#replanted arc

[clover-oc-irl]

She sits up, her head screaming in pain

Where was she? What was going on?

How did she even get here? What happened?

She raised a head to her forehead, feeling a warm liquid running down it. She pulled her hand away, her eyes catching sight of the red on her fingertips.

What...

She didn't understand what happened, how she got here, or who she even was.

Takes the baby giraffe and delivers you to the most fatherly person I know.

Here @zane-borg another baby for you!

I leave you with his other kids.

The fuck?!

No! Wait why?! Get me out of here!

[itzphynix]

Man. The Herobrine really is summat else. We got:

A glitch of a ghost in the machine that causes every error in the game

The White Eyes character, stemming from a texture error, which becomes associated with the cave noise & eventually leads to the creation of the Herobrine myth

Transgender swag

The fucken. Brocraft stream that links to that ONE image & implies that either you or Herobrine are "asleep" & dreaming

The way that Herobrine myths kicked up due to the TF2 influx, after the devs made mention of the game

Every single unexplained structure in the game, all abandoned, all without a clear group that created them can & will be associated with Herobrine

The mineshafts. The ruined portals. The deep dark. It's kind of like a story, told in three arcs, if you squint right

Like something that used to live there, toiled in the soil along with the worms

Like something that got locked away, that wants to go back

Like something that needs to be kept out

Every single zombie looks like Steve. Does that say anything? Does it imply something about Herobrine, another reflection, but maybe a bit more sentient? With teeth that are a bit more sharp, with a malice that is a bit more cold?

Mojang putting the "Removed Herobrine" note in for YEARS, then one day dropping it, only to bring it back 3 years later

N*tch being scrubbed from the game's lore, so he's also (sometimes) scrubbed from Herobrine's lore, leading to alternate origins

He is the first player. He is the ghost of a fellow player. He is an architect, a miner, a builder. He is a friend to all the mobs, & an enemy to those that take all the trees & never replant the saplings. He is a curious onlooker, probably harmless. He is a deep loathing. He is a danger, a legend, just a myth, but is he?

The way that people's opinions of Herobrine have shifted through years, like a litmus test for Minecraft players as a whole

It starts with the eerie feeling of being in a room you KNOW should be empty, but feeling eyes on you, anyways & ends with a sad type of goodbye, a dreamer seeking a dreamer condemned

The way he's more quiet, more calm, less prone to the griefing & attacks he was once known for, like his fire has cooled with time

The Minecraft end poem. Maybe. Do you think Herobrine ever got to hear those words? "I love you," & "You have played the game well"?

The person with the Herobrine username, which has had the catboy Herobrine skin on for years o7

[wachinyeya]

Amazon regeneration plan will include forest concession of degraded areas

Companies that win auction will assume the replanting of native vegetation and, in return, may sell carbon credits generated by the forest; public notices will be published in early 2025

--

Brazil's government and indigenous peoples have started restoring the Amazon's "arc of deforestation." The country's government has begun granting 35-year forest regeneration concessions, across five states, in the Amazon's most degraded areas. Indigenous communities will participate as paid restoration agents, providing seeds and planting services. The initiative is the centrepiece of a broader ecosystem recovery strategy aiming to regenerate 12 million hectares of native vegetation by 2030.

-via fixthenews.com

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil's Amazon Regeneration Plan to Include Reforestation Concessions for Degraded Areas

Companies winning bids will replant native vegetation and sell carbon credits

The restoration of the Amazon rainforest will be part of President Lula's (PT) government concession plans. The Ministry of the Environment (MMA) intends to publish tenders in early 2025 to select companies and organizations interested in leading environmental restoration of public lands—a groundbreaking bidding model focused on reforestation and regeneration of native forests.

According to information obtained by Folha, the concession drafts are being developed by the MMA in collaboration with the Brazilian Forest Service (SFB) and Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio). The focus will be on granting areas in conservation units most affected by illegal activities, primarily in the "deforestation arc" covering Acre, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Pará, and Rondônia.

Continue reading.

[joltai-showa]

Upon reading the latest chapter of Karameru's "If you can press rewind" (do check out, it's pretty fun) I remembered something that made me laugh, so here's some random analysis of Naruto, in particilar, the topic of religion.

And I don't mean stuff like afterlife, random alien rabbits, etc etc, I mean like what beliefs people practice in Naruto world. This topic is brought up in, like, one arc which is Akatsuki supression arc and with one character who is Hidan. That arc is pretty funny in that it brings up two things that should realistically play a pretty significant role in characters' lives - money and religion - buuuut it's instantly forgotten in favor of more Sasuke bitching. Anyway, that's besides the point, back to the topic of religion.

Here I am gonna be laying out things that I certainly remember from my reread of Naruto like a year ago, so not everything might be mentioned, blah blah blah.

Obviously, we've got Jashinism and Hidan as the only known member (no, little Bolt's adventures are not canon to me, there are fanfics out there that have better writing than that excuse of a sequel series). As far as I remember, it's generally treated as a cult, so it's not widely practiced, even though it does offer these tiny little perks like LITERAL IMMORTALITY.

(sidenote but why the fuck was Orochimaru doing these replanting operations every three years when there's a cult like that literally one border away from Konoha? you're gonna be murdering people for experiments anyway, grab a knife or smth and shout that they're dying for Jashin's glory, you literally don't have to change your routine at all and get free immortality as well?)

ahem. anyway. Who the fuck is Jashin? Why is the guy capable of making his hardcore followers just straight up not die from physical injuries? How does he fit with the other stuff like Pure Lands, Limbo, aliens, etc, etc? Nobody knows, but by far the most broken religion in the world where it feels like all major characters have commited at least one war crime.

Now things that are (likely?) more widespread and commonly believed in are Wills, and really there are only two Wills that we ever learn of, first being the Will of Fire (obviously practiced in Konoha) and Will of Stone (literally only mentioned in Onoki's flashback with his grandpa).

Will of Fire, from how I see it, is something similar to beliefs in spirits of ancestors that continue to linger on and provide help given the fact that certain rituals are upheld that are pretty common in many countries in Asia. Sorry if the phrasing is a bit weird, I can barely formutale it in my first language, not to mention English. Anyway, this is, as far as I remember, is pretty widely practiced in Konoha which is not a big population centre in the Land of Fire, but also practically the capital for shinobi forces in the country, y'know, shinobi that have an average lifespan of like 30 years. Will of Fire acts like both the origin point for Konoha shinobi (your ancestors and fallen comrades are part of it and continue watching over you) and the end point (this is what awaits you beyond, presumably honorable, death). So Will of Fire is by far the closest thing that we see to an actual religion.

(also decided to scroll through wiki on this point and lmao of course Will of Fire came from Hashirama, because making everyone go along with your philosophy gonna be great in the long run. no wonder the hidden village system didn't fix shit)

Now Will of Stone is a really weird one because it's actually kinda closer to a philosophy? It just describes what virtues Iwa shinobi is supposed to have, however that might just be an issue that Kishimoto forgot about Iwa's existence for like 80% of the manga, thus whatever lore is there for them is half-done. Anyway, with what we are given Will of Stone is more about what qualities Iwa shinobi should strive for, and, funnily enough, nobody seems to remember that this Will even exists besides Onoki. The youngest generation represented by Kurotsuchi, Akastuchi and Deidara (who is a nukenin which might have explained why he doesn't give a shit about the villages' beliefs) are never shown to acknowledge Will of Stone.

