#his ending was great but still.. mannn

[ronansslynch]

no cuz they rlly put jesse pinkman in a HOLE in the GROUND and those n*zi fucks YELLED at him and TORTURED (!!) and ENSLAVED (!!) him after he’d already been through hell and back like ????? the writers were genuinely so sick and twisted for that 😭

[beauzos]

Every time I think of returning to my old Mother multimuse, adding all the villagers and shoving Claus and Lucas and Porky onto that blog too so everyone’s in one spot. That’s the devil talking to me

[ezziefae]

My thoughts on The Prisoner's Throne.

(spoilers ahead, and talk about Holly Black's planned book)

ps: I finished this book in one sitting on release day and needed days to process everything, that's why this is a late post. Enjoy!!!!

Heather and Vivi

Where were Heather and Vivi? They were present in the prologue but then they vanished. I was excited to see Vivi become friends with Wren, especially after the rude comments she made towards Wren in TQON. I wonder why Holly excluded them from everything after the prologue, such as the family drama scene at the feast. However, I appreciated how they were mentioned in the story, particularly when we learned that Oak and Heather's mom are close, and that Oak would sleep at their house.

Oak abdicating as heir

So yeah, Jude and Cardan have given Oak permission to resign from the throne as heir, and obviously Oak is taking that opportunity to do just that, just not yet….he has to stay heir for months since Jude and Cardan are going away together. I always knew Jude and Cardan were going to stay as High King and Queen of Elfhame, but only because Oak married Wren and therefore became King of the Ice Needle Citadel, but that didn't happen…Jude is letting him step down because she knows he's grown, and wants him to make his own choices, which is great. If Oak resigns, Jude and Cardan will need to have a child to maintain the royal lineage. So, it's VERY possible that we may see a Jurdan baby in the future.

political problem (Holly Black's next faerie book)

So finally we know what the next book will be about. We know that Jude and Cardan have plans to go to the Undersea. That was the plan Holly Black has been teasing at us for a long time now. This means we’re getting another Elfhame book (Holly didn't say an "Undersea book", she said "Elfhame" even though it's going to be set in the Undersea). In an interview online, Holly Black states that this book will possibly be a stand-alone. Many fans are speculating that this book is going to be a Nicasia POV, but from reading the interviews from Holly I believe it’s going to be either a Jude or Cardan POV (maybe even both). This would make sense since Holly has said many times that she's planning to give us more Jurdan, and that Jude still has a lot of story in her. The Prisoner's Throne leaves us with many unanswered questions, such as what happens to the Ghost, if Oak gets married, news about Wren and her family, and whether Jude and Cardan have children. A standalone book to wrap up these loose ends would be very needed.

Cardan saving and being protective of Jude

Do you guys remember the post I made about Cardan fighting alongside Jude? and how he will not sit on the sidelines to watch her fight? Fans who know Cardan well already knew this to be true, but this book further proved this. This isn’t the first time has Cardan stepped in front of Jude to save her from being impaled. My man sacrificed himself so Jude wouldn't get hurt. Many times during the Stolen Heir duology Cardan has been called a coward, but mannn he's no coward, he will protect those he loves dearly, it was so refreshing to get more of his protective side in this book.

Taryn and The ghost

Since TQON, fans have been speculating that Garrett and Taryn are involved in a romantic relationship. Although it wasn't confirmed in the book, The Prisoner's Throne offered some insight into this. We find out that Heather, Vivi, and Oak have all speculated about it. Furthermore, Oak reveals that even after 10 years, The Ghost has remained close to Taryn and her child Leander. In one chapter of TPT, The Ghost has a serious conversation with Oak, but when Leander interrupts them, Oak notices that The Ghost becomes a different person around Taryn's son. He changes his behavior and has an indulgent smile towards the boy. I personally find it adorable, and after all the hardships The Ghost has been through, I believe he deserves to find happiness, even if it's with Taryn of all people.

The Ghost’s tragedy *sobs into pillow*

I never expected The Ghost to become such a prominent character in the book. It was amazing how I started to develop an emotional attachment to the Ghost throughout the book, only for him to end up turning into a tree by the end. The chapter where the family feasts and Lady Elaine and the Ghost are found dead was pure chaos and full of royal family drama. I had such a good time reading that part, until the Ghost turned into a tree. Also, going back to the topic of the Ghost and Taryn, I feel bad for Taryn even though I know she is a terrible character. It was heartbreaking to see Taryn sob and hold the Ghost while he was slowly dying (We didn't get word from Taryn that they were dating but I think that part was enough comfirmation that they were indeed lovers). As far as we know, Taryn and the Ghost did not get a happy ending in this book :(

ps: This is why I believe holly black's next book will be a Jurdan POV, because the only way we get to know about the ghost is through them. Nicasia is not close to Wren, Oak, the Ghost, or Taryn, we will never get insight on what happens to them if this next book is a Nicasia POV. Also I've been hearing as of 3/12/24 that Holly might possibly write a Jurdan dual POV, so...more reason to believe that it will definitely not be a Nicasia POV.

Taryn Vs Wren

It's funny how Holly decided to create a lot of family issues in the second book of the duology. Many fans believe that this duology should have been a three-part series to resolve these issues. One major problem is that Taryn dislikes Wren and holds her responsible for what happened to The Ghost. Oak's family is also not very fond of Wren. It would have been nice to see a moment in the book where Oak's family and Wren could have worked together and gotten along, but that didn't happen. If Oak and Wren plan to get married, I hope that they can resolve these issues between them all.

Cardan VS Taryn

It shocked me that after 10 years of them being brother and sister in law, that they still don’t get along. I think Taryn was wrong to feel like she had to protect The Ghost from Cardan when he was only trying to help. In fact, it annoyed me a bit. While Cardan was respectful towards Taryn, he had every right to dislike her, unlike Taryn who had no reason to dislike Cardan. Moreover, I would like to mention the moment when they found the ghost almost dead and Cardan ignored Taryn and answered Jude instead, Cardan being petty to Taryn in the most respectful way is hilarious. I think that moment perfectly sums up their relationship.

Wren’s Family

Although I’m happy Wren's sister Bex reunited with Wren, I was very much expecting to get more closure from that, like seeing Wren's entire family together reunite in the book. It feels like that left a huge void at the end of the book.

Wren’s Transformation

Okay, that was absolutely shocking. Holly mentioned in one of her interviews that there would be a transformation in the book, and I guess that was it. Wren now has beautiful wings. Can someone please draw a picture of Wren with wings? Also, can you imagine what Oak and Wren's children would look like if they ever had any? Their child would have blue skin, hooves, and wings. That would be a very interesting looking child.

Wren VS Jurdan

Wren was so wrong for making Jude and Cardan appear weak in front of their court. While reading this part, I remember thinking 'Wren, please stop," I found this chapter fun to read, and seeing Jude and Cardan's reaction to Wren's power. It was interesting to see how Wren exposes Jude's geas and curse to almost the entire court, and how Cardan becomes overprotective of Jude while Wren was removing her curse. I love Cardan.

Where was Queen Annett?

Since the stolen heir, I believed that queen Annett was going to be a problem for Elfhame and Wren. As you may recall, Wren freed her prisoners, and I always believed Queen Annett would've punished Elfhame for it since Wren was with Elfhame's heir Oak. However, she did not appear in The Prisoner Throne at all. I wonder if Holly forgot to bring this issue up or if she has decided to address it in her upcoming faerie book. (Queen Annett is also pregnant, so I think she will definitely be brought up again)

Madoc's Character

I'm a bit disappointed. I was expecting a lot from Madoc in this book, but nothing happened, except the fact that Jude lifted his exile (temporarily?) It bothers me that she lifted his exile easily, does Jude not remember he caused many problems for them? Madoc is the reason why Cardan almost died, why Oak was put in danger, he's the reason why the royal family died, and why Orlagh was weakened. I at least expected that Jude lifting his exile would've caused political problems for her, since Madoc is a political criminal for Elfhame and the Undersea. I thought he would’ve at least made a big heroic or villainous move in The Prisoner's Throne, or found a way to at least redeem himself, but nope.

Oak and Wren's Ending

So…Oak does not become king of anything, which is shocking. Everyone believed that if he didn’t become the King of Elfhame he would at least rule the Ice Needle Citadel, which can still happen, since he did propose to Wren at the end of the book. But still, I find it unnecessary, I think that Wren should step down from being Queen, and run to the mortal world with Oak where they can live away from the royal duties. Oak has expressed many times he does not want to be king, but if he marries Wren he will be king, which doesn't seem satisfying to me. Wren never cared for power in The Stolen Heir, she only ever cared for love and her family, I think the ending felt incomplete and unfinished. A lot of stuff was built up from The Folk Of The Air series, and this duology was supposed to give us results, but it did not. Even Oak and Wren's love story felt rushed. I didn’t see much of a connection. It didn't give me much of what I felt when I read Jude and Cardan's love story (You guys are so welcome to disagree with me)

Jude and Oak

So if you read the book, you know how shocking Jude and Oak's relationship became. Especially that scene where they “duel” (And Jude was an absolute fucking badass in that scene) The way she tricked Hag and even Oak at first that she was going to trade Oak for Cardan. I was very impressed with Jude in this book, especially in this chapter where we see her ordering her archers, and her ripping her dress to be able to fight while she's all wet. Her dialogue was so badass: "What if I give you Oak's head instead of Cardan's" and even this quote "Well, then, what a wonderful opportunity for you to prove your loyalty and die for the High King." Chapter 23 (I was so gay for Jude in this chapter, she was so mommy material) Despite feeling a bit betrayed by Oak and believing that she had failed in protecting him, she still trusted him when it came to Wren.

Oak Vs Taryn

"For a moment, he thinks of going over there and dumping his red clover tea over his sister's head" (Chapter 19)

(Jaw was on the FLOOR when i read this) I think it really sucked that Oak's family never told him about this, and I understand that Oak had every right to feel so raged that his family hid his mother’s true killer from his knowledge. Oak and The Ghost have been close, we did get some insight of The Ghost going to the mortal world and train Oak with Magic. I really hope Oak and The ghost's issue gets resolved, but that can only happen when the ghost gets cured....I love family drama, and it shows.

Jurdan Kids

Going back to the topic at hand, Cardan and Jude have given Oak permission to abdicate, which leads me to believe that they are planning to have kids of their own. So far, there hasn't been any indication from Jurdan that they are against having children. Holly has given us insights into Jurdan taking care of Leander, which is incredibly heartwarming. For example, we find out that Cardan plays with Leander, and there's a part where Jude is in the mortal world with newborn Leander, and Oak remembers Jude playing with baby Leander with a toy, almost like she was playing with a cat. I think these are definite hints from Holly that Jurdan would make great parents. Holly did say that we would get an answer to Jude and Cardan possibly having kids in the Prisoner's Throne, and I believe this was it. I will definitely make a separate post on this.

Randalian

I'm so happy this man is dead, it was long overdue. This man annoyed the crap out of us since the folk of the air series (it’s crazy that Jude and Cardan never decided to remove him from the living council, he never saw eye to eye with Jude and disrespected them constantly)

Lady Asha apperance

It turns out that Lady Asha is still in the court. She was only mentioned once when Lady Elaine was speaking with her. At that moment, I became suspicious and believed that Lady Asha was also part of the conspirators.

Locke appearance

The dream Oak had with Locke as a fox was fun and interesting. Even though it was a dream, it was cool to hear Locke again and how he acknowledged being murdered by Taryn.

Taryn is aging...but not Jude

FINALLY, we have some information on this topic. Oak describes Jude as looking very young, and Taryn as aging. He offers two possible explanations for this: either Taryn has visited the mortal world too often as her years are catching up to her, or becoming a mother has exhausted her. For a long time since TFOTA series, fans have speculated that since Jude is the Queen of Elfhame, she will never age. And it looks like Holly seems to support this, especially since Oak finally wonders "if Jude is quite as mortal as she once was". I from now on have no doubt about it, i am a "Jude will never age as long as she's Queen of Elfhame" believer.

The Cardan and Oak problem

it turns out that it wasn’t a big deal, Oak had been too much in his head, he was his own enemy when it came to Cardan, and it was amazing to see Cardan and Oak have a brotherly talk by the end of this book. Cardan’s character has really matured, and its amazing how comfortable he's become with his loved ones (i love him so much) I will admit, that when Cardan was talking to Oak about delaying his abdication of heir, I thought he was going to announce Jude’s pregnancy and you can't blame me, the way Holly wrote it made it sound like he was going to do that. (would’ve made me scream) but nope.

