#the only thing i really know is that zelda turns into the dragon..i think ive been told that was wrong but i might be being juked

[impostorsshow]

I love watching Tears of the Kingdom memories out of order /sarc /lh

It took my around 100 hours to even find out the tears were a thing and wondering wtf my mom was talking about when I kept asking for help on what to do but that aside, I had seen #1 and #2 in order, tried to find Tabatha stable for a good 2 hours and then decided to go take a break and got hit with #8, WHICH WAS LIKE GETTING HIT BY A TRAIN

#1: :0 time travel wow oh wait your my old grandparents

#2: "let's go to the castle dear and get some clean clothes"

#8: SHE'S DEAD AND GANON IS IN POWER AND YOUR FUCKING WIFE IS DEAD AND ITS YOUR FAULT RAARU

Also there's 18 memories?? Damn how the fuck is it gonna sucker punch me more than that fucking 180 in story but aside from that i. I really wish it gave you a little way to back out, like it tells you the memory of what your about to watch and if you wanna do it later, I wanted to watch them in order TT AND I STILL HAVENT FOUND TABANTHA STABLE

[a-person-whos-alive]

Why TotK fails Zelda

Heads up, this is a long post. Ive cut this down like a motherfucker but it still reads very long. My thoughts are divided into four main categories;

1. Her relationship with her magic & tech

2. Her relationship with Hyrule

3. Her relationship with Link

4. Her relationship with the player

Also, these are my opinions, I'm certain there are people with far better analysis skills than me! I am just in love with this franchise and a little disappointed with the recent game. Zelda as a character holds a special place in my heart and its sad that her character was done dirty like this.

Theres a TLDR at the end and before I forget, SPOILERS!!!

1. Her relationship with her magic & tech

Zelda is not someone who magic came easily to, and I think BotW & AoC did a great job exploring that. They contrasted her natural interest with the sheikah technology and her lack of power and it was 😘👌

How did TotK do? With the Zonai tech being the main selling point, how would Zelda, a scholar at heart, interact with it? To my memory, the only interaction she has is to put Mineru's soul into a piece of Sheikah tech and hand it to a construct.

Well what about magic? Finding out she has light AND time powers was at first a great throwback to OoT with the Sage of Time. The fact that her Time magic awakened immediately unlike the Light magic in the last game was a nice contrast. But then, she immediately has a similar dilemma, she can't USE her magic to propel herself forward because she doesnt know how. Unlike BotW though, she has the "mother" she was lacking to teach her. This was a decent set-up. It was different enough to be its own thing but still was familiar enough. This is up to memory 4 - Mineru's Council

The issue the NEXT MEMORY, memory 5 - Gerudo Assualt shows her being even more proficient than Sonia. We don't see her train, or struggle, or even ask a question about how the stone works. She just does. It's not until memory 8 do we see her get any guidance about her powers? And even then we don't see her attempt recall at all. In the next memory she simply uses it perfectly and effortlessly.

The purpose of her strengthening Time Magic was to get back home. Yet, she gets back home by swallowing a sacred stone, that she already had the ability to do at any point. She turns into the LIGHT dragon, using her LIGHT magic to strengthen the Master Sword. Her whole arc about her magic was pointless because in the end she used the powers from the previous game for everything important.

2. Her relationship with Hyrule

Positives first! Its clear that Zelda loves her people, and during the 7? year gap she obviously took the time to connect with them and problem solve. Penn's quest really demonstrates this, and so does the Hateno school quest. (Even if the children don't believe in the Calamity). I found it very endearing that the people had such faith in her, that even with Ganondorf causing havoc with her face, people refused to believe it. The Great Fairies MUST have seen wrong because it was dark, Dorephan MUST have been mistaken, the Stable Trotters MUST have seen someone else - Zelda wouldn't do that.

I additionally liked that Zelda wasn't immediately trying to set up a monarchy again. In fact, she seemed to be doing the opposite. She wasn't living in Central Hyrule, at Looking Landing, she was living in Hateno. She was a teacher, and on some level a researcher (even if the Don Dons were scrapped ideas from the first trailer).

But the second she goes to the past, she is put back in her box. Her interests in tech are non-existant, she does not interact with anyone who isn't royalty, the King doesn't listen to her about Ganondorf and tells her to not to worry - after all she's just supposed to wear that white dress and hope her magic works soon. She's regressed back to before the Calamity, waiting for something terrible she knows is coming and is powerless to stop.

Crucially, she doesn't speak to Ganondorf once.

This is by far the most egregious waste of their characters in my opinion, and I've just deleted a 3 paragraph Ganondorf discussion - another time. But come on! This is legitimately the PERFECT scenario for Zelda to find about about WHY people opposed her royal family, WHY everyone she's ever loved died in Calamity caused by this guy, WHY she's had to go through all this. But no, if they did talk, it wasn't on screen.

Ive seen in translations of parts of one of the interviews with a developer saying she was able to see what a ruler should be like by going to the past, but until a see an official source I'm going to hope that's not true

3. Her relationship with Link

"Link is still entrusted with the role of protecting Princess Zelda." - Hidemaro Fujibayashi https://www.npr.org/2023/09/13/1199307678/zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-dlc-video-game. Maybe I'll write a post about Link sometime, but I'm focusing on just him and Zelda.

Whether you ship the two or not, the pair would obviously have a unique bond from both fighting the Calamity and losing the Champions/everyone. So, how did the pair cope with the destruction of everything the love? How did Zelda come to terms with the ruins of Castle Town, the harsh reality of all those who were dead? Zelda doesn't have Link's amnesia to temporarily soften the inital blow.

TotK explores none of this.

Similarly, there is a level of formality on how Zelda speaks of Link. When she tells Rauru of Link she starts, "He is a royal knight. He had been originally appointed for my protection, but later he became a hero by saving both me and Hyrule from a great evil". Not "he and I became close" or even "he became my friend". Zelda is talking to the two people closest to her right now,

All their interactions are the bare minimum.

Link has ALWAYS been a self insert for the player, but he's still a character, and more recently Nintendo has been acting like having emotions means a player can't project onto them. Zelda is Link's closest person, and when she returns he is piece of cardboard, at least help her up!