Anyway, that's it for fully fictional religions in the world of Naruto, but we are not done yet, because Kishimoto sometimes really liked to slap elements from Buddhism or Shinto, which I presume to be not completely intentional on his part as he was prioritizing aesthetics of a scene/jutsu rather than the implications this creates for the existing religions in the shinobi world.

Okay, what conclusions can we make regarding what had been given to us in canon? Shinobi definitely have

a) their local religions and beliefs that are pretty strongly assosiated with their villages

b) various cults

c) likely some form of Buddhism

So why did I decide to write up this post after reading the recent chapter in "If you can press rewind"? Well, the most obvious thing from the list above is that Christianity doesn't exist in the context of Naruto world. And, as a result, the characters from that world have no idea what Christmas, Easter, St. Valentine's day, etc etc are, because these holidays simply don't exist for them.

(This is not to throw shade on anyone, just a thing a remembered)

Anyway, so funny story time: there was a post in a Naruto discussion group where the admin brought up this exact same topic and people began analyzing if there were any other signs of real-life religions that shouldn't really exist in the context of Naruto.

And they way everyone LOST THEIR SHIT when someone pulled up a page from the manga where Jiraya was called Naruto's "godfather". Which really shouldn't be a thing unless Christianity does exist in the shinobi world. People began a full-on dang investigation into that page, we're talking about a dozen of people pulling up different translations of the same page, comparing and arguing about the validity of another translation.

It did end well, after a while someone pulled up with the page in Japanese and explained that yes, Jiraya is kind of called Naruto's godfather, but the term in the original text is different to the one used to describe godfather in Christianity, meaning Jiraya is simply someone with guardian-like role to Naruto. Limitations of translations and all, yada yada.

But goddamn was it fun to see people try to fit Holy Crusades into the already messy lore of Naruto

[velvet4510]

Many seem to think that Sam stays the same from start to finish and is the only hobbit to essentially return from the Quest unchanged. To which I say … did we read the same book? Because Sam absolutely changes.

I think the most substantial change in Sam is the growth of his own self-esteem. The Gaffer, while likely meaning well in his strictly traditional mindset, drilled Sam’s natural modesty into downright self-loathing during his early life. In the beginning, Sam honestly thinks of himself as inferior to Frodo, which is why he’s always so formal with Frodo, and not even Frodo’s friendliness towards him can make him unlearn his self-punishing habits and recognize his own worth. He thinks of himself as no more than a lowly servant who is too much of a “ninnyhamer” to deserve anything more.

But the events of the quest force Sam to realize that while he can and will always happily be a gardener who appreciates the simple things, he can be more than that. He can be a “warrior or wizard,” like Frodo says he could. He can be a poet. He can be a fighter. He can be a leader. He can be Frodo’s hope and salvation. He can be Shelob’s match in battle. He can be “an Elf-lord,” as the Orcs assume him to be. He can be the Ring-bearer if the need absolutely arises.

When they get back to the Shire, the influence of Frodo’s unending kindness combined with the perils of the quest have given Sam the self-confidence he needed. Not arrogance, not by a long shot, but a better understanding of his own value. Through his unbelievable accomplishments on top of Frodo’s love and gratitude, Sam finally learns to love himself and stops refraining from achieving his true potential out of fear of “getting above himself” or “mixing with his betters.” He finally knows what he can do and does it. He takes control of the restoration of the Shire and replants all the forestry and vegetation, he essentially builds a new dynasty with Rosie via their enormous family, and he eventually spends just under five decades leading the Shire as mayor.

If that isn’t a character arc (and a great one at that), I don’t know what is.

[mad-bird-writes]

Cold, Cold Heart - A Fallout: New Vegas Short

of course the first bit of ACTUAL writing I post to this blog is a fanfic

For those of y'all who've played the game, this is pretty much just the first encounter with Vulpes Inculta. The dialogue featured is from the game itself (with tweaks) because this is essentially a warm-up piece. If this goes down well, I'll probably more of my Six's escapades, slightly more original ones at that (I've played through NV enough times to have a whole arc for her post-game...) but until then, enjoy this!

***

Fresh from restoring law and order to Primm, Courier Six makes an unpleasant discovery in Nipton.

(content: game-typical violence and language, references to/depictions of torture, crucifixion, mercy-killing, slight references to amnesia, Caesar's Legion are their own warning, Six does NOT like Vulpes Inculta and neither does the writer, ED-E is a good friend)

The road from Primm to Nipton had looked far shorter – and simpler – on Six’s Pip-Boy map than it looked in the flesh. Between an impromptu shootout with a gang of Jackals sheltering in the bombed-out remnants of a building, and a regrettable encounter with some of the biggest goddamn radscorpions she can remember seeing, it’s almost sunset by the time she and ED-E come within sight of the town.

She’s been able to see the smoke for a while now, a dense, rising plume of it, but it’s only as she crests the low hill and the wind shifts direction that she smells it. Thick, meaty, and foul; burning rubber and burning flesh.

Bile crawls up her throat. She swallows and flicks off the radio, the cheery music sounding inappropriate now. ED-E clicks and beeps, hovering close by her shoulder, evidently just as uneasy. Giving his scuffed-up chassis a soothing pat, she starts to walk again, entering the isolated town proper.

As she passes the battered old wagon bearing the town’s name in faded, peeling paint, she finally gets a better look at the fluttering red banners planted at intervals on either side of the cracked asphalt road.

A golden bull on a crimson background.

Caesar’s Legion.

Up till now, her knowledge of the Legion has been as vague and instinctive as her knowledge of the NCR: a knee-jerk response, a gut feeling, knowing without knowing. Just like her ability to read a map, skin a gecko, fire a gun. Now, the information in her mind takes on a sickening new texture, context turning the instinctive aversion into fear.

Her gait slows from its usual purposeful speed, each step feeling dazed and numb, dreamlike. The smoke-laced evening breeze chills the light sweat on her skin and makes her shiver.

Ahead of her is a blazing fire, piled high with car tires and scrap and things she won’t let herself look at too closely. And on either side of the road, interspersed with the banners, are utility poles, cut down to size and replanted in the dirt. Pre-War, those poles held up phone lines and power lines and were safe, good things to see.

Time and Caesar have given them a new purpose. There are no phone lines, no reliable source of power anymore, but to each pole, a wounded man is lashed and nailed. Some of them blink, stir, mutter, regard her with dull, dying eyes, but the rest are silent and still.

Crucifixion. She’s only ever heard talk of it, as far as she can recall anymore. It’s a slow, brutal, awful death; death by exposure and blood loss and thirst without the mercy of a gun to finish the job yourself.

None of these men will survive if she tries to free them, she knows without knowing. Shock can kill, though slower and less merciful than a bullet. She bites her tongue hard, choking on remorse, and walks doggedly on.

There are men grouped on the stone steps of the Town Hall. Six recognises them by their crimson armour, masks and helmets and goggles obscuring their features but making them easier to recognise from afar.

Legionaries.

One amidst the group is dressed differently, with those same black goggles and a wolfskin hood, fashioned from the head of the animal, ears and muzzle still intact. No, not a wolf, smaller by far. A coyote?

A fox, Six thinks, remembering the discarded diary she found in a gas station back on the highway. Mr. Fox.

Mr. Fox spots her then, and even with his goggles and the distance that separates them, she feels his gaze, keen as the predator whose skin he wears. He descends the steps, surefooted and sedate, making a beeline for her. She freezes, hands held awkwardly away from her sides, away from her guns. One false twitch, and the Legionaries flanking the building will shoot her dead.

