#DO YOU KNOW HOW HAPPY LINK MUST HAVE BEEN TO HAVE SOMEONE NOT FLEE AT HIS SIGHT

[reccyls]

Gilbert - Romantic Route Ch 24 - Premium attire story part 1

I'm sorry to split this into two parts but this is just SO LONG. This is a little under half of it and the one with most of the plot-important info.

Context and the translation below the cut. But do keep in mind that this contains big spoilers for other characters’ routes. If you aren’t caught up with the current available routes in EN (specific info on which characters also under the cut), I’d be careful.

Link to part 2 (will update when I get that posted)

Spoiler: This summary and translation contain spoilers for Luke’s and Leon’s routes

---

Context: Gilbert has revealed his ultimate plan, which is to conquer every country on the continent and wipe out the royal families of all of them. He does this by encouraging turmoil and internal conflict in those other countries, until eventually they tear themselves apart with civil war and are practically begging Obsidian to take them over to stop the violence. And the next part of his plan is to do the same to Rhodolite by encouraging Luke and the anti-monarchy faction, supplying them with more advanced guns and gunpowder so that they can kill the entire royal family and start a bloodier conflict than Bloodstained Rose Day.

Emma does not want that to happen. She tries to convince Gilbert to abandon his plan but he won’t be moved. He said that the only way to stop him would be to kill him, but she absolutely refuses. So too bad, he’ll be going along with it. However, he does leave her an opportunity to sneak out of Obsidian in order to try and stop things her way: she will be going as Obsidian’s representative to attend the official signing of the peace treaty between the four nations, and also wants a chance to speak with Luke to try and change his mind, but Gilbert will also be advancing his plans at the same time. So it’s like they’re playing a game against each other, seeing which strategy will win out.

However, do keep in mind that Gilbert’s illness has been progressing rapidly at this point and he has very little time left to live. After Emma left the castle, Gilbert summons his attendant Roderich, and tells him to meet up with Emma. He says it’s time for Roderich to do what he was raised for. As he says this, he pulls back Roderich’s ever-present hood to reveal black hair and red eyes.

Things happen and the peace treaty is signed, and Emma has managed to somewhat talk down Luke—at least long enough for Chevalier to crash the anti-monarchy faction’s hideout and send Luke and the others fleeing. Having done this, Chevalier pulls Emma away and brings her to a carriage, saying that he is doing a favor for a former friend.

And wouldn’t you know it, seated in the carriage is Gilbert himself. Someone who should absolutely not be in Rhodolite. But there he is… Only, there’s something strange about him...

---

Gilbert: How wonderful. You’re still alive.

Emma: …Prince Gilbert…?

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Gilbert was sitting in the carriage that Chevalier had pushed me towards like he belonged there. He looked healthier than he did when I had last seen him, as if he was never sick in the first place.

Gilbert: You did say it yourself, didn’t you? That you wanted me to see the success of the signing ceremony with my own eyes. Gilbert: I thought I’d surprise you.

Sitting next to Gilbert, Chevalier turned away to look out the window. He didn’t seem to have any doubts or suspicions about Gilbert’s presence.

Gilbert: How strange… I thought you’d be happier to see me.

Emma: Sorry… Emma: I was just in shock.

(It’s definitely Gilbert.) (My eyes are telling me it’s him, but…)

The happiness of our reunion, of him being here… That was all overshadowed by the vague fear and unease that I hid behind a smile.

---

Gilbert: This takes me back. How long has it been since I was in this room?

Upon our return to Rhodolite’s castle, Gilbert was treated as a guest of honor of Obsidian.

(If he’s here now, that must mean that he followed me almost immediately after I left.) (But when we parted… I don’t think he’d have been in any condition to do that.) (The reason he asked me to stand in as Acting Empress was on account of his health, after all.) (He shouldn’t have any reason to come to Rhodolite.)

Gilbert: What’s got you so silent?

Emma: …Are you really Prince Gilbert?

Gilbert: Of course I am. You’re asking strange questions, little rabbit.

(He sounds like Gilbert, down to his voice and his way of speaking…)

I gingerly reached for him, as though I was trying to grasp a phantom. But for some reason, he stepped away.

Emma: Prince Gilbert?

Gilbert: I don’t feel like it today.

(…)

-Start flashback-

Gilbert: The truth is Gilbert: I get cold easily, so I like feeling the warmth of other people.

-End flashback-

(…This isn’t him.)

I closed the gap again, and this time I didn’t hesitate as I took his hand in mine. He shook my grip off, but just that instant of contact was enough.

Emma: It’s warm…?

Gilbert: …

Emma: Who are you?

(Now that I can look at him up close, I can spot some differences. Whoever this is, he looks almost like Gilbert, but they aren’t exactly the same.)

I shifted closer to the exit, keeping my distance from the impostor so that I could run if I needed to. The breezy smile dropped from the impostor’s face. He picked up a cloth from the sofa and threw it over his body like a cloak.

(Ah!)

I recognized the face now that it was mostly shrouded by a hood.

Emma: Roderich?

Roderich: Yes. There’s no point in pretending anymore. It’s me. Roderich: I suppose deceiving those close to him is impossible after all. And I’m sure Prince Chevalier also noticed…

(He must have, and yet he still let this continue?)

I didn’t know what Chevalier was thinking, but it probably had something to do with that “promise” that he mentioned before.

(I was only able to figure it out because I had the chance to look at him up close.) (I’d never seen Roderich without his hood before. To think that they looked this similar…)

It wasn’t only their appearances. His voice, his words, his behavior and the way he moved, everything was perfect. You can’t mimic someone that perfectly from just studying them overnight. For some reason, I started growing anxious at the realization.

Roderich: I’m here because Prince Gilbert sent me to escort you. Roderich: …Please keep the fact that I’m telling you this a secret from him.

Emma: I will. Emma: But, why were you pretending to be him? Emma: If you were just here to escort me, there’s no reason to—

(…No, hold on. Maybe Roderich’s goal is just to be my guard.) (But, what about Gilbert’s?)

-Start flashback- Gilbert: As the king of a country rife with corruption and deception… Gilbert: My goal is to destroy every royal family on the continent, and release the power to rule themselves back to the common people. -End flashback-

-Start flashback- Clavis: As long as humans exist, there will always be those to abuse their power. -End flashback-

(Gilbert’s goal is going to take a long time to achieve.) (Eradicating every royal family is only one step among many.) (And there’s no way that Gilbert hasn’t taken that into account when formulating his plans…) (…)

Emma: He… Emma: He’s always planned to have you take his place, from the very beginning? Emma: So that even after his death, it’d still appear like he was alive to everyone else.

(So that “Gilbert” can see his ideal world out to the end, no matter how long it takes.) (And if Roderich stops pretending to be Gilbert after everything… then there really will be no more royalty left anywhere.)

Roderich: …

I couldn’t see Roderich’s expression, hidden beneath the hood. But for a moment, he lowered his gaze to the ground, as though he was trying to hold something back.

Roderich: …The only people who know about his low body temperature are you and Doctor Valter. Roderich: There are very few people who are willing or able to look him in the eye and speak to him, after they learn his true identity. Roderich: I thought for certain that I’d be able to keep everything hidden, but that’s obviously not the case.

(…I knew it.)

Roderich: I was originally an orphan from a military-run facility. Prince Gilbert took me in because of our physical resemblance. Roderich: He’s been ill ever since he was young. So the shadow of “the future” had always hung over him. Roderich: There was a rumor about another country’s royal family replacing their ill child with a lookalike. Roderich: I suppose Prince Gilbert used that rumor as reference for his own plans.

(So he’s been preparing for his own death in such detail…) (But he hasn’t put any thought into living.)

Emma: Is… Emma: Is he alive?

Roderich: …

Emma: He’s still alive, right?

(I’m… I’m scared of what answer I’ll get.)

Roderich: I’m sorry. I don’t know. He was alive when I left Obsidian, but… Roderich: I did not choose to pretend to be him when I left. Roderich: It was an order.

(…)

I wasn’t so stupid that I didn’t understand that Gilbert was already moving forward with his contingencies for his death.

(Even after how I told him so many times that I wanted him to live.)

Emma: I- I did my best. Emma: I kept on smiling, even though everyone started looking at me like I was an enemy. Emma: No matter how many guns were pointed at me… Emma: I have to report my successes to Prince Gilbert. Emma: So many questions to ask him… Emma: So many things I want to tell him… Emma: I don’t… I don’t want a replacement.

(No matter how alike they look, Roderich is not Gilbert.) (When I said that I wanted you to see my success with your own eyes, this wasn’t what I wanted.)

I sank to the floor, my face in my hands. I had thought that I prepared myself for this possibility when I decided to come back to Rhodolite. But confronted with the harsh reality of Gilbert truly having no desire to live, I lost all strength.

(I’ll end up causing trouble for Roderich…) (I should go. I can cry in my own room.)

As I tried to muster the strength to stand, Roderich knelt in front of me.

He looked like he didn’t know what to do himself. He tried to speak multiple times, but all that came out were empty breaths. At last, however, he began to speak.

Roderich: I’ve served Prince Gilbert ever since I was a child. Roderich: Out of everyone else who is still alive, I am proud of how I know him best.

(…Right.) (No matter how terrible I feel now, Roderich must feel worse.)

Roderich: Prince Gilbert is the kind of person who would pursue evil for the sake of the weak. Roderich: Obsidian was a country full of people who wished misfortune on others, who kicked others when they were down, who killed others, all with a smile. Among them all, Prince Gilbert… Roderich: He was the only one in the imperial family who understood others’ pain, who empathized with them, who felt anger at the injustice. Roderich: He’s killed many, trampled over them, and controlled even more… But none of that was ever for his own sake. Roderich: He’d say that he was doing everything for himself. Roderich: But he has always been, and will always continue to be, on the side of the people who seek salvation from depravity.

(I know… I know that.) (That’s why everyone said that Gilbert was like me, if I had abandoned all my principles.)

Roderich: But for the first time, he did something for his own sake, benefiting nobody but himself. Roderich: He said that he wanted to come to Rhodolite, to meet you.

(…I never knew.)

At the new information, I raised my head.

Roderich: I know that you probably don’t want to hear this, Lady Emma. Your life in Rhodolite was ruined because of his whims. Roderich: I can’t defend it myself either. Everything he’s done could only be described as evil. Roderich: I never imagined that he would go so far. Roderich: But…

Beneath his hood, a storm of emotion shook Roderich’s red gaze.

Roderich: …I was happy. Roderich: At the end of his life, he finally did something for himself… Roderich: Even if it’s just this one thing… Roderich: ... I- I’m.. I’m so sorry. All I can do is apologize to you, Lady Emma… Roderich: Doctor Valter and I… we were both so happy.

(…So that’s why even Chevalier couldn’t figure out Gilbert’s reason for coming to Rhodolite.) (No one could have imagined it.)

Who would have ever thought that the reason the scourge of the world decided to come to Rhodolite was just to meet with a commoner like me?

(Maybe he did have secondary motives and additional goals. But at the root of it, it was mainly just to see me…)

Anyone with common decency would see such an interest from the Obsidian imperial family as something sinister.

(….But I…) (It’s laughable how much trouble this has caused me, but…) (I can’t hate him.) (…No matter how much easier it would be to hate him.)

#ikemen prince #gilbert (ikepri) #my translation

[liminalpebble]

The Refugee: Chapter 32

Masterlist link

CW: Self-harm and suicidal ideation. Themes of torture and trauma. Please read at your own discretion. Minors DNI

Lenora lost all sense of time in her dark cell.

 It might have been days or weeks. At odd intervals, food and water would be passed through by unseen hands, and retrieved again at some other odd interval. She drank, but it was hard to eat. She didn't particularly mind the darkness, or her shackles, or how it was always just a little too cold, or that there was nothing to do. After a lifetime of persistence, the refugee had to admit that she had no place left to flee to, nothing to accomplish, and didn't fight the surrender or the emptiness. Every now and then she would wonder with vague curiosity what his next move would be. The only twinge of real feeling left in her, was loving worry over if Magnus would remain safe, since Loki could do a good deal worse than he had done if he chose. The little Morhari woman, the dark lady who had risen from the ashes to gain power and then lost it all once again, simply sat, resigned to the black cloud of unknowing.

---

Loki sat at his desk, reviewing reports of the war's progress, satisfied to see that they were still making enormous victories. The Jotun seemed to have been betting on a windfall of some sort which never came their way, and in their diversion, his generals took the advantage. Loki shook his head disapprovingly. He saw the Heksejotun as unpredictable secretive cultists, and thought Laufey a fool to rely so heavily upon them. The emperor told himself that he ought to be happy about his victories; in the war, and over Lenora, but he wasn't. In both cases he had done well to take advantage of the other parties' hesitation. That wasn't a very satisfying way to win, though in character for him; the god of all things underhanded. The victories felt diminished and so did he. He felt lonelier than ever, here at the top of everything.

He sighed, wishing she could know the other side of why he did what he did; the broad scope of his reasons. It was ruthless, terrible, and cruel, certainly. He was furious and did want revenge, towards her...towards them both, but that wasn't the whole of it. Maybe eventually he could tell her. Maybe she would understand in time.

The kindly, gray-haired medic who had comforted Lenora took a deep fortifying breath and tapped politely on Loki's study door. The king perked up, surprised to have a visitor come to his office. He thought, huh...odd for someone to visit here, even more rare since...he couldn't bear to finish the thought, so he simply raised his eyes and said “Enter.”

The poor woman was clearly nervous, so he tried some smiling charm, hoping to put her at ease.

“Good day, Your Highness,” she said in a soft, concerned voice.

“Likewise, doctor. What can I do for you?”

“Uh..sire...your...the prisoner. The one in the dark cell...”

Loki considered her with a practiced neutrality, then pretended to glance around at his work as he spoke. “Yes, doctor, I know of whom you speak. What of her?”

“I'm concerned, sir. She's barely eating. She can't even be heard moving around the cell. She probably needs a bath and some medical attention by now.”

Loki sighed. The poor doctor. It must have taken her so much courage to approach him like this.

“I see. Thank you for your report. I think the time has come for me to intervene. I appreciate your concern.” Loki smiled yet again, trying to reassure the woman, and then dismissed her. Letting out a long sigh, he dropped his stylus a bit more aggressively than he intended.

----

Lea heard the voices and footsteps coming towards her down the hallway. They were saying “Sire” and “Highness” making it crystal clear who was striding toward her cell. She didn't feel fear. She didn't stand up. She didn't do anything except wrap her arms more tightly around her knees. The king's smooth voice said, “Show me the girl.”

A guard said, “Sire, before we do I must warn you that she will probably not be in an appealing state. Would you not rather have her...tidied up...and then sent to you.”

“I said, show me the girl!”

“Yes, Sire.”

The walls turned transparent again and a blinding light flashed into her cell. She sat with her eyes squeezed shut, sparks of pain shooting through her head.

Loki's breath hitched at what he saw. Her skin, usually a warm olive hue, had drained to a sallow jaundiced color. Her usually round cheeks and buxom body seemed sunken, diminished. Limp, unwashed hair hung over her shoulders. She didn't move to get up, and he wondered if she was physically able to. He thought he had braced himself enough to see her like this. He had not. It would have been easier to have her “tidied up” as the guard suggested; sent her to him wrapped up like a pretty gift with all signs of damage erased. No, he thought, That wouldn't do. He owed it to her to at least face the extent of the devastation he had orchestrated. This sense of accountability, he realized reluctantly, was a lesson she had taught him. Loki recalled the day the Vanir pleaded for his help against the corrupt Laufeyson governors, and how the two of them had argued. Her words still stung and rung in his head, skewering him with guilt (a fairly new, but frequent sensation for him in the last year).

You didn't listen, Loki. You didn't want to hear it so you made sure nobody told you, or if they did, you wouldn't have to listen or care.

And...

Pretty words from you, Silver-tongue. Always such pretty words and promises. It almost makes one forgive and forget the awful things you actually end up doing.

Lea was too skeptical to forgive and forget his sins. She hadn't then. She definitely wouldn't now.

“Lenora,” he said. It felt strange to call her by her name, this creature who barely resembled his Lenora; the Lenora who brought him to his knees, to tears, with her brave confrontations. “Come closer.”

She got up slowly, stiffly, and moved towards him, shackles clinking. As she moved towards the force field, he could see that though her eyes were mostly hollow and dark, there was the tiniest bit of challenge in them; a ghost of his Lenora. It was as if she were saying, Satisfied? knowing that he wasn't, mocking him. “I presume you've learned your lesson, Lenora...done your penance? I'm going to remove your shackles and take you out of this cell. I don't think they will be necessary since, I needn't remind you, Magnus' continued safety and happiness depend upon your obedience. Correct?”

She nodded.

He glared at her. “You will use words to address me, Lenora...polite ones.”

“Yes, Sire,” she said, and the sound of her dry, rough, unused voice unsettled him.

The barrier dropped and the guards removed her shackles. Loki gestured for her to come with him, and she followed without a word, like a gruesome but demure ghost. He took her up the back staircases. Punishing her was enough, he would at least preserve her dignity in front of the rest of the citadel. Parading their future queen in this state would be distasteful, he decided.

In the private medical room where she had awakened, the medics worked on her. Some were visibly shocked by her state. They communicated sly silent disapproval of their king's cruelty through sidelong glances to each other. It needled him, how similar they were to Magnus' disapproving looks. Loki noticed the crossfire of their unspoken messages but chose to ignore it. What did it matter what they thought of his methods? He told himself he didn't care.

He sat by as they healed the stiffness in her joints, the ache in her muscles, the sensitivity of her eyes. They infused her with nutrients to turn her skin back to the right color, though it was too early to force her to eat more. When they had patched her up as best they could, they were startled to hear the mute creature speak. She said, “Thank you” and gave them a kind smile. They nodded and smiled back to her, all of them wordlessly condemning the inhumanity their leader had subjected her too, but unable to say so.

Before she knew it, she was following Loki up the back staircases again. She was a bit disoriented, having never traveled through the castle via this route and was surprised when the door opened to the emperor's private bath house. She remembered the first time she'd visited this glittering lagoon. It was a kindness from him, an apology, and she felt kindly towards him that day as they sat together in the hot water. The recollection taunted her now, itched like the sting of a mosquito.

The last time he welcomed her graciously, beaming with happiness as he watched her delight in the wonders of the aquamarine room. Now he simply said, “Get in. Clean yourself.”

Lea didn't mind obliging this order, glad for the opportunity to bathe after...how many days? She couldn't recall. In any case, it felt good to rub the soap over her skin, and scrub away the cold oily odor of the dungeon cell with hot clean water. The warmth was delightful, and in spite of her numb grief, the pleasant sensation was able to reach her just a little. Loki didn't join her. He sat aloof and fully clothed in a dry corner of the room, eyes focused nonchalantly on the pages of a book. He licked his finger and lazily turned the pages.

What was this?, she thought, some kind of adolescent passive aggression? Is he...moping? She almost let out a bitter little laugh at the realization. Did he think that she would really miss his presence with her? That his silent disapproval or coldness could mean anything at all to her now? That he had the right to mope, even though he was the cause of his own sadness, as well as her torment? She ignored it, and continued her bath. She buried and refused to acknowledge the obnoxious truth that, yes, she actually did miss his presence, even after everything. Or rather, she missed the presence of anything at all that could bring comfort to her. She missed the versions of him which were brilliant, sensitive, clever, charming, and caring. The floor had fallen out from under her and she was still free falling, like Alice down the rabbit hole. She just hoped to touch ground and figure out which way was up.

She was about to wash her hair when a sharp pain shot through her arms as she tried to raise them to her head. The weight of the shackles keeping them down for so long left a stiffness that even the doctors couldn't immediately magic away for her. Gritting her teeth with a hiss, she tried to continue anyway, until she heard a swish of water behind her. He had undressed and was stepping into the pool. He reached her in long easy strokes, then huffed with exasperation. “If I wait for you to wash your own hair, we'll be here all night. Come here.”

She did as he said. Despite his show of being greatly inconvenienced, he was washing her hair as gently and attentively as he had the first time. She remembered it clearly. You know I'll take any excuse to play with your hair, he said, and kissed the top of her head, then they smiled to each other.

Loki was recalling exactly the same memory with a bittersweet ache as he rubbed the soap through her hair and rinsed it carefully. Having her naked body so close, touching yet not holding her was torturous, but his pride was a stubborn creature who would not be tamed.  As he scanned her body in the water, he noticed the faint but large scar on her back where his blade had breached, sliced, and twisted into her flesh. He'd never noticed before, but she also had a very faint scar around her neck and he wondered which wound had etched it into her skin. How many times did he injure that beautiful throat? How many scars did she have on her small body from him? There were none written on her skin before him. The god of mischief was flooded with a terrible self-loathing at the thought. This wasn't just mischief, or just a game, he realized. This was love. This was a war. This was scorched earth devastation on the landscape of her. He had won, but at what cost?

Loki realized his task was done and he no longer had an excuse to keep stroking her hair, but he had trouble stopping. He dropped his hands abruptly but reluctantly. Lea turned her head slightly to look him in the eye as she said a quiet “Thank you.” Her eyes looked so sad, so blank, so devastating and devastated that it made his own grow misty. He was glad for the water and steam disguising it, even if she wouldn't be fooled.

“My pleasure,” he responded, meaning it more than he wanted to show. He couldn't stand to meet her gaze any longer. He couldn't stand the sound of his own voice softening as he said, “You may stay here as long as you wish. There are clean clothes over there for you. I presume you remember the way to your quarters?”

She nodded. He glared. “Use words, Lenora. Polite ones.”

“Yes, Sire.”

As the echo of his footfalls grew more and more faint, she continued to sit in the hot water. She then walked towards the deepest part of the pool like a woman mesmerized. Lea stopped moving and simply let her pale body sink down as the long dark ribbon of her hair billowed up above her. It was so blessedly warm and silent and blurry around her. As her feet touched the bottom, she recalled a disembodied piece of information about how it is supposedly impossible to drown oneself on purpose without implements. They say your lungs will not allow the breath to be held and the buoyancy of the body will float you back up to the surface. Lenora wondered at the persistence of the body and mind, against one's own best efforts at self-destruction. Perhaps it was an old wives tale, perhaps not. She was tempted to test the the hypothesis, but she wouldn't try sinking the ghost ship of herself today. For Magnus, she would let this wrecked husk, this ghost ship of her soul, drift for as long as possible.

