#and the thing is Zelda games are my biggest special interest

[leciraofthewilderness]

So, despite some faults, I really enjoyed totk, and on its anniversary I want to say something about it. Other people have said similar things before but it’s really important to me and actually a big part of why the story of totk was meaningful to me, so I want to also say it:

Zelda needed to come back from draconification. The story needed that. It wasn’t lazy and just ignoring “consequences” because (imo) that was the *point*

The point is to feel like there are going to be terrible consequences and then say actually, no. You can come back from this, with the help of other people.

To me at least, that was the theme of the whole story.

If botw was about how the world goes on past loss and grief and starts to heal (how flowers grow in the ruins and the world can be beautiful again, be worth saving, even if it has changed)…then totk was about a more personal kind of healing.

The weight of the world should not be on your shoulders alone…you, alone, should not have to fix everything…you should not have to sacrifice yourself, but when you do, someone will be there to save you from it.

This turned into a really long ramble so:

You (Link) gained so much and now it’s gone. It feels like you’re back to where you started and yet you know you have to do it all again…you were weak and you failed and you’re weaker now…but

You go down to the surface. Monsters swarm across it once again. Other people are fighting them too though. You help, but it’s not just you…

You go to the Rito, the Gorons, the Zora, the Gerudo…just like with the divine beasts, there are friends who help you save each region. But this time, part of them comes along with you when you leave. It’s nice, you realize, the first time one of them protects you from a monster you weren’t prepared for. You’re still weaker than you were before, but someone has your back…

When you go up to the sky you see a strange new dragon there. There’s something about them that feels familiar. You try not to think about it.

You go down to the depths too. It’s terrifying at first. You hate it. You only want to get what you came for and get out of the dark….but slowly, the light grows. You get stronger. The dark feels like a challenge you can face (and someone has your back).

There are spirits down there. You don’t know when they’re from, but some part of you wonders…are these all the people you let die in the Calamity? (You help them find rest from their wandering. The weight on your shoulders feels a little less heavy).

There’s so much gloom. The first few times the sky turns red and hands chase you (a reminder of what you’ve lost, how you failed) you just run. Eventually though, you have to fight. It feels like the (second) worst day of your life again. But you manage to get free of the grasping gloom and stand and fight, as wild and desperate as it is. Beneath the manifestation of your worst fears, there’s another thing to fight, but this time it has a face (a voice in the back of your head says…you know this isn’t all on you and your failure…it’s really Ganon’s fault right?). You get through it.

At every turn in your travels, it seems like something reminds you of Zelda. Her passion, her curiosity, her kindness. You miss her.

At first, the tears you find reassure you. She may be in the past, but she’s safe. She’ll come back somehow…but then you hear the word draconification for the first time. You want to believe she wouldn’t do it but you know her and the fear sits cold inside you. (Zelda is a lot of things. She’s been allowed to be more of them, since she was freed from her hundred year battle, without her father holding her back. But deep down inside her, there’s a vein of self-sacrifice that still runs strong. It’s what saved the world before, after all).

She did it. She really did it. She’s gone from you (from Hyrule) forever, and it’s all your fault. If only you hadn’t failed so utterly in the battle (you can hardly even call it that) under the castle. If only you’d caught her. If only you hadn’t let the sword break. You should have protected her you should have been better it’s all your fault and now she has to live with the consequences, forever. Everything really is on you, you should have been better.

(Zelda POV: you couldn’t call upon Hylia’s power in time, you were too content to let it wither and fade away from you, ready to be free of it. You shouldn’t have. He got hurt, the sword got hurt, it’s your fault…Sonia and Rauru help you channel it again, Sonia helps you learn how to turn back time…but you don’t save her. She dies because you couldn’t save her. Rauru dies not long after. There is no one left to guide you, once again. You could spend years trying to figure it out on your own. But you did that last time. It didn’t work. Self-sacrifice, stepping in front of someone you love, that worked. (You do what you can, to call upon the sages, to help Link in the future, first). And then you swallow the stone. You’ve come a long way, in the past five years, allowing yourself to exist. But in the end, self-sacrifice worked last time. It’ll work this time too.)

You (Link) go down beneath the castle. You were supposed to bring the sages but you didn’t. It’s nice, for someone to have your back. But no one else should get hurt to fix your mistakes.

They follow you anyway. They fight with you, against the hordes, against the greatest enemies you defeated together, along the way. They’ll have your back, even if you don’t think you deserve it.

You fight Ganondorf, and then the demon king, in the hardest battle of your life. You think it’s over and then the demon king decides it’s better to lose himself completely than let you win. You’re exhausted and afraid of yet another battle, but up there in the sky, when you’re falling, the Light Dragon catches you (you wonder why she changed her path to catch you, you wonder if there’s still something of Zelda left in there to save). With her help, you win.

And then you’re in some other realm. The spirits of Sonia and Rauru are there. You remember how the two of them and Zelda channeled such incredible power together. You think about Recall. Turning something back to the memory of what it was before, like Sonia said. You stand with them and you allow yourself to hope. Maybe the Light Dragon can remember the form she took so long ago, the person that she was.

And then you’re falling, and Zelda is falling, but this time you catch her. You catch her. She’s back home with you, finally, finally.

And maybe, one mistake doesn’t have to be the end of the world. You don’t have to be perfect. Sometimes, someone else can stand with you, and it’ll all turn out alright. (You can put the weight of the world on your shoulders, you can sacrifice yourself, but someone will be there to catch you, someone will be there to pull you back to yourself, when all is said and done).

#loz #tears of the kingdom #Link #Zelda #I will say also that I think part of the reason totk is special to me is very personal #like when it came out I was still struggling with the worst burnout of my life #I had had a few months of exhaustion between January and March and in May that exhaustion was still sticking to me #it was hard to get out of bed hard to do anything I felt so tired that I almost felt sick but I wasn’t sick #and the thing is Zelda games are my biggest special interest #and having a new one to play like genuinely I’m not joking it gave me bsck so much energy #I was doing really badly but when totk came out I played it for an entire weekend straight basically #and like my mom came to visit me and help me out with basic life stuff #and like sit with me while I played just like enjoying being together #and that was really nice #over that summer and the fall after I started getting to know someone I work with better #largely over conversations about totk at first #and they’ve become a good friend #(and become someone that I feel safe to be fully myself around) #and so I just have this really strong personal connection to totk #like I will not claim to be impartial about it #there are definitely criticisms that I can acknowledge #in particular I don’t like that they un-amputeed Link let Link be disabled #and also ganondorf’s characterization was shallow and one dimensional #and I’m sure there’s other things I could think of #but the overall narrative #including Zelda becoming the light dragon and then turning back in the end #I really like that #it felt like a narrative of healing to me #and playing it at the time that I did felt really healing to me too

[art]

Creator Spotlight: @camberdraws

Hello! My name is Camber (any pronouns), and I’m a mixed media illustrator located in the southwestern United States. I love drawing everything, but I have a special interest in depicting strange creatures and environments, often accompanied by abstract imagery and mark-making. Professionally, I’ve worked creating concept art and 2D assets for museum exhibits, but currently, I am engaged full-time as a software developer and make standalone illustrations in my free time. I’ve been posting art on Tumblr since I was a teenager, and the site has been very welcoming towards my work to this very day!

Check out Camber’s interview below!

Did you originally have a background in art? If not, how did you start?

