#I like the flavour of angst in his backstory | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

moomv · 5 months

Text

dearest star, the past, future and present, you would always stay by his side, all for eternity, all for time

-word count. 5.6k

-character. blade

-genre. angst/comfort

-tags. fem.reader, blade backstory spoilers, minor mentions of illness

-note. this took me so, so, so long to write!!! finally it is here! this will be a 2 parter, i'm hoping to get the second part out soon but i'm not to sure when, but please look out for it! anywho, please enjoy this behemoth of a chapter!

The universe spins idly, encasing every aspect in its never-ending web of lies and deceit, weaving a tale of tall fiction, one of dances and glory, praise and heartache, everything a perfect tale should be.

The universe is what holds everything together, hands stronger than the constants of time, giving life to the plethora who in habitat the worlds upon worlds, long-living and short-lived, humans and magical creatures, the universe and Aeons no know bounds in the creation of theirs.

You. you, who was born from a wish of the stars, born from the prayers and longing, born of magic and stardust, you walked into Yingxing’s life with no remorse, you were burning starlight and ever more the faithful to the stars that gave birth to you.

The sun wilted in the presence of you, hiding away in the sky while you burned and illuminated everything around you.

The world tipped in your balance, tipped in the wake of you.

People would folk to you like an ever-precious jewel worth millions, hands grasping at you like a cure to illness, mouths speaking like you would spout a divination from the Aeons themselves.

Yingxing denied once that he was jealous of the attention you gave others, denied when you asked him, a teasing smile spread across your lips, your eyes glinted with mischief.

He denied it but he couldn’t help the bubble of jealousy that would rise when you would receive other's bouquets and gifts meant to court you, he couldn’t help but feel hatred at the people who would senselessly talk with you, didn’t they know you were taken? Didn’t they see the ring?

You would always deny them, polite in each interaction but they didn’t seem to care, always trying to reach for your hands, lay a hand on your shoulder, smiles that spoke of all ill intent.

And only when Yangxing got involved would they leave, scuttering off back to where they came from, beads of sweat lingering on their forehead.

You would smile after, a heavy sigh leaving your lips before titling up into adoration. You would grasp his hand and walk off, the night air clinging to your skin, you hummed, “I want something sweet… Do you think we could go to that new vendor? I heard they have really good cakes…” You would look at him; your head tilted and your smile loose. “What do you think, Yangxing?” You said his name with such love that Yangxing didn’t quite know how to deny your request.

He grasped your hand tighter. “You know I’m not a sweets person.”

You huffed, “For me? We can go wherever you want next time.” you turned around to look at him and winked, “Promise.”

He sighed, affection filling his every breath, “Only for you.”

You let out a delighted laugh before trudging off with him in tow, a muttered “I wonder what kind of flavours they have…” leaving your mouth.

You dissolved into a bundle of excitement, the shining stars of night, protectors of the sky shining blissfully in the distance, shining and turning and making the world dance with pirouettes of golden colour.

Yangxing took in a breath and closed his eyes, your laughter and voice filling in the empty spaces of his mind, filling every thought with only you and only your honeyed voice.

The bygones of the too-close people and the too-sweet women and men that clung for your attention had long gone into the crevices of his mind, buried and hidden away under the layers of your eternal affection and kisses.

Yangxing blinked.

Softly the pearlcest summer shine of the sun casted through the slits in the pavilion and the soft clink of the wind-chime came back in full focus.

Yangxing tilted his head to the side, “What was it that you wanted to talk about?”

You brought the rim of your teacup up to your lips, “What, I can’t have tea with my beloved?”

Yangxing shook his head before sighing. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

You gave a loose smile before placing your teacup back onto the table, the soft clink echoing throughout the small garden, you rested your face on your hands. “I just wanted to have tea with you, that's all, you’ve not been home as much.”

He gave a hum in acknowledgement, “Yeah? Are you sure that’s all?”

“...Yeah. That’s all. I missed you.” You gave a huff before leaning back in your chair.

He laced his fingers together around his teacup, the warmth soothing his hands. “Oh? That’s all you say… Then why were you hesitant? Hm?”

Your eyebrows furrowed. “I didn’t hesitant.”

He took another sip of his tea, “You know I won’t be mad, right?”

You looked at him before glancing at your hands. He could see on your face the inner conflict you were having with yourself. “I know…” Your voice was near-whisper, a sound that tangled with the soft clink of the windchime.

He stayed silent and waited for you to ask him, he didn’t want to push you if you didn’t want to say it.

You gave a small breath before looking up at him. “Yangxing…”

He gave a small smile, and brought the teacup up to his lips, the sweet smell of jasmine invading his senses as the steam wafted up to his face. “What is it?”

You bit the inside of your cheek before answering, “I heard about the High-Cloud Quintet.”

Yangxing blew the steam, “Oh? Have you now?”

It didn’t strike him as a surprise that you knew of the Quintet, he had a feeling that was what you were going to ask. He didn’t necessarily keep it a secret from you but he never told you either, he didn’t think it was all too important.

You huffed before grabbing hold of a strawberry on the nearby platter and biting into it. “Yes, I have. I would like to meet them.” Your voice grew quieter the longer you spoke, your voice mixing in with the soft wind of the air.

Yangxing hummed before offering you a handkerchief, gratefully you took it and wiped your mouth before adding, “I… I think it’s about time and all, so I would like to meet them if you would introduce us.”

Silence lapsed between the two of you as he stayed silent. You sighed after seconds of pause, your head tilting downwards, “It’s okay, I under-”

Yangxing shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

You blinked, “Uh, what?” your eyebrows unfurrowed into a look of shock.

Yangxing blinked back at you before smiling. “I said sure. You can meet them.”

Your eyes widened at his words before you pushed out of your chair, the soft screech filling in the silence. “Really?” Excitement danced through your eyes, Yangxing felt a soft bloom of warmth in his chest at the expression.

You placed your hands on the table, a smile widening up to your lips, “Really, really? Do you mean it? Do you really mean it?”

He nodded, “I do. When would you like to meet them?”

“As soon as possible! Oh, Yangxing…” You squealed. “Thank you!”

Yangxing didn’t know why you were so excited, why you were so happy that he agreed but he bet if he didn’t agree then and there you would have found your own way of meeting them, through some back alley or simply barging into Commission, you would do it someway or another, it was best to do it… civilised.

He smiled. “They’ll be pleased to meet you.”

Your smile widened, “Oh, I’m so excited…” you sat back down in your chair. “Thank you… This… means a lot to me, thank you, Yangxing.”

He smiled, “I didn’t know this would make you so happy, I would have introduced you sooner if I

knew.”

You gave a smile, “If I’m meeting them, then I’ll need to go shopping, it would do well to make a good first impression, yes?”

He nodded. “You would make a good first impression in whatever you wear my dear.”

You huffed at his teasing before turning around. “Xiaoling! Prepare for an outing!”

In view came a woman at your voice. “Yes, my lady.” She bowed before standing up again and going off to prepare, Yangxing could never get used to the life of luxury you grew up with, could never get used to the life of luxury he now had.

You turned back to Yangxing, “Thank you again. Really Yangxing, it means a lot.”He gave you a soft smile.

You stood then, “Then I must go out, I’ll see you for dinner, I hope?”

He took a sip of tea before answering, “You will.”

You nodded before walking over to him and giving a chaste kiss to his cheek, “See you tonight then.” you left then at your words, your movements bubbly and excited.

Yangxing sighed and closed his eyes, what was he going to do with you?

“Yangxing,” Your breath tickled his neck and cheeks, “Yangxing,”

He peeked an eye open, the world coming into sharp focus, muddled shapes and hues of black and blue. “Hm?”

You let out a breath of relief, “Do you think they’ll like me?”

“Hm?”

You pouted. “Do you think they’ll like me?”

He raked his mind for what you were talking about, sleep clouding his mind and thoughts. “Who?”

You huffed, “The Quintet.”

Yangxing let out an ‘oh’ sound before gently placing your head on his chest, you curled up to his warmth like a cat. “They will.”

“How do you know?” His clothes silenced your voice into a mumble.

“Because I like you.” He stated matter-of-factly.

You peeked your head up, “That doesn’t make sense.”

Carefully he wrapped his arms around your waist, “Yes it does. They’ll like you, I know because I like you and they sometimes trust my judgement and they’ll trust my judgement on this, they’ll like you.”

You leaned your head back down, “You mean it?”

“Yes. Now go back to sleep unless you want eyebags so heavy you scare them away.”

“Yangxing!” You half whispered, half shouted at him. He smiled, gently kissing the crown of your head, “They’ll like you, I’m sure of it.”

You leaned into his warmth, “Fine, but- if they don’t… you are so…so… ” your voice faded into sleep, soft breaths soon escaping your curled-up form.

Yangxing sighed before pulling you closer and going back to sleep himself, his eyes easing shut, darkness kissing him with warm memories of you and him and the endless expanse of time.

Yangxing blinked and took in your form, you were delicately dressed in a hanfu, pearls of fabric cascading over each other, your hair pulled into an updo, you twirled around, the soft clink of your hair ornaments jingling with the movement.

“How do I look?”

Yangxing smiled, “Beautiful.”

You gently laughed, “I hope it's not too formal looking… I tried going for something just a bit fancier than what I usually wear.”

“It’s not. You look good.”

You walked towards him, “Then Xiaoling did a good job in helping me pick it out.” you gave a chaste kiss to his cheek before extending your arm to him. “Shall we? We shouldn’t keep the guests waiting.”

He took your arm. Yangxing thought it should have been the other way around, him offering his arm to you, but he didn’t mind it all too much this way either. He smiled, his lips tilting upwards into a soft smile.

The soft clink of pottery surrounded the area.

“Do you know who we are meeting, Jingliu?” Baiheng rested her face on her hands, her eyes staring holes into the swordswoman.

Jingliu shook her head before sipping her tea. “Yangxing wouldn’t tell me. Said it would ruin the surprise.”

Baiheng pouted, “Boo…” she looked over at the Jing Yuan. “Do you know who we’re meeting?”

Jing Yuan smiled, “Perhaps.”

Baiheng perked up at his words, “Really?”

He took hold of his tea and took a sip to avoid answering her question, she pouted again and turned to the Vidyadhara High Elder, “Do you know who we’re meeting? Surely, you have an idea…”

Dan Feng closed his eyes, “I don’t.”

Baiheng frowned, then in her final effort turned to the black-haired serving girl, “Hey, hey, do you know who we’re meeting?”

Xiaoling looked up from pouring tea, “I do. But apologies Miss Baiheng but I cannot tell you.”

Baiheng slouched at her words and with a deep sigh settled herself into the silence of the soft clink of pottery and the soft chime of the twinkling windchime.

The backdoor opened, you came out, a sheepish smile adorning your lips. Xiaoling perked up, gently placing the teapot back onto the table before going to greet you.

“My lady,” She placed a hand on her chest before bowing slightly.

You nodded, “Thank you for the help Xiaoling.”

She straightened up, “It is my pleasure.”

You nodded again as a cue that she could now leave, quickly she exited and slid shut the door.

Baiheng watched in bated breath as you took a seat next to Yangxing, automatically he moved in pouring you a cup of tea, you thanked him quietly.

You smiled, “It is a pleasure to finally meet you all, I hear you have taken good care of Yangxing, I thank you for that.”

Baiheng tilted her head to the side, “And you are…”

Jing Yuan smiled, a curious glint adorning his eyes, “Yangxing’s wife.”

Baiheng turned her head to Jing Yuan then back to you and then to Yangxing, her eyes widened in surprise. “What- No way! How could he snag a cutie such as you?” She shook her head, tufts of violet hair shaking with the movement.

Yangxing frowned deeply, “I take great offence to that.”

Baiheng ignored his remark and went to gently take hold of your hands, “It is a pleasure to meet you! Oh, let’s become good friends!”

