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athys-obelia · 4 years ago

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summary: no one's evil au lmfaooo but make it pt. 2

character/s: anastacius de alger obelia, claude de alger obelia, athanasia de alger obelia, jennette de alger obelia

and here's part 1 <3

oh my god okay. okay. so.

ana, claude, athy and jennette - they go on a LOT of vacations

claude complains every single time but anastacius pulls his trump card and sends athy and jettie BOTH after him

u think he's strong enough to say no after that? lmao jokes

and their vacations always go this way:

jennette: isn't this scenery just gorgeous, uncle

claude: indeed it is. and...quiet

jennette: ...too quiet

[cut to anastacius in the distance, fighting a bear as athy cheers him on]

athy + anastacius, hands down the most chaotic pairing yes i will not be taking criticism

they have tea in ana's palace everyday, just the two of them, they're so poised and picture perfect through the entire thing everyone thinks it's just the emperor giving profound advice to his heir

it's actually them deadass scheming,,, ana has no qualms discussing everything from court gossip to military tactics, both of which she's so on top of all the time

if anyone shit talks jennette or claude, this tea party is where their slow and agonizing demise is planned out to the dot

[true story - count sivan once made the fatal mistake of expressing his favour for athy as the next empress, dissing jennette by comparing her to athy sm which inevitably sparked a debate that ranked the princesses. a week after athy's sources informed her of the kindling behind this new debate, the count's sudden divorce became the talk of the town, and the man's business faced bankruptcy all of a sudden. the sivans still haven't recovered.)

athy n jennette were actually allowed to visit kiel in arlanta a few times, except it was too dark at their first arrival, postponing the meeting to the next morning

buttt then jettie can't sleep and she decides on a midnight snack run (their hotel doesn't really have the maids the palace does, but oh well. she's left the palace w lucas n athy plenty of times)

felix tags along btw, he knows this trip is important to the girls since they're leaving the palace without their Overprotective Papas™ for the first time and want some sense of independence, but... she's just so smol n he couldn't bear it if anything happens so he just shadows her

she totally knows he's there

n e ways so there's a juice place right beside their hotel which she aims for, but when jennette reaches it, it's closed

and out of nowhere, a voice addresses her - "hey you, do you come here a lot?" she nearly jumps out of her skin at the brunette, relaxing when she sees he's literally a kid around her age and not a murderer lmfaoo "me neither," he continues without waiting for her, pouting at the closed sign, before he asks for her name and whether she's new in arlanta

she confirms that yes, she's only visiting, and refuses to tell the stranger her name, still feeling strange at being addressed as 'you' for the first time (well, minus lucas, but he was like her brother and had the emotional capacity of a teaspoon, so)

he eyes her. "you're so weird. i've never seen a girl out so late before, and alone too. are you stupid?"

(felix has his sword out at this point)

she's flushing now and has no idea why she's still out here, but then this stranger kid apparently senses her mood and tells her the best ice cream store in arlanta is not too far away

(he also explains he knows someone who's starts doing weird things when she's hungry as well, and tries to defend that ice cream is actually a healthy midnight snack, "you can just take a healthy flavour like strawberry or mango, mangos are healthy,,right"💀️💀)

so jettie has travelled all the way from obelia, she loves her papa but he would have a heart attack if he found out she was ever awake this late?? yeah bc she's never getting this chance again, jennette accepts the offer

the stranger boy seems to be taking the whole "i'm not telling you my name," thing like a joke, and asks what he should call her since 'you' was getting boring

she goes with "lady j" and like a knight, the boy becomes "sir c"

(felix is on the verge of committing a crime - the princesses can only have one knight, after all)

they walk as the the boy navigates the streets in the dark, and she asks whether he's from the academy, seeing his uniform

"of course i am! you could probably tell bc i look so smart, right?"

she snorts. "yeah, that."

she also comes to know that this guy,,,well he might as well be a tourist? she's out here asking stuff like "oh where's the statue of lady alphia?" or "aren't we really close to the museum where they keep the first emperor's sword?" and he goes "lady do i look like your brochure?? but if you turn right from here there's a cool arcade and across the street from there is the best street food vendor you'll ever eat from."

well at least mans had his priorities straight 😌

"so can you take this off?" he asks, pointing towards her dress once they've neared the store

um???????? sir tf????????????

anyways jettie has been living with lucas n her dad farr too long to not take this the wrong way?? "...no?"

the boy raises an eyebrow "look, it looks like an expensive cloak but i promise i'll return it, alright? i gotta hide my uniform."

ohhhhhhh. 😳.

so she unfastens the cloak and because he's kinda just staring at it cluelessly (he can't even tie his shoelaces fight me), jennette sighs and moves the clothing over his shoulder, fastening it in place at his neck

he's literally a tomato when she looks back up and realises that yes, we are way too close rn

bc she's ana's daughter, jennette by default cannot function when she's flustered. so she kinda stumbles backwards like a fish out of water (years of princess training n etiquette? where art thou??) and 'sir c' has to grab her forearm so she doesn't bump into the pillar behind her smfh

the shopkeep is definitely suspicious of this pair that's definitely too young to be out so late, but chalks it down to his sleeplessness

they escape the store with the ice cream before the shopkeep can ask any questions, and 'sir c' escorts jennette back to her hotel. he climbs onto the roof of the building, helping her up as well

(felix wishes he had a magic stone to capture this moment, this is the first time he's seen jennette become such fast friends with someone)

she stands on the roof (it hurts her butt so she doesn't wanna sit)

"my sister would be so jealous right now," jennette murmurs, "she told me her ideal first date would be either a picnic or something like a moonlit walk. we're having like a moonlit picnic."

it's silent for a few seconds the boy speaks up, "is this a date?"

oh-

oh.

"i mean- i didn't- i don't- uh."

give her some time lmfao she's loading

"i don't really mind that," he tells her, and she thinks she might just walk off the roof in her embarrassment - who just says something like that?? "you're probably feeling really lucky right now, right?"

jennette: ✊😔

he does look pretty in the moonlight, she admits to herself, listening as he excitedly tells her about his siblings at home and how she should send an offering to the gods since they gave her the good fortune to be on a date with the most good looking one of all four of them

in turn, she tells him about how she spent her childhood away from her amazing dad and had gotten closer to him recently, about her sharp-witted uncle, her sister and friends

(the 'friends' section includes felix and he's melting)

she smiles - it's almost as if, at finding out he treasures his family just as much as she does, they've gotten a bit closer

and he tries to listen. jennette had guessed that his temperament was somewhat like her dad's - her dad didn't know how to listen, always making his opinion known before anything else, though she supposes as emperor he could do that

'sir c', on the other hand, tried his best, his blue eyes focused on her as he almost burst from the unsaid words he was holding back, trying to let her finish. the sight was an odd mix of sad and insanely adorable that she couldn't help but let him tell her about everything he couldn't hold in

sensing she could pass out from her exhaustion nearly half an hour later, and 'sir c' escorts her to her window and helps her sneak in bc "what sort of knight would i be otherwise?!"

(felix can't stop shaking the entire night)

the next morning, jennette's heart is pounding as kiel shows her, athy and felix across campus - the chance is low, but still...

"ezekiel!" comes a voice, and the four watch as a turquoise haired boy waves down the alpheus heir "are these the guests you mentioned?"

kiel introduces the trio to johannes vastia before asking, "where's cabel?"

"at the training grounds, he asked if you could bring everyone there so he could show them around there."

"... they're my guests though?"

athy is quick to befriend johannes (i mean she and his sister are practically the same person, so) and at the grounds, jennette's blood runs cold

(so does felix's)

the brunette doesn't notice her at first, arguing with johannes about something as kiel introduces him as cabel ernst

jennette is hyperventilating?? actually back up is this girl even breathing??

cabel ernst from kiel's letters? the 'loud and obnoxious cabel ernst', who gradually turned into 'my acquaintance cabel ernst', then 'hardworking, passionate cabel ernst', and finally 'my friend cabel'?

she'd actually rather admired this slow build of respect between her friend and the ernst boy, and had even expressed her interest to meet him

"this is the first daughter of his highness prince claude de alger obelia, princess athanasia-" cabel mock salutes the princess before his mouth forms an 'o' and he remembers to bow, "-and here's the emperor's only daughter, her highness princess je-"

andddd his eyes widen comically "-hey, lady, it's you?"

yeah jettie is on the brink of literal death - her entire face reddens as this...cabel, grins at her

she watches as he glances behind her, "and you're the guy who was following us - sup?"

felix flinches "...you knew...?"

cabel shrugs. "i mean you do kinda suck ass at the whole subtle thing."

"don't say it like that," jennette retorts, "felix was trying his best."

"princess 😭😭 you knew as well?"

"uhhhh no?"

athy + kiel in a corner: 👁️👄👁️

they watch as cabel's eyes widen all of a sudden and he just,,,runs away

...🐦...🐦...🐦...

yeah well anyway he comes rushing back a few minutes later, a piece of cloth in his hand "...*huff* here *huff*...you go."

athy totally flips out "jennette is that your CLOAK???!??"

"uhhhhh no?"

"um do you realise uncle would literally wage war at this."

and as if it would make everything better,

"i washed it," cabel offers with a grin

"you didn't," the vastia heir deadpans

"i mean, johan helped a little bit."

kiel smiles murderously at the pair. "johan, did you know cabel took the princess out?"

"wait, you're a PRINCESS??"

your honour they aren't very smart

so the group orders some coffee (milk for cabel smfh) to find out what happened, cabel mentions "date" and everything goes to shit again lmfao

kiel and felix scheme against poor cabel while athy n johan get over that stage pretty quick ("listen. MY sister will be living with ME after the marriage and if your friend wants to be with her he'll have to come with us to obelia." and johan's just like "fine by me ✌️😊") and start planning the wedding

cabel + jennette dip n sneak out of the academy again to get the juice they couldn't the night before bc shit is getting awkward here

on another note, our uncle cius' musical intelligence is actually very high - he can probably play more instruments than i can name tbh, but he feels most comfortable singing and i shit you not, this man has straight up an angel's voice

(didn't like singing in front of others coz he was secretly a nerd and only knew old love songs with deep lyrics, athy found out and educated him)

jennette tends to have nightmares often, most often regarding their family - she's seen her father murder her uncle for the throne, and vice versa, athy admitting her affections towards jennette were a front to get the position of crown princess, her uncle killing her to solidify athy's claim, etc - her family is her everything, so despite however many times these horrible scenes play before her, she's left sobbing uncontrollably

and on these nights, she leaves for her father's room, who holds her close and sings her to sleep

also lucas n jennette are like sibling duo# 1,,, jettie is an active lucathy shipper even though he denies it sm - like their dynamic is just peaceful walks in the gardens as she watches the plants n lucas shi talks the nobility and kiel

claude and athy have a thing for each other's sleeping on each other? idk it's weird

athy once fell asleep on the couch while reading with him, and claude moved her head onto his lap so she wouldn't be uncomfy sitting - well, she woke up to his hand absentmindedly raking through her hair and it was just so soothing that whenever she's tired and he's working or reading, she just plops her head on his lap and zzzz

and claude wondered what was up with that, so she proposed they switch roles and he felt so awkward trying to lay down in front of her lmao

obviously athy noticed and she just started reading, thinking he might be more comfortable if her attention isn't on him completely - she ended up reading out loud while playing with his collar and he just,,,passed out

also anastacius has definitely pulled jennette aside regarding the issue of his heir at some point - she had been hesitant at first before admitting she wouldn't like to be the empress at all

i know we'd all love to see empress!jettie and her sister duchess!athy ruling the court, but i really really really can't see her wanting the title?

so thus start athy's empress lessons, but holy shit her teacher is mean

like this man makes me want to bash his face in?? so he doesn't like the idea of athy becoming empress over jennette at all, all bc of both hers and claude's mothers being commoners

he has one of those long ass sticks that you use in presentation to point at stuff?? idk but basically mans has athy name every region, its lords and their vassals during their first lesson

the first time she gets one wrong, she's too shocked as the stick meets the delicate skin of her forearm to react

now the thing is, wmmap!athy would probably stand up against this bc her dad is the emperor and she's his only heir, but i imagine with anastacius' social nature he holds many parties / balls where she's probably heard claude's mom + diana slander and it wouldn't be unreasonable for her to be self conscious abt it (now she's the emperor's heir while jennette, 100% royal + noble blood, is right there which probably makes her feel even less legitimate)

so she endures it, the light marks on her arms as well as the taunts of his she's too smart to not understand - perhaps this is the price to be accepted in jennette's place?

and honestly, no one really notices until at breakfast a few weeks in, where jennette mentions how her dresses are still so modest when sleeveless dresses were more in fashion - ana is suspicious because athy is always on top of these things, societal trends and such, and claude is sus from the way she hesitates slightly in her answer, "i haven't had the time lately, i suppose"

the lesson after focuses on ettiquete since everyone knows she's good at politics and such already, but now tears of frustration are pooling in her eyes because what the hell?? this guy had made an opinion of her long before he even met her, so anything she did would be wrong in his eyes

he gives her a sinister smile, "tired, princess?"

"no," she insists, keeping her voice level. he's about to spout some other nonsense, when anastacius enters the room, taking a seat across from her

anastacius watches quietly as athy answers the teacher's questions in her "public" voice. he watches as her usually cheery disposition is replaced by something far more...dead, despite the front she puts on for him. he's soundless as she hesitates in her answers where she normally would've been louder, more confident. he stops watching in silence when his niece flinches at the sight of the stick

oh.

he interrupts her lesson, not missing the way she winces almost imperceptibly when he grabs ahold of her arm, announcing, "we're going."

he just- it's just that that was the moment he knew for sure - the sight of his niece emotionally disheveled for the first time reminds him too much of how his own brother had once been, and he'd... he'd promised he wouldn't let anyone hurt his family anymore

he ends up taking her to the port with some of his advisors to welcome some royal guests, insisting that she would learn better from experience rather than books - but the guest delegation gets so boring that he sneaks her out of the meeting n they end up in the streets

now athy has no idea where they are, but apparently her uncle does?? ana has his hand on her head as he navigates the streets of the capitol as if he comes here everyday, using magic to casually disguise the two of them

in the meantime?

felix is at the port trying to cover for them smfh, he makes up this huge story about how the great wise emperor wanted to familiarize his heir with the locals, understand her subjects, yada yada

back at the palace prince claude is currently dragging a man by his collar and only upon jennette's insistence does he throw him in prison rather than literally kill him

(jettie visits him later in prison to give the guy a piece of her mind, after felix's visit he's sporting a few noticable bruises and the prisoner is practically unrecognizable once lucas visits)

back to athy + ana, they end up stuffing themselves with some super good street food as anastacius confesses that yes, he has definitely been sneaking out of the palace ever since he was a lil kid

athy almost mentions that she, lucas n jettie sneak out too but that might give him a heart attack, so

"it's so pretty, uncle cius," she says, gesturing towards the necklace he holds up. once he's paid for it, anastacius fists the necklace, opening it to reveal the jewel pendant - now imbued with his magic and replaced with gold lettering of the word athanasia

and she realises that yes, that's what both him and her dad have called her all her life, haven't they?

