’s said in OoT that the goddess Nayru established the order and laws that govern the realm of Hyrule, and I believe this includes the laws of time. If Zelda has the blood of Hylia and the blessing of Nayru, she would be capable of both light and time magic. It seems this Ganon/Ganondorf combo in BotW/TotK has been the strongest so far, so maybe the Hyrule pantheon had to pull all the stops in this Zelda’s era.

Well, thanks for attending my brain dump. I hope there isn’t a trilogy so I don’t have to go through these mental gymnastics again, but I do love the challenge. What do you think?

#TotK spoilers #TotK #Zelda theory #theory #legend of zelda

[house-of-mirrors]

can you spare some Wines headcanons?

I interpret each of the Masters as symbolic of one of the ills of the Victorian Age. Fires is industrialism, Veils is political corruption, Pages is obviously censorship. Wines represents the corruption of the leisure class. Perched on its throne with all its riches and luxuries while the majority of the population go without, throwing parties while entire countries starve. It embodies every empty promise of the Gilded Age. An era that promised fortune and excess to people when they had "earned" it with no intention of ever delivering, promises that were worth nothing more than golden paint.

The real horror is never the monsters, but the 19th century. But anyway, that's enough of period-typical existential suffering! Onto more fun things!

Simply being around Wines lowers your inhibitions. You're more inclined to forget about whatever work or trouble you had and want to relax and join the party. Being near Wines especially makes you want to drink much more than you usually would. Major Dionysus vibes.

But we know the friendly appearance is all a façade. Wines, similarly to Pages, is one of the most dangerous masters because it doesn't look like one of the most dangerous. Under the "approachable" surface is ruthlessness and callousness. Wines has quite the temper that we only see the surface of in situations like "Totentanz" and "Fading to a Coda." It's very old and very patient, and its antagonist is in steep danger when it decides to act in retribution. Then again, a threat is like a promise and Wines is notoriously bad at keeping those. Yes this is an explanation for the player's plot armor. Please game I just want acknowledgement for players who dedicate themselves to ruining the Masters' entire careers at every opportunity. Like, why would Wines willingly accept a drink from my Nemesis PC at Station VIII? Lmao.

For physical appearance, we have text describing Wines as one of the bulkier masters, which makes sense given it represents plenty and indulgence. We're all entitled to have our own headcanons for fan content, especially with a text based game that gives little solid descriptions of appearances, but it does irk me a bit when people draw the Masters thin, especially Wines. Different Body Types Exist, and like, the Masters are from a cold environment, they're gonna be dense and fluffy.

Spoilers for the Exceptional Stories "Cricket, Anyone?" and "Adornment" under the cut

"Cricket, Anyone?" leads me to firmly believe that Wines used to be a Judgement before it was deposed. "A cosmic monarch." Don't know if you ever were into The Magnus Archives, but I'm still a slut for the Vast. There is just something about space that my aroace mind has always been attracted to, for lack of a better word. Imagine sitting across from a being that used to be a star. Someone who existed before your solar system. Someone who may once have forged in its heart the iron that flows through your veins and gives you life. The attention of something billions of years old, something unfathomable, focused entirely on you.

I'll pause it there before we go too deep down that rabbit hole. I'm planning to write a fic about Wines once I muster up the constitution and will be exploring these thoughts in more detail.

Finally, a headcanon that I just find funny. In "Adornment," Stones refers to itself as "the merchant prince," and in "Cricket, Anyone?" Wines refers to itself as "the merchant king." This leads me to headcanon that Wines was the Judgement that Stones was imprisoned by. Just imagine you used to be a CEO before getting caught for fraud, and now the only job you can get is for a shady publishing company, and on your first day of work you find out that one of your fellow board members used to work for you and you fired them for embezzlement. Isn't that the most hilarious situation. The Bazaar is space's most tragic circus and the Masters are its biggest of clowns.

#thanks for the ask #fallen london #wines is terrible and i love to torment it so so much #but also i'm a little bit gay for space #don't even look at me when i finally post that fic #fl spoilers #es spoilers #headcanons

[cutebutalsostabby]

TotK Theory: the Triforce

MASSIVE TOTK SPOILER WARNING. AS IN END-GAME SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

I was thinking about how the Triforce is conspicuously absent in TotK, especially considering the previous backstory for Rauru, the Sage of Light from Ocarina of Time, and I came up with a theory.

The previous lore per OoT and Hyrule Historia was that Rauru built the Temple of Time and its corresponding Temple of Light around the sole entrance to the Sacred Realm and then sealed himself inside, along with the Triforce and the Master Sword. The reason why this didn't happen in TotK's timeline was that Zelda brought the Triforce back with her.

While BotW didn't have much focus on the Triforce either, its mark appeared on Zelda's hand when she used her "sealing power" against the guardians and then against Ganon, which I'm interpreting as her possessing the entire Triforce, not just part of it. There's some precedence for this: during the Golden Era prior to Zelda I, the Royal Family wielded the entire Triforce and passed it down their bloodline alongside the crown. There's also some precedence for what happens when the Triforce is taken backwards in time - in the form of Twilight Princess' "divine prank", where OoT!Link takes the Triforce of Courage back with him, causing the Triforce of that era, which should have still been sealed away within the Sacred Realm, to instead split into three pieces, one remaining with Link and the others going to Zelda and Ganondorf. Zelda Dungeon has a more detailed explanation and a pretty diagram of this event. By that same logic, the Zelda that went back in time bearing the full Triforce of her own era gained the full Triforce of the new era she arrived in, effectively causing it to disappear - and causing a timeline split for good measure.

As for why she doesn't just use the Triforce to wish Ganondorf out of existence: at the end of BotW, Zelda mentions that her power seems to have dwindled. It could just be that she doesn't know how to use it (plausible), or it could be either that the Triforce itself has weakened over time or that there's a sort of "hibernation" period in between uses, which could have had an effect on the version of the Triforce she has within the TotK past era. That's arguably a good thing (for Zelda, at least), since otherwise Ganondorf might've focused harder on stealing the Triforce from Zelda rather than stealing the secret stone from Sonia. Or just stealing both for funsies.

I also theorise that Zelda becoming the Light Dragon was what caused her to LOSE the Triforce, thus allowing her future self to eventually inherit it. Either because a) she no longer possessed a heart/spirit capable of wielding it, or b) per Skyward Sword's explanation: gods can't wield the power of the Triforce, and she effectively turned herself into one. So at that point, the Triforce separates from her and presumably gets picked up by Rauru and Sonia's offscreen offspring, who then pass it on from parent to child in secret all the way to BotW!Zelda's era. Or, alternatively, if we want to throw Minish Cap into that new timeline (because why not): then the Triforce becomes known as the "Light Force", which gets carried down from the heavens by the Hero of Men and then passed into the hands of the Royal Family. And idk: Four Sword Adventures can hang out with them as well. And the CDI games too, if they want.