You nodded enthusiastically. “It is my pleasure, Miss Baiheng.”

“Just Baiheng is fine, you are after all Yangxing’s wife.”

You gently smiled. “Then let’s become good friends, Baiheng.”

The foxian released her grip on you and leaned forward. “So… How come I have never heard of you, hm?”

Jing Yuan's lips curved upwards, “Yangxing actually often talked about her… Such a pity you missed it Baiheng, his words were always so loving… It is nice to finally match a face to his words.”

You giggled and turned to the silent Yangxing, “Oh? So you have talked about me… And with such love? Oh, Yangxing,” you pressed a hand to your chest, “I’m flattered.”

He closed his eyes in an effort to block out your teasing look. “Please… I’d rather not talk about that.” He peeked an eye open to look at Jing Yuan, “And why would you bring that up?” he sighed.

Jing Yuan laughed, bubbly and akin to crystalized sunshine, you found yourself smiling at the sound.

You pressed a hand to Yangxing’s sleeve, “Oh, won’t you tell me more…? Please?” Yangxing let out another sigh before glaring at Jing Yuan.

Jingliu then slightly bowed, “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

You turned to the swordswoman, “Ah! Apologies I forgot to greet you, pleasure to meet you Miss Jingliu. It is an honour to meet you personally. I have heard great things about your exploits.”

Her lips bloomed into a small smile. “Just Jingliu, please, I do hope we can become friends.”

You clasped your hands together, “As do I.”

Baiheng perked up, “Oh! We should go out to the town together! I know great places for food!”

You turned to the foxian, “That would be lovely, I myself, know a lot of good spots for desserts.”

“Hmm, I heard around Aurum Alley has some good food stalls…” Baiheng distantly trailed off. You picked up where she left off, offering all different food stalls and cafes, Jingliu occasionally putting in her word, the three of you soon dissolved into idle chatter of dates and planning, the three of you all sporting different smiles, all happily enjoying the atmosphere.

Yangxing smiled at the sight of you. Thoroughly enjoying yourself, Yangxing was glad you got on so well with Jingliu and Baiheng. He was glad he could be a part of this moment where you talked with the two, be a part of the moment where he could see you smile so brightly and so carefree, to see you without worries, he was glad.

Jing Yuan’s lips titled into a teasing smile, “I didn’t actually think she was real when you talked about her.” he laughed.

Yangxing huffed before frowning. “Why would I lie?”

Jing Yuan shrugged casually, before carefully taking hold on the teacup in front of him. “You didn’t seem like the type to get married.”

Dan Feng nodded; his eyes closed as he backed up Jing Yuan. “I second that.”

“Wha- Really you two.” Yangxing shook his head disapprovingly. Jing Yuan laughed again, his hair shaking with the movement.

“How did you meet her anyway?” Dan Feng picked his tea back up, silently going to take a sip.

Out of Yangxing peripheral vision he could see Jing Yuan lean a little closer.

Yangxing looked at you again, “A night market.” he closed his eyes before letting out a breath. The long-ago night coming back in full focus. Twinkling lights and the fresh smell of bread and foods filtering through the air in soft harmony, you sitting alone under the star's glow and night’s shine, carefree in all aspects.

And like a magnet, he was pulled to you, the red string of fate strong on his finger, pulling and pulling and pulling till he went up and introduced himself to you.

You turned to him, your eyes glittering stars of the night sky. Yangxing drowned in your eyes, drowning depths of an ocean he has never seen and of a place he all too longs for even when has never been, you turned, a smile tilting to your lips, “The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?”

That night felt like he met you for the first time but also felt like you had been by his side for a millennium; it felt like he finally could breathe after being unable to do so his entire life.

The bustling of vendors and the chatter of passerby filled Yangxing with a warmth he couldn’t get anywhere except in this part of town with your hand on his and your eyes as bright as the stars, a easy-smile making way to your face as you tug him from shop to shop, vendor to vendor.

“Excited are you?” His voice was teasing, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Do I look that excited?” Your eyes brushed over to him.

He laughed; the sound coming all too easily for him. “You're practically bouncing from shop to shop. You’re like an excited puppy.”

You gasped in mock offence, “Puppy?”

He let out another laugh. “If you had ears and a tail you’d practically be one.”

A smile split across your face, “I don’t look like a puppy-”

“You do. It’s adorable, really. I haven’t seen you so excited since you came back from shopping with Baiheng and Jingliu and that was what… a month ago?” He smiled, “I should take you out more often if you get this excited.”

You gave a huff. “I disagree with your statement that I look like a puppy, but I do agree you should take me out more often.” You gave a teasing smile to him, your eyes glinted with affection and mischief; Yangxing wouldn’t mind all-too much to drown in them.

He gave a tug to your hand. “Yeah?”

You nodded, “Mmhm. I know a restaurant that just opened up too, I heard they have really good food, we can go on a date next time you’re free.”

“Let’s do it now then.”

You tilted your head to the side, “Now? Isn't it too late?”

“Never too late, my dear.” He gave your hand another tug as if to bring you back into motion.

“But don’t you have work tomorrow?”

He gave an expression of confusion, “Do I?”

You sighed before smiling, “Oh, fine, If you’re going to be like that.” you took the lead and started to walk in the direction of the restaurant.

“I heard they sell-” You stopped walking all of a sudden, making Yangxing almost bump into you.

“What’s wrong?” You let go of Yangxing’s hand, your own hand coming up to your head in an action to soothe whatever was wrong with you.

“I-” You swayed where you were, Yangxing came up to your side, his hands reaching to your arms, in an effort to help you keep balance.

“What’s wrong? Do you need to sit?” He repeated himself. You didn’t answer him, instead gripping his arm.

“Yangxing- I-” You took a breath, before blinking rapidly, you took another breath. “My vision-”

You swayed again and this time you fell, Yangxing caught you before slowly dropping to the ground, “Hey, hey,” his voice was slowly getting more and more panicked.

Passersby were starting to notice; in return stopping and looking.

You were fighting to stay awake but Yangxing could tell it was getting progressively harder, he tightened his grip on you.

He looked up, “I need a healer, get a healer!” the crowd that was slowly forming dispersed into chatter until a foxian woman came over, a healer Yangxing presumed.

He gave her room as she started to help you.

Your eyes fluttered closed, sweat slacked your forehead and you were heating up.

Yangxing took a deep breath, his heart a pounding drum in his ears, he squeezed his eyes shut briefly to steady his breathing.

Yangxing never got to go to that restaurant, never got to hear what you were going to say and Yangxing never got to go out with you to a night market again.

Yangxing opened his eyes, the soft evening of the day filtering in through the windows, dust particles swimming in the shining light.

He took a breath, the air greedily entering his lungs.

Yangxing’s eyes focused onto your form, your form that lacked the colour you once so desperately vibrated. Your eyes were closed in solemn quiet, your chest slowly rising and falling with each breath.

Slowly he walked over to your sleeping form.

Gently he placed his hand on your face and brushed the strands of your hair away before sitting down next to you.

The world hummed, everything coming to a standstill, time slowly moving faster and faster till nothing was left, till you were no longer you and the world collapsed into soft nothingness.

Yangxing once again thought how cruel the world was, how cruel fate was.

How dare they take you away from him, how dare they slowly kill you while all he could do was watch, silently while your form withered away.

He has tried everything, everything and all. And the most he found was a medicine that would keep you alive for who knows how long. Yangxing was waiting for the moment you slipped between his fingers, grains of sand, soul and body.

Your eyes fluttered open, he smiled, soft and sorrowful.

“...Yangxing?” Your voice was soft, delicate and ever the breakable.

He brought his hand down to yours and gently grasped it, “I’m here.”

You smiled. “...When are you going to leave next?”

“A week from now.”

“When will you be back?” You shifted into a more comfortable position.

“I’m not sure. But it won’t be long, I promise. You know I could never be away from you for too long.”

You laughed and Yangxing yearned to hear it more, yearned to hear it once more vibrant and bright. “I’ll make you something before you leave, how about a sword tassel? Xiaoling taught me the other day.”

Yangxing smiled, “Only if you feel okay to do it, don’t overdo yourself.”

“I won’t, it’ll make me happy that you have something of mine with you.”

Yangxing leaned forward and gave a kiss to your forehead. “You should sleep now. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

You smiled, “Only if you stay with me.”

Yangxing nodded, gently you closed your eyes and almost immediately you lapsed into sleep. Once more your expression morphing into ease, your chest slowly rising and falling.

Yangxing took a breath again and squeezed your hand, his eyes drifting shut briefly.

It didn’t go to plan.

It never goes to plan, does it?

Yangxing wasn’t supposed to become mara-struck, he wasn’t supposed to have helped resurrect Baiheng and the battle wasn’t supposed to go this way, it wasn’t supposed to happen, it was all wrong, every inch and every moment that passed was wrong.

He was supposed to be in your arms and with your dying warmth, he was supposed to be by your side and all right and he wasn’t supposed to be fighting every instinct in him to not lose control, it wasn’t supposed to be like this-

The world burned brightly, every inch of everything alight with burning rage and consumed in the drowning depths of endless torment.

Yangxing heaved a breath, the oxygen burned his lungs, setting his body alight with invisible fire, his ears rang, a heavy high pitched sound that made everything around him foggy and distant.

He tried to bring his body upwards—the world tilted and he fell back down again, gravel digging into his hands.

His mind burned; How long was he here? How were you? Were you okay?

He felt bile rise in the back of his throat at the thought of never getting to see you again. He coughed, rough and in desperate need of water.

He tried to stand again but with the same luck as before his knees gave out and he came back onto the hard gravel of the ground; the stone cold under his palms.

His mind ricocheted and he tried to keep hold of whatever consciousness remained. But darkness was cruel and held out no mercy for those who could not stand it, it came in a tidal wave and slowly consumed his thoughts, taking with it everything he built.

The world rewrote itself, soft hues of orange and yellow entering through the window, the distant chirp of birds bright and yearning.

Yangxing’s eyes opened to the sight of an unfamiliar roof - everything was unfamiliar at that moment, his name and his memories, everything before felt like a dream that he so desperately wanted to remember, desperately wanted to take hold of and keep close to his heart and soul.

He slowly sat up, his ears rang and his body ached.

Yangxing could hardly remember anything, all so far gone that he couldn’t ever hope to ever touch them again, memories swallowed and drowned in the never-ending ocean of bygone past.

Moths picking a piece of cloth till there were only bits and pieces and Yangxing had to try and make it whole.

He looked around the room; a swordswoman sat in the far corner, her hand on a blade and her eyes covered so that Yangxing couldn’t quite tell where she was looking or if she was even awake, he narrowed his eyes, his mind reeling for a name that matched her face.

“What do you want?” His voice sounded like sandpaper, he swallowed and tried again, “What do you want…” His mind found purchase on a name. “Jingliu?”

She turned, flecks of white hair cascading over her shoulders, he furrowed his eyebrows.

Her mouth opened but no words escaped, she closed it then opened it again, “I shall teach you the art of the sword.” her voice was silky, smooth and cold, cruel and Yangxing found that it didn’t quite fit her; it sounded like someone else.

He stayed silent at her words. She straightened herself. “You have no choice in the matter.”

He didn’t speak, he didn’t feel like he could.

She made no sign that his silence bothered her. “Your dear beloved will live if you do well. Do your job properly. I know a medicine that will help her, don’t you want that, Yangxing?” her words were laced with a poison that cut his bones and flesh, killing him slowly with each syllable that left her mouth.

His hands were loose in his lap, simply he nodded; it felt like his duty to accept, it felt like repayment.

The swordswoman blankly looked onward before silently getting up, “We are not in the Luofu anymore, it would do you well not to wander and do what you’re told.” she left, the soft click of the door loud in the emptiness.

He didn’t know how long he had been asleep for, how many days or months had passed, he didn’t know.

He looked down at his hands, they were calloused and dry, his fingernails broken unevenly. But through it all lay a ring that was gold citrine and polished, beautiful and intricate.

