#Well not like got away from me more like

[karaokebearwithal]

Aylin Posting again :)

It's the girls lounging by the lake by moonrise.

Y'know before it all went wrong. (rambles and ideas under cut)

I really wanna draw the scene where Aylin first comes down from the moon bathed heavens to great Reithwin town to great the nobility. Like it starts with Isobel bemoaning the day ahead, her father Kethric is genuinly the most excited he's ever been since its been the first time something like this has happened. Ketheric takes it as a sign from his late wife and therefore is needling Isobel to "put her best foot forward" and "make her mother proud". And like Isobel loves being a cleric, is great at it and is excited about this but at the same time after bearing the burden of her father's grief for so long, she also feels suffocated by constantly being there for Ketheric, clerical duties, being a noble ect.

Like just once she wants to act in her own self-interests.

So like the whole town funnels outside to the gate part near the mason guild sigil. Its a full moon of course Isobel rolls her eyes but maintains stature. Her dad seems elated yet desperate that its the sign he's been hoping for all this time even though he'll never find what he's searching for. The town folk have all these banners and banquets and stuff to greet this heavenly messenger. No one knows what's coming but they know its good. Only for the moon to be eclipsed by an enormous pair of wings. A single flap alone, fluttering the clothes and hair of the whole town. Deep and powerful feather strokes echo throughout the now silence townspeople. A steady rhythm that vibrates in your chest cavity.

Divine moonlight bleeds through the feathers almost blindingly, its not an elegant or graceful creature that Selune blessed the people of moonrise with. She is loud, armed and armored, landing on the ground with a thunderous force. Her face radiant, her smile jubilant to the point of feeling threatening. Some more cowardly townfolk tremble under her seering gaze. A force of nature, a paladin of Our Lady of Silver. She bellows out to the crowd: "FEAR NOT THE GENTLE FOLK OF MOONRISE. FOR IT IS I, DAME AYLIN, DAUGHTER OF SELUNE HERSELF PALADIN OF-" (I assume she goes on for a while, its her first time in the mortal realm she doesn't understand time and the concept of being concise)

And Isobel is just fully smitten. Absolutely floored, completely and utterly in love.

(i always think she fell first, then after Aylin has dwindled out the crowd with her divine ramblings, Isobel greets her formally and that's when Aylin is like <3<3<3)

I Don't know the first thing about writing comics or panneling but I wanna make this happen somehow. Any tips would be amazing!

[synthaphone]

Finished the Royal Centibytes, in both pre- and post-conversion flavors!

I thought court jesters would be a fun change of pace from king/queen or prince/princess- there's a precedent for royals to occasionally be things like heralds and war(?)horses, and I wanted to make a royalgirl who isn't a princess, noblewoman, or queen. I got to learn a little about some historical female court jesters while looking for references, which was cool!

I agonized for a while over whether I should put eyelashes on the one that I arbitrarily assigned 'Royalgirl', but ended up deciding that they look cute.

[b4kuch1n]

sunstroll

[geoffrard]

THE MCR/THURSDAY ICEBERG (since the mcr/thursday manifesto is still a work in progress)

[roseofcards90]

The fact that people were so willing to completely dismiss what happened in After Pain and Harrow after they saw It's Not My Fault and Deep Cover paint Mu and Kotoko in a worse light really shows that some people don't have literary comprehension 😭

[six-of-ravens]

wish me luck tonight lads i have to ask my aunt financial questions and she is very much smarter and better at math than i am so im going to be doing a lot of smiling and nodding while my brain is actually exploding

[sysig]

Wouldn’t want him getting lost now, would we (Patreon)

[obsob]

im like tamftgebka (thinking about maia from ‘the goblin emperor’ by katherine addison)

[pennamepersona]

the thing that finally let me understand wyll was seeing a couple posts about how he's like. unfazed in the beginning. this is normal to him

very "the day you were taken by the nautiloid was the worst day of your life. for the blade of frontiers, it was tuesday"

[sweatermuppet]

oh i never posted abt it here. but post office guy ended up moving away. i found out a while back & then i went in somewhat recently & he was at the counter & he was weighing my orders & said "today's my last day, actually!" & i said "oh really? i was worried id missed you already..." we joked around, me & him & his other coworker who sees me regularly. he said his car was packed up to go & he went "it's been a pleasure, working with u" & i told him it's crazy that he'd been with me since the very start of me opening my shop & we wished each other well & he gave me my receipt & said "have a good day, man" & was so smiley like always & i said you too + "have a safe drive"

