#started playing botw again because it’s all I’ve got for now

[madzillus]

The excitement for Tears of the Kingdom is real

#botw #botw link #zelda botw #zelda tears of the kingdom #zelda totk #breath of the wild #the legend of zelda #tloz fanart #botw fanart #my work #second time drawing a horse #after avoiding them my entire life #it looks horse like so I’m happy lmao #I cannot wait for Tears of the Kingdom #started playing botw again because it’s all I’ve got for now #mads draws zelda

[oh-wild-necromancer]

Redacted listener headcanons! A lot of these are also things personal to me that I’ve puzzle pieced into the creatures

Cw: he/him Tank, the rest use they/them I think

The seer has chronic migraines from ignoring their powers, and they lose sight a lot because of it (literal sight)

Also shitty knee joints. Mobility aids baby! They personally like forearm crutches but use a cane mist of the time to carry shit

Angel loves to bite people, so does Tank. Chomp! For Tank it scared the shit out of Sam the first time, but he got used to it quickly. For Angel they love to do it to David, whenever they’re kissing and they kiss his neck he’ll just feel small bites from time to time

Tank has a Loz: botw special interest. He’s also autistic. No I do not take criticism it’s my listener character I do what I want

Tank LOVED wolf link as a kid. Had everything, the amiibo’s and several playthroughs of Twighlight Princess and multiple posters

Tank has this one really old and ratty wolf plushie that he physically cannot sleep without. It looks just like Gabe when he shifted, and he’s always been attached to it but ever since he passed he’s been extra possessive and attached to it, a form of coping.

Freelancer has an old decently worn but still presentable white seal plushie from the Monterey bay aquarium, they only really let Caelum play/cuddle with it when outside of their supervision, they don’t even let Gavin do it. Everytime they go to bed they usually hug it and sometimes hold it during movies they know they have a high chance of falling asleep to, and let me tell you Gavin adores the sight of them all sleepy and curled up holding the seal in their arms with their head on his lap

Babe has this teeennny Pomeranian plushie with a white hoodie with bear ears on it that they keep either in their purse or on the mantle, it fits right in their palm and they got it at a mall one day and it stuck with them ever since!

Honey has a labret lip piercing. They usually put silver jewelry in it but on special occasions they do gold

Honey is also pretty damn strong, and looks /really/ intimidating when they cross their arms and glower. Guy loves this.

Angel has scary dog privilege everywhere they go. If not David then Tank and if not Tank then literally anyone no one is getting them ever

Tank has hand tremors from nerve damage due to fights he’s gotten into with many different empowered’s, and he can’t do a lot of small detail work but he still loves drawing. His art style has just changed a bit, a lot more sketchy and unnerving sometimes! It took him a bit to relearn, but it was worth it.

Body piercer honey. This isn’t my headcanon but I wanted to mention it again (I don’t remember who I first found it from I’m sorry T-T)

Angel has played with the idea of getting Angel bite piercings many a time, especially after David started calling them that. Yes yes they do use it as a pun so many times and David acts sick of it but we all know he isn’t Actually mad

Freelancer near always looks super frazzled and tired during the school year, and keep their hair in a tiny short stubby ponytail with bits of hair poking out

Angel meows at David a lot. It’s their way of communicating!

Milo talks to Aggro like he’s A Guy while sweetheart LOVES baby talking to Aggro. He looks so confused everytime

If David ever denies Angel affection they give him puppydog eyes and whine. It’s like they’ve fucking perfected it

Babe does the thing with Asher where you like, move animals limbs around and make them do silly things

That’s all for now!!! First time doing this I hope anyone who sees this enjoys :]]] more coming soon perhaps. I have thoughts in my brain

#hi redacted fandom!!! #I’ve been here a long time but no courage to post. but I need to share my brain so bad and I think this was a good way to do so #i love all of the creatures so much you have no clue #redacted asmr #redacted audio #redacted freelancer #redacted honey #redacted angel #redacted tank #redacted babe #redacted seer obscura #redacted guy #redacted gavin #redacted david #redacted sweetheart

[megandcomics]

Tears of the Kingdom vs Breath of the Wild Story Thoughts Ramble

There will be lots of Story Spoilers!!!

So I beat the main story of Tears of the Kingdom last week and I’ve been thinking about the emotional impact of BoTW and Totk and the stories they are trying to tell. In most regards Tears of the Kingdom is a superior game in gameplay aspects, the world having the land, sky, and chasms, there’s just a ton to do. There’s a feeling of hope and teamwork, the world is more established. I love the game with all my heart, as I love breath of the wild, but I just felt a little more attached to the BoTW story and I wanted to just go over why.

Tears of the Kingdom story is essentially, Ganondorf is revived, Zelda vanishes (to the past) and Link lost his arm. His arm is replaced by original king of Hyrule, Rauru. Once you get off the sky island you go to talk to Purah and find out about regional phenomenons and sightings of Princess Zelda. You are tasked with investigating those regions to get info on what happened to her and also helping the local groups of hyrule.

How I played the game was similar to how I played Breath of the Wild. I go after towers and wanted to check in on some places just to get a lay of the land. So as I’m getting towers I get the dragon tears quest, and a lot of the geoglyphs are near towers. So I did those and memories pretty simultaneously. I also went to Rito Village, Zora’s Domain, and Gerudo Town. I like to know lore so going after the memories was something I always did early. (I actually forgot about Goron City for a minute too, I went there last because I forgot)

ToTK Memories

So the memories explore Zelda’s time in the past, her encounters with Rauru, Sonia, and Ganondorf, the assembling of sages, the Imprisoning War and Zelda’s draconification. I don’t know if getting the memories first made the rest of the story fall more flat to me but that’s really what I want to discuss.

So now that I’ve activated the quests and know what happened to Zelda, the regional phenomenon quests felt kind of silly. Like the dungeons were awesome, I loved having the sages as companions, helping them get out of their environmental situations, but the aspect of the quest where you were supposed to be “investigating” what happened to Zelda just felt repetitive. I kept going, obviously this isn’t Zelda, Zelda is that dragon up there.

I also felt disappointed the ancient sages had like no story and no personality. Each cutscene where your companions met with their ancient ancestor followed the same script. I was a rito/Goron/Zora/Gerudo sage who fought in the imprisoning war. Followed by a generic cutscene of them standing looking defeated while ganondorf is looking at them menacingly. The amount of times they said “let me tell you about the imprisoning war” “so that was the imprisoning war” “he wanted my secret stone” started sounding like the scene in Pokémon where they go “just wait till I use my secret weapon, hydreigon. So that’s his secret weapon. No wonder your Hydreigon is your secret weapon” scene.

Then after the imprisoning war scene you see Zelda saying hey I need you to support this guy named Link in the future he’s going to beat up Ganondorf. And you get that essentially 4 times. So not only am I not attached to the past sages, the cutscene is repetitive (because the game doesn’t know what order you’ll do things in).

The 5th sage quest does improve on this exponentially but it’s because we know who Mineru is (if you got the memories) and even then her take on the imprisoning war is more personal and you get to see Rauru’s sacrifice. That’s what I felt was missing from the other 4.

I also did the Lucky Clover Gazette side adventure where you are investigating Zelda sightings and proving the leads aren’t actually Zelda. Again, the story heavily relies on the idea that you don’t know what happened to zelda.

When you go after Zelda in hyrule castle I didn’t feel as desperate as I think I was intended to feel. It was a great experience chasing her around and the fight with phantom ganon is fun. I do understand the whole point of Link going after these leads and the lucky clover stuff is because any mention, any possibility of finding Zelda is what matters most to him. I think that notion is beautiful but I still felt generally disconnected from it since I did the memories.

Should I have waited to do the memories? In breath of the wild it just helps you get an understanding of what happened 100 years ago, but TOTK memories actually tell you where Zelda is and what she is doing. Yet Find Zelda is one of the main quests.

Once you do everything necessary to get the master sword and decide to confront Ganondorf it’s a lot better though, I think the story has a great payoff where you lose zelda to start and you are able to save her the way you lost her the first time. Fighting Ganondorf was rewarding, and it was tricky. I think that the boss fights overall were on a whole other tier than BoTW. The dragon battle was epic, the Light Dragon assisting even without her sense of self while wielding the sword she gave everything up for. Then Link falling and catching Zelda had me cheering. I think the best way to describe the story overall is that the ending feels earned.

So why did I personally feel less connected?

I think Breath of the Wild thematically is more coherent. The concept of waking up in a different time with no memories, the strange quiet and loneliness of the world. Something about it is so melancholic. I know breath of the wild gets a lot of “there’s no story” comments but I feel the story is in the landscape. I went after a lot of towers in my first play through and some memories first. I didn’t get memories in order. But what I loved about the memories were the fact they were MINE, they were Link’s. There is such a tragedy in the story that really does pull my heart strings. You learn of all these people, the champions, Hyrule’s effort, Zelda’s distress, and how despite everything they did, they didn’t win.

