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sablegear0 · 6 months

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Finished TotK Finally

As in, finished the story. End numbers after buying the last boss pictures and completing the Compendium were 87.72% complete. I may go back and do koroks and minigames sporadically when I want to wander around in the world again.

So I suppose people might expect my thoughts or a review. Idk if I have anything unique to say but I may as well so: Plot and BIG ending spoilers under the cut. Also extremely long detailed opinions. Like this one got REALLY long. TL;DR at the very bottom.

The End Bits The Light Dragon In a previous blog I applauded Nintendo for letting their women characters turn into incomprehensible beasties lately (TotK, Dread). For the record, I posted that shortly before being spoiled on the fact that Zelda changes back at the end. Needless to say I was re-disappointed. I get WHY they did it. Permanently removing the title character from the game via 10,000 years of ego death doesn't really seem like a great reward for the player seeking out the plot; BotW/TotK Link and Zelda have gone through more than most of their incarnations to get where they are, so it's nice to give them a happy ending, etc. It just... kinda sucks because that was a really cool move otherwise. But Nintendo will not tell us an intentionally tragic (or even bittersweet) story so we got our girl back.

Also she was fine, by the way. She just woke up fully able to move and speak like she'd just had a bit of a rough nap. She also canonically does not remember her millennia spent as a dragon in any fashion. I know the fan writers are probably having a field day with injury/trauma recovery fics for her and I don't blame them. 10k years of ego death and a monstrous transformation should come with some consequences, shouldn't it?

To be honest the nature of the deus ex machina in question bugs me more than the fact that it happened. "Idk Sonia and Rauru did something" is the actual explanation we get (thanks Mineru, you're a real one tho) and it feels... hollow. Like, if the two dragons had clashed and injured one another, and "dying" knocked Zelda out of the transformation the same way destroying the Secret Stone that Ganondorf had taken destroyed his dragon form, that would make more sense, right? You still get your dramatic ending that's a cinematic reflection of Skyward Sword and a symbolic close (presumably) to Ganon's cycle of reincarnation. The arbitrary "power of love" (and not even the Hero's love, come on) ending just doesn't sit right.

Ganondorf Neither did the actual fight with Ganondorf, to be honest. I prepped some pretty high-value weapons, assuming that like BotW I'd have to break a few swords on him before the fight was over. But they just, again, deus ex machina'd that the Master Sword was indestructible for that fight and at no other time. My big scary weapons did see some good use in the wave fight beforehand, which was kind of neat but also kind of underwhelming. I guess that's the point where the game checks if you can handle that many enemies (ie. did you bring enough friends), similar to how doing the Divine Beasts halves Calamity Ganon's HP in BotW.

The duel-style fight for the first two phases was kind of cool. Made a bit annoying by TotK's tighter timing on parries and dodges. And the fact that the legitimate pressure of having your HP outright destroyed (cool, stressful) was removed by the third phase (annoying, no consequences for doing poorly in that part of the fight).

Third phase was neat. It was cinematic, but with no actual danger. I don't think I took any damage that wasn't just gloom-ticks from standing on the demon dragon to attack it. Didn't even get to use my cool bows in the aerial battle. Additionally I didn't have any need for the cool armour I had worked so hard to upgrade. I spent quite a lot of time and effort upgrading the Ancient Hero's Aspect and a second high-defense set (Champion's Leathers, Soldier's Greaves, Amber Earrings). The latter I did use in the demon dragon phase because it looked cool. The former I completely forgot that I had (despite having had to kill an ungodly amount of King Gleeoks to complete it). I used the Depths set for the first two-thirds of the fight because of the Gloom resistance it offered.

The Mechanics Devices All that said, what TotK set out to do it did decently well. It expanded on the physics-heavy improvisational gameplay of BotW with the addition of the Ultrahand fusion mechanic and Zonai Devices, improving on their base engine to create a system that I have heard other devs consider basically magic. Devices and weapon fusion, however, were clearly balanced with the early-to-mid-game in mind. The devices were tools, not weapons, even the ones that were nominally weapons. They simply did not put out enough raw damage to be used offensively, and were better as deterrents or distractions for enemies.

Weapon Fusion I know people weren't crazy about weapon degradation in BotW and I think TotK managed to make it slightly worse. In BotW, all you had to do was find where a desirable weapon spawned and make note of it so you could come back to pick it up after the Bloodmoon respawned everything. In TotK, you have to do that AND fight a monster with a good fuseable part to improve it. You have to do twice as much farming for about the same amount of gain. And that's not even accounting for the weapons you'd break fighting something big like a Lynel - sure they drop good parts, but you might break 2 or 3 weapons taking one down, even with help from your sages. You're operating at a net loss.

Granted the fused part of a weapon does the bulk of the work, but TotK did the interesting thing of making each flavour of weapon ("Soldier's", "Zonaite", "Gerudo", etc) have its own unique properties. This is very cool, until you find a type you like and struggle to find enough of them. Again, you have to trek around to find them and also hope you have the materials for a good fusion. It has its moments, like sticking a Silver Lynel horn on a Gerudo weapon to get a damage value over 100 (which is absurd, most "good" weapons cap out around 50 on average, barring any extra effects), but again, you're usually operating at a slight loss with respect to weapons.

Armour Upgrades To be frank: It's bad. It's bloated and way too resource-intensive. In BotW there were a limited number of sets you'd actually want to upgrade, as each had its own unique thing and that's it, there's one of each. Even doing all of them for completion's sake was achievable. In TotK they have those basic sets, plus a few more unique sets, plus a few redundant sets, and a frankly absurd number of generic aesthetic sets (which flavour of Link would you like? Ocarina of Time? Twilight Princess? Link's Awakenng Remake?) And in all of this they never thought to rebalance the amount of materials required for upgrading.

And on top of THAT, I think they messed with the item drop-rates too! Most enemies can drop 2 kinds of resources, some potentially have more, some only drop 1. in BotW I don't think (thought I may have to check) each type was a guaranteed drop, but you saw every type fairly frequently. In TotK each enemy now has distinct rare drops. And they can be RARE. And the worst part is you need a LOT of them for some armour upgrades. For example; Lizalfos tails are the Lizalfos rare drop, and the armour sets that need them can need up to 15 of the stupid things from a particular species of Lizalfos. Have fun grinding, because now you're playing Monster Hunter instead of Zelda.

Vehicles and Horses The vehicles both did and didn't trivialize crossing the map; a significant amount of grinding is needed before you have enough batteries to cover any distance, Wings (the bird-shaped gliders) have a limited lifespan to keep you from just flying everywhere, and the overworld is generally complicated enough that any fast wheeled vehicle will not be useful for long, and any all-terrain vehicle moves only at a modest speed. Ironically, just use horses where available. They're faster, more versatile, and can be called to you if they're within earshot. Also horses can spawn with overall higher stats than in BotW, and can be upgraded, though with significant resource investment. (It is worth noting that the "best" horse in base BotW, the royal white horse, is only middling to above-average stat-wise when compared to a good wild-caught horse in TotK. They power-crept the horses!)

The most interesting vehicles/movement devices, to me, were the rockets and hot-air balloons. Both add a lot instant verticality in a game that is all about traversal. Fusing a rocket to a shield gets you a huge boost for little resource expenditure (rockets are a bit rare until you can purchase devices). And once you find the Autobuild schematic for a hot air balloon base, all you need to add is a flame-emitter and you can ascend as far as your batteries allow.

Shrines In my humble opinion, TotK knocked it out of the park with its shrines. The ones that have actual puzzles, anyway. There is an unfortunately large proportion of "blessing" shrines that have no puzzle in them, and not all of them even need to be worked for that hard. The ones that do have puzzles are excellent. There are quite a few that highlight different uses for devices, and a good handful that take the Eventide Island/Master Trials-style challenge of stripping you of all your gear and put some twist on it. (Notably these are most interesting in the mid-game, when you have enough hearts to survive but not to trivialize the no-armour combat difficulty.)

They also did the very classy thing of not locking outfit parts behind hidden chests in Shrines. All the hidden chests were perfectly optional bonus chests that required no frustrating re-visits after finding out where that last piece of armour was hiding. Also the slight variations on the music theme was a nice touch that kept the shrines feeling fresh. No shade to the Sheikah Shrine theme, but the strong synths could get a bit grating at times. TotK's gentle, plinky shrine theme variations were an improvement.

The Map The Overworld Probably(?) the most common complaint about TotK and one I share. It's too damn big. In addition to mostly recycling the map from BotW (which bothered some people more than it bothered me, I think), they added an equivalent-sized map for the Depths. Now, BotW's overworld already felt a bit sparse, but it fit the tone of a literal post-apocalyptic world and encouraged you to poke around looking for koroks and investigating enemy camps. TotK's surface overworld is dotted with far more enemy camps and significantly fewer koroks, so it is about as dense but more dangerous/annoying (depending on your hp and gear) to traverse.

There are some major changes to the surface, beyond adding ruins to some spots; most of Death mountain is now safe to travel on foot (probably to encourage use of vehicles) and is no longer superheated, and there are a few spots where the road network is broken, dividing the map into 2 halves that cannot be crossed between on horseback. (In BotW, by comparison, all the roads were connected and you could auto-pilot a horse from one end of the map to the other, provided you took roads marked on the map.)

The Sky The Sky islands were relatively few, for all the hype they got in the promotional material. However I think their self-contained structure and handful of unique features (the "death star" islands, the dive challenges) helped them not overstay their welcome. Besides, the islands themselves are technically also ruins, 10,000 years old and finally visible to the naked eye from the surface, It's a wonder there's as much left and it's as functional as it is. They are beautiful, though. I did enjoy just loitering around in the sky to take in the view and the relaxed atmosphere, as there are fewer enemies up there.

The Depths The Depths... I think I share the majority gripe with the Depths. They're too big. The Depths are another whole open world that is more hostile with even less in it. It exists to grind for resources and pad the playtime. The challenge of the depths is in initially traversing it, having to light your way through impenetrable darkness and navigate dense enemy encampments and find Light Roots to fill out the map. After that, provided you have enough battery power, it can generally be ignored by flying over it. Which is unfortunate. If I were to fix the Depths, I would make it more akin to the Sky Islands; more self-contained, make it a series of winding, interconnected discrete caves, like one big dungeon crawl, rather than a second open world to ignore. Still have the Light Roots be important to vision and mapping, but have the general landscape be more contained. Maybe even have a few more areas that are inaccessible at first except by dropping into the correct chasms, like they did with the Eventide Island and Tingle Island Chain areas of the Depths.

Everything Else Side Quests and Koroks Honestly I enjoyed the variety of sidequests in TotK, and also enjoyed that some of them were quite involved. TotK had two "Tarrey Town"-equivalent long-form side-quest lines; one being visiting all the stables with Penn (I am counting this as one quest because you get drip-fed armour pieces from a unique set throughout it), and the other being the Mayoral Election / Local Cuisine questline in Hateno Village. There were also side-quests to optionally construct the Champions' weapons, which was neat, and to build a house with crazy Ultrahand powers, which was totally frivolous but fun to do. The one thing that bugged me a bit about the side-quests was running into NPCs that reasonably should have remembered Link but didn't. It felt odd, especially poking around Tarrey Town initially.

The Korok puzzles had some new variety to them, which was nice. The block puzzles were given the extra interest of being able to rotate things with Ultrahand, and the vehicle/towing mechanics were given a chance to shine with the "help me reach my friend" puzzles. Having Hestu appear in some less-than-ideal places to begin with (and the whole Lost Woods thing omg what a pain) kind of sucked, but getting those sweet sweet inventory upgrades is always worth it.

The Characters I love all the Sages, I'm going to say it right now. It was really cool to see some familiar faces from BotW (that actually recognized me) and learn what they'd been up to in the ambiguous time-gap. Teba being the slight exception but honestly - meeting Tulin and realizing this sweet bean bird boy looks just like both his parents hit me right in the heart. Mineru was also very cool and I'm glad we got to hang out with her (and bid her a tearful goodbye... my lovely lanky lady...). I also appreciated that doing the Ancient Writings quest teases Mineru's introduction. That was a nice touch.

Penn and Purah are fun, and the Lucky Clover Gazette and Monster Control Crew quests add some depth and background progression to BotW's Hyrule. You get to see how ordinary people are faring and how things are advancing post-Calamity. Seeing the various peoples of Hyrule gather at Lookout Landing after clearing a regional temple was neat, even if it was really only for show.

I know some people have beef with Rauru and that's maybe a blog for another time, but I don't think I have a strong enough opinion to bother. I didn't mind him, I think his arc was clear enough, I think I would have liked to see more of him and Sonia interacting with Zelda in a more everyday fashion - it seemed like she had a lot of fun in the distant past and something more than just a text log of that and a couple cutscenes might have been nice. Honestly I think I would have liked to see more of Sonia especially, she seems like an interesting lady (again, something more than Chaucerian text as proof would have been nice).

I'm honestly kind of mid on Matt Mercer's Ganondorf? I get that he's a big name and people were excited to hear him in the role but idk if the voice was entirely a good fit. They rocked the hell out of his visual design, though. Very good updated look, borrowing elements from some of his previous incarnations. Again I would have liked to see more elaboration on him though; what was the Gerudo tribe like under his rule? Were there dissenters? Give me more worldbuilding or I'll be forced to do it myself.

Music Mostly the same, actually. Overworld themes were recycled. Shrine themes were different and an upgrade imo. Combat themes were slightly different but I probably wouldn't be able to tell them apart at a listen. The Temple music though, oh boy. I loved these themes; they took the ramping instruments from the Divine Beasts control panel gimmick and mixed the Divine Beast Approach themes with each Sage's unique motif to create some really cool but pleasantly unobtrusive tracks. The Depths ambience was appropriately spooky, and the dynamic theme that kicks in when you high-dive was a nice touch, especially since there are distinct versions for diving to the surface and diving to the Depths.

But the standout tracks for me? First, the intro sequence where you descend with Zelda into the foundations of Hyrule Castle and hear the ever-layering Zonai chanting with the spooky reversed voice clips? MMM. 👌 So spooky, so tasty. Genuinely had me on edge even though I knew nothing would happen because it was the intro. The return sequence by the endgame has it build even more intensely as you descend even further and it's fantastic. Second is the Gloom's Approach / Gloom's Source battle theme. The distinctly electronic drone and beat associated with the Depths/gloom-related stuff gets room to shine when this tense bass-heavy track kicks in.

The Little Things I am actually going to stop this one here because I think this part deserves its own blog. There are a ton of little details in TotK that I absolutely adored and I want to gush about them with proper space allotted.

TL;DR TotK is alright. I know I'll catch flak for saying it's "good", so I won't. Settle down. It's alright. Some things it does extremely well, some things could have been edited for time, and some things remained just kinda mid from the original.

If I have to give it a number, it's a solid 6.5-7/10 . Competently constructed, technically impressive, mostly cut-and-pasted, mildly bloated, narratively kind of boring with no sense of stakes and an ending that undoes some otherwise interesting choices.

#sable has a take #sable talks about games #this one got away from me #long post #totk #loz totk #tears of the kingdom #tears of the kingdom spoilers #totk spoilers #seriously the first thing i do is talk about the ending in some detail so if you care avoid this one #now with headers for your reading convenience

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genshinarchives · 2 years

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𝐆𝐎𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐄𝐒 𝐂𝐇. 𝟓

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟓 : 𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 : Although you had refused the Dendro Archon’s request, you did it to ensure that the timeline you’re meant to correct follows the current Sumeru’s history.

𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐒 : Al-Haitham, Kaveh; hints of Cyno x reader

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄 : Romance, adventure, isekai

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 : N/A

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 : N/A

𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟒

"Kill them all."

Everyone in the throne room shuddered at your words.

"Execute the nobles who manipulated my people and infected this land with corruption during my absence," you ordered. After a short pause, you added, "Of course, their families will naturally die alongside them. Spare only the infants who will be raised as soldiers for the new country that will be born from their parents' blood."

Shocked, the Sand Priestess' eyes widened and she quickly turned to face you with horror written on her expression.

"My King, you mustn't do that!" she exclaimed, only to be answered with the tip of Enki's spear pointed at her throat.

"How dare you speak out of turn. Stand down and listen what your king has to say," he uttered, the warning glint in his eyes intimidating her into submission.

Shamash and Ereshkigal exchanged looks of concern from their positions below your throne. Although Enki's devotion towards you is a well-known fact in Auruk, they knew that he too had reservations about your plan to purge the nobility. They could sense his desire to change your mind from the way his dominant arm tensed and the way he pressed his lips together to form a straight line; he was clearly holding himself back.

None of them can deny that you've changed after your resurrection.

The one who sits on the throne was no longer the king who tried to live for others and put her heart and soul into it.

Right now, they were looking at the end result of someone whose hopes have been crushed by the unforgiving truth; at how bitter, spiteful and defeated the adored king had become.

You propped your chin on your right fist. "Sand Priestess, the effects of corruption are devastating for a country like Auruk. When treating a disease, you must identify the pathogen and destroy it immediately." You narrowed your eyes into a glare, and the Sand Priestess immediately became meek under your piercing gaze. "Corruption is a disease, and the nobles are the pathogens. With their deaths, this country will be healed and later be reborn anew."

Enki, Shamash and Ereshkigal knelt before you with their right hands on their chests. The others hesitantly followed suit after a moment.

"We will devote our hearts and souls to your order."

Soon, noble blood was shed and orphans were taken in to be raised as soldiers. You made the difficult decision of destroying Auruk with your own hands and created Ka-dingirra in its place. Your violent purge of the nobility caught the attention of Rukkhadevata, who then decided to recognise Ka-dingirra as a nation in order to stabilise the peace that had begun to settle in the sands of Sumeru.

The heavenly chains that protected your country in your absence had long dissolved, and Ishtar Gate was built to welcome merchants and travelers from afar. You began introducing the ideas of modern technology which were initially perceived as bizarre by your people, but the fascinating mechanics behind them were enough to spur them into discovering the invaluable knowledge from your world. Ka-dingirra eventually became the epicentre for engineering and science, further increasing the nation's reputation.

Your name as the God of Heroes soon spread far and wide, even reaching the Inazuman islands beyond the thunderstorms.

And one year later, the God of Woods approached the God of Heroes.

In the middle of a perpetual desert proudly stood an ancient palace sparkling with the monarch's wealth. The archway behind the throne allowed the light of Teyvat to filter inside, crowning the king's seat with a pair of parhelions. The god that had requested an audience with the ruling deity of the desert's treasure promptly lowered herself on one knee as she bowed her head, the glittering gifts behind her carefully being towed away by the servants.

You couldn't help but internally grimace at how the one who had ended your life previously was bowing before you.

Ironic.

"High King Ea, please grant Sumeru your protection," she implored.

What remained of your humanity and morality urged you to accept her request, to protect your own kind and therefore remind you of the original reason you had decided to accept the king's crown. However, your self-imposed duty of correcting this timeline won the internal battle.

In the firmest tone you could muster, you said, "I refuse."

Rukkhadevata flinched at your curt answer. While she did step into Gilgamesh Palace expecting your rejection, the fact that you had answered her without a moment's hesitation still took her by surprise. Daring herself to lift her head, she met your condescending gaze as you sat upon your gold throne that was built from your bloody reign, with your trusted guards - Shamash and Ereshkigal - flanking your sides.

