#rare goofy Zelda I love her......

[wardingshout]

you know those really big bunnies but also those really tiny bunnies... that's it, thanks for your time

[babybinko]

My second batch of venture bros genderbends are finally done! :D [first set here]

PLEASE LOOK UNDER THE CUT!!! I made all these nice drawings and doodles of them and I want people to see them without this post being super long! :') [My thoughts on the designs and doodles will be under the cut as well]

Okay NOW I'm going talk about my thought process on some of these:

Baby Rusty: I love the baby Rusty, the frilly socks and sleeves were a must. I actually drew her with the original set of genderbends but I turned off her layer and forgot about her 💀

Jonas Jr: not much to say about her, I tried to make her like Rosie the Riveter. Her little bandana has the Venture logo on it :)

Jonas Sr: I wanted her to be a hot bitch, her outfit is maybe a little scandalous for the time era they were in but I think it fits, canon Jonas is a whore. I think everybody would want her and that every celebrity, politician, and anybody with any power would chase after her so badly.

Blue Morpho: I made her so incredibly slay. I fucking love her outfit, I found the inspo for the outfit on Pinterest but I changed it up a bit. Also her gun has the bayonetta butterfly wings on it as a charm because I HAD TO.

Colonel Gentleman: Not a lot to say, I wanted to give her like horse riding esque boots and I gave her a purple flower cause she likes the ladies. I know generally WLW flowers are Violets and Lavender but I wanted to draw a rose so, Purple rose compromise <3

Dr.Boyfriend 2: With my last round Dr.Boyfriend was the only one people had complaints with. I think people wished he was more Masculine and I agree but if I switched up the design too much it wouldn't look like Dr.Girlfriend. I hope giving him armor and making him look like a knight helped him look more masc. I made the sheer wings cross over his chest to make it look like it was holding up the shoulder armor. Also his guild book is insanely high quality because I was procrastinating drawing his armor.

Goofy and Goober (Watch and Ward): I think they ended up really cute, I tried to make their hair colors close to Doc and Jacksons since I heard they are supposed to be like their "main" self inserts. With Ward I had a really specific idea for her hair, I kept thinking about this haircut from my sims and had to do it. It might be hard to see but her ponytail holders have skull charms on them. I also purposely gave them both some sort of ponytail hairstyle so they would match but be slightly different :) (They are absolutely prank calling or trolling their clients on that phone btw)

Shoreleave: OH MY GOD I LOVE SHORELEAVE. I kept turning her folder back on just to keep looking at her when I was drawing the other characters. She is so captivating to me, she looks so soft and human. I want to take a bite out of her thigh. My biggest inspo for her was Cammy from Street Fighter, I felt like her dressing a bit skimpy works for her since canon Shoreleave kinda does. The girls out for the girls.

Alchemist: I love her design so much too. I wanted her to look like some kind of nun or priestess. She looks like if a Zelda fire temple was a person. I kinda gave her like a weird little hime cut under the hood. Also I put the Triad logo on all three of their designs (+ Triana).

Jefferson: Had a lot of fun with her, I didnt change her design much from canon though so there's not much to say. I did give her more flared pants though. Drawing her hair was a really fun change of pace, I very rarely get to draw textured hair.

College Rusty and Monarch Drawing: I love this one, Monarch turned out so hot dude. You can tell what character I like more LMFAO. I made rusty very obnoxious 80s while keeping the colors of the original college rusty outfit. Monarch kind of looks like postal dude but its fine because shes slay.

Hereditary Venture Family Dinner Drawing: This was one of the first drawings I started but the second to last one I finished. I wanted to draw the family doing something together but I think I really truly just wanted to draw Dermott again. 😭 Nobody has said anything if they noticed but I did give hatred the shirt from these edits. (I believe the one on the left is from reddit and the one on the right is by SquashFold on Twitter)

Dermott piercing Dean's ears drawing: Even though its messy its in the top 3 favorites I did, It was also the last one I did. I just love the idea of Dermott giving goth Dean at home ear piercings. At first I didn't know if I wanted to make Dermott giving her piercings at the mall where she works or at home but the mall idea was too much work for a last minute sketch. Dermott is so mean older sister who shoplifts and works at the mall.

Drug bathroom drawing: Another one of my favorites, its based off a specific deleted scene from Invisible Hand of Fate where Pete and Rusty talk at the bar but Pete comes out of the bathroom sniffling at the start. I love the way I drew Pete pushing the hair out of her face and both of their expressions.

Bdsm 21 drawing: Okay first of all, The little devil Monarch was so cute I was screaming, crying, and throwing up while drawing her. I fucking love her, shes the smallest part of the image but my favorite. I also am quite fond of the bdsm 21.

Quizgirls Pete and Billy: I tried looking up Vanna White dresses to base Pete's outfit off of but I couldn't find one that Pete would actually wear so I just had to make shit up. Billy's design is really basic but the bow in her hair is actually from one of my rejected main Billy genderbends.

Me and The Bestie: I put a lot of effort into this one for no reason. Literally the moment I saw Jonas in the problem machine I thought he should be made of like blue slime. When I was working on this I kept thinking about Momopatchi's Hatsune Microbe drawing so this Jonas was definitely inspired by that. I gave Jonas makeup because she was having a party movie night on gargantua and I felt like she would still have makeup on thats like completely fucked up and deteriorating on her face after many many years. Vendata's outfit was partially based on Marguerite Chapman's from Flight to Mars, never seen it but I was looking up old sci-fi movie costumes to work with and I thought it would look good :)

[skyward-floored]

Hey peg, got a non tri force heroes related ask (woah!, shocking!, unprecedented!) whats your opinion on my favorite lil guys; ravio, yuga, and hilda. since ALBW is also my second favorite zelda game. which weirdly enough is also the ONLY other zelda game I've played (to competition) weird how that works ya know? also, hows the youse? I'm pretty good rn, on my mid winter break so I'm feelin nice and practically useless.

Oooooogggghhhh albw makes me feel so many things it's one of my favorite zelda games even though I rarely talk about it (I also haven't played it in a hot minute so if I get details wrong here that's why and I'm not proofreading so hehe this might be a disaster)

(also spoiler warning if anyone hasn't played albw)

I LOVE Ravio. So much. He's goofy and silly and a has a little pet bird and has a rabbit hood and dances when he makes money but also he's more or less a refugee trying to save his doomed home in the only way he can think of. He's a buisness man and his prices are ridiculous but he has concern for Link as well, and is actually his counterpart and their dynamic and everything makes me crazy. Also he's a coward and I relate to that so much. I feel like a coward so often, and I know a lot of people feel inspired by Link's brand of courage but honestly Ravio's is just as important to me if not more. Cause yeah he's a coward. But he has enough courage to leave his home (go to another WORLD) to find somebody who isn't cowardly and who can help fix things and stop Hilda from making a huge mistake. And it pays off. Ravio is a hero in my eyes and I love him.

Yuga I don't have a huge opinion about, but he's an interesting villain. I do like how he merged himself with Ganon, that was a gutsy move I did NOT expect the first time. Plus his whole thing about being obsessed with beauty and paintings and things, it's creepy and stuff, but makes him stick out more in my mind then some other villains. Other then that I don't have a lot to say about him lol, but his whole thing with manipulating Hilda and stuff was interesting too. I'd love to see more of his and Ravio and Hilda's background/story. also his weapon is neat.

Hilda is great <3 Her turning out to be the bad guy was REALLY unexpected (like I maybe suspected her a bit but I was so busy with her encouragment and saving the world and everything I wrote it off), and her motivations were SO interesting. She's making horrible manipulative decisions, but she's trying to save her people, her home. It's the only option that's really left to her and she's desperate to do something to help them, but Ravio helps her see that destroying another world isn't the way. And like, she just seems so scared to me. She's trying to pull together a kingdom that's literally falling apart, Yuga is whispering poison in her ear, but she's so determined to save her people, at any cost. She's an awesome character, and her face at the ending after Link and Zelda restore Lorule's triforce just about makes me cry. That's the face of somebody who lost her hope and thought she deserved nothing, and got everything. She can't believe it. I love albw.

...Also you asked how I'm doing, the answer is not bad! Swimming in too many AUs at the moment, but it happens. Trying to get reasonable amounts of sleep and failing recently lol. I've just been really tired and it's very annoying. But aside from that, pretty good.

[wayfayrr]

I absolutely adore Spirit Tracks. That game lives in my head rent-free from how silly and cute it is.

Spirit Tracks Zelda is easily my favorite version of her. The two's dynamic is one of the cutest, and their little antics are endearing. I appreciate the fact that Zelda is our little ghostly companion this time.

I do wish the game would get more love within the community. I want to draw them now.

— 🍞

it's the silliest and cutest!!! I really want to make more for it because it's so rare to find anything and he's so goofy

the toon zeldas are just the best and always my faves, they have the most personality by far and are just so so fun. like tetra, spirit and dot??? all babies that are just impossible to hate

I really wish that they got more love too - they aren't in lu which means they get overlooked a lot more easily than any others - or kinda blended into wind/ tetra sadly :// if you wanna draw for them I say go for it!!! why not give them some more time in the spotlight! <3

Also good to see you loafy!! I hope you've been well - it's been a little while <3

[heartxshaped-bruises]

@lilxmcrtes: ❛❛You're such a baby.❜❜ It sounded like an insult coming from him, a curse of his anger accustomed voice. Aeron laughed though. It was almost a giggle. Grinning, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close with a comical smooch to the cheek. ❛❛But you're my baby.❜❜ - [ I might be a little biased or whatever, making him affectionate and goofy, but I want him to have more soft moments so he will >:3 ]

                                                        ✧･ﾟ  𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃.

------ TALKING TO AERON entailed a lot of things, depending on the mood. He was easy to irritate and so was Zelda; together they made a quite explosive match when they were arguing, but it also made the peaceful and sweet moments the more noticable.

       Granted... Z's initial reaction was to open her mouth as she had a standard-retort already lurking on her tongue. ❛❛What did you just call me?❜❜ Aeron's laughing was what took her aback a little as it seemed a little rare, but the sound set off a small spark. A light blush painted her face when she turned to him with more to say. But by then, he'd already wrapped his arms around her. ❛❛Aeron❜❜, she groaned softly, but the moment he pressed his lips to her cheek, she wasn't able to keep a giggle in check. ❛❛Aeron! Stop... I'm not a baby!❜❜ Her arms snuck around his waist so he wouldn't get away that easily. BUT IN REALITY? She just loved to have him close. She grinned up at him with a challenging spark. ❛❛You're gonna say that again to my face? Huh? Come on, do it and see what happens.❜❜

[multifandomfix]

Zelda Spellman Smut Alphabet

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Zelda knows aftercare is a two way street, however, she always seems to come first in that department. Once you’ve seen to her needs, she’s more than happy to see to yours, no matter what they may be.

B = Body part (favorite body part of their partner’s)

Zelda loves your chest. She loves kissing it and listening to your heartbeat as it races, beating hard in your chest as she touches you.

C = Collar (do they mark you as theirs in some way?)

Oh most definitely. Zelda is not about to let anyone believe they have a snowball's chance in hell with you, and she’ll mark you as hers with some sort of necklace, perhaps with her initials carved on the back.

D = Dominant (do they prefer to dominate, or be dominated? are they a top or a bottom?)

Zelda can easily do both. It’s not hard to tell which it’ll be by her mood. If she’s angry, you better believe all of that pent up frustration is going to be taken out on you in the form of some rougher sort of play. Conversely, if she seems happy, then she may be very soft and loving with you.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

She’s very experienced in a variety of different types of play. She knows what she’s doing and she does it damn well.

