#and nobody is concerned about this!?

[amicus-siderum]

You know what's not nice?

The education system.

#fuck the education system #I'm here forcing myself to stay awake at 3 in the morning just so that i can finish flashcards for a topic i have an exam on #my adhd ass tried to get it done earlier at a more reasonable time #unfortunately it didnt work but i HAVE to get it done #because if I dont i get bad grades and that fucks me over like pretty much lifelong #and you know what makes it worse #the examiners dont even appreciate that i actually UNDERSTAND the topic just because i dont use the STUPIDLY SPECIFIC phrasing they require #i know its been pointed out by multiple people many times now #but it really is just about memorising shit and not actually learning it #teachers also dont appreciate the effort put in #i know because i have a friend who puts so much effort into like further learning and making all her work really detailed #and the most acknowledgement shes ever received is like maybe a verbal “well done” in the same breath as a reminder that theres homework du #“the student experience” is known for the frequent all nighters and borderline caffeine addictions #and nobody is concerned about this!? #all this shit about implementing mental health campaigns and support and whatever and still so many students are fucking struggling #if not mentally then physically #do you know how much strain this type of lifestyle puts on people's bodies!? #i think i get maybe 5 hours of sleep on average and my bodys gotten used to that now. what kind of effect will that have on me in 5 years?? #heart problems? digestion issues? cognitive disfunction? weakened immune system? All of those are possible effects of prolonged exhaustion! #i know im tired and im ranting #but i am genuinely pissed at how horribly wrong the education system is and how normalised all the things that stem from it have become #alright rant over. #thank you for listening

[julijbee]

girlbossing too close to the sun.

#art #ive literally just been treating this game as a library simuator #i walk from bookseller to bookseller opening up all of their books #vivecs sermons are either a highlight or the point at which i stop reading #ive been trying to convince the ordinators that imitation is the highest form of flattery but it hasnt been working #let me wear your helmets please theyre so funny.. #posting morrowind in 2024 isnt a cry for help but youre not wrong to be concerned. #morrowind #almalexia #vivec #im going to explain the chitin armor give me a moment #so the bonewalker nerevar on the shrines is adorable and it was only after drawing it however many times that i realized #it looked relatively close to a modified chitin armor #and so i modified chitin armor a few times and this was probably the cutest result #i also know i drew almalexia relatively pristine and untouched by years and vivec not so much but my thought process was #vivecs role as if not a favorite then the most accessible divine or the most “hands on” in a manner of speaking #acting in ways visible to the general population or actions explicitly brought to their attention #like not that almalexia isnt doing anything she is #but the dissemination of information regarding that is very different etc etc etc #anyways to a certain extent a god is the face on a shrine or in art or upon a statue or carving #but vivecs presence is interwoven with the geography of vvardenfell especially and his actions and writings with pubished materials #and the arts and culture and customs etc etc etc #so to me the face of a god you know and feel a commonality with or a god that walks alongside you is a face you would recognize #and vivec is already otherworldly looking enough #the simple mark of the years on his skin in some way grounding him in reality felt more right #that and i think the ways in which he and almalexia care about outward appearance are slightly different- they prioritize different things #and the ways they present outward power and their embodiment of their respective attributes share some similarities as they both have that #important preoccupation with physical power and physical strength to a certain degree #oh my god nobody read this i am yapping so bad. #tes

[marzipanandminutiae]

brought to you by "The Myth of Lesbian Impunity: Capital Laws from 1270 to 1791" by Louis Crompton

when you first start studying queer history: sapphic acts have basically never been criminalized in any western society! so queer women have always had it easier than queer men!

when you delve even the slightest bit deeper: why do we still believe this

(OP cannot control who does and does not reblog this post, but she firmly believes that trans women are women)

#history #lesbian #lgbt #queer history #queer #could it be...misogyny? #of earlier historians not caring enough about women to delve into legal cases concerning us? #and of a long tradition of 'women have it easy in society' fallacies? #I believed this too! for the record! nobody ever gave me reason to question it and I am a PROFESSIONAL HISTORY WORKER!

