#dang I’m kinda shocked to track it down so fast

[kadextra]

HOLD UP I FOUND IT

THIS VOD 5:40:26

Hello old Qsmp enjoyers does this image mean anything to you.

Does anyone else remember this.

[skyhighwritings]

That’s What Friends Are For.

Chapter Two: OH! How The Turn Tables!

Total Drama High School AU

Story Summery: What can you do when you’re crushing hard on someone, but you’re too dang Nervous to act on it? I Suppose, that’s what Friends are for.

Chapter Summery: After Dating Trent for the past Few Weeks, Cody Fancies Himself a Love Expert. And With his New Credentials, He is Determined To Help Noah, the way He Helped Him. Only Problem Is Noah Would Rather Die then Let His Crush Know..

Characters: Cody, Noah, Owen, and (Back in Chapter One) Trent

Ships:  Nowen, And (Mentions of) Trody

Chapter One <------

  Noah peeked out from where he hid, only to swiftly duck back behind the wall. He sighed, “This is Stupid. I’m Not Doing It.”

  “It’s Not Stupid, dude!” Cody encouraged, “C’mon! You can do it! I Believe in You!”

  “It’s not a question of Ability, it’s about willingness” Noah looked to his friend, “And I’m Not Doing It.”

  Cody locked eyes with Noah, and slowly raised his hands to his hips.

“Cody. Don’t.”

  The geek didn’t obey, instead he kept his eyes trained on his friend and uttered a simple, yet powerful,“Bwack.” 

“You’re Not Funny.”

  Cody seemed to disagree as he continued to not only Bwack but also flap his elbows.

  “Cody Stop It.” 

Cody froze mid flap, “Are you Gonna Do It.”

  “No-”

“BA-BWACK!!!” He screeched Flailing his arms like an angry chicken.

  Noah Lunged at his Dumb Friend to cover up his Dumb Mouth, “What Is Wrong With You???”  He hissed.

  “Mmmbbmm. Mrrmm’m mrrmm mmm MMM.’” 

Noah Glared, “I’ll take my hand away if you promise to quit being The Most Obnoxious Person I Know.”

  Cody thought about this deal, truly pondered, gave it a good ol’ think before smiling under Noah’s palm.

   Noah cocked a brow, before his face was twisted into shock and disgust as he ripped his now saliva covered hand away from The Most Obnoxious Person He Knows.

  He opened his mouth to berate his Dumb Friend That He Hates but all that came out was, “BAAAAAAaaaaaaAAAAAAHH!!!!! GAAAAHHHHGGG!!” he yelled, “ mllLYAAK, nygah” was all he could say to illustrate how repulsed he was, but finally he was able to formulate the words “WhYY?!?”

“Your Hand Tastes Like Hand Sanitizer.”

  Noah Looked at Cody, in something akin to rage, disgust, and bafflement. “What would make you do that?? What Would Make You Think That Was Ok?? Tell Me, I Would Really Like To Know The Reason You Decided To Die Today??”

  Cody Opened his mouth to say something, whether it was an answer or not will remain unknown since a third party spoke first.

  “Lil’ Buddy??” Owen said, peaking around the Corner, “Did you just Scream, Pal? Are You Ok?” 

  Noah didn’t turn to face the new voice, instead he kept his eyes on Cody, said eye’s losing all traces of irritation and being replaced by pure anxiety. 

  Cody, on the other hand, glanced at the new voice, confirming it was Owen, before returning to look at Noah with the biggest, most obnoxious Smile. He then gave Two Giant Thumbs Up, before using both hands to point at Owen, who, luckily, was far too concerned with whether his little buddy was Ok or Not to notice. 

  Noah also didn’t notice, for even though he was  looking at Cody, he wasn’t seeing Cody. He was far too busy trying to come up with a way to get out of here to notice what Dumb Thing his Dumb Friend was doing now. So far his ways to leave the situation are as follows, A.) Disappearing into a Puff of smoke, never to be seen again; B.) Melting into an Unfeeling Puddle; or C.) Spontaneous Combustion. Though he isn’t sure if any of those are particularly…. Convenient? 

Though C does sound pretty good.

He is also partial to B.

  “Noah?” Owen’s voice yanked Noah out of thought, as the Larger boy placed a worried hand on his friends Shoulder.

  Noah jumped back from the touch, “Oh, Hey Big Guy,” he Started after turning to face him, and before backing subtly away, “I’m fine, I just Need to wash My Hand. Which Means I Can’t Stay Here. So I Can’t Talk.”  Noah shot quick nervous glances at both of his Friends before uttering an even quicker, “Bye.”, and turning to book it.

  If you were Owen McCarthy for the past 3 weeks, as Owen happened to be, you would have been used to this behavior, as sad and confused as it made you feel.

   If you were Cody Anderson, who coincidentally, Cody was, you would Know this treatment was thanks to a talk the two of you had where you helped him realize he had a Crush on his Best Friend.

