#the idea behind it is really good
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Is X-Men: Dark Phoenix a good movie? No. Do I love it? Yes. Would I love a sequel? Yes. Am I going to get a sequel? Probably not.
#x men#jean grey#phoenix#Scott summers#magneto#charles xavier#the pacing of this movie is so bad#it’s just so uneven#I think that the result of them forcing two movies into one#I think the X-men in general work better in the tv format#the writing is ok#there are so really good bits#the idea behind it is really good#just would have worked better as a limited series#in general I think when they inevitably reboot the X-men into the mcu#and they will#I think an anthology would suit them nicely#or straight up x men Evolution sequel#literally the only teen show I’d be interested in
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Blood Blossom Au: Baby's First Commissioner Meeting :)
TL:DR This Post: Danny (orphan) gets poisoned with blood blossom extract by Vlad. He runs away from him and ends up under the care of one Pre-Robin Battinson Batman! Starry is loudly pushing her batdad agenda.
(Also known as "Late At Night, When The Nightingale Sings" on my ao3!)
This was a fun rough idea I've been sitting on for weeks, thinking about how Commissioner Gordon and Nightingale's first meeting might go.
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Commissioner Gordon likes to think that he's adjusting to the new normal of Gotham very well, -- the new normal being grown men running around dressed like bats, in military-grade strength body armor, committing acts of vigilantism, -- and slowly, little by little, he was no longer being surprised when this new normal pops up out of the shadows like the world's most terrifying daisy. His shaving lifespan thanks him for it.
....
The kid is a surprise though.
Granted, he seemed to be a surprise to the Bat too.
There's been a string of murders lately, -- which, in Gotham, is kind of like saying there's been another storm during monsoon season. And there's just been another; in some dilapidated building down in south Gotham, with the broken, boarded-up windows and mildew-crawling walls to match. The victim is a man in his thirties, multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, left in the center of the room for the blood to pool out around him.
The place is already secured when he arrives, the building swarmed with officers and the forensic detectives. The Bat emerges shortly after he does -- or, he might've been here the whole time, hiding someplace dark and shadowy. For his own sanity, Gordon doesn't think about it too hard.
The kid is a surprise, and he appears like a bolt of lightning.
He shows up in the middle of a conversation Gordon is having with the Bat.
A whistle, sharp and loud, slicing through the air, meant for open air rather than a confined space. Gordon's ears pierce and protest the sound, and the solemn, murmured chatter floating through the room abruptly cuts off like the swing of a gavel. As he turns towards the sound -- as they all do -- he swears, up and down, that he sees Batman's shoulders jump, just slightly.
At the source, perched on the window, is a boy. A boy in a gray-blue scarf and an oversized black hoodie, one that hangs off his frame and has ace bandages wrapped around the wrists in some attempt to cinch the sleeves. The hood is up, big like the rest of it, and threatens to swallow the upper half of the boy's face whole in the fabric. What upper half Gordon can see, is smeared with some kind of opaque, black face paint. He's holding onto the side of the frame with one hand, on his hip is a grappling hook. A familiar grappling hook.
Gordon has multiple questions, and his officers tense up.
Martinez puffs up, brows furrowing as his face shapes into a frown. Shoulders rolling back. "You can't be here, kid--"
The reaction is immediate, like a spark to gunpowder, the boy yanks his fingers from his mouth and his mouth twists into a scowl. Head snapping over to Officer Martinez, his hood manages to stay on but Gordon swears that as he bares his teeth, the glint makes them look sharper than they should be. His voice is rasp and quiet and harsh; snappish in its hissing; "Put a fuckin sock in it, Martinez. I'm not stayin."
Martinez reels back, and the boy immediately veers his attention off him. Like a switch, his demeanor drops. Despite half his face being covered, his mouth twists into a cringing, apologetic smile. Slanted and off-beat, embarrassed. It'd be disarming if this wasn't Gotham, and if he didn't just hiss at Martinez like he was about to bite his head off.
"Sorry." He whispers, voice deceptively polite and softer now. Gordon has to strain his ears to hear him. "I was looking for him."
He points his finger towards-- Gordon? No, Gordon follows the direction, and finds himself looking at -- the Bat.
The Bat, who always looks stiff as a pole, now looks even stiffer. Somehow. Well, the explains the grappling hook attached to the boy's waist.
"What are you doing here?" The Bat says, gruff and unable to completely smother the stumble of surprise in his tone.
The boy still holds a sheepish smile, and slips off the window ledge. His feet hit the creaky boards with a near-silent thud, the Batman finds his feet and rapidly begins crossing the room.
Gordon notes the slight tremble in the boy's legs as he straightens. He adjusts his scarf, which droops close to his knees now that he's standing, and slings a backpack -- how long has had that? -- off his shoulders. When the Bat reaches his side, he does as he always does, and looms over the boy like a spectre. A threatening mass of shadows cloaked in all-consuming black. Standing next to him, the boy looks teeny in comparison.
The Bat is a man who terrifies even the most hardened criminals, Gordon has seen grown men shiver in fear at the mention of his name. And yet when the boy looks up at him, he doesn't even flinch.
