#i doubt nintendo put THAT much thought into this guy

[golvio]

Still thinking about the stark contrast between the general grim, highly-restrained stoicism of TotK Ganondorf’s human form compared to the exaggerated, rapidly shifting moods of “Yippee! :D Whee!! :DD Wahoo!!! :DDD *does a cute little backflip*” and “YOU STOP RUINING MY FUN RIGHT NOW OR I WILL THROW A BIG DIVO TEMPER TANTRUM AND WRECK EVERYTHING!” of his Demon King form.

Guy’s pretty obviously repressed as hell, and I think that’s one of the reasons he always goes off the rails the second he gets a chance to step out of his ceremonial One Special Man role. However, the fact that what he’s repressing feels so…childish, even the violent parts…I’m wondering if the guy ever got the chance to be a child when he was actually little.

Maybe he got yelled at and punished for making simple inexperienced baby mistakes the way Zelda was because he was under similar pressure to Fix Everything and symbolically parent all his adult subjects/family members as a Symbol of Hope that could soothe their fears and anxieties on-demand. (Not to mention Buliara’s mom raised a bit of a red flag about authoritarian parenting styles being common in Gerudo military families). Only instead of just suppressing everything and standing perfectly still and quiet in public while floundering in private like Zelda did, he got extremely skilled at convincing the people around him he was the mature, unflappable, strong, comforting, and eternally available collective cultural father-figure who’d guide them out of the hard times they were trying to hammer him into.

Only…that wasn’t real personal development, only the illusion of development. He encased his true personality in the superficial shell of the sexy manly-man hero that everyone wanted him to be. The second he was able to emerge from that shell without anyone being able to punish him for it, that inner traumatized little jerk immediately started lashing out in revenge at the people who held him to such an impossible standard in an effort to finally feel in control of his own life. It’s like a former child star melting down upon entering adulthood after being denied agency and independence by the studio they’re contracted with and their financially profiting family for so long, only with magic and the forsaking of one’s own humanity involved.

That underlying theme of metamorphosis throughout the game, echoed in Kotlin’s “dream,” could’ve been capitalized on here. The people loved the shiny gold cocoon the weak, helpless larva formed, begging it to never emerge so they could enjoy its beauty forever. But he knows, he knows that if he never breaks open the shell encasing him, he’ll die before he ever gets the chance to unfurl his wings. The form they love is incomplete, shallow, temporary. He’ll die if he can’t discard it. He would rather be alive and horrible to behold than dead and perfect. The people will hate what emerges from their jewel, but in this new shape he can sting and bite back, so let them hate him.

But, also, just…could you imagine if we had a chance to meet The Cocoon and the people who worshipped it, saying how much they love their king while knowing absolutely nothing about him, only to find out he had his own “secret sanctuary” much like Zelda did? Somewhere we could glimpse the soft, hungry insect of his soul that yearned to break free? What we’d see in the pieces of his secret joys scattered around and the scratches of his notes would be something ugly, bitter, childishly self-centered, yes. But in there would also be real passion, real feeling, a real life desperate to finally live that would make the handsome shell brandishing a sword feel hollow, uncanny, and downright off-putting by comparison.

[endless-summer-soldier]

cruel to be kind - chapter one

pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader (90s college AU)

summary: it started with a dare. Bucky restlessly pursues Y/N, seeking just one date. as he chases her, he realizes she's different from she challenges him, so he starts to catch feelings. but it all falls apart when she learns about his initial motivations. based on 10 things I hate about you!

warnings: alcohol use, cursing

word count: 1.4k

series playlist

series masterlist

taglist: @sebsgirl71479 @ozwriterchick @notmeddy @drewsuncrustables @lokidokieokie @nats-whore @m4nulup1n @arcanebabe @tanyaspartak @jackiehollanderr @princezzjasmine @pono-pura-vida @mavrellover91 @helluvapimp @charmedbysarge @blackwood-bodecker-housewife (message me to be added)

There were three bangs that came from the other side of the wall and a voice yelled, “KEEP IT DOWN. SOME OF US HAVE STUDYING TO DO.” 

The small group of college boys playing Nintendo 64 groaned and turned the music down a few notches. This was a usual occurrence for a Thursday night.

“She is such a bitch!” Zemo said.

“Come on, cut her some slack,” Bucky said.

“Since when are you defending her?” Sam asked.

“I’m just saying, if you guys were my neighbors, I’d be annoyed too.”

“Alright then Barnes if you like her so much-”

“I don’t even know her,” Bucky interrupted.

“I’ve got a proposition for you,” Zemo continued.

“What’s that?”

“Take her on a date.”

“No chance,” Bucky scoffed.

“I dare you.”

“I’m not ten years old. Daring me to do something isn’t gonna work.”

“Oh I see,” Sam added, “You know she won’t say yes.”

“That’s not it-”

“I didn’t think you were afraid of a challenge,” Zemo added.

“I’m not-”

“Sounds like you’re making a lot of excuses,” Sam said.

Bucky clenched his jaw in frustration, “Fine, fine. I will take her out on a date if it’ll get you two to shut up.”

As the other two went back to playing video games, Bucky started wracking his brain on how he was going to pull this off. Y/N was Zemo and Sam’s next door neighbor and she had a bit of a bad reputation on campus. She was the star player on the field hockey team and the only thing more lethal than her stick handling was her sarcasm. She didn’t put up with any bullshit, and people found that to be intimidating. But Bucky wasn’t intimidated, he just had to think through his first move.

He sat on the bleachers watching as field hockey practice drew to a close. Once the final whistle sounded, he took a final puff of his cigarette, dropped it on the ground and crushed it under the heel of his leather boot. He sauntered over to the bench where Y/N was gulping down a cup of water.

“Hey there doll,” he said, capturing her attention, “How are you doing?”

She crushed the cup in her hand and said, “Sweating like a pig.” 

“Now there’s a way to get a guy’s attention,” he replied. She started packing up her things in a duffel bag.

“My mission in life. But I caught your attention, so you see it worked.”

She grabbed her things and started walking off the field as he followed. “Pick you up on Friday then?” he replied.

She rolled her eyes and said, “Oh right, Friday...uh-huh.”

“I'm serious," he added.

She stopped walking and turned toward him, “Do you even know my name?”

“I know a lot more than you think.”

“I highly doubt that,” she said, picking up her pace. He stood there watching her leave.

“Think about it!” he called.

She turned around just for a moment to flip him off with both hands and then continued off the field. He stood there shaking his head with a smile. He lit another cigarette and watched her leave, wondering what his next move would be.

Bucky stumbled across Y/N rather unexpectedly a few days later. He spotted her in the window of the record shop, browsing through albums, and decided to wait out front to say hi. She walked out of the store with a few vinyls and stopped in her tracks when she saw him. 

“Hi,” he said, with a smile.

“What, are you stalking me now?”

“I was in the laundromat and I saw you in the window and thought I’d say hi.”

“Hi,” she said, walking away from him.

“You’re not much of a talker are you?”

“Can’t say that I am.”

Bucky took a few quick steps so that he was ahead of her and then came to a stop, blocking her path.

“You’re not afraid of me are you?” he said.

“Afraid of you? Why would I be afraid of you?”

“Most people are.”

“Okay well I’m not.”

“You may not be afraid of me, but I bet you’ve thought about me naked,” he said in his most sultry voice.

She stared at him for a moment, choosing her words very carefully. 

“Wow, am I that transparent?” she replied, sarcastically. With that she nudged him out of the way and continued on her path. She turned around and saw him standing there, watching her walk away. She stuck her tongue out at him and continued on her way. He lit a cigarette as he watched her trudge off in the opposite direction.

Bucky wasn’t giving up on her that easily. It wasn’t because he wanted to win the dare, now his interest was piqued. He could always rely on his good looks to charm women, but this girl was different. His normal moves weren’t even scratching the surface. He would have to get creative. He deduced from the run in at the record store that she liked music. As luck would have it, a local girl band was playing a set at one of the bars nearby and Bucky thought there was a good chance he might run into her there.

He walked into the bar and he immediately stuck out like a sore thumb. The place was filled with women and Bucky stood about a foot taller than everyone. He immediately made his way to the bar where he caught up with one of the bartenders he knew.

“What are you doing here man?” he asked Bucky.

Bucky downed a shot of Jameson and said, “I have no idea.” The bartender poured him another drink when Bucky saw Y/N dancing in the crowd. He almost didn’t recognize her with such a big smile on her face. She was usually scowling at him, but tonight she let her hair down and was laughing and dancing with her friends. He watched her for the next few songs when she suddenly started weaving through the crowd toward the bar. Bucky brought his attention back to the bar where he took a big swig of his drink and then gazed back up to watch the band. He saw Y/N approach the corner of the bar but he kept his attention focused on the band, waiting for her to approach him. She ordered a round of drinks and then she spotted him. 

She slid over toward him and said, “If you’re planning on asking me out, you might as well get it over with.”

“Do you mind?” he said, glancing at her briefly before looking back at the band, “I’m trying to listen.”

“You’re not even going to offer to buy me a drink?”

Bucky signaled to the bartender and ordered them two tequila shots and smiled at Y/N. The bartender placed the shots in front of them and Bucky took the salt shaker and sprinkled a pinch of salt on the back of her hand before doing the same to his own. He wedged the lime slice between his fingers and he held up the shot glass to her. She clinked his glass and they licked the salt, downed the shot, and then sucked on the limes. 

“So what are you doing here?” she finally asked him. 

“I come here a lot.”

“Not sure if you noticed, but you are one of the few guys in this bar right now.”

“Maybe this is where I come to pick up women.”

“I don’t believe you,” she said.

He shrugged, “I needed a change of scenery.”

“Ah, did you get hustled at your regular pool hall? Can’t show your face there anymore?”

“Something like that,” he smirked at her. 

“Well as much as I’d love to hear that story, I have people waiting on me,” she said, grabbing the round she ordered. She collected the glasses and turned, walking back towards the dancefloor. But Bucky wasn’t finished yet. He brought his drink and followed in her footsteps.

“Come to a party with me tomorrow,” he leaned over her shoulder and spoke in her ear. She turned to look at him, rolled her eyes, and shook her head in disbelief.

“Was that a yes?” he added.

“No.”

“Was it a no?”

“...No.”

“Great, I’ll see you at 10:30.” Before she could protest, he disappeared in the crowd.

“That smug son of a bitch,” she muttered to herself, returning to her friends.

[yakool-foolio]

Hello, give me one for Danganronpa, Ace Attorney and Rain Code of that character ask. (angel wants to know if Yomi anf Kristoph go to super hell)

A package deal! You've sold me on the chance to ramble about so many characters. You opened the floodgates, now you're in the splash zone!

Danganronpa: Blorbo - Shuichi Saihara (No surprises here) Scrunkly - Kiibo (He's so cute man, every time I think about his blushing sprites or him wanting to be a singer I crumple up like a napkin) Scrimblo bimblo - Tenko Chabashira (She deserves so much more love, the writing did her so damn dirty by hiding all her motivations in FTEs. I will never forgive Kodaka for this) Glup shitto - Tsumugi Shirogane (She's my favorite mastermind I don't care what anyone says about her! Anyone who calls her 'one-dimensional' talks like they're stuck in the killing game behind the screen! But I know better! MY DAD WORKS AT NINTENDO!) Poor little meow meow - Nagito Komaeda (Only considered controversial because of what the fandom has done to this poor guy. He's no doubt one of--if not the--best character Kodaka's ever written, and yet I must helplessly watch as he's reduced to 'haha I like hope and I'm crazy,' which is a huge disservice to his complex and well thought out story. Sadly it's a symptom of him being dragged outside of his context by pop culture.) Horse plinko - Junko Enoshima (I dunno, she probably wouldn't mind it) Eeby deeby - Nagito Komaeda again (I had to look up the exact meaning of superhell for this. And honestly he kinda did that to himself. Now wake up Nagito and go get your man so ya can live on that island together!)

Ace Attorney: Blorbo - Kazuma Asogi (Whoops he stole the top spot from Apollo, but believe me I think about him a lot too, especially cause he wins the relatability category; social anxiety go brrrrrrr. Yet no character has had me go more feral than Kazuma and I still have a TON on my mind about him that I really need to put to written word someday.) Scrunkly - Ron DeLite (MY SWEET LIL GUY! I'd let him steal all my valuables cause he's just too darn cute!) Scrimblo bimblo - Bobby Fulbright/The Phantom (The best final case culprit for the best final case in the entire series, I will not waver in my opinion! Bobby is such a fun detective, nearing the heights of Sholmes, while also being revealed to be the identity-stealing assassin I've always dreamed of. I will run in circles forever thinking about this amalgamation of a character. Now if only he was given any official merch...) Glup shitto - Satoru Hosonaga (If Hosonaga only has one fan then that's me! If there's ever a TGAA Investigations game, he better make a cameo someway somehow!) Poor little meow meow - Matt Engarde (This could've also gone to The Phantom but it fits Matt thematically cause he's very orange cat coded to me. My first 'uh oh my favorite character is a murderer aren't they' moment in Ace. And it would not be the last.) Horse plinko - Mael Stronghart (I hate this dude I hope Klint and Genshin are beating him up as ghosts.) Eeby deeby - Kristoph Gavin (If I had a nickel for every time I turned a dynamic between a mastermind antag and a mentor figure into bitter exes cause it somehow makes their relationship more interesting than it already is, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.)