Meanwhile in that other timeline: presumably Sonia doesn't die, since Zelda isn't around for Ganondorf to copy and use as a distraction. They also potentially have the Triforce on their side, along with whatever the "Light Spirits" are in that era, if you interpret Ganondorf's forces as being the "Dark Interlopers" from Twilight Princess (may or may not work). In any case: the newly formed Royal Family wins the war, and eventually Rauru decides to seal himself away inside the Sacred Realm. And so on and so forth, as per the existing Zelda timeline, albeit with a new branch for TotK and BotW.

That's my theory, anyway. What do you think?

#totk spoilers #tears of the kingdom #totk theory #zelda theory #zelda timeline #actual end game spoilers don't say I didn't warn you

[heliotrope-journey]

Darkness Continues to Loom After All Saints' Day

Good evening, vampire hunters.

The boys' hike to Baudelaire City in the twilight takes them through the alluring ruins where Frederick and Eforie found Clément looking around for scrolls in their childhoods. Our heroes were fortunate back then, but with only the full moon to illuminate the night sky, Frederick and his confidante, Sidiyq Qadim, must be ready to knock down any bat that lunges at them. Even the blink of an eye can leave an unsuspecting traveler with a bite mark on their neck. Many bites from vampire bats do not cause vampirism, but since they are under direct orders from Dracula to bequeath this curse to Frederick, it's hard to tell if the silhouette of a bat is a harmless. It's best for Stellaluna to say clear of their path for tonight. *shudders.*

Now fast-forward to Treyton's era and he's still dealing with the three solomonari-in-training vying to take Vlad the Impaler's place as the Dark Lord. He and his new friends have nearly lost the Philosopher's Stone to Hedi in last year's chapter. She is close to claiming it from the restrained Treyton and the vacant position will soon be hers. The boy's quiet defiance will not save him, but at this point, what can? Will this be the beginning of a new Dark Age? Read this year's chapter to find out. Photo by Jaakko Kemppainen on Unsplash.

Index of Treyton's All Saints' Day Quest for Readers That Aren't Caught Up;

Chapter 1 (2020), Chapter 2 (2021), Chapter 3 (2022)

Treyton swung his sword at three cherubs charging at him. The impact caused them to fly backwards and break in half upon colliding with a column. “Three less to worry about.” He turns around to see six more coming toward him. He throws an energy sphere at one and slices another three in half with his sword, though the remaining two dodged his attacks. Treyton aims his sword at them and takes a step back. Before he could strike, a third cherub grabbed his shirt from behind him. Treyton scarcely had time to react. The other two grabbed his arms immediately, delighting Hedi. “You made a bold mistake thinking you could survive that swarm and not break a sweat.” She approached him and pointed her dagger at his chest. “Last chance to fork over the stone before your bones turn to ashes.” Fearful for his life yet refusing to surrender, Treyton closed his eyes and said nothing. “So this is how it will end.” Hedi crossed her arms. “A starving boy too weak to continue. It’d be kind of me to leave you here for dead, but I wouldn’t have my stone.” She raises her dagger toward Treyton’s heart, but before she could stab him, brown, withered-colored vines materialized from the floor, tangling her up. A teenage girl with spiky hair and a purple pinafore dress dashed toward Treyton and sliced the cherubs restraining him in half. She helped the boy off the floor, gave Hedi a defiant glare, and enchanted the vines to cover her eyes. The girl quickly escorted Treyton back into the hallway. Hedi’s muffled screams filled the room as she struggled to cleave the vines from her body.

“The boys you were with ran into that room.” The purple-clothed girl told Treyton.  “We can hide in here.” “We didn’t defeat her, though.” He sounded confused. “We can’t walk away until we kill our enemy.” “Slaying a novice solomonari is not as simple as it looks for an average vampire hunter.” The girl responded. “Catching her off-guard gave us a head start to flee. It didn’t guarantee your victory.” Treyton looked away from her and walked toward the door. The girl opened it for him, but without a word, he stepped inside the room. She followed him before closing the door behind her. Treyton was greeted by Mitica drinking from a golden chalice. Miron put his hand on his shoulder as if to comfort him from something painful. “What are you guys drinking?” Treyton looked cross. “Am I interrupting something?” Miron looked guilt-ridden while Mitica walked toward Treyton and gave him a long hug. “It’s just a Roy Rogers, kiddo.” He smiled. “I’m okay, but I’m glad you’re safe too. We thought that the witch killed you.” “So you decided to drink flavored soda from a fancy cup to numb the fact you’d miss me?” Treyton raised an eyebrow and lightly chuckled. “Yeah, pretty much.” Mitica smiled back at him. “That was the only cup I could find in the room. Treyton’s smile widened and pats his back. The embrace was interrupted by the sound of the purple-clothed girl locking the door.

“I’m sorry for coming out of the blue like this.” She said. “I couldn’t bear to see the solomonari-in-training shove her blade deep into the redhead boy’s heart.” “We were fine before.” Treyton gruffed. “Turning the cherubs into rubble is good exercise for me.” “I sure am glad one of us had fun in that chamber.” Mitica panted. “We should’ve known the solomonari would beat us to that chamber.” The purple-clothed hair girl tightened the lock and muttered a sentence in Enochian that caused it to vanish. The boys pointed their weapons at her, assuming she had trapped them in the altar room. “You’re alright.” She assured them. “I bought us time. A locked door will draw suspicion.” “Then I assume you know the way out.” Treyton curtly responded. “You aren’t lying, young man.” The purple-clothed girl took out a mahogany-colored pouch and approached the boys. “I’ve been exploring this chapel every opportunity I could get for centuries. But before I show you, you’ll need your strength should that wench and her schoolmates show their faces once more.” She held out her palm and shook her pouch. Three pieces of candy wrapped in red and yellow-striped paper fell into her hand. “Like one?” “I can’t eat sweets.” Miron solemnly told the girl. “The sugar might weaken my senses.” “I understand your discomfort. Don’t worry.” She handed the young vampire a piece. “They’re made with human blood. The taste is not ideal even for me, but some of us learn to make the best out of anything we can get our hands on.” She awkwardly smiles as Miron sucks on the piece. He slightly smiles back at her, but Treyton and Mitica made faces when they tasted theirs. Treyton was particularly disgusted by the taste. The girl lets out a relieved sigh. “That went well…” She mutters.

