#one day i will learn how to be concise. not today though

[wovenstarlight]

How would you define how Yoohyun feels about Yerim? Since obviously his opinion of her has improved since they first met, but I don't know if he actually likes her

HMMM i don't know that Yoohyun is actually like physically capable of liking anyone besides Yoojin! i'm kidding but also only slightly. like if you remember what Irin says in chapter 287, it goes "AN INSANE PROPORTION OF YOOHYUN'S THOUGHTS ARE ABOUT YOU [YOOJIN] COMPARED TO THOUGHTS ABOUT ANYONE ELSE I PROMISE", so if you're including his feelings towards Yoojin as a comparison point, it's going to skew the chart to unreasonable levels, and it'd look like the answer is No, Yoohyun doesn't care about Yerim at all

HOWEVER. if you EXCLUDE Yoojin from the chart then Yerim actually ends up being one of the two people Yoohyun likes most! with the other being Peace. from 287, in Irin's words, 80% of Yoohyun's thoughts that aren't about Yoojin are instead about Yerim and Peace. of course, that's exclusively based on the fact that Yerim and Peace both also like Yoojin the most. Yoohyun cares about other people in proportion to how much they care about his hyung, single-minded little idiot that he is /affectionate.

BUT THAT ASIDE! i think he does care about Yerim in a couple different respects. one is that he trusts her in a way that's different from people like Seok Simyeong or Kim Sunghan—you'll notice that in chapter 239, he explicitly designates her (and Peace) as the first two people he actually recognizes as part of "his world", which is a position not even his closest guild members have enjoyed, despite him clearly trusting them to do their jobs well and look after Yoohyun himself to some degree. he trusts her to look after Yoojin, which is probably the deepest level of belief he can hold in someone other than his hyung. and for the same reason—that she cares above all for Yoojin and his happiness and his safety, and can back up that care with the ability to protect him—i do think he likes her!

Yoohyun also cares about Yerim's wellbeing (again, in relation to Yoojin! in that he knows Yoojin will be sad if Yerim isn't okay. this is something a lot of people who care about Yoojin are aware of and account for: that they can take care of him indirectly by looking after the other people he loves. you see it with Sung Hyunjae lending Yerim his flame-resistant coat in chapter 126, and Yoo Myeongwoo making sure Yoohyun has the best equipment in chapter 240, both for Yoojin's sake). she's not only important to Yoojin himself, from which Yoohyun derives some level of actual care, but also one of Yoohyun's guild members and technically part of his family, which adds a sense of duty and responsibility for her into the mix. remember when he blew Gakuto through a pillar because he called Yerim a bitch in chapter 215 with the whole That's My Guild Member You Motherfucker attitude... i thought that was pretty funny of him. and like. when Yoojin was straight up dead for a while there in 240, the only thing stopping Yoohyun from following him into death on the spot was the thought that he had to make sure Yerim (and Peace and the others) knew. so that they could actually grieve him instead of just never knowing what had happened to him. he cares about them!!! he does!!! it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack compared to his love for Yoojin but he does!!!!!

of course i do also think that Yoohyun finds her incredibly annoying. they're constantly squabbling, this isn't a far-fetched guess, they fight to the point that chopsticks somehow end up embedded in the dining room wall and yoojin has to scold them to quit it in chapter 171. yerim's constantly on the verge of calling him ugly. that one time early on in chapter 48 when she was like WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TO ME and he trotted out a whole bullet point numbered list without missing a beat. i bet he still has a list now, just with different reasons on it. but like. that's just normal siblings innit. you care about each other a whole fucking lot but you would also sell them to satan for one corn chip or however that goes.

TL;DR: yoohyun likes her but he'd probably die before he said that in as many words. not out of unwillingness or anything, just because it wouldn't occur to him to. yerim knows without him needing to say it, after all.

(where's my evidence for that, you ask. well! spoiler excerpt from chapter 331 from Yerim's POV about how Yoohyun has acknowledged and accepted her below the cut)

However, she couldn’t help the presence of anxiety in her relationship with Han Yoojin. It was love that all but dropped out of the sky one day. The claim that it was because she was an S-rank Awakened person wasn’t enough. What was more, Han Yoojin was crowded with exceptional people at his side. Han Yoojin clearly cared for Bak Yerim, but it was difficult for Bak Yerim to think she was special to him. Couldn’t it be that what she’d suddenly gained might suddenly disappear? The one who quelled that anxiety she tried to ignore was none other than Han Yoohyun. Han Yoohyun had hated Bak Yerim. Because his hyung liked her. Han Yoohyun had accepted Bak Yerim. Because she liked his hyung. Han Yoohyun had acknowledged Bak Yerim. Because she had the ability to protect his hyung. It was a relationship entirely based on Han Yoojin, but if anything, Bak Yerim was relieved and happy because of that. This was Han Yoohyun, who Han Yoojin was everything to, who was beyond difficult when it came to things relating to him. That harsh guy had accepted Bak Yerim standing by his hyung’s side.

points at them. Yerim feels accepted and cared for by Yoohyun

#star.txt #answered #anonymous #one day i will learn how to be concise. not today though #my sranks #han yoohyun #bak yerim #hope this helps 💜

[pickmepicktails]

just met: suga x f reader

dating app / suga goes down on reader / hints of teasing and edging / short n sweet!

-

-

-

“Kim Taehyung, 27. Nickname: V. Loves to—“

Yeah, no. Too intimidating, and the weird nickname throws you off, though he is insanely handsome. Swipe.

“Jeon Jungkook, 25, likes to get new piercings and tattoos. Big fan of the gym.”

Your eyes trail slowly over the photos he’s posted on his profile. He’s standing in front of a mirror with a black tank top, flexing. His arms are very defined, covered in various tattoos. And the lip piercing—that’s hot. You’re almost tempted to call it a day and make a match, but the next profile down catches your attention.

“Min Yoongi,” you whisper to yourself. Thirty.

His profile is short and concise, listing basic information like where he lives and what he’s looking for in a relationship. He only has a singular photo uploaded.

He’s laying on the grass, legs casually strewn out wide. One hand rests on the ground, while the other is threaded through his bleached hair. He’s wearing a leather jacket with ripped jeans, and you spot a couple of rings on his left hand.

The position and outfit enough to make your legs buckle. But what makes you swipe right is his expression: he’s smirking crookedly, eyes sharp, like he knows he’s hot as hell and is proud of it. It comes off as cocky and self-assured, and unconsciously, you shift your weight, pressing your thighs closer together.

You shoot him a quick message saying hi. Crossing your fingers, you wait for his response.

-

sugahigh: hello

sugahigh: how r u today?

you: im doing good! wbu

sugahigh: having a pretty crappy day tbh

sugahigh: but somehow you’ve already made it better

sugahigh: sorry, did i scare you off? i promise i don’t bite

you: i mean i’d be totally okay if you did bite

sugahigh: ha

sugahigh: i’d be a vampire for u

-

You and Suga continue to talk after that. You learn a lot about him—that he likes to sing and rap, that he owns his own music studio, that one day he hopes to make it into the big leagues and go on a world tour. He is devastatingly charming in all of his wit and easy flirtation, and soon enough, he gives you the address to his apartment.

You call a cab and drive to his place, making your way into the main complex. Taking the elevator up to the third floor, you find room 308, apprehension creeping slowly up your spine.

Yoongi—or Suga, as his friends apparently like to call him—is definitely into you, as are you with him. But it’s not everyday you meet someone from a dating app for the first time, and you can’t escape the fear that Suga will turn out to be completely different than what he was like online.

Inhaling, you raise your hand to knock on the door, but before you can, it opens, and a head pops out.

“Hey,” Yoongi says with a bright smile. “It’s nice to see you in person.” Running a hand through his hair, you notice it’s a little damp, clinging to his forehead.

“Definitely,” you agree. Yoongi opens up the door further, and you step forward into his room.

“I’m a huge snacker,” Yoongi explains as you peer over the kitchen counter to the rows of chips and chocolate bars. “Want one?”

“Sure.” Yoongi props himself up and snags something in the very back of the pile.

“My favorite chocolate,” he tells you cheerily. “It’s dark chocolate with almonds in it.”

You peel off the wrapper and take a bite, savoring the sweet, slightly bitter tang of the chocolate.

“S’good,” you mumble. He smiles and leads you to the couch.

“So!” He scratches the back of his neck. “To be honest, I didn’t really plan out what we were goin’ to do today.”

His gaze flickers to yours, eyebrow quirked—a silent question.

Even though you’ve only just met in person, the relaxed manner in which Yoongi presents himself sets you at ease. Shuffling closer, you smile.

“I’m okay with pretty much anything today,” you say. “But I don’t want this to be just another hook-up. I want—I feel like I’m looking for something serious.”

The corners of Yoongi’s lips slowly curve upwards.

“I’m glad we’re on the same page, then.” He leans forward and gently rests a hand on your thigh, drawing slow circles with his fingers.

Swallowing hard, you meet his gaze. His eyes are dark, pupils big.

“Can I?”

You dip your head in assent, and then he’s kissing you,

Yoongi’s hands settle themselves around your waist, pulling you closer. He tastes faintly like vanilla. Licking into your mouth, you groan when he tugs a little on your hair—not hard, but enough to send tingles scattering across your body.

“Did I ever tell you,” he begins when you break apart, voice low and scratchy, “how hot you are?” His hands slide down your hips, making you shiver in anticipation.

You lift your hips when he hooks his fingers in your pants, and he pulls them down. The cool air against your skin gives you goosebumps.

Ordinarily, you’re usually a little self-conscious, but around Yoongi, your bareness doesn’t make you uncomfortable. In fact, he’s staring at you with such adoration evident in his eyes that your heart soars.

Yoongi shrugs off his shirt in one swift motion, and you try not stare at his body. A light line of freckles dots his rib cage, and there’s a hint of muscle around his stomach.

“It’s only fair if we’re both half-naked,” he explains to you with a tiny smirk. Sliding off the couch and planting his elbows into the plush fabric, he cocks his head to the side.

“I want to make you feel good,” Yoongi murmurs heavily, licking his lips.

You blink, not quite understanding, until the realization comes to you.

“Oh,” you breathe.

“Would you be okay with it?” Yoongi prompts gently. “I, uh—I know a lot of guys are selfish when it comes to stuff like this, but I care about you having a good time as much as me.”

