#im so excited to see how these projects develop

[notsogreatdion]

✶ IF PROJECTS THAT I'M SUPER EXCITED ABOUT (and you should be too) ✶

✶ Embers of Hope - @embersofhope-if

who doesn't love hunger games

but also the added drama of being chosen by the people themselves?? ooff

⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣ ✶

✶ Press Play - @pressplay-if

i need more slice-of-life ifs

i'm already in love with such happy campers, so I'm sure this one is going to be another banger

⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣ ✶

✶ Paved in Ashes - @pavedinashes-if

i'm about to be a 20-year-old in a completely new city

i always wanted to know how to skateboard

⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣ ✶

✶ The Magus Sanctorium - @magussanctorium-if

houses? sign me up

so many poly options omg

also, I'm still trying to fill in that hp shaped hole in my heart, pls don't mind me

⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣ ✶

✶ Seven Days in Paradise - @themysticaldrumstick

very juicy exes to lovers mmm

we have a son? i'll be the coolest parent ever, believe me

oh and a very sexy bartender RO

⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣ ✶

✶ Love and Leases - @loveandleases

more family drama!!!!

give me back my dog pls :(

⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣ ✶

✶ The Muse - @themuse-if

not only did i struggle with choosing my own major, i'm already struggling with choosing the mc's too

character interviews are such a fun concept - i'm already in love with the whole cast

also did i mention how much i love slice-of-life ifs?

⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣ ✶

✶ Van Helsing (the demo came out before I managed to post this so go check it out!) - @vanhelsing-if

oh i love absolutely everything about this

i love playing characters that are centuries old

-> locate and destroy the end of the world (or romance it). - this sold me ngl

⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣⌣ ✶

if recs 1.0, if recs 2.0

[waywardsalt]

thinking abt linebeck’s coat. something very alluring about it for some reason. so im just gonna ramble about it here instead of in the tags for once

you can probably start a fight between the people who think it’s a coat and people who think it’s a jacket but i think it’s a coat moving on

the character designs are interesting to look at due to the proportions and art style so it is hard to imagine how long his coat would be but i think it would go down to a bit above ankles because i think that’s good. it’s a bit more dramatic a bit more impressive(?) that way and would probably lead to problems tbh

based on some of the official art i imagine that the stripe at the bottom might’ve been a late addition since it’s missing in the bit of official art most used to represent linebeck. tbh linebeck is inconsistent in very tiny ways in the official art but that’s mostly if you’re gonna be nit-picky or bored enough to notice

his coat is so good it’s simple but very recognizable and stands out among the other character designs in ph and its just. yknow good character design

its also surprisingly good for headcanons and stuff and because i mostly take a lot of canon as suggestion i have a good handful of headcanons tagged specifically onto his coat (one of which is the length of it ig)

i like to imagine that he made it himself. i’ve seen stuff where people write linebeck as being able to fix link’s tunic when it gets torn and i feel like the logical extreme of that is that he made his own coat. i think that adds a layer of. importance to it? it’s unique it’s solely linebeck’s it’s tied to him because he made it with his own hands and maybe it can represent something about him that way?

i like to imagine that in addition to the normal pockets one the outside he’s got a whole lot of little pockets on the inside of the coat, like so many pockets that he hides little trinkets or tools or things he steals in either to keep or to take back to his ship for whatever reason. some of the pockets have little flaps of whatever they’re called that can be secured in place with a small button to keep stuff in

he’s got like pencils and a compass and little notes and tiny figurines and cool rocks and feathers and all kinds of little things he thought was worth keeping around and due to that his coat is uncomfortable sometimes but if he knows for certain he’s going to be busy doing stuff he’ll empty out all of the pockets and only leave the important stuff so that it’s lighter and less uncomfortable. link finds his coat lying around at some point and is caught so badly off-guard by how surprisingly heavy it is with all of the bullshit he keeps in all of his pockets

i also imagine he values it a lot, maybe to the point of being really possessive and protective of it, not letting link touch it and if it gets torn or stained he shuts down and has to fix it before he can move on to anything else, and if he can’t fix it at the time it leave him kind of overwhelmed or upset until he can fix it. he has a lot stocked-up materials specifically for his coat to avoid a situation where he has to go for while with his coat damaged

backing away from headcanon territory, his coat is just a cool bit of character design and has just been lodged in my mind for a while. its cool and never brought up within the game (obviously) and i guess a last little closing thought is that in the cutscene where oshus teleports link above linebeck it kinda looks like his coat moves when he tries to catch link and i think that’s cool

[livingasaghost]

not to jinx anything but i am loosely trying to take a film self portrait once a week this year (again, not to jinx it...) and it's so thrilling to take film portraits bc it's like...okay! idk if that even worked! wtf is it gonna look like! and i'm training myself to not take the easy way out and just take back up photos on my dslr to get The Shot and this is both more exciting and more nerve-wracking whew

[sicktrix]

HELLO today im talking about why I think the “The reason K wanted to fix Evan’s arm is because of their past ‘I can fix him attitude’” take is incorrect, and even a little bit of a disservice to their character

K’s childhood I Can Fix Him attitude did not come from a place of a saviour complex. Their motivation then was not of empathy, but instead to fill a fantasy in their head. One of the biggest reasons WHY K and Evan’s relationship could not have lasted is because of that— K originally saw their relationship through the lens of stereotypes and tropes, not as two full people. They were originally attracted to Evan because of the “person meets troubled boy with a dark past and makes him okay again” The allure was not empathy, but excitement. K certainly develops, but that’s a clear point brought up about their character.