[suffarustuffaru]

I don’t speak Japanese so I’d LOVE to hear more about the differences between the English and Japanese Re:Zero fandoms

yeah sure its very interesting to me now that ive noticed it more lately :o !! though ok disclaimer - i dont speak japanese either hah so if anyone is seeing this and does speak japanese + is familiar with the japanese speaking side of this fandom please add info if youd like!! and of course ill be mainly speaking from the english side of things bc im more familiar with that yes (sorry anon again im not a japanese speaker T^TT so sorry if i tread on info you already know!!). but yeah im speaking from my own experiences given the Topic at hand. ive been in this fandom since... 2019?? which is so wild to me aljsdfljsd.

anyway so - i think the big difference is mainly that the english fandom and many english speaking people that engage with rezero are. to put it bluntly, misconception runs Rampant to a very Interesting degree. to the point where it seems like the english speaking side of the fandom is More. Aggressive. than the japanese fandom. not that the japanese speaking side of the fandom is perfect - also bc what fandom is ever perfect 100% of the time, tbh - but that the louder people in the english rezero fandom are. well its a Very low bar. Very low. and from what little ive seen and heard so far, the japanese fandom tends to understand rezero and its characters better than the english fandom. which ig makes sense bc you know, rezero is japanese media, and also im sure cultural differences come into play here as well (im not familiar enough on this to speak about it in depth but the cultural differences feel Pretty Clear even though i cant 100% put my finger on what they specifically are).

but also bc yeah. its not That hard to beat some of the english fandom when it comes to media comprehension. misreading rezero is unfortunately Extremely common, both in and out of the rezero community. its Everywhere - youtube, myanimelist, ao3, ff.net, reddit, twitter, various rezero discords - and from what ive experienced, rezero tumblr basically kind of feels like finding an oasis after crawling through the desert for days on end lajdslfjs. which is probs bc rezero tumblr is Smaller and also a lot of us seem to be lgbtq+ in some way or be allies, so you dodge a lot of the misogyny and homophobia that happens in other rezero english circles. its why you see a lot of openly queer rezero-related posts on here while its a bit more. barren. in other rezero english places yes. bc its more safe to post queer rezero things on rezero tumblr rather than rezero reddit for Sure.

im not sure how the japanese fandom is with that exactly but theres some interesting differences between whats popular in the english fandom vs the japanese fandom. i mean as an otto fan ive been noticing how hes more popular with the japanese fandom—and on top of that, ottosuba is Way More popular in the japanese fandom too. reinsuba and julisuba seem to usually be the most popular mlm subaru ships in both fandoms but ottosuba is like A Little Up There in the japanese fandom. not sure if its on the same level as a ship like reinsuba but ottosubas Definitely loved as a ship. from what little ive seen it also seems like ships like vichisha are more acknowledged by the japanese fandom? im not entirely sure on like—Complete differences regarding what the japanese fandom finds interesting that may differ from english fandom, so ill really have to look more into the japanese fandoms fanart and fanfic when i can bc im pretty curious too. in general though, it seems like the japanese fandom has a bit more variety…. you can find fanart on So Many characters in rezero (which already has a very Massive cast full of very fleshed out characters) there. not that you cant in the english fandom bc theres a Bit of variety too, but id more so contribute that a little more to the Big Cast and less to having actual variety in fancontent. and of course im not saying that the japanese fandom may be a bit barren in some areas of fancontent—bc inevitably when u have a big cast of characters, side character content is gonna be more sparse compared to the main characters, but to me it does feel like the english fandom lacks variety in comparison. (and also yeah. seems like the japanese fandom acknowledges gay ships more in general tbh.)