“Yeah…Yeah, I’d be totally fine with it,” you say genuinely, because although you’ve never experienced something like this before, you’re curious as to what it feels like.

(Plus, the visual of Yoongi on his knees in front of you, hair the perfect mix of tousled and combed, eyes focused on you and you only, is enough to make you go insane.)

Your panties come down.

Yoongi starts small. His fingers run up and down your legs, and he licks, feather-soft, at your inner thighs. He bites a couple of times, making you groan.

“Yoongi,” you whine.

“I like to take my time,” Yoongi says. “It’s no fun otherwise.”

He moves upwards, tracing your outer folds with his tongue. It doesn’t offer you any real stimulation (just makes you desperate for more, really), but just the warm, wet feeling of him against you is addicting.

He moves ever-so-slightly closer to your clit before he flattens his tongue and licks across it. Your hips buck, pleasure surging across your body.

Yoongi settles into a rhythm, switching from teasing to giving you what you want. It’s infuriating, but Yoongi always knows just how much to give to you to keep you hooked.

Then Yoongi’s tongue dips into your core, and you lose complete control.

You roll your hips against his face, moaning.

“Yoongi,” you gasp, “oh my God—Yoongi, I—“

“Shh,” Yoongi cuts you off, slightly teasing. He pulls back. “As much as I love those pretty noises of yours, the neighbors might hear us.”

“I’m—I want you to hurry up.”

“Hmm.” Yoongi considers that for a moment. “What’s the magic word?”

“Yoongi,” you hiss.

“Starts with a p,” he prompts.

You close your eyes. God, the effect he has on you is driving you crazy.

“Please, Yoongi,” you beg, “I’m so close.”

Your hand comes up to your mouth to stifle your moans as Yoongi repeats his earlier actions with gusto. He’s so, so good—makes you feel so good—and soon enough, the pleasure that’s been building up on your core this whole time builds to its peak and comes crashing over you all at once.

“God,” you breathe after you phase back into the real world, chest heaving.

“You’re so fuckin’ hot, baby,” Yoongi drawls, smiling lazily. “Now…” his eyes shift down to his pants, where there’s an obvious tent in between his legs. “What do you say you help me out, yeah?”

#bts #bts fic #fanfic #fanfiction #bts smut #bts suga #min yoongi #bts x reader #bts suga x reader #bts yoongi #bts spicy

[avocado-writing]

Had to really keep this one concise, bc I could have gotten very carried away with it!

GN!Reader x Tangerine

Tagging: @honestlywtfisgoingon​​ @white-wolf-buckaroo​ @felhomaly @sinfulrefugy​​ @venusthepirate​​ @lunarpansexual​ @wanderedaway​​ @georgiee-riviere​​ @mushywutty​​​​ (thank u konront for the gif!)

Tangerine is a businessman, or that’s what he likes to call himself anyway.

It just so happens that his business consists of beating the shit out of anyone who upsets or disrespects his boss. And he’s very good at beating the shit out of those sorts of people. So good he’s made a career out of it, actually.

A lot of people see him and know enough about him that they keep well out of his way. And honestly, he likes it that way. Being feared.

Or at least he thought he did.

And then he sees your smile.

They’re walking down the street, on the way to a bakery Lemon has convinced him they need to go in before they start work today. 

“Best croissants I’ve ever had in my life,” Lemon assures him. Tangerine wrinkles his nose up.

“Croissants? What’s wrong with a sausage roll?”

“There’s nothing wrong with a sausage roll, but I’m not gonna start my day with it, am I? Croissants are breakfast food.”

“I’ll break something in a minute,” Tangerine mutters, but Lemon has pretty much learned to ignore him at this point.

The bakery does smell lovely, Tangerine will concede that. And the display case is full of delicious-looking, meticulously-crafted little cakes and pastries. 

It’s not them that he ends up staring at, though.

Your smile lights up the whole room. Like a fucking ray of sunshine dressed in a bakery uniform. As soon as you spot Lemon, you’re already holding out a little takeaway bag.

“Morning, Lemon! Here you go - regular order, hot out of the oven,” you say, cheerfully. Lemon grins.

“What would I do without you, eh?”

“Have one cold, I suppose,” you laugh. It’s like music to Tangerine’s ears. Then you finally seem to see him. The next smile, directed at him, threatens to knock Tangerine off his feet.

“Who’s your friend?”

“My brother,” says Lemon, “Tangerine.”

“Oh! This is Tangerine. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Tangerine gets a funny feeling in his chest over the idea that you know anything about him. And yet, you don’t seem afraid. 

He realises there’s no way you can know what he and Lemon do for a living.

“All good, I hope,” Tangerine manages. 

“Well, mostly about how you don’t like our pastries even though you haven’t even tried one,” you say, crossing your arms over your chest, simulating telling him off. You get an idea, and use your serving tongs to bag up another croissant.

“Here. On the house. Maybe I can win you over.”

Truth be told, you already have.

His fingers brush yours when he takes the bag. Lemon pays for his own order and a coffee to go, putting a lot of money into the tip jar on the counter.

The croissant is delicious.

Tangerine comes back the next day, without Lemon this time. The bell rings as the door opens and you seem surprised to see him.

“Oh, hello! It’s you again. Where’s your brother?”

“I came alone today,” he says. He has the urge to readjust his hair, even though he already fixed it about five times on his way here. 

“Did you like the croissant?”

He finds himself smiling at how easily you talk to him.

“It was lovely, actually.”

“See! I knew you’d like it. Do you want another one today?”

“What I want,” Tangerine says, “is to take you out to dinner.”

He’s nervous. He doesn’t like it. He’s never nervous. But the idea that you might say no churns his stomach like an ocean storm.

You seem surprised at this request. Wide-eyed, open-mouthed. The fact you don’t immediately answer eggs him on to say more.

“One dinner. And if you don’t have a good time, I swear I’ll never set foot in this bakery again. Can’t say the same for Lemon, though. He loves this place.”

You smile at that, regaining your composure.

“Well, alright, then. I close the place up at six.”

So he’s back ten hours later, finding you shutting the security gate over the storefront. You’re wearing a black jumper and a pair of jeans. His heart threatens to stop in his chest.

“Oh, Tangerine! You came.”

“You seem surprised.”

You shrug. 

“I’m used to being stood up, I guess.”

Tangerine wants to find anyone who’s ever stood you up and make them suffer for it. Instead he settles on walking you to the very fancy restaurant that cleared a reservation for two this evening, when he made it clear who he worked for. 

“I feel… thoroughly underdressed,” you decide, looking around after you’ve been seated. 

“What? No you’re not, love.”

You scoff.

“Oh, come on. Look around. You’re in a three-piece suit, and I have flour on my sleeve.”

He hates the way you shy into yourself. Trying to make yourself smaller, as if apologising to the world for existing.

“You look wonderful,” he states, honestly.

And there’s that smile again.

The evening goes brilliantly. You speak animatedly about your business, and he asks lots of questions about baking that you’re all too happy to answer. You order a salad, but when he guesses if that’s what you really want you seem relieved and ask for a steak instead. He watches you laugh at his jokes, respond to his flirting with your own.

Then the gunmen ruin it.

He knows his boss’s rivals around this area, and can identify another gang on sight. You let out a shocked, fearful gasp as the door is kicked in, and the assailants ready their weapons.

Tangerine, however, is a professional.

And very, very angry his date has been ruined.

“Get down,” he states, pulling his pistol out. For a moment you’re frozen with fear. But when he takes aim and shoots one of the men in the head, you find enough of your wits to dive under the table.

He’s glad you don’t see what happens. Or, at least, have a very obscured view. Because it seems like the gunmen didn’t count on him being in the restaurant. The next five minutes are brief but bloody. His suit gets stained when he pulls the trigger at one of them at point blank range and that makes him even more furious. He’s far more aggressive than he needs to be from that moment on, using his knuckle dusters out of anger than necessity.

When he’s done there’s a metallic tang tainting the air. He heads back to where he told you to hide, gets down on one knee and peers beneath the tablecloth.

Your eyes are wide, full of tears, and it breaks his heart.

“Tangerine,” you whisper, “what… what do you do?”

He smiles, thinly.

“Businessman, love.”

#tangerine x reader #tangerine x you #tangerine x y/n #tangerine bullet train #bullet train fanfic

[teatitty]

Dandelion, in book and game canon, is noted for being a master of the seven liberal arts. For those that don't know, the liberal arts irl are: Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric, Arithmetic, Astronomy, Music and Geometry; so lets briefly breakdown what each one was back in the medieval and middle ages [since those eras are the basis for the series] and see exactly how intellectually smart Dandelion was

First we have the Trivium, which were the three basic tools of reasoning and expression and were the gateways into much higher fields of learning

Grammar: The study of written works and forms of writing, usually through memorisation and reading of classical texts. Learning and diagraming the parts of speech became common, and other language-related knowledge like spelling and vocabulary have grown out of grammar studies

Logic: The easiest way to describe this is basically philosophy - there's a lot of "discussions and investigations into truth and opinions" which would be why Dandelion has so many Thoughts about things

Rhetoric: Closely related to Logic studies, this one was about learning how to express your opinions and make clear concise arguments

Next we have the Quadrivium, which are all about maths and the traditional arts we know of

Arithmetic: The basic mathematics such as addition, subtraction, division, multiplication etc as well as mathematic notation

Music: Though less widespread now, back in the day music studies were incredibly important for students to understand and appreciate creation by learning about the various forms and instruments of music - in short, Dandelion would be able to play far more than just the lute if he wanted to

Geometry: This one would have covered everything from architecture to engineering to surveying, all of which are now their own separate disciplines of study. So, in ye olde times, Geometry used to be far more practical in application. This is why I like to joke that Dandelion is like if Shakespeare and Leonardo da Vinci were fused into one person

Astronomy: The contemplation of the heavens and humankind’s place in them received more emphasis in an era where less was known and more was imagined than today. Astronomy was at first considered essential for fields such as navigation and determining dates, but grew to include more advanced mathematics and physics studies

Plato is probably the most famous of real life masters of these arts to give an example of how impactful and important they are in our history, so Dandelion being a master of all 7 and being qualified to teach at the university itself is no small feat by any means. Intellectually speaking, Dandelion is easily one of the smartest characters in the books - but he's also impulsive, curious to a fault, tempermental and often doesn't follow his own common sense, which is why he has Geralt and the Hansa to look out for him lol

#the witcher books #dandelion #meta post #the liberal arts are fascinating to me but I'm too dumb to understand most of em lol #I'm not good with mathematics and philosophy it makes my head spin

[squarebracket-trickster]

holy fucking shit, did I just cut 6009 words down to 1726????? WHAT THE FUCK

and I thought my edits from yesterday were ruthless...