Shamash, who had become the new Overseer of Tiamat's Eleven Generals, immediately assumed a battle stance with his staff. "How impudent! You dare to raise your head-"

"Shamash, do not make any unnecessary comments!" you bellowed, effectively pacifying him. He quickly bowed in your direction, and you breathed a mental sigh of relief.

"Forgive me, Your Highness!"

"(Y/n)," Rukkhadevata began, calling you by your real name which you had divulged to her at the beginning of the meeting, "even with the bountiful treasures that I have offered to you and me kneeling, you still won't accept my only request? Do I have to go as far as making my forehead touch your feet?"

You tapped your fingers on the armrest as you hummed pensively. "What exactly will I gain from defending a territory that is not my own?" When the Dendro Archon didn't give you an answer fast enough, you leaned forward with your elbows atop your knees. "Have you forgotten that I am High King Ea, Guardian of Ka-dingirra? It is my eternal duty to defend this land."

"I-"

You cut her off with a dismissive wave of your hand. You had to send her away quickly before your resolve crumbles under the weight of your guilty conscience.

"Enough. This is a complete waste of time," you murmured, holding your hand out towards Ereshkigal who then handed you a clay tablet, "Shamash, escort Greater Lord Rukkhadevata to Ishtar Gate."

"I will do as you say," Shamash said. As your guard escorted the dispirited Dendro Archon out of the palace, you subtly beckoned to Ereshkigal and lifted the clay tablet slightly to cover your face. When she leaned towards you, you tilted your head in her direction.

"Infiltrate Sumeru's military and pose as one of their soldiers. If the city is in danger, report back to me immediately," you ordered in a hushed whisper. She looked surprised upon hearing your words.

"If I may be so bold to inquire, are you actually going to step in as regent when the Dendro Archon disappears?" she questioned, knitting her eyebrows together.

"The God of Woods is destined to perish during the Cataclysm, and her death will act as a catalyst for the new god's birth. She'll be too young to lead a nation that has lost its god in the upcoming catastrophe," you solemnly replied, "and will subsequently live a life of seclusion until another shooting star illuminates the sky." You will also have to see for yourself which twin will have the misfortune of witnessing Khaenri'ah's destruction and reaching the end of their journey. According to Enu's notes, because this is a failed timeline, the Abyss monarch of the "correct" timeline will be the Traveler.

Ereshkigal took a step back and then knelt down before you with one arm crossed over her chest.

"You have bestowed esoteric knowledge upon the people of Ka-dingirra, and your visions have shaped the reality we are witnessing today. This servant has received your orders and will see them through," she said, raising her head with a confident smile, "If it is truly your wish, then I will watch over Sumeru's safety for you."

You nodded at her whilst lowering the clay tablet on your lap. "Wonderful, as expected of my guard. Now go. We don't know when exactly Rukkhadevata will disappear, and we must be prepared to fight against the forces of the Abyss."

"I'll get ready immediately."

As Ereshkigal left Gilgamesh Palace to make the necessary preparations for her undercover mission, your courtier, Enki, stepped towards you with another clay tablet for you to review. With a muted sigh, you took it from his hands and tried to read what was written on it, only for your expression to turn completely blank. The tablet Enki had given you was a report about some materials, but you didn't understand much of it.

It's been roughly a year since the establishment of Ka-dingirra. You lack the knowledge to lead a governing body, and it's quite impossible for a university student like you to run an entire country - even though Enki is always there to help you. You would have asked him or your ministers for more guidance if they weren't so obsessed with the delusion that you're some supreme being with unfathomable wisdom, and their intelligence only made it harder for you to be honest with them.

Enki noticed the way your eyebrows furrowed and worriedly asked, "Is something the matter, Your Highness?"

"N-no, it's nothing," you quickly replied, "I was just preoccupied with something else."

"Is it concerning the Sumerians?"

You didn't answer him.

Although the Sumerians are not your people, you didn't have the heart to leave them defenceless as you too, were once human like them.

...

Before you came to Teyvat and were forced to establish your own territory to survive the Archon War, you were an ordinary human back in your world.

You could try to convince yourself that you only sent Ereshkigal to Sumeru to ensure that history was flowing in the right direction. You could lie that you didn't care about the Sumerians at all, but will you really have no regrets if you were to sacrifice the lives you could have saved, all for the sake of correcting this failed timeline?

Closing your eyes, you clenched your jaw.

As the hands of time rotated in a full circle, the God of Woods suddenly disappeared during the Cataclysm. During their search for their beloved god, the sages found a child that bore a striking resemblance to Rukkhadevata in some scorched ruins, and believed that she was meant to replace the Greater Lord.

Lesser Lord Kusanali.

However, they were sorely disappointed when they discovered that Kusanali's "wisdom" was nothing like they had expected.

Her gnosis was promptly confiscated by the entitled scholars who deemed her unfit to be the Dendro Archon, and she was instead made the nominal leader of Sumeru. Those same scholars then came knocking on Ishtar Gate, imploring that you protect Sumeru from the darkness of the Abyss in exchange for the new Dendro Archon's gnosis.

Enki urged you to accept the deal as it would mean that you'll gain more power at the same time Ereshkigal returned with the report that a large group of unknown enemies are approaching Sumeru quickly. With the sands of time descending upon you, you decided to set the deal aside for later consideration and declared Sumeru as Ka-dingirra's vassal state; at least, until the darkness that had spewed forth as a result of Khaenri'ah's destruction has been quelled.

You stood on top of the protective walls you had summoned around Sumeru with a multitude of portals glowing above you in the firmament, ready to rain countless chains upon the malevolent invaders. When the first wave came into view, you immediately extended a hand, prompting golden spearheads attached to chains to emerge from the portals.

As your eyes glowed, you exclaimed, "Nergal, let us restrain misfortune's fury!"

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟔

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 : @flowwerpot / @myevergarden / @hey-comrade-hold-stil / @genshin-idiot / @crunchy-princeles / @yandere-romanticaa / @o-f-f-u / @tiffthescales / @5ugarcan3 / @hana-chie / @lunavixia / @depressed-bitchy-demon / @cynides / @mangobee / @a-piece-of-shell / @kazukazusbaby / @ella-janehaven / @catvyr / @sophisticatedleslie / @kiraisastay / @miralifox / @night-shadowblood-writes2 /

#✍️ : alice writes #genshin #genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #nahida #cyno #alhaitham #alhaitham x reader #kaveh #kaveh x reader #fem reader #god of heroes

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fever-project · 3 months

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I'm stoked for Uncanon Fates!!!!! Always good to see the noncanon Link's get attention! 🥹 Curious, if you're okay with sharing, which Link's are going to be in this AU?

Thank you so much! I’m okay with sharing most of the Links-and most of the non-Link cast that will show up eventually. I’m just keeping 3 of them a secret for now.

Here are the first batch of Links(8 of them) + two others we’ll meet and some info:

Rinku - mid-20s to early-30s, he lost count while in prison - he/him - First Hero: Basically the main character of this story, but we won’t focus on only his POV, just mainly on him since he’s kinda the reason this whole mess started. He generally doesn’t like people(he’s got some trust issues)but he’s always somewhat polite to new people.

Sir Raven - 26ish - he/thon but they/them is fine - From the OoA manga: That’s right I’m making a Link. Don’t call him that though, he won’t answer. He’s a bit of a goofy and mysterious guy in the manga. I’m making him more mysterious and goofy. He has the magical rings from that game as well, his favorite is the Green Ring. He’s also bad at keeping track of time.

Calli - 18.4 - he/maybe they??/maybe she????(he’s still trying to figure stuff out) - Age of Calamity: He can’t speak and and tries to come off as emotionless, but his personality still shines through his blank exterior. He’s cooked a lot before, but it wasn’t until after the war he’s tried to make it an actual hobby, because he never really had much of those before.

Trill - never ask a fairy her age - she/her - Cadence of Hyrule: She’s CoH!Link’s best friend and an assist fairy. She used to assist him with speaking-and the whole Assist Mode in the actual game-but since he doesn’t need that anymore, she chooses to help Calli with speaking instead.

Cadence - 16 - he/him - Cadence of Hyrule: He’s a bit quiet, but can talk on his own when needed. He can’t be killed-although he can die of old age-and will not let anyone know of this fact. For now. He also has a large hoard of diamonds on hand, and will jump at the opportunity to get more.

Kori - 15.25 - he/him - The CD-i games: Can not stand reflective surfaces for a multitude of reasons, only goes near bodies of water if he knows it’s safe. Does not tell anybody about this. He’s very cheerful and friendly, and has picked out most of the other Links’ nicknames by himself. His winged helm hides his eyes, which look quite uncanny to those that see them.

Cart - 15.23 - he/him - The Zelda Cartoon: Not as bad as in the actual cartoon. Somewhat lazy when it comes to anything other than heroing, flirting with Zelda, and napping. Complains a lot. Just generally insufferable, as teens kinda are. The universe will not allow him to swear, even though he really wants to. Somehow best friends Kori.

King Gustaf - 46 give or take a few years - he/him - The Minish Cap: There’s this fan theory that King Gustaf was actually the Hero of Men in the MC, which is what I’m going with for Uncanon Fates. He’s very wise, but also the most excited about this whole thing. It’s been decades since he’s done anything adventurous. He loves making new friends. He’s one of the first kings of Hyrule, and also holds the Light Force, also known as the Triforce of Wisdom.

Triforce of Wisdom - as old as the land itself i guess - does not care is literally a magical prism - Cartoon Zelda+CD-i games(at least the first two): Yeah I’m making the triforce talk. Less rhyming but still gives out vague advice. Currently in the king’s possession. Kori and Cart flock to him like birds.

Linkku - around 19 mentally, he’s basically a demigod he can live for a long time - they/he - Ancient Hero from TotK: Can’t say much about what he does in the comic, but I can tell you a bit of the made up backstory I made up. They’re Rauru and Sonia’s son and are being raised by a surviving Zonai and a Gerudo. Lesbians. His adventure mainly consisted of trying better the relationships between the Hylians and the Gerudo and fighting off what currently remained of Ganon’s evil magic.

After the first two-three-maybe even four if I feel like the characters aren’t fleshed out enough-chapters are done, they’ll be meeting some of the Hyrule Warriors cast-HW Link and Linkle will be the only Links there-who will be first briefly introduced in an interlude, and then the 3 Links I mentioned before at the start will come in and make you feel things. Impa, Zelda, and another character will also be there. That’s it for now, thanks for the ask.

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desultory-novice · 1 year

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Has anybody ever pointed out that "Kirby's Triumphant Return," the song that, from what I can tell, was originally composed FOR Marx's defeat, plays towards the end of CROWNED? And the Wiki even points out that it's "notably played in its original key like in its Kirby Super Star incarnation?"

Not to me, at least! I’m fascinated though! (Especially as a huge fan of the "not-really-a-true-trio-but-I-get-happy-brain-when-the-three-of-them-interact-in-fan-material" trio of Kirby, Marx, and Magolor.)

Because while it has been tied more into moments of Kirby's heroism (and some stuff w/ Meta Knight) and is basically a leitmotif FOR "Kirby the Hero" it's just interesting to me that it ties back to Marx.

You can say that Nightmare was Kirby's first big world saving Adventure (ba-dump tish) but then, Marx's defeat sort of eclipses (ba-dump tish) that.

But now...

I'm very curious about the origins of its composition! Especially since Sakurai's lore drop about Kagero Mansion made me increasingly sure that Galactic Nova, at least, was originally designed for that sub-game! (Marx COULD have been designed for something else, or even a placeholder boss when they decided to cut the Nova boss fight, but he’s rife w/ horror elements and Kagero was going to be a horror-themed sub-game....) Basically, was there a chance that piece was originally composed for Kagero Mansion as well?

And then, to hear that it's used in its original key for CROWNED (even though it has been used in many other places) makes this fan of the trickster-y duo's heart sing!! (Brief Aside: I wish we had an easy word like "Donozura"(1) for them in English that’s not their pairing name. < Speaking as someone who loves the pairing too.)

...Until Marx makes any sort of canon return outside the specious circumstances of Star Allies, it's hard to defend this theory, but I really believe that there is SOMETHING important tying Marx and Magolor to Kirby lore. The clockwork star stuff. Ancients. Their connections to Elfilis and Void...

Anyway, I fear that to connect the use of the leitmotif to any deeper associations involved with fighting the two of them steers straight into HC/wishful thinking territory, but I have seen a couple of doujinshi/fan comics that have portrayed Kirby making that internal comparison themself, and I love it. That something about fighting Magolor resembles having to fight Marx. (And it's not just the betrayal. I, personally, think there's a note of tragedy behind them both being warped physically by their own twisted desires. (2))

But yeah! More connections! (...Should I add it to The List...?)

(1) "Donozura" is short for (loose EN translation) "What makes you think YOU think you can waltz back in here and call yourself a (Dream) ‘Friend’?!" and is used generally to refer to Marx & Magolor, and sometimes Marx, Magolor, and DMK in the JP fandom.

(2) I've seen the "true form" discussion (aka, that little Marx always looked like Boss Marx that and he was just hiding) and I still lean toward Marx's boss form being somehow related to the power of the Nova. Maybe he could spawn little claw-wings, and the Nova just boosted his power? But I feel like if he were always capable of doing THAT why even get Kirby involved in the first place? You could say he was just lazy, but that feels like an out-of-story excuse.

And there’s also the fact that his most recent appearance, by his own creator, Sakurai, in Smash Bros Ultimate, has him lose the wings and shrink back down to size when he is defeated. If the hell-bat was his default form, why in the world would he transform back into the “illusion” after defeat?

...But I feel the same way about Magolor and "If he were always capable of that kind of magic, why not just take on Landia himself?!" Of course, the novel - which I think is the main source of him always having magic - doesn't confirm he has POWERFUL magic, just that he has a little bit of magic. I mean, all he ever does pre-Crown is a very basic light spell.

(And it's the novel, which is still it's own thing. I think the Star Allies guide, if I recall, supports the "he kept some remnants of the Master Crown's power and that's why he's able to do all this" theory for SA Magolor. Which makes a lot more sense than him always being able to rip holes in the fabric of space.)

#Kirby #Marx #Magolor #Dess Text Post #:mention Marx or Magolor to Dess:#:get 20 minutes of rambling talk:

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legendofzoodles · 2 years

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LU Character Design Analysis 1

The incredible designs for each of the heroes was the first thing that sold me on this story and concept. I love analysing things in stories and character design is something I haven’t talked about yet. I got this idea from watching character design analysis videos on youtube, and those creators sometimes put the designs into a tier list. So I thought I’d do that with the LU designs.

I’m going to rank them based off of aesthetic, (i.e. how good the character looks and how well the colours and textures go together), how well the represent the character and how practical the garb would be for the kind of travel and environments in LU- which will be mostly my opinion so take each placement with a side of salt. I’m not an expert on this stuff, but I’ve seen a few videos on colour theory and stuff like that, so I’m going to try my best at applying that here.

Onto the list! Starting with...

9th place: Wild

I’m sorry but there has to be a last place, and for me that goes to Wild. There’s a lot you could do with a redesign of his character, although it’s impossible to mix in every aspect. That being the polished knight aesthetic, the wild survivalist thing he’s always had going on and ancient Sheikah aesthetic- maybe some Zora and Zonai stuff too.

Pros: I love the long ponytail, aesthetically it looks great and it gives the impression that he is somewhat of a rebel, which would reflect his unpopular opinion of the Master Sword and King of Hyrule. Long hair can also act as a shield that symbolizes a lack of maturity or toughness. Wild is as tough as old boots- he is a survivalist after all, but as shown numerous times in the comic he does lack maturity, often acting childish and impulsive.

I will point out that while it is a bit of a shame that the hair is so long because the shorter hair made a similar silhouette to the one the pointed cap made, at the same time it makes sense. The cap is part of the hero’s garbs right? But Wild feels like a screw up, he doesn’t believe himself worthy and therefore still feels like he needs to redeem himself more before he can proudly carry that title.

I love that he’s still wearing the champion’s tunic. I feel like it would hold a lot of importance to him, as it’s a tether to his past self, so he’d worry about making sure it doesn’t get damaged. I feel like in BoTW he wouldn’t have worn it much only when speaking to leaders or those who knew him 100 years ago. He’d wear it all the time around Zelda, as a sort of visual representation of his duty but also to help show that he’s still the same person deep down.

I also really like that he’s wearing the amber earrings, not only because they’re my personal favourite but also it’s a nice nod to the colours of the ancient Sheikah who’s technology played a large role in BoTW.

The guardian scars are well placed too, having them be primarily on one side makes them easy to keep track of. Plus they’re bold and distinct, one of the first things someone’s gonna notice when they see him. The fact that they stand out so much and can’t easily be hidden reflects how Wild can’t hide from his past and has to constantly pick up the scattered pieces of his lost identity. His body is broken and torn like his sense of self, and while those cracks will never quite be the same they can be healed with time.

Cons: Gonna be honest, the dark and light blues of his tunic aren’t really doing it for me. It doesn’t show me that he’s an accomplished knight travelling with the princess, because to me it looks a little like he’s the court jester who happens to train with a sword.

From a character standpoint it could symbolize how much he relies on others (especially Zelda who’s royal dress is that same dark blue) to validate his identity, hence creating a mismatched and stitched together sort of self image- like a mosaic of different people’s expectations and opinions. But to me the two-toned colour scheme doesn’t look very good visually and it doesn’t look very ‘put together’, which I assume is how Wild wants to present himself. Besides, I think the scars do a great job of representing all that on their own.

I do like the style though, the flared sleeves and tunic make him look a little more androgynous, which is I think is one of the best parts about his look from BoTW.

Keeping the hooded cape was a great design choice. Although keeping it short would’ve been much more practical and shown that he still has to do some learning and growing as a person.

I’m a little conflicted by the fact that he’s not wearing any armour or chainmail. On one hand it keeps the essence of his original design from the game and helps him stand out amongst those in the chain wearing chainmail, but at the same time I feel like he would.

He’s been through many near death experiences, if he wouldn’t slap on a bit of chainmail or some metal arm guards for himself, he’d surely do it to put the mind’s of the people he cares about at ease.

...but maybe it would be better to keep his armour as just tough leather which would help him look like a survivalist, but at the same time I like the thought of it being polished metal, but at the same same time I kinda want it to be modified ancient Sheikah material. Like I said, I’m conflicted.

Wishlist: There’s no such thing as the perfect design, but if I could add anything I’d give him a little more of an ancient Sheikah motif. The orange flaps on his boots don’t look right to me. I get that they’re there to balance out the orange in his earrings and arm guards, but I’d like it if it were maybe on the very bottom, or as laces or as little stellar constellation patterns like the ones in the shrines. Those patterns could also maybe be on his quiver or painted on a shield.

I don’t like that the trousers and undershirt are the same colour. I get that they have to be light coloured as too not blend in with the hooded cape, but if it were shorter, his trousers could be a darker.

