ixtaek

[ixtaek]

All the former Links are like, farmers and blacksmith apprentices and school kids and knights. When will we get a Link that’s an accountant? When will we destroy Ganon with the Mathter Sword??

[ixtaek]

Greater Spear-Nosed Bat & Mexican Greater Funnel-Eared Bat photographed by José Gabriel Martínez-Fonseca, (source)

[ixtaek]

Silly Game Time: Who are the protagonists of two stories you really enjoy (of any medium--novel, comic, movie, show, podcast, game, etc. including OCs if you like)? AND which of them would do better in an archery contest?

Hmmmmmm ok well then: Bugs Bunny from the Looney Tunes Show (2011) vs Scrooge McDuck from Ducktales (2017)

Out the gate, neither is expressly an archer. However, both have those nebulous "My past is so long and contradictory I could possibly know anything." Even so, I see Scrooge as more likely to be able to fire a bow since he's actively out there adventuring and therefore likely needing a bow. Of course, we all know Bugs can do anything.... when it's funny ;)

[ixtaek]

Silly Game Time: Would rather have to spend a solid 24 hours responsible for 100 duck-sized elephants ... or for 1 elephant-sized duck?

Elephant Sized Duck. It’s gonna get away but like. It’ll be a fun news story.

[ixtaek]

As is my habit, I will not be joining ArtFight, just standing on the sidelines sniping people with drawings from my ostensibly neutral territory.

[ixtaek]

When my brother, 10 years younger than me, was first playing Ruby, he would ask me for help and advice, and I would help him create teams and think about covering type advantages and picking good moves and abilities. Now that he’s been playing for years, he’s explaining terra typing and advanced battle strats and his theories about the next gen to me.

The theme song really was right. “You’ll teach me and I’ll teach you. Pokémon.”

[ixtaek]

Realized I accidentally said Four Stars was one chapter on Ao3, it’s actually 2! My bad

[ixtaek]

Crossing of Stars presents:

Four Swords Stars

Description: They’re finally cataloguing the things in the Courage when Link finds an interesting sword.

(Takes place post Crossing of Stars!)

Part 1

“‘Magical Sword, level 2’.” Link snorted, peering at the ruby-handled blade. “You know, they were more concise in the past.”

“Says the guy with the blizzard gun.” Zelda was making a face at herself in a surprisingly polished shield, studiously ignoring the agonized face etched in the surface. “I can’t believe they brought all of this when they left the planet. Most of it is junk.”

They had finally gotten around to cataloging the magical equipment in the Courage, Zelda determined that they wouldn’t get surprised again by a demon or something belowdecks. Their list included all manner of charms, rings, gems, bows, even digging tools. Now, at last, they were on swords and shields.

“You only think that because you’re used to using magic to do things.” Link leaned back. “A metal sword is useful. It doesn’t need ammo and its upkeep it fairly simple compared to a gun.”

“At the cost of shorter range.”

“As opposed to magic, which tires you out faster.” He tapped the case. “This only needs muscle strength and a little calculating of your strikes. Your magic takes ages to cast.”

“Only because the Wisdom doesn’t like me. Magic is normally more instinctive.” She tilted her head. “Oh, look at this one!” She laughed, pointing at the small simple sword. An odd sheen of dark purple seemed to ripple from it. “The Four Sword. Guess they only saved one.”

“It’s barely more than a knife.” Link plucked it up to look over. “Well made though. No decay in spite of its age.” The gem in the pommel was a gentle, almost glowing, white. “Must have been a tiny hero.” Link lifted the sword to look at the gem.

He felt something, very gently, tug at the edges of his mind. And then nothing.

And then four somethings.

Read the rest on Ao3!

[ixtaek]

Silly Game Time: The more obscure creatures from mythology and/or folklore deserve some love. Plus, the world could use more giant statues (I'm talking 300 ft or 91.5 meters in height kinda giant!). Time to solve two problems at once; you get to pick where one statue will go AND which creature it'll represent.

No limitations on location, and the only creature restriction being that it's lesser known (for example, *not* dragons, phoenixes, unicorns, Bigfoot, or the Mothman because they're already well-known and well-loved).

Oh now I gotta think of something obscure umm umm ok honestly brownies. Not the dessert—the small household elf which, when left milk or treats, will work to clean the house or produce goods for sale, generally making the home’s owners very rich. Notably, some stories of this variety feature the humans hiding at night and discovering the brownie and, in a show of gratitude, making them a little outfit or shoes since the brownies lack those and leaving it out for them to find. The brownies put on the gifts and then run off, never to be seen again.