Rain Code: Blorbo - Yakou Furio (What blog do ya think you're even lookin' at right now?) Scrunkly - Shinigami (She's really adorable in her blob form with how she emotes, and she's a sweet person under all her snark!) Scrimblo bimblo - Melami Goldmine (The more I think about my personal interpretation of Vivia's backstory, the more I love Melami by association since she's got a lot going on with her as well. I'd kill to learn more about her history and if she's had any canonical affiliation or interaction with Vivia. I need them to be business partners!) Glup shitto - Nun (What's not to love about a cat-eared nun who runs a death metal choir at the church? I'd go to one of her performances any day!) Poor little meow meow - Hitman Zilch (I got real sad over him dying because I thought we'd lost the best antag in the entire game AND WE'D ONLY JUST BEGUN. This hitman has altered my brain chemistry forever and there's no cure.) Horse plinko - Dr. Huesca ("It's what he deserves," I say calmly and rationally through gritted teeth as my fist clenches and trembles with rage.) Eeby deeby - Yomi Hellsmile (If I had a nickel for every time I turned a dynamic between a mastermind antag and a mentor figure into bitter exes cause it somehow makes their relationship more interesting than it already is, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.)

[tnc-n3cl]

More Rito Headcanons!

Something of an expansion of my "Rito Biology 101" post, but I'm not going to bother with the in-universe POV and talking about a couple different things here so...

Here's the original. Now that TotK is out, we got some new info so I'm going to go over things. (Namely a new Tribe for Penn and some thoughts on the aged up kiddos.) There my be some minor spoilers in the images, so I'm going to put them below the read more line.

Minor edit: 7/30/23, realized that one of the new NPC's mentioned something I forgot to talk about!

New Rito Guy! Penn is a reporter who you team up with for a few sidequests. Clearly he's some kind of pelican, so a quick search on Wikipedia and... Pelca Tribe (from Pelecanus the genus that contains all living pelicans)

So a couple things here. One: the triangles on his little sash reminds me of Kass' scarf. (What did you do to Kass Nintendo?!) Two: his outfit appears to be made of some kind of blue leather. I'm assuming that all Rito wear leather armor basically (except Saki and the little ones). Interestingly, I had drawn an axe that had talon grip handles in the axe head that are sometimes made out of leather sourced from blue monster hides. Doubt that's the case here since he's not a warrior but still...

His catchphrase... You can see they did the little hook on his beak! Is that yellow on his chest part of his clothes? Hm...

Including this because, A: this is quite possibly my favorite quote from him and B: you can see he has webbed feets! (Still say they should have given the Rito four toes but whatever...)

Look at his tiny pen and notebook! (The dangles on his hood are shaped like pens!)

Okay, that's enough Penn for now... In other news, new color morphs just dropped ya'll!

So the first guy looks like he might be a shade or two lighter than Huck, but the second guy is a new color altogether. We gots purple Orni Tribe Ritos now! Really don't have much to say about these two, but more variety is nice.

EDIT: Actually I do have something to say about Ornest. He mentions that all Rito have the ability to manipulate the wind, something I was theorizing to be the case. So, headcanon confirmed!

Moving on to the kiddos!

Kotts! Again her headband makes me think of her father's scarf and I miss him so much!

Here's BotW Kotts for comparison. As you can see, the white on her face is starting to fade, and she's lost her "bangs", and her head is starting to be more bird shaped. Rough estimation is that TotK is around 5 years after BotW and I'm assuming that she's 5 during BotW so that would make her 10 in TotK. (I'm going with Rito living around 80 years on average BTW).

She's almost as tall as Link! Also that dialog speaks to me on like, a molecular level. (She gets up at 10AM BTW) Also note her Saki-like clothing.

BotW Molli

TotK Molli

I, uh, don't think she grew at all...

She wants to make cool arrows so her dad will use them with his bows... (Why's there no emoji/emoticon button?! I need a big eyed sad face here!)

Speaking of her dad... Here enjoy this totally unrelated to anything I'm talking about shot of Harth actually standing! He gets to do stuff in this game guys! (Can you believe I almost forgot he existed when I went from BotW to Age of Calamity? How could I forget this unique bird?!)

Last but not least, Bird Son himself...

Tulin!!!! Look at this adorable little guy! LOOK AT HIM!!!!

I like to think he admires the hell out of Link and so he's mimicking Link's pose as much as he can. Speaking of which... Get that guy a cowboy outfit and a giant belt buckle!

Look at him some more!

So I don't know if that's eyeliner or just natural markings but he's doing his mom's thing and I can't even you guys!

I am SO normal about these birds...

*regains composure*

Okay, so what have we learned from this? Rito start off with blue sclera (the whites of the eye) when they're little. Around 10 or so the sclera becomes white and the irises are blue. Given that neither Kass nor Amali have blue eyes, I'm going to assume at some point their daughters will develop yellow eyes like them. Tulin... Let's just say his eyes stay blue.

Fluffy white baby feathers on the face slowly fade over the years until they their faces are solid colors (Orni Tribe at least). Tulin's little bun, is this like his mom's "hair" or more like his dad's floof? His he tying it back? You can make out something around the base of it in that second image of him so I think so... What if he ends up with a braid like the Ancient Wind Sage? (Why couldn't you just name them Nintendo? You could have just used the Divine Beasts' names and it would have been fine!)

None of the kids have proper tail feathers yet, so I hesitate to call them juveniles... Give them a few more years and they'll probably start growing them.

I like Penn, and pelican/waterfowl Rito fit in with ideas I was having for my fanfic so... Just gotta find a way to fit him in...

I made it so that different Rito settlements have different symbols. Normally these would be found on the cloth around their waist. However, Penn has this unique symbol on his chestpiece... Granted there's some similar symbols around the village but...

[toushindai]

some nattering about how I characterize Rauru and Sonia in my Ganondorf/Rauru fics.

as I have mentioned before, usually I prefer to adhere strictly to canon when writing fanfiction, to the extent that I used to think of myself as trying to write exactly what the author had in mind but didn't put in the story. yes, I have always been this pretentious.

but then I looked at what Rauru and Ganondorf have going on and went "ah, they need to have nasty, resentful, dubcon-at-best sex about this" and I'll be honest I'm not sure played-straight loz characters (vs. various permutations of joke characters) are even allowed to know sex exists, so this was obviously a departure.

which means that Questions of Kingship exists, in my mind at least, in a strange space that is both canon-compliant and AU, and I have made characterization choices based on the story I was telling rather than prioritizing sticking to what the game has in mind. And I don't think my readings are entirely wrong--do I think Nintendo intends their King of Light to be a rapist, no, but they sure did write a guy who disregards and tramples over an implicit "no." This is what is conveyed by Ganondorf mentioning that Hyrule has sent the Gerudo repeated invitations! I didn't actually make that part up! Honestly I expected to have to defend my choices re: Rauru from some very irritated fans who forgot about the back button, but it seems that if I irritated anyone, they remembered the back button. Good for them, and to everyone pressing the "more of this" buttons instead, thank you, I appreciate you, what the fuck is UP with this guy amirite??

Anyway though,

Sonia.

Oh, I have struggled with Sonia mightily. I did not want Rauru to be cheating on her. And partially this is because I don't particularly care to write about cheating but largely it is because a huge part of Rauru's sense of superiority over Ganondorf is a moral one, and if Rauru were betraying someone he loved to carry out this affair, that sense of superiority would be chopped off at the knees. And I'm using that sense of superiority, thank you very much.

So: it became the case that Sonia needed to know about the affair, needed her to be on board with it. And well, there were very quickly quite a lot of jokes that she and Rauru had "looking for a third" vibes, and I do think that's true, and anyway that girl married a goat god. "A very canny monsterfucker" is the kernel of canon characterization that I wound up building around. Very clear-eyed, less self-deception than Rauru; an overpowering propensity to identify what she wants and go for it. It's just that Zelda didn't see much of that. I guess, is the argument I'm going for. Well, then, Sonia is someone who can play at sweet and harmless and kind until she reveals how much of an edge she has.

Does the game suggest she has such an edge? ...No? I guess it doesn't. I don't know. But if it is not possible to hide anything from Sonia, and Hyrule is behaving coercively towards its not-yet-allies (and it is! again I did not make that part up!), then she must be aware of this. And she must be on board with it. She adores Rauru--this is clear in the cutscenes, just look at the light in her eyes when Rauru is speaking sometimes--and so I make the two of them a team, united in intention. But where I write Rauru as conflicted--naive thoughts about kingship stumbling against the reality of it--I place Sonia in a more decided position. Her premises: that Rauru is good, and that a unified Hyrule is a superior outcome over disparate nations. She is aware that the latter premise is not automatically accepted by everyone, but she has unwavering faith in it so she moves to carry it out without the indignation that resistance inspires in Rauru. Resistance does not make her doubt herself in the same way. (That's worse??) She is more pointedly, more cannily political than Rauru. Rauru wants a kingdom united in friendship (genuinely he wants this, as I write him); Sonia knows that friendship is not what unites kingdoms.

She just... winds up with this strange amoral core to her. A surprising one, I think. What I find myself writing is a Sonia who seems kind and sweet and confident and only very occasionally lets anyone see the part of her where she has made up her mind and is unmovably certain of her own rightness. A part of her that doesn't need it to be a moral rightness. Am I making any sense here.

I mean for some of that startling strangeness to come out in the way she regards Rauru's relationship with Ganondorf--I don't know if that comes through. I write Ganondorf conflating Rauru's sexual submission with political submission to excess; Sonia is almost the opposite, believing that the relationship between the two can exist as a function of desire alone regardless of the political dimension. It's about wanting and having and that is all. But the very assumption that that's all comes from the position of Hyrule's dominance, an unassailable position in her mind. I'm having trouble getting at what I'm getting at, but, my point here is that she's a little scary. that's all.

@toushindai

[tobiasdrake]

Time to hit the bricks. We've checked out the crime scene (though not as thoroughly as I would have liked, Yuma) and I have a vague impression of a thing what might have happened but that doesn't seem to bring us that much closer to solving this case.

I still want to go check out the forest behind the church. If that's where they arrested Jiei, then I want to know what he was doing out there.

Ironically, it's actually possible that creeping about the Nail Man woods might provide an alibi. Jiei was supposed to be up in the clocktower working on the clock, right? If our victim snuck in and climbed a rope, then Jiei being in the clocktower while she was being murdered puts a lot of suspicion on him.

But if he was farting about in the Nail Man woods instead then he could be in the clear.

Of course, that logic stands on shaky grounds. He could have killed the victim and then gone to the woods. It would depend on when he went to the woods and why, as well as when the victim was killed (which the Monokuma File doesn't list, so you know it's probably relevant to the case).

That's what I think our next stop should be.

Yuma, on the other hand, has his own idea for where we should go from here.

I mean, I thought my idea was pretty good but whatever, we can go crawling on our hands and knees to the Google Buyout version of Chiaki Nanami, now with in-app purchases and a season pass.

Sure. Yeah, we can put that on my tab. I'll pay up just a week after you mysteriously die in the overarching plot, probably. Sounds great.

Oh, I'm sure you do. I'm being pissy because I hate your greedy, money-grubbing attitude but I have no doubt you're worth every penny.

"X is a shitty human being" and "X is damn fucking good at their job" are two statements that can both be true.

No, I figured. I'm working for him. You're working for me. You are grotesquely professional so I wouldn't expect any different.

Joke's on them, I had no money before either! I have absolutely no idea how they expect me to eventually pay them.

Of course, that joke might be on me in the end when they break my kneecaps. They toss fascists like basketballs. They could punt me over the horizon without breaking a sweat.

It's a distinct possibility. Yuma doesn't want to believe it but Halara's right, we have to keep an open mind about this. The cops' reasoning for arresting Jiei was trash, but that doesn't necessarily mean they got the wrong guy.

None of the above, thanks.

To be honest, their face keeps tripping me up because they look exactly like Chiaki Nanami save for the bright pink spectacles and Nintendo Switch blue-and-red earrings.

However, helping to capture that non-binary aesthetic and offset literally having the head of a well-known and extremely popular female character, there is also one inescapably masculine feature to their character design as well.

Kodaka doesn't let women wear pants.

[altersidearchives]

[Alterbits] The Slime-Encrusted Rabbit Hole (Part Uno)

So, yeah, while I'm mainly focused on video games for this, I am pretty big into cartoons too. So while I was writing up the Nintendo stuff, I decided to look up Nickelodeon and see what I got.

...and I IMMEDIATELY had questions with one of the first things I saw. Robot Jones, on Nick? With a third season?? That's readily available??? And it was also one of the first image results on Google when I searched "Nickelodeon." Taking a guess that it was recently put on a streaming service or whatever. Looks like an Amazon icon or something.

It was being hosted on MySpace of all things. I went onto the site and found it was some kind of watch party feature where you can buy seasons of shows to add to a digital collection, and they had a bunch of Nick ones, which is where the Robot Jones icon came from. On top of a bunch of others.