Ok so, I once saw AoC Link fanart where the artist put the champion’s tunic over the Zora armour, and other than making me gush about how sweet it was, it also made me realise that a dark blue undershirt would go great with the tunic. Since Mipha is dead in BoTW, it wouldn’t really make sense for Wild to have any Zora motifs in his design (unless you ship him with Sidon I suppose)- but that undershirt could also have some ancient Sheikah inspired patterns on it. That could maybe be echoed on his trousers too. Also, instead of having ancient Sheikah armour- which is bulky and can look strange- have it be metallic knight’s armour/or leather and keep the Sheikah elements strictly on the clothes and colour placement.

Last minute thought here but hear me out: what if Wild wore turquoise? A mix of the traditional hero colour and the colour of the Champions. Just putting it out there. Maybe he can wear a turquoise tunic, or cloak or scarf once he fully grows up into a competent and confident adult at peace with both duties.

Btw, all that being said I do like this design for what it is.

Score:

Aesthetic and visual score (/10): 4 Character representation score (/5): 3 Practicality score (/5): 3 Total (/20): 10

I didn’t mean to score him low, I had to set a precedent for the others to follow. But this doesn’t mean I think his design is bad, it’s good, I just think it’s the weakest compared to the others.

Sorry I had to give 8th place it’s own post, cuz this was too long:

See 8th place here

7th place

6th place

5th place

4th place

3rd place

~~~

Thanks for reading! What modifications would you make to their designs? And do you agree with me or not? I’d love to know :)

Masterlist

Relevant character analysis/rant posts:

Hero of the Sky, Hero of Time, Hero of Twilight, Hero of the Wild, Hero of Warriors

#linked universe #loz #legend of zelda #lu wild #lu sky #sky linked universe #linked universe wild #linkeduniverse #character design analysis #i love analysing outfits #ive spent too long thinking about this #lu tier list #lu rants

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cafecourage · 2 months

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The Tree of Legacy - Chapter 4

Previous chapter - Next Chapter

“Where were you?!” Zelda and Claus had found the Professor deep in the book that was thrown at him. “How did you even get here so fast?”

Link just blinks up at the two, ‘I don’t know?’ While he couldn’t really say anything about what he was doing. He genuinely had no idea how he even escaped to the library, since he was right inbetween the two before the whole thing happened.

“You…” Claus closed his eyes to take a deep breath, as something came to mind for him. “Did it happen again?” He didn’t look annoyed just… tired. Guilt couldn’t begin to describe what Link was feeling at the moment.

‘I think? It was a bit different this time.’

“The fact that this happened more than once is new to me.” Zelda cuts in, also very much done with this night. “Do I want to know?”

‘It was back when we were kids,’ Link lied but they didn't need to know that part. ‘I’m sorry for scaring you two.’ He should probably tell Zelda about these times at a later date.

“It’s… fine we know you can’t control it.” Claus seemed to silently resign to the fact that this couldn’t be helped nor stopped. “Let’s get back to the festival.” He holds out his hand for Link to take. There was a slight hesitation but Link still takes it. Honestly the feastival wasn’t something he really wanted to focus on right now. Even with the bright lights, music, and happy atmosphere.

A somber howl of a wolf rings out. There’s a deep feeling in his brain that reaches in the back of his mind that the call was an apology. Which was not something Link really wanted to dig into at the moment. Since he knows that the Champion of the Wild had a wolf companion. There were also two other heroes that were said to be wolf-like.

Link really didn’t want to think of anything actually right now, sadly he needs his brain to function.

“Professor! Hello!” The familiar call of one of his students rings out. Link looks up from the floor to see Aryll waving. Next to her were two of her brothers, which made the teacher pause for a second.

He wasn’t worried about seeing his old classmate again. It’s the awkward atmosphere that Link couldn’t really get over. One glance over, the seasoned adventurer tells all. Cedar has been good, he has been safe. Though he was still wearing his gear so he must have come back home. Iris, the other brother in question, was already speaking to Zelda. Link couldn’t really tell what those two were talking about. Something about testing and ancient tech. Maybe about the time shift stone? Link wouldn’t know.

So it wouldn’t hurt to just… ignore the hynox in the room for now. ‘What are you doing here?’ Link asks Aryll as the museum while it’s open for the public still, not many people come in during festival day.

This question made Aryll beam. “Kuresa planned for all of us to meet here!” She then grabs on to Cedar’s arm “my brother just got back with Zephyr and is meeting Indigo and Jasper here too.”

“It’s a good thing we came here too.” Cedar finally spoke up looking at Link. “Can we talk?” He gestures to the door to the outside.

And…. There was the pit in Link’s stomach.

The professor looks at Claus who shrugs. ‘Ok.’ Link looked a bit too defeated as he followed Cedar outside.

Link forgot how cold it was out at night. It was quiet too. “You’re getting anxious.” A sigh left Cedar’s body as he leaned against the museum's wall. Link walks to where the Adventurer was and copies his pose slightly. Back on the cobblestone looking out on the small garden. “It is nice to see you again. I was… well we both- me and Marina have been wondering about how you were keeping up. Nota and Meli too…”

Link didn’t really know what to say, it’s a conversation he absolutely dreads having. It’s the main reason why he hadn’t spoken to anyone. How was he supposed to hold up after what happened? Link shakes his head ignoring the thoughts. ‘I have been fine. My mom has been fine. It’s as peaceful as it can be.’

“Nothing has changed then.” Cedar nods as he stares out in the distance thinking about his next words. Slowly the sound of crickets fill the space between them, broken only by the leaves dancing in the wind. “There is an increase in monsters.” Cedar was blunt in the end. “We were near Terry Town by the old Citadel to check on some ruins. There was a Lynel there. We were able to defeat it as it was just the one. However there’s more.” He takes a break and finally looks at Link. “The moon is turning pink.”

‘What?’ Link’s eyes widen and that seems to confirm something to Cedar.

“The lab in Dueling Peaks, we headed there to pick up some documents before coming back to Castle Town. We got the summary because the Adventuring Guild needed to know as well as the Queen and the Lab here.” Cedar crossed his arms and studied Link for a second. “You don’t seem that surprised. I can’t tell if you knew about this or if this has happened before.”

This felt like a trapped Link knew what Cedar wanted him to say but there was a consequence to this action. ‘Yes. It has happened before.’ It was part of the truth. Link shouldn’t have to say that there is currently a need for a Hero of Courage. Cedar doesn’t need to know.

“Then. I would like to take Aryll out of your class.” Cedar finally says letting his arms fall to his side. “It’s not because you're her teacher. But if my sister is in danger. I rather her be as far away from the castle as possible. The Castle couldn’t protect your dad. How could it protect her?”

There wasn’t any denial. Link knows this himself that it's the most logical thing to do, however ‘she isn’t going to like this decision.’ Link warns his old friend as he would hate to see this family get strained. ‘She and the others in her class are going to fight this as soon as they hear about it.’

“I know.” There never was a more defeated look on Cedar’s face, it was so foreign and showed how long he had probably been thinking about this. “But I am prepared to be the bad guy if that's what gets her to safety. I cant lose her.”

‘What about Indigo and Jasper. They live in Mabe. If Hyrule Castle goes down then the towns outside on Hyrule field will be the first to fall.’ Link doesn’t understand why there was a rush on these things now. However, he also knew Cedar wouldn’t have a good reason.

“They have a plan to get out when I give the word. Unfortunately because the information is still new I am not sure how bad it will get. I just want to prepare for the worst.” Cedar reaches out and pats Link on the arm “I am just warning you. Since I heard Claus has been going out a lot more on field missions. Also because when we have the official meeting you can have the full context.”

And like that Cedar went back inside.

Leaving Link with another headache. There was too much to think about. Not enough time to think about all these things.

“Link?” Claus pokes his head out “are you doing ok?” Link could only shrug and wander over to the opening. “Zelda is still discussing things with Iris. Apparently she is trying to get him and Vita to come into the lab tomorrow.” With a slight bonk, the Professor walks straight into Claus and leaning into him.

‘My head hurts.’ Link holds up his hand so Claus can read his sign. ‘I am fine though.’

Claus pats Link’s hair “ok we can head back if you want. Just hold on my hand ok? We don’t want you to space out again.”

‘I’m not going to wander off again.’ Link points out as he hasn’t done it for a while now. ‘Let’s wait for Zelda and try to enjoy the festival.’

“If you want.” It was clear that the enjoyment from the festival wasn’t going to reach the trio. The melancholic atmosphere had already been settled and there wasn’t much to disperse it.

The door swings open with Zelda heading out, she was surprised to see the duo right there in front. “Oh! Good. You didn’t go far.” Zelda linked her arm around Links and pulled him forward to keep walking. “Come on! The night is still young and I don’t want to think anymore.” Suddenly and without complaint Link was trapped between Claus and Zelda. He could agree that tonight he just wanted to shut his brain off.

That’s if he could in the first part. His mind keeps wandering back to the book the Hero of Time led him to in the museum. Link took it with him, but he couldn’t help but to think that he knew what the answer he was looking for was.

Memories are sparks of color in his mind’s eye. What also sparks up still is Link’s brain as he has started to rack his brain about this only partly paying attention. But it’s fine. He is safe. Zelda has a death hold and Claus is glue to his side.

He will be safe tonight. Safe and slightly distracted with the festivities.

#twilight (not lu) speaks #legend of zelda #legend of zelda fanfic #legend of zelda link #legend of zelda oc #matcha tea

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snidgetwidgeon · 3 years

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Son of Hylia, Daughter of Farore

A roleswap Zelink AU

Art by @anxioussailorsoldier and used here with permission

This story is a one-shot inspired by the prompts from @drsteggy and was gifted to her in a fic exchange.

~~~

Link awoke suddenly, desperately trying to cling to the vision of a woman surrounded by bright light as it diminished from his foggy mind. Try as he might to enter back into the haze of his mysterious dream, sounds came louder and clearer to his ears, and he registered the rustle of the sheets sliding against his feet as he stretched, his senses slowly returning. Today would be a trying affair. He always remained fatigued after she appeared to him, ever speaking yet rendered frustratingly silent.

Perhaps he could try to lay low, hide in the library, and search yet again on the shelves he’d already scoured for something he may have missed; something to prove it was possible that he was having the visions vessels were known to have had. He just couldn’t interpret them. He spared a bittersweet thought for his late mother. She would have known, would have shown him. Or perhaps she would have bore a daughter, and there would be no question; and he could have supported his sister when they found out the Calamity was foretold to return.

But the Kingdom of Hyrule was left with a Prince at the precipice of doom. He’d never felt more useless, or more determined to do something about it. He would find a way. He would protect everyone.

Zelda shifted her feet, practicing her forms to warm up before training. She missed her scimitar. This new blade felt so different and she had to relearn how to make it an extension of herself. It was humbling when sparring partners she had previously bested came out on top. It just proved she still had much to learn and needed to become proficient with many weapon types if she wanted to be the greatest.

She recalled being a bit intimidated as her group of friends grew over the years. Where they used to be physical equals, they now towered above her; but she supposed she could be thankful for the challenge because it caused her to become an incredibly scrappy fighter, always looking for openings she could wheedle into.

This time she wheedled too far and forgot to watch her flank while in pursuit of one of her opponents. Another warrior swept in and bashed her ribs as she was on an upswing and it sent her flying. As she was pulled up, she couldn’t help but think spitefully that the same would not have happened if she were allowed her weapon of choice. She could have recovered with her scimitar but the swing on the Master Sword was different.

“Nice air you caught there,” her sparring partner teased in Gerudo. “Again?”

Zelda recovered her blade from a few paces away and declined, “I think I’ll just nurse my wounds and ego for awhile, thanks.”

“Suit yourself. I recommend you do solitary for a few days with your new acquaintance,” she pointed her chin towards the Master Sword in Zelda’s grip. “See if you two can make friends,” she winked and ran back to join the fray.

Zelda stared down at the sword with slight contempt. Urbosa had told her of the legends she’d learned from the late Queen of Hyrule, and her son, Prince Link- that the sword was wielded to protect Hylia, and how the blade itself chose its master and would even communicate. Someone being chosen meant that a shit storm was likely brewing.

Urbosa also mentioned that preparations were being made against some sort of Calamity. The word made Zelda’s blood run cold and she knew it was something to be feared. If the sword was not speaking to her, perhaps it chose wrong and she was not suited to the challenge. She had tried everything she could think of, even hours of meditation, which she hated because she didn’t like sitting still for long.

But it was all for naught.

She wove her way through the stalls and bustle of the marketplace, sword heavy on her back, and day after day it had only served to weigh her down even more. She could no longer stand it. She exited the north-western gates and ran along the outer wall. Heart pounding and sweating all over, she dug a rather shallow and pathetic hole, chucked the sword in and kicked sand over it before walking away in a huff, muttering, “Curse the day I found your infuriating silence!”

She’d been training in the desert when she discovered it, exploring further than she ever had over the dunes. Following the statues with their guiding swords, she finally came upon the last one and sheltered under her cloak at its base as a sandstorm passed. Thankfully, it was short and as she stood to shake as much sand as she could off her person, she noticed something strange in the distance. She could have sworn she’d reached the last statue of the warriors. Perhaps she’d miscounted as there stood another on the horizon, the reflection of its sword glinting brightly in its grasp.

Zelda took a drink from her ration, taking note of how much was left before deciding she could manage one more. If anything, it would improve her survival skills.

As she neared the solid figure rising out of the sands she noticed that the sword it held was elaborate. Oddly enough, a scabbard for it was slung over the shoulder which made it appear that someone had just left it there. She looked around but only saw a few cacti bearing voltfruits, perfect for carrying around extra moisture for the return trip. Some movement caught her eye behind a cactus and she ran over, pulling her scimitar, in case there was meat to be had, but she was met with a poof of sparkling petals and could have sworn she heard a childish giggle.

After investigating thoroughly, she cut the fruits and placed them into her bag before returning to the statue. It would be a shame to leave such a fine piece of work out in the middle of nowhere. She climbed the figure and slipped the scabbard off the shoulder, letting it fall to the sand before holding the neck and planting her feet against the torso so she could reach the hilt with her free hand. It did not budge. Hiking herself up, she wrapped her legs around the neck so she could use both hands to pull on the wings above the hilt.

She was straining when she heard the laugh again, accompanied by a rattle, and in her distraction, the blade suddenly came loose and they both tumbled into the sand.

She’d thought nothing of it until returning to Gerudo Town.

During a routine visit to the throne room, Chief Urbosa had nearly sent away visiting dignitaries when she spied the sword on Zelda’s back. After the meeting, Urbosa called her into her private quarters, which was very unusual. Perhaps she was to be given a special assignment.

“Where did you find that sword?” Urbosa asked with intense interest and a hint of concern.

Zelda stood at attention and replied concisely, “In the desert, Chief.”

“Zelda, have you any idea what you’ve found?”

Zelda began to doubt her decision to play finders keepers. Maybe it was a ceremonial sword or relic that should have stayed where it was. Though she had been raised with the Gerudo, she certainly did not purport to know all of their culture and was horrified by the idea that she’d deeply offended them.

~~~

Urbosa removed her bracelets and hair ornaments, letting the thick, red locks fall down her back. Making sure her tea would be in reach, she snuggled into her bed and opened a letter from her favorite Hylian. She always saved his letters for the end of the day when her attention could be undivided and she could imagine actually having a conversation with him. He was so bright and inquisitive, and optimistic- as his letter revealed. Just like her love.

~I have not given up my search. I keep thinking that surely, there is a pocket in the library I have not scoured. But then another duty and another day takes me away from it. I see her, Urbosa. It has to mean something. If only I could find evidence that there has been a son of Hylia. Why else would I be given visions? If only I could interpret them...

Do you know how mother did it? Did she ever say anything?~

He then went on to describe his involvement with the funding of the research at the Royal Ancient Lab as well as other gossip that he and Urbosa kept up on, including their inside jokes about stuffy nobles. He also wanted to hear more about the warrior who had pulled the Master Sword.

~Does the bearer of the Blade that Seals the Darkness fare well? The moment I learned of her, I hoped that it was a sliver of evidence to prove my case. If there is a woman as Farore’s chosen, then perhaps it lends weight to the fact that a man could be Nayru’s chosen. But I’m harping. Perhaps I will be able to meet her soon, though father keeps me tied up in social engagements. He has taken to parading me at events where there are ample amounts of young debutantes to vie for my attention. I’d much rather be studying.~

Urbosa wrote back early the next morning after skimming the letter again.

~It seems our chosen Hero is having trouble awakening the power within the blade. When you sent word of legends that say the sword speaks to a worthy master, she immediately felt inadequate. Zelda excels at any challenge and eventually overcomes all obstacles, so when she continually failed to connect with the sword’s spirit, she took out her frustrations in a childish manner. The other day she was witnessed burying it in the sand outside the town walls. She must have blown off all her steam because she did retrieve it later that night.

I think that learning her fate has been weighing on her. She puts on a stoic face but I can see she has reservations. Perhaps if you two came together, something will give?~

After reading Urbosa’s reply, Link laid the parchment back down on his desk and pondered her proposition. He had been wanting to expand his search outside the castle for sometime and though he enjoyed visiting the Royal Lab, it did not hold any answers for what he sought; they were just a bunch of rowdy mechanics who were a lot of fun to hang around with. But to understand his history and role, he wanted to go on a pilgrimage to the known spiritual sites of Hyrule, and perhaps discover unknown ones as well so he could be better informed on how to defeat the Calamity, and possibly awaken the power of Hylia along the way.

He would start making arrangements right away.

~~~

King Rhoam rapped his knuckles on the door of his son’s study. When Link answered with a curt nod and a polite greeting, he entered, leaving his guard detail outside. He thought it prudent to retain at least some privacy for this matter, considering the gossip it could generate.

“I hear you’re planning some sort of trip,” it came out as a statement more than a question.

“A pilgrimage. To try and find any proof of my suspicions-”

He was interrupted by his father’s large, dissatisfied sigh. “Link, you really must stop harping on about that nonsense. Hylia has only ever been reincarnated into the mortal body of a female, that’s just the way it is. A tradition that extends even far beyond what we have in written history.”

“Exactly. We don’t know everything. How do you explain my visions? Mother had them. She knew how to interpret them.”

“Perhaps they’re just dreams,” Rhoam offered again in a misguided attempt to engage.

Link smacked the book he was about to pack on the table in frustration. “I can’t believe you keep saying that, you just don’t understand.”

“What I understand is that you continue to foolishly insist on chasing dreams and fantasies rather than doing something tangible for your people. You’re wasting time, Link. You should be courting and choosing a wife so that you can pass on the bloodline to a potential Princess who will-” Rhoam saw the shock in his boy’s face and tried to change track, “We have no idea when the Calamity will strike, we should be doing everything we can to prevent disaster.”