Summary:

The beginning was slow, but I nonetheless enjoyed it. I love Oak and Wren, however, I felt that they could have had a stronger connection in the story. There were too many unanswered questions left in the book, and it did not provide any closure to Oak and Wren's future. I feel that the series should have been a three-part book series instead of a duology. Moreover, many of the main characters seemed to have lost their power, such as Oak's resignation as heir to the throne, Wren losing her godly powers, and Tiernan being fired from his position as Oak's guard. I think many new readers who have never read the Folk of The Air series might not have appreciated that. Despite this, I appreciate that Jurdan was not removed from the Elfhame throne. However, I think that Holly Black set up more problems in this book than solutions, which makes it feel neglectful towards Oak and Wren's story. I am excited about this book, and I am sad that we may not get more news on Elfhame until possibly 2026, as she is currently working on the second book of The Book of Night. Anyways, In other news, I have a virtual event with Holly Black tonight 3/12/24, so I will write anything important down, and I will try to ask good questions!

[linksthoughtbrambles]

Thought I'd give you a one word prompt for any of the Zelinks: Ghost.

@nocturnalfandomartist, thank you, thank you, thank you for this prompt. This astonished me more the more I wrote - and I couldn't stop writing. It may be longer than you bargained for at 9K words, but I enjoyed writing every single word of it. I will write at least one follow-up. This is a canon-compliant sequel to What to Expect When Fetch-Questing and a loose sequel to The Seeds of Love, Well-Worn and What Once Rang Hollow (with a few continuity differences for that last one) but it can stand easily on its own. Rated T, post-TotK, humor, drama, and romance. Also available to read on ao3.

Eternal

Link was extremely pleased he had his own arm back.

Unfortunately, he was the only one.

Purah (“Are you fricking KIDDING me?! I wanted to study that thing!”), Robbie (“I must repair my balloon myself?!”), Impa (“Mmm—a pity. With it, we might have learned how to create our own constructs—perhaps incorruptible ones.”), Paya (“That’s too bad, Link—it looked good on you!”), Tauro (“Ahhh. I’m sure you’re feeling better, but I was hoping I could learn more of the Zonai language from it, somehow.”), Calip (“It’s gone?! What did you do with it? You should’ve given it to me as an expert in these matters!”), Sidon (“My dearest friend! Where has your adult arm gone? Are you well?”), Yunobo (“Oh NO, Link, you lost your cool arm!”), Tulin (“Oh mannn. You still have my pledge, Link, but I don’t think I should just…slap my rune on your body. We gotta get you some rings or something.”), and Riju (“I didn’t expect you to look so much smaller without it.”), not to mention every single member of the monster control crew, and essentially anyone in Hyrule who ever recognized him, all thought he’d been better off with part of Rauru grafted onto his body.

Even Zelda wasn’t (entirely) an exception.

She did appreciate Link’s hands during their personal time (“I must admit, Link, I’d have felt strange were you doing this with a Zonai’s hand rather than your own”), but the scholar and sovereign in her definitely mourned the loss of such a unique artifact.

“Link, is there any chance you still share a psychic connection with Rauru?”

“Nope,” he said.

She blinked at him.

“Sorry,” he said, blushing and sheepish.

Now that the depths, sky, and newfound caverns had created vast opportunities for exploration, research, and innovation, Zelda’s original aim of rebuilding Hyrule had essentially tripled. She and Link knew if they didn’t make depths exploration and settlement official, people would do it on their own and get themselves killed (or the Yiga would claim it, and Hyrule would be threatened again in a few centuries). So it was, indeed, official as were new initiatives to investigate Zonai technology—making the Great Abandoned Central Mine one of several hubs of Hyrulean activity in the depths. Its proximity to the healing spring directly beneath the Shrine of Resurrection had made it a frequent destination of theirs.

Link and Zelda materialized beneath the Koradat Lightroot to the weighty vertigo of silence in the dark beyond the root’s oasis.  It was the same every time—some quiet dread sinking into the deepest pit of Link’s belly, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.  He kept telling himself it would be better once people settled, with their warm lights and the sounds that come with them going about their daily business.  Zelda kept telling him otherwise. (“We oughtn’t fill this place to the brim with light, Link. We would disturb its ecosystem severely”).

Link was usually on board with leaving nature undisturbed for the most part.

Maybe it was the time he’d spent down here in utter silence but for his own footsteps, utter darkness but pale flowerlight shot into a black so matte it may as well have been death’s void; the pressure of vast expanses of pitch-black felt nothing like a sea of undisturbed trees far above in the light.

There wasn’t even any wind.

Were both nature? Yes. Were both natural?

It didn’t feel like it.

“Shall we?” Zelda said.

It severed Link’s fledgling reverie. He tore his eyes from the lightless maw beyond Hylia Canyon and turned to join Zelda in descending the steep slope on the path toward the Great Abandoned Central Mine. He gave her a small smile, though he knew, from her face, it didn’t reach his eyes.

Her return smile did. “I hear one of our survey teams discovered another root in that direction,” she said. “We merely- ah- well-“

“Have to figure out how to light it up without my arm,” Link said.

A hint of pink dusted Zelda’s cheekbones. “Yes. Sorry, Link.”

The mine’s central structure loomed in the distance, its light cold, the highest statue of the ancient Gerudo sage always watching, an intimidating glower over the hilt of her sword aimed at any who would ascend the formidable stair toward its main entrance.

“Hello, Aratra,” Zelda whispered, as she always did, as though the woman herself could still answer her.

As they neared the bottom of the hill, blue flickered in Link’s vision. “Zelda,” he said, pointing to the small cluster of poes coming into view on the left.

The spectre of that intimate grief between them passed over her face as she nodded.

He didn’t say it wasn’t her fault.

Since he didn’t say it, she didn’t say it could be.

The words floated between them, spoken so many times they’d become an immutable understanding: that she’d been too slow, that he’d been too silent, that they’d both been too obedient to the long-dead king whose grave Zelda still brought blue gentians to in the early days of each summer.

That neither of them blamed the other for it.

That they’d both spend the rest of their lives making up for it.

And that they’d do it together.

Neither of them knew whether the spiritual flames were casualties of the Calamity.

Link only knew the vague sense of relief he felt when they entered him. It felt like they felt safe—sometimes, he even sensed joy—and they clung to him so hard.

They clung to Zelda, too, it turned out.  As they approached, the spirits snapped eagerly into whichever of them was nearest, nestling somewhere unfathomable within them until released to a bargainer’s care. Link still didn’t trust the bargainers, exactly, though they intended to visit the one in the mine that day.

They didn’t talk much. They usually didn’t when sliding through the depths’ silence—sound felt like a beacon to whatever might be beyond the lightroot’s reach; yet they moved in unwavering agreement, sweeping up every poe in their path and off it within sight. It’s why they took the long route to every work site.

They veered far off the path at one point to collect a dozen wayward souls atop a half-buried ruin of a toppled archway.

“If we go much further, we’ll be at the spring rather than the mine,” Zelda said.

“Yeah,” Link answered quietly. They turned to rejoin the path further up, hugging the rounded base of a monumental column presumably carved by nature, reaching the impossibly high ceiling of what was far, far too large to consider a mere cavern. It was like a space willed into existence by the gods themselves.

Link’s mood lifted as the sounds of civilized activity reached him, more and more distinct as they neared the foot of the quadruple-flight of stone stairs beneath the statue’s feet. Link caught a glimpse of a Sheikah scientist, little but a few motes of color on the highest level of the structure, cheerful construct “Brrrp!”s reflecting toward them off any of hundreds of stone facades: every surface the same pale grey—every light cool and lifeless.

Link couldn’t imagine living in such a place. With an irritated grind of his teeth, he realized he strongly preferred the haphazard Yiga structures, with their paper and oil lights and bound wood. The real, green-leaved brightblooms were also better than the Zonai’s artificial torches.

“Rupee for your thoughts,” Zelda whispered.

Link huffed. “The place needs some color.”

She paused on the stairs, a third of the way up, her torso shaking with laughter and her hand squeezing his tight.

Link tried not to smile. He didn’t want her to think he liked being laughed at.

“Link,” she said, holding her stomach, “that is…precisely the sort of observation I ought to expect you to make.”

He really tried to keep a sour grimace on, but he knew his lips were going twitchy.

“Unfortunately,” Zelda said, eyeing his lips with suspicion, “I am no longer in a position to pass on your criticism of Zonai décor.”

Link snorted. “Neither am I. But I definitely would’ve said something to Rauru if I’d seen this before he disappeared.”

“I have no doubt! And truly, you’re right. I cannot imagine spending any great length of time down here with nothing but grey stone and white light.”

Link nodded. “At least not without experiencing crushing environmental depression.”

Zelda inclined her head, no longer laughing. “Indeed. It makes one wonder.”

“Wonder what?”

“…Whether the monsters find it as unpleasant as we do,” she said, her eyes sweeping the far-off dark.

Link let that one sink in as they made the landing. Zelda touched the dais on which her old ally stood with reverence. When her hand slid from the porous stone, they continued up the staircase on her right. The chamber below would wait until later.

They ascended among tents clustered on the flagstones before the forge, lining the walls both natural and Zonai-made right up to the great arch.  They littered the circular courtyard on the other side of the building, too, the royal crest and symbols of the Sheikah, Zonai Survey Team, and Gerudo adorning many. The familiar sound of a fan whirred somewhere above them, out of sight.

It had been quite a stroke of luck, really, that Link had activated these facilities before Rauru’s arm vanished. The constructs had still recognized him as their “primary authorizer” and he’d been able to grant access to others.

He admitted, though, it was getting cumbersome; the moment he saw Ponnick, he knew he’d run out of time to think about Zelda’s monster-wonderings.  He flagged Link down (as if Link wasn’t looking straight at him) with arms wild above his head. “Thank the skies you’re here, we have new recruits!”

Link then spent the obligatory hour introducing them to all the constructs in the facility.

Zelda had her own work in store for her. Between decisions regarding distribution of newly acquired zonaite and reports from the excavation, inventory, innovation, and engineering teams, she easily had a full day of deliberation and arbitration ahead. Link joined her for much of it once he’d fulfilled his authorization duties—after all, he’d become something of an amateur engineer himself. It was nice to have something scientific to contribute when talking with Zelda.

“You can totally build a wing/hot-air-balloon hybrid!” he’d said.

 “Link, that sounds quite impractical-“

“No, no, you don’t put the balloon in the middle, you put it on the nose at an angle, see?  Then it drags the wing upward.”

“L- Link- what of the flame needed?“

“Oh, no, it’s fine, you only get burned a little bit.”

“What?!”

“And you still put the fans on the back, you know, to help out. Oh, and the steering stick.”

“Link, forgive me, but the flame shall not be directed straight up. It is inefficient and unsafe.”

“Yeah but the LIFT!”

He’d quite liked his flaming plane. So had Robbie.

Today, the engineering talk had more to do with shoring up mining tunnels, which while important, did not require Link’s particular flair for incendiary devices. All their talk of angles, sines, and cosines seemed a bit more precise than his higgledy-piggledy constructions to hold up Addison’s signs, so he eventually left them to it, jogging instead to the rim of the courtyard, climbing up, and inviting all the poes newly showing themselves to join him—then scouting for more from his higher vantage point. He’d grown used to the quizzical looks from everyone else but Zelda.

“What?” he’d asked as Ponnick watched him jog, zig-zagging, in a roughly circular area covered in pale grey and lavender fungi.

“What are you doing?”

“Collecting the poes,” Link said.

“Poes? Where?!” Ponnick spun, wildly searching for spirits which glowed blue, plain as day, in Link’s vision.

At least Zelda could see them, too.

On balance, between the poes, soldiers’ spirits, koroks, Hestu, and the dragons of the springs, he’d have presumed himself insane if no one else ever saw what he saw.  He almost had after the ghost of King Rhoam disappeared right in front of his face in the Temple of Time: an insane amnesiac with delusions of heroism.

Except they hadn’t been delusions, because he’d killed the crap out of Ganon.

Twice.

Or, of course, he imagined it. Twice.

Link shook his head. No point going down that route. If he imagined that, he imagined everything, and if that was the case he might as well relax and start attaching rockets to every exhausted korok’s backpack like that one by Outskirt Stable.