whats focused in fancontent makes it easy to tell what may be popular in a fandom in terms of how fans perceive the source material and what fandoms want to do with the source material, if that makes sense. and its very easy to tell that with the english fandom if you just hop on rezero ao3–or even better, rezero reddit given theres a fanfic ideas thread thats usually pinned right at the top of the site. again i havent looked at japanese fanfic for rezero yet (bc i dont know where to look oops ajdndn) but when it comes to the english fandom you can tell that theyre generally more focused on the female cast both in fanart and in fanfic bc. theyre women and many fans on say, reddit or various rezero discords, are cis straight men, so inevitably… well lets just say you can tell when a man makes content for this fandom o.o theres also the. very weird reaction fic trends and trends following popular fics in the fandom, the two biggest being the watching him die again and again react fic and re:forgotten, the former of which includes a harem plot with subaru and the main girls of rezero while the latter is one of those subaru gets tortured by his ooc friends and then he gets revenge on them fics. which i suppose says something about the english fandom too.

of course on ao3 its dominated mainly by english fics (of course not all fics on there for rezero are in english— big shoutout to all the non english fics on rezero ao3 ur doing great <3 — but the majority are in english). and while yeah ur occasionally gonna find stuff like queer content or side character content or rarepair content, its definitely not that big in amount and also comes with the risk of. Hate. if anyones reading this and remembers the lone star stuff. (if u dont know—lone star was a julius x emilia fic where they NTR subaru or some shit and then it got bombed with hate bc of the ship? yeah.) so yeah english fandom is very cis straight oriented, ironically with the nastiest people being the very people that rezero criticizes. though this is also my personal experience, i do know several people personally whove been in this fandom for a while or were here for a while and yeah english fandom isnt very welcoming at times???? and it seems like at the very least the japanese fandom is A Little Less Aggressive than the english fandom is.

otherwise. yeah im very very curious about more of the differences in popular content between the japanese vs english fandom. i mean the english fandom’s main focus on the female cast for. Interesting Reasons other than their actual character depth is… interesting. and the astreas being popular in general vs otto + ottosubas popularity fluctuating is also very interesting to me (but i have several guesses as to Why that is), among other things. yeah id love to know what else the japanese fandom likes about rezero and see more of their content. i also have to wonder if characters like emilia and subaru are hated less by the japanese fandom…. T^T well that and the english fandom and many english speaking people engaging in rezero have this interesting pattern of either hating subaru No Matter What, wanting subaru to Not Be Subaru (ie using him as a self insert almost or attempting to change him into virtually another character), or putting subaru on a pedestal and ignoring his flaws and mistakes and that he Can do wrong. like theres Really not a lot of nuance there. so i wonder if the japanese fandom is. A Little more chill when it comes to character opinions like this too.

[hella1975]

wondering why old ladies aren’t smiling at me around town as much this morning then remember im wearing hoops and a puffer jacket and generally look like a bitchy year 9 girl who’s about to punch someone

[ladyrijus]

I'm not sure if the creators realize, but based on its title alone, Tears of the Kingdom has the potential to turn around the entire Legend of Zelda franchise in terms of its storyline.

Let me explain.

I think we can all agree that in most of the games, there is a core narrative of light versus evil that outlines the game. Link and Zelda are the benevolent heroes of the story and Ganondorf / Ganon is the irredeemable villain. Storywriters for the franchise like to use this formula for the franchise because hey, it's worked so many times, and gained lots of reception, so why not?

But just because it has worked doesn't mean it's right or suitable. 

Firstly, given the history of our world, it is problematic that the face of evil for this game series is a dark skinned man from a tribe of women who are based of the caricatures and sexualization of women raised in the MENASA regions (MENASA stands for the Islamic countries in Middle East, North Africa, South Asia) and the face of good is always two white characters who are held in the highest regard. Not to mention, Ganondorf and his foster mothers Koume and Kotake had their character designs in Ocarina of Time based on anti-semetic caricatures. This overall set-up speaks volumes already, but it doesn't stop there. The franchise decided to expand upon the lore of the Gerudo in Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess, explicitly and implicitly establishing that the tribe was, in fact, oppressed, ostracized, and underwent genocide. Some people may argue that this information is up for debate, given that a lot of it comes from Ganondorf who is an unreliable narrator; however, this argument fails to consider that even then, it never proves that Zelda and Link are any more trustworthy. After all, the victors write history. With these complexities added in, it becomes hard to discern who exactly is in the right or wrong. In reality, the matters were never black and white to begin with.

