#(i can't tell which one is worse)

[thevioletcaptain]

if you as a fic reader ever become possessed by the urge to do a popularity bracket with the fics other people wrote and shared for fun and for free, consider:

don't ❤️ 

[lavenderhayes12]

Years of being confident in my identity and then some mangaka decided to slap a pair of boobies on a traumatised and tattooed doctor "for plot reasons" and suddenly I don't know who I am anymore

[skrunksthatwunk]

why the fuck did i write about birds this fucking sucks. i just found out birds only sleep for a few minutes at a time, hundreds of times a day. do you know what this is going to do to my structure? the logistics of their road trip? this is already like three days late and i've been fighting for my life to get A Plot Like Any Plot That Makes Sense out and now the birds fucking sleep for 5 minutes at a time.

[synthshenanigans]

your birthday is a dream reference????????????????

Oh my god it is

[kyouka-supremacy]

Mmmhh...

[sysig]

Roleswap(?) (Patreon)

[wild-at-mind]

Had a really stupid conversation via minor emotional breakdown with a queer friend about what makes an LGBTQ person 'assimilist'. From what she said I'm kind of forced to draw the conclusion 'if you say you're not assimilist, then you're not'.

[popponn]

sae as sugar daddy but not in sexy way but in asian parent "it hurts my eyes to see you as a failure because tf are you a bug go study" way

[betweenlands]

legundo's been going back and forth around his villagers for about half an hour now by viking's best estimate. sometimes he talks to himself, but it's all idle chatter that viking really has no interest in, so in effect viking is getting nothing by just sort of waiting around -- and he's not even phased into the wall, he's just standing on top of something and legundo straight up hasn't looked at him yet.

which just won't do, so, viking waits until legundo's right under his perch, at arm's length, to make his next move.

"bell noises."

legundo scrambles back several paces, not only nearly dropping the pickaxe in his hand but also knocking a villager in a minecart down a railtrack. "viking, you can't just -- how long have you been here, nearly gave me a heart attack,"

"eh," viking says, shrugging, "five, ten, fifteen minutes maybe? you just didn't see me."

"you were in the wall," legundo protests, "what, do you expect me to just assume you're always watching me?"

viking's snicker is less of an unhinged giggle and more of a soft, low noise. "eheh. wasn't even hiding, legs. i was out in plain sight. you just didn't see me."

legundo stops with his hand on an empty minecart, and his involuntary shaking slows just a bit, which viking is pretty used to in terms of body language by now, because it means-- "viking, you're doing the voice again."

which isn't quite true and they both know it -- there's been no mania, no fervent and desperate energy behind the low tone. but viking will take partial recognition, honestly. at least legundo's picking up on things, unlike -- no, wouldn't do to think about that, stay focused. "which i shouldn't do," viking says, slowly, "because it scares you?"

"okay," legundo says, "okay no this is actually new and worse to be honest. how did you get worse. i don't like that."

viking snickers again. there's no joy in it. "i don't either."

legundo stares at him. just. stares at him. viking sits down on the wall, leans his head against one hand, and stares back. legundo backs away slowly, like he's worried viking is going to lunge.

"i'm not gonna hurt ya, buddy," viking says. "wouldn't do that to a friend. friends don't hurt friends, right legs?"

"i cannot express enough how uncomfortable this is making me," legundo responds, fiddling with his crossbow.

viking snorts. "shoot at me and i phase through the wall and you accomplish absolutely nothing."

legundo's fingers slip on the crossbow bolt he's loading, fumble and cause the bow to fire early and snap the arrow in half uselessly. he curses softly and closes his hand around the broken arrow.

"i just want to talk," viking continues. "that's all."

"right," legundo says, and his voice has reached that exact pitch between annoyance and fear that tells viking he needs to make a point quickly, "so, out with it, what horrible scheme are you going to try and rope me into this time?"

viking rolls his eyes, waves one hand, head still propped up on his other hand. "no scheme, just wanna know something."

"which is?"

viking hops off the wall onto the ground, pushing off the side with both hands to land a respectable but short distance between himself and legundo (who, predictably, backpedals, but not enough to get away entirely). "you. you're scared of me, legs. why are you scared of me?"

legundo does that nervous, panicked laugh that viking has always understood to mean he needs to close distance or legundo will bolt. "viking," he says, "seriously, what's going on?"

viking takes a step forward. "answer my question first."

"no, seriously-"

"answer the question, legundo."

"i don't know," legundo says, almost squeaks, "you're just creepy!"

"mhm," viking says, and now he is right up in legundo's face and there is just a little tiny bit of manic light back in his eyes. "so! how do i get worse?"