In Season 2, Erika takes great care to explain K’s intention behind K’s surgery attempt— finding hope at the bottom of Pandora’s box. Their guilt for what they’ve done to the magical world fuels them so much that this time they HAVE developed a saviour complex— the need to save the world. To help everyone. To FIX Evan’s arm. K’s guilt overrides their own rational for a moment, because in their eyes Evan probably doesn’t know how bad it is, right? If they can fix this, they can fix anything. K’s remorse has caused them to project onto people, jumping at the chance to do ANYTHING to “help.” It’s the reason why their Motive dropped by 1. Networking is reaching out a hand to help, not imposing yourself or taking on all burdens. It’s working with others, not self-isolating. It’s listening.

K was most definitely not in the right for this scenario, and their current view of Evan was probably influenced by their teenage past (aka essentially removing a lot of Evan’s agency, seeing him as someone who “doesn’t know” when things are bad sometimes, and also just. Straight up killing him), but I think saying that K still holds the same childish and pretty dehumanizing views from their past isn’t right or fair to the flaws they have NOW. A saviour complex that projects and imposes is awesome and cool and super interesting!!

[yunwangja]

undercurrents | signal 16

masterlist | next signal

it was eating you alive. you like kuroo. you want kuroo. so much that it hurts. you needed to see him, or you think you were going to die. and it frustrated you so much everytime he had a new excuse to tell you. you wanted to rip your hair out whenever you saw another cold message from him.

you knew that this wasn’t him. this wasn’t kuroo. you hated how you didn’t know what was going on inside his head. you couldn’t do anything about it. you couldn’t even ask. and once you did, he just dismissed it.

one night, you even ranted to tooru about how stupid he was being. why is he being like this? he would always make you tell him what was going on in your head, but why couldn’t he do the same to you now? weren’t you close enough? didn’t he trust you like you did with him? or maybe, did he hate you? but why? because of that one time you declined his offer to lunch? but why?

and the final blow was the date. that fucking date with that partner of his on that project he was so busy with. so all this time, while he kept rejecting to see you, and being cold, he was developing feelings for this person? is that why he was acting that way? because he didn’t want to talk to you anymore? was he even sad during that time? was he really going through something?

or was he really not fine and that person helped him through it? that’s why they went on a date? but you could’ve done the same for him. but he didn’t let you. did it happen after you were too busy to hang out that one time? so does this mean he does hate you? does he like that person? what’s going to happen after that date?

you sit on your bed, osamu's text still on the screen. you don't need to read it again. you know what he said, and deep down, you know he's right.

you're too tired, too worn out from overthinking to keep holding yourself back.

"fuck it," you mutter under your breath, grabbing your phone with shaky hands. you can't keep doing this to yourself, wondering and worrying about what might have been. if you're going to get hurt, so be it.

you dial kuroo's number, not even sure what you're going to say. all you know is that you need to hear his voice, to see if there's anything left to salvage. the phone rings, your heart pounding in time with each tone.

"hello?"

a soft, unfamiliar voice greets you. your stomach drops. you blink, caught off guard. the voice is calm, too calm. you swallow hard, pushing down the rising wave of emotion.

"um, hi. can i ask who this is?" you ask, your voice flat, devoid of the energy you had moments ago.

"oh, sorry," she replies,

"i’m alisa. i was kuroo’s partner for his project."

notes

:)

:D

hehe im kinda excited ngl

btw ! undercurrents will be ending next week (like we're on the last two signals now! AHHHH)

anyway : D

taglist: @lvtilzs @rarararararq @iamfontenlos @kurooswifeyy @secretsunsetsociety @kagsnumnine @yumiecheesecrackers @tojirin @jaynawayna @noxva08 @zahrawr-writes-fanfics @mawenskiblue @smellysluna @cccccccccccleo @winniethepooh-lover @akirqx @cupidsblonde @kukkurookkoo@emotiandon @urslytherin

[warframe1999]

hello fellow amir beckett warframe 1999 enjoyers

i am so happy to see so many people like him, i saw that poll going around asking who everyone plans to romance and its an amir SWEEP. i’m super excited to have more auDHD representation in this game, but therein the problem lies.

i come to you with a humble request (especially to the neurotypicals/allistics out there) to be a bit more mindful of how yall go about talking about him.

some of the things i see being said about him veer dangerously into the infantilization territory that is ALL too common with autistic characters in media, and its kinda disheartening to see. i wouldnt be saying this if it was a throughline for all the male characters (or any of them for that matter), but im hard pressed to find any of these kinds of comments about arthur, quincy, or even aoi. things like “oooh my little baby boy i want to squish his cheeks hes so adorkable hes my little blorbo my poor mentally ill baby” ring way way different when it’s pointed at the one (canonically) autistic character that got released.

like i said i’m super pumped that people like him!! i love him and can’t wait to get to see more of his character development in the coming updates. all i ask is people try and be a bit more mindful of the way that they talk about this. as eleanor said: “He’s not a beautiful, broken marionette, and he’s nobody’s project. He’s one of us.”

let’s talk about him like an equal.

sincerely a fellow grown adult w auDHD

[glassiskies]

no bc im thinking about it and I don't see any season 3 where aziraphale and crowley are separated for more than an episode at most.

I was listening to David Tennant's podcast episode with Neil Gaiman (released Oct 2020) and Neil started talking about something secret he is working on that is, in hindsight, so obviously about good omens.