This segues to my next point: the light versus darkness trope is not suitable this time around. It's a very two dimensional, inaccurate representation of the world of Hyrule that conflicts with the goals the creators are trying to achieve in Tears of The Kingdom. If they truly wanted to concentrate on the duality between light and darkness, they've already done it with Breath of the Wild. We had Calamity Ganon, a sub-sentient manifestation of hatred that sought nothing but death and destruction, and it was up to Link and Zelda, who strove for the preservation of life and progress, to seal it. So why continue to expand on that? Why bring back Ganondorf? Personally, I see no point in his return. 

Unless… the "Tears" of the Kingdom refer to the Sheikah. 

"But, wait!" you ask, "All this talk about the Gerudo and for what? What does the Sheikah have to do with this?" 

To explain this we'll have to start at the beginning. No, not Skyward Sword, though it shares striking similarities with Tears of the Kingdom, such as the return of the magatama relics, a character with a likeness to Demise, and the juxtaposition between land and sky. No, we have to go before even then. We have to go to the Era of Hylia.

The Legacy of Hylia

Not much is known about Hylia beyond the fact she was meant to protect the Triforce as supposedly ordained by the Golden Goddesses and the people worshipped her for it. But, notice how we learn this story through Fi, a creation of Hylia, with few additions from Impa, from the Sheikah tribe that Hylia established herself. The Triforce is seen as something to protect in this story they share, though interestingly, the relic itself is designed to be as unbiased and uncaring of the individual that seeks it out. It is, without a doubt, divine (as it quite literally is a means to warp reality), but there is also no tangible morality associated with it.

So why did the Golden Goddesses think it had to be protected? Why is Hylia chosen to do it?

…Why did Demise go for it?

If it wasn't clear enough, Hylia is much more flawed than the creators let on. She feels entitled to the Triforce, though there is no reference but the Golden Goddesses (whom no one has ever witnessed) that says she should. It's selfish, almost childish even, that she gatekeeps it away from any user. It's human. Perhaps her traits are a reflection of the time she had spent with the civilization that worshipped her. Because of this, I consider her to be a demigod rather than god. Not so distant and otherworldly like the Golden Goddesses, but a force of nature that can't be subdued but still respected. Time is ruthless, it flies and it trudges. But I digress. In short, for all that is said about Hylia and her divinity, she was certainly stubborn in her efforts to prevent anyone from wielding the Triforce so that her world could remain the way it is, perfect and idyllic. 

But that's the thing, life was not idyllic like she wanted the Sheikah and the rest of the world to remember; no, it was terrible enough to spur Demise and his "demon" forces to seek out the Triforce as a means to wrest control from her. Again, I want to make it clear that Hylia and Demise go beyond the bounds of good and bad. A lot of lives were lost to Demise, to the point the humans nearly went extinct. There's little to redeem on that end. But we're never told the stories from the other side of the battle, so who's to say they hadn't suffered as much extreme casualties? Either way, there had to be something Hylia had done (or even not done) for Demise to take severe measures. The hatred he feels is all consuming, but there is something to be said about how hate does not bloom spontaneously — it is cultivated and grown. Keeping all of this in mind, I sometimes wonder if Demise's name was in relation to Hylia, as in he was her Demise, and that those demon forces of his were actually the demonized. We'll never know. But what we do know, is that the Triforce was the Golden Goddesses' way of giving hope to the mortals, to be able to use divine power to shape the world as they see fit (at least, according to the first Zelda, which is a fantastic moment of irony if you ask me) and Demise had every intention of seeing his future through.

The Sheikah's Story

Now, let's fast forward a few eons and come back to the tears. Many people have associated the tears from the title to be the magatama relics seen with Zelda, Sidon, Riju, Tulin, and Ganondorf. But the tear's symbolism in the franchise has been around for much, much longer, thanks to the existence of the Sheikah. The tear is a part of the eye symbol for the Sheikah, and according to the The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia, it represents their willingness to go any lengths so as to support their divine mission of protecting the Royal Family that possesses the blood of the goddess Hylia. Given that information alone, wouldn't it make sense that the title "Tears of the Kingdom" refers to the Sheikah?