Poor little guy. At least he made it the eleventh time.

He huffed to himself. Sometimes, Zelda thought he was a little nuts. He supposed he could see why.

As a particularly large poe with a bright pink fringe zzipped its way into his body, Link caught a wink of blue between boulders at the stone circle in the distance to the north—a small zonaite deposit he’d cleared of monsters for what seemed to be the final time, the blood moons having ended.

It sparked his curiosity.

He sprinted the first hundred feet, then slowed to a reasonable pace. He didn’t want to go too far and worry Zelda, but if there were poes at that old monster nest, he didn’t want to leave them there.

Ten minutes later, he entered the mouth of the circle, three moldy, rickety old watch-posts within and another gap in the rocks across from him. Blue flickered beyond it: five poes huddled together. As he approached, flashes of his last encounter there played across his mind’s eye. The bokoblin on the platform before him had seen him first and tried to rain fire-fruit-arrows on him. Two silver moblins had slouched toward him, intent on splitting him open with their horns or the decayed royal claymores they’d somehow gotten. The other two bokoblins had fallen quickly to Tulin’s duplicate. Five monsters in all.

Link’s lip curled.

He hesitated on the brink of turning back, the thought of helping anything that may once have been a bokoblin sending a shockingly wicked taste of bile up his throat. He brought a fist to his mouth, pressing it deep to his skin, the imprint of his teeth stark against his lips.

No one memory stood out.

He’d never met a bokoblin that hadn’t aimed to kill on sight—never known one to show mercy, or even disinterest. Once they knew a person was near, they entered an unstoppable, murderous frenzy until they succeeded or someone put them down.

Link shut his eyes and took breath after deep breath.

He didn’t know anything for sure, and the bargainers never said.

Except they did say.

“Good… Evil… That’s the futile perspective of narrow-minded beings… There is no such distinction in wandering spirits.”

When he next looked, the flames flickered every bit as forlorn as they always did. He shook his head, his feet finally choosing forward for him.

When the poes joined the others in Link, he felt the usual sense of relief. Whoever or whatever they were, they seemed glad to be with him—not as happy as the ones he’d found in the deepest pit of the mine beneath Hateno, but if he was stuck for Goddess-knows how long at the absolute bottom of a pitch-black pit, he’d have been overjoyed to get out, too.

He took his time on the way back to the courtyard, half-watching a team excavate a buried section of the cracked enclosure and half-scouting for more glints of spirit-light, pensive, wrinkling his nose as he became aware of the sticky sheen on his skin. He pulled a handkerchief from his pouch and took it to his face. It came away slightly green with the powdery spores always floating in the too-still air of the depths.  Zelda collected them to study, but Link preferred not to be the collection vessel.

Zelda herself appeared over the edge of the wall as he swept the cloth beneath his left eye a second time. He watched her make her way down the inclined stone the natural grace she’d always had.

When he reached her, she was busy snapping images of the newly excavated section of stone.

“It is remarkable how they accomplished this precision on such a massive scale.” The Purah Pad clicked. “These structures were erected before my time with them—long before for most. They are scattered so far and wide and yet certain markings on them are precisely identical. I suppose they may have mass-produced stones as they did construct parts and delivered them afar.”

Link grew a soft, sideways smile as he listened. He could imagine her doing exactly this in the sunshine, her hair brushing the small of her back, himself silent as always, allowing her voice to wash over him until she inevitably remembered who she was talking to.

“The compendium feature is still something of a mystery,” she’d said, snapping a carefully-timed shot of a warm darner just as it paused, searching for prey.

“It recognizes certain species, but not others. Initially, Purah and I believed its recognition to be related to useful effects. Warm darners are of use in elixirs to resist cold temperatures, for example. Yet despite being unable to identify any species of tree, the Slate recognizes certain perfectly ordinary fruits, including apples.”

Link thought apples were too delicious to be ordinary.  He didn’t dare say so, but the phantom flavor of hot buttered apple flooded his mouth and his stomach betrayed him with a thoroughly embarrassing hunger-pang much-too-much like the sound of a hopeful retriever begging for an appley treat.

Zelda’s back stiffened. She glanced over her shoulder at his now-pink face, her eyes flicking to the blue pommel peeking out behind his ear. Link remained perfectly still, and that included not swallowing his imaginary-apple-induced-saliva.

Then-Zelda had returned to imaging wildlife in a rankling silence.

Now-Zelda heard him huff a laugh and turned with a smile sparkling despite the cold light of this place. She hooked the Purah Pad onto her belt. “May I ask what’s amused you so?”

Link shrugged a little. “Ways you haven’t changed.”

“Ah,” she said, threading her fingers through his. “And what of ways I have?”

His voice emerged low and soft. “I love those.” He squeezed her hand.

It made her smile at him in a way far too similar to how she had much earlier that morning, not long after waking up. He swallowed as she pulled him toward her—then she squinted at him and laughed a little through her nose, taking the handkerchief still in his other hand and beginning to wipe his forehead.

“I did that already,” he chuckled.

“You missed your hairline,” she said with the soft laugh he’d come to recognize as her equivalent of a giggle. “It’s fortunate this substance does not irritate your lungs as it does for some.”

“Especially Nappin.”

“Indeed, yes, especially Nappin. I do not believe depths research is his calling.”

“Nope.”

“You must have walked through a thick patch.”

“Ran through, more likely.”

“Oh? Where did you go?”

Link motioned toward the stone circle in the distance.

Her brow pinched. “Monsters?”

“Poes,” he said, wondering if he should tell her about the coincidence of the number. It might make her feel better, to have some hint these weren’t all souls marooned by the Calamity, but he wasn’t sure how she’d take the possibility they might be doing favors for monsters who’d been intent on murdering them in life.

She must have seen it in the motions of his mouth, nearly but not quite speaking. “Something else?” she asked.

He sighed soft through his nose. “Just something that made me think.”

The corner of her mouth quirked. Then her whole face opened up in mock-surprise. “Incredible!”

“Pfff,” he said with a poke to her ribs.

She squeaked. The three people working on the excavation behind Zelda went from studiously ignoring them to unabashed staring. Link gave them a small wave just as he registered Zelda’s eyes narrowing at him.

She began to rub the handkerchief all over the crown of his head with unnecessary vigor.

“Hey!”

The sounds coming from her as he pushed her hands away were much more like a girlish giggle than anything she usually produced. “It was in your hair, too,” she pointed out.

“There’s probably some in yours, Princess,” he warned.

Her eyebrows shot very close to the hairline her hands had risen to protect.

Link smirked. Her braid was much more difficult to fix than his ponytail. He made short work of his, shaking his now-mussed hair out and re-gathering it in the tie. Hyper-aware of the team still at rapt attention in the background, he finished up and offered his hand to Zelda. “Truce?”

She took it with a small smile. “Yes, please—but sincerely, I would like to know what gave you pause in the short time we were separated.”

His smile ebbed as he began to lead her over the shallower side of the half-buried stone walkway. It was no use, really. He’d only been good at hiding things from her when she refused to look at him, so long ago.

“There were five poes,” he said, “same as how many monsters I last cleared out.”

Their feet fell so quiet on the soft courtyard ground covered in pale, fuzzy flora he had no real names for, some soft and mossy, others more like wisps or powders. A few prickled. He liked the purple ones best for breaking up all that grey.

Their feet followed the same path without any hesitance or need for confirmation—toward the great central corridor. Zelda finally answered ten feet from its first stones.

“The statues say… good and evil… are meaningless for them.”

“…Yeah.”

“For a few moments, I was wondering whether only the spirits remaining clear in the shape of Hylian soldiers were people, but… no.  For they aren’t poes at all, are they?”

Link shook his head. “No. They… find their way on their own. Once they’re done.”

Zelda nodded. “They had a purpose—to help you,” Zelda said.

“To help someone, anyway. Whoever came around to fight back.”

A series of clanging sounds echoed down the stone steps into the corridor, along with quizzical "Brrrp!"s and a Hylian's grumbling. Link's right hand flexed. No more convenient ultra-glue. He kept walking.

“Why down here?” Zelda asked.

She’d spoken so quietly he had to think to process her words over the noise.

“You mean why in the depths?” Link asked.

“Yes. Why so far beneath the place they perished? There seems little hope of aiding someone here, doesn’t there?”

“I came along.”

“Yet they can’t have known you would. They wouldn’t even have known the depths were here to travel here intentionally.”

Link shook his head. He had absolutely no idea.

They descended in thoughtful silence to the base of Aratra’s main statue, then behind her into the yawning chamber tucked deceptively beneath the center of the great structure.

It struck Link, as it often did, as the offer of an embrace. As the chamber opened before them, the long bridge leading from the entrance directly to the four-eyed face of the greatest bargainer statue, the platform running abreast its shoulders combined with its massive arms and it appeared so ready to encircle whatever came before it. When he’d first stood there, he expected it, watched those hands out of the corner of his eye, waiting for movement.

It had never come.

Instead, a distant but surprisingly level-headed voice had issued from the alien face. It had helped him—no question about that.

The poes gladly rushed into its waiting arms—no doubt about that, either.

But this entity had also played a trick on him to get him down here. He would never trust it the way he trusted the Goddess.

The Goddess statues were another matter entirely. Now that he knew more than one thing could talk out of them, he was a lot more wary than he’d been before.

They came to a halt near the great statue’s face.

“You who stand before me,” it said in tones of single drops of water echoing in a deep, black lake, “offer poes to me. They are spirits that ought to return to the afterlife.”

As always, the poes simply left them. With hundreds or thousands of spirits somehow housed within him, Link always expected there to be something like a whirlwind, or flashes of light—but there wasn’t. It was swift and gentle as a sigh: barely a murmur of any motion or sound. It took merely a moment.

Then a wave of desperate grief seized the core of Link’s body and he cried out, clutching at an anguished heart, though neither the cry nor the heart were his own.

“Link!” Zelda gripped his biceps, her face stricken.

“Z-elda-“ he said, more to answer her than anything else, at a complete loss.

“Two do not wish to leave you,” said the bargainer.

Link’s breath caught.  Zelda’s eyes flew wide, and she looked him up and down as though trying to find them. “Can you- pull them from him?”

“I can do no more than guide,” the bargainer answered. “I show the way home.”

“They usually seem quite pleased to go home. So- why?” Zelda’s face seemed approaching a panic like none he’d seen in over a hundred years.

“I’m fine, Zel,” Link said, “really- NO, really, I’m fine, I’m just- I feel what they feel.”

“Yes, I do as well, but this-“

“This is them not wanting to go,” Link said, shaking. His eyes met first the lower, then the upper pair of the bargainer’s. “Can you talk to them?”

“After a fashion.”

“Can you figure out why-“

“I know why.”

Link and Zelda waited a few beats.

“We would appreciate it if you would inform us,” Zelda said, a hint of exasperation in her voice.

There was a depth of quiet, as though all sound plummeted into some unseen pit, unable to return, siphoned, whenever the bargainers spoke across fathoms to their brethren.  It muted Link’s accelerated breaths. Zelda’s grip tightened, her mind visibly whirring behind the eyes flicking between his features.

“…You have made a substantial offering,” the bargainer said at length.

Link and Zelda exchanged a glance.

“You have made many offerings,” it continued, “many more than any other being in countless ages.”

Link experienced the distinct sensation of someone…curling around him, like Zelda would, holding him tight, but inside his own chest.

“If you agree, I will honor these spirits’ requests as repayment for your offerings.”

“Agree?” Zelda asked. “What requests?”

“They would speak with you,” it clarified.

The curl tightened. It felt like far, far more than a desire to speak. A creeping dread rose in him—his own—of what spirits would choose to cling with such desperation to his body.

Someone terrified of death? Of the afterlife? Maybe someone with a last request—a regret? Two someones—at the same time, when it had never happened before?

Or did the bargainer mean… “W-wait,” Link said with a swallow. “Do they want to speak to someone in general? Or is it just me? Or Zelda?”

Link resisted an inexplicable urge to whimper.

“It is you who stand before me,” the bargainer said.

“Meaning Link,” Zelda said squinting at the statue.

It stared as though its answer had been obvious.

“Do they mean him harm?” Zelda’s tone had hardened considerably. “We have seen spirits lift weapons- perform magic.“

Link lurched with a sudden fear—could he have picked up Ganondorf’s soul?