A page full of Nickelodeon shows on “MySpace Play.” I guess MySpace had a form of success in this timeline. Seems to be a watch party type service, makes sense.

Even more questions started ringing through. There was a show next to the Robot Jones seasons that looked like Elinor Wonders Why, y'know that PBS Kids show? But Elinor looks like a teenager or something. I was able to pull up the show's page, and I got greeted with this.

Getting a bunch of Stranger Things vibes from this. Wonder if that exists in this timeline as well.

I won't keep making comments, I'll let the cap speak for itself on this one, but that's when I decided I had to look into it further. Obviously I couldn't buy the show, I doubt I could put in a credit card from a parallel universe and I was NOT about to try it. I caught a glimpse of a Glove and Boots character too, if you can see it in the first screencap. So I was definitely having my curiosity peaking at that point. So I went to the Wikipedia page for Nickelodeon, and started to dig.

Hoo boy.

Now at first this didn’t seem all too crazy. The logo was different but I already got a glimpse of that on the MySpace thing. The first big difference was the “Paramount Universal” thing. I didn’t look much into that, so my only assumption is that Viacom merged with Universal instead of CBS and Comcast eating them up. At least I HOPE that’s what happened instead of the potential monopolistic nightmare that all four combined would be, but I digress.

Next up, looked like Nick Jr. died at some point, interesting, and there’s a full-on NickRewind network that seems to have taken over Nicktoons. I read on and it sounded not too crazy. The “Elements of Harmony” bit caught my eye, but I wanted to keep reading onwards, save it for later.

....The last paragraph caught me RIGHT the fuck off-guard. Two YouTube channels getting full-on shows on Nick, let alone rather, niche ones. I mean yeah, in our timeline we got FRED and ReactToThat (ew), but those channels were HUGE back then and were practically controlled by big companies anyhow. I dunno if JacknJellify and the GaB guys were bigger in this timeline or what but, wow. Shit’s getting weirder.

Didn’t bother reading the History bit, I thought that’d be way too much to shove into this anyway, but there were more interesting tidbits, I’ll spare the redundancy and not comment here, buuuuuut I did see a mention of Pikwik Pack and Let’s Go Luna (and what I think might be Xavier Riddle? That’s one of the ones I didn’t look at), so what happened to PBS Kids here? I thought the Elinor bit I saw was just a coincidence, but no I guess?

So I clicked on the list...

[cheldardo]

Nintendo fire this man!!!!!! 💥🔥🔥🔥

I gotta talk about this because i've been obsessed over this since like yesterday

Remember the "nintendo hire this man" joke meme thing?, well the person that made that mario in unreal engine goes by CryZENx

Now i never followed cryzen but i saw he posted a showcase of his ocarina of time remake, i came into it thinking: it's been a long while since then, perhaps he's gotten better

as i kept watching his video showcasing the OOT demo there were a lot of blatant errors and weird inconsistencies in the quality of models, animations were pretty rough too, they're good enough most of the time but just that

this was one of the inconsistencies that caught my attention the most, i didn't watch the whole video where he showed every stage he's made but i was skipping through the video and immediately recognized that guy under the tree is literally just the n64 model (screenshot taken from a comparison video)

i can't say for certain but i wouldn't doubt if there are more models that are straight up ripped from the original n64 game and slapped on unreal with the only difference being the lighting

there's many more models which look just fine, but they don't look that great, and again, the animations aren't helping the overall look

i also skipped through that comparison video and well at least most models look way better... but then i remembered, there's a 3DS remake of OOT, so i got curious and well

that's right, some models are just slightly modified / retextured from the 3DS remake, i'd love to check for more, i'm sure these aren't the only models that have been either a straight rip or changed just a bit, this is just in kokiri forest btw

you can argue he's trying to keep his stuff as faithful to the original as possible, but there's barely any effort or thought put into it, he's just putting the 3DS models in a new engine and calling it a day

okay but there's a good amount of modeling that actually looks great, like link's model, i think he did a great job on it, and it also makes sense since you're going to be seeing him all the time

now i'm no game dev (yet) and i don't use unreal (and plan to keep it that way) and right now i've only talked about the visuals, but there's also a ton of bugs and glitches some small, some others i wonder how they even happen, like not being able to move backwards and to the left, also on that same video there's this interesting comment

and that same person who commented is also working on a ocarina of time unreal engine remake

now by checking the wayback machine on his patreon page it seems he was getting about 150 dollars in late 2017, in 2019 it went up to around 400 and in mid 2020 and it had gone up to 1,000 and by 2021 he was making around 2,000

it'd be one thing to just make this as a passion project or just for fun, but people are giving you money, from september 2023 to 1,500 to 8,100 and right now as i write this he's at 14,000 members, he's only showing the number of members and not how much he's making but you can imagine it's a LOT of money

this is as far as i'm gonna look into this for now, but i'm sure there are a lot more issues, i don't hate cryzenx and you shouldn't attack him but it sucks seeing someone do almost the bare minimum and sacrificing clarity and style for realistic physically based rendering

[commandtower-solring-go]

First of all, holy shit no one has ever said that to me before. You've legit pulled me out of a really bad spiral and made my day.

But I also wanted to use something you tagged this as to extrapolate on this idea

I've thought a lot about the phrase 'Kill your heroes' and it most often comes up in the context of a person someone respects who ultimately goes on and does something horrible. Which is the conventional take away and I think that interpretation is valid. That putting someone on a pedestal is a great way to get your heart broken.

But I always chose to interpret it as meaning to kill the title. Don't kill the person, but kill the idea of having heroes. Look at your heroes with the eyes they seem themselves with. They are people after all. For all your doubt, they probably have just as much if not more so.

This post was inspired by a video I saw on Tiktok in which Jimmy Fallon introducing a sketch of his. He tells the story of a sketch he had been pitching for many years; he called it his White Whale. Its called Straight Up Goes For It. And I thought of the passion he spoke about it with, how he had tried for years to make this sketch happen.

And I saw in that the passion I had for my own ideas. I'm not as famous as Jimmy Falon, but he's famous because he has a skill in appealing to a lot of people. But he's also a comedian; a writer. The persona he puts on is an act he does for the camera. In reality he is a guy who wakes up, works 8 hours, feels stuck, does drugs, worries about how much drugs he's doing, complains about his income and taxes, enjoys a quiet moment, tries his best every day not knowing what he's doing, thinks he should be reading more, masturbates and goes to bed. Like everyone else.

And if he has that much faith in this one really silly idea he's been pushing for years, then I can have faith in whatever it is I'm doing.

I think I'm having a very

moment right now.

What I'm saying is have heroes, but view them like coworkers.

It makes shit funnier too. All game development news is 2000% funnier when you realise its just a bunch of guys in an office. Or even better, if they're indie, its usually a single room. Like "Nintendo had never intended for us to find this little detail" in context was probably a message in a facebook group chat that someone forgot to reply to.

So there is this phenomenon which is a product of the way that art is most often the product of a lot of different people's input and involvement. It takes a village to raise a child and as a result of that is that the art we experience on major stages shares as wide an appeal as possible. But wide appeal often comes at the cost of some of the more outlandish and ridiculous creative ideas. Ones that risk alienating people.

And this phenomenon applies to almost every hobby/creative pursuit that exists. Like, if you consulted every person involved in the project, no matter what department, you will find people who had to compromise on their creative wish. Comedians who would tell funnier jokes. Costume designers who wanted wilder outfits. Corporate bodies who wanted to make more money.

And those things, the things which were cut away, are my favourite thing in the fucking world. I often say my special interest is other people's special interest and its because if you dig deep enough into someone's passion, you will always find something incredible at the bottom.

I think I'm just describing pet projects, but they're so much more than that. They tend to be the reason why people get into a particular field of interest. Its their magnum opus, what they wish they could make if money or time were no object.

And its just the best shit.

[prince-rowan-of-the-forest]

The Official Sanders Sides Emergancy Sleepover

Patton decides that with the recent tensions in the mindscape after their last video, the best course of action would be to host a sleepover.

Somehow, it didn't end in a complete disaster, despite the two gatecrashers, Roman's inability to cook, Logan's complete cluelessness and Virgil's incredibly long list of doubts.

----

| Ao3 | The art in this fic posted separately |

warnings: Remus typical level of weirdness, Sexual innuendos, Some slightly gory imagery

pairings: Roceit, background Anaroceit, everyone is friends <3

Word Count: 6777

Notes:

I wrote the last 1500 words of this while I was half asleep at 3am, I can't be blamed for anything that happens.

Remy broke down the door and forced themself into the story, also I'll be using they/them pronouns for Remy, why? I have absolutely no idea, it just kinda felt like what I was supposed to do. I literally don't know.

There's some art some ways into this fic, I can't even be bothered to work out exactly how far in, but all you gotta know is that credit for the picrew in the art goes to @korruptbrekker on Tumblr, I did not make that myself because I am big dumb and big stupid, so thank you so much, my heart was dead set on having a picrew in the art, so you saved me, lol.

Also, another note, I know this was originally from like- August- that's just how long I take to write stuff, sue me.

“Emergency Sanders Sides sleepover in the commons! Now!” Patton practically screeched, stomping his foot to put even more emphasis on the ‘now’ part. Virgil, who had been happily curled up under the blanket playing some cute game on his nintendo switch on their armchair jumped so much he fell right off of the chair.

“Jesus Christ Patton!” Virgil huffed, standing up and trying to untangle himself from the blanket, “What the hell was that for?”

“We’re having a sleepover,” Patton said way too cheerfully, “Tensions have been really high recently-”

“And who’s fault is that?” Virgil muttered.

“Yes yes I know, I’m sorry Virgil, And you know I’ve been trying to do better, and since Janus-”

Virgil grimaced and Patton winced, he knew Virgil wasn’t too happy with Janus’ recent acceptance.

“Since Janus might be coming to join us up here soon, I figured we ought to do a group bonding activity!” Patton said, ending with a smile that was way too forced for Patton to really be fully confident in the idea.

“And you think a… sleepover will help?” Virgil asked, raising an eyebrow, “...sorry for seeming doubtful but- how? Don’t we live together anyway? And besides couldn’t all of us sleeping in close quarters make the tension situation worse? What with my uh- tenuous relationship with sleep, Roman’s sleepwalking and Deceit- uh- Janus’ himselfness, don’t you think it could just serve to make it all worse?”

“Now kiddo, I know it’s your job to look at the possibilities,” Patton tried to reason, Virgil scowled, “But just consider that it could also help make things better! We’ll be bonding, we can spend some time with Janus that isn’t just- spent arguing, and it’ll make things better kiddo,”

“But what if it doesn’t ?” Virgil protested, he knew he was being irrational at this point, but- “They’re dangerous, Patton, I keep trying to tell you- I was one of them- Patton- if this all goes wrong I-”

“Calm down Scaramore,” Roman said, appearing from the stairs, seconds later a hand was placed on his shoulder, Virgil jerked away, before feeling guilty about it, he took a deep breath, “I’m… kinda with Virgil on this one though, padre, are you sure it’s a good idea? Also- text the group chat next time, instead of just yelling,”

“Guys please! I’ve thought this out, ok? We’re going to bake cookies and make a pillow fort together here and watch movies all night. It'll be fun, just give it a chance, ok?” 

“ Fine .” Virgil said, crossing his arms, “But if this goes wrong, don’t say I didn’t warn you,”

“I’m gonna send out a ping on the chat to meet in the common room,” Roman said with a sigh, “I’ll… try to be civil with Janus.”

“I’ve… been meaning to speak to you about that,” Patton said softly, “Just- if you get a chance, kiddo, maybe you can apologise for laughing at him?”

“Yeah I- I’ve had a lot of time to think about it,” Roman huffed, “I’ll try and find a good moment,”

“Thanks, kiddo,”

“I, for one, think a sleepover might be a beneficial idea,” Logan said as he walked down the stairs, Patton seemed to droop in relief.

“Thanks Logan,” Patton sighed, thankful for the support of the smartest side there, at least.

“Yes, from the small amount of research I had the chance to do upon hearing your call, sleepovers are a very good way to strengthen social bonds, and are very often portrayed in media as a fun way to improve relations between peers, it will also be a good exercise to get us all used to having Janus around in a domestic setting rather than simply in the videos,”

“Nerd,” Virgil huffed, pressing the blanket to his face, “Fine, I guess I don’t have the option to back out of this?” 

“Absolutely not!” Patton said, tone way too cheery.

“I don’t apologise for taking so long,” Janus’ voice sounded from the entrance of the dark sides’ mindscape, he began to… limp? Towards them, “I came upon a few issues when attempting to leave,”

“Uh- you’ve got a little something on your leg there, kiddo…?” Patton said, Virgil noticed that Remus was clinging to Janus’ leg with what looked like a vice grip, the deceitful side seemed disgruntled at best.

“Yes, fortunately he refused to let go after he saw the message on my phone, So I didn’t struggle at all to climb the stairs,”

“Remus!” Roman cried out, “What are you doing here!”

“Awe come on Ro! You weren’t planning to leave me out of your sleepover, were you?” 