“Say, your manners are lacking.” Treyton continued making faces as he sucked on his piece. “You never told us your name.” “I can argue the same about your gratitude. You didn’t say thank you, but I’ll bite.” The girl frowns. “I’m Amanda, a harvest witch and candy extraordinaire. I can brew batches of chocolate that can give an eccentric top-hatted entrepreneur a run for his money. I can build a house to reel in unsuspecting kids like a drunkard hunter to a mug of beer. I can flavor cakes with herbs to change small children into animals to give them a better life. I have a lot of time on my hands, but the targets on your back have cut it short this year. You’re carrying a dangerous object that made these kids see fit to stalk you. Would you care to tell me why?” “The elixir of life curbs my friend’s blood lust without turning on an innocent life.” Mitica answered. “I keep a philosopher’s stone with me so I can keep brewing him that potion. He keeps his paranormal abilities without succumbing to his bestial urges.” “I’m surprised the elixir provides your vampiric companion that benefit.” Amanda examines the votive holders on the altar. “It’s only supposed to work on creatures that are still alive.” “At least, I don’t look like some skeletal-looking old man like mortals that abuse the elixir do.” Miron swallowed his piece. “To a creature of the night, it works just like ambrosia.” “How often would you need to drink it compared to a mortal?” Amanda takes a tall candle and shakes her head before putting it back. “Dusty old men need to drink it eight times a day.” Miron approached her. “If I’m not exposed to the sun, I need it just once a week.” “Anything to delay Azrael for another hour.” Amanda replied dismissively and took another candle.

Treyton looked at her curiously and approached her. “Do you rely on the elixir yourself?” He brashly asked her. “You’re young enough to be my older sister and you implied you know every nook and cranny of the chapel after centuries of looking around. Why aren’t you a walking skeleton?” Amanda looked more annoyed at Treyton than she did when she handed him his candy. “If you’re going to be a son of a bitch to me, I won’t save your skin next time the solomonaris-in-training have you at their mercy.” She glanced at him. “I didn’t have to get involved! I care about people and the world. I’m only allowed one month a year up here and this is how you tell me you’re grateful? It’s like you were raised by priests.” She turned back around and put the candle back. Treyton got up, but Mitica put his hand on his chest to indicate that he said enough. “If you’re the only one that can help us, we’ll keep him from doing and saying anything brash.” He told Amanda. She closed her eyes, put the candle back, and took one at the top to examine it. “I have little patience to dwell on it, kid.” She touched the flame with her top finger. “The solomonaris-in-training will exploit these heated emotions when they get the chance to divide us. Anyone that worships the Dark Lord can understand that once they know what breaks us, they can use that piece to make us do anything they ask.” Amanda shakes her head and puts the candle back. “Some vampire hunters work alone to curb their worldly attachments. Without a heart, they can slay creatures of the night more effectively.” “Okay, we know you’ve been through something horrible.” Miron sounded uncomfortable at the thought of being alone. “We won’t pry, but know we’re with you for the remainder of the time you have left for the year.” He approached Amanda and looked at the votive holders himself. “Thank you.” She said with a hint of hurt in her tone.

“Alright, I’m sorry.” Treyton groaned. “Forget I said anything.” “It doesn’t work that way, but it’s whatever.” Amanda took a candle in a votive holder on her left. Treyton breathed his nose and sat on a broken column. “I just want to know what you’re doing here now.”

“I came to Teodosie to replenish my supply of ingredients to make more pieces of that blood-flavored candy, but when I left the farmer’s market, I saw the students chasing the two of you and I wondered why they were permitted to leave the school before their graduation.” Amanda takes an orange-colored candle from a votive holder. “I followed you without becoming a target myself, but since I intervened, that’s no longer possible. They’re going to hunt for me too and request Satan to revoke my stay here.” “So why is our predicament with the Solomonaris your business?” Mitica asks Amanda as he holds his hand out for another piece. “If it’s true that the Veiled Nocturne is actively looking for new leaders,” she answers. “It could mean they’re preparing for war. The Philosopher’s Stone will make whoever wields it impervious to old age and disease.” “We could still kill them, though.” Treyton clenched his fists. “Immortal or not, I’ll be the one to deliver it.” Amanda looks at him solemnly and then at the sorcerer’s stone in Mitica’s possession. “It’s true that the elixir does not grant its drinker invincibility and their bodies physically weaken as they age. Even if you send the students to hell, the Scholomance will select more candidates.” She sighed. “You will be hunted for life as long as the Philosopher’s Stone is in your possession. Crushing it to dust will ensure your safety.” “No, we can’t do that!” Mitica shouted. “Without the stone, my friend will turn into a bloodthirsty killer and I would only be prey to him.” Miron continues to look and feel uncomfortable. He takes a candle from the holder in a tight space that touched the wall and everyone heard the noise of bricks crumbling. “What is happening!?” Amanda panicked. “They’re closing in! We got to find a chest to hide in!!!” She gets inside a wooden trunk with the boys. Treyton, however, stands still. He watches as the wall behind the altar fell apart and pile up on the floor. The hole it made revealed a long, dark hallway glistened by dark blue crystal chandeliers that hang from the ceiling.