"worse!?" legundo looks a little like one of those toys where you squeeze them and their eyes bulge out right about now. it's not exactly the reaction viking was hoping for, but it's within the expected range of reactions, he'll take it.

"yeah," viking says, "worse. 'cause you take me seriously when you're scared of me, gundo. but everyone else? nobody else takes me seriously at all. therefore: how do i get worse."

legundo raises a finger, one hand clutching his heart, and takes a shaky breath in. viking waits patiently for him to compose himself. "ohhhhkay. okay. listen, viking, you don't want to go where you're going right now."

"nope," viking says, popping the p just a little, enunciation extra strained, "but it's either this or start killing at this rate, and c'mon, we don't need a second shadowmech type situation around!"

"oh," legundo says, "oh you're serious serious. oh i don't like that at all."

he turns. viking's pickaxe is already in his hand and then stuck into the waystone before he can get that distance. "nope," viking says, voice still flat and dull, "no, you are not running away right now, we are going to talk."

"viking," legundo says. "viking. buddy? you need to calm down. you need to take several deep breaths and you need to calm down."

viking's laugh, unlike the glint in his eyes, can no longer be mistaken for mania. it's just pure desperation all the way down, nothing else to temper it. "already tried that!"

he stops. shakes his head like it'll help clear his thoughts, even though he already knows it won't work. forces his tone back to steady. "already tried that."

[alectoperdita]

I wanna protect everyone who's still willing to draw joukai art in this day and age while braving how it's increasingly the fandom black sheep ship and tumblr's shitty reblogging drought

[bougiebutchbitch]

bad nerve day and legs keep seizing up and not working but I have cat on lap sooooo who's winning really

[eyeballcommander]

soo...Commander Peepers. How's everything going? We haven't heard from you in a long while and I just wanted to check in to make sure you're alright

Bad. Not really feeling social.

[avirael]

The Frozen Lake

It was the third day since he had stopped feeling like dying.

About a week ago he had woken up from his far too lifelike fever dream and a few days later the last spikes of the fever itself had been gone too just like the hallucinations it had brought in his sleep.

He still had been sick though and welcomed Rael telling him to stay in bed until he was perfectly healthy again all too eagerly.

While he still sneezed every now and then, it was at least tolerable now, still annoying but he didn’t feel incredibly uncomfortable anymore.

That day, just like the last and also the ones before that, he had awoken late. Against Rael’s order to stay in bed he had found the courage to get up and take a look out of the window. It was a sunny day, which in Coerthas still meant that it was bitterly cold though. But the sun was shining brightly and already high in the sky too which meant it had to be almost midday. He had slept way too long again, way to many hours for a surprisingly dreamless sleep. Or maybe it was exactly the lack of dreams that allowed him to finally rest, after all in the past there rarely had been good ones…

For a moment he considered to go downstairs and ask for a late breakfast if that wasn’t too insolent given the late hour but then a knock sounded from the door.

Quickly he hurried back to bed, just in case it was Rael, but the person who carefully peeked into the room a few seconds later wasn’t a viera.

“Ah, you are awake! That’s good!”, Haurchefant exclaimed happily and brought a small tray with hot soup and also something warm to drink. “It is so late already, you must be horribly hungry. Alphinaud checked in on you earlier but you were still fast asleep and he didn’t have the heart to wake you.”

A little uncertain on how to answer to that, A’viloh just nodded. Haurchefant grinned, put down a mug on the bedside table and handed A‘viloh a comfortingly warm bowl filled with some rather delicious smelling stew.

Instead of fetching the chair from the small desk by the window, Haurchefant sat down at the lower end of the bed balancing the tray with his own lunch on his knees. Rael once told him that ishgardian society had an absurd amount of strict and antiquated rules and so A’viloh couldn’t help but wonder, that although it seemed like a very appropriate distance to him, in Haurchefant’s hometown the fact alone that he dared to sit on someone else’s bed was probably scandalous.

“I hope you don’t mind me having lunch with you.”, the Elezen asked as he noticed A‘viloh staring.

Quickly the Miqo’te lowered his gaze to his bowl of soup. “Not at all.”, he muttered and tried a spoonful of the food just to change the topic. “Mhh, this is very good!”, he mumbled, still chewing, surprised by how good this really was compared to the bland food and bitter teas Rael had usually brought him these last few days. It must have been the Viera’s way of punishing him for running away.

Haurchefant laughed and then for a while they ate in silence.

“You look a lot healthier already.”, the Elezen stated after a while with an amiable smile on his face before taking a sip from his mug.

A‘viloh shrugged a little embarrassed, since it had been his own fault that he hadn’t been well in the first place. “Only because all of you took so good care of me.”