Loki also drifted, sprawled in a dead man's float atop his large empty bed. He had been awake for hours in the ocean of pitch black with his pale eyes turned sightlessly to the ceiling, like a corpse. Signs of life began to surface. His tears streamed down onto the silk, his face strained, and his breath was ragged. The king was crying like a lost child. He was gripping Lenora's hairpin, repeatedly running his fingers over the wood grain as if they were prayer beads, as he had so many times before. He jolted as a heard a sharp snap, and realized he had broken the little wooden trinket. The tears came faster but he stayed as he was, knowing it was inevitable, knowing he was woeful at fixing things. He could only break them. Instead, as he lay there, he purposefully pushed his thumb hard to the splintered end and gritted his teeth, until the skin broke, letting his blood seep out. Letting out a miserable little gasp he stabbed each finger and thought, I'm so sorry little empress. If only you knew everything...why I did this... perhaps you could forgive me.  

@gigglingtigger @lokisgoodgirl @goblingirlsarah @unlucky-number-13 @thedistractedagglomeration @thenerdyoldersister @peaches1958

#loki fanfic

[fatefulfaerie]

Promises

A happy birthday to @kittmoon !!! I hope you like it!

It had been three weeks since she obliterated the Calamity with a sphere of blinding light, and yet she still slept quite poorly. She could count the times she made it through the night on one hand, and now she stared at it blankly, her fingers rested on her pillow limply. She blinked her green eyes.

“Link?” She asked. “Are you awake?”

She was already facing away from his bedroll on the floor, and so only her ears could judge whether or not he too was having trouble. She rolled over when there was no response, expecting to see him passed out and cooing softly. She sat up when she saw the bedroll was empty.

“Link?” She asked an empty house, scanning the loft. Nothing was out of place and there were no signs of a struggle. The Master Sword was laid upright against the writing desk where he put it last night. In addition, his boots were next to the sword and his day clothes were folded next to his bedroll. He must have gone outside in just his night clothes, bare-footed. There was either a crisis, or he was lazy.

The boards creaked as she made her way to and down the stairs, so much that she wondered how she didn’t wake when Link did the same thing. He was not the best at stealth. She must have been really out.

She heard his voice as soon as she stepped out into the night air, but it was mumbled and out of earshot. She spotted smoke coming from a campfire at the shores of the Firly Pond beneath the nearby bridge, and so she closed the door carefully and crept to a nearby tree to get a good vantage point.

“I don’t know what to do anymore.”

Link was talking to someone, someone hidden from her view via the cliffside.

“Having Zelda in my house is just…a lot,” Link continued. “I’m not sure how much longer I can bear it. She’s so…”

Link sighed.

“Well, you know,” he said, apparently not needing to explain. Zelda, on the other hand, felt her heart shatter, her chest burn, and her lungs constrict all at once. What was she so?

“You’ll have to confront her eventually,” a voice said that she didn’t recognize. A friend of Links?

“I know it’s just, her being the princess and all…it makes it complicated.”

Zelda’s eyebrows knitted. Something about her was bothering Link and he didn’t have the gall to tell her? Because she was once royalty? He promised that he wouldn’t let that get in the way, that he would respect that she no longer wanted to be treated like a princess. What other promises were false? He promised to be by her side. He promised to support her. He promised to take care of her. Were those all lies?

If he didn’t want her in his house, he should have said so. This spineless avoidance was frustrating.

Zelda stepped forward to listen further, and a twig snapped. She cringed and froze at the same time.

“What was that?” Link said, looking behind him. Zelda quickly avoided his gaze by hiding behind the tree.

“Probably just a mouse,” the voice said. Zelda still couldn’t place it. It was someone she’d never met.

“It could be Yiga,” Link said. Zelda heard the rustle of fabric. He had stood up. She panicked. She couldn’t get in the house fast enough to pretend she was sleeping the whole time, and so her instincts told her to flee across the bridge.

Fast.

She too, was bare-footed, but she didn’t care. She just ran, through Hateno and not looking back. She veered off the path so she wouldn’t be seen on the road and she ran North through Ginner Woods. No destination. No plan. Just away. Link didn’t want her around and why would he? Even a hundred years ago, people only spent time with her out of obligation. Why would now be any different?

“Link, calm down,” Kass said to the hyperventilating swordsman.

“They took her, Kass,” Link said, absolutely panicked. “Right under my nose, they just…”

Link ran his fingers through his hair as he stopped for a second to think, his eyes scattered before they returned, determined. He rushed upstairs and grabbed his boots and sword.

“What are you doing?” Kass asked.

“I’m going to the desert on horseback,” Link said. “Warping with the Sheikah slate is too risky, I might warp right past her. I have to try to catch her before they–”

Link didn’t want to finish that sentence, pulling on his boots and tightening the leather strap around his chest that held his sword. He stood up.

“Mind doing some flying?” Link said as him and Kass walked outside. “Scan the immediate area just in case?”

“Of course,” Kass agreed with a nod.

“If you find her, get her back home safe,” Link insisted.

“You have my word,” Kass said with a nod, before flying away.

Link hurried to the stall on the side of the house, untying his chocolate-brown house and barely using the stirrup to leap on top.

“Hiyah!” he exclaimed with a whip of the reins, dashing across the bridge so fast that the night air was cold as it sliced his cheeks. 

The Yiga took pathways, but Link knew where to cut corners to catch up, he was formulating it all in his head when he heard a scream.

He stopped so abruptly that the horse whinnied, the creature’s forelegs rearing up. Link tensed all his muscles just to hold on.

“Come on,” Link said, guiding his steed into the forest with a soothing hand. “Sorry, Molasses. This way.”

“Hiyah!” Link said, charging into Ginner Woods and then heading North to where he heard the scream.

He spotted her sitting by the shores of Nirvata Lake, with nothing but her nightclothes. She must have been cold, but there were far more pressing matters. Link jumped off his horse and almost stumbled regaining his bearings on the ground. He ran to Zelda.

“I don’t want to talk to you,” Zelda said, her arms crossing and her legs bending in front of her. She looked pointedly in front of her.

“Where’s the Yiga?” Link asked, still panting and seemingly ignoring her admittance.

“What Yiga?” Zelda inquired.

“The Yiga that–” Link looked confused. He finally registered what she said. “What?”

“Just go away, Link,” she said sharply, still not looking at him.

“Z-Zelda I…” Link said as he knelt closer. “Did I do something? If I did, I’m sorry.”

She didn’t respond. Link scanned her and let out a slight gasp when harsh bruising peeked out from the hem of her nightgown. His eyes widened.

“Okay I know you hate me right now but you have to let me look at your leg,” he insisted quickly.

“It’s fine,” Zelda said dismissively and briskly. “Don’t worry about it.”

Link eyed her a bit before lightly poking it. There was a cry in her throat before she looked over and exclaimed,

“OW?!”

“It hurts that bad?”

“Yes, it does,” Zelda said, snarky. “What’s it to you?”

“Wow, okay,” Link stated. “Umm…” He breathed for more words. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Oh I don’t know, something about me being unbearable.”

Link sighed, opening and closing his eyes.

“You were listening.”

“Mhm,” Zelda said with an unamused smile.

Link dared to take her hands, and he leaned forward as if he were about to say something truly meaningful.

“I didn’t say that you were unbearable, I said that living with you was unbearable.”

Zelda blinked a couple times before Link realized how little that helps.

“Wait, no,” Link said. “That sounds really bad. Please just let me explain. This is not how I wanted you to find out.”

“Find out what?” Zelda asked. Link tightened his grip, and he took a deep breath.

“It’s getting to be unbearable living with you because I’m in love with you,” Link confessed. “Everyday the sun dawns and I can’t tell you that you are brighter. Everyday you smile and I’m too scared to kiss you on the lips that create that smile. Everyday my heart yearns and I really want…goddesses I want to tell you.”

Zelda’s expression had softened, and she was searching his eyes.

“Why didn’t you?” She asked. Link shrugged.

“You were once the princess,” he said. “I was once your knight attendant. I couldn’t help but…doubt you would feel the same.”

“So,” Zelda started, speaking slowly, as if absorbing it all. “When you started to say I was so something, you were going to say–”

“Pretty,” Link finished, blushing. “I was going to say pretty. I’ve gushed about you so much to poor Kass that I figured I would spare him this time.”

“Kass?” Zelda questioned.

“Oh right,” Link explained. “A Rito. He comes by every once in a while to chat. He’s a good friend. I was confiding in him about all this but I never meant to suggest I didn’t want you around. It’s…quite the opposite, really.”

Link braved a small smile, yet it was genuine. Her eyes sparkled in the moonlight. It was easy to smile around her.

Zelda blushed and deflected her gaze, smiling before only her eyes looked up.

“Now can I please look at your leg?” Link asked

Zelda nodded. They both winced as she lifted the hem of her nightgown to her knee. The bruise was purple and bled across her shin.

“I was trying to climb the cliff,” Zelda said. “I slipped and fell about halfway up. It’s broken, isn’t it?”

Link hesitated at first. He felt Zelda’s eyes on him. He nodded, before looking up to meet her gaze.

“The best healers are in Zora’s Domain,” Link said. “But the Sheikah in Kakariko aren’t pushovers either. I’ll take you wherever you want to go, just say the word.”

“I want to go home,” Zelda said. Link’s smile grew.

He picked her up bridal style and could tell by the cries in her throat that she was in a lot more pain than she was putting on.

Link’s horse followed diligently with a gentle trot as Link carried Zelda back to the Hateno house. Zelda’s arms looped loosely around Link’s neck until he stood in front of the bed in the loft to lay her upon it.

“Wait,” she said. Link felt her hands gently insist he stay put, her fingers entangling themselves in his blonde hair.

It was slow, uncertain at first as they stared into each other’s eyes, yet soon their lips met. Link closed his eyes, relishing the sensation in his heart. Zelda expressed nothing short of love in the way she breathed with him.

When they released, Link put her down upon the bed, took her hand, and knelt by her side.

“I’ll flag Kass down,” Link said. “Get him to grab a healer from the Domain. You deserve the best.”

“Link…” she voiced. “The pain…”

Link shook his head.

“I wish I had something for you,” he said with regret. “You’ll have to wait.”

He brought his other hand to cover hers.

“Be strong, Zelda,” he said. “I promised I would take care of you, and that’s just what I’m gonna do.”

She nodded, fully believing him.

“Go,” she said. “I’ll be okay.”

He kissed her forehead, before running outside and looking up to the skies for the Rito bard.

#zelink #breath of the wild #botw #post-calamity

[the-musical-cc]

Agitha seeing Wolf Link in the game: 

Agitha seeing Wolf Link in the manga:

#Twilight Princess #Twilight Princess Manga #Agitha #I'm sorry I know I gripe a lot about it but like... why #do you know how happy it made me to see the femmeiest little girl ever just not bat an eyelash at a big ass wolf the adults in town fear?? #(Having been a little girl who was unafraid of the neighbor's rottweiler that my parents themselves were afraid of) #DO YOU KNOW HOW HAPPY LINK MUST HAVE BEEN TO HAVE SOMEONE NOT FLEE AT HIS SIGHT #like one of the most interesting things about her to me is she's incredibly self-reliant #Her parents don't seem to be around and she has her whole house to herself. She goes out to get bugs on her own #in the dead of night. when most townspeople are too afraid to even set foot outside the town's walls #and she's genuinely unafraid in a way that rivals even Link's courage #AND SHE'S A LITTLE GIRL. A VERY INNOCENT ONE AT THAT. I know you can't afford to develop non-central characters that much #but like... at least be fair to them. #Again I like Himekawa's work but that doesn't mean I agree with everything they do

[absolutebl]

This Week In BL

April 2021 Part 5

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Close Friend Ep 2 (JaFirst) - First is a cat. No actually a cat. It was WEIRD. Cute, but creeping towards beastiality. It reminded me of that strange series out of China (@heretherebedork says Youth in the Breeze). The most amusing thing to me was that the cat used Thai formal linguistic register when of course cats would use informal rude guu mueng with EVERYONE. No cat would use pom. Don’t be ridiculous, Thailand. 

Second Chance Ep 5 - still invested, things progressed for all 3 couples, in one direction or another. They cuties. I love them. Carry on. 

Y-Destiny Ep 5 - the “virgin scoreboard” is gonna make the seme real hard to redeem with this pairing. If they bother. This might be a life lesson episode. What does it remind me of? Oh yes. Kids. *SHUDDER* Point of interest: did you notice Team uses ha with Mon? What a pushy flirt. 

Lovely Writer Ep 10 - honestly I just love it when Poppy shows up in anything, why is he such a delightful screen presence? (Gene’s brother) Sorry, distracted. What happened in this one? Oh, ya know, stuff and things. Family drama. (It is just me or have they been giving us some long ass episodes lately?) Obligatory beach trip activated. (Result = dumb probability mathematics jokes.) Next week it looks like we have Keeping Actor’s Closeted 101. You know the Casting Couch? This is the Casting Closet. 

Fish Upon The Sky Ep 4 - early stage confession, how fun. It’s not unprecedented it just usually means we are in 4 act structure, not 3, which means Fish might go more serious than I thought. Honestly? I’m losing interest mostly because I’ve gone from mild annoyance to active dislike of Pi. Happened to me with Tine too. They better redeem this obtuse tsundere uke soon or he’s not tsundere at all he’s just a jackwit. 

Brothers Ep 13 fin - a kiss and the family finds out about the not-so-brotherly brothers, drama, graduation, THE END. My side-dish happy heart made thumps over Q + delivery boy, I’m sad they got so little screen time. My babies KhunKaow did get a tiny coming out sequence as such. I’m seriously considering doing myself a bootleg of just the KhunKaow plot, but that means I’d have to rewatch the whole darn series and I can’t STAND the idea. Which should give you insight into how not good this show it. Very NOT good. Must we get a season 2? Please stop now, Line. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 7 - Muren is the cutest peanut and anyone who says otherwise can fight me, although they probably have to go through Licheng first. I was NOT invested in these two at the beginning, but as a couple? They own my soul. The other storyline is still the dumpster fire that I can’t decide to roast marshmallows over (knowing they’ll get tinged with eu de trash) or flee from in horror clutching my pearls and my nose. H4 continues to provide the quality psyche torture I’ve come to expect from this franchise. *sarcastic thumbs up*  *** A word on seeing Boxiang show up (side dish from H3:MODC). It was an unexpected pleasure, I loved his pairing (May/December is a winner for me *glares at Method*) but I do think it was a bone from the franchise telling us that we are never getting that spin-off or reboot that people yearn for. However, how AWESOME that Licheng has someone to go to and ask about topping properly. Otherwise he’s sure to have screwed it up. (Pun intended.) 

Papa & Daddy (Tailwan) Ep 1-2 - this came out of nowhere and is ADORABLE. Applies a ton of BL tropes (cheek kiss, his closet, B&W stripes, drag baby around, boop) but what IS it? More slice of gay domesticity than romance. Like 2019′s Kinou Nani Tabeta? or currently airing Close Friend. I enjoy this style, very wholesome, but I’m not sure what to call it. (Bonus points for cutie lesbians.) A bit weird to have a kid with your partner and STILL not be out to your parents. I hope they aren’t going to throw in a break up for dramatic effect. 

My Lascivious Boss (Vietnam) Ep 4 - I’m really enjoying this series. It’s unabashedly queer, although there’s some problematic stuff lurking under the wig. How it ends is gonna dictate if they handled this stylishly. But hot damn the leads ZING on screen together and their crackling prank-flirting is a joy to watch. 

Word of Honor (China) Ep 31-33 - moving into the home stretch. Big rescue and the band is back together (presumably for the final slaughter). Then a death! *this is my shocked face* Did I tear up? Of course I did. 4 act structure is designed for maximum pathos during the final 1/4. Did we all faint from the symbolism of the love token hair stick being gently thrust into Ah Xu’s bun? Sure we did. All that and sill I’m flagging. This is a long-arse show. Save me, Korea, with your iItsy bitsy teenie weenie...

Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (Korea) Ep 5-6 - I am getting such strong 12th Night vibes from this. Tae Hyung is now brigadier of BL’s historical himbo brigade. (To be deployed whenever you are in need of poetry or a cut sleeve.) This show is all ridiculous charm and I LOVE it. Although, five seconds of Lee Sang is not enough Lee Sang. I had to immediately rewatch Wish You. 

Gossip

Nitiman gave us an actor intro BTS teaser. 

Kang In Soo (AKA Kyang Insoo) posted a cute behind the photo shoot of Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding plus a silly interview with Jang Eui Soo on his YouTube channel (you should subscribe, it’s a fun channel, his fitness regime is both insane and inspiring). 

My Engineer 2 dropped a couch interview with the boys but it feels like one that was filmed a while ago (oh and no subs).  

STARTING SOON: Nitiman, Love Area, Top Secret Together, Be Loved in House, & I Promised You The Moon  

Nitiman (Thai) May 7, One 31. University set, moons, engineering students, enemies to lovers, adapted. - Looks to be a solid 2 Moons knock off, I’m in.

Love Area (Thai) May 8, AIS Play, 10 eps total. Restaurant set, stars Pak Chavitpong (the only good thing about Cupid Coach) and the OST is sung by Jeff Satur (Ingredients). - It’s boys in love revolving around food = my kryptonite, try to stop me from watching this probable trash. 

Top Secret Together (Thai) May 14, Line TV. 5 couples, one IRL (Newyear from I Am Your King), story arcs revolve around secrets.  - I’m getting fatigued by these multi-couple sampler pack dramas, but I’ll try it for Newyear’s sake.  

Be Loved in House: I Do (Taiwan YES!) May 20, Viki. Office set, relationships prohibited at work by a new boss, one of the employees is determined to figure out why. Grumpy/tsundere pairing so loads of drama. - I am so flipping excited for this one. A 4th BL series from Taiwan in less than a year? That’s unprecedented. GO BABY ISLAND GO! 

I Promised You the Moon (Thai) May 27, Line TV. Follow up to I Told Sunset About You with the boys now at university. - I won’t be watching this as I have yet to finish season 1. 

Possibly Gameboys season 2.  - Rumors are all over the place right now on this. 

Next Week Looks Like This: 

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International accessibility reasons. 

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

#thai bl #thaibl #asian bl #second chance #lovely writer #close friend #brothers #Fish Upon The Sky #gmmtv #y-destiny #episode recaps #HIStory 4: Close To You #friend or lover #taiwanese bl #My Lascivious Boss #vietnamese bl #word of honor #chinese bl #Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding #korean bl #this week in bl #Papa & Daddy #Nitiman #My Engineer 2 #Love Area the series #Top Secret Together #Be Loved in House: I Do

[kadeu]

THE DECK; OCTOBER 2024

Sweet breeze! Good riddance summer. Now, usually we adore the summer season, the fashion, the events, the lively shows and all the trouble the socialites get up to. And yes, the fashion was there but eyepatches in the heat are not ideal. Our beloved socialites flocked to the beach and we have enough tales of drunken debauchery yes, and even those who remained in the city with their enchanted blocks of ice and selective guest lists, we still have heard the deeds. But the heat, something about this summer’s heat, made it not as enjoyable.

Speaking of the beach, there is mourning up in the highranked hills of Diamonds. Once Kings, demoted in scandal to Jacks, the Sobongs have met rough waters while enjoying what was supposed to be a calming row out to sea in Umibe. Their staff reported that, “the once peaceful seas suddenly became enraged as if a Tempest beset it and pulled them under.” The Sobong fortune is now up in the air as the only true heir, their son Korain, has long been presumed dead. Korain's only heir is none other than Ace of Diamonds Moon Ara, but sources say the Sobong's will doesn't name their estranged granddaughter at all. 

It is rather fortunate though, inheriting a vast sum, especially when one half of the marital income pool couldn’t even afford box seats at the other’s place of employment. We wonder just how much money is in that estate. Enough to kill for? Only time will tell.

In Hearts, once jeweler to the elite facecards yet now blacklisted from those circles, Lee Hyeonju seems to be looking from Hearts for a way into Diamonds. Formerly disgraced now reinstated Academy Professor Parker Luke, seems to have accepted the advances of Hyeonju and has been spotted every night for two whole weeks within his apartment. Sources close to both men say that Hyeonju has been giving the professor the royal treatment in hopes he sponsors his defection!

Whispers throughout Heart society say that the Ace of Hearts, once an avid patron of Hyeonju’s has refused his service in lieu of newly popular Fae artisans. The Ace’s mood as of late is unreadable on that topic, but sources say Hyeonju has been barred from his presence and that has other highrankers and artisans have been following suit, preferring to not gain the Ace’s disfavor. This has lead to instability in Hyeonju’s prospects in Hearts. No wonder he is looking to flee to Diamonds. 

But he’s not the only one out of favor in Hearts. Ex-courtesan turned restaurant owner, Meesong Nari has been seen without her usual entourage of Zuihuo guards and attendants. Rumor has it she has been kicked from that mansion she was gifted and the Clan favor mark is gone from her arm. Not sure what she did to separate herself from that protection and comfort but we are sure all those bridges she burned ascending in the ranks will happily revisit her. They tell us as kids right? What goes up must come down. Watch your back Nari.

THE TENSION BETWEEN CLUBS AND SPADES;

Amidst the growing tensions between Clubs and Spades, Ace of Clubs Mallick Sai Shah,  held the opening for his Hunter’s Lair. It seems it was mostly a hit, with fights breaking out away from the venue, not in it! One club said, “it’s better to just enjoy things now than wait for whatever comes next,” and we’re considering stitching it on tunics and selling them as aid relief! Business owners suffering from Spade mandated ban through the Joker found it hard to mingle and feast while their own stores suffered. Worse, a gag order was in place against all negative comments on Spades. We sense a lot of fake smiles and grumblings over bread but can’t confirm as we were refused an exclusive invite to report the event!

Still, as an unbiased news source, we gladly accepted the request for a sit down with Ace Shah to address the actions taken in his faction. Our reporter braved the streets of Clubs to give a completely impartial interview. 

How has it been as an Ace? The jump from low ranker to sitting atop the faction must be hard.

Hard? Surprising and unexpected would be the words I would use to describe how this whole situation feels. I used to be a highranker after all and making my way up to even higher ranks before a tragedy struck me, was that an unknown fact?

But you’ve never been Ace? How is that jump?

