#they have laser swords and one them’s a dragon!

[throwingbread]

Hob would play it with about 50 billion houserules to make it more “historially accurate” nevermind that they’re wizard, an elf and gnome that can turn into a bear trying to fight a dragon.

New sandman hc:

Hob plays DnD because it reminds him of the medieval times so he has a campaign with some of his students and they play every thursday.

One day Morpheus comes to visit Hob when he is on his way to their DnD session for the evening. He decides to sit in on the session and he loves how they create these stories out of a game.

Somehow next campaign Morpheus is the dungeon master and the group of students can't be more enthuastic about it while Hob looks at Dream chuckling and fond because the Prince of stories is their DM.

[bmpmp3]

after six years of the game being out and after three and a half years of me actually playing the game i have finally beat botw. did u know finishing video games is. fun,,

[say-hi-intrepid-heroes]

alright let’s go over the junior year clues we got in the rick perry documentary thing (disclaimer: i’ve definitely missed stuff, but i think i got the big things, feel free to reblog and add with stuff that i missed though)

[at the bottom of this post I've typed out the decipherable words that plan out some combats and NPCs from Rick's screen. it's the most interesting thing but it's super long so it's at the bottom under a cut]

We get a blurry look at some minis. I’m seeing at least the PC’s minis, as well as what looks like Baxter the Gryphon.

There’s some major shots of this battle. Includes a Baby mini, the Hangvan with some kind of laser canon on top, a stingray-esque monster that is likely Night Yorb (see below), something that looks like maybe an ice elemental or the crystal (see below), and some large bugs and shirtless people. Clearly set in the Red Wastes. Detailed info of the planning for this battle below.

One of the shots had reference boards in the background. One is clearly for the Hangvan (see earlier screencaps), but the other is unclear. It looks like it includes some sort of tennis or tennis-adjacent sport.

Confirmation that Mordred Manor is a set piece.

Finally, one shot showed Rick’s computer screen with some critical info about planning. I’ve put what I’ve been able to decipher below the screencaps. and under a cut, as it’s very long.

EP. 701 DEFEATING NIGHT YORB CHASE (RED WASTES) Hangvan, Night Yorb is giant flying Manta Ray thing? Rainbow road, being chased by night yorb while trying to throw crystal into portal. Crazy gun on rough [roof] that gorgug made, I can’t get a lock on it. Just need one last final thing to defeat night yorb. Red wastes, chasing the night yorb around, flying bats teleporting onto rough [roof] of van, NPC allies, Balthazar, two other cars they are in contact with, tiefling bakers or sidekicks are reveals Stormchaser twister, trying to get a lock onto it, Night Yorb is escaping the world. Maybe night yorb gets away, why didn [didn’t] you get it? And Balthazar died? Murph invented the Night Yorb. Don’t fuck with the Night Yorb. Exploded out of riz’s chest, needs to be dumb as hell. it’s the jabberwocky, it burbled, hugely terrifying, Horrifying cursed thing. Unending night for two months. Dragon sized, bigger than the Hang Van, 30’ wingspan Stars and moon. While the night yorb flies it is night and not day. Not malevolent force, but everything on earth will die Have giant ghost busters canon, Honey I shrunk the kids cannon Driver, mechanic, gunner, navigator (using SW 5e mechanics) Hang Man - Fabian motorcycle Tether is attached to night yorb, either magic or harpoon Night Yorb could out pace them. Could smash van. Cultist of the night yorb appearing on the road, mad max style ”The night yorb is our god” Red Wastes Cultists: Riding skeleton horses, classic fantasy cultists, Manta ray night yorb masks Sword and Sorcery vibes, MUSCELY, oiled, black leather, rings Shadow of Night Yorb Tether must be reeled in over 4 rounds Success Meter - 4 rounds or it escapes Pop up cultists in the middle of the road 4 maps Straight away, gully bridge crossing, rap popping up, giant portal It’s going to another world but if it gets away thats just as bad Ayada [Ayda?] thing built in. Chekov’s gun. Gun has cool helix of energy that is getting cranked in. Gun is on the back and on the hood is a binding circle that Adaine does. Cultists are making the portal. YORBIES if they catch it, it gets bound into the paint of their van Gun is gorgug’s stuff and circle is adaine 6 cultist perusing them, 4 or 5 at the portal, 1 or 2 back up Single person traps, Vulture with cactus MINIS: Night Yorb - Giant shadowy manta ray, inky black dripping, made of liquid, different underbelly, deep indigo or bone white. Made of shadows, dripping aberration, flat plane, long tail, two weird eyes coming off front on stalks. Second set of PCs TERRAIN: Red Wastes! NOTES: favorite crazy dnd monsters, beholder, [unclear word, bu…ette] Fungal Black light portal battle! Dr. Strange battle set, pseudo pods of elder pod night yorb, day glow run fragments, purple stone castle night yorb temple, floor is octopus made of shadows. Starting mid battle. [blank sections] PROJECTION: Counter here of some kind?

POTENTIAL LOCATIONS Basrar’s icecream shop? Mordred Manor Seacaster Manor [crossed out] Strong Tower Luxury Apartments SAT Prep class [screen cuts off]

EP. 704 DENTENTION [detention] STEALTH CHASE SEQUENCE/ QUIET LIBRARY/ Aguefort chase sequence? Combine sets interrupted by having to make it past a hall monitor Underwater? Books suspended floating, everything is affected by water Don’t wake daddy? Start in Library to get to Aguefort’s office Hallway Classroom Bathroom Lockerroom [blank sections] DYNAMIC ELEMENT: Water

CONCEPTS Dicks! SPIRITUAL GUARDIANS - Full service on minis, summons, etc Psycadelic fungal giant, black light, trippy, beautiful Revisiting old set [screen cuts off]

[fyi everything past this point was very blurry, so I could only decipher pieces here and there]

EP. 706 OUTDOOR CONCERT COACHELLA Music feature? Flaming [?], giant [?] [???] Fig and Gorgug on stage [???] Lighting effects, [???] Floating stage or something [???] Demons? PROJECTION: Lasers?

NPCS/ VILLAINS/ MONSTERS/ ETC. PORTER CLIFFBREAKER is secret servant of nightmare king tactical battlefield combat that [?] 2-3 times larger than PCs LED buried inside him [???] Porter was [???] basketball player [screen cuts off]

[the rest was too blurry to make out anything other than a blank section titled ROLE PLAY/ NEUTRAL BOARD and a section that seems to be for EP. 708 and says EXTRA with some blurry words after it]

[nekohime19]

Mini Mac # 48 : Babies first words

Sav is a lil Savage, Rumble is pouty, and the babies say their first words

Wukong had never thought he would ever say this, but as he ran after his daughter, he kind of understood Heaven's frustration with himself. Even if he was still upset for a number of good reasons he has to admit he felt pity for what they dealt with him. By the gods was it hard to reason with a monkey causing mayhem with their powers. It was like nature gave a sword to a pup. 

After realizing she had powers beyond what she thought, Savage decided to explore her every ability. She shot lasers at the most random time. Transformed without any reasons. And sneezed out clones as mischievous as her. Luckily, Rumble didn't seem interested in his sister's madness. For now, he only watched from afar without manifesting any powers of his own. Thanks the gods for that. 

Wukong finally caught the flickering tiny fish hopping on the ground and put her in a bowl filled with water. Savage swam happily, going in circles. Her powers were a mess. They were chaotic. Going from one to another without any warning. Luckily, she was still too young and inexperienced to use them properly. Her magic always fizzled out after half an hour of use. 

It was a very tiring half an hour though. 

“So is someone going to address the elephant in the room?” Huffed Bajie. They were currently settling camp near a river. Soon, they'll reach the borders of a new village, but for now they were resting. 

“What do you mean?” Asked Wujing with a tilted head. 

“How did the brat get the Monkey powers? I thought she was only related to Macaque?” Silence veiled them after the pig's question. It was a fair interrogation. Wukong wondered the same thing. Technically, the twins were supposed to only carry Macaque's genetics, but somehow Savage had his powers. 

Now that he looked closer, her amber-fur and light-pink heart-shaped mask also looked like his. Not that Wukong was against her daughter having his powers. He was somehow ecstatic about it. But it was odd nonetheless. 

“Did you two had intercourses without us know-” Macaque cut Bajie before he could end his sentence. 

“Of course not!”

“Perhaps it's an effect of the child giving river we weren't aware of?” Proposed Sanzang. A reasonable explanation. 

“Or maybe Macaque's feelings for Wukong manifested when the bud was still folded!” Chimed Ao Lie. Macaque flushed at that, his fur puffing out. He glared at the dragon-horse. Wukong smiled at the sight. 

Savage suddenly poofed out of her transformation and looked up at Wukong with weary eyes. Using magic was tiring. The great sage cooed, he dried her and groomed her with the edge of his claw, and then put her in the crib with her brother. Savage chirped at Rumble and got a hold of his tail, she snuggled it as if it was her personal toy. Rumble chirped angrily but let her do as she pleased. 