"Okay sure, but what role would they play in the game?" That's not the point. It's not the role they play now. It's the role they played in the past. Something of particular interest to me when it comes to the Sheikah is how differently the Sheikah are characterized between the games of Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time, and Breath of the Wild. In Skyward Sword, they were a tribe who patiently for the day to protect the goddess's reincarnation and went so far as to transport her through time repeatedly. In OOT, they were agents who went so far as to secretly carry out the Royal Family's dirty work. In BOTW, they were inventors and sorcerers who went so far as to recreate divine power to protect the land. 

But guess what never changes? The fact that they write history.

Above everything else, they are the storytellers, and they have seen everything. The good, the bad, and the ugly. But with the role of storytelling, they have the ability to alter it, embellish it. And in the Sheikah's case, they have a tendency to omit the negative, so as to promote support for the goddess and her Royal Family. Think about it: Impa never explains why Demise wanted to take control of the world in Skyward Sword and she's the first to jump to fix issues at the Shadow Temple in Ocarina of Time so no one has to bear witness to what the temple had actually turned into. If she did, Hyrule would surely fall into chaos. To Hyrule, the governing powers like the goddess Hylia and the Royal Family are the pinnacle of morality. That image can't be compromised.

And for a time, it wasn't, until we reach Breath of the Wild. That's when things get interesting.

In the tapestry, as shown above, a majority of it is occupied by the tale of the warrior with the spirit of a hero, a princess with divine power, and a technological army pioneered by Sheikah. That's what the game's creators want you to see. But do you see that little strip at the bottom?

Yeah, that. It's a tiny piece of the story but it's a big one. By now, most game fans know that is the history of how the Yiga Clan came to be. Cado, one of the Sheikah that stands guard in front of Impa's home, elaborates on this imagery, remarking that once upon a time, the Royal Family (more specifically the King of Hyrule) did turn on the tribe that swore nothing but utmost loyalty to them.

Of course, this seems counterintuitive. Why punish the people who protected you? What was their sin? As far as we're told by Cado, Sheikah technology had once been praised as "the power of the Gods". Now, I won't get into too much detail about this, but the Triforce, which you might have noticed isn't really mentioned by word of mouth in Breath of the Wild, is now a power of the Royal Family that is passed down. All parts of it. It's a lot to take in, given my lack of elaboration, but I recommend watching THIS video by Monster Maze who does a fantastic job exploring the nature of the whole Triforce being hosted in an individual body.

But what I want you to take out of this information is how there is, essentially, a rivalry between the Sheikah and the Royal Family, a sudden leveling of the playing field that the latter party does not want. It's eerie how similar they act as their ancestor god. The entitlement is present yet again: you cannot change the world like I can, you cannot be as powerful as I am. I have the final say. This certainly paints a more explicitly, vicious picture of the Royal Family, but it's nothing really new. After all, the Sheikah remember everything cruel that had been done to others by this family, by them, but hid it for the purpose of the "greater good". But once they become the target, everything changes. The Sheikah don't remove it from history. They remember it. Some more passionately than others.

Ties between the Gerudo, the Sheikah, and the Yiga.

Something else on the Sheikah tapestry that seemed out of place for me is the depiction of the hero.

He is clad in green, which one would imagine, is a reference to Link's green motif throughout the games. However, I fully believe that detail is a red herring — that is to say, it's meant to throw us off. And from what I have seen, most fans of the game agree. Why? Because that same individual has red hair and a sword that looks more like a golden claymore than the sword that seals the darkness. And well, given that the Gerudo are the ones who use golden claymores, plus the way the figure is drawn to have a knee bent, there can only be one person this image is referring to:

Ganondorf.

Keep in mind how the Sheikah have erased his name, but did not erase him, and that the Yiga swear their allegiance to Calamity Ganon. To be completely honest, I think the Calamity did not have the name Ganon to it 10,100 years prior to the events of Breath of the Wild. But, to explain why it suddenly does in Breath of the Wild, I do believe Ganondorf had a calling to malice, whether the kind left behind by the Calamity or the kind that was already existing throughout the land. Read THIS post by @golvio to get an idea of what I mean. The only change I would make regarding this theory is that the people did not originally see the malice as inherently evil. A little rot was needed to clear the space for new growth. But with great power comes great responsibility, and I think Ganondorf might have utilized the malice in a manner the King of Hyrule was not pleased with. 