Turns out I did not end up combining the scenes I thought I was going to earlier. I did combine two scenes together but not those ones. I ended up cutting out nearly all of the one scene I was originally going to combine. I left like six sentences when it was original eight paragraphs or so.

The worst part was though, I had to kill one of my favourite darlings:_(

Have no fear though! I did not delete it. I merely stuck it in a comment on the side of the document so that I can try to shove it in somewhere later where it might fit better. (My writing process abuses the hell out of the comments bar.)

The line in question:

This part of me that wants nothing more than to lose every sparring match with this man because losing means getting close to him...

RIP I shall do my best to revive you.

I should probably go to bed because it is after 2am, so my update for today:

I only added 1728 words... because I cut out 4281 and that took a lot of time. My total word count is 22 168, my page count is 38, and I am 27% to my word goal. The word count at this point during my first draft was 35 292 words, so I have cut 13 124 words total so far. Oh my god.

Maybe I will end up under my word goal. That would be first... It would also be nice because then I would have room for more descriptive writing. I have really kept things sparse so far and I still have yet to decide what any of these characters look like hair colour, skin tone, and eye colour-wise. I just know their genders and agabs, how muscular they are, their heights, and their fashion senses -- the plot relevant details, ya know.

I would say my cuts are about 50% the narration rambling on about the main character's thoughts even though her dialogue has already implied everything more concisely in subtext (partially because the author did not know where she was going with the story at the time and just kept putting sentences on the page until it figured itself out), 20% stuff that was already said earlier, 15% needless backstory, 14% needless exposition, and 1% random dialogue and action tags that do not add anything.

Also, let it be known that today was the day I realized that in draft 1 Adris never actually learns that Sorin is betrothed. The first time it is mentioned (when they almost kiss) she somehow already knows. I had to fix that for draft 2.

Today was also the day I realized how much the FUCKING MOON shows up in this story. I think I am going to have to do a separate edit of the whole novel just to make sure the phases of the moon are accurate. GOD

The moon shows up so much I think I am going to make it deliberate symbolism. For what, I do not know yet. I will just keep writing and see what happens.

Tomorrow, the plot thickens as the first line I shall be starting on is when the army shows up.

#wipvii

[toyfrogs]

I feel such a painful urge to get this weight off my chest, and I don't know why, but I sense that talking about this specific topic will make me feel better, for some reason. After all, it's something I've been thinking about quite a lot, recently. I'm also very curious regarding how I'll feel, reading this text in the future, where there's a possibility my perspective on the matter will change (perhaps maybe drastically), or stay the same.

To be completely honest, love has always been an abstract concept to me. There were times in my life in which I was sure I had experienced it multiple times. In others, I decided that all I ever felt was infatuation. And quite frankly, I have thought so many more things about it, that it's not really convenient to mention.

And whilst all these cycles would begin, repeat, end... All I wanted was a clear and concise definition of what it meant to love, and to be in love.

When it comes to how I see it now, I think my view on it is a mix of one of the things I used to belive in back and fourth. But this time, I have a little bit more maturity and experience to understand why I think this is the best approach.

So, my current standpoint is that I have only ever felt true love once. And not knowing how to deal with what I was feeling at the time still hurts to this day, even though it's been around around six, or seven years.

At the same time, though, there are so many memories I wish to never forget. Like the day I realised that I had actually developed feelings for someone, for the first time.

It's painful, but it's beautiful. And it also applies to all the connections I have formed after this person. I feel grateful for all of these people, because I have learned something of value out of all the experiences I've had with them.

Deep down, I know I have so much more to say. But honestly, my chest is not nearly as heavy as it was when I began typing this, so I'll enjoy this moment of peace, and end today's silly little post.

#this is so shit lol #personal #I stil can't define love and I don't know why I want to do it so bad

[cadaverdolls]

Already posted a doll today and I want to post another badly. Decided to draw something else since I want to space it out. Want to keep it to one per day. Might try making some of the LIs or NPCs into dolls if my urge to make more is too strong.

I’ve made DOL pcs but I haven’t made an oc that isn’t an orphan. Since I saw a couple of other peoples I now want to make my own! Working out the details on what the character does and how’d they’d fit into the town. It will change as I learn more about the NPCs and LIs.

Murmur the botanist

Height - 5’5 to 5’6 // Age - 23-26 (haven’t settled on an exact number) // Place of work - Botanical Gardens (I image that this place would be right next to the museum)

Murmur has a lot of energy. It’s almost endless! Like a husky. Her voice is loud and she’s going to make sure everyone knows what she thinks. Doesn’t mean she’s going to be impolite, just doesn’t mince her words.

The drawing is a chibi style but I plan on making another drawing later that isn’t in this style so I can get a better feel on her looks. As in, her jaw line. Don’t know if I want her to have a soft face or a jaw that can cut glass. Though the chibi style does fit with the cute character model in the game.

This drawing is just meant to get the vibe on her eye shape, hairstyle, and clothes.

I’ll make her an official tag later once I make the second drawing.

Under the cut is my long as description about her. What she does and how a pc would interact with her.

Minors DNI

Warning - Drugs and implied non-con? (Its mentioned so I added it just incase.)

(I’ll make another post in the future to explore her better. Make it more concise? Explain the interactions one could have with her and what interactions she’d have with NPCs and LIs. I kept her relationships vague since I’m still not fully sure how others would react to her as a person.)

Murmur the lure

People in this town lunge at anybody that looks attractive. Looking for the weak so they can make them into prey. Murmur doesn’t look particularly strong and looks quite naive with the way she dresses. Choosing to stand out with the bright pastel colors. Easy prey? Ha. Laughable notion.

Dart frogs are so cute and small. The golden dart frog is a beautiful thing, ranging in colors of yellow, blue, and orange. Something that everyone knows about dart frogs is that they aren’t something to be messed with. Those bright colors aren’t stupidity, it’s a warning. If a predator ignores those warnings and eats it then it ends up choking on the deadly poison that is within the dart frog.

Murmur has cans similar to pepper spray filled with spores and medicines made from the strange plants that surround this town. Hallucinogenics, anesthesia, drugs that make you see stars. In that large puffer jacket is where they keep it all. It’s basically a bullet proof vest with the amount she has on her.

Murmur knows that the predators learn by observing the others die trying to eat those frogs. So she uses these drugs to make sure that anyone that attacks her forgets her face. Not forgetting the pain of course! That be no fun for Murmur! She’s cruel to those that attack her first and she’s also a sadist. Just loves to see them writhe in pain. Free test subjects for all the new things she makes!

You know how you don’t get charged with assault if you pepper spray a wolf? Anyone the pc can pepper spray without getting assault added on to their criminal status will face much worse if they attack Murmur.

Due to working so much with these drugs she has an immunity to them. Pepper spray doesnt work on her.

🪻Thing involving a pc🪻

You can build love and trust with her. When I say love I mean she’ll see you like a younger sibling. Trust involves her business. If her love is past 50% you’ll get a note passed to you if you’re trapped in the prison or asylum that will ask if you want help getting out. Checking off yes on the note will result in either a guard or worker escorting you outside the building to Murmur’s car. Above 80% and she’ll give you pepper spray for free every week. Bailey isn’t someone she wants to mess with. While she wants to protect you she knows what their capable of. Things would get a lot worse if she involved herself.

The drugs she makes are sometimes legal. She sells both illegal and legal drugs. Supplying to places like the hospital or brothel. Sure, she’s steps on some powerful people’s toes sometimes but compared to the usual stuff you can get in town her stuff is far better. So she gets a pass.

Her garden is open to the public, plants of all kinds! There is a private section where she’s growing all the plants she using for her business. A pc can approach and ask for work, this leads you to picking one of two options - taking care of the garden or going into around town to collect plant samples.

Both have there own dangers but once you get high enough trust with her she give you the opportunity to test out her drugs on your attackers. You can earn about 1000 per can you test. Why is the pay so much? Well here are the potential results you can get when you use the sprays she gives you to test:

50% - the drug results in your attacker being unable to continue their attack // 25% - the drug results in your attacker becoming disoriented or pained, making it easier to escape // 25% - the drug results in your attacker becoming more aggressive or persistent in their efforts, making it incredibly hard to escape

🌸Thing involving NPCs and LIs🌸

Basically, she does know and frequently talks to NPCs involved with the brothels and hospital. It’s business so she’s not really friends with them.

Remy buys from her as well. She knows a lot more about them than she wish she did. Being polite to Remy is hard for her since she hates their guts.

If she could she’d avoid Bailey as much as possible.

Alex and Eden are the only LIs she has talked with. Done some studies on Alex’s farm and has encountered Eden a lot when she goes to the forest to gather samples. Eden in her eyes is sad and pathetic, but in a cute way.

#lots of text #dol oc #Murmur the Lure

[emilydaisymasters]

Initial Project Ideas and Mind-mapping

In order to come up with an idea I found interesting, original enough and informative to base my masters project around, I opted to create a mind map, essentially just spitballing ideas until one was interesting enough to stick. From the get go, I have had many an idea for my masters project, though most were so broad I would have had to do more refinement than work just to get a fluid idea. Regardless, I will include images of all of my ideas below:

From my initial list of ideas, which I deduced most were far too broad, I whittled them down into more detailed and specific ideas, as seen in the mind-map below:

The idea that I have chosen to focus in on for the time being, is the route of representing a story within the history of my hometown, being Oldham. Of all of the ideas here, I feel it is the most unique, and with the help of my Dad, who taught me so much about my hometown growing up, I would be able to create a concise, but also historically accurate retelling of a story that always hit me quite hard, one of my ancestors who endured abuse, torture and somehow came through to lead the legacy he does even today. I want my idea and subsequent project to be unique enough to myself, not using too much of my Dad's influence, save from what he has already taught me, but instead conducting my own research into the story, looking into how life was at the time in the early 19th century, and most importantly, doing the story justice. The absolute last thing I want is to bastardize such important history, especially to myself, and even though it will be a hard project to undertake research for, as I know a lot of current published research is at least somewhat inaccurate, I want to give it a go. I will develop this idea as best as I can in the coming days, before drafting a learning agreement to go along with it and sending it to Sarah for approval. I really want to get this right, so fingers crossed.