The shrines and towers were in the world because they were unearthed in an effort to stop Ganon. Every Divine Beast was heartbreaking because you experience first hand what happened to the champions and how they died (plus the SOS signals and the dungeon themes were filled with desperation) They are trapped in the beast that killed them. I wanted to set them free. I felt so bonded to the champions, their stories, the way their people spoke of them, the memories of their relationship with us and with Zelda, and how they fell one by one, sacrificing it all to save Hyrule. Knowing I had also fallen but was lucky to still be alive.

I think in that respect Zelda herself had a story most could feel attached to. She has so much on her shoulders, her Dad puts a lot of pressure on her, she feels not good enough. Her interests and person are sidelined for the good of Hyrule. Watching her break down and blame herself every step of the way was hard to see. I’ve felt that way, even without the weight of the world on my shoulders. And unlocking her powers too late, it was already over. But the fact she went in to hold back Ganon and sacrificed herself showed her sense of duty to her kingdom.

I felt like that was something to fight for. For your fallen friends, for that princess who gave up her life to a cause that she was powerless to stop, the guilt on her shoulders. All of that in the backdrop of this quiet world.

I think also having so much bonus content with the champion’s ballad and even Age of Calamity made me so attached to that struggle they shared. The knowing of a timeline where they all survive, juxtaposed by going back to play breath of the wild to know that it wasn’t real. But you still feel for the characters deeply. You think about what could’ve been.

That sadness and tragedy is not as present in tears of the kingdom. Yes Zelda is gone, there are gloom holes all over. But the threat doesn’t seem immediate. Ganondorf stays in his hole in the ground until you come to him. I understand through his phantom form/phantom zelda he was impacting the world but again everyone seems to be alive, just struggling. There aren’t guardians running around to make you feel like the battle isn’t over and the Divine Beasts causing havoc. There was nothing like the feeling of climbing hyrule castle for the first time, being full of guardians and monsters and still finding more memories from zelda and rhoam’s diaries.

Yes Tears of the Kingdom is a superior game, it’s a blast and I still cried my eyes out during the story because I’m a sucker. I know Zelda isn’t really known for having strong stories, it’s more about discovery and dungeons. But the story is still something I deeply value and especially in the music with the use of leitmotifs you can feel everything. At least I do. The thousands of years of in game history and the concept of reincarnation and fate are so strong. I could talk about it all day and my love in general for The Legend of Zelda.

I do wonder if part of breath of the wild’s impact on me was that I started playing in December 2019, and then 2020 hit and I played it constantly during quarantine. That lonely world reflected what I felt during that time.

I guess my overall point in this post was me wondering if anyone else felt disconnected especially with the nameless ancient sages when before we had unique champions who were decently fleshed out with individual experiences and relationships. I’d love to hear thoughts on all of this. This was a ramble so hopefully it’s semi-coherent.

These thoughts are also based on my first impression and first play through. I’ve had years to sit with my breath of the wild feelings so my overall feel of the game may also change with time.

PS. I think I spend too much time in game flying around with the light dragon cause I miss Zelda

#TOTK #totk spoilers #botw #zelink #ramble #age of calamity #the legend of Zelda

[redbreastedbird]

Hi Robin!

Really not related to MMU at all but I wanted to ask, do you play any video games, and what kind of music do you like?

And for the MMU related question, how do you come up with such satisfying plot twists and resolutions? Because I cannot finagle my crime stories to do that…

Hello! So I don’t have a huge amount of time to game but I do really love to. I am currently counting down the hours until Body in the Blitz is done so I can start Tears of the Kingdom (I played BoTW when it first came out). I’m an adventure puzzle kind of person, I’m not hugely into anything fighting related - I played the Ori games when I was sick last year and they were perfect.

My favourite game ever in the world though is the Return of the Obra Dinn. If I could wipe anything out of my memory it’d be that game, so I could play it again. It’s a kind of murder mystery puzzle solver - you have to work out how and why each person on a ship died. It’s so creepy and scary and sad and clever and I’ve been chasing the high of playing it for about 5 years now without success.

In terms of music I like stuff that’s got a strong narrative (shocker!) - so Taylor Swift, Regina Spektor, Sufjan Stevens, Tegan & Sara, Janelle Monae. I got really into Boygenius’s album this year, but usually I tend to find a song I love and then listen to it obsessively for three days straight. Once during lockdown I put Werewolves of London on repeat for 24 hours and did absolutely nothing apart from listen to it, and that’s like the extreme version of my normal routine. Right now it’s the Lucy Dacus cover of Dancing in the Dark.

And, uhhh … it’s hard to say but I think probably because I spend so much time thinking about crime fiction! I read a lot of other people’s murder mysteries and watch a lot of crime TV (currently Poker Face) and I just walk around the world making up crimes the whole time. Right now I’m planning a short story and I’ve been picking away at the murder plot for days. I’m not there yet but I know it will come to me if I give it time! Just keep trying, basically, and don’t worry if your initial idea isn’t brilliant! It may need a bit of space to percolate and get better.

#totk #botw #the body in the blitz #murder most unladylike #robin stevens #ministry of unladylike activity #obra dinn #boygenius

[mimzalot]

been playing Tears of the Kingdom and have hardly made a dent in the game thus far but I must exorcise some thoughts because I’m gettin zany about the shape of what I’ve seen

the tonal shift. Breath of the Wild was a beautiful but sadly empty game. all your friends are gone. the towns are scattered. the music is scarce. vast expanses of green are still littered with the debris of war. people have learnt to live around the shape of loss, and while years have passed, progress is halted. like the Princess, Hyrule is suspended in time.

TOTK is so lively, comparatively! you find civilians travelling and exploring, you see the results of Zelda’s kind leadership across the land, with every stable knowing her well enough to know that something is awry. Link sings when he cooks and those are songs that we know, songs that insinuate that he has spent time either remembering, learning or re-learning his context in the world after years lost to the war, to his century-long sleep and subsequent memory loss.

the recurring theme of construction and building reminds you that this is Hyrule in a state of repair, finally moving and developing after stasis. there’s a momentum shift. we’re rolling forward again (highlighted by all our bizarre locomotives, by the development of a printing press, and the pace at which news and people travel) and yet the looming threat on the horizon is going to see all of this hard-won safety undone.

so we have the upward momentum of development, and the impending threat of Ganondorf, which creates this spiraling sort of urgency that sees us wanting to protect the former from the latter. the game has created a race within itself. the paranoid threat of the moon falling but rather specifically in this game, on top of bravery and weaponry and the sort, the primary thing that will save Hyrule is... study.

the threat of impending doom is incentive to research. and god, the way TOTK game-ifies research is a nerd’s daydream. you get just enough information to keep your interest piqued, and while you’re doing extraneous tasks your mind is reeling, processing, the same way you do when you study - which is so perfect for a game with a huge open-world like this one. and again, a perfect reflection of Zelda herself. a gameplay style that reflects the feeling of descending down a wikipedia research spiral.

just like Hyrule in BOTW is reflected by its ruler suspended in time, holding on, Hyrule in TOTK is moving forward by looking to the past, urgently studying to find solutions. Princess Zelda is Hyrule. this is her legend. and Link is once more actioning her will. she is wise, and he is courageous enough to trust that wisdom even without all the pieces.

(but what of power? we’ve seen how it turns out, but how did it get there? iunno I’ve only gotten like four 'tears’ so WE SHALL SEE but lord knows I’m ready to feast. Link bears both marks rn, eh? he is corrupted by Ganondorf’s gloom but he has Rauru’s arm. the two are interlinked, the ‘Triforce bearers’ always are.)

this is a story that starts at the end. similar to BOTW, we have arrived at the outcome with no idea how we got here. but BOTW was a personal story, in a way; this is Hyrule’s story now, and the grand scale of a once intimate tale of self-discovery now belongs to a scope far larger than two or six. it’s bouncing back and forth throughout time, tying the past and present and future into one braid. you see the outcome. presumably you cant change it - but can you change the future?

all the while you’re aware that the people living in these flashbacks ought to be long gone. you’re seeing the plot and the history develop in tandem. you feel the dread of knowing what might be coming when you turn over the next page in your book, combined with the horrific knowledge that it’s about to repeat. it’s that perfect, sickening reflection of how it feels to study history: the sadness at knowing that these people are long gone, the gratitude towards their efforts, the fascination with their exploits and accomplishments, the academic pursuit of knowledge for solutions. connection to your past, to your ancestors, to their legacy and how it shapes your own. and just... how fun is it? learning is so fun!

and combining the first-hand accounts alongside the ruins and remains... similar sort of mix of nice-but-sad bittersweetness as BOTW, but a completely different iteration of that poignancy. and I don’t know the full story of it yet but I feel the shape of it just crushinggg down in the bg anytime I’m not playing it.

oh I just. love it. I have so much more to say. but I also have so much more to play. augh. kisses this game on the face

#tears of the kingdom #totk #legend of zelda #feelin g so many things ho ly shit #mimzameta

[quickboot]

I’m not sure why I have Breath of the Wild on both WiiU and Switch. You’d have to ask my husband Josh. Buying a second copy was his decision. He played it on Switch for a little while, but got kind of bored with it and moved on to Genshin.

I played the WiiU copy. When I first started the game, I saw a black horse with a white mane which I thought was pretty, but I didn’t have enough stamina to tame it. Somehow, in the subsequent 300+ hours I spent in this game, the Horse Color RNG never, ever again spawned a black horse with a white mane for me. Lots of gray but never black. I eventually gave up and caught a black horse with black mane, which I named Rain, and which became my favorite.

