#any better or other suggestions?

[dinopant]

does anyone have any like, good video sharing sites like rabbit was?

#i use kosmi but its #hit or miss #any better or other suggestions?

[basshole-astard]

PSA: i keep seeing posts about staying cool in extreme heat that include advice like "gatorade is bad actually!" and "don't drink fruit juice it'll just dehydrate you!" and neither of these are true!

regarding fruit juice: there's apparently a misconception that Any Sugar At All will dehydrate you, and that's simply not true. yes, sugar will make you pee more when consumed in large amounts, but 1) the natural sugar in fruits won't do this to you 2) great news! a lot of fruit juices exist without any added sugar in them! 3) honestly even having a glass of the fruit juice with added sugar won't completely dehydrate you as long as you're also drinking water throughout the day. if its hot you deserve a cold treat of a drink!!! can't go wrong with fruit juice!!!

regarding gatorade: maybe this isn't an every day drink, but guess what: if it's 110F/40C or hotter outside, and you don't have AC, or you're moving around a lot outside of the AC, and you're sweating buckets: that's when you drink a gatorade.

gatorade exists to replenish all the electrolytes (salt) and glucose (sugar) that you sweat out. YES it is meant for athletes to drink during intensive work outs and not necessarily for people who aren't doing that kind of exercise. BUT GUESS WHAT! when you're sweating buckets because you had to walk to the bus in extreme heat, that's intensive exercise. please feel free to drink a gatorade after that! that's its intended use case!!!!

no: neither of these drinks should be a total replacement for water. but drinking a lot of water and then treating yourself to a fruit juice with lunch is a good idea!!! drinking a gatorade becuase you just had to walk for 20 minutes in the heat is a good idea!!!

Please Stop Spreading Misinformation About Drinks!!! It's fine if you drink things that aren't water!!!! Yes you should probably always be drinking water but drinking something else As Well isn't going to hurt you!!!! okay!!!! its fine!!!!!!

honestly so long as you are consistently getting Any (non-alcoholic) fluids in you, you're doing great!!!!!! okay!!!! i love you stay safe <3

#also: drinking A Soda or A Coffee isn't going to completely dehydrate you if you're drinking other fluids tbqh!!! #its fine!!!!! its fine!!!!! #drinks #heat #dehydration #this post exists because i'm mad at misinfo but also #this is for my homies who hate the taste of water and struggle to stay hydrated #because people have told them over and over again You Must Absolute Drink Water And Nothing Else and so they just don't drink anything #listen!! hey!!! whoever told you that was lying!!!! #drinking Any Fluids At All (yes even with caffeine!!) is better than Not Drinking Anything #please hydrate!!!! it's okay if that hydration isn't water!!!! #honestly i tried to be extremely non confrontational in this post but im pretty sure i've seen people suggest flavored water packets #but say no fruit juice ever. and that's insane. #it's all fluids baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #so long as you are drinking fluids you are combatting dehydration #YES water is the best option HOWEVER. if you drink things that aren't water that's also okay! i promise!!!!!!!!

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

oh right, technically i sell t-shirts

i forgot about that

#holidays are coming up and it would make a terrible gift #that's the main selling point #anyways these exist and can be exchanged for legal tender #the cost is the listed price + the emotional expense of knowing that i am judging u #bc i am. i am judging u #why would u want this. why would u exchange currency for this #there are so many other things you could exchnage currency for instead #a grocery store shrimp platter for instance #with the nauseatingly red cocktail sauce that is SO much better than a t shirt any time #hmm chicken picatta at a local Italian Eatery perchance? i am. a big fan of anything picatta #oh oh i know! 3.6 POUNDS OF FRESH OKRA #FOR THE COST OF THIS FRIVOLOUS T SHIRT U COULD INSTEAD PURCHASE 3.6 POUNDS OF FRESH DELICIOUS OKRA #and then --hold on i have a recipe--and then what u do is #so it is basically sacrilege to suggest this but what u do is u skip the cornmeal entirely #my southern ancestors are shaking a wooden spoon at me right now but LISTEN. u skip. the gotdang. cornmeal #instead: wash chop and soak (for 10 min) the okra in a mixture of 1 egg to tblsp water #then coat in flour #THATS IT JUST FLOUR #No cornmeal. i am betraying my heritage rn but I'm RIGHT #coat in flour sprinkle liberally in S&P and FRY that suck in veg oil high heat #until crispy & brown & u hear your arteries clenching in apprehension #so. so yeah #that's what u should do instead of buying this shirt go fry the shit out of some okra #(but buy local and young & tender if u can bc the grocery store is full of old-and-therefore-super-stiff specimens #pro tip (aka grandma tip): if u can't chop okra smoothly with your normal cutting knife then it's too old and tough. #...i mean u probably CAN still fry the shit out of it I've certainly done that before it's just much less delicious #ANYWAY. anyway ANYWAY. shirt. okra. farmers market. that reminds me of a post i made back when we first started selling these dang shorts #shirts. shorts shorts. oh shit i should make a crop top option. #i. i don't Know How to make a crop top option #HUH . . . i need to lie down now and contemplate the constant and irreconcilable limitations of the human experience good night

[thormanick]

…Headcanon that the next time Kaveh gets in trouble in desert (where he is on a research trip with Alhaitham) and is lost/separated from his companion, the three desert foxes come to his help out of nowhere and lead him back to Alhaitham.

