mrryckman

[mrryckman]

This is a friendly reminder to never, ever publish your book with a publishing company that charges you to publish with them. That is a vanity press, which makes money by preying on authors. They charge you for editing, formatting, cover art, and more. With most of these companies, you will never seen a cent of any royalties made from sale of your book. A legitimate publishing company only makes money when you make money, they will never charge you to publish with them. If a company approaches you and says "Hey, we'll publish your book, just pay us X amount of money," tell them to go fuck themself and block them.

[mrryckman]

For me, the live action ATLA is a bit of a balanced situation.

On the one hand, there are some genuinely valid issues where the adaptation changed things that fundamentally killed major character arcs (Katara getting the shortest end of that stick). Aang felt like a hollow shell of his animated self - there wasn’t any of the pure joy nor the sense of real duty.

On the other hand, the adaptation did so many things SO friggin’ well. The storyline in Omashu was fantastic and blended multiple stories in a way that felt natural. The bending and environments were drop-dead gorgeous. And some of the other smaller changes (removing Sokka’s awkward sexism that was never important to begin with, adding the details of the 401st division) actually enhanced the story.

Both are valid. You can love the adaptation for what it is and grieve the failures for what they are.

My hope moving forward is that the writers are seeing this messaging and work to do better for next season (because let’s be honest, with how popular this show has been it’s getting renewed).

#avatar the last airbender #natla #atla #netflix avatar #netflix avatar the last airbender

[mrryckman]

On the one hand, I get it: they don’t want to commit to an idea or spoil something they could currently be working on.

On the other hand, it is so, SO frustrating to see the idea be sort of rejected, especially when ToTK could have easily facilitated a playable Zelda in the distant past.

#botw #legend of zelda #loz #tears of the kingdom #zelda #playable Zelda #Aonuma

[mrryckman]

[mrryckman]

And who were the three dragons before they got draconified? Were they forced to do it? Did it out of experimentation? Did they change at the same time?

So many unanswered questions

actually yeah now that I'm thinking about it it would have been way more interesting and probably a little less on the nose if instead of just going "draconfication... is forbidden.. don't do it..' they just. actually brought in the other three dragons. like mineru could have told the stories of dinraal, naydra, and farosh and bc the three dragons still exist, Zelda (and the player) could have come to the conclusion that they're immortal on their own instead of being like "BECOMING A DRAGON WILL SOLVE EVERYTHING. DONT DO IT THOUGH"

#botw #legend of zelda #loz #tears of the kingdom #zelda #the legend of zelda #dragons #zelda dragons

[mrryckman]

[mrryckman]

I’m sure this has been said already, but playing Pokémon Scarlet after playing through Tears of the Kingdom is just disappointing. There could not be more of a contrast in quality.

Game Freak should honestly be ashamed of how bad of a product they put out. I know they made loads of money anyways so they don’t care, but oof. It’s bad.

#tears of the kingdom #pokemon scarlet and violet #how are there still so many bugs #and don’t get me started on the online features #if anything it’s actually worse than Sword and Shield

[mrryckman]

i cannot remain silent about this anymore.

all my friends are so skilled and creative and intelligent and incredible and they deserve so much recognition for their work and all the happiness in the world

[mrryckman]

tragedy enjoyers when their favourite characters are brutally killed in a completely avoidable scenario of their own creation

[mrryckman]

With TotK, I get the sense that Zelda didn’t want to become “Queen of Hyrule” per se because she felt like she failed.

Like yeah, she kept Calamity Ganon at bay and ultimately saved the day, but it came at the cost of her father, the Champions, and so many others. By the time she’s actually back out in the world, only a handful of people would even remember who she is.

Add to that the fact that the people of Hyrule would have had all these stories about Link running around protecting them from monsters and being an all-around hero, and it makes sense that she would be feeling really guilty.

#I mean she shouldn’t feel guilty #but when has that ever stopped her before #botw #legend of zelda #loz #tears of the kingdom #zelda #breath of the wild #the legend of zelda #zelda botw #link #loz link

[mrryckman]

Especially in TotK, the fact that the era doesn’t feel like any we’ve seen before is just refreshing.

Sure, you’ve got giant dragons and magic powers and some annoying mummy who insists on messing up Hyrule Castle again. People use horses to travel and guns aren’t even a thing yet.

But you’ve also got steampunk-like technology alongside frankly futuristic (yet also ancient) tech: rockets and electric-powered machines and hot air balloons.

It gives the world its own definitive identity, different from other games in its genre.

I love totk/botw’s angle on the fantasy genre because they aren’t medieval but it doesn’t feel like our type of modern either. all the tech and machines are scarce and only used for important royalty stuff because there’s not enough of it to turn into a commodity. the magic is commonly known about to the point that it’s regularly used to aid the average person. horses and wagons are still primary sources of transportation and the horses are worshipped as products of a god. the goddess is worshipped everywhere but in different fashions and practices. there are still legends and myths even though a good chunk of them are true anyway. the world is wild and unknown and dangerous but everyone comes together to overcome it. it’s so much fun and idk how I’m gonna be able to watch or play other fantasies after this

#tears of the kingdom #loz #legend of zelda #botw #zelda #breath of the wild #the legend of zelda #totk

[mrryckman]

Ganondorf: So, Princess, at long last I have caught you.