  If you Were Noah Bhatt, which the current Noah Bhatt would be happy to let you take his place from here,  you would be well aware of the new terrible, bubbly feeling of crush filled anxiety that was before covered up by the facade of just liking your Best Friend since Daycare as a Best Friend. You would also blame all of this on your other friend, who had the audacity to point out your feelings three weeks ago while playing video games.

 The Jerk.

  Noah made two fairly good strides to get out before being Grabbed by Cody, “Duuuuuude!!!! Stop!!! It’s Not a Big Deal!!! Just Do It!”

Big Words From A Boy, That In Fact, Did Not Do It.

   Noah tried to  wiggle his arm free, Not looking at Cody, and especially not looking at Owen, "I’d Love To Stay, But I Have To Go."

  Cody Glared at this response, before releasing his struggling friend, causing the boy to stumble a little. "Fine. I guess I can Talk with Owen before class instead." 

  Noah continued to walk briskly away,  "Fine, Talk With Ow-" 

Noah Stopped Suddenly in his Tracks.

'Oh No.'

  "Hey, Owen! Guess Who Thinks Your Cuuu- OOMMFF!" 

Cody was cut off by Noah once again lunging at him, hissing for Cody to "Shut Up!!!"

  This was not as Effective as Noah would have liked, with Cody successfully keeping the other at Arm's length,  though it wasn't an easy task. Which was a little surprising; Cody had Never seen Noah put So Much Effort into Something. 

  He Really Didn’t Want Owen To Know.

Too Bad Cody Has Already Decided It Needs To Happen.

  "If You Won't Do It I Will!!!" Cody Declared, pushing against Noah's Hands to keep him back, “It’s For Your Own Good, Dude! Just Do It!!”

  Since getting with Trent, Cody has fancied himself a bit of a Love Expert, much to Noah’s exasperation. That’s really how this all started, Cody Claiming he Knew Everything about Love, then telling Noah that he Obviously had a Crush on Owen. 

  At first Noah disagreed with this diagnostic, afterall, What Did Cody Know?

A Lot More Than Noah Give’s Him Credit For, Apparently.

  The Struggling Paused as the two friends stared at each other. 

It Felt like an eternity before Noah Opened his Mouth, only to close it again.

  He Has Made His Choice.

Cody closed his eyes and nodded, before turning his head to face Owen,  "NOAH LI- GAAH!!!" Cody released his grip on Noah's hands, transferring them to his now Sore Shin.

   "dUDE DID YOU JUST KICK ME??!!?"

Noah looked his friend in the eye, blank faced, "no."

  Cody shot daggers at his friend as he held his probably bruising leg. He then went to speak, maintaining eye Contact with his assailant,  "Noah Thinks You're Cute. You Two Should Date."

"Cody!!! " Noah hissed, once again lunging forward, but he did not move fast enough to Murder Cody Right Then And There as he so desired, because Cody had already started to Run down The Hall. 

  Noah took a few strides after Cody, before deciding it wasn't worth the work opting instead to shout, "YOU'RE A DEAD MAN, ANDERSON!!!" 

  Cody simply spun around, though he continued with a Trot, and shot two big thumbs up accompanied by an even bigger grin. 

  Cody Anderson: Noah’s Most Hated Friend.

"I KNOW WHERE YOU SLEEP!!!!"

  Cody responded to this threat to his life by blowing a kiss to Noah, before yelling "SEE YOU IN PHYSICS!!!" And turning to sprint to whichever class he had next.

  Noah Glared down the thinning hall, though Cody was no longer there.

He  would have continued this Unreceived Glare if it wasn’t for the faint and awkward chuckle behind him.

  Noah shifted to look at his Best Friend, though he did a remarkable job at avoiding his Face, “Listen, pal, I can expla-”

  “Don’t worry about it, Bud!” Owen smiled, “It’s a pretty mean joke, but it didn’t bother me!!”

  Noah was taken aback by this. Owen thought it was a Joke??? Is He Free??? Did He Get Out Of Admitting He Had Emotions?? Did He Win??

  He gave a half hearted laugh, “Yeah, you know Cody, Always telling Bad Jokes.” Noah then looked up at his friends face and regretted what he said immediately. 

Owen was clearly bothered.

Noah should have been able to tell.

He’s an Idiot.

  “It’s kinda funny,” Owen continued to smile at Noah, a smile Noah hated. A smile Owen only had when he wasn’t actually happy. A smile Noah’s been able to spot since the 5th grade. A smile No One else Seems to notice on the Big Ball of Optimism that’s Owen, and that fact somehow made Noah hate it even more.

  “I mean, could you imagine, you  being into me ? That’s ridiculous!” Owen chuckled, but not the one he has when he’s amused by a situation or the one that trickles out because he’s just So Happy he can’t Help It, but rather the one that Forced Out when he’s uncomfortable and trying to hide it. 