4. Her relationship with the player

First, as everyone who played BotW will know, many things were removed or changed in TotK to allow it to be standalone for new players. Sheikah tech was removed, important characters forgot Link, the majority of the last game was rarely if ever mentioned. Kass

However TotK does not properly establish Link and Zelda for new fans AND doesnt not elaborate for old fans. They interact twice until the end - the intro and memory 1. All of her characterisation is in that little history moment, the rest of it is 50% sacred power lore and 50% time power lore. Additionlly, anyone who is new to the game has no context for her light powers.

Actually, TotK literally retcons her light magic to be from Rauru and not Hylia. Which was the WHOLE POINT of BotW so great sequelling there guys.

TLDR: The Conclusion

Wow, you made it this far. Or you skipped to end, I would too. My main gripes with Zelda:

> She doesn't interact with Zonai Tech.

> Her arc is about learning time power to go home, only for her to not use said magic and instead use the light magic from the last game to fix the sword and be a light dragon.

> Having her worries about Ganondorf shot down by the King and not holding her ground/ insisting (did you learn nothing from Rhoam??)

> never interacting with Ganondorf him being in Hyrule as a diplomat

> nintendos approach to her and link, they dont once touch while both conscious. Not even a handshake or pat on the shoulder. See images above with prev. Zelda and Link.

> the instance on making it not complicated for accessibility to new players, but also not fleshing it out enough to be compelling on its own.

[bringingglory]

thank you so much for the tags @hanamuri @fullmetalscullyy @megthemighty @nightofnyx8 @tsaritsa !

How many works do you have on AO3? 11! some are botw, one is tdiapt, some are fma, and some are haikyuu! i mostly just write for whatever im interested in at the moment/whichever fandom inspiration strikes for

What's your total AO3 word count? 101,939

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Keep Your Friends Closer But Your Enemies Closer - T: ahhhh my miraculous ladybug fic! ive literally been working on her for FOREVER and i swear to god im going to finish it, i literally know how i want to end it and i know all the events leading up to it. hell, i even have a vague idea of what i want to happen in the middle, i just need to know what order the middle stuff happens in and also i just have to write it. It's an AU where Ladybug and Chat Noir are actually enemies but then Chat Noir accidentally befriends Marinette and then drama etc etc etc.

rain - G: first zelink fic babey! set Pre-Calamity and basically link and zelda get stuck in a cave because of the rain and there's just a lot of quiet pining, etc etc.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Oikawa - T: HAHAHA this was a crack fic inspired by my roommate but then i forgot it was supposed to be a crack fic while writing it and there are accidentally real emotions alkjdfalksdf but anyway it was very fun to write lmao. it was based off this meme and basically it's an AU where Oikawa is Spider-Man and Iwaizumi doesn't know but they still like hang out and stuff. It's a lot of fun, or at least I think it is, haha.

stolen moments - T: first royai fic!!! just a series of "stolen moments" (mic drop) where roy and riza like cant be together but yknow, they try. lots of pining. etc

a secret weapon of sorts - T: 5+1 edwin fic inspired by the Simple People OVA where instead of ed giving winry earrings to get out of trouble, he gives her kisses.

Do you reply to comments, why or why not? Yes! I try really hard to!!! Sometimes I get overwhelmed and I don't respond to comments for a while, but I absolutely do my best to when I remember because I feel like it's my way of saying "thank you" for them reading my fics in the first place, haha.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? Uhhhhh, sleepless I guess? But it's more open-ended/not explicitly positive more than anything, though even then I feel like I've got a hint of hope in there. alkjdfhalsdk idk man I just, I can't write *pure* angst, there's gotta be some light, and thus I could never end anything angstily

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending? LMAO most of my fics??? I guess??? bc despite being an anxious piece of shit, I am an optimist by heart

Do you write crossovers? If so, what's the craziest one you've ever written? When I was younger! Idk, I guess the Rise of the Brave Frozen Tangled Dragons fandom??? if anyone remembers what that is lmao

Have you ever received hate on a fic? Not exactly? Maybe some weird comments on KYFCBYEC but even then, it wasn't that often.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? No no no no no no no no. I am telling you, I physically cannot write smut. I don't think I actually have the capacity. Absolute fucking kudos to every single smut writer out there bc it truly is an art form capturing that intimacy and emotion and etc, but I literally get flustered from writing mildly detailed kiss scenes. If I ever wrote smut, I would burst into flames on the spot.

Actually lies, I technically wrote smut once, but it was at the request of my roommates and they wanted me to write a crack smut fic of Y/N x our uni's mascot and I wrote that thing in like 3 hours with so many silly memes to keep myself sane (not like other girls, tongues battled for dominance, etc), did not edit it, and because it was so, like, not serious, I was actually able to get through it. But even then, when I wrote "thrusting" I literally had to put my laptop down for 20 minutes.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Nope!

Have you ever had a fic translated? Not yet! Someone commented on Your Friendly Neighborhood Oikawa and asked if they could translate it and I said yes! They haven't gotten around to it yet, but I would love to see it if they do!

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Not yet!

What’s your all-time favourite ship? Bro it changes day to day. You can't ask me this lmao. The current ship I'm most fixated on is Iwaoi, but I wouldn't say they're my all-time favorite.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? I'm not answering this energy. On god, I'm going to finish things. I want to.

What are your writing strengths? uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh very good question lmao. I don't really like thinking about "strengths" in my writing bc who am I to say? akjdslakfjdf idk, instead, I'm just gonna say some things I like/try to do in my writing, which are: conversational prose/having a lot of voice in the narration, I try to add humor wherever I can, and recently I've gotten better and metaphors and describing things bc I picked up writing poetry a year ago!

What are your writing weaknesses? hmmm, a thing I dislike about my writing/the writing process is that I'm slow to publish things and slow to finish things because I'm such a messy first drafter and I also take forever to edit. I would like to uhhhhh get things out faster. Also I tend to repeat myself a lot bc I forget the details of things I write sometimes lmao.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? Hmmm, I dunno, I guess I don't have any strong thoughts? The only other language I know is Mandarin but even then, I suck ass at that, so I'll prolly never write dialogue in another language simply bc I like to try to portray things semi-realistically and I don't think I have a good enough grasp on any other language the same way I do in English to produce authentic enough dialogue.

