#[ HE EVEN KEPT THE LETTER ]

[bluerosefox]

GHOSTS WITH HEARTBEATS

When Jason had been going to Gotham Academy, he had (for a good reputation for the media and to help him catch up on his penmanship, remember he had been on the streets and dropped out of school before getting picked up by Bruce for a while) signed up for a penpal project for 'less privileged people' to write to.

(Although Jason was annoyed the penpal project stayed within the states and only selected a middle of nowhere town, he knew the Richie Rich Elites would never subjugate their 'Heirs' to actual kids in need of learning how to read and write)

But Jason didn't mind his penpal.

Danny Fenton was a riot to talk, err write to in all honestly.

From his dry punny humor (and boy can he give even Dick a run for his money in the pun department but hey using some of them actually got Dick to warm up to him a few missions ago) and death jokes so many death jokes, to his nerdy love for space Jason enjoyed writing to Danny.

Even the short stories he would write about a ghost kid protecting a small town from other ghosts was interesting to read. He really liked the different kinds of ghosts there could be. Granted some seemed very OP like that Clockwork dude.

Jason liked writing to Danny, and even after the penpal project was over they had plans to keep sending letters, maybe even exchange numbers soon...

But then he died by the hands of the Joker.

The letters leaving Wayne Manor may had decreased but the letters being sent never did or at least until a few years ago.

Then Jason somehow returned to the land of the living.

Got taken by the LoA, tossed in the green waters and turned into their Pit Raged weapon for a while before leaving them behind and setting out for his revenge against the Joker and to force B's hand.

And becoming a Crime Boss for a while too. Can't forget that.

Point being with all this going on, the old warm memories of exchanging letters with Danny Fenton was pushed into the back of his mind and forgotten about for a while.

It isn't until one afternoon at Wayne Manor that while roughhousing with Dick, who had Jason in a brotherly headlock as they walked down a hall to one of the sitting rooms, that while Jason had slipped out of Dick's hold had stumbled into a hallway desk that had a few things on the top of it, one of the things being a small box that tumbled off when Jason hit it.

The box lid opened and out of it spilled out a good number of letters.

"Shiii-p, dang it Dick!" Jason said when he looked at the mess he accidentally made and stopped himself from swearing, the place might be named Wayne Manor but everyone knew this was Alfie's domain and no swearing was a rule within his halls.

Dick only laughed and teased only in a way a sibling can do "Hey not my fault your as big as a tank Jaybird! We should get you some caution signals if you keep bumping into things!"

Jason flipped him his favorite finger, thankfully Alfred only knew when they swore thus it did not summon him, and bent down to the letters.

His hands froze when he recognized the hand writing and the address it was sent from.

"From: Danny Fent Nightingale

Amity Park, IL"

To: Jason Todd-Wayne

Gotham City, NJ.

Wayne Manor"

And when Jason opened the letter. He really wasn't expecting what was written inside.

"Jason.

I'm finally leaving Amity Park. I can't be there anymore, not after everything. I'm too tired, and emotionally hurt. Everything is just to much. And I can't keep doing this to myself. My parents still can’t understand there is nothing ‘wrong’ with me or why I refuse to let them take care of Ellie, I refuse to let her live the way Jazz and I did, Jazz has to much on her plate already with her own life and college but she’s been hounding me to reach out to mom and dad, Sam refuses to listen to me when I tell her I want to be more than ‘Phantom’ in Amity Park, and Tucker is so busy trying to get into a good college and job we barely have time to talk nowadays. And don’t get me started on Vlad, that fruitloop’s been breathing down my neck since Ellie’s deaging.

Despite how much of a hellhole you like to call it, I think Gotham might be my, no mine and Ellie’s best bet of living some kind of life, especially now since the whole deaging she had to go through, she needs an ectoplasm rich city as well and since she has no actual papers because she was my clone and I remember you saying Gotham has people who can create new identities and-

I’m rambling again, to letter you again. I really need to stop it.

I can’t keep pretending you’re going to read these.

I know you’ll never read these. You’re gone. I can’t even find you in the Realms no matter where I look.

I’m sorry. For using you as, well, a way to vent my life for last couple of years. I shouldn’t had done it but it helped me.

Believing my friend was still alive and getting my letters I mean.

Again I’m sorry.

This will be my last letter to your ghost, pun unintended.

Goodbye Jason. Wish us luck in your city.

-Danny Fen-Nightingale...."

The sent date on the letter was roughly eight years ago.

[rexscanonwife]

IT'S....MY TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH REX NEXT MONTH??

[anza-redstar]

She had listened like an iceberg while he told the story he had prepared, and then—well, she didn’t actually call him a liar, but she gave him to understand in a general sort of way that if he and Dr. Cook ever happened to meet, and started swapping stories, it would be about the biggest duel on record.