I’ve had an interest in drawing since I was barely sentient, but at thirteen years old I decided to become “serious” about art. I was all about reading tutorials and doing a ton of studies. I would tote my heavy instructional art books to school every single day (my poor back!) Despite all this, I decided to forgo art school in favor of a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at my local college. Alongside my major, I received a minor in Art Studio with a specialization in fine art, which totally changed my views on creating artwork and drastically changed my style.

How has your style developed over the years?

As mentioned previously, my style did a 180 after I studied under some very skilled fine art professors! As a kid, my drawings were very realism-heavy and inspired by video game concept art. I mostly worked digitally, too. During college, I was thrown for a loop when we were instructed to do strange things like, for example, make a bunch of marks on paper using pastel, WITHOUT looking, and then turn said marks into a finished piece of art! I quickly and deeply fell in love with abstract work, and especially appreciated images that are not easily parsed by the viewer. Since then, I’ve made it my goal to combine abstract mark-making with more representational subject matter.

What is one habit you find yourself doing a lot as an artist?

Hmmm, one habit I really enjoy as an artist is strictly tracking the amount of time I spend drawing! I currently work a full-time job wholly unrelated to art, so I have to be careful with my time if I want to spend enough hours drawing each week. I created a spreadsheet that allows you to enter the amount of minutes you’ve drawn each day and calculate how much drawing time you still need to reach your weekly goal (I aim for 20 hours a week.) Having such a clear, numbers-based objective keeps me motivated to work like nothing else!

Over the years as an artist, what were your biggest inspirations behind your creativity?

I know this is a common inspiration, but Hayao Miyazaki’s work has been rewiring my neurons since I was a child. Seemingly all of my artistic interests can be summed up by the movie Princess Mononoke: it has strange/abstract creature designs, a strong focus on nature and environmental storytelling, and a mix of dark and hopeful themes. Additionally, I’ve been deeply inspired by video game series such as Zelda, Okami, Pikmin, and Dark Souls. But arguably, none of these have influenced me more than Pokemon! I’ve been drawing Pokemon since I could barely hold a pencil, and I haven’t stopped since! I believe my love of designing creatures originated with my endless deluge of Pokemon fanart during my childhood.

What is a medium that you have always been intrigued by but would never use yourself?

I’ve always been fascinated by 3D mediums and am so tempted to try them out! Whether that’s 3D models created digitally or sculptures made from clay, I profoundly admire artists who have this skill. Oftentimes, it feels like I don’t have time to delve into a totally different artistic paradigm. However, I feel very strongly that learning new skills can enrich your current work. I should take that advice and someday give 3D mediums a shot!

What is a recent creative project that you are proud of?

I am in the process of creating an art book (a dream of mine!) and have been executing smaller drawings of concepts I find interesting from both a visual and storytelling standpoint. A recent drawing for said book is that of a snail made of ink with an ink bottle as a shell, and it went absolutely viral! I’ve never had an experience like this as an artist before and it has been spectacular! I was able to open a shop using my newly acquired art printer and sell many prints of my snail. Creating something original, directly stemming from my interests, and having that resonate with so many people has been unreal. I couldn’t ask for more as an artist!

What advice would you give to younger you about making art that’s personal or truthful to your own experiences?

I would tell my younger self to chill out and experiment more! I was so caught up in the idea that I needed to have a realistic style to be considered “good.” I also believed that technical skill was the only measure of how worthy my art was. That’s not to say technical skill doesn’t matter, but I now firmly believe the creativity and voice of your ideas far outweigh the skill of execution in terms of importance. Technical skills should elevate ideas, not the other way around. Once I began to revel in strange ideas and stories for my work, depicted oftentimes in odd styles or mediums, I truly found my voice as an artist.

Who on Tumblr inspires you and why?

My peers here on Tumblr inspire me more than anything! Sharing my work with contemporaries and giving each other support brings me joy like no other, and keeps me motivated to continue creating. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them! @beetlestench, @theogm-art, @trustyalt, @ratwednesday, @phantom-nisnow, @svltart, @mintsdraws, @mothhh-hh, @jupiterweathers, @thesewispsofsmoke, @picoffee, @fetchiko, @kaisei-ink, and @pine-niidles just to name only a few!

Thanks for stopping by, Camber! If you haven’t seen their Meet the Artist piece, check it out here. For more of Camber’s work, follow their Tumblr, @camberdraws!

#creator spotlight #artists on tumblr #camberdraws

[blackautmedia]

Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Quill, and Rito Allyship - the Power of Knowledge

I wanna talk about one of the best guys to come out of Wind Waker: Quill. More people need to give this man his respect so he's getting a long post nobody asked for but we're getting anyway.

I appreciate how the game portrays his range of knowledge and his ability to keep a pulse on several different isolated communities as a powerful tool at his disposal. The Rito are some of your biggest allies.

This is a particularly useful skill when you consider the information gap that would cause word to travel slowly if not for the Rito's mail delivery and them directly hearing things themselves.

It's his persuasive skills and knowledge that keep your adventure from grinding to a halt several times throughout the game.

The Rito aren't just out delivering letters, they're constantly keeping up with what's going on around the different islands, listening to people's issues and Quill's abilities are at the center of what makes not just Link but the Rito so successful in their goals.

From the start of the game, he's the one who clues you in that the kidnappings aren't isolated events and several other areas have been targeted as well. He also is the one to persuade the pirates into helping you out where otherwise your journey would have just ended. He's also the one to tell you that the girls are being taken to the Forsaken Fortress.

But the other thing is that throughout the game Quill doesn't just exist to help you. At this point, it's nothing particularly special and he's the kind of "guide" character who exists in video games to tell the player where to go and what to do.

But his portrayal takes an interesting direction the more you see him.

When you get to Dragon Roost, one of the first things he asks about is you and your sister, but he then introduces you to his Chieftain to see if they can help you out. However, he also recognizes the ways that you can help him and he branches out less as that video game guide and more showcasing one of his best skills.

Chieftain, what do you think of consulting Link with regards to your son, Prince Komali? As you can see, Link is a gallant young lad! I feel certain that Prince Komali would open his heart to him and speak freely of his fears and worries. - Quill

Quill sees Link as someone who has a lot of common ground with Komali, who is currently mourning the death of his grandmother. I don't think it's a coincidence the game intentionally makes Komali even look like a Rito version of Link and draws the obvious comparison with their grandmothers, something Link can pretty strongly identify with in how he had to leave his own grandmother behind.

Quill wasn't just there to push your journey along, he also saw a young boy with the right traits to potentially solve a problem in his own community.

He already saw Link and his family and noticed his relationship with his grandmother.

The other Rito haven't had success in reaching out to Komali, but he's found someone around his age with a similar relationship who Komali may be able to better identify with in his grief.

But that's Quill's big strength--he's very knowledgeable, logical, persuasive and a negotiator, he has a pulse on everything going on in several communities, and has a very community oriented way of looking at things that gives him the ability to keep things in the back of his mind and identify people who may be a good match to solve other problems.

What say you? Will you share some of your courage with my son? Will you meet my son?

I thank you! We shall do our best to solve our problem as quickly as possible, so that we may better help you with yours. - Chieftain

He makes the connection that the Chieftain doesn't immediately think of because he has a prior encounter with Link and can apply that knowledge to give aid his Chieftain's son. He also sees a child in need and currently is out looking for his sister and happily shares information and resources with you.