He pulled it off.

Carefully he rolled it around on his fingertips, the smooth metal an aching familiarity.

The ring was important to him, dearly, even if he wasn’t quite sure why.

Why he was happy to have it, why he was filled with a feeling of heart wrenching happiness and affection.

The memory of it was foggy at best; a reflection in a ripple of water.

He slipped it back on, the cool metal grounding him to current reality. He closed his eyes, soft darkness kissing him with cold familiarity.

Yangxing found that every moment, every fraction of time brought more and more suffering.

The world flipped, everything flipped, reds and blacks echoing across the world in harmony, every colour so deeply cold, everywhere was shrouded in the colour.

Yangxing found that the more he continued to live, the more he continued to fight the longer the promise of death, the need for it, grew bigger, bigger and bigger till it consumed him whole and no longer could he remember what was most important, he what most held so dear to his heart and soul.

He would forget - the warmth and light, the stars and moon, he would forget till you brought it back.

Your hands were gentle, carefully would you hold his hand and lay your head on his shoulder and whisper sweet promises to him, your voice sweeter than sugar and more addicting than the sweet promise of death.

“Yangxing,” You would whisper, your voice light and airy, “Yangxing, you know I’ll be with you forever, right?”

He would stay silent, the silence lingering around the two of you in a weighted blanket.

You would smile at his silence. “I’ll be with you for all eternity, you know that, right?”

He would look at you, dancing red camellias, he would nod.

He knew you would keep the promise, knew you were always going to be there, always, until death finally claimed him and darkness greeted him for the final time.

You were always by his side the last couple of years, even when your health acted up, even when you were bedridden for a couple of weeks, you were always by his side.

Often would he see you pleading with Jingliu, your voice desperate and tearful, “Please, Jingliu,” you would beg, tears coating your lashes and cheeks, Yangxing would always have the urge to wipe them away.

“Please,” You said, “Please, you’re hurting him.”

She wasn’t. So he didn’t understand why you were so desperate, he was always fine, so why were you crying? Why were you begging her? Why?

Jingliu would always ignore your words, her expression icy whenever she spoke to you, “This is what he wants, stop interfering.”

Yangxing would come up to your side, his hand going to sit on your shoulder. You turned to look up at him before looking back at the swordswoman.

Jingliu turned her back on the two of you, “Stop begging, it’s unsightly for your status.”

Yangxing could see your heartbreak at her words, thousands of shards splintering onto the floor in a myriad of emotions and feelings.

You had loved Jingliu, he could see it whenever you spoke to her, your voice was soft and your smile was small but so dearly, affection-filled,

“Jingliu…” Your voice was weak and delicate, it felt like with one little push you would break altogether, it hurt Yangxing to see you this way - to see you so utterly heartbroken.

She started to walk away, “We aren’t friends anymore, it would be for the best if you got rid of the sentiment.”

Your hands tightened, pale white decorating your knuckles; it looked as though you wanted to say something, anything, anything at all, but you stayed silent, the silence hung heavy in the air, unbreathable and uncomfortable.

You waited a moment before turning to Yangxing, a forced smile decorating your features, “It’s alright, Yangxing. I’m okay.” you paused, “...Shall we have dinner?”

He brought a hand up to your cheek and cupped it, “You don’t need to force yourself, I know it hurts you.”

Your expression momentarily flickered before breaking altogether, gently you rested your head

on his chest. “Sorry. This is unsightly of me, isn’t it?”

He brought a hand up to your head and pulled you in closer, “No. It’s not.”

You let out a watery laugh, “What would I do without you, my Yangxing?”

Yangxing didn’t know how to answer that so he stayed silent and hoped his actions conveyed what his words couldn’t.

Yangxing will love you no matter what, no matter if he hardly remembers you or if a century passes he’s sure that he will love you all for eternity, all for time, he’s sure that you’ll be the only thing sweeter than the promise of eternal rest.

♡ my love for blade is eternal

#honkai star rail #hsr #hsr angst #honkai star rail x reader #hsr x reader #blade hsr #blade x reader #hsr fic #₊˚ʚ writes ₊˚✧

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clockworkviridis · 2 years

Text

Chapter One

A Professor!Severus x Student!Y/N fanfiction

Summary: Y/N is suffering from a severe migraine. Professor Snape heals her.

Warning: Vivid descriptions of pain

Categories: Angst and fluff

Thank you @insomniacaesthetic for letting me use your posts as reference for the post format!

A/N: This is my first time writing fanfiction. I’d really appreciate if I could receive some criticism of my writing. Also, if you’d like me to write something Severus-related, leave me a message. I’ll try my best to fulfill your request. Enjoy!

Wild clanging bells echo in Y/N’s throbbing head. She tosses and turns under her sheets praying for the night to end — which she finds herself doing a lot lately. Ironic, because come the end of the night and the dawn of a new day, she would in turn pray for the day to end. It’s a cruel cycle, Y/N thinks. A cycle she sometimes considers ending.

The alarm clock rings and Y/N wakes up with a start. A sigh escapes from her mouth. Yet another sleepless night. She drags herself out of bed and performs her morning routine, a strong and steady pain throbbing from temple to temple.

Y/N, among the crowd of fellow H/N students, marches out the common room, towards the Great Hall for breakfast. She does not have an appetite, but a sliver of hope tells her that a little bit of food could help with the pain.

And that sliver of hope turns out to be false. The torment intensifies to the point where her vision is clouding and a ringing noise is increasing in volume, despite the meal she has eaten. Every clatter and sound of chatter in the Great Hall feels like nails on a chalkboard. She can no longer take the volume.

With her eyes glued to the stone floor, Y/N pushes the glances of her schoolmates past her and hurries out the Great Hall, towards a secluded hallway in the hopes of silence and calm.

Her vision blacks out. The ringing noise gets louder and louder, it’s deafening her. She covers her ears and tears drop from her eyes under all the pain. Why is this happening to me? She questions to herself. She collapses into a shuddering heap, gripping her head between her legs praying for the pain to end before a tap on her back jolts her up.

“Ms L/N,” a familiar voice erupts between the high-pitched ringing. She stares up at the source of the voice in the hopes of clearing up her vision, to see a figure looming over her. “it’s Professor Snape. Let me help you.”

Professor Snape? Y/N cannot believe it.

Severus gently grabs Y/N’s trembling arm to sit her up.

“It hurts,” she manages to whimper through clenched teeth. He opens a mysterious vial that he had retrieved from the pockets of his robe.

“Shh, this will help. Open your mouth.”

Y/N hesitates, but eventually complies. The professor drops a droplet of turquoise blue liquid into her mouth.

Her tastebuds are bombarded by a sudden outburst of bitter peppermint flavour, before all of a sudden, the pain comes to a halt, leaving her stunned at how fast the potion has kicked in.

Severus’ eyes are locked on Y/N’s as he analyses her reaction to the potion. His brows furrow as he notices her beginning to zone out, boarding a train of thought…

Y/N cannot believe it. Professor Snape… cares about her? She has always had the impression that he only showed concern to his favourite students, like Draco Malfoy and his friends, but nonetheless, she has always had this strange affinity for him; he’s an amazing teacher. He knows how to discipline his classes, command respect, he knows his stuff. But she has always been curious about the layers behind his inconspicuous personality. ‘Why does he seem so stoic? Why does he never smile? Why does he always seem so… sad?’ - are some of the questions she can’t help but ponder over. At times, when lessons get too boring, she likes to come up with random backstories she thinks would suit her professor. She likes to imagine the most absurd scenarios, like Professor Snape being a vampire, or a superhero like in those muggle stories - which would perfectly explain why he seems as if he’s always hiding something. More realistically, maybe he was neglected as a child and learned to prevent his feelings from bubbling up to the surface. Perhaps he was severely bullied as a teenager. Or maybe, Professor Snape lost someone very important to him after a misunderstanding and is now haunted by guilt as he is constantly reminded of i-

“Feeling better?” intereupts Severus, an edge to his tone. Y/N realises that they had been staring at each other for the whole time, their noses a quill’s length away.

As he stands up, breaking their prolonged eye contact, she stutters, “Y-yes! Yes, I feel better.” Her cheeks red, seeing as he seemed to be bothered by how long she took to respond. There’s a tingly feeling in her heart as she attempts to internalise what just had happened, this strange interaction with her favourite professor.

“The Draught of Peace. Ask if you need a vial.” And with that, his cloak billowing behind him, Severus swiftly turns to walk away, leaving Y/N alone in the remote corridor.

Severus speed-walks through the corridors, his body stiff as his mind is elsewhere. His heart is pacing. Legilimency can sometimes be a curse.

Y/N grabs the wall to pull herself up. Slapping her forehead, she cringed at how poorly she handled the awkward situation and worried about what her professor thinks about her now. She didn’t even thank him.

A bell rings throughout the castle, signalling that it is time for the first period. Y/N rushes back to her common room to retrieve the materials for her first class - a quill, a roll of parchment and a cauldron.

#severus snape #snape #snape x reader #snape x y/n #snape fic #pro snape #harry potter

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pedroalonso · 2 years

Note

Do you have berlermo fic recommendations?

A lot, actually! I'm usually such a lazy ass, so I'm just going to list down my absolute fucking fave authors ever, because I am extremely confident whatever fic of theirs you decide to click and read will undoubtedly be a good one. However, I will list down some of my personal favorites among their writing so you know where to start!

Also please leave kudos and comments if you liked their work. It would mean so much. Even if you just do a "KDHJSDJAGJ I love it!" keyboard smash like I usually do. lmao. Anyway:

givebackmylifecas (Ellen) - Ellen is one of the most, if not THEE most prolific writer in the Berlermo fandom. She has a record of a whopping 58 fics in total for the two evil bastards, and was one of the few people who kept providing fanfic content during the great Berlermo drought of 2020. An absolute legend. A fantastic writer. All her fics are "mwah, chef's kiss* and I'm happy to call her my wifey.

Recommended works: Yucatan AU, Daemon AU, Divorced AU, Andrés Getting Punched AU (5+1), Hallucination AU, Another 5+1 Fic where people assume they are dating, THIS absolute RIDE of an AU, Berlin the Cat AU, Amnesia AU

shotgun_cake (Shotgun) - QUEEN OF SMUT, and no one will refute me for this. Because anyone who has ever read Shotgun's writing will agree with me. Perfect blend off fluff, smut, and just enough sprinkling of angst to tug on your heartstrings and make you yearn.

Recommended works: Flavours of Lust Series, The Knight Fic, Wedding AU, Lawyers AU (still a WIP! but worth the read anyway), Sugar Daddy AU, One of the First Berlermo Smuts ever written and my GOD is it still good, Spin the Bottle AU

boom_slap (Boom) - QUEEN OF ANGST, and again, no one will challenge this claim because anyone who has ever read Boom’s fics will know what I’m talking about. Every single sentence she writes just evokes a very sharp pang of pain, but in a really good cathartic way that really captures the essence of Berlermo as a whole.

Recommended works: Unlikely Alliances (which is actually the fluffiest shit ever and an absolute masterpiece of an AU, but still has great angst I love Boomer for), really really amazing hurt/comfort fic that makes me cry, another really amazing hurt./comfort fic that makes me bawl my eyes out, Andrés overdoes it with the dirty talk AU that has great hurt/comfot and makes me weep like a baby, really painful but beautiful hurt/comfort Attempted Suicide AU that reduces me to a puddle of tears, Short Studies in Pleasure series, Berlermo Sick Fic, Andrés’s wonderful journey through discovering his sexuality and spoiler alert! He bottoms in the end but it’s masterfully and carefully written so Bottom!Berlin Antis, give it a go you cowards!

phcbosz (Mav) - Mav’s a goddamn talented writer and he writes some of the best hurt/comfort fics out there too. And they’re heartbreaking and sad, but it also feels warm. Like you’re being hugged, like you’re being understood.