Wukong smiled, he petted both their tiny fuzzy heads with the pad of his fingers. They chirped tiredly at him. Then Savage got a hold of his finger and munched on it. Typical, snorted Wukong. The lil devil then looked up and mumbled :

���Pa…aaa.” Wukong froze. He had tried to get them to talk for weeks now. This single word shook him to the core. Rumble looked at his sister and imitated her :

“Pa..” He chirped at Wukong. 

Gods, Wukong was gonna cry. 

“M-Macaque!” He called. The black-furred monkey stopped arguing with the other and came over. 

“What is it?”

“Pa!” Chirped Savage as she munched on Wukong's finger. Macaque froze. 

“Pa…?” Repeated Rumble when he saw the both of them frozen still. 

Macaque immediately scooped up the two furballs and nuzzled them, drowning them in kisses. Wukong brought Macaque and the pups close to his face and nuzzled them, pressing his cheeks against them. 

This was one of the happiest moments of his life. 

The pilgrims watched the sweet moment with soft smiles. “Or perhaps, it's Savage who recognized Wukong as her father and thus inherited his powers.” Added Sandy. 

Later on that night, Wukong drew this scene in his sketchbook. He drew a lot of the cubs and Macaque in it. Scenes of their everyday life. Of silly things that happened. This was something he cherished more than anything.

+ cut scenes

Savage *swimming as a fish* : 😆

Rumble *watching her* : I will not be part of this madness😑

 

Fun fact : Now, Savage use the word "Pa" on Wukong when she's in trouble. She knows it makes him melt.

Fun fact : Now Wukong is trying to get the twins to say "Dad" for Macaque.

Ch1 / Previous / Next

[free-worldplease]

TMNT 2003 Turtle Ages/Birthdays throughout the series (hc)

Because there’s no way they’re 16 the entire time.

(I’m assuming the turtles are quadruplets for this)

Season 1 Episode 1: Things Change - 15 years old

I’m pretty sure this is actually canon.

Between Season 1 Episode 19 (Tales of Leo) and Episode 20 (Monster Hunter), they turn 16.

They’re at the farmhouse, regrouping after Shredder’s attack.

Leo’s getting used to walking around again when one day, Mikey jokes that it’s their sweet 16.

Casey and April (who are FLOORED by the fact that they’ve been hanging out with TEENAGERS) have a small surprise party for them, cake and all.

It’s the turtles’ first time they’ve had a real cake for their birthday.

Leo comes to the party, but he’s not in a partying mood. He’s a little surprised he even made it to 16.

Raph punches Casey in the arm when he sees the set up (he’s excited about having a birthday party, but he’s got a reputation to maintain).

Following the headcanon that Donnie has a puppy crush on April (WHICH IS NOT RECIPROCATED AT ALL), he’s definitely excited about the party April and whatshisname threw for him and his brothers.

Mikey’s ecstatic about having a real birthday party with cake and balloons and cake and streamers and CAKE (and does his best to make Leo smile).

After Leo goes through his reforging is swords but also himself phase, he goes and eats the last slice of cake (to all the brothers’ dismay) with a smile on his face.

He offers to share it with them, but they all cede last piece of cake rights to him. They’re just happy he’s happy.

(They still complain because it’s funny)

Between Season 4 Episode 1 (Cousin Sid) and Season 4 Episode 2 (The People’s Choice), they turn 17.

This time, everyone’s broken and battered, but Master Splinter is going to celebrate his brave children’s lives, especially when they were almost gone. April and Casey are happy to help.

Another party is planned.

Leo doesn’t celebrate his 17th birthday at all. He knows they almost didn’t get the chance to because of him. Why would he celebrate?

Upon walking into the dining room and seeing the makeshift decorations, he turns on his heel and goes somewhere else to sulk.

Raph, who arguably got physically hurt the worst (did Shredder break his SPINE?) is still angry about being taken down so badly. Mikey offers to feed him his cake. He begrudgingly accepts the help (why would he pass up cake?).

(He asks Casey to hit Mikey for him when Mikey starts making airplane noises)

Donnie is happy to spend another birthday with his family, angry ones included. He knows his family is struggling, but at least they’re together.

Mikey works overtime to make sure everyone (who stayed) is having a good time, even if his legs are in pain. As the most emotionally intelligent turtle, he sees that Splinter is trying to lift their spirits and he’s going to make sure that his dad knows it’s appreciated.

While he’s with the Ancient One, Leo explains his regret of not celebrating his birthday. That night, the Ancient One has a celebratory dinner for him, complete with one single slice of birthday cake.

Between Season 5 Episode 13 (Enter the Dragons Part 2) and Season 6 Episode 1 (Future Shellshock!), they turn 18.

It’s the first birthday they celebrate at home in 2 years.

“Teenagers Mutant Ninja Turtles, more like Adult Mutant Ninja Turtles! We’ve got to update our business cards.”

“Yeah, if we HAD business cards, lamebrain.”

“I’m just saying, we could make bank off our ninja saving skills Raphie.”

Between Season 6 Episode 26 (Zixxth Sense) and Season 7 Episode 1 (Tempus Fugit), they turn 19

As they are in the year 2015, April and Casey are not able to attend,

But Cody makes sure to follow in his great grandparents’ footsteps and help Splinter give the boys a birthday party to remember

And between the indoor water slide, laser tag, and bounce houses, I’d say that they definitely will.

(So will Serling, but for different reasons)

Bonus:

They’re 20 in Turtles Forever, a bit more mature, still growing, but still the goofballs we know and love.

[carionto]

I think I want to add Dinosaurs

I am easily influenced and manipulated by what I see and hear. Literally listening to a podcast about not-dinosaurs and it mentioned dinosaurs and now I'm thinking - I don't think I've encountered the idea of using space tech to bring back dinosaurs in any of these, I'm sure there's plenty I just don't know of them, yet. I know some have things like dragons and other monstrous creatures. Warhammer 40K has space elves riding dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are cool.

______________________________________

Hailing from a Deathworld, Earth's flora and fauna, including Humans, are quite sturdy and potent. Unfortunately, it is as a result of a seemingly incomprehensible mix of hundreds and billions of organisms, evolutionary necessity they call "survival of the fittest", and, sometimes, just sheer willpower. Not something easily replicable for the majority of species within the Galactic Coalition.

So when we learned one of their stations is purpose designed to revive long extinct local species called dinosaurs - a very loose term that encompasses millions of wildly different and unrelated species across a greater time span than even some of the most ancient galactic civilizations, let alone a relatively infantile one such as Humanity, we were, once again, worried.

These creatures were massive beasts of pure power, teeth, claws, bulk, even organic armor and certain kinds of naturally evolved weapons! Most Humans have nothing but respect, fear, and awe towards them. And they want to bring them back. We're already getting too used to hearing this response, but still we had to ask why.

"It'll be so cool! Dinosaurs!! In Space!!!"

"Just imagine - a giant 3 meter tall T-Rex, kitted out with a dragon pattern armor plates, twin mini-guns mounted on its sides, friggin' laser beam goggles!, me riding it with a energy sword, holding Earth's flag and being all - Fuck yeah!"

We thought these experimental science stations housed the brightest minds Humanity had to offer, paragons of knowledge, creativity, invention, and progress. Are our translators working right? Or is Humanity just... crazy?

[mari3with3]

How the Zonai connect the The Legend of Zelda franchise (Theory)

In TotK we're explained that the kingdom of Hyrule was founded thanks to the union of the Hylian and Zonai tribes with the marriage of Rauru and Sonia. I've seen that a big part of the fandom thinks that this is not the true founding of Hyrule and that it's the creation of a new kingdom (since this has already happened before), but I think that it is the same Hyrule that we see in Minish Cap, Ocarina of Time, Twillight Princess, etc.

Why do I believe this? Because the Zonai existed during Skyward Sword and became extinct before Minish Cap.

1°- The Zonai in Skyward Sword

Throughout Skyward Sword, in the surface we can see ruins, temples, dungeons, etc. I believe that most of these constructions were built by the Zonai: The Skyview Temple has mechanisms which work with eyes, the Earth Temple is full of symbolism and sculptures of dragons (and also has sculptures of people with fangs, long ears and three eyes), the Ancient Cistern has symbols of what appear to be tears and also flowers of lotus (which personally remind me of the figure that has the Zonai symbol from TotK), the Sandship has many spirals and in the Fire sanctuary there are statues of more dragons. Also, most of the dungeons I just mentioned (aside from being almost completely abandoned) have spirals in their architecture. As you can see, the Zonai probably inhabited all of Hyrule just like in BotW, since there we can see Zonai architecture throughout the entire kingdom.

2°- The symbols

The features that the dungeons have are eyes, dragons/snakes, owls, tears, and spirals; we can easily relate all these symbols to the Zonai, because there are many of these in their ruins. Throughout the Faron region there are statues of boars, owls and dragons/snakes; These represent the golden Goddesses and their qualities: power, wisdom and courage. In TotK we can see that the eyes represent the Zonai (in weapons, architecture, jewelry and the extra eye on their foreheads). The tears can be related to the secret stones, which have the same shape as the tears, and are apparently a very important element in the Zonai culture.