Haurchefant nodded. “You know, you had us all horribly worried right?”

“Sorry about that.”, he said and guitily looked into his mug.

Curiously Haurchefant eyed him for a moment. “Why did you do that anyway? Run out into the storm.”

A bit surprised A’viloh looked up. Had they all thought he had done this on purpose? “There wasn’t a storm when I left! What do I know about weather? I didn’t expect it to start snowing, let alone that much!”

That made the Elezen chuckle again but he still looked at him expecting an answer.

“Still… why did you leave?”

“I assumed Rael told you…”, A’viloh replied not sure what Haurchefant wanted to hear exactly. He nodded. “Rael did. But maybe I want to hear it from you…”

A’viloh sighed. His plan hadn’t been very smart and he felt a little uncomfortable having to explain his reasons to someone else, when in retrospect it didn’t make much sense even to his own ears.

“You know the… circumstances under which we fled Ul’dah… I couldn’t… um… the fact that we didn’t even know what happened to our friends… I wanted to find out, because it doesn’t seem fair to me that we escaped while all of them didn’t…”

“Mhh…”, Haurchefant nodded thoughtfully but let go off the topic for now. Instead he asked, „And how are you feeling today?”

Somehow that question confused A’viloh even more.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a simple question, isn’t it?”, he said still smiling politely.

Of course it was a simple question. Just the answer felt unreasonable complicated to him. To make things even more difficult people who asked such a question usually wanted to hear “I‘m fine, and you?” or “Very good, thank you.” for an answer and rarely the truth. They certainly didn’t want to hear “A few days ago I was convinced I was going to die and honestly it wasn’t that bad, so now I‘m still not sure wether I am happy to still be alive or not”.

“Alright… I guess.”, he mumbled instead. He had never been a good liar and could only hope that this fact wasn’t too obvious for the Elezen.

“You know what?”, Haurchefant proclaimed after watching him thoughtfully for a second. “Today is a wonderful day. We should go for a walk.”

“A walk?!”, A’viloh exclaimed wide-eyed, as if he had just asked something unreasonable of him.

“Why not?”

A’viloh couldn’t think of a good reason why not, other than that he was supposed to stay in bed, so he shrugged.

“Where’s Rael?”, he asked instead.

Haurchefant smirked. “Do you need Rael’s permission to go outside?”

“Of course not.”, the Miqo’te protested. “But Rael will be mad if I run off again, especially against their orders to stay in bed.”

“Rael and Alphinaud went to the observatory earlier.”, Haurchefant explained. “We’ll be back before they are, I promise.”

What was A’viloh supposed to say against that and also against the expectant look on the Elezen’s face. He took another glimpse towards the window and decided that it looked nice enough to go outside.

“Fine.”

“Good!”, Haurchefant exclaimed happily and collected their empty bowls and mugs. “There should be warm clothes for you in the wardrobe. If you need anything else just ask someone. I’ll wait for you by the northern gate.”

After Haurchefant had left, A’viloh remained sitting in his bed for a moment longer contemplating on the Elezen’s question. Yes, he felt better again. But better in what comparison? Better than a few days ago when he had felt and also been half-dead? Though he didn’t feel sick anymore now, there still was a weigh on his heart. From his plan that had failed so spectacularly and even more so from the dreams he wouldn’t have minded to keep on dreaming forever.

Vehemently he shook his head and decided not to think about that now or he would just crawl back under the blanket of his comfortably warm bed again. Instead he got up and took a look into the wardrobe. Almost none of these were his own clothes of course since all he possessed were the ones he had worn on his body that day they fled Ul’dah. Very unsuitable for this climate. But neither did he see the borrowed clothes he had worn that night when he had tried to run away. Everything in here looked even softer and warmer like someone had wanted to make sure he was feeling comfortable. To his surprise the things didn’t look that much too big for him either, unlike his last set of clothes. Besides a few Hyur most people here at Camp Dragonhead were grown up Elezen but these clothes looked like they belonged to neither. Maybe it were clothes for Elezen children, he wondered and also thought that in that case someone must have brought them here just for him.

Grateful for so much effort he picked a few pieces and got dressed. Lazily he ran his fingers through his hair to get rid of the worst knots but the look into the small mirror at the washbasin, where his tired face stared back at him reproachfully, just made him sigh. Once he was ready he took the warm coat out of the wardrobe too and went out to look for Haurchefant. Just as he had said, the Elezen was standing by the gate that led to the north-east, towards the ruins of the Steel Vigil.

From afar Haurchefant already recognised the Miqo’te, his bright red hair a singularity among all the people living here. Pleasantly smiling as always he waved at him and A’viloh couldn’t help but smile a little too and wave back as he hurriedly walked towards him.