#DE4401 #DE4403 #thoughtsandfeelings #inspo

[if-review]

Easy Funnel Profits Review

"Easy Funnel Profits" is a 35-page training without any fluff or content filling, written by Michel Sirois and Jaason Lee.

The information discussed in the training has never been shared before…

However I believe among the gurus this method is well known. Anyway what I like about it is that it's very concise and gives steps to follow and a lot of good advice.

It's very easy to follow and understand and it's about "how to generate leads", build your list and make money at the same time. I'm pretty sure lot of experts followed this way of money making method and it definitely works.

Michel even discusses one of the biggest myths out there. What is it? Well a lot of people stress the importance of only use 1 funnel for 1 product and never put many products in 1 funnel. This may be true for those who only want one time profits, but if you follow the steps and advice in the training, you will soon find out that by using only 1 funnel, you could triple your traffic and profits under different styles of products.

I recommend this product totally - Joey Eusoff

Joey Eusoff, Internet Marketer Maurizio Pace Yet another good product by Michel. If you have ever asked for how the big players manage to get those 6 figures earnings, you will have your answers in this product.

Is it for everyone?

Well, yes!

But it's not a get rich quick scheme (I dare you to find somebody that can make 6 figures with them).

If you commit yourself in doing what Michel teaches you won't have the need for looking anywhere else.

You are going to discover what to do, how to do it and all the tools needed to do it in the easiest and best way possible. Good job Michel!

Maurizio Pace, List Builder & Affiliate Marketer Andy Kho Swee Yee Wow! This is beyond awesome. First of all, I would like to thank you Michel once again for producing this training.

At first, I thought this was something specially for newbies only. But after I going through the training, I realized how easy it was to triple my traffic and profits from 1 single funnel, which I never heard of before.

Apart from that, this training also showed me how to get traffic with as low as $0.004 which you cannot learn anywhere else in my opinion…

Thanks Michel - Andy Kho Swee Yee

Andy Kho Swee Yee, Affiliate Marketer "Yes! I'd Love to Get in On This, But What's the Catch?"

You've heard what I have to say. This book is wonderful. But what's the catch?

I'll be honest, you could skip over this offer today and keep on looking for the easiest way to make money.

But you'd have to shell out at least $1000.00.

But don't worry…

You won't have to pay anywhere near that amount today…

In fact, I'm actually going to sweeten the deal for you right now…

When You Grab Your Copy Today, You'll Also Get FREE Access To…

BONUS #1 - Value: $17.00 Open Rate SOLVED: AWARDED BY WARRIOR+PLUS AS THE "PRODUCT OF THE DAY" On June 29th, 2016

Start IN-BOXING In Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Hotmail And Other…

The Only Training That Will DELIVER Your E-Mail Messages… In Your Subscribers INBOX!!!

open_rate_solved

BONUS #2 - Value: $97.00 COMPLETE "DONE FOR YOU" Sales Funnel

We've also decided to throw-in a super cool "Done For You" Sales Funnel that will allow your clients to sell this product and keep 100% of their profits while capturing leads:

Lead Capturing page Upsell Downsell Download Page Legal pages (Disclaimer, Earnings Disclaimer, Privacy, FTC Statement and Terms Of Use) BONUS #3 - Value: $27.00/Month image5

Free Access To “Easy Funnel Profits” Mastermind Group: Needless to tell you that getting support is crucial when you are starting a business and this is why I decided to offer my time and dedication to my buyers.

At any time, you can come ask your questions though our mastermind group.

We are here to help and make you succeed…

BONUS #4 - Value: $27.00/Month open-rate-solved-mastermind-group

Free Access To “Open Rate Solved” Mastermind Group: This group entirely focusses on getting a better “Open And Click” Rate to avoid hitting your subscribers SPAM box.

I think it’s safe to say that the better your “Open And Click” Rate is, the more people will be seeing your e-mail messages and you will be making even more money…

I'm Sure By Now You Understand ALL The VALUE You Are Getting Today…

Grab You Copy Now Before The Countdown Timer Hits: 0.00

NOTE: This is structured as a dime sale, so the price increases after every purchase… If you come back tomorrow, the price WILL be higher!

You'll Get $168 Worth of Great Bonuses COMPLETELY FREE!

But there is one thing…

We Will Only Be Selling 200 Copies Of “Easy Funnel Profits”.

Once we close down the offer we won't release it again at this price. After that, we will be charging anywhere from $9.95 to $17.

Not to worry though…

To make your decision extremely easy, I'm going to remove all risk!

Yup, that's right. I want to guarantee you take advantage of this offer today, and feel good about it.

You're protected by our 30-day money-back guarantee. If for any reason at all you're not completely satisfied, get in touch with our team and we will give you a complete refund. It's that simple…

"Yes, I Want In! How Much Will This Cost Me?"

I'm stoked for you to jump in and get started…

Even more so, I can't wait for you to see the results that are waiting for you on the other side.

Here's a quick recap of everything you'll receive when you secure your copy right now:

35 pages of solid content where we reveal the easiest method I use on a daily base to make $210.92 per day - Value: $17.00 All you need to know to get tons of buyer leads: This is important because everyone needs BUYER traffic and no one wants to pay for it… This is the way to do it - Value: PRICELESS PLR License: Includes the "Easy Funnel Profits" re-editable document - Value: $17.00 Sales Swipes: Needless to tell you that if you want to sell a product, you need to use e-mail swipes (messages) to convince your audience to buy from you… These “Done For You” swipes are all you need to sell this product - Value: $45.00 … ALL The PDS Image Files you need to make a complete product transformation or even a product launch if you want - Value: $297.00 This special offer includes also a Re-EDITABLE SALES PAGE and SALES VIDEO copy: This is PRICELESS. If you were to hire a professional 6-figure copywriter like we did, you would pay a minimum of $997 for your sales copy. By letting us “Do It For You”, it will save you a lot of time and money on copywriting to get high SALES conversions - Value: $997.00 And much more And You're also Getting 4 Amazing Free Bonuses Worth More Than $168 + $54/Month

Open Rate SOLVED - Value $17.00 COMPLETE "Done For You" re-editable Sales Funnel - Value: $97.00 Easy Funnel Profits Mastermind Group - Value $27/Month Open Rate SOLVED Mastermind Group - Value $27/Month When You Secure Your Copy of Easy Funnel Profits Today, You'll Get a Total Value of $1,541 For ONLY…

NOTE: This is structured as a dime sale, so the price increases after every purchase… If you come back tomorrow, the price WILL be higher!

Before I let you go, I wanted to send out a big thank you for reading this letter.

I'm truly excited for you to get started with Easy Funnel Profits and see the results.

Talk to you soon, Michel Sirois

P.S. You could skip over this offer, but then you'll stay right where you are now. Let me help you get out of the rut you've been in. Start achieving the results you deserve right now. Grab Easy Funnel Profits by clicking the buy button above.

P.P.S. Just a reminder, We Will Only Be Selling 200 Copies. But don't worry. You're protected by our money back guarantee. So you can try it out today, and enjoy peace of mind. All you have to do is click the buy button above to get started.

F.A.Q.

Are Your methods for anyone? Yes, our methods are as good for beginners, intermediate and pros who are trying to make money online and get leads on a daily base.

Michel, how do you know it will work for me? Because my method is EVERGREEN and we are not cutting corners. Every method we reveal in this training are entirely 100% safe and 100% easy to implement.

Do you offer a refund guarantee? Yes. We offer a 30-day money-back guarantee if you prove to us that you have implemented the methods without success. We have put in place “Live” help for you in our mastermind group. If you feel stuck, the first thing to do is contact us to get the help you need… If for some reason after speaking to us you still don’t see results, we will gladly refund you.

Why is your refund guarantee set-up this way? Payment processors don’t like refunds. So to protect our account with Warrior+Plus and PayPal from “chronic refunders” and credit card frauds, we decided to be strict on our refund policy. By experience we know that if you truly want to go through our training, you will come get help through our mastermind group before trying to get refunded… If for some reason after speaking to us you still don’t see results, we will gladly refund you.

Are there “One Time Offers”? There are 2 “One Time Offers”. But you don’t need them unless you want to increase your knowledge to get better long-term results.

How long will it take for me to see results? As soon as you set-up what we teach you, you should start seeing results within a day or 2. If for some reason you are having difficulty, you can hit us up in the mastermind group to get “Live” help from Michel And Jaason.

Do you offer support? Of course we do… We VALUE Support… In the training, we also give your our DIRECT contact infos. We like 1 on 1 contact. It’s easier to explain stuff… If you have questions, We’ll be more than happy to help you.

#Easy Funnel Profits Review

[bernieanderson]

Three Management Styles to Avoid

The best example I know of how leadership should work is found in the New Testament.

One day, the disciples of Jesus started bickering about who would be the leader. I hear their dialogue in my head. “Hey guys, guess what? I’m gonna be the leader.” “You can’t be the leader, Peter. You’re too pig-headed.” “I think James is the best choice for the leader.” James agrees. “James? Posh. James couldn’t lead his way out of a tin can.” Mathew pipes in. “I’m the only one of us who’s lived a day in the business world. I should be the leader.” Judas takes issue with that. Then Jesus shuts it all down.

“You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you, it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28

Jesus said everything we need to know about leadership and power in four concise sentences. Organizations today contain the same hierarchical power structures Peter and company were bickering over 2000 years ago. Jesus turns our typical model upside down. Building a hierarchy and clinging to power is a vicious cycle:

To keep my position on the ladder, I must kick down anyone below me to keep them from overtaking me. Meanwhile, I quietly submit to anyone above to keep from getting kicked. It’s a kick or be kicked world. So Jesus didn’t allow his disciples to make a ladder. He showed them a better way. Be like Jesus. Don’t hoard and protect power. Give it away. Power dynamics in every organization are complex and nuanced. No one navigates them perfectly. But sometimes we must lead inside those structures. That can be tricky. We need basic management skills. A healthy relationship with power as a leader is essential. Everything depends on how you treat the people you serve. Management is a big subject and has many moving parts. I teach an entire course on how to manage well.