Today I tried to turn on the WiiU for the first time in a long while, and it’s stuck on a system update that can’t install. I haven’t tried any other games, but I can’t play BotW without the system update, so as far as I know, my stuff is just inaccessible now. [Edit: turns out if you store the WiiU without playing it for a while, its memory just kinda breaks! Very cool) I was pretty upset, but Josh said, if I wanted, I could pick up his abandoned save file just to wander the world and mess around. I did, and after a few minutes of wandering around (and finding I’m pretty rusty at the game), I saw a black horse with a white mane. I just caught a deer a few minutes ago, a horse should be easy, so I snuck up on it, and was almost there...

Cue the dramatic piano music. Where’d that guardian come from? A guardian shouldn’t panic me like someone new to the game, but it kind of did. I could have fast-traveled away, but what if the horse I wanted despawned? I wasn’t going to lose it a second time. I thought I was far enough away to just run from the guardian, but I guess I forgot how persistent they are. And the laser gets me. And my armor sucks because Josh didn’t find all the great fairies. And I’m dead. Mipha’s Grace revives me. I shoot the guardian in the eye and attack it. I die again, but fortunately, I’d just grabbed some fairies a few minutes ago. I’ve just about cut all the guardian’s legs off when night falls.

Blood moon.

I kill the guardian as quickly as I can, and, with a few seconds to spare before midnight, get up on a hill so I can gain a tactical advantage and see the guardian before it sees me. The blood moon cutscene plays, and I look down, see the guardian, glide to it, and attack it. After killing it again I can finally go get the horse I wanted since 2017.

Since my gentle black-maned horse was named Rain, my new white-maned one will be named Storm.

On the way back to the stable, I see four more black horses with white manes.

#breath of the wild #botw #this has been in my drafts for a while #i think i'm posting it now because i seem to have forgotten how to sleep

[the-endless-storm]

Video game asks. Alk of them (or as many as you feel like doing)!

You come off anon right now and own up!I’ve answered most of them, but there's a few with no answers just because nothing comes to mind right away. I'd have to think about it longer and I don’t have the time or will,power to do so. Naughty anon, asking for so much!

1. Last game you finished

Chained Echoes

2. Games you’re currently playing

I started a mono-team on Pokemon Scarlet, but just to waste time.

3. 1-3 games you’ve played in the past 12 months that you really enjoyed.

Chained Echoes, Pokemon Scarlet, Metroid Fusion

4. Do you like to get 100% achievements/trophies?

I give it a go, but I’m not a completionist. If getting everything starts to frustrate me, I’ll stop. I don’t want to tarnish my enjoyment of a game with an irritation.

5. Games coming out that you’re looking forward to

Hades 2, Baiten Kaitos HD (as long as it's better than the Tales of Symphonia HD)

6. A series you’ve enjoyed since your early days of gaming and still enjoy to this day whether it still has games coming out or is one you return to

Pokemon obviously.

7. A series you’ve lost interest in.

Unfortunately it's Zelda. I don’t like the direction BOTW went in. I think they games look gorgeous and I’ve been told a hundred times over they are great. But all the things that made me love Zelda have been stripped out (the unique temples, fun items, etc) in favour of crafting meals and breakable weapons.

8. A series you haven’t played but are interested in trying

There are lots of games I see on Steam that I’d love to try, but can’t because I have a Mac and they aren’t compatible. I can’t name any right now, but I know they are there.

9. A game you played completely blind with no prior knowledge of and enjoyed/loved

Hollow Knight. It was on sale in the Nintendo Store and I thought it looked good so I bought it. Not at all what I was expecting but definitely worth it.

10. A console and/or handheld you’ve never played but would like to try

I’m a Nintendo Fanboy for life. So there isn’t one. Unless there's a Virtual Boy knocking around, I could give myself a headache for a day for that.

11. Do you prefer ‘blank slate’ main characters you make yourself or otherwise project onto, or characters with a set personality and backstory?

A character with a story for sure. Blank state works in some situations, but I like to see how the story progresses with the player character and how it changes them.

12. A character you particularly like in the game you’re currently playing.

Gotta be Larry in Pokemon Scarlet. He's the only one that isn't happy 24/7. Man needs a week off. We can all relate to Larry.

13. Quick, name the first song from a game that comes to mind

Lost Woods theme

14. A song that’s sure to hit your nostalgia buttons

15. Do you have a backlog and do you keep track of it.

Nope

16. A game you’d like to replay but haven’t.

I want to play Secret of Mana again now after listening to the title music.

17. A game you didn’t finish but would like to get back to or restart someday

I never finished Hollow Knight, but I doubt I’ll ever get it done. I won’t lie, I’m not great at some games, and most of HK I fluked my way through by sheer force of will. But the final part of the game required such perfect platform in skills over a long period that I got too annoyed with and rage quit over and over. So like the 100% completion above, I stopped before I ruined the game for myself.

18. A game location you really like

If I can move to my Animal Crossing island please that would be great.

19. A game you started up for the first time and you knew from the start it was going to be great

Chained Echoes. I'd read a couple of reviews that explained what kind of game it was, and once I started it, within a few minutes of the opening scenes I knew it was exactly what I’d been looking for for so long.

20. A boss you think is really cool.

21. A boss that was disappointing

22. A game ending that’s really stuck with you

23. A wow moment of awe

Watching the Moon hit Clock Town in Majora's Mask. I wasn’t expecting Zelda to be that dark.

24. A game with a cool art style

Okami has a style that looks like a watercolour painting. It took a while to get used to but is very unique.

25. A game's art style that had to grow on you

Zelda Wind Waker. Like everyone else, I didn’t like it at first, but honestly it's so damn beautiful now. I wish more games were made in that style.

26. Realism or Stylized?

Realism is only as good as the technology of the day, whereas Stylised can be whatever you want whenever you want it.

27. A game you like the atmosphere of

28. Pick a series you like. What was the first game you played for it? Was it a good starting point? Would it still be a good starting point now?

I’m going to pick the Kingdom Rush series. It's on Switch and Xbox now, whereas I started playing it on ArmorGames when it was first released. But Flash, Mobile or Console, it's a brilliant Tower Defence game and the first Kingdom Rush is just as good as any of the newer games in the series.

29. On average do you have one game or multiple games going?

Just one. I don’t have that much dedication.

30. Game you think you’ll finish next?

No clue. Need to have a game to play.

31. Someone has never played a video game before but is open to trying any genre. What game would you recommend as their first?

Maybe a 2D Zelda game like Link to the Past. Not too difficult with a simple control system, big map and lots to explore and collect.

#asks #answers #anon

[brendathedoodler]

Lol once May 12 comes, Champ won't know what hit him

DKSNDKSNKDSNDK YEAH

I’m so excited! I digitally preordered the game and now I see the icon for it whenever I go to play Hyrule Warriors and I get hyped for it all over again!

Tbh I’ve been avoiding any stuff for it after I realized there was an official release date and haven’t seen anything past the second trailer. I’m goin’ in blind!

Botw was my first proper Zelda game and really what got me into the Zelda series as a whole. Granted, my family are all gamers so we owned a few Zelda games before this (OoT 3D, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, Twilight Princess) but I never actually played any of them past the beginning. At least not until recently, where I’ve played (and finished) like 6 Zelda games, which is impressive because I leave games unfinished 90% of the time lmao

Anyway, I started rambling a bit but yeah, I’m def gonna make some adventure swap stuff for it!

#the whumptober thing has sapped a lot of my creative energy tbh #also summer arrived which means more time but also too much unstructured time for my adhd brain #I’ve accomplished nothing but playing Hyrule Warriors for the past week and a half #also having asks really motivates me to make stuff #I just wanna thank you because without your questions I wouldn’t have made half the stuff I have #you’ve been a great motivator and I really appreciate it

[latin-dr-robotnik]

Some Sonic Frontiers thoughts (so far)

I’ve been following all the rumors and leaks surrounding Sonic Frontiers for about a year and a half now, and now that we have actual gameplay to take a close look at, I thought it’d be interesting to share some quick thoughts on the game as we enter a very packed June (keep in mind we’ll see a lot more of Frontiers this month, both from IGN and from the Summer Game Fest next week.)

So, first of all, I don’t know when IGN got their chance to play the game, but it looks early as fuck. The gameplay they posted looks as early as the oldest builds testers described about the game they supposedly tested back in 2020 (the oldest leak). It doesn’t help that the first gameplay demo of the game we get to see is just exploring one area and doing some platforming and puzzle-solving. It falls exactly in line with the expectations set by leaks one year ago, but it doesn’t look like a project that has had another 12 months of active development done. It’s either a very old build kept around for several months until SEGA said it was time to allow showing it, or the game still looks rough to this day.