"you're my heir, athanasia," he uncle tells her with a small smile, "i am proud of that."

getting teary, she tells him, "i'm really proud of you too, uncle cius," triggering a very flustered + blushy anastacius

this mans craves validation - not from the sycophantic nobility, or the obsequious concubines he'd dismissed all those years ago, but from the family he thought he'd neither have nor deserve

and just the acknowledgement is so large for athy - he wants her as his heir, not because she's his niece, but bc he trusts her to look after his hard work after him??? - yeah she's totally bawling her eyes out

anastacius magics her a handkerchief but my mans magic isn't that strong?? lmao he's used up so much by now that the 'handkerchief' turns out to be some scratchy tissues

awkward amirite

nope! athy laughs at that, offering him a sip of her drink as she magics another straw and a proper handkerchief lmfaoo

n e ways so when they return, everyone's shocked to learn that the crown heir, princess athanasia will actually be joining the official circles as anastacius' temporary aid - he doesn't wanna entrust her to anyone but family, and decides that the best way to learn is by his side

(she's so confused bc lucas doesn't normally bat an eyelash when she wears the prettiest gowns, but he deadass can't look her in the eyes when she's in her aid uniform - it's more like a suit than it is a dress)

yes lucas women in suits >>>>>

everyone is STUNNED when at dinner, claude proposes they leave on vacation??

anastacius is just not having it?? like no, this is not my brother, and he throws a grape at claude to check if it's a clone or sum (¿¿how does that work??)

anyays so he ain't no felix, ana's aim is ass and it hits jettie instead

mans nearly gets on his knees to apologise

long story short everyone preps for vacation, but by some aCCiDeNt claude n athy end up at a different destination than jettie n ana, when she suggests returning to the palace to regroup, mans deadass sulks

"so you wouldn't like to spend this time with your father, despite barely visiting my office for weeks?"

o-oh

so at their return, the nobility starts pestering everyone that the princesses aren't independent enough, yada yada idc so to quell this annoyance, to the girls' joy, they get to move into emerald palace together, while claude and ana stay in the ruby and main palaces respectively

literally emerald palace becomes such a cool place to be in since it's the residence of the only decent people in this family, the brothers spend hours going through the requests of maids who want to be transferred

it's such a busy time because of athy joining the court and jettie starting her studies as well - naturally, since she isn't becoming empress, she'll be getting the duchy claude + athy were to be given in the beginning

speaking of futures, jettie's interest in plants and cooking has definitely branched out into herbs

claude notices her tending to a small garden during his visit to athy and even gives her a few tips (he had been studying medical since he was a kid, and picked it up again when athy was born and the empire stablised somewhat)

this soon becomes a routinely thing, and he actually starts reading up on some herbs and even orders a few for her prospering garden

after a month of her learning from books, claude proposes adding a medic as one of her teachers, and turns out his hunch was right?? she's excelling at medicine and they keep it between themselves for the time being

it doesn't last long though, bc they're on a hunting trip when ana injures his leg

and !! this girl istg, she gets to cleaning and wrapping the wound without blinking an eye, as if it's the most natural thing ever, and claude is just smirking while athy and anastacius and literally everyone else: 🌟💞✨jettie✨💞🌟

literal tears coming out of anastacius' eyes "how come my daughter is smarter than me😭💅"

claude: that's not a very high standard, brother

anastacius: ✨suddenly i'm an only child✨

behold, the people in charge of running an empire everyone 👏👏👏

even though jennette is claude's (unofficial) student and athy is her uncle's heir, they both ask their dads to the debutante

yes athy does dance with lucas, anastacius sent him an invitation even though he wasn't a noble (he's an active match maker 😌) and nobody dared question the emperor's special guest

at the end of the night, kiel gives jettie a letter from arlanta - it's an invitation to the academy during holidays, from a certain brunette

when she brings up the subject, felix lets out a squeak and literally everyone goes silent 😭😭

athy n kiel are just out here DARING him to spill them beans

but anastacius takes on look at his excited lil kid and decides that yups, she's going to get everything she wants

a/n: i literally don't know how many parts this should have lmaoo but y'all made it this far!! thanks for reading i hope you liked it<3

#non dysfunctional family!au #or ana decides to stop being a shithead!au #functional family!au ??#wmmap #sbapod #who made me a princess #suddenly became a princess one day #anastacius de alger obelia #claude de alger obelia #athanasia de alger obelia #felix robane #lucas #jennette magrita #jeannette magrita #kiel alpheus #ezekiel alpheus #beware of the brothers #cabel ernst #johannes vastia

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myupostsheadcanons · 4 years ago

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Books “Read” in 2020

Previous entries: 2019, 2018, 2017

I don’t rank these based on actual literary quality, but by how much i enjoyed reading/listening to them. Hopefully with Audible’s new “Premium Included” feature it would cut down on so many Average/Below Average books next year, it’ll give me more of a choice on what kind of books/podcasts i want to listen to rather than given a handful to pick from a month.

The “Top 10″

Forging Hephaestus / Bones of the Past: Villains' Code Series - Drew Hayes has became one of my fav authors over the past couple years, from his Vampire Accountant series, 5-min Sherlock, and his Spells, Swords, and Stealth books. FH is one of the few times he wrote Adult Fiction. This is the second time Drew created a world of super heroes (the YA Superpowereds), thus previous experience in dealing with the nuisances and meta of super meta dynamics. I love the main character, Tori, and especially love many of the side characters (like Ivan) and the comedy is the right tone of dark and not-in-your-face (not quite as well -written as something like The Venture Bros or The Tick, but being adult fiction you can get away with having characters named Johnny Three-Dicks and Captain Bullshit)

Dreadnought / Sovereign - the second super hero series I’ve placed on my top list this year, this one is Young Adult. This one is far more serious and deals heavily in issues like trans and women’s rights, mental abuse, and social acceptance. The main character is full of angst, but that should be a given for a 15 yo with lots of mental baggage and new social pressures. The main character is the main draw, most of the side characters are a bit more one-dimensional.

The Trouble with Peace: Age of Madness, Book 2. It isn’t a “First Law” book if you don’t want to strangle half of the main characters. Many are stepping outside of the shadow of the previous generation and finding themselves falling flat on their faces. If they aren’t at each other’s throats, they would soon have to deal with rebellion in the streets and the constant looming presence of Bayaz, who waits to sweep the board clear and rearrange the pieces the way he sees fit.

Michael J. Sullivan’s: The Riyria and Legend of the First Empire Books.

Riyria Revelations: Theft of Swords / Rise of Empire / Heir of Novron

Riyria Chronicles: The Crown Tower / The Rose and Thorn / The Death of Dulgath

Age of Death / Age of Empyre, Pile of Bones

After finishing the Legend of the First Empire books that came out earlier this year, I went ahead and read the prior series that takes place in the same world. I would suggest reading the entire series by Publish order, but they can be read Chronologically. I read the Legends books first, and it helped me see where Sullivan was heading and when he started to plan out the Legends books in more detail. (The early cameo of the Main characters from Legends in a mural in Heir of Novron, and knowing who is behind the events in Dulgath)

The Dresden Files: Peace Talks / Battle Grounds - They really should be read as one book, because that was how they were written. It is a Feast of Crows / Dances with Dragons situation, where the book got too long and got split up. The fans are pretty divided by the book(s) ending and how some of the main characters are handled, but these are Jim Butcher’s characters not theirs and he can drop bridges on whom ever he wants.

What Lies Beyond: Cycle of Galand, Book 6 - This is a “mythology” book (like Sullivan’s Age of Death was) where it introduces most of the Pantheon of their religion and corrects much of the mythology that had been lost over the decades. They seek a weapon to vanquish the Litch and save their world and the afterlife from oblivion, but not all of their Gods are happy about it.

Will Destroy the Galaxy for Cash - Yahtzee (Zero Punctuation!) has to be one of my favorite internet personalities for the past 10+ years, and I eat up every book he puts out and because he wrote the books, and is an actor himself, he could deliver the lines as they are intended to be. The sequel to Will Save the Galaxy for Food does not disappoint and even ups the stakes from the previous book.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon - This has to be one of the most charming books I’ve read. It is magic and wonder at it’s finest, no need for long explanations on how the world works. If you like Ghibli movies, you’ll be interested in this book. It has its dark moments but isn’t outside of what you’ll find in something like Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Nausicca.

The Goblin Emperor - the youngest son of the Elf King finds himself emperor after the death of his father and brothers in an assassination. The only problem is, that he is only half-elf... his late mother was a Goblin, and he had been in exile as an embarrassment to the family for most of his life. He knows nothing of how the courts work and what’s left of his own family work against him just for being who he is.

Lost Gods: Brom - I liked this book more than I did American Gods (which I read a few years ago). It is darker and bleaker by the bucket loads. One of the few books with a downer ending that I actually liked. I would compare this book to books like All the Pretty Horses and No Country for Old Men-- but it is a Fantasy!

Above Average.

Siege Tactics (Spells, Swords, & Stealth. Book 4) - What happens to adventurers after they retire? A fun concept that is explored with our party of NPCs running across a town full of epic-level characters that no longer have a player.

The Arthurian Saga - The Crystal Cave / The Hollow Hills / The Last Enchantment / The Wicked Day - A more realistic version of the Arthurian tales, taking the POV of Merlin, bastard son of a princess, as he earns notoriety as a scholar and wizard. The Wicked Day takes the POV of Mordred, making him far more sympathetic than other iterations of his character.

Arc of a Scythe - Scythe / Thunderhead / The Toll - Science and Technology eliminates death and in order to prevent over population and complacency an order of grim reapers are chosen to randomly deal out quotas of permanent deaths. An example of what happens when every need and want is satisfied by a higher force and the apathy that causes rot in human society and the superiority complex of those in charge of life and death.

The Diviners / Lair of Dreams / Before the Devil Breaks You / The King of Crows - Horror during the Roaring 20′s. Tackles issues as Racism, Poverty, Government Secrecy, Christian-Evangelical Cults, Nationalism Cult Mentality, Communism, Labor Unions, Eugenics, Post-WW1 trauma... It could almost pass as an adult fiction book. I wouldn’t recommend giving it to someone under High school age.

Ancillary Justice / Ancillary Sword / Ancillary Mercy - Artificial Intelligence takes over human bodies as a form of capital punishment, controlling ships and space stations. The dominate human empire outgrew the need to label any gender, using “she” to refer to everyone rather than the vaguer “them/they” pronouns, and only outlying colonies stick to the binary ideals. Think of “The Left Hand of Darkness” but on a more broader scale and as the default majority/ruling empire. Toss in a solid military action novel on top and it isn’t nearly as boring as Left Hand.

Children of Time / Children of Ruin - War destroys the human population of Earth and those that remain are the ones that headed out to the stars on tera-forming missions. A virus created to advance life forms to prepare a world for human habitation runs amuck with out its overseers, creating intelligent arachnids, crustaceans, and squid.

The Licanius Trilogy - The Shadow of What Was Lost / An Echo of Things to Come / The Light of all that Falls - It is very heavy on info overload, there is a lot to keep track of, so much so there is a summary of book one and two at the start of the third. I like the twist at the end of the first book and that the villain is actually trying to help save the world, and you spend most of the second stuck between who thinks they are doing the right thing and who is actually doing the right thing - a lot to talk about doing the lesser of two evils.

Mythos - Steven Fry - A humorous retelling of Greek mythology. I read Mythology - by Edith Hamilton prior to this book, which is a more scholarly take on the myths, and helps if you are unfamiliar with classical mythology prior to reading Fry’s take on it.

Iron, Fire and Ice: The Real History That Inspired Game of Thrones - a nice history book about Iron Age royalty. It is actually refreshing to read after going through so much faux fiction that is in Philippa Gregory’s books.

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? - Children ask questions to a Mortician about death and what happens to bodies after people die. I listened to her autobiography last year/year before and it is worth picking up this one along with it.

Average, but still good.

Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet Universe: Triumphant (Genesis Fleet, Book 3) / Tarnished Knight: Lost Stars, book 1 - The realistic space battles just drag me back in each and every time.

The Case of the Damaged Detective: 5-Minute Sherlock - Drew Hayes can’t write a boring book. It isn’t quite on point as his other series, but still fun to read. Hayes is really good at making YA books with Adult Protagonists. It is a road-trip book, the main character is a washed-out operative that is getting his second chance playing bodyguard and future assistant to the 5-minute Sherlock.

Locked In / Head On - Do you remember “Surrogates”? that Bruce Willis movie where people walk around in robotic avatars, well... it’s almost the same thing. A virus kills millions, save for a select few that experience “lock in” syndrome and are able to connect to robots via their brains and the internet. The main character is gender neutral and you get a choice to listen to the book with a male or female reader.

Murder by Other Means: The Dispatcher Book 2 - more John Scalzi! The first book was in my top list a few years ago, and i enjoyed the sequel just as much. Between Scalzi’s The Dispatcher and Locked In series, i like the Dispatcher more.

The Shattered Sea Trilogy: Half a King / Half the World / Half a War - Joe Abercrombie’s attempt to make Young Adult books. It keeps all the grim dark, but lacks all the swearing and humor that made The First Law books more enjoyable. Many of Joe’s favorite character tropes are still present and is one of the better “Fall to Darkness” stories I’ve read. It also has different POV characters each book and is one of those “faux fantasy” settings.

Mage Errant: Books 1, 2 & A Traitor in Skyhold: Book 3 - If you are wanting to get away from Harry Potter, pick up this book series. It takes place in magic school, but it is its own world and setting and not just a hidden world within our own. The main group of kids are misfits among the school, unable to master their powers, that get taken up by the badass librarian to be trained in more unconventional ways.

Dawn of Wonder: The Wakening Book 1 - the main character has ptsd from growing up in an abusive household, and i thought it was handled rather well. He would be rather competent and cleaver most of the time until he gets triggered into an episode, he fights really hard to overcome this short-falling of his. Standard classic affair else wise, family leaves home because the local authority figure doesn’t want them around anymore, goes to big city, kid wants to do good and avenge the deaths he was accused of, joins the badass school of hard knocks... big powerful evil thing trying to consume the world.

The Rage of Dragons - It shares a lot of tropes and story points with Red Rising... just in a fantasy setting, not in space. If you are wanting fantasy with POC main characters and a non-European-centric culture, that doesn’t pull any punches, give it a shot.

Earthsea - Tehanu and Tales from Earthsea - I had read the first three books several years back, and i did re-read them in order to refresh myself prior to reading the final two.

The Secret Garden - I absolutely loved the movie from the 90′s as a kid, and finally got around to listening to the book.

Six of Crows - A heist book in fantasy world with the magic users being heavily “Jewish / Slavic” coded by how they are treated and persecuted. I might have thought more favorably about the book if i hadn’t read other books with “street rat slum” main characters. (Seriously, after spending six books with Royce in Riyria someone like Kas is just second bananas)

Unconventional Heroes / Two Necromancers - Comedic Fantasy, the humor’s not on par with say MogWorld, and has more jokes than Fred The Vampire Accountant. It is still a parody of villains and heroes in fantasy worlds. I would find it safe for a 12/13yo to read, cursing and all, though they might not be aware of many of the tropes that are being deconstructed. The reader of the book did better in this one then he did with Six of Crows and Beezer, still the audio needed some editing because it repeats itself a few times.

Once More Upon A Time (Free Audio Book) - I don’t always care to read romance stories. I like the idea behind it however, to trade their love for each other in order to save their partner’s life, then learn to re-love one another again.

Monster Hunter International - If you think Dresden is too liberal, this takes a hard turn to the right.. replace the magic with GUNS, lots and lots of GUNS. An organization that hates the government but hunts monsters for government bounties. The main cast is multi-ethnic and they do make fun of that at one point. There isn’t a lot of thought into the plot, because action is #1, but it is fun enough to ignore the politicking.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Collection - i bitched about there not being an omnibus last year, and then Audible uploaded one. The ending is still one big clusterfuck.

Stephen King’s Insomnia - this book is the bridge between Steven King’s two universes. It is a sequel to IT and brings up the Darktower often. IT dealt mainly with childhood fears, Insomnia deals with Elderly and feminine fears.

D’Arc / Culdesac: War with No Name - I liked D’Arc more than i did Mort-e, and Culdesac is more on track with Mort-e. The virus that mutated the ants and animals reminded me of the virus from Children of Time/Ruin, even though i read Mort-e first, reading D’Arc after CoT let me notice it.

Michael McDowell’s: The Amulet / The Elementals / Gilded Needles / Blackwater - From the guy that wrote the screenplay of Beetlejuice, and the pioneer of the Southern Gothic Horror. Gilded Needles is a bit out of place, taking place in 1890′s, and is more of a social horror rather than a super natural horror the other books are.

Gardens of the Moon: The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 1 - high fantasy dark fiction. if you really want some CHONKY door stoppers, there’s over 10 of them in this series. Could’ve done less with the manipulative bastard mage that speaks in 3rd person. I had read The Willful Child, an attempted comedy science fiction novel by the same author, and it showed that the author was unfamiliar with that kind of genera and should stick to grim fantasy.

The Knife’s Edge / Citadel of Fire: The Ronin Saga - This is one of those series that I’m always going “oh, that reminds me of [insert another better series]” At times it reminded me of The Licanius Trilogy, Shades of Magic, Arc of Scythe, Riyria, Korra... It is just shy of being as good as them, and is rather firmly in that Sci-Fi Fantasy Ghetto and has a bit of “anime” feel to it with their magic users having ‘power levels’ and the power creep.