The exact quote:

"There's a project that I can't talk about right now that I'm writing with somebody I can't identify right now- this is a terrible way of going into a thing- where we'd been working on it for months and months, and we've been building everything up, but we didn't know how it ended. And, finally, we were in the same physical space, actually having a conversation that wasn't on the phone, and all of the sudden we had the ending. And having the ending, knowing beat by beat just what the emotional ending of the thing was, opened up the entire thing like a door. Because we had the plot, and we'd had the plot for a while, and we just weren't sure why we should care. Everything turned, and I immediately knew what the opening scene had to be. And what's lovely is nothing sort of really changes in the plot, but it now allows us to go, okay, that's important, that thing that we didn't know was gonna be important, that's important. It gives us a feeling of, or at least it gives me a feeling of bubbly excitement. Which means that anybody I can take on this journey is going to get to that place and be just as excited as I was."

(And then he immediately cites an example where he was writing Good Omens LOL. The signs were all there!)

ANYWAY, I think it's so interesting that the emotional beat of Aziraphale and Crowley being separated was not figured out until well into the writing process. It leads me to think that Aziraphale was never promoted in the unwritten sequel, right? So if they're following the plot of this unwritten sequel closely, I don't see how Aziraphale and Crowley could be separated for longer than an episode. We only have six episodes, and Season 3 has more plot beats to hit than Season 2 did.

It also makes me think about how Aziraphale leaving for Heaven really is just meant to be more of an emotional moment to plant the seeds for development in him and Crowley's relationship. I mean, obviously it is, but I don't know much significance it'll actually have in the plot of Season 3? If that makes sense? This is just me throwing out thoughts here, feel free to add anything!!

[martyrbat]

seriously though i know im mostly a comics blog so complaining is expected and is second nature and there is a LOT to complain on (from disgusting writers to character developments being nuked) thats justified but also i love comics so so much.... i love this medium and how unique it is and the story opportunities it gives. i love seeing so many different art styles and writers and how comics can be dialogue or visual heavy (or a balance of both) and how theyre equally important or emotionally moving. i love how many stories and arcs these characters can have. i love when you can tell something is a passion project and when you can tell someone truly loves these characters. i love how long theyve been around and seeing the development of them and the way they been empowering or something to look forward to and bring hope or laughter or excitement since the 1930s. i love that i can not like something in a specific story but still enjoy the character or medium because theres so many different factors in that one story alone but also because theres so many different writers and stories and spin offs and solos and everything to still read and enjoy if that particular one isn't for me. i love how their timelines can be complete bullshit and how sometimes an event is important and sometimes theres no consequences and the only way to find out is to keep reading. i love the melodramas, i love the cheesiness, i love the camp, i love the passion projects, i love the dark themes, i love the slow and developing timelines and arcs, i love the tragedy and humor and horror and action and how many different genres it can have while still in this one medium and still about this one character. i love how any character, no matter how minor, can have a person that loves them and gets excited to see them. i love the community aspect of them (sometimes) and i love how so many different people can enjoy the same comic for different reasons and have their own community of mutuals that enjoy it the way they do. i just love comics so so much.

[blackblooms]

Final progress update

So Irredeamable release is only two weeks away and im mostly done with the final additions and polishes. Whats left at this point are mostly bugs that i dont know how to fix or are rooted so deep into the core of the mechanics that leaving them is just less of a headache. Ill probably release an update soon after release to incorporate some of the newly discovered bugs and general criticism, but the game is about as good as i can make it right now.

This leaves the question of what ill do after the game release and i got a fairly thorough answer waiting below this peculiar "read more" prompt.

So to begin, Ill mostly be reblogging art, analysis, stories, theories, and other kinds of fan works, assuming there is any. I do hope to at least succeed in fostering a small community, but only you get to decide if Irredeamable world and characters are deserving of such attention. As for my future projects, Ive already begun experimenting on the mechanics and designs of my next game and Ill keep doing so for the weeks preceding and following Irredeamable release. I wont be talking much about it, at least until the excitement for Irredeamable has died down and i got some solid stuff to show. The plan for my games is to make them into an anthology of sorts. All featuring their own worlds and characters but connected through a shared universe and themes. Aniway, thanks you all for following Irredeamable development and i hope youll enjoy playing the game and stick around to see what comes next.

[ilwonuu]

hey can i request one where Taeyong and the reader are doing a project o smt and they spend so much time together and he develop feelings for her

thanks

yes of course. i wanted to do this idea but i didn’t know who for lmk what u think!! thank you for your request<3

steal my time

↬ lee taeyong

꧁ pairing- classmates to lovers, sweetheart!taeyong x reader

꧁ summary- pairing up with taeyong was a little bit nerve wracking at first but you quickly felt that feeling drift away. instead of focusing on the aquarium questions you’re supposed to complete. or to sum it up, you forget all about your marine biology project because you just want to listen to your partner talk.

꧁ warnings- kissing, fluffy fluff!!, flirting, awkwardness, cute little crushes, mentioning of death like once, lmk what else

꧁ a/n- i loved this. its so cute i love writing fluff for taeyong<3 lmk what u think !!’

you and taeyong are acquaintances? not really. you partnered up with him a few times. the two of you bonding over your love over sharks.(weird i know) you always blushing at the fact the he would wave you over every time a partner project or assignment is presented.

he loved being your partner. but him asking you to be his partner for the day project is what caught you off guard. you two had to go to the aquarium and write down facts about 6 different creatures you see there and new things you found out about them.

your professor stating that you had the weekend to turn it in. you were relieved at that but your thoughts quickly shifting to the sweet boy’s question.

he looked nervous. very cute as always. his glasses and his beanie making him look softer than ever. his hoodie hugging against him. “yea! i would love to be your partner.” you still feeling kinda anxious. his cheeks heat up suddenly.

his cute expression making you smile at him. can help but take a second glance at his lips. he’s pretty up close and far away to be clear.

did he think you would say no? of course not. “great..uh did you want to go today? i’m just not busy other than this but if you are-“ he his rambling cutely looking away from you. you suggest to him. he nods at your words.