I’m really not sure what moral these stories are trying to tell—that if you are nice to the nice fairies they will ditch you, so don’t be nice? Or perhaps it’s a symbol for growing up—the children who unknowingly received from their parents gradually learn of the work they put in to keeping the home, then they reciprocate and feed and care for their parents, then the parents leave (die) and the child is now a full adult caring for the themselves? Or maybe it’s just a silly story!

Anyway brownie. And I want it right by the Hershey factory where they make baking mixes, to cause confusion.

[ixtaek]

Silly Game Time: Bringing back a crowd favorite!

We're going to ruin a title (whether for a book, movie, show, game, comic, or whatever) by adding just one word to it. For example: Star Wars => Starfish Wars

Taco Time

[ixtaek]

Wind, who is definitely wearing his pajamas in LU, stepped through the first portal like this:

[ixtaek]

Wait I’m sorry does that first note imply that the other Pink Blossom “Father Tree” is RELATED to the one on Mount Satori?! As in…

The Deku Tree may have “sent” Satori to protect the Mother Tree? The new cherry trees all over in TotK were likely spread by Koroks, a la Wind Waker, to combat evil and restore Hyrule????

Kinda a neat callback to the Korok’s original role and the Deku Tree if it is. Not to mention the idea that this implies that the Deku Tree can repel evil, which explains why he was able to charge up the Master Sword in BotW to repair it after Link fell 100 years ago—he said it was absorbing power from him in TotK I think? Though it appears only he can do it, since Satori Mountain and the areas around the other trees are not as safe.

[ixtaek]

Silly Game Time: Who are some Old Person(TM) characters you like, and why? They can be of any species, and even just be spiritually old--a character who is literally not that old, yet they act and/or feel "old". They can be from any media (movies, shows, books, comics, games, etc.) (OCs count, too, if you like). All that matters is that they're an Old Person(TM) and you like them!

Aww cmon this isn’t even a contest. Stan Pines!! The fact that he isn’t some wise weird shaman type (he’s got his mystery moments and things he doesn’t tell the kids, but they’re all grounded in a more realistic outlook than “I’m gonna make you figure it out yourself teehee” that most “old” allies tend to have in shows for kids), his age IS brought up but isn’t his whole personality, he’s got his own clear motives and story arc, and also he’s such a good “bad” Grunkle to Dipper and Mabel.

Honorable Mentions:

Jerry-Gary-Larry Gurgich

He’s so funny and I feel so bad for him. They all pick on him for being clumsy but I love the little implications that the moment he steps out of the Parks office he’s actually incredibly gifted, but his dumb coworkers just don’t see it.

Granny from the Looney Toons Show

I’m rewatching it and she’s hysterical. She’s a classic old lady and that’s the crux of a lot of her jokes, but she has the funniest asides.

[ixtaek]

[ixtaek]

[ixtaek]

Made myself sad thinking about King Daphnes tonight.

Because he is Tetra’s ancestor.

Because ages ago, he had a daughter, one who looks barely older than a child but bears herself with Wisdom. He commissioned a painting of her and her advisors that he proudly hung in the great hall of his castle.

Then he was told the world would end in water, and that to save his people they should be sent to the mountains. And he sent his daughter and her advisors off to oversee the evacuation and he remained to guard Hyrule alone. He remained so that when the waters came in and he drowned standing stalwartly against the returning Ganondorf, his daughter would live.

Did the king commission the boat too, to be sent with his daughter, a reminder of his love? Did she have it made as a memorial, after the skies fell in and her father was lost beneath the waves? Did the gods decide to grant one last mercy, crafting a vessel for his soul to roam the seas, ever vigilant for Ganondorf’s return?

Did he think of his daughter that he lost, wonder where she was? Did he watch over her descendants from afar? Did he miss the time when he was simply a man, proudly watching his daughter grow in wisdom and grace?

Do you think, when he found a boy about his daughter’s age, drowning alone in the seas after standing against Ganondorf’s evil, that it filled a little of that hole in his heart?

[ixtaek]

Silly Game Time: On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you like roller coasters (be it the reality of them, or even just the idea of them)?

2. I don’t want to go upside down 🙃 I got whiplash that way once. I will hold your things and let you enjoy it. Upright ones are ok, I do love the thrill of moving really fast.