With that aside, all I can say is that what I’ve seen is mostly what I was expecting. When the IGN teaser dropped I was a bit surprised by the combat, especially with that little launch move Sonic pulled, since going by the leaks I was expecting it to be a lot clunkier. I can see the parkour system from Lost World is back (you can see Sonic wallrunning for a second before hitting a spring), and he seems to be able to climb for a bit. Beyond that, it seems like his standard moveset is back, with the trick system being added again (good!) and the new stuff like the spin cycle. Boost seems to be very limited this time, and maybe the air boost isn’t something you’ll see in this game (unless it’s a skill you can buy or something, I don’t know), so I wonder how fun and immersive the exploration is going to be when we get our hands on it.

Last year Dakiii, a Tails’ Channel staff member, posted a video with some heavy Frontiers leaks, and most of the stuff said so far seems to be 100% true. Want one example? Leak mentioned there’s one sort of “tower shop” you can buy skills and stuff, and I have a very strong suspicion that’s the same tower we see at the start of the video, but the shop itself at the top wasn’t enabled for that demo. And the more we see the more we’re gonna keep comparing it to a couple of leaks, like the original focus tester from early 2021 or this old one from august 2021 that absolutely called the TGA 2021 trailer from december.

With all of this in mind, I’m not very surprised or disappointed by Frontiers. I’m more scared and excited because it’s quite different from your average 3D Sonic game, but nothing so far screams “red flag” to me (besides the technical state of the game itself, but I’m giving it a pass until release). I’m still cautious around this one, waiting for more gameplay before making any strong claims, and especially waiting for that story trailer to drop one day and see what the hell is going on.

tl;dr leaks said open world was mid, “BOTW rip-off”, open world is actually pretty generic. Technical state is nowhere near ready, animations look stiff but everything else looks fine. Gotta see what’s in store for combat, story and cyberspace.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic frontiers #i don't know if for once my expectations were in check or what #because i can't force myself to feel the same extremes i've seen on social media #i don't hate this with all my guts #and i don't love it as if it's the savior of 3D Sonic #but i actually got lost in my thoughts as sonic ran through that forest #and that's the kind of feeling i like in open world games #so i knew right then that i would like the game

[chenanigans]

New Year’s 2023

I wanna talk about my accomplishments and thoughts of 2022 and hopes for 2023!

2022 Accomplishments:

   Finished an art job

   Made the most money I've ever made with commissions

   Drew a ton of comics

   Improved a lot in art

   Made a lot of new friends

   Saved over $15,000

2023 Hopes

   Playing some new games (very excited for Kirby's Return to Dreamland Remake, BotW 2, Loddlenauts, Frogsong, and a bunch of other indie games)

   Beating some old/present games

   Finish some more animations

   Finish some more comics

   Playing more ttrpgs (very excited for all my dnd games)

   Run my own campaign/one-shot (I just gotta write stuff more ^^;)

Other Thoughts:

I ended a very long friendship late 2021. I don't know how to describe how it, but it sucked. I had a great and supportive friend group, so I managed to not spiral into a deep depression. I thought I would feel a lot worse, but I was actually ok. I'm made many new fantastic friends who I play dnd with and just chat with. I got hired for a contract art job shortly after ending the friendship. I thought I would be going into 2022 in a sad mood, but it seemed to just get better and better.

I've done more comics than I've ever done in such a long time, with many more to come. I finished an animation. 

I'm  very excited to make more things with my dnd characters. I don't know when the dnd brainworms will leave, but I do not regret getting into dnd! It's a great creative output, inspiring me to make comics, write stories, and even animate!

Health-wise, I've been pretty ok! I started taking B12 and iron because I was anemic! D: It explained a lot of stuff, but now I'm doing much better. I'm hoping to maybe raise the dosage of my ADHD meds, but we'll see. I need to get back to exercising again but UGHHHHHHH. We'll see if that happens. XD

Gaming-wise, I had a pretty great year. My favourite games were Kirby and the Forgotten Lands, Splatoon 3, Cuphead DLC, A Little to the Left, and Ooblets. I'm really looking forward to a lot of games, most of which are indie games, but they all look fantastic. :D I played a buttload of demos during the summer and I'm itching for more. I hope things go well for the indie devs!

I think that's pretty much it. Happy New Year's! I hope 2023 is better for us!

#chen's text

[chicagolive]

Hey there! I’d love to send a pic of self titled but I dont think I can while being anonymous!

Red is for sure midnight memories color but I also think a certain shade of purple would look amazing since the original MM cover has some purple and that color would be perfect imo! I really think four should’ve been brown as well!! Blue would’ve looked really nice too. I love yellow as well buuut I think it doesn’t work color scheme/theme wise for the album.

Oh, self titled really is that bitch, no one was ready for her, truly. I think my favorite is Woman, I just fell in love with that song when I first heard it and she’s everything to me still. I think FTDT is up there too. For Fine Line I’d say TPWK was one of my immediate favorites as soon as I heard it and she still is which I know is somewhat controversial since people did not like TPWK. Also Lights Up and many more. For Harry’s House my favs are Grapejuice, Satellite and probably Matilda. The whole album is amazing honestly I loved it. As for the rest of the boys it goes like this, Louis: Don’t Let it Break Your Heart, Defenseless, Only the Brave, Chicago, All This Time, Holding onto Heartache, Saturdays and Angels Fly, Niall: Paper Houses, Flicker, Fire Away, The Tide, Bend the Rules, Arms of A Stranger, Everywhere, Cross Your Mind, San Francisco and Still. Zayn: it’s you, fool for you, blue, scripted, good years, and sour diesel. Same with Liam, his stuff just doesn’t really pull me in 😔

I hope you enjoy severance and the devils hour if you check them out!! They were definitely some of the best tv I’ve seen in a long time and the aesthetics of severance I’m just obsessed with. Pitbulls really are gentle giants, all my pitties are the biggest babies and love attention and scratches. Thank you! Photography is a hobby of mine I pick up when I feel motivated at times and the idea of traveling the world and getting those amazing shots just sounds like a dream.

I’ve not played BOTW or Cult of the Lamb but I’ve seen the streamers I watch play them! I myself never got into Pokémon but my brothers/cousins definitely were. Now, don’t even get me started on Stardew, I love that game! I’ve been told I dont exactly play it right but who cares I’m still having fun! Who has been your favorite to marry and who’s your favorite non-bachelor/bachelorette character? Are you excited for the new game ConcernedApe is putting out? I’m very excited! I dont think you can go wrong with Kirby! I main Yoshi as well when playing Mario party unless I’m playing the one that has Monty Mole, then I’m Monty. With Mario kart I’m always dry bones!! Oh my, this message is already so long but I’ve still got quite a bit to say!

The decline of physical media is my villain origin story. I think what I miss most is physical photos. It used to be so easy to get little disposable cameras and easy to get the film developed but now it’s such a hassle and the cameras are not as cheap. One of the worst parts of declining physical media imo is that trends are cyclical so no matter what they’ll always come back as a trend at some point like vinyl and Polaroid which means the price will just keep going up when the trend picks up. I feel like photo albums, physical ones, are somewhat in the past now because all the photos you ever take are on your phone and that’s a nice convenience of course but it also breaks my heart cause I love pulling out old photo albums and shoebox’s filled to the brim with old photos and film. I wish disposal FujiFilm/Canon cameras were just like 5/10 bucks and I could just pick one up at the checkout of Walmart like before. Also letters and postcards should be a big deal again and like colorful clunky 80s home phones/rotary phones. Like I just live for hands on media and that’s why I love vinyl because you’re engaged with it. You have to clean it, adjust things, press buttons and flip the vinyl. I’m in my early 20s so I didn’t really get to experience some of these I suppose. I just hate the way these forms of physical media are dying/declining and don’t even get me started on dvds. It’s crazy to me that streaming sites can just like erase a show from their platforms and it’s gone forever? Also books, I love holding/feeling books and picking out cool covers. I too love trinkets and tend to fill my room with whatever I can find!! This is so long so I need to stop here and do quick speed round questions.

Speed round: If you could pick any skill to suddenly have, what would it be? I think mine would be easy to learn languages! I’d love to learn ASL.

Do you have a favorite board game? I really like scrabble and clue!

Do you have a preferred brand of shoes? If you look at my shoes I’m always wearing some weird/patterned vans!

Is there a car you’d just die to have? I think mine would be an old Volkswagen Van!!!

Lastly, is there a hobby you want to pick up but just haven’t yet? 

Hope you’ve had a lovely day and again I’m so sorry for the late message and length! I just feel like I need to reply to everything you’ve said! Wishing you a happy/good day tomorrow ❤️

-🎉❄️

Hello, hun!! Wishing you a happy Monday/Tuesday your way!!✨

Ahhh, I see lol. I didn’t know until just recently that you can’t send pictures while on anon and I almost sent a picture to one of my secret santas this year 😬. Would have been a short lived secret santa if I had done so lol. Hopefully, I can remind you to send a pic of the record once we all reveal ourselves!!

Purple would look amazing for the Midnight Memories pressing!! That’s so smart!! I can see it now!! It can be a mix on purple and blue, almost in a swirl!! That would look so nice!!

