#and now...to sleep

[silvrash-797]

Febuwhump 2025 - A Siren's Song

Read on ao3

Chapter 1: Vocal Chords

The swirling magic of the most recent portal spat Legend out into open air.

With a yelp and a graceless splash, he fell headfirst into a massive body of water, coughing and choking as the mercifully sweet liquid invaded his mouth and nose.

Not the Sailor's Hyrule, then.

Legend groaned and shuddered as the curse of his mermaid suit took hold. Skin itched as scales sprouted along his cheeks, chest, and arms. His fingers and mouth ached as nails and teeth sharpened and elongated. A scream caught in his throat at the slash of gills forming along his neck, and he blacked out as his hips, legs, and feet cracked, popped, and burned as they fused themselves together.

The tickle of underwater plant life against his cheek roused him. He groaned and carefully rubbed clawed hands against his face to help reorient himself.

Looking around, he spotted several beings cavorting nearby. Flicking his tail, he cautiously swam closer.

Bluish skin, white bellies, head fins…they looked like the sea Zora from Labrynna, or at least a distant relation to them. Confident that they wouldn’t eat or attack him, Legend approached the nearest Zora.

“Hello,” he said, coughing as his vocal chords adjusted to talking underwater.

The Zora woman stopped swimming and stared at him in open curiosity. “Hello, wanderer. I’ve not seen anyone like you around before.”

Legend winced and fanned his tail out in front of him. The pink and red scales caught the fractaled sunlight and scattered little golden beams into the surrounding water. “Yeah, I kinda just dropped in,” he replied. “Where are we?”

“Lake Hylia,” she responded promptly, “at the base of Zora's Domain.”

Well that doesn’t narrow it down. It seemed everyone had a Lake Hylia. “Okay,” he said aloud. “Have you seen any Hylians around, or heard of any monsters that are stronger than usual?”

She put a hand to her chin as she thought, slowly treading water to stay in place. “No,” she finally admitted, “I can’t say that I’ve heard of any stronger monsters. Not since Link thawed the Domain and helped the Yetis.

"I heard tell that two Hylian men were spotted near the Spirit's Spring, though.” Helpfully, she pointed the way. “They said one of them might have been Link.”

“Thank you, miss…?”

“Realta. My name is Realta.”

“Thank you, Realta. I’m actually looking for Link, so you’ve been a big help. May the waters guide you true.”

“And the same to you, dear wanderer.” With a smile and a flick of her webbed feet she darted off.

Legend swam in the direction Realta had indicated, marveling at the clarity of the water and the plentiful aquatic life surrounding him. He surfaced occasionally, making sure he was still on track for the cliff face Realta had indicated.

Finally, he caught sight of a series of steps, with two Hylian-shaped people standing at the head. A few strokes closer, and they resolved themselves into Time and Twilight. He stopped swimming within hailing distance, waving an arm to get their attention.

“Old Man! Rancher!” His voice rang out across the lapping waves like a rippling symphony; Time and Twilight turned as one and began to walk toward the lake, eyes glassy and unfocused.

Legend clapped webbed, clawed fingers to his lips in horror. He’d forgotten about the other piece of the curse. He’d always been alone when using the tail, so it hadn’t mattered!

It didn’t just make him look like a mermaid. No, it was actually the skin of the mythical beast, and it actually turned him into one – voice included.

The Siren's Song drew men to the water to drown.

“No, no no no!” Legend muttered, swimming closer. “Stop, please, you have to stop!”

Already, their boots were soaked as they walked inexorably on.

“Snap out of it!” he begged as the water approached their waists. “For pity’s sake at least put your masks on!” He knew they both had ways to survive underwater, if he could just get through to them!

Time and Twilight forged ever on, lured by his voice. The water lapped at their shoulders.

If Legend didn’t do something soon, they’d drown.

[willowcrowned]

if you're feeling powerless right now—and god knows I am—here's a reminder you can donate to the National Network of Abortion Funds, the Trans Law Center, Gaza Soup Kitchen, the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, and hundreds of other charities that will work to mitigate the damage that has been and will continue to be inflicted

life continues. we still have the capacity to do good, important work. that matters

[pierog]

i'm so glad goncharov happened when it did, right before prolific public use of AI. that was pure honest gaslighting straight from the heart. real human whimsicality and trickery thru blood sweat and tears. we were a family. and we all gonched, together. you cant replicate that with any machine.