“I offer you a boon,” the bargainer said, “not a curse.”

Zelda blinked, taken aback, while Link registered the depth of the anguish invading his heart.

It didn’t feel like Ganondorf. He’d have been hatred—envy—fury.

No, that wasn’t it.

This was regret. Something undone or unfinished.

Link closed his eyes and tried to… reach—within himself, where this spirit wound around him. So tight—clinging—stubborn. Something made him breathe an incredulous laugh, and he didn’t even know why; but the more he seemed to press into the spirit’s space the more familiar it seemed, an intense vertigo hurtling toward him from an invisible horizon slamming his awareness into long ago, when the world was over a hundred years younger.

Link’s body gasped.

Link’s mind looked down at a very spiteful young girl with a thick mop of mixed sand-and-straw-and-acorn-colored hair which he’d wrestled into a braid for her earlier that day, springy strands poking out at odd angles as she narrowed her eyes at him, her gangly arms vice-gripping his ribs, her hands fisted, and her feet planted wider than shoulder-width apart, as though to brace him immovably in-place.

“This isn’t going to work out for you, cheeter,” Link said.

“You’re not going,” she answered, her voice a mix of petulant and acrid.

“I… kind of am.”

“Nope.” She sniffed, a bit of her own hair having tickled its way to the edge of one nostril.

“I mean, if you won’t let go, I can just drag you all the way to the castle.”

“Good.”

“Good?!”

“Dad takes you everywhere. My turn.”

“You clinging to my midriff isn’t the same as Father taking you somewhere.”

Her lip curled and Link felt kind of bad, but what did she expect? “You’re eleven.”

“So?”

“So you’re not even out of school yet!”

“Castle Town has a school.”

“So you want to go to school in Castle Town while I’m in training all day and pretty much not see me anyway?”

“At least I’ll get to do something.”

Link laughed so hard he went silent, the girl’s chin bopping his ribs painfully with each spasm of his diaphragm.

“What are you laughing at?!”

“Chee… for Hylia’s sake, you’ll just be at a different school!”

“With you.”

“What about Mom?” Link said.

Chee went quiet for a moment, her eyes softening a little, though they still shone like tiger’s-eye. He could tell she was trying not to grimace.

“That is totally your sheepish face trying not to come out,” Link said.

 “Dad leaves her alone,” Chee said quietly. “A lot.”

Link’s smile left him. “No… he doesn’t. Because she has us.”

“You mean me.”

“Yeah, okay… so it’s been you more than me. But do you really want to leave her here while we both go?”

“She could come.”

Link shook his head. He was getting sidetracked. Mom wasn’t really what this was about, and neither was a different school, or Castle Town, or even his sister getting to do more exciting things. “Look, Chee… I know you’ll miss me.”

She grunted and pumped all the air from his lungs with her bony arms (damn she was strong).

“I’ll miss you too. A lot.” He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed, hard, but not too hard. He was way too strong for his own good, or hers. “More than anyone,” he whispered.

“Link?”

“No way.”

“Yep.”

“You’re a total mommy’s boy.”

“Yeah, well, doesn’t mean my sister can’t be my favorite person.”

“Link, please- answer me!”

“He communes,” the bargainer said, the sound of distance itself as the image of Link’s little sister faded.

The feel of her arms around him remained.

“I agree!” Link blurted.

“What?!” Zelda said, her thumb swiping at a wetness on Link’s cheek.

As the embrace of his innermost self bled from Link, he tripped forward, his arms desperate, seeking to return it. His hands found Zelda’s waist, and his eyes found hers—whatever she saw in them made her hug him tight about his shoulders.

“Link?” she said.

He held her too, unsure how to begin, but any words died on his lips at the sight of blue flame coalescing behind her. He tapped Zelda’s back, taking her by one shoulder and turning her to look.

Two spirits came into slow being before them, veiled in a pale blue glow, their features weaving into existence as patches of light, seamless once in place. Flames licked their feet, one moment there, then gone. They were old women, but as Link watched, their edges shimmered, and they took the forms he knew they would—some hidden heart within him had already known, had felt their shades only in his most dreamless of sleeps, in the darkness with them.

One woman stood almost exactly his height, about forty years old, and looked very much like him. The other had become the girl who’d insisted he stay home with her over a century ago.

How could his waking mind have forgotten them so thoroughly? He really was an insane amnesiac with delusions of heroism. He’d have to be insane to forget people he loved so much.

“Mom. Chee,” he said, and as he did, their tears fell, too. They rushed to embrace him, both at once, and he could feel them, they were real, and his deepest core spoke a wordless vow to offer a gift worthy of the bargainer’s extraordinary blessing.

--

Zelda balanced privacy and caution, wandering the length of the bargainer’s platform, the communion of three always at the corner of her eye, sitting cross-legged, knee-to-knee and hand-in-hand.

She’d known of his mother and sister, but they’d never met. He’d spoken of them only in bare, short spaces, quiet moments when Calamity’s imminence dulled.

How their Hateno home had not brought their memories forth long before now, she didn’t know. She’d sensed, sometimes, as Link stared at a piece of pottery or brushed his fingertips over a length of wood-grain on the banister, some glimmer of their former reality floating near to the surface—but it never emerged.

It’s why she’d delved into the mystery of the Shrine of Resurrection—into the healing spring beneath it in the depths—as though the missing parts of him had drifted into its bed, lying nascent against its darkest earth, far below.

They’d have stopped there again after this, on an ordinary day. She’d have given him her most sincere of smiles as she removed his leather—his bracers, his belts, his boots—her eyes never leaving his. She could feel the way his chest would rise and fall, quickening against the heels of her hands. They’d have entered the water together.

Zelda reached the platform’s edge. Hundreds of feet below, a small cluster of poes huddled in the great chamber’s corner, near the bargainer’s ankle; Zelda wondered that they’d come so close to the guiding statue, yet not found their way to the afterlife.

“They do not wish to cross,” the bargainer said.

Zelda gasped, one hand pressing flat to her chest. It had heard her?

“I can hear only you who stand before me.”

Zelda craned her neck toward the statue’s head, half-expecting it to have turned toward her. It hadn’t. “Not the others above us, then?” she whispered.

“Only you who stand before me.”

Zelda sighed, the bargainer keeping its secrets as always. She centered Link in her vision, speaking quietly with his lost family, so engrossed he’d not spared the statue a glance as its voice sounded.

“I spoke to you alone,” the statue said.

“Oh?” Zelda’s curiosity piqued. “I didn’t realize you could.”

She waited for a response, the spark of excitement slowly fading in the silence.

She oughtn’t have expected anything else. These beings showed interest in nothing but the welfare of the spirits they shepherded. She peered over the railing once more, at the flames flickering far below.

“If I go to collect them, will they come?”

“For you, yes. Undoubtedly.”

“And would they then move on as the others have?”

“Almost certainly.”

She wondered why her carrying them a few hundred feet would change their minds.

“Listen with he who also stands before me. You will understand.”

Zelda’s brow tightened, taken aback and hesitant to simply eavesdrop. She shuffled her feet.

The bargainer remained silent.

She approached the three with great reservation, her hands clasped before her, unwilling to simply insert herself within their conversation. She stopped partway across the platform. Should Link wish to include her, he would—yet he was rapt. He appeared as though drinking in every detail of his mother’s face over and over again. Perhaps he feared a more ordinary forgetfulness would take her from him a second time.

Zelda’s lower lip rose in understanding. Some days, she, too, struggled to see her father’s face clearly. Her mother’s had long been wiped blank.

She gasped, her hand touching the Purah Pad.

Link looked up at the sound, giving her a small smile, and as he did, the spirits looked at her as well, as though only just noticing her presence.

The spirit of Link’s mother smiled wide. “Link! Is she with you?”

Link turned deep crimson, his face twisting in a smiling grimace Zelda had never seen on him.

“Oooh!” his sister said, her face full of mock-scandalization. “Your face, Link. Wow. Is she… with you?” she asked, her eyebrows inching upward.

Link’s rested his face in his hands as the spirit-women giggled at him. Zelda couldn’t help but quirk a smile, herself, though she felt strange. She could not ignore the hesitance in her heart.

Transient.

It would be transient.

Her eyes threatened tears as she watched her lover, watched him be with them as though they yet lived.

Their departure would sink him as his forgetfulness never could have.

It took Link a minute and a few resurgences of giggling to recover enough to peer over his hands at her.

Then he held one out in invitation, turning that smile on her- the one that was for her alone. She drew a steeling breath, her fingers worrying at the pad’s cool surface. “Are you certain?” Zelda asked. “I’ve no wish to intrude.” I’ve no wish to cut your time short.

“I’m completely sure,” Link said, beckoning her toward him.

Her shoe scuffed on the first step and she swallowed, extending her hand. When he took it, his mother’s spirit slid to make room for her. Zelda sat as they did, her knee to Link’s, unable to smile and unsure what to say—though she had no intention of asking questions about the mechanics of spirithood, despite the bargainer’s nebulous words.

Link seemed to sense her uncertainty. He threaded his fingers through hers and moved closer, drawing her hand warm into his lap, his shoulder to hers. Zelda couldn’t help but find his eyes, and though she knew his smile and the squeeze of her hand were nothing but sincerity, a truth to reassure her, the smile she gave held a depth of sadness for the future this would bring.

“That is so a yes,” his sister said, snapping the moment in two. Link’s eyes rolled and fluttered shut, and a small laugh left Zelda’s nose despite her visions of Link falling apart.

“The sky’s sake, Chee,” his mother chuckled. “You lived to be ninety-two. I’d expect you to have matured eventually.”

“Are you kidding? This is my chance to be a kid again. I’ll take it!” The girl smiled at Link, but an intense sadness lay in the core of her eyes, the precise contours of her lips. Zelda recognized its longing.

It was in his mother’s, too. “Link, my little love,” the older woman said, shifting a soft smile between him and Zelda, “why don’t you introduce us?”

Link huffed a laugh and gave Zelda a look so like one he’d given her just before the Calamity struck—on Mount Lanayru—something sad yet loving and utterly immovable all at once. She wondered wildly for a moment exactly how he’d introduce her—for she wasn’t his wife, not yet, but “fiancé” seemed an entirely inadequate word.

Fated. Soulmate. Destined. Those- those began to approach the magnitude of whatever connection had laid between them even from the beginning.

“Mom- Chee,” Link said, his eyes and smile still soft, still on her. “This is the love of my life.” His thumb stroked the edge of her hand. “Zelda.”

She and her smile warmed, his words an anchor to the present. Her free hand curled around his bicep and their foreheads somehow met, though she’d not intended to approach him.

His eyes on hers.

Those calm waters she always wished to dive deep within. They seemed to go on forever, further than Link himself could know, to a place warm, safe, and eternal.

Should she ever tell him so, he would give her his lopsided smile with that deep dimple of his. He would tell her the reverse—that she was his eternal goddess, and he worshiped her—that it wasn’t about him.

But it was about him. She knew it in her deepest self. They two were as one. When it came time for her to pass into the afterlife, she knew she would not go without him.

A sudden understanding drew an aching smile on her face for all the little lights in the darkness.

Though the silence between them bore no tension, its length emerged in her awareness. No irreverent remark issued from his sister; his mother had asked no questions of her. She turned with a flutter of dread, expecting, somehow, the spell to be broken—to see empty space where the spirits had been. Instead, she found their gazes on them, awed.

“What is it?” Link asked softly.

They seemed at a loss for speech. Their eyes traveled all around and above and below them, their hands locked together. His mother’s eyes fell on Zelda’s, and his sister’s on Link’s.

“It was you,” his sister said.

Link shook his head. “What was?”

“You… shine,” his mother said, her voice like a whisper in a cathedral. “Together. Like- the light of a thousand Suns.”

Link turned as though searching for that light himself. “Zelda does- she shines with her magic.”

 “No, Link. Both of you,” his sister said, shaking her head hard, her eyes shut for a moment. She opened them, squinting at Zelda. “I see you both ways right now. Before, I didn’t have eyes, not anymore. I do now, and I can see you sitting there, but I could see you before, too. You… you were the lights. You…” she gestured at them, her palm wide, “are the lights.” She swallowed. “Mom? Same for you?”