F = Fuck (do they prefer to fuck or make love?)

Most of the time, Zelda prefers to fuck. Making love tends to bore her too easily.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

She’s very serious in the moment, and it’s rare that she ever lets her guard down enough to be goofy in the bedroom.

H = Hot (what turns them on, gets them going)

Whispered words and small handwritten notes slipped into her hand during the day are usually enough to get her thinking about what she’ll be doing with you that night. While a somewhat juvenile act, the whispered promises and passed notes make her feel young and a little bit naughty.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

Zelda doesn’t put a strong focus on romance, even during such an intimate act. She will pull out a few more flourishes when it’s a special occasion, like your anniversary.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

Zelda doesn’t like to masturbate. She’d much rather someone do all the work for her. However, if she simply cannot concentrate on anything else until it’s out of the way, she will indulge herself.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Zelda really enjoys any form of impact play. The marks she leaves on your skin can be so beautiful to her and she simply adores seeing her handprint on your ass.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

Mostly the bedroom, but she certainly won’t say no to getting a little frisky in her office at the academy.

M = Mood (what’s the foreplay like? how do you get them in the mood?)

Zelda likes to take her time in undressing, both herself and you. The longer it takes, the hotter she gets.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

While she’s open to trying most anything, the one thing she can’t get behind is bringing food into the bedroom. Not even chocolate or whipped cream. She just doesn’t get it.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Zelda prefers to be on the receiving end, but she has no doubt in her own skill of giving when it’s her turn. She knows exactly what drives you crazy.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

She’s usually teasingly slow when she can be. Though depending on the type of play you’re enjoying together, her pace will change.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

She’s alright with quickies if she’s hard pressed to be somewhere else and you’ve already gotten things started, so to speak, but she doesn’t like them to happen too often.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Zelda is definitely up for a bit of risk. Honestly, she’ll try anything once, and not much care if she gets caught doing it.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Two to three rounds on average. Again, it mostly depends on the type of play you’re participating in. Higher energy sort of stuff may only bring about one round.

T = Tryst (are they into casual sex or one night stands?)

She’s had her fair share, but she definitely doesn’t prefer them. She likes to have a more consistent bed partner.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

She likes to tease a fair amount, though by your standards, it may seem a little unfair, but Zelda does like to hear you beg.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

She’s not too loud, really. It feels like too much effort to make so much noise, but you can always tell when she’s enjoying herself. She has this low moan that almost sounds like she’s purring.

W = Wait (how long do they wait before having sex with their partner for the first time?)

Not long, most likely. She’d want to test your sexual chemistry pretty early on to see if pursuing a relationship beyond the sexual was worth the effort.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

Zelda has one of the finest lingerie collections. And in a variety of styles as well. She’s always surprising you with some very alluring set that you haven’t seen yet.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Fairly high, but it’s not like she can’t control herself. She knows how to manage her desires and when is appropriate to act on them.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Not usually right away. It takes her a bit to unwind and make sure you both have had the proper aftercare you needed.

For @ghostsunderstoodmysoul

Zelda Spellman (CAOS): @ghostsunderstoodmysoul, @derry-n, @riveranddoctorsong123, @magicallover

[itcantbe]

Zelink Week 2021: Day 4

Hello and welcome to day 4 of @zelinkweek2021 (I remembered to tag it this time!). Today's prompt is "Trust: Broken/Forged." I tried to address both aspects in this chapter of "Under the Boardwalk." Just a reminder this story is rated M and will shift to E with the last chapter (but the E bit can be skipped if you want). This chapter takes place the night of the first chapter, if you're getting confused with the timeline. Yesterday's chapter took place sometime in the future. Enjoy!

chapter 1 | chapter 2 | Read chapter 3 on ao3

Under the Boardwalk: We'll be Fallin' in Love

Ice cream. Coffee. A movie.

“What’s in here?”

Dinner. Ice skating. Mini golf.

Link can’t help thinking of better date ideas than sneaking around the amusement park he works at after hours. He had hoped they might walk around a bit, Zelda would get her fill of the empty park and they could leave and go do something else. Though he holds out some hope that she might get a little scared, and maybe clutch his arm to her chest, crushing it between her breasts as she clings to him. He’s distracted by the idea for a moment, until he hears the rattle of a doorknob.

“Don’t — ! That’s an electrical room, it supplies power to some of the lights. It’s dangerous.”

“Then why isn’t the door locked?”

Link takes Zelda’s arm, hoping he can pull her away from the door plastered in signs that say WARNING! and DANGER! with pictures of little sad people surrounded by lightning bolts. He attempts a distraction.

“Why don’t we go look at The Molduga? We can sneak into the part in the middle where it’s like a little forest.”

He hears a little click before Zelda turns to him, flashing a brilliant smile that makes his insides go watery.

“Ooh yes! Let’s go!”

And then she does take his hand, and he feels a thrill, glad she can’t see the goofy grin that crosses his face as he turns to lead her into the park.

******

Link knew where there was an opening in part of the fence that surrounds The Molduga, the giant wooden roller coaster that’s the main attraction of Hyrule Castle Amusement Park. The Molduga has been the highlight of the park for decades, and over the years a mini-forest grew inside each of the loops and curves the ride takes as it sprawls around the north side of the park. Of course, they don’t want people going in there when the ride is open, so they put up a fence that surrounds the ride on all sides.

But the fence is nearly as old as the ride, and hasn’t been well maintained in all of its years of existence. Much like everything else at the park, regular maintenance was allowed to slide in the name of maximizing profits. The fence has developed several gaps and holes over time, and the wooded areas of the interior are a favorite place for park employees to hide out while on break, to have a smoke or a nip or just enjoy nature for a minute before you have to submerge yourself in the tourist hordes again. Link knows of a gap in the fence hidden in the backside of the ride, where the track runs by the main fence between the park and the parking lot.

Maybe she’ll get bored and we can leave, Link thinks as he leads Zelda there. Surely by now she has been satisfied with the relative spookiness of the park after closing and is willing to head off and do something that’s actually fun. He can barely see her in the darkness of this part of the park, the black ball cap she put on covering her golden hair, her dark shirt and pants hiding the rest of her. He had to admit he’d been hoping she would wear some night-time version of what she wore each time he saw her at the park, the little dresses that left her shoulders bare and showed off a lot of thigh. The dresses that often came to mind when he had some time to himself at night before bed.

He had been surprised when she arrived to meet him that night.

“You look … uh, you look nice,” he said, rather stupidly. She always made him kind of stupid.

Zelda saw right through him, smirking as he scrambled to seem gentlemanly despite his obvious disappointment.

“Well I don’t think strappy platform sandals would have been very practical for sneaking around, do you?”

No, but they did nice things for her legs and he liked the pretty pink nail polish she wore on her toes.

“I … uh … I guess not.”

He wasn’t an eloquent guy on the best day but this was getting pathetic. He was nervous, and she made him feel so flustered.

“Besides, this way I can blend into the shadows so we don’t get caught!”

She brought out a black ball cap with a flourish and put it on her head in one smooth motion before turning to him and winking.

“So let’s go!”

Link’s brain shut down when she winked at him, nothing but white noise for a moment, only coming back online once he saw her head off into the dark, and he scrambled to catch up with her.

Despite him being the supposed tour leader, it was Zelda who led him about the park, asking questions and taking off with “Ooh, what’s over there?!” so often that he felt like he was constantly just trying to keep up. He should be used to the feeling by now, he thinks. He’s always attempting to keep up, and never quite making it.

But this time he led her, pulling the fence open so that she could go in.

“Are there a lot of gaps in the fence like this?”

“Um … yeah. I only know about this one but there’s gaps all over. I don’t think they do a lot of inspections.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“I guess.”

“Hmm.”

He followed her through, then took the lead again, hoping he remembered where the little clearing was that had the least amount of trash in it and had a fallen log they could sit on. It was a nice area, a little further in than most employees were willing to go, and so it was relatively clean and untouched. Maybe they could sit for a while. Maybe she would let him kiss her. Maybe she would kiss him. Maybe they could do a lot of kissing. Maybe she would push him down into the grass and let him run his hands up the inside of her shirt … Lost in his daydream, it was a minute before he realized she wasn’t behind him, and turned to see her jogging up to him.

“I stopped to tie my shoe,” she said by way of explanation.

“Oh,” Link said, confused. Why hadn’t she said anything? He would have waited for her.

“Just a bit more,” he told her.

He took a right where the tracks crossed each other, soaring a hundred feet over their heads, and followed the wooden framework that criss-crossed in a huge lattice to support the ride in the air around … and there they were. He stepped over a piece of the wooden framework that had fallen; there were a few of those around, pieces dropped off the antique ride frequently. Link realized what he’d thought was a log was actually one of the giant cross beams from the ride that had fallen who knows when and had grown soft and green with moss.

“Is this part of the ride?” Zelda asked as she sat next to him.

“Yeah, this ride is pretty old and parts fall off a lot.”

“That doesn’t seem safe!”

“Well, I’m sure they replace them.”

“When?”

How was he supposed to know?

“I dunno. I’m just. Sure they do.”

“Do they ever shut the ride down for any reason? Like for safety? Or if someone gets hurt?”

Link laughed.

“No, they never shut down the Molduga. It makes them too much money.”

She hummed thoughtfully at that.

It was a lovely night, the heat of the day having dissipated, a cool breeze soughing through the trees. Without the crowds of people, the noise of the cars and the roar of the rides, it was peaceful, the noise of the city distant and muted. It was, dare Link think it, almost romantic.

“Oh!” he heard Zelda exclaim next to him. “You can see all the stars!”

Link looked up. She was right, the sky twinkled with a number of stars that couldn’t be seen normally with the light pollution of the park and the city. He leaned in a bit closer to her. He could smell her perfume, the one she wore every time he saw her, the one that had rooted itself in his brain, that he thought he could smell every time he thought of her. Which was a lot. The scent pulled his attention away from the sparkling wash of the stars and back to Zelda, and he resisted the impulse to bury his nose into her neck and breathe her in.

“Zelda, can I k—“

“Do they ever shut down any of the other rides for repairs?”

They spoke at the same time.

“I’m sorry, did you say something?”

“Ah, forget it,” he mumbled, the moment gone. “Um, I don’t think so … Can’t we … can’t we talk about something else? Why do you even want to know?”

He could see her eyes widen in the dark as she looked at him.

“Oh … I was just curious!”

He’s struck with the realization that they rarely talk about anything else. Even before, when she would come and talk to him at his booth. Questions about the security at the park. About the rides. About the money. About Mr. Ganondorf, like Link would know anything about that. An icy tendril of dread began to worm its way through his middle, wrapping around his stomach and snaking its way up to his heart.

He stared at his hands, not really seeing them, but unable to look at her, either.

“You’ve been asking me a lot of weird questions. And wanting to look at a lot of weird stuff.”

Link began to feel very, very foolish. Foolish for ever thinking someone like Zelda would actually be interested in him. He should have known.

He squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

“What is this really about?”

Because it's not about me, is it, he thought.

He heard Zelda sigh.

“Link … I’m so sorry.”

He couldn’t help the groan of dismay that crawled out of his throat at her words, pushing his hands into his hair as he dropped his head onto his knees. He laced his fingers over the back of his head as if shielding himself from more disappointment.