“You weren’t invited,” Virgil hissed at him and Remus slumped off of Janus’ leg (he quickly stepped away, inspecting his leg to make sure Remus hadn’t gotten any of his gunk on his trousers) putting a hand to his heart with a massively exaggerated look of offence.

“Virgil! I can’t believe you would say such a thing! Of course I’m invited, Daddy-o said it was a sides sleepover after all, and I’m a side!” 

Patton grimaced, before taking a deep breath and plastering that smile back on his face, “N-now kiddos, um- since Remus is here, we should try to be welcoming, ok? What’s one extra addition, huh?”

Virgil ground his teeth, but didn’t say anything.

“So… what exactly are we doing?” Janus asked, raising an eyebrow.

“We’re having a sleepover!” Patton grinned, before explaining everything he’d already explained to Virgil to Janus too, who nodded slowly.

“Alright, so a sleepover, what exactly do we do first, then?” Janus asked.

“I propose we all submit an activity and then we may all vote on what we do first?” Logan proposed, “And then continue to go from there,”

“Truth or dare!” Remus yelled, while at the same time Roman yelled “Makeovers!” 

Both twins turned to glare at each other. Logan flipped over a large portable whiteboard and wrote ‘sleepover ideas’ along the top in big capital letters, before writing both ideas underneath it.

“Baking!” Patton smiled, “So we can have sweets to eat!”

Logan nodded and added the idea, looking between Virgil and Janus to see if either of them would pipe up, neither did.

“I propose we hold a friendly debate,” Logan said, writing down his own ideas. To be honest, he wasn’t sure if that was a normal sleepover activity (it wasn’t) but he hadn’t had enough time to research what people did at sleepovers. He wrote it back on the board and turned to the others, “Janus, Virgil? Anything to add?”

“Shouldn’t the first thing we do be getting the room sleepover ready or whatever? LIke- setting up pillows and blankets and shit so it’s all comfortable before we get into the stupid games?”

“I wasn't going to say card games,” Janus said, “But I actually disagree with Virgil.”

“Yeah same here actually, that’s a real good idea, kiddo,” Patton nodded.

“That does seem like a logical first activity,” Logan nodded, before writing Janus’ card game suggestion down on the board, “Perhaps, if everyone else is in agreement, we should ready the room first, and then decide between these activities?”

“Sounds good to me!” Roman smiled, Remus jumped up.

“Can I-”

“No,” Virgil said, “Whatever you’re about to suggest, no,”

“But I was just gonna-”

“No,”

“Virgil,” Patton chided gently, “Let’s hear him out, ok kiddo?”

Virgil slumped in his chair, arms crossed, he pulled his hood up. 

“I was just gonna ask if I could put up those awesome halloween fairy lights we have downstairs,” Remus said with a pout.

“That actually sounds like a great idea!” Patton said, trying to hide his worry about the fact that it was Remus’ idea, Virgil sunk further into the hoodie as Remus cheered and ran for the door, only to be caught by the scruff of his costume by Janus.

“Remember to get the ones in the living room, not the other ones, you don’t know exactly what I’m talking about,” Janus told him, before letting him go.

—-

Virgil- begrudgingly- contributed a couple of blankets and pillows to the area downstairs and Roman and Logan shifted the furniture around so there was a large clear space in front of the TV (with the coffee table shoved in front of it to house snacks and such) where they planned to sleep. The sofas and chairs that usually made up their living room set up surrounded the clear floor space and the dining room table had moved so that it was pushed up against the back of one of the sofas. Fairy lights with the bulbs shaped like various cartoon halloween monsters hung around the space and Roman had draped thin coloured sheets over the usually bright lamps. It was still daytime right now, so the room was bathed in natural light, but once the sun set they had ensured that the whole area would be bathed in a lovely colourful glow. 

Once they were done, Virgil opted to grab his weighted blanket- which he’d brought from his room knowing he’d need it, and curl up on the armchair he’d been sitting on before just as Logan once again returned to the whiteboard.

“Alright, everyone cast your votes, don’t vote for your own,” Logan said, placing his vote next to Janus’ card games suggestion (It was the only one he either understood the premise of or found appealing) before handing the pen to the closest side (Who happened to be Remus) and moving away to sit on one of the chairs. Remus added a vote to Roman’s suggestion before throwing it at his twin, who somehow caught the fast moving projectile before it hit him in the forehead.

“Hey Roman, add my vote for Truth or Dare,” Patton called from the kitchen, he was getting stuff out to bake, “I’ll bake while we play!”

Roman nodded and added two votes for Remus’ suggestion, before handing off the pen to Janus, who quickly drew a line next to Patton’s suggestion.

“Virgil, would you like me to add a tally for you?” Janus asked, voice sweet and Virgil was almost slammed back into the past, back when they were friends, instead he yanked himself forcefully back to the present, he grunted.

“Just- truth or dare,” He huffed. He didn’t really want to do any of their suggestions, and he hated that Remus’ was the best of the bunch, “As long as we make rules and follow them,”

“Of course, kiddo!” Patton nodded, “Um, So, dares can be refused if it makes the dare-ee uncomfortable,”

“Boooring,” Remus whined, rolling over, “There's no fun if people don’t do any of the dares!”

“Alright, only refusing dares if you really really can’t do it,” Patton compromised, Remus still looked upset, “And- maybe we could set up a penalty for refusing dares?”

“Like being hit over the head with my morningstar!” Remus yelled.

“No-”

“OR having to eat a rat-”

“Remus-”

“Or losing a finger!”

“Remus!” Patton yelled, “None of those- I was… thinking something more like… we could make a really gross combination of drinkable liquids? So if someone refuses a dare they have to drink some?”

Virgil could’ve sworn he saw anime stars in Remus’ eyes.

“That sounds perfect! Can I help you make it?” Remus asked with a big grin that almost brought tears to Virgil’s eyes.

“Sure!” Patton smiled, Remus practically bolted over to the kitchen.

“See Pattycake, I think you’ve got a ruthless side to you yet!” Remus grinned, pushing up his sleeves. Patton just chuckled nervously as he opened the fridge, quietly talking to Remus as they created some horrible concoction.

“Any more rules we should take note of?” Logan asked.

“No dares that’ll result in injury,” Virgil piped up, “And no destroying things that can’t be replaced,”

“A person is allowed to refuse a truth with the same penalty as a dare,” Janus said quietly. Logan quickly sectioned off some of the whiteboard and wrote down these four rules.

“If that is all, who shall begin the game?” Logan asked.

“I’ll start!” Remus cried from the kitchen, “Patton you keep mixing that over there I’ll be riiiight back! JanJan, truth or dare!”

“Dare,” Janus said without hesitation, Virgil shrugged, he was Deceit after all, anyone expecting him to pick truth was stupid. 

“Hmm,” Remus tapped a finger to his chin, “We’ll start off easy, no wearing your hat for the rest of the evening.”

Janus let out a noise of what could only be mortification as if Remus had just asked him to strip naked. Virgil hid a cackle in his blanket as Janus aimed a middle finger at Remus while taking off his hat and letting it disappear. He shot a glare at Roman, who was gawking at his unruly curly hair. Remus cackled before rushing back to the kitchen.

“Roman truth or dare?” Janus asked with narrowed eyes.

“...Dare?” Roman practically asked, slightly worried for his safety.

“Since Remus started this ‘easy’, genderswap yourself,” Janus said with a smirk, “Clothes also have to change,”

He didn’t anticipate the fact that Roman would actually very much enjoy this dare, he spun around, his regular prince outfit transforming in a show of glitter into a long red skirt, fit with a corset and poofy shoulders, it didn’t hurt that he in a feminine form filled out the outfit quite well. Janus thought for a second that that dare may have harmed himself more than Roman, because apparently Roman was attractive even as a woman. Well, Janus could ignore the bi crisis currently raging in his brain for now, because Roman had moved on to daring Logan.

Janus decided he was going to go and help Patton with his baking in between his turns.

“I dare you to swap clothes with Patton,” Roman told Logan, who groaned, before informing Patton that he was swapping their clothes and clicking his fingers, now burdened with a cat hoodie around his shoulders, he sighed.

“This is so impractical,” Logan sighed mournfully, lifting one of the sleeves hanging around his neck

“This is so stiff!” Patton called, “How do you wear this!”

“It’s practical and sophisticated,” Logan huffed, “Virgil, truth or dare?”

“Dare,”

“You all are so boring ,” Roman groaned, “No truths!”

“You literally picked dare,” Virgil rolled his eyes, as he watched Logan scroll through his phone, reading quickly, “Logan are you looking up dares?”

“I am new to this game, it will take me a while to get used to it,” Logan says by ways of answer, “Let Roman post whatever he wants on your tumblr,”

“What the fuck! No!” Virgil yelled, Roman smiled at him sweetly.

“You want some of this stuff then, my sweet Virgin?” Remus asked, carrying a blender full of awful smelling yellowish sludgy liquid into the room and placing it on the coffee table, Virgil gagged and held out his phone to Roman. Who took it all while snickering at Remus' nickname 

“How long does he have?” Virgil asked sadly.

“Until either he finishes or the game ends,” Logan decided. Virgil groaned, burying his face in the blanket and trying to suffocate himself for a moment, before Logan spoke again, “From my understanding, it’s your turn to ask someone, Virgil,”

“Patton?” Virgil called with his face still buried in the blanket, “Truth or dare?”

“Um,” Patton said, looking over at Virgil, they stared at each other for a moment, “I feel like I’m going to regret this but- dare…?”

“Eat a spoonful of Roman’s extra hot hot sauce,” Virgil said with an evil smirk. Roman audibly gasped.

“Ok kiddo…” Patton said slowly, heading towards the fridge, “Since I might be out of commission for a while afterwards I’ll ask now, Remus, truth or dare?”

“Truth, because you’re all wimps and I wanna get into the juicy stuff!” Remus grinned, making a gesture that made just about everyone uncomfortable.

“Give everyone here a compliment,” Patton said with a sweet smile as he poured a spoonful of the sauce and stuck it in his mouth. Almost immediately he was coughing and fanning his face as his cheeks went red. Janus poured him a glass of milk and patted him awkwardly on the shoulder as he tried to recover.

“Oh my god you are all so boring ,” Remus huffed, “Pattycake, you’re not so bad when you’re not being a goodie-two-shoes, Roman you have big tits as a woman, Dork you look like you could break my spine into three pieces even wearing a cat hoodie and that’s cool,”

“I- what?” Logan asked, confused, Remus took no notice. Roman looked practically violated, covering his chest with an arm. 

“Jan, you’ve got really big tits as a man,”

“I what ?” Janus asked, sounding worryingly calm.

“Look up ‘snitties’ on tumblr,” Remus said waving him off before continuing, “Virgin, you’re really fun to jumpscare because you do this cute little squeak and it’s absolutely precious,”

“How can someone make a wholesome truth into… that,” Logan said, stunned. 

“I’m sure I want to look that up,” Janus said, glancing back at Patton, who was still recovering from the last dare.

“Don’t,” Virgil said, “I’ve had the displeasure of Remus showing me when he found it, you don’t want to see it, also that nickname is not sticking,”

“It’s like a massive tumblr post dedicated to your massive ti-”

“Alright time to move on, who are you asking Remus!” Virgil cut in loudly. 

“Janus truth or dare!” Remus called, Virgil smacked his forehead into the armrest. Unfortunately it was soft.

“I’m not going to like this,” Janus said, “Am I,”

“No-pe!” Remus grinned, “Unless you wanna choose the truth?”

“I would love to, just say the dare already,”

“Read the tumblr post I just sent you out loud to the group,” Remus said with a wide grin as he scrolled through his phone, “Make sure you show off the pictures too,”

“This is going to be horrible, isn’t it,” Logan said quietly.

“Quite,” Roman agreed. Virgil buried himself in the blankets.

It took ten minutes for Janus to read through the entire Snitties post on tumblr, and by the end he was trying to resist the urge to crack his skull open on the wall and Roman was trying not to pass out from the amount of blood rushing to his face- which was flaming red with blush. Remus was cackling like the menace he was.

“Virgil,” Janus said weakly, “Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” Virgil said from inside the blanket.

“Sit on Roman’s lap for the rest of the game,” Janus said, waving him off.

“Are you guys actually trying to kill me?” Roman squeaked, “Why me? Why am I the target of this unprovoked assault?”

“Shut up and sit down so I can sit on you Princey,” Virgil huffed, “I like this no more than you do,”

With a lot of effort (in terms of the dress) Roman managed to sit himself comfortably on the floor so that Virgil could sit in his lap, still wrapped in his blanket because he feared that he might just burst into tears and/or have a panic attack without it, Virgil ended up sitting on Roman’s lap. He wouldn’t admit it, but their position was actually rather comfortable.

—-

After about an hour, Virgil found himself in a ‘e-girl gamer kitten’ outfit (Remus’ description, it consisted of cat-ear headphones, short shorts and knee high cat socks with garters and fishnets, at least he still had his blanket to snuggle in) Roman had gained a tiara and earrings too, Deceit was now in an 1800s victorian ball gown and wearing Kyoshi Warrior makeup on the human side of his face, Logan was wearing cat facepaint and had been the first to drink some of Remus and Patton’s goop when he’d been dared to talk about his feelings. Virgil had also had a drink of the mixture when he’d been asked which of the sides he would rather kiss, and Janus and Roman had practically made out when Janus had been dared to answer the same question more physically (by the same person, Patton) and Virgil wasn’t jealous at all. 