Instead, his sheepish smile melts away like ice under the sun, holding only traces of his previous embarrassment. It remains as a shadow on his face, a small upturn at the corners of his mouth. The boy pushes his hood back just enough to reveal glinting, ice-flint eyes surrounded in tar-black face paint. He holds the backpack up with one arm. "You forgot this."
#I have never seen Batman (2022) so really I'm just using battinson and crew as templates for my fic. but hey what else is new lol#dpxdc#danny fenton is not the ghost king#dp x dc#dpxdc crossover#dp x dc crossover#dpxdc fic#dpxdc au#dp x dc au#dpxdc fanfic#i dont know shit about detective work or true crime so forgive me for any bad terminology or incorrect procedure for how these things work#just a fun rough idea for how i imagined gordon's first meeting with nightingale goes LMAO. im sticking to the idea that danny doesn't#officially join the field for a *while* due to more than just health reasons. so his first appearances are brief and usually to give B smth#danny: im only here as express delivery for vader's little brother over there. yall stay safe tho.#bruce: *kill bill sirens bass-boosted* ohmygodwhatishedoinghere#batman: how did you get here... | danny: you have so many spare grappling hooks it was pr easy to just grab one and go#also danny is whispering on purpose because he doesn't have his ghost form to fall back on as a secret identity. so he *is* actually taking#extra steps to keep his identity safe. and people usually sound different when they're whispering. he also has personal beef with#office martinez despite the fact that they've never met. Danny's HEARD of his ass. he hATES his ass.#Martinez: *to batman* freak | danny: im going to Bite Him. | batman (reluctantly): hmr. please don't. | danny: im going for his shins#Martinez and Nightingale have this whole thing going on between the two of them. danny WILL slap a sticky note on Martinez's back that says#'asshole' on it and its the one spot square on his spine that martinez can't reach.#someone: why are you beefing with like. an actual 12 year old | martinez: HE'S A LITTLE RAT. THAT'S WHY. he's here to torment me#battinson: *did you grapple the whole way here* | danny: yah. it was kinda fun. i would've gotten here faster but i kept having to stop#battinson: *hnnn* im driving you back | danny:.. are you sure? | battinson already pulling him out of the room: y e s#i've been thinking about this for literally WEEKS. what did bruce forget? good question! i'll figure that out if or when i get to this#danny has Issues behind the word freak so its like a mini beserker button for him regardless of who the word is aimed at lol. lmao#martinez calls batman a freak once while nightingale is within range and its just the doom ost as danny simply Disappears from sight#like oops. you are now. In Danger. rip couldn't be me.#blood blossom au
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Shockingly underrated thing about Leo is that he’s legitimately charming when he wants to be?
He’s the Faceman! He’s persuasive! That’s not just some random title he gave himself with no backing to it. People will listen to him. Even if they think he’s being annoying or if they’re upset at him, people listen to him anyway! There’s a reason his bros push him out front to talk to people, and when this happens, that talking nearly always works.
Moreover, Leo knows people. He looks at them and takes into account how they act and what they’re like as he makes his way through the conversations. It’s easy to forget this aspect of Leo’s character because he only brings it out when he really needs (read: wants) to, but it really is a notable part of him that always love to see.
And I say charm in particular because he has a knack for not only getting people to pay attention, but for getting people to stay and listen to what he has to say.
#rottmnt#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#rottmnt leo#rise leo#I feel like people equate Leo to a lot of loud gross boy behavior instead of looking at his actual accomplishments#which fair enough#he IS a loud gross boy a lot of the time#but his charisma really deserves a mention for how much it comes in clutch#that one cut animatic of the other people in the resistance wanting Leo to join them for karaoke like#and yes those inspiring speeches he gives his fam are also an example of charm#bro has! charisma! he can have his loser moments and at the same time show off how to manipulate through words#Leo knows people and if he really wants to he can talk them up#but yeah like - I see people calling him the face man a lot but not so much taking into account what that entails#he’s got a pretty face! and he’ll do the talking a lot! but that’s not all a face man is#another thing that is SHOCKINGLY underrated in fandom is Raph loving fighting???#I have no idea why but I feel like I don’t see this mentioned enough#he adores wrestling and roughhousing and training and just FIGHTING in general plz let my boy punch something#I have more I wanna say but it’ll have to wait until later it is very late haaa#anyway my main point behind this post is that Leo knows people and in turn knows what they WANT#it is this same perception that makes him REALLY GOOD at getting under people’s skin too#people skills and adaptability really make sense when you take into account the fact that he’s a red eared slider#it really is cool to see how much this part of Leo is addressed throughout the series#nearly always in very lowkey ways
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Say it’s likely there will be a Brokeback Mountain reference in s5 and nobody bats an eye.
Say it’s likely that the final byler fight will be inspired by this scene and society goes wild.