In Calabria - My only problem with the book is the massive age-gap between the Main character and his love interest. Outside of that, the whole Unicorns in the modern world concept is done very well.

Pout Neuf (Audible Free Book) - Journalism and romance during WW2. A quick read and the book really shows that research had been done about the setting and time period.

Nut Jobs: Cracking California's Strangest $10 Million Dollar Heist: An Audible Original - Not only does it talk about the heist, it actually touches on the subject of migrant farmers and slave labor, as well as the desertification of the California Valley.

The Science of Sci-Fi: From Warp Speed to Interstellar Travel (Free Audio Book) - a neat little informative podcast if you are looking for an introduction to some of the harder science fiction.

Mythology - by Edith Hamilton - Text book about Greek Mythology. Like “used in schools” text book. It is a good read if you don’t want to go through Ovid, Virgil, Homer, and all the other classical writers on your own.

The Space Race: An Audible Original - America didn’t win the Space Race. Russia did just about everything first. The only thing we did first was put people on the moon. It also goes into detail about how the inventor of the Nazi’s V2 rockets became employed with the US Space program. As well as the government’s announcement to let space travel become privatized.

Pale Blue Dot / Cosmos: A Personal Voyage - It’s Carl Sagan. Come on! Everyone should be reading them. Pale Blue Dot was being turned into an Audiobook in the 90′s but with Sagan’s death, only the first few chapters were read by him and his partner reads the rest of it (she does a decent job, and i understand why they wanted her to read it, it should’ve been done similarly to Cosmos, with guest readers doing each chapter)

Thicker Than Water (Free Audio Book) - start up pharmaceutical company scams people out of millions with promises of a miracle machine that was ahead of its time. Story told from the whistleblower himself as he recounts what his job was within the company and how he knew the owner/founder of the company and how coming out about what was going on ruined his relationship with his family and friends.

Don't Panic: Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - biography on Douglas Adams and the history behind the creative process behind the Hitchhiker’s Guide series.

The Genius of Birds - It reminded me a lot of “The Soul of an Octopus” in quality. It is rather informative about birds, how they behave, and how we judge intelligence in non-human animals.

It’s “ok.”

Les Miserabes - I can see why people favor movies and theater versions because of how dense the book is, getting the cliff notes version of the book instead of reading several chapters about the Battle of Waterloo.

Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons (Audible Free Book) - It’s cute, and I spent the next several weeks humming that freaking song.

Challenger Deep - A book about mental illness by the same person that brought us The Arc of a Scythe series. It isn’t a bad read, but if you are prone to get panic attacks and have mental illness yourself, you might get too into it and make you uneasy. It can help with neurotypical people with understanding how some illnesses work.

Into the Wilds (Warriors, Book 1) - Ah, the cat book. It is prob because there are soooo many books in this series that it over-saturates the kids impressionable minds.

House of Teeth (Audible Free Book) - I read this book prior to Monster Hunter International, and thinking back on this one, i am reminded about the other. Save for this one is PG. So... the kid friendly version.

The Martian Chronicles - Space Horror, on Mars. If you like old science fiction, like Classic Trek, Wells, or Forbidden Planet stuff. There is a lot of zerust.

Andrea Vernon and the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection - The third superhero series I’ve read this past year. It is not as ground breaking nor subversive as Villain’s Code or Dreadnought. The humor is a bit too forced and parts of it falls into “we can be more offensive because it is an adult book” category.

Interview with the Robot - Don’t really care for books or programs that are set up in the “interview” format where it is two people talking to one another. (I have no fucking idea how this book got top Kids book of the year on Audible, it is more of a YA book... it must been because it was Free and lots of people picked it because the rest of the choices that month were complete garbage)

Micromegas - perhaps one of the oldest examples of Speculative Science Fiction. Written by Voltaire, it is about a giant from another solar system that is so big that humans and life on Earth are microscopic. “what value are the lives of ants to a man?”

The Three Musketeers - i had forgotten how much espionage there was in this book. I would say this is a good companion book to Don Quixote, as it takes its fair share of inspiration from and even name-drops the character a couple times.

Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist / David Copperfield / A Tale of Two Cities - DC is the standout IMO among the three, it is Dickens’ Magnum Opus. Les Mis did a far better job with the Revolution than Tale did as well. I felt rather obligated to reading these books because of the subplot in the Age of Madness books being about Poverty during the Industrial Revolution and Workers Revolts against the Ruling Class.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - the version i listened too made most of the Americans sound like GWB... which is funny because one of them is Canadian, and the Comic Relief character about how boorish Americans are.

Stuck (Free Audio Book) - it is a neat idea, getting jarred free of time but everybody else isn’t and doesn’t remember. It gets a little heavy for a kids book near the end, edging into YA territory as the character gets older mentally and the people around him age physically.

Phreaks (Free Audio Book) - i knew a lot about Captain Crunch and other phone hackers of the 60′s. There is a subplot of the big radioactive corporation covering up causing cancer to their workers, and the father (voiced by Christian Slater) being in the closet but still homophobic about it.

Silverswift (Free Audio Book) - If you like fairy tales set in modern times, it is worth a look. It is similar to In Calabira in that way. The mom being the nonbeliever and thinking grandma is off her rocker, but the granddaughter knows it in her bones that grandma is telling the truth.

Sleeping Giants - alien mechs from the distant past, once mistaken as the titans and gods form mythology, now being studied and experimented on by the government. This is another “interview style” story telling.

Celtic Mythology: Tales of Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes - there is a lot of names and stories, it is worth prob getting a physical copy of the book to keep things straight and to use as a reference.

How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps - A love letter to The Legend of Zelda’s Ocarina of Time and other RPG games.

Casino Royal: James Bond - the movie was rather faithful, including the part of being tied to a chair. I do wish they kept more of the book’s ending where Bond was ready to retire prior to his secret-spy love interest gets killed.

Aliens: Bug Hunt - a compilation of Alien stores about people landing on various planets and encountering aliens, not always the Xenomorphs we know, but the term “Bug” came synonymous to any dangerous alien lifeforms encountered.

Macbeth: A Novel - retelling the story of Macbeth but in a novel form. If you can’t get past the language of the original play, this would help. It sets it more firmly in historical fiction.

Hannibal: A Novel - I went ahead and re watched the tv show after finishing the book. I’ve seen the movie a dozen times, and i understand why they changed the ending to the movie. The book is the main one that characterizes Hannibal and the show uses a lot of the plot. Hannibal Rising wasn’t really needed because Hannibal (in this book) does think/talk about what happened to his sister and home, and i can see why Harris didn’t want to write that book either. The audiobook is rather poor quality, they talked too fast in places and i don’t really care for their acting...

The Power of Six - I read I am Number 4 several years back and this one popped up on sale so i nabbed it. I like Neil Kaplan, and i think this one is better than the first one and actually gets into the meat of the story.

Cut and Run: A Light-Hearted Dark Comedy - body parts harvesting.... mmmm.

Calypso - non-Fiction, biography of the author. Talks about his family, his life with his partner, and what he does. Much of it is charming and it is read by the author. this was prior to him loosing his marbles about retail workers and becoming a karen.

Our Harlem: Seven Days of Cooking, Music and Soul at the Red Rooster - the history of Harlem and the Harlem Renaissance. I didn’t mind this podcast so much because i was reading The Diviners during the same time.

Malcolm and Me - another biographical book. one of the free books i got during Feb’ Black History Month.

History of Bourbon (Free Audio Book) - Informative about the liqueur industry in America.

Junkyard Cats: Shining Smith Book 1 - post apocalyptic action science fiction novel. the moment that guy showed up i was “that’s your bf.” and it was so... the plot wasn’t hard to figure out, it’s all about the action and setting.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - One of the better Heinlein books. The man can’t write romance and he is rather big on casual polygamy and open marriages. An anarchist-revolution book written by someone that is more on the Libertarian side of the aisle. Mycroft (the computer) comes off as rather antiquated, an AI that runs on a closed server, communicating through the telephone lines and printed paper, makes me wonder what Heinlein would’ve done if he was told about the internet and Deep Fake tech. (the book takes place in like 2075, but written in 1966)

Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World - the production of coffee and it’s prevalence around the world.

The Life and Times of Prince Albert - Exactly what it says on the can. *rimshot*

The Real Sherlock: An Audible Original - a biography of Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Design of Everyday Things - using psychology to improve the design of systems, products, and the modern business model. It gives proper terminology for several common design features and how to improve on existing structures.

Bottom of the Barrel.

The Pagan World: Ancient Religions before Christianity. I was hoping there would have been something in there about European Religions, there isn’t, and the book was mostly Greek and Roman life styles and how gods are worshiped. It let me know where the word “auger” came from and why it was used in the Licanius Trilogy.

Life Ever After - disjointed at best. a couple that aren’t good for each other spend the next several hundred years in a crappy relationship.

Beyond Strange Lands: An Audible Original - The audio was complete crap on half of the voices. Which is bad because this could’ve been better. It is a Pod Cast Show and the director couldn’t make sure everybody had decent recording equipment and the sound effects often drown out the actors.

Henrietta & Eleanor: A Retelling of Jekyll and Hyde: An Audible Original Drama - They were going for a modern telling, but the language used is archaic. They speak like Dickens characters even though they talk about cellphones and computers.

A Crazy Inheritance: The Ghostsitter book 1 - The concept is there, but it is too nerfed. It was made for the 8-12yo crowd in mind by people that don’t know how to write for children.

Tell Me Lies (Free Audio Book) - It really wants to be smart. Who’s playing who and who is the actual villain of this story? If you want a quick “who done it?” maybe look into it.

Evil Eye (Free on Audible Plus) - told through phone calls between a mother and daughter. The whole genera of evil boyfriends/husbands isn’t really my cup of tea, and the boyfriend’s actor was too fake and the set up to the meat of the story was annoying.

The Half-life of Marie Curie - I didn’t mind learning stuff about Marie Curie... falls squarely in “made for TV lifetime movie” quality though. You should not carry around a vile of uranium where ever you go.

Alone with the Stars - A girl in Florida hears the call for help from Amelia Earhart, but nobody listens to her. Part fiction, part biographical. It would’ve been better as a biography and talking about various conspiracy theories about what happened to her and finding the pieces of the airplane.

Beezer - The son of the Devil learning to become a good person with a found family... however, most of the characters are annoying.

The Year of Magical Thinking (Free Audio Book) - very heavy on the subjects about loss and death.

Complete Garbage.

The Getaway (Free Audio Book) - A man being a POS by stalking and abducting women. It broadcasts just about everything that is going to happen.

Agent 355 (Free Audio Book) - Do you like “American Mythology?” Like the whole “the founders are the greatest people in the world” kind of vibe? I don’t. I also hate the main character for being one of those “i’m smart, because i read books that women aren’t supposed to” girls when she doesn’t really think for herself at all.

#myu reads #books read in 2020 #audiobooks #booklr #Audible #long post

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kali-tmblr · 6 years ago

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Snowbirds of a Feather: Parallels in the Lives of Qrow and Winter

I didn't pay much attention to Qrow and Winter as a potential couple in their introductory scenes in "Brawl in the Family" because I was so blown away by the improvement in the writing that those scenes represented. Such economical exposition! Yes, the couple's relationship could be called "cute", but there wasn't any real "meat" to it at the time. It wasn't until a volume and a half later in "A Much Needed Talk" that it became clear that the two of them had lived parallel lives on opposite sides of the track.

Let's revisit those scenes from the start of Chapter 3. Not a lot has really happened yet. So far there's been students fighting in the Tournament, vaguely underhanded maneuvering from Cinder's crew, and a flashy, drunken stranger watching the fights unimpressed from a barroom TV. Then an equally flashy ship flies overhead, and Weiss runs off showing more joy than she's shown in the entire series to this date. The drunkard also notices the ship, and declares it a warning of a far bigger fight than anything going on at the Tournament.

Weiss introduces the audience (although not Ruby who is standing right beside her) to her flashy older sister, Atlas Special Agent Winter Schnee. It's a painfully awkward meeting. My first reaction to Winter was, "What a tin-plated asshole." A second later it became, "This is the most socially awkward character in an entire show full of socially awkward characters, and probably the shyest as well, hidden underneath a thick armor plating of formality."

In their meeting the Schnee sisters are each "code-switching" with each other between two different behavior models without seeming to find anything odd about it, and giving poor Ruby (and the audience) a case of whiplash, as well as a sense that things are seriously messed up in the Schnee family. Weiss vacillates between excited little girl and cold formality, with a side order of abusive to Ruby when Ruby is informal. Winter vacillates between cold, sneering, condescending, and abusive; and mere cold formality. In the case of both sisters it quickly becomes clear that cold, sneering, condescending, and abusive within a hierarchical structure is what they grew up with. Winter can sneer at and abuse Weiss, but Weiss can't do the same back at Winter. Instead, she abuses the lower-ranked (to the Schnee family) Ruby. More to the point, Weiss and Winter obviously expect nothing else from each other. It becomes clear that they do care about each other, but they don't know any other way to show it.

But while sneering condescension and abuse is clearly the default mode in Winter's mind for meeting with her little sister, it's not the mode she stays in. She overtly makes an effort, not once, not twice, but three separate times in one conversation to code-switch from abusive condescension into the merely cold, militaristic formality that she must have picked up at the Atlas Academy. It obviously doesn't come naturally to her in speaking with her sister, it's the abusive condescension that comes naturally, but darn it, she keeps trying!

It's heartbreaking.

This scene is just so elegant. It not only introduces Winter and shows us a ton of details about the Schnee family dynamics, but it also provides callbacks to Season 1. The audience is reminded of what Weiss was like when she arrived at Beacon and how much progress she has made in socializing. We're also given a hint as to maybe why Weiss chose Beacon over Atlas Academy if that's all the social skills her sister learned there. And we're also given the contrast between the cold formality of the Schnee sisters and the loving warmth of Ruby and Yang. At the end of the scene Winter and Weiss are headed for the dorm, where I am eagerly looking forward to Yang teaching Winter a lesson on the proper care and maintenance of baby sisters, especially baby sisters who also happen to be Yang's teammates, which may or may not involve fisticuffs.

I'm still waiting for that scene, because that's when the story takes a turn.

The drunkard lurches forward, easily decapitating two of the latest models of Atlesian Knights in spite of being unable to walk in a straight line, and begins hurling insults on the Atlas military directed at it's highest ranking member present, Winter. He calls her ship "gaudy", which while it is objectively true, is also ironic coming from the only man we've met who wears a cape. She calls him "Qrow", the name of Ruby and Yang's heretofore unseen uncle, and he calls her "Ice Queen", to the confusion of Weiss.

In this scene what Winter doesn't do is even more interesting than what she does do. She's being insulted by a falling down drunk, and she DOESN'T respond with the same sneering condescension she just used on her own dear sister, even though many people routinely use that tone with drunks. She maintains a now angry formality. He's handing her opportunities to sneer on a silver platter, and she's not taking them. This tells us that sneering condescension is a holdover from her childhood, not something she normally uses in her adult life.

More importantly she allows her own little sister to prance right up to this drunkard and confront him. She doesn't react at all when the drunkard puts his hands all over her sister's head and uses it for balance before gently pushing her sister to the side. This scene tells us one of two things. Either Winter doesn't care about her little sister's welfare, or she is convinced that even though obviously incapacitated by alcohol, with his motor functions, vision, and reason clearly impaired, the drunken man is in spite of this no threat to the young woman. That level of conviction speaks not only of lots of prior experience, but a high degree of trust in spite of their current animosity.

The insults continue with Qrow upset about Ironwood's humiliation of Ozpin before the Vale council at the end of Volume 2 , reminding the audience of that development. However much the two leaders have been downplaying their disagreement in their personal meetings, it obviously has their loyal bannermen up in arms.

(Some people have assumed that Qrow and Winter were former lovers, but I don't see anything here that really supports that premise. They're simply arguing over policy. Lovers would have a more thorough knowledge of each other's buttons.)

Winter holds her ground until Qrow starts threatening to blab state secrets in the public square, then she changes tactics. Unfortunately for her she attacks him instead of grabbing him by the arm and dragging him somewhere out of earshot. But it's fortunate for us, as we get the best 1v1 duel so far.

As good as it is, it's also clear Qrow is holding back. Judging from the Ursa we will see Winter summon in the next episode, so is she.