When they are back and Alhaitham listens to Kaveh telling him about how the foxes helped him, one of the aforementioned foxes intensely stares Alhaitham dead in the eyes. Alhaitham stares back at it, and after a few moments barely noticeably nods.

For the sake of his (exhausted after a whole day in the desert) sanity Kaveh asks no questions. Alhaitham acts like nothing happened. The foxes return to the desert the next day when they depart.

A silent “We entrust the good human to you. Please, take care of him,” remains a small secret between the desert and the scribe (as well as a request he will gladly see to).

#genshin impact #this is a very hear me out moment #I just. Kaveh the Disney princess all the way #this is supposed to me more comedic than serious but I can’t describe it any better #just kaveh looking at alhaitham and a tiny fox staring at each other being like #‘ok clearly this day is too much. there two are clearly up to something but if I come even close to suggesting that Alhaitham #can communicate with a fox he will keep laughing at me till the end of days. this day is too much I need a nap’ #and at the same time Alhaitham and the fox just like #‘Kaveh=good. must protec’ #I’m sorry I’m blabbering watch to much #I’d want to make a drawing out of it but I’m stuck with another drawing of Kaveh and The Cat (most curious iykyk) #sooooooooo there’s that #genshin impact headcanon #genshin impact kaveh #genshin impact alhaitham #haikaveh #kavetham #afinna explores teyvat

[bonefall]

Do you have any plans for Shaded Moss, since Gray Wing is dying in his place? (The specifics of that in my brain was Gray Wing shoving him out of the way of the carriage)

My own thoughts were something along the lines of him having been second-in-command to Gray Wing, but after xir death, Clear Sky starts undermining them, 'suggesting' to people that hey, maybe he *set that up* like, isn't it convenient? That Gray Wing died? Leaving Shaded Moss in charge? Wow, funny like that, huh? And even if most of the group dismisses it as bullshit, it's still "What kinda moron almost gets run over by a carriage and has to be pushed out of the way? Should we really be following him?" Eventually, Clear Sky takes the people who listen to him and leaves, and Tall Shadow kinda forces him to step down, and Shaded Moss kinda lives on the fringes of the group until after Bumble gets driven out. He kinda serves as a surrogate father to Thunder (because I kinda want to keep adoption a thing) and teaches him how to pass better as a tom (because I love older transmascs helping guide their juniors, I wish I had had someone older who knew a little more helping me with that shit as a kid).

I imagine he dies in the First Battle, either just before the "Tell the stars you won" line, or just after, knocking Clear Sky off of Bright Storm and getting killed for it just before Starclan intervenes.

GREAT IDEA let's take it!

(Note though: Shaded Moss -> Shaded Flower, because they now have a naming system that includes a familial last name. Shaded Flower and Rainswept Flower are father and daughter like canon.)

It'll be good for showing how "connected" tribe culture is, to have Thunder Storm have bonds with a lot of the cats he will eventually come into conflict with. Thunder Storm having a surrogate dad figure in the disgraced leader works nicely. Here's how I'll approach it though, taking your suggestions and making sure it works with what's established;

Gray Wing was the leader, Shaded Flower was second in command. He was a logistics sort of guy.

They had never seen a horse before. The group charged in front of it while crossing, spooking it.

Something I found interesting in Sun Trail is that Clear Sky was commanding them across the road that gets Canon!Shade killed on. I think I want to keep that, having Clear Sky be the one who shouted for them all to charge.

Shaded Flower's response to the large animal rearing up was to hiss and freeze

And of course, Gray Wing runs back to save him, getting kicked and killed.

While burying xem, Shade was catching flak. He panicked and his response was to freeze. Clear Sky never takes responsibility for his own actions, and what kind of guy freezes in front of a deer so huge??

He didn't really "step down" so much as Tall Shadow and Clear Sky just naturally started becoming the new leaders. He was pretty ashamed that he got Gray Wing killed.

Embarrassingly, Rainswept Flower ended up having to be his defender a lot of the time. He didn't want her reputation to suffer as a result of his cowardice, but... ugh here they are.

When Jagged Peak broke his leg, Shaded Flower didn't speak up, doubting his own judgement.

