#and she doesnt have a unique name like them because of a language barrier

[heliianth]

actually bc im never gonna shut up abt it while im still on this im gonna ramble abt botw and totk and maybe how i wouldve written a sequel . & i will pay u money to listen i promise

my favoritest of totks ideas are what it expands from botw. botws whole atmosphere is drowned in quiet mourning. something bad has happened but it was a long time ago. it still hurts but theres nothing to be done now but move forward. something is still missing but all you can do is find something else. nobody has resources to rebuild and you can hear deafening echoes of better times but the alternative is giving up. you are in this frozen state of not quite moving on and not quite in despair. like the numbness stage of grief. and the pivotal element of all of that is that link is alone. like, oppressively alone. its the primary vehicle of conveying this mood. and its interesting because this can be read not only as what link is experiencing through the player but what zelda is feeling as she holds back ganon. its an interesting contrast to have zelda mature faster than link in the flashbacks, only for link to pull her the rest of the way by growing himself

and the reason why i so strongly adore the light dragon aspect of the plot is because it shows how attached to everything zelda has gotten. arguably, zelda held back ganon in botw because she loved link. in totk, she becomes the light dragon because she loves hyrule, which had previously been so unimaginably cruel to her. the crux of her character is learning that attachment is good. loving is good. you deserve to leave an imprint on the world in a shape of Your choosing instead of being another factory print on a paper. on a surface level, shes making the same choice, but the motivation and growth behind it is really powerful

i could waffle for literally ever about all that and the point is that totk takes these ideas and implements them really well through in-game worldbuilding and specifically zelda turning into the light dragon. i would occasionally get extremely emotional just seeing how things have expanded because it feels like the world is finally moving on. theres a catharsis in seeing hyrule finally heal after knowing its desolation so intimately, especially because the state of the land itself is such a strong parallel to the arcs of the two main characters, so you get the sense that not only can people move on, link and zelda specifically have started to as well. thats my favorite part

thats why i think its an odd choice that they decided on a time travel plot. if zelda HAS to be the one getting saved, if she cant be a companion in some way either via sheikah facetime or spirit tracks shenanigans or whatever, there are lots of ways to do this without her being magic fruit snacked ten bajillion years into the past. why spend all this effort intertwining her and link with the land, only to remove her from the equation and have no further growth? in botw its understandable that hyrule is stagnant and only changes when link does because zelda is stagnant and link is doing the one changing during the game. in totk its the opposite. there are lots of ways to do this with out Having to play as zelda (though honestly that would be the way id go about it)

also a lot of my own ideas have to do with the wasted potential of a place like the depths???? what the hell do you mean theres this mind bogglingly big cavern underneath the entirety of hyrule which mysterious people used to live in and it has almost no story relevance beside being a cool setpiece???????? I FEEL INSANE?!?!??!?!? there are so many good ideas in totk that never get expanded dude FUCK

i think no matter how much i speculate and draft my own preferences of how i wouldve liked totk to elaborate on the things it introduces i cant ever bring myself to present them like they couldve realistically happened and gotten thru the nintendo writing room simply bc of the games format. if it were up to me doing certain story missions would radically change the open world as events happened in real time and thats not the MO of the game's design philosophy. honestly totk's biggest enemy is the memory system and i need to kill it with fire

#for all im talking abt it i dont actually know how i would implement the light dragon twist in my own version of the story #in a way that would preserve that surge of emotion u get upon realizing who she is and get rid of the needlessly convoluted time travel #my first thought is that it happens in the depths and the connection is disguised by red herrings #and similarly to the light dragon breaking the cloud barrier it breaks areas of the depths open #so theres prophecies and literature about the light dragon or whatever down there that leads the player to believe that shes just- #-like farosh naydra and dinraal. that the depths is just where she hangs out #and she doesnt have a unique name like them because of a language barrier #heliichats #tloz

[pussiehands1]

meta #8 // ‘lets go rage, dee’ tw: sexism, misogyny, aids mention

              One of the most underdeveloped relationship on the show has to be Mac and Dee, their relationship hinges purely on the fact that Mac, Charlie and Dennis are friends. Dee is an outcast amongst outcasts, struggling hard for nearly twelve seasons to garner enough of a voice that doesn’t render her as just ‘the background chick’. Arguably, however, Mac and Dee have the most unique of the gang member relationships and that’s because their development is barely seen on screen and when it is it’s not elaborated upon. Where other members of the gang will always pair off, Dee is usually there as a last resort. Even characters like Frank show some dynamic with Mac, Franks obvious discomfort coming from Frank’s views on Mac’s homosexuality (S11E6). This meta is going to attempt to give some insight into their relationship and give some (speculation based) background about their dynamic. To explain this completely I also need to give some idea about where Mac sits in terms of his issues with femininity. 