Link clenched his jaw as a deep anger and loathing swelled in his breast. Voice trembling in rage, he rebutted, “I am not going to produce an heir just to send her to the slaughter. I will fight my own battles. This Calamity is coming down on us! I just need to figure out how to awaken Hylia’s power.” He grabbed his bag and stormed out before Rhoam could push his agenda further.

~~~

The next letter Urbosa received from Link outlined his travels. She grinned as she read through them, glad that he’d managed to get away.

~The Forgotten Temple was very difficult to access, and though it did not produce any results, it was a breath taking trip. It has the largest Goddess Statue I have ever seen and I felt a peculiar familiarity while standing under her benevolent smile. I think this is promising.

We’re now at the ruins of the Temple of Time on the Great Plateau. I’m no stranger to the place of course, but the Priestess has been most helpful in providing old texts to study that were not available at the Castle. She’s even offered to assign a scribe to make copies for me.

I hope to be underway again soon and I would like to visit the Seven Heroines. I want to leave no stone unturned. I shall send a dispatch for when we expect to be arriving in the desert.~

When the time came, Urbosa bid Zelda to be an escort for the Prince across the sands to Gerudo Town. “Listen carefully, Zelda. Being the Prince is more than reason enough to keep him safe, but there may be a chance that he is so much more. The fact that you wield that sword lends weight to his theory that he may be Hylia reborn.”

Zelda’s eyes widened but she remained silent, nodding dutifully.

“I’ll need you to deliver some supplies to him so that he may enter unmolested upon arrival.”

“Chief?” Zelda asked, uncertain about the order. Hylia possibly being in a boy she could handle, but in all her time there, she’d never heard of a voe entering Gerudo Town. For Urbosa to speak of it almost as if it were done every other day was- confusing, to say the least.

Urbosa raised her brow at the question. “He is my Oten’vehvi and knows how to behave within these walls. You need not concern yourself with the politics, just act as his personal guard.”

“Yes, Chief.”

She made her preparations and checked that all was secure with the ‘contraband.’ The idea of meeting the Prince was troubling to say the least. She felt completely inadequate, bearing a sword that considered her unworthy. Perhaps she could pass it onto him and he could find the most courageous person in Hyrule. With his resources she was sure it wouldn’t be that hard. Then again, legendary swords weren’t known for choosing incorrect Heroes, so what was wrong with her?

They would just have to work together somehow.

She rode most of the way at a leisurely pace behind her sand seal until she noticed a scuffle as she neared Kara Kara. “HUP!” she directed her seal to go a bit faster to investigate.

A couple of Hylian vai shrieked when they saw her. “The Prince! Please save our Prince!” they cried as they pointed west.

There were two Yiga chasing after a nimble blond clad in light blue. She sprung after them, tongue rolling in a call to let her mount know they needed to go as fast as if they were fleeing a molduga.

The Prince was doing well for himself until he fell, a prey disposition coming over him. He scooted back but could only stare at the assassins, frozen in fear.

Zelda used her inertia to whip across the sand and jumped to land between the Prince and his attackers. She drew her sword, imbued with courage and confident that she could easily protect the boy against the likes of this desert rabble. She almost become distracted by the sword’s sudden glow before exchanging blows with the masked Yiga. They soon realized they were no match for her and dispersed in pops of red and orange light, laughter echoing in their place.

Breathing heavily, she turned back to face the Prince who was still flat on his bum. They both ogled the glowing sword.

An ethereal, disembodied voice broke the silence, “Master, it is good to see you again.”

Their eyes snapped to each other and searched for understanding. There was an immediate and unmistakable bond between them. They’d both heard it.

“I see...” Zelda began. She glared down at the Master Sword, fist clenching the handle and shaking with anger. “So you only deign to speak when your charge is present?” Her voice rose, “I wasn’t good enough for you?! You picky piece of shit!” she yelled as she hurled the sword into the dunes.

Link gaped in disbelief that his protector was so uncouth when something profound occurred to him. He fell back into the sand laughing, a massive wave of relief washing over him.

She looked at him curiously. “What? What is it?”

His laughter died down and he gazed into the sky, moisture glistening in the corner of his eye. “She’s with me.”

Zelda’s eyebrows knitted in confusion, unaware of the turmoil he had experienced regarding his identity.

Link stood and brushed himself off then held out his hand in greeting. “You must be Zelda. Bearer of the Blade that seals the Darkness.”

She accepted his shake and added spitefully, “More like the blade that won’t open its trap unless its mommy is around.”

“You know, I find it very intriguing, my mother’s name was also Zelda.”

“Yes, my mother was a big fan. It’s kind of flattering, she was a great lady. But people always joke that I’m the lost, secret princess and other nonsense.” She started to move away but he touched her arm and she paused.

“Thank you- for saving my life; but also for revealing the truth. Now that I know she’s here,” he touched his heart, “I will find her.”

Zelda eyed him like a strange bug, still unsure as to what he was on about. She patted his shoulder as she walked over to retrieve her weapon, “Good luck with that.”

~~~

A few nights later, Link and Urbosa took a stroll just outside of town to enjoy each other’s company, catching up on their daily lives. The stars twinkled brightly and the moon shone pale on the dunes, a steady breeze drifting the sands away to the dark horizon. He’d just intimated what his father would have him do to stay the coming Calamity.

She touched his shoulder in support, “And what did you say?”

“That this was our battle. And I would absolutely not have a child just to-” he sighed deeply. “I mean, I know the legends. There will always be a vessel of Hylia and her chosen Hero, but to be so deliberate and unfeeling about it, I just...”

“It’s alright. Your father has always been rather blunt, and practical to a fault. For what it’s worth, I believe in you. The visions you describe sound very similar to what your mother shared with me.”

He looked up to her with a smile, “It’s worth a lot, you’re my Oten’baba; your opinion matters to me more than anyone else.”

They continued on for a short time in companionable silence when Urbosa stopped and lifted her head to the night, listening and placing a hand on her scimitar.

“What is it?” Link asked, only noticing after he’d taken a few steps ahead.

A raucous laughter cut across the desert and as quick as Urbosa had been to draw her blade and prepare a snap of deadly electricity over her foes, two of them grabbed the Prince and held their sickles to his neck causing her to stay her hand.

“What a lovely package we have here tonight. Not only can we bag the boy, we can finally rid ourselves of the thorn in our side, Gerudo Tempest!” a Yiga foot soldier, hidden amongst the rest, spat the last two words out in disgust.

They attacked and dozens fell upon the Chief, running head on and popping up behind. A dance of blades began and Link struggled to free himself. Urbosa tried to lead her foes away but Link’s captors followed, dragging his feet through the sand.

“You’ll not be using your lightning with the precious Prince so close, will you?” gloated the same antagonizing voice.

Link cried out in terror when he saw a Yiga succeed in cutting her arm. She seethed and decked them right across the jaw. When they fell she jumped onto their back and launched herself in the air so she could shoot off a bolt.

“Oh, no! Is the Tempest in distress?” the voice goaded, and the masks cackled.

Link couldn’t tell where the mocking was coming from, they were everywhere and nowhere at once. There were too many. Urbosa was becoming overwhelmed and aid may not arrive in time- a gash landed on her leg- he was going to lose her. The laughing was getting louder, the air becoming so thick with magic that it tasted like chalk on his tongue- a slice was delivered up her back and she cried out. He squeezed his eyes shut and thought of his mother. What would she do? There hadn’t been anything he could do for her then, but he was here now for his living mother.

Link’s eyes shot open just in time to see Urbosa drowning under the onslaught and his insides fell into oblivion. They were replaced by a warmth that spread through his body and beyond. He jerked his head in confusion as those that held him fell away. He was free. Sparks akin to those he felt when he fell asleep on his hand in the library spread through his fingers and he launched himself into the foray. He clawed through Yiga soldiers to get to her and did not see how each one he yanked was thrown back with a force of golden energy.

“Urbosa! URBOSA!?” They hit the ground.

The desert was lit with a false sunrise as Link crushed Urbosa in a desperate embrace. The light washed over her, healing her wounds as it cascaded around them in a dome, their enemies lying motionless on the outside.

After a few stunned moments, they opened their eyes and picked each other up. Urbosa held his face in her hands and wiped his tears. “Just look at you,” she said, smiling proudly.