Zelda: 10.

Ganondorf: You thought you could escape me, but alas, we are tied by fate to battle again and again…

Zelda: 9.

Ganondorf: Power and Wisdom, darkness and light, no matter what, we can never escape our-

Zelda: 8.

Ganondorf: W-why are you doing that?

Zelda: Doing what? 7.

Ganondorf: Counting. You’re counting down.

Zelda: Oh this? 6. Because you forgot someone critically important to this whole “tied by fate” thing. 5.

Ganondorf: Nonsense! I am the Demon King! My plans to destroy Hyrule are-

Zelda: 4.

Ganondorf: I am inevitable! I am Power incarnate!

Zelda: 3.

Ganondorf: Okay, no, seriously, what did I forget?

Zelda: 2. Oh, you know…

Ganondorf: Who?

Zelda: Him. 1.

*Sounds of ToTK Link riding some vehicular abomination grow louder*

#legend of zelda #loz #tears of the kingdom #zelda #the legend of zelda #link #loz link #and he’s probably attached an army of Koroks to it #or a single Cucco

[mrryckman]

Once when the gaang visits the Fire Nation, they’re all just on the side of too tipsy when Zuko leans in with the most grave expression imaginable.

“Aang,” Zuko says, “This has been… haunting me…. Why did your friends need to suck on those frogs?”

And Aang just gasps, and does not explain the frogs, because he has suddenly remembered that Miyuki is still wanted by the Fire Nation and that just won’t do. So Aang demands that Zuko pardon Miyuki for her crimes, which then gets the rest of the gaang to dogpile on and also demand justice for Miyuki. 

Zuko is willing to hear him out. 

…Zuko is significantly less willing to hear him out when Aang mentions that Miyuki is a cat.

(Zuko finds it difficult to believe that a cat is legitimately wanted by the Fire Nation)

But because they are all the worst, he relents and they all drunkenly stumble down to go find the records of Miyuki’s crimes and write her up a pardon, much to the chagrin of the night-shift archivist.

[mrryckman]

So in general, I try not to be too advertise-y here, but…

I wrote a book!

“Legend of Samantha Torres” is my debut novel, a middle-grade adventure fantasy following the misadventure of the 12 year-old protagonist after her cruise ship crashes on a mysterious jungle island. There’s gravity-bending superpowers, some creepy villains, and a lot of snarky humor.

You can get the paperback on Amazon right now! The ebook releases tomorrow.

#i wrote a book #Legend of Samantha Torres #self publishing #debut author #kidlitauthor #kidlit #middle grade fantasy

[mrryckman]

Nintendo, I am once again asking you to give us a DLC, a whole separate game, SOMETHING, where we get to build our own shrines and share them.

You could even explain it lore-wise that Zelda is creating these shrines to help the next Hero of Light prepare for the next big Calamity.

#legend of zelda #totk #tears of the kingdom #loz #zelda #shrines #and then Link is just her Guinea pig having to test them all to make sure they work #you did it with Mario Maker

[mrryckman]

Honestly this moment just completely threw me off-guard when I visited Link’s house in Tears of the Kingdom. The photo from Champion’s Ballad still being up. The obvious signs that these two were building a peaceful life together.

Add to that the desperation of Link when he tried to grab her hand as they were falling, and it adds such stakes that BotW never had.

In BotW, Link was just trying to save the world from Calamity Ganon - he barely even remembered Zelda. But now, in TotK, Zelda is a *person* to him. She’s *his* person. And you’d best believe he will do whatever it takes to rescue her so that they can be together again.

Y’all Nintendo really said Zelink rights 😭🥺

I made one of my first goals to get to Link’s house and it was exactly what I was hoping for. It actually feels like a lived in house now! It’s cozy! It clearly has photos Zelda took hanging up in it.

And, what’s more, Zelda and Link obviously lived there together after they defeated Ganon. Her diary is there and the secret well diary was just the cherry on top.

“No matter where I go to offer aid, Link remains at my side” like please 😭

This is so much more than I thought we would get in terms of confirming our collective headcannon that she moved in with him and I love it. I can just picture Link helping her as she built the school and her slowly making their house into a home for both of them.

Them healing and growing together after everything they went through is so important to me because no one else really understands and seeing the proof of that warms my heart. And now I guess I’m going to have to go break into the castle to find my new tunic because her repairing it for him is adorable.

Also I see that single bed Nintendo and you cannot convince me that they aren’t sharing it.

#zelink #zelda #link #legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #botw #it’s so sweet #tears of the kingdom spoilers

[mrryckman]

So I’ve been enjoying the Disney vs. DeSantis memes as much as anyone, but like. I do feel like a lot of people who had normal childhoods are missing some context to all this.