Qrow keeps one eye on the Beacon Tower, and when he sees Ironwood coming up behind Winter, he goads her into attacking an unarmed man in front of her superior. In this way he publicly humiliates Winter as Ironwood's proxy in a similar manner to how Ironwood has publicly humiliated Ozpin with the council. The action is childish and petty, but not personal, a drunken, juvenile payback.

Winter's opinion on the prank isn't known, but she is clearly furious.

Then the action switches to inside Beacon Tower, where it becomes clear that both combatants are intensely loyal to and highly valued by their respective Headmasters, although Qrow outranks Winter and has her thrown out. Then we move on to info dumps and plot developments galore.

The way these scenes fold so much information inside them is vastly improved over the first two Volumes. But as lovely as our snowbirds look together, there's no real reason to ship them - yet. That would wait until we began to get Qrow's backstory in Volume 4. Once Qrow begins to talk about his childhood, it gradually becomes clear how much his life story has echoed Winter's life story. Shall we count the ways?

1) Horrible childhood: Qrow grew up an unloved, unwanted child in a chaotic, abusive bandit camp, and quickly becomes the camp scapegoat. From what we have seen Winter grew up in a home that was cold and abusive, where order and affection came from the servants, not her parents.

2) Grew up in the shadow of a narcissist: Winter grew up in the shadow of her narcissistic father Jaques. Qrow appears to have grown up in the shadow of his narcissistic sister Raven. Both narcissists have shown that they only regard other people as tools or enemies, including family. This tends to leave a child with major insecurity issues.

3) Escape to Academy: Both Qrow and Raven made it to Huntsmen Academies, where they encountered genuine order and a semblance of fairness for the first time. The Academy was the first decent thing that happened to them, and in that environment both of them blossomed.

4) Remade themselves into the Headmaster's pets: Both characters appear to have used their time at their respective Academies to reinvent themselves. Both of them took the ethos of their schools and their Headmasters to heart. Each one strove successfully to become their Headmaster's trusted eyes and ears in the field.

5) Flashy exterior, insecure interior: In each case a flashy exterior conceals deep insecurities.

6) Guilt over children: This one's a bit of a stretch, but not much. Winter constantly telling Weiss she has to be strong sounds like guilt over the fact that Winter had to leave Weiss behind in an abusive situation in order to go to Atlas Academy. As for Qrow, after growing up unwanted I think he would have panicked over Yang and Ruby growing up motherless, tried to be there to help Tai as much as he could, and felt guilty about having to leave on missions for Ozpin, which wouldn't help his drinking any.

7) Socially Awkward: They're both socially awkward. Winter conceals her social awkwardness behind a formal exterior. Qrow hides his social awkwardness behind drinking and physical seperation.

8) Arrested Development: Both of them successfully escaped traumatic childhoods and reinvented themselves as Teacher's Pets, completely loyal to their respective saviours. And there both of them seem to have stopped maturing. Growing any more would have meant questioning their idol, and neither one was willing to do that. We saw how Qrow was shaken to his core when the man he reveres turned out to have feet of clay. Should Ironwood fall from grace, it will be no less traumatic for Winter than Ozpin's fall from grace was for Qrow. But perhaps on the other side of that they will both finally find themselves standing as their own people.

#rwby #rwby thoughts #rwby theory #rwby7 #qrow branwen #winter schnee #weiss schnee #ruby rose #ozpin #james ironwood #jacques schnee #snowbird #qrowin #rwby qrow

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kumeko · 6 years ago

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antipode

Character/Pairing: Akihiko/Minako

A/N: This was written for the @akihamzine —I picked the Fire Emblem Awakening AU. It was a lot of fun writing Minako instead of Minato.

Summary: She wasn’t Minako. Akihiko watched as she licked the blood off her claws, her voice soft and full of venom. Minako would never hurt her comrades. She wasn’t Minako.

His heart didn’t listen.

...

“Akihiko.” Her words were nothing more than a growl, soft and full of venom. Minako strode forward, each advancement creating a small crater in the ground. “There you are.”

Swallowing hard, Akihiko raised his sword and slid into a defense stance. She wasn’t Minako. Around him, comrades laid prone on the ground, broken and bloody. Junpei was dead, he was certain of it, and Mitsuru was just barely hanging on. From the corner of his eye, he spotted Yukari trying to sit up, blood streaming down her arm.

Minako would never harm her comrades. He tightened his grip on his sword and charged.

“How disappointing.” Not-Minako sighed, and dark energy swirled around her. She parried his attacks with her bare hands, the power of Nyx hardening her skin wherever he hit. “I will just have to kill you, then.”

With a grunt, Akihiko shoved back against her. She was powerful, much stronger than she used to be—I’d rather safeguard you from a distance...no. Now wasn’t the time to recall that, to think about anything other than the steel in his hand, the force of her attacks. Thrust, parry, block. It was as though he was practicing the basics again, only at a higher cost.

Her claw sliced his forehead and blood dribbled, blinding his left eye. Swearing loudly, he slashed at her as she moved backward to dodge. Then another and—

“Watch out!”

Akihiko barely had seconds to evade before one of Mitsuru’s ice spells shot past him. Not-Minako hissed as ice rapidly climbed up her body, freezing her in place. Struggling, she tried to shatter the prison using bare strength.

“Hurry!” Mitsuru collapsed once more, groaning as she clutched her side. “It will not hold her much longer.”

“I…I know.” Hesitantly, he proceeded toward her. She wasn’t Minako. Minako wouldn’t fight her friends, wouldn’t hurt him. This was someone else.

She grunted as her fists bashed against the ice, “Let. Me. Go.” A crack started to form and he quickly approached her. Fortunately, her chest was exposed, just enough for him to plunge a sword.

Just enough for him to kill her.

“I…” His fingers trembled as he raised his blade. She wasn’t Minako. Minako never snarled at him like that, all teeth and rage. These three words reiterated like a mantra but his hand never steadied, even as he while aiming the toward her heart.

Sensing there was little she could do, she stopped struggling.

He almost choked on his words. “I’m sorry—”

“Aki…Akihiko?” Her voice was deceptively soft. Confusion crossed her as Minako noticed her surroundings. “Where—where am I?”

“Minako?” He raised his free hand to her cheek, cradling it as his thumb caressed skin. “Are—are you back?”

“Akihiko? What’s happening?” She gazed down at his sword and shrieked. “What are you doing—?!”

“I…” Her skin felt cold, too cold—was it the ice spell? Was it Nyx? Akihiko wasn’t sure. Only, that she returned and he just had to break her free and—

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, leaning forward until their foreheads touched. Her eyes were wide as his hand clutched her jaw. Without another word, the sword slid in.

“Aki—” With a soft gasp, her eyes began to close. “Thank you…”

“Don’t thank me.” His voice cracked as the sword pushed in deeper. “Please…don’t...”

She didn’t reply.

-x-

“Do you think you can do this?” Mitsuru asked, eyeing Akihiko as she unfurled her map. They occupied the war tent, her table covered in parchment and ink.

His hand curled into a fist. “I have to be there.”

“I…I know.” She gave him a wan smile before laying down several figurines on the grid. Avoiding his stare, she added, “but last time, she acted like she was still Minako and you let her go.”

His fingers dug into his palm. “It won’t happen again, your highness.”

“You always get formal when you want something.” Mitsuru snorted. “And then you disobey me every other time.” Setting a knight piece, she looked up at him. “You will get your wish, but you have to follow the plan.”

Relief shone in his eyes as he nodded. “I will.”

“You will not thank me for this after.” Her fingers curled around a piece shaped like a crown. It should have been her father’s piece. “But we need you anyways.”

“You won’t regret it.” A quick bow and he turned to leave. “I’ll go get ready.”

“Do you think you can kill her?” Mitsuru’s words halted him. “If she were to act like herself, would you be able to stop her?”

We’ll protect each other.

“I…I have to.” Akihiko clenched his jaw. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, let anyone else strike that final blow.

-x-

“Akihiko?”

He took a step back. Something was wrong, something was completely wrong with the smile on Minako’s face, in the look in her eyes, in even the way she motioned her hands. The hairs on his neck stood up.

“I haven’t felt this good ever.” Minako closed her eyes, relaxed. He could almost discern a dark miasma covering her, completely different from when she allowed her spirits to manipulate her. It was almost as though this spirit was possessing her. “Was it always this easy?”

“Mi—Minako?” He reluctantly took a step forward. “Are you ok?”

“I’ve never felt better!” Her grin was cheerful, was sharp like jagged glass. It seemed almost maniac. “I should have done this earlier.”

“You need to stop.” Akihiko reached out, grabbing her arm. He wouldn’t be too late this time. Gripping her hand, he pulled her in. “Release the spirit, just like you did last time.”

“I don’t want to.”

His chest felt tight and he shook his head. “Please, Minako, you have to do it now. Before Nyx takes over.”

“Akihiko…” Minako’s voice trailed off and her free hand rose up to stroke his cheek. Leaning forward, she kissed him. “You’re worried.”

“Of course I am.” He tightened his hold on her. “Now, release Nyx.”

She let go, tugging away with a smirk. “You’re sweet but I don’t think so.”

Before he could react, the miasma engulfed her.

-x-

“Good battle today!” Minako plopped down beside Akihiko. It was his turn at night watch but that had never prevented her from joining him before. Leaning against him, she affectionately headbutted his chin. “You were great!”

“You weren’t too bad yourself.” He veiled her shoulders with his blanket. As they huddled together, he considered his next words. “…did something happen?”

“Huh?” She blinked and peered up at him blankly. “What do you mean?”

“…it’s…” His eyes shut and he took a deep breath. If Akihiko came this far, he might as well go the full way. “You seemed to have trouble releasing your spirits.”

“Oh that…” She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Of course you noticed.” So it was something. He kept quiet, waiting for her to continue. “I told you about the dreams before.”

He nodded, remembering the nights she’d cling to him in her sleep. While Minako couldn’t recall her past, whatever bits remained haunted her sleep. “Do you remember something?”

Minako’s head bowed, her expression shadowed. “No…I still don’t…that man, Igor, claimed he knew all about me.” Her hand settled over his. “I still don’t know if what he or his children said were true but…I could feel it.”

Akihiko’s jaw clenched as teeth ground. He didn’t really like remembering that meeting, of seeing that boy who reminded him so much of Minako but a darker, more twisted version of her. “Feel what?”

“Nyx. I think I can summon her.”

He almost stopped breathing. They all knew the legend, the tales of a twisted goddess who attempted obliterating everything and everyone. Only a single soul had opposed her, Orpheus and his gentle lute lulled the goddess to sleep. When Minako revealed the ability to summon that ancient hero, everyone believed her to be the second coming.

If they heard she could summon death itself…Akihiko shook his head. “Are you sure?”

“I think she’s the one who’s been whispering in my dreams. I can hear her voice, even now.” Minako burrowed into his chest, shoulders shuddering. “What if Igor was right? What if I’m supposed to destroy everything?”

“You aren’t.” He restrained his anger, forcing himself to be more gentle than he felt. Akihiko pressed his cheek against her head, keeping his voice low and soothing. His hand rubbed slow circles on her back. “You aren’t.”

“But if I am?”

“I’ll stop you.” He closed his eyes. “I’ll save you.”

-x-

“What do you want to do after?” Minako asked, peering up from a tome. Another tactics book—it seemed she wasn’t taking her latest chess loss to Mitsuru well. Resisting the urge to laugh, Akihiko focused on cleaning weapons.

“After what?”

“The war. The fight.” Pressing the book against her chest, she gave him her full attention. “What do you want to do after?”

“After…” At this, Akihiko paused. For some reason, he forgot there was an ‘after’. That war wasn’t the default. “I…”

As though she realized he had nothing to suggest, Minako leaned against him. “I want to travel after this.”

“Travel?” He considered it for a moment. “Where to?”

“Everywhere.” Minako grinned broadly, closing her eyes while counting off the places she desired to travel to. “I want to eat the local specialties and the street food and—”

“So basically you just want to eat.” Akihiko chuckled as she headbutted his arm. Travel, huh. Not a bad idea, especially if he was with her. “Sure, let’s do it.”

-x-

“You know.” Minako shifted the logs in her arms as she strolled next to Akihiko. They were in charge of the campfire. With these two bundles, they gathered more than enough to at least start it. “I love you.”

Whatever he thought she was going to say, it wasn’t that. His grip on the wood loosened and the whole stack tumbled to the ground. “What?”

“Your ears are red!” Minako giggled as his hands flew to his ears. “You know, for someone so straight forward, you’re surprisingly dense.”

“You…” Lost for words, Akihiko could just stare at her. He had heard her correctly, right? He didn’t imagine it?

As though she heard his thoughts, Minako repeated, “I love you.”

When he finally regained his voice and replied, it felt as though his face was alight.

-x-

“You’ve…gotten better.” Akihiko panted lightly as he hunched over, sweat dripping down his back. They had sparred for a few hours now, a lot longer than they should have.

Lowering her sword, Minako gave him a weak grin. “I almost had you that time.”

“Definitely not.” Straightening up, he examined his student. He wasn’t joking before—she was much stronger in comparison to when she first arrived. Muscle substituted where fat used to be now. “You could try fighting on the front lines.”

“Ehh, maybe not.” Minako shrugged, frowning at the thought. “I’d rather safeguard you from a distance.”

“Safeguard me?” He raised an eyebrow. “Do I look like I need it?”

“Well, probably not.” She conceded the point. “But still, just in case. You’ll help me and I’ll help you. It’s fine like that, right? We can protect each other.”

His expression blanked before breaking into laughter. It was funny, really funny. He spent years sparring with Shinji, training hard so he could protect everyone by himself. Training so that no one would sacrifice themselves like his sister did for him.

All of that work was being undone by the bright expression on Minako’s face.

“Yeah, we could do that.” It wouldn’t hurt to rely on someone else, even if it was just a little. Besides, he could never say no to her.

-x-

“Why did this have to happen?” Akihiko’s hand curled into a fist, his jaw clenched as he watched the king’s funeral procession pass. At the head of it was Mitsuru, her demeanor cold as ice. The sight broke something within him.

She was never supposed to look like that.

“You ok?” Minako appeared next to him, as she was oft to do. Reaching down, she entwined their hands and leaned against his shoulder.

“I can’t believe Aegis betrayed us like that.” He could still feel the rope digging into his skin, could see the quiet smile of the king before he was murdered. Aegis had been possessed, he knew. She had no control over actions but in the end managed breaking free and saving everyone. Despite that, he hated her. It was difficult, much too difficult, to forgive what she had done. Easier to hate, to let anger fester.

“It wasn’t her fault.” Minako squeezed his hand comfortingly. “She couldn’t control herself.”

“I know.” Mitsuru was passing them now, her back rim rod straight as she walked. In two days, she’d be crowned queen. When they were kids, they discussed how he’d be her knight, enforcing her laws.

But he had never wanted it to happen like this.

-x-

“Akihiko.” Minako guided her horse near Akihiko’s. The army was picking their way along a mountain, the pace slow and comfortable for once. After all the recent bombshells, Akihiko was relieved to have a little peace.

“Minako.” He guffawed when he saw her shifty peeks around them. “What did you do now?”

“Nothiiiiinnng~” she sang in a tone that convinced absolutely no one. He could already see Ken repressing a laugh nearby. After another furtive glance, she extended her hand.

Carefully, he held out his for the latest prize: one of Shinji’s latest batches of bread. Minako didn’t disappoint. “How’d you snag one of these?”

“He gave them to me.” Akihiko looked at her and she scratched her cheek. “Fine, I might have taken them while he left them out to cool.”

“He’ll kill you.” Akihiko could already picture the Shinji’s scowl face when he noticed he was two short—or more. He wasn’t quite sure how Minako managed to eat as much as she did.

Already, she devoured the bread. “Not if we remove the evidence.”

-x-

“We have a new recruit.” Mitsuru gestured toward the young woman beside her. Dressed in a dark cloak, the newcomer bowed. “She’ll be working in the mage team.”

“Hi!” The woman beamed as she scanned the audience. “I look forward to fighting with everyone!”

She looked a little scrawny. Akihiko wasn’t quite sure what weapon she could hold when her body seemed so frail, but that wasn’t something a few weeks of training couldn’t cure. Besides, he had already heard the rumours. It seemed she could summon spirits. She didn’t really need to be strong if she fought from a distance.

If there was one thing positive about her, it was that she radiated warmth. Even the way she walked was cheerful, more of a dance than anything else. Akihiko would never admit it, but it was something they needed. He couldn’t quite remember the last time he heard laughter in the camp.