“I- I couldn’t. I was,” he stumbled over his words as more tears fell, “I was going to lose you. I couldn’t lose you too,” he cried into her chest and she held him close.

~~~

Link was a natural at seal surfing. That’s what Zelda thought before she realized that he must have actually visited Gerudo Town previously and she just didn’t know it. They had left at sunrise and arrived to their destination mid morning. After taking a much needed rest, re-hydrating and snacking, Link took a leisurely walk around the place to get his bearings while Zelda tended to the sand seals. She joined him after they were settled for a long siesta and the two of them began their research of the Seven Heroines in interest.

There were orbs scattered about the place. Very large, Link noticed. He pushed one with his foot. And heavy. The sand seals might have to work after all. He tasked Zelda with collecting any she could find and in the meantime he studied the statues, picking up rather quickly that some had prominent corresponding symbols to the orbs on various parts of their bodies. Some he couldn’t make out as they were too high so there would be some educated guesses by process of elimination.

Zelda couldn’t help being drawn into his enthusiasm, the way he took notes- the face he made when he took those notes; it was all very quaint, and a bit impressive. Having spent most of her time advancing physically, she appreciated the mental gymnastics they were doing. Where most might sit back defeated, Link pushed through with a calm determination. They tried dropping the orbs in the pedestals in numerous combinations, each with a sound theory behind them. How was Link to know that if shrines had been activated, he would have succeeded in getting a result on the first try? A fact that they both wouldn’t learn for another 103-odd years.

After the sun set, Link scrawled until the dimming light rendered the page unreadable. Zelda had already set about making camp. They could head back to town in the morning, both were knackered. Even with the help of the seals, they’d heaved plenty of orbs around for hours. Eventually he plopped down on the rug with her and heaved a big sigh.

“Wow, you been working all day or something?” she asked in jest as she turned the vegetables in the fire.

“Yeah, something like that. It’s been a long while since I’ve been out in the field.”

She regarded him thoughtfully. “What’s it like up at the castle?”

“Stuffy.”

She chuckled and didn’t press but it wouldn’t be fair to leave it at that. For all its faults, it deserved more. “I loved exploring the halls as a boy. I’m fairly certain I found long lost passages even the castle historian didn’t know about. My favorite places are the Library and the Observatory. “

“Sounds about right,” Zelda smirked.

“Ha ha. But really, the Library has books as far as you can see, you’d never finish them in one lifetime. And my mother used to take me to the Observatory. I still go there to feel close to her.”

They sat in silence for a moment when Zelda touched his forearm. “I’m sorry you lost her.”

Link nodded in thanks and Zelda started to collect the hearty truffles from the coals. “I lost my father,” she began, and Link was a bit surprised she was sharing.

“He was a knight. We didn’t have any other family close by and mom didn’t fancy moving to Tabantha Village. She hates the cold,” Zelda added as she passed Link a stick laden with dinner.

“Thanks. So she just came to the desert instead?” Link asked before blowing generously and taking a bite.

“She had a close friend here who is practically my auntie. I think she was hoping we could just get away and start fresh from everything we knew before. But then I had to take after dad. Took her a while and a lot of arguments to come to terms with the fact that I was also a warrior.” She shook her head. “I feel bad. I’ve put her in a constant fear of losing me too but... you have to do what your soul tells you, right?”

Link closed his eyes and thought of Hylia, feeling a vibration in his core. “Right.” He agreed thoughtfully.

“Anyway, then this happened,” she said, unsheathing the sword on her back a few inches and letting fall back in with a shinck. “That was not a fun conversation.”

“I can imagine,” Link commiserated as he thought of his own recent rows with his father.

Zelda took a bite of her own truffle and regarded him up and down. With no tact for manners, she said with a full mouth, “You’re alrigh’ fo’ a Pince.”

Link laughed and his genuine mirth spread warmth through Zelda’s chest. “And you’re alright for a Hero.”

#breath of the wild #zelink #fanfiction #roleswap au #prince link #champion zelda #urbosa #king rhoam #Son of Hylia Daughter of Farore #snidgetwidgeon scribbles

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into-the-linkverse · 3 years

Text

Of rupees and Koroks

my first LU fanfiction! I am horrible at endings so...yeah. i definitely went off the rails from my original plan (ADHD my beloved) and I am SO SORRY in advance if any of the characters are OOC.

“Okay, and that would come to…200 rupees, Mr. Captain Hero Sir!” Ravio cheerfully stated, holding up the bottle of shimmering red potion for War to admire. The warrior actually scoffed upon hearing the intended price.

“Something wrong, War?” Legend asked, his back leaning against a rather large crate.

“No, no, it’s just…really cheap.” War pointed towards the potion. Both Legend and Ravio blinked blankly. Legend’s face soon turned into one of severe confusion, whereas Ravio’s eyes lit up with excitement.

“200 rupees? Cheap? Were you hit in the back of the head by a bulbin?!” Twilight almost shrieked from his side of the Barnhouse He stopped playing with the cows and quickly jogged over to Ravio’s makeshift shop.

“Back home, a red potion would cost around 10,000 rupees. Isn’t that the case here?” War stated eyebrow raised as Twilight began twitching at the mention of the rupee count. Ravio’s jaw practically dropped.

“My wallet can’t even hold that!”

“Hey, I heard screaming. Who’s dead?” The barn’s door creaked open to reveal Wind, accompanied by a sweating Sky and an unfazed Four.

“War said a red potion would cost 10,000 rupees in his world!” Legend blurted out, almost barking at the heroes. Four huffed for a second, then walked up to Ravio and snatched the red potion.

“Hey, 200 rupees, y’know!”

“This. Costs 20 rupees.” He pointed at the potion, as War soon broke down in a fit of laughter.

“What’s so funny, pretty boy?” Legend folded his arms.

“You guys must be broke! 20 rupees? That can’t buy you shit!” He managed to get out before banging his fist against the hay covered ground.

“Hey, watch your language!” Sky shouted, moving to cover Wind’s pointy ears. “There are children here.” He lowered his voice as Wind swatted his hands away.

“Okay, okay, I’m trying to run a business here. Let’s go…2,000 rupees, Mr. Captain Hero Sir!” Ravio clasped his hands together, only to realize the item he was selling was nowhere on the table.

“Um…Mr. Smithy? My red potion?”

“Oh, sure.” Four passed the glittering potion back to the purple-haired hero, acting as if he wouldn’t be committing a crime if he didn’t hand it back.

“Here you go, Mr. Captain Hero Sir! Please come again!” Ravio smiled gleefully, having 2,000 rupees handed to him like it was nothing.

“Pfft- I guess War really is a rich snob.” Twilight sniggered, shaking hands with Legend in a mutual agreement.

“Hey, you take that back, farmers!” War shouted, fiddling with his glove as if preparing for a fight.

“War, you realize you’re saying that on a ranch?” A voice called from outside. The door was already opened (Wind forgot to close it) so it was easy to tell that the voice belonged to Time.

“Oh, hey, pops, wanna help us take on pretty boy?” Twilight greeted happily, only making Warriors more enraged.

“No, I’m quite fine. But thank you for the offer anyway. Hyrule asked me to collect you all. He’s having trouble with something. And for Nayru’s sake, behave yourselves.” Time explained to the group, trying not to bring up the fact that he almost locked them in the barn to keep them out of trouble.

“What do you mean “something”? I thought nothing happens on this ranch!” Wind protested, running his hands through his hair, obviously trying to make himself more presentable.

“I have no clue what the deal is myself. Wild and Hyrule are already investigating.”

“Those two? They were better hosts than us?” Warriors looked almost horrified at the idea of being upstaged by Wild of all people.

“Do you want to be cooped up in here all day?” Time asked, almost laughing at War’s sudden reaction.

“Come on, let’s get moving now!” Warriors announced, starting to direct (push) the other heroes out of the barnhouse.

Hyrule was ecstatic. He’d been picking up stray rocks for weeks in hopes to find the small beings called Koroks. Wild had told him all about the strange little creatures that hid under rocks and in trees, and Hyrule soon became intent to find one. At last, at the gates of Lon Lon ranch, Hyrule mindlessly picked up a rock and proceeded to shout in happiness.

“Wild! Wild! I found one!” He cried, perking the ears of the long-haired Hylian. Wild rushed over, practically throwing the Cucco he was holding. He jogged over, only to stop a few feet away from the brown-haired hero.

Hyrule’s eyes were alight with glee, his smile looked like an innocent rabbit’s. He tossed the rock aside, unfortunately landing on Wild’s foot, as he winced. He placed the rock to the side and crouched down to the Korok’s level.

“Yahaha, you’ve found me!” The Korok excitedly squealed, Wild rolling his eyes as he heard the line for the 400thtime. Hyrule nodded in response, too glad to speak and ruin the moment. Before he knew it, Hyrule was handed a small, foul seed. He looked confused for a second and looked up to Wild.

“Yeah…not that impressive, is it?” He sighed, snatching the seed from Hyrule, and adding to his collection. Hyrule blinked as he saw Wild open to pouch to see a mountain of the horrid smelling things. “Gotta get these back to Hestu sometime.” He casually stated, closing his pocket again.

“Buh-bye!” The Korok exclaimed, waving his small, rounded hand towards the two Hylians. Hyrule was not having this. He had spent two weeks searching for the little creatures, and when he does, he’s just supposed to say good-bye after minutes of meeting one? He reached out his arms and took the Korok up to his torso in one swift movement.

“I shall name him Peppers and he shall be mine!” Hyrule proclaimed loudly, much to Wild’s shock. He tried to wrangle the Korok out of Hyrule’s embrace, but the Korok spoke up.

“Actually, I’d love to be Mr. Hero’s friend!” It chirped, sinking into Hyrule’s green tunic. “Aw, see? He likes me!” Hyrule cuddled the Korok, adding a whiny tone to his words. Wild groaned, as he almost felt like Time, having to take care of someone like this.

“You’ll have to ask Time if we can keep it.” He sighed, poking the pointy nose of the leaf faced spirit. As if from nowhere, armored footsteps approached the two Hylians. “Keep what?” The firm voice spoke, making Wild jump for a moment.

“The Korok…?” Hyrule trailed off, still clutching the forest spirit. As the chain came into sight, some stood dumbstruck, whereas Wind’s eyes widened drastically. “Korok!?” The pirate pointed; mouth open wide as he bolted to Hyrule. “What in Din’s name is a Korok?” War groaned; his breath slightly hilted from jogging across the ranch.

“I’m not sure myself…but it definitely looks cute!” Time let slip a small remark of childish nature, a warm smile creeping up on his face. Legend soon ran up to his descendant and grabbed the Korok out of his hands.

“Where’s this little bugger from anyway?” He mumbled, turning the spirit face down to have a proper look at it. He furrowed his brow, then turned to Ravio, gestured to see if the rabbit hero had any clue about the creature. Ravio simply shrugged at him. “Hey! He isn’t some toy to be held like that!” Twilight shouted, scooping up the Korok from Legend’s hands. He held it carefully on his shoulder as one would a cat, as the Korok began playing with Twilight’s hair.

“I’m the best at dealing with animals here. I say we keep it,” Twilight nodded as the Korok’s hands started folding braids into his hair. “Peppers.” Hyrule quickly added, placing a hand on the little Korok’s back. “What’s this about p-peppers?!” Four almost leapt out of his skin after hearing “peppers”. Wild simply laughed and wrapped an arm around him.

“His name is Peppers!” Hyrule said once again, a smile dawning on his face. “Why peppers, though?” Four protested, his disdain for the food clear as day. Wind coughed a bit, trying to hold in a laugh. Sky gave him a light pat on the head and shook his head, mouthing “don’t”.

“Well, I think it’s a great name! Did…Did Wild pick it out?” Sky laughed wistfully, trying to discourage Wind from making fun of Four. “Nope, completely ‘Rule’s idea.” Wild answered, causing Four to instead eye Hyrule suspiciously. Legend folded his arms and let out a huff as Ravio giggled behind him. “Perhaps he’d be interested in renting?” Legend twisted around as Ravio flatly suggested.

“No one in their right mind would be interested in renting, Ravio.” He scoffed, turning back to face the rest of the chain. “I, personally, don’t want it. What if it steals our items and flees in the night?” War accused, pointing a finger towards the creature. A paranoid Warriors, Time couldn’t help but laugh.

“No, the Korok’s come from the Lost Woods. They’re the children of the Great Deku Tree, so I’d doubt they’d do that.” Wild explained, peaking the attention of Time. If the Korok’s were from the Lost Woods, he would have seen some by now, wouldn’t he? Or maybe they only showed up far after his era…

“Wait! You’ve met the Great Deku Tree too?!” Wind’s small figure jumped up, tugging on Wild’s tunic. Twilight eyed the older hero for a moment, he seemed…off. Korok still in arms, he strode up to Time and placed his free hand on his shoulder. “You alright, dad?” Time snapped out of his state of thought and quickly waved it off.

“I’m fine, just…glad that the Deku Tree still exists to them, I guess.” Time replied wistfully, his gaze trailing to the two blue-clad heroes, sharing their experiences with the ancient talking tree. “He was the…closest thing I had to a father.” His next comment caught Twili completely off guard. Does that mean he was related to a tree?

“Wait, your dad was a tree?! Are you joking?” Twilight exclaimed a bit too loudly, catching the attention of Four and Sky, who had been watching the unfolding chaos. Sky’s eyes widened immensely, full of curiosity as he quickly trotted over.

“Time’s father? A tree? My, that must be an interesting story!” Sky clasped his hands together in delight, eager to learn more about the mysterious Time.

“No, the Deku Tree was the closest thing to a father I ever had. I am not part tree.” Time had to hold back a snicker as he clarified that he was not of leafy descent. “I doubt that. Your hair is a very light shade of green.” Four pointed out, raising a hand to his chin in deep thought.

“I think that colour’s called yellow, dumbass.” Wind called from where he stood. Sky growled for a moment then proceeded to shout back: “Watch your language!”

For the rest of the evening, the chain shouted and argued, but settled on to keeping the Korok, naming it Peppers, much to Four’s disgust.

@bokettochild I hope you don't mind I borrowed Ravio's nicknames for everyone :)

#ah #lin writes #linked universe #lu fanfic #lu sky #lu warriors #lu twilight #lu legend #ah i'm not gonna tag all of them #botw #wind and wild bonding #warriors swears once what a badboy

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imthepunchlord · 3 years

Note

Do you have any thoughts on how the guardian role is handled lore wise? Would you change much about being the guardian?

Oh yes I do and there's so much that I would change up.

The more we see of the Guardians, the dumber they are and the more pointless they are. To a point it's a wonder if they were worth the inclusion as they don't amount to much and are just useless. I'm putting this undercut as I just go off.

- Lore wise, they set it up that adults are naturally more powerful, so why did Fu pick two kids to fight his battles for him? Why not adults? Why did he leave them on their own instead of offering them some means to have an edge over HM?

- Of the Ladybug and Cat, we have yet to see anything unique that the Cat brings to these fights that the other 15 miraculi that Fu has with him couldn't do. You need a distraction that's going to mess up the akuma? Monkey and Fox. You need a protector/aggressor? Bee, Turtle, or Dragon. Ladybug is a must as its the only cleanser so far and has ML to boot, but Cat doesn't need to be out there, and as soon as HM had quite publicly stated that he wants LB and Cat, Fu should've reclaimed the Cat immediately to secure its safety and that HM won't get both. Another or two could go out to replace it.

- Why was picking Adrien a good idea? If Fu had just arrived in Paris, ok, but Backwarder reveals he's been living in Paris for a while. And with that, he's seen Adrien's face everywhere.s Adrien is potentially the most well known kid in Pari. Technically, for Fu's want of secrecy, why pick the most iconic face in Paris to get a miraculous? That sets up one of your heroes to always have attention on him. Fu picking Adrien doesn't make any logical sense.

- Why is Fu ok with endangering one kid but not the other? Why does Marinette get a test set up that risks her life and Fu's if it hadn't gone well and Adrien just helps an old man up, a common decency that most would do. It's like two extreme differences that don't work well in comparison as Marinette gets the risky test and Adrien it looks like he got his miraculous on a silver platter as he got the far easier one that takes the least effort to be a decent human being.

- Fu being a terrible mentor and hero picker in general and the whole shebang with Syren. If Adrien is not meeting his standards or if he doesn't trust Adrien at all, why is Adrien being allowed to continue as a hero? Or if he really wants Adrien to stay, why isn't he doing anything about Adrien? Why isn't he telling Plagg to encourage Adrien to step up and get serious? If he can take on the role of being Adrien's Chinese teacher, why not do that to try and guide Adrien to improvement so he can also be trusted with Guardian secrets too and truly help Marinette out. He's got two options when he doesn't trust Adrien or finds that he's meeting his standards: he takes the miraculous back or he addresses this issue himself.

- I also call big BS about him not doing anything at all when he comes upon Adrien detransformed on the roof with Plagg. Cause he's risking himself going out to find Chat Noir only to find him detransformed. That realistically should raise some brows and concern him. Adrien at least should've gotten a lecture or warning.

- Also the reveal that kwamis aren't allowed to know about their own power. that to me is off putting. It really stresses that kwamis are beneath them, these very ancient and powerful beings that have probably seen a lot. And canon validates it by making them children (which to me is the writers being lazy so they don't have to do complex characters).

- The whole thing with Fu's backstory. Dumbest backstory I've ever heard and it just paints Guardians in a really bad light, and by extension, real life monks. Monks didn't go to people's homes to take children. If they did take kids with them, those kids had nowhere else to go and offered them a place to stay until old enough to be on their own. And that test, omg, wtf. Ok, I can get the idea of a test of temptation, but there are other ways to perform it without starving a kid. Especially leaving said kid alone unsupervised with 19 powerful miraculi two of which have wish granting abilities. How would the Guardians even know if Fu used a miraculous as they left him alone with mriaculi. If Fu wanted to, he could've made a wish to never be picked.

- Fu didn't even do shit when he finally had a chance to face off against HM. He just sat in his damb ball and allowed himself to get knocked around. At least try and roll over him! Be a ping-pong ball! DO SOMETHING. Like, why did you even pick Turtle??? Turtle wasn't able to do anything against Butterfly! I thought it could as Fu had been ready to go in Origins, plus the 5 are based off Wu Xing, by set up, Fox and Turtle should have some sort of an edge over the Butterfly. But I guess that means there could be other options aside form LB and we can't have that, Marinette's miraculous needs to be the only thing to take on the Butterfly to really stress on the fact that it comes down to only her.

- The memory wipe thing that's an apparently must when you retire from being the Guardian. Honestly I think that should've been saved as a last resort if you're ever captured and could be forced to leak info, not when you retire. Doing so removes a valid source of advisement that a new Guardian can rely on. History is there to learn from it and this tradition removes a source of history to learn from, either from having guidance or seeing what the old did and how you want to change things. This also makes me concerned as I see Adrien taking advantage of an amnesiac Marinette.

- I went off about the NY Special revealing there's more Orders here.

- And lastly, Su-Han, the other Guardian to see aside from Fu. And with him, it solidifies how stupid they all are. When the Butterfly is being misused in Paris, why is someone aggressive and judgmental coming to Paris? Why is this guy even working with kids when he doesn't like kids? And the reveal that Guardians don't use miraculi at all. That just makes that test all the dumber with testers being unsupervised. And for Guardians not meant to use miraculi, how come Marinette gets a nice perk as LB that she can pull a miraculous out of her yo-yo? They're probably playing that she's "the first" to do so but realistically, I'm pressing x to doubt. In the long history of miraculi and when Guardians were around, you expect me to believe that Guardians never used miraculi themselves? What if there was no one to turn to, do they just the disaster happen? ...Well, based on how terrible canon is setting them up, I wouldn't be surprised.

SO.

There is a lot I would change up about the Guardians and for this, I'll adjust canon.

- Adrien gets the ring another way, maybe a gift from his mom or aunt or grandparents. Realistically, there's no logical reason for Fu to pick Adrien. He just has too much attention on him and Chat being an unexpected miraculous user can make him wary, adding to him only trusting Marinette.

- I'd have Fu be more present in Marinette's life, a customer who comes in a lot. This way he can offer advise when needed but not take away from Tikki. And this has him more closely keeping an eye on things.

- I'd change up Fu's backstory. He got separated from his family in a flood, the previous Turtle saved him, tried to help him find his family and with no luck, took him to the Temple, but only the section where other orphans are where they work to help take care of it, oblivious to the miraculous near them. After a year, Fu is one of the few selected to be entrusted with miraculous knowledge. He's surprised but not all that for it as he'd rather go find his family still. Idk how Temple falls but its not that. That was just dumb and avoidable.

- I wouldn't have Adrien meet Fu at all. In truth, it actually could've been cut out entirely as Adrien meeting Fu didn't amount to anything. He doesn't help with Guardian duties, doesn't help pick heroes, hasn't stepped up at all in his role as a partner. And he's not as torn up about Fu's loss as Marinette is. Adrien meeting Fu was pointless in the grand scheme of things. Nothing was progressed or changed from Adrien meeting Fu.

- I'd have HM ONLY getting an edge on Fu because Mayura was there to help him, catching Fu off guard. I want to see the Turtle truly in action, to see what else it can do cause sitting there to be smacked around was just unimpressive. And if Asstruck even did as much research as he could, he'd know that in Chinese mythology, the Turtle is a boss. It's the keeper of history and symbol of immortality, and it's up there with Tiger as an animal that can go toe to toe with the Dragon. And of the Four Symbols (associated with 4 seasons), the Black Turtle is also known as the Black Warrior. There should've been a lot more to Turtle than just sitting in your shell and allowing yourself to be knocked around.

- Su-Han I'd drastically change up. I'd keep in him being critical and stern, but he approaches things smartly and patiently. Before he dives into aggression and accusations, he wants to know what's going on. Why does this 14 yo have the Miracle Box? How was the Butterfly obtained and misused? And what the hell is going on??? How are these people so small and how did they get into this thin glass box?? Computer? What's a computer??? Essentially, have fun with the fact that Su-Han is essentially a time traveler and one great bonding experience to have with Marinette while also offering some good comedy is him learning about the modern time and her acting as his guide. Su-Han can give her guidance that Fu hadn't been able to give, and Marinette can offer her own in a way that Su-Han will need. Which by extension could remove Marinette having a near mental breaking point and revealing herself to Alya, and could avoid some of that drama of what's coming.

- Speaking of which, Adrien. I'd use Su-Han to finally address the issues with Adrien as a hero and partner. Su-Han prioritized Marinette as she has the Miracle Box, but Adrien is someone he'd take the miraculous away from. Adrien would get a very clear warning and call out for his actions and role.

#ask Punchie #long post #Adrien salt #Fu salt #Guardian salt

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miru5llec · 3 years

Text

Theories about seers and their powers in the next books

(+my scrambled thoughts)

I do not understand the people who still think Elain is boring or weak. At the moment she’s one of, if not the most interesting character that we haven’t yet seen their story in the series.

People are talking as if Elain is not gonna finally pop off in the next book which is 100% hers. So why are we still discussing this. No heroine of SJM was weak, let’s make that clear. Not Lysandra, not Yrene, not Elide, not Manon and especialy not her main characters Aelin, Feyre, Bryce and Nesta. So what makes you think that Elain is going to be boring in her own book?

Let’s remember the fact that SJM never wrote about seers or their powers in her previous books, so all of this is new to us as readers and it can be quite overwhelming because we don’t know the depth of their powers. They were just briefly mentioned: in tog we have this gem “She knew they’d be powerful: seers had once used bloodbane as a drug to view spirits from other worlds.” and also this “I’m afraid I can’t be of service,” Mort sniffed. “If you want an instant answer, you should find yourself a seer or an oracle.”

In CC however, we meet a quite interesting and mysterious creature, also known as a Sphinx, called The Oracle. So to make a little comparison between an oracle and a seer:

Oracle = a person acting as a medium through whom advice or prophecy was sought from the gods

Seer = a person who sees; observer. a person who prophesies future events; a person endowed with profound moral and spiritual insight or knowledge; a wise person or sage who possesses intuitive powers

Basicaly, an oracle and a seer both have sight powers, but seers have a little something more.

And also, The Oracle from CC is a very interesting character and I wonder if SJM will drop little hints at Elain’s powers through her in HOSAB.

“Behind the smoke, a figure moved. “I wondered when the Shadow of Death would darken my chamber,” a lovely voice said. Young, full of light and amusement—and yet tinged with ancient cruelty.”

“Ask me your question, and I shall tell you what the smoke whispers to me.”

“Once the gods speak, I become the conduit through which their words pass.”

(Take a look at this post too about possible seer powers that we might see in Elain’s book)

SJM most probably took advantage of the fact that we don’t know much about seers and teased us about it: Amren saying not to underestimate her, Rhysand telling Feyre that there’s more to Elain than it seems, the little hint that Elain may have gotten out of the Cauldron with more powers that we know of.

I truly think SJM wanted to keep Elain and her abilities a secret. She did that purposefully. We can all agree that Elain is not the type of heroine that would wield a sword, but rather daggers and knives, so where it lacks in combat, it makes up in magic skills.

And also, the Cauldron has such interesting reactions to Elain and maybe we will learn why soon enough.

In the acotar universe, the only seer that we know of is Elain. There are some theories that the Bone Carver, Stryga or even Azriel’s mother are seers, but the only one who is actualy confirmed is Elain. So here it truly depends on what SJM wants to do with the seers. How rare she wants to make them.

Maybe there are more seers that we’re not aware of, maybe there are some seers in the Prison because they messed up and changed the course of history unintentionally, did something bad and thus were sent there. Maybe there are witches who also have sight powers.

For example, in tog the Blueblood witches had a vision of the Witch Kingdom under Ironteeth rule. They were the ones that mustered the Clans to fight against the Crochans, forming the Ironteeth Alliance. So maybe they have sight abilities too. AND the most interesting fact is that the blueblood matron also represents the maiden aspect of the Three-Faced Goddess (👀👀), and therefore will always be a relatively young witch.

That’s the point. We don’t know anything about seers or their lore. That’s why I’m so excited about the next book. Seers are always secondary characters who help the hero, never the main character. They’re always brushed off after they serve their purpose. And it will be so awesome because, we, as readers, normaly follow the hero in their journey and we never know what’s gonna happen next so whenever the MC makes a choice, we see the immediate consequence. Well, having a seer as a MC will probably change that because they see every foreseeable future and so every choice they make is to prevent or to help reach a certain vision. They already know the consequences of their choices. So realy they just need to decide which choices to dodge and what choices to keep. It’s very tricky if you think about it.

And acotar 5 is Elain’s book. Not only because of all the crumbs in acosf and what SJM said in all of her interviews and lives, but because of Elain’s character. What would be the point of dragging Elain’s character through another book, leave again crumbs all over the story and again write one or two bonus POVs that have her as the main focus, just to give her the last book, when she already did all of this in acosf? And because of Azriel’s “secret”, that SJM talked about before Nesta’s book was out, being about Elain herself, the undeniable parallels between Wings and Embers and Azriel’s POV, it’s clear as day that Az will be the second MC and that elriel will happen.

No cuz let’s think a little bit about this. Both POVs clearly confirm a certain aspect of Elain’s journey. The Az pov for the forbidden romance (and also for confirming him as the second MC) and the Feysand pov for Elain’s character arc. (And the crumbs from acosf for the plot.)

Elriel is vital to the plot. Both Az and Elain have ties with the autumn court and Koschei at some degree and will resolve a certain conflict (The Blood Duel + the breaking of the mating bond + probably Beron’s death for the autumn court conflict and The Fourth Dread Trove for the Koschei plotline) And as SJM herself said: “I love happily ever afters, I thrive on them, and I think that anyone picking up my books will know that there is a happy ending, but my characters will have to work hard, and occasionally suffer greatly, to get it.” And who has to suffer the most to reach their happy ending if not Elain and Azriel.

#elain archeron #elain #elriel #acotar 5 #seer #seer powers #acotar

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yostresswritinggirl · 3 years

Text

Where I Can't Follow

Vibe for sad

Icarus is flying too close to the sun. And his wings may not melt, but this time it can break. Where the wind takes him will not be enough.

Pairings -> Venti x Reader?

Word Count -> 1416

Themes -> Sad hours, Abandonment Issues, ACTUAL short fic

Series -> #Sojourner Specials (600 Followers Event)

Warnings -> I seem to only know how to hurt Venti

"Can you tell me more about Celestia?" The said island of where ancients dwelled passes over past the moon as it was noticed and mentioned.

A strum. "The land of the divine?" A nod. "Why, it's a land of bland wine!"

A chorus of their laughters passes over as Celestia once again departs from the skies of Mond.

"Come now, Venti, tell me more!" A hum.

And his demeanor changes when his teal eyes bore on yours, a smile so soft and small, almost unnatural. "Celestia takes more than what we offer, and it is those that it takes which I loathe for."

Do not praise Celestia, for one day it shall take you away too.

Venti had yearned freedom for another. And you remember this tale much more vividly than the others. About the bard, who fought valantly for freedom.

When he sings to you, despite the fact that you had lived thosands of years past the deceased you feel the remnants of the pioneer, like the enigma the Anemo Archon is that stands before you.

You've heard the tales of the bard while by the hands of the Archon's statue and he speaks fondly of him, and ever since then Venti never speaks about him beyond that area. The bard's name or tale seems like a sacred tale that can only be spoken in that divine place. When you sit next to him and watch as his eyes distantly lingers at a land far away from reach, you realized that the direction he faces was where the ruins of the old city lays.

"He was my first friend." You also notice that beyond his mantra that the rhymes loosen up, disappear in the winds when you two sit there. As if he was stripped bare of what he made himself to be. That it was not the image of the bard that he has reincarnated himself to was speaking but the sprite from the war that only wishes to dance with the thousand winds under the symphony of a human's lyre.

"But you're here now! Just like the good old times! At least now, there's nothing that can kill you."

You give him a deadpan at the humor that was not at all. Even if he makes light of the situation you knew he was still aching and trembling inside, his resolve shedding the more he thinks. The more he remembers.

The word death was a touchy subject for him despite his immortality, and he can never finish his tale despite the many times he recited the whole story to you. Why would he detest it? After all it was his sacrifice that has given thousand of years of freedom for the populace. You want to be a hero? Then you'll have to die like one.

Another icon he speaks of so fondly was that of Venessa, the flame-touched knight that became the exemplar of freedom as its hero. When he had awoken to the new age of aristocracy, it was their chance meeting that had made him aware of the changes he dreaded.

Solitude and 500 years away from Mondstadt and its people, to grow on their own without the issue of divine intervention was his recipe for the exercise of freedom. But they turned unhinged and he once again had to intervene to revert it back to its glory.

Venessa was the epitome of paradox over the concept of freedom and slavery, and that of devotion for her people and for Celestia.

"I don't see what's so good about Celestia really," Venti grumbles to himself as you two lay under the shade of the Windrise tree, "but far from this place, I see the appeal of divinity."

You've always liked Windrise for its glorious towering crown as well as the history behind it. This is where the hero ascends to Celestia, her prayers she had uttered her whole life finally received as she ascends to be one of the four winds that continues to protect Mondstadt.

The word feels distasteful on the tip of his tongue, almost spitting it with venom. And you've never seen Venti look over anything with such distaste, besides cheese. But it seems it isn't just Celestia that hurts him now.

And maybe, despite the facade he has shown as the ever-loving God Barbatos, when Dvalin begged for release and freedom from his duty as one of the four winds— despite the years that he had waited for his cleansing, singing to his friend and calling for him to keep it together.

You knew Venti had lost another friend. He didn't want to be selfish, he couldn't be selfish, for he would be a hypocrite of a god to do so.

You can see the longing in the way his eyes twinkles whenever he looks up at the skies, a third layer of masked sadness dwells within it. And when he hugs you tightly as he weeps for both the loss and unshackling, there was a desperation and silent prayer in the way he squeezes you.

You and him realized it together that day. The other side of the coin that is freedom, had taken too much from Venti. And despite being its archon, he was tied down to his city, until his non-existent death he would be there forever. Watching every person move past his life, ascension after death, and death and death.

You thought to yourself, if immortality had given you all that is forever to live it, why does it feel as tho it jails your beloved Venti?

You always knew the capabilities of Venti and his permanence in this world, but as you rush over to his slouched form by Windrise, you couldn't help but release a tear in how broken and drained he looked. You took him in your arms and he succumbs like a lifeless doll so easily.

"It's okay, I can still heal myself," the gnosis that acts as the badge of his archon status had been taken away from his forcefully, beaten by a woman to the ground, his powers yanked out by the use of forbidden power meant to deter the likes of him.

You slip down to the grassy bed, his head laid on your lap as Venti tries to regain his strength without the help of the device that contains a huge chunk of his divine power. The hands on his cheeks tremble and he smiles to himself, nuzzling it. Silly human, he mumbles, I'm not going anywhere.

You were not knowledgeable on his capabilities without his gnosis, and you were scared that like the tales of the end of gods, he'd slip from your hands in the form of a fleeting somber wind. His element.

You squeeze your eyes shut and pour out all the desperation and pleas in your loud mind, please don't take him away, please be safe, please make him come back to how he was before.

In the dead of night with only the sound of the breeze lulling your silence, way above towers—

Celestia listens.

To the heavens may you fly.

Venti's glare was much, much harsher than the biting frost that threatens to tip him over back to the snow hundreds of feet below. The tip of Dragonspine's mountain held no regards for those who need to breathe, a crown of swirling clouds shying it away from distant and prying eyes.

He strums his lyre fiercely as a gale current of the same intensity manifests around him, his wind glider manifesting and instantly opening at the force. He managed to lift himself high enough to break through the clouds and it was a magnificent, magical sight of dazzling blue.

And yet his hand can only reach out at the dot of an island that was thousand of years away from his grasp, his weakened powers dissipates and he floats back down the winter land on his knees.

Venti bangs his fists against the snow as hard as he can and sobs, his tear immediately freezing over before it even passes his cheek. He can't reach that high up, he can't fly over in such a weakened state, despite being the archon of the winds himself.

Curses, he screams at the vortex that eats it whole, the divine has taken from him once again.

"I told you, not to go, where I can't follow."

Now he is alone, stuck in the city of freedom. Maybe he has been awake for too long.

@ellitx @zelos-simp @legionqueensav @snackgod @rxsalinee @cala-ran @wind-wheel @moaa @dandelion-dreams @witchsungie

#genshin impact x reader #venti x reader #genshin impact #exile.flower #sojourner special #genshin impact venti #gender neutral #this one is weird #very short #big oof #ACCIDENTALLY POSTED AGAIN

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yannowhatigiveup · 3 years

Text

My One And Only - Chapter 17

Previous | Next | Master List

I have posted this chapter and I have had as much sleep as an insomniac can get. After next chapter, maybe, I’ll get to the scene that I have been wanting but also dreading to write so that’s something.

"...You're Ladybug, aren't you?"

————————————————————

Marinette's eyes widened, she didn't expect Alya to come to that recognition but as she gave it a second thought, it made sense. Luckily the pain in her chest had subsided so she could think clearly. The bluenette turned away from her best friend, nodding her head.

"Oh my god. You're Ladybug, my best friend is Ladybug!" Alya gasped, the situation truly hitting her, "Oh god you're Ladybug, the same Ladybug that got stabbed! Oh my god Mari are you okay?!"

The bluenette took a few long breaths before answering. "Yeah, I will be"

The aspiring reporter shook her head, "No, what happens if that happens during class? You might not have enough energy to stay conscious! I'll go tell Miss Bustier to let us off for today then we go to Damian's since he's the likely candidate to be Noir" Marinette knew not to underestimate her best friend's capabilities but she couldn't help but be stunned at her accurate conclusion. Hesitantly, she agreed and only after the bluenette was safely escorted out of the bathroom did Alya make her way to their classroom. After what felt like an eternity, though was probably only a few minutes, the amber-haired girl returned. "Come on, let's go get your stuff"

Once her belongings were collected, the two left the school building and towards the Grand Paris. While one hand was steadying the bluenette, Alya had her phone in the other. 'Texting Dami probably' The walk completely silent, but it was a comfortable silence. The aching in her chest would certainly appear in her voice and she didn't want to worry her best friend more than she already was. Marinette also knew that Alya was waiting to reach to hotel room before she asked questions, a good hero never discussed trivial matters out of the mask when it wasn't necessary, and Alya was definitely a good hero.

Soon enough, they arrived at the hotel and made their way to Damian's room. The green-eyed boy greeted them as they went inside, taking Mari from Alya so that she could lean on him. Once all three occupants were safely secured in the room, their three kwamis came up to check on their guardian.

Tikki's voice came first. "Marinette! Are you okay? I tried healing it but it didn't work I'm sorry"

"It's not your fault Tikki. It's oka-"

"No! It's not okay, Marinette! You're in pain! Plagg, Trixx is there anyway to get rid of it?" The red kwami anxiously floated towards her fellow companions.

"It's was caused by Hawkmoth" Plagg supplied. "Only Nooroo can remove his magic"

Damian hummed thoughtfully while Alya, though less panicked, was still slightly alarmed. There was still one question that left unanswered. What were they going to do now? Marinette's train of thought kicked in. 'We might have to expand our team sooner than expected...'

"What's the plan?" It was Alya who spoke, the reporter recognised the look of thought on her best friend's face.

"I think... I think we need to bring in more heroes" the bluenette replied hesitantly. "I'll give it some more thought before we bring anyone in"

Alya nodded. "Say, do you think I should practise my illusions? I could try to make them more fluid and realistic" Marinette approved for Alya to practice and watched Rena Rouge jump from rooftop to rooftop. The bluenette turned to her boyfriend.

"I'll look at the copy of the Grimoire, maybe it'll reveal a way to heal me, or subdue the pain at least." The blue-eyed girl blinked as an idea popped in her head. "Why don't you join me? You tend to pick up on things quite quickly so maybe I could teach you how to read the language of the guardians"

Damian sat on the chair, gently pulled Marinette on his lap and peered over her shoulder, looking at the digital copy of the book on her phone. "Learning an ancient language could be interesting"