But when Bright Storm comes back with her three-legged newborn, he is IMMEDIATELY on Tall Shadow's side in the split. Though his reputation took a big hit, him being on her side IS still helpful.

He probably teaches Thunder Storm how to cook along with helping his transition, since this is going to be an important skill he displays later when he befriends River's Ripple. Rainswept Flower is like a young 19-year-old at this point, making her own life, and Shaded Flower has a sort of loneliness about him.

He probably looks out for Bright Storm, too, since they both had a pretty traumatic experience with Clear Sky treating them like ass. Brings her food and such, makes small talk, watches her kid when she needs a break.

Shaded Flower is, however, probably not a member of early ThunderClan. Or at the very least, he's kind of conflicted about it.

Rainswept Flower is loyal to Tall Shadow, and will remain ShadowClan for her whole life. He really doesn't want to leave her behind

(She even eventually has kittens with Sun Shadow, but that's not super relevant.)

Though... I may have him be part of Bright Storm's Reinforcements, and note how much he's torn between supporting the boy who's practically an adopted son, and his daughter back in Tall Shadow's Clan. He can love them both equally and be torn up over it.

Whatever happens, he will be dying in the place where Rainswept Flower dies in canon. His death in Clear Sky's jaws, "I'm not greedy, just strong!" enrages Bright Storm, who bumrushes him.

She delivers the Star Line, Clear Sky rejects it, and Thunder Storm rushes in to end his battle with Clear Sky once and for all before StarClan halts it.

#I'll clean this all up later along with any other Shaded Flower suggestions anyone has #And make an official character summary #BB!DOTC #Shaded Flower #BB!Shaded Moss #Better bones au

[volivolition]

suggestion do you have... any wants? like obviously you do but like? suggestion my guy my ourple boy. both the easiest and hardest to write. you need a skill to say something to move conversation along but it doesn't fit any skill in particular? about 80% of the time you can have suggestion say it and it will make sense. but like actually characterizing him... how do i define you dude... what makes your character tick... urgh. i dont get you yet. im trying to understand but you are difficult.

#chemi chats #there are some skills that i just dont understand yet and that just means i have to work on their character study chapter #im reading his bio and i think suggestion is a good manipulator and it's instinctive and he tries not to feel bad about it? #he's clever!! charming!! friends with savvy and drama. planting seeds in the mind and coaxing them to grow towards him like he's the sun. #a crude oil reservoir lying beneath a carefully laid flower bed. taps into the roots. the plants don't know any better than to drink. #he's great at sensing what makes people tick and uses that to his advantage. he needs goals to look forward to so he knows how to best #pull the strings to get them there. otherwise he's a bit aimless. he likes being useful. and since influencing others is helpful #he just keeps doing it? because it's what he's good at. and he tries to convince himself its fun and cool and just cuz hes charming and #it's his role as a skill and manipulation isnt thaaaat bad because it's helpful to them after all... but he does feel bad sometimes. #oh im listening to his voice lines and i just got to ''brother you should have put me in front of a firing squad'' and im sad about him now #but what do you want for short term little guy?? probably for people to like him. he likes chatting with people. i bet he'd like genuine #conversations with no strings attached but there's always some part of him filing information and tidbits away that he can't turn off #subconsciously figuring out things he can hold over them or how he can nudge them into thinking someth-/wait.../ no. no he's just talking. #he's /supposed/ to just be talking stop analyzing them stop falling back into that just have a normal conversation!! but he can't help it.. #hm. this is all really helpful for his chapter. he and empathy are very alike but also different. very interesting... #task: swept up #okay good talk everyone i think i understand him a little better now lmao?? still gotta figure him out some more hes not fully there but ye #also i think he goes by whatever pronoun you think he'd use. just ''oh what do /you/ think i am hm?? what /would/ i use; do you think?? :)' #funny fella. i love you.

[totally-bing]

god i hate the french

#bing #bingposting #q #my autocorrect actually suggested “french” after i said “god i hate the” so it clearly understands me better than any other person on earth

[skyburger]

really specific old crossover art i found... first image is the original, second has translated text. translation from here, typesetting and minor edits by me. read from right to left! original image from here. also, if you thought this artstyle looked familiar, this was drawn by the wikipe-tan artist!

#im not normally one to reupload fanart but this is 16+ years old and i do kind of want a backup of it jic #muffin mumbles #and when i say i made small edits in the translation: i just edited rins lines to sound better in english and #to be more true to the line its parodying (general grevious' lines in rots) #and i added the lightsaber sound which according to wikipedia. Thats the offical lightsaber onomatopoeia #ummm final note: i did upscale the art with some pixel art rescaled cuz the original was smallll and the translated text i added was SUPER #crusty. so i needed to make it bigger LOL #me-tan #OS-tan #kagamine rin #kagamine len #general grievous #(? kind of) #star wars #crossover #2000s web #animecore #otakucore #weebcore #idk. if you have any other tag suggestions lmk

[absolute-chaos-skykid]

Ok ok ok SEASON IDDEAAAAAA-

I call this one the ✨Season of Stories✨ or smth-

This season's guide is a travelling storyteller who has come to the world of sky to relay their many tales to us skykids, and using their magical storybook (ultimate reward) they transport us straight into the stories and creating an immersive experience for everyone.

