#i am genuinely astounded

[univemma]

I acknowledge that the season was cut almost in half so I should really cut them some slack but I WON'T, SO:

Plot holes/Forgotten Stuff in TUA:

(some of these are mostly just unanswered questions)

-Sloane?? Where tf did she go?

-Why was Jennifer (in the original timeline) in a cage? In Moldova?? Like, was she discovered to have something ( the dimaldo stuff whatever) inside of her, so they wanted to test on her? if she never came into contact with marigold before ben then why would they? WHAT

-also wait how the fuck did she get that stuff in her anyway? How did the dimaldo get to earth after it caused the end of Reginald's home planet? Like,,,shouldnt we know that?

-Her,,,in a squid??? she was Inside a giant squid? W h a t

-the S3 post credits of ben in the train. sure, whatever, that means nothing LMAOO

-I also can't get over - Five explaining "oh yeah when we do this EVERY ALTERNATE TIMELINE is gonna be destroyed, leaving only what should've been - the original," and lila fighitng to put her family in the train station,,,All the other timelines will be destroyed??They're dying and being reborn/reincarnated in the new one anyway GIRL WHAT ARE YOU DOING

(unless ive highly misunderstood that which is likely)

-this isnt a plot hole just - five "trying desperately over and over again to save his unhelpful family who he loves very very much" being literally turned into,,,that. did someone say character assassination?

-lila and five. thats a plot hole in and of itself I DONT CARE if he's aged 12 years from season 3, (6 yr timeskip at beginning of season, then 6 technically 7 in teh train), I DONT CARE IF HES 25 NOW, I DONT CARE IF HES MENTALLY 60 SOMETHING. Lila met and spent time with him when he looked like THIS

THATS A CHILD. and clearly, the family had SOME contact in the 6 yr skip, so she WATCHED HIM GROW UP from 13 - 19, like thats just so WEIRD WHAT

this was supposed to be plot holes and just turned into me being pissed im sorry but HOW DO YOU FUCK UP AN ENDING THIS BAD??

[uncanny-tranny]

The leftism/anticapitalism leaving people's bodies the zeptosecond you imply that disabled people who aren't "productive" still matter in society and need to be treated like intrinsic equals who have a place in this world:

[courtney-deserved-better]

whenever i write teenagers i always think to myself "thank fucking god im not a teenager anymore"

[solas-backpack-mug]

CHARACTER STUDY: HAZANUI KARŪ

physicality and related behavior

square jaw

rather small for an aumaua

sun-weathered face

high quality prosthetic right arm with finger joints, made of wood

tar-stained teeth

smokes whiteleaf a lot

carries her shoulders high

very raspy laugh

vocabulary and way of speaking

diplomatic and well-spoken

says “clear skies” – common rauataian salutation

says “my troops” (as opposed to “our troops” or “the troops”)

occasionally uses sarcasm

doesn’t swear, aside from one “cocks” when annoyed and urging to continue a trial

uses the word „brass” as weaponry

sometimes asks rhetorical questions to point out others’ failings and flaws

called someone „pirate” to their face (as in „not fast enough to outrun our cannons, pirate.”)

threatened someone in a very calm voice at least once. more often sounds angry when making threats

views on other people

distrustful of vailians

slightly condescending about aristocrats and artists – they are soft

views vailians as greedy and untrustworthy. quick to speak about vailians in derogatory terms

views huana as inactive and complacent. claims to respect the huana. believes they have great potential as they are “of the same stock” as rauataians. according to her this potential is untapped. no evidence of racism against island aumaua

^ xenophobic, but most likely not racist

favored in-game dispositions: cruel, passionate, rational

appreciates strength, bravery, resourcefulness, ingenuity

motivation

doesn’t like excessive cruelty but is fine with hurting people if she deems it necessary

admires the engwithans and hopes to eventually surpass them in technological progress

cares about rauatai a lot. enthusiastic about improving rauatai

mentions that rauatai gets a lot of its food from plantations in the deadfire – reason to keep rauataian presence strong there

wants to reform the huana and the deadfire archipelago

believes that rauatai and not the huana should get ukaizo because “they’ve never known hardship, they’ve never had to strive”

personality-related behavior

eager to assist people who are eager to assist her and the rdc

often compliments allies on the personality traits she finds valuable

casually talks about bombarding a district

quickly acts in response to events, dislikes inaction

screams at people below her station (example: sabormi)

loses her temper easily

quotes

“I knew you Vailians had no principles, but have you no shame as well?”