Wind Waker really goes out of its way to showcase the strengths of connecting with others and keeping knowledge at the forefront, something that's especially relevant and easy to overlook in a world where everyone is separated with few means of communication in a vast ocean. The closest thing to phones or internet is the gossip stone, but this isn't available to everyone.

None of the Rito even expect you to deal with Valoo. Quill in particular tells you to leave that to them while you help Komali out. Medli even asks for your help but isn't counting on you to deal with Valoo, asking you to take care of Komali in her place if she doesn't survive.

When you complete the first temple, we see Medli speaking with the other Rito, likely informing them she's figured out what's going on with Valoo so they can devise a solution, but they weren't expecting Link to go deal with it.

Zelda games I think are capable of effective storytelling when it recognizes Link as...an actual person and in this case a child. Wind Waker and Majora's Mask were both excellent at using the child aspect.

A father and a lot of the older Rito and even Medli still have a bit of a relationship gap with Komali either due to age or the dynamic of their roles in their community, but Link has quite a few similarities to him, something Quill picks out.

When you go to find Jabun, even the King of Red Lions has no leads on what to do. It's Quill who gives you more guidance per Valoo's instruction.

Obviously this is the game's way of guiding the player but I think something that's interesting is how the game portrays knowledge and community as an extremely powerful tool Quill wields not just to help you, but those of his community.

There's a surprising amount of thought not just into him as a character but how the story recognizes the way that gathering information and keeping a pulse on communities would be so valuable with the inherent separation the game also includes.

He and Komali also then rescue you when you're in over your heads trying to fight Ganon and failing. They also took the time to confirm that Link's sister escaped safely and can focus on the task at hand.

Considering that Quill is the one who knew what you were planning, he likely thought to consult Valoo for help knowing you were close to confronting Ganon and has been keeping track of what you've been doing. He enlisted Valoo's help by using his biggest strenght--using knowledge and resources to identify the right people to bring in to solve the many problems he hears in passing.

It's not lost on me that the Rito are Native coded, which I feel also is a strong factor in how it factors how the game portrays them as a community, but I'll leave that discussion to Native folks.

The game still is at the end of the day a power fantasy and the series as a whole is built on white saviorism. I'd love to see some people with connection to that heritage give their thoughts on how the Rito are portrayed.

I wish Wind Waker had been given a proper development cycle because it clearly feels rushed in its second half with its first half going so strong!

#legend of zelda #legend of zelda wind waker #rito #dragon roost island #valoo #quill #tetra

[constellationlans]

SPOILERS FOR SCOTT PILGRIM TAKES OFF. WATCH THE FIRST EPISODE AT LEAST BEFORE PROCEEDING

Scott Pilgrim getting an anime was certainly a surprise in a year full of surprises but hey here we are. Recently released on Netflix and having a lot of time on my hands due to being sick in bed, I watched the whole thing in one sitting and goddamn this might be my favourite entry in the series. Watching this alongside reading the graphic novels and/or watching the movie makes for such a sweet experience. The presentation is top notch, even on my poop 720p quality stream. Science Saru ("The Night is Short, Walk On Girl") did the animation based on the credits, and every frame is so good and crisp it is sublime. With Anamanaguchi making the music, you just know it fits (shout out for using some themes from the video game). Special mention should be given to the many nods between the original graphic novels, movie, and even the video game. The actors reprising their roles is another delicious frosting on this wonderful cake and they do a good job voicing their characters too. Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona is especially great carrying the emotional weight of the story, making parts that are insane even for the story's standards sound solemn and serious, making you invested into her story. And that is important since Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is essentially A Ramona Flowers Story.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is such an odd title for an adaptation of an established graphic novel series (nothing is named as such in the series) until you finish that first episode. Admittedly, it has been a while since I've watched the movie or read the comics, but even still watching the first episodes something in the back of my head is just telling me something's... Off. Like I know the thing happened but that is not exactly what happened right? Like...

We start with the first Subspace Highway scene? (Ramona's first?? appearance in the story is important, but the first thing we hear in the comics and movie is "Scott Pilgrim dating a high schooler" as a major story beat and if a supposedly straight adaptation doesn't start with that then huh? Btw they do still bring up and address Scott dating a high schooler in the story)

Young Neil has a Game Gear now? (I remember it being a Game Boy in the movie to play Zelda sounds as sound cues, which is Edgar Wright's style)

In Ramona and Scott's first meeting at Julie Powers' party, he starts talking to her about... Sonic the Hedgehog? (No awkward Pac Man talk? Could be chalked up to updating it for the times? At this point something was really bugging me)

Scott orders from Netflix, which is where Ramona works now. (not much of a surprise, this is a Netflix show, but I do miss the "whats the website for amazon dot ca" joke and this is still a slight change)

At the Rockit, while Scott is looking at the crowd from the stage, sharp viewers can see a robot in the crowd? (Players of the game will know this as Robot 01, made by the Katayanagi Twins and fought in their stage. Still, an early appearance, what the hell?)

And then the biggest change of all: Crash and the Boys not playing before Sex Bob-omb. Now this was the biggest change up to this point of the show, and one where I was going to start asking questions.

One change was fine, 2 could be okay, but all this? Something was very wrong.

Then the first Evil Ex fight happens.

Scott Pilgrim loses. He dies. And leaves behind coins. Call it poetic justice for all he killed for coins in the game.

Thus begins Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, where he just... takes off. Ramona takes center stage as the person dedicated to solving the mystery of Scott's death and getting some well deserved character development. Whereas the graphic novels and movie focus on Scott as a character, this show is all about Ramona. This makes her a much more interesting and well rounded character and one who I can definitively see Scott is willing to fight for. While the original story didn't lack development for her, it was nothing compared to what she gets here. And what she gets is enormous. Delving into implications from having seven exes left behind, all of them willing to literally kill the one you currently date, the show goes to great lengths to show Ramona's own flaws that weren't explicit in the original. Not having Scott to fight them for her, she has to face them herself and learn about the wake when she leaves people behind without proper closure. Ramona is shown as a person lacking in communication with people and just leaving with important things unsaid, which all piled up and lead to the creation of the League. By having said closure with her exes, she comes to terms with her own failings and grow as a person, much like Scott was at the end of his journey. If anything, this series solidifies that Ramona does really love Scott even after just one date, enough to face her past to save him. And her facing the past leads to her reconciling with her exes. We get to see the exes having to live with the aftermath of Ramona leaving them for another or playing with their feelings (except Todd, Todd's a dick). Having her deal with the consequences of her actions is great, as this causes an outcome where most of the time the two parties do not have to fight to resolve their problems. Most of the time, they actually talk. About their past, and how it meant to them, how it felt... It feels liberating seeing these people talking with each other about what they meant and apologizing for making mistakes. It also serves as A Day in the Limelight for each of the exes, as we get more of a look into their lives though some greater then others (Matthew Patel and Lucas Lee) and some not so much (Katayanagi twins and Roxie). Gideon also has his story shown, and serves as a secondary villain this time around. All in all, it shows that these Evil Exes aren't evil but as people dealing with pain from a breakup. Though not to be outdone, Scott also gets some development of his own through Old Scott. Coming from a possible future (maybe even the original story eh?), Old Scott is separated from Old Ramona due to issues and is attempting to dissuade his younger self from interacting with Ramona in the first place preventing these painful events from happening. Horrified, Regular Scott rejects this him. The fact he tries to carry on with Ramona despite being shown a bad future in their relationship shows that he really is ready to try with her no matter how painful it gets. Regular Scott seing his Ramona work out his disappearance in the past just steels his resolve. Writing this now, it is clear how and why Scott and Ramona really do love each other.