~~~

The green-eyed boy chuckled ever so slightly as the bluenette kept whining about how he managed to pick this up much faster than she did when Master Fu taught her. After some time, Marinette decided to go check on Rena Rouge in her hero persona, she took one of Damian's hoodies before leaving, though. This went unnoticed by the owner but not by his kwami. Plagg snickered at Marinette's sneaky antics before asking, demanding, for some Camembert. Damian ordered a selection of cheese to see if there was a substitute to the stinky cheese, there was no way he would go around smelling like a used sock. The black kwami didn't complain since it means he would have more cheese. As Plagg was eating somewhere in the hotel room, a ringing sound came from Damian's phone. Thinking it was one of his annoying brothers, he left it idle for a moment before reaching to answer the call. It was a face time request. From Jon. Pressing the accept button, Damian placed his phone on the coffee table while waiting for the call to connect.

"Hi Dami!!" Was what was first said when the call finally connected. He didn't necessarily like the nickname, it was reserved for Marinette and Marinette only.

"Hello, Kent" he replied, his eyes briefly glanced over to the black kwami in his room. Then he remembered something that Marinette had mentioned momentarily.

Marinette had pulled her phone out from her purse and pulled Damian in for a picture, Tikki on her shoulder and Plagg on Damian's head. Wanting to make her happy, Damian let his lips twitch ever so slightly, having a small smile, one that his family would scarcely see, on his face.

"Don't the kwamis appear on camera?" He asked when she had finsihed. The bluenette turned to smile at him.

"Their magic prevents them from being recorded or heard on camera, so no" Marinette grabbed her phone back from where she returned it. She handed it towards him where the picture was shown and sure enough, there were no kwamis insight.

"Magic never fails to impress me"

The bluenette giggled. "I know"

"So how's the City of Love? Found anyone yet?" Jon's tone wasn't in a teasing manner, like most of his brothers would usually have, instead his voice held genuine curiosity. Again, Damian noted how much Jon would act like an excited puppy.

"It's adequate" He stated simply, he purposefully didn't answer the second question. Unfortunately for him, Jon managed to pickup on the fact.

"No. Freakin'. Way. You found someone! What's their name? What're they like? Do you have a crush or you and them together? Wh-" His voice was cut off by the sound of Damian's hotel door opening. He was thankful for the interruption before realising it was Marinette who entered, wearing his hoodie.

Completely forgetting that Jon was on call, Damian turned to the bluenette. "Is that my hoodie?"

Marinette, noticing Damian was speaking in English, switched to English as well. "I may have taken it as I left but you have no proof" She made her way to the couch, hugging her boyfriend from behind before noticing the boy on the phone. "Oh hello!" She greeted.

"Woah! Hi! Are you Damian's girlfriend by any chance?" The big wide smile that appeared on his face when she confirmed his suspicions, could rival her own. "What's your name?"

"Marinette"

"It's nice to meet you Marinette! I'm Jon, Dami's best friend!" He reminded her of Adrien, both had excitable personalities and they were both enthusiastic rays of sunshine.

"Self-proclaimed" Damian muttered under his breath.

Marinette, though having a smile on her face, jabbed the green-eyed boy in the ribs with her elbows, "Be nice, Dami"

"My name and nice are not usually in the same sentence" He smirked at her offended expression.

The bluenette huffed as she folded her arms across her chest. "Well when you're with me you're much more than nice"

"Well you are my girlfriend, it's hard not to" Marinette shot a playful glare at Damian, which was by no means intimidating in the slightest. "Such as right now, I feel like I'm being intimidated by a cupcake"

The blue-eyed girl's cheeks dusted with a light pink before she turned her head towards something in the room, muttering incoherently. Damian couldn't pick up what she was saying so he pulled her into his body, her begrudgingly leaning into the embrace.

Jon could tell that Damian had gotten soft and was completely smitten for the noirette. In all honesty, he was happy he could find someone like her. Despite only briefly talking, he could tell she was a pure soul. "Well I gotta get going. See you lovebirds later!" And the call disconnected.

"You're best friend seems like the cheerful type"

"Self-procla-" A soft pair of lips on his own cut off the words he was about to say. He didn't mind, he was just annoyed that this was a very convenient way to get him to shut up.

"Self-proclaimed or not-" Marinette began after she pulled away "-you still care about him greatly, much like you do with your brothers."

"You always try to think of the best in others" He muttered, his voice muffled as he placed a kiss on her temple. "Where's Cèsaire?"

"She returned to school, hey do you want to get something to eat while I'm still here?"