#byler#we could’ve had a good life together!#a fuckin' real good life!#had us a place of our own#but you didn’t want it ennis!!#so what we got now is brokeback mountain!!#that part#it just takes me straight to the repetition of them wanting to play games together for the rest of their lives#how they’ve been sort of hiding behind this idea that really is about them wanting to be with each other#the way it’s focused on in their s3 fight#and then Will bringing it up AGAIN in s4 light heartedly and Mike sort of just being somber about it#and what follows right after it…#idk brokeback mountain might support that Mike knew Will was lying about the painting (unserious) (but no actually)#Dimitri @ Yuri lying about what is wrong with the plane#(even tho we know he’s hiding the truth in his pocket)#: you know it to be true. and yet you continue to play tricks!!#😀😀😀#and society goes wild#so I think the scenes will be identical?#no that’s not the point#one word gesture or even costume design could pay homage to it for a second during their final fight#with a mention of playing games together for the rest of their lives#and what that actually has meant this whole time…#and it’s a wrap
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so i started playing persona 4
where are the QoL features
#persona#art tag#ACK I FORGOR TO COLOUR THE BITS BEHIND HAIR nvm#i have no idea how to tag this!!#i fear what original p3 might have been like#i feel like a fake gamer man#like how did you guys do that#i feel like i would have given up if it was the first one i played#i am too stupid!!#im glad i have played through 5 and 3re#i am somewhat used to the flow of the game and the ability names#otherwise i would be STRUGGLING for my LIFE i tell you#like to be fair i dont think it's a huge world#BUT LIKE PLEASE IM LOST IN MY OWN HOUSE#also these protags are basically my OCs at this point#i borrow their canon personalities#and reshape them into something i like more hehehehe#edit: im crying im getting lowkey flamed on tweeter dot com#i just meant it as in joker spent a lot of time in tokyo!! one year changes a man!!#I KNOW inaba is small!! but QoL additions are always good!!#i get the appeal!! that you use your brain!!#you spend enough time to know the place!! but it's called QoL features not NECESSARY features!!#im cryin the boys ate just bantering#you can even read it as yu being like LOL you're a city boy now huh?? hahaha#now i really am fighting for my life and mental
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Going into Alecto, I think it's important to expect that the series won't conclude with a clear lesson. Either about morality—what makes a good person, evil getting their just desserts, ect—or a thesis on decolonization. It's not that kind of story.
Deep down, this series is two drunk girls bearing their souls in a dark corner of the bar. An hours-long conversation that wheels wildly through pop culture, past trauma, theoretical physics, dreams and aspirations, global warming, hairstyling, friends, family, gender, personal insecurities, world history, favorite foods. It has a lot to say, and a lot of it profound, but it's not trying to teach anything. At the end of the night, the point was how fucking cool that girl was, and the potent electric potential for something lgbt to happen
#the locked tomb#alecto the ninth#ofc this is just my perspective#but I've been thinking of how the author said that the way she stays true to her story is by giving herself permission to not be a teacher#and that one of the driving forces behind her writing is the rpgs she played as a kid#and how everyone online made fun of the girl characters like they were weak and not good for anything#when she had played the game levelling them up and properly equipping them and beat the boss with them#and how she wants to be able to tell those stories where girls are just really fucking cool and get to have the adventures#so I'm kind of nervous about the idea that tlt is about the evils of colonisation or about taking on God as a symbol of the patriarchy#bc.... I think it might be exploring all that while really being about how girls are really fucking cool#and I'm worried about the potential fallout if a large portion of the fandom goes into the finale expecting those priorities to be reversed
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Linktober Day 8. Tunic
#linktober#linktober 2024#the legend of zelda#wind waker#ocarina of time#loz#loz ww#loz oot#link#josh art tag#had a lot of fun with this one despite how annoying it was to draw#oot link was at a difficult angle and i also just could not shade this for the life of me. restarted the shading like 3 times#i think im reaching that point in the cycle i typically go thru with my artstylr where ive grown tired of my shading style#to the point that i forget how to do it and it never quite looks right#so if my next post features changes to my artstyle thats why lol#but i enjoyed making this despite that cuz i like the ideas behind it!#i normally wouldve redesigned ww!link's outfit but i purposefully drew it accurately#to highlight how its more like a costume. cuz thats kinda what it was! and its modeled after the hero of times clothes#but is pretty innacurate. which i think is cool.. shows how much time has passed and how the view of the hero of time has warped#so i also purposefully made oot link wearing my redesigned outfit for him (even if you cant see much of it at this angle)#to further emphasize how ww!link's outfit is not only essentially a costume but is also quite innacurate#i like having ww!link ditch the costume for something else to show how he stops being some kid in oot!link's shadow#and grows into a true hero of his own#hence my ww!link redesign where i put him back in the lobster shirt. but i do keep some green and something similar to the hat#to have him fit in with the other links while still being unique#look i have a lot of feelings about ww!link and oot!link#i wish zelda would do more stuff like this... i think having oot relate to wind waker makes the story more interesting#and makes ww!link more interesting! cuz he cant be the hero of time they want. but he does become the real hero they need#the oot ww tp trio is so good... and they all work great as standalone games but their connections do really add something
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so is twitter being purposefully run into the ground at this point
#I find it difficult to believe that so many bad decisions can be made one after another by just one stupid guy#The acquisition of the website was something nobody wanted including the current owner#What is the explanation for this nosedive downfall in the end. Is it his playground for robots or was there some like#Actual idea behind making this shit worse#Unless he really and truly fully is that stupid. Like hears nothing but yes and covers his ears at no like a child. Hows the website traffi#Anyway I havent used twitter in a while so its as good a time as any to make a blue sky I suppose
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ch 109 and Mephisto~
even someone in their right mind would have gone insane in his place I'm pretty sure I mean, his beloved got killed upon the reasoning they had his children, if he acted with the belief that he should reverse that somehow, I'd understand the despair and desperation.