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Fablehaven I guess? But Idk I was in fourth grade an didn't even know what fandom was yet. Rise of the Guardians, maybe?

What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

AHHHH idk??? maybe hold your hand out in the dark because i really experimented with my writing on that one and im sort of proud of the result, just like the fact that i wanted to try something new and it turned out alright. that or Sunset Wheeling which is an iwaoi fic where they just skate, and like it's prolly one of the most self-indulgent things i've ever written because it's silly and they just. skate. but aljdfalsjd idk i loved it and i churned it out in 6 days and it was a lot of fun lol

ahhh a bunch of people have been tagged already, so sorry if im tagging you again, but for now im just gonna tag @niconiconina @notkorras @thatisadamnfinecupofcoffee @firewoodfigs and anyone else who wants do it!

[littleeyesofpallas]

Demon Slayer - Name Games

So ive been kinda getting into kimetsu no yaiba lately and on the one hand it hasn’t really hooked me or anything story-wise just yet, but boy oh boy am i loving the aesthetic and general design sensibilities.  The biggest motifs at work, at least from where I’ve read so far, that I really love are the use of some traditional Japanese fabric patterns and the use of hanafuda card motifs.

I don’t think I’ll get as into this all as I have with Bleach but I wanted to put some of these rambling thoughts somewhere, so here we go...

the most obvious hanafuda reference is in tanjiro’s earrings which are explicitly referenced as looking like hanafuda card.  ironically of all the hanafuda references though, his are actually the only modified ones.  His earrings are based on the Moon card in the suit of Silvergrass/August, and not the sun and crane card from the pine/janurary suit.  In Hanafuda, each of 12 suits has a core plant(usually flowering), an affiliated month, and within each suit 1 ribbon and 1 “animal” card. (although not all the animal cards are actual animals).

The whole Kamado family has an ichimatsu:”checker" pattern motif, although Nezuko also has an asanoha:”hemp leaf” pattern as well.  The checker pattern doesnt really have any overt meaning, as it’s a pretty universal pattern, but it does have associations with heroes and lead actors via kabuki theatre costuming.  The hemp leaf is a symbol of growth and good health, and is often used in baby clothes.

Also as usual i’m a sucker for name games.  Kamado[竈門]: "Hearth Gate" and  Tanjiro[炭治郎]: "Charcoal Regulate Son."  It's an irregular construction, as the name Tanjiro is a real name but the “charcoal” kanji isn’t how you’d normally write the Tan- part. (More conventional writings would probably be [丹治郎], which reads as [丹] "red-earth"/"rust-colored.") Both names play up his family trade as charcoal makers/sellers, if that wasn’t clear, which in turn plays into his overall sun and fire themes.

Nezuko[禰豆子]: "Ancestral-shrine bean child" is a neat name and also a homonym with Nezuko[鼠子]: "Rat child."  I assume the “rat” pun is there to evoke gnawing, as in her demon fang gag.  The bean, as a seed and as food are probably meant to evoke good health and growth, like the asanoha pattern.  

Zenitsu’s associated card is the Thunder card from the Willow/November suit.  The same suit’s animal card has a Sparrow on it.

His fabric pattern is an uroko:”scale,” pattern probably most recognized as the hojo family crest, which in turn is most recognized as being the same as the triforce in legend of zelda.  They are a stylized geometric pattern made to resemble fish or snake or even dragon scales.  They can have some implication of protection or warding, but are also commonly used in theatre costume where it evokes treachery and ambush by association with snakes waiting to strike.  probably meant as a play on his whole hidden sword skill gimmick.

His name reads, Agatsuma[我妻] "My Wife" and Zenitsu[善逸] "Good Evasion."  The latter is obvious but i dont know what to make of that surname.  Maybe a joke about him wanting to take a wife so he won’t die alone.

...

Inosuke’s associated card is the Boar card from the Bushclover/July suit.  His “fabric” is jokingly a non-fabric, as it’s just animal pelts, rather than anything manmade.

Name wise... Hashibira[嘴平] "Flat beak", Inosuke[伊之助] "That, This Assistant."  A pun on the "ino" of inoshishi[猪] meaning "boar," so his name sounds like it would be Inosuke[猪助] "Boar Assistant."  I don’t know what to make of the surname though....

Kanao and the Kocho sisters take their motif from the Butterfly card in the Peony/June suit.  The capes mimicking butterfly wings is pretty obvious but also not really a traditional pattern.  I haven’t gotten too far into their deal yet.

Tsuyuri[栗花落] "chestnut flower drop," Kanao [カナヲ].  I’m not super sure on this one, but chestnuts are probably more iconic for the nut than the flower, and the nut of course falls in its spiny shell.  They are also broadly associated with autumn as seasonal symbols.  I don’t think it was the intention but the use of “chestnut” and “fall/drop” together makes me think of scattering caltrops on the ground to slow pursuers, like a ninja. 

Kocho[胡蝶] is written “Foreign Butterfly” where the character for “foreign” is used in compounds circling around a core idea of “False” or ”Suspicious.”  But historically it can also read as “Barbarian” in reference to a particular time and place in China, but it’s the reason it also means “foreign.”  Either way it means her name can read “Barbarian Butterfly” which is just the coolest mashup of imagery.  Shinobu [しのぶ] is just written phonetically, as was Kanao.

But also Muzan has his motif of western style floral lace in stark juxtaposition to the recognizably japanese styles of most of the hunters.

I do really like the fact that the villain group is numbered according to an old timekeeping method that Japan doesn’t use anymore.  It’s a derivative of the borrowed Chinese time keeping system (which is mirrored by their zodiac cycle) and divides each day into 12 “hours”: 6 of day and 6 of night --a top six and a bottom six, just like Muzan’s 12 demons.