Like in Revival, there are no spirits. You unlock them after each quest where the Travelling Storyteller (that's quite literally their name lol) transports you to their story and retells it to you.

During the quests you follow the main spirit (or character) and follow along to their story as the Travelling Storyteller narrates it. It's like reliving memories but with some extra spice added to it, like you relive their memories but you're right there experiencing the memory alongside them. Isn't that cool??

Here's the thing though, some the spirits in this season might not be real.

The Travelling Storyteller has gotten these stories from either word of mouth or from witnessing the story themselves.

There's a chance that some of the spirits kinda sound like this one spirit but also sounds like this spirit either way there are differences and similarities but I like the idea that there's a chance that these people were myths that other spirits they shared when they were alive.

I haven't gotten an idea for the quests yet, or what they spirits are yet but if people like this idea enough I might just draw them!! (or update this post ig-)

Yeah.. So what do you think skyblr-?

#the travelling storyteller is pretty much an au version of my non-sky oc #I swear I can put them in any universe and they'd still be a storyteller #heck I might as well try and yeet her into half-life!! #or better yet- Cats- #actually nevermind I already did that #charlotte speaks #charlotte speaks (in the tags) #sky: children of the light #sky children of the light #thatgamecompany #that game sky #skyblr #sky:cotl #thatskygame #sky cotl #season idea #any universe suggestions I can yeet my oc into? #lets see how many universes it'll take #until my oc cracks and is forced to be something OTHER than a storyteller

[arcadianico]

i don’t want any of the english speakers to become president, solely because there’s already too much english on the server and we do not need them to add another english speaker. like i get that it’s a common language so sometimes defaulting to english really is the easiest solution, especially when the translator doesn’t correctly convey what you’re trying to say but we do not need more english

#i hope we get another hispanic creator #rivers would be amazing but honestly alexby or aldo or yk anyone #because we barely have any hispanic creators who consistently log on #for a variety of reasons #but yeah literally nothing against any of the english speakers or the potential english speakers that have been suggested as possible #additions by players and by the community #we just really do not need more english on the server at the moment #active english speakers already outnumber the active members of any of the other languages #before we again get into english as a lingua franca #if more english speakers do get added i need it to be significantly later when the balance is somewhat better yk #idk just some thoughts #qsmp elections #qsmp

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

Starting a little collection of times when Rose says/does something cute and silly and you can literally see the hearts coming out of Blanche and Dorothy

#was tempted to add dorothy entering the room behind rose in that first one bc her smile is just so precious <3 #but it works better like this overall i feel #the second one is technically cheating bc dorothy is happy about having sophia's box again. but i will count it because this is MY gifset #and i get to decide what goes in it <3 #blanche asking 'did you really know that rose?' in the third set is so precious to me <3 #as is dorothy saying 'welcome back sweetheart' in the fourth set <3 #and rose is always adorable ofc. her face when she rescues fernando is everything to me <3 just look at her!!! #fernando's subplot was sincerely top notch! one of my favourite b-plots!! it's simply too sweet #i still haven't figured out how to use the sharpen tool on photoshop :') so my primary goal for this set was missed i'm afraid #i did have fun choosing the moments and making them tho so i'm counting this as an overall success #and besides any time spent staring at these beautiful ladies is time well spent in my book #they <333 #the golden girls #golden wives #feel free to suggest any additions to this collection btw!! i'd love to have others

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

unimportant microtrend that drives me personally bananas for stupid reasons: the idea that the only valid reason to exercise is because it feels good, especially coupled with someone painstakingly explaining how they do xyz kind of intentional/nonincidental movement for reasons that are totally morally pure. annoying for two reasons: (1) no one needs to exercise like morally or whatever but the thing i learned that really put the fear of god into me about exercise is that muscle mass starts naturally decreasing around age 30 unless you are doing something to preserve it and an enormous slice of my exercise motivation pie these days comes from wanting to maximize my chances of still being able to spend three hours walking and listening to music for as long into my lifespan as possible (not to mention i am an afab woman with a family history of 6 million bone problems) (2) (this is the dumber one and therefore the one that is more annoying to me) sometimes exercise feels good but only after you have stuck with it through a period of it feeling bad. if i only ever did Moving My Body Feels Good exercise i would have robbed myself of some of the best body sensations i’ve ever had!