How so, and why? Well there can be different reasons to choose from for the creators, but I have a personal favorite theory that explains why the Sheikah and Yiga remember Ganondorf more acutely than even the Royal Family and why there's ruins in the Gerudo Desert: As a last resort, to protect the Sheikah who helped him defeat the Calamity, and to reclaim the technology they lost, Ganondorf used the malice to take over the guardians and to get rid of the soldiers wiping out the civilians. In response, Zelda from that time was tasked with defeating him with the help of the other "Sages" (those who possess the magatama relics/tears) and one of those sages sealed him away with the Zonai hand. Zelda's betrayal breeds the hatred that Demise foretold would reincarnate, time and time again, leading to Ganondorf internally accepting that a peaceful world is a world without the Kingdom of Hyrule, without the Royal Family, completing the cycle once more.

And so here it comes, the big storyline change that Nintendo stands on the precipice of:

To break the cycle, Ganondorf is not the one that needs to necessarily be redeemed. It's Zelda. That isn't to say that Ganondorf isn't flawed and should not repent; there are a million things he could have done better or have not done, whatever it is that lead him to be sealed. And what I mean by Zelda having to be redeemed is that even though she technically has done nothing personally to Ganondorf, it is her blood that binds her to the ancestors who spurred the very hatred that fueled the Calamity and left behind a legacy built on the maintained misfortune of others. If anything is to change, she must be the first to cast aside her fear so that the cycle cannot repeat again, and instead work on understanding her family's past and building her faith. And no, I don't mean her faith in the goddess (she has lost too much trying to), but faith in the goodness of a man who was unfairly pushed to become the worst version of himself to protect the helpless.

[shittywizzard]

he's one of the most successful and disturbing horror villains ever written to YOU. to me he is my cringe wife

[theogonies]

All Yours

prompt | yamato x f!reader + snow day

summary | yamato shows you a slice of life outside the walls of the flower capital.

word count | 2k

content warnings | reader is implied to be a geisha in orochi's court, some slightly suggestive conversation but nothing explicit

winter holiday event masterpost

You carry the note close to your chest all morning.

A thin slip of parchment tucked beneath the neckline of your hikizuri: meet me in the gardens this afternoon? I’ll make it worth your time.

It bore no signature, but it’s not hard for you to know who the sender was. Yamato’s hand, so careful and delicate, an endearing contrast to his sometimes-brutish appearance and temperament. He’s written you letters before, during periods when the shogun kept you too busy to slip away; always extensively wordy, his written language so much more refined and florid than when he speaks.

And yet, this little note is so short that it’s almost curt–a small mystery that’s left your heart thrumming with anticipation from the moment you found it, slipped beneath your door in the early hours of morning, to now.

The winter months always leave you hard at work, as the shogun buries himself in the warmth of sake and women. Yamato knows this, and you know that he would be understanding if you didn’t make it to your rendezvous. But as you can feel the paper, pressed warm against your bare skin as if it were Yamato’s own hand, you can hear the shogun’s lecherous laughter down the hall, and you know that whatever risks you may have to take to make it to the garden are worth it.

Thankfully, with the shogun already waist-deep in sake by noon, it isn’t difficult for you to excuse yourself under the pretense of fetching another bottle and slip away.

Your skirts trail through the snow as you pass down the twining paths of the garden, taking a bridge across the frozen creek to your usual meeting place: a bench beside the property’s walls, tucked safely out of view from the rest of the gardens. It’s surrounded by cherry trees, their branches now bare with winter but still enough to provide shelter from the snow.

Yamato is waiting for you there, hands fidgeting with a bundle of fabric on his lap.

“(Y/N)! You came!” he calls out as soon as he sees you.

Used to his unguarded enthusiasm and energy by now, you lift a finger to your lips, reminding him that you’re still supposed to be working, and he nods, flushing a little with embarrassment.

“Put these on,” he says, voice softening a bit as he holds the bundle out to you.

“What is it?” you ask as you inspect the fabric: quilted cotton, printed in a rippling pattern of pale blue and white.

Yamato’s fangs peek out from behind his lips when he smiles at you, his expression one of utter excitement. “You’ll be too cold, dressed like that.”

You hesitate, considering the potential repercussions of disappearing in the middle of the day like this, but Yamato’s enthusiasm is so irresistible, and you know that if worse came to worst, he could pull the strings to keep you safe.

“Don’t look,” you instruct him as you place yourself between him and the wall.

