#hyrule is pretty broken in this story

[rawliverandgoronspice]

Hello!! I'm back for: more whining about TotK Quest Design Philosophy

I can't reblog a really great post I just saw for some reason (tumblrrrr *shakes my fist*), but hmmmm yeah not only do I completely agree, but I think I might expand on why I feel so much annoyance towards TotK's quest design philosophy at some point, because it does extend past the fundamentally broken setup of trying to punch a pseudo-mystery game on top of BotW's bones, where the core objective was always explicit and centered and stapled the entire world together; or the convoluted and inefficient way it tells its story through the Tears, the somehow single linear exploration-driven quest in the entire game.

Basically: I'm talking about the pointless back-and-forths. There were a lot of them, a lot that acted against the open world philosophy, and almost none of them ever recontextualized the environment through neither gameplay abilities nor worldbuilding nor character work.

I'll take two examples: the initial run to Hyrule Castle (before you get your paraglider), and then the billion back-and-forths in the Zora questline.

I think?? the goal of that initial quest to Hyrule Castle is to familiarize you with the landmark, introduce the notion that weapons rot, tell you about the gloom pits, and also tell you that Zelda sightings are a thing? But to force any of these ideas on you before giving you a paraglider is, in my opinion, pretty unnecessary. I think the reason it happens in that order is to prevent Link from simply pummeling down to the gloom pit under Hyrule Castle and fight Ganondorf immediately while still introducing ideas surrounding the location; but genuinely, the Zelda sighting makes the next events even more confusing? Why wouldn't you focus all your priorities in reaching the castle if you just saw her there? Why lose time investigating anything else? Genuinely: what is stopping you from getting your paraglider and immediately getting yourself back there, plunging into the depths to try and get to the literal bottom of this? (beyond player literacy assuming this is where the final boss would be, and so not to immediately spoil yourself --which, in an open world game, you should never be able to spoil yourself by engaging with the mechanics normally, and if you can that's a genuine failure of design)

I think, personally, that you should not have been pointed to go there at all. That anything it brings to the table, you could have learned more organically by investigating yourself, or by exploring in that direction on your own accord --or, maybe you think Zelda is up there in the castle, and then the region objectives become explicitely about helping you reaching that castle (maybe by building up troops to help you in a big assault, or through the Sages granting you abilities to move past level-design oriented hurdles in your way, etc). Either way: no need to actually make you walk the distance and back, because the tediousness doesn't teach you anything you haven't already learned about traversal in the (extremely long, btw, needlessly so I would say) tutorial area.

But to take another example, I'll nitpick at a very specific moment in the Zora Questline, that is honestly full of these back-and-forth paddings that recontextualize absolutely nothing and teach you nothing you didn't already know. The most egregious example, in my opinion, is the moment where you are trying to find the king, and you have to learn by listening in to the zora children who do not let you listening in.

So okay. I think Zelda is great when it does whimsy, and children doing children things guiding you is a staple of the series, and a great one at that. But here? It does not work for me on any level. Any tension that could arise from the situation flattens because nobody seems to care enough about their king disappearing in the middle of a major ecological crisis, except for children who are conveniently dumb enough not to graps the severity of the situation, but not stressed out enough that it could be construed as a way for them to cope about it and make anything feel more serious or pressing. It feels like a completely arbitrary blocker that isn't informed by the state of the world, doesn't do anything interesting gameplay-wise with this idea, doesn't build up the mood, and genuinely feels like busywork for its own sake.

This is especially tragic when the inherent concept of "the zora king has been wounded by what most zoras would believe to be Zelda and is hiding from his own people so the two factions do not go to war over it" has such tension and interest and spark that the game absolutely refuse to explore --instead having you collect carved stones who do not tell you anything new, splatter water in a floating island, thrud through mud who feel more like an inconvenience than a threat or, hey, listen to children playing about their missing king less than a couple of years after being freed from Calamity Ganon's menace. It feels like level designers/system designers having vague technical systems that are hard-coded in the game now, and we need to put them to use even if it's not that interesting, not that fun or not that compelling. It's the sort of attitude that a lot of western RPGs get eviscerated for; but here, for some reason, it's just a case of "gameplay before story", instead of, quite simply, a case of poorly thought-out gameplay.

Not every quest in the game is like this! I think the tone worked much better in the sidequests overall, that are self-contained and disconnected from the extremely messy main storyline, and so can tell a compelling little tale from start to finish without the budget to make you waddle in a puddle of nothing for hours at a time. It's the only place where you actually get character arcs that are allowed to feel anything that isn't a variation on "very determined" or "curious about the zonai/ruins", and where you get to feel life as it tries to blossom back into a new tomorrow for Hyrule.

But if I'm this harsh about the main storyline, it really is because I find it hard to accept that we do not criticize a structure that is at times so half-assed that you can almost taste employees' burnout seeping through the cracks --the lack of thematic ambition and self-reflection and ingeniosity outside of system design and, arguably at times, level design-- simply because it's Hyrule and we're happy to be there.

There's something in the industry that is called the "wow effect", which is their way to say "cool" without saying "cool". It's basically the money shots, but for games: it's what makes you go "ohhhh" when you play. And it's great! The ascension to the top of the Ark was one of them --breathtaking, just an absolute high point of systems working together to weave an epic tale. You plummeting from the skies to the absolute depths of hell is another one; most of the dungeons rely on that factor to keep your attention; the entire Zelda is a dragon storyline is nothing but "wow effect" (and yeah, the moment where you do remove the Master Sword did give me shivers, I'll admit to this willingly) and so is Ganondorf's presence and presentation in the game --he's here to be cool, non-specifically mean, hateable in a non-threatening way and to give us a good sexy time, do not think about it too hard. What bothers me is that TotK's world has basically nothing to offer but "wow effect"; that if you bother to dig at anything it presents you for more than a second, everything crumbles into incoherence --not only in story, but in mood, in themes, in identity. This is a wonderfully fun game with absolutely nothing to say, relying on the cultural osmosis and aura of excellency surrounding Zelda to pass itself off as meatier than it really is. This is what I say when I criticize it as self-referential to a fault; half of the story makes no sense if this is your first Zelda game, and what little of that world there is tends to be deeply unconcerned and uncurious about itself.

And no, Breath of the Wild wasn't like this. Breath of the Wild was deeply curious about itself; the entire game was built off curiosity and discovery, experimentation and challenge (and I say this while fully admitting I had more fun with the loop of TotK, which I found more forgiving overall). The traversal in Tears of the Kingdom is centered around: how do I skip those large expanses of land in the most efficient and fun way possible. How do I automate these fights. How do I find resources to automate both traversal and fights better. It's a game that asks questions (who are the zonais, who is Rauru and what is his deal, what is the Imprisoning War about, where is Zelda), and then kind of doesn't really care about the answers (yeah the zonais are like... guys, they did a cool kingdom, Rauru used to run it, the Imprisoning War is literally whatever all you have to care about is who to feel sad for and who to kill about it and you don't get a choice and certainly cannot feel any ambiguous feelings about any of that, and Zelda is a dragon but we will never expand on how it felt for her to make such a drastic and violent choice and also nobody cares that's a plot point you could *remove* from the game without changing the golden path at all).

I'm so aggravated by the argument "in Zelda, it's gameplay before story" because gameplay is story. That's the literal point of my work as a narrative designer: trying to breach the impossibly large gap between what the game designers want to do, and what the writers are thinking the game will be about (it's never the same game). And in TotK, the game systems are all about automation and fusion. It's about practicality and efficiency. It's also about disconnecting stuff from their original purpose as you optimize yourself out of danger, fear, or curiosity --except for the way you can become even more efficient. And sure, BotW was about this too; but you were rewarded because you had explored the world in the first place, experimented enough, put yourself in danger, went to find out the story of who you used to be and why you should care about Hyrule. I'm not here to argue BotW was a well-written game; I think it was pretty tropey at large to be honest, safe for a couple of moments of brilliance, but it had a coherent design vision that rewarded your curiosity while never getting in the way of the clarity of your objective. There is a convolutedness to TotK that, to me, reveals some extremely deep-seated issues with the direction the series is heading towards; one that, at its core, cares more about looking the part of a Zelda game than having any deeper conversation about what a Zelda game should be.

#thoughts #tloz #totk #totk critical #when will my brain return from the imprisoning war... #quest design #game design #level design #game criticisim #I think the more time goes on and the more uncomfortable I am with “if the game is fun it's good” #sometimes the game is fun and the game is empty #fun games can be addictive and predatory on purpose #(not saying totk is but it is well known that fun is not a neutral feeling) #fun can also reinforce questionable ideas of what “fun” should even look like #*side-eying CoD and co* #and fun =/= coherent always #if we're talking about games like artpieces #then you don't get to pick and choose which parts matter and which parts don't #you can absolutely say “I resonated with it for X and Y” but to make an argument that people who feel uncomfortable by content #that is in the game!! put in the game!! on purpose!! #is not a very productive attitude let's say

[breannasfluff]

Hyrule’s hope for a relaxing evening is broken by Wind’s question.

“So, we’ve compared battle scars, but who’s come the closest to death?” His sense of after-dinner conversation leaves a lot to be desired.

Twilight groans where he sits on his log and Time frowns, likely judging whether this conversation should be derailed or not.