#oshi no ko#oshi no ko spoilers#hikaai#hikaru kamiki#ai hoshino#doodle#no but WHAT IS THIS REALLY#they better not make HIM out of everyone Ai's killer. I don't see that being a meaningful story in any way#spoilers#I think they really need to touch this idea that..;; idols are people!!! in the very end!! omg#and the thing is- idol means god. so Ai was a real god- but a human at the same time and even a real god could not escape this sort of fate#wouldn't THAT make a pretty impactful story. then I'd get how the story were to be written like this you know#no good comes from having the guy she loved be the real evil behind it all; he clearly cannot live without her. that's how he grew mad
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Why did you do it? I don't know what you're talking about. I was drunk that night, and you told me you would always look at me— You want to get back at me, right?
KISEKI: DEAR TO ME Ep. 09
#kiseki: dear to me#kisekiedit#kdtm#kiseki dear to me#ai di x chen yi#chen yi x ai di#louis chiang#chaing tien#jiang dian#nat chen#chen bowen#userspring#userrain#uservid#userspicy#userjjessi#pdribs#*cajedit#*gif#WE LOVE WHEN AI DI IS A BITCH. 10/10 NO NOTES. just. be a freak about it why dont you i love this for him#its actually insane how good of a liar he is. like........he really truly seems so unbothered by everything#but no matter what he says the idea of something casual is the last thing he could ever want. its so painful for him#and he only pushes the idea because he doesnt think chen yi will ever ever love him seriously OR casually#as if the idea of being with him could anger chen yi. SHOULD anger chen yi. because of how preposterous it is#but he also feels like he owes chen yi. like. ai di literally thought that after prison chen yi would never seek him out#would never want to speak to him ever again and he thinks thats BETTER for them too bc he cant take back what he did AND#he cant take back his own vulnerability. but he cant take anything casual with chen yi so he hides behind this facade of being uncaring#that chen yi KNOWS is FALSE and that BREAKS ME. his face as ai di pushes past him.......ow.#a more openly expressive version of 'i know he's lying to me but i dont understand whats going on and that HURTS me' but Extra Painful#because ai di is all chen yi wants. and - 'an explanation'... he wants ai di to want him too
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Look I am all for trauma-fueled deeply unhealthy relationships between male leads but I feel compelled to say (with absolutely no malice) that that is not what is happening in Squid Game. In-ho is being deliberately manipulative in every instance in which he interacts with Gi-hun. He doesn't refrain from killing him at the end because he can't bring himself to shoot him, but because the whole point of playing in the games is centered around breaking Gi-hun down mentally. And while In-ho is certainly deeply invested in doing this to Gi-hun, his framing at the end of Episode 7 is intended to serve as a wake-up call: for as nice and understanding as this guy has made himself seem, almost everything we see from him is a lie. He was never going to have a change of heart. To fail to recognize that is to make the same mistake Gi-hun did, but even more willfully since we actually know In-ho is the Frontman. And that's exactly what the show wants us to do!
From the beginning, Gi-hun has served as the audience stand-in. We empathize with him, we root for him, we share his beliefs in the possibility of change. But we are given information he doesn't have; we know that In-ho is the Frontman. And even though we know this, we know this guy is able to shoot his own brother, we want to like him! We want to believe in him, to think that maybe something about Gi-hun or the reality of the games can change his mind! And the show weaponizes this intentionally. Through his character, the show does to us what In-ho himself does to Gi-hun: punishes us for our optimism. It wants us to feel silly for ever believing that In-ho would change, just as In-ho's point is that Gi-hun should have known the games would end the same.
So for as much as I usually love reading doomed yearning into character dynamics, I don't think it works here. In-ho doesn't have any particular love for Gi-hun--the show just wants you to believe he might.
#seong gi hun#hwang in ho#squid game 2#squid game#meta#now i do have some more nuanced thoughts on this but before i can get into them i have to break down in-ho's manipulation#bc boy does he do a lot. it's beautifully subtle but i love it so much#i just feel like i really need to start with saying that for as much as we want it to be different‚ it's a pretty major point that it's Not.#and in-ho in particular represents the overarching idea of 'human nature/people do not change‚ no matter how ''good'' you are'#anyway yeah lmk your thoughts and genuinely no hate to the shipping community i just don't see it thematically#otherwise would so be behind it#kay can i just catch my breath for a second#my meta posts#kay has a party in the tags
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Thinking of the end of Zelda Twilight Princess and TP Link again
Since the start of your journey, all you've tried to do is keep your home and your loved ones safe. You hardly understood your own destiny at first, the major role you were to play in this world. Though you could never have refused the future that lay before you, it remains that it's this wish to protect your home, your loved ones, and to bring everything back to normalcy that drove you in the beginning. And it, too, remains that even though you found others to care for and had accepted your destiny (that there became a point where you embraced your role in fixing everything), that original goal still remained. After all, you, the people you care about, none of you can go home or live in safety until the threat is defeated.