“That’s all for today.” Mitsuru signaled the end of the meeting. Before Akihiko could leave, she gestured for him to stay.

“Your highness?”

The soft chuckle informed him Mitsuru had noticed his sudden formalities. “You’re to guide her.”

“Guide…” He sighed, rubbing the back of his head. “Alright, that’s fine.” Turning to face the newcomer, he showed his hand. “I’m Akihiko.”

Staring at it for a moment, she reached out and shook it. “I’m Minako.”

#persona 3 #akihiko sanada #minako arisato #akiham #fanfic

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beardedhandstoadshark · 2 years ago

Note

formal invitation to drop a stupid amount of oc lore, if you’re so inclined! 😳😳

THANK YOU BUT ALSO I’m gonna have to tell you a secret, c’mere

…

I have no idea what I‘m doing with the lore

Ignoring anything related to character traits and such, The short version is:

Red: 23, ex-Hero, quit being one 2y ago, got her current scarf back then, dipped because of expectations she couldn’t/didn’t wanna meet, got a grandpa, still helps out anyone who asks.

Deniz: 20, resident from a small village set on a bunch of super high and windy cliffs, only one with complete (and functioning) family, good at sailing, left because of the sameness of each day becoming unbearable.

Mage: 23, magic merchant man, aka merchant for antiques, relics, and standard rpg shop stuff. Really good at dark magic, went way too far with it once and it tinted his eyes green, emotional attachment to scarf because of missing/probably dead friend, gold thingy in hair helps detect magic, =) is his default face (on purpose).

Yel: 24, not his actual name but a nickname from Mage, couldn’t follow his dream so he became the next best thing aka delivering stuff to hard-to-reach places, only-child with 2 parents, very good at outside stuff and basic medic things, :| is his default face (not on purpose).

Violet: 19, royalty, gifted child syndrome/burnout, really high light magic potential but it tends to be unstable/uncontrolled, was pretty much playing Rapunzel locked in her tower because of that, lots of siblings, has at least one abduction/attempted sacrificing behind her because being op + locked up + other family related stuff = rumors about her being able to bring forth the apocalypse.

And then there’s a bunch of smaller oc‘s I don’t really actively "use“ aside from maybe a drawing here or there.

(If that’s all you wanna know, you can stop reading here)

The WORLD started out as/ is mostly still just "fantasy rpg but the internet is a thing“ feat. Light/Dark based magic. So it’s every fantasy setting ever but they’ve got phone signals and stuff. If it ever comes up, currency will be called El because the implications of the European Union or US or whatever existing here are kinda funny but not something I wanna deal with XD Cent is still Cent tho, that one‘s universal enough to work since it’s just derived from the word for 100. There may or may not also be a corruption infestation thing going on. Jury‘s still out on that one (as in, idk if I wanna go that far with the setting, but it’d at least fit with whatever the heck is going on in Red‘s lore).

For Magic, Light is basically giving energy to the surrounding while Dark is taking it away. So stuff like fire and ice is also part of light and dark. Because of that, light works best in dark/cold places (lots of area to brighten/heat up; you can only see stars during the night) and dark when its well lit/warm (needs light to cast shadows, lots of stuff to absorb). If someone uses too much of it over a short period of time, it can have lasting effects, usually first noticeable by a change of eye color. (Light = cold, light tones, dark = warm, Dark tones)

(YOU CAN STOP READING HERE, REALLY)

But if not…the long version:

it keeps changing. A lot. To the point where, as of right now, they kinda don’t…have any lore? Because I‘ve essentially been throwing everything I had out of the window/got the feeling whatever‘s going on is too cringe/cliche.

Red‘s is currently the most…stable, I guess?

Did the classic "go on an adventure to save the kidnapped princess/world“ thing 2-3 years ago, because of that was knighted and officially recognized as The HeroTM (and given her current green scarf), but went into "hiding" shortly after cuz everyone had these ridiculously high expectations of what/how The Hero should do/act that she couldn’t live up to or started treating her differently, + didn’t feel like only standing there as a real life attraction could help anyone.

So Red essentially quit, and went home helping people and adventuring from there. And then ran into Violet, which happened shortly before where the timeline’s currently at. The two bells on a string acting as a second hair tie have been in her possession since childhood, and act as a good luck charm. Has a grandpa, + I‘m thinking about adding a sibling. (Also may or may not be able to hear music fitting the vibe of whatever place she’s in- still not sure about that one). That original concept still applies more or less. But as for the other oc’s…oof.

Deniz and Yel both don’t have. Much going on?

Yel isn’t his actual name but a nickname he got from Mage because his bag + hair is Yellow and his voice can be incredibly loud if he wants to. Also I just couldn’t find a fitting name. His dream had always been becoming a Ranger, but due to various things including severe shortsightedness and dumb rules, never got to fulfill it. (Outside of some basic training).Therefore became the next-best thing that‘d allow him to still be frequently outside and not be glued in a single place too much to at least sometimes take paths through forests- which was becoming a postman. Specifically for special deliveries and places that can’t be easily reached. So it’s…more of a courier thing, really?

Which is also how he came to know a lot people, including Red for kinda becoming her personal mailman during that whole adventure thing, the usual deliverer for Mage’s shop stuff, and normal post for Deniz. Without knowing it himself, is actually rather well known as the mailman guy. Got a decent grasp on first aid from that basic training. Animal and health nerd. Good at foraging. Got no siblings but 2 very precious parents (I have yet to design in any way, if at all). Ridiculous constitution. Aaaand that’s about it. Probably the most realistic but compared to all the cool oc’s people have on here idk if it’s interesting?

Deniz is even worse. His whole deal is "npc joined the party“. He‘s literally just some guy from a small village built at the top of a bunch of very windy cliffs (hence why Yel delivers stuff to them because it’s kinda hard to reach otherwise). Originally he was just supposed to be concept villager for said place, which was an idea for what a beach village would look like if the ocean didn’t just rise a bit with the tides in daily cycles but like 40m in a year. (Insert funky microclimate reasons here).

It’s still visible in the attempted beach theme in his design and name, as it means ocean (+ it’s the only one not a color pun so that’s nice). Also he‘s good at sailing because it’s the main way of reaching other places during flood. As well as handing ropes. Met Red during her travels, helped out when she needed a ride later, and decided to stick around because of exploring/curiosity/felt trapped in the circle of doing the same things everyday. Got a bunch of family, and the only one who could do a complete "holiday dinner with the whole family at grandma’s“ thing. Most of his stuff is character-based and not background lore things though. Yeaaaaaa.

Then with Mage, his present appearance is pretty clear, but the background isn’t. Merchant for antiques, relics, and standard rpg shop stuff. Really good with dark magic. Like, that one’s solid. Then it gets a bit goofy. Used to have blue eyes, but overusage of magic over a period of time tinted them permanently green now. Originally became a traveling merchant when he was 18 to be able to search for his missing friend (the blue scarf‘s a reminder/glorified friendship bracelet). But then started realizing a) he‘s most likely dead by now, and b) actually genuinely enjoys the whole merchant thing, decided to open up shop permanently. Still can’t quite let go though. Orphan from an orphanage doubling as a school focused on magic, which is how he met said dead friend (called Rhyme because the idea was both having names 1 letter away from being a herb as a parallel.) And like. That’s fiiiine I guess?

But the events between [hanging out together] to [Rhyme goes missing] to [Mage chills here now] are. SO BAD. At one point it was "boarding school is actually super shady because those with high magic potential regularly go missing while they pretend they just graduated/got adopted/decided to go away/etc., and Rhyme was the newest disappearance which makes no sense for his character so Mage went off to find out what’s going on“ to "the same thing but Mage actually found out that whole place is super shady“ spiced with "he‘s now in this country because he‘s actually from across the border so they won’t search for him“ to "the only reason they’re not coming after him is because they think he‘s dead“. And all of these have variations where the whole place burned to the ground after the basement exploded (leading to them thinking he‘s dead). And ALSO that shady business might be connected to whatever the heck is going on with Violet‘s lore. So like. The whole thing is on ice now because idk if this is really anything worth using. Idk.

And then there’s her. As if Mage wasn’t bad enough, Violets lore was…messy. Really messy.

She’s royalty, got a lot of siblings, and what is essentially gifted child burnout. Also aforementioned magic (light in her case) is super high for her but kiiinda uncontrolled, which led to her pretty much exclusively being pushed to learn streamline it, but there’s never really been much progress. This part of the lore still seems ok right now. The problem is the actual backstory that led to "now“. Because as of right now, Violet is hanging out with the others, and therefore very much not where she should be, at all. And that’s where the mess is.

The original reason for her being with the rest of the gang rn was that she was once abducted 2 years ago so she could be sacrificed to bring forth the apocalypse, and met Red during her escape. (Spoiler: there isn’t some ancient god dragon sealed in her blood or whatever probably. Just got unusually high light magic reservoir, which, combined with her always being in the background, let to people believing there’s something going on with her that warrants that secrecy.) Recently, after another attack, decided that her being missing would be better, and broke out to search for Red and hide with her. So despite being. Royalty. She‘s deliberately not going back home as she‘s "more useful" if missing, so everyone is so focused on her that it keeps any trouble away from her family since everyone will be focused on getting to her instead. (It’s totally not also because she feels incredibly trapped and knows her being gone wouldn’t actually chance much for them. Absolutely not. It’s only out of usefulness.)

That one‘s got a variation where she was abducted twice- first time saved by Red, which is when they met, second time was what happened above with her breaking out herself, and directly lead into the whole "staying missing is better“ thing. In another alternative version, that og thing didn’t happen 2 years ago, but recently, so instead of "2y ago + recent event leads to her booking it“ that 2y ago becomes said recent event.

And I‘m also thinking of just throwing everything away and rebuilding it from the ground up, but the only thing I can really come up with rn is the "royalty that definitely shouldn’t be wandering around but their knight/guard/whatever (Red) is there so it’s cool“ trope. Also if I change the lore in that regard I‘d kinda have to redesign her again (or at least clean it up a bit?)

In any case, the only story beats I‘ve kinda got down are "was abducted, kicked ass, met Red during or on the road shortly after escape, [stuff], not going back to the castle because of [reasons], road-trip ensues“.

Also I might do urban fantasy and zombie apocalypse AU‘s. Idk.

As I Said, it’s REALLY long and REALLY bad. You can laugh, point out plotholes and cliches, whatever

And laugh some more. It’s cool, I understand, really XD

(Someone please help set this lore right/make some better ideas)

(Tough, thank you for reading it you actually made it through this? Holy shit?? That’s so much!?? Yea)

#another anon ask #LONG POST #REALLY LONG POST #YOU CAN QUIT READING AT THE RED MARKERS #REALLY #ITS RECOMMENDED EVEN #most of this is just…rants about my own incompetence in writing lore/explaining why stuff keeps changing/a cry for help ig XD

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loetis · 6 years ago

Text

List of Skins

If you would like to request for me to take screenshots with a certain skin, these are all of my skins that I own. I will update this over time.

Ark

Calamity (All stages and colors)

Luxe (Stage 2)

Lynx (All stages and colors)

Omega (Stage 4 only, no colors)

Bunny Brawler

Elite Agent

Ember

Galaxy

Onesie (Including Winter)

Whiteout

Royale Knight

Skully (Both styles)

Triple Threat

Nog Ops

A.I.M

Blackheart(All stages)

Carbide (All stages and colors)

Crackshot

Dark Voyager

Dire (all stages and colors)

Drift (All stages)

Enforcer

Frozen Love Ranger

Frozen Raven

Frozen Red Knight

Hybrid (All stages)

Ragnorak (all stages)

Rose Team Leader

Shogun

Ice King (All stages)

The Prisoner (All stages)

The Reaper

The Visitor

Valor

Warpaint

Zenith (all stages and colors)

Battlehawk

Blue Striker

Cloaked Shadow

DJ Yonder

Dusk

Fable

Giddy-Up

Huntress

Merry Marauder (All stages)

Mission Specialist

Moonwalker

Nightshade

Peely

Powder (including white)

Redline

Rogue Agent

Rook

Rust Lord

Sanctum (Thanks Ambie :3)

Sgt. Winter (All stages)

Sidewinder

Skull Trooper (Default and Green)

Sledgehammer

Summit Striker

Sun Strider

Teknique

Trog (Including Tribal)

Zoey

Blue Squire

Blue Team Leader

Carbon Commando

Moniker

Prodigy

Scarlet Defender

Please send your requests through my ask box. I will most likely respond on the weekends only with your screenshots.

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smashmusicideas · 7 years ago

Text

June 25: How the Ultimate Trailer Works So Well

Amongst all the thoughts and discussion regarding Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, I don’t think any individual element of the game - even more than the confirmation of Ridley - warranted the level of adoration and excitement as not just the inclusion of every Smash character ever, but the short “Challenger Approaching” trailer explaining that.

So I decided I’d take some time and analyze it for how it works. Hoo boy, did that take longer than I expected.

youtube

For ease (and because I’m, well, lazy), I’ll be splitting this up into bullet points. I should also note that I’m avoiding a lot of stage analysis except in certain cases, largely because the emphasis on fighters is the focus. Also, this is quite long, so a “read more” tag is needed for this one.

Before the video: Sakurai adds this whole “character numbering” element, which is odd. Most viewers less familiar with this scheme (which has mostly always existed within the series) assumed this indicated the total number of characters from the start, but more than that it inherently acknowledges cut characters, something Sakurai tries to avoid as to not make their fans feel worse. No matter who is watching, it’s odd, and sets up the actual video in a way that feels odd.

00:02 - 00:15: We see Battlefield, something which since Brawl has always functioned as a focal point for the series - kind of in the way Mario does, too, which is why he appears here. Traditionally, Mario is also the character who reflects the visual direction of each game the most, so his “Brawl meets Smash For“ art style confirms it as a new game, one that will marry multiple iterations of Smash.

0015 - 00:28: Kirby, Samus, and Bowser are all Smash staples (two from the first game, one from Melee). They’re also not in numerical order, telling us to not expect things in a “normal” way. They also more clearly show a few returning stages, Castle Siege and Green Greens in particular, and Giga Bowser seems to function in a far new way.

00:28 - 00:34: Link is also one of the central Smash characters, but his drastic redesign tells us further that this will be a new iteration - one that will look to more recent games, at least in part (we also see a new Breath of the Wild stage, alongside Temple). Keep in mind that he gets a huge amount of time to emphasize this.

00:34 - 0:44: We see a lot of Donkey Kong (including a change to his Giant Punch), but it’s Falco’s appearance in 00:42 that’s surprising. He’s typically and understandably a hidden character; showing him off is kind of bizarre. For most viewers, it’ll just seem nice for a beloved character to return, but for the more attentive first-time viewers it is somewhat odd and continues the off-kilter vibe of Sakurai’s introduction.

00:44 - 00:48: Marth casually shows off the new changes to Shield Breaker, just like with DK earlier. Further indication that old fighters will have, to quote Sakurai from a decade ago, a “slightly different flavor this time around,” and that it won’t simply be an expanded port of Smash for Wii U (this emphasis will continue throughout the video and into Nintendo’s continued promotion of the game.

00:48 - 00:52: New Zelda! Not really new Sheik! Their having their default costumes implies they will remain separate fighters, and Zelda’s in particular bucks a trend of Zelda and Link’s costumes coming from the same game.

00:52 - 00:54: Our first post-Melee fighter, Villager, shows a new ability. His appearance also begins to move us from the more classic Smash fighters into a wider variety of ones new and old.

00:55 - 00:58: Meta Knight and Mewtwo. Notable for the former being the first Brawl character in general and the first one shown, and for the latter being the first Pokémon representative - before Pikachu, even. Mewtwo also looks like it did in Smash For, an indication the DLC would not be ignored.

00:59 - 01:01: And here comes Sonic - with a new version of Super Sonic and a returning Green Hill Zone in tow - as the biggest guest fighter out there, though that doesn’t confirm whether less established third party content would be joining him.

1:02 - 1:08: Peach and Pikachu, each with slight new changes in how Toad and Volt Tackle work. It’s notable how long it took to get to either of them, though their being more famous leads nicely into...

1:09 - 1:15: the Ice Climbers! Their return is such a big moment it’s hard to notice we’ve also got a returning Summit (and Living Room), and they unsurprisingly get a whopping six seconds to show off how they look in HD.