Self-titled sits on a pedestal that no one can really reach!! Love that for her!! TPWK was also my favorite when fine line came out!! I remember seeing everyone online saying she was the weakest song off the album, to which I understand cause everyone has their preferences!! But look at her now!! People love hearing her live!! I knew I stanned the right one lol. Oh, to hear Lights Up just one more time live!! All of your favorites listed from the other boys are so valid omg!! Did you have a favorite member of the band? Mine has been Zayn from day one up until he left (he still has such a special place in my heart tho 💕). I’d say now my favorite is Louis, but it very much jumps around from time to time to Niall and Harry!!

It does sound like so much fun to be able to fly around the world and take such stunning pictures of the things you see!! Rooting for you to be able to do that one day!!

Stardew Valley has such a special place in my heart!! I love that game so much so seeing that other people have played it as well makes my heart so happy!! My only problem is that I start a new save, play it for a week and a half straight, forget about it and then try and play it weeks later not remembering what I was doing in the first place 😅. If I remember correctly, I’ve only ever married Leah and Maru, but I would love to be able to explore the rest of the available bachelors, like Harvey, Penny and Abigail!! My favorite non-marriageable characters have to be Evelyn and George. He’s such a grumpy old man but Evelyn is such a sweet old lady; their dynamics are so funny and I would like to get to know their story a bit better!! Might have to go after Alex for that, I guess.

I didn’t even know that the game developer was releasing a new game!! I really like the art/gameplay style of Stardew so I guess is am pretty excited about this “Haunted Chocolatier” game that’s coming (edit: I just saw the trailer/early gameplay footage and I’m now actually very hype for this release!!).

Ayyeee Yoshi gang!!! I’d love to hear anything more you have to say about these Nintendo characters!! Never fear if the message is too long, love!! I love reading all of it!! ✨

Now that you mention it, it is very difficult to find disposable cameras nowadays without paying more that $15-20 for it, especially if it becomes so high in demand to meet the trends, like you said… that’s just capitalism, I suppose. I remember when I was younger and getting my parents mail from the mailbox and wishing I had mail, even if it was just spam lol. Now I’m only waiting for the important stuff in the mail and shred everything else. The idea of postcards and letters really does sound nice!! That’s also the same reason why I wanted to get into vinyl collecting!! Your feelings about declining physical media are so valid!! We should all be excited to collect things and show off our trinkets to our friends/family/strangers on the internet just out of pure excitement to have them!!

Speed Round Answers: Sudden Skill? Digital Media!! I want to be able to make digital paintings/drawings/edits of the ideas that pop up in my head!! I wish I knew how to use photoshop in that way, I suppose lol. Board Game? I don’t play many board games as much as I did when I was younger. Me and my brother played Mouse Trap/Operation a lot, so I would probably say those!! Shoes? I also really like vans!! I have about 10 pairs, maybe, of vans and always want more lol!! Lately though, I’ve been really into platform boots!!!

These have been catching my attention for the longest time, but never got around to actually buying them!! I will one day, for sure!! Dream Car? Right now, I have a Toyota Corolla (2008), but I really want a compact SUV, doesn’t really matter the brand, I suppose!! I’ve just always had low cars for as long as I can remember!! I’d say I’m a pretty tall individual, so it would be nice to have a car my size lol. Those old Volkswagen vans are so cute, I totally get the hype!! Next Hobby? There are definitely more things I wanna do, but never got around to actually doing!! I’ve always wanted to learn how to crochet, but out of the multiple times that I have attempted to learn, I’ve failed horribly at lol. Maybe I’ll get back into it at some point, but who knows!! 🎄✨

#holiday pals 🎄✨ #asks

[keefwho]

October 01 - 2022

7:16 PM

I’m falling into my old thinking a little bit. I FEEL shitty so I worry I might be sick. But it’s normal to be tired sometimes, or have a slight headache. Its VERY normal. And because I’ve been so alright lately, I’ve lost track of how to combat this kind of thing. I gotta remember what I’m trying to escape and how it’s always going to come back. I have the methods to deal with it, I just have to keep implementing them. I’m okay. The plain and simple truth is that I’m okay and I should feel comfortable here watching my bestie play Wolf Quest while I eat a snackie to get my energy back up. I’m not going to end up feeling worse. 

11:18 PM

Well I did it I guess. I chilled out and had a good night. A small victory but still a victory. I’m starting to think I’ve actually made some very firm progress. I’m kinda where I used to be before June when this all started. I feel comfortable streaming again and doing other social commitments I did regularly in the past. 

Now from here it’s about becoming better than I ever was. I’ve been in a state like this for about a decade. It felt awful how I got even worse for a bit there but I can’t view that as a failure. It was only natural. I had hit such a low point that I finally woke up and realized I want to do something about it. Then discovering the problem lead to even more pain. I had to fall deeper into it to start understanding it and now I might be on my way up. I gotta make sure I’m not over confident though. The fight is always happening. 

12:40 AM

I think the new thing I’m going to try to get myself to be productive the way I want is going to be fostering a better mindset about it all. Brute force scheduling can only do so much and it’s also miserable. Forcing myself to do something even if I want to do it ruins it and adds unnecessary obligation. Instead I could focus on addressing the inhibitions I have with the thing I want to be doing. Usually it’s a sort of fear of failure or that the task has high stakes. Sometimes with drawing its the thought that I know I could draw something so why would I draw it, I’m not trying to prove it to anyone. I want to adopt a mindset where when theres something I want to do, it’s for a reason and I should keep that reason in mind. There are no high stakes and no risk of failure. I can JUST do the thing and enjoy my time spent doing it, knowing that more often than not that it’ll turn out good. 

Daily Recap

This morning was okay. I ate a 5/10 breakfast and played BOTW for a bit. I got to drawing a little later than I’d have liked at about noon. I worked on something super cute and did the first inktober prompt. I’m hoping I can actually do it this year. I’m only going to spend 30 minutes or less on the prompts so it doesn’t add too much to my creative pile. I also want to treat that as a time limit so I can work on my drawing speed again. For the actual drawing, I’m unhappy that I made the head too big. Thats going to be the problem with speed. I simply didn’t notice it since I was too busy trying to finish the rest of the piece in time. My afternoon was spent playing more BOTW and I sucked my own dick which went alright. At this point my tummy started idly hurting basically all evening which was due to last night’s drinking followed by a massive plate of deep fried chicken and french fries. I chilled with my friends in call for a little bit and then played VRchat with them. Dinner was an awesome plate on non-deep fried chicken, fries, and onion rings. Tomorrow I hope to have a drink and a not so destructive dinner afterwards. 

#journal #diary

[powdermelonkeg]

Hyrule Brochure: A Potential for BotW’s Future

Hyrule’s map in BotW is pretty sparse as far as cities go. Yes, it’s got more than any other Zelda game, but it also has like, 90% of its map being pure dead space.

So I decided to play around and make what I imagine Hyrule would look like, as far as cities go, if it were allowed to properly rebuild and not get totally wrecked by Ganon again.

Credit to Eragon2589 on DeviantArt for the free-to-use map icons. I love these little buttons so much.

So, these are the canon towns we get in BotW; Hateno, Lurelin, Tarrey, Zora’s Domain, Goron City, Korok Forest, Rito Village, Yiga Hideout, and Gerudo Town. I’m counting Yiga Hideout as a town because if the Yiga were a little nicer, it WOULD be marked one.

Adding the various stables on makes the place look MUCH less empty, but still; what can we do with this?

Well, I’ve spent the last several days locating all the significant ruins and landmarks, with one or two extra things thrown in, that I think would make this place much more populated.

Maps are free to use if you want them, btw. Have fun!

As a general rule of thumb, I want to make the towers and stables their own cities. The towers are a good landmark and beacon of safety, and the stables have all the building blocks to start building up a village.

If I’m particularly inspired, I’ll give some background on what the town is/does!

Starting off with the Rito! Their village has grown into a town, and the stable at its foothill is its own village now. I called it “fledgeling” because that’s where the Rito and Hylians would intermingle most, so the Rito aren’t exactly flying around here.

Beacon City is built around Tabantha Tower; the Rito have turned it into a sort of lighthouse, reflecting light off into the distance to help guide nighttime fliers home. Because of this, it’s a very popular stop for mail carriers, and where they go, development and cultural mixing follows.

Kaysa Town is built around Great Fairy Kaysa’s fountain; it’s a popular tourist attraction, and she gets plenty of offerings, so win-win!

For the Gorons, we’ve only got two more cities: Silversmith Village and Din’s Spire. Silversmith is built around the culture in the southern mines, and it has down-the-road access to the Goron Hot Springs. Din’s Spire is less of a town and more of a landmark, due to the sheer cliffs all around it, but the huge (and notably not in the burning death zone) hot spring lake makes it a popular rest stop for people on their way through.

I decided not to rebuild the northern mines; they’re pretty busted up and lava soaked, so my assumption is that they were abandoned either due to hazards or due to the ore being stripped out.

Korok Forest wouldn’t change much, besides the Royal Family declaring it a protected area. The Koroks don’t seem to have much interest in expansion, and they, as far as I know, don’t live in houses.

Gerudo Territory is MUCH more expansive than the others so far, and with good reason.

Gerudo Town itself is now Gerudo City, and the Kara Kara Bazaar has grown into a town. Canyon Stable has developed a village (mostly full of Gerudo husbands so they don’t have to travel a million miles just to see their families).

