do you have any thoughts on zelda not staying as a dragon? me personally I like it and am very cool with it mostly because I think zelda should get to be happy forever (and because I'm smart enough to know she changed back because of recall and not some ambiguous power of love lmao) but a lot of people seem to dislike that it made the draconification inconsequential?
i think there's like. some valid concerns surrounding inconsequentiality/"curing" the physical problems characters have as a way of giving them a "happy ending" but I think those concerns don't necessarily apply to totk in the way people seem to be applying them, especially irt zelda's draconification and link's arm.
most of the time when the criticism of this "magic cure" trope is applied to media, it's because the trope is used as a cure-all to erase a character's suffering or trauma and make them "normal" again, and often ignores the character development or themes of the story in favor of giving the character a happy ending. I don't think that applies to totk, though, because the "curing" link and zelda experience is both within the realm of possibility given the worldbuilding present in the game (recall could easily have done it, as you mentioned) AND thematically consistent with the rest of the game. One of if not the most important central themes of totk is the idea of failure and second chances. we see a hyrule that has been given a second chance after link's initial failure with the calamity brought it to the brink of destruction. we see characters who were deeply unhappy and entrenched in the shame of their precalamity mistakes like purah and zelda become active, beloved members of their communities. we see the people of lurelin village take back and rebuild their destroyed home. we watch this kingdom and its people make an unprecedented comeback after a century of struggle and ruin.
Similarly, totk's gameplay is LINK's second chance, his comeback from the initial mistake of losing zelda, of specifically being unable to reach her with his injured hand when they fell. The consequences of that--the master sword's corruption, the loss of his arm, and zelda's draconification, are all supposed to SEEM irreversible, because that's how LINK initially sees them. he believes that he doomed both himself and zelda all because of that SINGLE moment in which he wasn't enough, a viewpoint which is obviously left over from the pressure he experienced to perform to an impossible standard of perfection pre-calamity. The story of totk is about deconstructing that belief and proving it wrong. the mistake he made caused harm, but it's never too late to repair things. he can fix the regional phenomena ganondorf causes and rebuild those communities. he can revitalize the master sword. he can GET ZELDA BACK, with his own arm, uninjured and able to reach her this time. no matter how impossible those things may initially seem, no matter the perceived finality of his mistakes and their consequences, there is always hope. there is always a second chance. no one person's single mistake can doom an entire kingdom for eternity. the fate of hyrule was NEVER resting on link's shoulders alone. he was never their final hope. there was always going to be an after. the whole POINT of the draconification and the loss of link's arm is that they AREN'T final. they ARE inconsequential, because they were born of one mistake and ONE MISTAKE IS NOT THE END ALL.
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leona and jamil’s interactions in 6-67 and their growth
book 6 threw me in for a wringer with leona and jamil’s relationship, and it's funny because i never realized how similar they are until leona was pointing out all of jamil's negative thoughts about himself, as if he knew these thoughts like the back of his hand. tell me i'm not the only one seeing parallels between them:
jamil as a kid was told he was never going to be equal to kalim, because he's supposed to be kalim's servant; having to concede to him at every turn in private and in public.
leona as a kid hearing whispers about how he was so different from the bright falena, and how he wouldn't ever get the throne; all his achievements a mere shadow to anything falena did.
jamil who tried to create an elaborate scheme to pit everyone against kalim, and to subtly kick kalim from his "throne", only for it all to backfire, and for him to be so scorned by having everyone find out that he overblotted.
leona who created a plot in order to secretly reduce competition in the magift tournaments, and tried to severely injure malleus draconia to keep him from playing, only for his plot to be revealed, and for him to give up on trying, thus leading to his overblot.
and then when you think about it, leona probably sees the younger version himself in jamil. jamil’s lust for power is something that leona’s been through more than once, and he knows how being arrogant can lead someone down a bad path.
the rut that he was stuck in was the fact that he thought he was more suitable than falena. but was leona right for the throne ? or did he just want the throne to prove all the people who slighted him wrong ? and again, with magift, he knew that he didn't have the magic power to beat malleus, but he still wanted to win, so bad that he played dirty tricks.
sounds familiar ? it’s basically what jamil did to try and rip the housewarden seat from kalim. jamil thinks himself more suitable and worthy than kalim but is that because he IS more suitable, or is it because he wants to publicly be better than kalim at something for once ?
that’s why leona wants jamil to move on past that. he needs to throw away the arrogance that he’s the 'best', and that 'others just don’t see his brilliance', because…he has a long way to go. leona recognizes his potential. he learned the lesson that jamil is going through the hard way, that’s why he’s trying to help him.
jamil kept insisting that he could protect leona, because he’s convinced that he is more capable at protecting him, relying on his perception of who he thought leona was, rather than acknowledging his prowess. leona knows that he’s more skillful, and he, in the end, succeeds in getting him to accept that.
when jamil can accept that he doesn’t know all that there is, and that he’s at the bottom of the pecking order…that’s exactly when he can start moving up. that’s when he can start working on his skills for the future rather than lamenting the fact that others don’t see his potential.
and that’s exactly the lesson that leona wants him to learn.
okay a cookie for you if you ACTUALLY made it here bc whew this got really long really fast— thank you for reading this far and i hope that you enjoyed my interpretation of book 6’s events ++ leojami’s growth ^^ (also sorry if there’s any spelling/grammar mistakes, i shall fix it later)
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Poll for current, former, or future Stormlight fanartists!