“Yes,” the older woman breathed. “Yes. I thought- Link, I’d thought the light had led us to you. I felt- so happy to finally be with you again. My little boy-“ tears slipped down her cheeks again, and she reached for Link, cupping his cheeks. “I thought- I still don’t understand- I thought I’d outlived you. I kept wishing, and wishing, and wishing in a sea of darkness to find you again.”

“We all thought you died at Fort Hateno,” Chee said quietly.

“But the light didn’t lead me to you,” said his mother with a tearful smile. “The light was you. And…” she smiled at Zelda, “you. And together…” she shook her head.

“Together you get a lot brighter,” said Chee. “Like, a lot. Way more than double.”

His mother laughed. “I don’t have the right words- to tell you- just how beautiful it is. I wish you could see it.”

Link’s sister raised her hand like a schoolchild, her eyes on Zelda, one eyebrow intensely arched.

“…Yeah, Chee?” Link asked cautiously.

“So… are you Princess Zelda?”

Zelda couldn’t help but laugh. “I am.”

Chee gawked and whacked Link’s arm.

“Ow-“

“You landed the Princess?!”

“It’s not-“

“And you didn’t even INTRODUCE her as the Princess?!!”

“Well, I didn’t want to- to-“

“To what, brag?”

“No, it’s just not what’s im-“

“It is so important-“

“Children,” their mother said.

They ceased so completely their hands froze mid-gesture.

The older woman offered her hand, palm up, to Zelda with a kind smile.

She took it, astonished to feel warm skin, no different from anyone else’s, a mere shimmer of blue at the outline setting her apart if she looked hard enough.

“My name is Junilla,” she said, placing her other hand over Zelda’s. “I am so sincerely pleased to meet you, Princess- and overjoyed that my son has found such love in his lifetime.”

Zelda returned the gesture, placing her other hand over the spirit’s. “I am grateful,” she said, “for this chance to meet you. That Link has been reunited with you after all this time…” she took a breath, “is a blessing.” Her gaze rose from Junilla to the eyes of the bargainer. The others’ gaze followed hers.

Chee traced the unfamiliar shapes of the statue’s eyes, a hand worrying in her lap. “How- how much time do we have?”

Junilla’s hand tightened for the space of a pulse around Zelda’s, searching the stone for an answer.

“The- bargainer didn’t say how long we could speak,” Link said softly, suddenly breathing strangely.

“The choice to move on is never mine,” the statue said.

Link blinked. “So- there’s no time limit?”

“I impose nothing. Yet my gift cannot extend beyond these walls.”

Link nodded, his face flat.

--

Ponnick and several Sheikah entered the space several times to check on them, so long they remained below.

They never appeared to notice the two strange women, though the Purah Pad had been able to take their pictures.

When she and Link finally left—at 5:17am according to the Purah Pad—the women faded without even a whisper of sound to two flickering blue flames, resting together beside the bargainer.

They would wait for Link’s father.

He and Zelda would begin their search in the depths beneath Akkala to find him—under the Citadel—though the bargainer warned that spirits may drift or become bound.

“End the final tide of gloom,” the bargainer said. “Only then may they all return home.”

Link seemed to understand.

They kept their appointments in Lookout Landing and Goron City for that morning and afternoon, having skipped their detour to the hidden spring of resurrection in favor of them. Link was unusually subdued as she’d expected, and her heart fell further and further as the day lengthened.

He’d barely smiled at Yunobo’s fist-bump.

He broke down in her arms, as she’d thought he would, at home in their bed, exhausted and shuddering with a grief which should have been foreign to him, as it should be to anyone—yet he had felt it before in lesser magnitude when the spirits of their friends, their allies, had become known to him, one by one and memory by memory, a sudden knowledge of what had been lost.

He’d even grieved over her in this way, for he’d no way to know she would emerge from the Calamity’s innards as a living being.

Zelda could not imagine it.

All she could do was hold him, kiss the crown of his head, stroke his hair, tell him it was alright.

“I am here, my love,” she said. “I am with you, and I shall stay.”

He nodded, unable, for the moment, to speak.

It was days later, the Sun a deep gold resting in a bed of lavender above the stand of trees west of their garden, when Link suddenly took her by the waist with his only-for-her smile and kissed her, gentle and questioning, then deeper as she rose to meet him, passionate, her arms wrapping about his neck, their bodies moving as a single unfettered wave. Her mouth parted from his breathless.

“L- Link,” she said.

He kissed her again, on her jaw—behind her ear.

“Are- you alright?” she breathed despite her body’s insistence that now was not the time to worry.

He breathed a very soft laugh in her ear and pulled back to look in her eyes. His hands left her hips to cup her face.

He spent a very long moment just like that. When he spoke, the sweet summer breeze danced with the sunflowers, his soft voice like its rustle through the birch leaves.

“I don’t want to remember what I’ve lost only to forget what I have.”

Her hand covered one of his, pressing it to her cheek.

“I love you so much,” he said, his smile growing, a joy nestled there despite the shadow always upon his features. A hint of mischief twitched his mouth. “So much we attract poes in the dark.”

A laugh burst from her. “Link- you are indeed the love of my life, but I’d rather thought it was our magic-“

But Link was shaking his head. “Magic, sure, for glowing when we’re alone, but… the light of a thousand Suns? That’s love. I know it.”

A memory burst to her mind’s eye, of a power as though the surface of the Sun itself, flowing from her as her knight clung to the thread of life behind her.

It had been love then. She knew that. Love of Link which had hurled her bodily before him, willing to die in his stead.

She pulled him close and tight—placed a long, gentle kiss on his cheek. He breathed a laugh and nuzzled her hair.

“You are- absolutely right, Link,” she said. “Absolutely right.”

They held each other, quiet, unhurried as the soft changes in the palette of the sky, restful as the setting sun, resting in the place sought by all the little lights far below—that place in Link’s eyes: a far deeper depth than any within this earth, for eternity had no limit.

She ought to have understood it sooner.

The lifetime of the Light Dragon had been a mere blink of an eye.

Link would love her far longer.

It wasn't transient.

Nor was his love for his sister, his mother, or his yet-unfound father. What resurrection had taken from him in life would have been found beyond the bargainer's crossing, just as she and Link would follow each other to the spirit realm, to whatever lay beyond.

Some well deep within herself whispered in the language of forgotten memories, a truth woven of silent echoes, veiled shades of her many selves passing through her as a thick-muffled feeling—and in that moment, safe and warm in Link’s arms, she felt they had done so before. Over and over again, passing in and out of death and life and realms and voids and time together, and always each other’s light.

She looked at Link, eyes and mouth wide open in a sort of shock, as though seeing him for the first time—as though just having remembered him.

“Zelda?!” He ducked, flickering from feature to feature of her face, his thumbs brushing tenderness on her cheeks and temples. “What is it? Are you okay?”

“Oh- oh yes,” she said, her voice shuddering. Her next smile glowed, for him and only him, all else in reality falling from her present. “I love you, Link.”

He grew a smile to match hers and then some. “You sound surprised,” he said with a chuckle.

She took his face in her hands and kissed his mouth, softly, full of reverence, and it felt like a first time. Link’s palm came to rest flat on the table beside her, pressing hard, bracing himself against a force Zelda felt, too, and welcomed—a compulsion to rejoin, to reunite. A shocking elation flooded her that he was wholly him, that he carried no spectre of an ancient king, no matter how benevolent, by his side, and she surged forward against him, delving, caressing: worshiping.

Her kiss released by a hair’s breadth, the heat of their lips a promise of imminence. Link’s heart raced against her elbow where it met his chest. “Z- el,” he said, utterly breathless, even more than he’d made her.

“I’ve always loved you,” she said, her voice quiet’s paramour. “And I always will.”

He stood before her, an avatar of adoration, every aspect of his being focused on her, the softness in his eyes unlike any she’d seen outside those moments he watched her at pleasure’s height. He brushed his lips to hers—not a kiss: a caress.

“You understand,” he said.

She kissed him again, her hands carding through his hair, thrilled when his eyes fluttered shut. She pulled back, a pause. “I do, now.”

“Forever,” he said.

“Through death and life again,” she answered.

In bed that night, Link slept soundly, his arms wrapped around her and his head resting on her chest. She sat partway up against the pillows, stroking his hair and thinking in a way she hadn’t in her waking life: a thinking more like feeling—more like acceptance.

This life was a gift.

A time to feel with skin, with heart and blood.

A time to be separate.

Not because they wished to be—but because it made their reunions that much more joyful.

And when it came time to fade from the physical, there would be nothing to separate them. They would be as one.

Death was not the end.

Birth was not the beginning.

And love…had neither.

She held Link a little tighter, smiling at his sleeping grumble, and closed her eyes.

[berrypass-de-murdler]

80. The Cost of Rent is the Real Killer

Depression is eating me alive still, even in the one thing that makes me happy I'm not close to the same league as everyone else in the fandom no matter how many hours I pour into it-

But

Rabbit daughter is with me

And that helped me a lot more than you'd expect

The first contest I've ever won, I can now at least claim my cartoonverse designs are 'award-winning' to make it sound better than it is

That along with 63 designs finished between the two of us, you can't say I'm not trying lol

My Aureolin plushie is absolutely perfect, and my gratitude to Budsies is infinite. I really really hope they'll work on Irratino now, because a plush of goat lord is second to oxygen in my needs

DON'T READ THE EPISODES UNTIL YOU'VE FINISHED THE FIRST BOOK!!

Logico gives up and rents an apartment in Hollywood, because he’s clearly going to be there for the rest of his life. Goodbye, old friends! Hello, sweet cash.

LOGICO: What an amazing deal - I don’t have to spend a coin!

That’s ‘cuz the person who was gonna sell him the house is DEAD!

LOGICO: Well, a deal’s a deal.

Steel, Charcoal, and Uncle Midnight are hanging around their apartments, and also-

CRIMSON: HELLO, MY FAVORITE DETECTIVE…  LOGICO: [scream] YOU FOLLOWED ME!! CRIMSON: Of COURSE I did… [heeehhh]... I wouldn’t want to MISS YOU…

Well, that’s hellish. One of them did it, blah blah blah.

STEEL: Hey hey! Look at my golden flamingo. It cost a fortune! But I STILL have a fortune! AHA!

Logico dislikes Steel quite a bit, for many obvious reasons. Poor Crimson is hiding in a closet.

CRIMSON: THIS IS MY ROOM… I COULDN’T AFFORD ANYTHING ELSE… [shaky breathing]

Logico feels bad for her all of a sudden! She CANNOT be the killer. Clearly, neither can Charcoal, who is prancing among the flowers in the rooftop garden. 

STEEL: Imagine HIM in the tiny room. HA! He couldn’t even FIT.

All right. So the only two remaining suspects are the barely trustworthy Uncle Midnight and Steel.

U. MIDNIGHT: Hey now, my only motivation to kill, would be as PRACTICE.  LOGICO: …HOW IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MAKE YOU LOOK INNOCENT??

Logico calls a phone, but it goes to voicemail. That makes him sad.

LOGICO: It’s… um… murder stuff…

There’s an immediate answer!

IRRATINO: YEE hi Logico! According the the numbers I’ve been running, the person who wanted to join a cult was in the boiler room. 

Only one person has ALL the cult vibes, and that’s Steel.

STEEL: What? Cults are FUN!

So the murderer is Uncle Midnight!

U. MIDNIGHT: He had a great room, man. LOGICO: He was the TENANT. U. MIDNIGHT: And Smoky’s always saying if I want something I need to go and get it. So I did, man. Is that so wrong? LOGICO: Yes.  U. MIDNIGHT: [sigh] Mannn.

Logi gets a call. He’s very sad that it’s not from goat lord.

MIDNIGHT: We’re doing the movie at MysteryCon so you have to do it before then.  LOGICO: Do WHAT? U. MIDNIGHT: [steals phone] UNCLE MIDNIIIGHT! LOGICO: FUCK YOU! U. MIDNIGHT: Hahaheeeeehhnahh.

The end!

Holdgico

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[goldendoodledenny]

Requested by anon

Goultard x gn reader- you're beautiful <3 pt1 (sfw*)

*its sfw, but has suggestions of other stuff

Reader is gender neutral and referred to as y/n

Head cannons about Goultard with his s/o, who is very pretty, but doesn't seem to think they are

• Goultard always wondered why you wore baggy pants and a sweatshirt

• you were so pretty!

• he once saw you dressed up for some big event

• and you looked fantastic!