After all these years, Scott Pilgrim still stands as a great story, with plenty of romance and action to keep you satisfied. Nearly 20 years on, it is still compelling. Bryan Lee O'Malley and BenDavid Grabinski could've just wrote a direct adaptation of the story. That would've been good for me. But instead they took the opportunity of fleshing out all the other characters in the storyand make a more emotionally resonant story about dealing with relationships and reconciling with others while still being an incredibly entertaining series. As an extension of a story that defined a generation, it is a pretty darn good.

Also it has the funniest funeral scene ever and is a joke nearly 20 years in the making ever since Bryan Lee O'Malley showed what happens when people die in this universe, I swear to god I laughed for 30 seconds. Thanks.

#scott pilgrim #anime #animation #graphic novel #scott pilgrim vs the world #scott pilgrim takes off #Not exactly a game thing but #bryan lee o'malley #bendavid grabinski #edgar wright

[appeypie]

as a really big zelda fan who also tends to never go into fandom spaces for the exact burnout(? ish? not really but its the best word i have) youre talking about, im really sorry to hear you arent doing that awesome right now because of that fandom, but im curious on what happened if you feel like elaborating? obviously no pressure!! and i hope you feel better soon and can enjoy the franchise outside of that experience

this actually got longer than i meant it too, so it's going under a readmore

no juicy drama happened, it's really just a combination of like 100 things over a long period of time + when i take the time to compare it to my tf2 or ut fandom experiences i'm like. wait i'm miserable LOL

i suppose the biggest thing is proship content like, everywhere. Yes I block tags, try to curate my online space, but it's unavoidable. specifically ghi//ra//l//ink is something that is so viscerally uncomfortable to me, in every context, and if you're a ghira stan you know. it's everywhere. i don't even really like talking about this stuff cause it makes me uneasy

plus it just seems like i don't vibe with loz fans as easily as i vibe with fans from other fandoms, so i feel more isolated and misinterpreted? misunderstood? idk. i feel like there's a lot more negativity there as well, whether it be about games or characters or whatever. it brings the negativity out in me, too. i never got super into botw/totk's story so i already don't connect with 90% of zelda fans. the list kinda goes on

iono. i fucking love zelda as a series, i've made a few friends :), i love ghirahim and demise so much, they've given me lots of art growth and inspiration, but hoooh it was just getting too much for me. i've never had to consciously pull myself away from an interest before, but i realized that getting worked up about this stuff all the time wasn't good for me fdjkgfg

i will inevitably be back, i will make art with them again, like for fucking sure. loz is really special to me. i just. yeah.

i am doing better though! dw about me! im immersing myself in tf2 again which has been great :) love those stupid murderers

#SORRY FOR THE NOVEL. ITS FEELINGS NIGHT #ask #anon

[hypothesis-hobbyist]

I'm a little sad that almost a year in Splatoon 3 still feels like a lesser game than 2. A lot of this is Octo Expansion raising the bar for atmosphere, storytelling, and character development such that 3's story mode going back to being 1 and 2 was always going to be a letdown. I'm troubled that we know basically nothing about Deep Cut except bandits, big Marie fans, and that Frye has some kind of ADHD going on after watching Pearl and Marina get developed into compelling characters on their own, but maybe that just needs time.

BUT. 3's other problem is splatfests. Some of this is coding/matchmaking, in that you can get mirror matches for a majority of a fest and, it turns out, be on a minority team. Money recently won the popular vote, but I tracked my matches and half of all my open/pro matches were love/love mirrors and fully 2/3rds of all tricolors I was in were love/love/love, so it should be no wonder that people are claiming a rigged result. I don't think it's rigging, I think Nintendo has bad netcode and trying to leverage it for a three-way fest model is producing a lot of negative results. It's always more reasonable to assume incompetence over malfeasance.

Tri-Color itself is also a problem. The Zelda fest was the best so far, in my opinion, because the devs made substantial changes to the map for it instead of shoehorning a 2-sided map for a three-way match. This makes tricolors sometimes very frustrating and, honestly, FAR inferior to the old Shifty Stations, which both kept things fresh and interesting during a fest that could otherwise become boring AND were built around the gimmick. The late-2 shifties were amazing. The ones that progressively locked you out of parts of the map solved Turf War's biggest weakness, in that it made the whole match count and not the last 30 seconds.

So, where do we go from here? Hopes/suggestions:

- Side Order needs to be more like Octo Expansion in terms of storytelling, atmosphere, character development. The trailer certainly seems to suggest that, but it needs to be said.

- Tricolor should be made part of the regular fest rotation when three teams are available, otherwise you get a non-mirrored 1v1 match. This would a) Make Tricolor special and b) Make Fests feel less like meaningless effort.

- Either:

Tricolor maps need to become more different from their base maps. Right now Tricolor always feels like a worse version of the base game.

OR

Bring back Shifty Stations. They really made the 2 Fests worth playing as much of as you could, a supposed to today where I grind to Ruler, make sure I got enough catalog levels to finish before the season ends, and tap out so as not to do more mirror matches.

- More frequent updates. I know that the season model is what other big games do but honestly I miss the occasional random new weapon/item cropping up. Right now there's no reason to go to the shops anymore.

- More character content. We know you have the power to do this, Nintendo. You've got a team that loves to do little bits of lore and world building wherever they can. Add more dialogue for your idols! Tell us more about splat bands! Why is Paruko working retail???

-Final, wishlist item: more song variety during Fests. It would be amazing if there were, like, an actual setlist on rotation in splatsville.

#splatoon #splatfest #never gonna get most of these #Please god let Side Order be good I couldn't handle it if it were bad

[pocket-size-cthulhu]

Breath of the Wild for inexperienced gamers

I've been playing Breath of the Wild again lately in prep for the new Zelda game. As i have, I've been contemplating what makes that game so much easier for me, a noob with VERY minimal previous gaming experience, to approach.

And then the other day i came across this awesome video that talks about some of the little touches that BotW made that made it easier to approach for people who are new to gaming.

First of all, it was super validating to watch. My partner is an experienced gamer and struggles to grasp my complete cluelessness about stuff that's second nature to him. So like first of all, solidarity with the woman in this video--it's nice to know I'm not alone haha 😂 my partner is a patient person but "use your mini map!!!" "I don't understand what I'm looking at on my mini map!!" Is way too common a conversation when i try a game lol

Like, i exited the shrine of resurrection without finding the clothes, cause i didn't notice the chests. I talked to the NPC at one point and he gave me instructions to solve the task at hand, which probably would have been really clear to people with more experience, but i didn't understand why he was saying that and went on to solve the problem a different way. (In the same situation, the woman in the video didn't even talk to the NPC bc she assumed he had nothing new to say.)

I think the biggest thing about this game is that it gives you many ways to solve a problem. I've been trying to play through Ocarina of Time for literal years, but it's so hard for me, lacking as i am in both controller finesse and gamer's intuition, to figure out and solve the problems. Playing BotW, I'm rarely stuck. There are few problems that can't be approached in a way i feel like I'm capable of, and there are also few problems i can't walk away from and come back to later when I feel more ready. It's rare for frustration with the task at hand to completely break my immersion while playing; but that's actually super frequent playing OoT.

