#bc they will ask me to lend it

[oh-katsuki]

it’s going to be a long time i think before i read a book that i like as much as i like heaven. i think about it so frequently... idk it just had a very profound effect on me 

[jellyjamheadobb]

[laundrybiscuits]

45 for ask game? 👀

Content note: mention of period-typical homophobia 

Can be read as taking place between this one and this (NSFW) one if you want, but I think it stands alone okay.

I know we’re supposed to be just friends / Miss Temptation I don’t think you know / you keep me waitin’ / know you like to take it slow / Miss Temptation you never let it show 

Eddie always hammers away at the back door like she’s trying to break it down. When Steph finally gets to the doorway, Eddie’s hopping up and down with her hands jammed in her armpits.

“Jesus, Harrington. Took you long enough,” she says, pushing past Steph to the living room. “I was freezing my tits off out there. Please tell me that fireplace works.”

Steph rolls her eyes a little, because it’s not that cold out. It’s only just started snowing, big damp flakes melting in Eddie’s hair. 

“I don’t know,” she says. “Never tried it. There’s some wood in the crate, though.”

“Never—seriously? C’mon, let’s figure it out, I bet we can get it going.”

Steph could point out that she’s got central heating, and that Eddie will warm up if she just waits like two seconds, but instead she just grins and leaves Eddie to it while she goes to pour some drinks.

A few minutes later, she hears Eddie crow in victory. She comes back in to find Eddie with her jacket discarded and the sleeves of her flannel rolled up, jabbing a poker cautiously at a crackling flame.

“Hey,” she says, tapping the wineglass gently against Eddie’s forearm. “That was fast.”

“Ah, you know. Wayne likes to go camping.” Eddie beams up at her. “Let’s turn off the ceiling lights, it’ll be nicer.”

It is nicer. Steph settles in next to Eddie, not touching but close enough to feel the warmth of her body, and sips her wine. The firelight makes Eddie look lit up from the inside; like all that golden warmth is coming from under translucent skin still flushed from the cold. Her red flannel shirt is open at the neck. It looks like something she might’ve inherited from Wayne, oversized and worn soft as silk, crumpling at the collar. 

Steph wishes there was some music playing, but somehow it feels like getting up to put something on would be too much. It would be the kind of dumb thing she’d do to set the mood with a guy, and that’s not what Eddie’s here for, obviously. 

As far as Steph knows, Eddie’s never had a boyfriend. 

It’s not a huge surprise. She’s never exactly been popular, plus she dresses like some burnout guy, all baggy shirts and jackets and beat-up jeans. 

Of course people call her a lesbo all the time. But that’s just normal teenage stuff; even Steph gets teased like that whenever she has a bad hair day or does well in volleyball or whatever. It’s just something people say, and then you say it back to them, and it’s normal. 

Lately, Steph has been trying to remember if there’s ever been anything more to it. Rumors, that kind of thing. Anything someone might’ve seen or heard that would make it more than words.

Steph’s always known gay people exist, she’s not stupid, but before Robin she’d thought of it as a city thing. Whenever there was something in the paper, her mother always used to say that it’s a real shame that in the city, boys who don’t have their families around can run wild. She never said exactly what running wild meant, and she never said anything at all about girls, except once, when she’d paused and squeezed Steph’s shoulders, bussing her hair, and said at least we don’t have to worry about that with you, darling.

Steph doesn’t even know how it works, with girls. She can’t picture it. Maybe Eddie would tell her, if she could find the right way to ask. If Eddie even knows—and there she is back at the beginning again, nothing figured out, just going round and round. 

So she doesn’t bring it up. Doesn’t even really know why, except that this way, nobody has to worry about anything. 

Beside her, Eddie drains her wine and draws her legs up, folding her arms over her knees. It pulls her flannel over her shoulders in a smooth line, like maybe she’s not wearing anything underneath. Which would be so stupid in this weather, honestly—Steph can’t imagine going out with just a layer of worn cotton and that leather jacket Eddie loves so much between the biting cold and bare skin. 