#yeah i’m trying to get back into running for the millionth time post lockdown #it’s going better than it did any of the other times #so i’m feeling better than i have before about being able to like #run (very slowly) for a full hour sometime before the end of the year #my experience suggests that by the time i hit that it will be the case that running Sometimes Feels Good #(it ofc always retains the capacity to feel bad) #but in the meantime it is still rough out there #so i am presently particularly sensitive to like #‘exercise shouldn’t be about PUSHING YOURSELF or HAVING GOALS. it should only be about what i say is good about it :)’ #shut up!!!! you don’t know my life!!!!! #sanctimony is not less annoying from a slightly different direction!!!!!!! #nb ofc these things are optional

[caterpillarinacave]

So you choose not to step through the door, after all why mess with nonsense when you're already in nonsense? You check the items in your pockets, your phone you shut off to conserve power, the dog tag, key and top clink together but offer no help, and when you fiddle with the walkie-talkie you manage to get it to turn on, excitedly you call out to the void but only static responds, which is disappointing but predictable, so you put the items away and hunker down for the night, looking at the sky you can see that the stars seem strange, though you're no expert, and the moon seems to have a second smaller moon near it which looks pretty cool but is a stark reminder of how not on your own world your predicament has landed you.

In the morning you begin looking through the nearby bushes and plant life taking note of anything strange, you notice the berries you had been picking before you stepped through the door are also growing around here, they look and taste the same, and some other plants seem pretty similar to the forest from before as well, although the further away from the door you go the more unfamiliar plants you come across (of course that may just be your lack of familiarity with plants) and the few animals you have noticed are bizarre in a way that you can't explain, like the people from town, they seem almost perfectly familiar, just a little off and the noises they make have you thinking they wouldn't be able to communicate with their counterparts either, brushing aside another branch you come across a strange funnel made of metal which you pocket and what looks to be a regular whistle, you wipe it down and blow but hear nothing aside from the air going through, you consider it is either broken or maybe a dog whistle, as you go to put it away you hear something big running in your direction, before you can decide how to react a large creature storms out of the bushes and stops in the clearing before you, it's huge as a horse with paws and sharp teeth it licks as it looks around and spots you, it shakes its head again reminding you of a horse, then steps closer before turning and staring expectantly, you get the feeling it's waiting on you, impatiently, and you realize it seems to expect you to get on its back. Do you get on?

Yes.

#I am a terrible terrible Irish child #Clearly all those folk tales whose only moral was “don’t climb on the strange horse” were lost on me. Technically not a horse though. So. H #Uh please don’t run into the bog with my on your back strange horse thing. #…This may be one of my worse ideas #On one hand moving away from what appears to be the only connection my world doesn’t sound like a great idea #Back through the door is logically the the best bet. However I’ve already explored the area #The only thing to do would be to just sit there for hours and that will get me nowhere. The things that do have leads like the walkie- #Sputtering are things to pay attention to but not things that are likely to change if I don’t move. The whistle is the newest thing- #And let’s be real I’ve been in the bramble for like 14 hours without the neurospicy meds I am teetering on dangerously antsy #Probably better to get on the horse before I come up with something more stupid #It’s interesting my world flora seems to surround the door. I wish I’d payed more attention before I stepped through #If the nearby flora on the other side seemed like it would come from this world it would suggest that the door just leaks between universes #In two ways. If it’s earths flora then it’s either only leaking one way which we could no from one step through #Or - which we will not know but should pay attention for if we step into some other world - if the earths flora shows up around EVERY porta #Which would suggest earth is the base in some way #It might be beneficial to climb a tree to try and see farther out #Though I don’t exactly get many opurtunited to haul myself up a tree so I would put to much stock in a)my upper body strength #And b) my ability to chose a tree that won’t kill me #It’s defintley worth taking in as much info as possible. I’ll try and notice things like different winds gravity tempature ect #What should i tag this all. Help I got lost in a blackberry bush? Anon who takes me to alternate planes of reality? #I know #Guys I got lost in a bush #That’s a good one. Nothing weird there at all. #FINE I’ll rage it “guys I got lost in a blackberry bush” #I wonder what makes things so familiar. Perhaps this world exists very closely to the other. Perhaps they’ve crossed paths before. #Perhaps they’ve shown up in our dreams. Perhaps I have bad memory and my brain gaslights itself into thinking everything’s familiar #I wonder maybe the horse is a horse/dog thing- that would explain the likeness to the dog whistle (?) #This can’t get any worse I say doing something that could very much make it worse #Eh what’s the worst that can happen. At least I don’t have to pay taxes in this world #Guys I got lost in a black berry bush

[yappacadaver]

and it's like despite all the awful shit he's done and continues to do, like, i get it. he's employed like 24/7/365. he never got to live a life, despite spending a childhood clinging to the hope of having one someday. He knew companionship and love but lost it and can't ever get it back. His circumstances are so anomalous and gruesome that it completely isolates him from pretty much every other human being on the planet. he knows hell is real and he is basically guaranteed to go there if he can't break this demon curse thing.

like it doesn't make the kidnapping and spreading the curse around any better, but i do get it.

