Articuno13

Birthday present for my friend. Their namesake sitting on their favorite character. Poor guy. Summarizes their general fic style though: "Cuddle Wars? Strangle Wars? Both." The 'Dad' Warriors is calling for is the Fierce Deity. Fierce Dadity if you like. Here's their Ao3:

The screen is black. You don’t hear anything for a long time. Then, faintly, in the distance, you can hear it.

Link. Link. Open your eyes.

While the line echoes familiarity, the voice does not.

Or. Well. It does. Because while it isn’t Zelda, it’s a familiar man’s voice speaking gently, so gently you almost don’t recognize it because there’s no way he ever spoke like this in the main game.

But he is now. And instead of a golden light being the first image you see before the screen shows Link awakening… you see gloom floating in the air. The image cuts to a Hylian waking up who… doesn’t look like Link from TotK?? He’s different, still small in stature, with slightly tanner skin, platinum light blonde hair, and red eyes. But… something’s wrong with his forehead. There’s a weird line on it.

This new character you apparently are gonna be playing in the DLC blearily blinks his eyes open, clearly groggy and too weak to really move. But then that line on his forehead moves a hair, it splits apart, and you realize it’s a freaking eye, red and yellow and it’s like the ones on gloom hands and oh gosh what the hell is it doing on his forehead—

Link realizes something is off and his eyes blow wide, his hands reach for his forehead and he screams in agony and terror, only for someone to scoop him into a hug to soothe him.

And suddenly you realize why that voice was eerily familiar.

It’s Ganondorf. He resurrected you from the era of the Imprisoning War. You, who have a history with him and his family. You, who he wants to protect, who he views as his kid, who he calls a prince and says he’ll keep you safe by controlling your body with his dark magic if he has to.

Welcome to Tears of the Kingdom: Hero’s Shadow.

New theory, he hides his heritage because law dictates he has a giant party and entourage that has to go everywhere with him and “by the goddesses will you all stop following me with your trumpets and LET ME TRAVEL IN PEACE—”

Merchant, staring at the fifty people behind him dressed in glamorous attire with instruments and banners:……

Legend: Just ignore them.

Court musician: *blows trumpet*

Court servant: HEAR YE ALL OF HYRULE, THE PRINCE WISHES TO HAVE A LOAF OF—

I think I like this explanation better than mine!

Oops..

They make it to his home and they meet his grandpa, who is also four feet tall. And no one comments on it because it must be something that runs in the family. Not that weird, right?

And then some of them go into the nearby town and they discover that literally everyone is that hight and for once they're the weird ones in terms of height. Warriors and Time keep bonking their heads on the doorframes of shops because Everything is built for people who are like max 5' 2"

So it turns out Four is just an average height for his era, and he's been thinking that everyone else is freakishly tall this entire time.

site:<url of site where you read the fic> <a line you remember from the fic or character names plus a unique detail>

for example:

site:http://archiveofourown.org/ Todd Margo pedicure

While staying at Legend’s house, Four has a nightmare. He receives comfort and cuddles from the Vet and his partner

Legend wasn’t sure what woke him at first. He took a moment to cast his senses out, trying to figure out what brought him out of his (for once) peaceful slumber. It was still dark out, the only noise crickets singing and Ravio’s quiet breathing beside him. Nothing seemed out of place.

He furrowed his brow and rolled over to try and go back to sleep.

Perhaps a minute passed before his ear twitched and he scowled. Legend pushed himself up, biting back an annoyed sound, and ground the heels of his palms against his eyes with a quiet groan. Golden Goddesses, can he sleep through the night at least once in his life???

He slipped out of bed and moved for the door. He might as well check out whatever it was keeping him from his desired rest. Maybe it would go away and let him go back to bed... No, with his luck he’d probably have to chase it away with his fire rod.

Legend yanked the door open with a scowl only to start back in surprise. Four stood on the other side with a startled expression before his face pinched and he looked away. Legend opened his mouth to say something, snark about why he was lurking in the hallway at Din-damned o’clock, but then he took a closer look at the Smithy.

Four’s arms were wrapped tightly around himself and he was curled slightly inward. His hair was a mess and his sleep clothes were rumpled, like he’d been tossing and turning.

There was another quiet sound and Four turned fully away, holding himself even tighter as if afraid he would be made fun of. Legend frowned. This behaviour was odd, especially coming from the other hero.