“You’re sleeping over tonight, right?” she says. “You’ll freeze to death if I let you head back out tonight.”

“If you let me, huh?” Eddie grins. “Can’t have my death on your conscience, I guess. Sure, Harrington, we can have a sleepover. You can braid my hair and tell me all about whatever cute guy you’ve got your eye on nowadays.”

That’s about as good an opening as she’s likely to get, if she can just find the right words. 

“Or you could tell me about any cute guys you’ve got your eye on,” is what she settles on.

“Please,” Eddie snorts. “The unwashed miscreants of Hawkins should be so lucky. Like I’d ever want a boyfriend—uh, from around here, anyway.”

“You don’t…get lonely?” Steph asks. It comes out a little soft around the edges.

Eddie leans her chin on her arms. After a moment, she murmurs, “I didn’t say that.”

Steph could probably say something back, she thinks. Some kind of response. Anything. 

They sit there, watching the fire as it slowly turns the logs to ash, for a very long time.

[paigemathews]

Who did you think would win in a battle?

Wyatt Halliwell or Hope Mikaelson?

Definitely Wyatt Halliwell! Mostly because I haven't actually watched a single episode of any of the Vampire Diaries shows yet, so I have no idea who Hope is. (The main character in Legacies, I think?) (Don't worry, it's on my to watch list, my watch list is just really long atm.) I will say though that Wyatt is gonna be my answer for most situations. (Also thanks for the chance to do a little meta about Wyatt and his powers.)

From an objective standpoint in regards to powers, Wyatt wins against pretty much anything. I've said before and I'll say it again, I believe that Wyatt managed to break the Grand Design in the unchanged future with the exposure of magic, and I think that means he was able to kill some beings that he should not have traditionally been able to, aka the Cleaners and maybe even the Angel(s) of Destiny. (Which also loops into one of my now favorite headcanons that prophecies are made as a warning that a witch capable of breaking the Grand Design is coming.)

The catch, and how I'm able to write Wyatt in literally any conflict in my next gen fics, is that he has a critical weakness: he is terrified at the possibility of what he's capable of. (I have also mentioned that interpretation before, in connection with how Billie unintentionally makes it worse.) That kind of power is a lot for one person to handle, and Wyatt outclasses quite literally everyone around him by a large margin. I think that in a sense, his own fear serves as a kind of limiter on his power because he won't use them to the fullest extent. This is partially because he doesn't fully know what he's capable of because he doesn't experiment with his powers or push boundaries the same way that Chris does. While Wyatt has that kind of power, he lacks a greater amount of control and precision because he doesn't practice.

In a situation where Wyatt does go full-out, however, I think that he wins, no question. It's incredibly rare for him to do so, but one of his primary powers (projection) is a version of reality warping, y'know? That's not even getting into the fact that he has energy waves that can flat-out incinerate enemies without even trying. The challenge is getting him to a place where he doesn't hold back.

[volchitsa-of-winterfell]

I think nearly all of lewis' aloof persona is carefully constructed, as is his over the top style in the paddock. He's extremely good at distracting ppl or showing only what he wants to. He mimics vulnerability but he's hiding the stuff he's really vulnerable about. All the woowoo spiritual "ohhhhh he's so GENUINE" stuff is also a front (see how kate wagner talked about him).

ooooh bold take and as a fellow mimicker of vulnerability to hide the stuff i'm really vulnerable about, i'm into it!! i understand from your tone that you don't mean this as a particularly good thing but i personally am here for interesting/compelling characters in the vroom vroom soap opera and don't care too much if they're Good People ™ or not lol. (and thank you for the reminder that I still haven't gotten around to reading that Kate Wagner article!)

[apollos-boyfriend]

one of these days i NEED to draw a tiredtwt mlp au where everyone is a pony except purpled, who’s Literally Just Some Human Guy and it is absolutely never addressed nor treated as weird

[waywardsalt]

Hey, thanks for the response on the post where I asked about what people dislike ab totk! I genuinely appreciate it a lot, and you summarized most of my thoughts about this beautifully!