Recommended works: MY COMFORT ANGST FIC, Andrés falls in love FIRST AU, Bittersweet Fic About Andrés’s Illness, Trans!Martín AU, Cuddling for Warmth AU

marirable (Marie) - Marie is also like lowkey highkey an emotional terrorist and her works are incredibly underrated which is an injustice!!! So here I am trying to make up for that so please give this woman some love right now.

Recommended works: Marie has 5 fics so literally I recommend all of them thank you, but I would start with her first fic: the Soulmate/Soulmark AU

dashwood

Recommended works: Single Parents AU, Faculty AU, In Vino Veritas, Multiverse AU

masterofgallifrey

Recommended works: Soulmates No Backstory AU where Berlin meets Martín in the Mint, Delicious Dubcon Criminal VS Spy AU, THIS PAINFEST

Some of these authors I’ve only read a few works of but I think they deserve some mention anyway! These are the works of theirs I like:

veterveter: stay awhile, rat king

rainbowcat: put on your war paint, just to follow the siren

sherwoodfox: Flowers for Bellerophon

Names in bold are obviously my friends! Who I become friends with because I read their fics and hunted them down lmao. Also, huge disclaimer! This is my personal opinion. Fics are subjective so these are the ones that work for me, because I’m actually very particular with dynamics and characterization. And I think these fics manage to really capture Andrés and Martín’s personalities and relationship perfectly and also maintain a respect for the source material, which I know is hard to do, so I admire them greatly. Thanks for sharing your works!

If any of my mates have suggestions too, feel free to add them all here y’all: @hefellfordean @shotgun-cake @boom-slap @marirable

#man this took forever but i THINK i managed to include my faves #berlermo #la casa de papel #money heist #fic recs #andres de fonollosa #martin berrote #asks

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joheun-saram · 3 years

Text

String Me Along (kth)

Summary- Falling in love with your best friend doesn’t always go like the movies.

word count- 1.2k

pairing- nonidol!Taehyung x Reader

rating- PG-13

genre- angst

warnings- none!

a.n- Part of my drabbles for @btsholidaybingo, ticking off the Xmas Lights tile! I’ll be posting these every week or so as I get them done. Check out the other drabbles here :)

s/o to the amazing @aroseforyoongi for helping me rephrase the ending! 💕

As always feedback appreciated. Send me an ask! 💌

Friendships between a guy and a girl are always romanticised. Novels and movies ending with the two protagonists that start as friends and end up together always sell out. And why wouldn’t they? It’s a perfect trope. What could be better than falling for your best friend? The person that knows you best also being the person that you romantically spend the rest of your life with seems perfect.

But life’s never perfect, is it?

Taehyung never thought he would fall for you. Why would he? You grew up together. He was there the first time you broke your nose when you were ten, spilling blood onto the concrete. He was there when your face was covered in so much acne in middle school that you could barely see the skin below. He was there when you confessed to your first love in grade eight, only to get laughed at. He was there when you first got drunk in grade ten, not knowing your limits and puking all over the quarterback’s front yard. He was there whenever you got obsessed with a new band and talked his ear off about their backstory in excruciating details.

Taehyung never thought he would fall for you, but he did. Sometime after you graduated university, the things about you that would make him roll his eyes and scoff, made his heart race. It was the way you were overly competitive and destroyed him in any game the two of you played. It was the way you started wearing eyeliner that turned your eyes hypnotizing. It was the way you always spoke your mind and bravely chased opportunities even if you thought you would fail. It was the way you lit up any room you walked into. It was the way you were always passionate about the most niche topics, researching them to no end for nothing more than to satisfy your own curiosity.

Every time the two of you were together, he would feel it. His heart skipping a beat at your scent as you hugged him hello. His nerves tingling at each touch, his face flushing at each laugh. He hated being a cliche - hated being the sad sack who fell for his best friend. But he never hated it more than when he decided he was going to confess at your annual holiday party.

He had showed up early to help you decorate. It was a tradition between the two of you; ten years in the making, withstanding distance and fights. No matter how tumultuous your relationship was, the two of you would always spend the afternoon before your parties stringing Christmas lights around your parent’s living room or your dorm or your apartment, depending on the stage of life you were currently at. He relished this alone time with you as the two of you mixed terrible eggnog nobody would touch and ate an early dinner in preparation to welcome your friends and drink the night away.

This year, however, the tradition was broken. Not because you didn’t meet up but because this year there was someone else there. A tall, handsome older man with broad shoulders that you introduced as your new boyfriend. You had had boyfriends before, that was not what worried him. What worried him was that in the fifteen years he had known you, he had never heard you laugh like that. Your face lit in adoration as your boyfriend cracked a lame dad joke that wasn’t even worthy of a sharp exhale. But here you were, trying not to snort into the eggnog as he wrapped his arms around you, kissing your cheek fondly, and telling you the drink was ‘eggcellent’.

Taehyung found your new love interest annoying. He was far too tall, far too conventionally attractive, and his laugh sounded excruciatingly like windshield wipers working overtime. But what he found the most annoying was how happy he made you. Happier than he had ever seen you.

It was like you had forgotten that Taehyung was even there as he ran around your apartment stringing lights. You were lost in your boyfriend, sneaking kisses and whispers. Your own little bubble, excluding him unknowingly. He felt stupid thinking that today would be the day he would finally be able to be with you, finally be able to hold you like he wanted the past three years.

The necklace he had gotten you for his grand gesture weighed heavier in his pocket each time he sneaked a glance your way. He had planned it perfectly. He was going to bring you hot chocolate from your favourite little cafe downtown and smile gently as you groaned in satisfaction at the first sip. He was going to lift you up so you could attach the lights to the really high hook in the corner. He was going to spend the day listening to your stories before giving you his present - a dainty necklace you had shown him on instagram three months ago, the one that he knew was still in your wish list. He was going to put it around your neck, lingering on your skin before telling you how he had spent the last three years loving you from afar. He was going to kiss you. Kiss you so well that poets would write sonnets about it, that fireworks would be puffs of glitter against it, that no words would do the experience justice.

But life’s never perfect, is it?

So now Taehyung sits, his food getting cold and his beer getting warm, as he watches you feed your boyfriend bites of your favourite spicy noodles from the Thai place down the street, giggling as he complains about the flavour. He finds it odd, not only because you hate public displays of affection, but you especially hate sharing your food. It was like you were a whole new person, your eyes glittering in the dancing lights of your living room.

Taehyung has known you since he was eight, but as he watches you dance with your new boyfriend, your arms wrapped around his neck as the two of you sway slowly to Jimin’s EDM playlist blasting from the speakers, he thinks he doesn’t know you at all. You never showed this side of you to him, the one filled with warmth, and he realizes, slowly but all of a sudden, that you’re in love. You’re in love but not with him. He watches you kiss him slowly as all your friends cheer, your cheeks flushed, and he realizes that you will never look at him that way.

When at midnight, your boyfriend pulls out a slim case and puts the same necklace that’s in Taehyung’s pocket around your neck, he realizes maybe your new boyfriend isn’t so bad. Life’s never perfect and Taehyung smiles softly as you turn around to look at your boyfriend and smile at him with glassy eyes.

Taehyung knows without a doubt that you don’t love him as he stumbles home after too many beers. Laying in bed, he thinks about the night and remembers that for the first time in your years long friendship, you forgot to hug him goodbye, opting for a wave from across the room. Maybe it was inevitable that one of you would catch feelings, that’s what the media warned him about. But he realized that he didn’t mind if you didn’t love him because you were happy, and how could he be sad when the person he loved had what they wanted?

#bts fic #bts scenarios #taehyung imagine #taehyung angst #taehyung x reader #v imagine #v scenario #v x oc #v angst #tae angst #tae imagine #tae x reader #btsholidaybingo #thebtswritersclub

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aliatori · 3 years

Note

Transmasc Kaidan fic!!!!

Yes! The release of Legendary Edition, and specifically how they didn't retcon in M!Shenko from the first game, got me outlining a story that’s essentially reimagining a selection of canon events in Kaidan’s history through a transmasc lens.

First off, all the stuff in his backstory about Jump Zero hits so much harder when you imagine it’s a teenage, pre-transition Kaidan going through all this trauma instead. Not only is there the very justifiable anger at all the abuse he and the other kids experience in the name of being trained in biotics, but then there’s the double layer of deep, persistent psychological discomfort. Add to that the crippling physical pain (and permanent disability) of the implant and learning its usage, and feeling like a stranger in his own body for a myriad of other gender related reasons, it’s no small wonder he snapped, lost control, and killed his instructor Vyrnnus.

And then, if you look at his relationship with Raina with a pre-transition Kaidan in mind, it (at least imo) resonates a lot more with the complicated queer, trauma bonded, ‘are we, aren’t we in love?’ vibes I get from their relationship than if he were cis. It also makes her rejection of Kaidan after he kills Vyrnnus cut all the deeper, confirming what he already suspected: he wouldn’t have been good enough for her before, and he certainly isn’t now.

Canonically, teenage Kaidan and his dad have a heart-to-heart after the incident where his dad offers reassurance and support to Kaidan, and it’s here I choose to believe he came out and started the process of transitioning.

For the F!Shenko path, there’s a line in their first love scene in ME1 where Kaidan confesses she makes him feel human, and whoo boy, if that doesn’t ring all of my personal transgender euphoria and intimacy bells. For someone who has had to work so hard to take ownership of his physical body, both in regard to biotics and to gender identity, for someone who has been othered and made to feel less than on those same levels, that line admits so much trust in Shepard.

Oh my god, and Horizon through a transmasc Kaidan perspective? It’s a gold mine. Not only do you have all the delicious canon flavoured angst of realizing Shepard is alive at Horizon, some of the lines in the letter he sends a romanced Shepard hurt even more. The survivor’s guilt he mentions probably brought up a lot of old trauma from his teenage experience with Raina, of being rejected and abandoned for doing what he thought was right. And “I guess I really don’t know who either of us is anymore”? *siren noises* With the caveat that there are a myriad of experiences under the transgender umbrella, I feel it’s safe to say all of us grapple intensely with our identity and who we are, even if the manifestations of that conflict look different. For Kaidan to be thrust back into that uncertainty, to question a truth he’s been told is immutable, unchangeable? That’s the good stuff right there.

(In a worldbuilding sense, I posit that Kaidan probably thinks a lot about the implications of the technology Cerberus used to rebuild Shepard and how it could be applied to both trans and/or disabled people—along with having mixed moral leanings about using such technology even for good—but I digress.)

Which finally brings me around to the M!Shenko thing. Kaidan being transmasc gives me a reason to turn BioWare’s cowardice into a valid relationship development arc. This may be @ing myself on main, but imagining a transmasc Kaidan trying to navigate his new command position under a larger-than-life Shepard, all the Reaper and galactic peril business, and a desire for another man he’s not sure will be reciprocated or well received on either the queer or trans fronts? There’s delightful substance for exploration there. Granted, Kaidan is 32 by the time Mass Effect 1 rolls around, so I don’t think he’s struggling with his identity so much that he’s not sure taking that much of a risk will work out in his favor re: pursuing a romance with M!Shepard.

Anyway, there is my essay of headcanons that are the foundation for the transmasc Kaidan fic that you probably didn’t ask for but got anyway. I haven’t decided which canonical romance path to pursue for the series of snapshots, and knowing me this might end up T4T in the end too because why not, but there you have it.

In short: Kaidan Alenko is transmasc and, while I will gladly allow for other interpretations, this is the one I’m sticking with now.

#kaidan alenko #mass effect #trans!Kaidan #long post for ts #I'm getting entirely too personal on this website today #but I'm very excited to see someone else in my orbit on the transmasc Kaidan train because we have taste #thank you for giving me an excuse to opine about this #mass effect spoilers #although it's like a gajillion years old so lmfao

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botwstoriesandsuch · 3 years

Text

Whoopsie King Rhoam’s a dick but I gotta flesh him out so

Read Part 1 here!