“You look afraid,” he says indifferently once he’s close enough for her to hear him. He’s a sallow, unattractive man, with a voice like oiled silk, or the purr of a knife against a whetstone. “Don’t worry; I don’t intend to lash you to a cross alongside these degenerates.” His lip curls, disdain and disgust stark in his tone. “It’s useful that you stopped by…” He pauses deliberately, like he’s waiting for her to ask the necessary question. She does not, her tongue paralysed, but he ploughs on, nonetheless.

“I want you to witness the fate of the town of Nipton. Memorise every detail,” he instructs her bluntly, as if he’s discussing nothing more than a trade route, “and then, when you move on? I want you to impart to everybody you meet the lesson Caesar’s Legion taught here.” Neither a smile nor a frown crosses his narrow face as he speaks, but there’s a certain ugly satisfaction in his tone that sets Six’s stomach churning afresh.

“Especially any NCR troops you happen to meet. They in particular must know the fate that will befall them if they cross us.”

He’s speaking to her so offhandedly, as if she’s a child, or one of his slaves. Dimly, she wonders why she hasn’t simply started shooting yet.

A quick glance at the steps, at the Legionaries flanking them in formation, armed to the teeth, tells her precisely why.

With an effort, she unlocks her tongue. Better words than weapons right now, unless she wants a place on the smouldering pyre.

“Lessons?” she repeats, her voice thin and oddly calm on the smoky air. “What ‘lessons’ did you teach here?”

“Where to begin?” the fox purrs with the beginnings of a nasty smile. “That they are weak, and we are strong?” He shakes his head slowly, no. “This much was known already. But the depths of their… moral sickness, their dissolution… Nipton serves as the perfect object lesson.” He speaks proudly of this carnage, this slaughter, as if he is a sculptor and Nipton is an unsightly sculpture made beautiful by the work of his hands. Six shakes her head, repulsed.

“What… What happened here?”

“Nipton was a wicked town, debased and corrupt to the core. Served all comers, as long as they paid.” He shakes his head, that derisive snarl back on his lips. She can just make out the hint of a flash of teeth in the ruddy twilight. “Profligates, Powder Gangers, even men of the Legion such as myself… the people here didn’t care. It was a town of whores.

“For a pittance,” he continues quite matter-of-factly, “the town agreed to lead those it had sheltered into a trap. Only when it was sprung did they realise that they, too, were trapped…”

“You captured everyone? The whole town?” Besides the fox man, there’s maybe half a dozen Legionaries here, and it’s unlikely that Nipton went down without at least a token fight.

That probably accounts for some of the corpses on the pyre, come to think of it. She takes a half-step backwards, wondering if the trap has been primed to spring again.

“Yes,” he affirms coldly, nodding slowly as if she is a dim-witted child just beginning to learn her ABCs. “I herded them to the centre of town and told them they were being punished for their sins. Chief amongst them, disloyalty. I told them that when Legionaries are disloyal, some are punished while the rest are made to watch.”

A certain Radio New Vegas bulletin about Legate Lanius drifts back into her mind then, unbidden and unwanted, and she shivers, trying to keep her face impassive.

“And so, I announced the Lottery.”

Six’s heart drops then, and she touches the crumpled ticket in the pocket of her gifted Vault suit. She’d found it clutched in the hand of a dead Powder Ganger just outside town… Dead by her hand; crazy bastard had lunged at her out of nowhere, babbling incoherently about a damn lottery, so she’d put a neat trio of bullets through his face before he could gather his wits enough to draw.

Closer inspection had revealed him to be unarmed. She’d apologised stiffly to the poor corpse and hurried on, shaken.

Keeping her peace for now, she lets the fox man continue to speak.

“Each clutched his ticket, hoping it would set him free. Each did nothing, even as their loved ones were slaughtered before them…” He gestures out through the ruins of the town, the piles of smouldering corpses, the banners, the crucifixes, the thick smoke that shrouds everything.

This was no fight. It was a massacre.

“You slaughtered them. Civilians, innocent civilians…” The words fall from her lips without finesse, her tone dripping with horror. The fox laughs sardonically, another flash of teeth in the gloom.

“Innocent? Hardly. Cowardly, though… They outnumbered us greatly, yet not once did they try to resist. Lambs to the slaughter, you could say… They stood by and watched as their fellows were butchered, crucified, burned, one by one.” He shakes his head remorselessly, as though all this death were nothing more than a waste of energy on his part. An unnecessary mess.

“All hoping their time would not come, caring only for themselves.” Brushing his hands together to rid them of non-existent dirt, he regards her coldly. Waiting for her to speak.

If he wants her to speak, speak she will.

“The only degenerates here are you and your men,” she spits, anger finally melding with her fear, a cocktail of feelings she can use. “Your crimes are unforgivable.” His posture changes a little. She braces, expecting him to attack, to strike the impudent woman who dares speak against him, but instead, he chuckles humourlessly.

“As are all crimes,” he says archly. “Attack us, if you feel so strongly about it, and soon you won’t feel a thing.”

She wants to. More than she’s wanted anything since she awoke in Goodsprings, but try as she might, she can’t bring herself to reach for her gun. He waits a moment, silently daring her, then, with a triumphant smile definitely meant for her eyes, he turns on his heel and begins to walk away. The other Legionaries follow him in single file, silent and emotionless as robots.

Six watches them go, longing to take aim and fire, to do something other than stand here frozen as she is. Her fingers twitch towards her holstered pistol, but no, no, she waited too long, she’ll never hit him from here, and in the time it takes her to ready her varmint rifle, they’ll be further away still.

Coward. You fucking coward.

Whatever spell held her rooted to the spot breaks at last and she lurches off the road, the cracked asphalt feeling spongy and surreal beneath her boots. Catching herself against a nearby wall, she chokes on the vile smoke and vomits, her stomach heaving painfully like she’s been poisoned. Hot tears streak down her dusty cheeks, and the sounds she makes between heaves sound like sobs in the eerie quiet.

Something bumps up against her back and she almost screams, wound tighter than an old clock, but a familiar beeping calms her.

“Oh, ED-E,” she gasps, spitting and straightening up as the muscles in her abdomen protest quietly. “I’m okay, buddy, I’m good…”

If it’s at all possible for an Eyebot to look sceptical, that’s how ED-E seems to be regarding her, even tilting slightly on his axis as if to cock his head at her, clicking reproachfully. She chuckles weakly, wiping her mouth. Is this a sign of madness, talking to a nonverbal robot as if they can understand each other? She hopes not, as it stands, ED-E is the only friend she’s got.

“Yeah, alright, alright, you got me,” she says shakily, surveying her surroundings with clearer eyes now. The fox and his Legionaries are no more than vague shapes in the distance, and the sun has all but set, hellish orange firelight illuminating the town more harshly. She shudders and, in the silence that prevails, finds her gaze drifting back to the rows of crucified men. At least one pair of glinting-wet eyes still regards her impassively.

They’re still alive.

In that moment, she makes a decision.

Stepping up to the first in the row, she draws her pistol and shoots him between the eyes. No glancing shot like the ones the Man in the Checkered Coat gave her, that robbed her of her memories and left her still breathing in the dust, no. Her aim is true.

That done, she deals out five matching shots to the others, putting an end to what could have been hours more torment.

There’s nobody left alive here to thank her, and few folks elsewhere who’d give a shit that she wasted six bullets on a handful of dying men, but she feels better for having done it.

It doesn’t make up for standing frozen while the man responsible for the slaughter sauntered off, smirking at her cowardice.

But it’s all she can do.