“We won’t have to hide.” He puts his hands in his pockets. “I think it might be a way out.” “Do you recognize this tunnel, Amanda?” Miron asked her when he stepped out of the trunk. “Do you trust it?” She closed her eyes and nodded. “I was looking for the candle needed to open it so yes.” She finally answered. “It will bring us to a fjord six miles from Teodosie. I can’t guarantee we can avoid the solomonaris-in-training when or if we reach the end, but they will have to return to the school. They can’t chase us continuously.” “Why do I get the feeling they won’t be the only danger we’ll be facing?” Treyton takes a candle from the votive holder to provide him with additional light. “You won’t be wrong, kid.” Amanda cautioned him. Two glowing armblades comprised of vines materialize from her back hands. “If you still have your sword, now would be a good time to arm yourself.” Treyton nodded and pulled out his sword. “These crystals contain an abundance of self-sustaining light magic. These will be useful if we encounter the solomonaris-in-training again. Why don’t you collect a few to enhance your sword?” “There won’t be much of that light if I take them from the chandeliers.” Treyton said. “I’ll have better luck searching the chests and the Beleuchten Drones.” “The mention of the presence of drones in the hallway is interesting.” Amanda softly smiled. “They have a tendency to blend in with the crystals in the chandeliers. I’d try looking up every minute. Drones are highly aggressive elementals that will attack the if you’re anywhere near them. Hesitate and you’ll go blind.” Treyton chuckled and looked at Amanda. “Don’t worry, my eyes will be just fine.” He smiled as well. “I just noticed your manners are lacking too.” Amanda walked ahead. “You never told me your name after I told you mine.” “It’s Treyton.” He followed her. “Is all forgiven between us?” “I’ll let you know when you get there.” Amanda turned around. “You didn’t think that your promise to take my advice will absolve you from calling me a walking skeleton, do you?” “We’ll be leaving two of them behind.” Treyton sighed through his nose. “Remember one of them has the Philosopher’s Stone.” Amanda noticed that only Miron was rushing toward her and Treyton when they stepped into the hallway. “Is your friend coming along?” She asked him. “He’s feeling a bit chilly so I took a moment to search for a drape in one of the trunks.” “You’re a good vampire.” Amanda reassured him. “And don’t feel bad about him calling you a bloodthirsty killer. I’ve known quite a few that retained their humanities without the stone.” “It’s not that I’m worried about, but it’s best not to think about it now.” Miron looked toward Mitica. “The solomonari bitch might have heard the bricks falling. I can’t wait any longer.” “That’s good to hear, Miron.” Treyton shrugged with a smile. “We were just about to explore that hallway. Come on.” Miron followed him and Amanda down the hallway. Mitica shivered and covered his body in the drape Miron handed him. He touched the back of his hand to warm his hand up for a bit and proceed to follow his friends down the hallway. Newly craved bricks materialized from the ground and covered the hole. The altar room was empty once more.

Thank you for playing the games and supporting the series as always. We'll be back later this week for a Thanksgiving update. :)

Sincerely,

WN

#twilight photos #full moon #game maker #the heliotrope chronicles #chapter 4 #pixel art #screenshots #dracula's curse #vampire killer #all saints day #amanda #happy halloween #halloween 2023 #treyton #friendship #dark storytelling #jack o lantern #candies #scholomance #artists on tumblr #game dev #kawaiipixelarts #chubbo #witchcraft #backstory #character creation #architecture #gothic cathedral #something wicked this way comes #philosopher's stone

[joshuahyslop]

BOOKS

The last 10 books I’ve read:

1. Hallelujah Anyway - Anne Lamott This book should have actually been in the last list of books I’ve read, but I missed it. I’m a bit scatterbrained sometimes, so I keep lists. I have several different lists of “books I’ve read” to try and keep track of where I’m at. Needless to say, I sometimes forget to update one (or more) of the lists and then forget which one is most up-to-date. Anyway. I read this recently, too. I loved her book, “Bird by Bird” but I read it ages ago, when I was at a very different place in my life, spiritually. I forgot that she was so religious and, therefore, found this a little tedious. It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t arrive in my life at the right time like, “Bird by Bird” did. Also, there’s a fantastic album by Hiss Golden Messenger called “Hallelujah Anyhow” and that also got me interested in this book. MC Taylor has recommended books to me in the past and, though he didn’t recommend this one, I wondered if there would be some kind of connection between the two. I didn’t find one.

2. Porno - Irvine Welsh There it is. I finished the sequel. I think if I’d read Trainspotting when it first came out I would’ve been far more interested in reuniting with the cast, but as I went directly from book one to book two, I found it a bit boring. The characters are all pretty well put together and the writing is still good. It’s just the storyline itself that didn’t intrigue me. Simon, aka, “Sick Boy” is now the owner of a sketchy club and decides to try to make a porno film in his establishment to try and go as legitimate as possible. All the other characters kind of play into it, but it’s not as engaging or interesting as the first book. Also, Irvine Welsh’s attempt at writing female characters was, in my opinion, pretty lacking. It wasn’t my favourite but I’ll be speaking on and off in a thick Glaswegian accent for the next while.

3. Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Webber and Rolling Stone Magazine - Joe Hagan I’ve always been curious about Rolling Stone magazine. I remember watching Almost Famous for the first time when I was around 17 and falling absolutely in love with the music and that specific time period. I’ve been inspired by that era for a long time and Jann Webber (as a character and the actual person) have small cameos in the film. I remember listening to The Cover of The Rolling Stone by Dr. Hook when I was a teen and dreaming of gracing its cover myself one day. I was always curious why Rolling Stone Magazine existed at the same time as The Rolling Stones and if there was a connection and, it turns out, there really was. I won’t spoil it for you but I was really disappointed. The book itself is well written and engaging but Jann Webber seems to be a very narcissistic power hungry person who had no problem throwing family and friends under the bus if it meant even a smidge more celebrity or power or money for himself. In the same way, it seems he used the magazine as his social club and it was mainly a way for him to become some kind of self-elected gatekeeper of fame. Kind of sad, really.

4. Under the Banner of Heaven - Jon Krakauer I’ve read a bunch of books by Jon Krakauer and I’ve enjoyed them all. Into The Wild, Into Thin Air, etc. They’re captivating books and they’re always very well researched. I was very interested in this book because it’s a true crime story and one of the reviews on the back compared it to “In Cold Blood” by Capote - another true crime story that I was also captivated by. Without really knowing what it was, I bought it from my local used bookstore and dove in. It’s kind of two books in one. Book one deals with a grisly murder committed by two brothers in the 80′s, and the Mormon fanaticism that they embraced which lead them to commit such a heinous crime. Book two explains the history of the Mormon religion. It’s a fascinating look at human nature, at religion, at fanaticism and at the evils that can be committed in god’s name. Not at all a read for the easily disturbed, but a fascinating book if true crime is your cup of tea.