The other thing is there's all kinds of little touches that make things easier for people who are new to gaming or who don't play often. Like how you can adjust the camera angle (HUGE for me and maybe the only reason i could beat the game) and the fact that the positions of buttons will appear on the screen when there's an action to take, so you can find the buttons by feel if you aren't as familiar with the controller--those types of things. The user interface is delightful and friendly and it means i don't have to look at my controller that often to figure out where the buttons are that i need to press. It's nice!

I definitely feel like there's a balance to be struck between making a game extremely accessible, and making it fun for experienced gamers too. Some of the more experienced gamers i knew were disappointed by how easy the bosses were and stuff in BotW, and i can understand that (even while I'm grateful that they were easy enough for me to beat).

I'll be really interested to see how Tears of the Kingdom strikes that balance. From the little gameplay I've seen, it seems like they kept the gentle touches that made things easier for me in BotW, and it also seems like they've introduced some new monsters that maybe require a special approach, and other interesting mechanics that will hopefully make it super super fun for all skill levels.

At any rate, i think making huge, fun, popular games accessible for non-gamers is both a huge untapped market and just a really nice thing to do 🥲

Super stoked for TotK!! Happy Zelda release eve!!

#Zelda #legend of Zelda #breath of the wild #tears of the kingdom #botw #totk #loz botw #loz totk #totk eve #game design is so cool #i am not a gamer

[rhythmicjester]

shitty temporary intro post ill make a better one later XP

hello my name is twilight!!!! i use he/she pronouns, alternated between. i have a disassociative disorder and am plural

aromantic and butch lesbian :3 my aromanticism is very important and significant to me ^w^

i speak english and 日本語. low level te reo māori and some casual nʉmʉ tekwapʉ̠ as well

indigenous, māori & ndn nʉmʉ. i was raised in indigenous (mostly māori) community

my biggest interests that i will post about here are webcomics and videogames ^.^ i am especially a big fan of my little pony (special interest), our wonderland (hyperfixation) and the lifeline game series

o ya and i like to draw and write and code! i am an aspiring game dev >_>

some more specific things i like are precure, chicken smoothie, flcl, cemetary mary, nomnomnami games, mokadevs games, transformice, zelda series, dorohedoro, matikhluk, house by barkbarkgames, skeptical the webcomic, paranatural, cats are liquid, harvest moon, and like. a BUNCH OF OTHER SHIT!!

i am also very big into furry fandom lol

please let me know if i do/say anything wrong or make anyone uncomfortable, i promise it is with absolutely no ill intent n it is no problem at all for me to change what i do or say for people to be more comfortable :3 that is most important 2 me

and if u need anything cw tagged, dont hesitate to let me know ^.^

i am very anxious and worry a lot about these things.. ;>_>

okay that is all here is chrysalis mlp

[zuzuzuko]

10 characters | 10 fandoms | 10 a negotiable number of tags

tagged by @dangerousdan-dan <3

Damian Wayne: DC (Robin). I adore characters that are rough around the edges but ultimately have a good heart and I just think that's 100% Damian. He was the Robin when I got into Batman comics so he will always have a special place in my heart.

Zuko: Avatar the Last Airbender. Zuko's character arc will always be one of my favorites. I don't even know what to say I just love him so much and I will rotate him in my mind for the rest of my life probably.

Clint Barton and Kate Bishop: Marvel (Hawkeye). I'm breaking the rules because you can't make me choose, I love them both equally. Plus they're both Hawkeye so I feel like it's not cheating. Anyways, please go read the Fraction Hawkeye run because it is fantastic. Like I can not stress enough how good this run is.

Dustfinger: Inkheart Series. This was probably one of my earliest fandoms. I loved this book series with my whole heart. I just thought Dustfinger was so interesting and so tragic (he just wants to go home and will do anything to get there).

Zelda: Legend of Zelda. Link may save her all the time but let's be real Zelda is way cooler.

Tōshirō Hitsugaya: Bleach. Short character with white hair and cool sword. It's that easy to draw me in. But also I love characters that have like a prickly personality.

Roy Mustang: Fullmetal Alchemist. I just think he's neat and also an asshole but also neat. Snap fingers and things go boom??? Yes, tell me more.

Finn: Incarceron Series. I haven't read this book series in so long but I remember being so intrigued by it. I honestly don't remember a lot about this character but I do remember he was my favorite. I can't even like describe this book series to you but it was excellent and you should read it if you like fantasy.

Katniss Everdeen: The Hunger Games Series. She made me want to learn how to shoot arrows. I never learned. But I wanted to. She was honestly the biggest badass.

Near: Death Note. It was honestly hard picking a character from Death Note because all the characters are so important to the story in their own ways. But I just remember being so excited every time Near was in a scene. Sometimes you just gotta stan a little autistic dude who is smarter than everyone in the room.

No pressure tags!! @aingeal98 @lorena-art @transuncletaylor @sukidude @potato-cerealkiller and anyone who feels like playing!!

#ask game #tagged some mutuals but if u don't feel like it don't worry about it besties #and if i didn't tag u but you wanna do it then go ahead you can say that i tagged u in it <3 #sorry i didn't have anything interesting to say about some of these #some of them are OLD fandoms from my childhood so

[mellowgoop]

Year one as a castlevania fan has been extremely good, and pretty surprising. I pretty much gave aria a shot because i knew something good would happen if I went to the home of the metroidvania, and yeah its pretty incredible! I kind of forget when I noticed how much appeal soma and alucard have to me as characters, probably must have been when i was beginning my mellowvania descent in 2021 and trying to get a sense of what the heck castlevania even was? because i had NO connection before that point, like seriously zero. it rose up to like, zelda tier with ambitions for higher in my heart pretty quickly though

the biggest surprises HAVE to be how much like the netflix series when my taste in animation had pretty much been "cute girls doing cute things and learning about friendship" and NOTHING else for like. four years straight? like I kid you not I hardly consumed anything else, the thematic jump to castlevania was insane. I was kind of just humoring it through season one's gorefest but yeah, season two was something special! the characters are just incredible and even if I dont exactly get the core conflict of the second half its impossible to stop watching them all grow and change and settle into their lives. or break entirely. its unreal that nocturne is coming, I'm so happy this show has been received well

and speaking of nocturne, uh, year two as a fan is looking interesting??? I really like alucard, i really like sotn, but rondo of blood grabbed me by the throat and became my bestie IMMEDIATELY, I have no idea what it is about it but it speaks to me so deeply. and, um, thats a PRETTY SEXY position to have ended up in with the deadcells crossover and nocturne coming out?? like what?? i am going to hang out with maria and richter and alucard more than you could possibly fathom...

strangest of all, I just saw rumors about a series reboot coming this year and I have no idea what I would want most right now. weirdly enough, I'm kind of tepid on igavanias as a game style? like theyre awesome comfort food but compared to the craftsmanship behind super metroid, metroid dread and hollow knight they feel by far the most by-the-numbers. i LIKE them, but I don't know if another 3d-2d igavania like bloodstained would really get me as pumped as a return to classicvania. like, seriously, that style means so much to me! its 85% headaches and 15% bliss but it feels so magical and inspired and solid. honestly, if I could have anything, put trevor belmont in a classicvania with the anime style... i know that sort of just happened with mirror of fate but like... if the netflix series came back to the games that would be sososoosso cool.....