Sky breaks in before anyone else. “Actually, I fell off Skyloft one time.” His ears redden as they swivel to stare at him. “I was maybe drinking at the inn, okay? And one of the older knights was supposed to give me a ride because I didn’t have my loftwing yet, but he was drunk too. So, over I went, misjudging the edge, and he was, ah…a bit slow to pick up on the fact he needed to catch me.”

Warriors zeroes in on the most important detail, “You get drunk?”

“It was one time! Never again!”

Too late; Four is pointing and laughing. “The great Chosen Hero almost met his end before his journey even began!”

Sky grumbles under his breath; red, but not too mad at the laughter at his expense. “What about you, Wind?”

“Oh, easy, there was this storm at sea one time.” A faint shudder at the memory. “Everyone had to tie themselves on so they didn’t fall off, but if the ship went down, we’d be done for. I’m pretty sure I kissed the sand when we made it back to shore.”

“What about you, Hyrule?” Twilight glances up from where he’s stripping twigs idly off a stick.

“Me?” He pauses to sort through his adventure. “Um, well there were these assassins after me and—”

“Yiga!” Wild’s sharp voice breaks through his story.

“What?”

The champion’s eyes go wider as if realizing a slip. ‘What?’ he signs back.

Confirmation he didn’t mean to share that, then. “Who are the Yiga?”

‘No one. You were saying?’

Hyrule can’t help but frown at the blatant misdirection but lets it slide. “Well, there were these assassins and…” The atmosphere of the group is going decidedly downhill and he scrambles mentally to change direction. Right, near death in this cause doesn’t seem to be linked to journeys to save Hyrule.

“Okay, so this one time I was looking for a hidden entrance to a cave behind all these bushes. Burning them down was going to be the fastest way to find it. But, ah, I might have misjudged how dry the bushes were…and set the whole area on fire.”

Wild’s laughing, likely familiar with the strategy. He’s careful with fire in their eras, but his can weather a burnt field better.

Legend gives him a sharp look like he’d like to know where the assassin story was going, but Hyrule only responds with a serene smile. There’s no need to ruin the evening. “Wild? What about you?”

“Oh!” Wind breaks in with excitement. “I bet you have some great story with bombs and your paraglider and—and arrows, all while fending off a Kraken!”

“What on earth do you think Wild did on his journey?” Four says.

Wind rolls his eyes. “Kicked ass, duh.”

“Language, Wind.”

Read the rest here!

#linked moments #linked universe #lu wild #lu hyrule #lu wolfie #lu sky #hurt/comfort #breannasfluff #linked universe fanfic #linkeduniverse #my writing

[r0sequarks]

doodles for a tears of the kingdom roleswap au, because those will forever be my jam and i really like the idea of playable zelda. notes/rambling under the cut.

Scavenged Zonai tech instead of Ultrahand (she made it herself??)

idk if the stone stays a necklace or goes on a hand or what

Maybe Zonai glasses? idk

She has an undershirt b/c boobs. Patterned off main padding.

Zonai Survey Team + Hylian Armor (people just give Zelda shit)

Bow of Light - summons freely, acts like Master Sword, powers up with shrines?

Text is readable (Purah: stealing my look! rude!)

And then the general core conceits of Playable TotK Zelda:

Archer - ranged combat focus/optimized

Princess/General - focus on group combat (sages / monster squad / Gerudo Town)

Priestess - Light + Time magic, upgrades

Zonai Researcher - extra knowledge in ruins, can read tet, can do more with scavenging

I need to finish the final boss fight before I decide what entirely Link's role ends up as, but he's sent back in time injured with the broken sword while Zelda is teleported by the Purah Pad away to the Sky Island. IDK if she still has Rauru (or Mineru) as a guide, but even if she does, she's a lot more self sufficient, and scavenges/builds the tech to interface with Zonai devices herself instead of just being given the Ultrahand. I think she still gets the same abilities, but like. She's doing it herself. very stressed out this is fine energy.

Zelda on the sky island is probably more than a little feral researcher. It's her getting used to combat. When we started with the broken master sword, I though the game was going to let you keep it and power it up over time; I'm glad that's not how it went but I do think it would be interesting, so Zelda gets to summon a bow and it levels up over time (probably connected to the shrines system, because Holy Light, but idk how exactly). She can use swords and other weapons, but she definitely defaults more ranged.

Zelda also gets magic, which is obviously the Time Rune stuff, but I think also it would be cool if she had a light power unarmed attack (similar to but weaker than the Yiga Earthwave you can unlock). I like the idea of a playthrough where you never pick up a sword and you just keep light blasting people and dodging even though it is almost certainly the weaker attack. feral untrained self taught mages are and forever will be my jam.

When Zelda returns to Hyrule proper, I think the reactions are very different, because everyone pretty much agrees she's in charge (even if, perhaps, she doesn't). I also think that, well, people are less worried about Link being missing than they are about Zelda - the Lucky Clover isn't running stories about him, y'know? As such it's driven by what Zelda wants - which is to find Link, even if it''s not what others want.

Zelda as princess I think also plays interestingly into the group combat TotK introduces; I think in her game she acts more as general and they're more common. Not that she can't be on front lines, but it'd be pretty easy to play letting the Sages eat up melee while she's sniping. I also think she gets magic that can heal allies, making them more useful in fights to some extent. This would maybe be very messy in a real game but this is a theory baybee!

Although I think that's probably similarly limited / you don't have to drag people around while climbing mountains. Which, to be clear, she still does. It's been like five years and she's clearly been traveling the world with Link still at her side, there's no way that she's not just as feral an adventurer as he is. She's just better as passing as normal.

The big change in exploration is the various ruins, because she actually knows shit. I like to imagine there's some feature Zelda can use to sort of take notes on basically any Zonai or other ancient shit you find anywhere. She doesn't need to run back to Kakariko Village to translate, she's putting stuff together herself. This is maybe manifested by Zonai glasses/mask, which replaces/augments the Camera feature? And then upgrades to help you better see stuff? idk. [let the purah scope zoom in and out. ideal fix. kthxbai]

as for how Zelda interacts with the world...that's kind of complicated but really interesting. she's the beloved princess, but she is the Princess, and for the other four nations, specifically, Not Their Princess. like the dynamic with the Sages definitely changes. There's probably some themes there to parallel Zelda with Rauru but like that means there are Implications and I need to think more on that than 2am.

#tears of the kingdom #totk #totk spoilers #totk au #totk zelda #zelda #roleswap au #totk roleswap au #my art

[candy8448]

Thoughts on how the portals work and LU:

1. The story starts in the first world they've been to

This is clearly the first portal they have all gone through together, so this is probably the first world they met in. This proves that instead of picking eachother up one by one like i see in many fics, they all seem to have been dumped somewhere and wandered around until they found eachother (Though it would be funny if they were all dripped into the same clearing, very confused) the fact they need to confirm with one another seems to mean that they were dropped somewhere seperately though (imagine if they fought they found everyone and the hero of spirit tracks and hero from triforce heroes are still just wandering around in that forest, very confused)

(Tbh i was never really fond of the chain meets eachother one by one kind of fics)

This also shows that they haven't been together for too long, going onto my next point...

2. LU seems to be taking place at the begining of them meeting

They still dont know why they have been brought together, and they haven't seen the black blood yet, meaning they probably just met only a while ago

There also seems to be stuff about eachother that seems like would be used a lot but they still don't know.

The champion's memories,

The rune abilities,

Hyrule's healing magic.

Surely these would have been used before (especially the healing magic) but the others dont know about them, so they haven't been together long enough to see these happening or needing them.

Wind is only just figuring out that Time came before him. I know they don't use their title named around eachother but surely Wind would have been able to piece this together sooner if they had been together longer. The fact that he only just seems to have gotten enough information shows that it hasn't been too long since they met, but still long enough to hear enough stories around a fire or such.

However, they did seem to be together quite a while to get this broken over someone getting hurt. I know the situation is incredibly dire but the fact that they are arguing like this shows that they deeply care for one another. They have been together long enough to develop a really strong bond.

(Also, they have been together long enough to fight well as a group)

3.

*shuffles through notes*

Going back to my first point, the chain probably stay in each world for a very long time. If they haven't gone through a portal together yet, but they still have these incredibly deep bonds, then they must have stayed in each hyrule for a pretty ling time, maybe a few months to perhaps even a year.

In many fics, i tend to see that they only have like 3 days to stay in each world, they never seem to stay in a world for very long.

4. They appear out of a portal in one group

In lu, they come out of the portal in one group, then decide to split up themselves for information. In many fics, i see that they appear split up and need to find eachother which, while good for story, just doesnt seem to be the case.

Of course it doesnt have to apply to any fics you write, it was just some stuff i wanted to point out that i noticed

#i do a little ramble #the legend of zelda #linked universe #linkeduniverse #lu chain #lu legend #lu sky #lu wild #lu #lu four #lu time #lu hyrule #lu twilight #lu wind #lu warriors

[the-depths-au]

FAQ

*this post continues heavy totk spoilers

How did it start?

A lot of people started posting some really cool art of a TotK ending where Zelda returns as a hybrid dragon creature thing. I saw a few that called it a “bad” ending and I noticed she was often portrayed with dominantly human-features just like, with horns or a tail, or the purple eyes, etc. I love to play video games(clearly) and I enjoy the challenge of seeing various endings, not just “secret endings” (think Heavy Rain, Until Dawn, The Witcher 3, Drakengard- anyone else play this?) I got to thinking about how her coming back didn’t really like a true “bad ending”. To me, a bad ending, really, would be one in which she didn’t get to magically, miraculously come back in any form. A bad ending to me would be Mineru’s warning held true. And in doing so, it would become The Legend of Zelda because she becomes the stuff of myths. Of true Legend. Fulfilling destiny (botw-era and the series as a whole). My brain sort of took off from there regarding the implications this would have on Hyrule and specially, our boy Link.

