Happy Birthday Mhin!
Today you’ll find them fishing peacefully along the river, accompanied by their favourite companions - the stray kitties! 🐾 Sounds like a purrrr-fect celebration 🐈⬛🥳
They say it's best to never meet your heroes, but what are you supposed to do when those same heroes become your enemies?
You shouldn't say that, and you know it. Shouldn't think it. They're doing the best they can with the information they've been given, and you can't blame them for that. You shudder to think of their treatment had one of them had materialized in your world (is it still, after all the time that's passed?), and you remind yourself of this as you pick at the skin of your fingers.
If you have to be imprisoned, you suppose these are the best circumstances.
You have a bed, chairs, and all the books you could hope to read (even if you didn't fully understand most of the contents of them). Anisa was a pretty decent cook and sometimes Sage even sat outside the door as you ate, telling exaggerated stories about his days as a vagabond.
They were the kindest wardens you could have hoped for. And yet, resentment turns in your stomach with each passing day.
You want to be better than the storm clouds billowing in your mind, but you feel them clouding your judgement with each sound of the lock clicking from the other side of the door.
It wasn't your fault that you were here. All you wanted all this time was to go to a convention, take a few pictures, and revel in the video game you've taken such comfort in for so many years. And now, it's come to this - trapped in the same universe you would've done anything to enter only a few months ago.
If it wasn't for Felix, you wouldn't have been here in the first place. And if it weren't for Anisa's mother, the woman you once idolized for gods' sake, you would have been able to roam free. And Sage has done nothing but condone it all.
It's sad, but you thought you meant more to them than this. Your time in Astrea has been brief, but the moments before your imprisonment were full of such wonders you never imagined you'd end up like this. At night, as you listen to their footsteps outside of your door (Are you such a monster that they must keep watch? Are they so afraid of you?), tears of frustration well in your eyes.
You resent their fear of you as much as you resent the imprisonment itself. These mighty, so-called warriors, hiding behind a locked door; bringing you pastries in the morning and romance books in the afternoon. You recall the image of Felix when you first arrived, the stories of how he fought alongside Anisa and Sage. The glint of the weapons they carry at their hilts, how their fingers flex over them when you move too quickly. The softness in their eyes for you before Ayanna's harrowing words. How pathetic, how far they have fallen.
Had they ever really cared for you at all?
As though your quarters can hear your thoughts, a draft fills the room that makes you draw your blankets around you tighter. The soft patter of footsteps outside of your door pounds against your eardrums, and you find yourself wanting to scream, to beg them to be still, to sit down, to let you out, to let you see something besides the walls in front of you.
But it's no use, and you know that. Why would they bargain with a monster?
You resolve to just go to sleep, sipping hope from the promise of a tomorrow you know will be no different than today. It's bittersweet, imagining your release, their apologies. Your chest rises and falls steadily, but the wicked beast in your chest hammers with a commanding violence. There will be no rest tonight.
Rubbing your eyes, you sit upright in bed, only to be met face-to-face with an unfamiliar face. Bright red eyes shine back at you, nearly shaded completely by red hair. The stranger smiles, whispering a shh before placing their finger over your mouth. Something about the way they smile feels cold and distinctly wrong, and you do your best to take in their form from their close proximity.
"Just wanted to see what all this fuss was about," they whisper, voice low. They're sitting crisscrossed on the foot of your bed, skirts bunched and flowing around their hips. You're able to make out a myriad of frightening scars against their chest, and you know you should be scared. You should yell for one of your saviors (captors?) outside of the door, but your hands remain steady and your heartbeat has calmed itself for the first time in so long, you remain silent.
"No, you don't seem like a threat at all. I wonder..." their voice trails off, and their hand falls from your mouth to rest upon their cheek. A charm dangling from one of their horns makes a soft noise, and there's a look of contemplation in their eyes that sends a shiver down your spine.
"Oh, how rude of me. I'm Rime, by the way," they extend their other hand towards you and you stare at it for a long moment before shaking.
"Nice to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine." Rime smirks. It's not much, suspicious and sardonic, but it's the most interaction you've had in weeks. Tears threaten at the corners of your eyes again.
"Why are you here?" You ask, voice somewhere between a breath and a whisper.
"That's entirely up to you," Rime whispers, moving closer to you on the bed. You feel the heat of them against your skin. "But if you're interested, I have somewhat of a...business proposal."
You nod before he's even finished, grasping onto his words like they're the key to getting you out of the door.
"It must have been so hard for you, locked up in here all alone. The Starsworn really have changed since I was a part of the team."
They used to be one of them?
Noticing the way your eyes widen, Rime raises one of his hands again in a gesture of surrender before resting it upon your knee.
"It's been a while since we were last acquainted, I assure you." They say softly, a smile playing at the corners of their mouth. "You could say I'm essentially dead to them."
"Even Felix?" You ask, remembering the first night you appeared. The way Felix held you then, crying out Rime's name.
"Felix." Rime's eye twitches slightly, but his face is no less composed. "The Felix I knew would not have done something like this to someone innocent as you." Their words are cold as steel, and your breath catches in your throat for a moment.
"But that's neither here nor there." Rime rights himself, standing beside you and rolling his head and shoulders. "Now, are you contented in your cage, or would you like to be free?"
You don't even have to say anything before you're already reaching for his outstretched hand.
Thank you for the in depth analysis of Leander that were provided you guys have passed the class have a some cake 🎂🍰 Anyways I can’t wait to see what they have in store with Leander. If anyone else has theories or opinion I WANNA HEAR THEM PLS🙌 Even if they’re not about Leander
There is so much to Touchstarved that I really love already and one is definitely how independent the mc is. I didn’t feel lower than the other characters which is really refreshing. I’m so excited to see where this game goes👏
Giving the LL fans what they need, an AU to think about. This correlates with Ayanna’s warning to Anisa about the MC being from Earth.
What if the main 3 finding out LoS was from Earth made them turn against the MC? They can’t send the MC back to Earth right away so their next best option is to lock them away.
I’d like to think at some point they’d need MC because of the Astrolabe. The “I rather we not team up” team up. If Rime stays around its a double rime situation and the mc and rime could bond over not being trusted by the other characters.
Its been over a year since felix’s chapter 13 and no i have not gotten over him and i never will, though i will admit chapter 13 being the last would be iconic for felix, has to be his lucky number. 🤷
I will provide a scenario for those of you who need a something Last Legacy to think about
Your LI accidentally gets sent to a different version of their world and their first thought is to find you but they come to find out that you are different. Corrupted. Its your MCs villain arc. I like to think of there being some way to corrupt a relic just because it would add more flare to this scenario. Make yourself a playlist and miss your LI.
its almost been a YEAR- and no one told me i spelt rimes last name wrong on the Spotify playlist I fixed it- so ignore the misspelling on the tumblr post. I added new songs to all the playlists. Links on my pinned post.