It seems that many fanartists (and even artists who make canon Stormlight art) go through a period where they've assumed that the characters are basically Fantasy White, and then there's a period of relearning what the characters look like from WoBs or other sources, and maybe even having to learn how to draw epicanthic folds and different skin tones. Judging by the stormlight tag, it's a big learning curve for a lot of people, and I'm curious what that curve is like for artists!
Since tumblr polls are anonymous, please be honest what it's been like for you as a current, former, or future Stormlight fanartist:
If none of these apply, hit reblog, then stick another copy in your drafts to see the results next week!
Please note this isn't the place to complain about whitewashed fanart (though Ash knows we also need that, just elsewhere, not here). This is specifically about the experiences of artists, and at the same time raising awareness of the features of these canonical fantasy ethnicities.
If you're an artist and you'd like to share about your own learning curve in the replies, notes, or privately via DM, go ahead!
And if this doesn't end up with at least 50% in the yeses then I'm throwing it out for self-selection bias😂😂😂
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i’m gonna invent a way to physically enter the internet just so that i can strangle people who come onto posts strictly about character a and go “well actually 🤓☝️i think this fits character b more”
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Wip Wednesday 🎄
I shared a small tidbit from this yesterday, but here's a little longer one this time 💕
Eddie was holding a bag of M&Ms in one hand while twisting garlands around the railings by the stairs with the other. They were putting up the Christmas decorations around the station during a lull and while Eddie was all for the Christmas spirit, the garlands didn't seem too keen on cooperating.
“Pass me one?” Buck walked up to him, both his arms tangled up in a big knot of Christmas lights and on the top of his head, pushing into his perfectly coiffed hair sat a frankly ridiculous hairband with a set of floppy white ears, decorated by big black blotches to resemble a dalmatian.
“What are you wearing?” Eddie frowned at the dog ear hanging down just beside his birthmark.
Buck looked up like he could see the top of his own head if he just tried hard enough. “Must’ve been left here from Halloween. Cute, right?”
"Sure."
Well, it was cute.
That still didn't explain why he felt the need to put it on, but Eddie had more important things to worry about, namely the damned garland that kept on slipping off of the railing and bunching up on the bottom.
“So, are you gonna give me one?” Buck tried again, eyeing the small bag of candy in Eddie’s hand.
“Ask nicely.” Eddie quipped, mainly just to be a little shit but as always, Buck was game.
He ducked his chin, jostling the dog ears on the top of his head and batted his eyelashes a little cartoonishly, then after an elongated whine of pretty please, he stuck his tongue out expectantly.
Eddie rolled his eyes and plopped a big green one onto Buck’s tongue. “Here.”
tags under the cut 💛
I was tagged by the lovely @jamespearce9-1-1 @daffi-990 and @malewifediaz mwuah mwuah 💛
✨and totally no pressure tagging: @spagheddiediaz @jeeyuns @ladydorian05 @disasterbuckdiaz @steadfastsaturnsrings @eowon @heartshapedvows @nmcggg @rainbow-nerdss @watchyourbuck @eddiebabygirldiaz @theotherbuckley @thewolvesof1998
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At the bus stop one time there was a gaggle of preschoolers waiting to catch the bus for a field trip day, and someone walked past with a couple of friendly little dogs, to great general delight.
But after a little bit, the dogs were getting overwhelmed, and the preschoolers were gently coaxed to back off so the person with the dogs could continue on. Specifically, one of the preschool teachers said, "Sometimes, when you're small, being surrounded by big people can be a bit scary and overwhelming. Even if they are friendly."
This was recieved as great wisdom: after all, the preschoolers were also small, and understood how scary and overwhelming big people could be! And the dogs were indeed even smaller than the preschoolers, so it made sense.
What was funny and charming was that, upon absorbing and reflecting on this wisdom, they all felt the need to tell it to one another. In tones of great insight, they turned to one another and said, "Did you know? Sometimes when you are small, being surrounded by big people can be scary and overwhelming! Even if they are friendly!" Back and forth, without any particular concern that they were all saying the same thing. Have reached comprehension of an insight, it must be shared!
I must say that this behavior is less charming in tumblr users than in preschoolers. Not least because tumblr users, having gained a little analytical skill to misuse, insist on Summarizing and Generalizing and Unifying the insights they repeat, quickly turning any interesting new information into formulaic dogmatic mush.
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Hey all! Unfortunately a pic I reblogged turned out to be AI art :( I’ve deleted the reblog now! So sorry for falling for that!
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