Part 2

If you’re on mobile, and tumblr hates this post, follow along on this google doc!

Rules/overview this rewrite in the beginning of Part 1

‘sup ya beautiful bastards it’s time to gush about the process of storytelling and writing as we fix up the fix it fic so let’s just jump into it

- - - - - - - - - -

A quick recap of Part 2, and I swear this recap is faster than the recap last time: Chapter 3 of Age of Calamity opens with a more substantial scene the beginning points of Revali’s character, and contrasting the old position that Link and eggbot have, so that their later changes in this chapter (well, at least for Link in this chapter) are more pronounced. We edited a bit of the dialogue to make Revali’s intentions make a bit more sense, while also putting some little foreshadowing points with some camera tricks for the Hollow Champions. The Hollow Champions can now speak, which means their potential for being used to bring out the flaws or bitter aspects of each character is more readily available further into the story. And of course, we’ve introduced the main antagonist of Astor, and coupling his presence and dynamic with Zelda’s insecurities. While his intentions of needing Zelda for something is clear, his motivations and backstory remain a mystery as of yet, the only true clue we have so far being some sort of connection to eggbot.

I didn’t get any big asks or comments about Part 2 so I’m going to assume that it was mostly well received (although I will note that I promise I’m going to flesh out Revali to be more than he has been presented as of yet, this is just the very very start of this development don’t you worry your feather loving butts) that being said, you should totally critique me or give me your opinions or comments. I’d love to hear them! Although, keep in mind that I am restraining my rewrite to the guidelines already said, so don’t get mad at me for not killing off all the Champions or something. Thaaat’s a rewrite for another time. So yeah if you reblog you get a little kiss from me because believe it or not I spent a lot of time trying to rewrite an entire storyline while keeping it’s tone and integrity intact. So thanks much <3

Okie dokie then chaps! Let us finally delve into Urbosa lesbian vibes, a zest of Zelink angst, rants about pacing, and a couple tablespoons of Astor backstory, all starting in the latest stage of Chapter 3: The Road Home, Besieged

So right of the bat, big problem here. This Chapter follows directly after the events of Korok Forest, so you assume that maybe “The Road Home” refers to the team, going home, back to the castle, to tell King Rhoam what’s up. But...that’s apparently not the case.

So this entire stage, firstly, it brushes over any scenes where Zelda, Link or the other Champions might talk to King Rhoam about the Master Sword, or the Deku Tree, or...hmm what else happened last stage that might be interesting to see—oh yEAH HOW ABOUT that mysterious magic guy that tried to kill Zelda and was going off about the future and stuff?? That guy that wielded a bunch of dark magic and malice looking stuff and, uh yeah, you’d think it might be important and interesting to see the King’s take on was is essentially a wanted traitor to the crown who may or may not be leading the entire movement for the Calamity’s uprising. But nope, no one asks questions, no one says anything or has interesting conversations that reveal stuff about the plot. It's just….just all about Zelda and ooooOOooo she can’t awaken her powers oh no what’s a gal to do!

And I do mean that quite literally, this entire stage is all centered around two scenes with Zelda. The first, an admittedly narratively important scene of Zelda having a quick flashback about eggbot after he sings her a song, but it lasts for five seconds. And the second, being a pep talk with Urbosa as Link eats rocks in the background. For the majority of this stage, it’s all focused on Zelda, and pacing wise, it does virtually nothing to progress the narrative/plot forward.

And on paper, there’s nothing wrong with that! Hell, people read entire fanfictions dedicated to character development and relationships that have absolutely no external plot. Having a scene dedicated to just character development is completely fine, it’s something that’s pretty common and even encouraged to an extent. The problem arises when you remember that this is a story being told through the medium of a video game.

Now, I am going to try and breeze by this because, similar to Age of Calamity, I have to also construct this post with pacing that keeps my audience engaged, while progressing with my core narrative and story. But I highly encourage you to watch through this video by hello future me (On Writing: How to Master Pacing) because a lot of what I know about this I’ve picked up from his videos, and if you’re a writer or just someone who thinks storytelling is cool, it’s a great guide to the art of pacing.

youtube

Anyhow. There are two levels of pacing within a story. There is the small type of pacing, like for the structure of a singular scene. And there is the pacing of the overall core narrative, how the larger beats of the entire story is revealed. Good pacing for your core narrative is about whether the reader feels like they are getting closer to the big thing, the big climax or answer or promise of satisfaction. The smaller type of pacing, for your singular scenes, focuses on that timing between how close you get to achieving new information, this refers to your slow and fast pacing, tension versus rapid action.

So, overall the rule of thumb is: the amount of time you invest into your smaller scenes, even put together, that must correlate with a big enough payoff in the core narrative. That’s what good pacing is. (And that’s why people make stuff like the Three Act Structure to help visualize this pacing process but obviously other forms of pacing guidelines exist like the Five and Seven Act Structures but that’s too complicated for this Nintendo Game anyhow that’s just some educational flavour for ya to impress your highschool English Teacher I guess)

So knowing that, the question now is: Does The Road Home, Besieged contribute good pacing to the story? This is going to be my excuse for changing up other later scenes in the game, so when I mention pacing and narrative again, remember this. The time spent playing for thirty minutes, minimum, in the game, to only be paid off by two lines of character development isn’t good pacing. So the answer is “no.”

Delving as long an amount of time as thirty minutes, means that pretty much everytime a stage is complete, you must introduce new substantial progress to your story. A game like this just doesn’t have time to waste it’s valuable cutscenes on character development alone. There’s an even further wrench in the issue when you consider you also need to account for sidequests, so you could really be forcing your player to go through hours of gametime before you introduce new details in the story.

Obviously it’s not always gonna be cut and dry like that—sometimes you have to account for how enjoyable the gameplay is, and sometimes the amount of character development offsets any lack of narrative development—but for the majority of stages I’m gonna change, they all suffer this pacing problem. In a game that's entire story hinges on these cutscenes, bad pacing is just something it doesn’t have time for.

Anyhow anyhow anyhow, I got to get my dose of serotonin by talking about pacing writing structure and stuff and blah blah, so now I shall grace you with the changes that address these problems that would theoretically lead to vast improvement. I gave you this reasoning and backstory to writing because I am making hella changes, to hopefully make the experience more “poggers,” which is something the cool kids say these days if you didn’t know.

Firstly, timeline wise this stage is gonna take place directly after the Korok Forest battle. The gang is returning home from the battle, with Link, the new wielder of the Master Sword, along with this new information regarding a certain Astor character.

We open the same way it does in game, focusing on Zelda’s face, before the frame is suddenly blocked by the pommel of the Master Sword. A wordless way to express how the sudden revelation of Link being the hero has forced its way into Zelda’s mind, great use of camera Koei Tecmo 10 outta 10

Now I don’t want to immediately jump into Zelda’s “oh poor me I can’t awaken my powers” dialogue because—and this is something even Breath of the Wild is guilty of—This game seems to forget that there are other characters besides Zelda. It’s marketed towards kids, sure, but I assure you that kids playing this game have a longer attention span than 2 minutes. You don’t need to keep reminding the audience every single scene about how Zelda is anxious about her powers. It gets redundant, you waste the audience’s time, and therefore you waste your own time, because you could have been using that precious screen time to develop some other thing further. So anyhow, goes a bit like this.

Zelda’s walking, the Master Sword comes into frame. Zelda looks down at the ground but keeps walking, but you can tell from her expression that she’s troubled. Don’t need to waste time on dialogue for her here, show don’t tell, we need to make the most of the scene here. Camera is still on Zelda, but the focus blurs shifts from Zelda to the Champions behind her. We can start with Mipha, I don’t have my heart set heavily on any specific dialogue, but I want her to say something along the lines of “how proud she is of Link” and what an honor it will be to fight by the side of not just her dear friend, but also someone selected by the goddess to be the hero. Subtextually, I want her to say this in a tone that suggests that she doubts the need for her to be here at all. She’ll say something like “He’s grown so…” glances up at Link who's just walking ahead, “...so much stronger than I could ever imagine. [Something Something] His power has grown so much over the course of a few days, more than I have achieved in a lifetime.” She looks down, but she still has a sweet smile.

Now I’m doing this because I want to develop further this plot line of “getting stronger” that Age of Calamity sets up but never does anything with. Remember how in Chapter 2, Mipha asks Daruk to train with her to get stronger? I really like the possibilities of this arc with Mipha as it can not only parallel with her feelings for Link, but also make her character better as an individual. Mipha wants to get stronger so that she can protect Link, but now she thinks that Link’s already growing stronger to an extent that she might not be needed. She’s not jealous of Link, nor does she wish him to be weaker, she simply wants to be more than she already is. This is literally echoing her words that she left her father, about how leaving the Domain and experiencing new challenges would be “good for her.” So I wanna run with it. The dialogue here establishes Mipha’s motivation to grow stronger, almost equivalent to a rivalry of sorts.

So after Mipha says this, Revali scoffs and butts in. Again, I’m not too set on any particular dialogue here, just something like “Hmph! Well, I don’t know about that. Seems to me all that’s happened is some magic sword gave the knight an ego boost. Blade’s only as strong as the little Hylian who wields it, and—based on my own extended experience and professional observations of course—I’ve yet to see this ‘stronger’ boy that you speak of.” Another camera pan to Link a ways in front of them. “If you ask me, hero or no, that knight is still exactly the same as I first met him.”

Revali places a wing on his chest dramatically. “Perhaps if you’re truly keen on seeing growth in skill and strength, Mipha, you’d do well to—”

“Flattering of an offer as that may be, Revali,” Urbosa interjects, “But I think Mipha might find it difficult to observe growth from one of the shortest Rito in Hyrule.”

Cue laughter from others or snickering or something. We just need some banter to add a bit more flavour to the characters. Revali can do a little huff and cross his wings or flip his scarf or something. But then Urbosa continues.

“Although...he is right about one thing.” Urbosa looks straight ahead. “A sword does not alter a hand, just as strength does not alter character.” She puts a hand on Mipha’s shoulder. “Grow as he might, there is no doubt in my mind that he is the same boy as he’s always been.” Urbosa looks up in the direction of Zelda. “Whether you realize it or not.”

Ok so, scene’s not done yet, BUT quick gush on the dialogue flow here. I’m trying to establish parallels in these character perspectives based on the flow of conversation. We started with Mipha who, like I said, wished to grow stronger along with Link. This flows into Revali who also has a similar parallel as he wishes to grow above Link’s shadow. But the distinction between Mipha and Revali is that Mipha think’s Link’s strength is earned, and Revali thinks he cheated, gaining authority through a magic sword, and not through merit and skill. Thus, leading to Revali’s perspective of Link being exactly the same as he’s always been, he believes the sword doesn’t change anything. Urbosa then speaks, because she thinks exactly the same thing. However, her distinction is that Link is the same as he’s always been: a determined young boy earned his place and cares for his friends. Then she looks to Zelda who, as we know, will develop a perspective that contradicts this. So you get it? This scene is like 20 seconds long but it already mirrors nearly all the character parallels and perspective, that’s why the flow of dialogue is important. And I know half of you probably think these kinds of details are a stretch but I promise you it’s not, just look at any movie or show ever and I guarantee you can find similar stuff there too. Ok moving on moving on—

Urbosa looks up at Zelda, comments her, “He’s the same boy, whether you realize it or not” piece of dialogue. Camera shifts back to Zelda and Link, who, idk if I mentioned this, but in the scene there’s enough distance between the Champions and Zelda and Link that the Champions can speak without the other two listening. So they didn’t hear any of this.

So the camera is back on Zelda, and now we can get her “How can I…..If I am unable to awaken my inner power….” line. Eggbot senses her sadness, does his little cheer up dance, Zelda gets a flashback.