[mearchy]

my favorite genre of fictional character is like "i am terrifying to almost everyone, i'm very good at killing, i can endure anything, i've become exceptionally good at playing into my reputation, and if you try to give me positive social interaction i will react with confusion and cower in a corner like an abused animal. and i may try to shoot you. but there is also a chance i may imprint on you like a feral dog receiving its first loving touch! good luck."

[overcaffeinated-aro]

ok not to be that guy but like. labor rights and working class rights can coexist with 24h services and late amenities. its certainly hard to do so without worker exploitation in this political and social environment, it’s not a conflict likely to resolve overnight. but 24h services are important and especially valuable to those of us that are disabled or are on a different circadian rhythm. in fact more professional, health, and government services should be available or at least possible to work on asynchronously (if applicable) during late or odd hours, while workers also get sufficient pay for their labor and proper consistent scheduling. this would be much easier on the workers with night schedules if the entire professional world didn’t grind to a halt at 5pmEST

[windwenn]

‘You were my new dream’ or however the fuck that scene went

[napping-sapphic]

take your clothes off and get on the bed what no we aren’t having sex right now we’re cuddling and pressing every inch of skin together as close as possible for the next six hours

[lesbian-disaster-academic]

i used to be so good at writing strong, thoroughly-researched, thoroughly-edited essays.

as a kid in hs, my teacher literally came up to me, holding my 40 page essay on the intersection of the European witch hunts and capitalism/exploitation/gender roles (it was supposed to be 7 pages...whoops) and went like "this is literally a master's-degree level thesis. what are you doing?? you could literally use this as your final dissertation in a master's program, what the fuck."

NOW??? NOW?? you'd think I'd be oh so skilled. but alas. i can barely piece together two ideas. adhd skill-regression is so so real. im SOBBING

[razzafrazzle]

whenever i see people draw garfield as a catgirl they always make him feminine and young. you dont understand him like i do. anyways theyre both transbians to me

[image description: a drawing of garfield and arlene from the garfield comics depicted as catgirls. garfield is depicted as a fat, light-skinned, hairy woman with short orange mullet hair, freckles, a white tank top, orange shorts, and orange sneakers, and arlene is depicted as a tall, dark-skinned woman with short curly pink hair, red lipstick, a red dress, sheer tights, and pink pumps. arlene is sitting on a countertop and looking down at garfield, who is sitting in a chair with his legs spread, picking at his teeth and smiling. the drawing is made to look as though it were a real garfield comic panel. end id]

[clumsypuppy]

made this while watching ep 1 of dunmeshi

[mroddmod]

they are like puppies. 2 me

[ayyy-pee]

waking up freezing and shivering, teeth chattering every night because your husband is a blanket hog. you know it's not on purpose. he just can't help it. doesn't even know he does it most times. you'd think after years together you'd be used to it, but waking up curled into the fetal position as you try to retain even a smidge of warmth is something you don't think you'll ever adjust to.

so you reach behind you, feeling your spouses large form wrapped snug as a bug in your shared blanket and you grip onto the fabric. you pull as hard as you can but you don't manage to move him even an inch. you try once more...same result.

"ken..." you whisper, wrapping your arms around yourself. no response. "kento..."

he doesn't budge. you're tempted to just get up and go grab another blanket, but your husband, despite his seriousness, can get quite pouty when you do that. so you tap him hard instead sure to jab him in the spot you know is his most sensitive. this seems to do the trick as he grunts in response.

"I'm cold," you tell nanami and he sits up quickly, realizing what he's done. his pajama top hangs off one shoulder. his blonde hair is pointing every which way and sleep is heavy on his eyelids, threatening to weigh him down again any minute.

"I'm sorry, love," nanami speaks, voice rough and deep with exhaustion, but the sincerity in his apology clear.

then he's throwing the blanket back over you both. only he adds in a little extra warmth as he wraps his arm around your waist and throws a large leg over your body.

nanami buries his face in your neck, adjusting himself so that he can be as close to you as possible. only a few seconds pass before you hear his light snoring behind you. and you know the warmth you feel is from more than just his touch.

[pangur-and-grim]

oh…. I didn’t think they’d ever be friends, and yet!

[cranberrymikexdd]

:33

[pancakemolybdenum]

@personajojo1 this is for you. baby need smoko

[jkvjimin]

PARK JIMIN??? JEON JUNGKOOK???? HELLO?????????