No, never been. The title itself is not omnipotent, it has its limitations and brings forth unwanted attention that stands in the way of the current progress we wish to bring to the faction. But it's an important role even if only in word, one has to still use it respectably. But the short answer is the jump is still happening. Ask again in a few years when I've landed where it takes me.

How did you think of the Club council? Is it true you were inspired by the Diamond council?

I didn’t think of the Club council, it was a meeting of minds, I wouldn’t have been able to have any council at all if it was only my contribution going into the making of said council. While I have a deep respect for Diamonds and how they tend to go about their politics, I can’t say I was thinking about them when the idea came to be, I was more concerned on how it would affect Clubs in general and how it would be accepted within the faction. But I can now see why they have one, it has its benefits and I applaud them for having the idea to immediately instill it in their system.

How many people really support you as ex-resistance? Can we even believe you’ve left the criminal enterprise?

I can’t possibly begin to tell who truly supports me as ex-resistance or not, but so far I haven’t had anyone personally challenge me in the faction so in this case I think that means even through reticence people might just believe in the good I want for this faction. 

That’s definitely a tough one, all I can say is I was young, hurt and I made mistakes. If I can be forgiven for them then I will be happy, if not I will understand. However, to be judged for the mistakes of your pasts when you’ve recognized them and clearly show that you’ve completely turned away from them, that’s an unfortunate way to see the world or the people around us if you ask me. But yes, to your question, you can believe that I’ve left the criminal enterprise.

I suppose you maintain your innocence in the killing and raid on spade? If you didn’t do it then who is behind such a foul act?

I absolutely do, I had nothing to do with the unfortunate incident even if allegations brought forth the information that some key evidence might link me to it. My hands are clean and I can’t even begin to think of who would be behind this. But whoever it is, the council has decided to lead an investigation into the matter because it’s not just my name and reputation that is on the line, it is also the honor of this faction that will be yet again tarnished. If you find any more clues before we do, I’m certain you’ll pass the message to the rest of the city, won’t you?

Of course! So you suppose you are being framed? Why would anyone frame an already known murderer?

I don’t take lightly to being called a murderer, but if that’s a title I have to wear for ridding the faction of an Ace who cared none for the lives of the people he wanted to lead to an unending civil war and unrest, then there’s not much I can do about it. But yes, I’m being framed, because of the criminal enterprise’s affiliation I had in the past and the label of murderer I have on my back. I mean, wouldn’t you say it’s easier to believe that I would be the one behind someone’s death and demise considering those two demeaning factors? It’s even a little unfair to not see how blatantly obvious they went about it.

You must know, the Academy was attacked a few years ago with your resistance taking ownership. Were you not involved?

The resistance I was part of and that I do not own, you mean? I did hear of it when the incident occurred. I was not involved and I found it disheartening. I'm against attacking innocents and causing the loss of innocent lives.

We’ve heard that your people were harassing Spades in your faction? Our sources say, ‘Urine and feces were tossed on a patron in a popular tavern for saying ‘Spades should be respected.’ Should Spades not be respected?

I’ve had no time to hear these rumors but of course Spades should be respected. Everyone deserves respect for that matter, tossing urine and feces doesn’t seem like a respectful action taken either. But if this rumor is true I can simply apologize for the mistreatment and ask that less impulsive measures are taken in the future because, as you can see, I don’t have any means to control anyone to stop tragedies from occurring. If I did you wouldn’t be here as no shipment would have been ambushed and no lives would have been lost. Unfortunate, isn’t it?

This Ace of Clubs only brings more questions when questions are asked.  He made it clear to our interviewer that the resistance was a mistake he made in youth and he acknowledges them as all as criminals. He even seemed scared to admit the inspiration for the council he created in Clubs. Maybe those on his council are the real danger here. ‘A meeting of minds’ he claims, but it sounds more like he was coerced by darker agents. We’re certain this council is filled with the same resistance criminals he is trying so hard to claim he has separated himself from.

And yet he proclaims his innocence, insists he is being framed. In round about words he points to some conspiracy with no proof of innocence offered. And where is this council if they are unified in their ruling? Should they not have joined this interview to show their unified cause? The future of Clubs is bound to be as blood soaked under this Ace as the last. At least that Ace stood solidly on one point without a questionable background and motive. 

His unwillingness to out other vagrants that would no doubt bring that peace to the faction like he claims to want, make his alleged innocence and investigation a joke. Our own investigation finds King of Clubs, Wainwright Rook, with high suspicion for the fight that broke out in his tavern. There a Spade had feces and urine thrown on them which led to a brawl that left the very foundation of the tavern with a cracked that travelled up the building.  Yet Ace Shah acts ignorant of it. No wonder Spades must do their own investigation.

In Spades, they are increasing drills and the policing of their border. We wonder if an invasion will come soon. Whispers amongst their ranks lean to disdain for the Club Council. Refugees who chose to leave the safety of Spades were met at the border with medical personnel and fighters as if the Club Council thought that Spades were abusing those they rescued during the terror of the war between their last Ace and the new one and his resistance criminals. The council passing suspicion to Spades who have done more for their corner of the city is laughable.

Well, at least the weather is cooling down. Hopefully that eases some of the tensions. The weather is predicted to be far more comfortable though still a bit warmer for the season. We’re calling it a second attempt at summer.  

NOW PLAYING AT THE PALACE;

Fresh from the mind of director Ace Moon Ara, comes a gruesome tale of lost love and revenge. With intense, dark themes, The Palace recommends not bringing children to this production and reminds all of it’s patrons that the theater is NOT responsible for the adverse affects the production may have on younger minds or weak stomachs.

The Fiendish Barber of Kadeu

Evil Judge Turpin (Budrelda Beryl) lusts for the beautiful wife of a simple barber, Benjamin Barker (Adrian!). In order to claim the beautiful woman for herself, Turpin frames the barber, and has him transported to a far away prison for a crime he did not commit. Returning after 15 years and calling himself Sweeney Todd - the new name given to him by the fiend he managed to conscript, the now-mad man vows revenge, applying his razor to unlucky customers and shuttling the bodies down to Mrs. Lovett (played by Ara’s protégé from Wing Theatrics), who uses them in her meat-pie shop. Though many fall to his blade, he will not be satisfied until he slits Turpin's throat.

Its a wonderful start to the fall season, our reporters loved their screening but warn of its hauntingly good effects.

#the deck; #lrpg

[bigfrozenfan-fanfics]

Chapter 14 - Changes

Links: Chapter overview, Character list, Map, Glossar Rating: M over all Publishing cycle: each Friday at 6:00 pm CEST dst/UTC +2:00 on (link) Remarks: all my chapters contain carefully selected music tracks. It’s your own decision if you want to use them or not while reading. The purpose is to musically support the respective mood of the plot. If you can please use a browser for reading (not the Tumblr app) due to the text formatting and music.

Yelana caught the two boys from behind as they were telling jokes and laughing out loud instead of watching the herd. She cleared her throat audibly and the heads of both of them drove around scared. They both looked at her serious face and went white as a sheet.

Yelana's gaze wandered back and forth between them, then shrugged and said in a friendly voice, “You've got nothing to worry about, boys.” Their posture then relaxed a little. Then she pondered for a moment, swayed her head in her typical manner and finally looked at them a little arrogantly. “I need a reindeer, preferably saddled and harnessed, if possible please. I'm not that young anymore.”

The surprise reaction of the two of them was priceless for Yelana's taste, but didn't let on and grinned inside herself instead. The boys stood there frozen as if rooted to the ground and could not believe their ears.

“Come on, you two, I haven't got all day!” She made a wagging gesture and frowned apparently in annoyance.

The boys started moving and less than five minutes later a saddled reindeer was standing in front of her.

She took a closer look at the animal and the saddle and nodded contentedly at the end. Then she pushed her rod under the straps of the saddle and mounted. “Take good care of all of you,” she said to the boys standing there waiting and gave them a motherly look. Then she sighed and rode off without looking back another second.

“What did she mean by that? And why is she riding away anyway?” one of them asked.

“I haven't the faintest idea. I didn't even know she could ride,” replied the other.

Both gazed after her completely perplexed.

~~~

The wagon rumbled along and nobody spoke a word. Even Olaf remained silent and looked at the passing landscape with a transfigured look. Everyone was lost deep in their thoughts except Elsa, who had fallen asleep next to her.

How could she sleep so calmly; Anna thought, and pondered the upsetting events as she absent-mindedly watched the sunset. On any other day she would enjoy it, but today it seemed to her as if it announced a night of mischief.

What would this Kolgrimr do with the Northuldra once he realized that they were already long gone and he could no longer carry out whatever plans he had in mind. She feared for the people there and if Honeymaren was right in her suspicion, they could not defend themselves against his magical powers. They would all be helplessly at his mercy.

Slowly but constantly anger rose in her. Couldn't anything go right for once in her life? Did something terrible always have to happen to them and ended up being involved? She looked over to her sister and envied her. Elsa's face seemed completely relaxed, she even smiled slightly. Was she dreaming of Honeymaren? What was between them? Of course she would not mind if a romantic relationship developed between the two of them. She knew that Arendelle was quite open-minded about relationships of this kind, there was even a married female couple, Ada and Tuva Diaz with two adopted children. What was most important to her was Elsa's well-being and she wanted nothing more than the happiness for her sister.

And now someone thought he had the right to get revenge for something they were both not to blame for. Anna cursed and at the same moment, frightened by her behaviour, held her hand over her mouth. The next moment, she looked into Kristoff's eyes, who had turned around to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

“You curse? About what?” he asked curiously.

“Oh nothing, it's not that important,” she replied quickly, waving off and feeling the situation as embarrassing. Kristoff now raised his other eyebrow, too. Apparently he didn't quite believe her assertion.

“You know you can tell me anything, honey. Just say it out loud. If I don't know what it's about, I can't help you.”

Anna sat down and nodded her head a little bashfully at last. “Yes, dear, I know, and cursing isn't usually my style either. I was just thinking about this Kolgrimr and why it is always us who are in the middle of the action and risking our lives. What do you think about this whole thing? You have been quiet all the way back and don't seem particularly frightened to me.”

Kristoff shrugged his shoulders. “We made it out of the woods in time, if all this is true, and we'll be home soon.” Then he remembered the conversation with Ryder when he warned him and he said, “I'm not worried about myself, Anna, but if there's anyone I really care about, it's you, honey. If anything happens to you, that would be the end for me, I  love you.”

Anna smiled, stood up briefly and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Kristoff, my love. I love you too.”

They looked at each other in love for a while, and Anna actually forgot her worries about it. Eventually, he nodded with a smile and turned around again. She herself leaned back and closed her eyes. Maybe she could get some sleep after all; she thought.

~~~

They had not yet completed a third of the way home when Kristoff saw a covered wagon approaching in front of him at some distance. He turned around and pointed it out to the others.

“Wake up, folks! Look who's coming.”

Anna and Elsa startled up, then stretched their heads and looked ahead while Olaf climbed forward beside Kristoff. “Mattias is here!” he exclaimed excitedly and pointed forward.

“They were pretty fast, though,” Anna murmured and rubbed her stiff neck because she had dozed off in an uncomfortable position.

“You haven't told me much about him,” Elsa replied without looking at her. “Except that he rode back specially to get help for me.”

Anna looked at her smiling. “The General is one of the most loyal people I know, and a fine fellow too. You'll like him.”

Elsa nodded, “I'm already very curious about him.”

A few minutes later the two vehicles, standing now directly opposite each other, stopped. The two drivers sitting on the coach box looked quite surprised. Mattias rode past them and jumped briskly out of the saddle when he was next to Anna.

“Your Majesty!” he shouted joyfully and bowed to Anna, who was now standing up at the back of the wagon. “You guys are already on your way back so soon, then I presume your sister's doing well again?” He peered past Anna to have a look at Elsa. Elsa bent over, looked past Anna and waved at the General with her arm half raised. “Hello, General Mattias.” She smiled at him and mustered his appearance with quick glances without seeming immediately curious.

Trygve and Kristina rose as soon as they saw their queen, smiled and bowed to her while reciting the usual greeting. Anna nodded to them in a friendly manner, but suddenly her worries came back to her mind and her face darkened.

“I am very happy that you are feeling better, Elsa,” said Mattias and returned her smile. Then he looked up at Anna again and his smile faded when he noticed her concern in her face. “Queen Anna, are you alright? Has something happened?”

She nodded, sat down again to be largely at his eye level and said, “Unfortunately, yes, General. We were informed by Honeymaren of a serious threat and had to flee in haste. Someone is trying to kill us.”

Mattias tore open his eyes and gasped, “What? Who? Please tell me everything!” Anna explained in short words what she knew, and his face successively expressed his moods, from amazement to serious concern to clear anger.

“The Council must be informed immediately, and the garrison put on high alert. This can't be true!” He clenched his fists and turned to the covered wagon. “Turn the cart around immediately. We must return as quickly as possible. We are in imminent danger.”

Trygve's and Kristina's jaws dropped and they stared first at him and then at each other in disbelief. Kristina finally nodded and jumped off the trestle. The trail wasn't too wide here so she took the horse by the harness and pulled it slowly around to realign the cart. Then she got back on and waited for Mattias to would ride ahead of them to set the pace. She looked at Trygve with concern and he put a hand on her arm reassuring her.

“Your Majesty, if you agree, we will refrain from equipping Elsa with the camouflage clothes we brought with us, because of the hurry. We yet could also do that shortly before Arendelle.”

Anna nodded and looked briefly behind her. “I think you are right about this, Mattias. We are still near the Northuldra area, so we should hurry.” She gave her sister a quick sideways glance and squeezed her hand before looking at Mattias again. “But we are not yet returning to Arendelle. We have to make a little detour first.”

Mattias raised his eyebrows questioningly. “A detour? Where to?”

Anna bent over to him, looked at him with big eyes and replied quietly, “To the trolls, Mattias, to the trolls.”

The general's jaw dropped and he couldn't say anything more. The day had started so beautifully, and from one moment to the next, everything turned into a nightmare. Trolls ... this can't be true; he thought, and shook his head in disbelief.

~~~

He could have taken her to Gyda. Instead, he chose his hiding place by the river. He preferred not to take any risks and Honeymaren as a hostage was very valuable, even in two ways; he thought, when he recalled the scene on the beach with her and that Arendelle bitch. He grinned as he nudged the young woman in front of him to make her hurry up.

“Faster! Don't dally like that.”

She took a quick look over her shoulder, both angry and anxious. Her hands were tied behind her back and she almost tripped forward when her attention was briefly diverted. But she caught herself in time.

“Don't try any tricks,” he said in a low but threatening voice. She nodded, but didn't say a word. That's good; Kolgrimr thought, as long as she was afraid it was easier to keep her at bay. Less work and more time to make new plans.

He couldn't get that boy out of his head, that brave little guy and brother of his captive. How could it be that he had not sensed the slightest thing, not even when he had actively and intensely tried; he thought. It was almost as if a ghost apparition had stood before him. He gritted his teeth and clenched a fist. That was not good by any means. Not at all. Even with this strong-willed half breed from Arendelle, he was able to get to her spirit with a bit effort. But with him? There was absolutely nothing. Nothing at all. And that worried him immensely.

~~~

At nightfall they reached a small, well hidden kota. Light fog was in the air and a soft splash told Honeymaren that they had to be near a river. She also knew roughly in which direction they had gone, although she herself had never been in this part of the forest. Then she suddenly became aware of exactly where they were and she drew in the air sharply. The home of the earth giants!

She looked around briefly to Kolgrimr and he just nodded wordlessly in the direction of the kota. She walked to the entrance and stopped in front of it. He reached past her, pulled the flap open and pushed her in roughly, so that she fell to the bare ground inside. Then the flap closed again and she was sitting in the dark. She heard him tie the loop of the flap to the outside of the hut, then it was quiet.

She tried to spot something inside the kota, but all she saw was a pale shimmer in the opening above her. She tugged at her shackles but Kolgrimr had been very meticulous and she could not loosen them. If only she had her knife now, which she always carried hanging by her side; she thought. But he had taken it from her, of course.

She struggled herself up into a sitting position, crawled around and systematically searched the floor, hoping to find something useful. But there was nothing, not even a fur, that usually came with every good kota equipment. All right; she thought, let's try the walls. She stood up and moved along the wall with her shoulder as long until she felt like she had reached the starting point again. With her head she had also cautiously checked the wall in addition. But there was no hook and certainly not anything hanging to it to discover. She sighed unnerved and stayed stood leaning against the sloping wall for a while.

What was he up to? What would he do with her? Would he use brute force? Most likely, the way she judged him. She wasn't usually the frightened type, but she felt her eyes get wet and soon after that tears started to flow again. She sobbed softly and finally sank back to the floor. There was no escape for her, it seemed. She decided not to exchange a single word with him. She would remain mute. Even if he should slap her, he wouldn't get anything out of her.

The minutes passed in the silence of the darkness and the minutes became hours. It already had to be in the middle of the night when the rain started. At first she could only hear the soft sound the drops made as they dripped down onto the kota from the branches of the tree above. But it didn't take long and the sporadic dripping turned into a steady hissing as the sky finally opened its sluices completely.