What’s really cool is that these units of time were actually relative to the season and the literal daylight.  So the 6 “hours” were always equal to one another, but the day hours and night hours shifted length inversely to one another during the summer and winter.  When western clocks were introduced via trade with Holland, it didnt take long for the Japanese to develop a unique clock mechanism of their own that let them turn a dial to shift the clock face around according to the season

And speaking of demons.... the fixation on Wisteria also ties back to the April suit in hanafuda, which has a wisteria motif.  There’s a family crest coopted into a design that shows up briefly modified from the Fujiwara family crest.

Anyway, like I said, I’m not super super into the series just yet, but these were just a bunch of little things that jumped out at me as I was going, and that I told myself I’d post about at some point, if i ever managed to hammer out any substantially sized blurbs about it all.  There’s a lot more going on too, even in just the handful of volumes i’ve picked through so far, but not all of it as consistent or reaching across multiple characters as a these were.

[moistwithgender]

Monthly Media Roundup (June-July 2019)

Well, I neglected doing a post last month, and now another has passed. I haven’t done too much, about three games each month and not anything else media-wise, so let’s get it all done right now!

Little Nightmares (PC/Steam): 

These types of spooky “cinematic platformers”, like LIMBO and INSIDE, never really scare me or fill me with dread. Part of this may be that due to the trappings of cinematic platformers. Checkpoints are very fair, and nothing is too difficult because priority is on delivering the story. Little side challenges exist, like trying to light all the candles or break all the porcelain dolls in the short 3-hour run of the game, but these are also pretty reasonable, even if you’re in a chase sequence. I’m reminded of a youtuber I briefly followed who talked about how horror games aren’t scary anymore, and somewhat unintentionally delivered the point that as you become accustomed to the limits of a medium, and therefore are less likely to be surprised by it, you’re also much less likely to be scared by it. It’s a somewhat unfortunate and inevitable trade-off to becoming more invested in a hobby. When I was a kid, all games held infinite possibility, and so an NPC in Harvest Moon telling me that wild dogs came out at night led me to think that night time held the possibility of ENEMIES in a game without combat. What the NPC meant was that you should build fences. As an adult who has spent my life playing games, I can tell you that a game is almost never going to put you in a situation without the means to deal with it. If there’s going to be combat, you’re going to know how combat works before an ambush. If there’s an escape sequence, you’re going to be in an area that facilitates your escape (often a narrow space that leads you in a direction while also making it as harrowing as possible). Games are theme park rides, and while learning that can make seemingly difficult games more manageable and enjoyable, it also gradually disillusions you. Thankfully, there are always new things to learn if you keep an open mind.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS): 

2019 has been about thoroughly enjoying the games that I considered overrated in my young adulthood. I joked on twitter that 70% of my personality was disliking Final Fantasy VII and Ocarina of Time, and honestly, it might as well have been. I earned a lot of undeserved respect in college through arrogantly spouting hot takes about “objectively good art”, and a lot of people reasonably assumed this must mean I know exactly what I’m talking about. The way I process art and media is much looser and more personal than it used to be, partially due to burning out and becoming too exhausted to deal with other arrogant people. I think a lot about how tiring I had to be for other people to talk to. Watching Tim Rogers bleed his personal trauma into his video series on the subtleties of FF7’s japanese script was the most instrumental in turning me back toward the game. When Square Enix revealed gameplay footage of the remake at E3 this year, I was hooting and hollering with the longtime fans.

But, this is about Zelda, not Final Fantasy. I had already played through OoT, as hurriedly as possible, just to say I had done it. It was the better part of a decade ago, at the urging of a then-girlfriend who had nostalgia for it. Frustrations with the Water Temple in the original version are valid despite it being largely well designed, due to some minor shortsighted-ness that blows up into nagging issues, but I think I had put myself in the headspace to dislike it from the get-go. Similarly, I didn’t want to do any collecting in the game as a whole. I had convinced myself that there was no joy to be found in collecting in games (a take bereft of nuance). When the point of Zelda games is to inspire the player to explore every nook and cranny in search of rewards, going in as a player and stubbornly trying to avoid any of that ensures that you’ll miss the point of the whole experience. I’m not sure what it was that made me want to go back. It might be that I wanted to prove my younger, cockier self wrong, and pave over my old evaluations with more nuance. 

It certainly worked out that way, as several previous opinions changed entirely. Ruto used to be annoying to me, but was now one of my favorite characters. Doing all the little minigames felt rewarding in itself, and in turn I was unexpectedly rewarded with important items (they really did bet everything on the entire world they’d made). The Water Temple, now tweaked for a bit more convenience in the 3DS version, was extremely interesting. The side quest to acquire the Biggoron Sword was easily doable, whereas I had grown up assuming it impossible. And the story which had never appealed to me (because I wouldn’t let it) now felt relatable in a way I hadn’t expected. Link intends to do good, but through unfortunate circumstances and honest mistakes becomes unable to take part in the world, and it spirals downward for years as he remains trapped in a room, aging but inactive. Something about that mirrors my own experiences with depression. Sure, Link, can travel back to his younger self at any time, but there’s still a powerlessness in the inability to affect the seven year gap. You can flash back, but you can’t change what you’ve lost.

Banjo-Kazooie (N64): 

You know, as a kid I probably would have just accepted that Grunty was evil, but as an adult it’s hard not to see her as a product of her environment. Obsessed with asking her cauldron who the objectively prettiest in the world is, she seeks out and kidnaps the younger girl given the title in an attempt to steal her youth. Every character in the game describes Grunty as ugly, rather than evil, and even her own sister shows up in every area to tell you how gross she is and how terrible her lifestyle is. I ended up sympathizing with her more than anyone else. I’ve only played half an hour of Banjo-Tooie, but it was a relief in multiple ways to see her pivot to straight up murder after rising from the dead.