Everyone should learn basic management, even if on a small scale. For leaders, good management is crucial. Whether you’re leading a small project, a new ministry, or an entire organization, the skill of managing people is important. We want to manage in a way that is both productive and empowering. We want to complete the work and build up and encourage our team members. So, today, let’s explore how to empower as we lead. There are three traps many new managers fall into. If you avoid these three traps, you are on a path to productive, empowering leadership.

Don’t be a micro-manager

“I will mitigate my insecurity by controlling you. “

We’ve all had micro-managers in our lives.

The boss who must sign off on every detail.

The manager peering over your shoulder and checking your keystrokes.

The supervisor who wants to know exactly what lesson you’re planning and how much time you spent planning it.

Micro-managers stifle productivity and destroy the culture of an organization. Most people don’t wake up in the morning intending to micro-manage. Many micro-manage because they used to do the mechanics of the job themselves. For example, you’re asked to teach a class. Your manager also used to teach this class. Even though you are teaching it now, they want to stay as connected as possible. The manager wants you to lesson plan the exact way they did, even if that’s not your style. They also want to approve your lesson plans before you teach. This is micro-managing.

Micromanagers assume their way is best and they can do it better than everyone else, taking power and creativity away from the team.

Do this instead: Empower others to do their work and let them do it. Provide training, clear communication channels, and accountability. Then let people do their jobs, ~their way~.

Don’t be a hero-manager

“Here I come to save the day!”

Hero managers differ from micro-managers in that they will let you do your work in whatever way suits you, your strengths, and your workstyle. Until you make a mistake. When someone missteps, the hero manager puts on a cape and swoops in to save the day. They cannot allow failure. The hero-manager is often someone conscious of the need to look good for donors or for the field director. Sometimes it’s about simple ego. The problem with this management style is that it doesn’t allow for the empowerment and growth of the team. People learn by making mistakes! Leaders shouldn’t aspire to be heroes. Leaders should aspire for everyone else to be all they’re called to be. That’s empowerment.

Do this instead: Allow people to fail gently. Build a culture of candor and grace, so when people make mistakes, you instruct, they correct course. This is how your project grows and your team gets stronger – and better.

Don’t be a buddy-manager

“I’m gonna be everybody’s friend!”

Friendship at work or with team members is important. I encourage it. But be careful when leading a project. Managers who try to be everyone’s buddy can end up being everyone’s frustration. Perhaps you’ve had a buddy-manager. Manager Mike is everyone’s friend and everyone likes him. The problem is when Billy Bob stops doing his job. Even though Cathy is more productive and doing more for the organization or the team, Manager Mike fills in where Billy Bob is lacking. “Billy Bob is our friend and we need to cut him some slack.”

The problem is that Cathy, along with everyone else on the team, is tired of carrying Billy Bob’s weight. This is incredibly demotivating for the rest of the team. Buddy-managing may seem like a great way to lead while “getting along with the team”. Buddy-managing is the quickest way to kill team culture.

Do this instead: Make clear expectations for everyone. Job descriptions and measurable goals will help everyone know expectations and create a positive peer pressure for accomplishing tasks. Do this during the project planning stage so you, as the leader, can hold everyone accountable to what is agreed upon at the beginning.

Leadership is hard. But you can learn. Build positive incentives, clear expectations, and genuine accountability into your team from the beginning. This is leadership that empowers. Remember that power is subtle. When you work at avoiding these management styles, you are on your way to being a better leader. Which kind of manager do you tend to be?

If this material is helpful to you, consider signing up for a Growability® Leadership Collaborative. These collaboratives are an immersive educational experience that equips you to maximize your leadership. Join a group of individuals committed to helping each other flourish in life and work.

At a fraction the cost of an MBA program, the Growability Collaborative provides the tools necessary to be an effective leader, manager and influencer. Contact me about joining one today!

#leadership development

[realcube]

you flinch during an argument pt2

navi | masterlist | part one

thank you to anon for this request

characters ♡ sugawara, bokuto & akaashi

tw ♡ cursing, angst, mentions of abuse, hurt to comfort, hinted ptss, mentions of ashes/cremation & parent! reader in bokuto’s

KŌSHI SUGAWARA

♡ a grimace; the expression sugawara had been wearing for the last 10 minutes as he bickered with you in the kitchen while cooking his meal prep

♡ “i just don’t understand why you need to study for hours on end. at this point, i think you’re just making excuses to avoid me.” sugawara spoke, his incomprehensible tone making it impossible for you to decipher whether he was being kind or condescending, or whether that last comment was supposed to be a joke

♡ “why would i do that?” you inquired innocently, keeping your gaze fixated on preparing your own meal. honestly, he didn’t deserve even a shred of your attention after elongating the conversation to no end. “exams are less than a week away and if i don’t pass then the last two years will have been for nothing. not that i’d expect you to understand.”

♡ you acknowledged that was a low blow, but your mind told you to just blurt out the first thing that you knew would make him shut up, and it unfortunately worked. 

♡ immediately feeling a wave of wave of regret wash over you, you shuffled over to his place at the kitchen counter, pressing your cheek to his arm to show affection before muttering, “sorry, i didn’t mean that. please don’t take it personally, kōshi.”

♡ usually an act like that would put an end to one of your silly squabbles but today was different

♡ out of the corner of your eye, you noticed something come flying towards you and — contextually — it didn’t take long for you to figure out that it was sugawara’s hand 

♡ that was enough reason your mind need to take the following course of action: your arms shot up to shield your the side of your face while your knees bent, brining you closer to the ground while your eyelids squeezed shut

♡ although after a few without the expected impact, your eyes fluttered open and you dropped your guard, allowing yourself a few moments to collect yourself before looking up at your boyfriend who’s demeanour had changed completely from a few seconds ago 

♡ now, his face was pale and his jaw was tight. as for his eyes, not so long ago they were faux-soft, now it was as if he had witnessed a crime; his pupils were constricted and his eyes were wide. he still stood tall as always but he appeared to be frozen in place, with his arm — that you had deemed a threat — looming above your head 

♡ you glanced up for a moment just to take a look, and upon noticing how his hand was cupped, you realised that his intention was to pat your head. it was a gentle gesture which he did often to show affection so you couldn’t help but wonder why you’d ever assume he was going to inflict harm on you 

♡ “(y/n)!” he finally managed to choke out, hastily retracting his hand back to his side, “are you alright?” 

♡ you were unsure as to why he was asking such a question, considering that he didn’t even lay a finger on you, but you answered none the less, “i’m fine, are you?” 

♡ it was clear that you didn’t think much of your actions, which made sugawara even more concerned. if he were to be completely honest, he wanted nothing more than to pull you into a hug and prattle on about how much he loved you and how he would protect you with his life for hours on end, but he knew that’d be an immature way to deal with such a situation so acting in an adult fashion, he stood at a respectable distance from you and spoke concisely

♡ “why’d you flinch?” he blurted out, feeling like a complete idiot as you replied almost immediately with, “i’m not sure.”

♡ your nonchalant and unaffected attitude made him wonder if he was making a big deal out of your simple action, since you didn’t seem that bothered by it at all. however, his morals spoke louder than logic and told him that he needed to resolve this issue, even you didn’t view it as such.

♡ “i swear i’d never do something like that.” was all he could think to say. so he decided it was best to stay silent right now, allowing you to head up to your room to study without another word spoken. 

♡ the next hour or so was spent trying to think of something to say to you. evidently, he was at a loss for words and all he could do was bury his face into his arms and mentally curse himself for being so confrontational over such a trivial problem

♡ eventually, he came to the conclusion that you’d probably want some space so for now, he’d allow you to study in peace and come out to talk when you are ready 

♡ but he is still sugawara, so expect there to be a place of sliced fruits outside your bedroom accompanied by a little motivational note 

KŌTARŌ BOKUTO 

♡ arguments with bokuto only came once every blue moon since you both seemed to agree almost all the time, and even when you didn’t, bokuto would either apologise within less than a minute or simply oblige because he hates seeing you mad at him, or just mad in general 

♡ but sometimes — no matter how much he apologised — you’d still resent him for whatever he did, and a part of him just felt like that was so unfair. perhaps it was a childish thought, but why can’t you just understand that he made a mistake and move on? after all, he always learns and it’s rare that he makes the same mistake twice, so why are you still angry?

♡ plus, he always forgives you immediately when you do something wrong. he just wanted the same treatment and he realised this at the worst moment possible.

♡ “saying sorry won’t fix it!” you barked, wiping away the tears as they fell from your lashline. your skin felt like it was on fire but you paid no mind, just focussing on remaining stable and not losing yourself to a crying fit, “it’s gone forever now, i hope you are happy.”

♡ bokuto seeing you upset more than anything, and knowing that he was the cause of your tears only made things worse. he felt so worthless. 

♡ the only words combatting the voice in his head telling him that he couldn’t do anything right, were the ones reassuring him that it was simply an accident and that if he had known that there were ashes in that jar, he would’ve been more careful when walking around it. 

♡ “i don’t know why i take this from you.” he muttered under his breath but still loud enough for you to hear. of course, you thought you had misheard him as you knew him better than to say something so audacious, “huh?”

♡ “i don’t know why i take this from you!” he repeated, but this time he lunged forward to yell it right in your face so you’d hear him for sure. “there’s nothing i can do to fix it now, so why can’t you just forgive me?! i’m so sorry and i’d do anything to make it up to you yet you are still so fucking nasty to me! no one wants to be with a stubborn bitch!” 

♡ blinded by rage, it took him a few moments to realise that you weren’t standing as you were before he lunged at you, but rather you had stumbled backwards and were now on the ground with your hands raised in defence

♡ as much as he wanted to continue with his momentum and yell at you while you were down, his subconscious acted fist by outstretching his hand to help you up, “(y/n), why are y--”

♡ he cut himself off as something finally clicked in his mind, helping him realise that he was the reason you were on the ground. you must’ve flinched and fell backwards when he suddenly moved towards you, but why? i mean, it’s not like he was gonna hurt you. so were you just surprised? well, if you were just shocked by his movements you probably wouldn’t be defensive and appear terrified.

♡ upon coming to this conclusion, bokuto dropped down to his knees and shuffled towards you, evidently having calmed down as his cheeks were no longer red with fury and his eyebrows had separated. 

♡ “i’m so sorry.” he mused with wide-eyes, his blank expression and stare kinda scaring you as not even for a moment did he release you from his gaze.