[swampthingking]

andrew’s definitely gotten in trouble with his pr manager for tweeting things along the lines of:

“no mania inducing medication will compare to the euphoria i will feel the day donald trump drops dead”

#pr manager is like: andrew… this is the last time i’m gonna tell you #andrew: whats the point of democracy if i can’t exercise freedom of speech #pr manager: andrew it’s no longer about your image #at this point we are concerned the fbi is going to show up #andrew: neil has connections. i’m fine #they thought marketing andrew on social media would be good #they were sooooo wrong #because now andrew has a place to share every insane thing he’s ever thought #for instance—a tweet that just says ‘an alien googling: human clothes’ #he’s on there advocating for lgbtq+ youth you KNOW HE IS #he’s cursing and mildly threatening members of congress for imposing these disgusting bills #one day he tweeted ‘does mitch mcconnell know he’s dead yet’ #when mitch mcconnell stepped down from senate andrew tweeted ‘hopefully next he steps down from life’ #unsurprisingly: this endears him to some people and makes others fucking hate him #and he’s such a shit. he does not care either way #he’s kind of just like: pr manager. you gave me a twitter and told me to tweet. i’m just doing what you asked me #they’ve threatened to change his password so many times #they actually did once but andrew reported the account so many times for defamation and fraud that it got suspended #and he made a new account out of pure spite #his pr manager is like: andrew nobody is going to want to sign you because of your public image #and andrew is like: ?? ok. they can lose every game then #(he knows he’s the best goalie) #ok i think that’s enough for now. however i will probably be back #andrew minyard #aftg #tfc #trk #tkm #the foxhole court #all for the game

[nohoperadio]

There's a weirdly poignant sort of... metaphysical tragedy in the fact that pain, which evolved as a helpful signal to alert us when bad things might be happening to us, grew into becoming... well, basically the Bad Thing. To the point where by universal consensus the very worst thing you can do to a being like us is torture them (i.e. trigger the warning signal as strongly as possible while perhaps deliberately avoiding causing "actual" harm). And there are tons of illnesses and injuries and disabilities that massively impact people's quality of life, ranging from annoying to depressing to driving people to suicide, basically purely because they're very physically painful, while the underlying bodily dysfunction that the pain is supposedly "warning" of is either relatively minor or literally non-existent.

The capacity to feel pain is a good and important thing, some people lack it and that's generally awful for them, only in a universe unrecognizably different from ours could we ever do without it. But isn't it awful to think how if only there was somebody up there to adjust the settings for us, they'd probably only have to tweak them the tiniest bit to keep 99.99% of the benefits while saving us from all the most extreme miseries forever?

The mechanism didn't have to be perfect for natural selection's purposes, it had to be good enough that the average individual in the average situation would be motivated to stay more or less out of trouble. Measured by the metrics nature was working towards, she could afford to be a little slapdash with the exact implementation, and she was. In doing so she opened the door to infinities of evil and suffering that wouldn't otherwise be conceivable. All this only had one chance to happen, and it happened that way. There's nobody to be mad at--I'm mad about it, though.

#I should say for what it's worth #the pains I've had to deal with thus far in life fall into the annoying shading into slightly depressing category #and are intermittent in nature and don't bother me most days #although they have interfered with my ability to have a hobby more than once and make me concerned about other stuff sometimes #there are people I care about who have it much worse #this clarification is only to ensure nobody expends undue sympathy on me #uninteresting

[gay-jesus-probably]

Seeing as the Gerudo turned on Ganon, he might not have been that much better of a ruler.

First of all, we literally have no idea, because the only ancient Gerudo that we actually get to interact with is Ganondorf himself, and he has nothing to say about his own people. The ancient Gerudo sage doesn't count btw, she doesn't have a name, we never even see her face, and she has literally nothing to say except repeating the exact same dialogue as the sages for the other races. The narrative does not treat the ancient sages as people; they are four completely interchangable weapons that are owned by the royal family.