It had been such a shitty year. After struggling through a few semesters of college, anxiety had finally gotten the better of him, and he dropped out when his grades slipped and he was in danger of failing. He had taken the amusement park job because it was easy, and he thought it might be fun, and it would keep his dad off his back. But it turned out standing in a game booth all day was really boring, yet also exhausting, leaving him with just enough energy to get on the bus home and collapse in his bed. Of course once he dropped out his student loans had come due, and all of his income went right into the payments. He had no degree, no goal in life, no energy, and no money. And no Zelda.

His voice was hollow and muffled as he spoke into his knees.

“Do you even have a sister?”

Her silence told him all he needed to know. Zelda had told him that her family had a season pass to the park and she was chaperoning her sister while she ran around the park, which is why she was there so much.

“No,” she whispered. “I’m an only child.”

Link sat up, covering his face with his hands as if he could hide from the truth. Zelda had been the bright spot of the summer, appearing at his booth one day like some gift from the goddess. She was so beautiful, and he couldn’t believe it when she came up to talk with him one morning, not long after he started working at the park. He had mumbled and stuttered, and yet, a couple of days later, she’d come back and talked with him some more. And then a few days later, again. Soon he was jumping at every blonde head of hair he saw, scenting the breeze like a dog seeking her perfume. It made coming into work bearable, almost exciting, the hope he might see her enough to get him through the day.

She had played him. She’d used her short dresses and big green eyes and played him for the horny idiot he was. Link felt like his heart was going to crack in half.

“Why?”

He jerked his hands away from his face and looked over to her. Zelda sat on the log next to him, shredding a dead leaf in her fingers. She continued to stare at her hands as she spoke, as if she couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes.

“I’m a reporter with the Hyrule Star Fragment. I think something bad is going on in the park. I needed some way to get access to the inner workings of the park so I could gather evidence.”

“And I was that access.”

Link gave a bitter laugh.

“I should have known,” he said, as much to himself as to her. “I should have known someone like you wouldn’t really want someone like me. Well, I hope you got all the information you needed. I hope it was worth it.”

Link stood up to leave. He didn’t need to sit here and continue to be humiliated.

“Come on, I’ll show you back to your car.”

“Link, wait! Please, let me explain.”

He stopped, arms wrapped around his middle like he could hold all of his heartache inside of him. He turned around to look back at her, still seated on the log, face just a light blur in the deep shadows of the trees.

“Mr. Ganondorf is not a good person. This park is dangerous, and people are getting hurt.”

“So? What does that have to do with me?”

Zelda huffed in exasperation, then stood and came over to him. She stood close to him, so close he could feel the heat of her body. It seemed so intimate, like they were the only ones in the whole world, and he felt the stupid animal part of him react to it. He squashed it down and took a step back.

“People’s lives are ruined because they get hurt here and Ganondorf just covers it up. They are injured and he makes it out to be their fault and then they lose their jobs and their homes because of their medical expenses. That he should have paid for! The rides are dangerous and are in disrepair and it won’t be long before someone is killed!”

Link really didn’t want to listen. He didn’t want her to make him care. But the park employees talked. He’d heard some stories, stories about people getting injured, employees disappearing. He’d chalked it up to gossip, but maybe there was truth to it. Maybe it wouldn’t be long until he was next.

“I’m trying to gather evidence so I can write an exposé for the paper. Help people to learn the truth about this park and what happens here. But I can’t do it alone. I’m sorry I misled you—”

“Lied to me.”

Zelda sighed.

“I’m sorry I lied to you. I didn’t think … I didn’t think you’d want to help me. So I did what I thought would work. I didn’t think I’d …”

She dropped off there, leaving whatever she thought he’d do unsaid.

“You didn't think you'd what? You used me. How far would you have gone to keep me on a leash, telling you whatever you wanted? Would you have kissed me? Would you have fucked me? And then what, just dropped me once you got what you wanted?”

Link’s hurt and anger had boiled up so hot in him it made him nasty. He never talked like this to anyone, but it was as if all of his pent up rage at failing out of college, having to move back home, having his dad on his case at all times, had come pouring out. He hated himself more in this moment than he had all year. And he already hated himself quite a bit. But the words had been said and there was no taking them back now.

“No! I’d never!”

Link suddenly felt very weary, the rage flooding out of him almost as soon as it had filled him up.

“Then what?!”

Link had wanted to shout at her, but instead, his question came out as a quiet plea. His anger was quickly replaced with desperation. He just wanted to know how he fit into her grand scheme before they left the park and he never saw her again.

Zelda was silent for a moment, as if she battled over what to say to him. Or maybe she was just cooking up more lies to string him along some more.

“I didn’t think I’d actually like you,” she said, sounding defeated. “I thought I’d … I thought I’d just flirt with you, and ask you some questions, and maybe you’d show me around the park like you did. And once I knew where to go to get the answers I needed, I could disappear from your life and do what I needed to do.”

Link scoffed. He didn’t think his self loathing could get any worse but the way his heart lifted when she said she liked him proved him wrong. He just wanted so badly to have one right thing in his life.

“I hated lying to you, but by this time I didn’t think I could tell you the truth. I had planned to do as much as I could tonight and then …”

“And then drop me after that, right when I thought I had a chance.”

The fact that she wouldn’t meet his eyes confirmed that theory.

“Let’s just go,” he sighed, and started to walk away.

“Link, please!” she cried, and grabbed his hand. In his mind he yanked his hand out of her grasp and stalked away, indignant. In reality, he stopped, once again relishing the feeling of her hand in his.

“I promise, no more lies,” Zelda said, quietly and urgently. “But I do need your help. I need employee access into the park. Ganondorf cannot be allowed to continue to ruin people’s lives just to make himself richer. And I’ll try to make it up to you.”

He huffed a disbelieving laugh.

“How?”

“Let me at least buy you dinner, and I’ll answer any of your questions. And if you want to part ways after that, then fine. And if not … maybe we can do this together.”

He looked at her, her hopeful face bathed in the light of the newly risen moon. Despite the lies, despite all of the deception, he believed her. He still felt like he should say no, remain on his high horse and leave her behind, drop her just as she had planned to drop him, but as usual, he was weak to anything she asked from him. It was just one night, Link reminded himself. He wouldn’t have to see her again if he didn’t want to.

“Fine,” he said with a sigh. “But I pick the restaurant.”

Zelda exhaled in relief.

“Oh thank you, Link! I promise you won’t regret it!”

Before he knew what was happening, she’d leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before yanking on his arm and dragging him out of the trees, through the gap in the fence, and out of the park, all without being spotted by security, just as he’d said.

Link thought he probably would regret it. But in the end, he decided he didn’t care.

[venomlion3]

Second batch of Pride 2021 HC doodles! More info under the cut!

Midzel

💙 Princess Midna - Agender lesbian who uses any pronouns! Very snarky and sarcastic, loves teasing their wife but has moments of genuine tenderness. A good leader of his people, a good parent to its children, and the type of person who would knock out a homophobe/transphobe without question (and with a smile on her face). A big ol lesbian birb 💙 Twilight Princess!Princess Zelda - Cis pan woman who uses She/her! Dunno what else to really say about her? She’s a chill wife, mom and queen and is the shortest family member inbetween her tall partner, her hulking child and her daughter who wins by an inch or so. Much like Midna, she has a no-nonsense policy when it comes to discrimination, and uses her power to protect the helpless/those in need

Lunaflashburst

💙 Princess Luna - Nonbinary demisexual bi alicorn who uses any pronouns! Very tall compared to its golden hubbies, but still shorter than its sister. Writes flowery love poems about their partners, often in Old Ponish, and is known to belt out a sonnet or two comparing them to flames of passion and the like. Used to be very awkward about giving affection but has grown more confident as time went on. Probably flirted with Sunburst by comparing them to a Gazania, more specifically a Sunburst Gazania, and tucking one of the flowers under their ear (which I would LOVE to make a mini comic about one day). Also, she’s a royal alicorn, which means she has 2 sets of wings (shoutout to lieutenantcactus on dA for the wonderful HC), but it would take up too much space if I drew both pairs open, so imagine the other pair is on her back somewhere :] 💙 Sunburst - Demiboy pan stallion who uses He/they! The Royal Wizard of the Crystal Empire, met Flash via Twilight as he was previously one of her guards, and was later restationed to be one of Luna’s. Got a big goofy crush on him the instant they met, and did so with Luna as well. He’s still as flustered around them as he was when he first met them. Prior to getting with Luna and Flash, he was Shining Armor and Princess Cadence’s boyfriend for a period, and their eldest child, Flurry, is very fond of him still! 💙 Flash Sentry - Trans bi stallion who uses He/him! A chill guard who occasionally plays the guitar and has a very lovely singing voice. A big ‘ol himbo who loves his partners and their kids, and is especially close with Luster Dawn, daughter of Luna and Sunburst. Is rarely angry and often solves fights inbetween his kids and niblings. A notable ex of Twilight

Zelpaya

💙 Paya - Trans demisexual bi gal who uses She/her! Paya being a trans girl came to me in a vision so I’m going with that. Crushed on both BOTW!Link and Zelda but was too shy to approach them about it. In my verse Link gets with Prince Sidon and Gaddison (a Zora guard NPC who I’ve always been fond of), so while her crush on Link didn’t fade her heart focused on Zelda since she was the only one still single (she never expected anything to happen between them though). That of course changes when Zelda begins coming to her about artifacts and they form a closer bond. Is still flustered when her wife gives her attention but has grown more confident with her help :]

💙 Breath of the Wild!Princess Zelda - Cis bi gal who uses She/her! A grease monkey scholar who loves learning and tinkering with things, and who just so happens to be a princess as well. Very much in love with her wife, even though she initially came to her for educational reasons. Despite Paya’s confidence boost over the years, she’s still the one who gives the most physical affection (although Paya is bold enough to initiate a kiss between them every so often). Loves her family and never stops thanking Paya for blessing them with their child, Zaidee

[plutoisaplanet16]

21 Reasons to Love Someone

(Damien Haas x reader)

#1. Their Smile 

Word count: 1,644

Warnings: none (SFW)

Buy me a coffee

Two words: Defy Media.

     At first excitement coursed Damien’s being as he thought about the prospect of having a job where he could sit around and play games all day. However, it did not take him long to feel the same way everybody else in the office did. You knew the pressure took a toll on him when the first thing he did after work was sleep. Damien’s personality shined through on camera, but being the entertaining ball of sunshine for so many videos each day overwhelmed him. When he came home he would say a mindless “hello y/n” and perhaps jokingly say “hello my baby geese” to Freyja and Zelda, but after that he would close the door to the bedroom and plop down on the bed. Sometimes he wouldn’t even bother to take his shoes off. Usually you would just leave him alone for a couple hours until you finished making dinner or the postmate had arrived.

“How was work?” you would ask as you handed him his meal.

He would always tell you, “It was good, but I won’t go into detail. Too much happened today; I’ll probably miss something if I try to tell you.”

     Damien would always laugh it off and pretend like it was nothing, but you knew better than to buy into his nightly act. After nearly a year and half of dating, you knew what Damien did when something bothered him. Comedy was his coping mechanism, but after the bright laughter ceased, his face fell into a blank expression: the sparkle in his eyes dulled, his normally rosy complexion seemingly drained in an instant, and lastly, silence filled the room. It was quite frankly the most bizarre phenomenon to behold. All you wanted to do was grab his soft face and kiss his forehead to try and convince him that everything would work out, but this wasn’t a fanfiction or a cheesy romantic comedy. People are more complicated than that.