Another small sound, followed by a sniffle, and Legend’s annoyance drained away as he realized what was going on: the smaller boy was crying, and trying to hide it.

It was the behaviour of someone obviously unwell but too afraid of mockery to ask for help.

Legend knew how he came across to the others - snarky, sarcastic, sharp-tongued, snappish. He did so on purpose, and though by now he knew they could see straight through it, it was an armor he’d worn for a long time. It kept him distant, but it kept him safe.

He couldn’t help but care, though, and this group of heroes was determined to drag it out of him into the light of day. The younger ones especially; he may hate being in charge in any way but that didn’t mean he didn’t look out for them in his own way.

(He was stubbornly ignoring that the others knew what he was doing, even if they pretended not to. The Veteran didn’t ‘do feelings,’ after all.)

Another muffled sniffle had him sighing, holding the door open and gesturing for the other to come in. “Well? Are you coming in or would you rather stand in the hallway all night?”

Four bit his lip before shuffling the few steps to the door, hesitating before stepping through and into the bedroom at another gesture from Legend. The sound of it closing behind him made him flinch, and then again when Legend put a hand on his shoulder in an attempt at comfort.

Then the older boy was moving towards the bed and Four followed behind on stumbling legs.

Legend patted the space between him and Ravio in invitation. Four clambered up after a moment, settling in awkwardly among the mess of pillows and blankets that made up the bed. Legend smirked at him, though the expression wasn’t unkind.

The two of them sat there for a moment, neither speaking, before there was a shuffle of fabric and a sleepy mumble from the other occupant of the bed.

“Hnn... Wus- wussgoinon?” Ravio slurred, blinking blearily as he tried to focus in the darkness of the room. Legend gave a small huffing laugh.

“Found someone lurkin’ in the hallway, Rav,” he replied. He ignored Four’s muttered ‘not lurking.’ “Figured it was better to bring ‘im in here than let ‘im freeze out there all night.”

“Oh. Okay.” Ravio blinked again, still mostly asleep, before the information fully registered and he pushed himself up, alert now. “Wait- why was there someone lurking in the hallway? I thought everyone else was downstairs? Are they hurt?”

Legend reached over to pat his shoulder. “Everyone else is downstairs, yeah. It’s the Smithy, and he’s not hurt that I know of. Unless,” he turned piercing eyes on the other, “you are? You better not be hidin’ something,” he threatened. Four shook his head, giving a self-deprecating little laugh.

“Not physically, no.”

Two sets of eyes focused on him at that, and he shrank back against the pillows.

Legend’s face pinched in that way that meant he was trying not to let his sharp tongue have its way and took a deep breath. Whatever he was about to say, though, Ravio beat him to it. The merchant reached out, pausing to let Four nod his consent, then gently set his hand on his arm.

“Nightmare?” he asked quietly. The softness of it made Four’s breath hitch and he nodded. Ravio rubbed his arm soothingly, which only served to make his eyes sting with tears again and he bit his lip in an attempt to keep it from trembling. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Four shook his head vehemently. He’d come up here to not think about it, and he’d prefer to keep it that way. He sniffled, rubbing at his eyes and unconsciously leaning towards the merchant, who hummed and pulled him into a gentle hug. He felt Legend pat him on the back, somewhat awkwardly, but still intended to be comforting.

The obvious care broke something in Four and he dissolved into exhausted tears.

Warmth surrounded him. Ravio pulled him closer and Legend began to run his hand through his hair, making Four shudder at the feeling. He sniffled, slowly feeling himself begin to relax.

A few minutes later his tears slowed and he sighed, resting his head on Ravio’s chest. Legend continued to run his fingers through his hair. Another minute and the small hero drifted off.

Legend watched as Four finally fell into sleep, the lines etched into his face fading as the tenseness left his body. He ran his fingers through the younger boy’s hair one more time, noticing he still had his headband on. The vet eased it off and turned to set it on the bedside table; hopefully the lack of pressure around his temples would help him sleep a little easier.

Turning back around, he was treated to the sight of Ravio yawning, showing off the slight bucktooth that Legend had always found adorable, clutching Four to his chest. The sight sent something fond through him and he couldn’t help but smile softly.

He gave his partner a nuzzle before the two of them moved to get resettled under the blankets. They lay facing each other with Four cuddled between them, his face still stained with tears but his expression calm.