• so he didn't get why you didn't wear clothes that match how great you look

• he knew you were insecure, but he didn't think you didn't see how you looked

• it was as of a spell was cast on you to make you see something else in the mirror

• you had a bad habit of comparing yourself to others

• so even if someone told you about your looks

• you didn't believe it

• you thought they were pitying you, that they were lying

• and when you're boyfriend kept saying you were pretty

• you still didn't believe it

• he hugs you, kisses you, praises you

• and you STILL didn't believe him

• sometimes

• you'll deny it completely and say it's not true

• and this MANNN (technically a God, lol)

• he gonna pick you up

• take you to the couch or bed

• and cuddle the crap outta you!

• (maybe some other activities too 🤭)

• he'll make sure you KNOW how much he loves you!

• after all

• physical touch is his main love language🧡

The End🧡

(ik I said id prolly post more frequently... But I'm also really frickin lazy and kinda demotivated. It can take WEEKS to make ONE... But a DAY to make THREE sometimes... I've also been struggling with my parents depending on me so much and my dumb butt messing up half the time, I also think I may have minor depression/anxiety and slight ADHD/ADD so that's frickin fun... I'm almost convinced with the minor depression since it runs in my family... Don't worry, I don't cut myself or anything, I just get stuck in a hole of self doubt... Life is hell sometimes and it's overwhelming me a bit... Being the oldest child and having annoying little sisters... Think imma make some comforts with an overwhelmed reader... I'm rambling at this point, and it you've read this all, thanks, and I'm sorry for dumping all this here, I just needed somewhere for all this to go... Here, have a snack as a reward for reading the fanfic and/or this 🍕🍟🥨🍔🌭🌮🍝🍙🍧🎂🍮🥧🍫🍬🍭🍪🍩)

[sparrowmoss]

acolyte episode eight (shaking in fear)

WHATS HAPPENING? IMMEDIATELY???

oshas way too chill about this

OH FUCKKKK MAE AT LEAST LET HIM FINISH THAT

oh the music this is not good. we are cooked

whats he going to even do to her if he catches her

everyone being like this to vernestra about her hyperspace sickness im crying

im so glad the creatures made another appearance before the end yippeeee

WHAT the HELL IS THAT THINGGGGG

EEWWWWWWWW

osha turning his copilots seat off help

seeing their home completely abandoned for decades is so sad

what the fuck is happening AGAINNN !!! WHERE DID HE GO!!!

that deflection was cool as hell. and right after that kick too!!!! MANNN the fight scenes in this show are SO good

mae and osha being in reverse black and white outfits from how they started in the beginning. this is crazyyyy

DAMN SOL!!!!!!!

womp womp womppppp osha was always gonna find out

OSHA??????????

THE KYBERRRRRR THIS IS CRAZYYYYYYYYY

THIS IS CRAZYYYYYYYYYYYY OH MY GODDDDDDDDD

VERNESTRA GO GO GO GO GET THERE IDK WHAT YOU COULD POSSIBLY DO AT THIS POINT BUT YOU SHOULD DO SOMETHING I THINK. STOP STANDING AROUNDDDD

all these jedis hairstyles are really cool like sorry but can we take a moment for that. absolutely stunning. also reminiscent of aniseya’s? with the long hair bunched down the back with multiple clasps. i wonder if this is just a popular style of the time

are mae and osha gonna fuse back together…

now vernestra knows what happened… at least some of it… very interesting. u wonder what shes saying to sol or doing to him. i wonder if shes trying to get his last moments?

are they going to fuse and UNMAKE themselves…

i wonder how this is gonna work out…

vernestra… court appearance? senate appearance? trial for mae?

VERNESTRA YOU STUPID PIECE OF SHIT!!!! HAVE YOU JEDI NOT LEARNED YOUR LESSONS ABOUT LYING TO PROTECT SOMEONE!!!! THIS WILL NOT END WELL!!!!!!!!!

is this what tied the jedi order to the senate and the republic… to hold them accountable… for something sol DID NOT DO!!!

i knew he was vernestras padawan. i knew itttt

this is going to be yoda isnt it

predictable but good nonetheless!!!!

wow. i mean i dont really know how to feel yet about the osha and mae side switch, it makes sense and was also predictable and feels so right narratively but it is still bittersweet to see osha have to find out that way and lose herself to her hatred. and that all being said, yes that WAS predictable, but i have NO idea what will happen next. in a season 2. this is crazy and i cant wait to see what this situation causes that sticks around for the time of the clone wars…

like i really think now that this sets up a good reason for the jedi being kind of under the rule of the republic and the senate, one of their own (as far as the senate knows) went rogue and killed a whole clan of other non-jedi force users and then killed his accomplices and then himself, so i can see why the senate would be like okay you guys can no longer be trusted to self regulate. and i can see how this might also lead to the senate telling the jedi hey you guys cant be spread out all over the place all the time anymore because if we have to keep an eye on you so no one goes rogue, we cant be sending people out to all those temples too.

AUGHHHH to think that this started so small and the butterfly effect led to the jedi order being almost completely wiped out!!!!!! FUCK!!!!!! i know how it has to end but it STRESSES ME OUT!!!! this show is so fucking good this season was INSANELY good. thank you everyone who worked on this wowwww wow. great stuff

[6okuto]

sorry sorry I absolutely LOVE your works and I am SCREAMING AT YOUR THEME AND PROFILE PIC LIKE AAAHHH ??

like omg a fellow Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku fan omg screaming 😞😞 I swear I squealed seeing Christmas version kaoruko as your pfp !! so if you don't mind answering, what's your fav character from it?

(trying to spread rintaro love around here, he's perfect and I love him, and kaoruko, and his friends, and his family, god the whole fucking cast)

OMFG. UGET ME?! YOUUUFBDJGBH kaoruko.. :( she's so cutesie shes just a girl i love her so much... as for fav chara... in general it's kind of rare for me to not have a fave chara + for romances it's always Easily the main girl/couple. but like,, i rlly love everybody so bad. this shit was made for me. but. i think. Ok. I think it'd have to be like... rin + kaoruko >=? rin's family + subaru + natsusawa >? usami yorita madoka etc

>=? is a questionable greater than symbol because they feel quite equal at the end of the day like. Everybody growing and learning to open up and caring for each other no matter the love and warmth the self doubt and blame and forgiveness and acceptance like the friend group is my lockscreen i love them . this is peak nia luvring core bro

i seriously love rin and kaoruko. RIN. i'm so attached to this guy he's perfect he's sooo so sweet and whenever he blames himself for things i feel like throwing up GET BEHIND ME :( he's opened up a lot but he's always been so kind and i'm so happy he's found such great friends 😭😭 ohmgmkdgn. kaoruko. come on. < girl who likes tohru and yuki like let's be serious. she loves her friends so much and works so hard and tries not to worry people but she deserves to be cared for like ohmyfogdopela?!$! also she's soo cutieful i love all her hairstyles and outfits omg. And like.. their relationship is so nice... i love the way it happened and how they want to be better and love each other and get nervous abt compliments and stuff and. oh man. i'm nauseous i love u guys so bad

the mangaka does so well fleshing everyone out and... rin + kaoruko's relationship just feels so genuine and warm i feel like i'm going to explode but really truly Every relationship is soo important. i love the whole cast u don't know how much i just cut out of this answer because i was rambling FSBGJDHBG like i'm going to throw up i just want everyone to be happy...mannn... in a way their problems are similar as young students but they're still distinct and instead of being like Damn another backstory i'm always like YEAAASS!!! like i'm excited to see how they deal w their schools as a group but i'm happy with learning about everyone y'know. GRAHH! i love u kaoru hana wa rin to saku. i wish i knew how to shorten its name. its jpn and eng names r both long i cant breathe

[some-pers0n]

Genuinely insane that even HH’s only good episode still kinda sucks. Masquerade manages to do the incredible and make me actually feel bad for one of its characters only to immediately take me out of it with the expositionary dialogue. Angel talking felt like someone reading off a summary of his character and Husk’s advice was almost enough for me to ignore that until he launched into Loser Baby, which felt less like a “Things are bad, yes, but you have to stop justifying your isolation by saying that no one understand and learn how to move forwards with those you love.” and more like kicking him when he was down.

Charlie was also made to hold the idiot ball this episode. Not with how she entered the studio, that was a shockingly accurate to why you can’t just storm up to an abuser and demand that they knock it off, with her apology in the ending. It knocked me right back to the same indifference-annoyance combo I felt when watching the other episodes. The way she immediately gets all wishy-washy and reacts like how the audience is supposed to “He said he forgaveeeeee meeeeee” feels so out of place with the rest of the stuff episode’s content it made me lose any thoughts that were saying “Huh, this might actually be good.” It’s been a while and I’m still not over it.

I gotta be honest and say I wish Masquerade came in a hypothetical season 2 that focused more on the V's as opposed to Heaven. By season 2, we would've been more acquainted with Angel and picked up on some hints that he's pretty unhappy with his job and being used. Then, it would be elaborated upon in this episode. It'd be more topical (I always thought the V's stuff in the show was jarring since it never went anywhere and didn't feel right) and be better paced.

The dialogue I also felt was off too, but that could be from, again, poor pacing and not fleshing out these characters. Angel going from playful and flirty to dead-serious and such feels odd, but had the show had placed him in scenarios where he needed to ground himself a little more, I think that'd be better.

Loser Baby is also a great song, but jesus christ it sucks as a means of which to help Angel. Yeah yeah Loser Baby exists because Angel definitely wouldn't believe a typical "heeyyyy everything is nice and okay :]]]" talk. Loser Baby catches his attention and he falls into it because it talks about him being a shitty person. A loser.

I think it should've come at least an episode after Masquerade. Waiting for Angel to get back up a little.

Charlie being the pushy idiot here was also irritating. They needed to have some character come in and be annoying and bother Val so that it shows how abusive he is, but c'mmmoonnnn mannn.. I get it shows Charlie's character as an idealistic and optimist who wants to help people even if they don't want it, a flaw without a doubt, but it feels like it is more there to make Val upset than anything and not to show Charlie's character. A plot device. She's just...yeah, bothersome

[trixcuomo]

Star Drama Express

Sharpen: So. Are you excited to see Coco's choice of musical tonight?

Coco: Woooo! Woooooooo! Trains! Explosions!! Oh man oh mannn! Undermine Today show says this is gonna be ten outta ten for goblin fans, so I brought my goblin fam!!

Trixany: Uh, sis? Check the pointy ears and his purple skin. He's a Night Elf, I'm a sin'dorei.

Coco: Who cares! I got us great seats. We're in what they call the 'crash zone.' Wonda what that means?

Sharpen: Fireworks! Explosions! And don't forget the dragons. We're seeing the dracthyr adaptation after all, Dragonflight Express!

Trixany: Guess it is cute how they keep embracing new things, even as a militaristic people. Like the arts.

Sharpen: I'm a little excited-slash-worried to see how they've adapted a highly warlike mentality to rolling around on skates and singing about their feelings, though?

2 hours later, of screeching dragons crashing into each other at top speed, mid-air...

Trixany: Um. Why was Neltharion even in this?

Coco: I can still smell my hair burning.

Sharpen: I thought that Healing Wings dracthyr put it out.

Trixany: Here, lemme help. It's still smoking.

Sharpen: So. The plot was, Neltharion commanded them all to dragon race to the death with his Titan hand device thingy. And the last dracthyr standing could marry whoever he chose?

Coco: But they're all lying on stage, dead. With broken legs, wings and roller skates. Who the heck is Rustscale gonna marry?

Trixany: I figured it out!! Neltharion is going to bring second and third place back as a two-headed dragon abomination they have to fight in Aberrus!

Coco: Or... marry? In Aberrus?

Sharpen: Hold on. Why were they wearing roller skates at all, if they were flying everywhere??

Coco: Weighted blunt weapons you can swing around on your feet at high-speed. A lot like the original production.

Trixany: ...and then after they get Aberrus-married, they create a three-headed abomination dragon that can finally do all the things Neltharion promised the dracthyr all along--

Coco: *gasp* To sing, dance, skate, and kill! Cause they could already kill. Aww, so it comes full circle in the end.

Sharpen: Actual Sarkareth would have been more believable as the lead guy.

Coco: Mhrm.

Trixany: Definitely. We're looking over this smoking heap of a broken-down Neltharion fangirl travesty on stage and I'm like, 'Didn't someone already live this?'