     So that’s how you ended up awake at 3:17 a.m. scouring the internet for Harry Potter house robe cat costumes. Your dry eyes and blurry vision did not deter you from finding that one Esty shop that would grant you wish. Was each costume going to be $45 plus shipping? Yes. But did that stop you? No. This was a mission of love, and for Damien, you would go any distance to see that adorable goober genuinely smile.You were just about to place the order when Damien’s arm pulled you closer into his chest as he looked over your shoulder. Without thinking, you stupidly threw your phone across the room. Luckily it landed in a soft, plushy chair in the corner of the room. 

“Y/n, what was that about?” Damien shook his head. 

You struggled to find an answer, “Um...uh...”

“Do I even want to know?” he chuckled, “As long as it’s not Tinder I don’t care enough to lose any more sleep.”

“I would never cheat on you!” you exclaimed.

He sleepily mumbled, “I know. I’m too sexy.”

     You laughed to yourself as you left the bed to go retrieve your hopefully-not-cracked-phone. You quickly placed the order and crawled back into bed. It was rare that Damien ever complimented himself like that. It reminded you of the Damien you knew before Defy... the Damien who ruffled his hair and smoldered at the camera for a selfie. It was so nice to hear Damien still have his moments of confidence. It gave you hope that your plan would actually work.

5:15 pm. It was almost time.

     You had just finished making dinner, and you rushed to set the table neatly. To be honest, what you made shouldn’t even really be considered dinner because it was more or less a buffet of different movie food such as: M&Ms, twizzlers, chips and homemade dip, tiny sandwiches, and of course popcorn. You arranged them into a deliciously looking spread in the finest plastic bowls the dollar store had to offer. (Neither one of you would really want to do dishes anyway.) Once it looked perfect you turned towards the living room to hunt down Freyja and Zelda. You had the costumes neatly folded on the top of the  grey, cloth couch. Luckily Freyja was napping on the cushion below them; you petted her gently and unfolded her Ravenclaw house robes. She yawned and stretched right as you were about to wake her. Her eyes fluttered open, and she sniffed the robe. Freyja backed away and her big, glossy eyes moved back and forth between you and the costume.

“It’s for Daddy, okay? Work with me here, please Freyja.”

     She meowed back like she understood, and from then on she was compliant. Next, you had to hunt down Zelda. It honestly amazed you how well that chonky cat could hide. You called out her name for what felt like forever until you yelled that Damien would be home soon. A small meow came from underneath the couch.

“Just what am I to you guys?”

Zelda came out and before she even knew what was happening, you squeezed her into her Hufflepuff robes, “Finally.” 

      Everything was almost perfect; the last thing you had to do was put on your own house robes and get all eight Harry Potter movies out of storage. Sure you would never be able to finish them all in one night, but both of you would give it a valiant attempt. Digging the movies out of the bin would prove to be a challenge because both of you were giant nerds that for some reason decided to just throw all your nerdiness into several boxes and NOT label them. In the fourth of six boxes is where you found the first three movies, and the rest were at the bottom of the fifth box. You decided that after all this was over you and Damien were sure to be doing some serious decluttering for the next week or so. Meanwhile, you had to go light some spooky looking candles, somehow avoid going ahead and digging into the scrumptious food, and put the first DVD in the console. 

     As the first movie finally loaded, Damien unlocked the door and walked in, “It smells like a theatre in here. What happ-”

     He stopped dead in his tracks when saw you with the Sorting Hat on your head and your Harry Potter robes. His face was full of wonder and confusion as he took a couple seconds to slowly look around and examine his surroundings. He giggled at the spooky yet romantic lighting as well as Hedwig’s Theme rattling the walls of the apartment. You hoped you two wouldn’t get noise complaints...again. Damien walked closer towards you, but soon Freyja and Zelda ambushed him by rubbing themselves up against his legs.

He looked down in disbelief, “Freyja...Zelda? Y/n?”

“I’m glad you know all our names,” you teased.

“What is all this? Their costumes? The candles? The food? Harry Potter?” he sat down on the floor next to you.

“Listen Damien, I know something has been up with you these past couple of weeks. I know you love Smosh and your job, and it doesn’t make sense to me why you would be hiding how you really feel from me,” you said.

“Y/n,” he sighed, “It’s complicated, okay? Half the time I don’t even know what’s going through my head when it comes to talking about my day. You are right. I love my job, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. However, I’m having a tough time right now. There are a lot of videos we film in one day, and for someone like me it can easily become too much. The biggest issue is our parent company itself never listening to us; it is so frustrating. I don’t like spreading that kind of negativity so I shove it away, but it seems it has still affected you. It’s hard for me to talk about, and honestly, I just want to figure it out on my own. I don't want to bring you down with me.”

You were kind of hurt that he didn’t feel comfortable telling you everything but you had to respect him, “It’s okay Damien. I won’t push you, but please let me in on some things. I hate sitting here watching you be miserable not being able do a single thing about it. I want to help you, and that’s why I did all this. Sometimes you walk in here, and it’s like I don’t even know who I am looking at. I believe you will find your footing at Smosh, and everyone will soon adore you. I know it didn’t take me long to fall in love with you.”

Damien blushed, “Oh really?”

     He smiled. He actually smiled. It was a complete 100% authentic goofy Damien smile that spread from ear to ear. He felt happiness deep down inside because of you, and that is all you could ever ask for. Being the ooey-gooey romantic person you are, you threw yourself onto him and gave him a big kiss on the forehead. No, that kiss wouldn’t really fix much, but it made both of your hearts melt. When you pulled away you looked at his face again; he was still smiling, but it wasn’t the same as it was a moment ago. Instead of bright and bubbly, it was a small adoring grin. His eyes bore into yours, and it was like everything else around you two disappeared. 

“Y/n?” he asked.

You answered, “Yes?”

He pulled you into his chest and tightly wrapped his arms around you. His soft heartbeat became like white nose to you, “How come you fell in love with me so fast?”

You pulled away from him and kissed his lips, “How could I not with that smile of yours?”

---------------

Hello! This is my first Smosh fanfiction I have ever wrote. I’m not new to the fanfiction writing world. I’ve had two wattpad accounts and even wrote on a BTS fan app for a while. I dropped this hobby of mine to focus on my senior year of high school. Recently though I have come back to writing due to being stuck in the house and my school year being pretty much over. I decided to start this prompt series because I was bored and itching to write something again. I hope you all have enjoyed this short imagine. It is part one of a twenty-one part prompt list that I have made up myself.

This specific list will, for now, only include past and present Smosh members, but if you would like to see any of these prompts for other fictional characters or  real people please let me know in my inbox! I have no requests, and I would certainly love some. Thank you all for reading this! 

[strawberry-girl333]

more botw zelink headcanons!

ok! im surprised how well my first botw zelink hc’s did! you can read them here ♡  so, now i’m going to do a couple more for fun (these aren’t as good but whatever lol):

Who spends almost all their money on the other? oh, definitely link. he spends money on zelda without even thinking. on their first couple of dates, link always paid. zelda thought it was a nice gesture, but it made her uncomfortable after awhile. now she insists that she’ll pay for half, but she still has to remind link sometimes...

Who sleeps in the other’s lap? link always falls asleep in zelda’s lap, but it’s rare when it’s the other way around. zelda doesn’t always fall asleep that easily either, so it makes link feel special. he’ll stroke her hair and her back until he can hear her soft breathing, cause that’s when he knows she’s getting good rest. (btw this is link texting on the sheika slate):

          sidon: come over           link: i can't my zelda just fell asleep on my lap           sidon: my dad isn’t home           link: she is ASLEEP

Who walks around the house half-naked and who yells at them to put on some clothes? link is a wild child and STILL forgets to put his clothes sometimes... link would be running around because he’s late to go somewhere, and then you see zelda chasing after him going, “babe you forgot to put on your pants again!!” like smh what a goofy guy.

Which one tells the other not to stay up all night and which one stays up all night anyway? link tells zelda every night to turn off the sheika slate (i know he’s being responsible for once). but what does zelda do?? studies her little happy butt off doing research. link will wake up in the morning and roll over, expecting to see zelda’s cute sleepy face. but instead, she’s in the same exact position he last saw her:

          link: you're up early           zelda:           link: you never went to sleep did you

Which one tries to make food for the other but burns it all by accident and which one tells them that it’s okay and makes them both cookies? oof zelda tries her best to cook for link. but since she’s a royal, she always had people cook for her, so this whole cooking thing is pretty foreign to her. link appreciates her efforts, but they both know that that dubious food is way too dangerous to consume... cookies for dinner it is!

Which one constantly wears the other’s clothes? zelda loves to steal link’s clothes! y’all know she likes to wear his blue tunic to bed and stuff. link offers to buy her some new clothes but nope, she’ll stick with stealing his (he just doesn’t get it). “zelda, you always yell at me for not wearing my pants! but how can i wear them if you have them on?!”

Which one would give the other a makeover if they asked? you know what, i think link would have a knack for doing hair. he’ll experiment with zelda’s long hair, trying out all sorts of braids and stuff, tucking in flowers sometimes. this results with a very pleased zelda, and naturally she wants to do his hair too. sadly link’s braid end up lumpy... but he knows she tried! (idk why, but i don’t feel like zelda would have the patience to sit there to make his hair look perfect lol).

[zachsgamejournal]

COMPLETED: Mega Man Legends

Move over Sahelanthropus, I got all the walking mechs I need right here.

This game is great!

I BEAT IT!

I think it took about 8 hours (not counting a few reload/restarts here an there). While a few of the games I’ve played recently also took around the same amount of time, I kept feeling...frustrated about my progress. Mega Man Legends, on the other-hand, was a constant joy to play! I’m so blown away by how great this 1997 game is. I could gush over it all day, but Imma try to be focused...

The Story

This is where the game started off light and unimpressive, but ultimately turned out quite well. The story felt very basic: “The world needs crystal energy (refracters), and I play a ‘Digger’ that looks for them be exploring ancient ruins. But while I’m a well-meaning digger, there are ill-meaning pirates to worry about.” While the story wasn’t much, it did present the story very cinematically. The cutscenes told the story the gameplay couldn’t, but they didn’t overwhelm the player like Metal Gear Solid. 

The player eventually crash-lands on an island with a city and lots of people. The player may speak with these people, even performing sidequests and developing relationships. The characters aren’t super deep, but they all have some personality and story. It helps build the charm of this world. I really appreciated it.

The antagonists are a family of pirate siblings. Tron Bonne is interesting in that she’s a bit of a brat, but has affections for Mega Man. She’s also moved by his heroism and genuineness. She finds herself emotionally conflicted between her older brother who insists on being “bad” and her feelings for Mega Man that shows there’s a better way to live. Though this is mostly used for comedic effect, it also makes her the most interesting and well-rounded character. At one point, Mega Man thinks he may have killed the pirates (including Tron) in a major battle. The heroes treat this as an unintended tragedy, and do not rejoice in their victory (I love it!), then later, Mega Man finds Tron alive is over-the-moon. She’s put off by it, but conflicted. After Mega Man defeats the trio again, the eldest brother, Tiesel, offers his honorable recognition of Mega Man’s superiority and offers to leave in peace. Tron is surprised and touched, but then it turns out to be a ploy.

It’s all pretty silly but still engaging character development.