  Noah can’t let this continue, he may be bad at his own emotions, but he’s an expert on Owen’s, and as that expert it’s his responsibility to cheer his Best Buddy Up.

  “Hey, Big Guy, I’m sure Cody didn’t mean it like that.” Noah closed the gap between him and Owen, placing his hand as close to the larger boy’s shoulder as he could. Owen looked down at Noah, realizing his little buddy once again saw past his attempts to act as if he were happy with something. 

  He looked at Noah, interested in what he had to say, which was honestly nothing new. 

  “The joke was probably me not having a chance with you.” Noah continued, discreetly wiping his soiled hand on Owen’s shirt, “I mean, Cody wouldn’t insult you on purpose.” 

  Owen Grabbed Noah by both shoulders, shocking him, “WHAAAT??! That’s Crazy Talk!!!!”

Noah smiled, “Thank’s bud-”

  “Your, like, THE BEST!” Owen continued, unphased by the interruption, “You’re Cool, and Funny, and Smart, and, and, And AWESOME!!!” Owen let go of Noah’s Shoulders as he threw his hands in the air, “Who Wouldn’t Want To Date You!!!!”

  Noah stared up at Owen, shocked. 

What does that mean?

What Does That Mean??

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN???

  Noah cleared his throat, “Uh, gee, Thanks.. Owen….” He looked up and smiled, “I really appreciate that.”

  Owen returned the smile. 

Noah fidgeted a little, before continuing, “You’re…. Pretty great, Too.” he rubbed his arm nervously, 

‘Just walk away Noah. He thinks it was a joke, and he’s not sad anymore, cut your losses and Get Out’.

  “I mean, I think you’re pretty Funny…” 

‘That’s not Getting Out.’

          Noah ignored his thoughts, and continued, “You’re a lot of Fun to be around. I mean, I Really Love hanging out with you…” 

‘Stop. Leave. Don’t Do This. Get OUT.’

  “You’re So Nice, and Enthusiastic about Everything, it’s kinda annoying.” 

‘Good, Insult Him, and Leave. 

  “But, it’s also kinda Charming?”

 ‘LEAVE!!!’

  Owen grinned sheepishly, “Really?”

‘NO! SAY NO!’ 

  “Yeah..” Noah looked away to try and hide the fact that he was Blushing, “I Really…..”

‘Don’t Do It. Don’t Say It. Please Someone Stop Me. Oh My God What Am I Doing.’

  Noah looked up at Owen, “ Like you, dude.”

‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA’

  Owen looked at his friend, wide eyed, seemingly in shock. You could practically hear the gears turning in his head.

  Noah looked around anxiously, but before he could take it all back Owen Cheered.

  “FOR REAL DUDE???!!!??!” He Beamed, “THAT’S AWESOME!!!!” Owen Squeezed Noah in a Far-Too-Tight hug and spun around gleefully.

  “Owen…..” Noah wheezed, “Owen… I Can’t Breath….”

“Ooops,” Owen chuckled, letting him go, “Sorry, man! I’m Just So Excited!!!” He Explained.

  “No way, really? I couldn’t Tell.” Noah tried to keep up his trademark Sarcasm to distract from the fact that he was currently dying from the levels of excitement he himself was experiencing.

  “TOTALLY!!” Owen continued, “I Mean!!! I Like You Too, Noah!!”

  Even though Noah gathered as much from Owens reaction, hearing the actual word put him through a spin his mortal body was not prepared for.  Noah began blushing more than he had ever done before in his life , not to mention that he was now brandishing a smile that could barely fit on his face.

It was Embarrassing.

  Though not as embarrassing as his dumb follow up question, “You mean, Like Like? Or Like???” Noah paused, mostly because he didn’t really know what words meant at the moment, “Ok, So Like, did You Mean, uuuuhh, liiike???” Noah was struggling, and also probably dying. 

  Owen chuckled, “I Mean I Like You, Dude! Like in a ‘Let’s Date!’ Kinda Way!!”

“Ok.” Noah squeaked out, “Let’s…” He tried to calm down, though it wasn’t easy, “Let’s... Dooo…. That.”

  “Do what?” 

Noah took a deep breath in, finding the few nerves that hadn’t been obliterated by this conversation, “Date?”

   Owen beamed, “Yeah, Man! Let’s Date!!! WOO!” He then wrapped his little buddy in another bone-crushing Hug, but this one was considerably more breathable, “This is A-A-AWESOME!”

  Noah tried to conceal a chuckle, but even he couldn’t deny the pure joy he was experiencing. 

  He patted Owen on the shoulder, fondly, “Alright, Lunch Box. Put me Down before we’re late to-”

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNG

“Class.”

  “Aw Man, Sorry, Little Buddy…” Owen Looked down at his friend, wait no, BOYFRIEND, he had a boyfriend now, and it was Noah and this is The Best.