Remus had ended up coming out as aromantic after being asked his stance on having a romantic partner, which the group had readily accepted, on a similar note, he had dared Patton to be his queerplatonic partner (Patton had drank some of the goop and told Remus he would think about it).

Remus had also been the main reason about half of the blender of goop was gone- he kept daring people to do things like eating dead rats or dissecting eyeballs and not many of the sides wanted to do those things (Logan had promised to dissect some things with him later, though). Patton had ended up being dared by Virgil to not touch the floor until the game ended, so Janus and Remus had been periodically passing him cushions so he could still get around the kitchen to bake his sweets. 

Logan had taken a photo of Virgil and Roman on Virgil’s phone (Per Roman’s request near the end of the game) and Roman had completed his earlier dare of posting on Virgil’s Tumblr and the fact that the post ended up getting over five hundred notes before the game had even ended was absolutely mortifying. 

Otherwise, Virgil had managed to avoid being emotionally vulnerable and avoid the worst of the dares, so he counted that as a win. Hey, and they were all laughing by the end of it, which was a pretty big win, it almost felt like they were all finally getting along.

Quickly, while everyone was destracted and still calming down from the game, Virgil opened Tumblr to see what atrocity Roman had posted.

"Oh my god," Virgil mumbled at he stared at the picture in front of him.

"Why the fuck does it look like an Instagram post?" Virgil yelled, before opening Instagram, only to see that Roman had posted it there too, "You dick!"

Roman just laughed.

“So!” Logan called everyone to attention, successfully distracting them from the Tumblr mishap, they'd already cleaned up the mess and gotten back into their regular outfits, so now the sleepover could continue, “Now that that ordeal is over and everything is back in order, we can remove that from the board and decide what to do next.”

—-

After truth or dare, Roman had ended up insisting on painting everyone’s nails while they held a Dance Dance Revolution tournament (Remus ended up winning, somehow he and Janus were the best at the game). Despite protesting at first, Virgil was quite happy with his sparkly purple nails, Roman had told him that he knew he’d like it. The only side who’d avoided the nail painting was Janus- you couldn’t paint nails when the person refused to take off gloves, after all. 

“Shall we change into more comfortable attire?” Roman asked during a lull in the atmosphere after they awarded Remus with an interesting looking crown for winning DDR. Patton had once again retreated to the kitchen to prepare some food for dinner and the conversation had died out a little bit. Roman obviously felt awkward around his brother and Virgil didn’t exactly want to talk to Janus or Remus. Logan was busy looking up ideas for more sleepover activities on his phone, so he wasn’t exactly open to conversation at the moment. Virgil was quite happy for Roman breaking the growing uncomfortable silence.

“I agree with this idea, getting into pyjamas or more comfortable attire may make it easier for all of us to relax, seeing as the atmosphere created by the game seems to have… soured, slightly,” Logan agreed, putting his phone away.

“Are we getting into onesies?” Patton asked, popping in from the kitchen.

“I believe we aren’t,” Janus confirmed, “Fortunately, though, I do not own a onesie,”

“I sleep in the buff!” Remus contributed, Virgil winced, he really didn’t want to see that.

“Well, if you plan to stay for the night, we must ask that you wear something we deem appropriate,” Logan told him firmly, “Otherwise, you must sleep elsewhere,”

Virgil shot Logan a thankful glance, the logical side nodded. 

“Fine,” Remus huffed, plopping down next to Roman in a pair of ghastly ripped up sweatpants and a green crop-top hoodie that read ‘intrusive THOT’ across the chest. He collapsed into his brother, who yelped and shoved him off. Remus picked up a pillow and whacked Roman over the head with it, Roman jumped up with a grin that startled Virgil a little bit, hitting Remus back with another pillow, and thus a pillow fight began. 

Patton joined in pretty quickly, giggling like a child as he picked up a cushion and jumped into the flurry of soft blows. Logan was dragged into it too, at some point, and eventually Virgil got involved after Remus whacked him in the face with a pillow and he couldn’t help but retaliate after that.

While the pillow fight was going strong though, Roman took the opportunity of the destruction to sneak away, heading quietly to the kitchen, where Janus had taken over the cooking when Patton had first gotten involved.

“Hey, um, Janus?” Roman asked as he came up behind the side, maybe right now wouldn’t be the best time to have a serious conversation, with the sounds of the others laughing and yelling in the background, nonetheless Janus turned, setting the tray he had just taken from the oven down on a cooling rack and removing the large oven gloves (patterned with pink and blue hearts, stars and butterflies, a design that just screamed Patton) to reveal that he was still wearing his yellow gloves underneath.

“Hello, Roman,” Janus said, leaning on the counter, “I’m totally not busy right now,”

“Ah- sorry, I just… wanted to talk to you while the others were… occupied,” Roman said, glancing back over at the others, still fighting, he shuffled his feet awkwardly, Janus raised an eyebrow at him, letting him know to continue, “I um- I’ve been thinking a lot since- um- yeah- and I just, I wanted to apologise… you know for… laughing at your name and being incredibly un-prince like towards you otherwise as well,”

“I don’t accept your apology,” Janus said, a hint of a smile on his lips, Roman relaxed minutely, “And besides, it’s not like I have anything to apologise to you for as well, I don’t think I deserved that at all after everything else I did to you too,”

“I… well-” Roman huffed, “Consider it even, then,”

“Alright,” Janus nodded, before smirking, “I suppose I also should apologise for the eh- kissing- earlier,”

“It was a dare, Pretty Little Liar,” Roman waved him off, though he knew he was blushing, he was pretty intrigued to note that Janus was also blushing.

“Would you like to help me finish the dinner preparations?” Janus asked instead of continuing down that road, gesturing to the array of food that still needed to be cooked before they could set up the mini buffet that Patton had planned.

“Um- I’ll gladly assist but… I am banned from a reason, you know,” Roman said, gesturing to a piece of paper taped to the fridge which showed their cooking schedule, Patton, Logan and Virgil alternated days they would cook, and underneath a thick header underlined three times that read ‘BANNED’ was Roman’s name.

Janus laughed, “What on earth could you do to get banned from the kitchen?”

“I almost blew up the house trying to make a mug brownie…” Roman said, looking away, “And got the entire kitchen covered in glitter and goopy sugary goop when I tried to make a confetti cake… I also lit the stove on fire by accident while trying to cook bacon-”

“Alright alright, surely you’ll do fine with instruction?” Janus   asked, waving him over.

“That’s a lie, but sure go off,” Roman rolled his eyes.

“Patton let Remus help him earlier, did he not?” Janus asked, smirking at Roman, “And he is of course, way better than you are, I see every issue with enlisting your help,”

Roman snorted at that one, but shook his head, “You know what, fine, I’ll help with dinner, but if there's a fire I’m not taking the blame you Bananaconda!”

“I completely despise that nickname,” Janus said with a small smile, before they got to work. 

Somehow, with Janus’ instruction, Roman managed not to start a fire or even make too much of a mess. The others had been adequately surprised to learn this as Roman and Janus set out the fully edible (and only slightly burnt) food on the table for everyone to pick at as the night went on.

—-

“Thanks for roping me into cooking,” Roman said, as he slid onto the sofa next to Janus with his plate of food, Virgil squinted at them from his chair across the room, “I had fun,”

“I despise that,” Janus said, shooting him a half smile, Roman beamed back. Virgil glanced around- at Patton and then Logan- Patton just shrugged with a smile, he just seemed happy that they were getting along but something had changed.

“I’m not eating the food if Princey had a hand in making it,” Virgil huffed, Roman gasped, raising a hand to his forehead dramatically.

“I’m wounded! Wounded by my beloved stormcloud!” Roman cried, Janus hid a chuckle by shoving a fork full of food into his mouth.

“Look, I’m just going by past experiences, your food hasn’t exactly been edible before,” Virgil said, rolling his eyes, Roman squeaked in annoyance.

“There’s every need to worry, Virgil,” Janus said, “I neither helped nor supervised, everything is inedible, I assure you,”

“Thanks, liar,” Virgil huffed, before glancing around at the others again. Remus was quite happily drinking the remaining blender sludge from the truth or dare game, while Logan and Patton were both starting to fill their plates with actual food which… did look good, despite his suspicions. Virgil stamped down the ugly feeling he got when he looked over at Janus- who was now laughing openly at something Roman had said- and stood up to get food himself. 

Not long after that their energy had lulled into quiet discussions happening around the room. Remus had opted to collapse on top of his brother, successfully inserting himself into Roman and Janus’ conversation, whatever they were talking about and Patton and Logan were quietly discussing something whilst they sorted through the vast selection of DVDs they had stored in the corner of the living room and Virgil had once again returned to his chair, armed with a pillow and his weighted blanket once again. He had summoned his phone and was trying to reply to the onslaught of Tumblr asks he’d gotten in response to Roman’s post. 

Being the only one not currently engaged in a conversation though, meant that Virgil was the first to notice the intruder almost break the door to the subconscious off of it’s hinges. 

“Heyyy-” They said, successfully grabbing the attention of everyone in the room, they looked around at the setup before gasping in offence, “OMGoodness! I cannot believe you guys! How could you host a sleep over without inviting me ?”

“Perhaps because the goal of a sleepover is to… not sleep?” Roman basically asked, “And that kinda uh- goes against your function, Remy?”

“Hey Remy!” Patton called with a wave, “You’re welcome to stay! We’re just about to start movies!”

Remy ignored both of them, the ice in their starbucks cup (who knows where they got Starbucks in the mindscape, we don’t question their methods) rattling as they pointed it accusingly at Virgil.

“Virge! Gurl I swear I haven’t seen you in like for-ever! How have you been, bestie?”

“Uhm- sleep deprived?” Virgil answered, Remy burst out laughing.

“I knew you’d miss me!” They grinned, before muttering quietly, “They always come back in the end,”

Virgil just rolled his eyes, “God you’re insufferable, just- come and sit down if you’re joining us,”

“Oh well of course, if you’re offering!” Remy smirked, and before Virgil could protest Remy had sauntered over and suddenly the extra space on Virgil’s armchair had been stolen from him and so had half of his blanket. 

“If you’re going to put your legs on my lap at least have the decency to take off your shoes,” Virgil hissed to Remy before going back to watching Janus and Roman coversate from across the room. Remy rolled their eyes before snapping their shoes away, leaving their rainbow socks on show. 

“Alright kiddos!” Patton called, getting everyone’s attention, “Time to decide on the first movie we’re going to watch!”

“Something with songs!” Roman called out immediately.

“How about a musical?” Janus asked, “I completely despise them.”

“Ok but consider,” Roman said, “Disney.”

“What about…” Patton thought for a second, before picking up a case, “A Disney distributed musical?”

“Hamilton!” Roman cried happily, throwing his arms in the air.

“That’s an absolutely horrible choice,” Janus nodded in agreement.

“Awesome! Any objections?” Patton asked.

“Hamilton is adequate,” Logan said.

Remus shrugged, “As long as we get to watch something interesting later!”

“I don’t even want to know what you’d consider interesting,” Virgil grumbled.

“I could give you nightmares about it if you want!” Remy said, all too cheerily, “Me and Re collaborate on them quite often, actually!”

“Do you want me to avoid you for another two weeks?” Virgil hissed elbowing them under the blankets. Remy pouted.

“No,” They muttered, before shifting all of their weight onto Virgil, who groaned.

“Just start the film already.” Virgil huffed.

—-

As the film played, Virgil couldn’t help but watch as Janus and Roman sang the songs together- some of the others joining in too just for fun- somehow they did it seamlessly without even discussing who would sing each part, first Roman as Hamilton while Janus played Burr, and then Janus as Hamilton while Roman played Eliza. 

“Looks like your man’s being stolen, gurl,” Remy whispered to Virgil and Janus kissed Roman’s hand, mimicking Alexander and Eliza onscreen. They had actually stood up to dance along with the cast to ‘Helpless’ and Patton couldn’t help but start giggling as he filled in Angelica’s lines for them. Virgil grumbled something unintelligible in reply.

“Looks like you’re Angelica in this situation, huh Virge,” Remy whispered in his ear, sentence punctuated by Remus’ belly laughs as Patton tried to get through the line about Angelica wanting to form a harem. 

“Fuck you,” Virgil said, putting his hand over Remy’s face and shoving them away. 

Roman managed to manipulate them all into watching Frozen next, much to Remus’ dismay. Logan begrudgingly gave in and quietly sang along to Elsa’s parts while Roman sang Anna’s after what seemed like a fair amount of coaxing, bribery and possible blackmail. in the build up to ‘Love is an Open Door’ Roman offered a hand to pull Virgil up.

“Sing with me?” Roman asked, leaving the offer of his hand there, Virgil just stared at it, “Oh come on Virge! We sound so good together on this one!”