Despite playing Donkey Kong Country multiple times growing up, I’d never really grown to love Rare’s in-house aesthetic of big-eyed cartoony animals. It might be hypocritical, but Smash Ultimate’s reveals for both King K. Rool and Banjo (and) Kazooie made me see the charm in these characters. Something about how Smash canonizes characters as essential pieces of game history always causes me to drop any negative pretense and adopt them as favorites. It’s a little intellectually hypocritical, but I can’t help liking what I like. After the trailer for B-K in Smash, I immediately started up the original game in Retroarch. Thankfully the core I used was advanced enough to play the game without issues (the same cannot be said for Tooie), as other alternatives were expensive or hard to get a hold of. While the slightly-mean humor and talking animate objects took a bit of getting used to, I get it now. I get the children’s show aesthetic they were aiming for, and I appreciate the feel of the physics and control of the interspecies friendship of the protagonists working in tandem with each other, even if the game is at times quite difficult.

Dragon Quest I, II, & III (SNES): 

Yes, I did play through three JRPGs in a row! And yes, you might notice that the hero of Dragon Quest XI (and VIII, and IV, and III) was also announced for Smash Ultimate. They recently released, as of this writing! A lot of what I’ve been playing has been influenced by outside forces, whether it be Nintendo news or friends, but I’m not bothered at all when otherwise I might not have the energy to play anything. The games I’ve been playing are also ones I’ve intended to play for a while, so the excuses have been convenient for me. Though, actually, this decision had less to do with the Smash announcement and more to do with the upcoming re-release of DQXI, which seems to be related to the original three games, known as The Erdrick Trilogy. I had heard that you can play XI on its own, but that there is an extra layer of appreciation to be had if you’ve played the original trilogy. Me being me, I naturally queued them up. I chose the older fan translations of the SNES remakes, and though I did finish them, I can tell you that they have their fair share of bugs (DQII even has a game breaking glitch I had to finagle through using save states across multiple versions, phew). Besides that, those old translations lack the modern localizations of the games, so if they namedrop something in XI, there’s a chance it’ll go over my head. Oops! If you want to play these games, the best versions are currently on mobile phones.

Around a decade ago I was in early college, with no friends except for those still in high school or at another university. I was very lonely and nervous. I started playing Dragon Quest V purely by chance, and it served as the perfect salve for that loneliness, with its lonely child protagonist traveling around the world accumulating found family. It’s one of the more poignant and cathartic JRPGs I’ve ever played, and for the next decade I would actually be bothered that the rest of the games didn’t live up to the catharsis of DQV.

In revisiting the roots of the series, and playing it through to see how it develops from title to title, it finally clicked with me, and continues to click with me, as I keep learning more about the series. Rather than comparing every entry to DQV, I should have been comparing them in order. This might sound obvious, but it really did make a world of difference to see that V’s narrative is placed on top of the foundation the previous games set, rather than a singular case of lightning in a bottle. And the games have always featured loneliness, but in differing contexts, and to different degrees. The hero of DQI is almost entirely alone through the full game. In DQII, the princess comes from lonely circumstances, and one of the princes comes down with a sickness that leaves him temporarily unable to help his friends. In DQIII you can make as many team members as you want, but you grow up with an absent father, and your own good deeds receive bittersweet resolution. They are all games built on simple settings and followed through with empathy. The series is at times disarmingly heavy, which is part of what makes the games as memorable as they are. You’re never quite as prepared for Dragon Quest as you think you are.

As of this writing I’m currently half-way through a replay of Dragon Quest IV, and I’m enjoying it a lot more. I’m looking forward to replaying V. I have no idea what VI will be like. I’ve heard it’s a lower point in the series, but that’s what I heard about II as well, and I ended up loving it, so who knows. Dragon Quest is good.

---

Well, I managed to catch up. I didn’t get into the finer details of the DQ playthroughs, but DQIII is honestly so good I don’t want to spoil it for anyone (you should play these games). Maybe in August I’ll actually get back to watching and reading things. Maybe I’ll try to keep these things to a single paragraph per item, to make it more manageable to read. Let me know what you think, if you think.

[ungarmax]

All the vidya game asks tho. All Of Them

1. Favorite game from the last 5years?

Idon’t even know what came out within the last five years.  I thinkI’m gonna have to go with Stardew Valley?  It’s my game on Steam withthe second most hours logged, but the one that has the most hourslogged came out 6 years ago.  I haven’t played it in a while, but Ido really like it.

2.Most nostalgic game?

Hmm. That’s probably a tie between Link’s Awakening and Final Fantasy IV. Link’s Awakening was the first non computer video game I ever owned,and FF4 was my first RPG.  That said, there’s a special place in myheart for the old SNES version of Wing Commander, the game Icommandeered at my cousins’ house every weekend.

3.Game that deserves a sequel?

Thething is, the best games in the world are the ones that don’t needsequels because they’re very well self-contained, or they’re alreadya part of a series.  I’m tempted to say Chrono Trigger, becauseChrono Cross doesn’t count as a sequelso much as a spiritual successor.  But I also want my children torest.

4.Game that deserves a remaster?

Inever trust these…sometimes they are done well, like the remastersof FF4 and Chrono Trigger for DS, those were both excellent.  But Ilook into the future and think about how the FF7 remaster is going totake out all the dumb 90s cool guy lingo, and then I don’t like it somuch.

UnlessI’m wrong about what a remaster is?  Because I just remembered thatwhen they rereleased FFX with better graphics, that was called aremaster.

Eitherway, I just suddenly decided I need a new version of Quidditch WorldCup because that was the fucking best game ever made.

5.Favorite game series?

Ihaven’t kept up to date with a lot of game series, thanks to lack offunds for the past few years, and most of the series I enjoy, Igenerally really like a couple of the games from it and eitherdislike or haven’t played the rest.  Contenders are Final Fantasy,Metal Gear Solid, AceAttorney, and Legend ofZelda.  But I’m way behind on all fourof them, and Final Fantasy has been…disappointinglately, to say the least.

Oh! Dragon Age has been pretty dang good thus far!

6.Favorite genre?

Ireally love RPGs, but lately I’ve been playing nothing but this citybuilder/RTS game and a couple of rogue-likes.  I also love MMORPGs,but I haven’t had the money to pay for a WoW subscription in manyyears, and, uh, I only own up to Cataclysm, lol.  Oh, and good ol’point and clicks hold a special place in my heart too.

7.Least favorite genre?