The monotonous noise sounded very calming and soon it made her very tired. So she curled up on the uncomfortable, hard floor and fell gratefully asleep shortly afterwards.

~~~

---

I hope you have enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a comment if you liked the story, I would be pleased to read your opinions, even criticisms. If you want to be tagged as soon I publish the next chapter please let me know, except you are already tagged :-)

Tagging: @karma26 @whether-near-to-me-or-far @annaofthenorthernlights @igotelsapregnanthelp @the-fifth-spirit-elsa​

#frozen #frozen2 #frozen3 #fanfic #epic novel #the broken bridge #part two #chapter 14 #bigfrozenfan

[edenmemes]

the witcher (show) starters

❝ victimhood is not your colour. ❞ ❝ you can’t outrun destiny just because you’re terrified of it. ❞ ❝ your job is to control chaos, not to succumb to it. ❞ ❝ you don’t deserve the air you breathe. ❞ ❝ not a single person alive looks in the mirror and doesn’t see some form of deformity. ❞ ❝ you lie, you keep secrets. you succumb to emotion and weakness. ❞ ❝ not answering questions is part of your brooding pillar of charm. ❞ ❝ you’re just mad because you lost your chance to be beautiful. ❞ ❝ you smell of death and destiny, heroics and heartbreak. ❞ ❝ there’s no power in puppeting fools. ❞ ❝ i’ll leave that for someone who gives a shit. ❞ ❝ i need to get back to my horse. ❞ ❝ your will to live is strong. ❞ ❝ i’m still not enough. even for you. ❞ ❝ need a hand? i’ve got two. ❞  ❝ my men will kill you. ❞ ❝ i’m here to drink alone. ❞ ❝ go. on your own or at the end of a rope, your choice. ❞ ❝ do you know how many people wouldn’t blink if you died? ❞ ❝ you weren’t taking control. you were losing it. ❞ ❝ people call you a monster too. ❞ ❝ i've waited all these years for you to admit we're made for each other. ❞ ❝ if only you could tell between friend or threat. do you even know the difference anymore? ❞ ❝ when you live as long as i do, all the names sound the same. ❞ ❝ were you in love? ❞ ❝ this place isn’t safe when you’re alone. ❞ ❝ the only thing you do quickly is flee. ❞ ❝ even if you were a beauty, still, no one would love you. ❞ ❝ not a happily ever after after all. ❞ ❝ hm, doesn’t rhyme. all good predictions rhyme. ❞ ❝ you are making me uncomfortable. ❞ ❝ unchecked kings and queens start massacres. ❞  ❝ i just want some damn peace. ❞ ❝ i dreamed of becoming important to someone someday. ❞ ❝ the only thing special about you is the crown on your head. ❞ ❝ what do you long for? fame? money? power? ❞ ❝ what? no one mentioned the impending doom part. ❞ ❝ true words are rare words. ❞ ❝ i want more. i have to be more. ❞ ❝ do other women find this coarseness charming? ❞ ❝ love casts long shadows. ❞ ❝ if she runs, kill her. ❞ ❝ don’t give me that look, shitling. ❞ ❝ today isn’t your day, is it? ❞ ❝ how come when my life comes to shit you’re the one shoveling it? ❞ ❝ i know who you are. what you are. ❞ ❝ i envy you. to live, and to have no love. ❞ ❝ you’d leave a man bound to die in such a dignity? ❞ ❝ i loved your mother. ❞ ❝ don’t you know who i am? ❞ ❝ so that’s all life is to you? monsters and money? ❞ ❝ there’s a vortex of fate around us. ❞ ❝ is history a wheel doomed to repeat? ❞ ❝ the sword of destiny has two edges. ❞ ❝ i’ve considered your company and conversation payment enough. ❞ ❝ this isn’t who you are. ❞ ❝ will you be joining me? ❞ ❝ no amount of power or beauty will make you feel worthy of either. ❞ ❝ i don’t believe anyone has that power. ❞  ❝ nobody smart plays fair. ❞ ❝ i won’t listen to a man who pimps the world as some romantic adventure. ❞ ❝ a true man would state his desires. ❞ ❝ don’t turn this on me. ❞ ❝ i want to be powerful. it’s what i’m owed. ❞ ❝ that makes sense just as much as it doesn’t. ❞  ❝ you’re smart, aren’t you? you know everything. ❞ ❝ i feel something out there waits for you. ❞  ❝ please don’t hurt me. i’m lost. ❞  ❝ i won’t kill you...but you cant stay here. ❞  ❝ there’s no ‘us’. there’s only me. ❞  ❝ i’m asking for a teeny-weeny little favor. ❞  ❝ yeah, you’re probably right. but what if you’re not? ❞ ❝ i’m not your friend. ❞  ❝ you and destiny can both fuck right off. ❞  ❝ i love the way you just sit in the corner and brood. ❞ ❝ i will not suffer tonight sober. ❞  ❝ pretty ballads hide bastard truths. ❞  ❝ i will not involve myself to petty men’s squabbles. ❞ ❝ happy childhood makes for dull company. ❞ ❝ it’s impossible to be prepared for every battle. keep your sword close, and keep moving. ❞  ❝ i see a lot of myself in you. ❞ ❝ you can’t change the world this way. ❞ ❝ i don’t need anyone. & the last thing i want is someone needing me. ❞ ❝ alright, stand close to me and pretend you’re mean. ❞ ❝ why are you dressed like a sad silk trader? ❞  ❝ only one of us will be alive to find out. ❞  ❝ i stole rather than starve. i killed rather than be killed. ❞  ❝ i have’t only done good in my life either. ❞  ❝ it’s like ordering a pie and finding out it has no filling. ❞  ❝ when i cut my finger i bleed. that’s human, right? ❞  ❝ they’re rough around the edges but they’re earthling like me. ❞  ❝ royalty is best endured in small doses. ❞  ❝ i thought the world needed me too. ❞  ❝ sometimes, the best thing a flower can do for us is die. ❞  ❝ handy with a blade. handy with women too. ❞ ❝ are you trying to hurt my feelings? ❞ ❝ you look like you’ve been through hell. ❞ ❝ i can’t do this without you. ❞ ❝ you know cautionary tales won’t work on me. ❞ ❝ you talk nonsense while making wise and meaningful faces. ❞ ❝ the apple never falls far from the tree. ❞ ❝ when i go it will be far more dramatic than this. ❞ ❝ try not to get any daggers in your back before dawn. ❞ ❝ you have your mother’s blood. you’ll be alright. ❞ ❝ a great ruler always chooses mercy. ❞ ❝ it took two strikes to kill him. they weren’t clean. but they were spectacular. ❞ ❝ if i have to choose between one evil and another, i’d rather not choose. ❞ ❝ i would do anything to forget who i was. ❞ ❝ i have no doubt blood will be spilled here tonight. ❞ ❝ there’s a grain of truth in every fairy tale. ❞ ❝ people look at you for who you are, not what you can give them. ❞ ❝ do you believe in destiny now? ❞ ❝ we can leave. we can find a way out. ❞ ❝ lovers? fun for a bit, i’ll admit, but all eventually disappoint. ❞ ❝ let’s face it, you’re a girl. we’re just vessels. and even when we’re told we’re special, we’re still just vessels…for them to take…and take…until we’re empty…and alone. ❞ ❝ people like to invent monsters and monstrosities. then they seem less monstrous themselves. ❞ ❝ every time i’m around you i say more in five minutes than i’ve said in weeks. ❞ ❝ maybe someone out there will want you. ❞ ❝ if you must kill me, i’m ready. ❞ ❝ people linked by destiny always find each other. ❞ ❝ thank the gods. i might live to see another day. ❞ ❝ i was having a rather lovely dream which then turned into a nightmare. ❞ ❝ you desperately need money for new clothes.  ❞ ❝ more and more, i find monsters where ever i go. ❞ ❝ life is too short. do what pleases you...while you can. ❞ ❝ gods you’re pretty. ❞ ❝ my lady, i would never degrade your honor in such a way. ❞ ❝ my world is cruel. you enter, you survive, you die. ❞ ❝ i feel i shall die a broken hearted man. ❞ ❝ who slits a man’s throat while he’s relieving his bowels? ❞ ❝ why help those who don’t listen? ❞ 

#roleplay starters #roleplay meme #sentence starters

[gemmaswriting]

Anidala Fanfiction Recommendations!!

I’ve been asked for a long time for my fanfiction recommendations, so I’ve finally taken the time to compile them. If there are any you love that I missed out (this includes Vaderdala!) leave them as a reply so we can all have a good time reading together. 

Writer: Shelivesfree (fanfiction profile) This wonderful girl has some of the most amazing Anidala stories I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Unfortunately, a lot of them have been hiatus for a while but her Boy Next Door trilogy has two amazing parts completed. 

The stories I recommend: 

“The Boy Next Door”: “When Padme Naberrie returns to her home after 10 years, the last thing she expects to find is her childhood friend, Anakin Skywalker; the boy next door. But 10 years is a long time, and he has changed more than she is prepared for. How will she react when little Ani is now a grown man, impulsive, handsome and completely infatuated with her? Modern AU.”

“The Girl from Harvard”: “Sequel to ‘The Boy Next Door’ Absence makes the heart grow fonder. It also makes it grow more paranoid. Padme is in her last year of Harvard. Anakin has just started at the University of Chicago. Though they won't admit it, their long-distance relationship is taking it's heavy toll. Will their love prevail or will the distance prove too much for both of them? Sequel to The Boy Next Door. Modern AU.”

“look into my eyes, that's where my demons hide”:  ”Each time he comes back to her, a little piece of him is missing... left out there, in the field, with his brothers. She can see it in the way he smiles and it doesn't reach his eyes. In the way he cries to himself when he thinks she's not awake. And all she can do is hold him. Modern AU.”

“I Know Your Type”  “Am I dead?" It slips out, accidentally. She turns her head towards me, a confused look on her face and tips her head. "Excuse me?" Flashing her an impish grin, I lean casually against the wall. "I must have died and gone to heaven, because you look like an angel." The look she gives me is far from impressed. "Do you use that with all the girls, or am I just lucky?"

“we both know what we want, so why don't we fall in love?” “Rhythmic Gymnast Padme Naberrie has dreamed of being an Olympian since she was five years old. Now, after years and years of training and preparations, she's finally made it to Rio, and nothing is going to stand in the way between her and a gold medal. Except a certain Canadian beach volleyball player, perhaps.”

“Infinite” “ My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite.”

“for a moment” “And, just for a moment, all the worries and concerns that troubled the young couple cease to exist. Fade away to just this. Husband and wife. Asleep. Dreaming of the sweet little life they will soon bring into the world and into their hearts. Set somewhere in ROTS.”

“Procrastination” “Padmé is busy with a new bill she must bring before the next Senate meeting. Her husband has other ideas, it would seem.”

“There’s a million reasons I should give you up”  “Padmé struggles to deal with Anakin's frequent departures for weeks, even months, at a time during the Clone Wars. It's in these moments she contemplates the practicality of their marriage. Grief-stricken with loneliness, she stumbles across something she wrote a long time ago... a list of sorts. The find brings about a whole host of emotions she'd rather not deal with.”

“all I need is you” “It was her fault. His pain, his jealousy, his insecurity. It was all her fault. Padme looked up at the beautiful man in front of her, her husband, her Ani, and decided she needed to make him remember. Remind him of how much she loved him. Because no one, no man in the entire galaxy, could take the place of Anakin Skywalker.” 

“Her” “A glimpse into the Cosmic Force after Darth Vader's redemption and return to the Light Side. Anakin Skywalker is consumed by guilt and Obi-wan and Yoda are there to appease him. But it's been twenty-four years and all he wants is to see her.” 

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  Writer: SphinxScribe (Fanfiction profile/ Tumblr account @sphinxscribe ) This fantastic writer has many, many alternate takes on the plot of Revenge of the Sith - often allowing our favourite couple to have a happy ending. Their writing captures the world of Star Wars perfectly. 

The stories I recommend: 

“Where Catalysts Stand Down” “Palpatine issues Order 66, and Anakin and Padmé flee Coruscant. ROTS AU. Anakin/Padmé, Anidala.”

“Viability’s Edge” “Anakin tells Obi-Wan the truth. ROTS AU. Anakin/Padmé, Anidala.”

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Writer: Disco Shop Girl (Fanfiction profile) This writer’s take on Anidala is so well written within every story of theirs I have read. They truly capture their dynamic and relationship perfectly. 

The stories I recommend:

“Your helmet cracked” “He'd been restrained, forced to watch while her helmet cracked and the Mon Calamari sea water threatened to drown her before his eyes. Now they're free. And alone. Set at the end of the Clone Wars season 4 Water War arc.” 

“Order 66-S” “The order was to exterminate all Jedi: Past, Present and Future. Captain Rex has a different plan. Order 66-S: to save General Skywalker.”

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Writer: Rogue Darth Skywalker (Fanfiction profile/ Tumblr - @roguedarthskywalker) This wonderful person has been one of the biggest supporters of my own writing for a long time and I value them immensely! They have many delicious Anidala/Vaderdala stories for you to obsess over for hours and hours. I highly recommend following both profiles linked above.

The stories I recommend:

“Pin up Problems” “He hated the nose art. He hated seeing others degrade her other exceptional qualities by depicting her as some pin up girl. He hated thinking about how many other beings across the stars fantasized about her in such a way. At the same time, he can't deny that the art makes her look… hot. He can't deny that the sight turns him on.”

“Letting Go” “It was their custom. Every year on that fateful day, Anakin would make his way to the cemetery with his children and seek out the mausoleum where she rested."

“Far from Perfect” “Darth Vader is dead. Anakin is redeemed and lives on Naboo with Padme and their children. But not all happy endings are perfect.”

“Far from Easy” “Sequel to Far From Perfect. Redeemed Anakin Skywalker tries to make things right with his wife and kids.

“Perfect” “Happy Family style AU post ROTS. Padme wakes up in the middle of the night and ponders the most recent events in her life.”

“A Dangerous Fantasy” “Pure Smut. Padme helps Anakin fulfil a fantasy he has had since they were married- one that involves the Jedi Council Chambers.”

“Untitled” “Anakin and Padme deal with having to tell their young twins they are having another baby.”

“Strictly Professional” “There are times she hates that she has to resort to this- that rather than being in a long term relationship with someone, she chose to instead pay someone for sex. Modern AU.”  

“Out of his Depth” “I fought in a war. I commanded legions of soldiers against battle droids. I think I can handle my own four-year-old twins."

“Love and Jealousy” “Anakin gave the binders an experimental tug, testing his chances of escaping. There was none. A light chuckle left his lips after a few moments, letting his head fall back to rest on the chair. What a compromising position for a Jedi Knight to be in. Handcuffed in a respected senator's bedchambers practically naked… oh, how the holonews would rave should the story get out!” 

“Against all Odds” “He shouldn't be here. The election was only a few weeks away and the final debate was due in the next few days. There were so many other things he should be doing. He shouldn't be here, in enemy territory wrapped in the arms of the woman his boss despised. Modern AU. Smut.” 

“What we Hope is Never Found” “The impending existence of a recording of them together held dangers that went a little deeper than if they were found naked and tangled together in her office or on his cruiser. The physical proof of their relationship would cause an uproar if it were discovered. But she trusted Anakin. Smut.”

“It was Found” “Sequel to What We Hope is Never Found.”

“Things that go bump in the night” “Luke and Leia think there is a ghost in their home. Their parents know better.”

“Preparations” “She couldn't wait to meet their little ones. It hadn't been too long since they learned she was having twins, and as stressful as that idea was at first, she was quickly growing accustomed to the idea of having two perfect little babies. Her husband, however, seemed to be taking it a little worse than her.” 

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Writer: Skywalkersamidala (Archive of our Own profile/ Tumblr @markantonys) I absolutely adore the Anidala stories created by this author whether they’re aus or canon! They nail the couple’s dynamic throughout their many wonderful stories. 

The stories I recommend:

“Snow Place like Home” “For genre-typical convoluted reasons involving ill-timed blizzards, Padmé is forced to spend the holidays at Anakin's house. Anakin isn't as upset about his boss staying with him for Christmas as he probably should be.“

“Soulmates R Us” “Anakin works at a toy store, and single-mother-of-twins Padmé is becoming one of the store's best customers.”

“Heirs of Light and Darkness” “After escaping the Jedi purge two years ago made him the most wanted fugitive in the galaxy, Anakin Skywalker has at last been captured by the Empire. He expects to be killed, but Lady Padmé Amidala, the imperial heir, has other ideas.”

“Friendly Competition” “Playing Quidditch is awfully difficult when you’re in love with the rival Seeker. Snapshots of Anakin and Padmé’s 7 years at Hogwarts.“

“Perfect” “The war is over, Luke and Leia are five years old, and Anakin and Padmé finally have the peaceful life and big family they've always dreamed of. But their life is about to get a little less peaceful and their family a little bigger.“

“Nos Cedamus Amori“ “Anakin is a gladiator and a slave. Padmé is the wife of the Roman emperor's heir. Circumstances should never even allow them to meet, let alone fall in love.“

“I Do Take Two” “Thirty years after their clandestine wedding on Naboo, Anakin and Padmé decide to finally do the proper wedding ceremony they never got to have, with all their friends and family present.“

“Flat Tire” “Who knew something as simple as getting a flat tire could change the entire course of your life?“

“Strays” “Anakin had always had a penchant for taking in strays.”

“Five weddings and a funeral” “Padmé's feeling gloomy about her perpetual singleness, but everything changes when she meets an attractive stranger at her sister's wedding.“

“Pipe Dream” “Padmé's new plumber is the most attractive human being she's ever laid eyes on, so naturally, she keeps faking plumbing emergencies so she can keep seeing him.“

“Birthdays and Birth days” “Anakin gets a birthday surprise — two of them, in fact.“

“Spouses with Benefits” “Anakin and Padmé wake up after a wild night in Vegas and discover they accidentally got married—and that Ahsoka posted about it all over social media, so now every single person they know is texting and calling them to offer congratulations. They decide to save face by pretending the marriage was totally 100% intentional and not a drunk mistake at all, keeping up the charade for six months, and then quietly getting divorced. But a lot can change in six months…“

“Two Halves Make a Whole” “Anakin is the single dad of Luke. Padme is the single mom of Leia. Luke and Leia meet in kindergarten and become best friends. The rest is history.“

“Home” “In which "Darth Vader" is no more than Anakin's playtime alter ego (happy Skywalker family AU)“

“Someday” “At age fourteen, Padme receives a marriage proposal from the nine-year-old boy next door and tells him to ask her again when she's thirty. Surely he'll have forgotten all about it by then.“

“Across the Centuries” “They meet each other in every century, but something always goes wrong before they can make it to happily-ever-after.”

“Madam President” “Between late nights and headaches and mountains of paperwork and fierce opposition from her political opponents, President Padmé Amidala already had enough on her plate. And then she just had to go and fall for one of her bodyguards, a relationship which would ruin her reputation and his career if anyone were to find out about it. Also, someone's trying to kill her.“

“Scars” “How do Anakin and Padmé go from "I love you" to "I do"? Missing scene from Attack of the Clones.”

“The Bet” “Anakin's had a crush on Padmé since fourth grade, and after putting up with his pining for seven years, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka are finally stepping in and making a bet that he can't ask her to junior prom in the spring. Meanwhile, Padmé is realizing that Anakin isn't as annoying as she'd always thought. In fact, her feelings towards him are starting to go in quite the opposite direction...”

“Three” “His and Padmé’s first wedding anniversary isn’t going nearly as well as Anakin had hoped it would. Until, suddenly, it’s so much better than he could have ever imagined.“

“The Anakin Disaster” “Padmé is mortified upon waking up beside her strictly platonic childhood best friend Anakin Skywalker the morning after a drunken one-night stand. A couple weeks later, she discovers that's the least of their problems.“

“Will You Fake Marry Me?” “Anakin's boss may or may not have accidentally given her family the impression that she's engaged to him. Anakin may or may not be pleased about the situation”

“Aggressive Negotiations” “Empress Amidala invites Lord Vader to her private rooms to persuade him to form an alliance with the Empire. Her methods are very effective.”

“Troubling Implications” “Perhaps he hated himself for it—Padmé thought he probably did—but he came that night (several times, in fact). And the night after that, and the next one, and the next, until it became a habit that neither of them seemed especially inclined to break. (Sequel to "Aggressive Negotiations")

“Imperial Obligations” “Padmé's advisors suggest that she get rid of Vader and make a politically advantageous marriage. The Empress is less than pleased. (Sequel to "Aggressive Negotiations" and "Troubling Implications")”

“Welcome Home” “Anakin Skywalker closes his eyes on the face of his son. When he opens them again, he is in Naboo, and someone is waiting for him.“

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Writer: Shawn30 (Fanfiction profile) The one, the only, the deservedly famous! I think every Anidala fan is aware of this f a n t a s t i c writer’s work. Deliciously smutty. Unbelievably well written. Unfortunately, many of their works have been left uncompleted for years but the stories are still worth reading!

 “Whisper” “Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but can also whither your soul and breed doubt in your heart. AP angsty erotica.”

“The Ties that Bind” “Given a brief period of time off during the Clone Wars, Padmé and Anakin visit her family at the Lake Country estate on Naboo. A family that still doesn't know they are married, although they are about to find out. Complete.” 

“The Light and the Dark” “Chapter 1 in the Hearts and Souls series. An unexpected Separatist attack 'accidentally' reunites two star-crossed lovers, giving them a brief moment of peace at a time of war. Complete.”

“Shadows of Winter” “Chapter 2 in the Hearts and Souls series. With six days to spend together celebrating their two year anniversary, Anakin and Padme travel separately to a remote planet in the Hoth system. Romance, passion, and danger await them. Complete.” 

 “Beloved” “Chapter 3 in the "Hearts and Souls" series. When faced with the most horrific news imaginable, Padme's utter desperation forces her to turn to Obi-Wan and even Chancellor Palpatine for help. Her greatest personal challenge awaits... Complete” 

 “Paradise” “The sequel to "Beloved." Following Padme's daring rescue of her husband, the Skywalker's return to Naboo for eight days to heal, unwind, spend time with family, and deal with their connection to the Dark Side of the Force.” 

 “Salvation” “After facing his moment of truth, Anakin and Padmé must finally deal with the consequences. Obi-Wan reveals a startling discovery. Complete” 

“Scandalous” “The sequel to Salvation. On the eve of Padmé Skywalker's official ascension to the role of Vice Chair of the Republic, Anakin steals her away for a wild vacation to Cloud City. Complete.”

“Sacred” “Chapter 2. Ahsoka and Jo'Seth grow closer. Padme's trip to the Jedi Temple on Republic business turns a bit more adventurous. Anakin and Obi-Wan have a heart to heart talk about moving forward.”

“Belonging” “A private afternoon lunch to catch up with an old friend during the Clone Wars reveals a great deal to ObiWan Kenobi. AP”

“Before the Seasons Change” “With the Darth Sidious finally defeated and the Clone Wars ended, Anakin and Padme consider what comes next in their lives. Anakin/Padme”

“Amor Vincit Omnia” “AU. After a three and a half year separation Vice Chair Amidala and Jedi Master Skywalker have some unfinished business as the Clone Wars have finally ended and Palpatine is dead.”

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If there’s any stories I missed, let me know!

#Anidala #anidala fanfiction #Vaderdala #vaderdala fanfiction #Anidala fic rec

[numbaoneflaya]

Can I get a list of all ur ocs?

Well anon youve done it, you made me make a list of all my major OCS in one place. I hope your happy with yourself. Under the cut for obvious reasons, may link in my blog desc later.

Modern/BTD verse!!

Jilly- Ferret beastkin little creature, was recently turned into a werewolf by vincent as well so she's running around on full moons in a wereferret wolf hybrid creature form. Chaotic and friendly and wants to be everyone's bestie. She has the most energy in the world and is very kind hearted. Banned from most Claires for stealing and from one Home Depot for climbing the shelves. Prone to living life with rose colored glasses on and seeing the best in everything/everything even when there's nothing there. Socialization is a must for her and is why being basemented/kidnapped broke her psych so quickly and developed severe stockholm. Sometimes overly talkative/enthusiastic and can scare people off. Even if she sees someone shes decided shes friends with be noticeably 'evil', will convince herself it must be for some reason/her fault and ignore it.

Ciggy- Undead punk still learning to harness his powers to interact with the world as a ghost. Was sacrificed by a cult he joined for free concert tickets and to get laid. Likes to cause problems on purpose both pre and prior death and he's not above possessing someone once he learns how to. Was called Rooster in high school before he dropped out because he's loud, obnoxious and always screaming. And also has bright red dyed hair. Looking 4 ways to become less ghosty bcs he wants to be able to help raise his infant daughter, whom he died before he could meet. Bit annoying and in your face, likes poking at bruises, his or others. Kind of a sad heart seeking attention through volume and persistence.

Mike: Vampire loser! Sells drugs and lives at raves. Was turned when she was attacked by a coked out vampire (whom she supplied the product to) and has major scarring on her face and chest. Needs a somewhat constant influx of blood so shell sometimes take victims back to her place and chain them up, slowly draining them over time. Feels bad (ish) about it tho so it is possible to survive her if you are nice and or interesting enough. Kind of desperate for a friend and for love. Is a stalker. If she likes you enough/finds you interesting, she might just appear in your house one night and start rummaging through your fridge like nothing is wrong and youve been besties for years. Its best to indulge her and be friendly, otherwise she could turn violent quickly if her feelings are hurt.