Unexpected current-interest crossover: this P.G. Wodehouse story just took a side on Dr. Frederick Cook's claim to have reached the North Pole in 1908.

[amiharana]

au where link runs a daycare and one day as he's waiting with all the kids during pickup, this guy he's never seen before comes in asking for a kid, and the girl runs up to the guy and is like "uncle revali!!" all happily but link is like "you're not the parent that normally picks her up, how do I know you're not trying to kidnap her 🤨" and revali gets all pissy like "duh, I'm her uncle and I'm just picking her up this one time bc her parents are busy🙄" and so he has to show like id verification and confirmation from the parents that he's authorized to pick the kid up from daycare but whatever, link is just glad that this was a one time thing and he doesn't have to deal with the guy again..

until! revali keeps coming back to pick up the kid (I still dunno why so don't ask me). and link and revali keep talking to each other, and revali realizes how well link works with kids and link realizes that revali is just very protective of his niece and he loves her a lot 🤭

ok but have you ever seen ted lasso because revali is LITERALLY roy kent like.. idk how to describe it if you haven't seen the show but roy kent curses a lot and has a bad attitude, but it's just out of love and what his circumstances required, and he's sooo sweet with his niece!! anyways that's 100% revali idc

crow this au is so cute 😭🤍🤍 i have not seen ted lasso but i will take your word for it bc that sounds very revali-like 💪💯

do you think link would want to have initially pursued childcare as his career? i feel like he wouldn't have even considered it as a possible career choice until having a Awakening™ like imagine link is a nursing student at first because he knows that the job brings in good money, and he's doing clinicals in a pediatric ward for a shift when a crying kid and her very anxious father come in. turns out, she's broken a bone after a nasty fall and link's clinical instructor assigns link to work with her. at first, link is nervous because this is the first time he's ever worked in the pediatric ward and he's never really worked with little kids before so he's not sure how to approach the whole situation.

but then link gets to talk to her 🥺 her name is aster, she's seven years old, and she wants to become a dancer! the reason why she's in the hospital in the first place is because she was trying to do a dance move she learned in her classes, but she spun too hard and landed really badly on her wrist 🥺🥺 link nods because he relates, he too loved to dance as a child, and he still dances a little in his free time (while admittedly is not a lot because nursing is kicking his ass). he shares this with aster (minus the getting his ass kicked), and the whole conversation calms her down enough for his instructor to start leading them over to the x-ray room to get a proper diagnosis of the broken wrist. the whole time they're doing the x-ray, link and aster just keep on talking about what kind of music they like to dance to, their favorite dance moves, etc. and they get through the x-ray with no issues!

the injury ends up not being too severe and they won't need to do any surgical procedures (aster's father medda is very relieved at this point), but they do have to realign the bone in order to put it into the cast and have it heal properly. dr. deku (link's instructor) says they'll have to use a local anesthesia, and when aster asks what that is, he explains that they have to inject her with a needle and the poor girl pales.

internally, link facepalms (dr. deku isn't very good with dealing with kids, is he?) and he tells aster, "hey, it's gonna be okay! you wanna fix your wrist so you can go back to dancing, right? but we have to give you the anesthesia so that your wrist won't hurt too much when we put it back where it's supposed to be." it comforts her a little, but she's still quiet and wide-eyed about the needle, so link kneels in front of her and keeps talking. "i know it's scary, but i promise, the needle will hurt less than when you hurt your wrist. you're so strong and brave, it's gonna be like nothing! and if you let us fix your wrist, i'll teach you one of my favorite dances when you're all better. how does that sound?" slowly, aster physically relaxes, nodding quietly. and link smiles. "that's it! i'll be here to hold your hand if you get scared, okay?"

so they inject the anesthesia, correct the bone position, apply the cast, and it all goes smoothly! aster squeezes link's hand once during the injection, but she puts on a brave face and link tells her he is very proud of her :) dr. deku finishes up the procedure and talks to medda about at-home treatment, insurance, etc., while link talks to aster telling her she was very brave and that she's going to heal in no time :> before they leave, aster gives link a hug (with her non-broken wrist arm lol) and tells him, "thank you for holding my hand mr. link. i was scared for a little bit, but you helped me not to be!"

and that's kind of the moment that link is like. Wow! That was really cool and i think i would like to work with kids! he ends up really enjoying his time in the pediatric ward and he eventually graduates with his nursing degree specializing in pediatrics, but when it comes to actually getting a job... link doesn't want to do nursing anymore 😳 he wants to work in childcare 🥺

so after graduating, link looks into how he can open his own daycare but there's. a lot going on. you have to get certifications, go to orientations, get licensing and look into zoning if you open your own facility, not to mention the supplies and resources he would need, it's just so much :(( so link decides to get a job at a local daycare first, that way he can save up money and get the experience working with kids to make sure this is what he wants to do and it is ✋😭 he has no more doubts, this is for sure what he wants to do in his life, he just luvs taking care of little kids he is so hashtag mother