The game’s story contains quite a bit of mystery. Why are Reaverbots activating? What’s hidden beneath the island? What’s the connection? It’s revealed that these ancient ruins (which are from a more advanced civilization) actually contain a weapon. This weapon feels that humans are over-populating and that it should  purge the island as a population control effort. Mega Man finds this cruel and stops it. In the process, it’s revealed that Mega Man has a deep connection to system that wanted to purge the island. It’s hinted that he may serve some deeper purpose: maybe to act as the moral compass of unfeeling, ant-human protocol? The message I got was that humans destroyed the earth, causing a great flood and societal/technological collapse. So then machines were created to limit human influence, but their purpose is so old and outdated, it’s become an artifact itself.

There’s a fun twist here where Mega Man is captured. But the pirates realize that it’s more important to save the island than defeat Mega Man, so they release him and support his victory against the boss.

It’s still not super deep, but much deeper than I realized. And with all the various characters and personalities, it’s one of the best story experiences I’ve had in a game (though a bit goofy).

The Graphics

Are great! There’s a few issues. I think PS1 games pre-1998 had a different look and feel than post 1998 (and then again, post 2000). It feels like early game artists were still trying to figure out 3D modeling with limited hardware. So a lot of the best known tricks hadn’t been discovered yet. So MML definitely has a few Pre-1997 qualities, but it also has plenty of areas where it really looks great.

The savior is the cartoon-styled graphics. Most characters have solid-color clothes and accessories with few details. Because the art is consistent throughout, it just feels right. And then the facial animations are great. Games like Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, and Metal Gear Solid had in-game cutscenes, but the characters’ faces were unanimated. Sometimes they’d bob their heads to imply speaking--but it was all kinda goofy. MML, on the other hand, included moving mouths and changing face expressions during cutscenes. It really sold the cinematic vibe and is quite impressive for  PS1 game.

So even though technical limitations really prevent this game from looking great, the art-direction and advanced facial animations keep this game looking great!

The Gameplay

1. Controls

Unfortunately, the controls kind of suck. Mega Man controls somewhat like a tank. A tank that can move side ways. While games like Mario 64 had free 3D movement with a camera that tried to keep up--MML has a camera that stays firmly facing forward that only rotates when the player rotates MM.

It’s a little off-putting. If I push “down”, MM runs toward the screen: completely facing the opposite direction of the camera. In most 3D platformers, the camera would try to rotate behind the character. Not MM. It keeps facing the same direction. When I stop moving, MM turns back to face the same direction as the camera.

I think they were trying to make shooting and combat easier. And I think their head was in the right place. But it makes the game hard to learn. Still, once you get used to it, it works ok. This is the worst part of the game, but the difficulty is well balanced that I don’t feel punished by the controls.

2. Combat

The combat isn’t super deep, but that also means it’s not overbearing. The combat feels more like Crash Bandicoot, with each enemy having an attack pattern that must be learned and subverted. But mostly, you just got to know when to shoot it. So it keeps the combat accessible while also interesting and mentally challenging. This is better than a lot of American Shooters that just have you fight a variety of projectile based enemies--run, dodge, shoot...

Adding depth to the combat is a cool customizable Buster (gun). You can collect a variety of parts that boost Attack, Range, Attack Speed, and “Reload”. Some parts affect more than 1 stat, allowing the player to try a variety of combinations to boost their effectiveness and compliment their play-style. You may also change configurations based on the boss or enemy type. It’s a simple, and fun system that adds plenty of depth to what could have been a straightforward action title.

What’s also neat about these parts: they’re often rewards for side-quests. Such quests might be rebuilding a clubhouse, participating in game shows, or finding a lost loved-one. It’s great because it provides a lot of bonus quests for the player that meaningful and rewarding both as an experience and on a material level.

The boss fights are also pretty interesting, assuming you’re properly equipped. They can be a bit challenging or confusing, but they’re quite diverse. Maybe you’re defending the town from bull-dozer bots, or engaged in air-to-air battles, there’s plenty of unique experiences. I was especially impressed with the walking-mech battle. I think there’s another boss just as tall, but this involved a very destructible city block. It reminded me of the Sahelanthropus battle of Metal Gear Solid V...or does that battle remind me of this? Either way--it was just more icing on top of a great experience.

3. Adventure/Pacing

I like to differentiate between action and action-adventure. Action, to me, is very linearity and to the point. Action adventure often asks the player to do more than fight their way to the exit, but to discover the path to the exit. Even better, they allow the player to discover much of the game--allowing for maximized freedom in progress.

Zelda Games are often the best examples of letting the player set their own pace and find their own way. Ocarina of Time is a true stand-out here. The game doesn’t tell you want to do, but pushes you in the right directions. Still, you’re not often limited to one set order of events to proceed and can do some quests in any order. Mega Man Legends does this as well.

Once you get past the first hour or so, the game really opens up. There’s people to talk to, secrets to find, and there’s rarely a rush to complete the next objective. You’re free to grind for resources and buy that gun upgrade, or just push through--relying purely on your skill to overcome challenges. But what really makes the game like this work is the “down time”.

Dark Forces 2, Mysteries of the Sith, and Jedi Outcast are fun action games--but there’s only one thing to do: fight your way to the end. Even if there’s sub-objectives to the over-all level, there’s no freedom. While several Mega Man battles take place in the town, the city is usually a place of no combat. But there’s plenty to do, secrets to find, and characters to interact with. And once a dungeon has been defeated, it’s nice to go back and look for secrets or grind. It makes the game way more diverse and I feel more in control as a player.

This is really important. Because the Star Wars games (and even Thief) are sooo straightforward and 1-dimensional, I get fatigued very quickly. And seeing as I like to beat a game before moving on, I get frustrated. I feel like these games are in the way of me finding happiness. Not a good reason to play games. But MML made me happy to play it. Even if I didn’t feel like taking on the next dungeon, I could do side quests or grind on an easier dungeon and not feel like I’ve wasted time. It all helps me succeed in the future. And that gives me joy.

Mega Man Legends is joy!

I started this game way back in 1997 or 1998, and I restarted it many times since. This was the first time I beat it, and I love it--absolutely. Likely a top 10 game for me. I hope to add this to my rotation of games to replay till the end of my days--but then again, I’m curious if Mega Man Legends 2 will outshine it??

[yomo715]

(BOTW) A Sobering Confession

RATED: T (Mild language, Alcohol) 

SYNOPSIS: Inspired by this post. Zelink, Set Post-Calamity. Starts cute but goes downhill fast XD Enjoy!

________________________________________________________________

“I should have anticipated this,” Zelda groaned. She slumped over, shoulders hunched as she stirred her glass of hydromelon juice.

Over the past few hours the Gerudo bar grew lively, filled with the sounds of laughter and merrymaking. Zelda turned to face the room, watching her goofy hero flounce about.

Two Gerudo vai lounging in the back thought it might be fun to teach Link a few of their traditional dances. It was painfully obvious that he had succumbed to the pleasant buzz of alcohol, having already downed two entire Noble Pursuits. And then some. So, they deemed him the most gullible of the crowd and plucked him right from his seat. While Zelda—who’d had a few drinks herself—was immune to their charms, Link allowed them to whisk him to the middle of the room without a second thought. Never with a sober mind would he, dressed as a vai or otherwise, attempt any kind of dance in general, let alone a Gerudo one.

But he was doing so now, and Zelda could see the wrinkles of a bright smile shine from his eyes. He must have been grinning from ear to ear underneath the opaque face veil.

At least he’s having fun, Zelda reminded herself. Her gaze softened, and a smile graced her own face as she basked in his happiness.

In truth, it was a comedic scene. Link stood between the two Gerudo, who both towered over the tiny Hylian “vai”, copying their steps verbatim. Or at least he tried to. It was clear the alcohol was beginning to affect him, as each swing of the hip and rhythmic step became more and more sluggish. The fact that there was no music in the room didn’t help his tempo. He fell flat on his butt more times than he’d clear-headedly care to admit, but each time his laughs grew louder.

Laughter from Link was rare, and whenever Zelda heard his breathy voice chuckle it caught her off guard. Thus, her smile grew, looking almost as cheery as the gleeful boy trying to spin in circles a few feet away from her.

Link must have spotted her smiling, for his whirl stopped dead in its tracks. His eyes met hers for a moment, and she could have melted from the sweet, almost sickening amount of affection he displayed.

“What?” Zelda scoffed, feeling a tad bit uncomfortable from his puppy-dog eyes. Link whispered something, but the sound didn’t reach Zelda’s ears. “Hm?” Her head cocked to one side and she crossed her arms.

The intoxicated Hylian crossed the room, not quite in a straight line, and plopped down on the stool next to Zelda’s. He propped his head up with one arm, elbow leaning against the table. She could still see the hints of a smile lighting up his eyes as he spoke.

“Are you a goddess, because I could swear you’re glowing right now.”

Zelda fought back a cringe but failed to suppress a loud snort. If she was sipping her drink, she would have spewed it all over her hero. It was one of, if not the worst pickup lines she’d ever heard.

For whatever reason, though, when it came from Link it felt oddly flattering. Doubly so from his love struck gaze. Her heart made a familiar thump as a chill rushed through her. Something she felt quite often those days, since the two officially became a pair.

To clear her head, Zelda lifted her glass of hydromelon juice to her lips and looked away for a moment. The drink was refreshing, to say the least, but in spite of her efforts she could feel her cheeks heating to a bright pink color.

“Is that so?” The princess mused after a little while, not wanting to keep her hero waiting. “Am I bright?”

“Blinding.”

Thump.

Zelda snickered, rolling her eyes at Link, who now fully leaned his head onto the table. “Stop staring,” she pouted, almost annoyed by how adorable he was.

“Why?” Link flat out whined. “You’re the girl of my—” he hiccuped, speech a little slurred “—dreams, so I can gawk a little, right? Please?” Zelda could swear his eyes grew two or three sizes larger, despite how dilated his pupils already were from drinking.

“Oh, goddess, give me strength,” the princess muttered under her breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her cheeks felt molten, like a fire chu chu set them ablaze. She was sure her face was red as a cherry. Despite her embarrassment, however, when she stole a glance from Link she couldn’t help but laugh. The boy looked far too pleased with himself for his own good.

She turned back to face him, unable to hide from that cute, innocent expression his eyes reflected. “You flatter me too much, my silly hero,” Zelda teased with a smile. He giggled like a child.

Her hand lifted to Link’s head to tuck a loose strand of hair behind his ear. In response, he leaned a little closer and closed his eyes, breathing a sigh of contentment.

Another small smile grew from within Zelda. She savored these little moments of peace, as they’d grown far and few in between lately. It had been hard to spend some quality time with her hero after the rebuilding of the kingdom began, so even though she was normally opposed to a night out drinking, she accepted it as a date when Link offered.

It had been worth it so far.

The princess’s gaze softened, amused as the hair strand she tried to tuck kept falling back out of Link’s ear, refusing to be placed. It must have been a cowlick. She didn’t mind, however. It just gave her an excuse to study his features more.

After learning her hair-tucking attempts were futile, Zelda trailed her fingers from his temple to his jawline. Link’s skin was warm and surprisingly rough. Not quite like sandpaper, but weathered, littered with tiny scars invisible to the naked eye. From his countless number of reckless adventures, no doubt. She liked to imagine some of their stories. Many of them she’d heard from her hero, but others were sealed shut through tight lips.

Once Zelda had enough of teasing his skin, she caressed his cheek with her thumb, cupping it in her palm. Link hummed, relaxed by her touch. It looked like he would fall asleep.

“I think my mom used to do that,” he muttered out of the blue.