“no i’m free..do you want to take the train?” he nods at your words. “that would be fun!” he smiles starting to gather his things into his bag. causing you to do the same as him. “ready?” he asks looking behind him at you. you nod and he just smiles at your face starting to walk towards the train stop with you.

when you two finally get outside he takes a deep breath. “wow- it’s perfect weather. i love fall time.” he smiles looking around as he walks in front of you.

“i agree i love fall too.” you agree looking around at the sky. smiling at your environment. especially at the soft boy who’s keeping you company.

“really? that’s great we have something in common!” he says excitedly smiling at you as he continues to walk to the train with you. you blush at his words looking away from him shortly after hoping he doesn’t see.

“we’re almost here. im so thankful it’s close to campus. i felt like i might die.” he breathes out looking back at you. you laugh quietly.

“we started walking like 5 minutes ago not even-“ he shakes his head. “5 minutes is too long.” he replies giving you a playful look as you two get to the train stop. “you’re a little dramatic.” you say as you laugh again.

taeyong loves the sound of your laugh more than he should. you two getting on the train making your way to the aquarium. as soon as you two get there, you immediately making your say the

penguins. you both more excited than you thought. sitting next to the glass to watch the penguins. the two of you feeling very comfortable with each others company. this how it was with every sea creatures you saw. you two sitting next to each other.

watching them and then getting lost in conversation with taeyong. he was really easy to talk to. making you laugh at any moment he can. this is how you two forgot to do the assignment by the time you two have left. but it was okay, you were okay with him stealing your time. you want him to have it after today.

him stopping you before you two head home. “would you want to do this again maybe tomorrow?” he asks holding his phone out so you can put your number in it. you nod.

“yea im free.” you put your number in. you smile waving him goodbye as you walk to your train as you see him wave as well walking the other way. you blush at today’s interaction hoping he feels the same.

this is how it began. you two constantly seeing each other at least five times a week. always going out to dinner or trying new coffee places. you two loved being together. you loved how he made you feel but it also made you nervous. so nervous because taeyong had invited you to watch the sunset on the beach.

him bringing extra blankets for you. which you ended up needing of course. sitting next to him laugh at something he said. “winter is coming. you excited?” he teases. “not really i like being outside! i hate being cold tho.” he nods. “i see- fall and summer girl?”

you nod at his words. “of courseee.” he just laughs at your tone of voice. “what?” you question rolling your eyes slightly.

“nothing- you’re just cute.” he says shamelessly. looking at you for your reaction.

“t-thank you. you are cute too.” his heart softens at your response. loving the sound of your voice as always. “y/n? can i-can i kiss you?” he asks as he takes in your wrapped up appearance. cute again he thinks.

“uh- yes.” you blush seeing him wasting no time to lean in to pull you into a kiss. you kiss him back softly. feeling his hand rest against your face gently. he keeps kissing you for a couple minutes before pulling away.

“i wanted to kiss you for so long.” he says as he rests his head against yours. “me too.” you say before he pulls you closer so you can wrap up in the blanket together to lay back and watch the sunset.

[ecoterrorist-katara]

hello hello! can i just say, i love your takes so much. it feels like you’ve read my mind on how katara would actually react in certain situations. currently myself, im rewriting the structure of the show in a way that makes more sense (aka, getting rid of kataang altogether and focusing on actual growth for each character including aang!) and im struggling a bit on aang actually!

we know how brykke basically stunted aang’s growth because of their weirdness. but what if aang never had a crush on katara? what if he sees katara as the big sister he always wanted instead, making their relationship more wholesome than weird? i think he’s such a centralized character, but when i develop the others beyond the show, aang feels like he’s left behind.

maybe that’s part of it too! he is a boy out of time, and now more of a concept than a person as far as anyone else outside of his immediate group knows. in this au where i intend to age everyone up, i’m just curious to see what kind of man aang would grow up into if his motivations for katara was never there. i see him as trying to hold onto his lost childhood and then having to come to terms with the fact he can’t. but i’d love to hear your thoughts. who is aang outside of that? his journey has the opportunity to be so fascinating, but brykke kind of said hey! let’s not get into that! let’s make him a creepy god boy who gets whatever he wants!

(also to note, this version of aang is meant to be with azula and while i love the meta ive seen about taang i do personally hc her as a lesbian but i do like them but yeah!)

also sorry if this is too rambly i’m just very excited!

hi! This is such a nice message, and please never apologize for rambling! My blog is a safe space for all ramblers. Your fic sounds like a very exciting project!

I definitely agree with you that he’d try to hold onto his childhood & have a hard time with his grief; coming to terms with the depth of his loss would be an exceptionally interesting arc. His people were victims of genocide: his culture and his loved ones were brutally murdered. Nobody can replace that community, not even his chosen family of the Gaang, and certainly not a romantic partner.

But Aang certainly is somebody outside of all that tragedy too. I think his cheerfulness and optimism, his playfulness, his resilience, his reluctance to assume responsibility, and his prodigiousness are all important facets of his personality.

Here's my piping hot take: Aang is James Potter with a more tragic backstory and less of a cruel streak. Think about it: mischievous, funny, adventurous, brave, enjoys attention, popular, devoted to friends, prodigious, entitled when it comes to love interests, morally inflexible, dedicated to Good, can be too arrogant to recognize his own faults. We hear that James became a pretty decent guy, so there's plenty of potential for growth for Aang, especially if he doesn't get his forever girl at age twelve.