How could you! A Bad ending? Is this story at least hurt and eventual comfort??? Does it have a happy ending??

I could tag this hurt and comfort, but usually people who read these types of stories have certain expectations of what “comfort” is (and that’s okay!). Same with a “happy” ending. I don’t need stories to be wrap up in a bow with warmth to enjoy them. Honestly, some of the stories that have touched me the most over the years have had “sad” endings/negative character arcs/tragedy. That being said, I don’t particularly enjoy pure whump, either. What I feel is most important and what I am to do with this story, is to make any suffering meaningful. With purpose. And hopefully- maybe- you’ll see the “comfort” that is possible even in these types of stories.

Wait! So Zelda remains a dragon?

Yes. They defeat the demon dragon. Rauru and Sonia appear in a silent thanks, then they disappear and Link falls from the sky alone into the water. The Light Dragon continues along in her flight above him.

Link is also the only one who can see/has ever seen the Light Dragon.

Are there any other major changes from TotK?

It follows the game pretty closely. It’s just hard to say exactly what is in this story from TotK because there is just so much. In BotW, I headcanon Link took his time. He doesn’t remember anything. He is alone, lost, and the world is a vast, broken place. Therefore, it is plausible/ realistic in my head for all the side questions to be done prior to the ending being reached. In TotK, especially with the headcanon he and Zelda were together in the time between BotW and TotK, I had a hard time imagining Link would waste much time on anything unnecessary to save Zelda. So, with this in mind, I’ve had to justify the side questions to include in the story. Link’s journey is a bit different than my own. Whereas I actually spent 80% of my playthrough exploring the depths, this Link only went down when necessary. Meaning many of the lightroots have not been unlocked and he only has part of the armor of the depths. In the Linktober and the early concept, he has the entire set but this has been changed for the main comic.

How far after the events of TotK does this take place?

Five years.

Is it completely planned out?

Yes. I have a complete rough story outline done. It’s 17 chapters. I am anticipating some editing as I go, but regardless, it’s a big project. A huge shout out to @zeldaelmo and @fioreofthemarch for helping me get the story set. They are both phenomenal writers for the LoZ fandom so be sure to check them out!

What happened to the comic?

I made the decision to tell this story (initially) in writing. I have a very specific style in mind for this story as a full comic and honestly, I just don't feel like my artistic ability and overall proficiency is where I want it to be at this time. I'm still learning! I will be continuing to post art, concept art, and some comic panels here as I go and eventually, I would love to adapt the story into a full comic, but for now, I'll be telling the main story in writing.

How long have you been drawing?

I’ve been drawing all my life. Just for fun, although I took a few classes in school. Digitally, self-taught, since fall 2022. Still very new to this with lots to learn! I have a minor in creative writing and feel much more confident and comfortable with that.

Feel free to send me a DM with questions anytime! I plan to update this periodically.

Last updated 2/26/24

#FAQ

[sleepy-the-loz-enthusiast]

Hey' I'm the one who sent the ask about modern au Four. It's fine that you lost the ask. I'm just excited for the you to share stuff about Four.

Aaaaaaa you're too kind thank you-

Here's the Four stuff you've been promised !!!

Just to preface, Four does not have DID or any similar conditions, just for the reason that I don't know enough about it to be able to potray it in a respectful and accurate way. If you do imagine Four with DID, that's valid, but they aren't here.

However, Four does categorise their thoughts into four categories-

Red: red represents emotional intelligence, compassion, and empathy

Blue: blue represents passion, protectiveness, and fury

Green: green represents loyalty, courage, and leadership

Violet: vio represents intelligence, knowledge, and dedication

Four just finds it easier to deal with conflicting thoughts by giving them names to better identify how they're feeling.

Anyways

Four is 15 in this au, though mistaken for much younger. He used to date a mysterious guy who called himself Shadow, but he went missing without a proper goodbye. Four's determined to find the cause of it, and so has developed an unhealthy addiction to true crime podcasts and researching similar macabre things. However on a different note, they also love fairytales and researching old folk stories. They pull a lot of allnighters... and have suffered a few broken toes for it.

Speaking of, Four lives with his Grandfather in a forge. After their father died at war and mother died in childbirth, Four's very close with his Grandfather and often helps out in the forge. Don't be fooled by their height or age; this fella's got biceps for days and is a very proficient blacksmith. He helps his Grandfather make weaponry for the Royal Family.

Four's also best friends with Dot since childhood !!

They have chronic migraines and hate it. Like, to the point where at worst he will be knocked out for days at a time, only waking up to eat, drink, and use the bathroom. They like to hide in the basement when this happens, I know there's nothing in canon about a basement but creative liberties?? because it's quiet, dark, and he doesn't need to move much. Their Grandfather's gotten pretty good at playing nurse while also working. At best it doesn't come to that, and Four's just heavily fatigued for a day and hates being around people. Oh, and he's developed a strong tolerance for most painkillers, rendering them ineffective. Poor guy.

Four's good friends with Wild, Legend, Hyrule, and Ravio at school, despite them being a year older. He's also friends with Wind and acts as a scary older brother figure to ward off anyone who tries messing with him. Despite the fact that Wind is taller and very capable of standing up for himself.

Four's also incredibly smart and fairly athletic, so they're pretty popular with students and teachers alike. People joke about them being able to read minds, but in truth Four's just observant and quick to make connections. He's won the school many prizes for maths and science. Buut Four's attendance isn't the greatest thing ever, and at least where I'm from teachers are kinda assholes about that. At least his grades and general attitude make up for it.

Four and Ravio have gotten into a physical fight over Monopoly before.

Aaaand with that, ramble over !

Thank you for the ask and I hope you liked reading this, have a great existence !!!!

#tloz #lu #linked universe #modern au #rambles #lu four #more exposition yay

[hotcheetohatredwastaken]

Introduction Post (Updated 3/23/2024)

Hello strangers and acquaintances, friends and enemies, welcome to the blog! I'm HotCheetoHatred (or just Cheeto, if you prefer) she/her, fanfic writer, broke college student, and mayonnaise hater! I mainly engage with Linked Universe, but I may occasionally reblog other things. My ask box is open!

For more information, including common tags and a planned chapter list for my fic Blood Drops on Roses, and links (heh) to some of my other works, see below the cut.

Note: BDOR is on Hiatus until May

Common Tags:

My general tags:

#cheetoasks #cheetotalks #cheetoanswers

Tags for my writing:

#bdor #blooddropsonroses #cheetowrites

Other common tags:

#not mine #cheetoficrec #pretty art #miracle whip propaganda #cursed consumables with cheeto #blessed consumables with cheeto

Chapter Lists (Subject to Change):

Blood Drops on Roses (Arc 1):

The Beginning 

A Quiet Morning 

Chasing Cuccos 

An Oddity 

Negotiations Pt 1 

Negotiations Pt 2 

Broken Pt 1 

Broken Pt 2

Little White Lies

Reunion

The Matriarch

Doubts Pt 1 

Doubts Pt 2 

Failure

A Trail of Blood and Shadows Pt 1

A Trail of Blood and Shadows Pt 2

A Trail of Blood and Shadows Pt 3 

A Trail of Blood and Shadows Pt 4

Settling In

Bargaining: The Third Stage of Grief

A Stressful Night (D:<)

Noble's Warning

The Wolf

Differences

A Friendly Spar

Rito

A Monster Fight (D:<)

Stitches

Guardians

Hateno Fort (D:<)

An Unfriendly Spar

A Covert Meeting (D:<)

Bows and Beetles; Stars

Too Quiet

A Frantic Search

A Call for Help

Heal

[Redacted]

A Midnight Snack

Little Talks Pt 1

Little Talks Pt 2

A Conspiracy

Rusting on the Forest Floor

Omissions

Sink or Swim

[Redacted]

Cooking Pt 1

Cooking Pt 2

Lunch and Dinner

The Heavy Mantle of a Hero

Ruse

Ancestry

Onto the Next Adventure

Centenarians

A Question of History

A Golden Rupee

Home

An Esteemed Guest Pt 1

An Esteemed Guest Pt 2

An Alley Fight

Fireworks Pt 1

Fireworks Pt 2

A Soft Night

Trust

Resolutions (D:<)

[Redacted] (D:<)

An Interesting Request

Returning

Scolding Pt 1

Scolding Pt 2

Interrogation

Lies

The Last Straw

[Redacted]

Storm

A Last Stand

Settling In

Warnings

A Sweet Memory

The Haircut (?)

Exchange

Blood Drops on Roses (Arc 2): Coming Soon!

:D

Prologue (Really Subject to Change):

The Yiga and The Sheikah (7/7)

A Haircut (5/5)

Ballrooms and Buffoonery (1/1)

The Sword that Learned to Speak (2/?)