5. Black Wings Has My Angel - Elliott Chase I have a very long list of books on my “to read” list. In fact, I have several “to read” lists scrawled in many different places: on my computer, in a journal, on the back of a receipt, kind of everywhere. I don’t remember where I heard of this book, but I know it was on more than one of my lists. I took a trip over to Vancouver a week ago to do some recording and while I was there I stopped at one of my favourite bookstores and asked one of the clerks for some recommendations similar to Hard Rain Falling and Fat City - both of which I’d read (and loved) after they’d been recommended by the same clerk previously. He grabbed several books and I saw this one in the pile and called it out with excitement. It’s been out of print for a long time but the good folks at New York Review Books have recently reprinted it. I read it in a day and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

6. A Good Man Is Hard To Find - Flannery O’Connor Flannery O’Connor was a fantastic writer. That said, it can be tremendously hard to read her stuff. It’s not how gritty and bleak things are in her stories; it’s not the seemingly infinite amount of unhappy endings, it’s the racism. It’s interesting because she was a highly religious person but her stories and her characters are often non-believers or hypocrites. It’s like she was able to be one thing in life but then able to write from a separate, if not opposite stance. She points out religion’s and society’s flaws and makes you question their motives. She points to the unbelievability of religion and the narrow-mindedness that so often goes hand in hand with a religious outlook. For that, I love her stuff. However, the same cannot be said of her views and her writing on race. The blatant racism in her work mirrors her own personal outlook and it is very hard to get past. And I don’t think it’s appropriate to try to just, “get past” it. You can’t sweep it under the rug. I think it’s important to acknowledge, even though it’s uncomfortable, the two sides to this particular coin. She was a great writer, of that there is no doubt. She was also an avid racist. There’s no doubt there either. But I do think it’s possible to simultaneously hold these two facts and enjoy the art while condemning the artists viewpoint, morals, humanity, language, etc. It requires reading with a critical eye. It means reading things you know you will disagree with, but I would argue that there is great benefit in doing so. Not only can it help you deepen your own understanding of why you believe what you believe, it can also help strengthen your conviction and your grasp of the world and of humanity and of its flaws. For a much better, far more articulate view on O’Connor’s racism in her writing, check out this article from the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/06/22/how-racist-was-flannery-oconnor

7. In A Lonely Place - Dorothy B. Hughes This was another book in the pile of recommendations from my favourite bookstore. I also read this in one sitting. I’d never heard of it before but it’s fantastic. It’s a fictional story about a murderer in the LA area and from the beginning to the end it’s an exciting read. It’s one of those books that are hard to put down. It’s under 200 pages but it’s a great cat and mouse story. At times, the main characters relationship reminded me a bit of Raskolnikov and the detective from Crime and Punishment. It’s all a game of words. I really enjoyed this one.

8. Why I Am Not A Christian- Bertrand Russell This is a book of essays and some are far more interesting than others. I thoroughly enjoyed the title essay, but essays such as “The Fate of Thomas Paine” were less enjoyable. I’d never read anything by Russell before this. I wasn’t really even aware of him. But, in reading Jon Krakauer’s book, “Under The Banner of Heaven”, I was moved by some of the quotation’s he’d used as introductions to his chapters. More than one quote from this particular book of essay’s was employed. So I picked it up and dove in. It reminded me of Christopher Hitchens’, “God Is Not Great”. It’s clear that essays and philosophers like Russell, if not Russell himself, had a large impact on people like Hitchens and I, for one, am thankful for that. Regardless of where you fall on the pro/anti-religion argument, this is a good book to read. It’s always good to reflect and deepen your understanding of what you do or do not believe and why. Books like this can certainly help to achieve that.

9. The Great Spring - Natalie Goldberg I’ve read a few books by Natalie Goldberg before. I often find that I really enjoy her writing but she comes across as quite cold and even, at points, rude to others. Not all the time, but often enough that it stands out. Still, writers don’t have to be friendly. They don’t have to be anything at all, besides human, I suppose and not all humans are always friendly. It’s beside the point. I like her style and I like her writing so, that’s that.

10. The Innocent Man - John Grisham I might be on a bit of a true crime kick. Under the Banner of Heaven got me into it, I think. This is an absolutely crazy story. After reading it I discovered there’s actually a Netflix docuseries about it. I haven’t checked it out yet. I think I will, but if it stays close to the book it’ll be hard to watch. Not only because of the heinous crimes committed but also because of the complete lack of justice served. It’s a captivating story and at times it’s hard to believe it’s true.

more soon, -joshua

[wilsonthemoose]

Thursday's Child

(Stanford Era) ~1400 words, Sam/Jess. (Link to Ao3)

He's almost normal, for a while.

Okay so maybe he's never been quite normal.

Maybe he plays card games and laughs in the middle of the circle and maybe he holds himself still when his elbow rubs against the person next to him, huddled as they are in the back benches of the class in the introductory lecture when the professor hasn't shown up yet. Maybe he wins and shrugs and feels out of place. Maybe he thinks it takes time and he'll belong here one of these days.

Okay so maybe he knows he's full of shit.

(Funny isn't it when life knocks the rose-tinted glasses off your face?)

_

Unreasonable, how much you miss something you swore you hated.

The rumble of the car, the legos knocking around in the vents. Back country roads and a sheaf of maps sprawled on the tables.

His father.

Diners, the same in every town and slightly different each time they walked through a door. How it didn't matter all that much that no one liked him at that one school in Des Moines or that he wrote too much of himself into the essay in fourth grade. How every new town was a place to exist for a few weeks before leaving and hitting the road with news channels distorted on their radio or AC/DC loud in the speakers.

Dean's music.

He gets a walkman and a couple of cassettes and can't listen to a full song, stops trying.

_

She wears her hair loose, it curls around her neck and stands out golden against his canvas jackets when he forgets to brush the stray strands off his clothes.

He sells his bicycle to buy her a lamp the first time she invites him to a birthday. She cries, two years later, when it breaks.

It scares him sometimes, how she cries out in pain when she cuts herself chopping spring onions for soup and how tears spring to her eyes when she needs stitches for a small cut on the back of her arm.

He never knows what to say, scared of insensitivity and his brother's brand of brusque comfort. Sometimes she looks at him like she's wondering if he even cares at all and he lifts his chin like he's sure of himself and says "It'll be okay."

He never knows why she sticks around.

When she tells him he'll crash and burn without her, he nods affirmation and knocks on wood. It makes her laugh because she doesn't know.

It scares him, all the time, how much he's got that he could lose. How she doesn't know how to protect herself from all the things out there in the wide world. He carves a rune into a pendant and conceals it behind a mood-stone for her and he never has to ask her to wear it.

"Why do you keep so much salt?" she asks, balancing on her tippy-toes on a stool, leaning into the cupboard over the counter, tossing a can of salt in the air like a cocktail shaker. He tells her a half-truth about how, as a kid, he'd make ice-cream out of milk, cereal, and marshmallow with ice from the ice machine. "Salt melts the ice," he says, "It chills faster."

"Here," he says and grabs the salt out of the air before she catches it again. He mixes a bowl of coffee flavoured ice-cream, worse than he remembered and better than he hoped.

Does it say something about them? That he lies all the time about his life and she lets him. That she says she'll never be her mother and he sets a framed photograph of his own parents on a corner table in their apartment as if he'd like to be his father.