#like personally i don't blame him for the actual murders #and it's hard to blame him for hiring people without telling them because like lol. #anyone who's like 'oh he should just tell ppl about the demons' like what are you onnnnnn if you went to a job interview with a creepy old #guy and he started talking about demons and hauntings and shit you would think you're being pranked or that he's lost his damn mind #and fuck offffff with the 'ohhh not me im a quirky bean i'd love to take a job if the interview was like that' like sure. ok. maybe YOU wou #but what are the odds that milford in 1998 coming off the satanic panic has a thousand yous running around waiting to be hired #like i honestly dont have any suggestions for how he could have handled the hiring situation any better #now the actual JOB i have plenty of feedback #like yea he should be there to train your ass against the demons lol we got more hands-on guidance for the embalming (the non deadly part) #but like the whole 'raymond is evil cause he kills possessed ppl and hires people without telling them abt demons' #do you think that old man can run the whole mortuary by himself and also have time to teach classes #until he inevitably dies from either stress or the demons and is sent to hell (which he knows is real)? #it's my understanding that by having others around who can help him fight the demons he'll have the spare time to figure out how to #break out of the demon curse or break possession or literally any useful information that could treat the disease and not the symptoms #he is running out of time!!! he is only getting older and the demons are only getting more frequent and someday he won't be fit enough #to properly banish them!!! if you even care!!!!!!!!! #fucking tag essay lmao #mr delver i wont u...

[waywardsalt]

my grievances with botw

Breath of the Wild is... undeniably a fantastic game, but it is very genuinely not the kind of game I like, and since I started playing it I’ve been enjoying it less and less so... I have a pair of problems with it that I’d figure I’d go into, as well as some stuff that, while weak in botw, were executed better in past loz games.

(small shoutout to @zeldanamikaze for encouraging this and having some points that i agree with and had some examples that i hadn’t thought about much initially)

Again, Breath of the Wild is an objectively impressive game, and I’m not trying to sit here and convince you that it’s a bad game. I’m just trying to point out things that detracted from my enjoyment of it, especially compared to my enjoyment of other Zelda games.

Before I get into the big stuff, I’ll just shoot off some quick little things that I think could’ve been improved:

- The dungeons generally felt like glorified shrines, and while they had cool mechanics and ways to access them, they were short and more or less pretty simple and all have similar visual and musical identities.

- Side quests and their rewards didn’t feel worth doing half of the time. I barely remember any notable ones off the top of my head and the longer ones just gave mostly generic rewards, which I suppose makes sense considering the limited amount of truly unique items in botw.

- Seeing the same enemies over and over again made the combat feel more like a chore than something to really engage with, not to mention that there is hardly any difficulty scaling beyond just making the enemies more durable.

- The story is fine, but in my experience, even seeing people go into more detail about the meanings of events, I never really cared for the events or the characters presented, since you don’t actually have to directly interact with any of that to play the game. Hell, you don’t even need to interact with the story at all to beat it, so the focus certainly doesn’t feel like it’s on the story.

- It would be a lie to call the soundtrack bad, but it’s sparse usage makes it hard to truly appreciate and the fact that most of it is meant to be more atmospheric generally makes them a bit less interesting to listen to on their own, though I will admit there are some fantastic tracks in botw, usually being some of the boss themes.

- While the Sheikah slate runes are cool, they feel very bland after a while, especially compared to the varied items seen in previous games. They’re good tools for an open world, but not much fun otherwise (the bombs were good though, since they had a variety of uses).

And that’s the quick stuff- again, mostly courtesy of @zeldanamikaze, since these are the examples I’ve seen her mention.

I have two big points that kind of encapsulate why I dislike this game and still adore the older games, that being: the minigames and the items and their relationships to dungeons.

Breath of the Wild is a very different game than what came past it, and I am very aware that it is a vast departure from those other games for a reason. However, this leads me to view it not only simply as a game not up my alley, but also as kind of inferior in some aspect to those previous Zelda games. Breath of the World is first and foremost an open world game, seemingly putting a focus on gameplay enjoyment above all else (not to imply that the ‘else’ is bad because of this, but I do think that the ‘else’ suffers in comparison to other Zelda titles.)

It may also be worth mentioning that the other Zelda games I have played is the following: LoZ NES, Link’s Awakening (Original and Remake), Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Phantom Hourlgass, Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, and Triforce Heroes. I have also played both hyrule warriors games as well as loz 2, wind waker, and minish cap, none of the latter 3 i have finished or currently have access to.