Firstperson shooters and platformers.  I also usually dislike rogue-likes because I liketo min-max and the point of rogue-likes is that you literally cannotdo that.

8.Favorite song from a game?

ThePrice of Freedom, from Crisis Core.

9.Favorite character from a game?

FarisSherwiz from FF5.

10.Favorite ship from a game?

WOWwhat a question.  I think I’m gonna have to go with Zack Fair/CloudStrife, since it’s something I’ve shipped consistently for 15 years.

11.Favorite voice actor from a game?

Ilike a whole lot of them, but I’m particularly fond of ChristopherRandolph’s voice.  It’s to my extreme sadness that he’s not done muchother than Voice Of Otacon, but that’s okay.  Apparently, he’s beendoing more since MGS, so that’s cool, but I’ve still barely heard ofanything he’s been in.

12.Favorite cutscene?

Thefirst thing that came to mind was The Sending in FFX.  Anothercontenders is Zack and Cloud escaping the lab in OG FF7 (as long asyou turn off the game right after the truck scene).  Those are thetwo I always keep save files right before that.  Though I will saythat the scene in MGS before you fight the Boss in the flower field,or really, the entire ending cinematic of that game, is fuckingamazing too.

13.Favorite boss?

GOD,WHAT A QUESTION.  Does this mean, favorite boss battle?  Or favoritecharacter who is also a boss fight?

Myfavorite kind of boss is a difficult one that you need some sort ofstrategy to beat, so that you feel vindicated for winning.  However,that said, this can border on annoying too, because, if it’s amandatory battle that you can get stuck on, that’s frustrating.  So Iguess optional bosses are the best?  I’m thinking like Ruby andEmerald in FF7, and Sephiroth in Kingdom Hearts.  I also tend toreally like Zelda bosses because you can’t just hit ‘em, you gottafigure out how to use your brand new toy to do it.  (Exceptthe water bosses for some reason?  They all suck.)

Myfavorite character that you fight as a boss battle…probably Golbezor Kain Highwind from FF4.  Which do I like better?  I don’t know. There’s also the Boss from MGS3, of course.  AndMiles Edgeworth?  He’s a boss, right? There are probably more that I can’t think of right now.

14.First console?

Thefirst console I ever played was an NES, but the first one I everowned was a SNES.

15.Current console or consoles?

NES,SNES, N64, GameCube, Wii, PSX, PS2, and PS3.  I also have a GameBoyColor, a DS, and a 3DS by technicality.

16.Console you want?

I’dlove a PS4, but it’s not like I can afford any games for it anyway.

17.Place from a game that you’d like to visit?

Thisis a really intriguing question, since games like Final Fantasy havesuch interesting and beautiful locations.  There are so manybeautiful places just within the few FF games I’ve actually playedthat this is a really hard choice.  The problem is that all theseplaces generally have monsters in them.

MaybeCleyra or the Farplane or the City of the Ancients?

18.Place from a game that you’d like to live in?

Doyou think Cosmo Canyon has WiFi?

19.Ridiculous crossover that would never happen but would be super fun?

FF4/TAZcrossover where apparently Lucretia is FuSoYa because they’re both incharge of fake moons.

20.Book that would make a good game?

I’mso tired right now I can’t think of a single book I’ve ever read inmy entire life.  Like, the book I am reading right now is based on avideo game, so, I mean,

21.Show/Movie that would make a good game?

MacGyver! (Thank you, @perniciouslizard.)  Like, it should be a point and click game,probably based on the old show because it had less boring fightscenes, and you can do QTEs for those even though I hate QTEs.  Aslong as the game isn’t entire QTEs (I’m looking at you, Heavy Rain),it should be okay.

22.Games you want to play?

Thereare a Lot.  Off the top of my head, I’d really love to finish DragonAge: Inquisition, and just to play, Persona 5, Breathof the Wild, allthe Ace Attorney games I haven’t played yet (there are at least 2,maybe more?), all the Pokemon games I haven’t played yet (whichis…most), Oxygen Not Included, all the Mass Effect games andFallout games, Night in theWoods, aaaand probably lots of others.  I’m tired.

23.Have you gotten 100% completion in a game?

Yep. I have 100%ed FF4, I think, and also Link’s Awakening.  Maybeothers, but those are the two I was proudest of.  Actually, I don’tknow if FF4 counts?  I got all the items (except possibly theincredibly rare thing with a ridiculous drop rate, but I don’tremember?  I got all the extra summons for Rydia, though, which was aThing), but I didn’t level everyone up to 99.  I’m working on a 100%FF7 run right now, but that’s gonna be a pain because I don’t knowhow to play the Fort Condor minigame.  I usually just let them get tothe top and beat them up, but you can’t get all the items if you dothat.

24.Have you cried over a game?

Thismorning I cried because my cat scratched me while I was clipping hisclaws.  I cry playing basically every video game, whether or not it’ssad.  My top three crying games, though, in no particular orderbecause they’re all Really Fucking Sad, are FFX, Crisis Core, andMGS3.

25.What power-up or ability would you want IRL?

*thumbto bandana* Infinite ammo.

[asksep]

1-65 cause 💚

hi this is gonna be hella long lmao thank u my anonymous friend

1. Do you ever doubt the existence of others than you?

-constantly, it’s. weird 

2. On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you?

-a solid 3.5, though its more a fear of whats in the dark that i now can’t see

3. The person you would never want to meet?

-me from five years ago cringe

4. What is your favorite word?

-two words technically, but “rubber bung” is the best thing to say, marcellus was going on about some experiment or other that needed one and i spent a solid half an hour trying not to laugh at him saying “rubber bung”

5. If you were a type of tree, what would you be?

-suddenly every type of tree to exist has removed itself from my memory and i cant remember any tree types

update: i did a quiz and im an evergreen pine thats nice isnt it

6. When you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought?

-“why the fuck is my hair purple” it was marcia paying me back for setting fire to her kitchen table

7. What shirt are you wearing?

-an obnoxiously bright green one i love blinding people

8. What do you label yourself as?

-tired? confused?