Kilaine- Regular human woman, but fucked up. Born and raised by an elite waspy society she had an interest in the human body and pain tolerance since she was young. Quickly learned that these traits were socially unacceptable in most professions, so she became a doctor. The only family she cared about was her younger sister who she lost in a car accident, where they were flipped over and trapped inside while it was afire. While her sister burned up in front of her Kilaine only lost her left arm and had major burns on her body. This tipped her descent into sadism and she is now madly obsessed with bringing her sister back no matter the cost. Rude and offstandish, clinical.

Dragon age verse!

Thurwen- My main Hero of Ferelden with a bad temper and a heart of gold. City elf from the Denerim Alienage, 18 at the start of origins. She's a reaver warrior with a lot of pent up rage which sometimes scares others when she lets it out in battle. Over the years she's grown less moody as she's had to take the role of Commander. Crude sense of humor and violent impulses, very sensitive to the plights of others and tries often to help. Never seen crying in public but only cries to herself at night- major martyr and hanged man complex.

Caz- My circle mage elf inquisitor who was an apostate before the conclave. Blood magic, but make it sneaky. Wary of strangers and new faces, always dealing with the impulse to flee/find a high vantage point. Endless curiosity about the unknown/ the forbidden/ naughty, was supposed to be made tranquil for it but she escaped. Kind of a little creature as well, lived on her own for a while as an apostate in the woods, filed her teeth down to sharp ends to make herself look more intimidating (shes 5 ft tall) and less cute (her elf ears are huge and expressive, which shes embarrassed about)

Dag and Thagna- Carta twins! Professional lyrium smugglers since birth pretty much. Raised casteless in dust town and had to work their way up the chain of command by themselves. Dag is the brother, Thagna the sister. Their father traded them to the carta for drinking money and their mom died in childbirth so they have somewhat of a codependent relationship. Both charismatic and calculating, friendly and agreeable but won't hesitate to put a dagger in your back. Hard to pin down morally or physically, squirrelly bastards.

Reila: Dalish elf who works for the inquisition/ is the inquisitor in some aus. She has an extreme fixation on elvhen history and rebuilding what they have lost. Not a people person, prefers solitude. Takes some time to warm up to shemhlen as she has a hard history with them. Good friends with Caz, who recruited her in the first place. Doesn't understand very many social cues and finds societal expectations limiting and frustrating. Fondness for halla and hooved animals, which she finds graceful.

Elder scrolls verse!

Valkya: Near seven foot nord woman whos over a thousand years old by the events of skyrim. Tall and buff, two handed warrior and compulsive hero there to bask in the spotlight save the day. She was killed at the start of the events of Elder scrolls online and had her soul ripped out and sent to coldharbor and she's just been a pain in the ass about it since then. Her body can physically die and will not regrow pieces. Her soul however will escape and teleport to the nearest source of power where her body will regrow from an aetherial plasm until its whole again. Loud and brash, friendly and jovial. Actually pretty keen especially after centuries of life but prefers to play dumb as it makes people underestimate her. Plus, she really does enjoy mud wrestling and drinking contests and acting generally like a rambunctious frat boy. Ha developed a bit of a substance problem and a problem with acting out, as after being alive so long she would turn to anything to dull the ache inside of her that never goes away.

Espira- My Dragonborn! Redguard from Hammerfell who was briefly in the Ash’abah due to killing undead while protecting her parents water farm as a child. Ran away from them after years and went to Cyrodille, then to Skyrim and was caught crossing the border. Reserved, kind and soft spoken, she's a sword and shield warrior who's committed herself to doing good in the world by helping others. Dislikes killing and anything messy but believes it is often necessary in order to protect the weak. She blacksmiths often to save money on the upkeep of her own equipment, and takes up metal jewelry working as a hobby with the excess material. Prone to trusting others too much and giving too many second chances, as shes always looking for ways to make even the most hardened criminal a second look at life.

Riley- Espiras little brother who she locked in the wardrobe during the event of the water farm attack. In preventing him from doing violence against the undead she kept him from being conscripted into the Ash’abah. He's way more chaotic than his sister, and suffers from a case of little sibling syndrome in which he will often pester/poke at people just to get a rise out of them. Still kind hearted as his sister, he tries to hide it because he believes that the world is a cruel place and the cruel survive. Despite that belief he is often still unable to force himself to be cruel/careless, only making a show of it so that others leave him alone and don't see that he's very sensitive and emotional. Deaf in one ear due to a magic mishap in his youth, he trained and enchanted his most beloved rats to live for years and sit on his shoulder, alerting him to noises he would not otherwise notice.

Felria: Evil vamp :/ chaotic evil dunmer necromancer. Small and devilish and likes dead bodies too much. Manipulative and cunning, she loves acting. She's a trained assassin for the dark brotherhood and is the speaker. Likes dressing up for missions and wearing disguises like its all a play. Loves toying with people more than she loves killing them, will act in ways that cause as much trauma as possible for other people just for fun and she finds the reactions interesting. Considers herself too far removed from most people's perception of morality and of her so it's hard for her to trust someone or see them as worthy of knowing her. Finds the psychology of grief and fear to be interesting and wants to study them first hand. The hero of kvatch.

Herren: Fifty something year old rat woman looking for something to keep her going. Ran away from her wealthy family in her youth when they wanted her to take charge of the household, instead became an infamous jewel thief and swashbuckler. Spent most of her life traveling and stealing and double dealing. She's smarmy and sarcastic, a serial romancer of the highest caliber. Bit of a show off and a hedonist, always looking for the next good party or new product to snort. Her family died off due to the hard times she wasn't there for and she keeps looking for bigger and bigger heists to fill her appetite as she's chronically bored and lonely, though wont accept intimacy and will scoff at it out of the belief she doesn't deserve it. Irresponsible and selfish, lonely and terrified of any sort of commitment. Fun to party with though!

#my ocs #holy cow that took a while #how do i tag this #jilly #ciggy #kilaine #mike #thurwen #dag and thagna #caz #reila #valkya #espira #riley #herren #felria #AND THIS IS IGNORING A GOOD TEN OTHERS TOO GGSDFSDF #i have. a proble #too many!!!! #FEEl free 2 ask for more info on any :) i kno this is a lot

[ganondoodle]

demise backstory (summary)

I didnt actually plan on wrtiting a summary of demises backstory (that i came up with, idk if its any good) but im realizing how long it will take me to draw it all, especially with job related things getting in the way all the time, so i guess im gonna post a badly summarised version of it right here right now, some things might change but thats always the case with my writing, nothings set in stone.

(please be aware that im not the best writer and didnt put much effort into this, it got longer than i thought but well meh :V ignore the typos, i wrote this at 1 am ;O; )

I didnt proof read anything, so this is a mess, anyway here goes nothin:

As far as i know, there have been multiple cases of hyrule having some sort of alternate mirror version of itself or just an alternate world somehow somewhere, so my personal idea about this is that demise WAS what hylia is for hyrule, a deity of protection. thats also where the whole inverted triforce symbols come from in my design for him, im not saying its lorule, but its definitely inspired by it to some degree. so they also had a triforce (here simply called "relics"), but it was split into the three pieces, for each of the three main nations/countries one, originally it was split like this as a way of sharing it equally AND to keep it safe, since if someone was to want the whole thing, theyd have to fight three different giant nations for it, which was thought as being pretty impossible.

as i said before, demise (might not have always been his name idk) was their deity of protection, he was there to keep the peace, to prevent the three countries from going after the relics themselves, tho he was always a cocky bastard he wasnt as destructive and hateful as he is now, back then he was still the servant of their gods after all. for a long long time he was successful at keeping everything as it was supposed to be, but of course, it cant go well forever, i dont have all the details yet but basically, those three nations started war after war, he was able to keep it from escalating for quite some time  but at some point, the people found out that if they destroyed his statues (just like hylias in canon) to prevent anyone from praying to him, he wouldnt know, at least, not immediately (my idea was that the statues are a sort of communication link to whatever their god was, so in ancient hyrule, if you prayed to one of hylias statues, and asked for her protection/help, she would know instantly and show up within seconds) 

alot of battles were fought without demise hearing anything about it, until someone found a statue that wasnt fully destroyed. when demise showed up however, the person had already died as they were wounded when fleeing from the battlefield. wondering how this all came to be he went to look for where that person came from, since if there was actual big trouble he should have known about it much sooner.  

he must have missed the biggest battle his world had ever seen, given the sheer size of it .. and the amount of corpses scattered all over it.

this only happened because of the greed of the people in power for the rest of the relics, which promised power, more power than they already had, plus who wouldnt want to know what happen if the relics were combined again, given how they've been seperated since the beginning. 

Fueled by anger and grief over how many people had lost their lives without him even KNOWING that a war of this size was happening, demise tried to ask the gods as to what he was supposed to do, how could he stop these needlessly cruel wars over something so small ? but the gods were silent. 

so he had to decide on his own, what was the best thing to do ? after careful consideration he couldnt think of anything else but to destroy the relics, after all, he could touch or use them himself as means to prevent him, as an already powerful deity, from falling for that greed for power, just like the inhabitants of his world did now.

the first one was the easiest, they didnt know his plan and let him wander their sacred halls with no second thought .. until he raised his sword once he stood in front of that cursed relic that led only to bloodshed and death. of course the news started to spread that their protector had apparently turned against them, some thought it was because they destroyed his statues, others because they thought he feared they would be more powerful than him once they gathered all the relics. on his way to destroy the second one he was met with resistance, but nothing he couldnt get through. the third one was a fight of an army against one deity. demise won, but not without killing some of the people he swore to protect .. and the only reason he was doing this, was for their own good.

after the deed was done, instead of everything getting better, it was getting worse. the people were more united than ever. against him that is. and the world fell apart. the oceans started to shrink, the winds would blow more harshly with each passing day, plants would wither away as if robbed of life before it began. demise was never overly beloved by anyone even back in the beginnings, but he could deal with them hating and resenting him, as long as they wouldnt go to war against each other, he was happy, more or less. what he couldnt handle was watching as his world started to die a slow and agozing death, right before his eyes, without him being able to do anything against it. and the gods stayed silent.

was it because he destroyed the relics ? were the gods mad at him for going against their orders and deemed it appropriate to punish him by having to watch the people suffer ?or was it that the gods that were bored of playing with this world and moved on to the next ?

he would never know the answer. 

the world died slowly over hundreds of years of painful suffering, desperately trying to to stay alive. even then the last remaining survivors knew him only as the destroyer of their world, responsible for their suffering. his former self wiped from memory, and only hate remained. 

after the last mortal died, the last tree withered and the oceans were gone. there was nothing left to guard, nothing left but the ruins of the past and the painful reminder of how this all came to be. the question of why it had to happen, was never answered, as the gods abandoned him and his world a long time ago.

in a fit of rage he sought to destroy the last temples, the once sacred places which inscriptions have long faded away and the place he once called his home, where he used to speak to his gods before they fell into this agonizing silence and as he drove his sword through the sculpted stones which once housed their voices, it split into two . ..

..and through the cracks blew a wind carrying the scent of a world that was still alive.

#ganondoodles #long post #loz #tloz #demise #writing #wanted to write it really short #but it got a lil out of hand #please please ignore the typos #or missing words #im pretty tired and havent seriously written anything in like #10 years ? #its probably pretty cheesy ? or cliche whatever #once my brain makes up sth like this (all at once mind you) i literally cannot think it otherwise #details might change over time #but that always happens #;__; #also a bonus ugly sketch #weeeeeeeeeee #god this is embarrassing #>o<

[ji-yaaan]

@kendal0ksw Asks: Anyway... I would like to request a sweet honey milk tea of Deuce, Azul, and Malleus (being called Tsunotaro) with a male Yuu kissing their hand. And when asked why he responds that 1. they looked like they needed a little distraction from whatever was troubling them and 2. to show how much they care about them. Hope this is alright...

𝑨 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚

Headcannons with: Malleus, Deuce, & Azul

Note: Someone pls shoot me I don't know how to write 3 repetitive scenarios w/o making it boring asf. So with request that has similar patterns per character, I figured Headcannons would work? I hope it's ok. I tried making imagines but it looked boring... OH! But I added my short Azul scenario as compensation. Blergh enough chitchat I'm thirstea.

[ 𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝙱𝚘𝚋𝚊 𝚝𝚎𝚊 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍... ]

-ˋˏ•𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒖𝒔 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒂•ˎˊ-

After a long day of being avoided being the infamous “Malleus Draconia” this fae gets tired from the attention he draws and the lack of attention he gets.

Dealing with Dorm duties, People constantly fearing him for nothing, people approaching him to pry information *cough Rook cough* and to not even get an invite in dorm leader meetings? This just gives him a bit of a headache.

He will probably flee to his room when things get a little bit out of hand and he needs some of that good relaxation time.

Resting his head on the bed. Eyes slowly close. The atmosphere relaxing as breaths slow down. "Welcome back Tsunotaro!" You cheerfully exclaimed.

What? Nani? What in the world? Was he that distracted to not notice you in the room this whole time? Expect yourself a O.O face from you local fae.

"Hmm? I didnt notice you were there Y/n..." Even if your lovely Malleus is shocked, He will still gently smile at you. Eyes narrowing, an endearing smile appears in his face everytime he looks at you.

Slowly, your hands would make it's way to creep in his hands. Bingo! Hand holding complete!

Ok! Time for mission number 2! After a tight clasp on Malleus' fingers, you brought your face close to the hands you held dear, and gave the fae a small kiss at the back of his hands.

As if the shock earlier wasn't enough, The fae's eyes widens in surprise yet again. Malleus definitely doesn't get your behavior at times..... But it's not like he hates it... In fact, He loves it...( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

A warm giddy smile paint your face. How infectious... A smile that can melt all your troubles away within a hitch of a second. Malleus can't help but smile ear to ear with the endearing gestures he received.

"But why would you even kiss my hand?" The fae questions in laughter. "Well, you looked pretty troubled today and I dont really know how to help... So I thought that a small kiss will do the trick!"

"You know how much I care about you right?" The answer Malleus got was something priceless. His heart felt warm and fuzzy hearing that someone cares for him. There really was never a dull moment with you.

Expect a little tint of flushed pink in the fae's cheeks for a brief moment. But gotta look close! Malleus won't show it, but he's blushy wushy and melting all over!

Tsunotaro is not much of the type to get the receiving end but he's still very thankful you did this for him uwu.

Expect malleus to give you a kiss on your hand in return too! He can't help but want to share the feeling he got when you kissed his! ^~^

-ˋˏ•𝑫𝒆𝒖𝒄𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒂𝒅𝒆•ˎˊ-

Finishing the last lesson of Alchemy class, Spade boi is exhausted. Using too much braincells is not his forte, but he still needs to grind to get to the honor roll!

He will probably stay in the classroom for a bit and study some of the history materials and alchemy reviewers for the test tommorow... Oops, our cutie fell asleep while writing down his notes.

You walk your way to the classroom because you forgot something. But surprise surprise, it seems like the something you forgot is actually a person, not a belonging...ಠωಠ

You peeked at deuce sleeping soundly with his head resting on the desk. You laughed at how cute he looked sleeping with his mouth open.

He didn't even spare time to take off his lab coat. He must be exhausted huh?Worried by deuce, staying for a bit won't be a crime right?

While reading, somehow, your eyes wanders off to his hands that fell off the desk while he grunted "five more minutes." Wow, sleeping deuce is probably one of the best deuce out there huh? You laughed to yourself.

Maybe it was because of boredom, maybe even from worry, or maybe its just because you simply wanted to do it. But you started to intertwine your fingers with deuce... WoaH...

Smiling at how comfortable it was to hold his hands. You prop your face to kiss his fingers. Chu~♡

"Uhhhmmm....." Oh... You got caught redhanded... Deuce wakes up to find you holding his hands... furthermore, YOU WERE KISSING IT! How embarrassing...(O////O)

Looking up at Deuce, You see a red tomato flushed boy. His cheeks up to his ears are painted pink from embarassment.

"Ahaha... Good morning... Oh wait... Good afternoon." Deuce will look away from you bashfully... How embarrassing for him... But face it, this is such a treat for you.

"You know... You've been awfully dazed and troubled these days... Please take take a break too... It's bad if you keep sleeping in random places! I care about you a lot and I don't want to see you stressed ok?"

Deuce was left astounded with the heartwarming speech you gave him... He felt butterflies flew in his stomach, like flowers bloomed inside his heart. Truly touching words...

Spade boi will smile gently at you, pink cheeks like powder blush, and eyes that sparkled Joy.

Expect this boi to grab your hands and put them in his pockets, saying "If taking a break is ok... Then this is ok right? Let's stay like this for a little bit longer... Ok?"

He'll look away in the other direction, propping his other hand and resting his head on it. If you look closely... A delicious red blush can be seen in his neck and ears too!

“Even if Riddle were to scold us, i think it will be worth it”♡♡♡♡♡♡

-ˋˏ•𝑨𝒛𝒖𝒍 𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒐•ˎˊ-

After a tiresome day as Mostro Lounge, the lounge closing a little later than the usual, A certain octopus is really tired and frustrated because the work got pushed back in their schedule.

As he skims through the numerous pages of parchment, octo boi let out a sigh from frustration. He has to deal with a lot of things this night....

But what he didn't expect was that you were there to brighten his night!

Have a short scenario cuz I love u ♡

Boisterous laughter. Joyful screams. Drinks spilt in the floors and tables. The lounge was getting rowdier with each passing second. Fights fuming in the other tables. Song being sung across the bars.

What's up with this chaos? Where was Jade and Floyd?.... Oh right... Azul nagged on floyd earlier this morning. He's now in his infamous bad moods leaving Jade the only responsible person azul can rely on. But Jade got his hands preoccupied with stopping fights at the moment... Dammit... This is going to be one hell of an evening.

After dealing with the chaos of Mostro Lounge's happy hour, strain and fatigue was evident just by a peek at Azul's Face.

"Haaahhhh... Dealing with those morons was a waste of time, I've still got a long night reviewing the deals and homeworks... Hah. Wonderful..." The sound of pen scratching the wood rang across the room as Azul hummed a melody trying to relieve stress...

"A.z.u.l. kun! Hello!" You happily hummed as azul got caught off guard shocked. "Hm! Oh! Y/n? When did you get here? Pardon me, The lounge was quite rowdy earlier and we had to close a little later than the usual... Oh wait a second lem me just take care of this..." Fingers swept through the crisp pages of numerous books. His pen lightly tapping a beat in the wooden desk.

Moments pass as seconds became minutes. The pen scratching noises enveloped the room drowning in silence. Azul was lost in thought as he burn through the hundreds of words written in the thin pieces of parchment.

You pout at the thought of azul ignoring you, but it's not like you can disturb his work either. So in the end, you just watch him skim through hundreds of pages and thousands of words. Eyebrows furrowed, he fixes his eyeglasses again...

Lost in thought, your eyes wanders off to his ungloved hand... The back of his hand looked smooth and it looked soft. Caught in the moment of daze, you didn't even realize your hands crept stealthily working its way to lock fingers with Azul. This caused azul to look at you in disbelief and shock as a tinge of pink paints his pale face.

What? Octoboi is confused. What? Why were you holding his hands? What? You're not letting go of his hands! futhermore, your fingers are INTERTWINED! Azul.exe has stopped working. Azul wasn't made for cute moments like this.

"Y/n... May I ask why you suddenly linked fingers with me?" Azul asked with his fingers tinged pink, face was painted red down to his neck. "Well... You looked really troubled while you were doing your work... So I thought that you can use a short break? You looked pretty stressed so...."

Ahhhh.... Azul really should've read that one romance book he once stumbled upon, how does he deal with this? Damn, he surely wasn't made for this... He stared up your eyes only to look away again bashfully.

Pfttt you gotta admit... Azul really looks cute like this. You slowy brought your lips to azul's hands. Chu~♡ a kiss on the hands! bingo! "There! Have a kiss as a token of my love for you and how much I care for you! Hehe!"

That's it, Azul needs maintenace after this... This is just too cute for his soul. Cheeks tinged red, he fixes his glasses up again. His hands lightly squeeze yours as he began to say "Well, I cannot abandon my work and responsibilities... But maybe it's not a crime if its just for a few minutes... Don't let go of my hand ok?" The night at Mostro Lounge was quite chilly than the usual. But the hours that passed by felt warmer with the hold of a certain octopus.

End.

Note: Running low on braincells, Hope you liked this. And yes, I'm currently in my real time Azul loving hours. Time to buy takoyaki~ jk no I'm doing more requests that is rotting in my inbox. Again, sorry if this was not your cup o' tea (༎ຶ‿༎ຶ)

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst wonderland #disney twst #azul ashengrotto #twisted wonderland azul #azul ashengrotto x reader #disney #twisted wonderland malleus #malleus draconia #malleus draconia x reader #twst malleus #twst azul #twst deuce #deuce spade #deuce spade x reader #twst imagines #twst headcanons #fanfiction

[bonjour-rainycity]

Odin’s Ward ~ Chapter 16

Link to previous part: https://bonjour-rainycity.tumblr.com/post/639618035738607616/odins-ward-chapter-15

Pairing: Loki x female reader

Word count: 1836

Warnings: Brief mentions of death

True age: Y/n: 1449 // Loki: 1575 // Thor: 1827 // Audunn 3213

Human equivalent age: Y/n: 23 // Loki: 25 // Thor: 29// Audunn: 51

Loki’s POV

The trial is brutal.

In the course of his attempt to save his life, Audunn does everything he can to discredit Y/n. He paints her as a liar, a schemer, the mastermind behind the coup, and at one point, even accuses her of sleeping with his servant, Sveinn.

But she faces it with her head held high and takes none of it, delivering her account of the coup honestly and clearly.

She will make a great queen someday, and I can see by the sparkle in his eye that Odin recognizes this too.

In the end, the evidence against Audunn is too damning, and he is sentenced to death, to be carried out in two days time. It comes a shock to no one, except maybe him, and he meets the verdict with false claims of injustice and conspiracy. He has to be dragged from the courtroom.