One small change I wanna make to this flashback: Instead of just a baby Zelda going “nighty-night” I want there to ALSO be a figure in the background behind eggbot wearing a silk royal blue dress. And said woman has blonde hair and she’s by the table back there. We don’t have to show her face or anything because Nintendo hates that. Just place the woman somewhere in the back somewhere

Also possibly you could add the shadow of another figure by the doorway, maybe? It would serve good continuity purposes for the plot points that I’m telling, but that part is not as necessary. I just need at least the woman there.

Then Zelda is like “I remember you” to eggbot and all that and blah blah… Now, instead of Impa offscreen just yelling “enemy ahead!” I just want it to be a full on ambush. Not like a major one, but just enough where the group is surprised a bit. Maybe on the cliffs above, a lizalfo throws a boomerang, or a bokoblin shoots and arrow, or even just throws a rock. I don’t really care. I just need this to happen because…

As soon as this danger is presented, Link turns around to grab Zelda’s hand and they start running again. And he can like use his body to try and shield her a bit, I need it to parallel how he acted during Chapter 1 on the road to the Royal Tech Lab. However, this parallel has one important distinction because…

Zelda rips he grip from Link’s after a moment. “You don’t need to coddle me!” She says, or something along those lines. “Y-You...You’re the hero aren’t you! I’m perfectly fine, you don’t need to spend your precious time playing babysitter to me.” In the distance, a horde of monsters is beginning to form. Zelda looks between the monsters and Link’s Master Sword, her expression unreadable. “Well? Just...just go do what you need to do.” Link hesitates, looking between her, and the approaching monsters. Zelda speaks more sternly now, “Go!” So Link, not one to disregard an order from the Princess, gives one last look to Zelda before setting off towards the monsters. Maybe Zelda can take a deep breath to steady herself after he leaves, but as soon as Link unsheathes his sword, the metal glistening in the setting sunlight, it cuts immediately to gameplay. Start battle.

For essays’ purposes this is the part where I explain why this is better than the original. So here’s my reasoning:

Uhhh, it just is. :3

Ok but seriously, I’ve already talked a tone about why the pacing and dialogue flow is better than the original. But also this scene doesn’t just say “Ooo Zelda is sad about her powers,” because that’s not interesting. Like I said, it’s redundant information. What is interesting is see how characters deal with that internal conflict and how it affects their relationships. AKA Zelda’s relationship with Link, who now basically embodies the success that she’s been working so hard towards but never achieved, is deteriorating a bit. I wanted to get that sense of the Zelda that we see in Breath of the Wild because all things considered, they should be roughly the same character.

So that’s that, you fight the battle, the Hollows show up a bit, so insert “dark evil Champion” dialogue because if you’re gonna use the evil clone trope might as well use it to the fullest. Then you fight the Talus and hurray horrah the day is saved.

Then we have that iconic Urbosa motherly pep talk to Zelda as Link eats rocks in the background. Now honestly, I’m not that big a fan of the first half of the dialogue, so I wanna change it into something more interesting. But the rest of the beats and camera work go roughly the same.

Zelda: “Link is...so much stronger now”

Urbosa: “‘And yet I have not.’ I presume that’s what you’re thinking, hmm?”

Zelda: “Well it’s true, isn’t it? More and more, monsters have been appearing around Hyrule. It is a sign that the Calamity draws near. So...there isn’t much time. And still, no sign of my power awakening.”

Urbosa: *sighs* “Little bird…”

Zelda cuts her off, in an attempt to change topics: “Why do you call me that?”

Urbosa: “Hmm?”

Zelda: “Little bird...I feel like I’ve heard it before. Why do you call me that?”

Urbosa, after a beat looks off in the distance or something: “A long time ago, my dear friend would call me to the palace, or perhaps invite herself over to mine, [she chuckles] ...and she would talk with me all day, and ask me to gaze upon her little bird with her. Her dearest daughter...a princess”

Zelda: “You mean my…”

Urbosa just smiles with a soft nod: “Back then, times were a bit different. The destiny that you have was still upon the Queen, who worked day and night to refine her powers and fulfill her destiny. In just a few short years, I went from being friends with a Queen, to friends with the destined sealer of the Calamity.”

Another pause, before Urbosa speaks again: “But...she was still the same woman I had grown with. Still the same loving mother who spoke about her little bird with joy. She had not changed one bit.”

Urbosa: “Even when your mother passed, her loving smile was there until the very end. She always loved you—believed in you, Zelda. She had great hope, great faith that her daughter would grow into the beacon of light Hyrule needed. That even with her gone, you would spread your wings and fly, because you were just that amazing to her.” *Urbosa puts her hands on Zelda’s shoulders.*

Urbosa: “Destiny did not change your mother’s love, just as it does not change Link’s courage, or your value.” *the camera can pan to Link eating rocks now*

Urbosa looks directly at Zelda now: “Look how hard we’ve all worked to get this far, how hard you have worked to get here. While we may grow in strength, in that regard, we’re all one in the same.”

Zelda: “...I….well…”

Urbosa: “What did the Great Deku Tree say? There is no need to fret princess.”

Urbosa: “Our faith, Link’s, your mother’s, it’s all as strong as ever. And everyday, with every moment that you travel towards your destiny, it just grows. It is always with us. So believe in that, have hope, yet, little bird.” *Eggbot can scurry up and make cute noises here next to Zelda*

Urbosa: “I know, you are where you need to be. You must accept that too.”

Zelda: “...”

Zelda gives a solemn nod: “Thank you, Urbosa.”

So that’s that scene! Don’t let the length fool you, it’s technically even shorter than the original scene in Age of Calamity. So why is it, in my opinion, better? Because for one, we actually get an insight into Zelda’s mom and Urbosa’s relationship, something that was PROMISED To us but never given and I’m still a bit salty about it. Anyhow, in addition to just getting some lore details, that relationship between the Queen and Urbosa is important for this scene because, just like Urbosa spells out, it’s in direct parallel with Link and Zelda.

Before the Queen suddenly got sick and died, she was destined to seal the Calamity. But she didn’t let that destiny change her, she was still the same loving mother to the end. Now that is something that Zelda needs to realize about Link, as his newly acquired destiny doesn’t change who he was before, the knight who cares for her and wishes to protect her. Zelda needs to realize he’s the same and that she can still trust and confide in him. Hence, that’s why this mom backstory is in this scene and not somewhere else, because it serves to the narrative but also more impactfully to the character development.

The dialogue could probably be polished a bit more but come on, not half bad for an improvement yeah? So that concludes Chapter—

SIKE we’re not done yet. We still have to move into the entire point of this stage, the road home, to the castle.

So, badabing badaboom, I’m adding an entirely new scene from scratch right here at the end, because it is VITAL that I set up something new about the story, as a sort of clincher. So anyhow

Zelda is alone with her father, let’s set it in the royal library (Intact, not ruined, of course) because we don’t see enough of that location and it’s really cool. So Zelda is briefing her dad about the events in Korok Forest and on the journey back home. I know I always gush about cinematography but it can’t be fully appreciated since I’m….writing,,, this, BUT I think it might be fun if the side shots of Zelda have her background be some bookcases of the library, maybe half bookcases and the other half the ornate walls. Then the background for the King’s shots is the full symmetry of the elegant staircases.

[And if you needed the specific reasoning for that, because it makes camera shots more fun. Like when Zelda says something that aids in her scholarly side, the camera angle can change slightly where the bookcases take up more of the frame, and then when the King’s will takes more power, then the book cases can be angled a bit more out of frame. And then the symmetry of the King by the staircase is a way to show his higher power dynamic to her, and contrasts well with Zelda’s shots since the bookcases are dark and the stone is lighter, so on a meta level is also makes it easier for the audience to understand where they are. Shot composition is fun ok, and that’s not even getting into color theory (Thinks about Baby Driver and LaLaLand....even videogames like Undertale and Hollow Knight have such wonderful shot composition and use of color theory hhhhh love it)]

Ok so Zelda’s briefing the King in the library, she’s standing while he’s sitting at a desk. There’s maybe two or four Royal Guards on the staircase entrances, but for the most part, they’re alone. You can tell that this meeting between them has been going on for a bit now, as from Zelda’s dialogue, she’s retelling events midway through the story.

The King is flipping through some paperwork, not really looking Zelda in the eyes. She continues speaking.

“And so...with the malice cleared and the monsters being dealt with, Link and I made our way into the heart of Korok Forest.”

The King hums a response, flipping through another page. “And this is when Link pulled out the Sword that Seals the Darkness then, I presume.”

Zelda paused, as of thinking of how to phrase her next words. “Not exactly. I...we both encountered someone beforehand. A man, with a pale face, and dark hair and robes, and he had the power to control malice, using a strange object in one of his hands.”

Rhoam stops writing in his journal or whatever. He doesn’t look up, but the sudden stop he makes is obvious. Zelda notices, but continues.

“He talked about...the Calamity, and my birthday...destiny, and the future….I’m not quite sure I can remember his intentions word for word. But he did introduce himself as—“

“Astor…” Zelda and the King say simultaneously. The King has fully perked up now, looking at Zelda. She’s pleased to see a reaction from him. The King rises from his chair, and starts pacing a bit, stroking his beard thoughtfully like the asshole he is.

“So you know him then? This Astor man? Who is he, father? What does he—“

“Were you alright? Did he hurt you, or mention anything else?”

Zelda pauses for a moment before shaking her head, as if the concern he was expressing was uncharacteristic. “N-No. No, I’m fine, and Link was there. During the battle, as Link fought him off, that was when the sword was pulled. Then Astor fled, or...” Zelda pauses for a beat, “retreated...he expressed his wish to speak with me again.”

Another beat of silence, as Rhoam gets up, hands clasped behind his back. “He used to work at this very palace.” The shot is now directly on Rhoams back, as he faces a bookcase, although it’s clear that he’s just deep in thought, and not just staring at books. Rhoam is in third column of the shot (he’s to the right, not in the center)

“A trusted advisor. Someone gifted with foresight, who many years ago, had first predicted the coming Calamity.” Cut to shot of Rhoams face, the camera being by the bookcase, so that we see Rhoam’s expression and Zelda’s.

“In truth, I thought him dead. For the last time I saw him alive—truly, truly alive—was ten long years ago...” The shot goes back to the original establishing shot, of Rhoam facing away from the camera, towards the bookcase, he’s standing to the right, hands still clasped behind his back.

“...when your mother still graced this earth.”

From left frame, a younger Astor walks up and stands beside Rhoam. He runs his fingers along the books. Rhoam looks to his left, as if he is seeing Astor. Camera cuts to Astor’s right, as if looking at him from Rhoam’s perspective. He continues brushing his fingers against the spines of the books, before he finds the one he’s looking for. Pulling it out, he opens the book, flipping through its pages, before giving a genuine smile. Cut back to wide angle behind them. With the book, Astor starts walking back out left frame, but this time the camera follows him. Filter fade to a memory tint as the camera pans right to left

[when the camera fades fully into the Astor memory, the figures can have that silhouetted effect like you see in botw. Cause I know Nintendo hates making new character models for some reason.]

So if it wasn’t clear already, even though the memory filter doesn’t come immediately, Astor isn’t actually there, but it’s just a flashback. I’m a sucker for merges, which is something this game and botw NEVER do which bugs me because there are so many creative ways you could introduce flashbacks without just doing “ooOooOoo fade to sepia filter and then oooOOooOOO we fade back to reality and no time has passed.” I apologize if my explanation of the camera doesn’t make sense as it’s hard without much visual aid, but hopefully it makes sense so far. Anyhow! Let’s continue.

We’re now fully immersed in this memory, but King Rhoam’s voice still narrates overhead.

Astor brings the book to one of the desks in the library, where a woman sits writing something onto paper. News flash, it’s the queen. Astor hands her the book and starts speaking about something, although you can tell the tone of their conversation is light, almost akin to Zelda rambling about Sheikah Technology. The Queen laughs about something unheard, as Astor continues ranting about something, his hands moving to like a professor giving a lecture.