[foxtriestobiteandmaimandkilland]

dudeeee i fucking love being so insane abt so many things and i love having lsits of these things in my head im sure ive made this exact post like 10 million times but it still applies like even things i havent thought of in forever like fuckingggg idfk little nightmares or likee goddam x life holy shit that was from like 2019 or some shit oh my god. thats actually crazy bc that was like. SO similar 2 the traffic life series now. i dont remember the exact rules but i do know. ppl got 10 lives. and each life was a different colour. i knowwww joel was on it andddd scott was on it and jimmy mightve been on it. i thinkkk gem mightve been on it ? andddd shelby shubble 2 ? i dont entirelyyy remember i know joel was definitely on it bc he was like my Big Youtuber at the time bc i was obsessed w his builds. crazy 2 think tho how on the current life series u just dont see that. like the best u can get is tiny little things bc the life series is sooo survival based (and also gay sex based) but likeeee. damn dude. i should probablyyy watch empires bc i feel like id b able 2 see some good old joel builds there. man its actually been ages i wonder if hes still obsessed w adding greenery absolutely everywhere and if he still loves earthy colour palettes and if hes either insane abt terraforming bc he loves it or if he hates it i dont remember. mannn. crazy. or if hes built any more domes at any point bc he did that once and it was a longggg process. this turned into a joel smallishbeans appreciation post. good. anyways. love being insane abt things. love lists. LOVE being on post limit this is just great having 2 queue everything ever aahhhhaa fun. love you. good night. sleep well. live better. dont die just yet. i should add the like errr. camp here n there thing to the end of this. ok. end of post cancelled im gonna redo it

love you good night sleep well live better dont die just yet but when you do you will rot the end goodbye ok.

[sofibeth]

Frontiers progress

100% Kronos Island and I’m like halfway through Ares I think

Alot of neat things happen so let’s roll it down. (def Spoilers if u haven’t gone ahead now)

- Its only the first island and the Koco lore already gone dark I honestly didn’t expect that so soon mannn.

- Like I did get the Egg Memo beforehand which talk bout the Ancients being related Chaos which of course made more intridge considering he’s a muntated chao so it leaning further on the Chao and Koco being linked in that sense.

- Mama and child Koco dying and Sonic and Amy being like wut was me too.

- It does lead to a really good scene for Amy at the end tho I like how they handled her and her interaction with Sonic. They are wholesome hedgehogs who support each other.

- I will say compare to how huge Ares is, Kronos is def a good start island to go through, big euongh to explore and search every nook but small euongh to not be overwhelming. Plus the OST is soothing.

- Also mann the lost ssay child memes regarding Sage, its just more amusing of Sonic trying wrangle any infomation from her and she’s like “my dad said I’m not allow to talk to strangers”

- Her reasonings of going after Sonic are so petty but in character for eggman to program a AI to be like that.

- I also never expect Eggman becoming a dad arc for this game but I kinda luv how in the memos he’s slowly having a parental instinct for Sage. I appreciate finally stating his Maria so that’s cool.

- lowkey wish Sage is kinda mainstay and doesn’t die or something this dynamic too amusing to past up.

- Anywho Ares is the reason u wanna cram that speed setting to the max cause wwoow its huge.

- I would say I like Shark more than Squid since it was easier to beat down but also kinda takes soo long, I think Sumo is the better boss with the cool wall mechanic. (the tanks can screw it tho)

- I miade jokes how long it took me to find and save knuckles cause I get distracted of every new thing I find here lol.

- Knuckles is great btw at the rate the main core 4 def been getting the best characterization this generation.

- I saw the jokes but yea their first interaction really screams bisexual energy. thr Sonamy and Sonknux fans are gonna get so much food this game lol.

- still pretty whatever on cyberspace, I can get the needed keys just fine but not in a hurry to S rank them.

- Btw it took me way too long to get Soap shoes but i got it and I’m not removing them.

But yea enjoying the game, I’ve heard Chaos Island def had some sort of difficutly spike so we’ll see.

[imy2]

noted o7

5-2 warrens so cutee .. ugh pandora..... oo hi red .. •

lmao warren opening the trunk to murphy then slamming it back on him .. "ok, wanna do it the right way? open the trunk, let the man out - i'll apologize, my bad 🙄" lol cooper ,, aw warren :( but murphys smile at her :') •

hmm last ep doc asked w 10k n sarge n dante all right there - "whats in the bizcuitz?" and george answers "nobody knows, no one wants to know - rumor is, it's a trace amount of brains." so whyy ?? this episode, 10k asks dante "what's in those things anyway" and dante says "nobody knows for sure, nobody wants to know. my guess, trace amounts of brains." ??? i would've said 10k asked again to see if they got the same answer, but dante was there when george answered the first time so obv he'd just be able to repeat what she said... so i'm thinking this was just a genuine mess up ? •

ughh estes ... •

ahhh warren n george lookin at each other , oh to be in the middle of that look.. omg i forgot puppies n kittens was from george.. •

aww wb sun mei :-) .. hi cz .. •

"another... dude? and they got a kid?" i too would drink the zombie thumb alcohol after that one 10k •

omglol i just gasped when leroy shot cliff.. not cool leroy! "heyy you shot me :/" "i'll do it again if you don't shut up." 'this was my favorite t-shirt :(" •

5-3 "people have been giving me the eyeball since i got here!" "you look like satan." "yeah and i'm rockin it 🕺 but still it's rude to stare!" redmurphy does look pretty cool •

oh damnn i forgot abt 10k.. mann :/ bye sarge ... •

5-4 man warren laughing this ep made me realize how little she's laughed thruout the show .. wish i was in that room w george n warren ... •

5-5 i wish I was the zombie warren n george just slammed on that table.. ok i'll stop (unless it happens again) •

aww nana n jz r so cute .. •

this time doc was the one throwin a zombomb down the elevator(/air) shaft .. lmaoo "but i could use a light" wld be a great gif •

omg wb addy •

5-6 "alright i'll go ahead" "why" "bc ur my friend n i dont want u to get hurt" george pls .. •

hmm redmurphy cooloutfit another 5/5 look .. hellll yeah he got doc a look too •

lmaooo dante pulling a peeta •

5-7 lol doc gettin stabbed by murphys spiked gloves when they fist bump ... what car r doc n george in rn, i like it ... bye dante :// .. •

"take care of them." "yeah yeah, i got it." "ok well then, be safe." "no, you be safe out there. i don't want to have to go traipsing around half of screwmerica again to save your ass." "i don't care how many times you gotta traipse around to save me - but when you do, pick a color." lmaoo .. "i mean it, warren. the apocalypse wouldn't be half as fun without you in it. be careful." ohhh the looksss. "i love you too, murphy." murphy's facee :') .. "god, keep him safe." mannn •

5-8 oo i dont like this ep :/•

this was cute ..•

5-9 interesting ep.. kuruk n ayalla r so cool n pretty ..•

5-10 "one mans junk is another mans treasure. . that didn't come out right." lol doc •

man always hate that end bit... •

[eyeofthemoose]

Okay I guess it's time for a lil story time about my bulgarian friend (used to be with benefits but now just friend) from work because I just had a little realization about my feelings and... yeah story timeee with Eva at 4am bc my bedroom is too hot to sleep so why nottt:

So yeah, after my failed relationship that ended at the beginning of 2019 i was kind of a trainwreck for half a year basically. But then around the second half of August when Lover came out, one day I was listening to "I forgot that you existed" and suddenly it hit me that I, in fact, did forget that he existed, and I stopped crying over him and blah blah. So I finally started noticing other guys again, it was like "Wow, other guys actually exist, what a revelation" and I noticed this guy at work, he just started working there maybe a few months before that but I never really SEEN him before obviously bc crying etc. And it hit me so harddd. Immidiately. Boom, a new crush. I had to get to know this fine mannn. So I stalked his name on a working plan and found him on Facebook and added him to friends and ofc that was it for a few weeks bc shy lil Eva lmaooo. Then in September he texted me birthday wishes, as in privately anddd i took the chance so I thanked him and asked how was his day and well, the rest is history.

We had been texting a looot, bonded a lot, I felt a real connection between us. He ofc knew I had a crush on him and we've been flirty and etc and it was amazing 3 months, I loved every second of it and I was sooo goneee. And then finally he invited me over after christmas. We exchanged gifts etc it was cute, we watched some movies but I don't remember what they were lmao and we had some drinks and ofc one thing let to another and... we fucked

And I swear to god I didn't recognise myself in that moment bc I never done something so reckless before like idk what happened to me but I liked it and wanted it.

OH AND ALSOO... his ex gf was living with him at the time as well lmao but I think she was gone for the holidays.

But anyway we fucked and silly me thought it was a start of something serious lmaooo bc like he was so gentle with me afterwards, kissed my forehead and whatnot.

But next day at work he was ofc distant and then after work he texted me saying that it was a mistake and that he's sorry and that we should stay friends. I was heartbroken yet again. But I couldn't stay away from him bc like we worked together and etc so like at first i was mad at him but then I agreed to being friends.

Two months had passed and I don't remember now how and why we had that conversation (bc we still texted but it wasn't so often and the "magical" bond was kinda done by then ofc) but at some point i was like: "we both lonely, why not be fwb" lmfaooo my biggest mistake ever.

But yea it happened. So in february 2020 he invited me over again (his ex was in the other room, it was crazy lmao) and we watched game of thrones, he made me interested in it and I watched it on my own in the next few months lol but that's not the point. We watched few episodes and fucked again...

And yet again he was being distant after that.

This pattern repeated a few more times over the next two years BECAUSE I'M A MASOCHISTIC DUMB ASS THAT'S WHY.

Ofc it fucked with my brain, so much that I had anger issues at work lmao or I was randomly crying and I was super jealous of any girl he talked to etc. Basically it was crazy. But I didn't want to let go bc I had feelings for him but also I really thought we could do it, that we could be friends. We just needed to get rid of the benefits part. But every time he invited me I was so gone, it was stronger than me. And the best or worst part is that the sex wasn't even that great lmao but I craved the intimacy so much, the presence of another human being, the connection, sigh.

Anyway around July 2022 when I was on holiday in Poland I really had enough of his bullshit at that point and another guy from work has texted me and I decided to text him back and blah blah we went on a few dates and it was great and he was so good to me, we became a couple but I felt like i could not love him, like there was zero chemistry. I was actually so horrible to him, ghosting him bc of depression episodes and etc. He got angry, we broke up after a few months. Then i had a new crush lmfaooo (i'm going so fast through this now but maybe i'll make a separate posts about those guys as well someday).

Oh and also sometime between my ex and my new crush, P. (the bulgarian fwb guy) told me that he has a gf now and we would not meet up anymore and I was suprisingly fine with that and genuinely happy for him bc it was like we could be finally friends and that's all I truly wanted. And at that point i had this new crush and thought i'm fully over him. And we haven't had sex for around a year so my brain was fine and our relations were better than ever. It's like we were meant to be just friends.

But anyway this crush turned out to be a fail as well bc of course lmao. We're now hitting the recent months in this story btw.

And now that I'm no longer having any crushes I've grown attached to P. again (actually i never stopped probably). And like two weeks ago or something like that he pissed me off and like really offended me bc he was having a hard shift but like that's no excuse and I wanted to cut him off bc I don't deserve this shit but then I realized that I had lost enough people this year (another story but nvm) and I forgave him and he's been nothing but super nice to me ever since and yeah I think we are truly in a good place right now and I want it to stay this way but the other day a friend of his has passed away (I posted about it yesterday i think) and like i want to comfort him but idk howww and I know I should probably just let him be and give him space but i'm hurting so much for him and that made me realize today that I probably still have romantic feelings for him deep down and yeah i'll probably never escape it lmao

But i'm just gonna keep those feelings to myself and continue to be his friend bc he really means a lot to me for some reason idk like i can literally ghost and cut off anyone else but not him... it's been 4 years. It's actually kinda scary how attached I am bc what if he just leaves work one day and i'll never see him again lol...