Here's something you might find interesting: something about this game's pacing REALLY bothered me from the start, and I think I know what it is. Totk, despite being an open world game that you can pour a ton of time into, feels short. It's a really weird feeling, and I think it can be explained in that Nintendo is trying to use the linear storytelling format for a nonlinear game, which is also why the ability to see the tears in a random order was disorienting, and why the stories from the ancient sages felt so repetitive.

The gameplay is long, but the story isn't! If you compare it to Skyward Sword, for example! In sksw, you go through each of the areas once, and then again with some changes, and then again with more. There's several clear acts, and even if the game is super super linear and recieves criticism for that, it works really well in that context. Additionally, the characters more than make up for the linearity of the story. Totk tries to take that same format, but doesn't seem to understand that this format is for a linear story. It only has a very brief story, and the story to gameplay ratio is so dragged out that unless you get invested in the world, it all starts to feel really stupid and pointless. Unfortunately, totk fails at getting us invested, too.

I really hope this made ANY sense at all, ty again for the input!! I love the responses I'm getting on that post djbdjsndns :D

Hi, you're welcome for my uh... totk rant, I guess? I covered a lot of stuff in it but I wouldn't say I covered everything bc there is... a lot abt that game that rubs me the wrong way in one way or another.

totk is definitely an odd case, it being an open world game that does try to adhere to linear game rules, you’re right- and i’d say the story is severely kneecapped by that attempt on the game’s part to have its cake and eat it too. it tries to mix what botw brought to the table with what was done in the past, but because botw is vastly different in what it does than past zelda games, the result is a messily paced, poorly-told, gameplay-focused with piss-easy mandatory puzzle segments result, failing to capture the advantages of linear games and instead making those specific parts considerably weaker.

people give linear games shit for… honestly, im not totally sure, as someone who really enjoys linear games. they allow for a good focus on story and character, mostly because you can have a set pace and passing of time and order of events. totk tries to implement linear style elements into a game where you can do anything out of order, so in the end the story is surprisingly brief but slow paced because you have to travel so far for everything and they have to account for you doing everything in any order, hence... repeating the same fucking information as a reward for four of the dungeons (which, i don't care how you feel about this game, is an awful fucking choice i mean holy SHIT), and is probably why the interactions with the new sages include very brief character arcs or something, they wanted to include some kind of linear character stories but it all just got stuffed in between a bunch of mini-main quests.

the fact that effectively half of the main story happens ages in the past and is communicated through brief cutscenes that can easily be encountered out of order, too, is kind of a pitiful way to tell the story. they're all basically glorified exposition dumps since nothing about them will change, they're all events that have already happened and have nothing to do with the player except hyping them up i guess.

the dungeons themselves are awkwardly transposed from a more linear game style with them relying on a specific skill to some degree, but they just fall so flat compared to past linear zelda dungeons. in botw the divine beasts honestly worked because the mechanic of manipulating the beasts themselves and the activating of switches fit perfectly with the setup of the dungeons being huge machines, while there isn't as good of a story example as to why totk's dungeons have the same switch mechanic. botw's divine beasts work pretty well in an open world setting. totk's just fall to pieces in an open with setting, even discounting how ascend could just snap them in half entirely. you just... can't have the same kind of dungeons as past zelda games in an open world format. once you take out the array of specific-use progressively-earned items, you're just left with this tiny little gmod ass toolbox to do what felt like baby's first loz-style dungeon. go to the clearly marked waypoint, do one (1) simple puzzle, get reward.

i miss mini bosses, rooms with puzzles that had to be solved to unlock a door or a doorkey, and even the experience of wandering around just trying to figure out what to do next. honestly, the first half of the lightning temple was the best part of all of the dungeons put together, and then we're back to 'go to four different rooms to do four different easy puzzles'. linear games have genuine advantages over open world games, and open world games have their own advantages. in the story segments, totk just ignores the advantages inherent to it's game's basic style in favor of trying and failing to emulate the advantages of a very different game style.