The Wolf that Learned to Sign

The Trap (1/3)

The "Prank"

Memories

Horseshoes and Storm-y Tempers

Runaway

The Wolf in the City

ABC's and Black Eyes

Alla'yall'd've

Revali's Gale

Daruk's Protection

Urbosa's Fury

Mipha's Grace

After the Calamity

No Air to Breathe

FebuWhump:

Individual Stories:

Day 1 — Helplessness (Time POV & Legend)

Day 9 — Bees (Wild POV & Wind)

Day 10 — Killing In Self Defense (Sky POV & Warrior)

Day 12 — Semiconscious (Four POV)

DAY 24: "I'm Doing This Because I Care About You" (Legend POV)

Modern AU "Wild's Wolf"

Day 2 — Isolation (Wild POV & Wolf)

Day 4 — Obedience Pt 1 (Time POV and Wild)

Day 6 — "You (They) Lied to Me" (Time POV & Wild)

Day 15 — "Who Did This To You?" (Time POV & Twilight)

Who Heals the Healer?

Day 3 — "Bite Down on This" (Four POV & Warrior)

Day 7 — Suffering In Silence (Hyrule POV)

Day 21 — Unresponsive (Legend POV)

The Captain's Sacrifice

Day 5 — Rope Burns (Wind POV & Hyrule)

Day 16 — Human Shield (Warrior POV & Legend & Twilight)

Day 17 — Hostage Situation (Warrior POV)

DAY 22 — "You Weren't Meant to be There" (Wind POV & Warrior)

Cracks in the Ice

Alt 7 — Last Words (Twilight POV)

ALT 5 —CPR (Legend POV & Wind)

The Yiga

Day 19 — "Please Don't" (Legend POV)

DAY 25 — Waterboarding (Wild POV)

DAY 26 — "help them" (Time POV & Legend)

The Dangers of Dungeon Diving

Day — 14 Blood-Stained Tiles (Warrior POV & Legend)

DAY 23 — Presumed Dead (Sky POV & Twilight)

A Sick Dog

DAY 27: left for dead ALT 10 — Last Man Standing (Twilight POV, Four, & Wind)

DAY 28 — "No... not like this" (Hyrule POV, Wild & Twilight)

DAY 29 — Not Allowed to Die (Wild POV & Twilight)

Congrats on making it this far, go drink some water. The list above will update alongside new releases. I will strive to release one chapter of BDOR or Prologue every weekend, and if I am putting out a lot of Prologue, know that the main fic is fighting me (even though it's already 90% written, it's just rude to me D:) and send help XD.

#I hope that I did this right #everyone else did a intro post #I wanted one too #bdor #blooddropsonroses #cheetotalks #linked universe #linkeduniverse #should I be doing an introduction post in the main tags? #sorry ya'll please be patient with me #I am new to the internet XD #intro post #blog intro #I SEE ALL OF YOU LIKING THIS BEFORE I FINISH IT #QUIT IT #cheetowrites

[nocturnalfandomartist]

💛 I Remember You 💛

Time Elapsed: 1 hour, 11 minutes

Program used: Ibis Paint X

(This doodle is me coping with the Tears of the Kingdom trailer and pretending they aren't about to be traumatized more).

BotW/ToTK will forever be my favorite version of Zelink. They've been through a whole lot together, and seeing them reunited at the end of BoTW is so sweet (especially in the context of the diaries outside of the English translation)! Such a shame everyone's probably dead. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted...

I cannot express enough how agonizing it has been to wait for more news on TotK! So when I saw a Nintendo Direct was coming up, I was unable to focus on anything else. I knew we were bound to get info, but I was NOT READY FOR THIS

Everything about that trailer was so well done, it makes the wait for May seem even longer! A few thoughts I had personally:

1. Ganondorf is pretty decent casting. I'm admittedly surprised he doesn't sound hoarse or anything considering he's a reanimated corpse, but it's still menacing!

2. I'm convinced Ganondorf and Zelda are going to take the forms/powers of Demise and Hylia at this point with all these parallels...

3. POSSIBLE MORE RUNES MAKE ME SO EXCITED! We thought Link getting a motorcycle gave us too much power... Now we have cars and mechanical gliders.

4. It doesn't seem Zelda is getting damseled! That makes me so happy. I figured she wouldn't be playable (unfortunately), but it at least seems she'll have a presence throughout the story! Perhaps a Skyward Sword situation where she must go on a journey of her own? Maybe in the form of flashbacks to the previous Zelda from 10,000 years ago? If it goes with a SS route, maybe that leaves room for a playable Zelda in post-game.

5. All the monsters look stronger than before, and there are even new ones! I tried to see if those dino bird things matched up with any classic enemies, but they didn't seem to be so. Either way, they're awesome!

6. I can't wait to explore where all the characters are after a potential time skip. Zelda especially! She got so much character in BotW, and I am going to love seeing more of it!

7. If Zelda doesn't end up becoming Hylia, I'm also wondering if the previous Zelda ends up being revealed to be the same one (same with Link) due to time travel shenanigans like in Skyward Sword.

8. If Zelda and Link don't kiss or address Zelda's feelings for him at least once I will be very sad (but I'll love the game anyway).

9. I hope to see the cycle broken here. That seems to be where this is leading! It would be great to watch Zelda and Link finish off Demise's curse once and for all and finally have the peace Hyrule has been fighting to have for eons.

10. Hopefully Link's diary won't be lost in translation this time! Adding those little details like that made BotW even better than it already was.

11. LINK THREW THE MASTER SWORD ASIDE TO CATCH ZELDA I CAN'T- But poor Fi. Hope she's doing okay with the whole Malice infestation thing. This is a stretch, but perhaps there will be a return of Ghirahim or his sword form. That'd be cool.

12. It looks like there's potential for more old-school dungeons! With the Divine Beasts seemingly inactive, Link may have to travel through monster-ridden ruins to drive them out of Hyrule.

13. I'm excited to see details on the time between BotW and TotK, like how Zelda got her hair cut! It'll be nice to see which NPCs changed and which haven't (Beedle is probably the same and will be the same even as all of existence crumbles around him).

14. Maybe the memory mechanic will be implemented again by Link recalling his past life 10,000 years ago?

Alright, sorry for the ramblings here. I'm too excited. I have lots more thoughts, but I'll share them in the future. May 12 can't come fast enough!

Reblogging is fine, but please don't post this anywhere else without linking the original post. Thanks!

#artists on tumblr #fanart #doodles #legend of zelda #link zelda #loz zelda #princess zelda #zelink #zelda x link #zelda #zelda fanart #loz fanart #link x zelda #zelda botw #botw fanart #botw zelink #totk trailer #totk zelink #zelda tears of the kingdom #tears of the kingdom #zelda breath of the wild #breath of the wild #zelink fanart #my art #fanart zelda

[thunderpetal]

So, I love hearing about why favorites are favorites! Why are Wind and Time your die-for favs?

THANK you for the ask <3

For Wind, I think I first played Wind Waker exactly when I joined the LU fandom properly, and oh my god, I LOVE Wind Waker. It genuinely had such a big impact on me on the first playthrough (and does to this day), and I was still going through all the emotions when I was reading LU and starting to engage with the fandom.

Wind has such a good story in Wind Waker, and I could write an essay about it tbh but I'll save it for another time. I also absolutely adore how he is written in the comic; I think it's perfect. He has the immaturity you'd expect from a 13 year old boy, such as not always being the most tactful, jumping straight into situations without Fully considering them, and having some quite strong almost black-and-white opinions on complicated topics (see the Kings of Hyrule comic). But you can also leverage all of those criticisms at the other boys who are supposedly older and wiser than Wind LOL. What makes him great is how his younger age and strong personality also give him a completely different point of view. Despite having gone through a certain amount of shit on his journeys, he's still optimistic and hopeful for the future and he's fiercely passionate in protecting those he loves... What can I say. He's just a good lad. I honesty feel this messy collection of words doesn't even do him justice.

As for Time, it's sort of opposite reasons? The story of his games and his outlook on life is a bit darker than Wind's. Time has been through so much, and was a broken man for a while... and yet he is the one who has the happily married, domestic life a lot of the boys deep down want. He made it! And it's just so wonderful to see a character like that, one hardened by his experiences but still able to get a happy ending.

And yet. The potential to angst him is still tremendous. We have the Hero's Shade, which many speculate could mean he dies when the kid(s) he has with Malon are still very young. There's the Fierce Deity Mask. The Ocarina of Time. His negative opinions about the Master Sword and the bitterness he's still holding onto. Not to mention all the stuff he went through in the past and has recovered from but you could still explore... Even though Time has this happy life now, he's still such a great complex character to break into. God writing this just reminded me of the massive Time Analysis Glau (Glaucus_Atlanticus) wrote. I don't know where to find it anymore though :(

One last thing as well is that Time and Wind's interactions are also great. I think Time sees a lot of himself in Wind; Wind was forced to defeat Ganondorf young, just like him. But UNLIKE him, Wind hasn't lost everything. He didn't lose his childhood, he has a family, he doesn't have to say goodbye to his home forever. And Wind is obviously doing a lot better in many ways than Time probably was aged 12/13, which is pretty self-explanatory as to why (TERMINA). And seeing that makes Time very happy, it's clear from the way Time interacts with Wind in the comic. But there is still angst potential with Time being the hero who 'abandoned' Wind's world... it's good shit!

To cut a long story shit they're both great and I need to write more fics of them both.

#jay talks #asks #linked universe #linkeduniverse #linked universe dot txt #lu wind #lu time #i care them both deeply #this could have been SO much longer #but i refrained

[unexpectedstormy]

Avalanche Rescue Part 6 - Final

Whumptober day 25 completed--Finally finished this! Yaaay! Will put this on AO3 shortly.