#thoughts #castlevania

[c0smicsalt]

Since you reblogged about welcoming asks…

What are your biggest special interests & when/how did you get into them?

[ likely in reference to this! ]

Yooo, thank you sm for the Q!! It's been a minute since I've done asks on this blog...

So-! I'd have to say my biggest are Legend of Zelda & Okami, when it comes to SpIns.

The former I've been into since I was a (quite young) child, watching my mom play on the first GameCube we ever owned. It came with the Collector's Edition, and I've since had a bias for that specific disk when it comes to the LoZ series on the whole. I've made OCs, written fanfic, created a theory that I did...literally only to justify my self-insert at the time, but it ended up working so well, I've polished it into a full-blown thing!! I have a sideblog for it!

I even have more theories involving other console-based LoZ games, such as the origins of the Twili, research and theoreticals into the tribe that made Majora, and so on. (And yes, mostly LoZ console games for me; I didn't get super into the handheld titles until much later.)

Okami is more recent- the last...almost 10 years, I believe?- but still incredibly important to me. It was introduced first through the mention of OkamiDen (I had Nintendo Power, and they announced the game through it), and then properly years later, when I went to visit a friend. She wasn't home at the time, I knew her parents, so I was allowed to stay over until she got back.

I noticed Okami on the PS2... Hooked it up, and started playing. After that, watched Chuggaaconroy's playthrough of it yearly (legit!!!) until I got the HD version for myself!!

...The rest is history, including an RP blog I keep archived for Amaterasu, Issun, her children, various other cast members, and plenty of OCs! Some even directly inspired from Shinto mythology, as many of the references within Okami tie back to the kami and many other stories.

...Mm. In retrospect, special mention to Pokemon, as well. It's died down a little over the years, but I still hold it near and dear to my heart; I have a trainersona and pokesona, as well as delight in drawing my friends and boyf as PKMN, too!! 💕

#joker and the queen #Aki answers #if it's a SpIn I know a horrifying amount of information abt it #off the top of my head!! LMAO #FF14 also kinda follows this but...I feel underequipped still #[is still learning abt other FF games in reverse] #DITTO to comics!! I've adored Harl for YEARS #but it's only the past 3 or 5 that I've been getting more into it #whiiiich then ties over to me learning abt Marvel charas... #(THAT'S been a funnyweird time LOL) #(I love the drama tho.....even when it makes no sense to me) #about me #can't offer a solid timetable tho....I'm terrible with time stuff #what happened when? no idea!!!

[stillwill76]

My 2023 in Summary

Okay, so this year was weird. Like, it wasn't particularly bad but it wasn't great either. Where do I start? I guess the biggest thing that happened was that my wife got laid off from her job and we've worried about that since May. She just got hired for a new job recently and I'm working now too, but more on that in a sec. We had to seriously consider what we were gonna do next if she didn't get a new job by the end of next month. We probably would've had to move back to our hometown. It wouldn't have been the worst thing but we've made a nice life for ourselves where we are now. Thankfully, we have a great network of supportive people who are willing to help us and I'm so grateful for that.

Anyway, I got my first real job a couple of weeks ago. I'm working as a sales associate at my local Vintage Stock, which works for me because I'm autistic so it's nice to be surrounded by stuff pertaining to my special interests (anime, video games, etc.). I haven't had luck with finding a job before because of said autism and a lack of a college degree. I once bombed an interview to work as a library page that it kinda scared me. So that's fun. It's been a big learning experience. A friend of mine from college is my manager so again, I'm really grateful for people in my life. Ordinarily getting a first job is not a huge deal. But I turned 30 this year so yeah. Speaking of which...

I turned 30 back in August. Big milestone, I guess. I don't feel that different. What has happened since I turned 30, you ask? Welp, I accidently ripped off a toenail on the day of birthday party. It's growing back so no worries, nothing serious. Hurt like hell, though. Then my wife and I went on our first vacation since our honeymoon, five years ago. To be specific, our first vacation ALONE. We've been on plenty with friends and family. Anyway, it was super fun. We went to Denver and had a great time. Two of my favorite manga (Undead Unluck and Mashle) got anime adaptations this year, along with the continuation of Bleach: TYBW. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom took over my life for most of May and June and it was great. I found out that my favorite game of all time, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, is getting a remake next year. I went into another indefinite hiatus with streaming. And I found out that I might have scalp psoriasis. Cool.

Like I said, it has been a weird year. But, I am kinda curious to see what 2024 has in store. To anyone reading this, I hope you have a happy New Year!

#2023 in review #happy new year

[nursegracecreates]

Hi! I saw that you were doing creepypasta matchups? If you have time may I request one?

My nickname is cc!

Im demisexual and genderfluid

Im an infj-t

Im 18

I like to excerise, learn new things, play video games, listen to music, and watch do art!

I usually play the last of us,.zero horizon dawn, the legend of zelda (botw), minecraft, roblox, and final fantasy.

My style changes very often but I wear jewelry with my outfits.

I watch cartoons like mlp, the amazing world of gumball, unikitty, old teen titans and more of the older show

I listen to old nostalgic music from 2013-2016 mostly pop! Then I got into heavy metal in 2017-2018 then in 2020 I kinda got into rap but its mostly hyperpop! I also like romance songs especially cigarettes after sex <3

I love retro games and old arcade games like tetras, pacman, space invaders!

Thats all I can think of but if you want more info then just @ me!

Hello CC and welcome to the blog 😊 Reminder than there are still two open slots

You asked for a match, but I'm giving you a wildfire...

BEN

@jadusable

Okay so I really tried to give you someone different than BEN because of your interest in the Legend of Zelda games

But my brain just kinda matched you with BEN without any input from me whatsoever

Like your personality just vibes with BEN, you know?

I actually started writing a great nsfw scenario for your matchup

But I noticed you didn't clarify whether you wanted nsfw or not

If you want that nsfw scenario, let me know, I'd be glad to post it

I think we should start with the biggest thing you have in common with BEN

It's not just the LoZ games, it's gaming in general, and especially the retro part

I can see BEN taking you out to like the old school style arcades

The ones with the gaming cabinets like PacMan, Space Invaders, Mortal Kombat, and pinball machines

He stands behind you while you play a game, supplying you with quarters and breathing words of encouragement and advice into your ear.

Either holds onto the arcade cabinet on either side of you

Or your hips

Definitely lets everyone there know you're his darling

BEN is pretty laid back with you

The two of you spend time off slumming it in sweats and hoodies or your pajamas, watching cartoons and playing console games

Has some jewelry that is very special to him

With enough time, BEN will want you to have them

BEN thinks you're just the coolest, most adorable person ever

He's always wanting to touch you and misses you a lot when he has to be away

Luckily BEN can possess electronics

So he drops in on your phone, laptop, tv... basically any screen that's close to you and available

He doesn't do it to be creepy

And he's sorry if it weirds you out

He just feels better when he's around you.

If he can't be around you...

Well a screen is second best

#creepypasta #creepypasta matchup #creepypasta matchups #romantic matchup #ben drowned #ben drowned x y/n #ben drowned x reader #ben drowned x you #ben drowned lemon #ben drowned 🍋 #🍋

[prof-peach]

If you could cross over two of your favorite games, which would you choose? Please explain, why that crossover would be a good match.