Aang has a big heart and stringent morals, but is still a bit of a trickster. Not in a malicious way, but in a “I have a zest for life way” that gives him a little bit of an edge beyond just being a sunshine boy. You can see this even in ep 1, when he sacrifices himself so that the village would be left alone, only to haul ass out of the Fire Nation ship as soon as they’re safe. You can also see it in The Great Divide, where he straight up just fabricates history lmao. Lying is not an issue for him at all, which indicates it’s not really part of his moral code.

On the other hand, he obviously feels very strongly about taking life, which indicates a black and white approach towards morality that is not uncommon in kids. I could see an older, more mature Aang being led to question his own approach to morality, particularly by someone like Zuko, who probably finds violence a lot more palatable than lying. I think there are very interesting cultural differences that can be explored here, which doesn’t necessarily mean that Aang will change his opinions, only that he’ll have greater respect for how other cultures see right and wrong, and that he can keep Air Nomad culture alive without taking on the burden of being the manifestation of that culture. He has the innate impulse to try to see the best in people, which is at odds with his black and white morals sometimes. Related to that, he really struggles with morally grey characteristics in his friends. I think that if he had a fleshed out opportunity to properly disagree with his friends, he may not necessarily change his own mind, but he might grow to value his friends' freedom of choice over imposing his own values on them, since one of the cornerstones of Air Nomad philosophy is apparently about freedom. I think his pacifist voice is an important contribution to their ragtag group of overpowered pre-teens and teens and I love it when that aspect is explored in fics.

I've seen some really good depictions of Aang-not-obsessed-with-Katara in fanfiction (Southern Lights has my favourite one; in fact it's my fave characterization of basically everyone except for Mai). I see most of his flaws as things he can grow out of, but only if he encounters difficult situations and learns to grow. Have fun with your fic, and please do share in any relevant tags once you start posting!

[unlirise]

🖋️ 240603 • mon

in the absence of any sort of preparation or intent, i took the TOEIC today. just to get it over with even though im not graduating this year. i could have taken it next year instead, which would have made sense because the certifications for these exams have a validity period but it's fine. i can always retake it. otherwise, i can just go for IELTS or TOEFL. if not, well... i've been speaking english way more than i speak my native language. i'm more articulate in english, in fact.

apart from that, i got to spend time with my college friends in what could be the last few times i ever hang out with them as they head out on their own adventures as adults.

it's a shame i wouldn't be able to join them because i didn't finish my thesis on time. yet, it's not a huge loss on my part. my thesis is a passion project for me and i've expressed to my friends, my thesis adviser, my research professor, and my family that i want to give my thesis the time, care, and attention it deserves. it's not just a stepping stone to a diploma for me to hop over. it's a life lesson; an important one about how the world works and how i, as an international development student, can see where i fit in this puzzle.

that being said, i'll be cramming my presentation for my orientation tomorrow. hopefully it'll go well. i'll be orienting my research participants on what my thesis is about and how they can help to contribute and what not. hopefully i make a lot of progress and even manage to interview a few of them so that i can begin the data analysis part. in that case, i'd be ready to finish everything off by july and defend by august! it's not getting to me yet but i am excited to see all this slowly coming to a close. i can only hope for things to proceed smoothly and without trouble.

[ganondoodle]

I was at first in love with totk, and I still think mechanical wise, its quite impressive

And when I collected all the tears and saw the "story" I genuinely got upset in a good way (at first), because man! Did they really got the balls to go that far? Is there nothing I can do for her? Now I MUST do all the temples, see how it plays out and --oh, I've got this cutscene already. Why are all the people so dumb about Zelda, I KNOW where she is, Link say something-- Link??

After finishing all the temples and almost falling asleep, I stopped playing the game, looked up the last boss and remaining cutscenes and went "Thats it?"

Watching other people (including you) being critically about so many things, both character and mechanical wise, I've almost startled myself with a realization what the gnawing feeling I constantly had, actually was.

Totk feels like a fanfic.

And don't get me wrong, I love fanfiction, I think its great and important, I adore fanfic writers, I love finding gems, I love reading self indulgent stories, see new spins and interpretation of characters. I love the casual, the passion, the creativity!

But totk gives me the same feeling everytime I am reminded that Fifty Shades is a Twillight fanfic.

The world is there. The faces I know and grew to love are there. But everything is ever so slightly different, uncannily so. Just how some characters talk, how they act, how they were placed in the story. The Zonai appearing out of nowhere, but no, they always had been there you see, they were these super magical advanced people but they all died, the king is so tragic. And you see, the king is super cool and powerful and-- oh I dont get to interact with him outside of the tutorial. Did they try to do another King Rhoam-- but wait, that only worked because we didn't knew he was a ghost-- totk wait stop why do you take him out of the story, why couldn't he be a companion, he IS ABLE TO TALK THROUGH THE ARM LET THE OLD GOAT COMMENT ON STUFF?? If you bring up all this ancient stuff and you still got a ghost lingering, let him talk?? (I never ended up getting Mineru but I smell wasted potential as well)

Im not even mad, I am disappointed. It feels like the devs saw what all the lore hunters got attached to and talked about and then just... took the "cool". All the Zonai stuff could've easily been Sheikah tech, but got just reskinned to look more exciting instead of being its own thing.

Like... at this point I prefer what fans are doing over what Totk gave us. The characterization of Rauru (and everything Zonai), projects like you do of what totk couldve been, the little nuggets of actual highlights and details of love fans find in the game. I found much more enjoyment in these concepts than I got from a 70bucks game. And thats depressing.

I love fanfiction. I dont love it when my corporate 70 dollar, six year development, console exclusive game feels like a story that passionate fan couldve written miles better in a week (and I've already seen much cooler and interesting rewrites and ideas).

