#some of this could be considered copium but. i think im onto something. i really do.

[azuresage]

Predictions for TotK’s Structure

I posted this somewhere else, but I wanna share it here, too. 

So now that we have our last trailer pre-launch, we've seen a bunch of stuff. I wanna make some predictions here about the structure I think the game will be following. Keep in mind this is only based on the trailers and no artbook leaks, which I have not seen.

So, first thing's first. Zelda's role here I think is going to be significant.

I said in another post that this scene looks like a debug camera over gameplay footage to me. The framing, the stillness of Zelda, the camera movements, the way the environment is moving. There's no way this is a cutscene. That's what my eyes are telling me, anyway. So that would mean playable Zelda somehow, some way. I think I have an idea of how that would work, considering she got separated from Link. So let's take a look here... First thing to note is, in the above screenshot, the background looks significantly traversable and manipulable. This is also true in this shot...

Talking to the supposed Zonai man. The background looks veeeery similar. I'm willing to bet this is the same room as the shot above, or at least the same structure. I am also willing to bet that this shot is a conversation in which Zonai man is encouraging Zelda to forge ahead on her path, which leads her to the previous shot. She's on her way somewhere. And where would that be?

Here, perhaps? This appears to be over the Great Plateau, maybe, judging by the background. But it's not very high. There's no sign of sky islands whatsoever. That's a bit odd, isn't it? Here's why I think that's important...

As Zelda falls, she starts glowing in a particular way we've seen before. I believe this is her getting magicked away to safety... to the room we see in those first shots. But where is there? Some people are speculating it's the past, but... I am speculating it is in fact a Realm of Memories which will contain a few segments where Zelda is playable. This is what I think her "come and find me" at the end of the trailer is referring to, because...

Same glowy particles that were surrounding Zelda, but now they're covering a Sanctum that looks awfully pristine. I think this scene is Link walking through a memory. Some people have theorized there will be time travel, but I think I can buy a realm of memories better. Would be more in line with BotW. Eventually, Link will be able to enter this realm and reunite with Zelda. Now, here's another thing that supports why I think this...

This shot of the Zonai man is a memory, I'm willing to bet. I think this is a memory of the original sealing of this Ganondorf, pre-10k years ago. Look in the background. We see a Rito with the Great Eagle Bow and a Gerudo with the Scimitar of the Seven, being corrupted by malice like the Zonai man is here. There's even malice particles floating around in the air. Neither of these warriors look like Riju or Tulin (or Teba), nor do they resemble Revali or Urbosa. I think these are Champions or Sages of old, and this is a memory that Zelda sees when she goes into the realm of memories and speaks with the Zonai man as seen in the first shots I posted. That is how I think this all connects together. It's possible that the Hylia-looking lady (who is likely Hylia herself or an ancestor of Zelda) using sealing powers to blast a laser at that horde of Moldugas is also a memory.

So how does this all fit into the structure of the game? I bet we get memory segments with playable Zelda in between dungeons. I suspect there will be at least four of them. I think that once Link get's that dungeon-clear fanfare, the game will shift settings over to Zelda's perspective. And the way I think this will work is that Link must involve himself with each of the four races. Link completes a segment with them, he gains their allyship, and we see Zelda in the realm of memories. Rinse and repeat, in any order. At least for the first four. After that, I think is where things will start to get linear.

There's a progression in their designs here. In earlier trailer footage, Sidon does not yet have the crown on his head and Tulin only has the swallow bow and does not yet have the Great Eagle Bow which we see peeking on the corner of the shot (along with Yunobo's Boulder Breaker). So I think this is a story event that can only take place after you do each of their individual plotlines, and it will culminate into a linear story for the second half of the game, maybe. So we have, according to my speculations... Tutorial > Link, dungeon > Zelda, memory > Link, dungeon > Zelda, memory > Link, dungeon > Zelda, memory > Link, dungeon > Zelda, memory... which them culminates into this scene...

Zelda is on the platform we see over the Great Plateau in that shot I posted earlier. And she has the Master Sword. She's probably fixing it up. I think this will conclude her playable storyline. So then we move to... Link enters the realm of memories to find her > the next four dungeons open up (im assuming 8 dungeons not counting a possible final one because there are 8 phials) > the story begins to move into the linear path where the Champion Successors come together and fight for Hyrule. So, I could be totally off-base here, but this is what I'm reading from this trailer alone. This is what I think (and hope) the structure will be like. Once Zelda and Link reunite perhaps she will become an NPC ally like the Champion Successors. That'd be cool. I just have a very hard time believing that Zelda's role in this game will not be a parallel journey to Link's that we see unfold on screen, whether at our own hands or not. I think she's going to be more front-and-center than we think.