Obediently, Yamato fixes his gaze straight ahead, broad back shielding you from view of the rest of the garden as you unfold the bundle to find a shirt, trousers, and hanten. A less trained eye than yours would only see simple garments, made to withstand the cold and not much else, but you can tell by the weight of the fabric and the fine stitching that Yamato must have spent a fortune on these–possibly even had them made specially for you.

It’s not the cost that surprises you–he is Kaido’s son, after all, he could likely buy you a whole new wardrobe if you asked–as it is the care evident in the fact that he put so much thought into something as simple as keeping you warm.

Once you’ve changed, folded your court clothes, and stashed them safely in an alcove on the wall, you wrap your arms around Yamato’s neck, snuggling up to his warm body.

“Ready?” he asks, nervous energy clearly apparent in his voice.

“Ready,” you nod.

You keep your arms wrapped tightly around him as you feel his weight begin to shift beneath you, shoulders and back expanding as white fur sprouts from his arms and the nape of his neck to tickle your nose. While it’s not the first time you’ve seen his Zoan form, you’re still unsure whether you’re ever going to get used to the feeling of his muscles shifting and contorting until all that you can recognize is his eyes: beyond his innocent demeanor, they're so wise beyond their years, and so headstrong.

He waits for you to securely wrap your legs around his waist before he gathers his weight on his back haunches and leaps, clearing the wall in one easy stride. And then you’re bounding down the path that leads from the palace, through the streets of the Flower Capital, the whole world flying past you with a kind of confidence and ease that you can’t help but envy.

When he finally stops moving, far from the city, you find yourselves in a snowy grove hemmed by cypress trees and dusted in powdered white snow. Across the clearing is a small wood cottage, soft light flickering behind the paper windows.

Yamato waits for you to slip from his back before he returns to his human form, unbothered by the way you stare as he stretches and rolls his shoulders like he’s settling back into his human skin.

“What do you think?” he asks, tipping his head to the side curiously.

“It’s beautiful,” you answer, not bothering to hide the awe in your voice.

It’s like he knew exactly what you needed: picturesque and wild, nothing like the neatly trimmed gardens of the shogun’s palace. And even better, completely closed off from the rest of the world, like it was made just for the two of you.

“Come on,” he says, waving to you over his shoulder as he turns toward the cottage. “I want to show you something.”

You’re not entirely listening, though; he’s already set your mind wandering back to the days before you became a kamuro, when dignity and elegance were the last things on your mind. Memories of your childhood, playing with your friends in forests not unlike this one, and Yamato’s back turned to you as he walks away give you an idea.

Before you’re entirely sure what you’re doing or why, you’ve begun rolling a small ball of snow between your hands, pressing it together until it holds.

And then it’s sailing through the air until it lands in the middle of Yamato’s back with a satisfying smack.

For a moment, he just stops moving and stands completely still, leaving you worried that you’ve somehow offended him even though that seems near-impossible. But then you see him bend over, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

In one movement so fluid that it doesn’t leave you time to react, he swoops low, pivoting on one foot as he gathers a ball of snow in his own hands and slings it in your direction. The snowball bursts against your shoulder in a puff of white.

“Revenge!” Yamato crows, raising his fists to the sky as he grins at you.

“You know what they say about an eye for an eye, right?” you giggle, dodging to the side as you duck down to roll another snowball and toss it at Yamato.

The moment the words leave your mouth, it’s all out war. For once, your smaller frame gives you the advantage; while he may have better aim than you thanks to all his time spent training, his broad frame and towering height mean that Yamato is practically a walking target. Still, he manages to land a couple good hits of his own until you’re both panting, the fronts of your hanten flecked with snow.

“Are you ready to surrender yet?” you say, placing your hands on your hips and smugly puffing out your chest.

“Never!” Yamato proclaims, rolling a fresh snowball between his palms in preparation for the end of your ceasefire.

Knowing Yamato well enough to know that he’d never give up so easily, you’ve got another trick up your sleeve. Before he can react, you’re barreling forward, leaping toward him as soon as you’re close enough to tackle him.

Yamato playfully stumbles back, clasping a hand to his chest as if he’s been stabbed, and collapses back onto a snowbank, your legs straddling his waist.

You lean in close to Yamato’s ear, relishing how easily he flushes as you whisper, “what about now?”