1: The Minigames

Minigames are common in Zelda games, so of course botw has a few scattered around it’s world. Botw’s minigames are very different than the minigames seen in past Zelda games, mostly due in part to the limited array of items and unique gameplay gimmicks available in botw. Botw’s minigames usually focus on different forms of archery, gliding, or rune usage: all things integral to normal gameplay. At best you get rupees or cosmetic items from most minigames.

Botw’s minigames are just slightly altered situations of normal gameplay. The bowling is just using stasis except this time the game has a special little arena for it. Pretty much all of the archery games are either just counting how many deer you can kill or if you can just hit some targets on horseback. There’s one race I can think of and one gliding activity I can think of.

This makes sense, considering that there are a handful of other non-minigame activities to engage in, but these minigames feel... hollow. None of the minigames feature gameplay exclusive to those minigames or feature gameplay only used in certain parts of the game. They all make use of readily available mechanics in botw, so they’re like tests of skill- but otherwise not really any worth giving a second-thought unless you want to see how good of a glider or archer you are or grab some extra rupees.

But they aren’t very... worth it or generally fun within the context of botw. It’s just another way to do something that is available to you pretty much all game. They don’t feel unique, they just feel like a task.

Previous Zelda games (obviously) have archery minigames and allow you to use archery when you get the bow and from that point onward. And yet the archery minigames are made unique from the rest of the archery in the game; ocarina of time’s archery minigame is simply just shooting at targets, but the possible rewards and the simple fact that not often are you going to be continuously shooting arrows at enemies make it a bit of a novel experience within oot. The minigames in past zelda games take advantage of the items and area-specific mechanics: they usually include item-exclusive mechanics like bombchu games, or take advantage of more specific mechanics, like the minecarts in skyward sword, the masks in majora’s mask, or being able to control gongoron in phantom hourglass.

They also gave genuine rewards- empty bottles, quest items, ship parts, new masks, heart containers or pieces, kinds of stuff that are hard to get and very valuable. They’re worth doing for reasons outside of just a little activity. The minigames in other Zelda games do really enhance the experience by taking advantage of situational mechanics or giving a unique usage for some items.

You can probably get every item in botw without playing all of the minigames. They have little actual purpose. But in other zelda games, they have a purpose in the greater game and provide novel experiences within the game.

2: Items and their relationships with the dungeons

Obviously, compared to past games, botw’s ‘dungeons’ kind of sucked. They’re fine in a vacuum, with interesting gimmicks and the like, but they’re really little more than glorified shrines with four different-but-similar bosses at the end.

In my opinion, one of reasons why the divine beasts just... fell flat compared to other zelda dungeons is the lack of unique items in general. The runes in botw are cool and useful but you get them at the start of the game and never get anything new. You are give every tool you need to beat all of the dungeons the moment you finish the tutorial.

Older zelda games’ dungeons being tied to their respective items is a big part- to me- of what makes those dungeons so good.

Obviously, the theming, musical themes, and larger layouts and more varied puzzles make them objectively better experiences, but the way they interact with item acquisition makes the whole thing even better. 

Even in a link between worlds, where you can get every item whenever you want from Ravio, each dungeon is still tied to one of those items, and one of those items is needed to successfully complete that dungeon.

The dungeons in past Zelda games are practically complex tutorials on how you can use your new items. They are where those items shine and they are designed so that those items are used to their fullest potential within. And then you must then use that item to defeat that dungeon’s boss, and you usually have no chance of beating that boss if you don’t make use of the dungeon’s associated item. It’s like a final test for the item, seeing if you know how it works enough to complete the dungeon and use it against a boss’s weaknesses.

The most recent example, and probably one of the best, is needing to use the whip to tear off koloktos’ arms in the ancient cistern, but the classic scenario of the bombs for king dodongo works well enough, and the bosses of majora’s mask requiring you to understand how the transformation masks work. There are definitely some bosses that require no use of dungeon items (moldorm in the tower of hera, either ghirahim fights), but the item’s usage is still showcased prominently in their dungeons.

Outside of the dungeons, too, the progressive acquisition of items makes more areas and secrets available to you, giving a much more palpable sense of progression through those games’ worlds.

In botw, you get every tool the moment you are released into the rest of hyrule, so while figuring out what to do with those tools can be fun, the sense of progression is dampened by having every item from the start and nothing you gain beyond that being needed for anything aside from a nice little ability to make things easier.

I’m not really too sure exactly why I never found botw fun the way everyone else does, but I think lackluster minigames and the general lack of items that aid a sense of progression are parts of it.