link spends a couple years working to save money to build his own daycare and one day he does! he finally opens the 'second sunrise' daycare on hateno street. his sister zelda becomes the manager/receptionist, while her gf mipha ends wanting to work there because she loves kids too! she loved raising her younger brother sidon so she has a natural affinity for childcare which is exactly what link needs to run this place >:] it all works out and the daycare becomes moderately popular with many families leaving their children at the second sunrise daycare, their children always well taken care of <3

now. here's the actual revalink part. HAHAHAH sorry i got super invested in how link would have gotten into childcare

molli is one of link's favorite kids to take care of at the daycare. she's a very sweet sleepy kid and likes to sit with link to tell him all about the stories and fairytales her grandfather used to tell her about before he passed. her father harth is the one who drops her off and picks her up and at first, the dude was kind of standoffish and quiet. over time, link was able to break the ice with harth and now they chat and catch up every time he comes to drop off and pick up molli ^^

there's one day where harth comes in the morning to drop off molli, but he doesn't come at the normal time that he picks her up, and link is starting to get worried. this is very not like harth at all... but molli doesn't give a shit tho she's peacefully sleeping in one of the naptime cots LMFAOKDJHFJD until finally a stranger that link has never seen before enters the daycare looking disgruntled and disheveled. he talks to zelda at the receptionist desk but she looks over to link with a somewhat nonplussed look, so he looks over to make sure mipha is handling everything in the main room before going over to the front.

"hi, is there a problem here?" link says, looking over at the stranger. he's taller than link with white streaks in his dark hair, narrow green eyes, and a furrow in his brow. he's kinda hot...

"yes, there is a problem," the man says through gritted teeth. "i just need to pick up my niece and your receptionist won't allow me to."

link raises a brow. "your niece? what's her name?"

"molli," the man replies. somehow, link thinks he hears his voice soften, but it doesn't negate the biting tone in his next words. "her father sent me to get her as no one else could and i see myself as a good enough person to run such an errand."

link crosses his arms and leans against the desk. "molli's father usually picks her up at 4pm sharp. why would he send you to come get her? do you even know his name?"

the man rolls his eyes. "of course i do, his name is—"

"uncle revali!" comes a little shout, and link turns to see molli waddling over to the man, her hair still messy from her nap. he looks back at the man, now identified as "revali", but his eyes are only molli, his shrewd green gaze softening as he crouches into a squat, extending his arms as molli throws herself into hugging him.

he wraps his arms around her and returns her embrace gently. "hey sleepyhead," revali says. "ready to go home?"

"where's papa?" molli says instead, and the man sighs. he lifts molli up easily with her arms around revali's neck.

"your dad's a little busy right now, darling, that's why i'm here to come get you today." revali looks back at link and zelda expectantly. "well? it's clear she knows who i am. are you going to keep interrogating me?"

"i'm afraid we have to at the very least verify your identity," zelda says. "it's protocol, since you're not the parent that normally picks her up and neither did we receive confirmation from the parent who does that someone else would be coming in. it would be a safety violation if we let her go with you without verification."

"oh, for hylia's sake," revali growls, rolling his eyes. "do i need to call harth for you right now?"

"that would be preferable," link says, giving revali a once over. "for all we know, you could be stalking their family and have been manipulating molli." revali shoots a glare at him, but pulls out his phone and taps at it a few times before they hear the ringing. after three rings, the call takes and revali puts it on speaker.

"revali?" comes harth's voice. he sounds tired and pained, and it instantly puts link on high alert. "did you get molli yet?"

"i could have, if your daycare would let me leave with her," revali grumbles. "they said i have to get my identification verified because it's a safety violation."

harth snorts over the phone. "yeah well, you aren't exactly the most friendly looking guy. can you hand the phone to one of the staff?"

"you're on speaker."

"mm. hey link? you there?"

"i'm here," link says, leaning towards the phone. "is everything okay, harth? why weren't you able to pick up molli yourself?" he glances at revali, who's still glaring at him.

harth sighs, a tinny breath through the speaker. "i would have, but i got in a car accident on the way over. i'm in the hospital right now." link's eyes widen and zelda gasps, covering her mouth with both hands. "i'm mostly okay, but my arm's fractured so i'm gonna be off for a couple weeks and i won't be able to drive... but since i'm the only who takes care of molli, i'll probably still have her over at sunrise like normal since i can't really take care of her like this. she likes it there anyway... she tells me all about how you're her favorite caretaker, link."

link smiles for a moment, but it turns back into a frown as he remembers something. "wait, how are you going to get her over here if you can't drive?"

"that guy who's with you there right now is an old friend of mine, revali. molli will call him 'uncle' but we're not actually related, it's just what she calls him. i don't have any friends who can actually babysit molli themselves, since teba and saki are gonna be covering my shifts at work and amali's got her hands full with her own kids. revali works, but he can at least take molli to and from sunrise at the normal times i do drop offs and pickups. you can take care of her still, right?"