Oh you’re going to regret asking this one, I’m bout to GET SERIOUS.

So Pokemon, obvs, I love the whole world it’s built in, but the games imo are REALLY boring, I haven’t enjoyed one a lot since gale of darkness, the main ones just are a little too linear obvious plots, pretty standard setups for story and style. Speaking of style, the games lack personality, the models aren’t animated well, moves have no dynamic energy or visual difference at times, and the turn based battle style just feels kind of, I don’t know, old? Slow? Just doesn’t suit what I enjoy personally, gives me a FInal Fantasy vibe and I just cannot stand the speed at which things happen in those games, plus not into 3rd person ‘let’s build a team of people’ much, but that’s a problem for another time. With this all in mind, the game I wish would happen is like gen20 Pokemon, far future sadly, I doubt I’d see it in my lifetime but god I’d be happy if I did!

Ok so take the newest Zelda graphics, the visual treat that was BOTW, open world, puzzles, not JUST combat, you got side missions, hunt the chickens, find missing pets, parcels, items, whatever. Love it! The horse taming?! Amazing you funky little game. Now take the bad guys and beasts from that. And put Pokemon in instead. Give them the diversity, the life and believable natures that BOTW gave the animals, I followed a frog in BOTW for 15 minutes, and it was a great experience, it felt like it was believable. Above world spawning, ACTUAL difficult gameplay, rare spawn rates, make dragons hard to get again, cmon, it’s too easy now, make it so we need a certain set of Pokemon for certain tasks. Water types big enough to carry you will be able to get you to new areas, rock types that can help you climb mountains faster, or break through blocking boulders. Actual towns with more than 4 houses in them, shops, barns, farms, homes. Like little link with the heat, maybe ice types would struggle in volcano areas, or bug Pokemon not be so comfortable in gale force winds. Give the weather more of an effect on your partners. Mounts, don’t even get me started that Pokemon Let’s go had you able to ride any of the larger species, but swsh did not???? Bitch please, give me my rideable Pokemon. The wild area too was far too closed, limited, online was laggy and a mess, camping is limited, let me do more with my team. Pokemon for me is all about the actual creatures, how they live with humans, and the many wonderful things they’re capable of. Yes of course it’s cool they can fight, but like what else you know?

I’d love a game that lets me buy a plot of land, maybe plant things, custom build things. I’m a sucker for the fallout4 settlement builds when they’re modded to hell and back, they’re fun! It can be a really calm and creative process. If I could do that and skip the main campaign and all the battles for a bit? Amazing, it sound perfect for me. I am that distracted hoe collecting flowers while the kingdom burns in the background. Side quests are everything to me. Let me give homeless people enough money to get them in a home? Let me adopt Pokemon that are stray around the town? Plz oh plz bring me a Pokemon game that allows me to work WITH my team to do more than KO other species. I want to save and buy a plow for my buddy gogoat, and grow amazing foods to sell to get currency to spend in decorations, to spoil my team. Give me actual game consequence, if I ignore that sick and injured Pokemon I find in the wild, later maybe it’s family don’t want to help me out with a different problem, too stricken from grief. I am all about the average bits, the old women who need help, the lost pets board in town, the general day to day stuff. Let me get cosmetic items for the Pokemon I keep, cute outfits, special gemstone items, let me actually live with them, or even feel remotely like they’re realistic.

Ok so in game, if it’s looking like BOTW it’s pretty beautiful but also stylised, I’d have it so you can send out a maximum of 3 Pokemon from your 6, using bumpers and such to throw them out. If you hit the trigger you switch from controlling the human trainer, to the Pokemon you’ve targeted with a standard lock on targeting system. You then can be the leader, but be the Pokemon. You could technically defeat the game without a human if you wanted, which incorporates the mystery dungeon games I think, and caters to that crowd. I’d love to see the use of attacks out of battle, things like using water gun to grow plants, using ember to start a campfire faster and stave off the cold. There’s no consequence to Pokemon anymore, and I think that’s where it’s lost me. I have to admit I miss the days of a poisoned pokemon fainting if you don’t heal them soon enough, I miss gym battles that were actually tough, damn, try picking charmander in red and beating brock without grinding in viridian forest first, it’s not easy. And I loved that. Yes it’s a child’s game, it will never be difficult again, but god it’d be nice to have a bit of a challenge, or maybe a difficulty setting, so some could play it with hostility turned off, great for kids, or you can be n adult like I know so many Pokemon fans are, and play it on expert mode and ACTUALLY have to work hard to beat the game. Alternate skill trees anyone? Train gun a fire type to ACUTALLy combat water moves?? Please! Cmon! It frustrated me that every challenger has pretty much a systematic set of moves to use to win. Grass opponent? Fire attack spam until you win. It’s dull, so at least with very difficult tricks to either find or learn in game would make it more achievable if you can send that fire type in and I don’t know, train them so much the heat evaporates the water mid-battle and you suddenly have a shot at winning. Pokemon has taught me that if you work hard enough you can achieve something, but the games just have such strict ways to win. Feels wrong.

In terms of battling, let us BE the Pokemon, let us learn to dodge, train our speed, train our defence, make a team of truly tough Pokemon instead of just, average? Some species have a cap on their skills, a squirtle has lower stat points than a Charizard, but you can’t ever change that? Let me choose the Pokemon I believe in, and let me work with them until they’re just as good, if not better than the game tanks. This would also make online battles more interesting. Everyone picks the top trio. Fairy, dragon, legendaries. And yknow what? It’s boring. That one IRL fight with the monster Pacharisu that won in the world tournament with follow me and the situs Berry? Unbelievable, I love that little rat so much because of this, so let us all have a chance to build a team that’s strategically viable, strong, and potentially a winner formula, even if they aren’t fully evolved, or the biggest Pokemon in the world. Yeah maybe you have to grind way harder with your unevolved Pokemon, but you get to the end game and win, because you put love and time into species that you enjoy, not just good fighters.

Unfortunately I am beholdent to Todd-idiot-Howard, and I love the Eldrescrolls and fallout games (before they got dumb, not that I don’t play the new ones. 76 I’m looking at you, you big asshole game.) honestly I hate online games, so none of that junk, just a good old fashioned open world sandbox game is plenty. Games for me are an escape from others, not an invitation to socialise. To each their own of course, and I do play online games sometimes, just pretty short lived ones, over watch and rdr2 for example. Would they be sometimes better on private servers? Yes of course, fallout76? Want to play with others? No. I do not. Please leave me alone. And if you buy a private server you’re feeding the monster that is Todd Howard, the man the myth the asshole, then we’ll get more bad games like 76. I just so desperately want the Pokemon company to see what a beautiful potential game they’ve got on their hands, that could be suitable for far greater audiences, but instead they’ve focused on the kids. It’s fine, it’s functional, but it’s lost to the fans from day 1, that are all 20+ years old now and want something meatier to play, something far more broad and inclusive. I also hate that there’s no wheelchair option in any Pokemon game. Like cmon, it’s not hard to include that.

In short, BOTW + Pokemon, with a sprinkle of open world sandbox to it, less fighting, more fun. Or, at least both options. Sure, go fight everything, great, but I want to farm carrots over here with 6sunflora, plz let me have some peace.

Edit: I forgot about harvest moon, chuck some of that in there too.