♡ ‘sorry’ appeared to be the word of the day

♡ “i’m sorry too, kō.” you admitted, lowering your head and allowing the hair that hung down in front of your face to shield you from bokuto’s penetrating stare. “i know you didn’t break it on purpose, so of course you are forgiven.” you knew the feeling of frustration all too well, and you were ashamed that you were cause of it for bokuto.

♡ like magic, your statement pulled bokuto out of his trance and back to reality, where he was able to beam and throw his arms open to offer you a hug, “you don’t need to apologise. c’mere!”

♡ you hesitated at first, but there was truly nothing more comforting than the sight of bokuto’s bright smile and glistening cheeks under the golden sunlight which seeped in from passed the blinds; it was almost angelic. hence you found yourself leaning into his arms without a second thought, finding solace in the way his shaky breath tickled the warm skin of your neck

♡ though he didn’t say much in the moment, the image of you cowering in fear away from him will permanently be inked into his mind 

♡ but that’s not to say his words didn’t have an effect on you

♡ your kid grew up knowing endless forgiveness and tolerance from both you and bokuto, as whenever you saw your son’s golden eyes gaze up at you through a stream of tears, all you could see was bokuto, and all you could hear was him calling you a stubborn bitch 

♡ it was almost funny how your brain made that correlation, but rather than laugh, you simply smiled and kneeled down in front of your son, cupping his cheek in your hand, “it’s fine. i forgive you.”

♡ the poor boys glossy gaze flickered between you and the shards of the mug he had chosen for you scattered across the floor

♡ his teeth gritted together, presenting an expression of anguish which was only highlighted by both of his fist curling into balls before he lunged forward to throw his arms over your shoulders and bawl into your chest, “i’m so sorry!”

♡ you pouted, glancing between your son and bokuto who just stood with an awkward smile on his face, watching the scene while knowing full well that it was mostly his fault for entrusting a fragile mug to a four-year-old 

♡ although, it wasn’t as if you could stay mad at either of them; you love them too much

KEIJI AKAASHI

♡ arguments with akaashi were rare. after all, communication is key in a relationship and he ensures that you both tell each other everything. hence you can see the irony in the situation where his order of transparency is exactly the reason you were so pissed off.

♡ “please tell me what’s wrong, dear.” akaashi almost whispered, trailing behind you like lost puppy while you stormed towards your front door in order to lead him out

♡ “i’m tired, i said i‘ll tell you later.” you groaned, feeling guilty for being so impatient with him but you truly didn’t have the energy to argue or explain how you were feeling tonight. really all you wanted was to get some rest and discuss everything in the morning but akaashi clearly felt like there was something deeper that needed to be unpacked first.

♡ “you say that but you’ll probably be too tired tomorrow as well.”

♡ you quirked a brow, taking a pause and leaning against your doorframe just as you were about to lock him out, “and so what if am? goodnight."

♡ “don’t be immature.” each word sharper than the last, they stung your eyes.

♡ “tomorrow, akaashi. love yo—"

♡ the next few moments were a blur. It was as though your body reacted on it’s own to seeing akaashi reach out towards your face, so without a moment of consideration, you found yourself jerking away from his touch; appearing alarmed while your heart rate skyrocketed for reasons beyond your knowledge

♡ once your mind was finally able to comprehend what happened and absorb the context, it didn’t take long for you to figure out that he outstretched his hand so he could tuck a stray strand of hair behind your ears, an act of affection he performs often yet it just happened to slip your mind

♡ akaashi yanked his arm back to his side, staring at his hand — eyes filled with disgust — as if he were presented with a murder weapon. despite that, his self-loathing was short-lived as he immediately inquired, “are you okay? do you need water?” he wasn’t really familiar with the ideal procedure he should take in a situation like this, so he used his judgment which told him that water was the solution to most problems, hence this should be no different.

♡ before you could deny his offer, he was already rummaging through his satchel in search of his water bottle, and once he found it he was quick to hand it to you

♡ after taking a few sips of water, you placed his bottle back in his bag and zipped it up for him, “thank you.” you murmured, not sure as to whether you should apologise or just play it off as if nothing happened. however, guessing by the dazed look in akaashi’s eyes, it would be safe to assume that these events have been permanently inked into his memory

♡ for the first time ever, he was truly at a loss. usually people would look to him when in trouble – or even danger – but now he was the threat, the cause of your stress

♡ perhaps it was because of how long you’ve been together, or maybe it was due to the fact you converse so often with him, but you could read akaashi like an open book. where others see a deadpan, dull setter; you see your boyfriend who is just in desperate need of affirmation from time to time

♡ a few minutes ago, you could’ve sworn you didn’t have enough energy to smile or communicate your feelings but here you were now, wearing the sweetest grin you could muster and humming in a honeyed voice, “i really do love you, keiji. and i’m not afraid of you either.” to emphasise your point, you leaned forward to plant a brief kiss on his cheek and tuck an imaginary loose strand of hair behind his ear, all while he stood speechless. not that you expected a reply anyway.

♡ “i love you too, dear.” akaashi finally uttered after an elongated period of silence.

♡ it was amazing how much you could tell simply from his eyes. his irises no longer vibrated as if they were pending an eruption, and pity behind his gaze seemed to have dissipated slightly. there was still somewhat of a glassy look to them, but he could say the same about yours.

♡ “goodnight. i’ll message you in the morning.” he smiled, mimicking the kindness in yours well as he turned around, promptly heading towards the bus stop with a final wave of his hand

♡ and he didn’t lie either. not only did he text you goodnight again, at exactly 6AM you received a notification from none other than akaashi himself reading:

♡ ‘good morning, sweetheart <3  how’d you sleep? i’m about to head to the shop, do you need anything?’

♡ although you denied his offer, he ended up buying you your favourite drink anyway

#sugawara x y/n #sugawara angst #akaashi angst #bokuto angst #akaashi hcs #akaashi keji x reader #sugawara headcanon #hq sugawara #haikyuu sugawara #sugawara scenario #sugawara imagine #sugawara kōshi #akaashi x you #hq akaashi #hq bokuto #akaashi headcanons #akaashi x reader #👾angst

[meeedeee]

The First Post To The First Slash /Shipping Mailing List

The Date: October 19, 1992 ("it was almost 29 years ago") The Poster: sherrold* 

Context: the first pan fandom slash (shipping) mailing list, Virgule-L, was in its infancy. Safe spaces for women to talk about slash online were rare. And most fan fiction was distributed in print fanzines (which is why fanzine reviews like the one Sandy wrote were so important as a single fanzine cost $15-20 or around $30-40 in today's dollars.) Fan run conventions were the only way to meet other groups of fans and mailed letters and phone calls were the tenuous tethers that strung these fan groups together. The mailing list - and the Internet - was about to change...everything. ****************

Well, welcome to my adventure in mailing! I hope to have this set up soon as a 'real' mailing list, with it's own address. Until then, I only know one way for one of you to write to everyone at once. Just reply to a letter from the list, and answer yes, when it asks, 'reply to all'. So far there are 7 of us. I'll let everyone introduce themselves. I am Sandy Hereld,* I write as Alyx (often with a friend who used Alys) the pen name is *not* a secret. I started in "/" fandom in trek, moved to Pros, and now am very crazed about B7. I still love Pros, and like a lot of different fandoms, including Wiseguy, Starsky and Hutch, and Muncle. I helped run a slash con here in town last week, Virgule, and hope to make Escapade** this year (in February, in Santa Barbara--one of the list subscribers co- runs it--memberships still available), but not Revelcon.*** Maybe, if I get a new job, Media West. I've never been there, and I've always wanted to go. I just finished a great Multi-mediazine called Homosapiens Too. It has an interesting variety of fandoms and crossovers; even more important, there wasn't a single story that stunk (though I liked some better than others, of course.) Page count is Pros/Booker 18 pgs (Bodie/Booker) Eroica/Muncle 5 pgs (Eroica/Illya) Batman 4 (Batman/street punk) Nightflyers 6+ (cartoon, from the movie) TNG 5pgs (Beverly/symbiote) B7/TOS trek 5 pgs (Blake/Spock) Dangerous Liaisons 7 pgs (Valmont/Danceny) Damiano 2 pgs (from the R.A. McAvoy books) MUNCLE 2 pgs the usual Star Wars 4 (cartoon, original characters) Pros 4 pgs the usual B7 50 pgs (Blake/Avon) Perhaps I should mention at the there was a contest for most outrageous crossover pairing. My favorites were: The Right Place To Be (Bodie/Booker) by Arcane Annie & Stew--Bodie quits in a huff after an Operation Suzie, and is too embarrassed to go back; Booker has quit somewhat similarly. Seeing how stupid the other's foolish pride looks, they both learn things about playing roles and 'what really matters.' They also have pretty good sex. Do Blond's Really Have More Fun? (Eroica/Illya) by Barbara T. This definitely is set at a time when Solo and Kurykin are having some problems. The crossover is a fascinating one, and it works. (Anyone needing Erioca explained, just e-mail me. It is a pretty new/small fandom, but growing fast.) Brand New Day (Spock/Blake) by Jane Carnell follows immediately after Blake's pod makes planetfall after Star One. A great Blake, and if not a totally convincing Spock, it's close. Worth it for this scene alone. --Blake "What do you like?" "Anal penetration," "Which way round?" Blake inquired. "I am a telepath. It hardly matters. Whichever way pleases you." Valmont (Valmont/Danceny) by Stew -is a romantic, but very plausible retelling of the movie Dangerous Liaisons, all from Danceny's POV. For any that have read the book, you know it is told solely in letters and diary entries, so this collection of Danceny's diaries is very faithful to the original feel. It is also an amazingly concise retelling, squeezing 2 hours into 6 1/2 pgs. Submissive It Ain't (Pros) is basically just a sex story, but one firmly based in the very different personalities of Bodie and Doyle. Nice idea, beautiful sex, slightly weak ending. Puppeteer (Blake/Avon) by Bryn Lantry is a convoluted but beautiful story where: the action is in the emotions, everyone has multiple motives, and no one truly knows their own minds, much less understands their crewmates. A bit alternate, set sometime in the months before Star One but after Blake has already got the idea in mind, this is a wonderful character study of Blake and Avon, with Vila and Cally in strong supporting roles. Not my favorite type of story -- I think I prefer something a bit more straightforward, but undeniably compelling and well written. The other stories weren't dogs either... The Muncle story, Hanging In Time, by Y.J. is a very disturbing portrayal of the hurt-comfort syndrome in Illya, The Batman story will appeal to anyone who liked "The Dark Knight Returns" With All My Symbiotes -Susan Douglas- has some nice female slash. Why Couldn't It Be Me has gotten a certain amount of press as "Biblical slash." It does have two biblical characters in it, but it is just a vigniette, and has no overt slash content. A few caveats: I disliked the art in the first story, and was indifferent to the rest. I had a hard time reading the 2 cartoon sections; I thought the penning needed to be clearer, and the xerox needed to be darker for those sections. With those few quibbles in mind, I recommend the zine highly. It has an interesting collection of stories set in an amazing variety of universes. The editor is joining a growing number of publishers and putting the word count down -- 80,700, with 40,700 of it in Bryn's B7 story. It is available from Manacles Press here in the U.S. at  [address removed]. There is no U.S. price on the zine; it says to SASE Manacles Press, and I can't remember whether I paid $15 or $18 at the con. From Australia, it is available from the publisher...[address removed] $12 within Aust, $20 posted overseas airmail. (I assume that's $Aus)”