And finally the spirals, the most important symbol. Before TotK, spirals were the symbol of the Zonai tribe; In BotW all Zonai architecture was full of spirals (architecture which you can find in basically all Hyrule). According to Creating a Champion, the spiral is a unique mark to show that the Zonai were there and that the place belonged to them; This is why I believe that the dungeons in Skyward Sword were built by the Zonai. (Interesting fact: as I had already pointed out in another post, the Māori patterns are traditional art from New Zealand, one of them is a spiral and is called Rauru)

3°- The Lanayru Desert

The Zonai made buildings throughout the surface, but I believe they had one special settlement; Lanayru. Long ago I thought that the Lanayru Mining Facility belonged to the Sheikah, but now I'm almost sure it belonged to the Zonai. Here are my reasons:

The Zonai had an incredibly advanced technology for their era, in the same way, the entire Lanayru region in general has very advanced technology: artificial light, flying robots, laser rays, automatic platforms, electricity, etc.

Throughout Lanayru there are all kinds of technology and robots, if you look at their designs you will notice that they have an aesthetic very similar to the Zonai. (Another detail is that these robots work with blue/green electricity, the same color as the electricity that the Zonai Constructs have)

The ancient robots that inhabit Lanayru have many kinds, each with a different function (just like the Zonai Constructs), and it seems that most of them suddenly stopped working while doing their daily jobs. It seems that they worked for someone and then they disappeared, similar to how the Zonai became extinct.

The Lanayru Mining Facility, as its name says, is where they used to process all the Timeshift Stones that they had obtained in the mines. In TotK the Zonai also had mines where they collected Zonaite.

As I mentioned before, throughout Lanayru there is a mineral called Timeshift Stone, which has the power to change the time around it. These stones have a dark blue color, and when activated they change to light blue/green; When these pass through the Lanayru Mining Facility, a design that looks like an eye with eyelashes and a tear is added. Previously that eye would be related to the Sheikah, but with all these connections it would make more sense for it to be related to the Zonai.

4°- Origins of the Zonai

All of this points to the fact that the Zonai inhabited Lanayru and that everything there belonged to them; That means that the Zonai protected the temple of time and Nayru's flame, which leads me to think that they also protected the other two flames. As I had previously said, all the temples where the flames are have details that make them related to the Zonai. But why do the Zonai have access to these sacred artifacts?

In TotK we are told that the Zonai are descendants of Gods, and these gods were the ones who gave them the secret stones (which are also sacred artifacts). In Creating a Champion we're told that the Zonai worshiped a certain water dragon, however, in the BotW era there is no water dragon (It could be Farosh, but it's more related to electricity). But, in Skyward Sword there is a water dragon, Faron.

I believe that the Zonai are descendants of the dragons from Skyward Sword (which are basically gods). That would also explain why most temples are made for the dragons and the appearance of the Zonai and their dragon-like features too (scales, horns, fangs, bright colors, etc.)

5°- The tears

So the Zonai, being descendants of dragons, were entrusted to protect sacred artifacts such as the secret stones, the Gate of Time in Lanayru, the flames of the Goddesses, and probably also the Sacred Tears.

In Skyward Sword, when Link goes to the Silent Realm he has to find the tears of the goddesses. There are two very important things here:

After TotK we relate a lot the tears with the Zonai, and in the Silent Realm we have to collect sacred tears. Also in the Silent Realm (and only there) we will find many ''dusk relics'', which have the same shape as the secret stones.

In the Silent Realm there are machines called Guardians, which have an incredible resemblance to the Zonai (Extremely tall, with long ears, three eyes, and they also have many spirals on their desing).

Another game where there are also tears that must be collected is Twilight Princess. Here the spirits of light ask you to collect all the tears in order to restore the world of light.

6°- Connection with the Twili

Another thing I want to point out and that a big part of the fandom has noticed is the big resemblance that the Zonai and the Twili have, but I still want to show more evidence of why I think they are connected:

The spirits of light tell us that a dark tribe known as the Interlopers tried to take over the Triforce using their magic, it was then that the spirits of light stopped them and sent them to the twilight realm.

In Twilight Princess they describe the Interlopers as a tribe with incredibly powerful magic (so much so that they almost got the Triforce). In Creating a Champion they describe the Zonai as “strong magic wielders who vanished suddenly,” similar to the story of the Twili.

The architecture of both tribes is very similar; The architecture in the Twilight realm is very similar to the Zonai which we see in the Dragon's Tears. Inside the palace of Twilight we can see that the building is full of figures that look like eyes with tears, hands, snakes and spirals.

Eyes and hands seem to be very important in Twili culture as well as in the Zonai (There are giant hands in the palace of twilight and even Wolf Link has the mark of a third eye with a tear on his forehead).

The Twili have technology similar to the Zonai's (platforms, switches, etc.)

The magic of the Twili is blue/green, a color we associate with the Zonai, and when something or someone bad controls both, they turn red. Another thing to add is that when we saw the TloZ TotK logo, many of us related the cracks of the master sword with the magic of the Twili.

In BotW, in the Faron region, there is a fragmented monument which is very similar to the twilight mirror and which also has the same color as Twili/Zonai magic.

Despite being a tribe of shadows, they have artifacts called “Sol” which are made of light.

A very important piece of evidence that the Twili and the Zonai are connected is the design of the Fused Shadow. The Fused Shadow (in addition to appearing to be made from the same material as most Zonai architecture in TotK) has spirals, snakes, and eyes.

Another detail about the Fused Shadow that has been talked about for many years is that one of its pieces seems to be one of the eyes of the Majora's mask (I also once saw that someone was comparing one of Rauru's eyes in the mural with Majora).

7°- Majora

In Majora's Mask we are explained that an ancient tribe used to wear the Majora's mask to perform rituals, then they sealed the mask in shadows to avoid catastrophes, and then they mysteriously disappeared. It has been three times that we have heard about a powerful tribe which mysteriously disappeared, it's not weird to think that they could be the same tribe, the Zonai.

The manga explain us that Majora was originally a demon. Majora's armor could fulfill wishes, so many people tried to kill him to take his armor; However, Majora ate them. Afterwards, he was defeated by the Fierce Deity, who made him dance for 3 days and 3 nights until he died. The Fierce Deity used the remains of the demon to make the Majora's mask.

It may be that these people Majora killed were the Zonai, and when the Fierce Deity killed the demon, the Zonai thanked him by making a mask in his honor. I believe this because the Barbarian Armor (which is most likely of Zonai origin), when dyed blue or red, has the same marks as the Fierce Deity.

8°- Zonai appearances in other games before BotW

I don't have much to explain here, just more evidence that the Zonai could have been in Hyrule before the BotW era.

9°- History of the Zonai (my conclusion)

The Zonai are descendants of the three dragons that protected the surface in Skyward Sword. This tribe had very advanced technology and powerful magic. However, being so special, they had a small population

The Zonai had the mission of protecting the most important, sacred artifacts (the tears of the goddesses, the tears of light, and even the Triforce), which is why they came down to the surface in the distant past (The age of Creation, before SkSw). When they arrive to the surface, the Zonai took advantage of the resources that were there (the timeshift Stones) and with them created the two Gates of time and also the ocarina of time (The ocarina is a relic that has been passed down through generations in the royal family, it may have been a gift from Rauru to Sonia). However, by spending Lanayru's resources, a portion of the Zonai ended up dying along with all of Lanayru's technology.

When the Zonai descended to the surface, the Hylians and other inhabitants mistook them for Gods. The Zonai became so obsessed with the idea of being Gods that they tried to be one; So they looked for the demon Majora to kill him and take his armor, with which they could make the wish of becoming Gods, however the majority died in the attempt to defeat the demon. When the Fierce Deity managed to kill him, they made a mask of him and painted their armors in his honor, and the remaining Zonai decided to hide the Majora's mask to avoid further catastrophes. However, they did not give up trying to be gods.

When the ancient battle begin the Zonai were sent to build the Silent Realm for the Hero (that's why you have to collect tears and the guardians look so much like the Zonai). But in the middle of the war, a group of Zonai used their magic to create the Fused Shadow to enter the sacred realm (they were its protectors, that's why they knew about it) and obtain the Triforce, so they could finally make their wish. Unfortunately for them, the Goddesses found out about their betrayal and sent them to the Twilight Realm to punish them (Long time later, the other Zonai built a replica of the mirror of twilight, which is found along with the other Zonai ruins in Faron, to remember them).

At the end of the war, the goddesses gave the few remaining Zonai the secret stones, them decided to remain faithful to the Goddesses and protect the stones (It could be that, as gratitude, the spirits of light gave these few Zonai their light magic, that's why Rauru has sacred light without being related to Hylia). Throughout Skyward Sword the Zonai were hiding somewhere in the sky.