[russilton]

AUGHH YOUR AU IS SOOO GOOOD. i've literally been brainworming it all day. george in general is pretty reserved despite how emotional he is, but rb!george is a WHOLE different kind of reserved. there's just this bratty, seeming uncaring front he puts up whenever he's at his lowest. but even despite it, he's still soft, to a certain degree. of course he fights against rb and max in the race before the break, but after it's obvious he still relents after all of it.

it's just. agh. he's fought so much and has a hardened shell to cover up how damn soft and polite he actually is, but rb's forced him to erase that and reinforce it all the same, and MANNN he is so fucked up.

i can't wait to read the actual thing if you end up writing it, but honestly all these snippets and art is keeping well fuckin fed. thank you so much for this au :D - @ruszhou

I wrote you this like, really great long monologue about how George’s trust issues develop, how each of the main people in RB teach him a new lesson in things he needs to either hide away, and how eventually he spends so long acting that it becomes harder and harder to remember who he was before. How Lewis caring about him makes him feel like an animal backed into a corner, because it either means Lewis is lying to him now as well, or he isn’t and George will be forced to look down at how his Redbull dream is rotting under his feet.

Then tumblr deleted it and didn’t save a draft, SIGH. Instead of trying to rewrite it, I’m going to offer you the first nsfw fic snippet from this au

I for sure want to write this, I know it’s going to take a while and it’s the most ambitious fic undertaking I’ve ever attempted. But to combat that a little I’m trying to write scenes as I feel driven to, prevent blank page syndrome. Here’s 1k of smut after George’s first win lol.

Red bull George Au spoilers under the cut.

Some little warning tags: mildly unsafe sex, slut shaming, feminised name calling

For such an imposing and unpredictable figure on track, George folds like paper when Lewis gets a firm grip on his hips, back arching smoothly and presenting his ass upwards, right into Lewis’ waiting hands. He’s gorgeous, Lewis wants to own him.

“I always manage to forget what a whore you are, Russell. What would your boss think of you like this, I wonder? So desperate you’ll let your rival fuck you?” He muses out loud, thumbs pushing his cheeks apart so he can rub firm circles into George’s hole, testing its give and attempting to humiliate George all in one. No reason to waste time, they both know how this goes.

“Rival? It took you 10 laps to overtake me on better tires. Rivals actually challenge you” even with his cheek pressed to the sheets and ass spread for Lewis, the Red bull driver still manages to sound bored and unimpressed, tilting his head to the side to look at Lewis with a raised brow. Fucker.

Lewis retaliates by pushing the tip of his dry thumb into George’s entrance It’s tight and not particularly comfortable for either of them, but George tenses up and pushes back, then moans long and low when Lewis spits directly on his hole. He takes the opportunity to lean over George, broader chest covering the slimmer man entirely as he works his spit covered digit inside, soft grunts from George encouraging him as Lewis gets his lips right next his ear

“You can pretend to be whatever you want out there. I’ll always know you’re just a brat who's begging to be ruined”

No matter how he’ll try to talk his way around it, the way his ass clenches on Lewis’ thumb tells the older man all he needs to know. He doesn’t waste time on waiting for whatever George’s next taunt will be; reaching forward instead to grab the lube off the hotel nightstand before flicking it open and drizzling a moderate amount right into the cleft of George’s ass. It’s cold, and he makes no attempt to warm it even as George jumps, just sets about scooping lube up with his index finger and working it into George.

While it’s fun to watch George quiver and shake on his knuckles, Lewis cock is starting to make an insistent appearance, aching mutely, pre-come welling at the head and threatening to drip messily into the sheets. He tugs his fingers roughly out of George, grinning at the protesting groan he gets in return. He takes a second to watch George clench around nothing but clear lube dripping lazily out of him, before smacking his ass sharply to get George’s attention.

“Condom?”

“Fuck that, just get on with it, come on” George grinds out, rubbing his forhead into the sheets and pressing back into the hand Lewis still has tight on his ass.

Lewis’ mind fills with degrading names, all the things he wants to call George, to tempt him into a reaction just the way he does to Lewis on track, but he forgoes them in favour of lining the blunt head of his cock up against George’s hole. He probably should have prepared him more, added another finger or some more lube, the size of him looking intimidating against the backdrop of George’s lithe frame.

George doesn’t seem to agree at least, whining high in his throat as he waits for Lewis to do something other than massage his ass and stare at himself. Needy bastard.

He waits until George opens his mouth again to say something before bucking his hips and fucking the first few inches in, punching a gasp out of George before he relaxes and moans from the stretch. The wanting noises continue to spill out of George’s lips until Lewis’ hips are pressed tight to his ass.

He can’t quite resist one last act of mocking, draping himself over George and pressing him into the bed so he can get his mouth up to George’s ear, biting the lobe and tugging it with his teeth before he continues.

“You’re made for this, Slut. Be useful for once, lie there and take it.”

He growls it right into George’s ear, deep and commanding, before pulling back and fucking in hard enough to make their skin slap together. For once, George shuts up, jaw clenching around a shout as Lewis sets a rhythm that should keep him quiet. Like this, he’s stunning, Lewis thinks, letting his eyes rove lazily over George’s tanned arms and smooth, muscled shoulders. His ribs dip into a small waist and hips where Lewis holds him tight enough it’s sure to leave bruises, hauling George back onto his cock to make sure his thrusts push as deep as possible. His ass is gorgeous, slapped red and marked, and he swallows Lewis so well. Lewis can’t resist leaning back and using his thumbs to spread George’s ass so he can stare at his dick disappearing into him, almost like magic. Lewis has enough self love to say confidently he’s bigger than average. Plenty of partners and some opportunistic photographers have pointed that out to him. Compared to George’s tiny little hole he should be threatening, but George really does seem custom built for this, keening high and long at the stretch around his entrance that Lewis is pulling wider.

“F-fuck, I knew y-y-you had an ego, but are you j-just watching yourself?” Russell’s attempt at a barb would hit more sharply if Lewis couldn’t hear the slight desperation on his breath, words stuttering out around each glide over his prostate. He’s not mad that Lewis is looking at himself. He’s mad that Lewis has slowed in his thrusts to do so.

“Are you really that desperate? Can’t behave for five seconds because you’re just too greedy?”

“W-why would I behave for you?”

“Because if you think anyone else is going to put up with your attitude to fuck you, Princess, you’re lying to yourself”

“Am I? You seem pretty happy to”

“I like watching you walk around out there acting like a prince, when I know you’re just a bitch, who wants to be filled. My bitch”

He’s over discussing this with George now, wants to remind him just who he is at his core under the bravado and hubris, so he yanks George’s legs out from under him, forcing George flat onto the sheets under him so he’s trapped between the mattress and Lewis’ cock spearing him open. George gasps, screwing his eyes shut and rubbing his head into the fabric below him like it will help him escape the sensations overwhelming him. Lewis takes the chance to kiss his cheek, grinning when George swears at him, before he plants his forearms for leverage and starts thrusting again, hard and fast.

Now he’s finally got George where he wants him he takes a chance to kiss over the smooth tanned shoulders below him, biting at the back of George’s collar where it should be well hidden. He’s not an asshole, no matter how much he wants to mark George up and watch him walk back into the red bull garage.

His skin is sweaty and tastes faintly of champagne that must have leached through his fire suit on the podium. The sting of second place feels a lot less sharp when the driver on first is shuddering apart under him. He times a well angled thrust with a sharp scrape of teeth over the younger man’s neck, just to hear George cry out his name, high and desperate.

[spacehorrors]

ok. mamma mia here we go again tma review once again for episodes 140-160

top episodes

E158 Panopticon - so I put this on because it evoked the most of a reaction out of me I geniunely GASPED at the reveal and it was action packed. I also listened to how hard it was to make and uh felt I should put it in top place. a satisfying episode indeed.

E154 Blood Mary - LOVED THIS EPISODE yes I know I didn't shut up about the end bit but this episode was one of my favourites like the self deception and the fact he tried to get out for his son but it killed him. not only a scary one but one that made me upset for the characters.

E150 Cul-de-sac - god. yeah. this episode was so good the horror in the mundane is so good and compelling especially coupled with the use of the place. it was a great one!

E152 A Gravedigger's Entry - WOOHOO!! this one was just chilling like some bits were geniune spine tingling I loved it the character. I also really like Cost of Living for a similar reason but I preferred the buried alive, epistolary nature of this one.

E157 Rotten Core - I love rot and disease <3 yeah it's as simple as I love rot and disease if I wrote a story revolving around any of them it'd be the corruption I just love it!!

but I have loved every single episode like so many. I've been having the best time

where on earth do I start like. man. this season has been so narratively satisfying but also like I'm tearing out my hair yknow.

general plot thoughts

I'm still a little shocked from the Elias reveal but in a good way because I did not see it cominggggg. I totally understand where it was planted and built up though but I just hated Elias so much that I didn't think about body swapping and why he changed so quickly etc. makes so much sense and I can't wait for him to die painfully.

ok ngl I also did hope that Martin would be doing what he was doing so but I didn't realise he has been playing him for that long.... I did you he was playing him but not that much I was very impressed.

so. the end of the world. now I was sort of right but I thought it was just going to be an eye ritual which would cause chaos in terms of Jon's mentality so. I was a bit off but also not. now I'm also going to lose my mind at post apocalyptic stuff because it's my JAM I'm so excited

what else. idk I'm just having a blast. some of the lines have been ending my life. fucking episode e154 and the melanie 155 one. weeps

it's all come together so nicely ......

character/relationship thoughts

MELANIE AND GEORGIE I literally have never lost in my life. I am in love with Melanie and Georgie's statement.... feeling very vindicated rn.

I also loved Melanie's characterisation in this bit of the season and in general I just love her so much... the "in five minutes would you call me an ambulance" just makes me want to cry god.

Daisy and Basira. So Basira...... mannn she's doing all she can like I want more info on what happened whilst Jon was in a coma because she was also. on her own a lot and Daisy was dead. AND DAISY. naur I'm so emotional about Daisy especially when it comes to her being friends with Jon and Melanie like! they are friends. amazing. Also god her relationship with the Hunt and her choices...... god. her and Basira..... I weep. they are so compelling to me. I need more I need Daisy to be ok and I need Basira to find comfort in that.

what is there to say about Elias apart from from day one I've said I didn't like that bitch and I was right he's an old victorian shithead who wanted the world to end and succeeded so. yeah. like I said that twist was so cool though but it makes so much sense. he's unfortunately very clever.

GERTRUDE. um I've never had fully formed thoughts on her before apart from intrigue but I love her she's so compelling and ruthless and I am so interested on her love you.

so. Martin and Jon. Jon and Martin. they have been causing me a lot of turmoil. if you were awake when I was listening to e154 I apologise it caused me great mental pain. umm devotion? sacrifice? the inability to have good timing leading to a surplus of tragedy? compelling. um. "I really loved you yknow" just makes me cry then followed with like... look at me etc etc is just so gah to me.

INDIVIDUALLY um Martin during the lonely was just very oh yeah I understand this. and when I didn't know for sure he was faking I was thinking well yeah grief and rejection do that to you don't they. anyway. what satisfying growth. what lovely understanding Martin has gained without losing his core. WEEPED when they were in the cottage and the cows and I was like well I'll just pass away then.

JON. so. this guy. I think he's my favourite character to be honest man I like him a lot. when the line between what your choices are is so blurry and like this fear of being controlled. walks into the ocean. him being a conduit for the fears.... makes sense?? but I thought it would be messed up by him having biases towards like the Web for example. um what else. him walking into the lonely for Martin. him walking into the buried for Daisy and it being used against him. god

also I loved Peter's statement um yeah. it was close in my top because it was so compelling but I didn't in the end.

my predictions

So they've got to kill Elias now right? so I suppose they're going to try and find a way to weaken the fears grip on the world or tip the balance.

They've also go to somehow get back to London maybe wait I'm concocting something. they've got to blow up the institute don't they? to remove the panopticon from the world. KABOOM etc etc.

assuming the fears have had an awful impact on the world but I feel like they've driven the "it's extraordinary what you can get used to" early in the series so maybe we'll see some of that.....

um does Jon still have to eat statements considering the world is now a smorgasbord of fear? interested in how that'll affect his diet

ok but powers are still vying for power though too.... hmm also can he close the door??? PANDORA'S BOX BABY PANDORA'S BOX

OK I SAID THIS LAST TIME BUT SURELY GEORGIE IS THE ONE WHO CAN SORT THIS OUT SINCE SHE DOESN'T FEEL FEAR???

I think that's it lmao ok anyway as always feel free to send me asks on this I love talking about it with people because I can't read other people's thoughts yet for fear of spoilers so!! send the asks in!