This snapped the princess back to reality. Zelda blinked, unsure if she heard him correctly. “Your mother?” She probed, curiosity spilling forth as her logical mind overruled her emotions. Link nodded, so she continued. “You remember her?”

Link was quiet for a while. His eyes opened and his brow furrowed, and she could see him searching through the many blank spaces of memories that were still lost to him.

“No,” he answered. “Everything’s a blur.” Zelda’s shoulders sagged, but Link hadn’t finished his thought. “I can hear a—a woman singing a song, though. She’s brushing my hair. She’s very gentle, and I—” His voice died in his throat, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

Zelda only noticed now that he was shaking.

“Hey.” Link’s sudden change in demeanor alarmed the princess. “What’s the matter?” Her tones were soft, subtle and gentle. She leaned closer to her hero, placing a tender hand on his back.

Link flinched. He shrugged her hand off of him, acting rather childish as he buried his face into his arms. Zelda smiled at first, finding it amusing, but it fell when she heard him sniffling.

A few of the Gerudo turned their heads. They were curious of the situation, but Zelda signaled to leave them be.

“Link,” The princess cooed in a quiet voice, dipping her head down to meet his face. “What’s this about?” With his consent, she rubbed his back in slow circles.

Link’s first words were inaudible. They were lost amongst the sleeves and sniffles, so Zelda asked him again.

“Why am I so broken?” he babbled, and his face met hers. When he turned his head, she saw his eyes were reddened and his cheeks stained with tear tracks, and her heart gave a painful throb.

It was the alcohol that heightened Link’s emotional state. The normally kind, yet guarded (and surprisingly witty) hero was reduced to a blubbering mess in mere minutes, thanks to strong drink. To anyone else who knew him, it would be a scene worthy for the history books.

But Zelda, who knew him better than anyone else, couldn’t hide her frown. A familiar ache stirred in her chest. A drowning sensation of guilt followed. His brokenness was caused by his fragmented mind—a fragmented mind from the hundred-year sleep she put him in.

“You’re not broken,” she whispered in assurance for them both.

“But I am,” Link protested. “I want to mourn them, so badly.” His voice trailed off in a whimper, and he sucked in a breath as he sat up a little to face Zelda. “But I can’t even do that. I can’t remember them,” he shook his head. “My parents, my friends, the old kingdom. It’s all a black void.”

So that’s why he’s upset, Zelda surmised. Her heart ached for her hero. “That’s not your fault,” she tried to excuse in a murmur. Her voice was shaking as well, she realized, but ignored it. “And, you know, you are mourning them. Just by the fact that you wish to remember them, you are mourning them.” She was rambling now, but words just kept flowing from her mouth. “I am so sorry that you were forced into this without a choice, that your memories were taken from you. And if there was anything at all I could have done differently, I would…I would have…”

She stopped, seeing that her words appeared to have the opposite effect of consolation. Link’s head hung low and he shuddered. His hands were pressed to his cheeks, teeth clenched to keep himself quiet, and still she could see tears rolling off his palms.

The back of Zelda’s throat burned. A sting of tears glazed her own eyes over, but she willed them away with a long exhale. She stopped rubbing his back.

“Mipha…” She heard Link mumble. “Mipha was my friend, right?”

Zelda just nodded, even though Link wasn’t looking at her. Every word died in her throat.

“And Urbosa?” He asked like she had answered.

“O-of course.”

“And Daruk.”

“Daruk, too.”

“And Revali. Even though he seemed like an ass.”

Zelda laughed once. “Even Revali.”

“Then why do they feel so far away?” Link hissed. Zelda didn’t speak, waiting for him to finish. “The few memories I have of them, they don’t feel real. It feels like they’re still strangers to me. It’s so wrong.” He hiccuped again. Then, he did something odd.

Link straightened his posture with a slow unsteady breath. He opened his eyes, gaze fixed on the pale moon gleaming through the open window. The miserable expression on his face flattened, his eyes taking on a familiar, chilling emptiness.

It was something Zelda hadn’t seen in him in over a century.

Her heart broke.

“When I first went to Zora’s Domain,” Link’s voice lost its tremor, and instead it sounded hollow. “Many of the Zoras recognized me. They were very excited at first—one of them even called me by a nickname. It was really hard to be there when they realized I’d forgotten them. I felt so heavy, and I wanted to cry and scream ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Believe me, I’m trying to remember!’.” Link swallowed hard, then paused. His drunken mind struggled to catch up with his thoughts.

“Then I remembered Mipha. A single memory of her, just her, on top of Vah Ruta. I was grateful that I finally recalled at least one thing, but it wasn’t enough. She and everyone else…even though I was told time and time again ‘we used to play in the river’, ‘you’re our friend’, ‘she loved you’, they were all blank spaces in my mind.” He closed his eyes. “They still are.”

Zelda’s composure cracked. The forlorn look in Link’s eyes after his long speech snapped the last string, and everything erupted forth like a dam bursting from within.

Her guilt. Her anger. His anger. Their grief.

It all flowed in streams of tears from her eyes, and she was powerless to stop it.

Zelda was quiet at first, muffling her sniffles by burying her face into the sleeve of Link’s arm band. He didn’t stop her or push her away, sitting motionless as she gripped the loose fabric of his shirt so taught it might tear, rambling apologies and murmuring pointless things about his memories.

How she wished there was something she could do to help. How she couldn’t fathom the pain of waking with nothing more than a name and a voice for guidance. How selfish she was for thinking he would be fine with this.

Pointless things.

Her cries grew louder.

“Don’t cry,” Link’s voice was soft. Zelda felt him shift, one hand curling around her back and pulling her close, the other cradling the top of her head in the nook of his arm. He held her a little too tightly, as he always did. The side of her face smushed into his chest and his cheek nestled into her hair, ruining her braid. “Please don’t cry, Zelda.”

“You don’t cry, you big baby,” Zelda mocked. The retort was both childish and utterly ridiculous, but she couldn’t help herself. She could still feel his hot tears drip onto her forehead and into her hair. “This is your fault!”

Perhaps drink had finally taken to her as well.

***

The next morning Link’s eyes were still red, but this time from the relentless throb of a hangover.

He groaned, rising as a redead would from his bed: hair disheveled, face veil down under his chin (he’d forgotten to take it off), cheeks puffy, eyes burning.

“What the hell happened last night,” he grumbled in annoyance.

Zelda, who was already preparing an unappetizing hangover cure, laughed. Link flinched at the sound. “You tell me,” she whispered, handing the drink to him.

Outwardly, she was calm. Inwardly, her heart raced.

The hero made a face at the glass, but downed the elixir in one gulp. He couldn’t help but gag, though. “I don’t know,” he flailed his arm in a lazy gesture. “Some of the women dragged me to the middle of the bar. I think.”

Zelda raised an eyebrow. “That’s all you remember?” She asked with care, but slight hints of relief traced her brow.

Link shrugged. “More or less.”

“Really?”

Link shot her a defensive look. “I wasn’t that drunk.”

The princess snorted. The pure relief bubbled up through her chest in laughter. It left her hero stupefied, but she was silently thanking the sisters for saving her from an awkward conversation this morning. She fretted all night over what turned out to be nothing at all.

Instead of leaving Link completely clueless, she egged, “You started flirting with me.” That much was true.

Link’s confusion only worsened, however. “That’s not weird,” he pointed a finger. “We’re together!”

Zelda’s smile spread into a mischievous grin. This is payback for making me cry, she thought as she fibbed, “You inquired me if I was single. When I claimed I wasn’t, you started bawling like a child.”

The raw, unrefined horror cast on Link’s face made the whole night worth it.

[thedragonsteaparty]

Looking over my recent posts the other day I realised that, despite being a gaming blog, I haven’t actually talked much about the games I’m currently playing. Unfortunately, being the busy bee that I am at the moment what with leaving my job, sorting out new flat details, making another costume (I’m going to be a unicorn this time, stay tuned for that) and various other things that I have given myself to do despite my lack of time, my gaming life has had to take a back seat. I intend to remedy this as soon as possible but for now the only thing I have time to do is get killed by the Blood Starved Beast (yep, STILL on that dude, it’s getting embarrassing) in Bloodborne over and over in half hour sessions occasionally and play The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on my way to and from work. I haven’t actually talked about Phantom Hourglass yet and I wasn’t going to, mainly because it’s really old now and therefore not exactly hot off the press “check out this amazing game!” but, maybe because it’s old now, the more I play it the more I realise that Phantom Hourglass is VERY into using all the features available to the Nintendo DS and it’s been a really long time since I have played a DS game that has done that, I know that back in the day when the DS was first a thing we had games that used all these features but now I have my 3DS with various Pokémon, Mario, and some other LoZ games but I rarely use the stylus, microphone or camera and when I do it’s optional (usually). As this keeps tripping me up – I didn’t expect to be doing things like shouting at my 3DS to get a low price on a salvage arm for my ship (among other things) – I thought, why not? Let’s post about it and give it some love! Also, this is a total coincidence and I didn’t realise until I Googled the release date out of curiosity, but it will be 10 years since Phantom Hourglass was released on the 23rd June so this can count as an anniversary tribute post!

I picked up Phantom Hourglass in a second hand shop a while ago and as soon as I started playing I hit a block. I couldn’t get Link to move. None of the buttons worked. As it was second hand my first thought was that the game was broken but then, after an embarrassing few minutes of me just raging at the screen, I had a “could it be..?” moment, dusted off the stylus and tapped an area on the screen which Link then moved to. Yes, it was super dumb of me, I groaned and face palmed too. It wasn’t long until I realised that EVERYTHING in this game relies on the stylus. With most of my aforementioned games I must admit that on the rare occasion I need to use the stylus for a quick tap on something (e.g. choosing a Pokémon move) then I will just tap it with my finger. This is obviously not the best way to keep my Nintendo in pristine condition but it doesn’t really do it any harm either. I feel like styluses seem to have been phased out of most Nintendo Games at the moment with it being more of an optional feature than a game dependant one. As a result I am really unused to using it constantly like I need to in Phantom Hourglass, and when I actually have to attack something poor Link ends up swinging his sword around in a battle technique I like to call the ‘Panic and Swoosh’, it’s usually accompanied by equally panicked, incessant yells of “HYAAA KYAA HYEEEEEH AAAAH!!!!”, pretty sure this translates to “WHAT ARE YOU DOING, CRAZY BITCH?!” I think I’m pretty far into the story though now though so I must be doing something right.

Still want a game where we can play as Tetra, but I think that ship might have sailed (pun unashamedly intended)

Another feature this game makes use of, which I don’t think I have ever used on my Nintendo 3DS, is the microphone. This was an embarrassing moment. I was on the train sat in one of the areas with the table and there was another three people I didn’t know sat around it with me. Everything was very quiet. I was happily plugged into my 3DS and Link was running around outside the Temple of Wind. I realised that to get the temple door open I had to get some windmills spinning. Guess what you have to do to get them spinning? You have to blow on the mic. After realising this I had a sneaky look round and tried to blow, very discreetly on the mic. It didn’t work. That’s when I had another, worse, realisation: you have to make a blowing sound because it’s a mic, it can’t feel you actually breathing on it. I sat there for about 10 minutes trying to get those damn windmills turning by fake coughing, sighing very loudly, and even fake sneezing on the mic to no avail, after the fake sneezing I started to get some odd looks so I stopped and spent the rest of the journey sulking that the world was not yet ready to just accept a woman blowing loudly on a Nintendo 3DS in public (that line will come back to haunt me completely out of context at some point in the future, I’m sure).