_

He's a freak, a loner with a scholarship, a great GPA, and a shitty wardrobe but he's sincere and maybe that counts for something because there are people who let him hang around.

Brady who copies off his notes and complains about the way Sam writes ts and hs. Rebecca who changed her major twice and misses her family almost as much as he does.

He never stops feeling like if he stood up to throw his cup away and never came back, no one would notice.

Too much sun in California. Too many people who know him by name. He still trips over it sometimes.

He makes spare change making fake IDs, makes up stories for what he's doing over Christmas, where he's going in the summer, picks up jobs on campus and off; shoots pool, sometimes, just for the nostalgia. He doesn't need to hustle to win anyway.

When she introduces them, her father calls him son.

It's probably a catch-all term, used indiscriminately for delivery boys and Walmart tellers. He hates it anyway.

_

It's a good life. She makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world and manages to burn the milk every morning without fail (coffee starts tasting off to him if the milk isn't burnt).

She always says it twice, "I love you, I love you," like he might not have paid attention to her the first time.

Maybe it starts to feel a little bit like normal, switchblade tucked into the seams of his bag and an iron poker leaning against the wall behind the fridge. Mementos on the tables and pictures on the wall, her neat little notes "Knock 'em dead xoxo" tucked into his notebooks like placeholders and in his wallet like he needs to save them. Like she wouldn't call him a dork and write him another hundred if he asked. Like she wouldn't be smiling thinking she was the luckiest girl in the world.

_

He's homesick, incurably and suffocatingly homesick. There is no home. A door thumping closed behind him on a damp-cushioned latch and a warning not to come back.

Morbidly sometimes, he reads obituaries. It's a relief, an obsession, and an itch.

Sometimes he wants to go back.

_

He studies a little too much and works a little too hard. She spends a bit too much of her parent's money, and when she's drunk, talks about her little sister almost drowning in the lake the summer they were learning to swim.

He thinks about fires and drowning and assignments and stops sleeping quite so well. She's pinned to the ceiling in his dreams every night.

He drinks a little too much and hustles a game too many and she types his essay while he flexes his bruised knuckles and holds an ice pack against his jaw. He's more amused than anything else, that she makes such a big deal of it, even when the liquor's worn off, he's a little bit off. Not entirely himself, whoever he's supposed to be.

A freak and a loner, a little too good at hustling and a little too quick on his feet. Far too good at playing a part, fitting into a decent role. Sam Winchester, son of an ever-wandering father, with an ascent coloured with Louisiana and South Dakota and all the other places he's been, a map of more near-escapes than he has a right to.

Sam Winchester, misfit wherever he goes. On the fringes, the sidelines, dead center and still out of place.

She teaches him how to tie his tie and sits with him when he's trying not to cry.

_

He dreams of his father as a young man, bloodsoaked and lifeless, his mother crying, hair curly like Jess but fierce too, like Dean.

He wonders why he cares so damn much. The closest he's ever got to her is a few pictures and a few stories. A single dream.

When Dean tells him their father's on a hunting trip and hasn't been home in a few days, he wonders if he should put more stock in his dreams.

Sunday evening with smoke in his throat, he knows he picked the wrong dream.

(Lightning too has been known to strike the same place twice.)

They call it an electrical fault.

_

Of whatever little survived the fire, he doesn't keep anything.

In another world, they might've learnt to be happy.

He'd go to law school, she'd be a doctor. He'd practice opening statements in front of the mirror, she'd learn anatomy tracing her fingers along his spine. He'd try to make her laugh, she'd try to make him forget. They'd be safe.

He just missed his brother. Wanted to find his Dad.

#sam x jess #sam winchester fic #supernatural fic #jessica moore #pre series #canonical character death #fic #Fic tag

[pixilator]

Update, Late March 2023 [ORIGINALLY POSTED MARCH 27 2023]

This is the latest major update for the comic of Amaranth.

Crossposted to r/amaranth_comic and amaranth-comic.deviantart.com.

❦

Welcome to the fifth update! Sorry I didn’t post in a while…

–

>worldbuilding

-The military schooling system has been fleshed out somewhat. It’s still sort of iffy, but for now it works.

-The basic world history has been written, and the same goes for the history of the primary nation! Granted it’s all sort of skeletal, but all the big important stuff is in there, like the industrial revolution [known as the Golden Era in the story]

-Ok, now for the secret worldbuilding stuff or whatever I called it. #1 has been written down and I’ve got a few documents dedicated to it now. Right now I’m sort of at a wall with it, so I’ve expanded #3. #3’s previous overhaul was pretty extensive, and #2’s sort of like a parallel to it – again, I’ve expanded #2.

–

>characters

-Changed Elwood’s name to Adrian! He’s no longer English, so I had to find a good Latin name for him.

–

>MAYHEM:

Her backstory is generally finished.

Her personality is generally finished.

Her design is generally finished.

Relationships are very basic right now.

–

>HESTIA

Her backstory is generally finished.

Her personality is… half finished? I suppose. I’d like to work on it more though.

Working on her new design now. It’s not as memorable as I’d like though, so I’m not satisfied yet. I’ll continue to work on it until I’m happy.

Relationships are very basic right now.

–

>FLAVIUS

His design is generally finished.

I’ve got a skeleton backstory that I’ll be fleshing out soon.

His personality is there but still needs more work. I’m satisfied with the base version.

Relationships are very basic right now.

–

>PEPPER

His backstory is generally finished.

His personality is half-finished.

Working on his new design now. Like Hestia, his design isn’t very memorable, so I’m still not satisfied.

Relationships are very basic right now.

I was thinking if I mess with his health it’d be interesting, but I’ve decided against it.

–

>ADRIAN

Needs a design.

Currently no backstory as of yet.

I have an idea for a personality… but I’m still playing with it.

Need to create relationships.

–

>DRAGON

I said I’d put him on the backburner… well, I’ve decided to bring him back! Yes, Dragon is back in business. He’ll be for cute or comedic relief, I guess.

–

>spreadsheets

-Mayhem’s spreadsheet is generally finished.

-Hestia’s spreadsheet is generally finished, but I still have to figure out the details of her personality.

-Flavius’ spreadsheet exists in a skeletal format.

-Pepper’s spreadsheet is generally finished, but I still have to figure out the details of his personality.

-Adrian’s spreadsheet… still doesn’t exist.

-Dragon doesn’t really need a spreadsheet. He’s already perfect.

-Worldbuilding spreadsheets! I’ve got one on the history of the world, the military, and all three secret stuff. Gonna see what else I can do… –

>main plot

-Mayhem’s now got a new introduction. I think it’s pretty cool, so I’m going to keep it for now.