And secondly, I don't care how Ganon ruled them; the Gerudo only get one man every century, if their king sucks, they've obviously got their own system of government to fall back on. I have no idea what kind of authority the sages had among their own people, but honestly I'd say if the four of them were in charge of their respective people, then they were just puppet rulers appointed by Rauru, given that all four of them happily agreed that to sell their entire race into servitude the second Zelda asked them. Say what you will about Ganondorf, but I fucking know that if he was told the Gerudo people existed for the sole purpose of serving the glory of Hyrule, he'd drop kick Zelda into the fucking sun.

And don't get me started on the implications of the cultural differences we see between the independent Gerudo and the annexed Gerudo. The background Gerudo characters all have their own models, and we can clearly see that the ones siding with Ganon have their own unique looks - for example, the amazing lady with the mohawk that summons the molduga swarm in that one flashback. And men are never mentioned in these flashbacks at all, which implies that the Gerudo genuinely didn't care about settling down. Ganon even speaks derisively about marriage, implying that it's very rare for Gerudo women to make serious romantic commitments with men. It implies that their culture is more along the same line as their portrayal in OOT - they are a closed culture. Men trying to force their way into their areas are arrested, and mocked for being entitled dumbasses. Outsiders are only welcome if they can prove that they respect the Gerudo as people, and aren't just there to try and pick up chicks. It's never outright said, but OOT also makes it pretty clear that the Gerudo women just aren't interested in marrying outsiders - close relationships occur with other Gerudo, Hylian men are only considered useful for making babies.

Meanwhile the Gerudo we see serving Hyrule are all trying to measure up to Hylian beauty standards, and appeal to their men. Their one goal in life is to meet a man and get married. Men are welcome in their lands, and only kept out of the town itself... and even then, there's a small army of guys trying to force their way into the town anyways, which is brushed off as just haha, boys will be boys. No men allowed isn't even about independence, it's just a silly romantic tradition.

Of course this is just a fictional culture in a game world, but it's still really fucking uncomfortable that the 'evil' Gerudo are the ones that have independence, both politically and socially, and display a unique culture that refuses to tolerate disrespect from outsiders. Meanwhile the 'good' Gerudo are the ones that canonically exist to serve a kingdom where 95% of the population is light skinned (even setting aside the unfortunate implications, just saying one race exists to serve a different one is super fucked up), they have classes on how to be more appealing to Hylian's, and their entire social structure is built around finding a Hylian man to marry, making them all inherently dependent on the goodwill of outsiders. Even their biggest value of 'women only' is treated as a joke; men trying to trespass in BOTW are just shoved back out the door, letting them keep trying all day if they want. The crowds of men plotting to force their way in are laughed off as a joke. Nobody cares that there's a guy running laps around their city walls and trying to trick women into being alone with him. I mean for fucks sake, in TOTK we find that the creepy guy trying to lure women away has taken advantage of a massive disaster to get into the town, and he's still there once things return to normal. You can't kick him out, or alert anyone to his presence. And the Gerudo just tolerate Hylians blatantly ignoring their boundaries. For fucks sake, TOTK even reveals that the seven legendary heroines they've been revering the whole time were actually completely useless and unable to achieve anything... because they needed the eighth hero, a Hylian man to teach them basic tactics and do all the heavy lifting.

TOTK does not respect the Gerudo people in the slightest. It doesn't respect anyone who isn't Hylian or Zonai.

...This got a little off track, but the point I'm trying to make is, no, I don't consider the Gerudo turning on Ganon to mean anything. The entire game does not feel like the real story of what happened, it feels like the propaganda version of history meant to make Hyrule look as good as possible. I genuinely cannot believe that we're being told the real story about the Imprisoning War, because none of it feels real, and we don't get to know any details that might have made Hyrule look even slightly imperfect. We're told that Ganondorf is evil because he hates Hyrule, and he hates Hyrule because he's evil. The Gerudo people followed Ganondorf and saw him as a hero of their people, then suddenly he was their worst enemy. Hyrule is a perfect kingdom that has strong, equal alliances with the other races, but also all of the non-Hylian races exist for the sole purpose of serving Hyrule, and their leaders are expected to swear eternal loyalty and submission to the Hylian royal family. King Rauru and Queen Sonia united all of the races in peace and equality, which is why they're sitting on the world's supply of magical nuclear missiles, and every member of the Hylian royal family is allowed to walk around wearing them as cute accessories, but everyone else only gets them at the last second, and they all need to outright swear to only use that power to benefit Rauru and his descendants.