“There you are! I see the clothes fit you nicely.”

A’viloh nodded.

“They do. Thank you very much for these.”

Haurchefant dismissively waved with one hand. “It’s the least I could do…”

But he had done a lot more than that, A’viloh thought. “I think there’s more I need to thank you for. Rael told me it was you who saved my life.”

“Mhhh…”, Haurchefant tilted his head as if he wasn’t sure if this statement was entirely the truth. “Rael is too humble. They played a bit of a role in that too. After all it was Rael who noticed you were gone. And it was also Rael who didn’t leave your bedside and tried their best to heal you.”

A’viloh remembered waking up and finding the usually quite touch-averse viera cuddled up to him with a look on their face so horribly sad like he had never seen on them before. Rael had pretended it was nothing but it had been a very unconvincing performance. Asked about it Alphinaud had only offered a few sentences about how worried Rael had looked and how they had used all kinds of spells he himself had never seen or heard of before, all of it to try and save him. It had made him feel even more guilty for his stupidity.

So maybe Haurchefant was right. But still it had been him who had risked going out into the storm to find him.

“Anyway. I still want to thank you! Honestly.”, he insisted. But how honestly was it really?

Sure, he was glad to still be alive. After all his plan hadn’t been to run out into a blizzard and freeze to death, although some of them seemed to think that was the case. But once he found himself in this situation he had to admit that he had welcomed his fate rather willingly. A fact that shocked even himself a little looking back at it now.

“You’re welcome. After all you wouldn’t be any help to your friends frozen to death out there.”, Haurchefant joked with a wry smile on his lips.

“I guess not...”, A’viloh muttered, the topic of his friends making his mood visibly sink again.

Of course the Elezen noticed and his smile turned into a playful grin. “But I acted a little selfish too, you know? I think Camp Dragonhead is a lot friendlier with your company and I would like to have you and your pretty smile around a little longer.”

For a moment A’viloh’s eyes shot up to look at the others face before he quickly pretended that something somewhere a little bit to his left was a lot more interesting. Sometimes Haurchefant randomly said things, A’viloh hadn’t had the slightest idea how to react to. Not because he was that oblivious but simply because it puzzled him. Nonetheless the air suddenly didn’t feel that cold anymore on his face.

Haurchefant was always very kind to him. Well, he mostly was kind to everybody but sometimes he seemed to admire him especially. Him of all people, although there was nothing special about him. Haurchefant sometimes spoke of him like he was one of the greatest heroes of all time and it felt so ridiculous to him. He was just silly, cowardly A‘viloh! What had he ever achieved in his miserable life to justify such admiration? The people called him a Warrior of Light but wasn’t that some grand overstatement? Some days he thought all of this had been a horrible mistake. A great misunderstanding! Then he wondered how he had ever gotten entangled in this madness in the first place and also if he ever would get out of it again. But what else should he do with his life anyway...

While A’viloh’s brain still screeched in desperate search for a proper response, Haurchefant seemed to realise he had flustered him and glossed it over by gesturing to the gate.

“How about we walk a few yalms? There’s something you need to see!”

Still too dumbstruck to speak or to even wonder what the Elezen was talking about, A’viloh nodded and then proceeded to follow him out into the snowy landscape.

After a few minutes Haurchefant paused and took a deep breath. “Isn’t the air wonderful today?”

A’viloh followed his example, breathed deeply and let his gaze wander over the snow covered landscape with a few pines here and there and the mountains and ruins of the Steel Vigil in the distance. The air was cool and fresh, still cold enough that the warm sun couldn’t melt the snow. Instead the rays of sunshine made the scenery shine and sparkle as if everything was covered not in ice but in millions over millions of tiny diamonds.

“It is.”, he answered and smiled, surprised how beautiful this inhospitable landscape could be, before with a sudden spark of curiosity he finally asked. “Where are we going?”

“It’s not far anymore.”, Haurchefant said with a grin on his face and pointed into another direction. Shortly after and only a bit further ahead they reached a small lake.

As they got closer A‘viloh noticed that it not only was covered in a layer of snow and ice but also that quite a few off-duty soldiers, given the proximity to the camp he assumed they had to be, were standing right on top of the frozen lake. No, they were not quite standing. It looked more like they were dancing or flying maybe. More or less gracefully they moved over the lake‘s surface in fluid swift strides, some just moving in wide circles and other swirling around this way or that. A’viloh had never seen something like this and it looked strange and impossible but at the same time very beautiful to him.

The two of them had almost reached the lake by then, A’viloh a few steps ahead to get a better look at the wondrous people on the ice and he already wanted to ask how they did that, when his attention was drawn elsewhere by a curious squawking sound.