*Sandy passed away in July 2011 of cancer. One of our final joint projects was going  through our emails dating back 20+ years to find fandom history we could share

**Escapade is the longest running slash convention and is still held in Southern California (as of 2021)

*Revelcon is a slash friendly multi-fandom convention held in Texas. As of 2021 it is still running

#fandom history #fandom love #escapadecon #fanzines #Blake's 7 #Star Trek #Star Wars #Eroica #man from uncle #the professionals #book fanfic #feedback #snady

[snidgetwidgeon]

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

[soren-bleu-kun]

Fic Wrap Up.

*feel free to ignore this if I tagged you 

This is going to be my own fic wrap up, my first one ever because this was the birth of my Ao3 account, so all of my fics are from this year. I’ll try to keep things concise, but it’ll still be pretty long. I will do this in the form of a Read More after the first few fics. There are over 90, I’ll try to go alphabetically. 

All of them are from the same fandom, BnHA, so that’s nice. More gen fics, less romance. Most of them are for series, events, other people’s aus - and I’ll make sure to share all of that when I share each fic, especially because some of the events are probably repeats and this is a little bit like free marketing [only tagging them once because that would get obnoxious, especially for the weekly event things I did]. Other than that, I hope you all enjoy and may 2021 suck slightly less. 

Heads up for angst, whump, some ships, and manga spoilers 

A Breathing Silence - Gen, 3K. Shirakumo survives his internship, but at the price of his hearing. His friends do their best to help him through it [for @badthingshappenbingo] 

A Common Room Conversation - Gen, 2K. Midoriya realizes that he has some questions for his mentor during winter break. [for @tunafishprincess’ Dads For Deku Week that I still need to finish, whoops] 

A Confession and A Dance - TodoDeku, 4K. Midoriya and Todoroki just going to the school dance as friends doesn’t last very long 

After Hours - ShinDeku, 1K. Model Shinsou goes on his first date with a photographer he works with sometimes, and worries that he’s going to be horrifically awkward about it [for OTPtober run by DigitalPopsicle, AU by. @amandasmurfee] 

Amend - EraserMight, 1.5K. Yagi and Aizawa have been arguing for the last few days. Aizawa finds himself forgiving his partner in order to help him. [for @erasermight-week] 

Bedside Manner - EraserMight, 2K. Yagi ends up in the hospital and hopes for better days [for @/erasermight-week] 

Bravery Test - DustBunny, 2K. Though the two aren’t together in this one, this fic features hero student Tenko Shimura having a crush on his much cooler classmate, Rumi Usagiyama. [for DustBunny Week on Twitter] 

Broken Glass - [FAN FAVORITE] Gen, 1K. A young Keigo Takami finds himself wandering the streets of Musutafu in this fic where he seems to have glitched through time [for @/hawksweek2020] 

Can’t Say No - CloudMic, 2K. Despite the fact that Yamada hates the beach, he can’t help but agree to go when his crush asks him [for CloudMic Week on Twitter] 

Caramel Coffee & Phone Numbers - [FAN FAVORITE] ShinDeku, 1K. This fic features an AU where instead of going to UA at all, Shinsou ends up as a barista [for @shindekumonth] 

Codependence - EraserMic, 1K. Yamada realizes that he feels unfulfilled in his relationship but doesn’t know how to leave. [for @whumptober2020] 

Concerns and Collapse - Gen, 1K. Yagi is ignoring his health because of his hubris and it doesn’t end well [for @/badthingshappenbingo] 

Chronic - [FAN FAVORITE] ShinDeku, 1.5K. Midoriya is ignoring his pain because he has homework to do. Shinsou is having none of it [for @/whumptober2020] 

Date Night - ShinDeku, 1K. As pro heroes, they don’t get a lot of time to spend together. Might as well do what they can [for @/shindekumonth] 

Disguises - Gen, 1K. In an AU where Tokoyami does end up being taken alongside Bakugou, Todoroki feels responsible for getting him back 

Foggy Recollection - Gen, 2K. In a world where Shirakumo lives but Aizawa ends up dying at USJ, he and Yamada are just trying to pick up the pieces [for CloudMic Week on Twitter] 

Forgotten Birthday - Gen, 1K. When Sero breaks his record of perfect attendance with no explanation, Aizawa goes to figure out if something is wrong [for @dadzawa-week-2020] 

For the Morning - [FAN FAVORITE] ShinDeku, 1K. Shinsou knows that he shouldn’t have snuck into his boyfriend’s dorm room for morning cuddles, but he couldn’t help himself [for OTPtober on Twitter] 

Good Morning, Koda - Gen, 1K. Aizawa recognizes the anxiety in one of his students, and goes about trying to help quietly [for @/dadzawa-week-2020] 

Go Fish - Gen, 1K. Aoyama doesn’t spend a lot of time with people, but for Midoriya he’ll make an exception [for @dekusquadweek] 

Gravel and Back Alleys - Gen, 2K. Shigaraki doesn’t understand why a hero keeps letting him go. Guess he’ll just have to find out for himself [personally not too proud of this one, heh] [for DustBunny Week on Twitter] 

Harmonizing Colors - [FAN FAVORITE] EraserMight, 1K. When Yagi finds his emotions not acting the way he wants them to, he knows that he has to find another outlet - and to keep it a secret [for @/erasermight-week] 

Indecision - TodoChako, 2K. Todoroki knows that he shouldn’t be fornicating with the enemy in this future au, but he can’t help himself. He misses her [for TodoChako Week on Twitter] 

In the Grey - [FAN FAVORITE] Gen, 1K. Midoriya finds himself going home to an empty house, feeling rather cold [for @/dekusquadweek] 

In the Rain - CloudMic, 2K. After the national hero rankings let out, Shirakumo and Yamada find their way home has been kind of ruined and have to walk together to the train station [for CloudMic Week on Twitter] 

In the Teacher’s Lounge - EraserMight, 1K. Aizawa and Yagi spend some time together after classes [for OTPtober and based off of this art by @theoutspokenrodent] 

Last Word - [FAN FAVORITE] ShinDeku, 1K. Midoriya has hanahaki and never had the chance to tell Shinsou [for @/shindekumonth] 

Late Night Chamomile - Gen, 1K. Yaoyorozu is having a hard night and her teacher doesn’t want to leave her alone with the nightmares [for @/dadzawa-week-2020] 

Lessons in English and Subtlety - CloudMic, 2K. Shirakumo is having a hard time focusing on his work with Yamada right there [for CloudMic Week on Twitter] 

Light the Candles, Not the Cake - EraserCloud, 1K. Aizawa forgot that it was Shirakumo’s birthday in this AU where he lives, and he’s hurrying to make up for it [for OTPtober] 

Little Blue Teacups - Gen, 1K. Todoroki needs some help getting rid of something and he asks Uraraka for help [for @/dekusquadweek] 

Locked Up - Gen, 1K. Shinsou likes hiding himself away, which is great until he finds a place he can’t get out of [for @/shindekumonth] 

Looking Out - Gen, 6K. Aizawa starts looking out for Yagi when he finds out that the man is being stalked and it brings out some of his darker side [written because an event rejected me! Thanks guys, this has the most comments out of every fic I’ve ever written! Also for @/badthingshappenbingo] 

Lying Together - EraserMight, 1.5K. Yagi and Aizawa learning how to operate together in all things, but especially sleep [for @/erasermight-week] 

Middle of the Night - Gen, 1K. Just something about Iida checking in on Midoriya [for @/dekusquadweek] 

Missing Gears - EraserMight, 10K. In an AU where Yagi never gets OFA, he becomes a support course student, who later in life works with Aizawa - an old high school friend [for @erasermight-bigbang] 

Nana’s Cape - Gen, 2K. In a role swap au, Tenko Shimura is trying to find his grandmother’s cape, taken by villains just to mess with him [for DustBunny Week on Twitter] 

New Directions - Gen, 1K. Giran finds a young Touya Todoroki on the street and decides to help the kid out 

Not the First to Say - Gen, 1K. Todoroki finds Yaoyorozu the night before her birthday, feeling down. They have a talk. [for @todomomoweek2020] 

Ocean Air - Gen, 3K. Todoroki has never stepped foot into the ocean to and he’s got some thoughts abut it [for TodoChako Week on Twitter] 

Old Memories, New Rivals - Gen, 1.5K. In which Shinsou remembers a young Midoriya [for @/shindekumonth]

One Night Off - ShinDeku, 1K. For once these two pro heroes have time for each other without forcing it to happen [for OTPtober] 

On Repeat - Gen, 1K. Shirakumo has been reliving the same day over for forever, and is finally just waking up [for @/whumptober2020] 

On the Battlefield - Gen, 1K. Dabi stops someone from bleeding out, just in case he needs them later 

Over the Phone - EraserMight, 1.5K. Aizawa has a hard time falling asleep without Yagi there with him [for @/erasermight-week] 

Painful Decisions - TodoMomo, 1K. On their anniversary, Yaoyorozu realizes she doesn’t actually love him [for @/todomomoweek2020] 

Prom Night - CloudMic, 2K. Shirakumo and Yamada skip out on their special night at school to have a special night for the two of them [for CloudMic Week on Twitter] 

Promise - EraserCloud, 1K. Aizawa gets hurt and doesn’t tell Shirakumo 

Proposal - EraserCloud, 1.5K. Wedding night for Aizawa and Shirakumo, just some softness 