There's just so many fucked up contradictions, and so many hints of something more nuanced going on... but the story refuses to acknowledge any of it, and just keeps aggressively pushing the narrative that Hyrule is the ultimate good and couldn't possibly do anything wrong. I don't even believe that Ganon was a bad king honestly; we never hear why his people stopped following him. We also never even see if the Gerudo people turned on him at all; all we know is the ancient Gerudo sage wanted him dead, and given that she also happily sold her people into slavery, she's not exactly the most trustworthy source of information. All we know is that Ganondorf was a hero to his people, only one of his citizens is ever shown having an issue with him (and her motives are never explained), and then he lost the war and was sealed away, leaving his people open to be conquered by Zelda and annexed into Hyrule. By the time we see any Gerudo actually opposing Ganon (apart from the ancient sage), it's been ten thousand years since the war, and all anyone knows is the Hylian version of the story.

#tears of the kingdom spoilers #tears of the kingdom #ganondorf #the secret bonus reason for me arguing about this so much is that it's interesting #on a surface reading TOTK is a really boring story. nothing changes nobody learns anything there's no nuance #the game explains the entire story to us in the opening cutscene. idk why they bothered with the rest of the game #you could walk down those stairs in the intro and kill ganon immediately and it'd be pretty much the exact same story #if i take the game at face value then there's literally nothing to talk about. i just straight up do not care. #but analyzing all the fucked up implications nintendo accidentally included? now thats a story to talk about #i dont think ganondorf is secretly a really nice guy. i think he's more interesting if he's actually a complete bastard #but he's a complete bastard that has a point and if the game wont acknowledge that then i will #sure the people he's fighting against seem nice. but they're not actually good people #i mean ffs zelda certainly doesnt seem concerned that she last saw link taking a fatal blow for her then jumping into a bottomless pit #she doesn't even consider that he might be dead. or just unable/unwilling to fight after being horrifically wounded #at least BOTW had the decency to ask Link if he was willing to risk his life to fight ganon

[silvercadences]

Robert Sean Leonard in Much Ado About Nothing is criminally underrated

#his big brown eyes #never wanted to be Kate Beckinsdale so badly before #robert sean leonard #much ado about nothing #my obsession with this man is concerning #how is he so fine #how the heck is nobody talking about this #james wilson

[sergle]

a really good way to get blocked is to send me unsolicited opinions on my chronic pain management fyi

#'um advil is bad for you' 'um chiro isn't Real' #how about this. this is basic Body Upkeep and without these things i can't even move around #i really don't need any able bodied opinions actually ty. nobody knows more about pain management than the person Managing The Pain #sergle.txt #the Feigned Concern is really sweet and cute but it's actually totally okay if you wanna slam your hands in a door instead of typing an ask #if you actually cared to Ask about it instead of talking At Me w the confidence of someone who's never needed these things then you'd get i

[s-aint-elmo]

microdosing on the tlt tag has been earth-shattering because it came with the revelation that my experience of being siren song'd into finally reading the series by ianthe tridentarius's abject dysfunction only be dashed against the rocks of her unanticipated tenderness was not universal

#the locked tomb #i was smitten with this woman on sight. are you telling me people had to be begrudgingly endeared to her. my morals folded like hot toffee #before her ghastly scheming vriskagirl visage #she tore chunks from naberius's arm w her teeth and i swooned. i had to put the book down and pace it out. i never wanted her more carnally #i experienced the entirety of the second book as a romance novel. i knew about griddlehark but nobody warned me abt how substantial #harryanthe was and i simply had to take their toxic yuri chicanery on the nose with the force of a planet imploding #my unrelenting lust for ianthe tridentarius had people concerned for my future romantic prospects #mine #sorry gideon i am hashtag team ianthe because it's so much funnier to root for the woman who got the patented cheek-kiss-rejection and stil #went on to pettily squabble w her situationship's ex-situationship while actively besieged by planetary murderghosts

[dufrau]

i keep coming back to this topic but the whole "let her have female friends" thing re wlw ships just annoys me so much it's always kind of in my brain a little.