totk is so paradoxically unable to tear itself away from the series' past while at the same time disregarding series staples and even big parts of its own goddamn prequel.

in my experience with the game, as far as i can remember, i believe i went around and opened all of the towers, did some shrines and the depths, got the master sword, did the main quests with some side quests, then sped through getting all of the memories in order, then did the final boss. in between all of that, i managed to get all of the armor, do every single shrine, and open the entirety of the depths. i did not give a single damn about the story by the end. for me, with my playstyle, everything was just... spread out over such a long period of time so there was barely any urgency at all, i experienced the memories all in quick succession while already knowing the big twist (which. btw. i didnt care about. i wasnt really endeared to zelda and link's lack of visual interest during cutscenes just brought up the question of if he doesnt care why should i), and since this game's story is more linear, it just felt so disjointed and strange and... not important.

with botw it makes pretty good sense why link may take ages, why you could get the memories however you want, all of that. zelda is keeping things with ganon on pause for you. all of the big stuff happened in the past. you are here in the present, in the ruins of the past, a blank slate come to eventually complete the mission that you had failed, at the same time discovering this new world and becoming re-acquainted to it with this strange second chance you've been given. totk doesn't have this excuse. at least in past zelda games, you did things in a specific order, so when you wanted to fuck around, it was usually something related to or based on your progress. if you want to fuck around in oot what you can do is based on where you are in the game and even then it all ends up wrapping back around to bolstering link for the end. getting hearts, better items... like every side quest in every other loz game did. in totk you can do a sidequest for like. one flower. and what does that even do for you. it doesn't have the excuse of the honestly pretty well crafted setup and world state of botw.

i really don't know what happened during the development of totk, and i can't imagine it was the smoothest thing in the world, esp considering the pandemic hitting in the middle of it. but just... it just feels like it failed in so many regards and was just... so disappointing, and yet people are heralding it as the best zelda game and- this is not what i want a zelda game to be! i want a zelda game to have those wonderful puzzle-filled dungeons with well-written main characters and music that fits the setting and feels supported by the game's events and a unique setting with unique little nooks and crannies and good pacing and act structure and like. some kind of heart to it. not just another big open-world game created to be the big open world game where you can do this one amazing specific cool thing that TOTALLY is worth the $70 or whatever else it may be priced around the world.

idk. to me what makes zelda games zelda games is the linear storytelling and those complex dungeons and specific method of progression, and botw's new open-world emulation of the sense that loz 1 gave does not and probably will not ever be able to mix with that linear style unless you have massive in game game style shifts to allow for it. either return to the old format or just commit to the series becoming Triple A Open World Game Series Number 34

[addicted-to-nothing]

popping in from my existential crisis to say that i really love @the-lonelybarricade and @separatist-apologist and i hope both their days go wonderful

I will now crawl back into my existential crisis and reread Holy Ground while ignoring my work

[be-good-to-bugs]

i need to stop staying up so late when i need to work the next day augggg

[soracities]

favourite poem about the ocean? 🌊

p.s. your blog provides a sense of calm and serenity that is often hard to obtain in the hectic rhythm of everyday life. Thank you for that 💌

i actually don't have one in particular (i think the sea is one of those topics for me where it's very difficult to write about it. a bit like love, i think!) but i adore the murmurs of it through jean-michel maulpoix's a matter of blue and also "postscript" by heaney x

(also this has made my whole morning; you're so kind, thank you, darling 💕)

[youssefguedira]

One of the fan casts I’ve seen a lot is Hunter Schafer as Zelda. Thoughts?