Zelda has been a huge part of my childhood and its depressing seeing it treated like that. It always was about the story, the epic, its The Legend of Zelda for crying out loud. To be courageous to enter a dungeon, to be wise and solve all the riddles. To become powerful over the journey you embarked on. Zelda to me is the campfire story you tell to others and go into the woods or the beach and imagine what monsters you would slay. Zelda is not the sandcastle you build in the sandbox and then add dinosaurs and star wars ships because you didn't had any other toys, and just stumble into and over some story to entertain yourself until lunch is ready.

I'd have an oracle of seasons over another totk any day at this point. They should've just make the mechanics of totk its own thing, but I guess they were scared it wouldn't sell if it doesn't have a Mario or Zelda skin straped over it.

Anyways, sorry for the mini rant - love your art, love your thoughts and insights, and I am looking forward to see more of it - Zelda related or not (your original characters look amazing, I adore your style sm)

Hope you have a great rest of the day!

*nods along through this entire rant*

idk how many of my rants you have read but yeah ... yeah ... and the further you think about it the further it all falls apart, the wasted potential of it all and the goddamn audacity of them to do those interviews in which they make it EVEN WORSE is just

i know the expectation for a direct sequel to botw was huge and understandbly so but i really REALLY think it would not have been that hard to make it a good follow up even taking into account that totk was originally a DLC, pretty much all of botws aspects could have been developed further, i dont know what could have happened to make totk have turned out like this .. literally it feels like something had to have gone wrong, its like someone who doesnt know zelda nor botw at all was given a few prompts and then just made some generic fantasy story while the rest worked on ultrahand for 5 years

the technical impressive things ARE technical impressive, but i dont think it was necessary nor served the game well in any way (and i LOVE building games- however totk is neither a building game nor a story game nor a zelda game nor an exploration game nor a sequel imo) but zelda, this zelda, is not made for that and i cant help but think it was mainly to encourage people to make some ridiculous mechs so it can go viral on tiktok (not trying to discredit them, it IS cool what they are doing but i .... have my doubts if zelda is the right place for that)

ill stop there bc i have ranted so much about everything i dont wanna repeat it here again; it just doesnt feel like a real game (derogatory), it feels extra bad bc i was not really into zelda when botw came out and while i did get it as soon as i could (months after release since i just started a minijob and didnt have the money) i only over time grew to love zelda this much again, devouring any theories and anything about it bc i loved it so much- i was never into it like this when a new title was announced and dont own any special editions so i bought the totk collectors bc i was just so damn excited for it after the 2019 trailer dropped (god i want that time back ... it looked so much more like it was going to be an actual sequel) even if i was already worried it wouldnt be good at that point given how much i started to sense stuff i dont like about the newer trailers

i recently sold it at our local gameshop bc it was like a thorn in my side given how expensive it was and how dissapointed i was in the game, i genuinely think that, technical impressiveness aside, totk is the onyl zelda i truly cannot stand (for alot of reasons) and im genuinely worried for the future of the franchise

i bought an Oki (Okami) figurine for what i got back and i feel much happier with that :3

(also on a note, i did finish the game two weeks after release but stopped playing it right then and hadnt touched it since, i also streamed all of what i played and its still up if you want to see my slow descend into madness fjkdhkdhjk though its been a long while since then and i by far did not talk about everything back then, just what my most immediate frustrations were while still playing)

(also the gameplay isnt as good as people make it out to be, so much is so frustrating and punishing to use i am kinda baffled it got through like that and most people call that its best aspect ..... though i guess if the rest is so much worse even mid gameplay can seem good ooooooooh how dare i)

also thank you for liking what i do!!! <3 it means alot to know it is appreciated by someone :D

[meli-writes]

'we will not wait around for someone else to build the future for us'

hey so yesterday my union launched our manifesto and voted to reveal our membership numbers (1500+ and across the entire uk games industry)!

i just do discord admin (make it bearable to use lol) and data entry, but everyone else has put in incredible work making this. seeing this union build up strength over the last 5 years has been awesome, and i'm excited for how the next 5 are gonna go.

some extracts if you don't wanna click on the link:

The manifesto, which can be viewed here, outlines the IWGB Game Workers' mission, core values, and planned campaigns. Its five core values are stated as democracy, solidarity and care, taking action, education, and equality and justice. And its campaigns are listed as follows:

- Union recognition: Have all members recognized by their employers - Working hours and overtime: End reliance on overtime and crunch culture, obtain either a 4-day work week or 6-hour workdays without salary reductions, end "presenteeism", and guaranteed mental health days - Compensation: Mandate annual pay increases, improve baseline pay, obtain studio profit sharing, end the gender pay gap, equal parental leave, residuals or royalties, and improved pension - Accountability and transparency: Holding C-suite executives accountable for mergers, acquisitions, and redundancies, salary transparency, open book accounting, and publicly available diversity and representation statistics - Job security: Better protections against firing and redundancy, better communication in the event of redundancy, better redundancy pay packages, AI regulations, one-month minimum notice periods, end abuse of fixed-term contracts, and forcing entry-level jobs to have entry-level job requirements. - Equity and inclusion: Accessible working options, improved support for disability, neurodiversity, LGBTQ+, and mental health, enforcement of policies for handling misconduct, guidelines for inclusive language, removing barriers for workers coming from lower income brackets, more inclusive hiring process, compulsory DEI best practice training - Training and education: Improved professional development support, and mandatory sexual misconduct and antitrust training for C-suite and management - Contractual terms: Removing unreasonable non-compete and non-disparagement clauses, guaranteed ownership of personal side projects, guaranteed credits

the complete manifesto has gotten even more going on tho, with our mission and core values. so if you're a game worker, or you wanna know what the people who make the games you love need, then check it out <3

im not gonna make like direct refs to what i do IRL that often but like ye, this is my union and where i put my political energy ✨

[yuikomorii]

regarding the anon ask about ayato and western fans, i think western fans just aren't as chill as east-asian fans because immaturity happens all across western media and fan spaces. It's quite litterally a sh*tshow (im sorry i dont know how you feel ab swearing) and not many people can enjoy those spaces. In most cases people just end up getting pushed away from the media or they join those who are immature ab the media they are interacting with. im sorry if this seems like a vent or rant, but im also sorry that people are slandering ayato and spreading nagativity.