[tasteleeknow]

Those anons have very clearly never read fiction with two troubled characters other than “antagonist must die for protagonist to win”. In fiction, there needs to be a major problem. In this case, there’s no quest to be won or murder mystery to be solved: MC is different from chapters 1 and 2 because her entire purpose of love that’s built into her DNA!!!! Is denying her and telling her no!!! And her brain can’t handle it!!! “What do you mean you don’t want me? We’re supposed to be together!! How can you not want me too??” And she goes into CRISIS MODE. That stuff is traumatic and changes a person; you build up walls, your trust falls. She obviously went through some kind of depression and became more guarded at anyone who was going to come knocking on her heart.

She full on wilted; nearly collapsed to dust at the notion of not being wanted.

But with the help of Hyunjin, he cultivated her seeds and replanted them. Little by little, she sprouted again, and even though Minho was shade working against her (so she thought), she still worked her way to grow and is learning how to do life again.

And Minho? Godforbid someone LEARNS FROM THEIR MISTAKES, has a redemption arc and tries to right what they’ve wronged. I think he saw a lot of Hyunjin in the MC and realized just like how Hyunjin died after Aera (I’m sorry I can’t remember her name rn AKSBSKAB). he PERSONALLY killed MC. And part of him in his DNA cares that he hurt her so badly and He needs to make amends while is brain is telling him he doesn’t have to. Minho’s not a bad guy; just a fricken doofus. But then he realizes internally he WANTS to make amends. He WANTS to protect her and be better. But she won’t let him, so he needs to do it from afar until she lets him into her heart again.

Redemption arcs are important to resolve conflict in writing without killing a villain directly. It’s all plot baby. Also that was so long I’m so sorry.

i love u

[jacksonqz]

"𝐀𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐞." - 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥.

ATTENTION: We are sad to announce that we have been infiltrated as of last night. We don't know who is behind this master plan but we suspect RAIDERS could be the cause. THIS MEANS WE HAVE BEEN LOCATED BY OUTSIDERS AND WE ARE NOT SAFE AS OF RIGHT NOW. The news about Jackson will spread to other groups and we can confidently say that it will most likely happen again... but worse. We need to be more careful. We will have to start over again. Please make a checklist of what you're missing and report it back to The Council's dropbox and we will figure out the next step from there. In the mean time, we are on LOCK DOWN until further notice. However, The Council will enlist FORAGERS to go out and look for more items once we get a count on what we need.

------------------------------------------

The FARMERS have no more crops, they will have to replant. this makes things harder for the cold months as they've been preparing for it.

The BAR/BARTENDERS are low on liquor and the bar's windows were smashed in. The inside is destroyed.

GUNSMITHS have had many weapons stolen apart from the ones they put on lockdown and concealed for emergencies.

TEACHERS your school has been vandalized.

DOCTORS/NURSES they have stolen medicines and pills more than any vandalizing.

BUTCHERS they have stolen your latest catch, figure out what to give the cooks. we need to eat.

RP NOTES: Raiders came last night and wrecked the town and stole, probably vandalized and destroyed your homes. So here's how you'll participate and hopefully it'll answer some questions;

YOU WRITE YOUR THREADS as if it's happening in real time. as if your character was woken up by hearing a disturbance for example. -- they came in the night.

your character can try to stop it during threads but DO NOTE THAT RAIDERS ARE MERCILESS AND SAVAGES, THEY WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO GET WHAT THEY WANT. so it's most likely going to be brutal fights and near death experiences.

your characters were fighting for their lives as they probably broke into homes, write about it. you can write if your character has any minor or major injuries due to the struggles. you can write about as if it IS the next day, and how they're having to rebuild their life from scratch again, how they're looking around the town to help and volunteer, etc.

its fun and wild have fun !! make it up as you go along. -- when starting a new starter for this event, you'll post it with the normal starter tag along with ' jackson;event '

UPDATES FOR THIS EVENT WILL BE ON THE PLOT ARC PAGE AS YOU CAN TELL THE ADMINS WHO GOT INJURED AND OR ANY UPDATES OR DETAILS. YOU CAN FIND THE PAGE [ HERE ] -- note this page is not mobile friendly, you'll have to look at it on a computer.

[writing-with-gremworm]

Lament of a Branch

When a branch grows into a tree, many hunger for its fruit or cut its branches. When beauty is not enough, the tree becomes the basis of some other want.

Many seek me out with 'good intentions'. Morals that by human standards are honourable.

"Oh Archon, will you grant me this one wish? All I ask is for knowledge. You see, with the knowledge I can save my son."

"Of course, then I shall bestow upon you knowledge."

Some seek me to fix the 'mistakes' they made.

"Oh Archon, I beg of thee, give me just one leaf imbued with elemental energy to soothe my suffering pet."

"As you wish, take it and comfort them well."

Some ask me for purely selfish things.

"Oh, Archon! Please give me a leaf. I simply must hold its beauty in my hands."

"As you wish, but this is not something you may ask for again."

But you are the first to ask something new.

"Archon, I wish you would blossom independently of these people, for they have begun to take too much."

"That ... is a wish I am not permitted to grant."

You are the first to move worlds for me.

"Archon, I have found a way to ensure you're safety, come with me."

"What?"

"I've found out how to free you, to replant you in a garden much more suited for one such as you."

I was shaken.

Truly shaken.

No one had been so bold as to offer me something in return. No one thought a tree needed more than the sun.

"Archon, do you have a name?"

"No, I am simply an extension of Irminsul, I need no name of my own."

"Ah, but I think that's rather lonely. May I give you a name?"

"You ... wish to name me? Ah, I suppose a name can not hurt."

"Wonderful, then, I'll call you Rukkhadevata."

"You wish to name me 'God of the Tree?' Hahaha! Well yes, such is a fitting name. I like it."

You weren't good at picking names, but it was amusing nonetheless. I liked spending time with you. You would tell me things I already knew in ways I had never heard them. Your words shone like stars in the desert. I cherished them, however technically trivial they were.

So when I was faced with your mortality I was surprised that drops of water rained from my leaves.

"Hah, I never thought you'd cry for me. I'm sorry Rukkha, I did not mean to burden you like this."

Your words hurt more than I expected them to. When did you think you became a shackle?

"Rukkha, do you remember when you said I shined like the stars? You- have always been my moon. Though sometimes you are hidden in shadow, the nights when you are in full view you shine the most brilliantly of all. Thank you, for running away with me."

That was the first time I sobbed. As a tree, I was not supposed to cry. As a plant, it should have been impossible to cry. So why did tears pour so desperately as you began to grow weak?

It was a long time before I gave up your body. I sustained it for millennia until It was clear your eyes would never open again.

The garden was a place I cherished.

It held memories in the vibrant flora that surrounded us.

It became the place where I buried you.

I am Rukkhadevata, a holder of unfathomable wisdom, and the one who hosts responsibility for this land.

So why can't I remember your face?

Time flowed unbearably slowly until the day the withering struck your grave. The soil and flora surrounding where you lay were sucked dry of all the colour we had given it. I tried to isolate this blight with some vain hope it would also take me. I did not perish. After all, I was the originator of the blight.

It took me a while to understand what it was. That the principles you had protected me from made you into a vessel for my suffering. Is this why you claimed to be my burden?

I could never hate you for this. Rather, I began to loathe myself, the role I had been given and what leaving my position had led to. If this was retribution for my actions, then I would be swallowed by it.

I was blinded by my sorrow. I was blinded by the human emotions I had learned from you. I suppose that is why a 'hero' was born to cut the rotting branch from the tree.