I've written ships before where there was backlash because of the ships not being canon or the reader threw a fit and declared that the ship was "unhealthy," but I don't think I've encountered the passionate hatred of sexual, especially queer sexual, relationships to this degree in my previous fandoms. Even where I'll see someone insisting that these people are part of a queer couple, they'll make sure everyone is aware that they're a platonic queer relationship.

Again, this isn't a thing about ace people writing ace fic. It isn't people preferring platonic and familial and soft/light fics. It's people actively bashing and attacking other people for writing non-G-rated ship fic. It's people bashing and attacking people for writing SHIP fic. It's an overall rise across the board but especially in the LoZ fandom of anything sexual or adult or sexually queer being deemed "gross."

It isn't healthy. It's honestly pretty creepy viewing everything with these lens.

From the story:

We repeatedly emphasized that we were aboard a small 8-meter sailboat, but the response was the same each time: "We are a 50-meter three-masted sailboat, and we offer our assistance in towing you to Paimpol." We were perplexed by the size difference between our two boats, as we feared being towed by a boat that was too large and at too fast a speed that could damage our boat. The arrival of the Götheborg on the scene was rapid and surprising, as we did not expect to see a merchant ship from the East India Company of the XVIII century. This moment was very strange, and we wondered if we were dreaming. Where were we? What time period was it? The Götheborg approached very close to us to throw the line and pass a large rope. The mooring went well, and our destinies were linked for very long hours, during which we shared the same radio frequency to communicate with each other. The crew of the Götheborg showed great professionalism and kindness towards us. They adapted their speed to the size of our boat and the weather conditions. We felt accompanied by very professional sailors. Every hour, the officer on duty of the Götheborg called us to ensure everything was going well.[...] This adventure, very real, was an incredible experience for us. We were extremely lucky to cross paths with the Götheborg by chance and especially to meet such a caring crew. Dear commander and crew of the Götheborg, your kindness, and generosity have shown that your ship is much more than just a boat. It embodies the noblest values of the sea, and we are honored to have had the chance to cross your path and benefit from your help.

Virgil's turn! --------------------------------------

There were some things that the average person was just not likely to accomplish in their lifetime.  Gordon stood among the few that had won an Olympic Gold medal, for instance.  The man standing on the dockside ranting at Virgil was managing to do something that even Gordon had achieved only on very rare occasions. He was making Virgil Tracy lose his temper.

Gordon had considered intervening, and certainly if it had been Scott getting angry he'd have probably already done something about it, but, instead, he had found himself silently watching in curious fascination; like he couldn't quite believe it was happening.

The thing was the man didn't know that Virgil was angry, because when Virgil got angry, like really angry, he'd stop talking. He'd been trying to reason with the man, who had interrupted, insulted and yelled over his polite attempts at being heard.

But now he'd moved onto threats. 

Virgil's eyes had hardened; Gordon swore they'd turned a shade darker, and the orange dockside lights reflected like spots of fire within. His jaw had tensed, he'd crossed his arms and simply stared down at the man, who was foolishly taking his silence to mean that he was winning the argument.

Without warning Virgil moved. His arm shot out, he bodily lifted the man by the front of his coat, marched to the water and dropped him in.

The man gave a startled yell, and Gordon shot over to the side to make sure he wasn't drowning.

But even in anger the response had been calculated. Sure it wasn't exactly safe to throw someone onto the sea at night, but the weather was warm, the water was calm, (though cold) and there was a ladder right next to where the man had been deposited. (And technically two highly trained rescue operatives were also right there, even if one was probably less inclined to pull him out at the moment.)

The man had come up gasping with the cold and immediately swum for the ladder. 

“I'm going back to Two.” Virgil had watched to make sure the man had got ahold of the first rung before he'd stalked off, leaving a highly amused Gordon to watch the man pull himself up onto the dockside.

“You okay, there?” he asked, trying and failing to keep the laughter out of his voice.

“Fuck off,” the man grumbled and spat on the concrete.

“Will do,” Gordon cheerfully replied. “But you still have to close down operations for the next forty eight hours, regardless. it's not safe-”

“You think you have any authority here?”

“The Commander of International Rescue-” 

“Not you, though, is it? Thinking you're all important here. Not the gorilla either, ain't going to take orders from big and stupid,” he growled.

Gordon felt the edges of his temper starting to fray.  Which wasn't surprising really, the guy had gotten Virgil to crack, and that was one step further than even managing to get John riled up, which was near impossible most days. But then Gordon grinned. Maybe that was the point, this man didn't know how difficult it was.

“You want to talk to our Commander?”