  Owen Looked Down at His Boyfriend, who he was still holding in his arms, “Hey, want me to carry you to class?”

  Noah looked up at his Best Friend for the past 13 years, and current Boyfriend, “That’s The Dumbest Question You’ve Ever Asked Me.”  Noah deadpanned, “Of Course I Want To Be Carried.”

Later that Day….

Cody sat in class, bored out of his mind when he felt a vibration in his pocket. Checking to make sure the teacher wasn’t looking, he pulled his phone out to check the notification.

It Was From Noah!!!

Five-Head: Wanted to let you know that you’re death won’t be swift, or merciful.

 Me: o dude did it not go well 

Me: srry 

Five-Head: With me and Owen? That went great. We’re dating now.

Five-Head: But you licking my hand can’t go unpunished.

Five-Head: So, I’m Killing You.

Five-Head: You won’t Be Missed.

Me: <3 

Five-Head </3

Me: :O

[stompsite]

Im-prey-ssions

So, I started Prey 2017 up around midnight last night. Eleven hours later, I had to stop playing because I needed sleep. The only reason I’m not playing Prey 2017 right now is because I promised you I’d blog once a week, every week, and since I was busy apartment hunting, playing Prey 2017, and going to the hospital.* I still feel awful; I need several treatments, not one every six months, but dang it, I told you guys I’d write something this week, and I’m gonna do it, even if it’s just one draft. Then I’m going to go play more Prey 2017.

So, right off the bat, this game’s like a 9/10.

Like, if that’s what you want to know, there you go. I love playing this game. Now to get into the nitty gritty. I’ll be talkin a lot about positives and negatives, and I’m trying to be somewhat comprehensive. Just bear in mind: from what I’ve played so far, I like it as much as Dishonored 2 and Doom, my favorite games of last year. It’s Extremely Good.

As some of you may be aware, I really did not like Prey 2017’s demo. There are a few reasons for that, chiefly the fact that I desperately needed to go to the hospital. Literally everything was irritating me and getting under my skin. Everything. This includes Prey 2017’s melee system. Now, let me be clear here: I don’t like the melee system. I didn’t like it in Dead Island, and I don’t like it here. But the melee system is a small part of a huge game, and I happen to enjoy that game a whole heck of a lot.

Would the game be better without a stamina bar? Yes. Absolutely. 100%. The stamina bar adds nothing but annoyance to the game. It does not benefit Prey 2017’s design in any way. If they patched out the stamina system tomorrow, Prey 2017 would only benefit.

So, after the demo, I was pretty worried.

Now, something like 10 hours in: this game is a delight. I love how the station feels persistent; leave a room, come back later, find all the bits you moved right where you left them. It’s WONDERFUL!

The level design overall is Extremely Good Stuff. So far, my favorite level is Psychotronics. It feels the most reminiscent of System Shock 2, and it has two of the my favorite moments in the game so far, which I won’t spoil here. There’s an area above two big metal pods I’m still trying to figure out how to access, so I’ve got reasons to go back.

The Arboretum is fantastic. Crew quarters are ace. On and on I could go; I like every single level in this game with the sole exception of G.U.T.S., which is a long tube with zero gravity and some annoying enemies with it. Zero G outside of the station is super cool. Zero G in G.U.T.S. isn’t my thing. As a System Shock 2 comparison, G.U.T.S. is The Body of The Many. But this is one level out of like... a dozen, and as far as I can tell, you don’t have to use it again once you unlock the elevator. 

One of the coolest features of Prey 2017, which I hope everyone copies in the future, because it’s great, is the crew tracking feature. Everyone who dies leaves a corpse behind. You can use computers to pick a person to track, then find their corpse. Doing so can net you things like key cards and supplies, which opens up more of the station, allowing you to explore.

There are two kinds of Looking Glass fans, those who prefer Thief and those who prefer System Shock. I’m one of the fans who prefers System Shock; I enjoy exploring more than sneaking. It’s why I prefer S.T.A.L.K.E.R. to System Shock. It’s why I’m enjoying Prey 2017 so much. Finding a keycard and having that ‘oh yeah, I remember where that is!’ moment, going back to that spot, and finally getting to open a locked door you’ve been keeping in the back of your mind for the past few hours... it’s a great feeling. 

One of the issues I had with Bioshock is that you rarely had a reason to navigate Rapture. Bioshock 2, my favorite game in that series, went in the opposite direction, turning into a series of linear sandbox maps, like Thief. Dishonored and Dishonored 2 do the linear sandbox thing too. It’s perfectly fine design, but I’ve been hungry for a game world that I really felt like exploring.

Prey 2017 is the first truly satisfying game world I have explored since S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky in 2008. The entire thing is open, you just have to find the right keys and hack the right doors and lift the right crates. It’s a game that rewards exploration, not with a “+100 XP: Crawled a vent” popup, but because as you explore, you get this really satisfying sense of “oh, this goes here, and that goes there, and it all works like this...”