The Gerudo have control of one of the towers in their region, and the town built around it is Overlook Town. It mostly serves as a training grounds for young Gerudo warriors.

The City of the Seven developed when the Seven Heroine statues were recovered and restored; the town around them was built to honor them, and then it got a LOT of foot traffic from those wanting to see the legendary statues.

Tera Town rose up much in the same way Kaysa Town did up in Rito territory, centered around the Great Fairy Fountain.

Mesa Village and West Gerudo Town are both smaller Gerudo settlements; West Gerudo sprung up out of access to snowmelt from the Gerudo Highlands, and Mesa Village, because of its relative safety from Molduga and access to oasis water.

Finally, Gerudo Valley, in reference to Ocarina of Time. This town is a Gerudo-only zone, and is more a fortress than a town. It exists both to keep an eye on the Yiga and to gain control of the mountain pass, making people go through Canyon Village to get to Gerudo instead of avoiding Gerudo customs.

Speaking of the Yiga, they’ve taken two new spots for themselves; Gerudo Tower, which they’ve renamed Kohga Tower in honor of their late Master, and Banana Labyrinth, which serves as their highest security area. Imagine if you’d had to go through the LABYRINTH to get the Thunder Helm back.

Up next we’ve got the Zora. Truthfully, their territory spans as long as Zora river and WELL into the ocean, but these are the only cities that, technically, a Hylian with adequate gear can enter.

Mipha’s Landing is an above-water city built expressly for doing trade. It got its name from the late Mipha; since the tower reaches up into the sky, it was hoped that someday, her spirit would sit atop it for a rest and see all that her people had been able to do thanks to her sacrifice.

Lakebed Village is in Lake Hylia, and it’s actually a slowly-repopulating Lakebed Temple, from Twilight Princess. Meanwhile, Great Bay City is a port town above water and an aquatic metropolis below, full of music and dance and exotic wares.

And finally, Hylians.

Hoo boy.

I’ve split this up region by region but

THIS is how many living spots they’ve got.

Silver stars indicate military towns. Red stars indicate military outposts.

I USE THE TERM MILITARY VERY LOOSELY HERE. Hyrule, since it doesn’t interact with its neighbors, only has the Yiga and the various monsters to fight against. Anything labeled “military” means that it’s staffed by royal employ, meaning knights and Sheikah and the like.

Let’s start with Akkala. The northeast labyrinth has been converted into an emergency bunker, in case Calamity strikes and people need a safe place to hide. Not only is it difficult to break into, it also has a completely empty lower level that’s PERFECT for long-term seige.

City Tempest got its name for being near-constantly wracked by storms. Despite this, though, it remains a popular vacation spot for people who don’t mind a little rain; the Skull Lake and the giant flowers are worth it.

Valley Town rose up out of both East Akkala Stable and Robbie’s workshop. It doesn’t get too much foot traffic, but it doesn’t really need to.

Midna Village, I built where the ruins of Shadow Hamlet are. I figured it was a fitting name, and the area is almost constantly covered in the shadow of Death Mountain.

Four Brothers’ Base is a knight outpost that’s up extremely high, spanning huge bridges between the four Tingle isles.

Then Parapa Palace, in reference to Zelda II: Adventure of Link, was built in place of the Akkala Citadel and functions as a mini Hyrule Castle + Castle Town. In real life, monarchs would have several palaces to go between, kind of like how well-off people nowadays would have a summer home. So, I followed that trend! This is Zel’s summer palace.

And you guys know what Tarrey Town is. Although interestingly, as it expands, it goes vertical into the stone column it was built on.

Onto Central Hyrule.

Camp Rauru is training camp and lodging for new knights. Rebonae Village and Kasuto City were made out of the Wetland and Riverside stables respectively, though Kasuto (also an Adventure of Link reference) gets substantially more foot traffic due to being on the way from Castle Town to Dueling Peaks.

Outset Town got its name, lore-wise, from the fact that it’s the first bit of land Link from BotW visited after leaving the Great Plateau, and meta-wise, because it’s the starting point for Wind Waker Link.

Aquame City surrounds the Coliseum, which is how it grew to be so popular. The grand stage holds sparring matches and various other shows regularly, and it’s a pleasant boat trip from Castle Town to get there.

Saria Town was built out of the old exchange ruins, and it’s in walking distance of the ruined Sage Temple—which, at this point in time, would have been rebuilt—and its existence is both an AoL reference and an OoT one (but mostly AoL, I’ve kind of fallen in love with its map).

New Mabe is where you can find the new Lon Lon Ranch! The ruins there are actually called the Mabe Town Ruins in game, and they’re right by the Ranch Ruins!

Eldin’s pretty sparse as far as Hylian towns go. It’s got Gut Check Camp, where Sheikah train for endurance and elemental resistance, and Windfall Town, a place that sees a LOT of gemstones pass through, freshly mined. That includes rupee ore, mind you!

Faron Province is a little more spaced out, due to the nature of the region. Lurelin’s grown since BotW, becoming a trading bay; meanwhile Cora Lake’s Sheikah Tower has expanded into Parache Town, and the Highland Stable has become Malanya Village. Both of those locations are VERY fond of horses, and they’re a bit competitive, especially during archery season.

Ordona Hamlet is a tiny village tucked away into the middle of Faron. It came about due to the Lakeside Stable, and it’s named that because I am STILL salty that the Zeldevs didn’t put an Ordon Village reference in the game.

Eventide Outpost is more of a testing ground for boats than anything particularly significant, population-wise. The even tides that gave the isle its name make it an ideal location to work out the kinks in new watercraft (and occasionally, the lieutenant in charge of that base demonstrates how to launch a raft into the sky with octo balloons).

Hebra’s the most militarized area of Hyrule, and ideally, it functions as a reserve of men and tech in case Calamity rises again. If there’s anything that BotW’s era learned, it’s to never underprepare for Gann’s return.

Fort Lomei is a converted base, just like the Banana Labyrinth is to the Yiga. This one, though, is patrolled diligently by knights who use daily-changing codes, and it’s impossible to navigate without the locals’ help.

Fort Pikida is situated in that weird stone cavern-y area, and it’s a supply stach and Hebran monster patrol site. It’s the soldiers there’s job to make sure that the Lynels that like to roam the region don’t get too close to residential areas.

Hia Miu Outpost is a training spot for knights sent to the Hebra region; any new soldier to the area has to prove they can handle themselves by going into the Hia Miu shrine and taking on the Major Test of Strength Trial. (Fun fact, did you know that the X-test-of-strength trials reset themselves every blood moon?)

Snowpeak Fortress exists both because it makes a fantastic secondary base for the Hyrulean royals to plan, and because i am once again salty about the lack of Twilight Princess in this game.

Sturnida Resort is built around hot springs! It’s a nice spot for people living around Rito Town and Fledgling Village to take a vacation without having to trek all the way across the country to do it.

Snowfield City came from Snowfield Stable, and it’s the Windfall of Hebra; it sees a LOT of people coming in and out of the region, and the view of the northern lights you can get from there? You’d be hard-pressed to find a Hylian that didn’t have it on their bucket list.

New Tabantha was built on the ruined spot of the original Tabantha Village; you can visit there in-game! It’s a quiet town that raises highland sheep for a living, and its team won the Hebran Triathlon three whole years in a row.

Then, the Tanagar Restricted Zone. If you’ve ever been there, you know EXACTLY why it’s restricted.

Most of the Guardians inside have been dealt with, but the ruined temple remains a hazard testing ground for new tech. It’s off limits to everyone but those with the HIGHEST clearance; I’m talking a direct letter from Zelda herself.

The Thyphlo Secret Camp is exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a place for Hyrulean lieutenants to meet for top-secret missions, and it’s one of those places that you need to be SERIOUSLY high rank to even KNOW about.

Over on the edge of Lanayru, we’ve got New Goponga, built where the old Goponga ruins are, and the Crenel Garrison. The Garrison was built to take care of the Lizalfos problems in the waterways, keeping it safe for Hylians and Zora travelers alike. Goponga, on the other hand, is what Lurelin was in game; nice, friendly, and centered around fishery.

In Necluda, we’ve got New Deya where old Deya was ruined (I think BotW Link was born in old Deya!), Watchtower Village built around the lakeside of the Dueling Peaks tower, and then Dueling Peaks City, a HUGE trade hub that was once the Dueling Peaks stable.

Kakariko Village is now a Town, Hateno has grown into a full blown trade harbor, and a tiny village has started to form around the Hateno Tower, making Firly Overlook.

But what I most love is the City of Hylanay.

Back in the game, it was the ruins of the Lanayru Promenade. So I had the promenade rebuilt, then people moved in around it, and now, Hylanay’s basically Hyrulean Venice! I want to visit it.

On the Great Plateau, we’ve got Aboda Town, named after Spirit Tracks’ Aboda Village in reference to the starting point in each game. This Town has access to the original Temple of Time, but because of the nature of the isolated plateau, it doesn’t see a lot of new faces often.

Over around Thundra, we’ve got Tanagar Village overlooking the canyon, built out of the old Tabantha Stable. The village actually builds downwards into the canyon; people have windows carved right out of the cliff face!