Y/n watches him go, flinching slightly when he gives her a look of such hatred, I can feel it in my own bones. Thor — the dutiful fiancé — shields her from Audunn’s view.

After we are dismissed, Y/n disappears, and I resist the urge to go looking for her. She probably wishes to be on her own, and I have no right to offer her comfort, anyway. But fate, it seems, has other plans, and a few hours later, I find her sitting in the gardens, absently staring at a light pink flower.

I have to say her name twice before she notices my presence. She looks up, blinking as if working herself out of a daze.

“Oh, hi Loki,” she murmurs, staring at my shoulder rather than my face.

I’ve never seen her like this. The Y/n I know has always had a bite to her, a spark of passion. But the woman before me may as well be a shell of Y/n, for all the light that is in her eyes.

I’m at a complete loss for what to do.

So, without thinking, I conjure a bottle of wine and hold it out to her, sitting next to her on the bench.

She looks between me and the bottle, and then the clouds in her eyes break and she gives a soft laugh. She takes the bottle and drinks deeply, clutching it to her chest when she’s finished. “We cannot solve all our problems with alcohol.”

I try to study her inconspicuously, still concerned for her state of mind. “Yes, but it can take the edge off.”

She chuckles more freely, taking another long drink. “When I am queen, that shall be the cornerstone of my domestic policy — your children might be starving, but here, have something to drink! It’ll take the edge off.” Then, with a noise between a laugh and a sob, she forces the bottle back into my grasp and drops her head into her hands. “Oh my gods. What went wrong, Loki? How did we mess up our lives this badly?”

I shake my head vehemently. I know I’ve screwed up, but she’s done nothing of the sort. “You’ve not done anything wrong.”

“Haven’t I?” She raises her head, and when she looks at me, I can see her eyes brim with tears. “I fell in love with you when I knew I would belong to someone else.”

I furrow my eyebrows, confused as to why she’s upset about something so out of her control. “You didn’t choose to—”

She raises a challenging eyebrow. “I cheated on my husband with you.”

Does she regret that? I try again to stop her self-berating. “That was my fault, I—”

She begins to talk over me, her voice growing more hysterical with every word. “I let an innocent servant be beaten half to death because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. My people were massacred while I relaxed in the bath—”

“—Y/n please, stop this. It isn’t—”

She refuses to be consoled. “I’ve sent my husband to his death. I looked him in the eye and condemned him! And I will never love Thor. He doesn’t deserve that. I’ve taken away his chance at happiness with Jane, I—my chest hurts — I can’t breathe.” She gasps through panicked sobs.

Without thinking, I place the bottle on the ground and gather her in my arms. She clutches at my shirt, shaking and gasping in shallow breaths. We hold onto each other too tightly, like if we relax even slightly, the other will crumble apart.

“Okay,” I try to soothe, my own voice wavering with worry. “Okay, deep breaths.” We draw in air and exhale together. I bring my hand to the back of her head and draw what I hope are calming lines with my thumb. After a few minutes, she regains control of her breathing and leans further into me, visibly exhausted. I lay my cheek against her hair, grateful that she seems to be through the worst of it but knowing she’s not out of the woods yet — I’ve had enough panic attacks to know how volatile they can be. “When was the last time you slept?”

“I don’t know.”

As gently as I can, I stand, pulling her with me. “Come.”

She doesn’t protest when I transport us inside her chambers, though she does look a bit sick at all the movement. I walk her to her bed then bring her a glass of water — something I probably should have provided her with initially, instead of the wine.

“I’m sorry,” she nearly whimpers, sagging against the pillows.

Immediately, I shake my head. “There’s no need to apologize. I…”

Don’t do it, I beg myself. Don’t give in…it will only hurt you both. You are undeserving of her love, and probably incapable of giving it back.

But I have always been selfish. I am unable to stop myself from repeating her words to me from a few days ago, showing just how deeply I have taken them to heart. “I am always on your side.”

This seems to calm her. She sighs contentedly, her eyes fluttering shut. Within seconds, she’s asleep.

I know I should leave. But instead of walking out the door like I planned, I find myself settling on the couch facing her bed. Now that Y/n is settled, I take notice of the exhaustion in my own body — sleep frequently eludes me, too. And, without meaning to, I drift off to sleep.

Y/n’s POV

I awake to the soft peals of bells in the distance and the first rays of the sun. For the first time in while, I feel rested. I did not wake once, it seems, and slept soundly from afternoon to early morning.

There’s a figure lying on my couch.

Loki is too long for the small furniture, so he sleeps curled up, wrapped in his cape. He looks so innocent and peaceful that it makes my stomach hurt, because I know those qualities will flee once he wakes. He’s gone through so much. And yes, a good part of it is by his own hand, but still, I ache with the desire to see him well-cared for and happy and free of the weight he keeps himself under.

As if feeling my gaze, he stirs. He stretches out, groaning softly, then sits up straight, blinking to adjust to the limited light.

We stare at each other for a moment before I gather the courage to speak. “Good morning.”

I feel unsure.

How many times had we woken up together, in much more intimate contexts than this?

But this moment…this moment feels dangerous. It teeters on the edge of something familiar, something we could so easily slip back into….

He swallows, holding my gaze with equal gravity.

Then, he breaks it. “I’m sorry. I should not have stayed.” He gets up, and moves to the door.

But I am not ready to let this moment go, and I call after him. “No—I don’t mind. Please, stay.”

He looks at me over his shoulder, uncertainty in his eyes and…hope?

Unsure what exactly compels me to move, I rise from the bed. I take my time walking to him, fearful that if I move too quickly or too loudly, all this will fade away. When I reach him, I stop just short of our shoes touching.

The words I feel so strongly come out as no more than a breath. “I want you to stay.”

Slowly, hesitantly, and with all the force of a brush of air, he takes my hand in his. “We cannot fall back into old habits.” But even as he says this, he steps closer, bringing up his fingers to twine in the ends of my hair.

I’m unable to stop my free hand from running up his chest. He feels so familiar, so solid, so safe. “We would be terrible people to do so.” Somehow, my lips are now only centimeters from his.

His grip tightens in my hair. “I wish I cared about that.” My fingers brush against his neck, and his lips touch mine.

A sharp knock echoes through the room.

I jump, and Loki closes his eyes, leaning his forehead against mine. “Send them away.”

“Yes,” I agree, reluctantly releasing him from my hold and pushing him out of sight. As I walk to my chamber door, I have to blink a few times to steady myself.

Am I really going to do this? Aren’t I strong enough to stop myself?

Do I want to stop myself?

I pull open the door, to reveal a smiling Thor.

Oh gods.

“Thor,” I half-gasp, the excitement and peace I felt just a seconds ago shattering on the ground. “I-I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting you.”

He eyes my rumpled dress—yesterday’s dress—with amusement. “I can see that.”

I feel heat gather in my cheeks. “Yes, uh…I was so exhausted after yesterday’s events that I fell asleep in the afternoon and only just woke up a few moments ago. I should call Ragna and dress for the day.”

“Perhaps that would be wise,” he agrees politely. “And after, would you be so kind as to join me in the dining hall? I would enjoy sharing breakfast with you.”

“Oh.”

Because he’s my fiancé.

Fiancé’s spend time together.

Former lovers do not.

Oh, I am awful.

I force a too-sunny smile to my face. “Yes, I would like that as well. I shall be there shortly.”

He bows, and brings the back of my hand to his lips for a kiss.

I’m the worst. The shame makes me feel ill.

I close the door. As much as I dread doing so, it is Loki I must send away. Because he is not my intended.

Gathering my resolve, I turn to search for him.

But he is already gone.

A/n Hey everyone, sorry for the month in between posts! I don’t know why, but I just could NOT get myself to write this chapter! But I finally figured out what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it, so here ya go!

Comments, likes, and reblogs mean the world to me! Let me know if you would like to be added or removed from the tag list. 

Masterlist

Link to next part: To be posted

Tag list: @80strashbag @dark-night-sky-99 @what-am-i-doing10 @chxrryycola @ravenclaw5606 @hiddlebatchedloki @jooordanharrrop @marsbarsboy @damondallysodapopstiles @xwackk

#loki #loki fanfic #loki fic #loki imagine #loki post #loki reader-insert #loki x reader #loki x reader fanfic #loki x female reader #marvel #marvel fanfiction #marvel reader-insert #loki x y/n #loki x yn #asgard #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #loki friggason #friends to lovers #marvel fic

[novantinuum]

Fandom: Steven Universe

Rating: Teen Audiences (I have upped the rating in consideration of sensitive topics I aim to depict later on.)

Words: 6.4K~

Summary: In another world, he doesn’t have his mother’s sword or shield to hide behind when Bismuth lands her strike. The bubble pops.

Steven falls apart.

Chapter summary: In which history is written on the walls.

Some of my other fics have been showing up in the tags when I use the link post option, so I’m doing an experiment this time. Fingers crossed it shows! If you read this and enjoy, I’d greatly appreciate your support through reblogs here, or kudos/comments on AO3. Thank you! <3

____

Chapter 12: Beta, Part 3

Having long since heeded Ruby’s advice to take a mental break, Steven sits criss-cross with his back pressed against the hodgepodge aquarium. If you ask him, this position is a two-in-one miracle, allowing him both an unobstructed view of the doorway, and sparing him from the deep rooted horror of the creepy dismantled plush still floating an aimless arc through the tank. He loves Peridot to death, but good golly, this latest meep morp is deeply unsettling. He shudders at the mere thought of its water-logged stuffing oozing out from the seams, and then— inhaling deep through his nose— steers his focus back to the phone clasped tightly between his fidgety fingers.

Back to the story, you doofus.

With nothing better to do for the moment and a hyperactive mind to satiate, he’s finally started to read the Unfamiliar Familiar fanfic that Connie sent him a link to a few days before. True to her words, it’s super, super good. Well written, great characterization, and best of all, the author keeps throwing in hints of future romance between Lisa and Archimicarus! Considering that, he’s almost surprised Connie likes this fic so much. She’s normally not much of a shipper. To be fair though, romance definitely isn’t the point of the story. Instead, it’s an AU focused on the mystery of the main character’s origins.

He can’t help but let out a sympathetic sigh as— in chapter 5– Lisa tries to calmly explain to her fellow Stonehearth Coven members that somehow her father, the revered founder of the coven, used to be a prince of the wicked Arcane Court. Most of her once-close friends don’t swallow the news well. As a result, Lisa is left alone to seek the truth of her father’s past, with no allies except her trusted familiar at her side. Lip quivering, he presses his thumb solid against his phone’s screen for a while, as if yearning to reach a healing hand beyond the barrier between fiction and reality and let the young witch know she’s not alone, that he sees and supports her. He makes a mental note to thank Connie profusely for sending along this really good fic, and presses on to the next chapter.

He’s halfway to the end of it when Peridot returns.

For someone who appeared super frazzled by Lapis’s terror-struck outbursts the last time she stood at his side, she sure seems fit as a fiddle now, walking with a slight bounce in her step as she crosses past the fence line and onto the property. At least, he assumes she is. He can’t help but immediately doubt this assessment when she spots him sitting against the inner wall of the barn with that piercing focus of hers and bounds through the doorway like a Gem fleeing the apocalypse.

“Steven, Steven, Steven, Steven!” she cries as she runs to his side, flapping her arms urgently.

Practically tossing his phone to the ground to free his hands for combat, he leaps to his feet so fast that his head grows woozy. His rose-thorned shield shimmers into tangible existence in front of his barred fist.

“What, what is it?” he exclaims, the pounding of his heart devolving into an untamable cacophony as all his darkest fears rear their ugly heads at once. “Is- is it Lapis? Did she leave anyways?”

“Uh, no…?”

“Or, or, or- are we under attack?!”

“Steven, I—“

“Who’s here for me this time?” he blurts, grabbing his friend’s shoulders. “Is it Homeworld? Jasper? The Diamonds? Tell meeee!” he whines, roughly shaking her.

“I- No one? It’s no one!” Peridot exclaims when her head finally stops jostling back and forth under his force, waves of confusion coloring her expression. “I’m… just happy to be back?”

His cheeks burn red as he drinks in her obvious statement and eventually catches his breath. He lets go of her. “O-oh,” he stammers, willing the shield floating before him to disappear into glimmers of light and desperately wishing he could do the same at this precise moment of existence. “Okay. Glad to see you back! Did, uh… did you find Lapis?”

She nods in confirmation, but visibly deflates a little at the reminder of her roommate. “Yeah, she’s perched in a tree in the woods. She said she wanted some ‘alone time,’” she emphasizes with air quotes.

Steven clasps his fingers together in front of him as he lets this news sink in, digits tussling without end for the most comfortable alignment. Bleeding heart that he is, he hates the idea of letting anyone be alone, especially after a revelation this jarring, but he must admit that he himself found some comfort in solitude the night his human half took for the beach, inert diamond in hand. If anything else, it was nice to retreat from all the noise, to allow himself the opportunity to form his own opinions about the situation. Perhaps it’ll be beneficial for her, too.

“That’s understandable,” he says, glancing out the barn door towards the forest his friend is taking refuge in. “She’s been through a lot.”

He squats to pick up his phone from the floorboards then, frowning as he notices a fresh crack on the glass at the corner of the screen. Knowing that— despite his desperate desires— there’s nothing he can do to fix this right now, he shoves it in his pocket and pushes against his knees to stand up. The bottom of his shirt catches on his arm as he does so, briefly exposing the unfamiliar facets of his rotated gem. Peridot’s brows nearly shoot above the upper rim of her visor.

“So,” she begins, nodding towards his stomach. “Your gem.”

With a tired sigh, he tugs his shirt back down. Boy, does he already know where this conversation is heading, and boy, is he sick of having to walk everyone through it. “Yup,” he replies, popping the ‘p’ and getting ready to deploy the exasperated eye roll.

“All this time everyone thought you were a hybrid quartz, but now you’re telling me…”

“...that I’m actually a dia—“

“...that I, Peridot, certified Kindergartener, a skilled specialist on every variety of Gem to ever exist, was wrong??”

“Hold on, what?”

She holds her hand over the diamond emblazoned on her chest as she passionately continues, wholly oblivious to Steven’s bemusement. “I was the brightest Gem of my cut back on Homeworld, and yet somehow I mistook a perfectly formed diamond for a quartz! Ah, hahahah!” Eyes glinting with what he can only describe as a borderline feral energy, she moves to clutch at the sides of her head, thick tufts of lemon yellow spilling out from between her fingers. “Oh, my stars. I’ve lost my touch!”

“Wait, who’s out of touch?” Ruby’s curious voice chimes from nearby. Overjoyed to see her again, Steven whirls to face her with a huge grin as she enters the barn and lounges against one of the support beams, propping a hand on her hip.

“I- it’s nothing important,” Peridot mutters, flushing as she smooths her hair back into place.

Immediately making note of the hint of shame dancing across her features, he nods. “Yeah, we were just chit-chatting! Hey, how’s Amethyst doing, though? You went to talk to her, right?”

Ruby huffs in frustration at the mention of the quartz Gem, grinding her boots against the floor so hard that for a second he’s genuinely concerned she might spark a fire under her very feet. “Tried to. But then she slashed her whip towards me and said I couldn’t help her, so ‘go away!’” she exclaims, throwing her arms in the air. “Can you believe it? I’m trying to provide some love and support, and she, she just- tells me to scram!”

“Aw, that’s not very nice,” he says with a frown, feeling his heart pulse in sympathy as she begins to pace back and forth across the wooden slats, grumbling under her breath.

“What’s her problem today, anyways?” Peridot asks, crossing her arms. “She’s usually much more amicable.”

Steven nibbles at the inside of his lip as he considers the concerning downward trajectory of Amethyst’s recent behavior. Sure, she can sometimes get snippy when she’s in a bad place, but this past week her outward attitude has built into a continuous problem. He himself has been on the receiving end of her acerbic words more than a few times, such as that afternoon they goaded each other into a duel at the Sky Arena, and that barbed retort she pierced him with at the fountain. Then there’s her fight with Pearl, her resulting emotional seclusion, today’s callous treatment of Peridot, Lapis, Ruby…

He desperately wishes he could pin all the blame for this on a single person, a single event, (because oh, wouldn’t that make his life so much easier), but when he tracks the evidence of her unrest it becomes blindingly clear that her problems began long before Rose’s betrayal was revealed.

“Well, beyond all the, uh… latest stuff, she’s been super insecure about Jasper,” he offers. Rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet with his flip flops rhythmically clapping against his heels, he rummages his brain for the easiest way to explain the root of the situation. “Basically, Jasper took Amethyst out in a fight a week ago, and ever since that she’s been training super hard a whole lot. I think she’s desperate for a rematch, to prove she’s good enough.”

“Wait, wait, wait—“ The green Gem holds her hands out, palms open. “You’re telling me she’s got an inferiority complex about Jasper? With where she came from?” She lets out a raucous peel of laughter, holding her sides. “Oh Amethyst! That’s ridiculous! She was made way better than that clod.”

He squints at her inquisitively, crossing his arms as he tries to make sense of the interesting new conversation thread that just flowed out of her mouth. “But what do you mean, where she came from? Isn’t she from Homeworld, like you?”

Ruby freezes in place upon hearing this question, clear worry threaded through her creased browline. Her mouth bobs open as if she’s gearing up to answer his question, but amidst her hesitation— a timidness that, the more he thinks about it, is bizarrely out of place from the bold, confident Gem Steven’s gotten to know from all the other times Garnet’s unfused— Peridot beats her to the charge.

“Pfft, are you kidding? She emerged right here from Earth, and not even from its good kindergarten!”

He slams his hands against his cheeks, internally reeling from this revelation. “There’s other kindergartens?”

“Well, sure! There was supposed to be one in every facet. Until the rebellion put a swift end to the Diamonds’ colonization efforts, that is,” she adds quickly, adjusting her visor. “There’s Amethyst’s Prime Kindergarten in Facet Five, but there’s also the Beta Kindergarten in Facet Nine. And that piece of work is where Jasper was made… poorly!” Giggling in excitement, she rapidly shuffles her feet beneath her. The glimmer of light reflected in her eyes is bright enough to rival a distant star. “You guys have to see it!”

Steven balls up his hand at his chin, deliberating. He has to admit, after the recent emotional upheaval that he now can’t help but associate with this place, he really likes the idea of spending time somewhere other than the barn.

“Huh. Might be worth asking if she wants to check it out,” he says with a shrug. “Ruby, you in?”

The Gem in question nibbles at the corner of her lip, humming low under her breath as she considers his offer. A small bead of sweat hangs above her brow. Sporting a good natured grin, he nudges her in the side with his elbow, hoping he can cheer her up a bit.

“A little more time with your favorite Steven and Peri? Eh? Come on, you know you wanna!”

“Do it, do it!” Peridot chimes in, pumping her fists up and down.

He eagerly joins in with her rallying cry, and in no time at all they’re both circling around their friend chanting those very words. Ruby stands center with her arms crossed and her back erect, desperately trying not to break her stoic facade with a smile. It’s ultimately futile, of course. After all, no one can resist the good ol’ Universe charm forever!

“All right, fine, fine, I’ll come,” she finally acquiesces, and with a smirk, plants both her hands on her hips. “After all, someone’s gotta keep an eye on all you trouble makers!”

Now that Ruby’s officially on board, the trio ventures outside to find Amethyst, Steven and Peridot giggling as they begin to skip around the perimeter of the barn side by side, arms linked together. Brushing a few flyaway curls out of his face amidst the comforting breeze, he glances over his shoulder when they reach the first corner to make sure they’re not leaving their friend in the dust. And thankfully she’s right on their tail, but he can’t help but notice her enthusiasm seems muted. He presses his lips together in concern. Does she not want to go with them? Is he only forcing her into this? His stomach twists with guilt as he ponders this quandary further. It’s not his intention to be pushy, but maybe— between coercing Amethyst to take a break and accompany him to the barn, begging Lapis to stay, and now, nudging Ruby to come to the Kindergarten— he’s only being selfish and manipulative about all this. He thought he was bringing people together, but what if he’s wrong? What if he’s only straining relationships, tainting the already tense atmosphere, making everything worse?

(What if this is the same sort of excuse his mom Rose used to make?)

With Amethyst slashing her whip at a few old rusted cans in the clearing before them, however, there’s no time to waste drowning within what-ifs. It’s like that day he learned about Garnet’s future vision for the first time: if he lets himself get tangled up in the possibilities he’ll never truly live. He sighs under his breath, lips pursed. Of course. Garnet’s right even when she isn’t here. As much as he’d love to go crazy psychoanalyzing the impact of every solitary step he makes, at this point he’s made his choices and whatever happens, happens. It’s time to live now.

Initially, the purple Gem is rather indignant at the idea that the three of them were gossiping about her behind her back— eyes clouded with hurt— but once Peridot explains that the point of their proposed Kindergarten field trip is to check out Jasper’s no-doubt lame hole, she blinks away her bitterness and seems to eagerly climb aboard.

“Sure, why not? ‘S not like there’s anything more fun than roasting your enemies.”

“I strongly agree,” Peridot says, nodding with pride.

But before the newly expanded Shorty Squad can begin their journey, there’s something Steven really needs to address. Something that’s been troubling him all day. Nervous butterflies filling his stomach, he leans up close to his sibling-in-crime and whispers so the others don’t hear:

“Amethyst, can I talk to you for a bit before we leave?”

Her expression curdles, but thankfully, unlike in Ruby’s unfortunate account, she doesn’t make a move towards her whip to push him away. Instead, she meets him with a gaze so hardened and difficult to read that his eyes can’t help but drift away, perhaps a little intimidated by the intensity of this contact.

“Yeah, I guess,” she mutters eventually. She flicks her wrist up at the other two, gesturing for them to get a move on. “Go on ahead. We’ll catch up.”

Ruby and Peridot nod, the red Gem with a good deal more sympathy drawn on her face, (but for him or Amethyst?), and promptly set off towards the warp pad. He continues to watch until they disappear beyond the curve of the grassy hillside, both conversing comfortably. The last he hears before the warp shoots its cyan stream of light into the sky is a hooting laugh from Ruby. Despite how non-ideal this visit has been so far, he can’t help the smile stretching across his cheeks, or how his chest grows all warm and fuzzy. It’s really nice to see Peridot getting along so well with the others now. She’s made such huge strides in the past few months.

Something metallic clangs behind him. Flinching, Steven whirls around. A crumpled, abused soda can lays overturned by the side of the barn. Amethyst— arms crossed tight just under her gem and her hair more spiked and untamed than usual— glares at that poor hunk of tin as if it’s solely to blame for all of this galaxy’s problems. She moves to lean against the barn’s outer wall and peers at him expectantly, like a troubled child expecting judgement from a parental figure.

“So. You wanted to talk,” she says, tone clipped.

“I… wanted to be honest,” he mutters, threading his fingers together as he grasps for how best to word this. “Amethyst… I know you’ve been going through some hard stuff lately. I know everything that’s happened in the past few days doesn’t help. But you’ve been so inconsiderate of like, everyone here.” He swings his arm in a wide gesture towards the barn. “Peridot and Lapis didn’t deserve the way you treated them earlier.”

No response.

Steven frowns, and— a glimmer of quiet frustration bubbling deep within him, the sort he’d never admit to out loud but can’t help but harbor whenever he catches wind of small injustices that he can never seem to fix— scratches an burgeoning itch at the nape of his neck. He… oh stars, he’s going about this completely wrong, isn’t he? He’s being too confrontational. Hmm. Maybe he should try a new angle. Time for take two.