image for reference because i had to google who hunter schafer was

i could back it? she'd definitely be able to pull off like. oot or twilight princess zelda (by looks alone i haven't seen her act) really depends on what they're doing story wise. but ultimately i don't particularly care what the actor looks like as long as they are believably link or zelda to me and i just. don't think the kind of "major hollywood actors" that people toss around when talking about it could really have that effect because they're too recognisable? if that makes any sense. also a bit of a tangent but i don't know if i WANT the zelda movie to adapt an existing game or a new one, though if i had ti guess it'll adapt something connected to botw/totk and that timeline if it is in any way tied to a game because nintendo is generally trying to move away from the 'traditional' zeldas so to speak

for context this is the hypothetical cast in the article i was reading earlier:

like i respect timothee but i think seeing him as link would just make me laugh. he's a perfectly good actor i just don't vibe with this. mr. holland. can we be serious here. respect the inclusion of dev patel and steven yeun but i think this would only work in a post-oot movie that was a tragic retelling of what happens to the hero of time / an exploration of the effect of All That. which won't happen but i think they could pull it off. we're very much dependent on how old link and zelda will be but if i HAD to pick from this list i'd say aramis knight (in ms marvel) because he's not as immediately recognisable and also he's around the right age for Link That Lives In My Head

moving to the zeldas. florence pugh are you KIDDING me. again i respect her i think ms pugh is very talented. but i don't think i'd want her to play zelda. ultimately it comes down to the fact that link and zelda are almost always teenagers and i want the movie to lean into that. especially because AGAIN this won't happen but i would like an examination of the impact of being declared Saviour Of The Entire World at approximately 12-17 years old. though i guess this could also work with an adult link and zelda but that would lean towards more of a drama than a Big Action Fantasy which is what this will be. zendaya again can we be serious i don't think this would work. personally i'd go w/ kathryn newton or stephanie hsu on this list tbh. or hunter schafer i think she'd be a pretty good choice on vibes alone but ive never seen her in anything (euphoria?)

the article also included these as cast possibilities for minor characters and when i tell you some of them made me choke on my water

i respect natasha lyonne as navi because that could be funny. the others are just. really. something

sorry this answer was super long and also not coherent i should inform you that i am running on approximately 2hrs sleep today. so. but if anyone wants to further discuss zelda PLEASE do i am going through a mini phase rn

also as a second tangent. my ideal zelda plots:

skyward sword zelda during her time on the surface because you could have some REALLY good conflict between her goddess side and her human side and the way she slowly realises she has to manipulate link

zelda becoming sheik in oot!!

my roommate pointed it out the other day but i haven't been able to stop thinking about it since: majora's mask stop motion movie in the style of gdt's pinocchio. directed of course by mr Fucked Up Fairytale del toro himself

[satelliteduster]

what is myhouse.wad........ im so nosy atp, whats up w it...

best way i can explain it: myhouse.wad is a doom wad (custom, playable doom map) that's notable for it's bizarre storyline, multiple endings and visible inspiration from supernatural/architectural horror (primarily from the book "house of leaves" by mark z. danielewski), it's very interesting and enjoyable to play (i've heard) if not for the gameplay then for the weird recursive nature of the map.

tl;dr: this video explains it better than i can [if you have the patience for an hour-long video essay] !!

[homophyte]

was just subjected to a self righteous post about how we need to learn to respect second generation atheists (important context: i am one) and how their existence begs the question of if atheism is always in reaction to something or if it can be an independently held position. which then followed it up with a 'summary of responses to this post' that included, peppered among things second generation atheists said or remarks about never hearing about this before, extremely reactionary positions about the necessity of religion in life all couched in the language of simple 'concern' for these atheists upbringing. like omg yesss your post is soooo important we really need to interrogate this group that is persecuted by literally every large religious organization on the planet about if their way of life is legitimate! its sooooooo crucial we open doors to religious mandates. its imperative that we teach them about religion, a thing they are so cruelly denied, but dont worry guys, for some of them, its not their fault! we can help them! by making them religious i mean teaching them about religion! remember that some jewish people are atheists too <3

[decembermoonskz]

I wanna ramble about my ocs to ppl. that’s the vibe today

[reginageourge]

it's evil that my deepest and most favourite romantic interest is from england

[devilishdelights]

I played the demo and apparently vere can kill us? Not me tho I’m just 2 good 😎🔥💯