Prey 2017 satisfies my exploration itch. You have no idea. It’s why I didn’t want to stop playing until I physically couldn’t play anymore. The only games that have held my attention so strongly in the past few years were Dishonored 2, Doom, Metal Gear Solid V, and Mad Max.

The symbiotic relationship between “hunt for crewmembers” and the station’s many locked doors creates this insatiable urge to explore. I love it.

Do I have complaints? Yes. The stamina system doesn’t benefit the game. G.U.T.S. isn’t fun to explore or traverse. The dudes who stop you from moving are just Not At All Fun To Encounter. The combat is something where I sigh and go “oh well, here I go again.” Great combat should be emotional combat; there should be highs and lows, a great rhythm, elation and relief in victory.

It’s not like a great stealth game, where you don’t want to enter combat because stealthing is more satisfying. It’s not like System Shock 2, Alien: Isolation, or STALKER, where combat can be thrilling and terrifying in equal measure, due to player vulnerability. It’s... just kinda there. It’s easily the game’s greatest weakness.

Prey 2017’s combat is annoying. The enemies feel samey (they’re all fast, teleporty, and take a bunch of shotgun damage before they die) and are way too visually consistent to be exciting. If you look at System Shock 2′s enemies, there’s a lot more interesting visual variety in the designs, which makes the experience more enjoyable. There was a lot more tactical/strategic depth in System Shock 2 as well.

Fortunately, you spend far more time exploring than you do anything else. It’s so effin good, man. Like... I’m over here writing about Prey 2017, when all I really want to do is go hop back in Prey’s world and explore Talos I some more. The level designers outdid themselves.

Even fundamental, basic stuff like mantling and crouching feels super good to do. The game world is just a joy to exist and interact in when you’re not fighting dudes. The only problem I have with the game world is that certain areas (especially the maintenance/labs area) have really predictable enemy spawns, which makes the world feel a lot less ‘real’ than it might otherwise.

Basically, I like the game. I like it a lot. I like it better than every game that has come out so far in 2017. It’s right up there with Dishonored 2 (which I adored) for me. It’s engrossing, thrilling, and awesome.

With some better combat and enemy design/spawning, Prey would be as close to perfect as a game can get. If my opinions change significantly as I continue the experience, I’ll probably right a review. If I was the scoring type, it would be an easy 9/10 for me.

So, one last thing: the default settings are a bit strange.

Change mouse sensitivity to 50, turn off Damage Numbers, rebind ‘tab’ to inventory, and bind your mouse wheel to weapon changes. It’ll feel a lot better. It’s still kind of weird to navigate menus (you can’t use the scroll wheel to scroll down lists?), and for some reason, moving your mouse moves your ENTIRE CAMERA when reading computers (compare this with Doom 3′s more satisfying implementation of computer screens). Sometimes, clicking works, other times, you have to press F, and sometimes, you have to press G. It’s kind of strange. It makes sense to use G to, like, repair items in the world, but less sense to use G on a menu where it seems like F or Mouseclick will do. 

The game has a ton of these weird little UX issues that, if tweaked, would significantly improve the game. I wish they’d been caught prior to release, but I hope they get patched.

There’s no FOV slider, but that should be coming soon. For some reason, the intro videos are unskippable. You can’t click through them or anything. You can, however, turn them off by editing your game files.

I do have Extremely Negative Impressions about how the game’s been handled, though. You see, I like Prey. That’s the Real Prey, the 2006 FPS Prey. The one with Blue Oyster Cult and Art Bell. I liked that Prey a lot. If you install Prey 2017, and you have Prey installed, 2017 will be installed in Prey’s directory. It’s frustrating.

It’s also frustrating that the game is named Prey at all; did we really have to lose the original game on Steam for THIS? Did the sequel really get canned for us to play this? I can take Prey 2017 on its own merits, and it’s a great game, but the way Human Head was treated, and the way the original game is being treated leave a really bad taste in my mouth. I love Arkane. I love Bethesda. I don’t like how the whole “Prey” situation has been handled. They could have given this game so many names and avoided the problem entirely.

The Prey for the Gods Situation is really bad. Some Bethesda PR dude said somethin on GAF about “we have to protect our trademark,” but that appears to be untrue. Here’s CDPR talking about that very subject. So it seems like folks at Bethesda are being dishonest, and that really rubs me the wrong way.

It sucks that a game I’m loving right now is associated with so many negative things.

Overall, best game I’ve played since Dishonored 2, appeals to my personal sensibilities a lot more, I don’t really like the combat so I try to avoid it as much as possible, I love this world so dang much.

*I was in the hospital because of my illness.