First of all i don't think it's in good faith a lot of the time even if the people saying it don't realize that. i think what it means is "im just not interested in this character/these characters outside of their relationships to the male character I am actually interested in."

But the other thing is, "let her have female friendships" has a root in just wanting women to have something to do other than being a love interest to a man. i don't want to get into bechdel test discourse but like literally we were begging to let women talk to each other on screen at all a lot of the time. it was never "don't let them kiss!" it was "please let them do anything at all i implore you."

Now it's being interpreted as "romantic relationships are inherently less meaningful than platonic relationships, dont cheapen this friendship by making it romantic" (except this only really seems to apply to wiw relationships, for which i refer back to these arguments not being made in good faith.)

Or like, "She needs somebody who isn't trying to sleep with her!" Which tbh is nonsense. The reasons characters (and people) should have friends outside of whatever primary romantic relationship they may or may not have is not because you need people who don't want to sleep with you, it's because it's just healthier to interact regularly with and to care about/be cared about by more than one person. It's fine if your friends want to sleep with you or if you want to sleep with your friends and in fact it is fine if you DO sleep with your friends and it is fine if you enter romantic relationships with your friends and it's also fine if none of that happens at all, and none of it alters the value of those friendships besides how the people involved actually treat each other.

call me when "he needs more male friendships!" is anything. (but i will be opposed to that too because gay is good)

#this is as always mostly about nancy wheeler #but it applies broadly! #but for real though nobody is concerned about steve harrington having male friends his own age #they have this man fucking every similarly aged guy he has ever made eye contact with #and good for him #BUT NANCY NEEDS FRIENDS #i see you

[marcobodtlives]

Mikasa and Annie on a Girls Trip™️ but it’s just them kicking people in the shin and shoulder throwing full-grown men.

(Reiner and Jean on Boys Trip™️ but it’s literally just them getting into a slap fight in the forest then sobbing over their murdered boyfriends)

#Bertholdt and Marco are dead so they’re on their own trip in paths rn #Connie and Sasha go on a braincell trip but they forgot the braincell and are just staring at a wall somewhere in the distance #Armin doesn’t go on trips anymore because he always ends up with broken bones #Eren is banned from trips because he won’t shut up about freedom #Levi will go on trips but only if you get him an exotic tea #hange will go anywhere and do anything no questions asked also sometimes this is very concerning how nonchalant they are #Gabi and Falco go on trips but they don’t get permission first they just rawdog life and run around without adult supervision #floch isn’t invited on trips ever #Erwin runs all these trips nobody can go on a trip without his permission #except his boyfriend. Levi can do whatever the fuck he wants #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #mikasa ackerman #annie leonhart #jean kirschtein #reiner braun #marco bodt #bertholdt hoover #or if you wanna be funky: #jean kirstein #marco bott #berthold hoover #jeanmarco #reibert #aot memes #aot #aot spoilers

[jacarandaaaas]

“the most unrealistic part of encanto is the magic” NO. The most unrealistic part of encanto is how mirabel only whispers “ow” during this scene:

like that looks so painful and she’s like “oh it’s just a cut” GIRL LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT CUT😭 I’m so sorry but my dramatic ass would be crying and screaming that looks so sore!! Like that’s not a small paper cut that’s a full on sharp cut from a tile!?

#encanto #encanto disney #mirabel madrigal #disneys encanto #seriously how is she so chill about that!? #yeah the house started cracking but like that won’t stop me from complaining of pain #I literally find papercuts painful thats like a giant papercut #mirabels pain tolerance is unmatched ig? #also why was only julieta concerned about her giant cut on her hand😭 #like imagine having to move that omg the pain #unrelated but I love how they actually showed the blood like it’s not just a little scrape its DEEP #lesson learned dont pick up tiles that just fell off the roof #also kinda dark but like do yall ever think about the fact that tile could have landed on her head!? #like what if another one fell and she just gets knocked out but nobody would know until way later #wow that was off topic anyways I envy how nonchalant she was about this

[ratbastarddotfuck]

Sure, Night Vale is a messed up town with some horrible authorities, constant intimate surveillance, extreme corruption, and many other dystopian (read: modern) issues.