Thundra Village is built into the rocky slopes surrounding Thundra Plateau and the Ridgeland Tower. Their houses are built in the shelter of the giant mushroom things that grow so well in the area, and they’re famous for their signature dish of escargot.

The Serenne Exchange is up north, encompassing both the old Serenne Stable and the Maritta exchange ruins. You can buy practically ANYTHING there; if ever there was a supermarket in Hyrule, it would be right there.

The Royal Lab was rebuilt out of its ruins post Calamity, and it’s directed by Purah, who still hasn’t cured her immortality yet. It’s not uncommon to hear explosions as you pass by that place.

And then Camp Rutile is a small observational outpost, meant to keep track of the activity on Satori Mountain. Supposedly, the mountain’s health reflects the state of the rest of the kingdom, so the researchers assigned there are tasked with monitoring it EXTREMELY closely.

And Hyrule Castle. It’s Hyrule Castle.

Now completely bolted into the ground! :D

If we put all these locations together, we get a very nice, very well populated Hyrule, with LOTS to see. This is how I would design the future of BotW’s Hyrule.

Thanks for reading!

#loz #zelda #worldbuilding #headcanons #MAPS #CITIES #I WANT A POPULATED HYRULE #botw

[bbdoll]

Friendzzz...can we chat? Chatty Box Below...

Am I the only one who changes their entire blog’s aesthetic to fit the atmosphere of current gameplay?

I had the perfect theme going when I was playing Prim + Finch (farmhouse vibe) and as soon as I got word about DHD I changed it to that, icons and everything.

Now that we are getting country (my entire life i’ve been waiting for) I want to change it again, *le sigh*. It just has to “fit” for a lack of better words. Why am I like this? Am I the only one?

FYI

A few things that’s been on my mind. For those who can’t understand why we are excited about farming, if you play any other games like me and my counterparts you’ll understand it’s a huge part of gaming, BOTW, Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, My Time in Portia, Animal Crossing! Hello, we don’t know why the mechanics of a farming engine works in-game. It just does and I like it. If it’s fleshed out for TS4 well it’ll definitely be a go to game that I play to unwind like the rest. At some point I’ll probably grow tired, but I’ll return. I mean, I can only rotate out so many villagers with ACNH amirite?

I need consistency in my world.

I have a name fetish. You probably know that already as it’s no secret, lol.  I rename my same OC bbdolls ALL-THEE-TIME. As soon as I pick a good one someone snatches it anyway. 🤤 So they’re obviously liked by most. I’m thinking of going back to Juniper + Jericho because they just are my favourite couple’s name. I played that couple years ago so I would have to rename the tags if I wanted a fresh start for the country pack. Not really feeling Prim + Finch for long term. What are your thoughts? And before you say it’s ultimately up to me and my choice let me beg to differ. I know folks say, “game how you want” and “ignore notes” but for me, reality is- that I AM on this hell site to entertain, so your feedback matters to me a lot...to a certain lvl, lol. 💕

In Game News

Prim + Finch moved to, “The Harbor” for now. Of course, they packed their garden with them, and bee boxes (God knows how long it takes to get friendship up with those dang things and quality honey, geesh!) Although, the décor is different from my taste, let me tell you the house just feels so right! Felicity has a deck out Adventure Themed room and I adore it so much. 🥰

I felt chatty today so yeah...but, that is all. xoxo, [b.]

#ts4 #ts4 gameplay #🌾 #🚜

[scrawnytreedemon]

Zelink for the ship bingo? :0 any game!

OH GOD, THIS IS?? Gonna be a doozy. Buckle in.

SkSw:

WW-PH: Link/Tetra:

Spirit Tracks(in theory! I haven't seen the game yet, can't speak personally):

Nearly all other instances:

RIGHT! getting onto individual analysis,

1, SkSw: By far my favourite of the bunch, and a longtime delight. Whether you construe their relationship as romantic or not, doesn't matter-- They've got such a wonderful arc of trust and unbreakable love. Zelda starts off incredibly worried for Link, constantly fretting and deeply unsure of his abilities. She steps in to defend him, willing to go up against Big Boys like Groose to do so. As the game progresses, however, and Link grows, in strength and in character, Zelda, and everyone else for the matter, put more trust in him-- By the end of the game, they're on equal footing, and, oh god, oh man, I'm gonna crybhfgjfhdgkjdjd--

2, WW-PH: Nothing to say except, tough girl, sweet boy? Phuck yeah!

Jokes aside, Link and Tetra's arc is also one of trust and vulnerability, but from a different angle. Tetra's a hard-as-nails, independent, morally dubious young girl who's landed herself as captain of a ship full of Big Boys, and sees Link as little more than a useful, if rather weak coincidence she can use to her advantage. However, as the pair grow,(really as Link grows and Tetra is thrown out onto the sidelines as her royal heritage is revealed and she's forced to take on a 'princess' role, one that notably feminises her and lightens her skin), again there's that theme of growth of trust! They take down Ganondorf together, build a new Hyrule together, and isn't that just what dreams are made of?

3, Spirit Tracks: Nothing much to say, other than the dynamic looks super sweet, and there's an interesting play with gender and presentation on Zelda's end? Love it to bits, 12/10.

Now... Onto the potatoes of this, I think. Get your gravy.

This... There's going to be more objective analysis and criticism, obviously, but alot of this is also going to be deeply coloured by my own personal experiences of heteronormativity and alienation. This isn't a commentary on anyone else's enjoyment of the dynamic-- I hope I've made that clear --But, just... I guess I should get to it.

Link and Zelda,

Zelink.

As one anon put it, the vanilla icecream of shipping.

Mild, sweet,

And incredibly heteronormative.

The Golden Relationship; the one toted by fans and Nintendo alike as "the ship".

Everything else, anyone else, is a deviation. It slots neatly into the expected hero-damsel dynamic that we've had, since, well, the beginning of time, almost. It's almost as dust of the earth as it gets. The issue for me being... They don't spend time much, really. Link is barely characterised half the time as little more than a slightly lackadaisical vessel for the player, and Zelda is a sort of guiding light; a dignified keeper of the plot, Righteous Guardian of Hyrule--

The culmination of all Hyrule presents itself as: wise, smart, beautiful, dainty but compitent, ready to lead a charge should need be... but rarely unruly. Rarely ever. Always right.

Obviously, it goes without saying how Breath of the Wild's iteration of this duo changes it up immensely. Zelda is a far more flawed, and in her attempt to put on a strong face, a far more emotionally vulnerable character than any of her gentle predecessors could ever hope to be. While this pairing and her character fail to hit that particular sweet spot in me, it's deeply intriguing, and I hope, perhaps vainly, that they'll develop her and her relationship with Link even more in the sequel-- Honestly, when it comes to this? An equality between her and Link is, I think, what would be best. A mutual understanding; vulnerability.

I think that's what puts me off from Zelink, on the whole. Link is bound to her, by destiny, by guidance, ever-performing his knightly duties, and Zelda is bound to him for strength, for protection. There's little emotional substance, half the time, save for small, precious moments, many with another face, because it's a dynamic inherently dependent on the war-- On danger.

It's all impartial, situational. There's nothing personal here.

And if that were it, if this were truly explored from that angle(as it is, to an extent, in BotW), then I think I'd like that-- Especially if it weren't romantic, I feel.

But that's not the vibe we're told to get: not from the fans... not from Nintendo.

Nintendo tends to be largely neutral on certain matters, such as pairings-- Honest to god, for the best, in my opinion-- But Zelink is that one blind spot where that ethos falls away. Here, Nintendo expects us to see it as some grand, destiny-bound romance, I feel,

And the pre-Skyward Sword manga, from what I know, cements this best.

It's why, quite frankly, I don't care for the idea of it being canon. Genuinely.

It undermines what little weight Ganondorf via Demise had on all of this, this horrific cycle of blood, pain and despair, always bracing for the next wave, of the sisyphian climb of this civilisation, and turns it all into a grand goddess' love for a boy bound to her by fate and destiny manifest.

I hate that.

For something like this, something where no one has any choice, where greatness is thrusted upon them, this endless state of being used that Skyward Sword even condemned, to be seen as good.

To get onto personal experience, before this blog, and this "persona," as it were, I used to have an art account where I largely posted TLoZ, frequented by my family. My very Christian, somewhat socially-conservative family. I would perform straightness, in the form of either pushing aside or pursuing M/F romance, because I was extremely uneasy about the types of conversations anything otherwise would arouse.

This was at a time where I wasn't even sure if I was bisexual, let alone divergent in my gender, so I felt a constant pressure to tamp it down and keep it out of the spotlight, relegating my explorations via art to DMs with the friends I'd make.

Here, on Tumblr, where peppy-queerness is the status quo, there's this tendency to gloss over unpleasant things and make them soft; sweet.

I think I've talked enough at length why that alienates me.

So, yeah... I guess, Zelink on a wider scale kinda just, sums up my unease about the often hegemonic status-quo of shipping, and on the whole I'm just kinda eh about it all.

Again, I think it should be very clear that this is not a reflection on my opinions of people who create Zelink content, who are attached to these characters. That sort of weirdly-tribalistic thinking is awful, and only brings about needless conflict-- Early 2000s-2010s kinda shit, y'feel me?