What if you'd started out as a boy from a small, rural town, one who'd hardly dreamed large, but couldn't shake his curiosity in the world outside. You never wanted to leave your village for long, but you were interested in getting a chance to see Hyrule's capital, meet those people your older friend had told stories of. And then, when the monkey's paw curled and the goddesses gave you a grand adventure, all you wanted was to pave the way for everyone to be able to go home, including yourself. Once it was all over, you and everyone else could finally relax, right? Things would finally go back to normal, wouldn't they? And the children could forget the horrors they'd seen, like none of it ever happened.
But after all that... Even after shedding the hero's tunic, returning the sword of evil's bane to its resting place, and finally returning home with everyone...home is not the same anymore. You were supposed to feel safe again, comforted by the sounds of the nearby wood, the smell of the goats, and the rough texture of the pumpkins that grow in the village, but even lying in your own bed makes you restless and feel on edge. Sometimes, the children still run around the village like they used to, playing pranks on each other and playing hero, but each one of them has an air of...maturity that wasn't there before.
Colin is more confident. He doesn't follow you around or spend as much of his time watching the other kids play. He spends time telling his baby sister stories and training with his father (like you once had) to learn the way of the sword. The other kids don't pick on him as much anymore either.
And Talo. Talo thinks the village is much too defenseless now, especially after everything he's been through. He never really left the rooftops of Kakariko Village, the village lookout who was trying to protect everyone the only way he could. He's even confided in you before that he's trying to learn a weapon too, and trying to convince Colin to join forces with him as village protectors. According to Talo, Colin says there's no need to worry with you and his dad around. No better protection than a hero, right? But Talo says he knows you and Rusl won't always be around. And...maybe that's true. One day, you too will grow old with time, but something about the way Talo says it makes you feel...uneasy. As if he was seeing right through you. Was he seeing something you were ignoring, or was he really truly talking about the day in which you are no longer able to protect anyone?
Beth is still a bit boy crazy, still fancies herself more mature than the others as she had before, but there's some respect there now when she interacts with them. She refuses to tell you what she's been up to, but you've seen her working in her mother's shop, talking to Uli as she feeds her baby, reading with her father, and helping Ilia wash Epona in the spirit's spring. Ilia seems to know more than she lets on when telling you that it's a casual hangout, but you have an inkling of what it's about. Given the others, it's no surprise if Beth, too, is trying to find her place here, trying to help in some way.
Malo is perhaps the one who'd changed most obviously. While everyone had been happy to go home after the defeat of Ganondorf, Malo couldn’t simply stay the same quiet kid who'd followed his brother around. He'd built a growing business back in Kakariko, dedicated to making goods affordable to the common person and raising funds to fix up local infrastructure. He couldn’t continue to run it from Ordon (though Sera's told you that he'd made an offer on her shop). You've even been able to hear him muttering under his breath about the state of Malo Mart management, and plotting to skip town (after all, young as he is, and after everything that's happened, there's no way his parents would just let him go back on his own). As before, Malo doesn't speak to you often, but he had...said something that shook you not long ago. He'd not so subtly "hinted" that you could make an excuse to leave, and that it wouldn't be hard for him to stow away as you went on your trip. You didn't know quite what to say, but when you began to mention his parents he'd cut you off. "So you're too scared to leave."
(Are you too scared? No, of course you could leave if you wanted to. And you don't want to, do you? You're home again, which is the only place you've wanted to be since the world went to shit. It'll just take...time for you to feel okay again. No better place than home to heal, right?)
But it's...not just the kids who've changed. Fado was happy to have you back, of course (he's always said no one wrangles the goats quite like you), but he’d... Well, even though he was the one who extended the offer, he seems to fear this is beneath you, that he's tying you down, keeping you from a grander life. No matter how much you assure him this is exactly where you want to be, that you just want things to return to normal, he doesn't seem convinced.
Not to mention the rumors in the village of your feats, all the talking behind your back. You'd been celebrated as a hero when you and Rusl returned back with the missing children, and now, since you've been trying to return to normalcy, others continue to be weird around you. You're a hero (were at least), yes, but are you not the same Link the villagers have known as long as you've lived here? Do you not occasionally assist with their troubles. Do you not try to make occasional small talk as before? So why do they seem to have trouble talking to you? Why do they have so much to say, and yet none of it said to your face?
Home has changed. And even that which has stayed the same doesn't feel...correct. That which is still familiar feels like nostalgia slipping through your fingers, not the reality before you.
But then again, when you spend weeks following your old routine, trying to act as you did before, and nothing seems to get better. When you lay in a bed (your bed) that's the same as it was when you first left it, you wake up sweaty and fearful from nightmares, and you feel exposed when you should feel safe, is it home that's the problem? What about when you look at the sunset and dream of places faraway, of the people you met and the things you've seen, and it feels like something's missing (something, perhaps, not wholly unrelated to the person people you'll probably never see again)?
Ilia was the one who first assured you that this path was the right one. When she finally had a chance to relax, deal with her amnesia head on, it was reminders of home and her past which comforted her, allowed her to get better. Of course, you know she'd never just forget everything she'd been through before, and she wouldn't expect you to either, but she'd agreed that being home would allow you to heal too. That's...that's what you've been hoping.