Rhoam Narration: “When he had first predicted the Calamity, things were much more hopefully for our kingdom. As although his foresight granted him only glimpses and fragments of a future, he was almost certain that with the Guardians, and the strength of your mother’s power, our victory would be absolute.”

Scene changes to the Queen walking down a corridor, Astor is leaning against the wall by a window.

Rhoam Narration: “He and your mother would often work together tirelessly to study the ancient arts, to make the most of the powers given by the goddess.”

The Queen has walked up to Astor now. She crouches down and gestures to her left, the side not yet seen by the camera.

Rhoam Narration: “In fact…”

The camera changes to focus to where the Queen was looking towards—a young Zelda, crouched behind her mother’s dress, stares up at Astor.

Rhoam Narration: “I would not be surprised if you found within yourself, a memory of such.”

I would prefer if you could see the expressions of Astor (giving Zelda not a smile, but not really a frown or anything rude either) and young Zelda. But I guess it can also just be silhouettes too cause again, Nintendo hates giving us younger character models outside of first person POV stuff. Anyhow.

The scene fades, the light from the window dimming as everything darkens.

Rhoam Narration: “I often times wish we could go back to such a time, when victory and pride swam in every corner of this castle. But of course…”

The scene brightens again, although not as bright as before. It’s the exact same corridor with the large window, but now it’s raining. A young Zelda stands alone in front of it, looking outside.

Rhoam Narration: “Such a time did end…”

We now cut to a new scene, King Rhoam is walking down a hall, the camera’s perspective is of a bird’s eye view, like we’re peering in from outside a window. We can see the shadow of Astor chasing after him, as he starts speaking frantically about something, not quite, but almost to the point of shouts.

Rhoam Narration: “After your mother died, the visions of the future shifted drastically. No longer was there glimpses of rolling fields and shimmering skies, but instead, of rubble, red earth, and death.”

You can now more clearly hear the words coming out of Astor’s mouth. He is telling something about failure, and souls, and the Calamity to the King’s ear. He’s still walking forward.

Rhoam Narration: “He was adamant that our demise was now coming faster than ever, and that without your mother, we were doomed. That even you, should you take up your mother’s mantle, could not save everyone.”

Astor: “I’m telling you Your Majesty, if you go down this path, there is no going back.”

King Rhoam: “There is no other choice, we are moving forward.”

Astor: “I don’t think you quite understand the true gravity of the fate you’re choosing for yourself. It is a guarantee that you, me, and countless others shall die.”

King Rhoam: “I don’t want to hear it.”

Astor: “And of course, there are a multitude of possibilities, but the end result is the same.”

Astor: “Do you have a preference, perhaps? Crushed by rubble? Suffocation under ash?”

Rhoam’s tone is deadly: “Stop.”

Astor: “I’ve seen fire too. I’m not yet quite sure the exact circumstances that lead to flame appearing and spreading so quickly, but rest assured that if you—”

King Rhoam: “Stop.”

Astor: “If you saddle someone else with this duty I am absolutely certain that you and I will—”

King Rhoam, voice not shouting, but still with a booming intensity: “Just like you were so certain of our victory 10 years ago?”

Astor’s face darkens. He’s silent for a moment, collecting his words before practically spitting the first articulation: “...That, future, was the one that would come to be if Her Majesty was alive. If you’re so unsatisfied with my departed wisdom you can go ahead and flail around with destiny alone. You think I choose for these events to happen? You think I lie when I saw I want what’s best for this kingdom—”

King Rhoam: “What’s best for you.”

An ugly pause.

King Rhoam: “It is decided, Seer. It’s time you accept this. My wife is dead. That is the truth. Thus the role of sealing the Calamity shall pass to my daughter. She will work to awaken her own ability. It will be her duty to save us.”

Astor half laughs: “A child?! Surely you don’t need the supernatural to see how foolish that is.”

King Rhoam’s voice is even more stern: “You are living proof that the future is not absolute. Therefore I...must place all belief in her ability.”

The King walks away, leaving Astor alone. Weirdly, he smiles. Perhaps to mask some other emotion.

After another moment, Astor yells to the King: “I’ll fix this! Alone if I must!” He’s chuckling as he shakes his head. “Your useless faith may cost many lives, but even so mark my words, I will fix this.”

The King looks back, but says nothing, his expression unreadable. He continues forward, leaving Astor alone chuckling, or perhaps something in between chuckling and crying to himself.

Rhoam Narration: “We haven’t spoken since that day. I simply left him to his devices. If he was so determined to find another way to stop the Calamity, then who was I to stop him. I doubt my word could have swayed his mind regardless.

We’re now looking at a room, the camera is just by the doorway, looking at an office, circular and domed. It’s stone brick walls are covered in parchment and ripped books, covered in symbols and frantic writing. An old Sheikah tapestry hangs crudely on the left wall, and the window on the right seems to tint grey, or even a deepest crimson. Centerframe, is the back of Astor, robe hanging just above the paper ridden floor. He is flipping through something on his desk.

Rhoam Narration: “Fixated as he was on the perfect future that you mother might have led, I still had hope that with time, he might still assist you with your destiny one day.”

The camera slowly comes closer to Astor. We can see more clearly the type of stuff that sprawls the papers and books and diagrams across his office. Some depict stars and constellations, and even a few notes on Ancient Technology, although in a noticeably cleaner font. However, as the camera moves close and closer to Astor, the papers and books depict only one clear topic: the aura of death that comes only with necromancy.

Rhoam Narration: “It seems…”

Astor finally reacts to whatever he was doing on his desk. You don’t see his eyes, but as he fully turns around to face the camera, you see his smile, along with him holding a dark orb of unknown energy. It hovers in his hand.

Rhoam Narration: “...I was mistaken.”

The camera cuts to a wide angle, looking at Astor from behind a stack of books on his desk. The stack of books on Astor’s desk brighten in color (from the memory dull filter), until the scene fully fades back into the Royal Library. The camera is now focused on a similar stack of books on the desk behind Zelda, where Rhoam was working before.

Zelda is still looking at her father, who is still turned away. Now, he turns back around to face her.

“He had disappeared completely one day, so it was my understanding that whatever he was working on killed him. However, if he is truly back as you say…”

Rhoam walks closer to Zelda, close enough that he might have put a hand on her shoulder, but his arms stay behind his back.

“It is in your utmost interest to prove him wrong. I know not what he plans on doing, but it would be wise to stop him before he does.”

Rhoam turns away now, pacing back to the otherside of the desk. “But, your more important priority is unlocking your powers, understand? Now more than ever, is not the time to get distracted.”

Zelda, taking this all in, takes a deep breath. She then nods at him. “I understand...Father.”

After a moment, the King makes a motion as if to dismiss her. She starts to walk away, her thoughts churning in her head, heart thumping to the same beat as her echoing footsteps. Suddenly, Rhoam calls,

“Zelda.” It’s not a question, but the tone is asked like one.

She turns back, looking at him, expectantly. Rhoam only stares at her, an uncharacteristic moment of uncertainty for him. The words he wants to form seem stuck in his throat, until finally, he lets out a quiet breathe through his nose, before simply saying:

“You must.”

Zelda can only frown, her shoulder’s slumping slightly, as she ducks her head and leaves.

- - - - - -

And that’s that! That’s the complete end of Chapter 3. So tune in next time for Chapter 4, including a new slight but important story changes, Yiga husbands, and shocking turns of events.

Edit: I forgot that posts with link’s dont show up in tag results so a rb is appreciated :p

#Hwaoc: The Kip Cut #fuck this is the biggest one yet #hwaoc #age of calamity #hwaoc rewrite #hw age of calamity #hyrule warriors age of calamity

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unlettered-critter · 3 years

Text

One of my go-to fics when I have a hankering for something a little left of canon is Where the Wild Song Echoes by distractedKat. I’ve reread it too many times to count and it never gets old.

Rated ‘G’ but please still read the tags and read responsibly!

Caleb is a witch worshipping an Old God of the Forest -the ones that inhabit the wild areas of the world, from long before the Gods of organized religion like the Lawbearer or the Dawnfather were even an idea in the minds of mortals. At least he was until he was 17, when his world burned down around him.

This is super early campaign and has a different interpretation to the deities in the Nein’s party- it feels very Other in a fun way. And of course is it even a Caleb fic without some angst? Different flavour of backstory but still delicious! And throw in some widomauk for added crunch!

If you like it please remember to feed leave kudos and/or comments for the author!

#critical role #the mighty nein #caleb widogast #ao3 fanfic #cr fanfic #my shitty summaries #widomauk

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oscarseyebrow · 2 years

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F & H please 🖤💖

i know what you're doing, coming in here, trying to make me find something that i like about my writing. i see what you're doing. i see it. and i hope you know, this was very difficult for me to do which is why it took me so long to answer this one.

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

we're going to take that dialogue part and throw it out the window. (also don't mind me checking with you that i can do that before posting this 😂) this is from my current GP WIP. and it's still very much a WIP so the wording will most likely change when i play around with it a little more. but. i kind of like how it felt to read this part back. i feel like it sums up the trust that poe and the reader share and what once was between them while also having my usual flavour of angst? i would have used the winter sun like from the plethora sequel, but i've posted that already and i like this as much as i liked that part, i think. There were things you knew about Poe that you would never share with anyone—they were yours to keep, whispered to you on the nights you’d spent wrapped up with him. They were disclosures of his fears, confessed to you in the darkness: admittance of the mistakes that he had made and the struggle he faced in trying to forgive himself for them. Together, you had both found a safe space: one free of judgement, one in which things felt so easy to simply exist within each other’s energy. But those small, cherished moments had never had become anything more. Their potential bloom had been cut short by the cold grasps of war. They had stood much like a lonesome tree after losing its leaves, desperately searching for a Spring that would never come.

H: How would you describe your style?

you know what, i'm going to say it. i love to go deep (😏). i'm a sucker for a backstory. when i come to write a fic, i always like to plan out my characters - where have they come from, what do they want, etc, etc. because for me, that really helps with the story i want to tell. i also really love attention to detail. i love to set a scene and write it in a way that hopefully people see it the way i do in my head. one of my favourite things to do is to drop things into a scene or a chapter, and then circle back to it later on in one of those oh shit, remember this part? yeah you do. this is what that meant! kind of ways. like most things are intentional? my overall style though: detailed, angst with soft edges but fluff with sharp edges. and some good old fashioned explicit smut writing.

send a letter for the fanfic ask game

#ask games #my devoted moon 🌙 💖

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alteredphoenix · 3 years

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Making some last-minute predictions before ToArise drops. I don’t care how wildly inaccurate they are, I want to see how many I get right:

- Law’s the traitor - And if it’s not him, then Dohalim will be the traitor - However, if the game is pulling the famous SUBVERTING EXPECTATIONS meme, then no one will be the traitor - But if the game wants to be cruel, then Hootle will be the traitor (this isn’t likely) - Basically I’m banking on Law - Probably gonna get some Christmas Cake/thicc memes on Kisara because this is somehow looking to be her legacy out of universe and ASS is the only thing that springs into most people’s minds when there’s a Reddit/Twitter post about her - Alphen won’t be secretly Renan like people are hoping - Also the rest of his face that’s covered by the helmet is fucked up and Bishounen Lite like the DLC costumes are making it out out be - Shionne stops being a frigid bitch after maybe 50% of the game but she has to Pay the Price for happiness - There’s a sci-fi experiment reason as to why Rinwell, a Danan, can use Renan magic - Either that or there’s some interracial consummation that went on with her ancestors so she’s a half-blood - When Law says that Shionne’s going to have to choose between her people and the Danan rebellion he’s really talking from EXPERIENCE because the dude sold out his own people to get in with Renan secret police; this will come back to bite him in the ass later because that’s Karma For You - If the game is pushing romance like people are hoping for, then Alphen needs to make a comment about Shionne being a ‘bright-eyes’ but it’s (affectionate) rather than (derogatory) - We’ll be able to ride shotgun on a spaceship we steal or get gifted one - AS IS TRADITION with Tales, everyone’s going to have some kind of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans’ flavor of Tragic Backstory. I say it’s a toss-up between Rinwell, Shionne, and Alphen; I want say Kisara, too, because this chick’s too nice, she’s gotta be brimming with ANGST somewhere. - Bad guys die, idk who they are and don’t really care - But I don’t think the Water Sword Guy is related to Alphen - When Alphen gets his memories back it turns out he was legit a Bad Guy; getting his head knocked around makes him forget he was Bad and probably going off the traumatic deep end from whatever he was doing prior to the start of the story - There is no Tales superboss; instead it’s The Owl King - you didn’t get all those other little Hootles for nothin’, you HAVE TO PROVE YOUR WORTH TO HIM - But if there is a superboss, it’s Yuri because Popularity Sells - If it’s not Yuri, it’s probably Sorey and Mikleo/any of the seraph because he can bring a gun (Sigfried) to Alphen’s swordfight