[rainbowvolt]

I tried this once already but out of nowhere I got attacked by the overwhelming notion that my antics are pointless and that the world around me is crumbling and so I deleted the entire message and took some time to journal out my feelings in the classic rambling poetry style that I have perfected over the years. It didn't make me feel better nor did it provide any fresh prospective but I'm feeling better today so I came to the conclusion that if nothing matters then I'm going to go back to inviting just a little bit of chaos into the everyday lives of people I have never met just because at least im having fun that way. That being said, what the fuck is up gamer? I put on some sublime to write this one to bit now amazon music is playing beck (loser) but I actually really like that song so I'll allow it. Anyway I was on hinge the other day, because just like you I am chronically single, and unlike you I do care because being alone with my thoughts for too long drives me insane and to do shit like this for fun. So I'm swiping and I'm complimenting I mean just imagine me turning on the God damn charm, and I match with this one girl who I think is attractive and we're chatting it up and suddenly bam, no reason at all, I lose all interest. I just felt like it was pointless to even keep talking to her my heart just wasn't in it so I did, I stopped. I probably still could hit her up if I wanted but the truth is it's just a lot of work, relationships that is, and I don't think I have the time to dedicate someone that I want to be able to dedicate. It's weird. Life. Love. Happiness. I try to remind myself that happiness, at least the way that we see in happily ever after movies and books, doesn't really exist. The best you I can ever hope for is to be content. And I'm not sure if that's true or if that's pure unfiltered copium that I'm doling out to myself on a strict rationing schedule so I can make it through the throes of years long depressive episodes. I've considered therapy but whats a therapist going to tell me? Oh you're unhappy for literally no reason, just take these pills? I've done that ya know, the pills didn't make me happy they just made me numb to the world around me and incapable of emotions. Plus my job would kick me out onto the streets if I sought out help, I already got a waiver for it the one time and if I get back on them I'm afraid it'll be game over for my career. So I guess I'm kinda screwing the pooch here. It's always like that, coin tosses and horse races I guess. I just want to break free. I don't know if that'll solve it all, but I want the option to at least seek it out. I used to believe, genuinely, without an ounce of fucking irony that my depressive thoughts and feelings, and my borderline schizophrenic tendencies were genuine fucking shortcuts to creativity. I would sit there and really channel them into my poetry, but you know what? While some of that shit is undoubtedly the best I ever wrote, it wasn't because mental illness is some sort of magical potion, it's not because hurt and pain breeds greatness, it's because I was just being truthful I think, as raw and true as I could possibly be. And I've read some of it to people ya know, like my mom and a few friends, and they just say it's so good and I guess I appreciate their support but it's not good, it's bad ya know, i was trying to share a piece of me that i rarely let anyone see and I guess people just saw it as a piece without the deep emotional relationship that it has to my psyche, maybe I gotta specify like hey this is real shit. But ya know I've also been trying to breed a mental positivity, I try to tell myself good job and "hell yeah dude" for anything that could be considered an accomplishment. I wouldn't say it's the most effective but maybe it's doing a little something. This whole self awareness thing is kinda new to me, obviously, like I seriously lived the first 8 years of my life without a single thought, I remember like watching TV or having a conversation and it was just static upstairs.

Which is kinda funny actually cause now all I fucking do is think. Ugh. To be a frog. A mindless bug eating happy little frog. Those guys have got it made. Love frogs. A ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark and disappointing world. That and when people say bazinga. That shit is hilarious. Also, you have to say bazinga, that's the whole point of this. We've established a raport and now I'm cashing in pal, you gotta say bazinga, you owe me. And if you don't I'm reporting you to PepsiCo. They will bottle and carbonate your ass. You'll be sold worldwide. I wouldn't risk it just fucking say bazinga. I'm dialing them right now, doot doot doot look I've only got a few numbers left last chance bud

I, an autistic person who is currently wearing a flash t shirt, have been asked to say.. that word. Irony aside.. no. I'm not falling for your silly tricks, your insightful-incel Seinfeld style stand up routine, and so.. I turn it back on you. You have to say 'wubba lubba dub dub'. I'm exchanging all my favours, my coupons are going straight in to this uncomfortably shaped vending machine and my goodness something better come out. It's time to make good on your reputation, time to come forth and fulfil your destiny, to do what must be done; it's time to whip out a test tube or two to help Frankenstein some confidence into that ugly little lump of brain mass and say the damn words. Say. The damn. Words. Wubba lubba dub dub.