“Oh! Look at them!”, the Miqo’te exclaimed, his fascinated smile still turning a little brighter, as he gestured to a small flock of wild geese resting at the shore of the lake. With ruffled feathers they sat closely huddled together at the edge of the ice and suddenly A‘viloh couldn’t help but worry about them. They looked so unbothered by his presence, sleeping through the day and all the hubbub around them, looking all exhausted and frozen with their puffed up feathers. Like anything could happen to them and they wouldn’t even mind.

Strangely he wondered what he himself had looked like when Haurchefant had found him unconscious in the snow. He must have been a pitiful sight. Had the Elezen thought him beyond saving too, just like he himself had. What if he had found him a little later or not at all? Maybe that would have been better, a voice murmured to him just like it had so many times before and for a moment, tempted by the grief heavy on his heart once again, he almost believed it.

But no, he would be dead then and while he would have liked to imagine that this would mean he could be with his loved ones again, it was not exactly what either of the tribes he had lived with believed.

Vaguely he remembered his father working for hours, digging a grave at what used to be Wellwick Wood. An elderly woman too exhausted by their long journey, his grandmother if he remembered correctly, had died shortly after they had arrived there. With a sad smile on his face his father had explained to his children, who had stared down into the hole in the ground with confusion in their eyes, how by returning her body to the earth there could still grow new life from this death.

Or the drake tribe of the Sagolii Desert, who always burned their dead and left the ashes to be carried away by the desert wind, believing that it would make it easier for the deceased‘s aether to return to the Aetheric Sea and create something new elsewhere.

With a sudden sharp pain in his heart A’viloh realised that neither of the people he loved had gotten the burial they would have wanted for themselves. And neither had A‘viloh himself wanted to die in the coldness of Coerthas and be forever forgotten under a thick layer of snow and ice. He had thought about dying before but never had he been this close to it. For a second he wondered if this was something worth speaking to Rael about, but he wasn’t sure they wouldn’t misunderstand and get mad at him again.

“Why do you make such a sad face now?”, Haurchefant asked having noticed the smile slip from the Miqo’te’s face. But A’viloh just vehemently shook his head and focused on the geese again.

“They must be horribly cold.”, he wondered in a voice that suggested he already planned to take all of them to the safety of his comfortably warm room.

Haurchefant chuckled. “Don’t worry, they survived the storm out here after all. They keep each other warm, that’s why you‘ll rarely see one of them alone. A bit like you and your friends.”

“Maybe…”, A’viloh answered thinking about this comparison for a moment. “I just wish it wouldn’t always be me who needs to be taken care of. But as proven in Ul’dah and now once again I am simply too weak and useless to keep myself alive, not to mention anyone else.”

The Elezen’s face got a little stern as he folded his arms in front of his chest. “Don’t say that, I am sure it’s not true! This was just bad luck! You are neither weak nor useless!”

A’viloh shrugged. “But that’s how I feel right now...”

Slowly Haurchefant nodded before speaking again with a silent but determined voice. “Listen. I‘ll never forget how bravely you fought for Francel although you barely knew him. You could have gotten yourself in trouble with that and you helped him anyway.”

“It’s not like I did that on my own -”, A’viloh tried to protest but was immediately interrupted. “But you still helped! And I’m sure even without Rael you would have done so!”

Another shrug was all Haurchefant got in response, so the Elezen thought for a second before making an offer. “You want to make yourself useful, right? Get stronger? I could teach you how to fight like a real ishgardian knight, with sword and shield. Or we have some dragoons at Camp Dragonhead too! I’m sure there’s a lot you could learn from them.”

A‘viloh‘s face turned to disbelief. “I really don’t think I could fight with armor and weapons this heavy…”

“You can’t say so if you don’t try! And I have you know that dragoon armors are surprisingly light. How do you think they could still be this agile otherwise? Promise me to at least try training with them a little!”

He didn’t really want to agree to that. He knew he would make a fool of himself. But how could he say no with Haurchefant trying everything in his power to cheer him up. Weakly he shook his head and muttered: “Fine…”

“Perfect!”, Haurchefant exclaimed with a bright smile on his face. “I think an early reward for your efforts is appropriate then!”

Confused A’viloh watched him take a small bag off of his shoulders, which he hadn’t even noticed until now. For a moment the Elezen was busy undoing a knot before he opened the bag and presented to A‘viloh a set of two weirdly shaped blades attached to pieces of wood with leather straps. He had no idea what these constructs were meant to do and that was plainly visible on his face. “What’s that?”

“Ice skates of course!”, Haurchefant said as if that would explain it all but the Miqo’te‘s face remained clueless, so Haurchefant gestured to the lake behind them. “You attach them to your boots so you can walk on the ice like this!”