Other parts if you haven't read them yet:

[Pt 1] [Pt 2] [Pt 3] [Pt 4] [Pt 5]

****** (874 words)

While Wolfie groomed Smallest Pup's fur, other pups change clothes, wrap in blankets, be cozy cuddle pups. Sky pup give out hot stinky plant drink. Battle pup, Bunny pup, and Old Father bury hole in snow.

Lick lick lick lick lick lick lick lick lick--

“Urgh,” Smallest pup groaned. Pup move! Pup open eyes! Pup waking up! Yay! Tail wag wag wag wag wag wag wag wag wag wag--

“Uhhh... Wolfie. Hi.” Four said and scratched Wolfie head.

“Hi! Hi! Happy you wake up!” Wolfie whined. “Long sleep worry Wolfie!”

“He's awake!” Sky exclaimed. Time jumped up and hurried to Four's side.

“How are you feeing?” Time asked Four.

“I've been better,” Four said.

“Would a potion would help?”

“Ugh. Probably.” Four put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes again.

Smallest pup in pain. Wolfie worry whined.

“I have one here for you. Wolfie, back up. Give us some space.” Time nudged Wolfie away.

Wolfie get up, go to Special cub and Bunny Pup. Ow ow ow sore legs. Squeeze between pups, lay down.

“Wolfie!” Legend laughed and scooted away from Wild to make room for Wolfie.

“Is he limping?” Wild asked.

“Did anyone bother to check Wolfie for injuries?” Warriors asked.

“I didn't,” Hyrule said. “He seemed fine earlier.”

“Why don’t you change back into a human?” Wind asked.

“I think he wants to be Dog today,” Wild answered. “Some days are dog days.”

“I'll check him,” Hyrule said. “Move over, Wild.”

Wolfie let Wander pup check him for injuries. Silly pup, Wolfie was fine. Only tired sore. Lick, mouth Wander pup's arms.

“Nothings broken or bruised as far as I can tell,” Hyrule said.

“Could just be sore joints,” Legend said.

“He has been doing a lot of running today,” Wind agreed.

“I think I have something for that,” Wild said and started digging through his bag.

Hmm? What's that? Wolfie sniff Special Cub's bag. Food? Food? Is that... meat? Special cub have meat for Wolfie? Wolfie suddenly very hungry. Wolfie dinner time? Meat for Wolfie?

“Here you go Wolfie. You deserve it.” Special cub give Wolfie roasted meat. Wolfie take it, carry it away from other pups. Wolfie's meat. Not pup's meat.

OM NOM NOM NOM Mmmmm. Meat. Mmmmm. Om nom nom nom. So tasty. So meaty. Tasty deer meat. Om nom nom nom.

“Looks like he was hungry,” Hyrule laughed.

“I would imagine so with how much digging and running around he did,” Time said helping Four to settle sitting up against an old log.

“Hi Four!” Wind chirped. “How are you doing?”

“Uh. Hi everyone,” Four said awkwardly, his hair stiff with Wolfie spit and sticking out every which way. “I'm alright. Is everyone else okay?”

“Yeah, we're all fine, thanks to Wolfie,” Wild said.

“Wolfie certainly is the hero of today,“ Warriors said. “He saved my life.”

“Mine too,” Four replied.

“So what exactly happened?” Legend asked. “Wild and I were down here this whole time and we didn't see what happened to any of you.”

The Chain spent the next twenty minutes each telling the story of what happened from their perspective and sorting out how it all fit together.

“Wow. So it sounds like Wolfie himself is responsible for finding and rescuing pretty much everyone,” Four said.

“I think he deserves a treat,” Sky said. “Wolfie, do you want a treat?”

Treat? Treat? Wolfie stopped listening to boring talk long ago. Ate meat, started to doze, but Wolfie heard the word 'treat!' Wolfie always hears word 'treat!'

“That's right! Here! Have a fish! Thanks for helping dig me up, and, uh, you know. Laying on me while Hyrule fxed my arm.”

Sky pup toss whole fish. Wolfie catch it in the air! Yum!

“Ew. Did you just have a raw fish in your bag?” Warriors asked.

“I keep whatever I want in my bag,” Sky answered.

“I have a treat for you too, Wolfie,” Warriors said.

Treat? More treats for Wolfie? Yaaayyy! Wolfie very happy, tail wag and beg in front of Battle pup.

Battle pup give Wolfie a cheese sandwich. An old cheese sandwhich. Old and stinky. Need to roll in it before eating.

“Wolfie, I have something for you too,” Smallest pup said. ”It's not much, but you should have it.”

Smallest pup toss food at Wolfie. Wolfie catch it. Mmmm! Sausage roll! Wolfie eat it very fast.

“I think that's enough people food for Wolfie,” Time said. “Don't want to make him sick.”

“It's 'give Wolfie food' time. What will you give me?” Wolfie begged Old Father. Other pups laugh.

“...Alright. You got me.” Old father give Wolfie head scratch. “Here's some roasted pumpkin.”

Wolfie sniff. Not meat, but okay. Wolfie always take offered food.

Wander pup give Wolfie mutton leg. Baby pup give Wolfie oatmeal cookies. Bunny pup give Wolfie mushrooms on pokey stick.

Wolfie eat lots, bury extra for breakfast. Pups cook and eat and talk. Sun set. Moon rise. Wolfie greet, sing to moon. Wolfie and pups cuddle together, pups go to sleep. Wolfie sleepy.

Wolfie good wolf. Wolfie found all pups. Wolfie save buried pups. Wolfie bring pack together. Wolfie help heal, groom hurt pups. All pups okay. Wolfie tired, fed, sleepy, safe.

Wolfie very happy.

#this concludes my whumptober fics for this year #I've written 12k words total for whumptober -- not bad #whumptober 2023 #linked universe #lu wolfie #lu time #lu twilight #lu wild #lu four #lu legend #lu wind #lu sky #lu hyrule #wolfie is a good boy

[capncococharms]

Games I Enjoyed in 2023

I did a big blog post last year where I listed all the games I enjoyed playing and gave my short thoughts about each of my experiences... and I'm doing it again!

Since 2018 I've kept a digital sticky note to keep track of all the games I've played AND finished throughout the year. For 2023 lots of folks claimed it was the "BEST" year for gaming and to some degree... I guess??? Depends on who you ask, but to me I only enjoyed like a handful of new releases and played a lot of older games (or remakes of older games). It was a year of reflecting back on what made me love video games more than looking forward to what's "new".

In 2023, I've finished 32 games. That's 10 more games than I finished from last year but out of all the games I played, here are the ones that stood out to me and left a pretty positive impression.

LIVE A LIVE

I never had a chance to play the SNES version, but I was very familiar with the game to some degree from the old days when I use to browse forum threads about RPGs I've never heard of. I knew I would get around to playing it one day and thankfully it got a remake on the Switch (and then it got a PC port later this year). I didn't get to properly play it last year, but after sitting down to play LIVE A LIVE... it's a game with a really powerful soundtrack, engaging characters, and a unique story that left me wanting more games like it.

I could type up many reasons why I like this game, but I feel it's something you have to experience more than anything. I don't want to spoil anything about this game. If you love Chrono Trigger then you will have a great time with LIVE A LIVE.

Final Fantasy VII- Crisis Core Reunion

I love FFVII and FFVII Remake. When they announced they were remaking Crisis Core I was excited to finally see what the deal was and by the end of this game... it left me a very broken man sobbing my eyes out. As a stand alone game it works very well even if you're not familiar with FFVII. It's a touching and contained story about a man striving to be a hero. Zack is a person I wish I could be in terms of confidence and wanting to do what's right. He's also a goof ball and I am very happy I got to know him more through Crisis Core. I don't want to say much about this game either, but PLEASE play it if you haven't! It made me finally understand why people love Zack so much.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

I've put off this game for way too long. I had the chance to get into it when this game came out on 3DS, but I was too busy in college then. I ended up playing the PS3 version of the game (this was before the MGS Master Collection came out to every platform). At first... I wasn't a fan of this game. I struggled to play this game and felt like an idiot when it came to sneaking. I got stuck at the Volgin fight and out of spite, I started over on "Very Easy" to better equip myself. After working my way back to Volgin, I enjoyed my experience more and was engaged with what was happening around me. Once the game was finished, I was tearing up and couldn't help but think about how often true heroes are forgotten and how history is retold.

Thank you for the heartrending experience, Hideo Kojima.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

I had a weird experience with Zelda games this year. Tears of the Kingdom released and I went in hoping it would be a great follow-up to Breath of the Wild. I wasn't the BIGGEST fan of BotW. I had some faith going in that TotK would be a better experience. Unfortunately, after making it back to Hyrule my fears sort of came true. It felt like the same game I played almost 7 years ago except you can use bubble gum to craft and make things which is... fine I guess.

I kept pushing on hoping the story was going to set up something great and for a while, it did! The BIG twist was interesting, but once I got to the final scene I wanted to chuck this game out the window. The newer Zelda games just weren't doing it for me anymore so I decided to replay some older Zelda games (Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD which was a TON of fun to replay) and decided it was time for me to give Majora's Mask another chance.

I ended up playing this on NSO and after a month or so, I 100%'d the game and greatly appreciated what this game had to offer in terms of setting, story, soundtrack, and characters. The setting is dark and terrifying yet it still keeps a goofy demeanor. I just fell in love with exploring and seeing how human this game can be (especially the finale). This is what I want to see with future Zelda games. I miss having ACTUAL dungeons and linearity, but we won't get that again. I hope that there will be another 2D Zelda game or Nintendo goes back to its roots with 3D Zelda games, but here's to all the indie devs out there trying to recreate that GOOD Zelda magic.