IDEOLOGIES

            So Mac wasn't introduced to femininity until high school but at that point he was already semi-invested in religion/masculinity so there’s this double standard about men and women already rooted in place. Mac's mother has short hair, she wears neutral clothing and she's not exactly stereotypical feminine ( though Mac does refer to her as beautiful regardless ). But then Mac begins feeling things for guys which he can calm to some extent, its the 80′s so being gay is not a thing you want people to think you are because of stuff like aids / lack of rights / understanding etc. It’s media hatred that pushes this idea so Mac oppresses it, he uses weed/alcohol/religion etc. to keep it down. But then there's these women who dressed freely, you have things like the feminist movement you have this move from the classic american family into a more modern way of living and its progression that he resents. This is an issue that he has with Dee specifically and it’s because she's sexually free, she dresses how she wants and she behaves how she wants to behave without restriction. How come she can live guilt free when I cant? Of course Mac’s big problem is himself, not her, but he refuses to acknowledge that because of his denial. 

               There's a few times in canon when he talks about making women feel small by calling them names (S12E6) ( cunt, bitch ) or by making them feel bad about themselves to make himself feel better (S12E4), and he’s so insecure and threatened by the idea of womanhood that he can't confront it. Mac expresses so many stereotypical feminine traits, he's sensitive, he's very fragile in how he needs to be handled, he responds to emotional and physical touch very easily. If Mac links that to womanhood then he, by his own logic, is admitting that he is weak because that's how he views women - as lesser, not as strong, not as dominant. Then you add Dee into that equation and it flips it. Dee is everything Mac’s version of a ‘classic woman isn’t’. She’s opinionated, she’s intelligent, she’s sexually active with multiple men, she has no problem in asserting authority over men, she drinks, swears and generally these are things Mac has never witnessed a woman do. Dee represents everything a 21st Century female is, she embodies the true meaning of freedom and that can’t be understood by a man like Mac who’s entire sense of self has to be based on toxic masculinity in order to live his life as a closeted gay man.

BACKGROUND

              (S413) Mac was originally supposed to play the Dayman in Charlie’s original script and this character in turn would be the one to get with the ‘Princess’ (Dee), they then have a scene where they sing and then kiss. Charlie, at the end of the play, then inserts himself as the Dayman. Though this is yet another example of how Charlie projects himself onto Mac as you can read in my Mac x Charlie meta. The show places Mac and Dee in a position of a classic ‘Will they won’t they’ position that is then explored in a later episode (S9E3) when they try to reinvent a traditional sitcom type vibe. While they do mock this, the episode (S1E4) shows Dee going to kiss Mac underneath mistletoe that she’s carrying, shown in the same fashion that his girlfriend comes in to surprise him. With Dee wanting to annoy or anger her mom (interested in a lower class drug dealer), it’s very likely that at least early on Mac and Dee had some kind of romantic connection, at least from Dee’s point of view. As they grow older it distinguishes and after he rejects her (emotionally, physically) then things start to become stressed, they drift apart and they begin to loathe each other. Mac and Dee then become closer in S3 but then drift apart again, I don’t think anything character wise happened but I do think because of Rob and Kaitlin getting together around this time this then influenced their screen time somewhat from this season out.

ADULTHOOD

              Mac and Dee team up only a handful of times, though there’s no specific reason as to why. Most often than not it’s because of their mutual understanding on topics but generally it’s out of convenience. Mac, as stated above, believes very much in the idea of a nuclear family as shown in (S3E1) stating that children should have a mother and a father. He then agrees to be, one, of the Dads of her baby (S6E12) later on in the show. The relationship with Dee is the closest Mac gets to having a relationship with a female (at least long term) and he has no foundation for that. Therefore no social boundaries are established, however, Dee does not conform to these regardless of any knowledge that he may have. Mac’s authority in his life has always been his father and after he went to prison it’s obvious that the relationship with his mother went downhill. Dee often expresses hatred towards Mac and insults him right out (S3E5, S7E11) and he does not react to either of these things, instead, he stands at the back and refuses to acknowledge the insults with anything more than a grumble. Paralleled to Dennis, or even Charlie, Mac has no issue in launching themselves at them (S9E3) in order to defend himself, he becomes almost reserved at Dee’s attacks. 