9. Bright room or dark room?

-dark, but light enough to read in (i have my priorities)

10. What were you doing at midnight last night?

-trying to work out how to sneak past marcia to get into the library

11. Favorite age you’ve been so far?

-16? 17? 18? they’ve all been stressy but there hasn’t been many major disasters which is good

12. Who told you they loved you last?

-probs beetle tbh 

13. Your worst enemy?

- spit fyres constantly growing toenails

14. What is your current desktop picture?

15. Do you like someone?

-i like a lot of someones

16. The last song you listened to?

- It’s Time by Imagine Dragons

17. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up?

-me

18. Who would you really like to just punch in the face?

-also me

19. If anyone could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do?

-beetle, and he can bring the books up from the manuscriptorium that ive needed for ages but that neither of us can be bothered/have time to carry all the way up here

also he can get me chocolate and be on hand to give me hugs as necessary

20. What is your best physical attribute? (showing said attribute is optional)

-probs eyes tbh. they were grey. and now they green. and that is cool.

21. If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do?

-not much different i reckon, just. prettier. hopefully. and i would just wander round in the same clothes and see how many people notice its actually me. or do stuff i couldnt do normally. like. run screaming  down wizard way. shut up i havent done that anyway what

22. Do you have a secret talent? If yes, what is it?

-i may. be able to sing. a little bit. a tad. 

23. What is one unique thing you’re afraid of?

-marcias shoes. they are going to hunt me down and stomp on me when i sleep if i dont show them enough respect

24. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal.

-i will make a sandwich with all of the ingredients available and it will be amazing

25. You just found $100! How are you going to spend it?

-i would try and deny it, but all of it would go on books that would go next to the bookshelf they can no longer fit on and never be read as i have more books than time

26. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go?

-somewhere warm. and quiet. where nobody can find me and demand anything

27. An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “Be brand-specific” it says. Man! What are you gonna say about that? Even if you don’t drink booze there’s something you can figure out… so what’s it gonna be?

-mojitos. i love. mojitos. despite beetle and jenna and marwick and everyone saying it tastes like toothpaste. it doesnt. fight me bitches

28. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place?

-everyone has to buy me a mojito to be allowed onto the island

29. What is your favorite expletive?

-shite. solid choice, cant go wrong with it

30. Your house is on fire, holy shit! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what’s the one thing you’re going to save from that blazing inferno?

-water charm, put out fire, save everything B^)

31. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

-the first. ten years. of my life. ahahhahahahahahahhaha 

32. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool shit… you can move to anywhere else in the world!

-is this not me B^)))))))) i will move to. somewhere warm. 

33. The Celestial Gates Of Beyond have opened, much to your surprise because you didn’t think such a thing existed. Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person/etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back?

-alther? though i’d want to bring alice nettles back with him

bring all the people back, too many people need to come back

34. What was your last dream about?

-i went swimming but then the water turned into purple ink and i got out and i couldnt turn myself back normal colour and i got laughed at, and then i woke up with purple hair so i’m blaming marcia for that one

35. Are you a good….[insert anything you’d like here]?

-i think i am a good [insert anything you’d like here]

36. Have you ever been admitted to the hospital?

-a couple of times yup

37. Have you ever built a snowman?

-yep

38. What is the color of your socks?

-one is purple with blue stripes, the other is slightly green because it was originally white but i accidentally put it in the wash with my robes and cant be bothered to turn it back

39. What type of music do you like?

-a mixture of everything tbh, but i tend to lean towards more rock-y stuff? classic rock is 10/10

40. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?

-sunsets probably because i see more of them than sunrises rip who is up that early weird

41. What is your favorite milkshake flavor?

-i once had a gummy bear, milk chocolate and mint flavoured one, that was a solid 12/10

42. What football team do you support? (I will answer in terms of American football as well as soccer)

-what is. football

43. Do you have any scars?

-i have several

44. What do you want to be when you graduate?

-wizard, then extraordinary wizard hopefully

45. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

-i would remove my ability to remember things i dont want to remember from years ago, and replace that memory with things that i actually need to know but for some reason my brain has decided that it doesnt want to store the information

46. Are you reliable?

-depends on the situation? if its a matter of life and death important then id say so yep, if not i’m. okay?

47. If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be?

-who will win the yearly sled races for the next however many years 

48. Do you hold grudges?

-a bit yep, i’m the “forgive but dont forget” type 

49. If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature, what new animal would you create?

-DRAGON AND HORSE, THEN BAM YOU HAVE A UNICORN KIND OF MAYBE

50. What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had?

-i once had to explain to an old woman, who came in demanding to know what kind of charm her “naive young grandson” had got from us, that it was not in fact a charm from us, but a t-shirt from gothyk grotto with an old chant that some witches used to use to get high printed on the back. that was awkward.

51. Are you a good liar?

-depends on how much depends on the lie

52. How long could you go without talking?

-i once did a solid couple of months at aunt zeldas when we were hiding from the hunter, so a pretty long time tbh

53. What has been you worst haircut/style?

-when i got back from being in etheldreddas time, it was like somebody had glued a birds nest to my head

54. Have you ever baked your own cake?

-omg i havent? i should do that at some point, i feel like ive been deprived though i cant cook to save my life it probs wouldnt go well

55. Can you do any accents other than your own?

-…….not well

56. What do you like on your toast?

-EVERYTHING

57. What is the last thing you drew a picture of?

-spit fyre setting fire to my projection notes

a masterpiece i know 

58. What would be you dream car?

-idk, a spit fyre is all the transportation i need tbh

59. Do you sing in the shower? Or do anything unusual in the shower? Explain.

-i dont sing in the shower, i perform

60. Do you believe in aliens?

-hell yea

61. Do you often read your horoscope?

-nah

62. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet?

-take a wild guesssssssssSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

63. Which is cooler: dinosaurs or dragons?

-DRAGONS

64. What do you think about babies?

-they are. small humans

[userwithnoname]

been following you a while and wanted to know some game suggestions??? plz???

Oh wow, this is honestly the first time I’ve gotten an anon, I think. Huh.

Answer under the cut because this got a lot longer than I expected.