I was raised in the Bible Belt in a fairly fundie environment. My parents were reasonably cool about some things, compared to the rest of my family, but they certainly had their issues. But they did let me watch Disney movies, which turned out to be a point of major contention between them and my other relatives.

See, I think some people think this weird fight between Disney and fundies is new. It is very not new. I know that Disney’s attempts at inclusion in their media have been the source of a lot of mockery, but what a lot of people don’t understand is that as far as actual company policy goes, Disney has actually been an industry leader for queer rights. They’ve had policies assuring equal healthcare and partner benefits for queer employees since the early 90s.

I’m not sure how many people reading this right now remember the early 90s, but that was very much not industry standard. It was a big deal when Disney announced that non-married queer partners would be getting the same benefits as the married heterosexual ones.

Like — it went further than just saying that any unmarried partners would be eligible for spousal benefits. It straight-up said that non-same-sex partners would still need to be married to receive spousal benefits, but because same-sex partners couldn’t do that, proof that they lived together as an established couple would be enough.

In other words, it put long-term same-sex partners on a higher level than opposite-sex partners who just weren’t married yet. It put them on the exact same level as heterosexual married partners.

They weren’t the first company ever to do this, but they were super early. And they were certainly the first mainstream “family-friendly” company to do it.

Conservatives lost their damn minds.

Protests, boycotts, sermons, the whole nine yards. I can’t tell you how many books about the evils of Disney my grandmother tried to get my parents to read when I was a kid.

When we later moved to Florida, I realized just how many queer people work at Disney — because historically speaking, it’s been a company that has guaranteed them safety, non-discrimination, and equal rights. That’s when I became aware of their unofficial “Gay Days” and how Christians would show up from all over the country to protest them every year. Apparently my grandmother had been upset about these days for years, but my parents had just kind of ignored her.

Out of curiosity, I ended up reading one of the books my grandmother kept leaving at our house. And friends — it’s amazing how similar that (terrible, poorly written) rhetoric was to what people are saying these days. Disney hires gay pedophiles who want to abuse your children. Disney is trying to normalize Satanism in our beautiful, Christian America. 

Just tons of conspiracy theories in there that ranged from “a few bad things happened that weren’t actually Disney’s fault, but they did happen” to “Pocahontas is an evil movie, not because it distorts history and misrepresents indigenous life, but because it might teach children respect for nature. Which, as we all know, would cause them all to become Wiccans who believe in climate change.”

Like — please, take it from someone who knows. This weird fight between fundies and Disney is not new. This is not Disney’s first (gay) rodeo. These people have always believed that Disney is full of evil gays who are trying to groom and sexually abuse children.

The main difference now is that these beliefs are becoming mainstream. It’s not just conservative pastors who are talking about this. It’s not just church groups showing up to boycott Gay Day. Disney is starting to (reluctantly) say the quiet part out loud, and so are the Republicans. Disney is publicly supporting queer rights and announcing company-supported queer events and the Republican Party is publicly calling them pedophiles and enacting politically driven revenge.

This is important, because while this fight has always been important in the history of queer rights, it is now being magnified. The precedent that a fight like this could set is staggering. For better or for worse, we live in a corporation-driven country. I don’t like it any more than you do, and I’m not about to defend most of Disney’s business practices. But we do live in a nation where rights are largely tied to corporate approval, and the fact that we might be entering an age where even the most powerful corporations in the country are being banned from speaking out in favor of rights for marginalized people… that’s genuinely scary.

Like… I’ll just ask you this. Where do you think we’d be now, in 2023, if Disney had been prevented from promising its employees equal benefits in 1994? That was almost thirty years ago, and look how far things have come. When I looked up news articles for this post from that era, even then journalists, activists, and fundie church leaders were all talking about how a company of Disney’s prominence throwing their weight behind this movement could lead to the normalization of equal protections in this country.

The idea of it scared and thrilled people in equal parts even then. It still scares and thrills them now.

I keep seeing people say “I need them both to lose!” and I get it, I do. Disney has for sure done a lot of shit over the years. But I am begging you as a queer exvangelical to understand that no. You need Disney to win. You need Disney to wipe the fucking floor with these people.

Right now, this isn’t just a fight between a giant corporation and Ron DeSantis. This is a fight about the right of corporations to support marginalized groups. It’s a fight that ensures that companies like Disney still can offer benefits that a discriminatory government does not provide. It ensures that businesses much smaller than Disney can support activism.

Hell, it ensures that you can support activism.

The fight between weird Christian conspiracy theorists and Disney is not new, because the fight to prevent any tiny victory for marginalized groups is not new. The fight against the normalization of othered groups is not new.

That’s what they’re most afraid of. That each incremental victory will start to make marginalized groups feel safer, that each incremental victory will start to turn the tide of public opinion, that each incremental victory will eventually lead to sweeping law reform.

They’re afraid that they won’t be able to legally discriminate against us anymore.

So guys! Please. This fight, while hilarious, is also so fucking important. I am begging you to understand how old this fight is. These people always play the long game. They did it with Roe and they’re doing it with Disney.

We have! To keep! Pushing back!