Day five: family | power
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
picturedspells:
Catra breathed almost a sigh of relief when Midna said she wasn’t from this world either. For some reason, it made xem feel slightly closer to home.
“Yeah, I’m from a world called Etheria,” xe said. “We’ve got magic there, with princesses ands sorcerers who wield it. I’m neither, but I’ve got plenty of my own skills to make up for it… what world are you from?”
Catra looked up at the sky when Midna mentioned it. Xe hadn’t taken the time to notice any beauty here, having been too focused on escaping. But she was right. It was a lovely night, objectively. Xe nodded.
“I guess you’re right. And I’ve faced scarier too. Random terrors in the night were my bread and butter growing up.”
Midna looked Catra over, letting her mind wander about Etheria for a moment. How different was it? What were people like there? Was it as similar to her own world as it sounded on the surface? She dispelled the thoughts quickly, no time to dwell on it.
“The place I’m from is called The Twilight Realm. We’ve got all of those things, and I am them,” she replied. “It’s a place of perpetual darkness, and it's strange to those who dwell in the light, but it's home and it's beautiful.” And I miss it. She knew better than to say that aloud at a time like this, but she felt it in her heart.
Midna kept her eyes on xer as xe looked up at the moon, before mirroring the action. “I was missing someone for a very long time. Someone who meant the world to me. He wasn't dead, but, well, we couldn't see each other. We were separated by a barrier much like this one. Him in the light, and I in the dark. I tried not to think about him too much, but… sometimes I’d liked to look at the moon and think that he would be looking at it too. Maybe that can be the same for you and your person, whoever they are.”
wickedpotions:
✧・゚
ZSASZ CHUCKLED A BIT AT HER POLITENESS. it was obviously, now, that she’d been around politicians (or perhaps royals in her world ?) before. He was surprised he hadn’t picked up on it before. ❝ Just Zsasz is fine. Some people from home call me Mr. Zsasz, though that’s more for formality. ❞
HER CLOTHES WERE NICE, IF A BIT DIFFERENT. though zsasz couldn’t comment on that front when he was in nearly entirely leather and had around six weapons stored on his body at the moment (which was on the low end). Of course, most of those weapons were concealed aside from the one hand gun he had in his shoulder strap.
❝ I CERTAINLY LEAN TOWARDS THE DARKER SIDE FOR MOST THINGS. but it is never that simple, i’m sure you understand. We all have our loyalties, and the things we care about. For example - I am a vegetarian, because I dislike how animals are often treated in the meat industry on this planet. ❞ But killing people was fine. It was strange, but it was who he was. ❝ And of course I have my rules. I think we all do, at the end of the day. ❞ No kids. No one who was connected to Oswald or Falcone unless that person ordered it. Nothing that will start a war you aren’t ready for. And of course, there were the hits Zsasz would do for free - when it came to the people who were somehow worse than himself.
“Zsasz it is, then,” the mage smiled a cat-like grin. It lit up her face in a pretty way. Yennefer was an exceedingly pretty woman.
Loyalty was the name of her game as well. It had been ever since she had left Aretuza. First it had been to her only friends— Sabrina, Triss, Istredd. Then, after a long while, her mentor Tissaia joined the list. Now, the list was emphatically belonging to Ciri and Geralt and Jaskier (even if she would never tell the bard out loud). Her duty was first and foremost to keep them safe, no matter the jobs she signed on to do.
“Interesting— I like that. We all have our stances in life, and I can respect yours greatly. Even when I don’t agree with someone’s moronic stance on morality, I can respect holding to your morals,” Yennefer said as she leaned against the counter, shifting the weight on her boots. “Indeed. Having rules is important. You lose yourself if you don’t have them, in my experience.” She had lost herself a few times when she had broken her own rules, and she had never wanted to experience that again. Especially around her Chaos. When you break your rules, you risk everything being taken away from you.
shallowmagics:
“He said he would visit me tomorrow,” Ciri murmured, eyes unseeing as she fixated on the wood grain of the floor.
Yes, she understood why. Her mother knew what she would do, Geralt’s memory loss be damned. The interaction might have gone even worse had Ciri known before. An ache still resided in her chest, but she knew that had been the best that conversation could have gone. How could she rationalize pouring her heart out when it would be meaningless the next morning?
Carefully, Ciri toed off her shoes, going to sit on the couch beside Yennefer. She fell into the embrace, wrapping her arms around her mother’s middle. Her face was buried in Yennefer’s side. “I want Father back.”
It was a rare occasion to see Ciri look so small. The weight of it seemed to be crushing down on both of them now, which was far from what Yennefer wanted. She had been sure there would have been shouting, yet this quiet resignation to it was somehow worse.
“Did he?” voice soft, not wanting to pry her open any more than she was willing. There was no comfort Yennefer could offer; she had none to give. “Don’t... hope is a fickle thing, Ciri. Be careful with it.”
The older woman watched her daughter carefully, feeling her heart ache inside her chest. Holding her was grounding. It kept her in the moment instead of allowing for her mind to wander a world away. Her arms tightened around the girl as she pressed her nose into white hair. Yennefer’s fingers danced up and down her back for a while before she had the courage to speak again, “I want him too, Cirilla. We’ll find a way out of this mess, I always do.”
ofmvoonlight:
Signing up for a life in the spotlight is never easy. Especially when all you want to do is take photos in beautiful clothes. All Zelda wanted to do was work. They didn’t want to be cornered like this. Yes they did sign up for their face being used in magazines and in fashion shows but what they didn’t sign up for was losing their privacy and their life all together. People put this image on them and it was an image that did not fit in with who Zelda was as a person. And that was the hardest thing to accept.