The Great Ace Attorney (Adventures)

I love this series but fell off during the 3DS era with AA6 (I still need to play that...). Since this game is more of its own thing I thought I would give it a shot and MAN! This game took the AA formula and dialed it up to 1000. In Ace Attorney fashion I love the characters, I love the puzzle-solving, and the mystery aspect where everything is tied together (especially that finale omg). My only irk is that the cases tend to go on a bit too long compared to AA 1-4, but I can let that slide because I was streaming this game, and having to voice and read EVERY bit of dialogue was exhausting (I plan to play Resolve on my own time next year so I can get through it much quicker). Ace Attorney still rocks and I hope to catch up and play more in 2024 (looking at you Apollo Justice "Trilogy").

Ranko Tsukigume's Longest Day

One of the shortest games I played this year. I love SUDA 51's work and wanted to give this a shot and it sure was an experience, to say the least. The gameplay is simple and difficult at weird times, but the one thing that sticks out to me about this game, in particular, is the absurdity and goofy humor (which is... basically expected with a SUDA 51 experience) with its visuals and jumping to different art styles and animation. Something about this small game makes me want to start working on my own projects more than anything. You can tell this was made with a creative team and the devs from Tokyo Jungle worked on it to so maybe that's another game I should look into as well... Overall, this was like a fun snack to chew away at left me with my heads in the clouds.

Pizza Tower

I don't need to say much about Pizza Tower. If you've played it, then you get it. Go play Pizza Tower! The OST and crude cartoon art style is what gives this game... uh as the kids call it... "soul". It's the Wario Land game that Nintendo will never make. It's 25% off on Steam! GO PLAY PIZZA TOWER!

Hypnospace Outlaw

Had a rough time playing through this game at first because it would crash pretty often. Turns out the game would connect to the wrong graphics card so after I got that sorted out, I finally got to play this game in peace, and... man... there's nothing else like this game in terms of telling a story/ narrative through faux web browsing. It's a game that perfectly emulates the experience of the late 90's internet browsing. There's a particular joy in exploring page after page to learn about all these characters and their hobbies. Letting the player take a small peek into their lives is a treat. As you get deeper into the game, you start learning about some of these people and who they are underneath their online persona. Without going into spoilers, the game went in a direction I didn't expect with its tone. The final arc of this game left me with some tears and a HUGE respect for what once was before what our current internet has become...

Hypnospace is really really cool.

Undertale Yellow (Pacifist Route)

Kinda unexpected that a fan game would end up on my list, but I'll make the exception. From what I've read, Undertale Yellow was in development for 7 years and that dedication and work shows in terms of presentation, story, and new characters. For a fan game, it doesn't heavily depend on needing the cast of characters from the base game of Undertale to tell its OWN story. Like Undertale, you fall in love with these new casts of characters and go through many vignettes in each part of the Underground where you get to learn about how these monsters live, and just like Undertale you'll laugh, you'll cry, and wish that the journey would never end. Once again I don't want to spoil anything, but for a prequel to Undertale's story... it's surprisingly more powerful than I thought it was going to be. Congrats to the entire Undertale Yellow team who worked on this. It was a pleasant December surprise that made me want to work harder on my passion projects.

I feel to some degree, I love this game probably a little more than Undertale itself...

Probably...

One thing for sure is that this game is helping me tide over until the new chapters of Deltarune come out.

2023 was a great time to play my backlog and give games another chance. Also trying out new stuff in the process despite my current feelings on the gaming industry at the moment...

I hope in 2024, I can continue to dedicate my time to slowly chip away at my backlog and try out new games (or older games I missed out on). Video games inspire what I want to do creatively and I love seeing what people can create and put out there.

#thoughts #write up #end of the year #video games #indie games #writing #long words #gaming #retro gaming

[hermitdrabbles56]

Immune System headcanons

Note: I am not a doctor but I have a...sort of idea and I'm rolling with it.

Time: Use to have an absolutely horrible immune system as a kid. Like probably got sick a couple different times on his adventures but had to push through. And when Mask was in Wars era he scared the shit out of Wars more than once. Since then his immune system has gotten better as hes gotten older and he's started being around people more. He doesn't get sick nearly as easily as he used too. But, he's starting to reach the age where his body is slowing down from all the abuse its taken over the years so things are starting to hit him again if he isn't careful.

Warriors: Toughest to crack because of how much illness and death he's been around. He's careful to the point of paranoia. His down fall is when he's stupid and forgets to take care of himself because he gets vulnerable when his body is exhausted.

Sky: Help him. He's one of the worst. He comes from a small isolated community in the sky where they had no chance of catching anything very dangerous. Moving to the surface has definitely fucked with him. His lungs are compromised, He already is easily exhausted, and who know what the gravity was like on skyloft so yeah, he's a little messed up and gets sick very easily.

Wind: He's no better than Sky. Small community very little contact with other communities before his journey. He manages to get through his first journey without getting sick. But Traveling with tetra and the pirates is a different story and it messes with him a bit. So he's gained a little more immunity than he had? But it's still bad.

Wild: Absolutely dog shit. There are very few Hylian communities still around so he hasn't encountered much. Plus the tomb of resurrection messed him up just ad much as it fixed him. Be it the malice that was on him when he was placed in the tomb or the tomb being broken to begin with it sapped a lot of his strength and stamina right out of him (yes he took a hundred year nap so that also can attribute to the decline but the tomb was also supposed to be preserving and healing him so what the fuck) and you bet it fucked with his immune system too. First time he catches a cold it nearly kills him. His whole world is a death sentence that he has spitefully dragged himself through.

Four: One of the most stable immune wise. He grew up in a busy town and frequently traveled with his grandpa as a kid he's a healthy little thing and is very careful and takes care of himself. When he gets sick it's a normal sick and generally no one has to worry to much about him.

Legend: His bones may fucking hate him but he's healthy. He grew up in the busy city surrounding the castle and he's been to do many places by now that his immune system is almost iron. Not to mention the malice his world is steeped in. But when it does hit him it hits him really hard because of all the other problems he has.

Hyrule: It's complicated and complex. He's used to a poisoned and malice steeped world that's riddled with plagues. But at the same time he's malnourished and his body has taken a lot of abuse. His fairy magic and spite are probably the main things keeping him functional as he just pumps as much healing magic into himself as possible until he can get access to medicine.

Twilight: Immune system like steel. Yes he was raised in a small village just like Sky and Wind. But he was also raised on a lot of good hearty crops and herbs (and is in a village that is blessed and protected by essentially a mini god), and we have no idea where he may have lived before Ordon (in my personal headcanons the locations would have made him pretty damn sturdy). His body is extremely healthy to start with and then he has time to build up even more of a tolerance when he starts being around castle town and the other villages more frequently. So he's learned how to be careful with illnesses especially since he doesn't want to bring anything back to Ordon. But generally when he does get sick it's a fairly quick recovery unless it's something extremely serious but even then he's capable of bouncing back pretty quickly unless other factors have fucked him over.

#linked universe #lu twilight #lu wild #lu legend #lu wind #lu four #lu time #lu hyrule #lu warriors #lu sky

[luna-lovegreat]

So a take on TOTK’s ending I’ve seen quite a bit of is the idea that it deprived all dramatic weight from Zelda’s sacrifice and that she should have suffered the consequences of her choice (I.e. stay a dragon forever or come back as a dragon human hybrid). Also said take accuses the ending of being cheap, lazy, unearned, and a deus ex machina. This strikes me as a shallow reading of the text and another example of how some people think punishment (or in this case “dying for a cause”) is the only viable ending for someone who made the choice Zelda made. It really rubs me the wrong way given all the development and tragedy she faced in both games. What are your thoughts?

The thing is that she is bound, whether she likes it or not, by destiny. The cycle of reincarnation of Ganon (Demise’s hatred) is NOT over at the end of Totk. Each time he resurrects, it is vital that a warrior with the soul of the hero, and a girl with the blood of the goddess appear to fight him. If Zelda stayed a dragon? Well then the world is doomed, because the goddess’s bloodline ends with her.

To me it’s not even a question of “throwing away her sacrifice” or having a “cheap happy ending”. It’s a matter of the fact that through whatever means it took, she had to turn back from a dragon for the world to have any hope of survival the next time ganon resurrects.

We don’t know if this specific hero and princess will see him again. Botw/Totk Link and Zelda may or may not have just had their last battle with him- we don’t know yet. Totk’s ending is left open to possibilities. Through what she says, we know Zelda will try her best to bring forever peace to hyrule, but we don’t know if she will face ganon again to achieve that, or if she will only be able to simply restore the kingdom, but not stop the cycle.

But no matter what, the next time that damn incarnation of hatred comes back, she or her descendent has to be there. The sword can do a lot, but the hero has always needed someone with the goddess’ power to seal the evil as well.

No matter how much we want a lasting sacrifice, the legend of Zelda is, at its heart, a cycle. A legend that repeats, over and over. And each piece of the cycle must live on, as least until demise’s curse is (hopefully eventually) broken. We have to have a surviving Zelda or the cycle is broken and evil wins.