#loz #legend of zelda #botw #salty talks #i feel like im swinging at a hornets nest by suggesting that this game isn't perfect #cuz everywhere you look this game is praised incessantly while its like. i think its fine at best tbh #because it's really not to my tastes #i highly prefer the experience that the other loz games provide and botw dropped off for me while i still enjoy those games #like. open world games arent really my thing and a game packed to the gills with just as much shit as possible is a major turn off for me #this was going to have three points but playing totk exhausted me mentally and i dont really care any more. i dont find these games fun #the tutorial islands felt tedious after a bit and like. idk. good game but i have yet to find myself actually having fun with it #it kinda feels like its fun in concept but the fact that it doesnt necessarily feel got to play to me and progress is slow and based on #like. slow exploration? its fine but its not something i actually enjoy. its not teh difficulty bc i like elden ring and hades n stuff #like. i have more fun with ph than totk. idk. playing totk was like. entertaining? but it kinda ust felt hollow to me #granted i just like. unlocked the first tower and did some shrines but like. idk. good game. i don't think i actually like it too much #i really think these two points kind of maybe explain why these games just fail to click with me #things in older zelda games have specific purposes and can be more situational than pretty much anything in botw/totk so far #it feels. better. to find an item that fits a specific purpose in older loz games. they're more gimmicky. #i feel that open world games (similar to botw/totk) are dragged down by the sheer freedom they allow to me at least #there's too much to do and you're allowed to do whatever so it all feels kind of. standard theres not much purpose to it #the tedium of botw/totk is much more grating than the tedium i experience in skyward sword's lanayru desert #because you HAVE to go through and figure out lanayru desert to continue the story get new items find new dungeons #botw/totk you kinda just get some items and maybe a lackluster quest or some fucking environment thing #long post #idk. im not too far into totk while writing this but rn in a weird way it and botw feel empty to me in a way i cant express #i enjoyed botw at first but after beating it and all it just felt kinda boring and unsatisfying to replay

[unproduciblesmackdown]

winnie & bagel

#corned beef #winston billions #philosophizing on my wynnstannery ''billions' accidental autistic character'' metanalysis style like #classic prank that there's a perspective that [autistic people = people both involuntarily and voluntarily worse than us(tm)] and yet then: #there is me an autistic person getting to lift these weights & hone the ability to look at this & how to use language around it #from those earliest origins of ''is tayston allowed'' to ''is saying winston is Autistic allowed''....call it quantentative #and the fact that from season four up to this very moment even the distribution of billions canon has in itself done an unimpeachible job #at enhancing the Literary Themes concurrent in my life. studio laughter & standing ovation #anyways it also meant realizing a whole like Genre / Movement in the oeuvre of my funny little drawings of a funny little guy for kicks #such that expands that oeuvre to better reconcile / resolve with my metaquantanalysis #and it's like going [making oil paintings of interior domestic scenes] mode lol. hell yeah #that is: the genre of ''a winston portrait that doesn't have; need; or ask for the implicit context that Anyone Else Cares or May Care'' #making it: ordinary and self-contained. not even ''by himself & having a particularly good or bad time.'' just an ordinary time. #tasks & situations that need not transcend anything at all. like yes having a bagel is a delight & a gift but it's in an Ordinary context #still here. scratch an itch. keep cat from knocking over showerside soaps. could be having an especial good time in any way but again such #that it needn't transcend or suggest it prompts any particular response from anyone else #that Self-Containment like [the void] of allistic ppl like ''the definition of ppl's autistacity: bringing it upon themself'' versus like #intergalactic multiuniverse quantum superpositions brain understanding of autistic ppl keeping to themselves #very much [we are not the same] perspectives lol. like working around to Getting the shit one was up to at like 3 or 7 or w/e yrs old #like but now i have all the language for why that's how things go for me & why it's Not [all the time / energy / language from others about #why that's wrong & worse & you bring it upon yourself etc]....like [you were nonbinary the whole time & still are but now Know Shit & can #convey &/or reject things w/nonzero / more precise language about it]....hand on shoulder nobody values you On Merit. & then you die. #wanting to draw some last night but it wasn't coming along great but it still came along Okay enough for this lol....also classic #going ''wow can't believe i might get to bear witness to them crumpling up winston & using the wall as backboard to toss him in the trash'' #after ''can't believe kompenso's electrifying / can't believe we're just in time for season 4 / can't believe i was here til june'' etc #can't believe winston might get an arc / can't believe winston didn't get an arc but still got an abusive relationship / can't believe #being a funny little peripheral guy is better for Character b/c of what the writing doesn't inflict & the space that frees up.... #anyways a true reconciliting revelation for my Quantent like oh This is the context that's not like swimming upstream #b/c it's also the context that [winston doesn't have to Merit(tm) being recognized as a person / would it be ''good'' if he seemingly did] #like the distilledly good timeline is one where nobody cares and he still gets to have a bagel and wear headphones.