“He’d love to!” Remy grinned, picking up Virgil’s hand and placing it in Roman’s, allowing Roman the chance to pull him up. Virgil gave Remy the middle finger as the song started, the other side just did it right back.

After the annoyance and the feeling of not wanting to sing in front of everyone had died down, Virgil found that it was actually really fun to sing with Roman, letting himself fall into the rhythm of it as Roman harmonised with him while they danced in circles over the small cleared space inbetween everyone. Patton clapped and cheered for them when the song was over and Virgil collapsed back onto the chair, bad mood from before all but evaporated. He didn’t even care that he’d mostly fallen on top of Remy, it was the payback they most definitely deserved for one reason or another.

Of course, Remus made his obligatory ‘Kristoff fucks the reindeer’ comment during Fixer Upper, successfully interrupting the fun Patton, Roman and Remy were having singing it together- though they managed to get back on track pretty quickly- though Patton had stepped down from singing to instead chase Remus around the house armed with a pillow. 

“Did we ever finish that Frozen rewrite that we started during the episode?” Logan asked after the film was over, “Because I may have to remind Thomas of that particular idea if not, I must check my records later.”

“The rewrite! Gosh that feels like only yesterday despite it happening like what- two years ago?” Roman sighed wistfully, “We should definitely dig that back up sometime!”

—-

For the next film, Patton (after finally catching him) begrudgingly let Remus choose with Janus’ guidance (just so he wouldn’t choose something so gorey or sexual that the rest of them couldn’t watch it) and they’d ended up settling on some horror film that Virgil was decidedly not watching. He had summoned his headphones and covered his head with the blanket at the earliest opportunity presented to him. He was glad for it when he heard Patton screech even through the noise cancelling. 

Somehow, halfway through what sounded like a pretty gruesome horror film, Remy fell asleep, so Virgil took the excuse that had fallen into his lap (literally) and swaddled them up in some spare blankets and carried them upstairs so that the others wouldn’t wake them up with the screaming. 

—-

They managed to get to about half past three in the morning before Logan began insisting that they should start heading to sleep, so they’d decided to pack it in after this film ended (thankfully something more light hearted after that horror film, Virgil didn’t want worse nightmares than usual, thank you very much).

So, as promised, after the film had wrapped up, everyone started getting ready for bed. Roman summoned sleeping bags and yet more blankets and pillows for everyone, as if they needed them and soon everyone started winding down. 

At some point during this process, Remy returned, aviators askew and Virgil’s blanket wrapped around their shoulders. Without saying a word they grabbed the closest sleeping bag and got in it before flopping down onto the ground incredibly ungracefully, once again dead asleep in seconds.

“Virgilll,” Roman whined from his sleeping bag on the ground, Virgil was just in the process of zipping up his own bag on the other side of the room, “C’mereee- I wanna cuddle,”

VIrgil just rolled his eyes at the way Roman was making grabby hands in his vague direction and shuffled over to where Roman was lying. Sleeping next to Roman wouldn’t hurt, right?

“Goodnight kiddos!” Patton called.

“Goodnight, Patton,” Janus said from somewhere past Roman, “I don’t apologise for the spiders in that film, by the way, I forgot they featured so heavily, and I also hope all of you have nightmares and sleep terribly,”

“Thanks Jan!” Remus called from somewhere near Patton, taking the lie at full sincerity.

“Thanks, Janus,” Patton said, accepting the truth he could gather from the statement. 

“Goodnight all,” Roman said, Virgil kicked him, though it didn’t have much impact with the sleeping bags.

“Everyone just shut up and go to sleep already,” Virgil groaned.

Finally, after an even more long-winded chain of goodnights that Virgil thought was possible (he was sure they were doing it to spite him). Everyone went quiet.

—-

“Hey guys, whaddyou all think about forming an orgy right here right now,”

“Re, shut the fuck up and sleep before I sew your mouth closed with silly string.” 

“Sounds like fun! Lets make it a date, huh Virgey?”

“Both of you shut up!” 

“Some of us aren’t trying to sleep here, you know,”

“If I hear another word out of any of you kiddos I will not be making pancakes in the morning,” 

That shut everyone up pretty quick, no-one wanted to miss out on Patton’s breakfast pancakes. 

—-

Somehow, when he woke up the next afternoon ( all of them- excluding Logan who had an immaculate sleep cycle- had slept all through the morning) Virgil found that he had ended up sandwiched between Roman and Janus in his sleep. He was almost 100% certain that Janus had been on the other side of them both when they first went to sleep.

How odd.

Well, Virgil thought as he let himself relax between them, it could be worse.

He heard the click of a camera mixed in with coos and giggles that sounded suspiciously like Remus and Remy. 

Virgil had jinxed himself. It got worse. 

[biolizardboils]

head’s still full of Mother EarthBound Thoughts so im gonna spill some here. (warning this’ll be super messy and also contain big honkin’ spoilers for all three games)

for context i played and beat EarthBound after it came out on Wii U, then Mother 3 in 2015. i tried Mother 1/Beginnings at some point, but sadly my immunity to Old Game Jank doesn’t extend past the mid-90's. im a relatively young Mom Fan is what im trying to say here

i havent seen anyone here talk about the vid they put out for the Switch ports?? pls watch it its so cute and in-line with the games’ humor! lets all get to know Ness!!

im still watching Curiomatic’s Mother 3 vid daily and im still noticing new details and shit. and their website's so good too?? felt!Boney has my whole heart

my brain's been on fire imagining how the other two games would look in the same style. and like. it feels criminal to ask so soon after 1 and 2 got Switch ports, but a full 3-games-in-1 remake would be so good for the series for two big reasons:

1. it could fix 1/Beginnings' Jank and tighten its translation, bringing it in line with the other two, and

2. its the one situation i can think of that would force Nintendo to localize 3. like can you imagine if they remade the whole series and then left it in Japan?? people would have their heads!

not to mention a game with a modern 3D engine would be leagues easier to edit than the sprite-based original. cus while im scared of NoA over-censoring the game as much as the next guy, there are a few things in it that could’ve been done more sensitively, and that altering wouldn’t harm the plot if done right. i doubt i need to name specifics

also on the selfish side, i just wanna know what would change in terms of visual design. i wanna see all the enemies move in battle and Pippi with beady eyes like everyone else and how they’d officially differentiate Ninten’s design from Ness’s, and most of all i REALLY wanna see official art of Beginnings!Giygas. i wish to grasp his true form so bad it makes me look stupid

not that i dont like the fandom’s agreed-on designs!! far from it, i love them!! like Giygas having red-and-black eyes as foreshadowing is genius and whoever first came up with it deserves an award

i made a party playlist in case 3 ever got localized back when i was more hopeful about it. how far back, you may ask? i included this unironically. that far lmao

one of my fave things about the series is how, despite being made in Japan, it pays homage to so many distinctly Western pop-cultural concepts that it’s instantly nostalgic to the average English-speaker. the Spielbergian coming-of-age film, the dot-eyed yet contemplative comic strip, the kitschy B-movie monsters, the King-esque entities conveying the loss of innocence, the pairing of psychedelia with an insistence on peace over war. for a funny parody of America, it’s fascinating how right it feels at the emotional level.

speaking of psychedelia, i wanna plug this amazing prog rock cover album that deserves more love. like holy shit, youd think this is how some of these songs were always meant to be played. ive never had a drug trip cus im terrified of messing up set and setting, but to have my first while hearing this played live would probably feel beautiful

speaking of more psychedelia, last month i thought Polka Dot Tail by Ween sounded super familiar, and i just realized why: it sounds like Magicant (the second one). i might try to make a mashup later idk

ive been meaning to watch a vlog of Camp Fangamer’s EarthBound Bash 2015 for years and this week i finally did it! shit looked like so much fun, and i cant think of another game series that’d make for such an immersive event. i could only find one extended video of the Mother 3 bash they did a year later, but it seems like an equally transformative event, if not more despite Lucas being a mannequin

listen....i know people have done the math and ruled it out as a possibility....but i still really like the idea of Ninten and Ana being Ness’s parents. i just think its cute and neat and also opens up some opportunities for angst (something something the fear of your kids inheriting your personal battles)

bonus points for Lloyd being Dr. Andonuts cus i think itd be funny if he was the only character to appear in all three games

while im here confessing my fan sins, lemme add that i treat Smash Bros as canon cus it gave the world such gems as Ness’s eyes being purple and Boney having leg warmer fur

man i remember first seeing Porky in Subspace and thinking he was trapped in the spider-mech thing and i had to free him.... ah, the innocence of youth

removing Lucas from Sm4sh was a bitch move but the trailer when they put him back was honestly SO worth it. like him returning Ness’s favor from Subspace?? everyone noticing he smiled more and being so proud of him?? that was the best day of my life

speaking of bitch moves im still confused by how u get Claus, Hinawa and the Masked Man’s spirits in World of Light. like what the fuck did Nintendo mean by that shit. their placement and the fights themselves are such a specific gut-punch that its hilarious. killing two gods wont bring Claus back

but also its...nice to think that Lucas got a chance to see them again. like maybe one of the other fighters who knew his deal freed them and brought them to him, and everyone let them have a moment before they fought Galeem and Dharkon. imagine Claus being all “told ya we’d meet again someday :’) let’s go beat up that angel thing together!”

also cus Smash made me so used to it, i refer to all PSI moves as PK. even the ones that are PSI in both languages, like Magnet. PK Sue me

so like... im a twin. my sister and i love each other more than anything. we played 3 together, and quickly agreed that i was the Lucas to her Claus. what happens between them in the game is my absolute worst fear. ive had nightmares since childhood with the same basic theme -- losing her to a decision i can't sway her from -- so the final boss and the "hasty brother" line after gutted us. when youre literally linked from birth, it's hard to imagine life without, and even harder to prepare for the possibility. this game forced us to do so, and it hurt like hell, but it strengthened our bond in the process.

theres already a hundred essays about it but i love how 3′s ending manages to reflect every player’s wishes. everyone’s got their own idea of what Lucas wished for, so here’s mine:

the entire planet was purified and made habitable again

all the Chimeras were split into their original animals (but some of them chose to be friends still, so there’s at least one kangaroo and one shark that hang out often)

everyone that Porky abducted from other time periods were sent back with their memories intact (so Dr. Andonuts gets to be with Jeff again and is also less likely to be employed by another asshat)

im one of those people who thinks Lucas didn’t revive anyone who died, because it doesn’t feel right after the characters spent three years coping with it. (all the power to people who disagree tho, it’s all cool!) instead, i think he wished for a new place to honor everyone they lost, resulting in a beautiful new cemetery hidden in the sunflower field outside Tazmily. strangely, it contains lots of gravestones that no one recognizes; one with a haiku written on it, ten crosses lined up in two rows of five, even one the size of a bug; and at the very back, a swirling metal statue engraved in an alien language, lying between two stones marked “XX”.

and finally, i think Lucas wished to meet whatever force was looking after his world all this time, so he could thank them personally... and thats how you, the player, ended up in the game :)

im still utterly charmed by the image of the player, struck blind from being pulled into another world, being lead by the hand (and pokes in the back) to meet Lucas,,, like its okay sweetie you can say goodbye as many times as you need, im so goddamn proud of you!!! ill see you in Smash okay???

i think thats everything i wanna say? uhhh heres a fanmix i made six years ago

[kpop-cakepops]

I will gladly read any Wonwoo fluff you would give us be it snuggle donation or otherwise! But if I can be more specific in requesting, how about a missed connection sort of thing? Like the reader and Wonwoo have similar circles of friends who think they’d hit it off, but somehow they just never manage to be at the same events, but then they end up meeting separate from their friends and do hit it off, only to be a couple before their friends even know they’ve met? If that’s too specific, totally do whatever you want with the idea. Welcome to Wonwoo brain domination (my friend incepted my mind last year too and it’s been all Wonwoo all of the time since!)

omg this is actually such a good prompt?!?!?!!? What the hell?! Thank you anon!!!

So this one actually took way longer than expected because I knew what I wanted to do but I didn't know how to not make it confusing? So the best I could do was use time skips in this one, anything in italics are flashbacks.... I HOPE IT'S NOT CONFUSING! Anyhow, I had so much fun writing this! Enjoy! (PS. I didn't edit so excuse any grammar mistakes LOLz)

Warnings: None

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 1,863

Meant To Be// Jeon WonwooXfem!Reader

"There he is again... I wonder if he's single." your older sister said as she struggled to keep your baby nephew from running away from the bench the two of you were sitting at.

"Probably not," you told her as you bit into your popsicle. "He's handsome. Probably has a bunch of girls lining up to get his number"

"He's playing video games at a park, I seriously doubt that" your sister added.

"I think it's kinda cute. At least he comes out because he wants to" you looked over at your sister who was now too busy chasing after your little nephew to even listen to you. "Aaaaand I was talking to myself. Cool."

You huffed and looked over at the man sat two benches over. He seemed to be having fun on his Nintendo switch and you were sure you weren't having fun babysitting your sister while she tried to babysit her own son... so you took matters into your own hands and walked yourself over to the man.

"Hey, mind if I sit here?" You asked.

The stranger looked up from his game and moved to the side making space for you to sit down. He didn't talk at all but didn't show himself to be rude either. You took the chance to take out your own console.