Sure, they may have murderous beasts, dimensional warping, memory manipulation, and dogs that are satan.

But at least nobody in Night Vale is queerphobic or generally bigoted! I think this really aids the show's punchy satire. I don't have the capacity to formulate a long post about it rn. It's just something I enjoy in the show

#wtnv #welcome to night vale #im lietening to ep 108 - Cal #Cecil's brother visits from out of town and he effectively re-closets himself out of concern that his brother won't 'be okay with it' #while telling us this he offhandly mentions that obviously nobody in night vale cares because why would they #but it's a really poignant moment i think !!!! #i might talk about this more tomorrow when im not actively getting stoned #the system speaks #cecil palmer

[dykevanny]

every time people misinterpret the ar emails I go even more insane

#She didn’t order herself flowers from a fake boyfriend. Malhare ordered her flowers ‘for her grave’ as a threat. Louis interpreted it #As an imaginary bf #Hrrrrgggggggghhhh #I knowww nobody has the autism of seeing the same thing over and over again for fun quite like me but guysssss it’s right thereeee……… #Also. Yeah Louis is that bad !! Sure he’s not like harassing her but … if he was really really concerned he wouldn’t be continuing to ask #Her out and he certainly wouldn’t go on and on about his own problems now would he #While she did type help to him that was desperation because she’d just been threatened with torture by the man in her brain who can make he #Do whatever he wants. Reasonable time to ask literally anyone to help her even if it’s futile #What ness says in therapy is not only super dry and nonspecific it’s covering her ass because she’s being interrogated for fazbear ent. She #Doesn’t actually like talking with him. He’s a scapegoat in that moment bc she’s being looked into for who’s messaging her #Lays down. On the earth #I might be insane .

[allthe-starss]

how many times can i rewatch every smosh video that angela’s in before i need to be concerned??

#angela giarratana #smosh #she just makes me so happy #it’s definitely already something i should be concerned about #oh well #nobody answer

[skyloftian-nutcase]

AH YES tumblr finally let me send an ask!!! it kept crashing on me whenever I tried :')

Anyways a request! Can I get the dad squad all talking about their respective Links? Maybe sharing a little about their varying relationships to them? <3

-Sky Floor

(@nancyheart11 @smilesrobotlover @mad-navi have some Dad Squad :D)

A comfortable fire crackled merrily, making light dance in patterned delight, pushing the darkness away. It cast heavy shadows on the Fierce Deity as he watched the other men eat the fish he'd caught, and Abel finally raised an eyebrow at him.

"Do you ever eat?" the former knight asked.

"I require very little sustenance," the deity answered.

Rusl and Abel exchanged a glance and shrugged, both about to return to their own food when the mystical warrior's stomach growled loudly. Both men looked at him, waiting for an acknowledgement of the obvious.

When nothing happened, Rusl spoke up. "...I believe your stomach is telling you it's time for that sustenance, friend."

The deity blinked. "Is... that what that sensation is?"

Abel and Rusl once again exchanged glances, this time practically screaming how the hell is this man still alive. The more Abel learned about this mysterious deity the less he understood.

Fierce hummed to himself, grabbing one of the fish from the perch where it had been roasting over the fire. With a mumbled apology to the captain (since when did Fierce know Abel had been a captain?), he tore into the fish with fangs that were unnervingly large at such a close vantage.

"Forgive my curiosity, but..." Rusl started off, and Abel immediately leaned away from the pair in a reflexive response. He was just as curious as the Ordonian, but he was far more used to keeping his mouth shut no matter his thoughts on a matter. Apparently blacksmiths from simple farming communities had no such scruples. "How do you know how to fish? Your title and your skills, well, lean more towards fighting than pastimes."

The deity munched slowly on his food, staring seemingly at the fish for a moment before he swallowed. "I learned from Link."

This was another matter that confounded Abel. It wasn't unheard of for multiple boys to be named Link - it was a popular name, one drenched in the mythology of their people, of heroes and monsters and goddesses. But for a deity to be looking for someone named Link... it made Abel leery. Was Fierce searching for his son?