I’m going to be honest with you anon, I’m not the best person to ask about this because I’m picky as hell when it comes to games. If a story doesn’t grab me or a gameplay mechanic bothers me too much, I won’t play it. First-person shooters are a good example of this. I rarely play them because the stories all seem so similar and I honestly don’t care for first-person games (with a few exceptions). Turn based games are another example. A lot of them have great stories, but I cannot for the life of me get invested in them personally because the combat system is so disengaging. But there are always exceptions to the rule.

And then there’s the other aspect that comes into play: console and price. If you are, like me, a poor college student just wanting to spend some time elsewhere in your head, this might be the part that influences you the most. For instance, I have three gaming consoles: my laptop (which is shitty but works so), an X-box 360 (that I got with 5 games of my choice for $100), and a 3DS that was on sale used. Noticing a pattern? I only have a few games for the 360 and even less for the 3DS, most of my games are on my laptop both because it’s cheaper and because my 360 is a piece of JUNK.

Now, circling back around, Pokemon is an example of a game with a system I don’t like on a console I don’t play much. Growing up, Pokemon wasn’t really my thing. My sister and I watched the anime sometimes and we played Pokemon Stadium for the N64 (like eight years after it came out, but whatever), but the games never really caught our attention for two reasons: we didn’t have the consoles and had no exposure to the ads. About five years ago, Pokemon X and Y caught my attention because (as you will find out) I like games with a character creation process. I expected to have trouble getting invested in the game because of the turn-based style and was surprised when I didn’t. But it’s because a turn-based style in a largely stadium-esque game makes sense. Pokemon, with the exception of wild pokemon and rarely those, aren’t fighting for their lives, they’re being trained and fighting for the enjoyment of demented children. In a battle, it makes sense in-universe to take turns because it’s less about the fight and more about knowing your pokemon and reading your opponent. Whereas this doesn’t work so well in-universe in, say, Final Fantasy X.

But none of this is really answering your question.

In the simplest terms, it’s hard to recommend games to someone I don’t know and haven’t had the chance to discuss with. It really comes down to three things: console, price, and mechanics; and that’s something I really can’t help you with unless I know more.

But I can recommend games I like.

(Disclaimer, most of these games are on multiple consoles with a few exceptions, but almost all of them I have on PC because, once again, my 360 is LITERAL GARBAGE and I can’t afford an X-Box One).

(In no particular order.)

1) The Dragon Age Series.

An RPG had babies with a hack’n’slash game that then had kids with a strategy game. Dragon Age has a strong plot, decent characters, ok mechanics and gameplay, and a LOT of fandom discourse. Despite it’s flaws (which I can talk about some other time) the series is solidly one of my favorites. Character creation, choices, multiple endings, romance (or not), and ok graphics all in one package. Pretty easy to find, the first two are relatively cheap. Inquisition (the third one) is still pretty new and can be expensive.

2) Mass Effect (The Shepard Trilogy specifically).

Before you start screaming about me saying I don’t like FPS games, remember that there’s always an exception. And Mass Effect is third-person, thank you. An RPG with FPS elements, great characters, ok plot, and sometimes terrifying graphics. While not my favorite, it’s not a bad series, or at least the first 3 aren’t. I can’t afford Andromeda, so I reserve judgement until I can play it. The first three (not counting the DLC) aren’t too hard on the wallet while still getting enough bang for your buck. Availability is the issue here, especially on PC. Unless you get it through Amazon or Gamestop, you might have a hard time finding the first one specifically.

3) The Legend of Zelda.

An old personal favorite that, once again has the same problem as ME–availability. LoZ is exclusively Nintendo, and while you can hack it to play on the PC, that usually comes with a lot of bugs. It’s also a long-running franchise, so there’s a lot of games and a lot of confusion. Very story driven, great (if somewhat plain) characters, and just enough variety to be interesting. There’s no right or wrong way to get into the stories, though each of them play differently. My first LoZ game was Ocarina of Time and I fell in love, but my favorite is Twilight Princess. The newer games can be expensive and so can the old ones, I’d recommend you pick based on price and whatever console you have.

4) Skyrim.

In keeping with the above themes, I should probably put “The Elder Scrolls Series” above, but I’ve only played Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls Online, and MMORPGs aren’t my thing. Skyrim is a hack’n’slash trying to be an RPG which isn’t (in this case) a bad thing. You have the option of playing it first or third person and can switch at any time, so I won’t call it a first person game. The character creation is… ok, the graphics aren’t terrible most of the time, and the story’s actually pretty interesting. There are a lot of bugs, though, and not a bunch of character investment. But it is an open world and has more mods than I want to count. Plus, it’s just a lot of fun and sometimes really silly. Catch it on sale on Steam for the best price on PC, but it’s relatively cheap normally.

5) Saints Row IV.

Skyrim, but modern, with guns, more character investment, superpowers instead of magic, and a lot of mature themes. While not the best game, it is a lot of fun while still investing in the character. However, the other three games are a lot more Grand Theft Auto than Skyrim. But, as you may have guessed, I don’t/can’t play GTA, so… Saints Row IV is a good trade off.

6) Pokemon (specifically X/Y and Sun/Moon).

Full disclosure: Y and Moon are the only Pokemon games I’ve played other than Stadium and the tiniest bit of Yellow. Decent character creation, cute monsters that (usually) listen to you, and an interesting (though repeated) story. X/Y are pretty cheap with decent graphics, but like LoZ, are exclusively Nintendo. Without a 3DS, you can’t play them unless you do a hack, but once again, BUGS.

7) The Sims (3 and 4).

Once again, I was late to the party and these are the only two I’ve played. The creation kit on the Sims 4 is out of this world, and the Sims 3 isn’t too shabby, either. My biggest problem with the Sims is that we’re constantly getting new expansion packs and DLC that I can’t afford, but without make the game feel almost incomplete. PC exclusively (except 4 and that’s still coming). 3 is pretty cheap on Steam and Origin, but I can’t find 1 and 2 anywhere except Amazon and other retailers.

There’s more I could add, but this post got long. Sorry. If you have any more questions, feel free to message me again!