1:16 - 1:21: And from a beloved, long lost fighter to a highly desired new one, Nana and Popo formally introduce Inkling, with both a male and female design in tow. We get a good look at how diverse their weapon selection is, alongside a new Splatoon stage.

1:22 - 1:27: Pretty much the only thing we need to see with Falcon is the Punch, while Zero Suit Samus and Wii Fit Trainer show that even the less “iconic” of the cast aren’t going to be ignored. Given Boxing Ring’s centrality to Smash For, its being so prominent here makes sense.

1:28 - 1:30: here’s where things get weirder. The Ice Climbers coming back makes sense, but the Pokémon Trainer? I don’t really think it’s vague on whether the switching mechanic will return (he’s in the back, so...), but it’s out of the blue in a way none of what we’ve seen here is. That it only lasts about two seconds makes it all the more shocking.

1:31 - 1:36: Ness and Lucas. A little surprising for the former, given his traditionally being a hidden fighter, and more so for the former, who was last in the series as DLC.

1:36 - 1:41: The DLC concern becomes even more noticeable now, with Ryu fighting yet another normally hidden fighter: Ganondorf, surprisingly sporting the classic Ocarina of Time design Melee used. It implies a far greater amount of changes than what we were initially expecting, and assures the less confident of us that even third party DLC will not be ignored.

1:41 - 1:44: And look who else is looking new, but Ike, who’s reverted to the design Brawl used...except he isn’t. While the Inklings were expected to have male and female versions, this is the first indication we’ll have more pronounced alternate costumes for specific characters.

1:45 - 1:51: Cloud’s inclusion is another important one at this point, because compared to other guest fighters, the possibility of his return seemed far more up in the air. He gets a lot of airtime, space that comfortably confirms his two outfits and Omnislash, a great flashy move to send us into the big moment.

1:52 - 1:55: If Cloud’s return wasn’t a sure thing, than Snake’s was a pipe dream for fans (myself included). Having one go to the other is smart, because after him, Ice Climbers, and Pokémon Trainer, Snake‘s chances feel so much more possible. And it works so well. We don’t see an attack, or anything, because we don’t need to. It’s Snake, on Shadow Moses Island. That’s enough for us, until...

1:56 - 2:01: “EVERYONE IS HERE!” really just speaks for itself, but I’d also like to note the small feature of Snake running right after the words appear. It’s subtle, but it’s a flash of energy leading to the rest of the video (an energy that is supported by the music, which becomes far more intense up until the end). And it’s important to him be behind the words, because by this point a viewer is processing them, recognizing the totality of what that means.

2:02 - 2:04: And to prove how serious that claim is, Jigglypuff - the last of the original cast (minus Luigi and Yoshi) - brings back Pichu, likely the very fighter most people would think of after hearing that “everyone is here”: “even Pichu?” That the joke character of Melee has returned is proof of the claim, an example of how insane and wild this project is planning to be. But despite how notable it is, the two Pokémon are onscreen for only two seconds.

2:15 - 2:18: Truthfully, the next few reveals are less exciting. Roy is the fifth DLC character revealed to return, but Olimar, Diddy, and Lucario are all fairly normal. But it’s with Lucina that we get yet another oddity. She’s 21ε - an indication that something different was being done with the then-called “clone characters.” It’s yet another indicator that Smash is going to be different, and in rather unexpected ways.

2:26: It’s not a big detail, but Dr. Mario lacks the Epsilon, indicating that he’s different from how he used to be (given that he, Lucina, and Dark Pit are associated as the Echoes of the previous iteration of Smash, it stands to reason people might look for that on him, too).

2:30 - 2:32: And there’s Dark Pit literally one shot after Doc, with the Epsilon. It’s important to keep it all in mind more easily. I also think it’s notable that Palutena’s moveset isn’t shown at all in here; it’s one more thing about which Sakurai’s been coy.

2:39 - 2:42: It’s important, I think, to have the two versions of Link show up together; it highlights how they’ve both functioned as spinoffs of one of Nintendo’s (and Smash‘s) most important heroes. By this point, Young Link is the final character (again, other than Luigi and Yoshi) who came from a game before Brawl; he’s important as one more reminder of this game’s scope.

2:46 - 2:49: And if there were any fighters whose fate would seem as up in the air as any third party character, it’d be the Mii Fighters. And yet, they’re all here, too. And like with Palutena, we see no customization or anything beyond some very basic attacks.

2:55 - 2:56: Despite not being a huge surprise, Pac-Man’s new Final Smash (or new version of Super Pac-Man, technically) is fast, really fast. And that’s good because it kicks up the pace right to the finish. Like, it’s weirdly intense to watch at that point.

3:00 - 3:03: Wolf! While calls for him were probably not as loud as those for Snake and the Ice Climbers, he has remained a beloved Smash character and a fighter people really wanted. Having him here is good for a bunch of reasons - he was the last newcomer in Brawl, his style works really well for this point in the video - but probably the most is that people really wanted him back especially. And holding off on that until now helps emphasize this game’s scope.

3:04 - 2:08: Mega Man needed to be the final main shot for a lot of reasons. He’s a beloved gaming and Smash character, he’s got name recognition, and especially because his Final Smash is the best way to send off us. It’s just this huge blast that keeps up the momentum right until the end.

3:11: And we have the title. “Ultimate” really is perfect word for this, a video that is pretty much just about the history and power of Super Smash Bros.

3:16 - 3:20: ...But it also wouldn’t be Sakurai without some goofing around, so we let the air out of all this pomposity with some silliness from Luigi and Yoshi. I think it makes sense for more reason than Sakurai often using those two for mirth. The Brawl trailer had all this bombastic, dark energy...but then Wario showed up and farted. The first Smash For trailer seemed exciting and crazy...and then Wii Fit Trainer appeared; almost all the character trailers after it had stingers afterwards, mostly goofy ones. It’s a good and important statement that Smash will always be goofy and weird. And you got that in some individual shots (Dedede and Wario, for instance), but it’s a deliberate anticlimax that mocks you, but only slightly, for all the energy you’ve hopefully gotten from what is a very long trailer, all things considered.

So, what have we learned, aside from me realizing I need to come up with shorter topics for this blog? I think it’s that you could have made this announcement any way. Sakurai could’ve just shown the character selection screen, Nintendo could’ve put it out in a press release, or they could’ve just not mentioned it entirely (though that’d be insane given that “everyone is here!” is the game’s tagline). But a video was the best way to do it. And I think this way was the best video they could’ve realistically made. Every fighter gets to show off a ton of personality in a couple seconds, and by basing the whole video around being before or after Snake, it can position the ideal fighters in a way that lets viewers slowly realize how much grander this is going to be than they realized. It’s all just great design in general, and more than just a really cool trailer that showed things off.

(Link to my writings on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)

#Super Smash Bros. Ultimate #Super Smash Bros.#Masahiro Sakurai #Nintendo Direct #E3 2018

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inkingthewild · 8 years ago

Text

Forsaken Legacy Chapter 3: Beginnings

read this on ao3 or ff.net

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Link stared blankly at the boy – or Ganondorf, since he had now revealed his name.

“Ga-non-dorf?” he repeated, pronouncing the unfamiliar word carefully. The other nodded with the same serious expression.

Ganondorf was definitely a foreign name, although he couldn’t pinpoint exactly where it originated from. Pronouncing it in its entirety gave off a grand, even regal, air. It was different, and sat strangely on the tongue, but somehow it seemed to fit him perfectly.

Ganondorf continued to observe him, his eyes boring into Link’s and holding far more scrutiny than he had ever encountered from anyone before – even from the most traditional of elders. His gaze was clear, yet it unsettled Link; causing his insides to squirm in discomfort.

It was as if he was issuing him a challenge; daring him to make fun out of his name. Link had no intention to do so; the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind until he became aware of Ganondorf’s stare. He wryly wondered how he was going to not mess up Ganondorf’s name when he talked to him. It was just so uncommon… Maybe if he practised in front of the mirror? But then again, someone might hear him, and that would definitely be awkward…

“Do you mind if I call you Ganon?” Link blurted out, without thinking his words through.

Immediately he shot up in his seat and cursed himself for making such a drastic move. What was he thinking? Here was a boy he had known for ten minutes, a boy who possibly might have become his friend, and he went and insulted him as soon as he met him. Ganondorf looked taken aback at Link’s suggestion, causing him to panic and hastily try to take back his words.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to! I’m sorry I even asked, it was probably really rude…”

“No… It’s fine.” Ganon said slowly. “I was only surprised. No one’s ever called me Ganon before.”

Link exhaled, relieved. “That’s… good. I thought I annoyed you for a bit.”

He rose, grabbing a pack of cards from the bedside drawer as he went. “I’ve got cards,” he explained, offering half the pack to Ganon, “so we don’t get bored.” He decided to ignore his trembling fingers and Ganon’s quizzical look.

Ganon looked at the pack, and for a split second Link was sure he had seen flashes of an expression flit across his face. It didn’t look like a smile - not a proper smile, anyway - but it wasn’t his default stoic expression either. Whatever victory Link was about to celebrate was replaced, however, by something far worse.

“That’s nice of you,” Ganon agreed, “but I don’t know how to play cards.”

Link stopped, and stared.

“You’ve… never played cards?”

Ganon shook his head.

A lengthy, palpable silence followed his statement, punctuated only by the pattering of the rain on the windows. Link felt rather than saw his jaw drop, followed by his eyes physically widening in slow motion. Ganon, for his part, looked wholly unconcerned, which had to be a crime in itself. The tension was like ice - of the red, unbreakable kind - until Link could handle it no longer and finally exploded in a burst of outrage.

“What do you mean you’ve never played cards?!”

“I just never did! I never had any!” Ganon defended hotly. He crossed his arms and looked away.

“You’re joking, right?” Shock reverberated through Link in deafening waves. How could one not have played cards, possibly the best game in the entirety of Hyrule?

Ganon didn’t respond. Sensing a heavy burden settle upon him, Link squared his shoulders, resolute. No one in Myrrha didn’t know how to play cards. No one in Hyrule didn’t know how to play cards! He felt then a little like his father, rising up to his duty as a knight - perhaps not as treacherous, but serious nonetheless.

“I’m teaching you.” he said firmly. “How have you never played? You can’t just… live in Hyrule and not have played cards!”

Ganon rolled his eyes and muttered, “I’ve seen people play. It’s not that great.”

That was it. Link stood, his mouth curving into a frown, and gave Ganon the sternest expression he could muster.

“I’m going to change your mind. When we’re finished, you’re going to love cards.” He shuffled until he was directly face to face with Ganon, and noticed with a start that Ganon had shed his sullen glare for an intrigued one. Inwardly he glowed, tallying his first victory away in his mind. He had a feeling that he had succeeded in his mission to get Ganon to open up to them, even if it was just a little and, so far, only to Link.

“First, you’ve heard of Snap, right? You need to get two cards that look the same, but it’s a lot harder than it sounds…”

Over the next few days, Ganon recovered, albeit slowly. Link kept him company throughout the day and long into the night, even foregoing his usual free time to try and squeeze a sentence or two out of the other. He had to admit, it was nice to have someone to talk to; despite said someone being utterly soundless and only talking when asked a question. It was clear that whatever happened in the woods had had an immense effect on Ganon, and Link sometimes wondered what he had been like before he was so savagely hurt.

It was sad that Ganon wasn’t the same around his parents. He averted his eyes and became more reserved whenever his parents checked in on him, like the snuffing out of a candle after a nasty gust of wind. This cold demeanour didn’t stop with just the two of them, but also extended to the people in the village who had come to greet the ‘newcomer’, as they called him. Link couldn’t help but notice that Ganon only went completely rigid and silent around the adults. He was much more relaxed with the kids that so often begged Link to show them how to fish; sometimes he even joined in with them. His behaviour was strange, but there wasn’t much Link could do about it without snooping.

His parents were a little hurt by Ganon’s unfriendliness, but they brushed it off and continued to care for the both of them as they had been doing. Link didn’t press Ganon, in fear of triggering a reaction like he had the first time they had talked. It had sent off a memory that he didn’t want to make Ganon experience again. Their relationship was steadily improving, and he didn’t want to ruin it as soon as it had started.

Weeks later, Ganon had finally been deemed fit to sit outside for a little while, mainly to catch some fresh air. Link had wasted no time in dragging him into their garden, where an impressive variety of plants waved lazily in the summer breeze. Link flopped into the shadow of their apple tree and patted the grass in a sluggish effort to get Ganon to lie down next to him. Slowly, Ganon knelt down and rested his hands on the floor, leaning back on them as he tipped back his face to meet the glaring sun.

“Sure is hot today, isn’t it?” Link sighed, shifting to get more comfortable under the sweltering heat. Ganon merely grunted; an affirmation that he had heard, and was listening. He rarely initiated conversation, so Link ploughed on.

“Last year, it was even hotter. I couldn’t even sit still in one place, so I kept wandering from house to house, talking to every kid as I passed.” Link smiled at the memory. “I was actually only walking around for the shade, and water, but I never got any water in the end because everyone had already drank their own.”

To his delight, Ganon gave a snort. “I bet you looked funny.”

“Hey! I looked normal!” Link swatted Ganon’s shoulder. “No one thought I was weird, but that was probably because everyone was feeling the heat too.”

Ganon raised one eyebrow before looking skywards to the tree branches, where the sunlight struggled to push through the thickets. “It’s a good thing you have this tree here, huh.”

“We planted it ages ago. It didn’t sprout for a long time, but when I was seven it really began to grow. Sometimes I pick the apples, so Mum gets to make apple pie from them.”

If Ganon noticed the collective way he called his mother, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he gave a heavy sigh and looked down at the ground, where the light dappled the grass and weaved through the leaves.

“Back home, it was always hot.” he murmured. “It was much hotter than it is here.”

Suddenly, Link was alert, all trace of drowsiness gone in span of a sentence. His surroundings ground to a stuttering halt, and the twittering sounds of the wildlife became muted. This was the first time Ganon had mentioned his home by himself, which surely meant something had changed. Maybe it was Link’s imagining, but he thought he noticed a hint of uncertainty behind Ganon’s voice; almost as if he wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to go about it. Link turned his full attention onto him.

Ganon studied Link’s reaction from his leaning position, eyes holding his own with a startling tiredness. “I suppose you want to know about where I come from.”

Link paused, and considered his words. Admittedly he was curious, but at the same time he didn’t want to scare Ganon off; or worse, make it seem as if he was interested in how Ganon had gotten to the forest in such a way. Ganon had gotten so triggered at the past mention of his home, and it had been terrible to watch. Link really didn’t want him to go through the same thing again.

“Not if you don’t want to.” he eventually answered. The underlying reassurance went unspoken.

Ganon wavered. He closed his eyes and inhaled softly, as if collecting his thoughts. Link waited patiently for him to say something.

“I was born in Gerudo Citadel, out in the desert.” he began at last. “I never knew my parents, and I don’t remember much from when I was small, but I do remember moving to an orphanage on the outskirts of the citadel, in Bari Village. I grew up there with a dozen or so other girls and an old woman, who cared for us as if we were her own.

"In time, I started to think of the girls as my sisters, and the woman as my mother. We were all very close, and I was… happy.” Ganon stopped for a bit, before his composure darkened. Link continued to wait in anticipation, digesting the barrage of new information all at once. A sense of foreboding settled over the two, but Link had no idea what was behind it.

It was an eternity before Ganon continued. He looked up to stare directly into Link’s eyes, his own emptied of any emotion, causing a cold pit of dread to pool in Link’s stomach. His eyes, terribly harrowing and sorrowful, were enough to make Link pause and reconsider his decision to listen to his past. Ganon swallowed thickly before averting his eyes.

“One day, a group of bandits broke in, stole our gold and burned the house down.”

Link clapped a hand quickly over his mouth to stifle his horror. Time itself seemed to slow as he tried to comprehend what Ganon had just told him. Whatever he had been expecting to hear, it hadn’t been this.

Bandits - although rare in these more peaceful times of Hyrule - were ruthless, bloodthirsty and unfortunately rather well-organised. They usually raided houses for gold, but countless tales told of their twisted glee after witnessing the fates of their helpless victims. As Link tried to process his haunting tale, Ganon dropped his gaze and turned away.

Suddenly, all of Ganon’s reservations around older people made sense.