“I know you only acted that way because you’re hurting and don’t wanna think about it,” he continues, “but please, you don’t have to box your emotions away like that. I wanna help. I wanna listen.”

Slowly, gently, he moves to place a hand on her shoulder. It feels like a small victory when she doesn’t shift upon his touch.

“Believe me, you’re not alone in feeling this way.”

Again, nothing. She’s not even looking at him right now, and her jaw’s locked. Even her form feels tense under his fingers, with hard light pulsing back and forth under her illusory skin at an alarmingly unusual pace.

He sighs, gaze dropping towards the ground, towards the battered can she kicked aside earlier. “I’m worried, y’know? But... I understand if you’re not ready to talk… about Jasper, and—“

“Oh, hoh! That’s rich!” she explodes suddenly, jerking her arm away. “You seriously wanna bury your head in the sand and pretend this is just about Jasper?”

He tiptoes away from her rush of anger, eyes growing puffy. “I—“

“You wanna know how I feel, Steven? About your mom, and the whole awful mess she made? Do you really? ‘Cause I don’t have a single CLUE what I should feel anymore!”

Amethyst pauses for breath amidst her tirade, briefly locking sight with him with a glimmer of hurt reflected in her violet irises, showing that deep underneath all those twisted layers of anger and resentment she’s just another scared, abandoned Gem like him.

“Rose was everything to me, okay?” she says, throwing her palms wide for emphasis. “And all this time, I thought she was the one Crystal Gem who could be real with me. The only one who wouldn’t sugarcoat things or treat me like a baby. ‘Oh, you’re perfect the way you are, Amethyst!’” she coos in a fake, silky-sweet voice, cupping her cheeks as she openly mocks the very Gem who gave her life so he could exist. “You’re such a strong little quartz, you mean so much to me!’ Hah!”

She pauses to force a bitter laugh, clenching her hands into insufferably tight fists.

“And wasn’t that just a huge load of silt,” she spits, staring off into the rosy distance as if it were but a cruel mirage, the pain more than evident in the taut features of her face. “All along I thought she was this great, faultless person, just like you did. Except she wasn’t. She’s a liar, like everyone else. I’m worthless, just like Jasper said… and Rose knew it.”

Hesitantly, compassionately— heart breaking for the internal struggle she’s caught within, a struggle he intimately relates to—  he tries once more to reach out in comfort.

“Amethyst…”

She sniffles, wiping away the leaking fluid pooling at the corners of her eyes.

(She does not, however, brush him away this time when he wraps his arms around her torso and nestles his head against her chest.)

“Just— forget it, okay?” she says after a quiet moment’s embrace, gently stepping back from his affection. “It’s whatever. Come on, Peridot and Ruby are waiting for us. Let’s dump this joint.”

__________

Ruby quietly shuffles across the loose soil, directing her eyes as low to the ground as possible to avoid having to stare at the Beta Kindergarten’s steep cliff walls. Red sandstone, Peridot proclaims a few feet away to their newly arrived sightseers, whirling in place with her arms extended wide. We’re lucky this place hasn’t blown away. Beta, am I right?

Steven manages a soft laugh at this. Amethyst continues onward with her arms crossed, unimpressed. But Ruby herself? Well, she’s the only Gem here who can say she crossed this infamous swath of sedimentary rock at its very beginning, on the day of emergence. The others may choose to laugh about how soft and unideal the soaring sandstone cliffs are, or about the uneven exit holes and curved walls, but in her opinion it’s no laughing matter. She’s seen firsthand how deadly even a so-called ‘imperfect’ Homeworld soldier can be. Even Garnet barely escaped with her gems intact.

Nervously flexing her fingers at her side as she tries not to dwell on that tragedy, she flashes her gaze upward, daring to catch even a passing glimpse of the top of the vast canyon. In an instant her vision swims with endless pillars of rusty oranges and reds.

Everything on this planet might as well tower over her without Sapphire. The once-welcoming arms of their temple? Monolithic. The vaulted ceilings of the beach house? Her eidetic memory can’t help but remind her of her early days spent marching through Homeworld’s diamond sized hallways with the rest of her squadron, patrolling the same route for well over five hundred cycles straight. The kicker? The Diamonds never had any reason to visit the shipment sector in person, anyways. The hallways were only constructed with such high ceilings to remind any Gem passing through of their rightful place under the Authority.

Over two hundred years, she adhered to their twisted rhetoric. Two hundred years of allowing everyone and everything around her to make her feel small, like she only existed for a singular purpose. Two hundred years of ignoring the tug of dissatisfaction at the core of her gem because of the misplaced belief that orderly subjugation under the Diamonds was simply the rightful pattern of existence. Then, in a beautiful bloom of light… she caught a glimpse of true freedom. And for the five thousand seven hundred years after that, Garnet didn’t feel quite so small anymore. She felt capable, confident, satisfied. Aided by Ruby’s physical strength and Sapphire’s future vision, she finally dared to challenge Homeworld’s rhetoric. She dared to live for herself.

Sighing under her breath, Ruby touches her fingers to the place in her right palm where her missing gem is, tracing the triangular shape of its illusory facets.

There’s no use arguing; Garnet was a better Crystal Gem than she can ever hope to be on her own. And now, because Rose just had to go and manipulate all of them, there’s a strong chance she’ll never get to be Garnet with her Sapphy ever again. Which means that until further notice, she’s stuck like this: short, stubby, and woefully insecure. Hah! Figures. All those years spent fighting against Homeworld’s warped notion that Gems had stagnant purposes and couldn’t grow beyond their stations, and now it’s as if she’s been dumped back at the beginning, like the past five millennia never happened.

It’s a cruel irony.

And yet it’s no crueler than this awful place: a cradle of birth manufactured as a tool of war, a Gem’s very existence leeching the life out of this once-fertile ground. The scars on the walls tell a mournful story, and as Ruby slowly trudges after her loved ones, fingers numb and fidgety in the wake of haunted disorientation, she can’t help but wish she wasn’t present for its prologue.

“Ruby…?”

Her sight trains on one of the tilted exit holes closest to ground level, on the messy silhouette it provides. She remembers this one, in fact, Garnet watched her emerge. She was a carnelian. By Homeworld’s standards, an imperfect one. That doesn’t matter, though. None of Homeworld’s lies matter. Running on nothing but the primary orders she was incubated with, (it wasn’t her fault, it was the Diamonds’, she reminds herself with a bitter growl), that Gem still emerged to poof three fellow rebels on sight. If Garnet hadn’t been so quick to retrieve their gemstones, they might have been shattered that day. Many of the others assigned to her squadron weren’t as lucky. Inhaling shakily, Ruby pauses to trace her fingers across a raised ridge in the rough, brittle sandstone.

“Hey, Ruby!” his energetic voice calls again, snapping her out of her intense focus like a fusion splitting in half.

“Aaaah!” she cries, swinging around and pulling both fists up in defense. Her hands uncoil rapidly once she catches a glimpse of that cheery yellow star.

Aw, scrap! she chides herself, repositioning her feet solid on the ground to regain some sense of internal balance. Damned startle reflex.

Unfazed, Steven grins boyishly, skipping a few steps away from the rest of the group to join her by the cliff wall. “Penny for your thoughts?”

Amethyst and Peridot are watching now too, she realizes, her brief but audible outburst thoroughly diverting their attention from their Beta Kindergarten roast session. Their quizzical glances pin her in place, her hard-light form heating in embarrassment as she struggles to organize the flow of her emotions in a way that might make sense to anyone beyond a fellow ruby. She scrunches up her nose and considers her next words carefully, attempting to strike the proper boundary between what is and isn’t appropriate to say in front of a half-human child. Stars knows Amethyst, Pearl, and herself haven’t had a great record with that over the past few days.

“Just thinkin’ about Sapphire, mostly,” she admits, offering him a saddened shrug. “Can’t seem to stop that, even half a world away.”

“Speaking of that... Why did you run after us?” Amethyst asks in a notably less cranky manner than earlier, lightly kicking at the dirt with the toes of her booties. “You never said.”

“Y’know, I…” She pauses, pressing her hand to her chin. “I’m not sure. I spent days waiting in front of the temple door. And eventually, I guess I figured that if she’s gonna make me wait no matter what, I might as well do something with myself until then. ‘Sides, I didn’t want to be lonely,” she adds, suddenly feeling just as small and vulnerable in front of all of them as her timid voice sounds.

She felt lonely enough when she ran away from home a few days ago, tears streaming in messy rivulets down her face, utterly spurning their attempts at comfort so she could pretend she was anything else than powerless amidst this nightmare. She never wanted to split, not at all. She begged Sapphire to give their relationship another chance, to believe in the strength of their love more than the fear of a diamond’s control, but tragically, her partner couldn’t hold up under the pressure. If one individual doesn’t wholeheartedly want to be Garnet, then Garnet cannot exist. They can’t synchronize. It’s simply the nature of fusion. And given her love’s avoidance, refusing to so much as leave her room to begin with, Ruby’s beginning to lose hope that their fusion will ever exist again. The crippling isolation that realization affords is the worst form of loneliness she can imagine.

Thus, the least she can do at the moment to mitigate these all-consuming feelings is to get off her butt, leave the temple, and ensure she’s surrounded by loved ones.

Peridot steeples her fingers together in front of her chest. “Well, what if you moved in with us?” she offers in a meek tone at first, her expression brightening as she continues to explain her idea. “The barn’s got plenty of room, and with two roommates you’d never have to feel lonely again!”

Steven’s dark irises practically sparkle. “Aww, Peridot, that’s super sweet of you to offer!”

“Wow, thanks,” she replies earnestly, puffing out her chest in a rush of personal pride. “I do try!”

“Yeah!” Ruby says with a hesitant laugh, scratching at the back of her neck. “That sounds amazing, but…”

“You should do it, Ruby!” he encourages, bouncing up and down on his sandaled feet amidst his excitement. “You should totally move in with them!”

“D’ya… d’ya really think so?”

“Yeah! It’d be like your very own vacation, but you’d only be a warp away!”

“And you’re sure you’d be fine with it? Y’know, with everything at home all…” She blows a juicy raspberry, jabbing her thumb down.

Amethyst serves her a big shrug. “I ain’t got a problem. Go crazy.”

“There’s no need to worry about me,” Steven says, smiling evenly. “I only want what’s best for you. And if you think not staying in the temple all the time would make you feel better, you should give it a try!”

Her concerned glance drops on the young half-Gem. Sure, it’s very compassionate of him, actively choosing to care so deeply for everyone’s emotional needs all the time, but home life for him hasn’t exactly been nurturing and hospitable lately. He already lost one of his pillars of stability when Garnet unfused. Pearl and Amethyst are at each other’s necks again. Sapphire hasn’t emerged from her room for days. Greg’s… doing whatever it is Greg does when he’s not hanging out with his son, probably keeping his distance from Gem business as usual. So with all that in mind, even if temporarily living apart from Sapphire is sure to be a beneficial move for her personal well-being and sanity, is now actually the proper time to consider a change in scenery? She purses her lips.

“I’ll think about it.”

Peridot lets out a sharp squeal of delight, apparently ecstatic about the prospect of possibly gaining a new roommate. Ruby can’t help but grin at this response. In truth, if she didn’t have to consider the well-being of Steven and the rest of the Crystal Gems, she’d say yes in a heartbeat. After all, she’s never gotten the opportunity to make many decisions on her own. Heck, she’s never gotten the opportunity to do much of anything on her own. Every time she’s unfused within the last five thousand years, her priorities have always been about what Sapphire would want, what Sapphire would do.

Well, what about Ruby, this time? Aren’t her desires important? What does she want?

Long term… she has no clue. But right now? She’d prefer to avoid dire reminders of old sorrows at all costs, thank you. So when Peridot declares that she’s 99.9% positive she’s found Jasper’s exit hole, Ruby declines to join them in their roast session. She never came here for sightseeing, anyways. She came here as their lookout. Just in case. She’s never trusted this awful tear in the ground one bit, and she’s not about to start now.

Running instinctively on old programming she was incubated with, she creeps deeper between the narrow mouth of the cliffs and summons her gauntlets at her side. Sure, so maybe they’re not as daunting in their size as Garnet’s, but they can still pack one heck of a punch. She’s still good at punching on her own, yeah? Hopefully? Stars, it’s been so long since she’s gone solo for more than a few measly hours.

And then, at the cliff base in front of her, she spots the most unusual exit hole she’s seen in this miserable canyon yet. For one, it’s low to the ground, like Amethyst’s. That fact alone is enough to set off alarm bells in her head. On top of that, its silhouette is almost comically wide and indistinct, not resembling any cut of Gem she’s aware of.

“Huh. That’s different,” she murmurs, pacing closer to investigate.

Maybe an off-color topaz could punch a hole as wide as this? But… no, no. That can’t be right. Hard light coursing wildly through her form, Ruby dissipates one of her gauntlets and runs the tips of her fingers across the crumbly inside surface of this hole. A few granules of sandstone break off upon her touch and clatter against the ground, and she jerks her hand away as if touching impossibly cold ice. Something about this feels... wrong. To be fair, she’s no expert kindergartener like Peridot, but she’s pretty confident the interior of exit holes should be smooth, with striated rock layers extending all the way back. Instead, this bizarre scar in the cliffs almost seems like—

“It’s dug out,” she says, eyes widening in dawning horror.

Which means they may not be alone in this rusted relic of a Kindergarten after all.

Her body suddenly feeling staticky and unbalanced amidst all this damning uncertainty, she tiptoes away from this mysterious feature, slowly at first, and then— as the fear begins to bubble up within her core like boiling water transformed under her power— transitioning into a sprint. We’re not alone, she repeats to herself in a harried mantra. Not alone. Not alone, we’re not alone, we’re—

Ruby’s foot catches on an uneven lip of stone jutting up from the ground, and she quickly plows headfirst into the coarse dirt, promptly ending her terror-stricken flight.

“Ow,” she whines as she recovers from this fall, rubbing at the side of her head. Not only is she a little dizzy, but her surroundings are made further hazy amidst the overbearing sunlight pounding indiscriminately upon the ground floor of this canyon. It’s enough disorientation to allow the jumbled code of her gem to begin to play tricks on her. For one, she swears she can hear this low, timid skittering, like thick claws rhythmically scraping against rock. Second, she’s half-convinced she can feel a surplus of physical vibrations radiating from the cliffs surrounding her. Squinting, she shields her eyes under a raised arm so she can begin to gain her bearings again. The blinding light recedes.

The red Gem gulps fearfully amidst the burning colors of the harsh sandstone landscape. “Wait, is that—“

She’s stumbled her way into a massive clearing, lined on all sides by stacked rows of holes physically dug into the sheer walls. Each opening is barred by a number of thick metal rods, stripped from the legs of the injectors that once incubated this hell in the first place. The thoughtful engineering imbued in this setup is impressive and terrifying all at once. Ignoring the tangible tug of hesitation at her core, she pushes herself back on her feet and creeps towards the closest cage to investigate further.

“Uh, you guys?” she calls loudly as she walks, the unusual curves of this canyon an undisputed blessing as they carry her message back to the others.

“Yeah?” Amethyst chimes back, her voice notably distant. Too distant.

“We’ve got, um—” her hand glides across one of the bent, rusty bars— “a bit of a problem here?”

“What?? Speak louder, we can’t hear you!”

Before she can even prepare to reply, a fur-covered monstrous creature leaps from the shadowy abyss of its prison and snaps its tusks at her. She yells, jerking her hand away from the cage and stumbling a few feet back. Her brow creases in abject confusion as she attempts to process what she’s seeing in front of her. It’s… it’s a corrupted Gem? This one’s most definitely a quartz; she recognizes the faceting, as well as the distinctive fur-covered quadrupedal shape of its corrupted form. But why on Earth is it being trapped within a cage in the middle of a defunct kindergarten instead of being placed in a bubble’s comforting stasis? The ground beneath her feet grows noticeably warmer as a rush of impassioned anger surges through her hard light form. She grinds her teeth together, flexing her fists at her side in the name of this cruel injustice. Caging isn’t part of Crystal Gem protocol for a reason!

Unfortunately, the horror show continues as her gaze passes over each and every cage in this clearing, finding scared, thrashing, corrupted Gems in almost all of them. Fluid builds up at the corner of her eyes as they scream and wail at her, riding a fresh wave of cacophony spurned by that Gem she spooked just a moment ago. How could anyone ever build such an awful place? And why?

Heavy, assured footfalls suddenly bounce across the acoustically encouraging slopes and surfaces of this ravine, magnified tenfold in their wake. Ruby gasps, wasting no time in ducking behind a tall rocky formation at the mouth of the clearing. That’s definitely not Amethyst or any of the others. It sounds too large, too bulky. She kneels low so she can still peek over the topmost layer of sandstone, a knot of dread coiling within as the footfalls continue to grow louder. Groaning, she clutches at her head. The unknown, the impenetrable shadow of the future… stars, it haunts her more than loneliness itself.

And then, the specter of her history reveals herself, making Ruby’s tangible form stutter in the sheer terror her appearance affords.

Jasper— her opponent, her nightmare, the Rebel Slayer herself— emerges from a plume of rising dust at the edge of this populous arena and enters the game.

#su #steven universe #ruby #amethyst #peridot #su fanfiction #my writing stuff #crack the paragon

[fatefulfaerie]

Courage: A Hylia’s Day Carol

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful time, even if you don’t celebrate any of the winter holidays. I know sometimes this time of year can be hard and a lot of you may be feeling lonely, but things can always get better, I promise. I love you all and I am always here for you!!

There echoes a legend around these parts, betwixt these trees and within these dark woods. Yet it wasn’t one of those legends of heroes, stories meant to inspire courage into youths of this village distant from any kingdom.

It was meant to breed cowardice, warn children of the dangers that may befall them should their curiosity lead them into the dark woods.

There was said to be a dark cabin, enshrouded in the shadows of the trees whether it was day or night. No one had ever seen someone living there, but yet feared what sort of person would keep to themselves in such a sinister manner. Often referred to as the “Prince of the Shadows” or the “Harbinger of Demise”, the stories often told of the resident murdering stray children and decorating the cabin with their remains or robbing people blind and leaving them with nothing. 

There were some who figured that a lonely man lived there, and some who even claimed to have seen what he looked like. Yet most stayed away, out of pure fear of what they figured he must have been, an animal on the prowl, a Venus flytrap disguised as a homely cabin.

But those were stories only echoed by the nearby village. Travellers heard no such warnings, nor were influenced by such fear.

In fact, a little boy ran to the dark cabin as soon as he saw it, thinking it his salvation from a dark, unwelcome forest.

He knocked on the door and specks of dirt fell from it, as if it hadn’t been opened in a very long time. The innocent boy, however thought nothing of the anomaly as crows cawed above him.

“Hello?” The boy asked. “Is anyone there? My name is Timm.”

“Go away, boy,” a gruff and deep voice said. “You know the tales. I’ll eat you alive. Go before I get too hungry.”

“But I can’t go,” the boy replied. “I can’t find my parents. We were travelling through these woods and the next thing I know, I’ve lost track of them. I’m real scared of these woods.”

The door opened so quickly that the boy staggered backwards. His heart pounded as he looked up at a man, features shrouded in a brown cloak.

“Good,” was all the figure said before slamming the door in the little boy’s face, who was only slightly taken aback. Timm bowed his head as he thought of what to do next, fear running so rampant in his heart he wished he could make it stop. He looked at the dark woods behind him, the dark woods that seemed to cave into him, move him, belittle him into the tiny, helpless child he was. His eyes teased tears, not because of the threats of the man behind door, in fact he didn’t believe those. He cried at the forest he looked out at, his parents lost somewhere within it.

The man on the other side of the door, however, felt satisfied at the thought that the annoying boy must have left by now and readied himself for one of his favorite past-times, which was sleep.

He sat by the fire, eating his meal with very little spark in his own eyes. He sauntered over to his bed, careful not to let his brown cloak slip, to keep his identity shrouded in mystery. He checked for likely the millionth time the security of the overly boarded up windows, the door locked with so many locks that it was no wonder it took him so long to open the door, and, of course the fireplace that must be extinguished. Hearths were warm and inviting and, although he needed the heat to survive, he wasn’t eager to let anyone else share it.

Crowned prince of the shadows and heralded harbinger of demise by the fear of the others who lived at the nearby village, this mysterious man slept in his cabin, on edge and terrified of the day to come.

He woke what seemed like seconds later to a bright white light, so blinding that it was hard for him to open his eyes, and thus he did so very hesitantly and slowly, sitting up.

The light seemed to emanate from a small, angelic figure, somehow all at once as youthful as a newborn and yet as old and wrinkled as someone who had lived a thousand years.

“Who are you?” The man practically barked. “How did you get in here?”

“There is no need to fret,” the angel said. “Link.”

The man grabbed the sword resting by his bed and charged forward, holding the sword to her gauzy neck

“How do you know my name?” Link growled, his voice rough with anger.

The angel gave a smile, slowly floated forward into the sword and yet, Link felt nothing and saw nothing, no pierced skin, no blood. She was just like a breeze. Link’s sword clattered to the floor.

“Do you know what day it is in Hyrule?” The angel asked.

Link furrowed his brow.

“I left that place a long time ago,” Link said, his voice coarse and his brow tense. “Why should I care what day it is there?”

“It is Hylia’s Day,” the angel said in reply, “and I am the ghost of Hylia’s Day past,” the ghost said, offering her hand. “By the command of Hylia, I am meant to show you what you have lost.”

“Hylia isn’t real,” Link said darkly. “Besides, I know very well what I have lost, what does showing it to me now do?”

“Perhaps you don’t know what you lost,” the ghost said calmly as Link narrowed his eyes. He tipped his head daringly and, in a stroke of courage he had not used in years, he touched the tiny hand.

Immediately, he was transported somewhere else entirely, with a gust of wind that knocked off the hood of his cloak, revealing his blue eyes and blonde hair.

But the marvel was where he found himself, a bright forest dotted with fireflies and forest fairies, eclectic with life and joy that instilled Link with nostalgia he had not felt in decades.

“Do you know where we are?” The ghost asked.

“Yes,” Link said weakly. “Yes, I…”

He couldn’t quite finish as he looked all around himself, speechless with parted lips to find himself in Kokiri Forest.

Link’s eyes lit up like they hadn’t before.

“There’s Mido!” He exclaimed, excited at the recollection, how things flooded back to him so easily. “And Saria! Saria, hey! It’s me, Link!”

“She cannot hear you,” the ghost said to Link, who had taken a couple steps forward. He looked back at the ghost. “These are only visions of the past.” Her gaze lingered on Link before she voiced a command.

“Come,” she said, leading Link away from the center of the small forest to a particular hut with a ladder. Link stopped in his tracks as soon as she saw it.

“This…this was my home, I…I lived here.”

Link and the ghost watched a small boy crawl down the ladder with boundless energy, before running with a smile right through Link. He couldn’t keep his gaze off this boy, turning his head to follow him with his eyes with parted lips.

“This is before, isn’t it? Before I got a fairy. Before I left the forest…I look so happy.”

“You do,” the ghost agreed.

“I was a child,” Link argued, turning his head to his shoulder. “I didn’t know any better.”

“Perhaps,” the ghost said. “Or perhaps not.”

“What is the point of showing me this?” Link asked as he turned around.

“To show what you’ve lost.”

“What, my youth? My…happiness? Yeah great, thanks.”

“Try courage,” the ghost stated simply.