Despite my reserves about playing it in public – it’s rare enough to see anyone playing 3DS in public, let alone shouting into the mic and blowing on it – I am enjoying this game. Like its predecessor, Wind Waker, it’s a lovely, colourful world and it has some really good characters in it too. Linebeck, your travelling companion is great, even though at first I was put off by the fact that he’s meant to be the comic relief with very aimed-at-children humour (which is ridiculous, who would think to aim this game at children?!) but he’s grown on me. Plus he has a sweet-ass coat.

Look at his little booties! They almost look like hooves

While we’re on the topic of characters, I just want to bring up this weird but AWESOME side quest. I met an old dude who lives alone on an island (who, by the way, has a wife and son on a different island, but that’s none of my business…) and he tells you how he would love to meet a mermaid. When you leave his house lo and behold a mermaid appears. She kept diving away from me and out of frustration I chucked my boomerang at her, not expecting it to do anything, but it did! So I hit her round the head but she seemed to get over that pretty quickly. She then reveals to you that she is not a mermaid she just likes dressing up as one and she is using a swim tube to float. That made me love her so much. She’s living the life, who wouldn’t want to do that if they could? THEN I went back to the hut and set her up with this gross, wife cheating old man who thinks she’s a real mermaid and now she lives in a paddling pool in his house!!! That is hands down the best side quest I have ever done. Except maybe the one where you get drunk in Skyrim and marry a hag, which was also very fun. It was super easy and quick to do, not to mention I was hooked on all the drama, but I think I’ll have to keep coming back to it in the future as the game goes on, kind of want to know what happens next, does his wife find out? Does mermaid lady get bored, meet a merman and leave? Do they get married? Scandal…

Another little thing I’m enjoying about this game; like in Wind Waker, Link has some incredible facial expressions. In Wind Waker he had quite a sassy look which I always thought was funny, but in Phantom Hourglass he is a bit goofier, maybe because his head looks like it’s been squashed Hey, Arnold style from some angles.

So in conclusion, if you fancy an old (feels weird calling it old, still feels like the DS only came out a couple of years ago) game that is a bit of fun and goofy but also sometimes quite frustrating give Phantom Hourglass a whirl.

Are there any old games that you’ve been pleasantly surprised by? What are your favourite 3DS/DS games?

Panic and Swoosh – An Accidental 10 Year Anniversary Post for Phantom Hourglass Looking over my recent posts the other day I realised that, despite being a gaming blog, I haven’t actually talked much about the games I’m currently playing.

[mygeekconfessions]

It’s summer and that means it’s convention season! First convention of the year is A-Kon 29. We’d like to thank the staff for having us once more to cover the event and arrange for us to interview guests and sit in on special events.

When A-Kon moved to the Fort Worth Convention Center, we knew there would be some adjustments to the location. After one year, we see the improvements! While nothing can be done about the long walk around to the Exhibitors Hall, the hall was divided in half by exhibitors and artists. Last year the artists were placed behind the dealers, forcing clients to be halted by official merchandise and unsure if there was an artist alley. Table letters and numbers were clearly marked by hanging banners above, making it much easier to visit artists one would come through specifically for. This small change in arrangement left the artists booming with business and the atmosphere was much better overall. This shift also gave easier access to the food court as well and one didn’t have to walk through Exhibitors Hall to find food. The divide in the exhibitors hall also made for more exits so one wouldn’t have to walk all the way around .

The hallways were less cluttered with music and dancer performers, making movement through the walkways more streamlined. The convention space spread across it and the four surrounding hotels, it never felt too crowded. A full panel room was rare. I think the only panel we were turned away from was the Critical Role one with Matt Mercer. We had the annual guest Li-Sync Battle (at least when Kyle Hebert is in attendance), annual Cold Read (now with Take One Improv troop), Ita-Bag sharing, Name that Tune with Vitamin C, industry showcases with Sentai Filmworks and Aniplex, voice over workshops, and guest Q&As. A-Kon 29 brought Richard Epcar and his infamous 18+ Outtakes throughout his career, as well as Cassandra Lee’s. One of my favorite panels this year was the 3 Vs 3: USA vs Japan Voice Actors. It brought three from each side to share the differing experiences in their fields across the ocean from each other. And FYI, Toru Furuya-san doesn’t mind voicing anyone as long as they are a fine ikemen like himself. This year also brought new comic artists to Texas, though the late hour on Friday made for a small crowd. The Awkward Yeti, Sarah’s Scribbles, Shen Comix, and Fowl Language shared their creative processes as well as how they broke into the business, keep in touch with fans, and keep pressing on despite varying anxieties.

3 Vs 3

Lip-Sync Battle

Lip-Sync Battle

Cold Read

Life and Times with Beau Billingslea

Ita-bag Show and tell

Social Marketing and Webcomics

We were impressed by the amount of Japanese musical guests A-Kon had this year. Every day there was one or two musical performances. Unfortunately, they were at odd times and under-hyped. I was elated at the announcement of Mika Kobayashi being in attendance this year, she was my main attraction for the year! I waited in line, got seated late with everyone and was shocked the Main Event room was not even half full. Did the con attendees not know who she was? She sang many vocal tracks for Attack on Titan, surely that would be a draw! But you say her name, and nobody knew. Regardless of the low-turn out, her performance was amazing, her voice is god(ess)ly. I really loved how her show was also a sword demonstration/drama with performers, Kamui! My suggestion for years to come is to try and hype the Japanese guests, especially the musical guests, so people will know who they are!

On the same day, was A New World: Intimate Music from Final Fantasy. This performance was an additional cost to attendees and it filled the room! From the producers of Distant World, New World is indeed a more intimate look into the music with its much smaller orchestra and no choir, but that doesn’t mean these guys didn’t pack a punch! They put on a beautiful concert, showcasing beloved tunes from the franchise. Definitely a highlight of the convention for me and fellow press pals. Please continue to invite guests like these… those that make us love an appreciate what the masters have given us.

Masquerade had the least amount of entries I had seen at a convention ever. The judging process seemed to take longer than the actual runway and skits. Here’s a collection of the great cosplay we saw this year!

Bungo Stray Dogs

Doctor Strange

Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Goofy Movie

My Hero Academia

Yuri!! on ICE

The Greatest Showman

Tenchi Muyo

The Seven Deadly Sins

My Hero Academia

Haikyuu

Sailor Moon x Revolutionary Girl Utena

Harry Potter

My Hero Academia

Hunchback of Notre Dame

Bungo Stray Dogs

Ace Attorney

Rocko’s Modern Life

Blue Exorcist

Stay-tuned for our podcast interviews with Andrew Love, Keith Silverstein, and Michelle Rojas! See you at A-Kon 30!

  Krista’s Korner – A-Kon 2018 It's summer and that means it's convention season! First convention of the year is A-Kon 29. We'd like to thank the staff for having us once more to cover the event and arrange for us to interview guests and sit in on special events.

[focusingonjoy]

Things That Made Me Happy In 2017

January 1st-Crush at the time liked my status. The Packers beat the Lions. Bought a game.

January 3rd-I saw really cool train tunnels in the mountains. Traveled to the World Mission Summit

January 4th-Entered the state of Texas for the first time ever (Texas has always been my favorite state). Met and took a selfie with a beautifully authentic person.

January 6th-Got a really cool henna tattoo. Felt God calling me to missions (specifically drama ministry in Japan). Hung out with a friend at the World missions Summit.

January 7th-Stayed up and watched cartoons with a friend. A friend told me I’m a good singer

January 8th-The bus forgot the lyrics to We Will Rock You so I finished the song and blew wveryone away. Trailblazers won the Golden Globe.They finally put TMNT on Netflix.

January 9th-Realized two of my teachers are goofy. Aly updated her game and it involves defending someone in court and working on a play

January 11th-The Packers beat the Giants. Had been looking for The Book Thief at the library and couldn’t find it, turns out they were selling it for 50 cents. I looked and felt cute despite not combing my hair. Saw someone dressed in lolita at school. Got my students benefit sticker for the first time in quite a few semesters. Bought something with a dragonfly on it. Had a dream about an adventure

January 12th-A friend texted me and asked how I’m doing.

January 14th-Ate a calzone for the first time and it was awesome. Had an Avatar the Last Airbender mararthon with my mom and brother. Realized 7KPP appeals to both my lawyer and theater crew ambitions

January 15th-One freind said I’m awesome and another said she’d always be my friend. The Packers beat the Cowboys. One of my favorite bloggers messaged me. My crush at the time liked my status and said he’d still be my friend even if I shaved my head (it was relevant, lol).

January 16th-Joined the worship team

January 18th-Brought out a candle I bought in 2012 and it still smells amazing.  Laughed a lot and took good notes during class. Hung out with my family and laughed a lot and my brother improvised introvert songs. Someone said the bus terminal makes them think of Disney Land (which is something I always thought as well).

January 20th-My crush (no longer my crush but still) liked my status

January 27th-Purchased formal dress and gloves. Received 1000 dollars.

January 31st-Girl at school gave her life to God. Saw my crush at the time in person (rarely got to see him). Found out that we were having enchanted. First worship team meeting.

Febbruary 3rd-A friend asked me to sit with her during gathering (like church service). A friend offered me a ride home.

February 4th-Went to Comic Con with my brother and bought some cool stuff (including some Ouran HighSchool Host Club manga) and made strangers laugh with our antics. Saw lots of cool cosplayers

February 5th-Did some shopping with my mom and boutht two beautiful dresses and a blouse.

February 6th-Had conversations with people at the bus terminal and one lady told me I’m pretty. Was productive in class and got to joke around with a classmate while painting sets

Fwbruary 7th-Finally got a trashcan

Feb 8th-Found out my best friend is going back to university. Used a powersaw in shop class. They were blasting Legend of Zelda music during theater workshop. Listened to Assyrian music and learned how to do a dance.

February 10th-Was told that I’m pure and was seen in a white dress surrounded by flowers (prophetic message) was told that I’m surrounded by light, was told I’m a good singer, was told that my time (for good things) was going to come.

February 11th-Went to Enchanted and hung out with some friends before hand. Had my feet washed.

February 12th-My crush at the time liked my status and called me a blessing

February 13th-My sister reached out to me when I was going through something. My mom and I started volunteering.

February 15th-Finally bought a hotdog from the hotdog stand in Modesto. Had a “sword” fight with a classmate (using rulers).

February 19th-Talked on the phone with my sister and laughed a lot, she talked about about a dream she had which was personal to her

February 20th-My dress and gloves finally came in and they are lovely. Woke up early and realized there was no school so enjoyed the morning with my parents.

February 21st-Finally bought a painting I had been wanting

February 22nd-A classmate told me I’m smart

February 23rd-Joined a friends life group and saw her for the first time in a while. Got confirmation that I’m a dreamer and that that’s not a bad thing.

February 27th-Found out I can rely on God and friends.

March 1st-Ran into a friend at school and got to hang out with her for a bit.

March 2nd-Went out to Rount Table (their pizza is so good!) with my family and played awesome music through the jukebox

March 4th-Went to Nightwatch Prayerand opened up to people. Received prayer and received a word from a friend. Met some great women and had a donut.

March 5th-Hung out with friends at church and got some Sonic with one of them.

March 6th-Got a bag of fortune cookies

March 7th-Made my friend laugh. Made a new friend. Got empowered on flags (worship).

March 9th-Went to the movies with two girls from life group.

March 11th-Went to Cultural Expressions (China).