"Archon! You have fallen from your place and cast a blight on this land, I, Deshret, am here to reason with you."

"Reason with me? Ah, one who does not even know my name wishes for reason? What more do you wish to take from me?"

"I do not wish to take anything, all I ask is-"

"That I purge the blight? That I give others power so they may help prevent the withering from spreading?"

"Yes, that is what I wish."

"Hah, I refuse."

Why would I purge the world of your only memory? You weren't a hero or poet, you didn't leave behind a legacy known to Sumeru, and you were the taker of the Archon, but who would believe a human did such a thing? If blight is all the remains, then blight shall consume all else. I will not forgive anyone who purges you.

"Why do you refuse? Are not the people of this land important to you?"

"They were, but not anymore. Those who could not fix themselves asked me for cloth to cover arrow wounds."

"Your ... leaves."

"You know well despite the time since I gave such things. I suppose that is in your archives, though I doubt you recall the one thing that matters."

"I may not, but perhaps I can pass on that knowledge should we be able to stop the blight."

"It's impossible. I can not remember their face, or their name. All I recall is the warmth they gave and the rules they broke to give it."

"I ... am sorry for your loss."

"A shame, if only you had come a little sooner. Before they were buried."

Silence remained for a long time before Deshret showed me something new. It was a technology that didn't exist before we left Sumeru.

"This ... Knowledge Capsule can contain information, but it can also contain other elements if modified a little. You could contain the blight within its shell and keep it, but it may burst forth in the future."

"I ... accept this arrangement."

You became a knowledge capsule. With you inside it, the world slowly regained vitality. I often visited the capsule, indulging in the memories I left inside it, and clinging to the fragments of you that weren't rendered inconsequential.

More time passed and soon I longed to recall more of you, to know what it felt like to be beside you again. I knew it was impossible, but this desire grew and I didn't notice the cracks beginning to form on the Capsule.

"Hello, Archon. I've come to rid you of your worries. Ah, I should introduce myself properly. Greetings, my name is Il Dottore. I have a way to bring them back to you."

It goes against the laws of this world to revive the dead, on all bases a true revival of the dead was impossible.

"Oh?"

But I listened to him anyway.

"All you need is their soul, after all, their soul contains their memories, but they're locked away so that rebirth is made possible. My soul shares many bodies, that is why I know this works. I can find them for you, all I need is access to that Knowledge Capsule."

"If you're lying to me I will stop at nothing to eliminate every version of you."

I decided to trust him.

"Worry not, I know exactly what to do."

I foolishly decided to trust him.

"I can even make their face suitable for you."

"Alright. How long will this take?"

"Five years."

Five years was so short, how could I pass up this chance to see you again?

"Then if you do not return in five years, you will no longer roam so freely."

Five years passed. Il Dottore arrived, and then I met with you. Your face wasn't the same, but your voice and demeanor felt the same. However, one thing was clear. You were infested with the blight, and your footsteps brought it with you even as you seemed to be fine.

"What do you want Il Dottore? You've brought them back, so what do you want? Knowledge? Life? Secrets?"

"I already have what I wish. Just make sure you protect them this time. You wouldn't want to be at fault for their death twice in a row."

His words struck me. Had I been blaming myself this whole time? Yes, I suppose I had. I guess that's why I ignored the little differences in you.

We spent time together again. We laughed, danced, read, and so much more. I remembered what bliss I felt from my indulgences with you. I felt so happy to have you back.

But I was never allowed to be happy, was I?

I had gotten too comfortable, so the sword that skewered us both came as a surprise.

"Deshret, is this what you meant when you warned me that the blight would return? That if I protected it, you would stop at nothing to save your people?"

"... Yes. I ... take no pleasure in seeing you like this. I understand the loss of your beloved, I know the pain forgetting their visage creates. But I can not abide by your actions. I hope that this at least, is merciful for you. That maybe, with a sword designed to seal power, you will finally rest.

"Hah, hahahahaha, I see. So this is how this ends. Deshret. Without my power, this place will become a desert. If you truly have someone you want to save, then I will grant you the last wish. Take this cutting from Irminsul, and shower it with love and knowledge. Maybe that tree will grow to be a better God than me."

"Archon-"

"Rukkhadevata"

"What?"

"They named me Rukkhadevata, let their name for me be how I am recorded."

"I- understand."

--

"I wonder what it's like out there." Nahida ponders.

"Haiz, there is only so much I can learn from dreams. I wonder what the previous branch was like. I keep hearing great things about her, but nothing more." She sighed, a bit frustrated by how limited this space was. But this was home. How could she wish for more if it wasn't safe?

But was it dangerous?

Nahida heard many prayers in her cage.

Wishes for health, fame, fortune, or beauty came in droves. But one wish stuck out to her above all the others.

"Archon, I wish you would blossom independently of these people, for they have begun to take too much."

Had they been taking too much? She did not know.

After all.

Nahida was a child.

[carnelianwings]

@moonlights-melancholia

I will say I haven’t paid attention to the larger Gundam fandom … pretty much ever - but I’ve loved Seed ever since I saw it in 2002 on fansub and never saw a reason to interact with the greater Gundam fandom and mostly kept to the Seed bubble, but even within the Seed bubble I remember Shinn being a very divisive character as a whole. Also for the sake of keeping things simple, let’s assume Seed Fredom had come out earlier, and was the same as the version we have now.

This is going to get long (which is why I opted to answer this way), but the short answer is no, because we would’ve gotten Shinn’s redemption sooner. Longer answer behind the cut, because I was actually there discussing Seed Destiny on forums Back In The Day when it was airing in Japan, so I have Opinions lol.

If there’s anything I will say about Seed Freedom is that it is as much a send off to Cosmic Era as it is a “redemption arc” for not just Shinn, but Seed Destiny as a whole. That the (repeated) struggles we see for the whole cast meant something and contributed something that helped them succeed in Seed Freedom.

The thing with Seed Destiny is that at the time it was airing, no one really had the full picture of what the vision was, if you will. All we got were individual puzzle pieces of Shinn’s story week after week, and what a lot of us (myself included) missed at the time was that Shinn wasn’t meant to go through positive character development at all in Seed Destiny. His arc in Seed Destiny was always meant to be a tragedy, the story of an angry and grief stricken teenager who undergoes negative character development and progressively gets worse and worse until he’s reduced down to the only thing that’s defined him since ep 1: his anger borne of grief. It’s just that the early framing kept him in a sympathetic light before Durandal’s true agenda is revealed and suddenly we get a POV shift and Shinn loses that so now all of his actions are viewed negatively, while simultaneously he’s completed his negative character development and he’s now little more than an angry shell of whatever he could have been.

And that’s actually a great way to tell a story and develop a tragic character and set them up for a redemption arc. The character hits rock bottom - in Shinn’s case, an argument could be made this happens with the Second Battle of Orb, where he’s now willing to even open fire on his former homeland and is now the aggressor who’s potentially creating more war orphans like himself - sees the error of their ways, and undergoes positive character development from it. The problem is, this is so rarely done in modern fiction (especially with protagonists) that it’s easily written off as lazy/bad/biased writing, which is exactly what happened here, especially since the original ending is literally “Shinn and Luna are stranded on the Moon, watching the retreat flares go off and crying, instant cut to credits”.

Then we got Final Plus after, and all that really served was to make it seem like a 5 minute redemption for Shinn, because he meets Kira at the Orb memorial, they shake hands, and Kira offers to have Shinn join him and fight together. And also have Kira offer some vague metaphor about how they’ll always replant the flowers at the memorial even if they get blown away because they’ll always keep trying for peace.