(Also it does seem a little unnecessarily cruel to insist that the girl who has now been stuck fighting evil and exerting sacred power for a hundred through thousands of years TWICE have a terrible ending. She suffered enough- enough that a dragon shed tears. Let her get her well earned rest- the world needs her as a person. The ending is not unearned- on the contrary getting her life back is exactly what she earned. Don’t insist on a sad ending just for the sake of sadness. There is enough darkness, so why not enjoy the ending rather than enforcing suffering on someone who deserves a chance to live? There is already plenty of drama that can be watched anytime in the memories.)

I think all viewpoints are valid, and I can understand their point. While I do not know everything, I personally prefer to look at the lore- the actual roots of the story that lead to the endings. And the lore of Zelda is pretty clear- those goddess gals gotta live on.

And as far as the emotional part? I love the ending. I don’t like sappy stuff, and I’m not crying happy tears, but that ending is far more fulfilling than leaving the world (and Link) missing a really awesome person.

Anyways that’s my two cents worth :) It’s not a matter of what ending we wanted- she has to survive, or the next time ganon comes around, the world is doomed.

#thanks for asking I’ve been wanting to rant about that #I just think it goes back to the lore #the world NEEDS her role to continue #Totk spoilers #totk ending #loz #zelda #link #legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #big totk spoilers #asks #botw/Totk #Totk link #Totk Zelda #the light dragon #Totk #also op I think you’re great #you’re just pretty cool ok #derrickwildsun

[kassymalone]

Well, it must be the time of year that I have no time or energy to write, because I have SO MANY IDEAS.

Fuck it, IDEA DUMP

A KISS Side Story: Coffee Snob

Moving back to the city to be closer to work, Black is living on his own for the first time. Aside from being a little lonely and burying himself in his work, he manages just fine. Plagued by an extra intense dose of his usual insomnia, he uses his restless nights to find the best coffee in the city.

Discovering an unassuming hole-in-the-wall that's open 24 hours, he discovers the single best coffee he's ever drunk in his life, and forms an unlikely friendship with the late-night worker. As their relationship starts to build beyond the constraints of the after-hours serving window, Black starts to wonder if there could possibly be more to his life than just work and family.

Let Me Be Soft

The barrier is broken, the vicious monsters are free. With everything he ever fought for in his hands, Edge is realising that he doesn't know who he is any more. With nothing to aim for and no royal guard to serve, he's adrift in endless possibilities that he can't grasp. Taking a temp job helping out a new human friend of Toriel's, his world starts to grow as he explores new, softer sides of himself, finding fulfilment in arts and crafts and a gentle relationship that he never even imagined for himself before.

The Rooftop

You thought you were the unluckiest person alive when a broken leg trapped you in your flat a few days after you moved to Ebbott, but when a mysterious plague struck and wiped out most of humanity, it turned out you were the lucky one. While monsters are immune to the plague, they're still isolating to protect their human friends and neighbours, including the guys in your building.

Initially contacting each other by the small buildings group chat, you get to know each of guys in Skeleton Skelton Hall very well, meeting in person when restrictions relax and helping each other through the start of the end of the world.

After The Fall

Its the end of the world. Literally. Well over 99% of the worlds population is gone, and everything is falling apart. As night falls, you duck into a relatively intact building to wait out a storm, only to find something you didn't expect - a working animatronic. Moon seems to be just as lonely as you are, trapped in this rotting shell of a building alone.

Using what little engineering skill you possess, you rig him up a portable solar panel to change his batteries, and the two of you take off in a refit security van to find what's left of humanity. Finally out in the sunshine, it turns out Moon wasn't quite as alone as it seemed, and now you've got another uncontrollable friend to explore the end of the world with.

A Smile Like the Devil Himself

You only went on the damn dating show to stop your mothers incessant nagging. When you got to the beach resort, it became pretty obvious that you were the foil - the plain looking one only there to contrast the literal instagram models that made up the rest of the 'cast'. The most gorgeous of all is the nearly seven foot tall bronze god with wild red hair, Ganondorf, who mostly just seems confused by everything going on.

Unimpressed by good looks and shallow affect (because the Gerudo women were the most beautiful in the world, apparently), he ends up spending most of his time with you, much to everyone's shock. Even when the show ends, the two of you stay friends as you help him adjust to life in your country and find a wife, which is apparently a rite of passage where he's from.

At least, that's what you thought you were doing. Turns out that your new 'friend' has a very different idea of courting than you do, and he's very keen to introduce you to his mothers in Hyrule.

Whether you like it or not.

#ao3 #undertale #five nights at freddy's #legend of zelda

[bokettochild]

Really hoping for the dvd commentary. From Chapter 2 of Kintsugi.

Another blink, this time with that same flicker of silver hues as they watch him, that hint of a smile that is so often reserved for those younger. It looks like Link’s, like that of the skeleton only hours ago left behind in a world destined for destruction. “The sharpest arrow of the goddess’s quiver does not lack power for its speed and shine,” Dei recites, like some ancient proverb or forgotten verse. It’s unknown to him, but the significance of the word picture doesn’t evade him.  

‘Flen’ the deity calls him. Flen; that which flies straight and true to its target to cast destruction upon either that which harms or that which, by its death, will provide. ‘Flen’ a word foreign to those of Hyrule’s higher classes but known and spoken well in towns bordering the forgotten forests where fairies whisp through trees and linger to share their stories and mischief.  

‘Flen’, a word which means ‘arrow’ to those raised where language turns rough to protect against words rougher from those of higher class.  

“If you seek Hylia’s sharpest, I think you’d best look to your Kit, his tongue by far out does my own, and as for speed-”

The deity does not stir, watching.  

Warriors sighs. A hand ploughs through hair just beginning to curl again at its ends clutching at the roots with a sigh before his gaze returns to that which bears down on him. “FD, I’m no deity.”

Holy crap I forgot Kintsugi even existed! I swear I saw this in my inbox and straight up stalled going....what story is that? What is it about? When did that come out? Did I write it or are...but Kintsugi is my motif....nvm

And then I read it and remembered.

So! DVD commentary (which believe it or not I love listening to!)

The point of kintsugi as a motif is to show the strength of that which has been broken, which of course Warriors personifies to the extreme. Warriors in this story is a broken man who's been torn down, torn apart, and watched everything in his life, including himself, shatter. The use of kintsugi to represent his becoming stronger through his suffering was meant to be a main point of the story and this scene in particular was going to foreshadow that.

"The sharpest arrow of the goddess’s quiver does not lack power for its speed and shine" is implied to be a quote from poetry or something. The Hero of Warriors is, in a way, the sharpest arrow in the quiver of the goddess. The heroes are meant to be the 'arrows of the goddess' which itself is sort of a play on how the holy weapon that all Zelda's use is a Bow of Light. Each hero has his own qualities and strengths, and Warriors, as the soldier of the group, is one of the sharpest and harshest of the group, because he didn't only face monsters, he faced men.

What Dei means by his words though is that even if Warriors' strength lies in his sharpness, in his blade, he's not in any ways limited to that as his only strength. 'Lacking power for speed and shine' means that he's not just fast on the field and pretty to look at, he's also a powerhouse in his own right, he just doesn't know it yet.

The use of the arrow to represent Warriors is something which I included since the beginning of the story. "Flen" is I think the Old Norse(?) word for 'arrow', and is Dei's distinguishing name for the captain since the first time Warriors put on the mask. Using arrow imagery to tell Warriors he is more powerful than he thinks is sort of the theme of the next few paragraphs.

‘Flen’ the deity calls him. Flen; that which flies straight and true to its target to cast destruction upon either that which harms or that which, by its death, will provide

This basically just means arrows cause chaos, prompt chaos or provide where there is a need.

The next bit though, talking about how the word is foreign to the average Castletown dweller, is meant to remind of Warriors' heritage as a man who was raised in the poorer parts of the world. It's a nod to him being something rough and lowly, but crafted and sharpened from a common thing to an arrow for the goddess' use. He references that the language that the nickname comes from is one that his people use to hide themselves and protect themselves from those who only speak Hylian, thus separating themselves and further establishing the contrast between who he once was, what he was raised to be, and what he became.

“If you seek Hylia’s sharpest, I think you’d best look to your Kit, his tongue by far out does my own, and as for speed-”

This is Warriors trying to deflect. He's basically pointing to Legend ('kit' is Dei's distinguishing name for the vet) and saying "you want something great? look there!" and then continuing to try and point the finger to everyone else to point out their strengths. Earlier in the piece, there was a lot of emphasis placed on Warriors' feelings of mediocrity in the face of his extremely powerful brothers and team-mates, and this results in him continuing to look at them rather than looking within as Dei is asking him to.

Dei isn't having it though. Dei knows Warriors is more because he has seen Warriors unlock his own godly strengths. he's not going to stand for Warriors talking himself down, because the more the captain does that, the less Warriors will be able to see what Dei is trying to show him, the fact that Warriors is, in fact, a demi-god.

The thing is, Warriors isn't a deity in the same strain as the others. In the previous fic, First (Dei) and Legend actually have a discussion about something related to this.

(First is speaking here): “A guardian. Your soul,” He motions to the other. “I may not be the goddess, but any good soldier can be perceptive. You and yours all have souls that sing to a tune. Time.” He motions to the armored leader. “The sea, storms and wind.” Wind. “Light.” The goddess’s youngest, (Hyrule) lightning dancing on his finger-tips as his mother watches with faint laughter. “The elements, the building blocks of life.” The Four heroes who are somehow one. “The forest, the wilds of the world, nature herself.” The goddess’s eyes set in the face of a young boy who spins shadows on his fingers (Wild). “The night, the shadows and the lost and wandering.” He motions to the rancher, to Twilight who sits and watches the others with a gaze dark and yet bright, a contradiction, a shadow that is somehow full of light. “War.” The captain who stands polished and pristine yet who’s very spirit seemed to sing on the field, who’s blade swung stronger with every drop of blood fallen. “Life.” He turns to Legend.  