March 12th-Hung out with my dad and brother and climbed a tree

March 16th-Ex Astris 5 came out

March 18th-Watched new Beauty and the Beast with family

March 22nd-Stepped on the stage when the lights were on and it felt magical. Had decent conversation with a classmate. A classmate told me I’m smart. Class clapped for me.My brother made the class laugh a lot. Went to the park with my brother and snuck into the auditiorium. Ate at Jimmy John’s with family

March 23rd-Worship night at school. Someone I look up to called me her friend. Bought a game

March 24th-Bought a game

March 25th-Went out to lunch with my mom and did some window shopping. Had soda for the first time in a while.

March 27th-Talked normally with some classmates

March 28th-Opened up to a friend about my financial situation.Got three numbers. Got empowered on flags again.

March 31st-Saw a play and got some Jamba Juice with my brother. Saw my name in the program (helped build set)

April 3rd-Lost 6 pounds. Got asked to do powerpoint for worship. Went shopping

April 4th-Practiced powerpoint. Joked around with friends

April 5th-My teacher doesn’t disdain me. Ran into a friend

April 7th-Did powerpoint for worship

April 11th-A friend gave me the rest of her food

April 12th-Stayed busy during class. Saw a zebra and men riding on horses (at the bus terminal, no less)

April 16th-Went to the grasslands with my family. Saw a classmate outside of class. Saw a deer. Easter

April 18th-Chi Alpha potluck. Saw orchestra with my family

April 21st-Went to the park and played basketball with my family

April 22nd-Went to the park, Museum, library, and bakery with my family. Had vegan donuts and gelato. Passed by two weddings. Saw a gigantic dog and an old fashioned diner display

April 29th-Christina Grimmie’s movie was put on Netflix. Took a midnight drive with my mom and brother. Found out Safeway is open 24/7

May 2nd-Went to Jimmy John’s with my family. Two friends talked about how I can rap. Ran into a friend. Found the German song I had been searching for for a while

May 3rd-My 23rd birthday. Went out to dinner with class to celebrate the last class of the semester. My dad’s computer that he ordered came in

May 5th-Had a long conversation with a friend

May 6th-Saw a play with my family

May 9th-Became the official dogsitter for my friend’s dog

May 12th-Played soccer with friends

May 13th-Watched Eurovision. Talked on the phone with my sister

May 15th-Made vegan mac and cheese with my brother

May 18th-Star Days came out. Became friends on facebook with old neighbor

May 19th-Took a drive with my family.

May 23rd-Quoted Spongebob with friends. My brother said I may have a sister in law soon. Bought a game. A friend told me I’m hilarious.

May 25th-Life group started back up. Decorated a journal

May 26th-Finally started watching season 5 of Switched at Birth

May 27th-Went to lunch with my mom

May 30th-A friend said I should go to an event with her. Bought Undertale and laughed over it with my brother

May 31st-Rode what, in my opinion, is an awesome and spacious bus. Finished first playthrough of a game and it was so good

June 2nd-My brother got a job!!

June 6th-Saw Guardians of the Galaxy 2 with my brother and had a fun time walking home

June 12th-My brother got a phone. My sister said I’m pretty

June 17th-Laughed a lot with my parents and spent some time researching my family tree

June 18th-Found an old photo of my dad

June 19th-Talked a lot with old friends

June 21st-Heard a beautiful song playing downtown. Discovered mukbang

June 22nd-Found lemonade tea in the house

June 24th-Brother got a surprise day off of work

June 25th-Went to the park with family

June 26th-Went swimming. Found out about the Super Nintendo Classic.

June 28th-Had free ice cream. Was invited to a friends party

June 29th-Found out that a game I couldn’t play in a while can be played on the new computer

July 1st-Cousin agreed to send me old family photos

July 4th-Went to a festival with my dad and brother. Got free ice cream. Received a super sweet anon message on tumblr. Had free pizza. Discovered Postmodern Jukebox on Youtube. Had rootbeer floats with family and tried blended ice coffee

July 5th-A friend told me I crack him up

July 7th-A friend told me I’m funny and other people agreed. Sent my brother a hilarious text

July 8th-Found my cousin online

July 10th-Received old family photos. Discovered new names in my family history

July 11th-Went swimming and had a picnic with my mom and brother. Found out my great grandma’s name

July 12th-Learned more names in my family history. Was sent photos from my aunt.

July 16th-One of my favorite bloggers called me one of her favorite followers

July 17th-Went to the fair with minimal lines and had an icee and my brother finally got to go on the ferris wheel

July 19th-My cousin accepted my friend request. Found out Code Lyoko is uploaded on Youtube and can be watched free and legally

July 20th-Had a Frasier marathon with my parents. My cousin sent me such a sweet message. Found a really cool game aesthetic blog. My dad’s friend brought over food, including pie.

July 23rd-Found out my great great aunt taught Liberace piano. Ate mushrooms for the first time in a good while

July 24th-Watched Frasier with my family

July 26th-Holy Spirit Conference. Ran into a girl from life group and sat with her. Ran into girl from prayer meeting. Got some personal revelations. My married friend is having a baby.

July 29th-Dyed my hair.

July 31st-Got Jamba Juice with my brother and watched RWBY for the first time

August 1st-Went to National Night Out and went swimming

August 6th-Watched Frasier with family and had a smorgasbord for dinner

August 7th-Had Chinese food with family and goofed off with my brother in the 99 cent store. An old friend added a bunch of us girls to a group on facebook

August 8th-Registered for my second semester of Assyrian. My brother likes the demo of a game I like and even offered to buy it for me when it comes out. One of my favorite bloggers messaged me

August 9th-Found my shuriken, old letters from my brother, and secret star (like secret santa) stuff. Had a whole bunch of mac salad and a veggie burger. Used pink brillo pads and the work wonderfully

August 11th-Found the seashells my aunt gave me

August 12th-One of my favorite bloggers messaged me. A friend and I started talking on tumblr

August 15th-My brother and I took a walk and he talked a lot (he’s not usually chatty). Had conversations with different people on tumblr

August 16th-Really felt God’s presence

August 19th-Someone who is hard to impress liked my status

August 20th-My brother got the day off of work. Played a game with my brother and joked around with a friend,

August 21st-Got caught up on RWBY and watched Impractical Jokers with my brother. Talked to a cool employee at the dollar store

August 22nd-Introduced my brother to Gilmore Girls and he loves it. Ate mushrooms (which I love). My mom and I made plans to have lunch

August 23rd-Found out they’re bringing the Secret Garden, Dead Poets Society, the Rugrats Movie, Newsies, Pocahontas, and Mulan to Netflix. First Assyrian class of the semester. A friend drove me home

August 24th-A friend tagged me in a funny video on facebook.

August 25th-Friends messaged me. My family received eggs

August 26th-Went to the Assyrian festival with my brother and he bought a children’s book in Assyrian to study with

August 28th-Read some words in Assyrian, someone reblogged one of my poems and tagged it with “this is so pretty”. Started and finished a great book. My mom made dinner for all of us with mushrooms, tofu, cheese, and spinach. Watched Gilmore Girls with my mom and brother

August 29th-Got my hair completely combed. A friend said I sing like an angel. A friend gave me a ride home. Worship team resumes for Fall gatherings

August 31st-Had lunch with my dad. A friend of mine received a lot of wisdom.

September 1st-Had lunch with my mom. Laughed a lot on the bus with the bus driver. Did powerpoint for the whole service. A friend played with my hair. Lost 7 pounds without trying.

September 4th-Went to the park with my mom and brother. Made plans to visit with my other brother.

September 5th-Put bedset on bed. Amplitude came out.

September 8th-Two friends told me I’m funny

September 9th-A friend send me a text telling me she lvoes me

September 10th-Had ice cream sandwhiches

September 11th-My brother bought a cool painting

September 12th-Laughed a lot with friends. A friend offered to buy me Japanese treats and texted me to thank me for doing powerpoint

September 14th-My brother fixed a door in the house that had not worked right in a long time

September 15th-Another friend thanked me for doing powerpoint and said she’d invite me to hang out if I wasn’t busy.

September 26th-A friend hugged me and told me she loves me

September 27th-My Assyrian teacher told me I pronounce the “khe” sound well

Octover 21st-Went to a party at a friend’s house, ate good food, and laughed a lot.

November 23rd-Thanksgiving

November 28th-Worship Team leader brought pizza to practice and thanked me for being on the team

November 25th-Had small group at a friends house

November 29th-My dad came home from visiting his brother. A classmate fave me a ride home and gave me her number. My teacher hugged me. Got sudoku and crosswords from my dad

November 30th-Cashier paid for me and my dad. Spent some quality time my dad. Found some cool stuff to watch on hoopladigital. Didn’t gain weight over the holiday. Received a delicious free lunch

December 1st-Saw Coco with my brother. A friend invited me to her house. A friend hugged me and told me I’m cute. The guy who filled out my nametag wrote “graciosa y bonita alma”. Saw my friends dance. Sat with friends. A friend wanted to make sure I was going on the Winter trip. A guy I know just...being himself, adorable. A friend told me she’s proud of me.Ate spaghetti. A friend prayed for me.

December 2nd-Went to the library and thrift store with my mom, bought some books and a picnic basket. Got some money. Was wished a merry Christmas by a kind stranger. Finally watched Big Hero 6.

December 3rd-My brother bought Christmas lights

December 6th-Found out one of my classmates lives on the same street

December 9th-Gave blood. Went to the mall with my brother. Passed by a famous house in my town and realized it has a moat. Walked through a magical and unfamliar neighborhod. Saw an outdoor concert. Rode the nightbus back to town. Had some Jamba Juice

December 11th-Found out my bloodtype (B+)

December 15th-Had rainbow sherbert and white soda

December 17th-My brother came to visit. Had pretty good pizza. My brother got to ice skate

December 20th-Went out to Jamba Juice with a friend, she mentioned I’m one of the few people who asks her how she’s doing and listens.

December 21st-Finally got to read Princess Jellyfish volume 7 (English volume)

December 23rd-Finally bought red pants. Found the manga section at the library

December 24th-My brother went to church and he likes it and wants to go more.Opened Christmas gifts.

December 25th-Had a really fun time serving at the Gospel Mission

December 26th-Found out my brother has New Years off

December 27th-Found out we get to keep our dogs. Had tuna melts for the first time

December 30th-Bought a game. My brother had a fun day at work. My cousin wants to get to know me better and has old family silverware she wants to give me and my dad.

December 31st-Watched a movie with the whole family.

Some things that happened from late September-early November-Two good friends got engaged. Got words of knowledge from several friends.Got words of knowledge for a few friends. Had a Thanksgiving potluck with my Assyrian class and my brother got to go as well. My classmate gave me a keychain from her trip to Thailand Had Thanksgiving dinner with Christian fellowship and international students, made some friends laugh and saw a friend get a pie to the face. The library ordered more volumes of my favorite manga.Celebrated a friend’s birthday. Got to talk to a cute guy and found out he likes anime and Russian and Japanese. Finally had a macaron, saw someone doing ballet to Once Upon a December, went to Festival of Lights with my mom and brother. Sang with two friends. Found out the city buses will add more routes. RWBY volume 5 started.Became friends with an awesome woman of God.Dead Poets Society and the Secret Garden were put on Netflix. The book I needed to buy for Worship team was on sale.Ran into a friend after not seeing her for a while. My brother said he wants us to meet his girlfriend. Got a buy-one-get-one-free card for Jamba Juice. Lost some weight. Started choir practice