"What are you playing?" You asked.

He turned around and looked at your hands, his eyes widening a little but the look of surprise was replaced by a smile almost instantly. "Super Smash Bros."

You didn't know what you expected his voice to sound like, but it certainly hadn't been the deep tone you had just received. "Damn, nice voice" you blurted.

He let out a laugh, "what's your name?"

"I'm y/n" you introduced yourself putting your hand out to shake his, "and you?"

He took your hand cautiously, "I'm Wonwoo"

***

"How does this dress look?" You asked as you twirled in front of your now boyfriend of 3 months, Wonwoo.

He smiled approvingly, "baby you look just as amazing as you did in the last dress. You really don't have to worry too much about impressing my friends, they're all a bunch of idiots."

"Well, yes, but... what if they don't like me? I'm the reason you refused all those blind dates they kept setting you up on." You told him.

"And I'm the reason you refused yours, the time will come when I have to meet your friends, too. I promise you there's no reason for us to be worried." He pulled you close and kissed the top of your head.

"I'm just excited to finally meet your friends," you told him. "I want to make a good impression."

"The way you make me smile should be impressive enough, no?" He brushed a strand of your hair behind your ear.

"Getting a little cheesy there, aren't we?" You poked his stomach and pulled away. "Anyways. We should get going or we're going to be late!"

***

"You should come up. Some of my friends are still up there. We could hang out" said Wonwoo as he pushed his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. His tall frame rocking back and forth as he watched you wistfully.

"I really wish I could, but I actually have to go back to work in a bit. I just didn't want for your birthday gift to get to your hands after your special day" You shyly admitted. He held his hand to the necklace that was now hanging from his neck. The pendant hanging from it depicting the Smash ball from the game's logo. Something about him immediately putting the necklace on making your heart race.

"I really wish you could stay, but I guess, you'll just have to make it up to me some other day." He said.

You reached out your pinky and he wrapped his own with yours. "I promise" You told him.

He smiled and you waited expectantly for his nose to scrunch up like you'd learned it would in the last 4 months of knowing the guy. It was weird how after fighting off cheesy romance and dates, you ended up developing a crush on some random guy you'd met at the park.

The both of you stood there for a moment, pinkies linked together as you let the sparks envelope you both. It was obvious you liked each other, however, neither of you seemed to know who should make the first move... nor did you know when.

***

You and Wonwoo arrived at the large hotel his friends had told him to meet them at. A shiver ran down your spine making you take a nervous deep breath. Your boyfriend grinned at your cuteness and squeezed your hand softly before guiding you towards the entrance.

"Oh, God... Maybe I should've brought a gift?" You grumbled as you followed Wonwoo into the hotel. A sudden feeling of guilt taking over you as you remember your own friend, Jihoon, was having a graduation dinner that you couldn't go to because of this. You'd managed to drop off a gift for him days before, but it still bugged you. Jihoon was one of your closest friends after all.

"Honey, it's totally fine. I promise Jihoon won't mind that you didn't bring him a gift" he assured you as he held the door of the fancy restaurant open for you.

"Wait, what did you say?" You asked as you stopped in your tracks. Your boyfriend shooting you a confused look.

"Y-N?"

***

"I don't know, I think my favorite has to be biographies. I'm just nosy" you laughed, Wonwoo following along.

"Hmmm, I mean, biographies are nice, but I've been into humanities lately. It's interesting" He shrugged and licked at his ice cream cone happily. "I used to hate it in high school but I think as I grew up a grew more interested in the way people live... outside of just myself."

"Wow..." you mused.

"What? Was that sexy?" he joked.

You shook your head, "No, you're such a nerd" You teased.

"Hey!" he quipped bumping his shoulder into yours.

"Watch it! I almost dropped my ice cream cone!" Your attempt to seem angry failed by the big smile on your face. It seemed that was all you did around Wonwoo anyways. Smile.

"What flavor is that?" he asked as he eyed your cone curiously.

You put the cone up to his lips, "Butter pecan" You didn't know what exactly you were expecting when you put the cone up to his lips, 75% of you had thought he'd playfully push your hand away while calling it a grandma flavor as he usually did, while the resting 25% of you thought he'd just ignore it and keep walking... but both assumptions were wrong. Wonwoo grabbed your hand with his free one holding the cone in place before getting a taste. It was absolutely insane how much that made your heart race. "Hey! what was that all about?"

"I want to get a taste... but I can't... taste it... maybe I should-" He froze mid-sentence. Wonwoo was nervous. His face was a deep pink as he eyed you closely.

"W-Wonwoo. Are you trying to kiss me right now?" You asked. You wanted to scream and run away but you also wanted to stick around and see if he would.

"I was supposed to be at a blind date today" He admitted.

"Me too," you told him.

"But all I could think of was you" He continued.

"Me too," you agreed once again.

"Y/N, I like you."

***

"What the hell is going on here?" Jihoon's face was twisted in confusion as he stared between the two of you.

"You know each other?" Asked Wonwoo.

Jihoon blinked hurriedly before finding his voice again, "Uh, I think I should be the one asking you that!"

"My head is about to explode" You murmured.

"Yah, Jihoon, Dokyeom just spilled- Oh, Y/N? What are you doing here... with Wonwoo?" Yet another one of your best friends walked out of the restaurant, Jeongyeon's large eyes looking at you and your boyfriend with the same confused expression as Jihoon.

"They got here together," Jihoon announced.

"You two know each other?" Asked Jeongyeon.

"Yeah, Wonwoo's my boyfriend"

"Yeah... we're dating" Wonwoo agreed.

"WHAT?!"

***

"Y/N, pleaseeeeee? I promise you're going to love this guy. He is such a sweet person, he will literally blow you away, and he's handsome! Did I mention he's handsome?!" Jeongyeon's hands were clasped together in front of her chest. It was once a month that she begged for you to go on a blind date with that guy she always talked about, but you shook your head.

"No."

"Why not?! What is it this time!?" Your pretty friend exclaimed as she crossed her arms across her chest.'I have a boyfriend now' You thought, a small smile coming to your lips at the thought of Wonwoo.

"I'm not interested in dating Jjeong. Please, can't we just let it go?" you asked with a soft huff. "We have better things to do anyway. Come on, why don't you let me take a look at your thesis so far."

Jeongyeon huffed and started to pull out her laptop from her book bag. "I can't wait till you meet him. You're gonna regret it"

***

"Wait, pause... so you mean to tell me that we spent ALL THOSE MONTHS trying to set the two of you up... only for you two to meet at a random park and fall in love?!" Soonyoung was being his usual dramatic self again as he glared at you two from across the table.

"I mean, we didn't fall in love right off the bat... but yes. You could say that" Wonwoo answered.

"Wow! I just got chills. I JUST GOT CHILLS!" Dokyeom added as he dramatically hugged himself.

"I just don't understand why neither of you guys told us you were dating! Like... How did we miss it? Where did you hide each other?" Asked Jisoo with a confused frown.

"We didn't. We were friends for about 4 months before we started dating. I even went to drop off his gift at his apartment on his birthday."

"The necklace! I knew I'd seen it somewhere!" Seungcheol exclaimed with wide eyes. "You sent me a picture of the thing and asked if you should get it black or purple!"

"I also asked you for tips on how to confess to a girl over ice cream and got me laughed at." Wonwoo huffed under his breath.

You laughed and shook your head. "You were right, Woo. Your friends are indeed a bunch of idiots"

"Wow... You guys are meant to be. You guys are seriously meant to be. There is no doubt in my mind. I guess when soulmates are meant to meet, they will." chirped Jihoon who kept picking at his plate. "Now that that's all out, I'd like to take a moment to talk about how if Y/N hadn't been dating Wonwoo, she would have missed my graduation dinner for a man. What have you got to say for yourself, traitor?"

"Uh..."

[bungeenomin]

Let Them Hear- Liu Yangyang

Genre: Hard dom!yangyang x reader, smut

Word count: 976

Summary: Yangyang never thought he would get jealous of his baby talking to his best friends, yet here he is, making sure you prove to them that you’re all his. 

Warnings: smut, jealousy, unprotected sex (wrap before you tap), degradation, choking, dirty talk, spanking, dominance

A/N: Feel free to send me requests, asks and leave me feed back!

Main masterlist

Yangyang honestly hadn’t even considered the possibility of him getting jealous when he asked you over to his dorm to hang out with him and the ‘00 liners. That was until he is sat here, clenching his fists, burning holes into Shotaro’s back as he plays Mario Kart with you. Yeah, Yangyang knows it’s probably nothing. He trusts you and Shotaro at that, but he can’t help the jealousy he feels when he see’s you talking to other guys. 

“Taro you’re cheating!” you squeal, shoving him playfully as both of you sit with your eyes glued to the screen. 

“It’s Mario Kart i can’t cheat, you’re just shit” he teases, focusing as much as he can on the Nintendo Switch. 

“Hah” you shout, standing in front of Shotaro, blocking his view of the television. 

“Now look who’s cheating” he shouts, trying to push you out of his way. 

Shotaro simply placing his hand on your side was enough to break Yangyang, even if it was to shove you out of his way. 

Yangyang excuses himself from his conversation with Jaemin and Donghyuck before approaching you and Shotaro at the TV. 

“Y/N, let’s talk” he states sternly. 

“Baby” you respond, not picking up on Yangyang’s anger, “it’s nearly over just wai-”

“Pause it” he responds, cutting you off. That’s when you realise something is wrong. You pause the game, sending an empathetic look in Shotaro’s direction, who smiles back softly in response. 

Yangyang grabs your hand harshly. “My room” he mutters. 

You walk with him to his room, wanting to ask what’s wrong but also not wanting to anger him more than he already is. 

Yangyang get’s straight to the point as soon as you enter the room, locking the door. “Across my lap, now. Count” he states coldly as he sits down on the edge of the bed. 

You look at him hesitantly before complying, bending over on his lap. Yangyang lifts up your skirt, running a hand across your ass before slapping it harshly, resulting in a scream being released from your lips.

“One”

“What made you think you could act like a little slut in front of my face, huh?” he questions, slapping the tender area again. 

“Two. Babe i don’t know what you’re talking about” you reply, genuinely baffled as to what you did to annoy your boyfriend. 

“Fucking bullshit” he spits, slapping you hard again. 

“Three” 

“You know exactly what i’m talking about, don’t act like a dumb little slut. Flirting with Shotaro right in front of my face? Do i not deserve better than that?” 

“Four. I wasn’t f-flirting with him. Fuck five. Baby you know i only care about you, no one else. Fucking hell six”

“Pity you decided to act like a fucking whore then” he complains. 

“Seven. Babe please stop, i wasn’t flirting with Shota- fuck eight” you scream, your tender ass feels like fire from the red hand marks littered all over it. 

“Just shut up, you’re boring me now slut”

“N-nine”

“Prove it to me that you’re sorry” he states, sending one last hard slap to your ass. 

“Ten” you groan, as Yangyang drags you up by your hair. 

“Lay down” he demands, staring you dead in the eye as you comply. 

Yangyang pulls your panties down, not even bothering to take off your skirt or shirt, just simply pushing it up, allowing him to have access to your dripping core. 

“Look at you, dripping for me already. Or is it for Shotaro?”

“You” you reply, eyes wide, “only you”.  

“Good” Yangyang responds, unbuckling his belt and pulling down his pants and boxers, stroking himself lazily. “Open” he says, staring at your legs. 

You look at him nervously, “Babe you didn’t prepare me at all”. 

Yangyang leans down whispering in your ear, “Dirty sluts like you don’t need to be prepared. You can take my dick”. 

He leans back, once again stroking his dick as you open your legs. He lines himself up with your soaking core before pounding into you with no warning. 

“Fuck babe” you scream, putting your hand over your mouth in an attempt to muffle your lewd noises. 

Yangyang grabs your wrists, pinning them above your head. “Let them hear you. Let Shotaro know who you belong to” Yangyang groans, snapping in and out of you at a ruthless pace, loud moans effortlessly escaping your lips. 

“Such a dirty slut” Yangyang groans, throwing his head back. 

“Holy fuck babe” you scream, as he hits your g spot repetitively. 

“Mmh my good little slut” he groans, releasing your wrists from his grasp and wrapping a hand around your throat. “You’re gonna take all my cum so good yeah?Let me fill you up like no one else can” he breathily says, tightening his grip on your neck. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fill me up please let me take all your cum” you choke out, eyes rolling to the back of your head, causing Yangyang to twitch inside of you. He’s close. 

Yangyang brings his hand to your throbbing clit, rubbing it as fast as he can, causing your whole body to shake. 

“F-fuck baby” you moan loudly, your fingers scraping up and down your boyfriends back, “please leave me cum babe, need to cum”. 

“Cum for me” he moans, as you both come undone together, the room being filled with heavy breaths and euphoric moans. Yangyang slows down his pace significantly, allowing you both come down from your highs. 

“Good girl” he whispers, placing a gentle kiss on your forehead, before lifting you up and carrying you to the bathroom to clean you both up. 

Once you are both decent again, you make your way hand in hand back to the living room, being greeted by a very shell shocked ‘00 line. There was no doubt, you let them hear. 