"of course we can," link replies softly. "we're just worried about you too, you know. how bad was the fracture?"

"they said it was a transverse radial fracture and that it'll take about six weeks to heal. don't feel too bad, it's not like you were there to fix me up with a splint or something. i'll be fine. insurance is taking care of the crash and the injuries."

"okay," link says. "we'll have to register revali in our system as a confirmed parent for molli's file for our safety protocols. that okay with you?" he gets a hum of confirmation over the phone. "okay. i'll take care of that here. you rest up, we'll try to come visit you soon. take care, harth."

"you too. thanks, link." the call ends and revali pockets his phone again, adjusting his grip on molli in his arms.

"is papa gonna be okay?" molli says looking up at revali. link's heart cracks in two at the quiet, sad tone of the child's voice, and watches the way revali's eyes soften as he looks back at molli. interesting...

"your dad's going to be just fine, darling," he says softly. "he's a very strong and brave man, he can get through anything, don't worry."

"can we go see him?" she says.

revali pauses for a moment before responding. "sure, sweetheart, we can go see him." and link's heart just shatters.

they have revali sign a couple things for the confirmed parent paperwork and verify his identity with a government-issued ID, and let him go, link and zelda waving at molli as she waves back and snuggles into revali's hold. revali nods at them in silent acknowledgement and turns, leaving the daycare with zelda and link at the desk.

"he was kind of attractive once you get past the prickliness, don't you think?" zelda says, breaking the silence. link rolls his eyes and walks back into the main room with mipha. (he won't admit that he agrees 😄)

this shit is so long now LOL but revali coming in every morning and afternoon to drop off and pick up molli every weekday for the next couple of weeks. he mostly doesn't say anything and just nods, a surly look on his face when he interacts with link and zelda but the softest look in his eyes when he hugs molli goodbye or in greeting when he picks her up. it's so interesting to link, how someone this much of a pretentious dickhead could be so tender towards one of the sweetest children ever.

he tries striking up conversation with revali, just small talk, but revali only gives him short cold answers. it reminds link of how harth used to be when he first started coming to the daycare, and link wonders if he can get through to revali eventually. (he hopes he can; he does think revali is kinda fine 🤑 especially since one of his fav kids loves revali so much)

"your earrings are beautiful," link says one day when revali is dropping molli off. he's wearing little jade green hoops; they're simple, but they're elegant.

and the compliment catches revali off-guard. he reaches up with one hand to touch one of the hoops gently. "thank you..." he murmurs. "they're... a family heirloom."

link smiles at him. they're making progress! "they're beautiful," he repeats. "see you later?"

"yes..." revali says, blinking. "see you later..." link and molli wave goodbye as revali leaves the daycare, subconsciously reaching up to touch his earrings with his other hand.

it goes like that for a while; simple compliments about accessories or clothing or hairstyles (revali came in once with his hair in braids and link internally swooned a little, but kept his friendly facade up).

"...do you know any good coffee places nearby?" revali says, another time he's dropping molli off. it catches link by surprise since revali never initiates conversation, but he quickly turns it into a thoughtful look.

"hm... the east wind cafe is just down the street from here," link says. "they also have some food if you need a quick bite. tell pruce and ivee i sent you and they'll give you a discount for your first order." link winks. "i recommend their caramel macchiato."

"i will... keep that in consideration," revali says. he gives link a slight nod. "i'll see you later." he pauses, looking like he wants to say more. "have a good day."

link smiles. "you too, revali."

i talked a bit about this au to my irl who i've converted into revalinkism (but hasn't played botw yet 😒) and they were like This has so much potential for a slow burn, and they're SO true for that. it takes 15 conversations like this before revali and link even imply the idea of going out with each other in a romantic context

"have you always been a part of molli's life?" link asks when revali picks her up on one of those days.

revali hums as he picks molli up and holds her with one arm. "i was in the waiting room the day she was born," he said. "i felt as though i was in the actual hospital room as well, with how anxious i was."

he rubs molli's back as she snuggles drowsily into his hold. "there were complications during her birth, and i'm sure you're aware that she tends to be frequently drowsy like this, yes?" link nods. "molli has some health issues as a result of the circumstances of her birth, and i took part in caring for her back then when harth and her mother were struggling." revali presses a kiss to the top of molli's head. "she's like my own daughter, too. i would do anything for her."

once, revali comes in a little earlier than 4pm to pick up molli. zelda isn't at the receptionist desk because she's helping out mipha and link in the main room; the kids just had a little costume-and-tea party today! they've just finished and are in the middle of cleaning up, so revali just leans against the receptionist desk with his arm atop it, watching them do so.