"Sure"

~~~

The two had sat down in the dining area, both scanning the menu for something that caught their eye, when an akuma made it's presence known. The couple quickly came to the the scene, the Akuma seemed to be a ten year old girl. Le Chien and Rena Rouge were quickly to arrive as well, with Le Chien providing the information on her backstory.

"Apparently, from what I heard, she got ridiculed for getting a participation reward" The dog-themed hero supplied, eyes dropping ever so slightly. "Poor her"

"If we deal with this swiftly, we'll be able to help her" Ladybug called upon her lucky charm and was given a long, spotted javelin. The spotted heroine noticed how the girl's weapon was also a javelin, just with a more pointier end. Her eyes darted all over the scene, first to Noir who was duelling the Akuma, then to the two heroes at her side. Quickly formulating a plan, Ladybug turned to Rena Rouge. "I'll need you to create illusions of the two of us, we'll able to confuse the Akuma and while it's confused-" The spotted heroine turned to Le Chien. "-you'll be able to identify the akumatized object"

Rena and Chien nodded while positioning themselves to attack. Ladybug, javelin in hand, joined Noir in the duel. Rena joined too after a music note was played and many clones of the hero team were created. The Akuma, however, was tactical and had managed to narrow it's opponents down to the original trio. This was when the main part of her plan was to take place. Ladybug slowly distanced herself from the fight, sending a signal to Noir to get him to do the same.

Once noticing her signal, Noir took action. "Rena, fall back" The fox-themed heroine shot a shocked look at the black cat hero before hesitantly obliging. With all three heroes equal length away, the Akuma struggled to decide who to get rid of first, Ladybug had other plans. Using the moment of uncertainty to her advantage, the spotted-heroine charged at the Akuma, knocking the Akuma's javelin out of their reach with her own. While Ladybug was in the air, jumping over the Akuma, Le Chien had not a moment to spare.

"Fetch!" His boomerang lit up and he threw it at the Akuma with great force, the glowing boomerang snatched one of the many medallions resting on the Akuma's body before returning. A purple butterfly emerged as the dog-themed hero threw the medal on the floor.

A spotted yo-yo was quick to capture the fluttering creature. "Gotcha. Bye-bye little butterfly" Once freed from it's magical imprisonment, a white butterfly emerged. Javelin in hand, Ladybug threw it in the air, erupting into many magical ladybugs. "Miraculous Ladybug!" Once the ladybugs subsided, all four heroes fist pumped.

"Pound it!"

They were interrupted by the sound of three miraculous beeping. Sharing a chuckle, the superhero team parted ways, Ladybug and Noir leaving together of course. They arrived to the sound of Damian's phone being bombarded with notifications. With a sigh, the green-eyed boy went to check what the messages were while Marinette brushed through her hair. He hummed.

"What is it?" The bluenette asked, placing the brush down on one of the cabinets.

"Your uncle released his album, the song you provided the vocals for has already reached number one in a few countries" Marinette blinked in astonishment.

"I- already? Wow..." She couldn't really figure out what to say. In her defence, what do you say in reply? "Hang on, wait I'll be back" The girl left and Damian decided to occupy himself by rereading the digital copy of the Grimoire that his girlfriend had sent him. It was quite a simple language once you get used to it, most of the symbols were shaped similarly and it was quite an easy concept. Around twelve minutes later, Marinette returned with a few boxes. "I brought some of the things I made for your family. I thought it would be best to give it to you now before I forget"

Damian removed the weight in her arms while smiling. "Thank you, Angel"

"Anytime, also-" The bluenette took something that was hidden behind her back, since she had an oversized hoodie it was easy to. "-I made this for you" It was a hoodie of her own design, ever so subtly Robin themed.

Putting the boxes near his suitcase, Damian walked back over to Mari, delicately handling the woven fabric almost as if he were in fear of ruining it. The green-eyed boy slipped in on, it fit like a glove with a little bit of leniency to provide warmth. Turning back to the bluenette, Damian found her analyzing the piece of clothing in him, as if looking for mistakes needing to be fixed.

"Does it fit okay? Is it comfortable? Do you like the design?" Marinette kept rambling on with questions about the artwork that he was wearing. Walking closer, he enveloped the bluenette in a hug, her face buried in his chest while he stroked his fingers through her midnight hair.

"Thank you, Habibti. I am very grateful for this gift, but you really didn't need to make me one"

She looked up at him and huffed. "I wanted to and besides-" her arms snaked up his chest and made their way around neck, her fingers lightly tugging on the hairs on his nape. "-it looks good on you"

He hummed, his hands trailing down to her waist, "if it was made by you, it's bound to be" The green-eyed boy placed a slow but heartfelt kiss on the forehead. "I'm not sure about you, but I'd like to listen to the completed song"

Marinette whined but went to get her phone anyway, Damian chuckled at her antics before returning to the pages of the Grimoire he was reading. In the background, he heard the plucking of a strings instrument followed by chimes from what could've been a triangle. The genre itself wasn't what first came to mind when someone mentioned 'Jagged Stone' but the man was fully capable of creating great songs in any music style. His point was further supported when Marinette's voice echoed through the music. Damian unknowingly smiled as he listened to his beloved's voice, but something else caught his attention. Flicking through the pages, the green-eyed boy came across a page relating to both the Ladybug miraculous and the Butterfly miraculous. Briefly scanning the ancient letters, he caught the bluenette's attention.

"Angel, did I translate this correctly? If I did then..."

Marinette, intrigued, came over to peer over her boyfriend's shoulder and found him looking on a page she hadn't seen before. She scanned it hastily, her palm covering her mouth as she finished. Damian looked over at her expression, meaning that he had translated it correctly.

"...I believe I found a way to subdue Hawkmoth"

———

Taglist: @little-bluestar,@miracleofadisaster,@frieddonutsweets,@jjmjjktth,@genderfluidmoma,@starlit-dreaming,@icerosecrystal,@lolieg,@kashlyn, @mochegato,@eggadoodle,@walkingthroughonautopilot, @toodaloo-kangaroo,@lady-bee-fechin,@weebjai1

#daminette #damian x marinette #maribat #maridami #marinette x damian #mlb x dc #ml x dc #damianette

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otterskin · 3 years

Text

Dumb Details From the Loki Trailer I noticed but then got too serious about

First - apparently it’s not a trailer, so I guess we’ll get ‘Trailer 1′ later? ‘Exclusive Clip’ hardly seems accurate, but hey, I’m not Disney’s marketing division. I wouldn’t live in a shoebox if I was.

Dumb detail no. 1:

Owen Wilson’s jacket is...weird. Look closely.

And another shot:

Yeah...his jacket has a ‘reversed collar’. It’s a cut-out rather than cloth folding on top. Huh. What a strange design choice. What could it mean?

I’ve no idea, but that I watched the trailer enough times to notice this should concern you.

Detail No. 2

In this scene, we see what we can presume to be President Loki’s ‘Throne’. Notice the candy-canes. This is a Santa Claus throne, presumably from some mall Santa. This whole place might be in a mall, judging by the stuff in it.

But the Loki in this shot is not President Loki. Notice that he’s wearing brown pants, a thin brown tie, and the beige shirt he’s seen wearing in other parts of the trailer after he's apparently joined the TVA. President Loki wears black pants, a green vest and a wide green tie with a golden clip that resembles Loki’s little chevron he always has (more on that later).

So it would seem that Loki might meet President Loki here. President Loki might even be addressing him at the end of the trailer. It’s possible that his minions turn on him because there’s two Lokis and they don’t know which is the ‘imposter’.

Speaking of, there’s a minion with bicycle handlebars grafted to a football helmet here, likely meant to resemble Loki. I dig it. There’s also cans of food scattered among the rubbish here. Makes sense that food production is non-existent since everyone has resorted to wearing license plates and spoons. Love how tattered the whole aesthetic is.

This reminds me of the opening Michael Waldron’s script ‘Worst Guy of All Time’, which featured a similar post-apocalyptic setting after the ‘worst guy’ ruins everything and makes himself king of the ashes. That’s likely what’s happened here, but I hope that Loki isn’t anything like Logan Paul, who was the inspiration for that title character.

Ah, the mysterious female character watching a meteor shower WAY TOO CLOSE UP. But my eyes are drawn to one thing...

What is that oblong object with a shiny handle? Could it be...

A sword? I do love swords. Did you know there’s a bunch of pictures of me in the stock photos for ‘Fencing?’ That’s my cred for loving swords.

I suspect that this female character will be an amalgamation of Amora (shudder) and Sylvie and an alternate Loki of some kind. This sword is currently in her possession, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it or another timeline version of it becomes the Loki Show’s Loki′s weapon.

Loki has lacked a ‘weapon of his own’ in the MCU for quite some time. I mean, yes, he has his little knives, but they are many and disposable and something he chose for himself, rather than the two legendary weapons wielded by Odin and Thor, Gungnir and Mjolnir. In fact, throughout his appearances, Loki has seemed to want such a thing of his own - he briefly had Gungnir, and then the Gungnir-like scepter, and even tried to lift Mjolnir.

One might ask why Odin would’ve overlooked such an obvious show of favouritism. Why give Thor a storied weapon and leave Loki empty-handed? Heck, even Hela had the Necroblade.

In Thor 1, we might’ve assumed that the Casket of Ancient Winters was perhaps intended one day to be given to Loki, as it is shown with Mjolnir in the Vault and thus connected to it and the children who would inherit it. But in the comics, Odin did have another weapon of storied history put away for his second son: Gram the Sword.

It was locked for eons by Odin in a special vault which required five keys to be opened, and it was meant to be for Loki if he be worthy.[2] The five keys were infused by Odin with the powers of "journeys", "endurance", "secrets", "new beginnings", and "brotherhood", respectively.[3]

The sword, like everything else in comics, has a complicated history full of take-backs and twists, but let’s just leave it at ‘it’s a representation of Loki’s worthiness and belonging in the trifecta with Odin and Thor as a King of Asgard’. It gives him ‘equality’.

In the original mythology, it’s wielded by Sigurd to kill the dragon Fafnir, and the only relation it has to Loki is that Loki is partially responsible for Fafnir existing in the first place (my username is nod to this myth by the by. Sorry Ottär.) But hey, maybe that means we’re getting a dragon? The Fafnir would be very cool.

Or it could just be a bit of rebar in this mining quarry.

Then again...it appears somewhere else...

It’s easier to see in motion, but that’s a sword swinging on this person’s back.

So the hooded figure is this lady...shall we call her Amylkie? Does that mean she’s the antagonist of this show? Well...maybe, but I suspect the true antagonist is foreshadowed here -

So, what’s going on here? A young girl (Young Amylkie? Some other TVA prisoner that the guard is watching over? An oracle, A Norn, or a kid who wandered off from the tour group in a basilica somewhere?) She’s giving Mobius M. Mobius a...piece of chocolate. Maybe he saw a Dementor, I dunno. I suspect it’ll be a MacGuffin of some kind later. He looks pretty concerned here, which contrasts with his ‘another day at the office’ blaséness when dealing with Loki. But of course this is the eye-catcher:

So, Norse Mythology. It’s been Christiannized. You can thank Snorri Sturluson for that, but you can google all about him later. Let’s just say that he made many Norse figures into equivalents for Christian ones. Baldur is Jesus, pure and a sacrificial lamb who dies for a greater good. And the devil is...Loki. Something the Marvel comics and the MCU have continued.

Here we have a devil, dressed in green and with a distinct shape on his chest:

Hmmm...wait...I know that weird horny shape...

Ah. I’d say that cinches it. This is meant to be Loki. If you look at the devil’s hair, it also resembles Loki’s, being shoulder-length and black.

So, what’s devil-Loki doing? Laying an egg? Trying out a foot massager? For a second I thought it was a moon, but we see the moon over his left shoulder, amongst the stars. Which means this is - probably the Earth.

...Dammit; I live there.

So Earth is barren and being devoured by flames, likely caused by this Loki sitting atop of it (in a throne, no less). Aw gee, things look pretty bad, don’t they?

But wait - what’s that? Under the Earth (and, possibly, under the earth)?

It’s a plant. A shoot, to be exact.

Back to Ragnarok for a second. Ragnarok isn’t the apocalypse (something we see a lot of in this trailer - all of it seems to be exploring the end of days). Ragnarok is the fire meant to wipe out the old and fertilize the ground for the new. And after the gods have died, what happens? Well, Baldur emerges from Hel, one of the only surviving gods (hmm, seems him dying worked out, didn’t it?). He’s joined by Líf and Lífþrasir, who are the new first man and woman, who’s names mean ‘Life’ and who are pictured, usually, with plants and new life. It is they who are tasked who growing a new Yggdrasil after the destruction of the old. The previous first man and woman are Ask and Embla, meaning Ash Tree and Vine/Elm tree, so there’s a theme there.

So a new sprout, possibly a tree, growing out of the destruction of the old.

This fits with Loki’s role as understood in mythology. He checks the arrogance of the gods, including when they tried to achieve immortality (sorry, Baldur, nothing personal), and that keeps the gods at their best. After Loki is imprisoned, the gods become weak, unhelpful and foolish, and Yggdrasil starts to rot. Eventually Loki escapes and returns along with Surtur (who also resembles this figure) to burn it all to the ground. This is also referenced in Thor:Ragnarok, with Loki releasing Surtur in the Vault, a place of thematic importance to Loki and one that represents the hidden secrets and sins of Asgard). You could say Ragnarok continued into Infinity War, where Loki played an important part in aiding Thanos’ destruction, giving up the stone to protect his brother and essentially dooming the rest of the universe - but also ultimately leading to its salvation, even if, like Myth Loki, he wasn’t around to see it.

So, we see Amylkie literally start a fire in the trailer -

- in fact, this whole trailer is awash in flame -

It’s fire, fire everywhere and she’s setting them!

It’s possible Amylkie’s our big bad, but I think there’s a chance she’s either a red herring, or, much like how Loki ‘worked’ with Thanos in The Avengers, she is the pawn of a greater foe -

- a Loki bent on destruction, for some reason or other. The TVA is obviously aware that this is the case, and it seems like they might be trying to ‘fight fire with fire’ by enlisting one Loki to combat another. The villain could be President Loki, since there's evidence of 2 Lokis in that scene - or maybe that's one of many Lokis, and the Big Bad Loki is being played by Hugh Grant as Old Loki. In any case, it would appear that Loki will be coming face-to-face with the worst versions of himself, and many of them. And, if I’m right about this scene:

...Loki will likely eventually discover that even his ‘good’ timeline ended in the destruction of his people and home, plus his own gruesome and torturous death. Although I think the TVA will keep that from him, and just show him the happy parts in an effort to inspire ‘good behaviour’. Until Loki inevitably discovers the rest of how that timeline played out and realize he’s been lied to. I don’t imagine he’ll take that very well...

Damn, even our ‘hero’ Loki is burning stuff down! Does this mean that Loki is doomed, always meant to be an avatar of death and toasty destruction?

Well...let’s go back to that stained glass.

Hmmm...wait...I know that weird horny shape...

And there’s something else...the bottom of the Earth is being lit up, and not by fire. Light appears to be coming off this little plant.

What colour is this plant again? That’s right, green. Green is the colour of new life and growth and change and...hang on, I’ve heard that before, too...

Hang on hang on HANG ON... let me have a look at the shape again.

That’s...a letter. An L? For Loki? Like in the title sequence?

Wait...no, a different letter. An older letter. After all, Loki is old Norse. How do you spell his name in that again?

ᛚᛟᚲ ᛁ -

And ENHANCE on that third letter!

This, my friends, is a Kenaz/Kaunaz, or what would become 'K' in our alphabet. It is also known as the 'Loki Rune' (and the Ulcer Rune, for some reason. I suspect Odin understands why). It’s used to spell his name, but is also used on his own to represent him. Heck, it's even his Superman 'S' in the comics:

Runes are more than letters - they are symbols for concepts. So what else does it mean?

Primarly, it means ‘torch’.

And also ‘knowledge’ (ken). As well as ‘growth, change, the search for truth, decay, arrogance, elitism, feminine, kinship and creativity.’

...Okay, that’s a lot, but you have to admit it fits.

More specifically, it means ‘Mastery of the Fire’. As in, someone who has learned to tame fire so that it is helpful, not harmful. To bring light and, symbolically, knowledge.

There’s another way Loki’s been associated with fire - in the Wagner Ring Cycle, Das Rheingold, the opera that inspired much the Thor films’ aesthetic and certainly their helmets, Loki is called ‘Loge’, which means ‘Fire’. He’s usually dressed to match, too -

Many trickster figures are associated with fire. They are usually called ‘Fire-bringers’ - See: Raven, Lucifer, Prometheus, etc. They are often complex figures with a foot in different worlds, but who nonetheless help mankind with the gift of ‘fire’ - although they usually pay for it, and tend to be self-destructive.

(Side note. Lucifer means light-bringer, which is what luciferase is named after. Because it glows. Which is helpful in labs. In case someone needed to know that.)

Moving from a destructive fire-starter to a fire-bringer seems like a great character arc for Loki to take, especially given his rehabilitation in pop culture, the comics, and even wider culture. Loki has gone from being seen as an evil, deviant, destructive character to one who’s seen as a patron of the arts and creativity, of stories rather than lies. Heck, some scholars of Norse Mythology even posit that he’s the closet thing to a protagonist Norse Mythology has, so I guess that backfired, Snorri!). Being dressed in green and with the sprout clearly also being stylized after his Kaunaz, there’s foreshadowing that he’ll be capable of growing good things even out of ashes.

So, to sum up: Being ‘Satan’ sounds pretty bad, but with a little letter re-arranging like we see in the title sequence, you can be...

...practically a saint. Maybe even a saviour.

Merry Christmas, everybody.

#loki #trailer #details #meta #theories #theory #explanation #thor #tva #santa #devil #snorri sturluson whinging #christmas #fire #kaunaz #loki trailer

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botwstoriesandsuch · 3 years

Video

youtube

Finally finished this! Sorry I’m a bit late.

Made this song in pairing with a new Revalink soulmark fic: Paraphrase

Based on a prompt @motherhyrule (Happy Birthday and thanks!)

Read it on AO3 or, here...

Chapter 1: Holes

There were holes in the sky.

While the artificial blue glow of Vah Medoh was a constant reminder of abnormal circumstances of this view—looking out into the east, you could be fooled for a moment to believe in serenity.

The details of the great, inky abyss were blurred by the occasional grey cloud, crawling towards the light of a decaying moon. Its pale, crescent complexion gave a humble glow to the dancing seas of grass and the motionless hills of glistening lake water. Below, wooden huts embraced one another on the edges of an ancient spire. The winds had crafted a fine sculpture, the unique silhouette of Rito Village cast faint shadows on Lake Totori.

There was distant whistling from either the cutting breeze or a bored village guard, perhaps leaning against his spear, dreaming of slumber.

There's a fire, somewhere. A spiral of smoke rises with a delicious aroma fantastic enough to reach the heights of Medoh. Someone making a late-night stew, under the dotted, broken sky.

If you could tear your eyes away from the nature down below, the navy blue canvas would still be there to greet you—a perfect night that cloaked any traces of the sun, as if time was always meant to be this way. Unchanging, and ever an elegant, unrivaled mix of blue, black, and grey.

But of course, unchanging was not everlasting. The perfect canvas was pierced by the frozen heights of Hebra, and flaming stars. Whole armies of them were scattered across the sky, as if the goddess had flicked a handful of embers at the night, burning through the blue and into an unknown.

"I heard that stars are actually holes into the heavens." Link finally said. "Like...They break through the sky, and at night you can look through them and see the great beyond." He leaned back, shifting himself into a more comfortable position on the rocky cliff.

The ghost beside him raised an eyebrow, wings tucked behind his back.

"Oh? And where exactly did you hear that?"

Silence.

The boy looks out to the distant mountains, wreathed in grey clouds with filtered moonlight. When the wind blows his golden hair just the right way, you could catch a glimpse of a familiar expression.

"...I'm not too sure."

Revali nodded, looking back into the night. He stood beside the hero, and let a quiet sigh escape him, the turquoise flames that circled around the Rito seemed to rise and fall with his chest. "Well. I cannot confirm or deny such a thing, but I imagine it's a decent enough fairy tale to entertain the fledglings."

Link scoffs, a smile tugging at his lips. "Really? They don't give you a big ghost book on how all of life works? What's the point of being dead if you don't know the answer to all the fancy questions?"

"I appear to have missed Hylia's educational spirit lecture. Perhaps my schedule was busy at the time. I do apologize."

"Don't apologize to me! You're the one who missed a once-in-a-afterlife-time opportunity."

"..."

"...Too soon?"

"No, it was just a horrible joke."

"Pfft. Well OK, Mr. 'Well I'll be plucked'"

"I don't think I'm going to accept criticism from someone who's sense of humor isn't even a year old."

"Aha...Fair enough."

A chuckle. A nod. A smile that doesn't reach his eyes.

Silence.

The moon crawls further west. Winds start to die with conversation.

The ghost sighs again, but of course, no breath escapes him. Something itches in the back of his mind, and he looks up at Medoh.

Her phantom blue eyes pierce both mortal and incorporeal, yet there's a tenderness in the way her head tilts towards Revali—every so slightly so as not to wake the whole kingdom with the groan of gears. The gesture is wordlessly understood by her pilot, something about speaking the unspoken. He clicks his tongue.

I don't remember flipping a relationship advice switch in your control unit...

Medoh's lights glow brighter and dim, playfully.

The Rito shakes his head.

No, he thinks again. It's better this way.

The Champion looks out towards Hyrule Castle, Medoh's red laser aimed directly into the heart of the swirling malice. From this view, it’s almost beautiful. Like layered petals of a rose...

I cannot wait to burn it to the ground.

"Yeah..." Link replied. "Don't worry, Revali. It'll be different this time. I won't let you down, again."

The Rito blinked. "Ah. Did I...say that outloud?"

Link nodded, tilting his head to the side with a smile. "You always seem in such deep thought when looking at Medoh. Your face gets a lot more s—uh...I don't know... " He trailed off, making the wise decision to not finish the sentence. Afterall, he wanted to hang out for a little bit longer before Revali's glares punted him to the Akkalain Sea.

Nonetheless, Revali grimaced. Looking at him? Acknowledging him? Oh, there was nothing worse in the world than that...

Time really can change anything.

"Hmph. Well," Revali turned his head back towards Medoh, "With Windblight gone, it's nice to actually have conversations...As unconventional as they may be." He makes sure that his smile can only be seen by the sky.

"She's good company."

Link picks at loose pebbles, tossing them off the cliff and letting gravity take them to new destinations. His hands are already coated in a dusty beige dust.

"Well, if Medoh ever becomes a bore. My schedule's always open." He chuckles. "I'm certainly a different sort of company in comparison, so I should be able to spice up your d—!"

"No."

The iciness of his tone runs Link's spine cold. He dares to look up at the Champion.

It takes all of Revali's strength to continue staring at the stars.

"You should really stop coming here, Link. You have a job to do, and so do I. You gain nothing by returning here each night."

He pauses, his beak clenched just a bit too tightly.

"You did well, avenging me, but now...Your job here is done, and there is more work to do. The fact that you keep visiting each night while the world fades away is pathetic, honestly. You banter and quip as if you have all the time in the world, as if everything doesn't depend on your success. Quit acting childish."

Silence. It drowns out the whistling wind.

Revali looks at the holes in the sky.

"It'll be morning in a few, so get lost. I don't need you here."

The Rito can feel the hero's eyes tearing into him.