“Yeah. Being a model is a job that requires me to basically be this perfect little doll that accepts that people corner me when all I wanna do is go and buy some ice cream for me and my boyfriend” rolling their eyes, they then looked at the other. “It’s disheartening really how people forget that I am still human”
There was something familiar in her sentiment. After, well, everything Samwise had been through, too many people knew him- or thought they did- for his liking. They assumed what it had been like, what he had seen, had heard, had lived. They made judgements, and thought they had right to pry in business not of their own. Certainly, it wasn't as intensely evasive as what Zelda described, but he could sympathize.
“That sounds quite disheartening indeed. Some people have no respect, and I’m sorry you have to suffer it.” He had gotten them a table, and ordered the pair of them drinks and something to snack on while they spoke. After a moment, he smiled, wanting to talk about something nicer, “So, boyfriend? Lucky lad to get to be with someone lovely as you. Have you known him long?”
@ofmvoonlight yeah:)
THE WITCHER 3: Wild Hunt (2015)
picturedspells:
A place of perpetual darkness. It sounded… intriguing. The Horde had not been a bright space, but they wouldn’t exactly describe it as ‘perpetual darkness.’ It didn’t scare them when Midna said she was one of ‘them’ either.
“Like, pitch black?” xe asked. “Or just, y’know, sorta dark? Like at twilight-” Oh. Catra felt a bit dumb after saying that. Xe gave Midna a nervous smile.
It felt sorta nice to share xir pain with somebody, to have someone talking to xem about having felt a similar thing. It felt weird too. Catra wasn’t used to relating to strangers. The only person xe related to growing up was Adora.
They focused in on the moon.
“I like that idea,” they said. When Catra had been separated from Adora before, they had focused on their pain and anger and the new attention Shadow Weaver was giving them. But losing her now was entirely different. They didn’t have anything to focus on at all. But perhaps looking at this moon could help, and in the daytime they could stare into the sun, they decided.
Catra’s question immediately got Midna laughing. Xe had answered xer own question in the process, though she didn't mind elaborating. She loved the Twilight, and her separation from it was still fresh enough that homesickness had yet to settle in.
“It's a bit of both. It cycles day to night, just like this place. The daytime is a softer darkness, like Twilight, but the nighttime is nearly pitch black. It's quite beautiful. Some would say scary, but people often say that about things they don’t understand.”
Midna wasn’t about to pour her heart out about her kingdom, but it was always nice to share the love she had for it. She had spent far too long rebuilding it not to. She looked over to Catra once more, studying the look on xer face. “So… what's your deal then? You seem pretty intense on trying to leave. Trying to get back to family? Or a partner?”
shallowmagics:
Laurie nodded, hoping she wasn’t coming across as too nervous. They had never owned houseplants, or even pets before. They would have been too much of a hassle with how much she and her pack moved. The whole ordeal was exciting, like a right of passage into becoming independent. Get an apartment, buy a plant, among other things.
“Oh, well if it’s pretty and easy to care for I wouldn’t mind something that flowers. But maybe just something with different colors then? They don’t have to be fancy either,” She added quickly, a new thought of being too demanding suddenly sticking in her head.
They paused. Hours at the vet had been hard to come by lately, but she still wasn’t home enough to warrant something that needed to be cared for constantly. “I work about four days a week, it’ll probably go up to five in the spring. There’s this big window in my bedroom area so if I could just it in that patch of sunlight all day while I’m working, that would be great.”
There was something indescribable about the person before him. They reminded him of someone, the someone that danced on the edge of his mind and only showed herself in a mess of golden curls. The feeling was recognizable as the same he felt when speaking to Zelda, but he couldn’t make sense of either. He let the train of thought go for the time being.
“I’m sure I could work out something perfect for you, then … sorry, I don’t think I caught your name.” He was smiling, Sam was always smiling. “Right, I can certainly work with that. Give me a moment to get a few choices out for you.”
A few laps around the shop later, Sam had lined up a few candidates on the register counter. They varied in shape and size: one was a string of pearls plant, beside it a peperomia, an asparagus fern, and African violets. “Anything catch your eye? If not I can keep looking for you.”
wickedpotions:
SHE WASN’T SURE WHY , BUT THE IDEA OF RIVER HAVING A FLAT FELT WEIRD . maybe it was because bill associated that with people her age - but moira had only had a flat as well . Maybe it was just the fact that because the Doctor held her so highly , Bill figured she deserved more than just a flat . A home . Maybe a pet . She seemed like a fish kinda person . Maybe Bill was just projecting .
❝ Well the nice thing about this place is that quite literally everything has character . Though some of it is down right creepy . There’s this person who comes in to clear out cursed items so they don’t wind up with anyone but I swear he misses some of it . ❞
She slowed as they reached the rugs , waving her hand out . ❝ Rugs right ? Honestly , they’re a great easy way to add character . ❞
River loved the idea of some of the items in the shop being just a bit too creepy for comfort. She was a realist, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the odd ghost story. Feeling nearly baited by the statement, she felt her brain getting caught up on the idea of someone removing the potentially cursed items. Being a history lover and having quite the open mind didn’t necessarily mean River believed items could actually be cursed. That was just stories people told to get more of a profit when they sold the thing off. Right?
Before she thought too long on it, River’s attention was brought to the rugs. They were much nicer than the few that had been in a few days prior. She grinned at Bill and gave a nod as she began to look over them, “I think so too.”
As she continued to search for exactly the one she wanted, she figured it was only polite to make a little conversation. And if anything came spilling out of the chatty shop assistant about the Doctor, that was simply a bonus. “So Bill, how long have you been in town? It seems everyone has an interesting story in this place.”
"I think you know how to love better than any of us. That’s why you find it all so painful.”꧁Sallow Hills mumu꧂Cecil Palmer & Sasha James & Sam Winchester
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