I hope this all made sense, kinda. I've just got... alot of feelings.

#tloz #zelink #scrawny rambles #scrawny speaks #sksw #skyward sword #wind waker #scrawny answers #ask meme #wrote part of this late at night and finished it now in the afternoon #hope you can forgive the time gap #analysis #thoughts #do give yours forreal #i'm not a fan of the opposite of this where zelda is demonised either #to be v e r y clear #sick of that shit uuuauaaauhggfjkhgkjgjkhfdkgjfdkgfd #feels so forced and contrived #link #zelda #tetra

[quillandink333]

Scarlet Carnations ~ Epilogue

BotW Link X Zelda ~ Detective AU

Rating: T

Word Count: 1.7k

WARNINGS: death, murder, loss, trauma, blood and gore, terrorism, organized crime, self-harm

Summary: Inspector Zelda Hyrule, assisted by the faithful Constable Link Fyori, is infamous for cracking the most confounding of cases in a town dominated by crime. Her latest assignment is to solve the murder of her own godmother, Impa Sheikah, the late CEO of Sheikah Tech. Incorporated, while staying under the radar of the dreaded Yiga organization.

Part I • Part II • Part III • Part IV • Part V • Part VI • Part VII • Epilogue • Masterlist

The first couple of weeks following the incident that had taken my long-lost mother from me was misery in its purest form. Link and I didn’t speak, not even by phone, during that whole stretch of time. In fact, I could rarely bring myself to answer the phone at all. The memory was still too vivid, the wounds still too fresh.

He’d gotten off scot-free in the end as he’d been deemed to have acted in the defence of others—namely, of me. It wasn’t long before I learned of his plea, that if I hadn’t come along quietly, I would have suffered the same fate that he’d brought upon her, and they had believed him. How I felt about this was still something I was struggling to wrap my endlessly pounding head around.

As dark and deep as this seemingly bottomless pit of despair that I’d found myself plummeting down was, however, someone did eventually toss a rope down for me. The time I spent apart from Link gave me the opportunity to properly reconcile with those whom I myself had wronged: Auntie Purah and Paya. The former and I found comfort in our mutual grieving, and even as Paya had never really known my mother well enough to mourn her loss (though, arguably, it seemed no one had ever truly known her), she was more gracious and understanding than I or anyone else would have been, which only made me regret even more deeply my past transgressions toward her.

One day, during one of our continual conversations, she shifted to the topic of the Yiga leader’s executioner. How she could even think of him at a time like this was beyond me, but I digressed. I told her everything from start to finish. It was the first time I’d allowed myself to talk to anyone about it at length. As I spoke, she listened calmly and carefully. Despite what I’d have liked to believe, she had always been the more levelheaded one out of the two of us, save for when it came to discussing things about herself.

By the time I finished, I’d begun bouncing my still healing ankle back and forth, which I’d crossed over my other leg to keep it from touching the ground. I didn’t stop even after I noticed what I was doing.

“It’s painfully clear to see how conflicted you are about all this.” Coming to sit beside me on the sofa in the Sheikahs’ sitting room, Paya placed an affectionate palm on my thigh, bringing its restless jittering to a halt. “I understand how hard this must be for you. But the way I see it, there’s only one question you need ask yourself at the end of the day.”

Whatever she was about to say, it wouldn’t be an easy pill to swallow, would it? I straightened my posture. “And what would that be?”

“Between the two of them, who do you think was the better person?”

She was looking me dead in the eyes, her hand still resting upon my leg. I uncrossed them.

I’d never thought to compare the two before. What reason would I have had to do so? But now that she’d mentioned it, I hadn’t realized how few memories I even had left of my mother, and the ones that remained were blurry and vague beyond any hope of being recovered. If only she hadn’t left me with the Sheikahs all those years ago, maybe I could have remembered more clearly what kind of person she had been.

On the other hand, Link had always been there for me. Even during the times when circumstances had driven us apart, the thought of him was what had kept my flame burning strong and hot throughout each arctic day, and what had protected me from myself, keeping me from doing the irreparable. He had stayed by my side to the bitter end.

No matter how I’d reflected back on that day previously, the sight of his steely, focused stare and the sound of his crazed breaths, short and sharp, had been ever dominant. But now, I recalled the way those eyes had then glazed over with unadulterated horror. How his arms had shivered as they’d clung to my broken form and how they’d continue to cling for what would feel like millennia until the rest of his unit would finally stumble upon the scene.

My stepsister-of-sorts gave my leg a soft squeeze as I looked back at her with a tremor in my lip. “He s...saved me,” I whimpered. “Didn’t he?”

After a month apart, I made plans with Link for a night out on the pier, where we would celebrate the end of the Organization. The ice cream I’d promised him was at the top of my list of priorities for the evening. Tonight was a dessert-first night anyway, I’d decided. From there, we went and found ourselves a bite to eat at a seafood restaurant within walking distance. I’d hoped eating with him would feel like old times, but he hardly spoke a word throughout the whole meal. I tried lightening the mood with some banter, but this proved ineffective when he brushed off everything I said with mere one or two-word replies.

It wasn’t until I’d gotten us both a bit of something to drink that he finally broke the silence. “Have you...” he started, but lost the confidence to continue.

I perked up at the sound of his voice, wanting to hear more of it. “Have I...?”

“A-Ah...” His fingers poked at the copious amount of chips piled onto his plate next to the practically untouched fillet of fried fish. “I was just wondering if you’ve thought about what you’re going to do now, since...you know...you’re not a detective anymore.”

“Ah, right. That.” I took another sip of my drink, its contents long having fled my memory. “Actually, my auntie talked about it with me and she said she’d consider letting me inherit the company once I’ve acquired the proper education. So to answer your question, I’m thinking about going to school for engineering.”

His brows rose. “Oh! My, that’s—” He cleared his throat. “That’s brilliant. I’m happy for you.”

I thanked him with a hesitant grin, then asked, “How about you? Do you plan to stay on with the force, or...?”

“Ahh, well...” What little there’d been of an upward turn in his lips vanished. “I’m not sure, to tell you the truth. It’s something I’ve been mulling over for a while now. Whether to stay on and honour my father’s work, or...whatever other options are available, I suppose.”

“Do you want to hear what I think?” He raised his head. “I think you should do whatever you think would make you happiest. That’s what you’re father would have wanted, I’m sure.”

This finally, finally, got a real, unsubdued smile out of him. And I intended to milk that smile for all it was worth.

After dinner, I dragged him back down to the arcade on the pier, where I managed to ring a few laughs out of him while we were still a bit tipsy. We steered clear of the toy gun target-type games, favouring other stands like the ring toss where he won me a plush frog that I could only just get my arms all the way around. His aim was spectacular, especially for someone who wasn’t entirely sober. Not only that, but I could never have imagined how sweet and charming he would be like this. For a fleeting moment, it felt as though we’d gone back in time again. That, or the light from the setting sun was playing tricks on me.

But by the end of the evening, he’d reverted back to that quiet, reclusive version of himself that I’d quickly grown to detest. We were out on the docks now, facing the sea. The breeze carried a mist of saltwater within its bows. I breathed it in, soaking up the feeling of it hitting me softly and coolly in the face. A hint of pink in my partner’s cheeks caught my eye, and I wondered whether it was the cocktails or my arms, which were currently wound about his waist from behind.

“Beautiful sunset,” I tried, hoping I could get him to spare me a glance at least. “Isn’t it?” But to no avail. He only continued to gaze westward at the rippling flames reflected in the water. “Hey...” Before I knew what I was doing, my palm had found the warmth of his cheek, and there was hardly an inch or two of distance between the tips of our noses. Without giving myself time to think, I tilted my head, leaned in, and started to close my eyes.

But when I realized he wasn’t doing the same, I halted. On the contrary, he’d been leaning back and away from my advances, his back so rigid and shoulders so stiff it were as though he would sprout wings and bolt were I to make any sudden moves.

“What’s wrong?”

A harsh, jagged exhale. “Zelda, I just can’t—” He grabbed both my wrists and wrenched my arms off of him. “I’m sorry. We can’t do this.” He was bent over the railing, arms folded in on each other. “Not now,” he said, dwindling, “after I’ve gone and...murdered your only family.” A weary chuckle shook him by the shoulders before he raked his hands through his wind-tousled hair.

I fell into quiet thought for a moment. Then, taking a long, thorough breath, I placed a feather-light set of fingertips atop his own. “That woman was never my family.” I’d made up my mind. Figuratively or otherwise, my real mother had moved on a long time ago. And it was time I did the same.

Link must have seen the resolve in my eyes or heard it in my voice, because now he was looking back at me openly, his body turned to face me. Though there was still an air of uncertainty lingering about him as he ran the crease of his cuff between his fingers again and again. But when I brought my arms around him and held him close, he sank into my lips, returning my embrace at long last. A lone pair of tears fell from my eyes the moment they fluttered closed—a culmination of all past ordeals—and as they fell, I couldn’t help but smile.

#my writing #fanfic #botw #zelink #botw zelink #zelink botw #link x zelda #zelda x link #botw link x zelda #botw zelda x link #zelda pov #detective au