That seemed to trigger Link, to press a button he did not approve of. His head had popped and his eyes fumed with anger.

“Courage ruined me!” Link yelled. “Do you understand?! It destroyed me! What I went through killed me!”

The angel seemed to be unphased by Link’s harsh words, even replying in a soft voice.

“You were only a child,” she said, with an underlying sadness. “But yes, you did go through a lot. I wager you now believe cowardice and caution is better for you…for everyone…but perhaps there are some parts of your courage that you have forgotten, important parts.”

“Like what?”

“Compassion,” the ghost said. “Love.”

Link felt all the blood in his body flee from it at that word, his face pale and his heart panicking. He began to shake his head. 

“Please,” he begged. “Don’t…don’t show me that, I…”

But the world around him had already began to change.

Link plopped to sit on his heels when he faced him and Zelda in the clouds, saying their last goodbye.

He felt tears in his eyes and he felt the ghost beside him.

“Everyday I wished I would have spoken up,” Link said as he watched the interaction with sad eyes. “I loved her and…I just let it happen.”

Link gazed at her beauty with longing eyes, the way her golden hair dangled around her waist, the way her silhouette curved, her elegance, the way she shone, the blue hue of her eyes, the lovely way she held herself.

“So you curse your cowardice then?” The spirit asked, poking and prodding at Link’s fragility.

“No,” Link said defensively, turning his head. “No, I…”

Link couldn’t keep his tears restrained any longer, placing his weight on his hands as his tears dropped into the illusion of clouds, soon dropping onto the wooden floor of his cabin.

“Why did you show me that?” Link asked as he continued to cry. “I had almost forgotten…why did you show me that?”

“Oh ho! Why so glum!” A booming voice asked. Link looked up slowly to see a burly, stout man sitting on his bed.

“You another ghost?” Link asked as he stood up and faced the man.

“Why I am!” The ghost said excitedly. “How astute you are.” He placed his hand on his chest proudly. “I am the ghost of Hylia’s Day present, but you can call me Pres.”

“All right, Pres,” Link said, fully convinced that this was but a dream. “What do you have to show me next?”

“Ho ho, the present of course, ah ha!” The ghost said with a jolly laugh as he stood up, bringing an arm around Link.

The ghost led him through the front door and yet, it opened to a bustling town instead of a dark forest.

“Hyrule Castle Town,” Link said as he stepped forward, the ghost beside him sporting a permanent smile. “This must be what the Hylia’s Day celebrations look like.”

“Have you never been?” The ghost asked.

“No,” Link replied. “I didn’t leave the forest until I was nine, and then…well I had a lot of things to do.”

“Courageous things,” the ghost prompted.

“You could say that.”

“Well,” the ghost said, offering his bent arm. “Why don’t we have a look around?”

Link was surprised at how much he enjoyed the festivities, even if he couldn’t partake of any of the food. He found himself smiling, genuinely smiling at the joy surrounding him, the music, the dancing, the games, the laughter, the peace of Hyrule he had never quite reveled in.

After what seemed a short hour, Link and the ghost sat on a bench observing the festivities, enjoying from a distance the exuberance.

“Do you know who made all this possible?” The ghost asked.

“You?” Link guessed.

“No. You,” the spirit said as he poked Link’s chest. “You saved Hyrule from Ganondorf. You fought countless battles against his forces and then went back in time to warn Hyrule of his malfeasance in the first place. Technically you saved Hyrule twice. And of course Termina. You’re a hero three times over. You caused this enjoyment on three separate occasions! All because of your courage, your compassion, your love!”

“Maybe, but…I’m not that same hero anymore. I’ve changed…alienated myself into cowardice.”

“Why?”

Link shrugged.

“No one has ever seemed to want anything to do with me afterwards,” Link said. “Zelda sent me back in time, Navi left without a word, Tatl couldn’t wait to say goodbye to me…I’ve always been left alone.”

“Besides,” Link continued. “if you ask anyone that lives near me they would tell you I’m a monster. Maybe I believe them, everything I’ve done.”

“Like what?”

Link shrugged.

“They say I kill children, kidnap them, steal from people,” Link said. “I’ve never done any of that but I let them believe it because they will stay away, and…well that’s for the best. I don’t even want anything to do with me. You all say I need my courage back but, for what? I’m not an innocent hero anymore, it was too damaging, battle after battle after battle. I mean what you expect me to say? I’m glad I saved Hyrule but I can’t live my life constantly fighting. Every day I’m so tired of me, of my past. Forgetting my courage is the best thing for me…until I die of course.”

Link thought the following silence was odd for such a boisterous spirit. Link thought perhaps he had depressed the spirit, yet he looked over and saw him gone.

Link sighed, hunching over so that his forearms hung off his knees.

“And neither did you.”

The people bustling in castle town had gone as well, Link sitting on his bed thinking over all he had seen and heard and said and done.

It wasn’t long before he saw a pair of feet standing right before him.

“I suppose you are the ghost of Hylia’s Days to come, huh?”

The ghost did not respond, Link looking up to see a tall, hooded figure, yet with no body. The cavern in the hood which should have had some sort of head was pitch black, empty and unyielding to Link.

Link stood up slowly, eyes swimming in fear. He attempted to chuckle away his anxiety, but it didn’t work.

“Are…are you going to show me something?”

The ghost didn’t budge at first, and when he did move it was slow and purposeful. All the ghost did was step back and gesture towards a mirror, as if inviting Link to look in the mirror.

“You…want me to look in the mirror?” Link asked, thinking it quite simple. The ghost gave link no affirmation nor discouragement, standing as if he’d always been a statue, chiseled into that position.

“Okay,” Link said as he paced his way to stare into the mirror, seeing nothing but his own reflection.

Link looked back at the spirit for clarification, and, as it hadn’t moved at all, Link wondered if it really was a statue.

Link returned his blue gaze to the mirror, this time truly staring intently at the way his nose bridged, the way his eyes were shaped, the freckles across his cheeks, the age in the dark circles under his eyes, his messy blonde hair and scruffy inklings of hair around the bottom of his face.

And yet, somehow, he was watching himself age, watching his hair grow and his skin wrinkle until his hair fell out and his skin was no more. He was just bones and he was continuously more horrified. At the sight of himself as an armored stalfos, one eye red and one eye blue, Link started breathing heavily, shaking his head, what was left of it anyway.

“No,” he said. “No…I…this isn’t possible, I…I’m becoming what I used to fight against, but...I’m not that empty, really I’m not, I...” Link stopped himself, breathing heavier as tears collected at his eyes. “This apathy it...it’s eroding at me…worse than my courage did, I…I don’t know who I am anymore.”

Link turned around to the ghost.

“Ghost I want to live, I want to help people like I did. I was forgetting the value of compassion, I was being selfish and self-serving and…please let me change my life. I traded courage for apathy. I thought it was the right thing to do but I’ve been hurting the people around me. Please give me a chance to make up for it. I can still be someone people want around. I want to try again.” 

The ghost said and did nothing.

“Please,” Link said, on his knees. “Please. I was wrong to wish my life away. There’s so much I can do with it. Let me live past my trauma, please…”

Link woke up to an empty cabin, no angel, no spirit, no ghost, not even the mirror. Link breathed a sigh of relief and yet this was the place were he reveled in his cowardice. He looked around ashamed.

“Zelda didn’t want this for me,” he said, before suddenly remembering something.

He shot out of bed and ran outside.

“Timm!” He exclaimed to every corner of the dark woods, circling around himself. “Timm!”

He faced his cabin again and the little boy was still there, hugging his knees against the wall, shaking with fear.

Link breathed a sigh of relief before running to kneel before Timm. Link offered his hand.

“I thought you wanted nothing to do with me,” the boy said in a small voice.

Link smiled.

“There are things far more valuable than self-pity,” Link said. “Like helping others. Like looking to the future. I can’t believe I forgot that.”

And so little Timm took Link’s hand. Link guided the boy through the forest to his parents, who were more than relieved that their son was safe. They thanked Link for returning him safely and when they offered something in return, Link refused. Although changed from who he used to be, Link felt more like himself than he had in a long time.

And Link never returned to that old cabin in the woods.

#link #tloz #the legend of zelda #oot #ocarina of time #hero of time #Hylia's day #Hylia's day carol #christmas #christmas carol #guess who rewrote a novel into a messy oneshot about the hero of time #it me #Charles dickens did it MUCH better so read that instead #I am proud of this and yet I know it won't get a lot of notes bc it's not zelink and it's not botw #so that's fun

[raendown]

Pairing: KakashiSakuraGenma Word count: 3156 Soulmate au: The one where the first time your soulmate touches your skin it leaves a permanent mark

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header! 

Chapter 222

He met Kakashi first. Well, that was kind of obvious. Genma met the last of the once proud Hatake line when they were both in the academy, not technically age mates although they attended all of the same classes. Back then Kakashi hadn’t covered so much of his body at all times but he’d still carried with him the sort of air that made others stay away, the air of one who stood above the rest even if he was good enough not to rub that in any of their faces. Genma watched Kakashi from afar because he was talented and interesting but never made much of an effort to actually get to know him. They ran in different groups of friends and there only ever seemed to be two or three people Kakashi deigned to give his attention to. No point in trying to make friends with someone who didn’t want any. 

It wasn’t until they were both nearing the end of their teenage years and Kakashi had been broken in so many ways it hurt just to look at him that Genma realized they had never touched before. He realized only because, well, because they touched. For the very first time. And when he pulled his hand away from where he’d clapped it down on to Kakashi’s shoulder with a great deal of frustrated exasperation the imprint of his hand stayed behind. Some of it, at least.

“Just leave it be, Genma,” Kakashi was saying. “I’m paying my respects. The dead don’t care about rain so I don’t see why I should. Look, if you’re worried about me being late for the mission I’ll catch up, okay?”

“Kakashi…”

“Go on ahead without me.”

“No, shut up for a damn second!” Blinking several times in rapid succession did nothing to clear the mark from his view. Half a handprint. He’d never studied his own fingerprints very closely but he knew that mark hadn’t been there a second ago so it couldn’t really be anyone else’s. What he did know for sure was that he definitely had a whole hand on that arm the last time he’d checked. 

Kakashi only had one eyebrow visible at the best of times and when he turned away from the monument it was lifted in question, his uncovered eye dark with the shadows he’d been carrying with him since Obito’s death. 

“Alright, I’ll shut up then,” he said. Amazingly his words came out with just the slightest undertone of humor rather than insult. If Genma’s brain weren’t currently exploding he might have appreciated that a bit more. 

“Look at your shoulder. And don’t you dare try to run!”

So Kakashi looked. By some miracle he didn’t even try to flee, although that might have had something to do with the way his knees wavered and folded underneath him. When he lifted a hand to trace the shape of one on his shoulder his cheeks danced through several different colors that Genma wished he knew how to properly interpret. Trying to figure out what was going on in this guy’s brain had always been more guessing game than exact science. 

“Half?” Kakashi whispered eventually. “What...does that mean?” 

“Oh no you don’t, I know exactly where your head is going, don’t even try to say you must be broken or unwanted or any of that! We’re just...probably waiting on another, you know?” Genma licked his lips nervously, passing the senbon in his mouth from side to side. 

“Another!?” 

“Well yeah. You know, like how Raidou’s got two mums and a dad? Or how Shizune’s got two mums and two dads? We just got to find our other one probably.” 

Kakashi chewed that over for several minutes. While he thought Genma did his best to be subtle about inching closer. He’d been excited about finding his soulmate since he was old enough to know what they were but he knew there were less and less people like him every generation, shinobi more and more frequently taught from a young age not to look forward to something that could end up being used against them. Some people even hoped they never found their match to avoid the chance of testing their own loyalties. Privately Genma had always questioned any loyalty that didn’t leave room for questions. 

Slowly the minutes passed as his shuffling took him closer and closer. They really were supposed to be leaving on a mission, were supposed to have left almost a half hour ago, but it wasn’t like the man they were being sent after would die any different if they arrived at night rather than midafternoon. Well, their pay might be cut some if they didn’t make it look quite like the accident they were contracted for but that wasn’t the end of the world. This was more important. If he used his best puppy eyes the Sandaime might not even punish them. 

Eventually Kakashi lifted his head and took a deep breath, startling to see that Genma was so much closer but very tellingly not protesting. When he spoke every word carried the faintest tremble. 

“I get...two?” he murmured. “Two people who want me?”

“Oh is that- that’s what you were thinking about? God damn it, Hatake!” With a roll of his eyes Genma flopped down on to the ground and threw both arms around Kakashi’s shoulders, more than aware that he was risking a knife between the ribs but also more than willing to take that chance. “We’re your soulmates. We wouldn’t be matched if we weren’t what you needed, you know? I want you, let's be clear on that, and I’m sure they’ll want you too.” 

“Not dumb. I’m a genius.” 

When their eyes met Genma was cheered to see that spark of humor had returned. His first soulmate had a lot of issues but that was fine, they could work on those together. They’d be fine until the day they could finally be whole. 

It took a while. Quite a few years. More than a decade, actually, but Genma would be happy to tell anyone that neither of them had really minded the wait all that much. They had each other through it all and despite the idiot’s protests they spent most of them working Kakashi through the worst of his abandonment issues until he could be called something at least adjacent to mentally stable. In that time they both did their rounds in ANBU and left the organization to seek healthier ways to serve their village. Where Genma chose to fall back in to the regular mission roster Kakashi found himself roped in to taking on a team of genin, something neither of them thought was a really good idea but neither could see a way to get around. 

The kids were, collectively, almost as messed up as their sensei had been. Out of the three the most normal was a little pink bubblegum girl named Sakura who spent most of her time swooning over the last of the Uchiha line. Kakashi did what he could to avoid contact with them just as he did for most people, a habit that Genma found entirely exasperating. 

“How are we meant to fill out the rest of our marks if you won’t touch people?” he’d asked once. 

“Maa,” Kakashi had waved him off. “They can touch you.” 

Genma had rolled his eyes and very carefully not traced the colors filling half of his right palm. 

Leaving the village periodically had been a part of life since he first graduated the academy but knowing that he was leaving Kakashi behind, trapped inside those massive walls until he felt that his new team might be able to survive the world beyond them, that was new. Mostly it was a new amusement. Genma made sure to bring home as many tales of the outside world as he could, playing them up for all the amusement he could squeeze out of watching Kakashi rock between wistful and jealous. Neither of them had ever really known what to do with kids until three of them were unceremoniously dumped in Kakashi’s lap so Genma didn’t feel much guilt over not coming to see the little rugrats. He knew all he needed to know about them from the horror stories his partner told him. 

Or at least he thought he did until the years began to turn and slowly the rest of the village started talking about them. It figured that Kakashi would stumble his way in to accidentally raising some of the most important kids of their generation. If the last of the Uchiha wasn’t notable enough then he had the son of the Yondaime Hokage and if that still wasn’t notable there was always the bubblegum girl who picked herself up off the ground and apprenticed herself to the Godaime, smiling deceptively at anyone who pleased her only to punch straight through the sternum of the ones who didn’t. Genma, when he finally met her face to face, decided that they could definitely be friends after she gained a few more years. 

He didn’t realize exactly what such an errant and mindless thought would become. 

Keeping his distance from Kakashi’s kids became a lot harder once they stopped actually being kids, growing steadily in to adulthood until one day he met his partner at one of the dingy bars they both shamelessly adored only to find that Kakashi wasn’t alone, slightly harried looking where he sat in the middle of four other bodies all smiling and trading jokes about his new haircut. Genma was already laughing a little to see Naruto poking at the spikes now several inches shorter and neater than they had been earlier in the day. 

“It’s certainly an interesting look, senpai,” Cat was telling him - or Yamato, Genma remembered he was supposed to call him now. 

“Maa, it’s an accidental look,” Kakashi admitted. Genma slid in to the seat next to him with a little wave to everyone else, barely reacting when Kakashi swooned dramatically in to his shoulder. “One of the ninken knocked in to me when I was trimming and I took a massive chunk off the left side. It was either leave it like that or make everything match.”

“Well I think it looks nice,” Sakura offered. Oddly enough she even seemed to mean it. 

Kakashi nodded gratefully in her direction only to wilt when he spotted the notepad that Sai had whipped out, already doodling an outline of the new haircut. Apparently the reminder of his own reflection was not a welcome one. 

“So cruel,” he moaned. “All of my loved ones are so cruel to me!”

“I’m sure we’d all be a lot nicer with more alcohol in us.” Well aware that he wasn’t being at all subtle, Genma could only offer a beaming smile when his partner leaned away to glare at him. 

“Extra cruel.”

“Does that mean you’re not paying for my beer?” 

Kakashi harrumphed his way out of his seat and stomped away towards the bar, gumbling under his breath about joint accounts and shared finances. With most of the table laughing along with him it was only too easy for Genma to ignore Sakura’s narrowed eyes. They’d crossed paths several times during her apprenticeship to Lady Tsunade, a source of much amusement for him whenever he pulled guard duty, but he’d never really had a chance to get to know her more than that so he could probably be forgiven for not knowing what that particular look on her face meant. Or what doom it spelled for those that might ignore it. 

When Sakura got up to walk after her old sensei Genma figured she was only going for another drink. Maybe popping off to the bathroom. He would have thought she was going to powder her nose if he had ever seen her wearing more than mascara but even the village civilians knew that the Yamanaka girl was the one obsessed with painting her face. If he had to guess he’d probably say Sakura’s version of dressing up had a lot to do with picking an outfit that best showed off her admittedly impressive biceps. 

Not, of course, that he was disparaging such choices. He’d always been attracted to competence more so than a painted face. 

It took several minutes for Kakashi and Sakura to make their way back across the bar but when they did they were both wearing faces like they’d seen the meaning of life itself and lived to talk about it. Genma was out of his seat and reaching for Kakashi in an instant, baffled when the man only stood there and blinked at him.

“Genma-san can we talk to you outside?” Sakura asked in a strained voice.

“Sure. Yeah. Did you…break him?”

“I think I might have,” she breathed. Then she turned and walked towards the back entrance with jerky steps. 

Without bothering to answer any of the questions from those left behind Genma took his partner’s hand and dragged them both after the pink hair bobbing away from them. Sakura’s compact little body was built much better than either of theirs for weaving her way through the crowd, enough so that by the time they stumbled out in to the back alley Genma was a little worried she might have had time to disappear on them. Thankfully she hadn’t. He did, however, note that her eyes were just as wide as Kakashi’s and both of them looked rather like they would have loved to flee if only they could figure out which direction to go in. 

“Alright, who’s going to tell me what’s going on?” he said. Kakashi gurgled a little. 

“I, ah, okay so...please don’t be upset.” The leather of Sakura’s gloves creaked in protest as she wrung the poor things between her bare hands with perhaps a little too much violence. 

“No promises. Go on then.”

The look she gave him was utterly devoid of humor but luckily for his bones she chose not to punish him for trying to lighten the mood. After a few more times wringing her gloves she allowed them to drop to the ground, taking one very deep breath before turning both hands to reveal her palms. One of them was half colored in. 

“Look I know he’s your- I know that you two- I didn’t mean to! Genma-san I’ve never seen anything like this! I was just trying to get his attention so I put a hand on his shoulder and I guess I’ve just never touched him skin to skin before and-”

“Woah, calm down, calm down. Don’t start hyperventilating. It’s...you left a...a soulmark?”

All the breath in his lungs whooshed out of him with some indeterminate noise when both Sakura and Kakashi nodded in the affirmative. It felt like suddenly there was no more oxygen left. Distantly Genma could tell that his legs were trembling but he couldn’t be bothered to care about that at the moment, not when everything he’d been waiting so long for was coming true right in front of his eyes. 

He didn’t realize how long he stared for until Sakura cleared her throat and he peeked up to see that she looked even closer to flight. Only then did the rest of her words finally sink in and he understood why she didn’t look happier about such an auspicious discovery. 

“You idiot!” Kakashi flinched when Genma reached over to smack him on the back of the head. “How many years have you known this girl and you never told her we’ve got another soulmate!?” 

“A- a what?” Sakura breathed. 

“We- oh sweet chakra farts just give me your hand, here.”

Impatient to seal them all together, Genma didn’t wait for permission to reach over and clasp Sakura’s hand in the one of his own that looked very much like hers, colored in on one half where he’d first touched Kakashi in the same place she had. All it took was a brief press of skin and then he was pulling away to turn his hand over. They still matched, of course, only now they both sported palms entirely covered with the beautiful mix of colors that made up their soulmarks, each half ever so slightly unique to show that they were both bonded to a third. No doubt Kakashi’s mark looked identical and for the space of a single moment Genma thought to pity his first partner that he didn’t have the same ability to just sit and stare at his own mark. 

The moment passed quickly. Kakashi was a sappy guy under the front he put up for others but he wasn’t quite that sentimental. Which was good. Sometimes Genma needed a little help tossing out his old ripped clothing because those shirts had been with him through so many missions they almost felt like friends. 

“Oh.” The breathy whisper of Sakura’s voice brought him back from whatever tangents his brain had been trying to distract him with. “I...both of you!?” 

“Maa, sorry about that,” Kakashi offered sheepishly. 

“Don’t be- you- and you- and you think I need you to say sorry?” 

“I’ve been chipping away at those self esteem issues for years, trust me. Might be nice to have some help with that.” Genma chuckled to cover his nerves. “Seriously though, you don’t mind do you? We’re both maybe a bit old for you but we’ve been keeping a spot on the couch warm for whenever we found you. If you need some time to think about it that’s okay. Just, ah, just know that, um…”

He was cut off from having to finish that thought by deceptively slim arms throwing themselves around his neck. Genma closed his eyes and reveled in the instant familiarity until Kakashi very shyly pressed himself in from behind and then that was it. They were complete. It would have been impossible to find words to describe the difference but it was there and Genma was just as happy to feel it instead of talking about it. After all this time they had found her, the missing piece in the beautiful puzzle of their bond. 

“Who needs time?” Sakura mumbled against his neck. “I’ve got so much to catch up on.”

“Later,” Kakashi insisted very quietly.

It wasn’t hard to guess his meaning. Genma smiled when he felt one of Sakura’s arms tighten around him even as the other let go to reach for Kakashi, all three woven together exactly as they were always meant to be. This, he decided, was one of the better things the universe had created. He might give fate a hard time for all the shit it had thrown at them over the years but it had always been clear to him that this right here, the three of them together, this would always be worth it. 

#rae writes #soulmate collection #kakasakugen #kakashi #sakura #genma #fanfiction