Hundreds of years after SkSw, the Zonai descended from the sky again; Rauru, who was the leader of the tribe (and was also a descendant of the Zonai who protected the stones and had the powers of light), married Sonia (who was a descendant of Link and Zelda from SkSw) and together they founded Hyrule. With the pass of time, the Zonai began to die and finally Rauru and Mineru died in the Imprisoning war, and the Zonai became completely extinct.

Alright, if you made it this far I want to thank you very much. If you have more evidence about this theory that you would like to add, or anything that contradicts it, or any comments, I would like to see it. :)

[echoesofwisdomcountup]

25 Days until Tears of the Kingdom Release. Is it really? Haha the smaller the number gets the more I doubt reality. I've just been waiting for this game for so long that even with all the marketing and the trailer analysis it's hard to believe its actually happening.

Spoilers under the cut for the last batch of screenshot trailer analysis.

So this tear has the recall chicken symbol on it. I checked. Zelda also has the Master Sword with her. Either she's fixing the sword and that's something only she can do or Zelda is in the past so the sword isn't broken yet and she is leaving something there for Link.

Ganondorf, mummy version I'm assuming, spewing red malice stuff but much brighter red this time. I wonder if Malice is just Ganondorf's version of fuse. Link gets green glue and Ganondorf red. After this there is a shot where the red stuff hits the sky and starts summoning monsters. The trailer transitions it to make it look continuous but once we get into the game we'll most likely find that it's separate cut scenes or different parts of the same cut scene but not continuous. Honestly, I think this might be where Link and the Master Sword get attacked but I'm still not giving up on the possibility that the malice emerges from the Master Sword outwards as Fi looses control on Demise.

I'm pretty sure I mentioned the lack of lynels in the other analysis I did. Welp here they are with their massive antlers (oof on the damage those things will probably cause) and the sword looking thing sticking out of one of their heads. I wonder what fusing Lynel horns to shields, swords, or arrows will do. I think I'll fight some just for that.

What else do I have to say? It's the main man, Ganondorf. I can't wait to kick his ass again.

Never seen this enemy in any of the Zelda games I've played. However, I will look forward to this boss fight/mini boss fight and whatever skill or item we need to defeat it. Maybe ascend or some ice weapon? I heard that ascend works on certain enemies and I'm very curious about which ones. It'd be interesting if this enemy tries to swallow Link and Link just ascends through the roof of its mouth.

This is Hylia or some version of Zelda from the past (yeah I'm aware that Hylia is technically a version of Zelda but whatever.) I think she's very pretty, super amazing, and very strong considering she laser beams a bunch of Molduga with no sweat.

RIJU!!! Look at my girl double wielding swords (Can we do it too as Link? Nintendo?? I wanna duel wield.) Riju appears to have grown into her own and mastered her lightning powers without needing the Helm. I'm so proud of her and I can't wait to fight along side her.

I can't tell you how cool it is to see that Link will be working and fighting alongside other citizens of Hyrule. The resistance in Twilight Princess walked so that TOTK NPCS can run. At least that's my hope. Also neat looking sword Link.

Now this part of the trailer nearly gave me a heart attack. I was like no freaking way will the new champions literally fight besides Link and not just in a cut scene. How sick is this? Of course, I heard some people say co-op but I don't think that's what's happening. You see the blue glowy stuff on Sidon? Yeah it was on Tulin too. I think the new champions might be like summons, automated companions. I think Nintendo took the wolf link amiibo and the Yunobu follow quest and beefed it up. I'm very excited about it.

So Riju doesn't have a tear that we can see and they haven't shown Yunobu but Tulin and Sidon have different tears. I'm very curious about what these things do. I'm also amused that Sidon got blue and Tulin green considering the colors of Mipha's Grace and Revali's Gale. I'm not sure about the symbols on them since I don't think they correspond to any of the abilities icons unlike recall. Anyway, it's just another thing that can't be answered until the game is out.

Giant fire gleeok or three headed evil dragon or whatever it's called, it's a sick looking boss that I can't wait to fight. Also the weapon that Link is using looks so other worldly. It's got the shape of a wing and its probably ice related. I wonder what enemy Link got it from but it does remind me of Naydra so maybe it's a dragon part? Nintendo really popped off with the Fuse ability.

So Ganondorf is most likely what this mural figure represent but look at the Hylian (i think it's a hylian, could be a Zonai) beneath him. I think the figure with its hand raised represents either Link or the person who owned the ancient hand and sealed Ganondorf.

It's a bit hard to see but see these four warriors? I think they might represent the four champions since these guys are the only warrior figures in the middle of the horde of monsters. The warriors that aren't yet in the midst of monsters must represent the other NPCs, the citizens of Hyrule that are also fighting back. I think the mural is neat and I wonder where we might see it in the game.

Lastly, Zelda holding the Master Sword and saying "You must find me Link." The first time I watched the trailer I went "Zelda?? If Link has to find you then where the heck are you??" And that's where time travel to the past is looking like a more and more likely theory. The only other theory I have involves realms/alternate worlds since A Link Between worlds exists and so do the Twilight and Silent Realms. But again, I think we'll just have to wait and see what the game has in store.

Thank you for coming to the end of this analysis with me. I'm ecstatic to have my questions answered on May 12, 2023.

Edit: It has been brought to my attention that Riju does in fact have a visible tear and I even posted a picture where it is visible. Guess my brain was so focused on how badass she looked while duel wielding swords that I missed it. Welp that's three for three tears so I'm expecting Yunobu to have one.

[pinkestmenace]

I'm having Hero of Yore thoughts today. I still haven't drawn my versions of them, but I did make some moodboards for Aegle and Castor (and his mech Pollux)!

First up and associated with yellow is Aegle, the Brilliant Botanist. They were originally trained as a healer, but they're stubborn as a weed and might not have the best bedside manners. There's a stark contrast between their bright and sunny robes and their somewhat sinister personality and ever-shrouded face. But Aegle could do more than heal. In fact, they became mainly an elemental mage and were perfectly capable of causing damage. Hippocratic oath? That hadn't been invented yet! Dark magic? More like an interesting experiment! Teaching the sheltered Galacta Knight to question authority? Easy as pie!

Aegle went all in on magic and didn't like technology much. Although they had to adapt and reluctantly admit science can do great things while working with their 'esteemed colleague', Castor.

Their staff (which is topped with what looks like a golden gem apple) let them create and guide water into sharp icicles, grow ensnaring vines to trap enemies and create blinding light. They loved botany, especially poisonous or carnivorous plants, and they also enjoyed enchanting and summoning magic weapons. It was them, alongside Galacta Knight, who invented the Spears of the Heart.

Name origin: I named them Lumio at first, but I changed it because:

It just means 'light', so it wasn't very original.

My brain kept flagging that name as a 'he' behind my back even though I decided the character was nonbinary pretty much the second I came up with them. Yes, I know this is stupid. Yes, the name change fixed it instantly. I hate this.

Anyway, since I'm apparently a sucker for sprinkling mythology into everything they're Aegle (dazzling light) now, which is the name of both:

The daughter of Asclepius and Lampetia, god of medicine and daughter of Helios, god of the sun respectively.

One of the Hesperides, nymphs of the evening/sunset and the shine of sunlight, who guarded a tree with immortality granting golden apples alongside a many headed dragon called Ladon. I had to do it.

Relationships with the other HoY: The reluctant conflict resolver (to get their quiet back), liked to study elemental magic with Galacta Knight. Tolerated Castor's pro-tech antics, but quietly disagreed because magitech can't work without magic, now can it? Mostly cordial towards Olympea.

Next up and associated with blue is Castor, the Enigmatic Engineer, alongside his mech Pollux, the Mechanical Marvel. Together they would be the Stalwart Symbionts.

A hard worker, Castor relied heavily on science and machines. He built a name for himself as a stern and austere man who has an uncanny knack for engineering and little tolerance for silliness, sentimentality and lazing around. While he designed many weapons in the past (mostly out of professional curiosity) and felt little guilt over that, he later dedicated much of his time towards developing improved prosthetic limbs. (With some reluctance he had to admit enchanting them offers benefits like allowing fine motor control and helping the wearer feel what they're touching.) He rarely showed it, but helping people did make him feel fulfilled.

In the little time off he let himself have he liked to paint. Not that he would ever show anyone this little hobby, of course! Just like he rarely let anyone see him outside of the cockpit of his mech Pollux. It's not easy to be taken seriously when you are ultimately just a squishy little guy, after all.

He and his mech Pollux were inseparable. It had the ability to boost and its battle mode was outfitted with several weapons. (I, uh, still need to figure out which ones. But probably laser beams, bombs or rockets. Possibly rocket fists. Maybe a sword like Metal General?) While Pollux was hardly alive, it was no mere machine. In some ways it was even autonomous. Did it care about Castor? Much like how the Robobot Armours Kirby used retrieved the memory of Kirby every time he entered one, Pollux's AI and memory could be transferred between bodies too. Almost as if it's immortal in a way.

So. You know how you fight Metal General in Egg Engines? Somebody had to have built it, right? Who's to say Castor didn't make a prototype before he perfected Pollux, but could not give it a heart? Perhaps he couldn't bring himself to scrap it and repurposed it as a security robot. Only to die and leave his lesser creation to roam its post forevermore, chained by its rigid programming.