… and then that was it. For nearly 20 years. There was the remaster, and that smoothed things out a bit in terms of story telling, but as a whole, it didn’t do anything to change the trajectory of Shinn’s (negative) character growth, and it certainly didn’t do anything to provide him with the redemption/atonement arc that he sorely needed to give him positive character development.

Seed Freedom fixes that, even though it’s a time skip and you can argue a lot of his growth happened off-screen. At the very least we see a brighter, more positive side of him, now that he has people around him who care about his wellbeing, along with improvements to his fighting skill. Even if he’s got a lot of comedic moments and (somehow) is the one to bring a bit of levity in an other wise fairly dark story (if you think about it with nukes and Requiem getting brought back again), it’s a positive change for him, in that he’s no longer the one who’s bringing pain and suffering. He’s actually taking actions that are heroic now, protecting civilians and shooting (or slicing, as the case may be since he’s in the Immortal Justice lol) to maim, and he’s better and stronger for it.

So yes, I do think Shinn would be less hated if we’d gotten Seed Freedom sooner. It did a lot to provide him with positive character development to offset all the negative character development he went through in Seed Destiny. He’s gone from an arguably Tragic Villain with a 5 minute redemption (and nobody likes 5 minute redemption arcs) to a proper Hero with a Tragic Backstory (complete with on screen suffering and downfall from his own flaws and misguided actions) and he’s actually a much more compelling character now. I feel like a lot of the hate for Shinn (and Seed Destiny as a whole) came from the initial reaction to it as it was airing, because I’ve been seeing a lot of people say that Seed Destiny isn’t as bad as the haters would have you believe, and I absolutely agree that that’s definitely the case (especially with the remaster).

At least, that’s where Shinn is for me now. I’ll freely admit Shinn wasn’t really a character I liked for the longest time - I wouldn’t say I hated him, but definitely one I was very neutral on, mostly because I was like “Wait he did all that for 50 episodes and he’s redeemed in the 5 minute epilogue?????” But with Seed Freedom, seeing what he’s doing now and trying to make amends for what he’s done and move forward with his life? Yeah, I can definitely get behind him and defend him as much as I’d defend Kira or Athrun.

And I definitely like him enough now to make sure he gets included for getting the bulk of my budget in SRT games alongside Kira and Athrun 😂

Replies are fine, anon asks are open, if anyone wants to hear a take (spicy or bland) on Gundam Seed, now’s your chance 😜

[bluefuecoco]

.....mickey....? ...you ok, bud..........?

[bleachbleachbleach]

12th Division Chair Count

I love learning more about the different rooms that are available in each division--like the 2nd Division Shihouin Receiving Room (Oomaeda Filler Episode), and the second-floor 4th Division Map Room (Bount Arc), and the 6th Division Panopticon Hallway (Zanpakutou Rebellion Arc), and the 10th Division Room That is Not the Office with Exactly One Small Table In It (Soul Society Arc denouement). We also know that the 10th has a courtyard that is apparently better-suited to hosting large outdoor events than other places (Beast Swords Arc).

But I’m pretty sure the 12th has everyone beat for furniture procurement orders. They have so many different seating areas???????? Like, okay, there’s the lab, and then there’s the office. But also like...

The Lab

Here’s Byakuya trying his best to make contact with as little of the 12th’s weird yellow chairs as is physically possible. The camera is bolted to the ceiling and even from here you can tell how much he hates that chair. Look at him:

The Office

There’s also this office receiving area, which looks a lot more like a dental office than a dank basement where chairs go to die:

It even has plants! (There are cubicles on the other side of that white partition, where some of the 12th Division members are working.)

And you’d think that, okay, it makes sense that there’d be two seating areas and two primary work nodes in this place. But then there’s also... this seating area?

Which I took notice of because the plants are different, and I was curious about whether it was a different location or whether the plants in the previous shot had already died and been replanted with something new. But my co-blogger thinks it’s an entirely different seating area, because it looks like Kyouraku is sitting on a second couch in this one, as opposed to the two chairs. And there’s another white partition on the right/a suggestion of additional depth over there that the window(?) in the first shot doesn’t have.

I don’t know what’s going on with that window, but based on the color alone I’m assuming that there’s a full dress rehearsal of “The Dark of the Bleeding Moon” number from the Bleach Rock Musicals going on next door.

So the office has a least two different receiving areas for guests of the 12th. Understandable, since they have more reasons to have guests than any other division outside the 4th. But I’m still impressed that these rooms exist and seem to accept and invite the idea that they will have guests. They could just make everyone stand around like the impositions to the Work that they are, LOL.

And then there’s THIS ROOM. Which is also in the 12th, and looks like it could be the receiving area in the above shot, except there’s clearly more room behind Ukitake, not just wall, and this couch set-up has TWO planters, bookending either couch!

In the scene, Kyouraku and Ukitake are looking at secret Dangai archives, so maybe this is part of some kind of secret Dangai archives reading room, rather than the main office.

THERE ARE SO MANY OF THESE.

[zeldaelmo]

Here's @bahbahhh 's awesome art!

Dismissed, chapter 3

Link held his breath, his knuckles still hovering over the wooden door. Blood rushed in his ears and the lonely tea he had for breakfast threatened to come out. Nothing, no crack from the floor panels, no rustling dress, no flipped book.

His hand sank back to his side and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Another minute passed and he turned, returning to his room like a dog that was rejected a head pat.

Maybe she had installed some kind of Sheikah Technology to supervise her door and didn't open it because she never wanted to see him again. Unrealistic? Yeah. But he would have said that about him getting kicked out as her knight, too. Maybe she was traveling again, but he would have known that— no. He would not have known because he wasn't the head of her guard anymore. It was still unlikely, she preferred a little break between her journeys. 

He grabbed a coat from his room and went strolling towards the castle gardens. The four walls of his room got on his nerves, and he needed the crisp winter air clearing his head.

Maybe it really was a suitor. Maybe she didn't open because they hid away in her room, the man kissing her lips plush and stealing his hand under her— no. He had been with her until yesterday and he hadn't noticed anyone special. Even if there was a suitor, she couldn't know him well and would have to spend time under the watchful eyes of the court first. A heated affair wasn't her style anyway, no less with a man she hardly was familiar with. 

Sighing, he entered one of the paths towards the gardens. The cold air didn’t help much. His thoughts still ran in circles. Frankly, riding home and back hadn’t helped to ease his mind and this stroll wouldn’t help either. Nothing would help, he just knew it. 

He passed the arc of roses marking the garden entry, now adorned with rosehips dusted with hundreds of ice crystals, but the beauty evaded him. Kicking up frozen chunks of snow, he passed the garden beds the two of them had so painfully replanted this autumn after Ganon’s minions had been banned from the castle grounds for good. A sad, withered twig stuck out of the snow. He crouched, grazing the plant with his fingertips. 

It broke.

“What are you doing here?”

Link wheeled around, ungracefully landing on his butt in the hard frozen snow. Zelda. Oh, Goddess, and he was… He scrambled to his feet, dusted his trousers and coat off, and raised his gaze to the green eyes staring at him from the garden bench. “I… um… well, I…”

“Aren’t you supposed to have some days off?” Her voice wasn’t exactly hard, but it was far from the usual amicable tone they held for each other. Had held, for each other until yesterday.

He laughed nervously, but his throat was so tight that only a gurgling sound came out. “I… My mom kicked me out.” That… was not really what had happened.