link is sitting in the middle of the group, clapping his hands to a beat and singing that one barney clean-up song, leading a sing-a-long that the rest of the children are beginning to follow as they pick up their toys, give their costumes to zelda, and their plates to mipha. once they finish cleaning, link erupts into applause and cheers, causing the rest of the children to clap and cheer too. a couple of the kids, including molli, come to link for hugs, which he gives freely with a huge smile on his face telling the kids how they did such a good job of cleaning up and how he's proud of them.

he's a natural at this, revali thinks as he watches link continue to smile and cheer. it's like he was made to do this. he would probably make a really good parent...

suddenly, link meets his gaze from the main room and his cheeks flush pink, his eyes wide. and without really thinking about it, revali just gives him a small smile and an equally small wave. link blinks but smiles shyly, waving back.

the day that harth finally recovers from his fracture is the saddest day of link and revali's lives. can you believe they still haven't gotten each other's numbers or something at this point. they just keep kind of talking to each other twice a day when they see each other like complete losers. ✋😭

link gets a text from harth being like Hey, my arm is finally healed up. I'm heading back into work, and I can start taking Molli over again. See you again soon. and he shuts his phone off, puts it facedown, and just sits down at the receptionist desk with zelda. she rolls her eyes at him.

"you should just ask revali out already," she says, taking a sip from her tea and scrolling through her computer. "it's been how many weeks now?"

"i don't even know if he likes guys, zel," link says. she glances at him, giving him a look.

"even if he wasn't gay, he seems to really like you," she points out.

link presses his forehead against the desk. "don't give me hope. he just loves molli a lot."

"believe whatever you want to believe," zelda says, rolling her eyes again and going back to her work. "he looks at you like he loves you too."

when revali finds out harth is healed up and ready to go back, he doesn't even know how to respond. seeing link those two times of the day had been like. the highlight of his entire life for the past couple weeks. it's not like he can just randomly visit the daycare now that harth is going back to picking up molli. he should try to convince harth to let him continue taking molli under the guise that he just really loves his niece and harth needs more time to recover, or—

"stop making that face," harth says gruffly, clapping a hand on revali's shoulder. "you look scarier than i do."

"shut up," revali wrinkles his nose at harth. "not even a mask could conceal the ridiculous unsightliness you're bringing into the world."

harth snorts. "if i'm 'unsightly', what does that make molli?"

"a very pretty young lady," revali says primly. "are you sure you're her father?"

harth smacks revali's shoulder in jest, but continues. "tell me what's actually on your mind, old friend."

"nothing of particular relevance," revali lies cleanly. "just that i'm surprised you're willing to go back to driving so soon after recovery, when driving is what caused all this mess in the first place."

harth raises his brows. "so not about link?"

revali blinks rapidly, furrowing his own brow. "what?"

"molli keeps talking about how you and 'mr. link' have been getting along real well when you come to the daycare," harth says. "says you look happier talking to him."

"that's not true," revali sputters, flushing, "i'm just being polite since they're taking care of her after all and—"

"you're saying my little angel would lie?" harth says, amused. "she's more perceptive than you give her credit for, you know." then his expression becomes more serious. "you're one of my oldest friends, revali. i'm always going to encourage you to pursue what makes you happy and if it's my childcare provider that's doing it for you, then you should go for it."

"no, wait, that's not," revali chokes, but harth shakes his head, chuckling. "i'm not, i don't like him, he's—"

"you can go pick up molli for me since you want to see him so bad, it's almost 4," harth says, waving him off and turning to walk away. "link's a really nice kid, i get why you like him so much, so go ask him out already."

revali is left there, completely flabbergasted that he's been seen through. is he really not that subtle about it? (yes the closet is made out of glass babe you are NOT slick)

so revali goes over to the daycare, sullenly wondering if this is the last time he's going to see link ever because it would be weird if he showed up not to drop off or pick up molli, and when he enters, link, molli, and zelda are already waiting at the desk. zelda greets him, link waves, and molli waddles over latching herself to revali's leg.

"harth let us know that he was going to be able to start taking molli again," zelda says, as business-like as usual, and revali's heart begins to sink at the reality of it all, until— "but i forgot to ask him if he'd like to keep you on molli's file as an emergency contact? i'm not sure if he had someone else in mind, but seeing as you're his close friend and we already know you, it would be convenient for both of us."

"ah," revali says, blinking. "yes, just keep me as an emergency contact. if harth has problems with it, he'll let you know, but i doubt he will." he pats molli's head. "i'm the only other person he trusts to take care of her."

"perfect! i'll update that on her file then." zelda goes back to typing on her computer, and revali doesn't know where to look because if he looks at link, he doesn't know what he's going to do or what to say or—

"will this be the last time we see you?" link says and revali can't stop himself from meeting the blond's gaze. something about his voice seems sad, disappointed, but it can't be, why would he be sad or disappointed? he stares with wide blue eyes that keep revali rooted to the spot, almost lost in their own little world, until revali forcefully tears his gaze away.