Name origin: The two of them are of course named after the mythological twins/half-brothers Castor and Pollux, who were remarkable horsemen and boxers, as well as the namesake of the constellation Gemini. As the mortal Castor lay dying, Pollux sacrificed part of his immortality to let Castor live, after which they alternated between Olympus and Hades.

Relationships with the other HoY: Didn't like 'Aeon' at all, at least at first, thought he's stuck up (envied his inborn power). Bickered about whether technology or magic is better with Aegle, gave in sometimes but secretly shook his head at them because magic enjoyers use technology all the time while saying their magic is better (hypocrites)! He got along with Olympea the best (she liked his gadgets). This was not awkward whatsoever.

Themes

Because the Ancients fell apart into a technological and a magical faction I knew I wanted the four Heroes of Yore to reflect that. So I made them rely on magic and technology to varying degrees. Two all in on opposing sides and two in between. I did think about having them map to the classes in Super Kirby Clash, but figured that was too restrictive. Besides, Galacta Knight doesn't map to those either (unless you consider him the Sword Hero parallel). So while they do share some traits —like their pink, yellow, green and blue colour schemes— I decided they didn't have to match perfectly. 'Sword Hero' is actually Galacta Knight with his lance and shield, 'Hammer Lord' prefers a club over a hammer and has other weapons including a glaive, 'Beam Mage' has elements of 'Doctor Healmore', instead of a dedicated healer we have a mech user (who shoots laserbeams), etc. If you squint there are some parallels to the Dream Land quartet, but I didn't make each of them map perfectly to one person either.

[daydream-cement]

Silly Questions About Gwen’s Characters Pt. 1

Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

This was a team effort between @bri-sonat and I (of course with help from the wonderful babies in the gc @na-shoba, @booitsrue, @funky--lesbian, and @margot-the-lesbian-god). He will be posting the next part! We will go back and forth with these fun little questions.

If they were an animal, what would they be? What is the first thing they’d do when they learn they’re an animal?

Brienne: Dragon, maybe? A force of nature to be reckoned with in human form and animal form. She’d fly around Westeros, looking out over the mountain tops, enjoying the freedom. Maybe take a little stop in Dorne, who knows.

Larissa: A cat. Larissa would appreciate a day where she could wander around Nevermore unnoticed or greeted happily by her students. Most likely she would nap in a window somewhere and forget about work for a bit.

Lucifer: A snake because uhm duh?? Snake :)

Phasma: A Sarlac or an Exogorth. Two foul ass monsters who feasts on human flesh, just like Phasma for real, except she doesn’t feast on human flesh, she just burns and cuts it instead.

Miranda: She’d be a cat, because she’s all “look how small, and their little whiskers and their little paws” and that’s so Miranda core, she is a cat. She’d be off on the adventure of her life, or she’d take a cat nap.

Do they pick wildflowers?

Brienne: Yes. Lovestruck Brienne would do anything to see her partner smile, and that includes picking small wildflowers with the edge of her very big sword.

Larissa: She has been known to pick a wildflower or two on her walks between meetings. Some days it's always nice to have a vase of pretty wildflowers on your desk, right?

Lucifer: Kills wild flowers to make God upset

Phasma: What wildflowers? That thing is blasted, burnt, charred in a single laser shot. Hates the sentiment of giving flowers as a gift of any kind, saying “flowers are for weak people who need to give plants to express love.” And then she’ll scoff.

Miranda: ABSOLUTELY, softest girlfriend ever. If her partner tells her she likes a type of wildflower ONCE, you bet your ass she’d have a full on bouquet the next time she sees them.

How do they like their eggs? (Fried, poached, soft-boiled, etc.)

Brienne: Miss Girl needs her protein for those MUSCLES, so she’ll just eat them however they are presented. Easiest way is a hard-boiled egg, but if she’s feeling a little bit fancy she’ll fry one.

Larissa: Poached fs. Over toast. It makes a fabulous breakfast and is simple enough to make. She doesn’t really like to cook so this meal works perfectly for her culinary abilities.

Lucifer: Perfectly over easy- like plastic-looking over easy eggs fr.

Phasma: Our Captain enjoys things the classical way, the old-school way, so she prefers a soft-boiled egg, and if it isn’t to her liking (aka the exact way she wants it), she’ll throw a fit. “Shoot someone just for fun” fit.

Miranda: LOVES scrambled eggs. Adds a little cream in there just to spice things up a little and thinks she’s so crazy for doing so.

How do they see themselves in their head, and how is that image wrong?

Brienne: Well, where do we start with this one? Miss Ma’am has been told her entire life that she is ugly, unconventional, unattractive, a monster, a beast. She’s been mocked, humiliated, made fun of, etc etc. She thinks that she is “the ugliest girl alive” and she fully believes that. BUT SHE’S WRONG, CAUSE SHE’S SO SEXY AND HOT AND BEAUTIFUL AND GORGEOUS and all those things, but she can’t understand that because she has been told so many times that she’s not. But she’s wrong and people are dumb, and blind, and morons.

Larissa: She thinks of herself in a professional capacity more than anything, but ‘image is everything’ as she would say. She would consider herself attractive, but nothing more than that. Compliments that refer to her as anything more are usually met with a roll of the eyes.

Lucifer: Gods ex fav, self conscious about it, but knows they’re hot shit and are v sexy.

Phasma: Power does a lot to a person's confidence. Captain Girl knows that she’s hot, attractive, powerful and deadly. Knows that she’s the baddest bitch around and IT SHOWS!

Miranda: We all know what the deal is with Mirandy Baby. She’s treated like crap by her co-workers and even by her so-called “friend”, and with all those negative comments about her makes her doubt herself and her abilities, even if she tries her best to not internalize. For her looks, she would not call herself attractive, which is where the aspect of male validation comes into the picture. However, positive affirmations from others go a long way for her, ESPECIALLY if she finds them attractive herself.

If they talked in their sleep, what weird jumble of words would come out?

Brienne: Something really boring and honorable. Something around the lines of maybe “my sword is my vessel”, or something that makes no sense whatsoever, “I turned and then I was gone?” You just know her dreams are nuts.

Larissa: Something work related. Something about “I forgot the email”/“I’m late”, or something about a certain misbehaving student “Oh, god, what have you done?”. She doesn’t talk much in her sleep, however.

Lucifer: “You shouldn’t have done that” “I hate you” “God can’t save you” but like mumbled and sleepy so it’s more cute than scary.

Phasma: Phasma does not talk in her sleep, her stormtrooper training regiment made her become comfortable with sleeping on her back, and absolutely no sleep-talking or snoring. They got it rough over at the First Order, for real.

Miranda: Something really out of pocket. I’m thinking of that sleep walking scene in “Step Brothers”. I.e. “I'll kill you, Leonard Nimoy.”

(For good guys) If they were a villain, what would their evil dark lord name be?

Brienne: Probably a spin on her swords�� name, “Slayer of Oaths” or something that has to do with her mockful nickname, “Brienne the Beast” or “Merciless Brienne”. I don’t know, I can just see her killing everyone with no remorse if she were to be a villain.

Larissa: The Headmistress. She would be the hottest super villain. Holy Shit.

Lucifer: “Cute.” - Lucifer to this question.

Phasma: ….Captain Phasma

Miranda: This sweet bundle of joy couldn’t hurt a soul. With that said, she’d be a righteous and justice focused one. Only killing those that deserved to be killed. Earning her the evil dark lord name of “Angel of Judgement” cause she’s an angel of DEATH AND JUDGMENT.

Muffins or cupcakes? Explain

Brienne: Miss Gurl doesn’t even know what a baked good is. She had to make due with some dry ass bread made from water and flour during her time. HOWEVER, if she were to live in modern days, she’d love a gooey muffin.

Larissa: Ms. Sweet-tooth? She will take a cupcake of course. Larissa: “There is a proper way to eat these, you know?” She then proceeds to take the bottom off the cupcake and make herself a little cupcake sandwich.

Lucifer: Muffins. The frosting is too messy for them, they’re like: “dude what I can’t eat the frosting in one bite without this getting actually everywhere on my robe sleeves.”

Phasma: “Sugar is not in my strict diet, I must stay on top at all times. I can not allow myself a ‘cheat day’, as you call it”

Miranda: Cupcake, duh. BUT THE MINI ONES. bc she can just eat them in one bite like a giant!!!

Do they prefer arm day or leg day?

Brienne: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh, we all know. She needs some big guns to hold that heavy and large sword of hers, so arm day all the way BABY. Also, for Brienne, arm day and shoulder day is every single day with the metal she’s carrying around, yeesh.

Larissa: Neither of these options are suitable. If you let her pick, she will choose cardio.

Lucifer: Leg day in stilettos

Phasma: You just know she has the most defined legs ever seen in the history of mankind and she loves maintaining them. Despite this she’s more of a shoulder-back day kinda gal, wanting to keep that back refined as hell, looking like a marble statue of a greek goddess.