              After Mac is called out for being gay in S6, his relationships with the entire gang begin to change, especially as it moves into S7. From this point onward Mac and Dee start to become closer as a duo. Mac and Dee work together to find a guy online, even investigating different areas and going with each other (S7E8) Without the rest of the gang the two get along well, they barely argue and they’re even supportive. This continues as a theme (S7E10) where they try to find an avatar for Mac, Dee even raising a bro and asking ‘For You?’ when they’re checking out a guy together. These two being paired together for something as artificial as that is potentially showing parallel to what may happen later, with Mac accepting that he is gay and that (as shown times before) he and Dee are compatible when it comes to what they look for in a man. Dee, in fact, is the only member of the gang who doesn’t judge Mac for being gay and is the only member to be happy for him. In Hero or Hate crime, Dee is the only one that expresses joy to Mac coming out of the closet by smiling while the others look shocked. As Dennis and Charlie are closer to Mac than Dee, it gives a good indication of where they are. Dee has obviously had other struggles, ones she can relate to Mac with, and arguably she is the only one that accepts herself for what she is - for Mac to then join that group, it places them together. 

               As we move into S13 I believe that they will get closer, that they will begin to bond over certain things that will change their previous dynamic. Mac has already shown progression in this (S10E1) in showing worry for Dee and the amount she’s drinking. Earlier seasons may not have cared and would have probably encouraged her to drink more. They then team up to go drink and hang out with the locals (S11E3) while the gang goes off and does their own thing, separating them entirely. Mac and Dee also express interest in having a ‘favourite water ride’ (S12E2) that they’ve planned to go on before relaxing together at the pool for the rest of the day. As the season slips by in S12 Mac becomes less interested in Dennis (who in turns becomes more interested in Charlie), and therefore the dynamic to slip into is Mac / Dee. The two are very strong willed, very stubborn and very much alike when it comes to wanting acceptance and wanting love.  

                 Where they differentiate is how they go about that. Mac is very open about wanting love and giving it and Dee is very sheltered in her affection, only doing so when she feels safe or a sense of place and yet they both have strong fears of abandonment or at least of being left by the people they love. Dee has never had somewhere to call her own, she was shunned out of her family as Dennis was favoured and then she was shunned out of the gang as he was favoured again. In her eyes Dennis then choosing Mac becomes a sore spot to take and it’s a clash of resentment that doesn’t really go away until they begin to spend time together. This distance is shown not just in the show but also surrounding implications from the show. (S2E4) Is aptly titled ‘Mac Bangs Dennis’ Mom’, not Dennis and Dee’s mom. Understandable given Dennis is the one this effects, however, Dee is not even considered. The episode could have easily been titled Mac Bangs Mrs Reynolds, but it isn’t. The disassociation with Mac and Dee has been long running, (S3E3) he admits to not having her phone number, (S6E7) he completely dehumanises her and presents her as an actual ostrich. Dee, who is probably used to this from her mother, reacts in a passive manner but treats him with the same amount of resentment that she had for Mom.

                     They’re both growing as people, both able to understand themselves and their feelings and what that means for other people. They’re beginning to show awareness especially about the people that they love (S12E8) and they most likely will grow with each other. Teamwork has been there in their relationship before (S3E14, S4E12) and will no doubt blossom. As Dee wants to get closer to Charlie the easiest way through that is with Mac, and for them to develop a bond that would give them both someone to rely on would be the healthiest thing Sunny could offer moving forward. With the amount of support Mac has to offer and the amount of support Dee needs to flourish, the two almost complete each other and with the potential for Dennis to be out of the picture it’d only encourage them.

#ᶜʰᵃˢᵉ ᵘᵗˡᵉʸ ᶠᵃᶰᶜˡᵘᵇ : mac x dee #{ fuck me this was SO fucking hard to write } #meta. #{ PLEASE - this is just #if not more important than my charlie one } #{ theyre such an underrated dynamic and dee herself is such an underrated sunny char - i adore her } #{ also this is shit sunny give me more contnet thanks } #{ this was poor if anybody has anything else send it my way! }