The other takes a moment to catch onto the fact that he’s stopped, that he’s staring at him, and when the lad does see it, his eyes widen slightly. “Life?”  

“The living; the breathing earth, the trees and animals, the people . You live to give life and preserve it.” His smile is crooked, he knows. “It is your calling. Forgive my boldness, but I dare say we are the same on that front; we live to preserve what they bring to fruition.”  

Except that Warriors does not live to bring things into fruition (which I couldn't clarify without derailing that conversation) but rather, he also lives to preserve. Warriors' very existence is to preserve and unite things, thematically speaking. So yeah. Warriors is different from the others, which prevents him seeing his greatness, but Dei, who is basically the same, can recognize it.

The whole scene you selected- the whole chapter in fact! is about Dei trying to provoke Warriors into realizing his power. As we saw though, it failed :(

#asks and answers #linked universe #linkeduniverse #the blood between us #commentary time babey! #lu warriors #lu dei #asks game

[triforceangel13]

A Service to the King Ch. 3 (A SidLink Omegaverse Story)

Chapter 3: Preparations

Link felt as if he was in a daze. He couldn't believe what had just happened not even an hour before hand.

That tension was in the air, Sidon had loomed over him, caging him in the very chair he sat in, gold eyes glazing with intensity.

He had wanted him. He had made it very clear.

Though Link was hoping that when he meant by wanting to do those things with him, it meant that he was the one that Sidon had fallen for.

He was too afraid to ask.

What if there was another and the smell of an omega in his...current state had just set him off and ran his mouth like that?

His fingers ran through his blonde locks. First thing was first though, he needd to change his trousers. He was more than embarassed that he had slicked them so bad that they had grown a tad soggy....and cold against his skin.

No doubt others were gong to smell it as well and that just had been embarassing.

He swallowed as he thought of what had brought it on. Aside from being near the king and thinking of doing things with him, he nearly had done something with him then and there.

Sidon had leaned in, a breath's kiss away from devouring his lips with his own when there had been a knock on the door.

Link had never seen Sidon move that fast away from aside from being in battle with the king like against Ganondorf's phantoms.

Just one kiss had nearly had him acting in a not so champion/hero of hyrule like way.

Sidon had been called away to do something and Link had been pretty sure that his chance had slipped through his fingers.

But the king had paused just at the door and told him a few things.

“Loose clothing, and a container,” he had said. “And plenty of elxirs and lubriants. Meet me at my chambers.”

If that didn't tell him completely of what Sidon needed them for then he wasn't sure what else would have been the option.

Again however, a change of clothes was necessary.

He stepped into the shared inn room, spotting Zelda sitting on her bed reading one of the books she had come across in their journeys.

She had seen history play out right in front of her eyes. She had wanted to read so much about it and compare to what she had seen.

He was sure it wasn't the healthiest thing for her to do given the slightly broken state of her mind, but it kept her calm.

“Link,” she said warmly with a gentle smile. “I was wondering when you were going to come back. I was thinking we could make plans for dinner.”

Link rubbed the back of his neck as he went to his bag and started to dig thorugh the clothes that he had in there. He should go back to the house he had made near Tarrey Town and wash them up and get some new ones soon.

“I actually have another...engagement,” he said.

Zelda smile was gentle. “Is it with the king? I'm glad you two were at least able to reconnect. Perhaps you can find out what ails him? Though honestly I still don't think this is quite a good idea.”

Link shrugged. He didn't want to give her details. She would talk him out of this and he honestly really,really, wanted to help him this way.

When had he become so desperate?

“That's if he decides to open up to me,” Link said, taking a fresh pair of loose clothes to the changing curtain and stepped behind it.

Zelda was quiet a moment as Link pulled off his clothes to change, wincing from how much his underwear stuck to him. He assumed this was from Sidon but also from the fact that Link hadn't done anything even to himself in a long time.

When you were saving Hyrule so much you really didn't have the time to do it anything like this. No wonder his reaction to Sidon was so aggressive.

He shivered a bit and swallowed, noting that Zelda was still quiet.

“You okay?” he asked her. Ever since she had come back to them he always made sure to do an occasional check in with her.

He wanted to always make sure she knew that she wasn't alone. She didn't have anyone for thousands of years, watching things happen and not able to do anything.

The timeline had to remain the same...and being a dragon didn't exactly make communicating with others easy.

“Yes, I'm fine,” she said to him softly, her voice sounding closer to the curtain. He pulled the new clothes on, glad that they were looser and making him feel better than what he had been wearing before. “Are you alright Link?”

“Why do you ask?” Link asked with a frown pulling back the curtain.

“That smell,” she said, her eyes flicking down to the clothes that Link had balled up. She let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I know you didn't go swimming with him. What in the world happened...you didn't...did you?”

“No,” Link sighed heavily, leaning his head back. The more people that knew what was going on the more likely someone would have to stop him.

Zelda was looking out for him, he knew that. But it was hard to tell her that he wanted to do this despite what they talked about

In her mind he was willing to risk getting hurt. In a way he was, but with Sidon sort of confessing to him Link figured it would be a good indicator he should do something.

“I've got it bad for him okay?” Link asked with a heavy sigh. “Now can we drop this subject? It's really embarassing.”

Zelda nodded her head, watching as Link gathered a bag with a couple of things, noting the elixrs and the chu jelly that he had packed in there.

“Are you going to do that now?!” She asked in shock. “Link are you serious? What makes you think that this-”

“With all do respect princess, allow me to have one thing to myself?” he snapped at her. Her eyes widened and she stepped back.

“Sorry...” she sad softly to him.

Link's anger melted quickly when he realized he had gotten angry.

“Look..” he sighed. “I'm sorry. I'm just tired of people telling me what I can and cannot do with my life. I know it'll hurt, but right now in a way he wants me...”

Zelda swallowed a bit and nodded her head. “I'm only looking out for you... But I understand. You are the one to make your own descions.”

Link approached the princess and he hugged her gently to him. She hugged onto him, resting her face into his shoulder.

“I know Zelda,” he said to her. “You're like a sister to me and I know you're only looking out for me.” He pulled back from the embrace and smiled at her. “But this is a possible disastor that I have to learn for myself.”

She pat his shoulder lightly.

“I'll always be here for you no matter what,” she said to him. “If things don't go well, you know you'll have at least me.”

Link swallowed a bit at that and he hugged her again.

Now he was nervous.

*

Nerves digging into his very being Link made his way to Sidon's chambers. Sidon had told him that despite being married he and Yona didn't share a bed chamber together. And from being invited in he was pretty sure she wasn't going to be present.

Link held onto his bag strap as he stood there, swallowing a bit as he came up to the door where one of the guards stood stationed.

Goodness was he going to stand there all night and hear what they were going to be doing? He had thought that they were meant to keep as many people from knowing as much as possible.

“Ah sir Link,” the guard said, bowing his head. “Are you perhaps looking for King Sidon? He has retired for the evening. He hadn't said anything about expecting guests.”

Link froze. How did you explain to someone that he was there for a very particular reason.

“Oh, I had...thought he was expecting me?” Link said, gripping the strap of his bag even tigther once more.

“No-”

The door opened to Sidon's room and the red zora popped his head out of the door.

“Ah Link, there you are,” Sidon said and one look at Link's face and the guard he realized what was going on.

“Ah, your highness,” the guard said, bowing his head. “I had not been aware that you were expecting visitors after you retired.”

“Sort of,” Sidon said, thinking quickly on his toes. “I had thought I would give the guards a chance to rest for the night. Link had offered to take over the guard duty.”

The guard seemed to smile and nodded his head.

“Of course your highness,” the guard said and turned to look at Link. “Thank you very much Sir Link. We do appreciate the break.”

Sidon relaxed as Link nodded his head, taking the hint.

“Of course,” Link said.

“You are dismissed,” Sidon said. The guard bowed to the king and then left his post, leaving the two of them alone in the hallway.

Link let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Sidon offered his hand to Link. Link rest his palm in his large hand and allowed him to walk him into the room.

“Thank you for coming. I was starting to think that you weren't going to come by. That I had scared you off,” Sidon mentioned.

“Nothing could scare me off from seeing you,” Link said, feeling his breath hitch as he heard the click of the lock on Sidon's door as it closed.

“Here, allow me to take your bag for you,” Sidon said, taking the bag from Link's hand and set it aside the large four post bed sitting in there.

The sheets were a deep blue with silver embellishments. A bowl of fruit sat on the bedside table as well as a pitcher of water.

“So um...does Yona know what's going on?” Link asked, unsure of how to begin this.

“Not the full details. All she knows is that I am...collecting this and that I will be giving it to her some how,” Sidon explained. “She does not need to know that you are the one helping me.”

Link nodded, swallowing as he turned to watch Sidon approach the chair that sat near the bed, getting himself comfortable.

Link's eyes roamed his body, noting how relaxed he looked not wearing any of his adornments or his crown.

“Now,” Sidon said to him, beckoning Link closer with the crook of his finger, gold eyes blazing with desire. “Come service your king.”

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#tears of the kingdom #sidlink #a service to the king