On many occasions you think about confiding it all in her, telling her what you've been going through, but you can't go through with it. Not when she seems...happy again.
So, after weeks of letting bits and pieces slip, you finally confide in Rusl. It's a day similar to all those months ago. The sun is setting as you and he sit at the spirit's spring after a long day, and he tells you about his week. You tell him that even as things get better, they don't really get better. When you don't have nightmares of tragedy and never ending battles and failure, you're dreaming of the people and places you met during your journey. No matter how much time you spend there, or how much furniture you move around to your liking, or decorations you add to the walls, the idea of your home being home feels like you and the feeling are separated by an impenetrable wall of glass. You can see that feeling of comfort, of home, of familiarity, but you just can't quite touch it. Your house is yours, and yet you can't seem to fit in it anymore. You've gone back to normal, and yet everyone is treating you differently. You try to relax, and you just can't quite sit still, feeling like...
You finally admit that feeling you've been stuffing down to him as you ramble (something rare for you to begin with). It's not just that you can't feel safe at home, that healing is a tough process, but that you feel like there's something yet you need to do. It doesn't feel right trying to be the person you were before. The routine which should be great for its simplicity and famliliarity feels wrong, almost stifling.
Did you really think you could just go home after all you'd seen and been through, go back to that small world and cut off the rest of it, just so things could be like they were before?
Maybe it's you who's wrong. Maybe you're broken and your edges dulled and chipped so the old pieces don't fit back together anymore–
But Rusl, ever a comforting presence in your life, just hugs you. He says he cannot even begin to comprehend the things you've been through. He acknowledges how hard it is to heal. Both things you already knew.
Then...he tells you his story, that he knows how hard it is to return to all of this after such an ordeal. You are not the only person who must deal with it now. You're not alone.
And then, as you consider telling him that if everyone is dealing with this, then surely they're handling it better than you, he tells you something that causes you to freeze.
"If you need to leave, you can."
"Of course," Rusl continues, "if you want to stay, we'll support you. You don't have to pretend everything is normal. And even if you go, it's not like you'll be banished. You can always come back here, even if you can't stay."
And so you speak the words you've thought every time someone suggests leaving here, or suggests that you won't stay. "Do I have to go? Is...does everyone just want me gone?"
Rusl shakes his head. "Of course not. We all love and care about you like we always have, hero or not."
Then...why do I feel like...this around everyone? you think.
"The question is...it's not whether anyone wants to you go or thinks you should go." Then, Rusl places a hand on your shoulder, face deeply serious as his eyes lock onto yours.
"The question is: Do you want to go? Do you need to go?"
For a moment...you're speechless. You know what you want, you think. You've wanted to return home all along, haven't you? That's...all You've been trying to do since you defeated Ganondorf, lost bid Midna farewell, shed the garb of the hero and returned the master sword to its grove. But...what do you need?
"I don't...I don't know what I need," is all you say.
"...Well," Rusl says, after a moment of contemplation. "I can't tell you what you want any more than I can accurately guess what you need. And I can't make your decision for you."
"...Right." So that's it then. Either you go, admit that there's no fixing you, no point trying to fit a misshapen puzzle piece in an old hole, or you stay, keep trying to move on and get things as close to normal as you can as you have been for weeks.
"Hey," Rusl says after a moment. "Hey, listen to me for a second."
You raise your head, shift your eyes from where you'd cast them at your sandals.
"You'll be okay, Link. You've been through a lot, and it's changed you—like it's changed all of us. But, you have your whole life ahead of you, and I suspect you have more choices than you even believe."
"...Yeah."
"I may not be able to tell you what you need, but I can tell you to follow your heart. If you listen to it, it'll lead you where you need to go."
"My heart?" You sound a bit skeptical.
"I mean...isn't it your heart that got you here? You didn't undertake the journey and save your loved ones by being weak of heart did you?"
And that...that's true. With everything that was at stake (especially that which you cared about most), it was your heart that wouldn't allow you to back down, wasn't it?
In the end, you nod.
Rusl smiles. "Then why ignore it now?"
"Why ignore it now?"
The rest of what Rusl has to say goes unsaid, but...you think you get it anyways.
"Why ignore it now? Has it ever lead you astray?"
"...Thanks, Rusl," you say, finally. You don't tell him that you feel a bit better now, but his smile grows regardless.
"It's no problem, Link. Anytime you need."
And so the sunset passes into night passes into morning, and there's a weight on you when you wake up. You know, somehow, in this moment, that a decision has to be made, a potential path chosen. There's no ignoring it.
And you find her—Ilia—in the spring.
"You're...leaving, aren't you."
"I..." You haven't even put on any gear, nor unearthed that special tunic tucked in your basement, nor have you saddled Epona up yet. When you woke up, you still didn't know what it is you need.
"...I am," you say finally.
There's a moment of silence.
"I...some part of me knew you would." Then, she adds, "One day."
"...Why?"
She shakes her head. "I can't explain it. You just...you haven't seemed...quite right lately."
I haven't?
You thought you must've seemed at least fairly normal, must have with all the effort you put in.