ENDING PREDICTIONS! - We get some mish-mash of Symphonia where Dana and Rena or whatever their current homeworld is gets smashed into one uber-planet. Everybody lives. - We don’t get the uber-planet but Dana and Rena are cut off forever. Everybody lives but they might be sad because idk Alphen’s on one side and Shionne’s on the other so they don’t get to pal around for the rest of their lives, idk - Two-thirds of the cast die. Idk which ones, they just do - We get a Bad End a’la Xillia 2 where Rocks Fall, Everybody Dies - even Hootle - More realistically, AS IS ALSO TRADITION with Tales games, Alphen and Shionne get hit with the They Both Die At The End trope like that Adam Silvera book and I get to watch the salt flow on the forums - Or the game can mollywhop me over the head and surprise me where Everybody Lives/Nobody Dies and there is an actual Happy Ending. - But AS IS TRADITION I’m banking on that quintessential, controversial Bittersweet Ending where sacrifice is metaphorical to death

#tales of arise #depending on how accurate this list gets i might need to treat myself to something #personally i'm hoping for the 'alphen & shionne both die at the end' ending #juuuust to see the reactions

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imo-chan-imagines · 4 years

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『 Haikyuu!! Week 2020 | Day 3 』

· Sept. 27th → Irresistible Force ·

Characters: Karasuno team

Prompts: A. favourite team + B. crossover/AU

Tags/warnings: Haikyuu!! (anime), PG, fluff, crack, a teensy bit of angst (because who doesn't love a sad superhero backstory), headcanons, AU, superheroes, HaikyuuWeek2020

A/N: Again, I love all the teams and didn't want to pick, but life is cruel, so here I am. This is headcanons about my fav team (Karasuno) in an AU (superheroes). I was thinking of a Hero Association, kind of like in 'The Boys'? But less corrupt... Maybe more like in 'One Punch'? I think you get me.

All of my Haikyuu Week 2020 posts will be SFW, but I have NFSW content on my blog if that butters your biscuit. Feel free to check it out! Thanks for reading! Please enjoy ♡ Imo~

Karasuno / Superhero Association AU

☆ Sawamura Daichi ☆

Powers: nigh invulnerability, super strength, enhanced healing

If he's not the ordinary cop that somehow befriends the heroes I was tempted then he's definitely the leader of the superhero group

Kind of like Superman in the old-school Justice League, just not as OP lol

Looks damn good is spandex those thighs *sweats*

Cape!! so ✨majestic✨

Probably wears dark-ish, neutral colours with a dash of blue

A bit serious. Not the kind of hero to go around making quips all the time, but will make light of his own suffering like Captain America

Takes younger heroes under his wing like the true Dadchi he is

Strong moral compass. Unbreakable

Won't hesitate to lay down his life for others

Who am I kidding. He's basically Captain America with a cape

Poster-boy for the Hero Association

☆ Sugawara Koushi ☆

Powers: telekinesis

A soft, pearly aesthetic with his suit, hair and skin. Lots of white and silver

A favourite among the ladies he's just too pretty, damm it T T

Very plucky and adorable

People in the vicinity will literally faint when he goes all serious to concentrate and use his powers

Has a duo move with Daichi where he literally throws him like a missle YEET

Has the most followers on Twitter and TikTok and his fans can be pretty nuts

Has a perfume line named after him and models for the adverts

Will smile like an angel right before bringing a building down on top of you fuck, I find this one really funny

☆ Azumane Asahi ☆

Powers: regeneration, enhanced stength

Kind of like Wolverine or Deapool but, like, much, much softer on the inside uwu

Wears green and black

Messed up big time back in the day and dropped off the grid out of guilt some people died :(

Was convinced to come back when his old teammates finally found him again because they needed his help in a crisis

Literally shed tears of relief when heroes and citizens alike welcomed him back instead of hating him mah heart *sniffs*

Can withstand seemingly anything and fully heal within a matter of days

Doesn't know the full extent of his powers himself. How exactly do one test it? 🤔

Still has to psych himself up for a fight, though big softy, really

☆ Shimizu Kiyoko ☆

Powers: electrokinesis, flight

Powers like Storm from X-Men, and kicks ass like Wonder Woman

Refuses to wear a revealing suit, but looks bomb af anyway

Kiyoko = absolute queen

One of the most powerful heroes, but doesn't throw her weight around unless she's kicking bady-guy booty

Stella gynamast, and has mastered several martial arts

Can literally throw a guy three times her size, all without any strength powers Tanaka: 👁👄👁

Somehow has perfect hair all the time secret superpower??

Is active on the political stage as a human rights activist, headlining women's rights yes, yes yes

Will strike you with lightning for sexual harassment

Comes up with really good mission plans

Is a soothing balm for Tanaka when he loses it

Black and gold aesthetic✨

Asymmetrical cape! super fashionable

Poster-girl for the Hero Association

☆ Tanaka Ryuunosuke ☆

Powers: fire generation and manipulation

Tanaka brings the heat literally

A bit of a chaotic-good, but what's new there?

Can get out of control if he loses his focus, so his friends have to keep him grounded Kiyoko is a literal angel when that happens

Kiyoko: Sun's getting real low...

Bonus points if you get the reference

Is terrified of hurting innocents if he gets out of control

It rarely happens, but if he loses his self confidence, his powers don't seem to work

Shouts cringy lines at the villains before roasting their asses lmfao

Wears a black and orange flame-retardant suit, and actually looks pretty fine in it 😌👌

Literally head over heels for Kiyoko just imagine it. Biggest hype man

☆ Nishinoya Yuu ☆

Powers: animal metamorphosis, enhanced speed

Think Beast Boy from 'Teen Titans', but less green he's more likely to be yellow or orange, lmao

Handy in lots of different situations. Very versatile

Incredibly cheeky and joins in with Tanaka's cheesy jokes and one-liners

Absolute maniac, but the people love him, especially schoolkids lmao

Has his own energy drink flavour, and he's STOKED about it

Yellow and black suit, kind of like his hair

Has a surprisingly large following of fans

Laps up the attention, but it doesn't really go to his head

Quiet and serious when he's on a mission/fighting

☆ Hinata Shouyou ☆

Powers: self replication, super speed, levitation

His powers took a while to properly manifest, which left him feeling isolated as a teen

Was pretty lost until Ukai helped train him

Got into a fight with Kageyama in an alleyway when he first met him MET HIM IN THE STREET, LMAO

Argues with Kageyama a lot at headquarters, but they work together like a dream when taking down bad guys

Has a heart of literal gold precious baby

Is contantly amazed when he helps significantly

Was inspired to become a hero by his idol, the Little Giant and it's his dream to inspire someone else 😭😭

Uses his replication ability to confuse the bad guys ULTIMATE DECOY

Levitates around the room when he's excited like Aang from ATLA, hahaha

Wears an orange, white and yellow suit with little wings on his heels cuuuute

☆ Kageyama Tobio ☆

Powers: water/ice generation and manipulation, breathing underwater, superhuman reflexes

I was tempted to give him fire/ice powers like Todoroki, but I didn't want to detract from Tanaka

Has problems focusing his powers, and can be quite turbulent in the heat of battle

Finds it hard to work well with others initially, but really makes an effort

Has hurt people close to him by accident before and never wants to do it again it would tear him apart

Becomes a power duo with Hinata when Ukai helps train them, even though they don't seem to get on well at first

Broody boi on the surface, but a cinnamon roll deep down

Wears a dark blue and deep purple suit that has fins to assist in underwater escapades which are his forte

Freezes Hinata's feet to the floor when he pisses him off or anybody's feet, tbh

Can dodge almost anything because of his reflexes don't ever try to punch him. You'll look stupid

Is surprised by the number of people in his fan club especially the number of women asking to marry him??

☆ Tsukishima Kei ☆

Powers: telepathy, superhuman intellect, mind control on weak-willed individuals

Prefers to outwit his enemies rather than getting into a brawl

But his self-designed gadgets and tech help him out if he has to a bit like Tony Stark, wink wonk

Sometimes makes you question if he's really a hero or not Tsukki, please

Doesn't take orders well

Baits villains by insulting them and getting the better of them with his words it's hilarious

Comes up with good plans, but improvises well with whatever he's got

Probably wears suits over his spandex most of the time fancy shmancy

Is prepared to die to protect Yamaguchi waahhh

☆ Yamaguchi Tadashi ☆

Powers: invisibility, force fields, teleportation

Susan Storm with added teleportation, lol

Often finds it hard to value his powers because they're not as visually strong and impressive as other people's

Rather than squaring up to a battle, he often has to 'hide' from it by literally going invisible

But he gradually becomes aware of how vital his powers can be, and learns to control them and make them as advantageous as possible

Is a highly important and valued member of the team

Soft bean that gets nervous and throws up before a fight

But he's hella determined and won't back down

Honestly, just wants to protect Tsukki and make him proud PROTECT HIM

☆ Yachi Hitoka ☆

Powers: size manipulation

She can shrink and enlarge herself and objects she touches at will, including other people

Sometimes shrinks really small to avoid social situations she doesn't want to be in samez, honey

The clumsiest and least experienced on the team

But she tries her best, gradually getting to grips with her powers

Sometimes uses her powers by accident, like when she's nervous

Once touched a watermelon slice on the refreshment table and accidentally blew it up to the size of a car Hinata, Kageyama and Noya fully dug in with their faces 😭😭

Nearly passed out when Daichi, the literal god of the Hero Association, told her she had great potential

Don't worry, Yams teleported and caught her

☆ Ukai Keishin ☆

Powers: laser vision, metal mimicry

The has-been hero who lost his enthusiasm for hero-ing and retired some years ago

Was really cool back in his hayday. Big hot-shot with a fan club

Has been working as a convenience store attendant to pay the bills and is bored out of his mind but refuses to admit it

Was convinced to get back in the game when he found Hinata and Kageyama fighting, both struggling with their abilities. He broke up the fight and agreed to coach them

Doesn't do much of the flashy hero stuff anymore, but will occasionally get stuck in when he's needed must protecc his children

Is only, like, ten years older than the other heroes, but they treat him like some fossilised sensei out of Natuto, or some shit

Tbf, he has the back problems of one 😭😭

☆ Takeda Ittetsu ☆

Powers: power absorption

Transferred from being a hero to hero management after having having issues with the effects of his powers he has a conscience :(

He felt guilty and responsible for permanently taking the powers of others, even if they were criminals

It was like removing a piece of their souls it kind of broke him

These days, he makes sure nobody knows about his powers, so it can't be used against him

He helps in any other way possible

He would only use his powers again in dire circumstances he knows he'll eventually have to

Is generally chipper and good natured, though

If he was ever captured by a villain, they'd probably send him back because he talks too much omg, hahaha

Helps gather info for the team and direct them on missions and in fights

Gives bomb inspirational speeches ✊

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