“I… I’m sorry,” Link finished lamely.

'Sorry’ didn’t even cut it. The thin apology barely scratched the surface for the sadness Link felt for Ganon. To have a loving family ripped away in an instant… if Link lost his mother and father, he was sure he would go insane just from the grief alone. It was unthinkable, and he could only begin to imagine what it must’ve been like for Ganon.

'Sorry’ by itself had no impact, and Link knew as much.

“I was the only one to survive, so I fled the village and ran into mainland Hyrule. I hoped to find help somewhere, but I guess I wasn’t strong enough to make it by myself.”

There was a hard bitterness to his voice when he spoke of his escape, leaving Link anxious and feeling utterly useless. He could see no way to comfort Ganon without making it seem as if he were pitying him, and Ganon didn’t seem like the type of person who would appreciate overbearing sympathy.

He had only one idea: but it was equal parts risky and unpredictable. Half of him didn’t care whether Ganon resented him for it, while the other half screamed and hesitated with worry whenever Ganon gazed at him with those empty eyes. It was a dangerous idea and could possibly lead to the breaking of their unsteady friendship. Besides, what if Ganon didn’t accept?

Deep down Link knew that, if he didn’t ask Ganon now, he wouldn’t be able to find another opportunity in the future.

“You could stay here.” Link coughed, before he could chicken out. “With us, I mean.”

Ganon gave him a dubious look. His answer was immediate.

“I can’t impose. I need to find my own way somehow.”

With a plummeting heart, Link tried again. “I mean it. You can’t just leave now! It’s too dangerous out there!”

He didn’t add how much fun, and how much better life was now that Ganon was in it, or how much he wanted to help Ganon after hearing his unhappy tale. Desperation began to claw its way into his heart.

“I can’t be a burden, Link. I’m sorry, but I can’t.” With those last echoing words, Ganon swiftly leapt to his feet and stalked away into the dense bushes, no doubt to be alone with his thoughts again.

Link watched him go, unmoving, but internally his brain was shouting at him to stop Ganon, however you can! He knew it was unsafe to travel alone outside and without any proper training. However competent Ganon thought he was, a person who had lost everyone couldn’t cope all by themselves for too long.

Put simply, Link didn’t want Ganon to suffer by himself. He supposed that he felt this way because of lingering guilt, but still; if he could find a way to stop Ganon from leaving, then he would.

His mother looked up from her book as he entered the room a week later, a beaming smile spread across her face as always. She gestured for Link to sit down beside her, which he gratefully did, and held up the cover for him to see.

“Tales of Time,” she explained. “It used to be your favourite when you were younger. I found it under the bed when I was looking for something, and I thought I should have a read again, for old time’s sake.”

Link smiled, a little wistful. “I remember wanting to be like the hero,” he recalled. “It seems a bit silly now, though. I mean, I’m pretty sure the magical ocarina doesn’t exist anymore, or time travel.”

“Well, you never know. Some things are just hidden until it’s the right time to discover them. The Hero of Time only properly used the ocarina after he had slept for seven years, after all.”

Link fell silent, thinking back on his younger days. Life had seemed so much more straightforward with his set routine: eat, play, sleep and repeat. Now, with the sudden threat of dangers and pain in the world, things were a lot more complicated. The future was decidedly clouded, and unfogging it proved much more difficult than how the hero in the stories managed to do it.

Ganon’s actions crept back into Link’s mind, as they often did. He found that his words were stuck revolving around his head, refusing to leave him alone and constantly feeding upon his thoughts. Link had wracked his brains for any idea that could help. He had come up with nothing.

“Ganon wants to leave.” he burst out. He fiddled with the fabric of his tunic as he spoke. “He says he doesn’t want to impose, or something.”

He glanced up at his mother to find a surprised, a perhaps a little incredulous, expression. Tales was forgotten and laid upon her lap as she furrowed her brows at his words.

“Where does he mean to go?” she asked.

“I’m not sure. I told him that he has to stay, that we want him here, but I don’t think he listened. He started talking to me about his village, before. It… wasn’t very nice.”

“I see.” She didn’t speak for a while after that, gazing into the distance as if in a trance. Link watched with apprehension.

Then, her mouth gradually began to curve upwards, crinkling at the corners and making her smile lines more noticeable. She leapt up, placed the book on the table and turned to Link with a crooked smile.

“He still doesn’t like us, does he? Your father and I, I mean.”

Link stumbled as he hurriedly got up and followed her to where she had headed to the kitchen. “I wouldn’t put it like that… He does like you, it’s just… He’s a bit…”

“Don’t worry, I know.” she laughed. “Here. Come back after a bit,” she disappeared into the larder, “and give him some apple pie.”

Link nearly crashed into her back in his surprise. He looked up at her, flabbergasted. “What’s apple pie going to do?”

She patted his cheek, and reached up to the cupboard where the spices were kept. “Mother’s intuition!” she called over her shoulder, before ushering him out of the kitchen and into the hallway. Link was left thoroughly confused – really, what was apple pie going to do? Would apples actually change Ganon’s mind? Never before had his mother suggested such a thing, especially when it came to people’s actions and emotions.

It was a crazy idea, but it was better than sitting around and doing nothing. Despite her curious behaviour, Link believed in his mother all the same. He waited.

A few hours later, with a warm, fruity package pressed into his hands, Link found himself pacing the hallway outside Ganon’s room. He wasn’t scared, as such; he was honestly more nervous than afraid. He still had no idea how apple pie could persuade Ganon to stay with them by itself, but he supposed his mother knew what she was doing. After all, she had seemed quite positive as she cooked, whistling away in the kitchen and humming softly as she chopped the apples.

Hoping for the best, Link carefully pushed open the door with his free hand, the pie occupying the other.

Inside, Ganon was staring up at the ceiling with a melancholy expression – typical. Link fought the urge to ask him how he was feeling. Instead, he focused on the task at hand.

“Hey.” he said brightly. “Mum made you something. You might want to take a look.”

To his amusement, Ganon immediately dropped his gaze from the ceiling and rolled over to face him. He eyed the package with suspicion, but didn’t refuse it when Link offered it to him. Though he handled it tentatively between his fingers, there was no trace of a negative response. It was satisfying to see Ganon actually react to something rather than stay passive, as he did before.

He inhaled softly with surprise as he peeled away the wrapping. Link waited with bated breath as he lifted a tiny piece and nibbled at its edges.

Hours seem to pass as he chewed, slowly at first, before properly working through the layers of pastry. From painful experience, Link knew how long it was before someone’s teeth could free itself from the sticky clutches of his mother’s apple pie. It took time to get used to.

“Well?” Link asked, nervous. “What d'you think?”

Ganon chewed thoroughly. He swallowed, and then took another piece. Link waited, and hoped.

“It’s -,” he managed between bites, and Link’s spirits began to lift, “really…good… actually…”

Link fist-pumped the air and cheered, forgetting for a moment the circumstances in which he was in, before hastily lowering his arm as Ganon gave him a knowing smile. “Well,” he said, “it’s obviously good. Mum made it. Everything she makes is good.”

“I agree.” Ganon nodded. Link smiled, and added Ganon’s affirmation onto his slowly-growing Make-Ganon-Smile victory list.

Ganon paused for a moment as he devoured the rest of the pie, before looking up to meet Link’s eyes with a guilty expression.

“I’ve been thinking about what I said earlier, and…” he trailed off slowly, but continued at Link’s encouraging gestures, “I think… perhaps, I wouldn’t mind.”

Link felt a huge grin starting to spread across his face. “Wouldn’t mind what?”

Ganon gave him a dry, yet slightly embarrassed look. “Don’t make me say it.”

“Say what?”

“You know what!”

Afterwards, Link realised that perhaps his taunting really had gotten them somewhere. His ribs felt as if they had been thrown into Death Mountain Crater after the thumping he had been subjected to, but he discovered with a jolt that he didn’t really care. Ganon’s smiles were becoming a lot more frequent, and that was enough for him.

“You know,” he giggled, wiping a tear from his eye, “you should talk to my parents. Our parents. They still don’t understand why you ignore them.”

At this, Ganon instantly sobered, and looked down with a crestfallen expression. “I’ve been meaning to apologise for a while now, but I couldn’t really put it into words without sounding like… well, like an idiot.”

Link shuffled until he sat shoulder to shoulder with Ganon. It was a little uncomfortable against the stiff headboard, but he took no notice. “Is it because of… those bandits?” he asked softly.

Ganon stiffened at his words, causing Link to panic again, but his alarm soon vanished when Ganon relaxed. “…Partly,” he murmured, “but also because… every single person I asked for help while I was running away from the orphanage turned me away. No one offered me help, which is why I guess I’m a little… bitter, towards adults. They saw a desperate Gerudo child, yet they didn’t give me the time of day. I hated it.”

Sympathy tugged on Link’s heartstrings like the strum of a harp. Ganon’s past was becoming more tragic with every piece of information he revealed, and Link’s heart ached as he tried to understand how Ganon had managed to cope through it all. His inner strength truly was incredible.

“Ours aren’t like that.” Link said softly.

“I know, I know. Like I said, I sound a little stupid. I know all adults aren’t like that, but whenever I see one I keep thinking of what those bandits did, and what the people along the way didn’t do, and I just get so… angry.”

Ganon sighed, before turning to Link once again. “I still want to apologise to your parents, though. They’ve been kind to me, but I’ve been nothing but rude. It’s not right.”

Link nudged him. “Our parents,” he reminded once again. “If you’re going to live here, you can’t just call them my parents all the time – that’d sound too weird. Anyway, Mum’s dead-set on adopting you, and she’s kinda stubborn. I don’t think you could’ve left here, even if you wanted to.”

Ganon stayed quiet, and Link hoped beyond hope that his little speech was encouraging enough to provide all the persuasion Ganon needed.

Finally, the corners of Ganon’s mouth tugged upwards into the beginnings of a smirk. “I guess I’ll have to call you my little brother from now on.” he teased.

He seemed slightly anxious when he said 'brother’, as if he thought Link would be offended by it, until he felt the light impact from the friendly shove that Link gave him with a smile.

Another tally for the Make-Ganon-Smile victory list, then.

There was no talk at the dinner table later that evening, as had become normal over the past few weeks since Ganon’s arrival. However this time, the atmosphere had thawed slightly, with Ganon no longer actively avoiding the adults’ eyes, and even smiling at times (although nervously). Link pushed his leg against the other’s at the dinner table every minute or two, a silent motion of encouragement; they won’t be made at you, just say it! Even so, Link could see that Ganon was taking his time and steeling himself for his announcement. He was taking ages, but Link supposed that it would be better if he did it in his own time, rather than being pushed to do it when he wasn’t ready.

Ganon cleared his throat when his father had finished serving the fish stew. He waited until all eyes were on him. It was only when they had settled into the chairs, did he speak up.

“I just wanted to say that… well, I’m sorry for ignoring you.” Ganon’s voice quivered as he began.“You’ve been nothing but accommodating, and I feel as if I’ve been nothing but rude. I hope that you’ll be able to forgive me in time.”

Ganon’s voice was far too quiet and his tone was far too formal, with only his fidgeting thumbs betraying his mortification. However, Link didn’t pay it much attention, since his mother only beamed at Ganon and his father broke out into a relieved chuckle.

“It’s quite alright, son. I’m just glad you’ve finally decided to talk to us.”

“Did you like the pie?” his mother asked, shooting a knowing look at Link.

Ganon scratched the back of his neck, pleased at the supportive reaction. “Y-yeah. It was really good. I’d love to try some more, if you have some.”

She laughed and patted his hand. To Link’s relief, Ganon didn’t pull away from the contact as he was half-expecting him to. “That’s high praise. Link just devours it and runs off. He never even thanks me.”

“Hey! I do like your food! I even told Ganon so upstairs, remember, Ganon?”

Ganon pulled a face, before slyly smirking. “Eh, not really. I don’t remember you saying anything of the sort.”

“Hey! I know what I said! Stop denying it, Ganon! I know you’re lying!”

His protests trailed off into the air, as Ganon sniggered into his soup and his mother laid a hand on her hip. They were making fun of him, but as the family broke out into a bout of laughter at his expense, the atmosphere became a lot warmer than it had ever been in the past few weeks.

“Why isn’t this working?”

Ganon’s frustrated growls punctuated the air ceaselessly, leaving Link in a constant state of amusement. It seemed that he wasn’t suited for fishing, what with his large hands and hot impatience. They had been at the lake for an hour already, and while Link would’ve caught at least a couple in that time, Ganon had failed to catch even one. It was mainly due to his constant twitching and grumbling, but Link didn’t tell him that, instead choosing to watch him stew in his own frustration. It was, admittedly, funny to watch.

“That’s because you’re doing it all wrong.” Link said airily. “Here. I’ll show you how you’re supposed to do it.”

“No!” Ganon snapped, yanking the rod back from Link’s outstretched hand. “I’m doing it by myself. I will catch a fish by myself before the day’s finished. Just watch.”

“If you say so.”

Link sat back to watch Ganon as he crouched, with his brows furrowed in comical concentration, on the boardwalk. It was miraculous, the way he had opened up to everyone after that dinner. Ganon had switched from brooding and silent to humorous and outspoken overnight, with a bit of a sarcastic streak as well. Link was pleased to say that their friendship had also progressed swiftly. They bickered and argued at times, but it was always with a competitive undertone rather than a malicious one, and besides; the other village kids complained of exactly the same situations with their own siblings, so he knew that their relationship was a pretty normal one. Having someone to share his interests with was exciting, especially since Ganon never tired of Link’s enthusiasm, and even shared with him discoveries of his own.

“Look! I think I got one!”

Ganon’s exuberant shout brought Link out of his reverie, and he hastily leapt to his feet to watch as Ganon wrestled with the rod, tugging it this way and that.

“Keep pulling!” he encouraged, coming forward to help if he was needed. “Yeah, that’s it, pull it in the opposite direction, no not that way you idiot!-”

“I know, I’m doing it!”

Ganon yanked and strained with the rod, as Link kept an eye on the swelling ripples in the water. With the amount of pulling that was going on, this fish had to be huge.

“Nearly… there…!”

The ripples erupted into frantic splashing, which grew larger and louder, almost deafening, until-

“Look!”

The line flew out of the lake, shimmering and dripping with water. Dangling on the end of the rope was a fat, round and almost spherical sturgeon, wriggling desperately in the sudden exposure to air.

“Miharian Sturgeon, right?” Ganon said proudly, freeing the fish from the line and laying it gently into a wooden bucket.

Link smiled. “Not bad.”

“Oh, please. I was amazing. This one’s huge.”

Link huffed with mock indignation. “Excuse me? When I went fishing for the first time, I caught three catfish. Three! You only caught one sturgeon.”

“Yeah, but you told me that the sturgeon is bigger than the catfish anyway, so that doesn’t matter, does it?” Ganon hauled the bucket into one hand, before turning to Link with a smirk. “At any rate, we’re having a good dinner tonight.”

Link jogged to stay beside Ganon, rod in hand. “We are, but don’t change the subject. I was a better fisherman than you.”

Ganon rolled his eyes, and sped up. His large strides made it near impossible for Link to keep pace with him, especially holding a fishing rod, and he knew it.

Link stuck a tongue out from behind his back.

He watched, slightly envious, as Ganon sparred with his father.

His father was a trained knight, and so possessed a certain prowess as a swordsman that was impressive in its own right. However, it was somewhat predictable once one figured out how he moved. Link, having trained with his father for years now, could predict these moves to an extent, although he wasn’t very good at executing the parries needed to block his attacks.

Ganon, however, was on a whole other spectrum.

His movements were almost otherworldly. Every step he took was measured, calculated, and every swing of his sword held relentless power that had even his father struggling to keep back. His movements were fluid and resembled a dance, although not like the graceful movements of a common fire performer. It was more to do with the assurance and poise of his spins, and the vigour behind his strikes. No thrust was clunky, and no parry was misplaced. Link noticed that Ganon’s eyes had narrowed in fierce concentration, and he pursued his father’s movements unfailingly. It seemed as if he was trained in swordplay, and trained well.

With a sudden clang, the wooden sword was at his father’s neck.

“Yield?” Ganon asked.

His father nodded, smiling with approval as he lowered Grymhildr. “You’re a natural,” he praised, and despite his awe Link felt a swoop of pride as Ganon scratched his ears sheepishly. “You must have had skilled mentors to achieve this level of skill at such a young age.”