-Figured out when and how to introduce each character. Flavius will be introduced at the same time as Hestia. Adrian finally has an introduction too.

>side plot

-There’s a side plot for each character, though I don’t know if they’ll change later. I also want to have character arcs for all of them – it’d be so much work, but I think it’d be so fun!

>subplot

-Ok, so I’ve found some willing guinea pigs for the romantic subplot! No, Mayhem isn’t one of them! Thank me later. -I’ll be playing around with the idea of a romance between the two characters and see if I like the dynamic. With how a romance can completely hijack a story, I’ll keep it playing, I don’t know, 7th oboe to literally everything else. I’ll try to keep it realistic and not quite romance-novel-y. It’s not set in stone, so I might just throw it away later.

-One thing I’ve noticed is that the genre of romance I’ve chosen is usually very violent – slow burn/UST/will-they-won’t-they – so I’ve decided to make it fluffy and wholesome instead. But, of course, there will obviously be an inability to spit it out!

–

>actual work

-I’ve been looking at paper for comic stuff, and I don’t have any paper thick enough for my taste. So I’ll get some and practice!

-The 80’s style is still the main idea here. I’ve decided that for the more serious parts of the story it’ll be drawn realistically.

-Paint is cool and all, but I’ve got a whole bunch of coloured pencils. I’m going to try with that instead and ink over them.

❦

Blergh. I’m sorry there’s not much to report this time.

Pixilator

#amaranth comic #amaranth update #amaranth update march '23 #pixilator

[melbourneassets]

Seaside Bliss: St Kilda Beach – Melbourne's Coastal Haven

Nestled along the picturesque shores of Port Phillip Bay, St Kilda Beach stands as a testament to Melbourne's coastal beauty, offering locals and visitors alike a haven of seaside bliss. With its golden sands, vibrant atmosphere, and iconic landmarks, St Kilda Beach is a must-visit destination for those seeking a perfect blend of relaxation and excitement.

A Coastal Escape in the Heart of Melbourne

While Melbourne is renowned for its dynamic cityscape, St Kilda Beach provides a refreshing escape just a stone's throw away from the urban hustle. As you approach the beach, the city's skyline serves as a breathtaking backdrop, creating a seamless fusion of metropolitan energy and coastal tranquility.

St Kilda Beach is easily accessible, making it a popular choice for those in search of a quick getaway. Whether you're a local looking for a weekend retreat or a tourist exploring Melbourne's gems, the beach welcomes all with open arms and the soothing sound of lapping waves.

The beach boasts a stretch of golden sands that invite visitors to kick off their shoes and immerse themselves in the fine grains beneath their feet. The inviting waters of Port Phillip Bay gently lap against the shore, creating a serene ambiance that washes away the stresses of everyday life.

The water at St Kilda Beach is suitable for various activities, from a leisurely swim to more adventurous water sports. During the summer months, the beach comes alive with sunbathers, swimmers, and kite surfers taking advantage of the bay's favorable conditions. Families build sandcastles, and friends enjoy beach picnics, creating a vibrant tapestry of seaside joy.

Iconic Landmarks and Seaside Attractions

St Kilda Beach is not just about sun and sand; it's a destination rich in history and culture. The iconic St Kilda Pier stretches out into the bay, offering panoramic views of the coastline and serving as a popular spot for fishing enthusiasts. At the end of the pier, the historic St Kilda Pavilion stands tall, a Victorian-era structure that adds a touch of elegance to the seaside landscape.

Luna Park, with its distinctive entrance featuring a grinning face, is another St Kilda landmark that captures the spirit of fun and nostalgia. This historic amusement park has been entertaining visitors since 1912, offering rides, games, and a lively atmosphere that makes it a must-visit destination for families and thrill-seekers alike.

Sunsets and Strolls: The Perfect Pairing

As the day winds down, St Kilda Beach becomes a prime location to witness Melbourne's stunning sunsets. The sky transforms into a canvas of warm hues, casting a golden glow over the bay. Locals and visitors gather along the shoreline or take leisurely strolls along the boardwalk to savor the breathtaking views.

The palm-lined Esplanade, running parallel to the beach, is dotted with trendy cafes, bars, and restaurants. This lively strip offers the perfect setting to enjoy a seaside meal or sip on a refreshing drink while basking in the coastal atmosphere. The combination of vibrant nightlife and the soothing sound of waves crashing against the shore creates a unique and unforgettable experience.

Preserving the Coastal Ecosystem

Beyond its recreational offerings, St Kilda Beach is also committed to preserving its natural beauty. Environmental initiatives and community efforts contribute to the conservation of the coastal ecosystem, ensuring that future generations can continue to enjoy the seaside haven.

From beach clean-up initiatives to educational programs on marine conservation, St Kilda Beach actively engages the community in efforts to protect its delicate ecosystem. These initiatives add a layer of responsibility and sustainability to the beach experience, reminding visitors of the importance of preserving the natural wonders that St Kilda Beach has to offer.

In Conclusion

St Kilda Beach stands as Melbourne's coastal haven, a place where seaside bliss and urban energy coexist harmoniously. From the golden sands to the iconic landmarks, every aspect of this coastal gem contributes to a vibrant and unforgettable experience. Whether you're seeking relaxation, adventure, or a bit of both, St Kilda Beach invites you to indulge in the magic of its seaside bliss. So, kick off your shoes, feel the sand between your toes, and let the waves of St Kilda Beach wash away your cares as you embrace the coastal haven in the heart of Melbourne.

Local Business Profile

AAA Plantation Shutters Online

30 Brunton Ave, 

Caroline Springs VIC 3023

[phone]

Experience the beauty of Melbourne Plantation Shutters – where style meets versatility. Elevate your space today and schedule a consultation with our experts for a customized solution that perfectly complements your lifestyle. Embrace the sophistication of Melbourne living with our premium plantation shutters – your home, redefined.

About us:

At AAA Plantation Shutters Online, we are more than just a window treatment company; we are your partners in enhancing the aesthetics, privacy, and energy efficiency of your living spaces. With years of expertise in the industry, we take pride in offering top-notch

#australia #melbourne #beach #st kilda #travel #business

[aghotel]

The Milestone Hotel guide: Best day trips from Peterborough

If you find yourself in the charming city of Peterborough, you are in for a treat. This quaint city in Cambridgeshire offers not only its own unique allure but also serves as a perfect starting point for exploring the beauty that surrounds it. Join us as we embark on the best day trips from Peterborough to nearby towns and natural wonders that will leave you awe-inspired. Whether you prefer a coastal adventure, city exploration, or a journey through historical and cultural sites, our Peterborough guide has it all.