“Oh!”, A’viloh exclaimed as he understood what Haurchefant was planning. “I don’t think-… I mean I‘ve never-… You don’t really want me to step on that lake do you?” The idea somehow scared him.

“Why not?”, Haurchefant asked for the second time today with this smile that made the question sound like a challenge.

“It’s just a bit of ice!”, A‘vi objected. “What if it breaks?”

The Elezen shook his head and proceeded to fasten the metal blades beneath his boots. “Ah, don’t worry. The ice is thick enough, it will take at least a few more days to melt.”

“I don’t know…”, was all A’viloh replied as Haurchefant pressed another pair of skates into his hands. But the Elezen remained determined and took a few wobbly steps through the snow and onto the ice. “See! I can stand on it and it doesn’t break! You are a lot lighter than me, so why wouldn’t you be able to?”

Oh, you don’t know my bad luck!, A‘viloh thought but Haurchefant didn’t look like he would take that for an excuse. Instead he stretched out a hand towards the Miqo’te. “Come one! Believe me, this is going to be funny!”

For a second A‘viloh pondered his options. The idea of nothing but a little bit of ice between him and the water still terrified him but Haurchefant seemed so excited about this and the other people actually seemed to have fun too. Maybe he should at least pretend to try... Reluctantly he sat down on a rock and tried to put on the skates just like Haurchefant had done a moment ago.

“The clasp on the back too. Make sure none of them are loose… Yes, that looks fine!”, Haurchefant helpfully explained. As A’viloh got up, he almost flopped right back down into the snow. It was a weird feeling to balance his whole weight on only two thin pieces of metal. As he carefully took the first few steps towards the lake Haurchefant reached out for him once more. “Here! Take my hand! I don’t want you to fall…”

Hesitantly A‘vi stepped onto the ice and immediately felt like the ground was being pulled away beneath his feet. He struggled for balance, feeling himself falling backwards, so Haurchefants arm was a very welcome thing to hold on to.

With a chuckle the Elezen tried to loosen A‘vi‘s desperate grip on his arm and instead took each of his hand in one of his own before carefully making slow steps backwards pulling A‘viloh over the ice, which A’vi could swear was making suspicious crackling sounds below them. There was no way to tell the blades beneath his feet not to move, so all A’viloh could do was try not to fall and plead to Haurchefant with ears flat on his head and panic in his eyes, as he slowly was pulled further onto the lake. “No, no, no. Take me back, that’s a horrible idea!”

“Calm down. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I promise.”, Haurchefant said soothingly and continued to explain to him how to move on the ice skates. And in fact the Elezen’s calm voice slowly made A’viloh feel less anxious. His hands, frantically clasping at Haurchefant’s, relaxed along with his legs. It was still a weird feeling to be standing on the ice but now it felt a lot easier to remain balanced. He glanced at the people around them while remaining as still as possible, studied their movements for a moment and then tentatively tried to mimic the way they slowly pushed their feet above the slippery surface. To his surprise he really moved forward without much effort and also without feeling the sensation of falling again, closer to Haurchefant who had steadied him with his outstretched arms so far.

“See! It’s not that difficult.”, he said while making another step backwards so A’viloh had to follow with another step forward. The Miqo’te, strangely excited about the fact that he was actually moving on these weird ice-blades, laughed happily. “You are even going backwards!”

Haurchefants laughed. “One step after the other. Let’s teach you how to go forward first, hm? I‘ll let go off one of your hands but don’t worry, I still got you. One feet after the other just like you did before…”

In fact it almost felt easier now that he could use one of his arms to balance himself. Very slowly at first they floated above the icy surface of the lake but soon A‘viloh got braver. Once he almost lost his balance but for a comparably tall and strong person like Haurchefant it seemed like a very easy task to keep a small Miqo’te on his feet. Almost falling had felt like a shock for a second but only moments later they were laughing about it and in the end A’viloh was surprised and also a little proud how quickly he had learned and how much fun this was.

He wasn’t sure how much time they spent there on the frozen lake but at some point a bell sounded from the nearby Camp. Startled A’viloh looked up (and almost lost his balance again). “How late is it? I’m sure you have more important things to do than this! I’m sorry if I’m keeping you from doing your work.”

But Haurchefant just laughed and teased, “What could be more important than prove to you that not all of Coerthas is a deadly wasteland trying to kill you? But I think we really should return soon. I don’t want you to get cold again and after all we also don’t want Rael to find out about this little excursion, do we?”

For a second A’viloh wished the viera could see him now and wondered what their reaction would be like. The thought made him chuckle.