His voice has gone uncharacteristically shy when he concedes, “I’m all yours.”

“And how should I use my spoils of war?” you ask, leaning forward to rest your head on your arms, folded over his chest.

Yamato blinks and glances away as he thinks, cheeks flaring even brighter against the white snow. “However you’d have me.”

Ever since you first met Yamato, you’ve been charmed by how delicately he tries to treat you, even when it’s so clear that he’s naturally much more physical and uninhibited. It was a welcome reprieve from men like the shogun, with their entitlement and possessiveness. But sometimes, you wish that Yamato was more willing to take what he wanted from you.

So you take what you want instead: a kiss.

His lips part so easily for you, as if he’d been waiting for this moment since you first met. Then again, you muse, perhaps he has. The soft groan he releases when you place your hand on his chin, tug of his fingers running through your once-carefully arranged hair as it tumbles around your shoulders, the fervor of his gentle nips at your lower lip; all charged with the hunger of a starving man.

Unfortunately, even with Yamato’s warm body as a barrier between yourself and the snowy earth, it’s too cold for the two of you to stay that way forever. Eventually, you have to pull back, running your hand along Yamato’s jaw as you ask, “you wanted to show me inside?”

He has to take a moment to collect himself, lucidity returning to his eyes, before he nods wordlessly. As he stands, he scoops you up in one arm as if you weigh nothing and carries you through the snow, past the sliding doors of the cottage, to find a small room, cushioned with pillows and blankets and warmed by a fire in the hearth.

“Whose–” you begin to say, but Yamato cuts you off.

“I had it built.” Then, shyly avoiding your gaze, “for you. If you ever need–a break. To get away.”

“It’s–” Your voice cracks, forcing you to take a brief pause before you’re able to finish the thought. “Yamato, this is too much.”

“It’s nothing,” he shakes his head obstinately. “If I must live with my father’s wealth, I may as well use it for the ones I care about.”

And it’s true, Yamato has been generous with his wealth for as long as you’ve known him–not just with you, either, but with all the people of Wano, whenever he’s able. So you pause, biting back further protests, before pressing a gentle kiss against his cheek.

“Thank you. It’s perfect.”

“It’s nothing,” he repeats, cheeks reddening as he carefully sets you on the ground. “You must be cold.”

Eventually, you find yourselves nestled before the fire, dressed in fresh, dry clothes and mugs of tea cupped between your hands.

“Someday I’ll liberate this land from my father,” Yamato promises, absentmindedly curling your unbound hair around one of his fingers. “And then we’ll both be free.”

“What then?” you ask, resting your head in the crook of his neck.

“Tell me what you want, and I’ll take you there,” Yamato answers, the simplicity of his promise and the sincerity of his tone yet another reminder of why you’ve chosen him, why you’d choose him again and again if given the chance.

You think for a little while, watching the steam rise from your teacups.

“I want to see the world outside Wano. Want to travel by your side. That’s enough to make me happy.”

He presses an affectionate kiss to your temple. “Then that’s what we’ll do. I’m all yours.”

[batfamhyperfixation]

I need more content of Tim's jealousy when other siblings come in and become close to Dick. Like every time someone says Damian is Dick's favorite it hurts my heart a little cause I know how Tim would feel.

It's one thing for a younger sibling to grow up with you, cause like at least then you all have your defined roles and it's like what you know so you aren't stepping on one another's toes, but like it's something completely else to have a sibling who is already grown up come into the family and become siblings with your sibling.

It is just like that longing feeling when you see them together and like they haven't known each other as long yet they seem closer to your sibling than you are, and everyone knows they are the favorite and you are just like how do they get along so well with so little effort.

I need more Tim and Dick content like this. The boy went from being Dick's only sibling still around (aka no competition for being brothers and nothing to compare it to) to being like 1 of 5 of dick's siblings, and I know this also goes in reverse where the newer sibling is jealous of the older two siblings for already having the established bond, but I dont see enough of Tim having bitter envy of how close Damian and Dick are despite not knowing each other as long, like you want angsty relationships DC, show me this instead of just everyone trying to kill Tim, show me silent envy that grows more and more as it slowly decays a sibling relationship instead of like a weird ritual where if you wanna be apart of the family you have to attempt to kill tim