Rough Patrol - EraserCloud, 1.5K. Aizawa gets hurt during patrol and doesn’t warn Shirakumo until later 

Rubble - Gen, 1K. Yagi watches his successor bury himself in rubble, and despite the fact that the boy is a pro hero now, he can’t help but go off and try to find him [for @/badthingshappenbingo] 

Ruining Movie Night - EraserMic, 1K. Sometimes Aizawa just needs to let his emotions out, and sometimes he doesn’t know when that’s going to happen [for @/whumptober2020] 

Running on Empty - Gen, 2K. Uraraka forgot to get food before Todoroki showed up for a study session and she’s hungry 

Sapporo Snow Festival - Gen, 1K. Todoroki runs into Yaoyorozu when he wasn’t expecting it but it ends surprisingly well [for @t/odomomoweek2020] 

Scientifically Proven to be Pointless - Gen, 1K. AFO as a young lad, trying to help his younger brother with his illness [for AFOtober, run by AFOzine on Twitter] 

Scrambled Eggs - CloudMic, 2K. When Aizawa dies, Shirakumo and Yamada go through with making an agency [for CloudMic Week on Twitter] 

Sitting in the Rain - Gen, 1K. Sometimes Tsu likes to sit in the rain. Today she doesn’t have to sit alone [from @aconstantstateofbladerunner’s list of prompts found here] 

Small Grievances - Gen, 1K. When Aizawa dies, the rest of the rooftop gang mourns [for @/whumptober2020] 

Snow and the Kitchen Drawer - Gen, 1K. Sometimes Yamada hates himself for choices he didn’t make [for CloudMic Week on Twitter] 

Something Like Eisoptrophobia - Gen, 1K. There’s this little fear that the Voice Hero has never gotten over before [for @/whumptober2020] 

Studying Together - TodoMomo, 1K. In this College AU, Todoroki hates biology. At least right now he isn’t going through it alone [for @/todomomoweek2020] 

Stumbling - Gen, 1K. Midoriya runs into Shinsou at a hero con [for @shindekumonth] 

Sunday Morning - [FIST FIC] EraserMic, 1K. Just something soft for two pro heroes on a rainy day 

Surprise Call - A young Shigaraki is glad to hear from AFO, as rare as it might be [for AFOtober] 

Tensei’s Meal - Gen, 1K. In the aftermath of his older brother getting hospitalized by the hero killer, Iida has to be reminded to eat [for @dadzawa-week-2020] 

The Aftermath - EraserMight, 1K. After Nighteye dies, Yagi has some feelings he has to process [for @/erasermight-week] 

The Business Card - ShinMono, 1K. In this College AU, Shinsou is just trying to ignore the noises of other people in the dorms and runs into someone quite eccentric [for @shinmonoweek] 

The Car Ride - Gen, 1K. Shinsou getting out of therapy and being absolutely exhausted [for @/dekusquadweek] 

The Last Halloween - Gen, 3K. A surprisingly soft DFO story from when Midoriya was little [for @/tunafishprincess’ Dad For One Halloween event] 

The Little Matryoshka Doll - Gen, 1K. From a time when they were younger, a small Yaoyorozu looks for her little friend at an adult party, not knowing that something’s happened to him [for @/todomomoweek2020] 

The Nightly Watch - Gen, 1K. Eri has had some nightmares so Aizawa is staying with her for a bit [for @/dadzawa-week-2020] 

The Pause Button - EraserMic, 1K. Yamada gets injured while working and can’t talk for a few days 

The Waiting Room - [FAN FAVORITE] Gen, 2K. When Yagi ends up in the hospital and Midoriya goes to see him, he runs into Tsukauchi in the hospital [for @/tunafishprincess’ Dads for Deku event] 

They Were Roommates - ShinCahko, 9K, ongoing. Shinsou and Uraraka ended up becoming roommates because of the cheap rent and it has some unforeseen consequences [for @shinchakoweek] 

Things Will Get Better - ShinDeku, 1K. Midoriya loses something vital to him and Shinsou is there to help him [for @/shindekumonth] 

Three Little Rings - EraserCloudMic, 5.5K. Shirakumo wants to propose to his partners but he doesn’t know how it would work for them [for CloudEraserMic Week on Twitter] 

Through the Haze - EraserMight/EraserCloud, 1K. Aizawa starts seeing things when he gets too sick and Yagi doesn’t have the heart to correct him [for @/whumptober2020] 

Under the Maples - Gen, 1K. Shinsou was just planning on going for a bike ride, not running into weird hero course kids [for @/shinmonoweek] 

Under the Same Roof - Gen, 1K. Once upon a time, the original OFA user and his brother lived in the same house and things were very tense [for AFOtober on Twitter] 

Waiting to Say Hello - Gen, 1K. In an alternative universe where Hawks has anxiety, his meeting with the number one hero goes a little differently [for @/hawksweek2020] 

Winning the Bet - [FAN FAVORITE] Gen, 2K. When Yamada is forced to make a bet about who he thinks will break first during finals week, he doesn’t admit that he’s actually won [for @/tunafishprincess’ Dads for Deku Week event] 

Visiting Hours - Gen, 1K. Villain Todoroki finds himself going to see an old friend of his during a snowstorm [for @/todomomoweek2020] 

Walking Back - EraserMight, 1.5K. When Yagi thinks that Aizawa looks too tired to get back to the dorms on his own, he does his best to help him. It ends with a bit of a shock [for OTPtober] 

Warranted Interruptions - Gen, 1K. Monoma and Aizawa don’t interact often, which is fine with the both of them - but that doesn’t mean that Aizawa can ignore when someone is hurting [for @/dadzawa-week-2020] 

Winter Home - TodoMomo, 1K. Todoroki ends up going with Yaoyorozu on a family vacation and feels welcomed [for @/todomomoweek2020] 

I hope you guys like them, and thanks for taking the time to read all the way down here, if you did. This took most of the night, ha. If you read any of them, I’d love like... a kudos. Statistics bring me down, you, so keeping the 1 : 10 ratio for more of these fics would be awesome 

New Year’s Resolution  : Write more Quality, not Quantity. More DadMight, maybe post some of my other longer stories. Don’t make every request something to post. 

#my writing #bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #shouta aizawa #hizashi yamada #oboro shirakumo #toshinori yagi #hitoshi shinsou #izuku midoriya #eraserhead #present mic #loud cloud #all might #erasermic #erasercloud #erasermight #shindeku #tododeku #shouto todoroki #shoto todoroki #momo yaoyorozu #todomomo #neito monoma #bnha eri #mha eri #rumi usagiyama #miruko #tenko shimura

[brown-little-robin]

Today I thought I’d finally talk about my superhero poetry collection in an actual post instead of just grabbing poems from it. This post features a poem from the Jason Todd collection because I had to include an example, and Jason Todd’s collection is one of my favorite sub-collections.

Settle in, dears, because this is more a journal entry than a concise explanation.

I love poetry. But I have an awful time forcing my brain to slow down enough to enjoy reading a poem. In childhood, I developed a habit of reading 300+ page books in a few days, so my default mode is reading really fast. I have to trick myself into slowing down. With long books, I have a few methods: reading out loud to people is a good one, because I can savor the plot twists and the sounds of the words and stop to laugh over witty bits. Listening to people reading aloud works too— as long as I’m keeping my hands busy by, for example, doodling or sewing a stuffed animal. Rereading favorite books only works if I’m also drinking tea or sewing or something. The poor books end up being held open with an elbow or a foot. Sometimes I read slowly and write in the margins (but only with nonfiction books that I own!)

Poetry, as you can imagine, is a whole other level of difficulty, concentration-wise. They’re so short. If novels are lakes, poems are like deep wells. Poems contain a lot of water, but they’re far easier to miss and harder to dip water out of. You have to be so active, with poems, to catch their subtleties.

The tea-drinking methods, the ones that keep my hands busy, don’t work with poems. They’re just too short. I have to somehow convince my mind that a poem is worth the effort of lingering in.

And what’s guaranteed to catch my attention? Fictional characters. Superheroes.

It sounds silly, but associating poetry with superheroes has been revolutionary for me.

I think the idea started with a fanfiction—I don’t know which one—that had Jason Todd use e.e. cummings’ in time of daffodils as a grounding device. He’d repeat it to himself to distract himself from panic attacks.

That resonated with me.

I thought about it often. Every time I was using a grounding device for a while after that, actually, I would think of Jason Todd desperately whispering to himself: in time of daffodils(who know / the goal of living is to grow) / forgetting why,remember how /— and I would think next of Emily Dickinson’s poem that goes in this short Life that only lasts an hour / How much — how little — is within our power! and then, if I could, I’d go and find my two volumes of poetry: Emily Dickinson’s Envelope Poems and a little Oxford book of modern children’s poetry (modern, I think fondly. Modern. It must be at least fifty years old.) And I’d look though them and think, ah, this is a Jason Todd poem, he’d like this one. This is more of a Tim Drake poem. This one is like Damian Wayne.

So I got interested in poetry again. Rediscovered my favorites, and started looking online for more. And at the same time, I was learning how to create websites.

Oh, the incredible serendipity of it: the traditional first assignment in website design classes is to format a poem on a website.

I did my assignment with the required Shakespeare sonnet. And then, for fun, I created a private website and put my very favorite poems in it, dividing it into sections, one for each member of the Batman family. I gave each of them their own color scheme and font and visual style.

And the collection kept growing. I kept searching out more poetry until I had added a Superman section and a Flash family and a Rogues and a Teen Titans and an X-men and a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and an Avengers section.

Whoops.

But it works. It’s so much fun and I’d love to share them with people who are interested, so if you’ve made it this far, feel free to request a poem from a specific superhero—chances are, I have him or her—or send in a poem and see it sorted and formatted for a superhero (possibly with commentary!)

The source for A Gargoyle on Notre Dame and the poem written out are below the read-more link!

poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=12647

A Gargoyle on Notre Dame

Edmund Kemper Broadus

With angel's wings and brutish-human form, Weathered with centuries of sun and storm, He crouches yonder on the gallery wall, Monstrous, superb, indifferent, cynical: And all the pulse of Paris cannot stir Her one immutable philosopher.

#Robin speaks #superhero poetry #jason todd #edmund kemper broadus #a gargoyle on notre dame #poetry