"well," he says, swallowing, "if harth will continue taking molli, i don't have much of a reason to come back here anymore. it would be strange, wouldn't it? coming to a daycare with no child to leave or take with."

"i guess," link replies softly. and they fall quiet, the only sounds in the air being zelda's typing, the faint echo of children's' laughter in the main room, the soft music in the reception room.

"are you gonna miss mr. link?" molli asks suddenly, looking up at revali. his eyes widen and he opens his mouth, trying to scramble for an excuse, but zelda answers for him.

"i bet he's going to miss mr. link so much," zelda says, in a very matter-of-fact tone. "they're the bestest of friends and now they can't see each other anymore! your uncle and mr. link must be so sad, molli." link shoots zelda a glare but she only smirks back.

"no!" molli exclaims. "i don't want you to be sad!" she pulls on revali's pant leg. "you're gonna come back to see mr. link, right? because you're friends and friends always play see each other and play. don't be sad, uncle revali!"

"what if they had a playdate, molli?" zelda says, almost deviously. link whisper-shouts at her, blushing, but she ignores it to continue. "do you think mr. link and uncle revali would like to have a playdate together?"

"a playdate!" molli shouts. "uncle revali, you and mr. link should have a playdate! please? i don't want you to be sad, uncle revali, you're gonna miss mr. link if you don't see him anymore!" she pulls at his pant leg again, give him puppy-dog eyes. "you'll come see mr. link again, right?"

revali looks back up at link, who's blushing and leaning over the desk, telling his sister off, who's giggling behind her hand. he looks back, meeting revali's gaze and straightens, tucking a piece of hair behind his ear. he's pretty, revali thinks faintly.

"i... wouldn't be opposed to a playdate with mr. link," revali says softly. and link's eyes widen, face flushing darker. zelda looks even more devious behind the desk.

"yay!" molli cheers, dancing in a circle. "mr. link and uncle revali playdate!"

"yay for playdate!" zelda cheers, raising a fist. "you'll have to exchange numbers for the playdate, though. how else are you going to plan it?" she smiles expectantly at revali.

"don't you already have my number on molli's file?" revali says, finding the voice to speak as shrewd as he normally does. "you could have just gotten it from there."

"it's a privacy violation to give out or use the contact information of our children's caretakers' for non-work or emergency uses," zelda replies cheerfully. "but you giving your number to link in a personal context isn't. hope that helps!"

"you and your safety and privacy violations," revali grumbles, but he turns to link, who's still pink in the cheeks. "well? do you want my number so we can... plan our playdate?"

"s-sure," link whispers, eyes so blue and wide. "yeah, what's your number?" he pulls out his phone to open his contacts, and looks back up at revali. pretty, revali thinks again.

so they exchange numbers and revali and molli leave the daycare, molli cheering and skipping around. "bye mr. link! bye miss zelda!" she shouts as they exit.

"bye molli! bye revali!" zelda replies, waving. "see you next time!"

and when revali looks back, he meets eyes with link again. the blush has mostly died down from his cheeks now, but link as a whole glows warmly. he gives revali a small, shy smile and waves. just this once, revali allows himself to fully smile and wave back.

[fazcinatingblog]

Good night Tumblr xx

[gobbluthbutagirl]

my favorite thing anybody’s ever said about me is still when i was involuntarily committed for a failed You Know What attempt early in the pandemic and there was group therapy like 3 times a day that “wasn’t mandatory” but if you didn’t go they’d put it on your record that you “didn’t seem motivated” and you’d have to stay there longer and anyway each time they did it they’d go around the room and have you say a goal and mine was always some variation of “to get out of this place and go home” and one time when i said it some guy was like, “wow, she REALLY doesn’t want to be here!” like real as hell king i really don’t

[must4rds33d]

exactly two hundred pages in anna karenina and something just clicked in my head. alexei alexandrovich sort of parallels madame zoe heger [town square throws rocks at me]

[surrealisticduvet]

bobjoan is so jesusmary coded

[armandjolras]

Byron: I admire Walter Scott so much he’s one of the greatest contemporary poets for sure

Walter Scott, deciding to give up poetry because of Byron’s success, sobbing: what if I just killed myself

[hermywolf]

kind of obsessed with the way dta!cas and dta!dean are technically both the only specimens of entirely new species

[torgawl]

do you think part of the reason diluc still struggles with his resentment towards kaeya is because kaeya is more like what crepus wished diluc to be? crepus was so proud of diluc for his accomplishments as a knight and lived his dream through him as well and we know how much crepus' approval meant for diluc, more than any title or doing. i sometimes wonder if diluc feels hurt knowing that kaeya gets to live the equivalent to his past life as a knight as if nothing happened when he had to make sacrifices for his own peace of mind and sense of justice. i wonder if that's what pains him the most, not the fact kaeya ommited the truth about his past for so many years but having felt like he was the only one who cared to do something regarding his father's death and who showed any sense of uprightness when confronted with the knights' request to cover their mistake and negligence. i always think about how diluc might have felt like everything was a lie and his sense of betrayal. but maybe that didn't matter as much as having the support of his brother and someone he could share his pain with would have mattered. maybe the worst thing wasn't what kaeya did but what he didn't do; maybe it was never about his actions but the lack thereof.