And as they floated, one last circle around the lake, A’viloh couldn’t help but wonder that maybe it was happy moments like this. The reason he was still here. Moments that made his life worth living.

---

inspired by the poem The Reversal by Leila Chatti

[todaviia]

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[softquietsteadylove]

We definitely need more Thenamesh presidency AU!

Would you write more? Maybe Thena has to do an interview and the interviewer is a bit too friendly and asks her some subtile weird questions and basically undresses her with his eyes? Let Gil step in and protect his girlfriend in the most professional way? 😄

Thank you! Keep up your amazing work! ❤️

"Thank you for joining me, Madam President."

Thena smiled, nodding courteously but quiet thus far. Not only did she have to be careful of every single word she said these days, but she couldn't afford to get tired and run low on energy part way through the possibly lengthy interview.

"The rumours are true," her interviewer smiled, and that was always a dangerous start to a sentence. He tilted his head at her, "you are as beautiful as you are intimidating."

Gil looked up from Thena's schedule in his hand.

Thena tilted her head, though, "is that part of the question."

Eros laughed, "no, you're right it's off the record. Call it an attempt to get to know you?"

"I believe that is what the interview will be for."

Again, Eros took no offense to what would be a dry response to some and a defensive remark to most. He laughed, letting it roll off of him. He was renowned for his good nature, as well as being so young for the field of very serious televised journalism. He was popular with younger viewers for his looks.

They needed this interview to secure the young vote--the key to real, effective positive change.

"Yes ma'am, I am very honoured to have the opportunity, let it be said," Eros sat up a little straighter, almost like a professional interviewing the president. He had a dry kind of tone, his words somewhat running together.

"Your show is quite popular," Thena began her part of the battle (Sersi had advised her not to call it that). She had to meet him toe to toe so he didn't twist anything out of her, nor get the chance to misrepresent anything. "My people were happy to arrange the interview."

Kingo had told her that they had to do well with Eros if they wanted any relevance with young people beyond being known as the era of betrayal.

"Careful not to flatter me, ma'am," Eros continued to schmooze as if they were having drinks at a work conference as opposed to meeting in a secure location for journalistic purposes. He ran a hand through his hair. "I am prone to ego."

"A privilege few can afford."

"I believe you could be afforded anything," he tilted his head, his eyes drifting over her for just a second.

Thena shifted in her chair. Her hands were clasped together, because it was safer than having them loose enough to fidget and betray micro-expressions for her.

Gil cleared his throat off to the side, motioning for things to keep moving for the sake of time. He was frowning.

"So, Madam President," Eros began a proper question as if he hadn't been blatantly flirting with her - the most powerful woman in the country - seconds ago. "You have arrived to a rather precarious position."

Finally the interview began in earnest. Gil drifted around the edges of it, of course asked to keep his presence to a minimum, but permitted to stay in Thena's proximity, as was her security.

A few things were off limits--the direct mention of Ikaris' vacated position, the status of the staff investigations after his betrayal, suspects, that kind of thing. Although the ramifications of such things were technically fair game.

There were two cameras set up strategically on tripods. Eros' show would use edited footage of the interview, which would be subject to their review for security reasons. Gil mostly stayed behind Thena's shoulder, out of the frame, keeping his eyes on the popular show host.

"Now, I would like to ask," Eros looked up from his dossier of questions and points to bring up. He had done so a few times already and every time he did, the tone of the interview would...shift. "And this can be off the record, if you like."

Gil rolled his eyes.

"But it must be said that this is the first time an unmarried woman has come to power as you have." There it was. Gil shook his head faintly, although it seemed Eros was done taking his silent direction. "Does this affect the office you keep, in any way?"

"Why would it?" Thena asked flatly, not only not dignifying his question but also answering the real point of it. "No one in the cabinet minds if I am married or not, only if I can do the job of serving our country."

"So would you say you're on the market?"

Gil snapped Thena's schedule closed, as loudly as he could but not nearly as loudly as he would like. Eros looked up at him; he swiped his hand across his throat, telling him to cut it.

Eros barely acknowledged being told to back off but leaned back in his chair again. Of course doing so gave him another opportunity to run his eyes over Thena.

She was wearing a light grey pantsuit, but the way he was looking at her certainly seemed as if she were half dressed.

"Perhaps we should take five," Eros suggested in a much more - and perhaps falsely - amiable tone. He uncrossed his legs and stood with his dossier in hand. "I am happy to fetch you some water, ma'am."

Gil held out his hand for Thena to hold as she stood. "No outside food or drink--thank you."

The 'thank you' really was an afterthought.

"Of course," Eros nodded, giving his most charming smile. "I shall return in a moment, then."