"You're... You weren’t..." Ilia hesitates for a moment, as if afraid to say the words at the edge of her tongue. But then, she sighs.
"You don't seem happy here."
"I-I've...I've tried to–"
"I know," she says, cutting you off. "I know. I have..."
You wait for her to finish her thought, but she never does.
"Hey, Link, before...before you go... Come back to this spring. I'll wash Epona for you."
There's a bit of strain in the smile Ilia gives you, but you nod, smiling back.
It's...it's not easy to leave. It never is, and it never gets easier, no matter how many times you have to do it. And so, as you gather some final supplies, thank Rusl for his advice, and put on your gear (finally unearth the tunic you'd hidden away), you remind yourself that this isn't truly goodbye. You're just...going on a little trip, chasing your heart. You'll visit sometimes, right? It's just a little trip.
And eventually, geared up, you make your way to the spring. As expected, Ilia is there, grooming Epona when you arrive.
Out of everyone, you feel Ilia has been both the easiest and the hardest to read. Ever since everyone returned to Ordon, it made sense the way she stuck right back to the comforts of home and her old routine. She's...not all okay, but it's seemed to make her happy. And yet...there's something else about her. There's a bit of weirdness there you can't parse out, and there's something in the way she speaks that always feels like there's something going unsaid. You feel it more than ever as she turns to face you in the spring, seems hesitant about giving Epona over, even as she says that Epona is washed and ready.
Although, then again, there's something nostalgic about this moment. As you mount up Epona and Ilia asks you to take care of her, and not to take on more than you can handle.
You know the moment is here. You can feel it. It's time to go.
And yet, there's one last thing holding you back. You look down at Ilia as she begins to speak again.
"...Link, I–"
"Hm?"
Silence.
"I...never mind." Ilia waves you off, mustering up a smile. "You should... You should go. Don't let me hold you back."
You nod in response. Her expression is a bit bittersweet, although perhaps the smile you return her is just the same.
And so you take off with Epona, galloping across the bridge between Ordon and Faron. You leave her standing outside the spring, and you make a beeline for Hyrule Field, craving to feel the wind in your hair and the sun on your face.
Your wants, your desires...those deep down ones may be impossible. But it's something. Traveling, following where your heart leads, it feels familiar. It feels...right.
And once your journey begins, you think it's almost laughable that you thought that you could just go back home after all that you'd seen and experienced and...lost. At least now, though your future is uncertain, though you still can't quite feel safe, though you still can't banish the nightmares, at least you no longer feel...stifled.
At least you can be free now.
#legend of zelda twilight princess#twilight princess#loz twilight princess#loz tp#link#tp link#link tp#long post#i just be ramblin#there's some ililink/lilia and midlink in there if you squint#sorry I wrote most of this weeks ago and left it in my drafts cause I couldn't seem to finish#and then a few days ago I beat TP again...so I finished this with the ending fairly fresh on my mind#Though most of this is self indulgent‚ originally I had wanted Ilia to go with him somehow‚#(that's originally where I got stuck writing this) but it was not to be#And in the original game's ending‚ when Link leaves‚ he leaves on a completely normal day without fanfare. and he leaves Ilia standing there#outside the spring#So I knew I had to depict that instead. that bittersweet feeling of pursuing the life you need right now while leaving those important to#you behind. And of feelings unsaid#something fitting about the idea that neither Midna nor Ilia could bear to confess what was in their heart in the end.#So idk it's both self indulgent and canon compliant and built to hurt me in a good way#I love this game so so so freaking much#And if you can't tell I'm also really emotional about the idea of Link never truly being able to go home again after such a large journey
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I pretty much stopped talking to a friend about two months ago after she told me she was cheating on her boyfriend (literally did everything in my power to make her understand why that's shitty and not some funny lol thing but she simply had no empathy even though she could grasp that it was wrong) because I firmly believe that if someone is capable of betraying the person they love then they'll likely have no problem doing you, their friend, just as a dirty as they did their partner. like I remained cordial with her out of necessity but the warmth of friendship was gone
so two months later and lo and behold she screwed me over regarding some important school stuff lol I hate being right
#it was actually a fascinating opportunity to talk to a cheater about their perception of events#I asked her things like “wouldn't you be pissed if your boyfriend was sleeping around behind your back”#and she could clearly answer “well yeah. but honestly I'm just having fun I don't feel that bad?”#a WILD conversation#no guilt no remorse just shameless infidelity because she doesn't really care about people other than herself#she was friendly enough so we were good friends for a while man like damn. she is not who I thought she was#unfortunately I don't use irl social media and I have no idea who her boyfriend is I've never met him#so I don't have the ability to reach out :/#tldr all my homies hate cheaters#baye.txt
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I haven’t been here long. What irritating changes have been made?
Credit where it's due, some changes have been good, like polls and stuff! But the big recent changes thus far that I would classify as irritating are:
- The UI change. This one may be less irritating for newcomers because it's basically the same layout as twitter and instagram, but for a lot of folks who've been here a long time, it feels cramped and like a loss of identity for the site. For many, the appeal of tumblr is that it ISN'T an algorithm hell like twitter or insta. Also, there's the annoyance of having to relearn where everything is, because it all got moved around.