[randomnameless]

Thinking about different languages in the Fodlan verse -

(Duscurian, Srengese, Almyran and Brigidan are mentionned/refered to in supports, so I wouldn't be surprise if Dagda, Morfis and Albinea have their own language)

What if Sothis and the Nabatean had their own language?

Let's say Sothis lands in modern Fodlan, and the humans around speak a weird language she doesn't understand, but thanks to "god magic" she manages to learn it in 1 day.

And yet, when she creates her kids, she gives them her own language (from the blue sea star?) which de facto becomes, on this planet at least, Nabatean language.

Of course her kids have to learn the "human language", and in turn, for the humans who want it, they could learn the Nabatean one.

(Cichol had a cringe phase where he tried to use agarthan slang, but no one is alive to tease him about his younger days)

Zanado 1 (the place where Sothis lived) became some sort of university-giant library-thing where humans could come and study languages of other places, like people from Thinis could learn Agarhtan, Nabatean or proto-Morfisan, etc etc.

Nabatean language was used as liturgy language (since some people considered them gods?) in early Sothisism practices.

Thales was kind of pissed, because there's no need to learn anything about Thinis and those other trash states since they're going to be destroyed, then he started to war against Sothis herself, and we know how that ended.

Fast forward to Zanado 2 (built on the ruins of Zanado 1) - Nabatean is exclusively used as liturgy language, even if it falls more and more because there's no official Church or cult, and after the war, there are less and less Nabateans roaming around to talk to or to share their culture (but the few who travel bring back the "modern and updated" versions of the human language they learnt back then, like, idk, Archaic Palmyran became Early Almyran, or something like that).

Nemesis parties in Zanado, and Rhea is persuaded Nabatean is, bar her, an extinct language (since some humans who worship the Goddess completely forgot the earlier Sothisism rites (tfw 1500 years happen) and sort of do it in their own way).

Getting a new language update (tfw Rhea still think humans in the south speak "Old Enbarrian" when they now use "Classical Enbarrian" and "Vulgar Enbarrian"), Seiros feels conflicted about the new hymnals and preachs of the newly founded "Church of Seiros" being in "Classical Enbarrian" ; it should be in Nabatean, but why teaching those humans a language only spoken and understood by the dead?

Besides, as long as Nemesis exists, Nabatea and everything related to Nabateans should be hidden, else she might be turned in a golden weapon.

Of course, for "Willy reasons", she ended up trying to teach him some words, and Willy was very surprised to learn that in the Nabatean language, there are no swear words so he decided to translate swear words, a roundabout way of telling her Nabatean language isn't extinct yet, it survives and can even evolve by having new uses!

(Now, did Rhea overthink too much about this and thought Willy was really a genius, or was he completely stupid just wanted to insult people in a different language, we will never know)

Thus, Seiros the Warrior believes she can teach, after the War, when all Relics will be found and Nemesis dead, Nabatean language to her followers, so they could share the language and sing hymnals in Nabatean language.

(This idea is fairly popular in the Northern provinces, because it'll another language and not "Enbarrian", so in a way, this church business isn't another way to "Enbarrianise" them (or so they think?).).

But after the WoH and Lycaon's death - Rhea loses faith in humanity, and, in turn, reconsiders her idea of teaching Nabatean language to humans through the Church, after all humans are humans, and Nabateans cannot coexist with them even through language, only Sothis can help them and save Fodlan.

So the CoS will use Classical Enbarrian (lingua franca in Southern Adrestia), but she'll allow people to preach in their vernacular languages, because the most important thing is for the CoS's message to be spread (and not to pretend a dead language of dead people, or people near extinction can survive, because Nabateans need the Goddess).

Fast forward to centuries of years later...

Yuri finds an old bottle of hair dye in the Abyss that was definitely hand written by the Archbishop - when he confronts her about storing her personal belongings (she tried to bullshit him about "Saint Seiros' old belongings" but he has none of her nonsense, why would Saint Seiros use hair dye??) in the Abyss - Rhea's very surprised because Yuri was able to read Nabatean alphabet, and knows the language.

The hair dye incident makes her reconsider, is Nabatean language really dead? Why Aubin taught Yuri the language? Can she have faith in humanity, again? And hope that maybe, one day, Nabatean culture can be revived?