Miranda: She has once chanted “Leg Day!” over and over again when Robin agreed to hit the gym with her once. Robin didn’t join her again, but her enthusiasm for leg day remains.

What is the longest they’ve ever slept in?

Brienne: 7 am. And when she did all hell broke loose. Panicking about how she’d slept for far too long, when she was actually on bedrest for getting harmed in battle and was told to sleep for as long as she needed.

Larissa: 10am. It was when she had the flu, but she did fall asleep around 9pm so she was impressed with herself. Otherwise she gives herself until 8am to get up in the summertime.

Lucifer: What’s sleep?

Phasma: What’s sleeping in? You know that she’s up and at ‘em hours before the space cock sings the song of its people. She has never overslept a day in her First Order life and will wake up at 5 am sharp every single morning.

Miranda: Miranda has slept multiple days in a row. After a 12+ hour shift, she can sleep forever and not bat an eye. But once she is well rested, she is go, go, go. There’s no stopping her.

They’re on their way to the hospital when they hit a parked car. They can’t stop, and don’t have paper for a note. They drive away without telling anyone what happened. How do they ease their conscience?

Brienne: By finding that person in some way, apologize a hundred times and ask if she can be of help in any way to repay the damages. But, if requested, will pull out her coin pouch and flex her wealth. Or, they’d see that she was a tall, strong and lean Lord Commander and not dare demand anything, shaking in their little boots and saying how it’s okay and that there is no need to pay them back.

Larissa: She will make an effort to find the person, but if the car looks banged up already…. She may shrug and not stress about it too much, especially if no one will notice. 

Lucifer: Have the person who’s car got hit killed by some horrible accident so that way they aren’t responsible for the minor accident because of the major accident overshadowing it 😋

Phasma: Conscience? What conscience? Nah, Phasma is a gaslighter all the way. “I didn’t hit your vehicle, you hit mine” *points blaster at them* “now give me the money to repair it”

Miranda: Takes a thousand pictures and calls a friend/coworker to find the car and exchange information. She will not allow her ‘crime’ to go unpunished. She must right her wrong otherwise she will be unable to sleep at night.

[powdermelonkeg]

Tears of the Kingdom: The Final Analysis

Part 9

Part 8 here

Back to our contraption, let's take a look at it now that it's active:

It gives off lasers in all directions. These lasers DO have a range, though

They seem to extend about as long as the ones that've hit the floor do. What purpose these higher lasers serve here, where the only enemies are bokoblins, I don't know; maybe they're here in case moblins spawn.

Something else that drew my attention here, though, was this:

That orange glow there. Lava? A deactivated Sheikah switch? I backed up a few frames to get a closer look:

This bokoblin has a juice backpack.

I have no idea what it does. My first thought is "ranged weapon," but maybe it's something meant to dismantle Ultrahand's adhesive. Do the enemies here learn from Link's strategies?

Moving on, we see this HUGE monster, but before we focus on that, there are two other things I want to point out.

First is Link's armor here. It's blue, with a spiked crown and luminous cuffs. It looks remarkably like Naydra, the ice dragon.

But how do you get this?

The dragons must play some more significant role in the story, even if it's a side quest that rewards you with the chests for it. That's three rewards, all together, presumably from each dragon unless Naydra gets special treatment (which isn't outside the realm of possibility; it was the only dragon of the three to be cursed).

The second thing I want to point out is Tulin. He's giving off glowing threads as he falls—why? What does he have that's doing this? What is it doing for him? He has wings, so it can't be a flight-related thing; is it a treasure he's carrying in a backpack? A spell that's currently active on him?

Back to our boss monster, there are a number of things this guy resembles.

There's Twinmold, from Majora's Mask; their mandibles look similar, and they have the same needle-like square mouth of teeth.

Gohma's Wind Waker incarnation, for similar reasons.

The Minish Cap's Gyorg, with its many eyes and curved mandibles, and its relation to the sky.

And, while not a boss, it does resemble an ice-white version of a Skytail from Skyward Sword.

It also appears to be coming out of a portal, though that could just be part of the effect of this thing tearing through the clouds.

The next clip has malice spiraling outwards like a fireball, consuming everything in its path.

We saw something similar when Zelda sealed Calamity Ganon away at the end of Breath of the Wild, so this might be the seal giving way.

We then cut to Zelda—"I know why I am here. It's...something only I can do." Her appearance here is just like it was when her mentor figure was talking to her. However, if we look at the background-

There is nothing behind her. No settlements, no towers, no sky isles, nothing. Wherever this is, it's fully immune to the absolute chaos that's currently going on—OR she stands on one of the sky isles, though a very plain one, with nothing else to her left.

It's further evidenced here, by this stone, which we get a better view of in the next shot.

Her hands, cupping the golden tear we see at her neck in the mentor shot, stand on an interesting background. We can see that she stands on a stone pedestal of some kind; likely a Zonai structure.

But why does she have the Master Sword, wherever she is?

Let's take a look at that tear, as well. See the runes etched on the surface?

It's the "Recall" glyph we saw in the gameplay trailer, but turned. Thus, the "right side up" for this tear is like this:

This is important later, I swear.

Malice rises in the next shot, and it happens so quickly that it's hard to see the source.

That's Corpse Ganondorf, his arms stretched upwards as he releases it all.

But then the trailer does a very, very clever switcheroo that's impossible to notice at normal speed.

You see these two screenshots? Flip between them for a moment, back and forth. They look like they're from different moments, right?

The second one is exactly one frame after the first. These are two different shots, spliced together.

What does this mean, as far as we're concerned here? I see two options:

The pillars of light happen at multiple moments, possibly whenever the blood moon rises.

This is a different cut of the same cutscene—omitting a point in the middle between Ganoncorpse unleashing the beam and the beam going into the sky.

Regardless of which it is, the beam goes into the sky, surrounded by the malice sparks that accompany the blood moon.

And it explodes.

And I'm out of space yet again. Look out for part 10!

Edit: Part 10!

[illarian-rambling]

Hello! I heard you like DnD!

What has been your favorite campaign so far? My current friend group is completing a 5e WotC one, but I have also seen some great homebrews done. Do you prefer WotC campaigns, or homebrews? What were some memorable moments? ✨

Oh god, you've got me started, now I'm never gonna shut up >:)

So, I've played in four games and ran one, all homebrew, over the course of my time. My first campaign I was a life cleric with a pet goat that I saved from being a sacrifice. I didn't really know what I was doing, as it was my first game, but I had fun. My second game, I was a rogue snakeoil (and crack) salesman, which started the trend of all my characters selling drugs. Game three, I played an evangelist artificer and fell in love with the class. I adore robots, what can I say? In my current game (which is an original story, but in the planescape setting), I play a barb/fighter hazily struck out of time. She's up to three mystery voices in her head now, one being the sword of Kas, sells drugs via cranium rats, and was in a pro-wrestling tournament.

Probably one of my most memorable moments was perma-killing my artificer, Gillaria. To start, Gillaria was a bit of dunce. She was smart, yeah, but had balls wisdom and even worse charisma. She tried to fly into a portal to hell once on a wooden broom so she could take an energy reading. She got kidnapped in like three separate alleyways and gave her full, legal name to a devil. This is all to preface with the fact that this character didn't make the smartest choices.

The other thing about Gillaria was that she was a priest of Relhan, the setting's god of innovation. She and her two robot buddies, Anatolius and Aenira, would preach the word of this dying god on street corners, since the main temple to him had been destroyed. Usually, given that the highest charisma score between them was an 8, this ended up with tomatoes being thrown.

Anyways, though the campaign was supposed to go a little while longer, our dm got a new job, so we had to end early. The party decided that our last hurrah would be to raid the Golden Trident, a rival faction we'd been eyeing for some time.

One Gillaria project she wanted to get done before the end of the campaign as well was the squirrel laser. The construction of such a laser is as follows:

The druid Awakens 6 squirrels with their magic staff. The squirrels are now sentient.

Our warlock signs these squirrels onto warlock pacts. The squirrels can now cast the cantrip Bonfire.

Gillaria has a Decanter of Endless Water and the spell Magic Mouth

Infinite steam power has been achieved

We did the math and we would've been able to power a railgun with this set-up, so our dm decided, fuck it, campaign's almost over, they can have a death laser. It was decided it would be a DC 16 dex save against being zapped into ash.

Anyways, cut to us raiding the Golden Trident. Our level 10 warlock is being chased by an anctient dragon, our barbarian fell off the airship (We had a dragon ghost powered airship. Long story, also Gillaria's fault) and we're being chased by the enemy's airship.

Gillaria tells Anatolius, her steel defender with an intellect headband that she treats like a son, to point the laser at the enemy skyship, ready to fire once it warms up in four rounds. Gillaria then flies over to the enemy ship, hoping to disable its engines. However, like any good artificer, she's immediately enamored by the engines themselves. At this point, I the player forget I have a four round count down.