SECOND EDIT: someone in the comments mentioned to put this in Unova? Plz love yourselves, this game would be ALL MAPS. Stuff one singular location, this is the ideal game, put every map in it, join them, put islands in, make them more explorable, more detailed!

#pokemon #not peach #OOC

[yourenotacat-writes]

I'm not sure that this is what this thing is for but I just wanted to say that "Sweet Dreams, Princess" is one of my top five fanfictions of all time, and I really appreciate all the effort you put into it :D One of the best parts of it is how you include smell in your descriptions, really brings it to life for me. How did you get started writing fanfiction? Did you play Zelda games as a kid? Tsym for everything!

Omggg thank you so much!!!!! 😭💕

Making my day is exactly what this thing is for lol I'm so glad you like it! I love adding little details like that, and I'm always happy to hear that they're appreciated! Also since you just followed, you probably didn't see this post from a few months ago, but it's the first 1500 words of the next chapter if you're interested! Feel free to ignore me if you already saw it tho lol

Anyway, I read fanfic in late middle school/early high school, but I never really engaged with fandom otherwise and just kind of forgot about it. I wrote original content throughout high school and went to college for screenwriting, but then had a very bad bout of depression which made me stop writing altogether. And then, BotW happened to me. I finished it, cried for 45 minutes, and immediately went to ao3 because I needed more. I got super nostalgic for the fics I'd read in my teens (though tbh it was mostly inappropriate stuff. oh to be young and unsupervised on the late-2000s internet hjghjdf) But it was the first time in a long time that I wanted to write and actually had ideas! SDP made me feel like I could write again or that I was even "allowed" to write again and rekindled that love-hate relationship for writing for me. So my little insomniacs will always have a special place in my heart no matter how much I've neglected them.

And I did!! OoT was one of my first video games! It was my aunt's n64 so I'd play with my cousin and my sister, and the rule was we could do whatever we wanted as long as we didn't save lol We were all under 7 so we didn't do much besides fly around with the cuccos or chase the dogs at nighttime or go fishing, but we played it for hours. And five year old me had the biggest crush on Adult Link, in all his polygonal glory sdfggdf I actually own that n64 and game cartridge now with her save file still intact, and I get extremely sentimental every few years I boot it up to replay and see her name in the second save slot. I also played all the 3D games throughout my life, though I've never finished WW or MM (...I know. Don't look at me like that 😩)

Thank YOU so much for this ask!! I had a difficult week and opening up my askbox to this tonight truly felt like such a gift. Thanks for letting me ramble for a bit 💖

#how did this get so long? fjghdg #thank you for asking!

[rosemirmir]

That's a Shit Mindset You Got There - Fandom & being 25+

I turned 25 earlier this year, and have officially now entered that “too old for fun” zone a lot of people, especially people younger than me and even in my age range(early 20s) have internalized. I think this mindset is shitty, dumb, and it hurts everyone, regardless of age. Even the people perpetuating this bullshit mindset, and I’ve got some stuff to say about that. First and foremost, I’m autistic. I’ve been made fun of for my interests since I was a young kid. I'm talking single digits young too. By my peers, and even my own parents too. Hell my parents still make shitty and snide jokes about me liking and getting excited over Nintendo games and wanting plushies. Not as much as they used to thankfully, but it still happens. So having to deal with having to endure mockery for having "childish interests" by people of literally all ages, from kids around my age at the time (about being 9 years old and throughout my teen years) to various adults, it’s safe to say I learned to deal with comments telling me to “grow up” and “get different interests” since quite a young age.

I was made fun of for liking Pokémon for so much of my childhood as just one example of many things I dealt with. If you’re neurodivergent a sad reality is: that no matter what you like, you will be made fun of by your peers regardless. Or even the adults in your life too. It’s a incredibly shitty thing to  do that really can do serious damage. but that’s a conversation I’ll have more in-depth another day. I really don't know what exactly caused this shift in mindset. As a kid/teen, seeing adults in fandom and just loving the things I love was the coolest shit. It gave me happiness and hope. It told me: "Hey! I can still love these things as an adult!" in a time when I really needed that message. I'll never forget my English teacher in middle school. Once she learned I loved the Legend of Zelda (My favorite video  game series ever and biggest special interest alongside The Leijiverse), I cannot even begin to describe to you how much of a ray of light  hearing that was. Middle school was hell, I barely had any friends and was made fun of daily for a long laundry list of a variety of reasons. One of those many things was the things I enjoyed. She told me how she played  Zelda since it first came out on the NES in the 80s. How she got a Gamecube to play Twilight Princess in the 2000s, and more stories. Her kindness, enthusiasm and her being  so sweet and kind to me, as well as nurturing and encouraging my love for  Zelda I will never forget for as long as I live. I owe so much to her. I truly do. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have become as confident and proud of my fannish nature at such a young age. She changed my life for the better, and I wish i could tell her right now how much of a long lasting positive impact she's had on me. ...What happened? Why are so many kids, and even people in their early 20s so bent over people 25+ being in fandom?? When not even too  long ago I feel, it was a really awesome thing to see. Something to aspire to. Something that gives you hope if people make fun of you for  what you love. Adults, especially Adult women built the foundation for fandom as we know it today. Fandom as we know it today was literally built upon Housewives making kinky Spock/Kirk fanfics, fanart and zines! I don't get this shift. And sadly it's REALLY kicked off and spread in the past couple years. When it comes to having this shit internalized: this mindset is harmful to EVERYONE. Teens, adults, anyone of any age. And for the people under 25 that have this internalized and/or say this to others it will hurt you too. As you inch closer to 25, what will you do when you get there? Get rid  of your merch? Delete any fanworks you might have made? Give up something that's made you happy? If you want to make yourself miserable then, be my guest! I’ve seen many people in distress over “I’ll have to give this up   soon because I’ll be too old” when it comes to fandom. I've seen way   too many cases of this, and it's incredibly depressing. Especially as someone who was made fun of for their interests for so much of their youth. Again, going back to when I was in the single digits!! And still even deals with it from my family, people who are supposed to support you unconditionally. I’m gonna tell you this, if you think you gotta give up these things when you become 25: NO YOU DO NOT! Do not give up something that gives you pure joy in life.

This world is buckwild. It really is, having something that gives you happiness is so goddamn important. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.The world is on fire, we are in a pandemic still, horrible things happen so much and yet we are forced to march on to act like all this shit is normal when it's not. The mindset of once you become 25 “that you gotta give up fandom” and “find less childish/more adult interests” in general is bullshit and harmful. Please let yourself have things to enjoy. It’s so important in this world. Permit yourself to have happiness, please. If you have something that gives you happiness: HOLD ON TO IT! Don’t let it go, never let it go, no matter what anyone tells you. This mindset of once you reach a certain age and you gotta give in your "ability to have fun" card and go off to to taxes and shit is nonsense and horrible and I wanted to speak about it for a moment, because nobody should have this internalized. Nobody.

(Ending Note: This post is available on my Dreamwidth, as well as the original version being on my Neocites. This is the version from my DW with that contains some slight updates compared to the original blog post and I wanted to crosspost it here as well.)

#fandom #fandom meta #lemon speaks #long post #my own meta #forgive me if there are any extra spaces I did my best with fixing the formatting of this post when i copy + pasted it from DW #but yeah! this is a really important topic to me #so i wanted to post it here too