[jiminrings]

Hi i just wanna tell u that doing a sneak peek is totally the way to go bc personally i subscribed to ur patreon bc of the cliche previews and I'm loving every single one of them😭😭

THANK YEWWWWWW IM SO GLAD U LOVE THEM LOVE U

[ben-the-hyena]

The fact I fell back into my Egyptian phase made me remember a French movie of my childhood, La Reine Soleil. It might not have been my favorite (sometimes the plot and 2d-3d animation were clumsy, its incorporation of magic felt weird and even as a kid I was not a fan of using real people who existed for fictions such as here Tutankhaten "Tut" and Ankhesenaton "Akhesa") but that allowed me to remember Gulmekiz and that i loved him

Context : Akhesa and Tut found about the plot against Akhenaten and his family and are run after by corrupted guards (ALL WHILE Hittites are threatening to attack) with the official reason that Tut kidnapped Akhesa which is of course a lie and an excuse. So the 2 kids are runaways and at some point hide inside a fisherman's boat. Said fisherman Gulmekiz finds them and from his POV and since he has no idea who they are thinks they are 2 stowaway orphans. He first sounds harsh and cruel demanding that if they want to stay and eat they better earn it by working and even forcibly taking Akhesa's bracelet as earring as payment

But it's because he is not very rich and that any food given to others or time wasted not fishing is a loss of precious time and money, it was a time where you had to be harsh to live if you were not rich. As he says (unpictured because of Tumblr 10 pics limit) he earned his food with the sweat of his brow and to him these 2 little thieves must learn to earn their life honestly by working. Which is technically charitable for the time period, as he says he could have knocked them overboard and yes he does laugh when they struggle but he doesn't mostreat them

This is when he starts to look sympathetic to the viewer. At night, after Tut and Akhesa feel asleep exhausted, not only does he raw alone and let them sleep, he takes the time to pause his rawing to put a blanket over them, even arranging it to make sure it covers them fully, and smiles at them tenderly. Which proves he got attached and is not bad, just strict

Later, as they arrive to Thebes and spot guards and know they will be be recognized and spotted, they hip overboard with no time to explain Gulmekiz the situation, he gets alarmed knowing there are crocodiles around and cries at them to come back (again, unpictured because of pictures limit, but he looks HORRIFIED and rushed to the edge of gis boat shouting). But once seeing they are safe and sound on the shore, he happily accepts they are gone and welcomes them to come back working with him whenever they would be needing to

This is when he arrives at the port and is asked if he saw them and that way learns who these teenagers were all along. He is of course VERY shocked (he treated the daughter of the pharaoh and another noble poorly and had them work I too would be shitting myself at the idea of the consequences if I lived under a theocracy) but still has the time to see something is fishy (if she were indeed kidnapped, why was she and the boy getting along ? And it kinda is convenient since she and her father are monotheists while every other high figure is wanting to be polytheist again right ?). So he plays dumb which irritates the guards and pretends not to know what they mean, in a matter of seconds as shocked as he is. Superb analysis and improvisation skill, dude. Protect these kids and fuck the police

Yet of course he doesn't want trouble again. So when Akhesa who is all alone (Tut got kidnapped by the Hittites for a ramson) comes back to him, he initially panics forbidding her to approach. But once she gets on board anyway and that time roles are reversed and he has to obey her since she finds out he does know her status now? he accepts grumpily grumbling. Yet as illegal as it is since she is searched and since he probably, knew given his previous scene, that she wasn't truly looked for for her good, he still helps. He grumpily breaks the law for that kid

Yet he can't help but notice the boy is not with her and he asks her where he is. To which she does not reply but cries instead. To his POV, this response could mean anything. He is dead, or he got captured, or they got separated and she is scared and alone (which she is). Whatever it is, he looks shocked, covering his mouth. They may be royals, they are in age to be his kids, and he did grow attached to them by working with them. Plus, at this moment of the movie, Akhenaten got betrayed with a coup and executed which is something all Egyptians must have heard about, so he must also know she is now a real grieving orphan and that she lost everything, even her status and riches

So what does he do ? He gives her back her "payment". Which he had forcibly taken anyway, and because he figures she would need it more than he does, as poor as he is. And when she looks at him questionningly, he just looks away and smirks. Omg feels

And once the coup is broken and she and Tut get back their titles and are bethroted as the ones true heirs, he eagerly cheers for them on the front of the crowd, super happy that they are well and that they got back what they deserved. And the couple of teens don't snob him, they are happy to see him too, Tut waving at him and Akhesa winking at him (unpictured again)

This is a Gulmekiz appreciation post

[petorahs]

not gonna lie my characterization and rationalization of akira's character has been easier to do once i found out he shares the same personality type as me.

like sure it's subjective or whatever but as one myself, ENFP akira makes a lot of his actions make so much more sense. same with ENTP goro. god it makes everything so much easier with arguably complex characters like them.

[placeholdercornerworks]

I find the phenomenom of a writer getting criticized in the past because what they wrote is too hard mildly interesting/fascinating/odd? (I don't know the best fitting word but I hope you got the gist)