[thegeminisage]

more botw blogging, SUPER spoilery

this is a real long post sorry normally i break these up and this time i didn’t

and finally, off we go to a new province

this time im making its tower my first stop, since i can see it from here

i tried to paraglide across the river but i didn't have enough height so i landed on the cliffside and ITS RAINING!!!!! for fucks sake

i cant believe this game actually got me to hate rain..........

not only that but when i died in the water it didn't reload me back to where i started to glide from but a bit of cliff i stood on lol so #struggles right from the first minute

rain for the next 3 hours.......and i gotta climb it in the rain....jesus

i guess i could fast travel but i'd have to walk all the way back there :/

hmm. maybe the gae's throwing me the rain on purpose. an npc mentioned this river was notoriously difficult to cross :///

yep as soon as i turned away: it cleared. Great

well i see some bridge-like things further downstream i guess i'll check that out

lol jk i managed to glide across a different part and climb

like i saw my forecast change but then it changed back to sun so w/e i'll take it im up here now

aaaaah i can see so many cool things from here!!!!! i cant wait to explore them all!!!! that #new province feel

i hate like, feeling obligated to track down every last bit of stuff in the old ones when you're seeing new exciting stuff

but i love the feel of getting to a new one and not even knowing which cool thing to check out first

ohhh my god lol there's a big-ass bokoblin camp on the way to the tower i think i see a moblin but im not sure

aaaand im dead

at least there werernt any moblins!

tbh it isnt a difficult camp i just wasnt vigilant about healing

me every time i see something new: what the Fuck is that!?

in this case it was an ice wizzrobe which made it snow EVERYWHERE oh my god

That Was Difficult

if i didn't have my fire arrows and lynel bow it would have taken way longer

i died again!!!

those weird pattern bokoblins have SO much attack power ):

come on i have to clear out the camp AGAIN? and kill the wizzrobe?

naw dude i am skipping this nonsense i am going straight up the fucking cliff

HA i sniped them from above >:3

w

there's a zora on top of this tower!!!!!!!

omg poor thing he can't get back down i wish i could carry him on my paraglider

man i love the tower cutscenes and music and the way they unfold it's so cool

BIG SHINY NEW PROVINCE YYYYEAH!!!!

oh hey i found another zora down near these bridges

they all want me to go see their prince haha noooo i have too much to explore!!!

oooh it's so easy to get all turned around on these bridge thingies

man i love this province it's SO pretty

ah i found a goron on a sandbar!! how did you get out here with all this water...

nooo the blood moon again i knew it was coming the music has been funny all night >:(

lol jk the music faked me out its 2am and i warped to the stable for nothing (i was trying to get that one dude's reaction)

i came back and did the shrine and found another zora!! lol they all really want me to go see that dude

there's a thing i need to climb but ugh rain

while i was bored i chopped grass and attached octo balloons to things

now i am in the wetlands which are AWFUL to walk through i can practically feel the mud squishing between my toes and i want to die lmao

there are horses here!! i miss mine ):

ive done enough shrines now to get another upgrade but i dont feel like doing all that backtracking blegh

oh noooo i see a guardian out here, a moving one ;_;

ah it's been awhile since i failed to fight the still ones on the plateau...i wonder what the start screen meant by "the right tools" ive got a lot of damn tools!! did they mean arrows??

lol yet another zora telling me to meet with the prince.........dude

this prince must be either desperate or spoiled

uh

okay maybe its a glitch but i think?? i see?? a flying island in the distance? What The Fuck

wait no it looks kind of like a ship or giant bird??

my pins don't stick to it, it's definitely moving around

jesus fuck

AHAHAH FUCK THE GUARDIAN SAW ME

HAD TO TAKE REFUSE IN THE FUCKING SHRINE

jesus christ i hate those things!!!! you can't kill them!!!!!!!

NO oh my god there's a hinox over here too

why this Why This

lol the hinox fighting music is giving me trauma flashbacks

actually that wasnt so bad with a defense elixir on

maybe it's just me but this province feels kinda small? i feel like i could finish exploring it p quickly, which is nice

not that i'm not having fun but i know i'm going so slowly ):

me every five seconds: i miss my hooorse i want one to ride around to go faaaaster

i guess...i could catch...one of these

and like. not register it bc the stable is 10000 miles away but

a temp ride. let's see if i can. need to use up some of my sneak potions anyways

i caught one and rode it awhile, but my heart's not in training it...i want My Horse

oh my god wait i hear town music!! is this a stable right here!! AAAAAH

so i did catch a pretty black one and named it luna - had to let the first one i caught go lol but it didn't have great stats and i only rode it once so it'll be happier in the wild probably

KASS IS AT THIS STABLE IM SO HAPPY SO IS HESTU

he's playing epona's song i'm gonna CRY

I MISS EPONA IM DYING

oh my god he had a story for me!! the same one that impa told!!!!! man

the music is still so good. fuck.