She frowned, hands clutching the Sheikah Slate on her lap. Were her eyes swollen? It was hard to tell with her face glazed over with red from the cold. “Your mom kicked you out on Hylia’s Day? That’s hard. Maybe you can stay… never mind.” Her eyes darted away, away, to the barren apple trees in the back of the garden where they had shared a picnic on a lush evening in— he needed to stop thinking about these moments. Fast.

“Well, it’s not really, I mean, she didn’t…” Sighing, he approached the bench and sat down, maintaining a careful distance between them. She didn’t look at him and he closed his eyes for a second, shuddering. The rift between them was real. His dismissal hadn’t been something the King had misunderstood or an unfortunate way of promoting him. Something inside him broke like the withered flower he had just touched.

How do you fix something if you don’t know what’s broken?

He wanted nothing more than to reach for her hand, to stroke his thumb over the smooth leather of her glove like he had gotten away with in Rito Village when he helped her to hop the stairs up to the Elder. He wanted her to fix the perfectly fine buckle of his coat like she used to do with his climbing gear or the red cord of this royal guard uniform, but her hands remained wrapped around the slate and had no kindness to spare for him.

“Zelda…” 

She flinched at the usage of her name, ignoring his waiting gaze. Her eyes were red, he had no doubt from so close. 

“Zelda, did… did you cry?”

Her hands clasped the slate harder and pulled it up against her chest. “That’s nothing of your concern, Sir Link.”

Back to titles, wow. Whatever he had done, it must have been severe. He swallowed and swallowed, but the lump in his throat wouldn’t vanish. “Of course it is my concern, as your knight I’m responsible for your wellbeing and…”

“Not anymore,” she interrupted him.

The reality dropped on him like snow sliding from a roof. But as your friend, lingered on his tongue, but he didn’t want that illusion destroyed by having it officially denied by her, too.

She left it at that, offering nothing to warm the icy air between them. Time ran through his fingers, she would stand up and go on with her day soon if he didn’t come up with something fast. 

“Um, I was at your door earlier, but you weren’t there. I—I came because…”

“You can give the samples for the experiments you still have from me to the servants. I hardly expect you to continue them on your own.” She still didn’t bother to look at him. What unforgivable crime had he committed that she was so upset?

“No, that’s not it. I mean, I’ll do that, of course. But I wanted to talk… about what happened.” Maybe that was vague enough to prompt her to spill his shortcomings. She couldn’t avoid him forever if he stared at her long enough. 

“A little late, don’t you think?” Oh, Goddess, she looked back. She had been crying — a lot — her eyes had dark circles and were blood red, and he had done that to her. His hand flew to his mouth, stifling a gasp, but the puff of white air betrayed him anyway. 

“I apologize, that was rude of me. Our alliance as Princess and Hero will take no damage, I promise. I’m still thankful for all your deeds in the war and everything you’ve done for me. You can always pass me a note if you’re back in the castle and are in the mood for a cup of tea, just give me a few days to adjust to the new situation.”

“Er,” Link began, but the words she had just said made no sense to him. Alliance? Cup of tea if he was back in the castle? New situation? He hadn’t planned to stay home longer than a week, what was she talking about?

He buried his head in his hands, leaning on his knees. There was no way around this. “Zelda," he spoke toward the snow on the ground that their feet had turned into mud. "Why did you ask your father to resolve my appointment as your guard?”

“I thought that’s obvious.”

He peeked through his fingers, looking at her. She didn’t look back. “No. Not at all. In fact, I have no idea and this is very confusing for me.”

She made a distorted noise and waved her hand. “Well, you can’t be in Zora’s Domain and here at the same time, so I made it easier for you and released you of your duties.”

Okay, now he finally had the reason why. But… that didn’t make any more sense than before. Frowning, he sat up again. “Why… would I be in Zora’s Domain?”

“Why would you— Link, this is not funny. I understand that it’s a private matter, but I would really have appreciated it if you told me that you’re engaged to Mipha, as the princess but foremost as your friend.”

Moments passed and the icy wind that swept through the gardens blew directly into Link’s open mouth. Owlishly, he blinked. Then, he blinked again and snapped his mouth shut. He was… "What?"

Zelda leaped up, clutching the slate to her chest, and glared at him. "I thought we were friends, I really did after all this 'I'll die for you, no, I'll die for you!’ nonsense. But obviously, I was the only one who cared about us on a level beyond duty if you can't even understand why I would be upset that you didn't tell me about your engagement with one of the Champions!"

She was completely out of breath after her tirade. Link finally grasped what came in a waterfall out of her mouth, but that didn't mean he could put any sense behind the words. Maybe he should start with what he had gathered. "I'm not engaged to Mipha."

No reaction. "Um, I see why you would be disappointed if I would hide such crucial information about myself, but that's not the case. I'm not engaged to her nor do I have any plans to change that." She still stood, frozen, and he patted the cold stone next to him. "Zelda, please. I'm not interested in her in that way, I swear, please believe me. I need to know, why would you think that I am engaged to her?"

Reluctantly, she sat down again, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes. Had he said something wrong again? Her mouth fell open and he leaned closer, eager to hear her explanation. She thought better of it and closed her mouth, frowning so hard he feared it would leave lines. 

"Zelda?"

"You wore the armor."

Skies, this was more difficult than pulling teeth from a snoring Hinox. 

"The Zora armor? Yeah, she made it for me." He cracked a grin to lighten the mood, happier memories of last week shining through. "It lets me swim up the waterfalls like a Zora, but, I guess you saw that yourself the other day. I also have a helmet and greaves, but I only wear that if I go into a monster fight."

There was still a frown on her face, it even twitched. She huffed, but he couldn't decipher if it was out of annoyance. It sounded a bit like a laugh, but wouldn't that be weird considering her foul mood? She switched the slate on and his confusion grew. Flip, flip, flip, she went through the pictures, stopped at one of the monuments he had captured for her the other day, and held the slate toward him.

He shot her a questioning look, but she nodded toward the slate. "Just read."

"Miracle of the White Scale," he read out loud. "Oh, I'm familiar with this story, it's King Dorephan's favorite. If we begged long enough, he told it to us as a bedtime story when I was younger."

"The interesting part is towards the end." Her voice was still oddly guarded.

"Okay… let me see… This came to be known as the Miracle of the White Scale, a scale that only female Zora possesses. It was this miracle that began the tradition of Zora princesses crafting armor for… their future husbands?"

His mouth fell open like a water spout. "I… What!?!" 

Zelda snorted, and it was the first moment a tiny fracture of their easy mood from before was back, but Link didn't have time for this now. "That's a joke, right? I can't, I mean, I could, but I don't want to marry Mipha. And I'm sure as Demise's curse not engaged to her! It's…" He gestured wildly to the slate. "It's just a silly story. Just because a monument says that they do that, it doesn't mean anything— Why are you laughing?!"

Zelda's snort had quickly grown into a giggle and she laughed so hard that she nearly fell from the bench. No, wait, now she did fall, only a shaking mass of winter clothes to be seen.

That was… that couldn't be true, right? They were missing something; that simply couldn't be true. No, no, no. Zelda still shook with laughter. She pulled herself up again, saw him, and broke into a new fit of giggles. A smile fought its way onto his face despite himself and soon, he chuckled alongside her.

"Ah, sorry." She wiped her eyes and climbed on the bench again, dropping much closer to him than before. "Only you get engaged and don't even notice it." 

"Zelda, seriously. I'm not engaged to her."

"And I'm serious when I say you are. It's a century-long, very important tradition, I looked it up in the library."