“I mean no insult to the Huana. But they’ve never known hardship, they’ve never had to strive. We’ve earned our place at Ukaizo.”

“On my signal the cannons of the Brass Citadel will fire and our ships will bombard Queen’s Berth.”

towards a member of the VTC: “Are those frilled collars stuffed in your ears? If the Watcher’s mumblings are right, then Eothas is marching on Ukaizo, we have to move.”

if the watcher’s background is Aristocrat: “You may have had a sheltered upbringing but you’re no soft-handed sop, i’ll give you that.”

if the watcher has Cruel disposition: “I’m not one for wanton cruelty. But I think you can appreciate that hard decisions need to be made, and you won’t shy away from them.”

If the watcher has Passionate disposition: “You’ve got a way of charging into things full speed. Some might call it reckless but I… consider it valuable.”

if the watcher has Rational disposition: “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. Deadfire needs more of that.”

“The Engwithans were masters of engineering. And with the knowledge of Ukaizo, we could surpass them.”

“Ukaizo was yours once, and you’ve lost it. Meanwhile, the storms that cover Ondra’s Mortar plague Rauatai too.”

“Is it a coincidence these disasters do not touch Vailian installations? Or Vailian citizens?”

“Nothing worth doing has ever been easy. But, we must strive all the same.”

“The Vailians won’t lift a finger if it isn’t to snatch a coin. And the Huana will barely do that much.”

“And my people left Deadfire because it was in shambles. You worship a glorious past when you should set your eyes on the future.”

“Anything can be stopped with sufficient force. The problem is finding the will to deploy it.”

“We come of the same stock as the Huana. I don’t doubt their capacity for greatness.”

“Ukaizo belongs to us. We’ve earned it with blood and sweat.”

“At least you’ve got gumption. Nothing worse than standing around in the middle of a storm.”

[voided-selfships]

Actually so fucking glad I don't look through the selfship tag

[rawliverandgoronspice]

"…minimize the toll of time taken on both of them the same way it did for Zelda, especially since they semi-turn to stone immediately after. There are a lot of dialogue bits that feel like they are here for damage control and reassure us that the nice things are nice and the bad things are bad…"

So much yesssss. I honestly wonder if they did that because the story plays in a way where Link at no point feels like an active participant in any of what is happening.

Like "Oh yes there are consequences… but don't worry nothing is really gonna happen until we're in the present time with Link." It's weird how it almost feels like the game doesn't even acknowledge calamity Ganon. Not saying we need this huge cutscene about it, but imagine just showing Calamity Ganon being born at the same time as Zelda turns into a dragon. Showing the immediate negative consequences, and how Hyrule now has to wait millennia for totk-Link to finish what was started.

Hey, thanks for the ask, and sorry for the wait!

Yeah, I think there *was* a way to connect past and present more efficiently --using the past as revealing new information to guide objectives in the present-- but I think it would have gone against their open world philosophy (which didn't really mesh with the kind of story they tried to tell). As a consequence, nothing in the present really happens either honestly? The consequence to restoring a region involves giving you a tactical advantage and having some key players moving to the main Lookout Camp, but fundamentally you could skip all of it and lose almost nothing plot-wise, because the philosophy is: you can beat the game in any way you want.

And while I think it worked for BotW, where rediscovering that world you lost is never mandatory but it does give you emotional stakes in the fight ahead on top of helping you prepare your final battle, here it just feels... meandery? Your main goal is to find Zelda, but you don't actually have to find Zelda. You can finish the whole game without having invested a single thought into finding Zelda beyond the tutorial area. The overarching objective to Destroy Ganon worked in BotW because it remained the core pillar all the way, literally staring you in the eye from all across the map: every other quest objective is nested in the first one and optional by default, and it is made abundantly clear what the game expects of you while guiding you to opportunities to make your journey easier and more grounded as you rediscover Hyrule (gradually mastering the land, your own abilities, and your understanding of your place in that land to give you the best possible chance --mastering the Wild and becoming part of it, if you may).