lmao i was talking to one dude and he was like well might as well head back inside ugh that place is so filthy and the women so free you might as well call it a manfill

UM?? NINTENDO??

i can see hyrule castle super close from where i am and it looks super scary and i super want nothing to do with it rn

i get the feeling you can like, go in there whenever? maybe even do the endgame stuff early? but oh my god i Dont wanna

OMG i just mounted a bear

i read that you could ride things other than horses but holy shit lmao

i mean

it killed me after i got off, but man

sadly i must now board my horse and continue with The Story see i explored the non-story bits of that province SUPER quickly dang

oh no

this shrine is called a minor test of strength

Oh No

Why, God

oh. that was actually like SUPER easy compared to the other two haha phew

this lady at the crossroads said the prince was creepy omg i knew there was something, ahaha, excuse me, "fishy"

whoa i love his music theme!!

lmao i always get so SHOCKED when they talk!!! even still!!!!!

voice acted cutscenes of this game are like fmvs of final fantasy games in generations 5-7 lol

oh my god...the wink/sparkle thing...he's such a HAM

he's flattering me TOO much omg dude what do you want.......

ok, ok, i like him

he doesn't seem very trustworthy but since his people are in trouble i'll cut him some slack on that one

oh nooo i gotta climb this in the rain......

ah, it's sunshowering tho! that's kinda neat

i just got attacked by octoroks and my heart wept a little because traveling up zora's river dodging octoroks to get to and save zora's domain...I've Been Here Before

listen, i could write a book on this

(lol i did write 300k on this but shhh that was a long time ago)

like...if link is actually a reincarnation does he get flashes of memory

oot happened in every timeline but i know wind waker didn't

but do you think assuming this is in the same timeline as wind waker something in him feels at home the first time he sails a raft again

or hears kass play epona's song at the ranch

or ducks an octorok on his way to zora's domain

people treat the incarnation thing as a kind of tragedy - the world will never be free of evil so long as ganon/ganondorf exists

but maybe there's happiness in it too

no matter what happens, no matter how sad the ending - i mean hell, in this very game, link and zelda LOST

no matter what though, it's guaranteed that they'll see each other again

over and over and over without end, link and zelda are gonna meet and be together for awhile while they defend hyrule again

frankly if that's not a soulmate idk what is

and frankly i'm perpetually offended that they don't develop ganondorf the man more like they did in wind waker...that was the Peak tbqh

i would kill for something like that again

anyway

i love how present the current here is, like with the stuff floating down the river, thats a NICE touch

tbh it's actually really nice that he keeps uselessly checking on me on the way up the river

like, i've been so lonely

even now i miss my companion going "what's WITH that guy" like they probably would if i had one

so this is nice. tbh.

i know it was probably a deliberate choice and makes the game stronger but a companion for this game, someone to share it with...that would've been cool

even just zelda as the protag, she could do some internal narration

but the whole thing is just so quiet.

this place is so pretty tho?? in the distance i see these like, pink coral looking plant things, and the blue columns and bridges are gorgeous

OH NO LIGHTNING GOD WHY

i think its an area thing too i cant just wait it out lmao im gonna Die

oh jk it's just rain now

idk why my entire forcecast changes to a particular type of weather and its only like that a few seconds...super weird and annoying

lol sidon all "you're almost halfway there i believe in you!!" and not helping fight and link's little "k" wave

i love link as a silent protag even if i did have him talk in my writing like it's so endearing

i wonder if link is like sgr like "i am 100 years old what is this zora kid even doing. what is he EVEN DOING."

lol just had to dodge some rocks rollin down a hill

you see this is what i mean. there's a weird sense of familiarity and nostalgia if you've played the games a lot. i wonder if the spirit of the hero feels that way with each new adventure, too

like if he's okay doomed to an eternity of fighting and parting with zelda over and over

because in the end he always gets to do this again

like i can see the spirit of the princess/goddess being high key miserable about those circumstances but i wonder if the spirit of the hero is maybe secretly glad

because part of him will always yearn for the next adventure

he never COULD be happy settling because this is what he was born for

WE love doing this again and again and again, maybe it's not such a stretch to think the spirit of the hero does too

or maybe i'm projecting so hard onto him because undertale has so successfully blurred the line between the player and the game for me LMAO

oh man i just noticed all the names on this map

lulu, mikau ;_;

i miss them!!!!

just once i wish zelda games would feature the same side characters in two or three titles

we never got to see saria or darunia or lulu again

we get to come back to the world but every friend we've ever made has been gone

like some narnia shit i swear to god

lol this is why i should never do story all i do is rant about My Zelda Feels, which are literally endless

oh NICE battle with a blue moblin on the bridge!!!!