Yeah, you can see where this is going... The dm has me pick high or low on a d100 to see what part of the ship my laser hits, and I invariably pick wrong. And that is how Gillaria got blasted to ash by her own automaton, wielding her own laser, atop her own airship. Her final consolation was finding out that her god was not, in fact, dead and being reincarnated into his steel and steam avatar.

This is one of sooo many dumbass stories for this character, she was a piece of work. Thanks for asking though, I love talking about dnd! Feel free to share a story of your own or ask any questions :)

[merrock]

event: Renaissance Faire & Gala

location: local Ren Faire grounds

date & time: July 27

ooc duration: July 22 - 29

It's time to load up the party buses and head to the Ren Faire! The buses will leave the Merrock High School parking lot at 9AM and head to the location, where you will have from 10AM until roughly 12AM to enjoy yourselves at the Renaissance Faire and Gala taking place for all Merrockites. Everyone over the age of 21 is invited, and we do ask that everyone come in appropriate attire for the event.

While on the grounds, food and drinks are paid for, courtesy of the Benefactor! If you choose to buy souvenirs or pay for different experiences, costumes, or anything extra, that will be something that you pay for yourselves! There will be privies on site, and plenty of places to change, should you decide to switch wardrobes throughout the day.

Check out demonstrations such as glass blowing, archery and blacksmithing, or watch daring sword fights on the pirate ship, see the knights as they joust in front of the king and queen, listen to carolers and watch jesters perform. Ride on the dragon swing, or one of the elephants on the fair ground. Witness aerial dancers, whip artists, listen to musicians and comedians, pirate shows, puppet shows. Meet the hawks and owls, the trusty steeds, maybe even catch a glimpse of a unicorn… and so much more!

While you're browsing the stands, purchase some costumes and books, crystals and jewelry, pottery and whistles, swords and knives, candy and bread, scarves and capes, blown glassware, leather goods, candles and soaps, puppets and toys, anything that your heart can and will desire!

When you're hungry, make sure to stop and get a giant turkey leg, a twisted pretzel, pickle on a stick, fish and chips, warm, hearty soups -- and lots of your favorite food staples, like walking tacos, french fries, burgers, macaroni and cheese, not to mention all of the ice cream and Italian ice that your little heart could desire! You can grab milkshakes and slushies, lemonades and teas, and of course… lots and lots of ale! (Plus wine and mixed drinks, too.)

In the evening, the chess court will be transformed into a beautiful dance floor, with live music to keep you entertained, which will be the location of our summer gala, perfect for dancing the night away with your honey or your friends. (Have you ever heard minstrels playing 'Low' or 'Cha Cha Slide'? It might happen.) You can come as you are in your Renaissance Faire wear, you do not need to change into formal attire -- but you're more than welcome to if you wish!

The buses will be leaving at 1AM from the parking lot, and everyone should be safely home in Merrock by 2AM. Thank you for coming with us on this adventure! xx

A few important notes about this event, mostly to save you from any burning questions that you might have!

all who attend will be arriving on the bus, and everyone will be heading back home on the bus; this is to assure that everyone has the same experience and same plotting potential. plus, it's a party bus, it's fun!

remember that no children and no pets are allowed -- this is adults only, and 21+. alcohol is sold on the grounds, so drinking is welcome and encouraged!

there is no set location for this Ren Faire -- you can assume it's somewhere in Maine, but it's just there and fictional. that means if something isn't talked about in this post, it is 100% fine to assume that it is there at this Ren Faire, as long as it's a Ren Faire thing! (like there probably isn't an arcade or roller coaster with a laser show, but if you attended one and bought something cool you want to buy there, go for it!)

open starters are super, super encouraged -- they will be posted on our starters page as usual. please make sure that you reply to open starters before creating your own! the only exception is the first person to create one, or if all the other available starters are at cap.

if you would like to post outfits, please tag them with #merrockfashion. outfits will be queued periodically through the day at my leisure; they'll show up through the week to keep the inspo blog from spamming dash.

socials can also be posted! as usual, just tag them with #merrocksocial so we can (again!) queue them to the Times blog.

existing threads do not need to be paused if you don't want to, if you still have muse and want to continue them. we don't recommend dead dropping all threads without contacting the people you are writing with first to ask if they would like a thread for the event or agreeing to something new after, just so people aren't left hanging with no activity!

no thread / plot call post this time, sorry! we want to encourage writers to be thoughtful about what they are writing and do the lifting of reaching out to one another. you are very welcome to make your own OOC posts asking for threads! but we promise -- no one here bites.

the event runs from today (July 22nd) through next Monday (July 29th). starters and threads can be posted any time between those days, and threads can continue as long as you would like after!

& most importantly, have fun! xx

[zeldurz]

A rant about Bacta

For today's long and rambling meta, let’s talk about bacta, aka my least favourite part of Star Wars. The magical space healing goo that solves all your problems for some reason, with no considerations for anything that makes any amount of sense.

Once again, going to preface this with “I am not a medical professional and am by no means an expert in this field”

More happening below the cut:

To start, I will say that from a meta perspective, I understand why bacta is the way it is. We see it first in Episode V, where Luke is being treated for hypothermia and Wampa-related injuries - and I will give the GFFA that one. We often treat hypothermia with Luke-warm (haha) baths to raise the patient’s body temperature back to what it should be, and I could absolutely see a regulated, temperature controlled immersion tank being used for situations like this. I will even give them the “it’s a sterile solution that has antibiotic properties and promotes healing” thing, like it’s a giant vat of space polysporin or something. HOWEVER, it’s everything that came after that that I have an issue with.

You see, dear reader, the next thing that happened after the movies we all know and love was a tabletop RPG - the foundation of which all legends content is built upon. And in a tabletop RPG (like dungeons and dragons, for those who aren’t familiar), you need a system for tracking health (IE hit points, hearts, etc) and a way to quickly restore your character back to “full health”. Since Star Wars doesn’t have clerics or health potions, you get the magical healing goo that solves all your problems instead. And because you need this resource to be limited in order to give the game an element of risk, you make bacta expensive and sometimes challenging to get ahold of, but it has the power to fix any and all problems.

Now don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that in video games or DND I can drink a potion and suddenly my arm isn’t broken and I am no longer on fire, but Star Wars at its core is not an RPG (I do also, for the record, feel this way about healing spells and similar abilities in fantasy settings, but that’s for another time). I also want to make clear that I, an angst gremlin who thrives on fake science and making characters suffer, am not the average audience for this type of thing, and that narratively, action adventures like Star Wars would suffer tremendously with long, drawn out recovery times. With that being said, the gap between ‘I’m skipping over this because it doesn’t have a place in my story’ and ‘I throw the character in the goo (or have them ingest the goo?? Or inject it?????) and everything is fine now” is substantial, and I for one am really not a fan.

“But Zeds!” you cry, “what about suspension of disbelief? Star Wars has impossible laser swords and impossible galactic travel and-”

I know. And obviously bacta isn’t a make or break it thing for me, because my one and only brain cell is devoted at all times to my poor little meow meows who have committed so many war crimes - but the thing about suspension of disbelief for me personally is it has to be logically consistent within the universe, and for me, bacta makes no fucking sense whatsoever.

(if you are bothered by potential injury/medical stuff and non-graphic discussion of bodily fluids, this is probably where you should get off this train of thought)

I have a lot of issues with bacta, but I can lump them into two broad categories: mechanism of action (ie the biology) and the Bacta Economy (ie the wider implications for healthcare and best practices). 

Mechanism of Action:

To quote Wookieepedia

Promoting rapid regeneration of organic compounds, bacta could be used in a variety of both critical and noncritical medical situations. Described as being warm to the touch, the bacta liquid could aid in the healing of concussions, internal organs, and broken ribs. Furthermore, it could be placed in small dishes to help regrow fingernails, mend cuts, burns, and other injuries. Due to its "one-size fits all" use in medical applications, it was a highly prized and commonly used medical treatment for most, if not all, injuries. Bacta could also knit together broken bones

Bacta can fix everything, apparently, with the legends page going so far as to state that “it's replaced most conventional medicine.” I am not a medical professional, but the idea that one single substance could fix every ailment ever in every species is ridiculous considering that a) we can’t even treat the same condition in different people with one substance (as anyone who has been on antidepressants can tell you), let alone conditions with widely different symptoms and presentations. I could maybe see if it was some sort of stem cell activator or something like that, but even then it seems far-reaching to assume that things like broken bones or concussions could be healed by the same substance. The fact that bacta is primarily applied topically (ie to the skin either as a gel or in a tank), but can also be administered orally or by injection only makes things weirder. Does it absorb into the bloodstream through the skin? How does it reach the injured organ in order to “promote healing?” Is it entirely unaffected by stomach acid???

Which, speaking of concussions, does that mean bacta can cross the blood-brain barrier? You’re telling me that there is one goo that is perfectly matched to every being in the whole fucking galaxy (considering how many different blood types humans have and how much care has to go into matching organs or stem cells for transplant in humans, I find it a stretch to believe that one size fits all for every human, let alone other alien species), and it can fix bones and nerves and everything else? Without side effects?????? What about longer term treatments? Are we not worried about muscle loss? Nutrition? Dehydration???