NEARBY CITIES

Cambridge: A mere stone’s throw away from Peterborough, Cambridge is a perfect city to visit, boasting picturesque charm and a prestigious university. Witness the architectural splendour of historic colleges, enjoy punting along the tranquil River Cam, and visit the renowned Fitzwilliam Museum.

Leicester: A short drive or train ride away, Leicester offers a fascinating journey into history and culture. Discover the story of King Richard III at the visitor centre and explore the vibrant Golden Mile, reflecting the city’s multicultural heritage.

London: Surprisingly accessible from Peterborough, London is a short drive down the A1 or a quick 50-minute train ride to King’s Cross station. The capital offers endless activities and attractions, from West End shows and world-class museums to diverse culinary experiences.

Nottingham: Nottingham is an ideal day trip destination for history enthusiasts and shoppers alike. Explore the legend of Robin Hood through visits to Nottingham Castle and the bustling city centre.

HISTORIC AND CULTURAL PLACES

Burghley House: Indulge in history and grandeur with a visit to Burghley House, a splendid Elizabethan mansion near Stamford. Explore the dazzling rooms and halls and wander the vast estate grounds.

Sandringham Estate: A visit to Sandringham Estate offers a glimpse into royal family history and a memorable day out. Tour the house to learn about the royal family’s connection to this fantastic retreat and enjoy leisurely walks in the expansive gardens.

NEARBY COASTS

Hunstanton: Head east to Hunstanton on the Norfolk coast for a refreshing coastal retreat. Enjoy fun-filled arcades in New Hunstanton or unwind in the serene ambience of Old Hunstanton, home to one of Norfolk’s finest beaches.

Skegness: Along the Lincolnshire coast, Skegness epitomizes traditional British seaside charm. Delight in amusement park rides, build sandcastles on the golden beach and stroll along the lively promenade with souvenir shops and cafes.

COUNTRYSIDE

Peak District: A scenic two to three-hour drive away, the Peak District showcases stunning natural beauty with its peaks, hills, and rivers. Whether you opt for a scenic hike or a visit to picturesque towns like Bakewell, a day at Peak District is one the best day trips from Peterborough.

Lincolnshire Wolds: Closer to Peterborough than the Peak District, the Lincolnshire Wolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, offers rolling hills and panoramic vistas, making it an ideal retreat for nature lovers, hikers, and cyclists.

A FUN DAY OUT

Rutland Water: Not far from Peterborough, Rutland Water, the largest man-made lake in England, provides a range of watersports and outdoor activities. Whether you’re interested in cycling, walking, fishing, or birdwatching, Rutland Water has something for everyone.

Springfields Shopping Outlet: If you’re in the mood for shopping, Springfields Shopping Outlet near Spalding is a great option. Explore a variety of high-street and designer brands at discounted prices and enjoy a meal at one of the onsite eateries.

Nene Valley Railway: Experience a unique day trip with a nostalgic ride on the Nene Valley Railway. Departing near Peterborough station, this steam train journey takes you through picturesque countryside and quaint villages, offering a glimpse into a bygone era.

There you have it, fellow explorers—a glimpse into the best day trips from Peterborough that you can add to your itinerary. Whether you are interested in history, nature, academia, or simply seeking tranquillity, these nearby towns and natural wonders have something for everyone. Pack your bags, hit the road, and let the adventure unfold!

For a relaxing stay and delicious dining experience, book your stay at our 3-star hotel in Peterborough, The Milestone Hotel. The hotel is situated at Normas Cross, Junction 16 of the A1(M) and has modern amenities including Hypnos beds, free Wi-Fi, free parking, a restaurant & bar and meeting rooms. Learn more: www.aghotels.co.uk/the-milestone-hotel/

#luxury hotel #accomodation #hotels and resorts #hotel #hotellife

[nickgerlich]

Well Done

License plates in New Hampshire proudly proclaim the state slogan:”Live Free Or Die.” It’s a great call back to words written by General John Stark in 1809. With apologies to the General, I’d like to adapt it for the modern era: “Evolve Or Die.”Because if you don’t evolve, you have with great certainty hastened your early departure.

While technology has long been the fire for evolution, the pandemic was like throwing an accelerant on the flame. The time frame for your willful evolution just got shortened.And sometimes there are unlikely partnerships hatched to try to solve the problem, like with BurgerFi announcing it would start focusing on non-traditional locations, such as movie theatres.

BurgerFi has struggled in recent years. The Amarillo store closed several years ago. I rather liked going there for a veggie burger; they always had an adequate selection of craft beers to complement their offerings off the grill. That’s a powerful combination. But in a sea of other upscale burger joints, they have lost their way.

Then there are theatres, which were dealt a hard punch to the gut during the pandemic, and have never quite recovered. Sure, Barbie and Oppenheimer were a big help this last summer, but Hollywood has been slow to churn out blockbusters. The combined strikes of writers and actors this year will no doubt be felt for at least a year, because there is going to be a huge gap in new content.

Never mind all the entertainment options people now have in the streaming era. With our busy lives, it is also easy to put off going to the theatre and just wait for a movie to appear on PPV, Netflix, or the provider of your choice. Technology has long been the bane of theatres' existence, from the early days of radio and television, to cable, VHS, and DVDs, and now a plethora of streaming options.

But by putting BurgerFi locations inside theatres, a partial solution may be hammered out. Synergy, you know, is when 2+2=5, the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Some theaters have already started adding food and beverage to their usual concession items, a huge profit center. You can’t watch a movie without eating, right? So with a BurgerFi delivered straight to your seat, it’s a win for everyone.

These BurgerFis will also act as standalone units, with DoorDashers coming and going, as well as walk-ins.It’s a novel concept, and maybe it will work to everyone’s benefit. There are challenges, of course, like few movies in the first place, and intense competition among the fast-casual burger purveyors. Given that theatres are only open certain hours of the day, it raises the question of how accessible the BurgerFis will be. Still, movies and burgers typically have similar hours of operation, so the arrangement may be feasible.

Theatres, too, may benefit. They don’t have to worry about venturing into the uncharted territory of food service, and the complementarity of dinner and a movie could be golden. Be it date night or family night, being able to kill two birds with one stone may be a powerful combo.

And this will be a fun movie to watch as the evolution continues. Remember, Evolve Or Die.

Dr “Between Two Buns” Gerlich

Audio Blog

#marketing #BurgerFi #theatres #hamburgers