// Don’t apologize, Anon, you chose spitting nothing but facts.

Western fans are unquestionably more immature than East Asian ones, owing to their tendency to take everything too seriously. Aside from that, they over-project their ideals and points of view onto Japanese media, which is a very disrespectful move. Distinct cultures have distinct sets of values, and I'm trying to be courteous when I say this, but no matter how big an anime or game becomes in the West, its developers will still refuse to bend to Western norms, regardless of how many complaints they receive.

I’ve seen so many people, including really big blogs, leave the fandom due to toxicity, and I don't blame them. Because Rejet doesn't really come up with anything exciting anymore, many fans have already lost interest in the franchise, and the amount of puerility will undoubtedly make them not even consider returning.

I don’t have any problem with people criticizing or slandering a character in *their* space, but when they want everyone else to see it... That alone leads me to believe that simply expressing a viewpoint was not their goal.

Returning to Ayato, given that he’s so praised and positively talked about in the Japanese community, congrats to Rejet for creating a character who appeals to so many people. And, I can guarantee that he is definitely not seen as bad as in the Western fandom. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be known as the most orthodox character. “What? Ayato can’t be, where is—“ not there! Not confirmed by someone who works with Rejet, not a fact!

[justjensenanddean]

Jensen Ackles and Danneel Ackles Panel | Brighton UK (Crossroads 6), March 11, 2023

( sicparvis87 )

Jensen: IT’S ONLY SATURDAY WE GOT A WHOLE OTHER DAY, PACE YOURSELF! (to Danneel) have YOU been pacing yourself? Danneel : No! (x)

“are you ready for this?” - jensen to danneel  (x)

Ok, so. Danneel’s first con was a Starfury. Jensen said she shouldn’t brag. And a bit later Jensen said he had the dancing covered. (x)

“as long as there’s no dancing i’ll be fine” “it’s okay i have that covered”  (x)

“we’ve got to develop some projects currently in development”  (x)

Jensen saying he’s really proud of what they’ve been doing with the Winchesters and what’s in the work.  (x)

“i wanna work with the people i know i trust and who are outstanding human beings”  (x)

Dream projects? Jensen: “Ruth would obviously be the star.” (Ruth is watching from the balcony.) “Oh hey, Ruth, didn’t see you there.” He wants to work with the people he trusts, outstanding human beings. (x)

Jensen: “we’ve had 15 years to weed out the bad people, I’m not sure how Mark Sheppard is still here…”  (x)

Jensen just wants to work with the people he’s got to work with who are just good people. It’s gotta be grounded in love, family, a tad of humor and a little magic.  (x)

“it’s gotta have heart, humour and a little bit of magic” the unofficial tagline of their company  (x)

Jensen helping Danneel count for how many years they’ve been together when she started as Anael on SPN  (x)

How was it working on set. Danneel struggles with how long she’s been together with Jensen. Jensen knows it would’ve been 12 seasons when she came in at 13 and is proud he knows. (x)

Jensen immediately asked “IS THAT ON THE GAG REEL” when Danneel fell during her first scene on SPN  (x)

“i did not act like a husband in that moment” jensen too focused on getting danneels gag reel moment on film instead of helping her  (x)

Danneel put together a whole playlist for The Winchesters before they even cast anyone, and a lot of it actually made it onto the show. They chose “I’d Love To Change The World” which in the pilot FIRST.  (x)

Which scene with music from The Winchesters did they like most? Danneel put together a playlist before they even cast, a lot of it made it on the show. “10 years after”/I love to change the world” (?) really set the tone. (x)  But a lit of songs they wanted were too expensive to afford. On SPN, as production got more expensive, they had to stop using music so much, used more score to save money (x) 

“i get to go and destroy some robots in a warehouse? i’m in. i’m easy” (x)

Jensen is easy. When he heard he gets to come on the set and destroy a bunch of robots, he was in, but doesn’t play a lot of video games. Danneel snitches that he plays Mario Cart with the kids almost daily. (x)

Jensen said he doesn't play video game anymore but Danneel said he plays Mario Kart almost everyday with the kids  (x)

In his old house pre-Danneel he had a special dark room with two TVs and two couches to play Halo with his friends. (Danneel snitches again.) He plays “blue shy guy” on Mario Cart. (x)

Fan asked if Jensen plays video game and Danneel went “well you play one every day”. And Jensen went “Wordle? … BACKGAMMON?!” (The answer is Mario Kart because he plays it with the kids)  (x)

help jensen is so excited to introduce his kids to his fave videos games when they’re older and he also doesn’t always let his kids win video games which danneel finds mean considering he’s competed by 6 year olds (paraphrase)  (x)

“I know your next question, it’s ‘what character do I choose on Mario kart’, the answer is blue shy guy. I’m a shy guy ” (x)

Q person reccs Red Dead Redemption. Jensen really wanted The Last of Us, but when he heard Pedro got the job, he knew he had no shot. (x)

Jensen really wanted to be on The Last of Us, then he heard Pedro Pascal got the part and went “oh no he’s PERFECT” (im paraphrasing but he was nerding out )  (x)