She faced him and his eyes caught on how beautiful she was in her messiness. Strands stuck out of her braids, her cheeks were bright red from laughing and the cold, and her eyes were finally lively again. The lead weight in his stomach lifted, and he leaned closer, grinning. He had had such a horrible time over the past 24 hours, he couldn't resist basking in their ease again. "So… you researched about my love life in the library, did I get that correctly?"

Her eyes flew open and she poked him in the stomach, the dramatic effect considerably lessened by his thick coat. "Oh, hush! What should I do? I thought you ran around in that armor the whole day and brought me a photo of the monument as a subtle sign for me to figure it out! She was practically glued to your side, too, ran her hands over your chest and all that."

Mipha had done what? Link rubbed his nape. "Did she really? So, you think I… oh, Goddess."

"What did she say when she gave you the armor?"

Link rubbed his soles over the muddy cobblestones in front of the bench. Hm… "That she would be happy to spend more time with me again? Like when we were kids." Yes, something like that. Slowly, he turned back to Zelda, eyes widening. "Uh-oh. Do you really think that… that was a proposal?"

Zelda shrugged and blew into her hands. "She is quite shy, maybe she thought you'd catch on to what she wanted to say? How did you react when she gave you the armor? What did you say to her if the question is allowed?"

Link's gaze flickered to her, but there was no way on earth that he could say that and hold eye contact. He cleared his throat, finding an interesting spot on the castle wall behind her. 

"I told her that I'm happy to visit more often but that my duty, uh, actually I might have said, my place is at your side." Her lips parted and if he looked hard enough he could imagine a blush on her already reddened cheeks. Oh, boy, he went too far. "But that's of course now obsolete since, as you stated already, I am not your knight anymore." Phew. All words out in the correct order. "Of course, that doesn't mean that I now wish to marry Mipha, I do not, no matter if I'm your knight or not — okay, I need to stop talking. That's — there's a reason I usually don't talk much."

His face burned. What was he thinking? 

Zelda only chuckled again. She stood up, dusted her coat off, and offered her arm to him with a smile. Link hurried to take it. They were on good terms again, who cared about the details? 

"I think you need to talk to her, just to be sure. You can take the slate if you want."

"Now?" She couldn't be serious. He just rode home and back to talk to her, he would not fast-travel to Zora's Domain to clear up a misunderstanding that he still wasn't sure existed. 

"If it weighs on your mind, then now, yes. I can be without the slate for a few hours, there's a boring mass to celebrate Hylia's Day later anyway."

Link buried his fingers into the soft fur of her sleeve and gathered his courage. Or we just set the table for five. 

"I'll talk to her another day. I still believe if she really was serious about the proposal, she would have said so. But…" Zelda met his gaze, her eyes of the vibrancy of spring a sharp contrast to the withered garden. "If you want to skip that boring mass… in Hateno the village kids always prepare a little play of Hyrule's origins. It's really cute. You could come with me and stay with my family for the holidays. My dad is home, too, so with two royal guards around, I'm sure you'll be safe enough for your father to agree."

An amused expression ghosted over her face and she narrowed her eyes playfully. "Didn't you say your mom kicked you out?"

Link chuckled and squeezed her arm a little. "Actually, she just urged me to address… our differences. But now that's out of the way, she, and I, of course, would be honored to have you as a guest."

Zelda's gaze shifted to mischievous and she leaned closer to his ear, making the hair on his arms stand against the sleeve of his coat. "You're aware that we have no professional relationship right now?" He could hear the teasing smile in her voice. "I just want to make sure that you're aware of the signals you're sending so that you don't get into trouble again. You seem to have difficulty deciphering them."

Oh, he would never hear the end of it! 

He turned his head and met her gaze again. She was so close that he could count the freckles the last days of autumn had left on her nose. "If you are so good at reading them… I commissioned a gift for Hylia's Day for you in Zora's Domain. I had planned to give it to you when I'm back, but I might push that forward to tonight."

"You really aren't interested in Mipha." Her gaze flickered to his lips, but neither of them acted on the anticipation lingering between them. Link didn't mind. With everything else out of the way, he was happy taking their time. They had just admitted for the first time to each other that there was more than duty and even more than friendship between them, the time for a kiss would come.

"Zelda?"

She hummed, leaning her head onto his shoulder. That was the kind of shiver he liked, not what he had gone through in the last few hours!

"You just have to promise me one thing: don't mention that I didn’t know the meaning of the armor to my family under any circumstances."

“Okay?”

“Uh, and that one time I fell from the tree into the pond when I tried to fetch that apple for you… we don’t talk about that either.”

Her lips quivered with suppressed laughter, but then she bursted out, “And that you ate frogs for me?”

“That,” he said with a grin, “is a completely different case because that was for science.”

[bleue-flora]

LAST SONG - “Outcast” by NF from my c!Dream villain arc playlist: Some Snakes Just Bite

FAVORITE COLOR - Blue (duh lol), specifically like turquoise

CURRENTLY WATCHING - Death and Other Details on Hulu

LAST MOVIE - I think Dune? Not a movie made for someone with ADHD…

SWEET/SPICY/SAVORY - savory. What would I do without mac & cheese and garlic?! ;D

RELATIONSHIP STATUS - single and just vibin

CURRENT OBSESSION - c!dream… obviously lol XD

LAST THING YOU GOOGLED - “does shamrock have bulbs” (except when originally typed not that well written lol) found some weird bulbs (thought they were worms or something at first) in my pot while putting in a new plant and turns out my shamrock wasn’t dead after all just dormant so now I gotta replant the bulbs I guess. 🪴

Tags: uh… @midnight-fangirl01 @mistythedritten @nekioe @jun-hug @draconixiaa @elmhat @simplepotatofarmer @cleofast300 @anyone else who wants to <3 :)

NINE PEOPLE I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW BETTER

OMG TYSM FOR TAGGING ME @liass-21 !!!!! i am so sorry i drafted this tag and i thought i queue'd it and i didnt so 😭😭😭 its only like a month late. its fine everythings fine. aaaaaa 😭

LAST SONG? - "photograph" by the midnight! it is on my writing-for-top-gun playlist bc it has huge maverick vibes lol.

FAVORITE COLOR? - pink!!!! also lighter purples and blues and most pastel shades <3 and black

CURRENTLY WATCHING? - a streamer i have never watched before playing the remaster of of tomb raider i-iii bc i am excited about the remaster!! and those games are my childhood <3 not to be a million years old or anything sakfhfjfhg

LAST MOVIE? - unfortunately it was 'oz the great and powerful' 😭 if any of y'all enjoyed that movie i respect it, but i had to see it on tv at a friend's house and we were having a great time laughing at the very unexpected writing and acting choices being made lol

SWEET/SPICY/SAVORY? - aaaaaaaa i guess savory ?????? but sweet has a special place in my heart ajdhfjfhfjg

RELATIONSHIP STATUS? - committed long term relationship to ~my person~ <3<3

CURRENT OBSESSIONS? - well this is gonna be obvious but top gun primarily !!!! additionally, dan and phil !! mission impossible !!! fall out boy!! and even if the current obsession level is not as high as other things, i am always at least partially obsessed with a hundred other things and people that i am probably posting about at the same time lol

LAST THING YOU GOOGLED? - “oz the great and powerful reviews” bc i wanted to make sure that im not crazy and that other ppl also felt that movie was an insane fever dream (apparently due to the 44% on metacritic i guess they did lol)😭

tagging: aaaaaa @brambleberrycottage @daffodilstark @tellhound @torchflies @melancholydandelion @goosefilms @driftershunt @downthegenderriver @callsignstingray