[worldofherwords]

You.

Dear You,

I am writing to you because I am sad and I don’t have anyone to talk to. Because all my friends are tired of hearing about this and I feel like they pity me when I do. Also, I may or may not be a bit inebriated.

Our love started good, it was like finding someone you’ve known all your life. It’s like we picked up where we left off, even if we are virtually strangers. I honestly don’t know what made me fall for you, perhaps its how you decided that you want me, and no one has ever wanted me that surely before. Perhaps it’s how easy I found talking to you is, it’s like I’ve known you all my life. It wasn’t awkward even if I’m all but that. Initially, I thought that it’s weird that I had feelings for you because it didn’t make any sense at all. But all I knew is that I want to be with you. Wanted. For the first time, I actually saw a future with someone. I actually wanted to be with someone. I spent a lot of time alone, I was not desperate to be with anyone. Like I told you when we first started talking, I wasn’t planning on looking for a relationship. I was just honestly there cos I was bored and wanted to talk to people. Then I met you.

When you first encountered problems, I told myself that it’s time to leave. It was too much too soon. I wanted to comfort you and be there for you even if I knew you didn’t want to. My stupid mouth slipped and accidentally told you that I love you. Maybe that was the start of the end, beginning of nothing, because it was too much too soon. Perhaps you only got carried away by how I feel so you decided that you also felt the same, even if it wasn’t the reality. Regardless, I pushed that anxiety down because you said you loved me. It felt amazing, like a breath of fresh air. You were telling me things that I’ve never heard anyone say to me, making promises that sounded like I’m the only girl in the world. Too bad they are just words.

I immediately got used to being around you, even when the signs said that you’re not fond of it. I felt like I was bothering you all the time but then you would have moments where you would act like you’re so in love with me. I told myself that maybe the good times are worth it. The best part you did that made me feel like maybe you truly do care is when you spent time with me even after your long shift from work, just to make sure I’m okay. I was holding onto this, so much. Every time someone says that I’mbeing treated like shit, I always tell them no because I’ve seen this part of you that cared. But that’s the thing, I can’t keep holding out to when you decide to be like that again.

February came around and I was so excited because it will be the first time in years that I will be celebrating Valentine’s Day with a boyfriend. The day came and you didn’t even greet me, you said nothing. I felt stupid for hoping that you’d care. I brushed it off, the pain, because I knew it was your birthmonth. I said maybe you’re just not a valentine’s day person. Maybe you’re just not romantic. I pushed all the hurt and anxiety down. I worked tirelessly to earn enough to send you some gifts to make you feel special on your day, because you told me that no one has cared enough to give you a gift. I wanted to make you feel special, even with the distance. I was so happy because I succeeded! You were happy, you felt special! That was the goal. You started being warmer and sweet towards me, I was happy because I thought hey it’s turning around finally! Yay. But I didn’t know that it would last only for a couple of weeks before we got back to you ignoring me again and making me feel as if I don’t matter. I thought that you getting a Nintendo Switch would save our relationship, cos we’d spend more time together. But it didn’t last for long. You got tired of it and we’re back to our normal routine. Maybe you deleting the stupid post I made on your game was enough premonition to me that you didn’t want people to know you’re taken. You explained everything then, I thought to myself – wow he didn’t just shut off. This is progress. I thought you were telling the truth. I believed you.

Admittedly, what I did next is wrong. I listened to people who said that you weren’t serious with me. I didn’t want to believe hem, believe me. But after seeing what they had to show, it was hard not to believe it. Especially knowing that it was a romantic thing that never panned out. It made me feel like you were still hoping to someday be with them. That you’re only with me because I’m the one who’s available. Maybe that’s another problem of mine, I’ve made myself so available to you. Even when I’m busy or not feeling my best, I would always run to you the moment you need me. Give you whatever you need even if I have nothing. Because to me, that’s love. While I was loving you, I forgot to love myself. I started picking on myself, maybe if I look more like them then you’d pay me enough attention. Maybe if I act more like them then you’d feel as if it’s not a chore to be with me. Because those are the things that you made me feel. That I have to act a certain way to be with you. You only wanted Happy me, not the sad depressed mei. Which is so unfair. But I said, hey maybe that’s what lve is. And god, I was dumb to think of that. I tried to push the negativity out again, after we talked. I tried to tell myself that I can do it. That I wouldn’t want to lose the potential future we have. But then I saw you looking at other women, you said you enjoy their content but their content is porn. It made me feel horrible yet again. It made me feel disgusted and disgusting. That maybe you only liked me because of what I am. I felt sick to my stomach seeing you enjoy ABGs shaking their ass on screens, I felt fetishized. You were acting as if you’re single, looking at these women with their tits and asses out. You were giving them the attention that I wanted. Even after promising that you won’t. I tried to bargain against myself, thinking that maybe you’d change but it just doesn’t feel right. I was willing to look the other way and take what you say and believe it. But at the end of the day, those are just words right?

I guess its too much for me to ask to be respected? I don’t know. All I know is that when I’m with you, I feel small. Insignificant. Ugly. Unwanted. Unloved. I’ve never felt this pain before, and I’ve been through so much. Maybe it’s my fault because I ignored all the signs. But I was so in love with you, you don’t even know it. I put you up in a pedestal, thinking you won’t do anything to hurt me. Because I thought we saw each other eye to eye. I didn’t know I was wrong. I guess red flags are just flags when you’re wearing rose colored glasses. All I wanted was honesty, all I offered was honesty. Never have I ever lied to you in the duration of our relationship.

I don’t know why I’m writing. I don’t even know if I’ll send this. Maybe.  Maybe not. Not sober, at least. I doubt you’ll even care. I doubt you’d even read it. I doubt it. Maybe this is the universe’s sick revenge, karma, for all the guys I’ve ghosted and hurt before you.

I want you to know that I really did love you. I’ve given you my all. And this is the same reason why I want you to stop pursuing me. Especially if you’re not ready. Because I will always come back to you. Because you will always have a space in my heart. But if you truly love me, please spare me the pain.

I really wanted it to work. So bad. That I was willing to look past how much I’m hurting. I guess you’re right, maybe I’m too emotional. But it’s something I’m proud of, especially after being robbed of emotions all my life. It’s not wrong of me to feel things, I worked so hard for it. I was so vulnerable with you, completely no walls barred. Maybe that was wrong of me. Maybe I should have left some for myself. That’s just how I am, I love so hard and selflessly. I’m sorry if it was too much for you.  I’m sorry I had to leave the way I did. I needed to save myself of the pain. I just can’t handle it anymore.

Maybe one day, if you find yourself here or I there, maybe we could try again. When we’re both ready for each other. But for now, good bye and thank you for everything. I’m sorry for everything as well.

PS- don’t forget to cut yourself some slack. You are trying your best with what you have, you have overcame a lot and you should be proud of that every single day. As I am.   You will live a fruitful life with someone who will love you unconditionally and understand you completely, without it being so difficult.

[midzelink]

wh-what is that one part of creating a champion

( in reference to this post )

If you’ve ever played Breath of the Wild, it’s very likely you’ve come across this chunk of dialogue from a Sheikah by the name of Cado in Kakariko Village:

“We of the Sheikah tribe have long been heralded as people of great wisdom. Our technology became the key to sealing Ganon away during the Great Calamity, some ten thousand years ago. At one point, our technology was praised as the power of the gods...but eventually the people turned on it. Turned on us. Our creations came to be viewed as a threat to the kingdom. The Sheikah became outcasts, forced into exile.”

Which is unsettling enough on its own - but on my first playthrough of the game, I was so enamored with absorbing anything and everything that I must have thought little of it at the time.  But then Creating a Champion came out, and things...quickly took a turn for the worse:

Ten thousand years ago, the kingdom of Hyrule reached an advanced level of civilization thanks in no small part to the technological prowess of the Sheikah. The Sheikah have worked from the shadows to support Hyrule's royal family since the era of myth, and their contributions have been significant. Their technology was key in helping the chosen hero and the princess seal Ganon away ten thousand years in the past and usher in an age of peace, but the king of Hyrule at the time began to fear and doubt the Sheikah. He became possessed by thoughts of imagined Sheikah betrayal. He issued an order to abolish technology and began to oppress the Sheikah. The Sheikah's laboratories were closed, research was prohibited, and data was destroyed.  Their best researchers were expelled from the kingdom and monitored.  Any Sheikah who dared oppose this order was met with severe punishment, including imprisonment.

This oppression led to dramatic changes within the Sheikah tribe and ultimately to a division into two main factions. The moderate group chose to live peacefully, accepting the restrictions placed on them out of respect for the long-standing ties to the royal family.  They built a hidden village, now known as Kakariko Village, and lived there in secret.

Those who violently rejected the king’s decree formed a militant group that specialized in assassination, the Sheikah’s original dark purpose.  In time, they came to follow Calamity Ganon.  They retreated to the remote Gerudo Province, outside of the kingdom of Hyrule’s reach, and later formed the Yiga Clan.

- Creating a Champion, pg. 368

The rising fear and exile of the Sheikah hadn’t arisen from “the people” - it was a horrendous act of oppression from the then King of Hyrule, against a people who had done nothing but serve and lend aid to his kingdom in living memory.  But what gets me the most is the language this book uses to describe this act of oppression; the Sheikah who submitted to the King’s will, after millennia of servitude, are the “moderate group” - whereas those who were rightfully furious with the King’s nonsense decrees are described as “violent.”  It almost reads as if this book was written in-universe by the royal family (or someone who wanted to make them look good), but as a piece of media that exists independently of this fictional universe that attempts to objectively explain events as they happened?  The Sheikah have served the royal family for all time, so the ones who continued to the do so are the Good Guys, and the Yiga (who definitely didn’t have a point, of course they didn’t, they’re Pure Evil and also foolish, heehoo look at them they LOVE bananas!) are the Bad Guys.  It’s all...extremely bad from both an in-universe and out-of-universe perspective. 

And this all comes to a head with this, leading back into the post that I linked at the beginning of this wall of text.  We’ve all seen this tapestry from Breath of the Wild, depicting the events from 10,000 years ago:

But I only very recently took notice to what’s going on at the very bottom:

As if hearing about the King’s acts of violence against the Sheikah wasn’t bad enough, we now get to see him weaponizing an entire army against them.  Or, as Polaris so eloquently put it: “Good, lord, what is HAPPENING down there?!”

And all of this just makes the rest of what Cado had to say that much more sinister:

“Some, like us, chose to cast off our technological advances and strove to live normal lives. Others fostered a hatred toward the kingdom that shunned them. These sad souls swore their allegiance to Ganon.”

The Sheikah are literally brainwashed into thinking mindless and eternal submission to a monarchy which has treated and continues to treat them like garbage is a good thing, and that those among them who rightfully fought against their exile are “sad souls.” But, yeah, the Sheikah of today totally aren’t oppressed in any way, right, Nintendo?  They willingly strove to live “normal lives”?  Geez.

[skyview-temple-spring]

you guys realize Hylia only appears in Skyward Sword and BOTW right

To quote the wiki: "Characters from previous Zelda titles have mentioned Hylia. In A Link to the Past, one of the Maidens refers to the Royal Family as "the royalty of Hylia." Shad from Twilight Princess names Hylians "the people of Hylia." In these contexts, however, "Hylia" simply refers to the land of the Hylians"

Past games gave Skyward Sword a name but the relatively recent game made the character. And then didn't use her until they decided in BOTW yes all the games are connected like we said let's reference the most popular ones

So on some level applying her to older games is not indicative of intentional flaws in her character but in Nintendo ignoring continuity and not thinking of the implications and consequences

Yes we love moral ambiguity and not blindly accepting the narrative of pure holy good vs ultimate evil but blaming her for all the problems of Hyrule is ignoring the actions of the mortals that made them after she no longer has a say

Also. She's dead. Hylia herself and Zelda do not exist at the same time, Sky Zelda makes that clear (and the manga, but that's only "ambiguously canon"). From there it's unclear if Zelda's descendants get their powers from her watered down bloodline or if Hylia's soul with full power is reborn again and again

So BOTW Zelda's powers not awakening are not the fault of a deity ignoring her but her own inability to use them, stemmed from her self doubt and childhood trauma

Yes you can argue Hylia is at fault because her mistake is what caused all this but that's the moral ambiguity part, she did it because she thought it was the best way to stop Demise. Skyward Sword was weakly written as a connecting origin story game to set the base for a series already established so yes there are going to be many mistakes.

(I put this in the tags but I'm adding it here as well.

BOTW fans who don't know anything about Skyward Sword seem to jump very fast to Hylia is a bitch and just as bad as Calamity Ganon/Demise because of Zelda's treatment in the game and keeping the cycle going. Both of them are responsible but it's necessary to keep selling games. Honestly? Blaming Zelda's inability to awaken on some higher power comes off as ignoring the consequences of insecurity and past trauma.

Collectively as a fandom most of us look at Hylia with too much of a western lense. She's not the Hylian equivalent of the Christian God, she's not a Greco-Roman deity and worshipped as such.)

All this to say BOTW fans hating Hylia is not the flex you think it is