They’re talking about recreating the music video for their anniversary. Their friend did it first as a birthday gag. So he suggested they do it “for instagram”. Danneel was like “let’s go”. and they got into a serious fight over who would be Paul Simon  (x)

Danneel says they do zero work for instagram content. Q was about the music vid years ago. The Ackles’s argued who plays Chevy and who plays Paul Simon. Jensen complains about having to be the short guy again. He’s gonna get a complex. He yells for Mark to come down. (x)

Danneel telling Jensen he was so good on their anniversary video, and telling him “you were made to play Paul Simon”  (x)

“it was very rare for him to be home during the week… for 15 years”  (x)

He also said he was really sad his kids wouldn’t get to experience the whole ‘taking the cartridge off and having to blow on it for it to work again’ (x)

Danneel didn’t wanna be in The French Mistake bc it’s “Jensen’s thing”  (x)

Karaoke. Danneel only did it once. Sang “Band of the run” and there was a very long musical interlude. It scared her so much she never did it again. Jensen went with the Dawson’s Creek gang and sang “El Paso”.  (x)

Everyone put their glass down either in amazement or shock. There’s a plate in a corner of that bar with an etching how great that night was, Jensen jokes. (x)

Editor, director, actor walk into a bar, you can only buy one drink? Danneel: Editor, they can make you look good. Jensen: Would buy himself a drink. (x)

Danneel once got handed a bag with her as a doll filled with fish hooks. She blindly reached in the bag and straight into a hook. (x)

They’re talking about creepy fans, and Danneel just said “they’re not fans of the show, fans of the show don’t do these things”  (x)

danneel is telling a story abt her accepting a gift off a fan of her being made into a doll out of fish hooks and she accidentally got hurt and jensen said ‘you know how much i had to PAY for that doll?!’  (x)

Weirdest thing given to Jen and Dee, someone left a dead kitten on their door step  (x)

jensens talking about how performing radio company concert for the first time was a very different experience to acting or performing other peoples songs bc with those other two you interpret it your own way but it’s still other peoples words but these were his and steve’s  (x)

Playing in Nashville and performing words he actually wrote himself with Steve was “next level”. Danneel adds that he was nervous and he doesn’t get nervous. (x)

“to get out there and perform something you created it’s certainly more of a vulnerability”  (x)

danneel watched the concert with the kids on stageit. “they thought it was cool” (x)

The kids were pretty impressed seeing him on stage, but they see him play a lot, because he plays them songs on the piano at home all the time.  (x)

their kids have watched the scoobynatural episode so many times  (x)

Jensen is talking about fighting to have Dean dying while he was standing instead of how it was originally planned with Dean dying on the floor. (x)

Jensen about Dean’s death: “I don’t have to LIKE it, but I’m proud of it.”  (x)

Jensen would change how they handled the Leviathans and get rid of them sooner if he got to change something  (x)

What would Dean from s15 tell Dean from s4? Danneel: Beware of vampires!  (x)

question about what directors inspired them the most! (Jensen’s answer has been long but he mentioned Kim Manners, Bob Singer and John Showalter)  (x)

jensen ensuring he was conscious of every crew members job so that they felt like they had purpose.  (x)

Kim Manners and Bob Singer, they both set the tone on the show. Micromanaged. Kim said “you’re gonna direct one day” to Jensen and it got him thinking. It was becausehe was interested in the lenses, lighting & such. (x)

Bob and Phil Sgriccia helped him a lot. Phil said “always have an answer, even if it’s wrong.” Because when you say “you pick” or “whatever” to a Q from someone working for you, you dimish the other person’s job. And you can always change your mind & that tells them you thought (x)  about it, thus making their job even more important. (x)

To Danneel; how did you know he (Jensen) was THE ONE? Jensen; *cracks up* Danneel: It was on Ten Inch Hero, I always knew he was cute and all of that, but… It was one of those, we were driving back and forth, and just talking about our future, and our career (x)  Danneel: I’m a girl who likes to do things first. (…) At the end of the movie, there’s a scene where I walked up to Priestly and gave him a kiss… That was NOT scripted.(x)  Danneel: but obviously Jensen had read the script, he knew it wasn’t scripted. I just knew I had to do something else or it would be too late. (x)

danneel knew by the end of filming ten inch hero once they’d spent time doing long drives talking about their futures and everything and then in the scene where she kisses priestly wasn’t scripted and jensen was like “oh!!!!!! i caught a BIG fish let’s go!”  (x)  “i like your talent your cute your-” “you were like this one can give me good kids” “yeah i saw you with your nephews and-“ “and you were like this is a good pedigree!” (x)

J-yeah but after we dated when did you know I was the one to marry They went on vacation and her mum knew then D needed to marry him. J-i knew I needed to spend the rest of my life impressing her  (x)

When did Danneel know that Jensen was the one? They were friends before but thought they would never be together. They carpooled to the Ten Inch Hero set. 40 mins each way, just talking about the future, how they were raised, carreer… (x)  She always knew Jensen was cute, but those talks really did it. In the last scene of the movie, the little kiss between their characters wasn’t scripted, that was Danneel making the first move. (x)  Jensen immediately knew it was a big fish snd went “bzzzz” (reeling in noise). Jensen prods when she knew he was the one to marry though. They went on a family trip. Then Jensen knew he’d spend the rest of his life trying to impress her. Danneel’s mom knew they were it too. (x)

Jensen: “I’m gonna try to impress for the rest of my life… Still hasn’t done it! I’m gonna keep trying to.” (x)

Danneel said she was really nervous up until she did her first photo ops and everyone was so nice to her  (x)

( MurielFPhotos )