Security both let him out and followed him as an escort. Such was the requirement of being alone in a room with Madam President herself.

Thena sighed, accepting the water bottle Gil himself was holding, "how long is this?"

"Probably another hour," he chuckled, speaking quietly as they hovered together. "You're doing great so far. You haven't even told him to go fuck himself."

Thena let out a quiet laugh against her hand, but it was certainly real. A few of the security team laughed too (those close enough to them to hear it).

Gil angled his shoulder for her, getting as close as they could afford when not totally alone. Although it didn't stop his eyes from being a little too soft when he looked at her. "Just a little more. I'm right here if you need me."

Thena's eyes weren't much better at keeping their monumental secret. "Thank you, as always."

Gil chuckled, taking the water bottle from her, "you know there's no need."

Her hand brushed against his on the way, "still."

A knock on the door signalled that their guest was back.

Thena sighed but let Gil hold her hand as she sat down again. He leaned down to her ear, "I'm gonna kill him if he asks you about being single again."

Thena laughed, although she couldn't reply. She gave his hand one more little squeeze, prepared to delve back into their work.

"Come in," Gil announced, although he stayed at the edge of Thena's chair. Eros nodded to him as he walked back into the room and to his own seat. Gil kept his eye on him, "limit personal questions going forward."

It was a very straightforward statement, and one that could be expected from her personal attache. No one would necessarily suspect it was her boyfriend telling this clown to stop hitting on her in front of him.

[nerdynikki94]

Honestly? Did I want more from DTAMHD? Yes, I did. I wanted something signifying actual progression for Dennis' character (even just a crumb of genuine growth) , and I sincerely don't think we got that. However... we did get a fascinating insight into the process of his mind. Dennis' level of self-denial is so ironic and profound. He can't acknowledge the inevitability that he's middle-aged.

(I swear this episode honestly has given me an alt hc, that the show is based in his mind; because logistically, a man of his lifestyle and malnourishment could not commit the feats he is constantly sailing through. TGGB & DTAMHD... back-to-back? What happened to his hand? Did he even sprain it? Or is he just the most dramatic brat in the gang - clearly the latter.)

It is important to note that he didn’t fix the actual problem. He momentarily masked the symptoms, but ignore long-term help with blood pressure medicine is not going to fix the issue, nor is it going to protect him from fucking keeling over in a stressful situation (when he's not in a contained and quiet Doctor's exam room) and his blood pressure spikes.

I'm honestly a little jaded at this point (16 Fucking Seasons of crumbs, y'all), but if one were to continue 'trusting the structure' this episode conveyed a lot.

The B Plot: The pressure cooker. The metaphor parallels the building pressure Dennis quick-tempered bouts of rage. So, to toss out a little 'cat-in-the-wall' conjecture here: The pressure cooker is Dennis, but we all saw him eat that bloody diamond in the end and we all heard Mac's speech about coal turning into diamonds under massive pressure. Dennis' experience is a theory of pressure, he daydreams it all in the span of a minute or so. He's roleplaying with hypothetical obstacles. There's no risk. Maybe Dennis, isn't the pressure cooker, but the coal.

If I were to try and take anything hopeful out of this episode, it would be the way the narrative is showing us that this episode acknowledged that Dennis isn't ready yet. It's not his turn to break. It's going to take real, substantial pressure to get that diamond.

It was a hell of a misdirect (and honestly a little bit of a slap in the face), but if these characters live in the real world, where people are bound by the laws of mortality, then Dennis should have his time.

Genuinely, who fucking knows?

I'm not hating on the episode. We all know this is the trashy dick joke sitcom. I just thought that if Mac & Charlie could have moments of genuine heartbreak, culminating in deep catharsis, that maybe Dennis could have that too.... but no.

Can't wait to see the sunny dudebros miss the point & proclaim Dennis Reynolds - SA victim, traumatized individual with an emotionally tumultuous personality disorder - the new Andrew Tate.

I'm sorry, but yeah. I'm a little miffed. It was all a dream, and everything goes Dennis' way. Y'all I'm fucking tired. This was a great episode for Glenn, but a fucking frustrating episode for Dennis. I may have wanted a little macden, but all I cared about was seeing Dennis face the limitations of his mortality, to see that he's failing his body and his brain. He didn't have to actually take the medicine (I wouldn't expect him to), but Goddammit, everything seems to work out in his delusional favor. So, of course he's going to continue being delusional, and probably only change for the worse.

I'll say it: I wanted a broken Dennis, and we did not get that. He didn't even crack, the unbearble and apparently now canonical Golden God. That episode's title was intended to tease sunnyblr.

Excuse the plethora of tags. I just kept getting more irritated.