- The users being lab rats for various tests the devs wanna pull out of nowhere without consenting to beta testing new site features- like the one that took away user icons on the dash for like half the site. They finally put them back after getting enough feedback that said NO, but users were so used to their feedback being disregarded that they were half expecting the change to be pushed through anyway.
- The Netflix tie-in advertising being pushed even to people who had PAID tumblr for a no-ads experience. Complete with them somehow thinking it would be a good idea to put an unescapable-by-scrolling spooky clown on peoples' dashboards that u had to use ublock to get rid of. While I'm not scared of clowns and often find them quite charming, it sucks that staff didn't take coulrophobia being a common fear into account.
- A wave of fully sfw trans posts being wrongfully marked Mature and staff doing little to nothing about it. Not sure if this is still ongoing, but it destroyed a lot of trust and good will. (LGBT+ users have been having to fight a constant war against censorship ever since the adult content ban on tumblr, so yeah... Nevar 4get the list of banned search words that would bring back no results, like 'girl')
- The site gradually moving away from customization. Tumblr is a BLOGGING site. But it seems to have lost sight of that fact, because most new users don't even know you can fully customize your blogs with css and stuff (an option that is now off by default for new accounts!), because of the in-dash viewer giving you only how blogs look on mobile, which is a lot more uniform. There, it's more like every other site- you get a banner and icon. Oh, but you can change colors and fonts from a drop-down list too, that's cool I guess. Though they recently took away custom color schemes on Message windows, just another little bit of personalization taken away.
- TUMBLR. LIVE. Basically tumblr teamed up with a skeevy dating app partner to allow for livestreams- but not the cool kinda livestreams like on twitch where you can draw or play games, no- to a site full of people who value anonymity, they decided to push phone cam only livestreams. Not only that but by agreeing to the terms, you're giving out tons of personal data including your location to said skeevy dating app partner and all of THEIR third-party ad partners. Needless to say, most people didn't wanna use it, so instead of users it's flooded by p*rn bots (which is ANOTHER issue we've been dealing with for a long time and have been getting an even bigger influx of FROM tumblr live) and scammers. And thus, since tumblr likes to put a carousel of current streams on people's dashes, you often get softcore p*rn thumbnails from the bot streams with no way to avoid it except for toggling off tumblr live entirely.
- Oh wait. That's right. You CAN'T toggle it off. Because you can only snooze it for a while until BAM, you're jumpscared by a carousel of ladies licking your screen again! But hey, at least they made the snooze 30 days instead of the 7 it used to be, right? Yeah, except for the fact that you can't get rid of the tumblr live button itself on the app anymore, and now it's front and center with a NEW notification tag on it, overlapping your dash and cramming useful stuff like the search button out of the way.
NOW- A lot of this stuff CAN be at least mostly fixed on desktop by installing ublock and xkit and tampermonkey + dashboard unfucker... But that's a lot of stuff just to make the site usable, you know?
#this isn't even a comprehensive list but hopefully that covers all the big ones#anyway i get tumblr has to make money and it's currently not doing that#but burning through the remaining good will of the people who stuck around through earlier bs doesn't seem like a great idea either#ah well... i'm still here regardless#i've already had to leave deviantart behind because it became an ai cesspit... and it sucked. I had a lot of good memories there.#it sucks to uproot everything and move. so unless something equally bad happens here i'll probs be going down with the ship lol#also there's like nowhere else to go right now which is a huge problem;#i've been trying to look for other places to post too but none really have the same laid-back feeling tumblr does.#also i love the asks system too much. more sites need that honestly#anyway i rambled enough hope this helps u get an idea of why people are angy#asks
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he's such a loser and i love him
#listen i know this is a shitload of OC text but i wanna talk about himmm#my man caused all his own problems and then went and made them worse. good for him#he acts like he knows everything but he's actually Stupid (and gay) (and demiro asexual)#(not enough demi/ace rep tbh. especially in the dangerous fighty guy character type)#also lots of genderqueer characters who Arent androgynous bc there's not enough of that either!! including verno#(he's agender but it doesn't really come up bc there's no modern gender politics and also he's Busy. but in my heart he is not a binary man#he's the weird overpowered guy who's hiding a lot of trauma and self-hate/guilt behind Silly Anime Sparkles#except I wanted to take aim at all my least favorite tropes with him#Love Isn't A Magic Fix for mental illness! recovery isn't linear or fast!#Guy Who Sucks And Killed Lots Of People doesn't get to white-knight his way into being their savior!#like yes he gets a redemption arc but he absolutely doesn't get to be the hero to the people he wronged. and they do not have to forgive hi#...I went skimming the book for a good scene to commission and got distracted lmao#essay over I guess#tsf#long post#oc#im so normal about him i wanna publish this so bad#but i have no idea how to write a summary
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oh word?
#guess it was about time#but now i feel old. ough oufh ouuauughgh#the switch is still like. brand new to me#there’s still so much more planned for it…#but y’know that’s just how the market goes#it has been a hot second#i really think they were onto something with the idea behind this console#i hope its successor does something similar but like#with better battery life better performance and better controllers lol#really good start. just needs things to be upped a bit#peach rambles
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