But here? The game *tries* to hide its core objective (which is to Destroy Ganondorf: this is what actually triggers the ending credits sequence, not finding Zelda, which triggers... nothing at all actually) in a mystery the game... isn't actually that invested in gameplay-wise.

For example: you go handle the issues in the various regions because there are problems to fix and maybe you'll get information on where she is, which is honestly an assumption that is kind of based on... nothing? Why would the ritos facing an unnatural ice storm or the gorons facing a drug problem give you a clue on Zelda's location? Like yes, surely there is something weird going on and it might be linked to the same phenomenon that made Zelda disappear, but what makes you think going there will give you any hint of where she is? Honestly, the Lucky Clover sidequests almost feel like they should be the main quest given they actually involve Zelda sightings directly, but the fact that the game extra-diegetically categorize them as sidequests lets you immediately know these are all red herrings before you actually complete them...

But honestly: it would make sense to go look for her.... where she was last seen. Which is under Hyrule's Castle. And I didn't go there immediately, not because the game convinced me it was not necessary, or was too dangerous and I wasn't prepared yet, but because I knew for sure it was where Ganondorf would be, and so I pretended to be stupid so I would let the game lead me to its interest points while ignoring the glowing red hole under the core landmark of Hyrule where I had last seen Zelda and Ganondorf.

Sure, there was a glowing red boar in BotW screeching into the night, but. The game told me it's where the final boss was. Immediately. It was not trying to surprise me with that information. TotK, on the other hand, does an awkward little song and dance being like "oooooo I wooonder what you'll have to dooooo neeeext" and... it's pretty damn lame that I need to consciously course-correct the bad job the game does at leading me places to have a good time with it, using game design literacy to assume what I should and shouldn't do not to ruin my own experience as I play (same could be said for the Dragon's Tears as well, and it does an even worse job at it since I *did* spoil myself almost immediately, because I trusted the open world philosophy to carry into the memories like in BotW --and the fact that they are linear??? somehow?? without telling you and it's the only linear thing in the entire game?? is just so so so Not Good).

When I say the quest design of this game is a complete mess, I do mean it. It's layers upon layers of these baffling decisions, and I don't understand why they didn't apply any of the lessons learned in Breath of the Wild, given they were genuinely good and interesting lessons that have guided open world quest design ever since the game was released.

[just-spacetrash]

🌟

[twinksintrees]

should i wear my binder today? no. am i going to anyway? like…yeah probably

[carouselcometh]

I’m going to be honest I don’t know how my advice column still has subscribers at this point, because every time I post a new entry multiple people unsubscribe from it

[rainingincale]

People will cry and moan about not using plastic water bottles or eating certain food because of 'the microplastics!' and 'genetically modified foods!' but then not give a single fuck about being sustainable or the climate At All. 😐

[roanofarc]

i understand what ppl mean when they talk about online spaces being echo chambers and i suppose that’s mostly still true for me in a primarily political sense but also the idea has become very funny to me personally because within the last couple years i somehow have found myself in an environment where literally any major cultural media event will happen and i will immediately see dozens of completely conflicting takes on it

[blueberryspyder]

I am unwell,,, I have unlocked an inner joy I shut away after graduating high school and feel an intense love and enthusiasm for the first time in literally seven years…….

…..and it’s beCAUSE OF A FICTIONAL 30-SOMETHING BISEXUAL ARCHIVIST

[un-pearable]

!!!!!!!! GOOD FUCKIN GAME

[snixx]

I'm very uninterested in foreign colleges but apparently a couple of indian colleges accept the sat for some reason and i went to check it out? and damn when my dad said "don't practice sat math for too long your math skills will deteriorate and you will lose all your brain cells" he really wasn't kidding. americans y'all wouldn't survive a week in the indian education system fr:')

[wolfes]

DAWG WHY IS LEONARDO DICAPRIO'S GF MY AGE THE FUCK

[johnbleepingzoidberg]

i dont really know much about the last of us (either the show or game) bc i chickened out while playing it back in 2013 (i am a big baby when it comes to horror) but damn i really do love seeing side-by-side shots comparing the show to the game. i think it's quite beautiful. looks like a genuinely well done adaptation