Ganon sighed, and Link recognised the sound from when he had spoken of Bari. “My sisters were even better than me,” he admitted. “They would’ve had me pinned down in a second.”

A pang of sorrow coursed through Link at the mention of Ganon’s family. He didn’t bring them up often anymore, but the subject wasn’t strictly taboo. Though he had found it easier to speak of them over the years, the subtle ache in his voice didn’t go unnoticed, and it was painfully obvious that their deaths still haunted him.

His father placed a large hand on his shoulder. “They must have been wonderful, then, if you’re anything to go by.” he told him reassuringly. At Ganon’s tiny nod, he straightened, before turning to Link.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to get Link on his toes in no time.”

His father’s attempt at lightening the solemn mood seemed to work when Ganon’s sombre expression slowly spread into a smirk. Link’s heart sank at the thought of the relentless teasing that was sure to follow their own sparring. He wouldn’t ever tell Ganon – he had to keep some dignity after all - but by Hylia, he really wasn’t the best swordsman around. It was probably something to do with how he was rarely bothered to get up so early in the morning just to train. Not that he was ever going to admit it, though…

Link sighed mournfully, and prepared himself for a thorough pummelling.

The frosty breeze whistled through the branches, propelling a shiver through Link’s fingers. The sun barely peeked out from behind the bulky cloud barrier, and the garden pond had hardened to stiff ice. Why he had wanted to go outside was now a mystery to him. It was true that he didn’t want to give up an old tradition, but at the same time the exposure was unforgiving and merciless. Rubbing his hands and shakily blowing on them in an attempt to generate some hot air, Link turned to glance over his shoulder.

Ganon was arguably in a worse shape, huddled in a cocoon of blankets against the apple tree and clutching a mug of warm tea as if it were his own lifeline. His teeth chattered, like hard rain pounding into the soil in the rainy season. Link supposed that, even after all these years, mainland Hyrule’s winter was difficult to get used to after a childhood in the desert.

Link shuffled towards the tree and stole a bit of the blanket himself, much to the cocoon’s chagrin.

“Don’t hog it all, I’m freezing,” Ganon demanded, tugging on it to retrieve his comfort back. “I don’t even know why we still do this. It’s the middle of the bloody winter.”

“Stop nagging.” Link muttered. “It’s tradition.”

Ganon rolled his eyes. “'Tradition’, my arse. If we get hypothermia, we can’t exactly use 'tradition’ as an excuse before we get scolded to death.”

“We’ll be fine, stop worrying. Anyway, I wanted to ask you something.” Link waited for Ganon’s complete attention before he continued.

“What is it?”

Link hesitated before he asked his question. It wasn’t something to be scared of or embarrassed about, but merely something he wanted Ganon’s input on. The only reason he paused was because the response he would get could possibly change his entire future.

“Where will you go for your Arelyth?” he asked.

The Trial of Arelyth was an ancient tradition in Hyrule, dating back centuries before even the previous Hero had risen. In short, it was a trial that all the youths of Hyrule from age thirteen and onwards undertook in order to gain the blessing of the Goddess Hylia herself. The old texts spoke of how Hylia had bestowed her first Trial upon the Hero long ago to temper his spirit. He had proven worthy of her blessing, and had drawn strength from it in the battle against the Fallen King. Since then, the people of Hyrule had celebrated his victory by honouring Hylia and sending their own youths to prove themselves, shadowing the Hero’s great trials.

In recent times the Trial’s difficulty had lessened significantly, only consisting of years in a trade the youths would labour towards and perfect themselves. It was still a matter of great importance, and an event all the children of Hyrule eagerly looked forward to.

Ganon paused to reflect. Link waited, a little apprehensive, for his response. The wind blew as erratically as ever, but was forgotten as he twisted his fingers into his scarf and fidgeted about the knees.

“The castle, I guess.” Ganon finally answered.

Link immediately brightened as a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. “I was hoping you’d say that.” he beamed.

“Why, do you want to become a knight?”

“Of course! Dad was a knight, and he went to the castle for his Trial. I want to do the same too.”

Ganon sank back against the tree after his declaration, diving back into the blankets as he did so. “Guess I have to go, then,” he yawned, “can’t have you setting the castle on fire while you’re there, after all.”

“Hey!” Link protested. “I wouldn’t do that!”

“Oh, really.”

“Yes, really!”

“For some reason, knowing you, I highly doubt that.” Ganon grumbled as he tucked the blankets around him into a tighter shield, before standing up.

Link snorted. He looked absolutely ridiculous, shivering against the cold, yet holding the fabric around him like a king’s cloak.

“I’m heading back in,” he announced. “Try not to die out here.”

He stalked off towards the house. Link shoved his knuckles against his mouth to stifle his giggles when Ganon cursed and tripped over a tree root stretching innocently across the path.

“The Fallen King laughed and reformed into a mighty boar, which ploughed through the grasses of Hyrule Field. Blood and fire glowed in its eyes and its skin flared with the smokes of horror. The beast reared up on its back legs as lightning shot out of its mouth, shattering the blade of evil’s bane out of the hero’s hand and far out of his reach. All seemed to be lost, until the princess bestowed upon the hero the sacred Bow of Light. Well, that’s convenient, isn’t it?”

“Don’t interrupt, Ganon, you’re getting to the good part!”

“Fine, fine… The battle was long and arduous. The hero fought until his fingers split and were torn asunder, the bowstring bloodied, and the princess aided him however she could.

"Finally, the sky darkened to crimson as the beast howled in agony. The time had come. The hero, exhausted by his efforts, circled the beast as tremors shook the earth. The princess strained to restrain the beast, until the hero drew back his final arrow, and shot blinding, pure light into the soul of the beast itself.

"As it roared in anguish, the princess used her last lingering strength to call upon the Goddesses of old. She summoned the power handed down through the royal family, her own birthright, and as the beast descended upon her, she banished it into the voids of darkness. The skies faded into blue, and the world was saved.

"However, the Goddess Hylia had one last part to play. Urged by one of her anguished sisters, who couldn’t bear to watch her people turn against the birthplace of the conqueror, she lifted her divine hands and gently told the clouds to rain. Rain they did, and as the droplets poured upon the bodies of her people, so did their memory of the King of Evil fade away.

"Thus, Hyrule was purged, and with it the memories of the horrors the King had forced upon it. For the first time in many years, the sun rose to greet a land untouched by malice, and people lightened with joy.”

Ganon closed the book shut with a snap, and laid it aside. Link sighed, and stretched his arms from where he was dozing on the floor.

“I wonder why the Goddess wiped everyone’s memories?” he asked noncommittally.

Ganon snorted. “You’ve read this hundreds of times. One of the Goddess’s sisters didn’t want to see the Hylians turning on the Dark King’s people, so she took their memories to prevent any civil war.”

“Still,” Link murmured doubtfully, “doesn’t it seem like something’s missing from the story? The Goddess wouldn’t just wipe the memory of the entire world… it doesn’t seem very…” here he hesitated, “…wise. Wouldn’t it be better if the people remembered what happened, so it wouldn’t happen again?”

Ganon shrugged. “Don’t ask me how the Goddesses work. As long as there’s no Evil King now, I’m fine with whatever she did.”

Link didn’t answer, and instead chose to stare at his left hand. He wondered how the hero felt as he was called to his destiny, or when he blinked away the rain and found that he couldn’t recall the person he had fought. It seemed sad, even cruel. To forget what a person was fighting for…

“That reminds me,” Ganon interrupted, pulling Link out of his reverie, “isn’t the princess around the same age as you?”

“Oh, yeah… I think so.”

“Huh. You’re twelve now, so we’re due to head off to the castle soon. Maybe you’ll get to meet her there.”

“M-meet Princess Zelda?” Link stammered.

The princess was outgoing and brightly optimistic, or so he had been told. Villagers who had returned from the castle all spoke grandly about her: how she would travel around Castletown after her studies and ask after everyone she met, or how her eyes would light up whenever she heard an ancient story, or how her smile would lift even the gloomiest out of their melancholy.

They also spoke of how heavily she was guarded. The King cared greatly about the safety of his only daughter, and many men had been detained upon suspicion of threatening Her Highness. In some cases, they were allegedly shipped off to a distant land, never to be seen again. For good or for worse, nobody really knew.

Most importantly, Link couldn’t possibly become her friend. She was the Crown Princess, and he was to become a knight. It just wasn’t proper.

“I don’t see why not.” Ganon went on, unaware of Link’s inner agitation. “I heard she could talk a Lynel’s ears off. She’d be good for you and your snarky mutterings.”

“N-no! I’m supposed to be a knight, Ganon, I can’t just become the Princess’s friend out of nowhere! What would Dad say? And Mum? The King would probably kill me for even talking to her!”

“They wouldn’t even mind- okay, okay, calm down, I’m just messing with you! No need to get so flustered…” Ganon smirked as Link’s face reddened. “Also, you do know that the death penalty was abolished in Hyrule over a century ago?”

“Shut up. Of course I know.” Link grumbled petulantly. “And I wasn’t flustered.”

“Mm hm, of course you weren’t, which is why you’re blushing like a dodongo in heat. I hear that the court poets sing of her golden hair and… what was it? 'Eyes that shimmer like how the sun touches upon a flowing spring’? Don’t they call her the 'Sun of Hyrule’ too? Link?”

Ganon laughed as Link furiously rubbed at his face. “I’m not blushing, because I haven’t even met her yet!”

“Relax, little brother, I only jest. It’s just funny to see you stutter at the mention of a girl.”

“I didn’t stutter!”

Ganon ruffled his hair so that it was even messier than before, sticking up like the twigs of a bird’s nest. “I can’t wait to see you court someone.” he snickered. “You’d probably get so nervous that you’d drop the flowers, or spill water on their clothes. I’m going to have so much blackmail material without even trying…”

Link groaned at Ganon’s never-ending teasing and flopped backwards onto the grass, trying to block out his voice. As always, his efforts proved fruitless, and he was forced to endure Ganon’s sing-song taunts for the rest of that evening.

As the days sped by, life improved.

Weeks blended into months, which in turn whisked off into years. Evynne watched, unchanging, as her sons changed, barely noticeably. To her eyes, it was as if they had grown decades rather than years, but she supposed that was how all mothers felt in time.

She clasped her hands around the hot mug of coffee, blowing on it lightly and watching as Link and Ganon practised their swordplay not far off in the distance. It was apparent that Link still had much to learn. She chuckled as he once again drove at Ganon with a yell, and consequently found himself face first in the dust. He was enthusiastic, but rash, and it was noticeable in his attacks.

On the other hand, Ganon had almost certainly surpassed Cadmus himself. The years had done well for him; three years ago, he had only stood a hair’s breadth taller than Link. Now he towered over the latter, so that Link’s hair barely grazed his chest whenever they collided in one of their bear hugs. He was easily able to overpower him by sheer strength alone, even without his impressive skill. Evynne could not remember one time where Link had won, although he was steadily coming closer to doing so. Link’s stubbornness in his vision to defeat Ganon had enabled him to reach new peaks in skill that he could not have reached if he was unmotivated, like he had been before.

Her younger son was persistent. A little clumsy, and definitely needing work on both swordplay and archery, but he was determined. In time, she knew that he would achieve great heights, even if he did not believe it himself.

In the distance, Ganon was guffawing at a scowling Link who was once again covered in dirt on the floor.

She smiled. Link had become a lot happier ever since that fateful day years ago, as had Ganon. They truly were good for each other.

The time came to leave for Hyrule Castle.

At the tender age of thirteen, Link stood in the pathway in front of his house, adjusting Epona’s saddle. His father had left mysteriously in the night, announcing that he would return with 'one last surprise’ for both him and Ganon before they left. He had returned the following morning with two horses in tow: one chestnut-brown mare and another coal-black stallion. Ganon had immediately asked for the stallion, leaving Link to wrestle with the mare – Epona – by himself. She was feisty and had a wild temperament, and Link imagined that it would take time for them to bond. Fortunately she had soon quietened, blinking balefully at Link as he smoothed his hands over her neck. He was optimistic. After all, he had already suffered a few of her excruciating kicks – how worse could they possibly get?

“What’re you naming yours?” he called over his shoulder.

“Don’t know.” Ganon grinned as he hoisted himself into the stirrups. “I’m still thinking on it. It has to be something original, yet impressive…”

“What about Ganonhoof?” Link muttered under his breath, turning around as he made his final checks. “It’d suit someone as vain as you…”

“Sorry, what was that?” Ganon asked pleasantly, before trotting over and tugging on Link’s left sideburn, hard.

“Ow! What was that for, you git-!”

“Link! Language!” his mother scolded. Link winced, wishing he hadn’t been overheard at that exact moment.

“Yeah, Link. Language.” Ganon sniggered, grinning smugly. Somehow he hadn’t been overheard, which was completely unfair. Link had the sudden urge to douse his face with red Chu Chu jelly.

She strode quickly down the path with an armful of towering clothes, which looked as if they were about to topple onto the ground. Link groaned inwardly as he took in the amount of baggage they were going to end up with.

“We can’t take all that, it’s too much!” he whined.

“You either take it, or strut around the castle bare.” she told him sternly. He didn’t reply, instead turning away and grumbling.

She turned to Ganon with a strict expression, before softening and leaning up to straighten his collar. Ganon allowed her to do so, his smirk fading to a smile as she smoothed down his clothes. “Look after each other, okay?”

“We’ll be fine.” Link huffed, but his complaints fell on deaf ears. His mother rose to kiss his cheek.

“No funny business. I want to hear that you’ve been training hard.”

“Yeah, yeah, I will. I’ll write, or send along a Sheikah orb or something, so you don’t have to worry.”

“All right.” she smiled, pulling away wistfully. “You had better be off, then. It wouldn’t do to be late at your own Trial.”

She turned to stand at the gate. Link stalled for time, unwilling to leave so soon. It all hit him at once. He was about to begin his very own Trial, and embark on his own journey away from his parents for the very first time. He wouldn’t deny that he was excited, but… he still felt a pang of reluctance as he looked out to his house. The place had been his home for the past thirteen years, and he would miss its familiarity. It was only when he felt a tugging on his sleeve and looked up to see Ganon motioning for them to leave, did he finally start to pull out.

“Wait!”

Surprised, Link craned his neck to find his father hurrying down the lane with Grymhildr in hand. He came to a stop in front of the stallion. Link watched, his mouth open, as he reached up and presented the great sword to Ganon.

“Here,” he offered.

Ganon stared down at the sword in shock, as if the gleaming metal was a foreign object to him. He didn’t move for a minute, before quickly clearing his throat.

“Why?” he asked quietly.

His father chuckled. “I haven’t much need of it now, since I’m not a knight anymore. Besides, I’ve got other swords. You’re much better with heavier weapons, and I thought it would suit you. Don’t worry,” he added, when Ganon opened his mouth to protest, “I’ve thought this through, and I’m sure of my decision.”

Ganon nodded, awestruck. He gingerly reached out for the sword and accepted it with reverence, peering down into his reflection in the polished blade before strapping it to his back.

“Thank you.” he whispered. His father only nodded and clapped him on the back. Link almost felt as if he should complain about how he didn’t receive the family heirloom, but kept it back with a slight smile. Ganon really did suit the blade; Link found it difficult to even lift it properly, let alone swing it around. Besides, handing the sword down to Ganon only showed off another tie of his to the family, and he was perfectly fine with that.

At long last he spurred Epona towards the sprawling castle. It easily dwarfed every other building in Hyrule and stretched far into the sky. Numerous spires eclipsed the main palace, which was in itself an intricately carved monolith. The tallest tower, the colossal Astral Observatory, was obscured by the clouds themselves.

Link looked to his house, one last time. His mother waved upon seeing him, and his father was still smiling. It was difficult to make out, but he swore he saw a tissue in his father’s hands.

Feeling a burst of warmth and a little bit of longing, Link swivelled in his saddle to face forward and let his skin bask in the sun. The birds twittered from where they perched in the knarled apple tree, and he could feel the world slowly wake and come to life in the early hours.

He urged Epona on until he was next to Ganon, and jabbed him in the shoulder. The indignant squawk of surprise and forceful punch he received only made him laugh harder.

He could feel it. Their adventure was only just beginning.

#next chapter we meet someone over at the castle ;)#my fic #forsaken legacy #loz fic #legend of zelda

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