“Yeah, you heard me.”

“Really?”

“What, you think your Commander is too important to come down here?”

“Oh no, no. It's just… you just made the most patient member of our team so angry he dropped you into the sea. The guy that normally keeps the peace. And now you want to talk to the least patient-”  he cut himself off at the sound of footsteps approaching.

“What's going on here?” Scott spoke with the full authority of Command, taking in the sodden man dragging himself to his feet and the aquanaut casually watching him from a distance rather than doing anything to help.

“He doesn't want to shut down operations, Sir.”

Scott shot Gordon a puzzled look at the “Sir” but didn't say anything. Gordon knew Scott wasn't going to undermine his own authority in front of a stranger by starting a “what are you up to Gordon?” conversation.

Instead he walked over to the man, folded his arms and stared down at him. 

“What do you mean you're not shutting down operations?”  His voice was level and firm. 

Scott didn't know it, but he was exactly mimicking Virgil's tone and stance in the few minutes before the guy got dunked.

“Uh…” finally the man seemed to get it. Scott may not have been as broad as Virgil, but he was tall and the dockmaster had to crane his head back to meet his gaze. “I just wanted to know on whose authority…” he started meekly.  He glanced over his shoulder at the dark water and gave a shiver, then looked back at the Commander of International Rescue who was patiently waiting with sparks of reflected fire in his eyes. “Forty eight hours?”

“That should give us enough time to secure everything,” Scott confirmed.

“Well then. Not a moment later.” He tried to sound authoritative but it came out somewhat flat. He gave a nod and walked off towards the offices.

Gordon sniggered. The man had assumed Scott was about to lose his temper, when actually he'd been perfectly calm. It's just Scott being in control looked so very much like Virgil losing it.

“Seems like the swim did him good,” Scott smiled as soon as the man was out of earshot.

“Virgil calmed down yet?” 

“Still seething. Don't annoy him on the way back, or it's likely he'll drop you off in Four and make you swim home.”

Gordon laughed again. “Don't worry. I know when to actually leave the bear alone.”

::sniggers::

Oh dear oh dear!

::chortles::

Bahahahahaha

Gold, I tell you! Gold!

But when he blows, its big and, in this case, very wet. Excellent example of the Virg removing the obstacle from the equation. 😁💚

I suspect Scott’s eyes were wide when he encountered a fuming Virgil. There was just that touch of ‘you mess with my little brothers, you mess with me’ in that tall commanding stance that I thoroughly enjoyed 😁💚 And I love Gords calmly supporting Virgil’s actions. Not to mention the comparison of calm Scotty looking like furious Virg 😁😁😁

Thank you for an entertaining read.

Nutty

They only had one potion, and everyone's injuries were nasty after a portal had split the party and dropped their portion in the middle of a monster camp. Warriors had been so focused on taking care of Wind's and Sky's wounds that he hadn't noticed his wounded leg until he practically fell in Sky's lap.

It hadn't been that bad. He would have been fine if his blood sugar hadn't been acting up, too. Warriors coached Wind on how to bandage his leg while reassuring Sky and Twilight that his leg wasn't broken, just his shin guard. It made the wound look nastier than it was. With his leg bandaged, he probably would have been fine to walk if his blood sugar hadn't been so low.

He probably would have been fine, still, but Twilight's worried puppy face was heartwrenching. Warriors told himself that was the only reason he let Sky help him onto Twilight's back. He hated seeing his brother worry.

"Are you sure I'm not too heavy?" Warriors asked anxiously, keeping his voice low and his mouth close to Twilight's ear.

Twilight huffed and it sounded a lot like Wolfie. It always made Warriors smile a little. "You could be heavier! Eat your orange. I have other food in my bag if you want some."

They both knew Warriors wouldn't eat it, but the offer warmed him, anyway. He let his head rest on his brother's shoulder and held his open orange in his hands in front of him. "I might get orange juice in your hair if I eat it now."

"My hair's had worse innit, and you helped wash that out. Eat your orange."

Twilight's words were rough, but his voice was warm and worried. With his hands full, Warriors settled for bumping his head lightly against Twilight's.

He got orange juice in Twilight's hair. Wind laughed at them both, but at least when Warriors fell asleep on Twilight's back, it was to the sweet scent of oranges and the soothing rumble of his brother's voice.

-mom warriors anon

THIS IS SO CUTE OH MY GOD. OH MY GODDDDDD!!!!!!

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