ah i like the zora history here too please give me all the worldbuilding i wanna know everything about this world that i can bc rn all i know is "we got Fucked"

i guess i also know about the automans but i need More

i say, while procrastinating on getting to the story

in other news i have an ice and lightning rod which i havent bothered trying to use

bc when i tried to use the boomerang i failed utterly lol

but these? holy shit dude these are Powerful when you actually land a magic hit like Dang

i Love them im never avoiding another wizzrobe again (thats where they drop from)

oh wow

i finally made it, and

man. oh man. it's so beautiful

i wish i could see if better

jesus the zoras always had the prettiest parts of the games imo

OH NO THE MUSIC

OH NO!!! im gonna cry omg

it's the same melody from oot i think!! oh my god!!!!!!

omg there's a zora here named rivan who says he knows me?!?!

omg no he's listing some of link's old pals from Before im so sad why can't he remember

OOOH i shouldn't speak to the elderly bc apparently i am "guilty" of something?? i love this development PLEASE tell me more

i love that they all age so slowly #nice

am i walking into a fucking execution lmao sidon don't play me......

omg the little zora kids are adorable!!!

omg there's a statue of the zora champion ;_;

man this is all so cool i wanna know EVERYTHING about what happened back then!!!!

lol the shrine here was SUPER nerve wracking god you had to like, roll the giant ball down a hill and stop time at JUST the right moment skjghf

oh my gosh ANOTHER zora who knows me (lol "linny")

im so ;w; they all know me!!!!!!

i slept on the blissful water bed at the inn and was mystified and alarmed by the sound effects but i got an extra stamina wheel and 3 extra hearts!!! god damn you can't beat that shit

im so amazed at how many people knew link and like, blame him? i wanna know so bad what happened, i wanna know more about mipha

ten bucks says she's still alive and like trapped in the divine beast but corrupted

or a ghost or something like the old man ;_;

aww zoras sleep in the water aw aw :3

i'm loving this theme of link sleeping for so long like at first i thought of sgr but i just realized it's also like oot (and i can't believe i didn't make that connection first...)

like in oot the people who knew him Before are so happy to see him again and are sure he can help them

but in this game it's a bit mixed

and in this game we don't know the details of 100 years ago yet ;_;

zora's domain here is like. so GLOWY. reminds me of waterfall from undertale tbh lol i wanna paint it

so i'm talking to the king and this one elderly zora goes "the hylians abused an ancient society's power to turn hyrule into what it is today" & like...tbh my dude you have a point. if they had never gotten those guardians out then they couldn't have turned on them

oh my GOD

i just got my first look at a divine beast and i can't believe i was calling them jaegers

my jaw dropped irl holy shit

like that thing truly looks both divine and beastly (this one is an elephant)

is mipha still in there as like a ghost ;_;

it's so clear how much everyone misses her

and she seemed so sweet in the one short memory i recovered

every time sidon does his sparkle smile i love him a little more

i didn't trust him at first bc he seemed a little too eager but now i see he's just doing his best!!!!

especially as someone who thinks radically and progressively in a society where elders stay around hundreds of years

YESSSSS I GOT ZORA ARMOR!!!! YES!!!!!!!!

SWIM SPEED UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

omfg and it's an engagement thing just like the sapphire

MADE BY MIPHA?

thats right that other lady said link was supposed to choose between her and mipha

listen mipha seems cool and all but i've been shipping zelink for 19 years, so

oh NO, mipha had feelings for link

oh no poor mipha...oh my god

WAIT AM I ABOUT TO GET ANOTHER MEMORY??? OH MY GOD!!!!!

duuuuuude

"no matter how bad the wound i will ALWAYS" heal you and then link wakes up in water

did she do that!!! did she save him ;_; oh my god im going to cry

"you are quivering like a hatchling" PLEASE protect my poor son

muzu is making me sad dude he misses her so much and he hates this so much

ooooh i have to fight another lynel for shock arrows...good Lord im not looking forward to that

I KNEW IT

"calamity ganon took control of the beasts and trapped the champions inside" yep either she's still alive like link and zelda or her body is in there and so is her fucking ghost

DUDE!! i just swam up my first waterfall and it was AWESOME!!!!!

so im at shatterback point now hwere lynel is just bc i wanted to swim up a waterfall but probably he will kill me quickly lmao

apparently you can mount him too which. sick.

but idk i dont have any good food or elixirs or weapons ready im just up here for science im probably gonna knock off soon i gotta Draw

Oh Fuck There He Is ):

it's super tedious to have top go back and delete every fucking picture i take for my copendium one by one those shouldn't save in my album automatically come on dude im trying to take a picture of this lion centaur thing here

aaah there's a rainbow here too #nice

ah well got him about a quarter pf the way down before i died :/ not bad for being completely unprepared

tbh i only had one defense food?? had i had more i could have whittled him down eventually

anyway thats all for tonight!! i doubt i'll play anymore tonight bc i have drawing to do

lol this is a long post but it's all in one bc i'm typing them in notepad now and don't have to worry about them getting too long