Not to mention the implication that it can fix broken bones without setting them - the whole thing reeks of hand-wavey space magic, which would be fine if it wasn’t explained in universe as ‘miracle bacteria fix things and we will not be elaborating further’. This is especially problematic since Legends mentions some people have a bacta allergy (which would leave them functionally without healthcare) and because having only one substance that fixes everything from a paper cut to life-threatening injuries is a huge risk to your civilization (from possible contaminants/shortages) as well as doing a disservice to every individual. Between the implications that there are relatively few other drugs (maybe this is why everyone seems to be awake for surgery all the time and no one uses any painkillers? Because they need the bacta for something else????) and the fact that no one is going to waste their precious goo on your headache, healthcare must really suck in a “we only have the goo” galaxy (even moreso than it already does).

The Bacta economy and the wider implications for healthcare in the GFFA:

Canonically, bacta is extremely valuable and nearly impossible to synthesize. In fact, I seem to recall a scene in one of the legends books where Luke has recovered from an injury, and after being treated in a bacta tank, the practitioner is siphoning the excess bacta out of his ears so it can be reused.

In real life, we are very careful to handle bodily fluids with care to avoid accidental exposure to certain diseases - but you’re telling me that you can just soak someone in some goo for days (or weeks!) at a time while they have open wounds, and then pull them out and drop in the next patient? Is there no concern for bloodborne disease or infection at all? 

One of the things I do use bacta for in my fics is recovery after surgery - the antibacterial properties, plus the analgesics and everything else make it a reasonable choice for standard post-op procedure - but the idea of having a patient come out of a sterile operating room and into the goo tank that might have held someone with gangrene a few hours ago is a recipe for disaster imo

And speaking of contamination - how are we deciding which bacta is injected/administered orally and which is topical? Are we injecting people with goo that other people have been sitting in (again, for days or possibly weeks???) Or is only “fresh” bacta used for that purpose? Maybe it’s a class thing, and the rich can afford fresh but the poor have to make do with stuff that’s already had someone in it for a month idk, the whole thing just feels really really grody and like a good way to ensure your entire population is HIV+

And on that note - if every injury and medical condition is treated with one limited, expensive resource, how are hospitals allocating it? If you have broken ribs, for example, would you be evicted from the bacta tank if there was someone who was in a speeder crash whose life is in danger? What about a premature infant? Even if we are assuming that the GFFA operates under capitalist hellscape rules and each patient has to pay for their own bacta treatment, the fact that there’s only one resource to treat every condition must make for an absolute nightmare of triage (I imagine this is only compounded on ships, where the resources are even more limited to stocks on board, and a disaster like an explosion in an engine room could result in massive casualties if the only option for anything is “treat with bacta”)

All of which is to say - bacta works great as a plot device, but as soon as you start looking at it even a little bit, none of it makes any sense at all.

For me personally, I mainly include the use of a tank for post-operative patients - particularly after a major surgery - along with treatment of hypothermia or other conditions with poor circulation or temperature regulation. I also use a gel for wound dressings, but I rarely would have a character receive it orally or by injection. I think it is a useful thing for doctors to have, but I refuse to believe that the entire Galaxy’s healthcare revolves around one substance (no matter how great), and especially that the Galaxy’s physicians have been replaced by it.

[hopefullygoodrpgideas]

Put More Daleks In Your Games

Probably not literally, it’s more of an eyecatching metaphor. But every time you see a Dalek in Dr Who and someone goes “oh that’s fine, we can go shoot them” they lose and probably die. Similarly, your own game plans can include enemies like this. Things that aren’t an insurmountable obstacle and have things that the PCs can do to stop them being a problem. They can be outmanuvered, they can be outsmarted. But they cannot be defeated in a straight up fight. Maybe it’s situational. For a level 1 D&D party, a castle that’s hired two trolls as guards fits this. If your PCs decide to fight the trolls they’ll get ripped limb from limb and eaten. But trolls are big and obvious and have terrible perception, so finding a way in that isn’t through the main gate guarded by trolls should be a solid option. If you revisit that castle later then the wizard gets to fireball them once and you walk straight in and that’s fine. It only needs to be scary now. Dragons should honestly be a good example of this. If you need a thing from the hoard of a dragon, going and killing the dragon should probably feature lower on your list of ideas than retiring and becoming a potato farmer. It’s ended up ingrained into the modern fantasy genre that you get to be the big cool heroes who killed a dragon, but honestly being the big cool heroes who stole from a dragon and lived to tell about it should be equally cool. If we look at more classic fantasy, Gandalf and thirteen heavily armed dwarves didn’t go “hey lets go kill this dragon” or even “hey lets go get the armies of our people and kill this dragon”, their plan was always steal the one treasure they really needed and write the rest off as a loss. Conan the Barbarian is a big guy with a huge sword who literally has The Barbarian as his surname, but that doesn’t stop him being smart enough to know that not hitting the huge fire breathing lizard that can eat you is a stupid plan and that dying cuts down on your ability to steal its stuff. The other consideration is that they don’t need to be literally unkillable, just unkillable by things the party can personally bring to bear. As a result, they can be killable by plot devices and other GM contrivances when specifically planned for, striking a middle ground between murderhoboable and straight up indestructible. Maybe the thing that you have to kill them with is a giant orbital laser, but that’s not exactly portable, so the PCs need to evade or outwit them most of the time and then finish by manuvering their enemies into an area where they can be targeted. Maybe the thing that actually kills them is extremely resource limited, such as the Colt from Supernatural which kills anything it hits but was made with only thirteen bullets. So now you can kill 13 Daleks, but you’d better make those shots count.

[turboacek-blog]

Fans don’t know what they want: Star Wars edition

Don’t know if I’ll make this a recurring type of post but just something I always think of when watching series that’s been on for a long time from Marvel to Pokémon to Dragon Ball etc

So I finished the live-action Ahsoka show and overall I thought it was pretty solid, the thing was I have the benefit of watching most of Rebels and the Clone Wars so my connection to these characters is different from someone who’s never watched them or not a lot as this series was very much a follow-up of Rebels with the Ahsoka clone wars connection as the connecting aspect

Not going to talk too much about the show as it’s still new as I’m posting this

But one thing I kept seeing online and even since the sequel movies was that the lightsaber fights have been slow and boring etc…

And while I agree in a certain sense that they don’t look as fast as animation or the prequels

The problem is that one of the big complaints of the prequel movies was how they were using lightsabers back then

Like people hated how flashy and speedy they were swinging their lightsabers

And I think that has shaped how they have done Star Wars since episode 7/the sequels aired

The basis of the action standard has been the original trilogy and the closest real-world equivalent in sword fights

Where sword fights aren’t about the flash and the blades are mostly heavy let alone how sharp and deadly they are so when there’s a sword fight it’s not about the clashing etc It’s about if you get one hit it’s over

So ever since I’ve noticed that they treated the lightsabers more like heavier swords vs these lighter laser blades

But now whether it’s from the prequel kids and enjoyers are now more of the vocal majority or the choreography hasn’t been the best but now people are calling out that the modern lightsaber fights have been slow and boring

So fans went from don’t make the fights like the prequels to make the fights more like the prequels hence fans don't know what they want

Even if it's more than preferences and audience changes over time

For myself, I’m mixed

Like I think there’s definitely a balance, as you can say that some moments in the prequels they were spinning that deadly blade super casually, and those extra moves showed some openings making people act like oh there was the kill shot, but also light sabers aren’t swords, like lightsabers have the inherent benefit of having the clashing and being able to swing more casually given their size, cut metal and other things, and let alone using the force as an excuse for the movements

I understand the want or need for realism in products such as Star Wars it helps keep things grounded and believable but there’s also the fantasy aspect that I do think needs to be embraced more as yes the choreography of the lightsabers needs to be seen as swords so we have a concept for what’s going on but you also have to be creative with it in a way that shows a lightsaber isn’t just a glow stick sword

I think in some cases it’s a choreography thing as without spoiling too much Ahsoka herself isn’t as fast in her series compared to her in animation, part of the reason is that she’s older and they even comment on that as she’s like 50 in the show and was like 16 in the clone wars a pretty big difference but it’s also they aren’t choosing to make Ahsoka acrobatic or fast since they want Rosario Dawson to actually be the character they even have a moment showing that Ahsoka was faster when younger, and they have moments that give that sense of speed and such but mostly lightsaber fights are just sword fights now

I think there’s definitely some work around like the light trail effect of the light sabers is practically gone now and I think that added will give a better sense of speed and effect

And if you’re going to choreograph essentially a sword fight then get stunt doubles or whoever to help make it feel faster and more fluid, and have fun with camera direction to get more excitement from the critics that think it's boring

Overall it’s funny to me that people used to hate (some still do) the prequels but in terms of things like action people now would prefer that to what we have now

And I do think the rise in things like anime has raised standards for how to perceive action as there has now been some anime influence in even things like Creed 3

Not my most formatted post but oh well