Abel wished things just made sense. Nothing had been normal since the calamity. He and Tilieth had finally gotten into an uneasy peace on the plateau before that had been shattered.

"So, Link is your... son...?" Rusl tried to ask as tactfully as possible.

The Fierce Deity blinked. "I don't have offspring."

"Link isn't biologically my son, either, but he's still my son," Rusl clarified.

Fierce's head swiveled to Abel, an unspoken question in his tilted eyebrow. Abel was fairly certain he was simply asking if the former knight's Link was his biological son or not, but there was still that hint of unease that the deity was actually looking for his Link. Abel wasn't sure he wanted to reveal the truth of the matter.

He couldn't fathom why he was so mistrusting of someone who had clearly prove that they were both as otherworldly as they claimed to be and was also acting on his behalf. But... well... he didn't trust easily anymore.

Besides, there were so many things that didn't add up.

"What's your relationship with Link?" Abel finally asked, pushing past his old habit of keeping his head down around authority figures. It wasn't as if Fierce had asserted his power to either of the men, anyway. Mostly.

"Link is... a Hero of the Goddesses," Fierce answered slowly, as if he himself were choosing his words carefully. Abel felt like he simultaneously wanted to laugh and groan at it. It seemed they all had things to hide. But his phrasing also snagged at Abel's mind, making him stiffen. So the deity was looking for his boy. He'd never heard of him, though! "He is pure hearted and I chose to protect him."

"So you're his guardian?" Rusl surmised.

The deity tipped his head. "Yes. He is very young. He is capable as a fighter, but incapable in many basic mortal aspects. I do what I can to assist him in battle and in any other way possible, time willing."

Abel narrowed his eyes. This was... making even less sense.

"My Link is a sweet boy," Rusl said, leaning back and staring into the fire with a gentle smile. "He's a ranch hand. Or, well, he was, before he was dragged into destiny's greater affairs. He's a restless young man now. But his heart is still pure and gentle. He hardly needs my help in a fight, but I still try to assist him."

Before he was dragged into destiny's greater affairs? "Is--was your son a knight?"

Rusl looked at him, a little confused. "No. He worked on the ranch. I taught him sword fighting, though."

Then what was...? Actually, that brought up another question. "Yes, about that. You're a blacksmith, and I understand blacksmiths know a little of sword fighting so they can craft well. But you fight like a warrior, not someone who learned basic handling to better understand a weapon."

Rusl's smile pulled more at one side than the other. "Oh, I've had a few jobs in my life."

"Clearly," Abel quipped, dropping the topic. It wasn't worth poking him about it. He just needed to piece things together, little by little.

"What about your Link?" Rusl prompted.

"He's my flesh and blood," Abel answered simply, dropping the subject and looking at Fierce. "So, you learned to fish from the child you're protecting?"

"He knew a little of fishing, yes," Fierce replied, tossing the remains of his fish into the fire. It snapped loudly as it burned through fat and bone. "I perfected the method. It's surprisingly relaxing."

"Well, you are certainly good at it," Rusl muttered.

Abel looked away, pondering the situation. Link didn't know how to fish, not like Hylians did. He learned from the Zora, which usually consisted of attempting to chase them down and catch them by hand. Zora were clearly much better at it--and used nets, but that detail never seemed to deter Link--but his boy still tried, despite his Hylian capabilities, or lack thereof, in the water. The Fierce deity didn't catch fish in that manner.

"Yes," Abel said quietly, thoughtfully, before reaching for another fish and holding it out to the deity. "And you caught plenty of them. So eat."

"I ingested one, that should be suffici--"

"Eat," both Rusl and Abel emphasized at the same time. Hylia only knew how this mythical person had survived this long, honestly.

#you ask skye answers #lovely skyward floored #Dad Squad #writing #writing prompt #the dads are still trying to figure out what to say about their boys #Abel's ultra paranoid given his world's situation and Link's vulnerable state #Rusl's main concern is ensuring nobody knows about Link's beast form - the rest is kind of well known anyway #Fierce is not going to explain how the mask works if he doesn't have to #abel #rusl #fierce dadity