= = = = = = =

"Careful now! Can't have you return with half a head. Can I?" Revali loosed an arrow just above Link's head, striking true in a Bokoblin's right eye.

Link whips around just in time to see the monster drop dead, just a foot away from where the knight stood. He turns back and gives the Rito a thumbs up in gratitude.

"Eye think that solves that problem." Link groans and rolls his eyes, but Revali smirks at the grin he attempts to hide. "Ah...One of the best things about these occasions is that you're in no position to quip back at me with your hands full like that." Revali shoots him a wink. "Perhaps I'll interpret your silence as overwhelming awe for my verbal abilities."

The Rito bows left and right, playfully. "Thank you, thank you. It takes a great deal of practice, but perhaps you'll grace my level of skill one day."

Link signs as best he can with the Master Sword in his left grip.

"You're an asshole."

"Perhaps. But it's your fault for sticking around!"

"On your left..." He suddenly says.

There's no hesitation as Revali moves his head out of the way, letting Link swing his sword over his shoulder. A brilliant beam of blue light escapes the edge of his sword, the disc of energy making contact with a Bokoblin's neck, slicing it asunder mid-roar.

"Hmm. Now that's just breath taki—"

"Shut UP!" Link says, knocking an elbow into his ribs. He starts to sign again. "Let's keep heading east. We need to close this pincer quickly. I'd like to finish before lunch..."

The Rito scans the snow covered path, littered with monster guts and blood. Deep reds and purple stain the pristine, crisp morning. The sky is a deep green, pine trees covering the day, dressed in coats of white. The breeze blows the smell of rotting corpses and hickory his way.

"Alright. Let's get a move on. Don't need the Princesses yelling at us again."

"A bit late for that, don't you think?"

The boys both look up in time to see a large burst of water erupt from a nearby cliff. It cascades into a shimmering slide, that freezes as it flows. A bright red Zora flips through the air and descends on it, landing delicately in front of the two. She gives a warm smile that could melt the winter.

"Shall I assume you ran into some chuchu troubles, again?"

Revali scoffed. "That was one time!"

"Hehehe...chuchu go 'sluuurrrp...'"

"Plus, that incident was entirely a certain knight's fault. I've been nothing but incredibly efficient and productive, since then."

"And your tail feathers are all the better for it!"

Revali thwacked Link with his bow to shut him up. The knight rubbed the back of his head with an "Ow..." and shot a rude glare, but the Rito continued. "So where is the Princess?"

Mipha gestured uphill to where she had come from, her magical waterfall already beginning to melt away. "We finished cleaning up the other end of the Tabantha path. She's met up with Urbosa and Daruk by one of the bridges."

The Zora smiles as she looks between Revali and Link. "I volunteered to check on you two while the others headed back. Neither of you need help cleaning chuchu slime out of your hair, yes? I do have the pliers, this time."

Revali's rageful squawk was drowned out by Link's laughter.

Before the trio's banter could truly serenade with the sounds of the forest, Mipha was off to regroup with the others, and Link was soaring in the sky.

The sky was open and clear, not a speck of grey clouded the air. The sun was perched comfortably on the heights of Tabantha ridge, painting the horizon with strokes of orange, the distance blushing in the morning's presence.

The wind flipped Link's hair back and forth, so he finished tying the braid behind his neck, woven tightly with a single, Prussian blue feather. Its tip looked like someone had dipped it in the moon's pale glow.

Braid or no, the heights above Lake Totori were quite cold, and Link nuzzled himself further into Revali's soft feathers. If he were any softer, it wouldn't be out of the question to drown in him.

"You're distracting me." Revali craned his neck back, raising an eyebrow at his passenger. "Keep it together, back there."

The hero shrugged his shoulders. "It's cold."

"I told you to drink another elixir before I took off."

"I wasn't cold then! Besides," He flopped back into the Rito's soft down. "This is adequate protection." Link's words were slightly muffled as he spoke.

Revali sighed. "You're insufferable..."

Eying the destination down below, the Rito rolled his shoulders to get Link's attention. "Keep steady. We're almost there." He started to dip forward.

"And try not to go flying, I imagine it won't work out well for you."

Before Link could even process his words, his stomach started to drop. Falling fast, Revali arched nearly perpendicular to the ground, his bright blue scarf flapping behind him. The Hylian on his back could do nothing but grip onto his armour for dear life, clothes flapping wildly. His loose sleeves caught the wind, pushing them back to reveal pale gold letters, etched in the underside of his right forearm.

Leaving so soon?

The wind rushed by Link's ears, and the sky quickly faded from the cerulean glow of morning, to the snow laced air of the Hebra. What was once broad strokes of indistinct colors soon morphed into the intricate faults, flaws, and edges of towering grey mountain peaks. With the heavens stolen from them, and the frozen earth quickly coming to greet them, Revali quickly opened his wings to catch the air, swooping just above the ground and shooting forward towards the Flight Range.

Rows of cool safflina and wildberries whizzed by, the scent of smoked boar drawing closer and closer. Revali could practically feel Link's appetite from aura alone. Although, the fact that his grip on his back was starting to tighten didn't exactly keep it subtle, either.

"I left the stew going before we headed out for the mission. It should be perfect by now..." He tucked his wings into himself with a quick twirl as he shot through a narrow pass.

The cold updrafts of the Flight Range now biting into his face; the Rito let his wings expand with a few more great flaps, before landing gracefully on the railing of the wooden platform.

Link practically soared off Revali's back and bounded straight for the simmering pot.

"'Thank you, Revali, for giving me a ride across all of Tabantha without asking for so much as a rupee in return!' Oh, you're so welcome, my dear hero. It's always a pleasure to aid a flightless Hylian in need." He shook his head as he made his way into the hut.

"'Oh, but really Revali! The speed at which you travel, and the strength required to take on my loathsome person as you fly is truly something to admire. It's a miracle you took me with you at all.' Why, you are much too generous with your compliments, Link. I have half a mind to write this all down for—MmMph?!"

In a brilliant move of both telling Revali to shut the fuck up, while also sharing their meal, Link shoved a ladleful of delicious stew in the Rito's beak.

Warm, savoury stew trickled down his throat, banishing the cold from his body in mere moments. His tastebuds were nestled with flavours of nutmeg, tender meat, and the delicate heat of a perhaps a single, spicy pepper.

Link's expression was equal parts, "Will you shut up now?" and "So how's it taste?"

"Not too bad...The prime meat I procured is obviously the main event. But your seasoning skills are certainly something of note..." Revali made his way to one of the cabinets, as Link rolled his eyes.

The Rito set his bow beside the Master Sword, leaning it against the painted wood. His eyes lingered on it for a bit too long, before he scoffed and continued on his routine.

Quiver on the counter; bomb arrows wrapped properly; armour loosened and set aside; scarf—

The feathers on Revali's neck suddenly floofed up at Link's touch. But he didn't dare turn around and risk losing the sensation.

He carefully unfolded the fabric around Revali's neck, and drew it off his shoulder. He wrapped it around himself, and signed at the Rito, "Mine, now."

The Rito chuckled, before turning back around to look at the hero, now adorned with far too much blue. Blue tunic, blue scarf, and sapphire eyes—it wouldn't be out of the question to mistake him for the sky.

Link stretched out his hand, and traced the edges of Revali's face, eventually falling down his neck, and towards his shoulders. His fingers eventually hovered over some familiar words that wrapped down the left side of his neck and down his shoulder.

You should give yourself more credit.

They both did nothing but smile at each for a moment, leaning closer and succumbing to the moment. Revali could already feel Link's breath, and see the bits of snow still sticking to his (horribly) braided hair.

The Hylian saw something curious in the Rito's expression as he planted a kiss on the tip of his beak. Looking back up at his jade eyes, he couldn't help but smile wide. Revali cocked an eyebrow.

"Something to say?"

Quiet. The fire chuckled in the background.

Link finally leaned in and whispered to him.

"You smell like shit."

Revali scoffed loudly before shoving Link to the carpet, where he burst out laughing, the wind carrying it to the spirits above.

"Gods, you're insufferable. Why do I settle for you..."

Link unsuccessfully attempted to toss a pillow in his face in revenge—Revali catching it with ease.

"Beats me! Now come here, you stinky bird." He patted the space in front of the fire. No doubt he wanted to sit between his wings again

"Stew or no, I need you to keep me toasty."

In no time, Revali had sat down and wrapped himself around Link, resting his beak on his head.

A hole in the ceiling let sunlight trickle on them as they warmed up.

= = = = = = =

Link finally sighed, the sound falling off into the void below.

"You-I can't-It was never..." He trails off, before chucking another pebble off the cliff, shaking his head.

"...I'm sorry. I know that you...That we're not really...friends or whatever...I don't mean to force you into anything uncomfortable. I owe you that much..." He looked up at the spirit, a determined look on his face.

"But, don't worry. Whatever mess I was before, whatever person you hated 100 years ago. They're gone, now. I promise I'm different. I promise I won't repeat whatever mistakes I made with you."

Revali just wants to die all over again.

"Well. That's good to hear. Perhaps there's hope for you yet, hero..." He walks forward, so he can't see his face, pointing a translucent feather far out east.

"I'd say your next objection should be Rudania. It's the closest. You can backtrack through whatever roads you've already trailed through getting here." The Rito then waved towards some glistening summits just a bit south. "Although, you said you've been to Kakariko and Hateno, yes? You could probably trek to Zora's Domain from there. The Zora will no doubt be a great asset to your further adventures—"

"Who was I closest to?"

Revali knew it was impossible to feel cold at this point, but he felt something shiver nonetheless.

"What do you mean?"

"Like...the pilots I mean. Was I...particularly close with any of them?"

"Well how should I know!" Revali snapped. He immediately regretted it seeing the look in Link's eyes. "I mean...sorry..."

Silence.

"...Mipha would be overjoyed to see you, I'm sure." He pointed again towards the cliffs surrounding Zora's Domain. "She had quite the heart...She'll make better company than I, I'm sure."

"Mhm...Alright." Link nodded to himself.

"But whatever you choose, don't try taking on Naboris, yet. Urbosa was one of the strongest warriors that even I've ever met. So I imagine that what awaits there is...deserving of more preparation."

The moon escaped from the clutches of a grey cloud, and the two of them were bathed in moonlight.

The knight's sword on his back glistens.

"I'll start making preparations tomorrow, and I'll finally be out of your hair." Link scratched the back of his head. "Although...I hope you don't mind if I come back every now and then to get pointers on using your Gale. I really only used it that one time when you gave it to me, and I've been a bit scared ever since, aha..."

Revali nodded. "That would be a more productive use of your time, yes."

Link finally stood, adjusting the strap of his sword around his shoulder.

"S-So...with Mipha. I actually heard from Kass that...uh he's—well you see, I figured you could confirm if she actually—"

"Stop." His response was as sudden as thunder. Link started sputtering again.

"S-Sorry. I know you just s—"

"Stop doing that. Stop trying to learn about the past, there's nothing for you there." Revali poked a feather at Link's head, which surprisingly made physical contact as he flinched away. "You've been given a gift, you understand? You have the luxury of being unburdened by the pains and memories of 100 years ago, while the rest of us have been stuck wallowing in what we once knew for over a century. Things that we can never attain now that we are dead." He glared, eyes sharp enough to stab into Link's flesh.

"It'd be an insult to the rest of us to throw away such a gift. So stop being ungrateful, and move on."

Silence.

Revali sighed, turning back towards Medoh. "Now get los—"

"You have no right to speak to me like that!"

The Rito whipped around. "Excuse me?"

"You don't know what it's like!" Link stomped a foot down. "You don't know what it's like, to have no attachments, no nothing to grasp onto!"

The Hylian shook his head, looking at his hands. "You're dead because of my failures, and for that, I'm truly sorry. I really am. But..." He looked the Rito, dead in the eyes. "But now I have nothing of value. Nothing to tell me what I'm worth, besides being a fighter. Besides defeating the Calamity. I don't know what kind of person I need to be," He waves a hand at Revali, "Or even what person I should try not to be. I can't...I don't want to just be nothing. Nothing but a sword and useless snippets of a dead past.

"So don't try and tell me there's nothing for me in the past. I need to know what I was, what I lost, and what I did wrong. N-Not just for me, but for everyone's sake! I want to truly know what this is all for, even if it hurts me..."

Link looked down, caressing his right wrist. "I want to know...what it was like to be complete...at the very least..."

Revali looked him up and down, something clawing up the inside of his chest, threatening to escape as dangerous words.

"...Let me see your arm."

"What—?"

"Hurry up, and just come."

Link cautiously stepped closer to Revali, extending his right arm towards him, like a handshake. But he roughly tugged him closer and folded the sleeve of his Rito garb away, exposing the skin to the crisp night air.

Pale gold letters adorned Link's inner arm, running from his wrist to his inner elbow.

Why did you think it was impossible?

The Rito nodded to himself. He had noted the first word being different when he had first reunited with Link, but it put him at ease—and completely shattered something—to have his suspicions confirmed.

"Do you know what this is, hero?"

"Yeah, it's a soulmark. This is probably what my soulmate 100 years ago said when they—"

"No." Revali let his arm fall, turning away. "It's a soulmark alright, but your soulmate is very much alive."

"Wh-What?!" Link started to walk up to Revali. "T-That's impossible! I-It's been over a hundred—"

"That's not the soulmark you had when I met you." Revali said simply. "You died. You were revived. You are adorned with a new mark, and are destined for someone new. Or someones. Or, maybe your soulmate is just yourself, it really depends..." He turned his head back.

Link was just staring at his arm. He bore no smile, but Revali could see the new fire in his eyes.

"It's like I said. It'd be an insult to go digging up the past. But I suppose I can't stop you..." Revali continued to make his way to Medoh. "You want something to fight for? Fight for that..."

The moon disappeared behind another cloud, and the glow of Medoh was all that bathed them. Link finally looked up, calling after the ghost in the mist.

"I...Thank you, Revali. But just so you know..." The Rito Champion turned, staring directly at the hero's determined expression.

"This doesn't change what I want. I still intend to know who I was."

There was quiet as they each looked at their ghosts.

Revali sighed, giving a sad nod.

"I know."

He disappeared in glowing blue flames, the embers falling towards the stars.

#if you reblog this revali comes to your house and gives you a hug. it's a proven fact #revalink #paraphrase revalink #mudkip music #botw fanfiction #botw #breath of the wild #legend of zelda botw #loz botw #soulmark au #botw soulmark au

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thesweetestkimberry · 3 years

Text

(icy) hot chocolate

pairings: shoto todoroki x reader

summary: not only are you homesick, but you’ve also harbored feelings for the icy hot student in your class.

warnings: might be a curse?, ooc, doesn’t make sense, mentons of selena and chocolate de la abuelita 🤷🏽‍♀️

notes: pls have mercy, it was like,, 2 am, this one hops around and i might take it down,, but enjoy anyway !

『° 。✰˚⋆☾⋆。✰°』

after you’d finished your homework, or what you wanted to finish, you were left feeling a bit disheartened. your family sent you to this school in hopes of you being able to master and better your quirk, even going so far as to give you the opportunity to become a world renowned hero.

so after saying your goodbyes to your friends and family, you were on your way to japan.

the transition was slightly difficult, especially considering the amount of culture shock. the manners and daily life was so different from what you were used to, however it was helpful to have a few staff and students speak english to aid you.

Aizawa knew a bit of english, mostly due to being friends with present mic. all might spoke english as well, along with some students who were able to hold conversations with you in said language. momo and todoroki were the ones you mostly conversed with, momo was nice enough to help you in classes and in anything you had difficulty understanding.

you only knew shoto spoke english when he asked you a question one day during lunch. a non important one, but it sounded fluent enough, only responding with how his father put him and his siblings through private education during their younger years. apparently that’s where he began to learn the language.

you’d gotten along with the class pretty well, your personality allowing for a little bit of everyone to want to befriend you. despite all that, something drew you to the dual quirk user. was it his looks? his quiet nature? maybe his obliviousness that you sometimes found endearing.

it wasn’t long before the girls were able to tell that you’d been less than sneakily about eyeing him.

“you like him!” mina shouted one day at lunch, your hand slapping over her mouth to quiet her, the outburst earning a few confused glances from your other classmates.

“ooo (y/n)’s got a crush?” kaminari teasingly asks, slinging an arm around your shoulder and pulling you close, “let go of her dipshit!” sero scolds, reaching over to yank his friends arm off you. you send him a grateful look, only to have it turn into one of disgust.

“did you just lick my hand!?” you shout, furiously wiping it on mina’s uniform, watching her laugh.

“but seriously (y/n), you can’t hide it from me!” she said in a sing-song voice, poking a finger at your chin and using it to turn your head to where todoroki was sitting, next to iida and midoriya.

“no way! you have a thing for todoroki?” denki announced, you and sero smacking him to shut him up.

your breath hitched when you turned to check if shoto had heard you, only to see his mismatched colored eyes staring right back at you.

you squeaked and ducked your head, covering your face with your arms, suddenly wishing someone’s quirk could just make you disappear.

with a few muttered apologies from denki, lunch had ended, and back to class you all went. you hoped and prayed you didn’t have to interact with shoto anytime soon.

as if the ancient deities of the past answered your prayers, you didn’t have to be in close quarters with him until classes ended, meaning you’d all be going back to the dorms.

forgoing dinner, you sat in your room, embarrassed.

“oh god, i bet he thinks i’m fucking weird.” you groan, flopping down onto your bed you palm your eyes. the sensation causing bursts of light to seemingly appear behind your closed lids. adding onto your embarrassment, you’d become upset, resulting in wondering about how things could be different back home.

of course this trivial little mishap didn’t deter you from wanting to attend UA, but it did make you wish you had advice from your friends and family back home. finding yourself missing them, you checked the time, realize it’s midnight. way past curfew.

you also realize that you’re craving something sweet. walking over to your little pantry, you pulled out a familiar pack of hot chocolate.

making your way quietly and carefully out your room, you hopped into the elevator and made your way down.

unbeknownst to you, someone had crept out of their room and pressed the button for the elevator, bringing it back up as you exited, walking to the kitchen.

you hummed to yourself, a familiar tune of a cumbia by a famous singer from your parents’ time.

pointing yourself some milk in a pot, you unwrapped the brick of a chocolate, savoring the smell. you broke the chocolate along it’s grooves, about to add in enough for you, only for a cough to draw your attention.

your head shot up at the sound, your voice caught in your throat at the boy who stared back at you

“i’m sorry, i didn’t mean to disturb you.” he says slowly walking up to where you were, “todoroki!” you exclaim in surprise.

“what are you doing up? i didn’t wake you up did it?” you ask him, worried you had disturbed his rest with your noise.

“don’t be silly. i already happened to be awake, i also heard you humming, what was it?” he asks, finally making his way next to you, so close that your shoulders were almost brushing, “oh! it’s called dreaming of you.” you inform him, dropping in the chinch of chocolate into the now warm milks

“want some?” you ask, gesturing to the pot you were stirring. “what is it?” he questions, leaning down and catching a whiff of the mixture, “it’s hot chocolate.” you respond.

“hot chocolate? it’s a beverage correct?” he asks, the question making you look up in surprise.

“yeah, it is. but why do you say it like you’ve never tried it.” you joke, waiting for a laugh or smile, only to receive a blank look.

“oh my god! you’re trying some.” you say definitely, watching his brows shoot up, “are you sure? i wouldn’t want to be a bother.” he says with a pink tint to his cheeks that you don’t seem to notice,

“just give me a few minutes and it’ll be ready.” you say adding in an extra chunk of chocolate for shoto, mixing it in and watching the milk turn a darker shade of brown.

“my grandmother used to make this for me all the time,” you share, watching how he stared at you intently, “she even used to add cinnamon.” you continue, making sure the chocolate has melted completely before turning off the stove.

before you could move, shoto beat you to the cabinet where he retrieved two mugs, yours and his.

shortly after moving into the dorms, the whole class had gone out to the mall in search of things that would make the dorms more homey, and to avoid any confusion, you all decided to get individual mugs.

yours was shaped like a frog, whereas shoto’s was a red and white striped mug, for obvious reasons.

serving the hot drink, you carefully handed shoto his. as he took the mug, your fingers brushed gently against one another, the feeling shooting a warm feeling throughout both your bodies.

the two of you quickly part, blushing and turning away from one another.

“careful, it’s hot.” you warn, although feeling stupid because of his quirk, “i can cool it down.” he says simply, placing the mug in his right hand.

“i... i overheard denki say something during lunch.” he said after a brief pause, your body freezing and nearly dropping the mug in your hands. quickly setting it down, you bowed your head, afraid to meet his eyes.

“i’m sorry about that, you must think i’m weird.” you apologize, still not meeting his gaze, unaware of how soft it fell on you.

“no not at all.” came his response, his answer shocking you. “in fact,” he says, setting down his mug, “i’m glad you feel the same way.”

his words made you nearly jump out in joy, your heart screaming and face flushing.

“feel the same way?..” you ask, slightly disbelieving his words, “yes, about having feelings for you. i have for quite a bit now.” he admits, a pink blush looking beautiful on his skin.

“todoroki i,” “shoto, please.” he cuts you off, “shoto... i-i feel the same way, although you already knew that.” you groan, a blush taking over your features as well.

“would it be alright of me to ask if you’d like to join me for an evening out?” he says shyly looking at you, his eyes darting between you and your mugs on the counter.

“are you asking me on a date?” you confirm, watching as he nods before standing straight and looking into your eyes, “yes.” was all he could say, a faint flame lighting up in his hair and on his shoulder.

“of course,” you answer, watching his face light up, his eyes showing how truly happy he was, even is his mouth only showed the hint of a smile.

“but you have to try the hot chocolate or else i’m not going.” you tease, watching him scramble to retrieve his mug, “calm down,” you giggle, “i’m only joking.”

he stares at you, a faint smile still on his lips, “well, here’s to us.” he toasts quietly, tapping your mug with his before raising it to his lips, taking a sip.

you gouged for his reactions smiling wide into your mug when you saw his eyes widen, “this is delicious.” he says looking at you, holding the drink close to his chest, “i’m glad you enjoy it, it’s mostly a comfort drink for me.” you say taking a few sips of your own.

“thank you for allowing me to share this drink with you.” he says gently nudging your shoulder with his, the action surprising you.

“thank you for reciprocating my feelings.” you say, daring to rest your head against his shoulder, considering he was slightly taller than you were.

“how could i not? you’re everything.”

#bnha shoto todoroki #shoto x reader #todoroki shoto x reader #latina reader #shoto torodoki #todoroki x y/n #todoroki x reader

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